Tuesday, March 31, 2009

first few days in kanagawa

I guess my predictions were true.

I predicted that I won’t be updating my blogs as frequently as I wanted to.

And as you can see by yourself, the rate of me posting new posts here has tremendously declined; even IF I have tons and tons of things to write about.

Like for instance, my new place in Hashimoto, Kanagawa.

For an apartment provided by my company, I was very impressed by how clean and in good condition it was.

I’m not saying that I expect less from my own company, but the place looks like it’s never been occupied by anyone else before!

Well, at least until I got my stuff from Akita here.

My job-training are just going to last until September before I get sent to somewhere else, so I plan to keep the apartment that I’m in now strictly basic; just enough for me to live in.

And it sucks though that I need to wait until the 18th of April until I could put some internet-connection magic into my Dell.

The internet provider guy said that because it’s April, the season in which a lot of people changes apartment/homes, I would have to wait in line for my turn to get their service started.

And oh, the other thing that sucks about this apartment is that it would take about 90 minutes for me to get to work.

It took like 10 minutes to walk from the apartment to the nearest eki (train station), about 60 minutes of densha ride, and then another 10 minutes of bus riding until I reach work.

Pretty tiring stuff to be doing everyday, especially riding the densha; it was inevitable that the thing would be packed with people who didn’t shower in the morning.

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I also changed my phone to iphone!

It was pretty unbelievable that Softbank is giving out iphones for free here in Japan; and I waste no time to grab the opportunity.

So I have been using my iphone for a week now, and I really understood why it was not so very well received by the Japanese users.

The thing is evolutionary as it is not friendly at the way Japanese people use their mobile phones.

The thing that irks me the most is the absence of infra-red ability to change information with your new found friends.

And the way Apple uses the 3G network to deal with internet bandwidth is also a little bit weird that it hinders with the speed receiving emails.

With all that said, I still think that it was worth the change.

Well, I DID got it for free, so I won’t be complaining much about it.

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Maybe this is happening because of the change of environment and lifestyle, but I think I’m pretty lonely right now.

As I am very new to this place, I have no friends; but I’m trying very hard to make some, as fast as I could.

Anyways, just right in front of my apartment, there is a video shop selling Japanese porn at extreme discount points.

I don’t know why I need to tell you that.

Maybe because I’m just lonely.

pic: there is big sakura tree right on the platform of sagami-hara station. pretty swett!

i love the sakura season!

:)

Monday, March 30, 2009

moving to kanagawa

Eleven boxes full of my stuff from Akita to Kanagawa costs about 15000 yen.

It was not cheap, and I really hope I could claim that money back.

Anyways, I have finished packing up and cleaning my old apartment; and that is all thanks to the full cooperation and swift work by my kohais, who spend their precious time to help me and Zarul tidy up the place.

And bought the stuff that we don’t want to bring along.

Your cooperation is highly appreciated.
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The morning sun was brilliant.

The picture is taken while Zarul is driving me to the Akita Station so that I could take the earliest Shinkansen to Tokyo, leaving Akita for good.

I thank Affir and Mantop for letting me stay in their new, huge apartment for that night.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* My breakfast (and also lunch) in the shinkansen was a simple one.

One sake-nigiri, a bottle of milk tea and a bar of snickers.

Like always, my view is fixed to the window.

The snowy scenery outside was pretty amazing.

But I can’t really focus of the scenery because I have a book to finish:仕事の基本が身につく本 – this book teaches everything that I need to know about Japanese working culture.

Like how to bow, how to talk politely with seniors and clients, how to receive meishi (name card), how to politely refuse invitation to get piss drunk after work etc.

You know… the basis of how to become a Japanese salaryman.

My training requires me to finish the book because they are going to have a test of my Japanese mannerism and how much I know about the Japanese business manner and culture.

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I arrived at my new apartment (provided and fully supported by the company) impressed with the place. I thought it would be smaller.


This is always a good sign.

The floor was quite cold though, but I can’t complain much because they provided the washing machine, shower room, toilet, air conditioner, intercom, kitchen etc all for free.

This must be a sign of something good.

I hope.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

back in japan

i've been pretty busy since coming back from my short holiday in malaysia.

first and foremost, i finally graduated 4 days ago!

i'm so glad now that i have a piece of paper that certified me as a mechanical engineering degree holder, and hopefully that accomplishment could get me somewhere nice.

i spent 2 years of my life in akita just to get that piece of paper.

it must be something of important value.

anyways, like most japanese graduations all over japan, my graduation ceremony in akita was pretty quick, extremely formal, and ridiculously boring.

the only good side of it is that it only took 1 hour from start to finish.

that's how the japanese do their graduations.

the main reason why it ended so quickly was because instead of making each and every graduate walk up the stage to receive their certificate, the japanese way is to select one person as a representative for a particular faculty to receive the certificate on the whole faculty's behalf.

engineering faculty - 1 person
medical faculty - 1 person
education faculty - 1 person
and so on.

and like most ceremonies in japan, everything was extremely formal; no clapping, no laughing, no yeehaa finally i graduated yeah fuck school!

although it was pretty boring, i AM extremely glad that i finally graduated. hopefully the combination of my diploma and degree could be put to good use.

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3 days ago, after my 5th try, i finally got my japanese driving license!

now i can legally drive in japan! wuhoo! i can also start to make decision on whether to get a honda fit, or a mazda rx8.

decisions, decisions.

*note: i got an 'automatic-transmission-only' driving license.

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on that same day, i also managed to get my working visa and changed my staying status from 'collage student' to 'engineer'.

looks like my transition to enter working life is going smoothly, as of now.

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i still got a lot of work to do before i could move out to kanagawa.

i'm sending all of my stuff to the new apartment in kanagawa tomorrow, so i really need to finish packing those boxes.

and right now, my current apartment doesn't really look like an apartment where humans live.


boxes everywhere.

dusts.

and all sorts of garbage.

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moving out, starting a new life as a working person, adjusting to a new town... i will be busy these first few weeks.

and i don't see myself updating my blog as frequently as i used to.

kinda makes me sad though.

maybe the life of a student is sexier?

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

epi dan kak na


selamat pengantin baru dan tahniah!

may you be blessed with a wonderful marriage until the end of times!

i'm truly happy for both of you.

kak na, please take good care of my brother!
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