today... cleared up my assignments finally.. and bought a canon pixus 1500 printer.. and a transformer.. the Ps2 can play le"!! so happy!! hehe.. and of cos the printer works.. the printers here are so ex.. i bought the cheapest one there and it was $150. :S

bought a lot of manga from a place in Nippombashi.. new ones, from tsutaya. of cos its in japanese.. part of my plan to learn from reading.. just like english.. :p bought the series Negi, the first 4 books at least.. its from the same author as Love Hina.. かわいいですね！heh.. that was kawaii.. and another series from sqsoft-enix so basically the characters look like ff9 characters.. drawn really well. haven started on that.. but have read Negi the first book and its really funny. its bout a 10 year old english little magician teaching english in Japan. everytime he sneezed, the girls' uniforms flew apart and they would be standing there in their underwear looking horrified. :p heh..

so it was pretty much a good outing to Yodobashi camera once again. bought lotsa snacks and coke again. mmmmm.. can't wait for the rations to arrive!!

finally able to watch tv ! on hs's comp though.. the quality is damn good. 19" screen, wireless keyboard and mouse.. but 3k over lor.. but my PS can:t work! voltage diff... -.-" very disappointed, now have to find a transformer, why doesn't it come with one like all normal tech gadgets!? irritating..

went to nippombashi to hunt for a cheap printer in the evening, ended up wandering around Namba and the shopping streets. ate baskin robbins in the cold. it was delicious. and it was 12 degrees celsius. took a few photos.. lazy to upload hehe.. cos i havent installed anithing in my new laptop yet.. anyway, it was fun, but i have to get a printer by hook or crook tomorrow. damn sianz.

finally the weekend!!

cant even begin to describe the joy. at being able to stay up late tonite. and wake up late tomolo. yay!

didn't sleep well last nite, hence could barely wake up this morning. i'm getting more irritated with the girl who keeps falling asleep in class. the whole day she keeps nodding off. even when the japs gave us a corporate lecture. wat will they think of us?! tried to get the attention of the girl beside her to wake her up but didn:t manage to catch her eye. in the end, after the thing, i kinda asked how come she slept so obviously and she dared to say she didn't fall asleep at all. -.-" .. even the jap was looking at her. haiz. if she really gets sent back, i would say i tried to warn her. ...

one of the girls went back to singapore today. her mom was in critical condition due to cancer and might pass away. when we heard the news, the mood became very sombre. she was pretty much the sunshine in class. very cute and always made us laugh with her questions and actions. it was kinda quiet without her. hope she's ok..

looking forward to my mom's maggi mee and canned food parcel. it might not be the best things to eat, but i miss spicy food ALOT. have decided on a study strategy for japanese. have to get a TV by sunday. and will try to read more jap books. magazines, anithing. even tv guides since they actually interest me the most hehe.. with pictures of takizawa in front promoting his new drama series.. going to start on monday.. i must catch it! and oso get a library card after i get my Alien card. such a big library near my place, i must definitely be a hardworking girl. :)

the singapore edb rep in the osaka embassy came to talk to us today.. :) its so nice to see and talk to another singaporean.. finally no need to bow, can just say hi.. heh... aniway.. cooking maggi mee for dinner..

haven blogged cos laptop was down. yah.. kena-ed some virus. very sickening. can:t even reboot. after i reinstalled windows, i couldn:t go online. decided to backup my stuff after i managed to access my files again b4 it could die on me again. after all.. its been my faithful laptop for bout 4years plus le... definitely have feelings for it..

so i went down to yodobashi camera in osaka to take a look and found a gem of a laptop.. sony Vaio VGN-Y70P for oni bout S$2445. one of the cheapest laptops there by the way.. pentium 4 pcs/laptops are scarce in japan, and when u can find any, its usually expensive. this one was a new model and oni weighed 1.69kG. maybe its a blessing in disguise that my laptop conked out..aniway.. yodobashi has this really great system of pointback, 1pt for 1yen. can be used for future purchases hence my laptop actually only cost (169800-16980)Yen :) yay!

