Impact Showcase

It was a blast!!!

Thanks to everyone, everything went well and finally comes to an end.

This is my very first event as an organizing chairperson in my unilife, at the third week of my first year first semester. I have a lot of complicated feelings throughout, especially in believing in myself that I can do it.

About the event,
Impact Showcase is a one day event where 6 projects under Aiesec in Curtin University Sarawak showcase what they did in their projects and how the Projects impact the community.
Compared to Global Village where every exchange participants showcase their culture, in Impact Showcase every project have people from different countries working together as one and improving the community. I am very glad and very proud to be able to work together with them and our relationship between each other got closer a lot throughout the preparation.

At first when I was asked to be the organizing chairperson of this event, I was thinking can I really do this(?) This is a whole new event that didn't been organized before, and we had totally no direction on where to work on, not even an image on how while it turns out.
Another thing that was worrying me is that being a very new(?) junior executive in Aiesec, can I really convince people to work together with me and how can I make others trust me.
It turned out that everyone in my team is supporting me very well, and gave their very best no matter how busy they are.

A few days before the event I was constantly very worried, as it is very hard to communicate with every projects and they're everywhere, especially those who live very far away and don't even care to reply my message.
Days before the event, I was constantly going here and there to get materials for the EPs and going to their house for meetings and follow ups, although it was a tiring job to do after a long day of classes, I believe it's all worth it as I really do enjoy those time with them.
The day before the event, I was having whole day 8am-6pm class, straight after that I called for a meeting and we went for dinner before setting up the venue.Of course I was tired after the whole day, but thanks for the team's support, everyone stayed and helped until 2am, TeeHong came to help to give ideas and setting up the place, we worked until 4am, and I was truly touched deep down inside.
Throughout the journey, I am very glad to work together with them, and thanks for those who constantly ask if I'm alright, it means a lot to me and that keeps reminding me that I'm not alone.

On the day of the event, I was having two exams from 8am, so I can't be there to make sure whether everything goes well or not. After the first exam, I rushed to the venue and knew that the car with materials broke down, and things were not that smooth.
Well, I knew that things won't always go well, I've been there, even worse, but thanks for everyone helping out, even though the situation is worrying, I can still go for my exam without worrying as I have trust in them.
Finally finishing both of my exam, I went back, everything looks different. Things went well and the atmosphere was there. I have to thanks those EPs for working their very best to set up the booth and try to talk to every students that passed by. The most important thing is that everyone really did enjoy themselves.
Things turned out much more better than I though, and I believe this doesn't happened out of nowhere, so thanks for everyone who contributed no matter just a bit as it really does help a lot. We did roll call in the middle of LT foyer and I got to enjoy a lot.

Another thing was the fight inside myself. I was constantly worrying and struggling whether am I doing the right thing, is this the way I should do it, how can I make myself better etc etc. I am the kind that thinks a lot in my mind but barely turns anything into words.
Until everything ends, I'm still not sure whether I was leading the right way, whether I am facing and handling everything the right way but I am very sure that I did the right thing and I am doing something I'm passionate about.
At last, I'm very grateful for having the chance to organize this event. I believe it gave me much more belief in myself and made me felt alive.

Lastly, enjoy a video of the event!!!

https://www.facebook.com/AIESECinCurtinSarawak/videos/1069091209865811/

I visited THE Johnny's Shop!

Our fourth day in Japan, we woke up early to go to Meiji Shrine so that we can avoid the tourist crowd. I was very amazed that even in the center of the town, there's still such a place full with trees and so calming, just like it was far away from the busy city.
All the way in you can hear the very noisy cicadas, before we reached the shrine, there's a display of nihonju and wine that is given to the shrine to thank the God.

 Before we did our prayers in the shrine, we cleaned our hands and mouth with water.

 Although we can't go into it and can only do our prayers outside (throw a five yen coin and make a wish) there's still people inside, and it felt so calming even with all the crowds outside.

