I've always wondered how I'd feel once I'm left with only 1 month. I dreaded the coming of that day. I dreaded it horribly... Now, I've got less than 1 month. All that I can think of? How many things I've not done, places I've not gone, food I've not eaten, people I've not talked to, phrases I've not learnt, books I've not gotten, clothes I've not bought [and of course, project and homework I've not completed].
A friend talking with me on MSN, told me a few days ago, "I can't wait for you to come back."
I remembered thinking, "I can wait. I can wait. I can wait another year before I get back."
To be honest, I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. These 3 months must have been one of the happiest, if not the happiest, moments in my life. Sure, there were strange people (creepy guy) and angry moments (project that made me go mad), but I enjoyed my time here very very very much. I cannot express how much I love it here, and how much I will miss this place when I'm gone.
The responsibilities and worries that weigh me down heavily in my Singapore life have not accompanied me here to Japan. They have stayed in Singapore, wrapped in a timebomb, ready to start ticking the moment I'm back. Ready to suffocate me when I return. Ready to manufacture me into the perfect worker; mould me into a good, hardworking, stress-accepting, heart-attack-prone worker. Perfect Type A worker.
Let a caged bird not taste freedom, for it will want more.
I will miss:
a) Keihan densha announcements. I can recite them by heart now. I can even understand them, thanks to Daryn. I can pronounce Demachiyanagi and Marutamachi and Yodoyabashi now, too =)
b) Daryn. No qualms about it. Daryn. She and I connect on levels I sometimes didn't think anyone would. We would walk together somewhere, see something and one of us would comment on it. The other would say, "I was just thinking exactly that." We would look at the same product, just different colours; she black, I pink. We are so different emotionally and personality-wise, but we are so similar in our attitudes to things. For example, both of us dislike clingy people, but for some reason, both of us attract them. [She thinks clingy people are attracted to me because I seem so reliable and dependable.] We both are super stingy. When we're together, we reason to each other why we should get something and why we should not. Actually, she has a big influence on me on what I buy. Sometimes, I'd pick up something on impulse and say, "I want to get this for XX". Then she'd ask a whole bunch of questions, and then give her suggestion. More or less, I follow her suggestions. She stopped me from getting this Japanese doll today. Haha. For her, I do the same, except she doesn't always accept my suggestion. Haha. She calls our similarities and differences "broad" and "specific". In the broad sense, both of us are interested in similar things, have similar ideas. But when it comes down to the specifics, she and I differ.
I cannot emphasize how integral she is to my Japanese life. [well, you can see she is, from the constant mention of her]. In a sea of people at the Seminar House, I find it amazing that the two of us became so close friends. Sometimes, I think, if that incident with Sylvia had not happened, she and I would never have become so close. I'd have been wandering alone, without a companion and maybe not enjoying it as much.
c) The Japanese Language (I wrote an entire blog entry about it, so I won't repeat it again here)
d) Japanese fashion. Once, Hiroshi asked me on his questionnaire, "When you think of Japan, what do you think of?" Immediately, I said, "short skirts." Haha. I enjoy dressing up. I love matching my clothes and improving my style etc. The weather lately has become rather cold, so my style has sorta gone haywired. Cos the warm clothes I have aren't really very... fashionable. Even if my fashion isn't all that great, it's still very cool to watch Japanese women dress up. It's really really like they walk out of fashion magazines, some of them. I'm amazed whenever I'm in the train and see some really well-dressed woman (or girl)...
e) Book off. Cheap Manga, cheap Japanese books, cheap kanji dictionaries. I was at Bookoff with Daryn yesterday and bought 2000yen worth of books. *shrugs* What? In Singapore, I easily spend that amount of money on ONE book. Plus, some of the books have drawings that are so pretty they can serve as omiyage. Sighs, goodness. Cheap Manga. Cheap cheap CHEAP manga. And I understand maybe 40% of it (with kanji). I'd love to stay in Japan only for this reason...
f) Japanese food. It's strange. In Singapore, I hated sashimi. I totally totally disliked sashimi, especially salmon. In Japan, the first time I ate sashimi, I actually liked it. Then Oscar, his family and I went to a sushi restaurant in Ginza. Amazingly, I didn't throw up. I actually liked the food there. I love eel here too. It's soooooooooooo good. REALLY REALLY GOOD. And the udon Okaasan cooks for me... And the mochi-soup. Haha, it's so cool! She actually cooks the udon soup (with prawns, tofu, cabbage, shouyu, meat etc) and then adds mochi into it. Its quite nice, actually. Okonomiyaki, taiyaki, yakitori, yakiniku, takoyaki... I can just go on and on and on about the food here. I don't miss Singapore food a single bit (unfortunately). While I miss a little bit of chili padi, I also know that chili padi has started to destroy my stomach lining. So, a break from chili padi is a good thing. Okaasan asked me, "When you go back to Singapore, what will you want to eat first?" I said, "Mee Hoon Kway." Followed by, "Curry."
g) Japanese variety shows. While we can get those on youtube easily, it's always so much fun watching them on big screen TVs at home :)
h) Red leaves. Need I say more about this??? Though, they're disappearing. =X Winter is approaching, so soon.
i) My room. My room is wayyy neater than the room in Singapore, cos I don't have so much stuff with me. =) Of course, if I stayed long enough, it'd become super super messy too.
j) My "freedom" if it could be seen that way. I guess, having to account to no one but myself is part of freedom, isn't it? Of course, I need to let Okaasan know when I'm gonna be late but otherwise, I don't have to tell her where I've been, what I've been doing. Occasionally, she'd ask, "So, where did u go" or "Where are you going today" but it's just a polite question she's asking.
k)
Convenience stores. Kombinis are everywhere. Haha. Just like vending machines. They are EVERYWHERE too =) You can't walk 50 metres without seeing at least one vending machine.Okay, I can go on and on forever... But, since I've gotta do my work, I shall go do work first...
P.S. I have not blogged about Hachiman-san, Kinkakuji, tabe houdai (all you can eat) and today's outing to Fushimi-Inari.
I need to find some time to do that. Blog them one by one. Just uploaded all the pictures into my computer
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