aniway.. am rushing jap hw now.. blog again soon.. oh.. and my shoes dieded on my too.. my only pair of comfy shoes btw.. so had to buy a new pair of court shoes as well.. the walking ard is killing my feet and my back. :(

today finally found an Asian restaurant! with TOm Yam Soup n other spicy stuff! HOORAY! .. its called asian kitchen, and we chanced upon it when we were wandering around osaka station after the dept stores closed at nine. even though we already ate dinner, we went up and was so happy to see spicy food that we ate a second dinner. it was not bad. veri ex. the alcohol in the place was so much cheaper than the food.

wanted to buy a budget printer but apparently, japanese people must use 3-in-1 printers. quite irritated. cos i just wanted to buy a budget printer. thinking of buying a desktop. their desktops have wonderful LCD monitors but uses oni celeron processors so are quite cheap. dunno if i should though.

busy day today.

finally deposited some money in my japanese bank account. i have an account with sumitomo mitsui bank here.. they only need a hundred yen for opening a bank account.. which was really nice.. deposited bout a hundred thousand yen today.. thats only about S$1500 actually. then went to mizuho bank to pay rent. the banks are dumb. they charge 100yen commission for every stupid transaction. :(

after that, Kana-san brought us to Kyoto for a site visit of Capcom's arcade centre. trends are totally diff in japan. pple love the UFO machines, token machines and pachinkos. we still can't figure out where the fun in pachinko is. waste of money totally. but at least we got to see the operations and to take a neoprint for free :P
it was fun & we managed to get some toys from the UFO catchers.. but they really are a waste of money..

we had tot that we would have time to tour round kyoto after the site visit.. but turns out we had no time.. in the end we just wandered about the shopping complex (diamond city) for another hour or so b4 heading back to the dorm. at least now we noe how to go, we'll definitely be back soon.

tired.

today was known as the tai-han no hi.. which means the coldest day of the year. it really was cold. despite wearing 2 t-shirts, a jacket and and a ski jacket, i could feel the cold winds down to my bones. freezing, my teeth chattered all the way home (except in the heated trains) and i was wearing gloves too. and there were still girls in short skirts walking around. how do they do it!? maybe next winter i can. but not yet.

finally no hw from jap class today. have to revise wat i learnt i suppose. but still trying to gather data for my market report assignment. there is actually a possibility of Capcom sending us packing home should our performance be not up to expectations at every 3 month review. very worried..

i'm also getting very irritated by 2 pple in the group. one is damn naggy, tok veri loudly, always make negative remarks bout pple should they say anithing. veri aunty. and worries bout every single thing. granted she prolly haven't stayed abroad b4 but me neither and i really dun worry myself sick wondering if i can withdraw money from the post office's atm. today she even wanted an estimate of how much transport would cost tomolo for the Kyoto outing and i was like thinking "DUH!". pretended not to hear and went off b4 she could nag somemore. how can she be 2 years older than me n can't think for herself at all?! and the other one always ask dumb questions at the corporate seminar sessions. waste time asking things that is really trivial and commonsensical. dread seeing them open their mouths. but then, i just keep quiet bout my irritation cos we have to depend on one another thruout these 18 months anyway.

the guys and i get along fine, cos i'm the most adventurous one to want to go out and explore the country every chance i get. very exciting to be in a new place without parents and i think i really must use this chance properly to see wat i can of the world. love just wandering around n then consulting maps to find my way when i get lost. the rest of the pple are like stuck in the safe mentality dun wan to go aniwhere new kind of mindset. which is veri sianz. oh well. as long as i enjoy myself here.

yay finally internet!

its been a week.. abit late to blog bout last week.. but just started jap lessons, and i'm already swamped with work. miss chicken rice like mad, but getting along well with my fellow trAinees. am sick of japanese food, sick of scrimping and saving and thinking bout every single yen i spend. haiz.

bought a handphone here.. nokia 6630.. its oni S$188! cheap sia.. supposed to be their old stock le... so glad.. singapore's technology realli too backward.. :S but the japanese pple in capcom have been really nice. they held a big welcome party for us.. and there's the stress of having to perform really well. cos they have such high expectations of us. i hope i can meet up to those expectations. now first thing i have to do is study my jap well.. WELL!!!

legs blistered from walking ard in boots all the time. man... the place is too big. :) but enjoying every minute. well.. will upload photos as soon as i can..