 Also, before we leave, we're VERY lucky to be able to see a traditional wedding ceremony here!!!

After visiting Meiji shrine, we go around the Yoyogi park beside it, from there we can see the Yoyogi stadium (?) where JUMP always held their concert there. The feeling of so near yet so far XD

We walked all around the park just to find this two orange and yellow steel boxes. It's called a rubbish bin. Although it's so hard to find a rubbish bin here, yet there's totally no rubbish around the park!!!

Then we went to Harajuku!!!

We were literally squeezing through the crowds as it was a Sunday. Well we purposely chose a weekend to go there as we wanted to feel the crowds HAHA
We didn't do much shopping there as the currency is very bad which turns out everything is expensive so we didn't even think of buying things there LOL
But there's a three-storey DAISO there which sells literally everything so we did some shopping there as it's much more cheaper compared to buying it at Msia.
Other than that we bought some branded bags(?) which was requested as the price is fixed and buying it online will be much more expensive due to the charges.

We had a loooooot of fun staying there seeing the crowds. It;s very easy to meet people in weird clothing and they are all very friendly and ready to take a pic with you.

We had taiyaki and takoyaki there for lunch then after that get into the crowds again and grab a crepe and kakigori for more. Yepp can consider food trip liao.

Here comes the crazy and siasui part at JOHNNY'S SHOP.

We knew that there's a Johnny's Shop at Harajuku so yepp MUST GO.
I saw a lot of repo online saying how to go and how it looks like. It's always very hard to imagine as NO PHOTOGRAPHY OUTSIDE AND INSIDE.
I have the image that it's very small very hard to find (coz people say so). We used google map and I was busy looking on my phone for directions. When it shows that I'm AT THE PLACE I looked up, and realized OMG IT IS HUGEEEE.

AND I SCREAMED OUR LOOOOOOOOOUD

I was so loud that the guard in front of Johnny's shop laughed at me (yepp they have guards standing in front) and did the douzo douzo gesture HAHA. (I'm sure this is not the first time he sees someone this crazy)
We got into the basement (where the pictures are displayed) by the stairs at the side. It's so spacious and the pictures are displayed so nicely with the atmosphere like a photography exhibition very high class. It's quite crowded and people are also choosing pictures.
I was always thinking why people wants to buy this kind of pictures, I mean what can you do with it XD Then later realized I'm starting to tick the codes on my paper 6.6
I sound like I'm very calm now but at that time I was kya-ing inside and out LOL
We paid at the first floor which it's all mainly a row of payment counter (yet we still need to line up). It's always been my dream to be here and finally after five years++, dreams do come true!!! (Ticking off another bucket list).

After dying countless time in Harajuku (too excited heart attack)
We decide to spend the rest of the day at Shibuya. Maybe we were walking too much on that day, three of us almost collapsed.
We wanted to find a cafe to rest for a while, but cafe hunting in Shibuya in the weekends is so damn hard as everywhere is full. Their conbini doesn't have place for us to sit too! We tried to search on Google for cafe nearby and it's usually full when we're there, or there'll be people smoking in a closed area (which we really want to avoid).
Finally we found a cafe that is full, but a small table that can fit us, but that really means a lot to us who almost decide to lie down in the middle of the road in Shibuya.

Americano as always.

 We spent a few hours chilling at the cafe, coz we were on our feet for THE WHOLE DAY.
After that it's quite late so we decided to leave but since we are already in Shibuya so why not visit Tower Records before we leave.

 The whole 8-storey building is selling CDs and we were very lucky to be able to meet up with a fansign event (although we don't know who they are). The fans were all prepared with their cannons, which I thought it was for animals photography XD

There's a lot of surprise at Tower Records as I easily get excited when I see their albums and singles HAHA Another amazing thing is that JOHNNY'S is considered a genre, so when I was wondering why is there no Johnny's artist in the J-POP section, I walked into another huge corner where every artists under Johnny's are put together. Heaven.

That night we decided to stop at an Izakaya (where businessmen usually spend their time there after a long day work for beer), we went to a place called 一休 which the price are reasonable.
We had one big mug of beer each, had something too eat, and had a lengthy talk.
I am actually still underage in Japan, so actually every time I'm buying alcohol in Japan I was so scared HAHAHA Coz Zz had been asked to show her ID card when she bought alcohol (glad I was not phewwww) the only time I appreciate looking old XD

Anyway, BEER IS LIFE. Cheers.

Tokyo Adachi Hanabitaikai 2016

The third day in Japan we had breakfast at home, packed our things and said goodbye to our first home in Chitose-Karasuyama.

We didn't get to meet our host after staying for two days as he's usually out for work at night. He did a very great job keeping the house clean (even though he's a guy), it's THAT clean that you'll feel stressful to use it LOL Anyway, thanks for the great accomodation.
We carried our luggage and moved on to our second house, it's at an area called Shinamachi which is quite near Ikebukurou.

OTW Shinamachi.

View outside Shinamachi station.

The whole area have a very refreshed feel.
Our house is not that far from the station compared to our first one, but it was very hard to find. We walked pass the entrance for a couple of time before we found it. The entrance was very small and the outside looks so old and rusty, but the house inside is clean, new, spacious and damn convenient. Great job Japan XD

Our house entrance is the small door at the end of this narrow alley.

We rest for a while being too tired carrying everything up and down the stairs, tidy up ourselves a bit, did the laundry, and Zoe went out to meet with Zz who's joining us for the following days.

After a good rest, we went out to hunt for lunch. Unfortunately the recommended shop that we wanted to go was closed on that day, so we went into a random typically family restaurant beside it.

Aji no mise.

The inner part looks like this.

Typical curry rice. YUMM.

After having our lunch, we were thinking to go around and explore Ikebukurou. Ikebukurou is a placed known for anime, it was the place for anime before Akihabara came out. We were quite tired and was thinking there's no point just wandering around so we decided to go to the fireworks festival earlier.

We was wrong thinking we were early, as there were a huge crowd going to the same direction we don't even need a map to go. Along the way to the event venue, there's small stalls by the side of the road selling some snacks and drinks.

It's very lovely seeing everyone in their Yukatas <3

Food stalls by the road.

We bought beer HAHA

When we reached there, everywhere is FULL with people even though we reached four hours earlier!
Everyone is there with their family, with their friends, or couples all in their yukatas. They were fully prepared with picnic mats, food and ALCOHOL (my fav part of JPN XD)
We found a place to sit, as we didn't prepare mats, we sat on the grass. Later on the owner of the mat behind us came and told us they won't need the space anymore and we can have the mat, DAMN LUCKY!!!

 We took pictures, the sky was nice, had some snacks and drank beer, enjoying the crowds and the sunset while waiting for it to start.

Well it finally start, and thank you Japan, I was so overwhelmed, everything is beyond words. I was first very busy trying to capture that moment with my camera, then my phone, then snapchat again LOL. Then I realized I really should cherish the moment, and eyes have the highest pixels that a camera can't even capture, I decided to put away everything, sit back and CRY being too overwhelmed.
The fireworks was put with a background song. All those songs brought back a lot of memories and some were used to be my inspiration and motivation. The night sky was so beautiful lit, with all kinds and all vibrant colors of fireworks.

There's also a part that the crowds used flashlight following the rhythm of the song and everything is just simply BEAUTIFUL. It ended with non stop fireworks that lit up the whole sky. IT WAS AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT <3

After that we spent almost two hours(?) just to get out of the crowds, although the people are soooo much there's no squeezing or pushing or anything rude. People just follow instructions and slowly wait when it comes to a total jam. Everyone is just chatting like usual and no one even complain about not being able to move or anything so. OWHHH JAPAN. (I've said a lot of time but still I just wanna say it)

It is always my dream to go for a Hanabitaikai in Japan, with the stalls, the yukatas, the kakigori the sunset, the fireworks performance. It  didn't fail me =]

Ticking off Hanabitaikai from my bucket list!!!