I'm in Japan.. No internet.. i'm still alive! will update when more time. legs pain,. took lotsa photos.. miss Singa@pore... bye!

hmm .. its just a few more hours b4 i fly. my bags are mostly packed, i have too many bags.. they are too heavy and i'm now just zoboing. received several msgs from frens telling me to take care.. thanks u pple.. will miss you...

next blog entry will be coming from japan.. adios!

today finally received my money from EDB. morning was a big rush of withdrawing money, depositing money and changing money. this last minute business caused me much headache. :S

met hp for lunch in the afternoon at lemonGrass in heeren, surprised him by celebrating his bday for him a month early. exactly a month earlier. his bday is 8-Feb. he asked me how come i celebrating today, i said cos 1 month later i wont be here and i started crying. yes in the restaurant. couldn't help it. man. suddenly its d-day tomorrow. and i really won't see everyone for 1.5 years. the waiters looked curious. i tried to stop crying but couldn't. but at least i managed to do wat i wanted to, surprise hp. hehe. i remember an episode of frens where phoebe suggested a surprise bday party for rachel and chandler said "but its not her bday for another month!" and phoebe said "yah, if u give her a party on her bday, it wouldn't be a surprise rite?!" hehe.. weird logic but very true.

after that joined the starhub pple for some ktv. found out that deyi was my senior in NUS. and i nv see him b4?! he was abit dui2 that i earning so much in this program and he nv see it in the papers. :S ah. sorry bout it... but i will definitely miss u guys. felt veri drowsy after a mug of beer.. coincidentally, met another starhub colleague on the bus and we chatted all the way home.

had dinner with family @ bukit timah, could sense my mom was sad. i was feeling weepy from the afternoon still. and my sis said that my sis and my mom oso shed a few tears in the day. :S after that went NTUC with them to get some last min items, now sitting ard in the company of hp and my sisters zoboing and me packing up. haiz.

i must look ahead!!!...

oh no... edb's money hasn't come in yet.. how how how? was all ready to transfer and change my S$ for Yen le.. i rushed back from JB all the way to realise that the money wasn't in yet. haiz. very off. but had a very relaxed day. just zoboing with hp. can't believe that in 3 days i'll not be here anymore to see him. or anyone else. :'(

Finally, today i met up with andy after almost a year of not seeing him. Mixed feelings welled up. guilt, happiness, and i was having a tummy ache. :S had lunch and we caught up on the past year's happenings. secretly, i was happy to know that he didn't find me petty in comparison with a certain someone at all! heh.. and his parents prefer me! :)



fuck am i not allowed to say wat i wan here animore? everyone gets offended at the littlest things.

followed HS to collect his suit. its nice!! but ... i'm abit worried cos i dun even have any full set of blazer etc. this trip is really costing a bomb. i hope the money comes tomorrow. else, i'm doomed.

ray treated me to dinner @ the pasta cafe. he gave me a very sweet farewell present, a little teddy bear. thanks man... appreciated the effort.. the wrapping was done up pretty well :)

been reading up bout bipolar disorder:

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings—from overly "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.

Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:

• Lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood
• Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
• Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being "slowed down"
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
• Restlessness or irritability
• Sleeping too much, or can't sleep
• Change in appetite and/or unintended weight loss or gain
• Chronic pain or other persistent bodily symptoms that are not caused by physical illness or injury
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts

all been experienced in the way the site described. i think those who noe me prolly noe of my mood swings too. could it be that i just was sick?