My 8am-10pm daily schedule

Engineering, first year, first semester.
I don't know how to feel. It is.... beyond words.

This is my schedule today.
I started from 8am today, having back to back, non resting class schedule.
After 6pm, went for a meeting for MY coming event until 7.30pm. Continued with another meeting of a huge event under Aiesec, until 10pm, I'm home.
I forgot lunch I forgot dinner, I'm so full, worried and concentrated with the things on my hand.

People are having brunch because they woke up late, I had brunch today as I know I won't have time for lunch later on.
For those who are interested in joining engineering, do check out how the schedule goes and prepare yourself mentally, or else just don't.

I really do hope I have the time to update my blogposts on my Japan trip before I forgot every interesting little things.
I'll really try my VERY BEST to manage my time and come up here to finish my task.

Starting my semester in this way is so.... COOL! It makes me can't wait for the coming whole semester and I believe it'll be more fun!
Also, I'll be having my TKD upgrading this weekend, so yepp, after the tiring whole day schedule, I'll need to go training and worn myself out after the long day.
I'll also be having an event which I'm the Chairperson for the coming week! REALLY do hope everything goes well and I get to share it here instead of sleep it off after the tiring day HAHA

Sorry for those who are not interested in my uni life, but yea, hope it gives you motivation, to try to push yourself to the limit, out of your comfort zone.Cheers!

Shop-till-drop in Japan!

It's funny how we put shop-till-drop day on the second day in Japan instead of the last few days.
We already had a list of things to buy before we came to Japan, not only ours, but mom's and aunt's. We were thinking to gaodim all the long list so we won't be stressed looking for all the stuffs later on. It was actually a good chance for us to explore the city.

We decided to go Shibuya first. Sadly the shops here open quite late too. We were too early and what we can do is just wandering around the streets LOL

. We were too early that there's almost no crowd at the Hachi statue.

Explore Shibuya with Zoe! 

This was Zoe in a drugstore (?) since we were looking for beauty products and cosmestics.

Gudetama miniature!

A random guy cleaning the front of the shop.

We went for purikura and was so kelam-kabut LOL. There's time limit for everything and even posing, so we were not so ready for every pics (and still need to act like we were ready). All kind of cute and awkward poses came out HAHA Surprisingly love the outcome.

This is a corner from a stationary shop that sells everything made from real wood. The scent of wood filled up the whole place and everything just looked so delicate I CAN'T.

Visited Disney store in Shibuya and it's a wonderland with beautiful decorations selling every cute and beautiful stuffs (which is all damn expensive, but still worth it) I JUST WANT EVERYTHING.

Went to Kinokuniya bookstore here too, it's so quiet and calm here, but since we were not looking for books we didn't spend a lot of time here. I read some Johnny's-related magazines, wanted to kyaa-out-loud but I can't ughhhhh.

We had lunch at Ichiran (finally!!) and it didn't disappoint me! 

It's served in a small window, and usually after serving the bowl of ramen, the waiter will bow more that 90 degree (which in the picture his head is on his knee level 0.o) 

After filling our tummy we went to Ginza. It has a totally different feeling compared to Shibuya as the shops here are more high class. We just wanted to visit the place and I was really shocked by all the huge outlets here. Even a watch outlet can be 6 storey high!

We were so tired walking whole day we decided to just find a cafe and chill for a while. We went to Excelsior cafe and the ice matcha latte here is so damn good!

It was actually the date that my foundation second semester's result would be out, and I was quite nervous that time as some of my friends from the same group can already know their result (which some were good and some were bad).

It felt quite amazing as I was in Taiwan for the first day for my foundation first sem result and now was in Japan for the first day for my second sem result. It felt amazing.

At that time I was only hoping that I can safely pass my semester. Since if I didn't pass it, I'll need to take the supplementary exam, which I need to cancel my days in Japan and go back to Miri to sit for it. It'll totally be a nightmare for me if that happened.

We went to another area of Tokyo to meet with a girl to get our tickets for illion's concert XD It's not a touristy place so there's totally no huge tourist crowd. On the way to that place, I get to know my result on the train, in the squeezy crowd. It felt so amazing, getting satisfying results and after that getting our tickets!

A view in the train station where everyone is going home from work.

The day ended amazingly with all the good news <3

Instead of eating out, we went to the combini and bought some onigiri for dinner and fruit beer, chilling at home with dramas after a tired day.

We're in Japan!!!

The first thing that came up my mind is this.


Tokyo have 108 different train companies. Companies not line, NOT LINE. Which means each companies have its own countless lines too. I'm sure the map for the Tokyo train lines are just for fun and totally not for reference.

pic from net

We reached in the afternoon and took the NEX train from the airport to Shinjuku.
When we reached Shinjuku it was the time when everyone was going home from work, the stations were full of people and we were like two small dots with luggage larger than us, trying our best to squeeze through the crowds and get on the train, just wishing to reach our accomodation as soon as possible.
We then changed another line from Shinjuku to a station called Chitose-Karasuyama which is not far from Shinjuku. It was raining that time, and although it's not late, but the sky turned dark quite early. We were so tired, draining in rain, still we need to carry our luggage and walk for almost 15minutes to the place we stay.

We put our things, changed and cleaned up a while, then headed out to Shinjuku for dinner. We wanted to try the Ichiran ramen but the queue was too long we needa wait an hour until our turn. So we decided to just go to a random restaurant. That night we had monjyayaki and okonomiyaki for dinner.

After dinner, although it's just about 11pm, but the shops here in Japan closed quite early. Since we had no where to go, we decided just to go home and have a good rest before the next day. We stopped at a conbini to buy some snacks, icecream and breakfast for the next day before heading home.

Yepp we stayed in a tatami room!!!

Our way back home.

Although the way back home looks quite scary, but it felt so safe here!
We were so tired and the rain spoiled our mood a bit, but it still felt so unreal! WE ARE IN JAPAN!!! It's our dream to be here since we were young, it felt like heaven walking to the streets that used to be in dramas and anime, I can't contain my excitement and kept telling Zoe "I'm in heaven!" LOL

Back to reality

10 days in Japan the most frequently asked question is "When do you want to come back to reality?".
Well, the reality in Japan is, we moved to three different houses within those days, packing and unpacking, moving heavy luggage here and there, carrying them throughout the crowded train stations, walked uphill and downhill. It was a great experience anyway!

We were very lucky as it was mostly gloomy with a only a few days with the scorchingly hot sun. It's a place with fast pace but still the people are friendly and polite. It's a place with huge portions of food. It's a place with its train stations full with people all in white formal wear. It's a place so true so real just like from the anime.  It's a place where Shibuya have funny stories. It's a place that made me fell in love countless times.

A trip to Japan but my Korean got better thanks to ZZ lol. At first I tried to talk with Zoe in Korean so that the Japanese won't understand 6.6 (you can easily find Chinese here btw). Gonna continue to watch more Korean videos and dramas so it won't get worse anymore XD

In a month, eight flight trips, moved more than five accomodations, two nights homeless sleepless. It's so damn carefree and fun I hope it won't ends.

Degree life suddenly just started. I tried to prepare mentally but still, the workload and deadlines are still there. I can't wait to share stories and edit pictures taken, but the reality is still there ._.
I know this is just level1 in degree, but its already a huge different from foundation. If university is like a game for us to continuously unlock, which each stages take a semester, around 4 months. Well foundation will be Level 0.1 and Level 0.2. Completed all Level 0 and now up to Level 1.1 !!!

Wish me good luck! and for one more smooth semester!
All the best to those reading this too, hope it gives you strength and courage, just like what I need!