My favourite movies last year:
1. The Incredibles
2. SpiderMan
3. Bridget Jones' Diary
4. National treasure
5. The Collateral
6. The Terminal
7. Brotherhood
8. Shrek 2
9. The Last Samurai
10. Jeux d'enfants (Love Me iF u Dare)

why why why?
1. It was ReALLY GOOD!! perhaps was sick of adultish cartoons, finally a movie with superheroes and good family values combined into one, and Edna was sooo funny!
2. Cool effects, although Kirsten Dunst was acting quite unnaturally and a little stilted in her acting.
3. I love british comedies, and their accents. and hugh grant. but he really managed to act like a total creep in this show. despite being a hunk. Renee zellweger succeeded in really looking very aunty.. so i guess, very good acting overall
4. Treasure hunts are exciting. especially one so closely related in story to Da Vinci Code. to tell the truth, i haven't watched any treasure hunt movies for quite a while. Very exciting, and i love the snippets of American history they provided in the show.
5. I haven't seen such a cool movie with Tom Cruise since Minority Report. minimal use of effects in this show was able to let him act the psychological manipulator he was supposed to be. A pity he died. i didn't like the ending.
6. True stories are always so heartwarming. But then.. i always preferred mainstream movies. I can't remember the director's name. argh. the E.T. director. his movies are seldom bad. but then Tom Hanks seldom has bad movies.
7. Won Bin... delicious. the movie was soo sad. one of best war movies last year. although it was awfully similar to Saving Private Ryan.
8. An irritating donkey who can't stop talking and full of wisecracks. one of the few movies i watched with the sixoneders this year.
9. Another Tom Cruise movie. The enticing mix of mysterious warrior code of the Samurais and the ignorant caucasians. I love their values of fighting to their death to protect their families and homeland.
10. the Only french movie i watched this year. i think? it was interesting, plotwise and the way they filmed it.

met xinhuan today.. her ring is quite nice.. but really big.. kenneth should have known better.. how can a girl have such a large size?? then we spent the whole afternoon chatting and looking at bridal mags, planning her wedding non-specifically.. argh!! i wished i wasn't leaving.. !! it has to be when i am not around that all these things happen! how often does a girl's best fren get married?!

we hung around ikea in Burger King reading mags.. until we tot we wanted to see wedding bands. so we went to orchard.. walked around looking at rings and gowns.. and i bought a 50% off scarf from G2000 . Black.. i think black looks good in winter.. :)

had dinner with edwin & shirley & brendon. chris had some last min interview & couldn't turn up. the whole thing wasn't veri fun cos i guess nothin much to speak to brendon about. after the dinner it was still early but ed chose to have some programs with brendon so it was quite weird for me and shirley to just do nothing. haiz. not wat i had wanted.

i'm such a klutz. i managed to slip and fall outside funan (cos of my heels). at the exact same spot that i fell down before. except that this time i fell much harder and actually sat down for a while unable to move cos it hurt to do anything. damn funan, can't they make the floor rougher!? landed on my palm actually so it hurt to hold anything for a while. :(

have managed to pack my samsonite to the brim and i have sealed it for gd. definitely can't open it else it definitely will burst.

citibank really sux. today they sent me a letter telling me the supp card application was cancelled becos they need original copies of my IC or wat. i was like "wat the hell!?" at the bank, they told us no need anithing, just mail the form in. on the phone, they delayed the application cos they needed a photocopy of the IC. ok, i faxed that in. delay one whole week no news, now then they tell me it was too dark etc. WAT RUBBISH! was very pissed off with the bank. luckily, today i opened an account with HSBC today. reasonable rates of $500 to open an acc with $2k to maintain it. even have a branch in Chuo Ku in osaka, where the Capcom building was. so it was quite convenient should i need spare cash. can't be bothered with the stupid Citibank application any more. i should have known from my exp with them that they can nv be efficient.

have just posted an email out to pple regarding contact details, but not sure who i missed out.. just in case..

Hi pple..

I'll be stationed in Japan for 18 months from 10-Jan-2005 onwards,just wanted to inform my flight and contact details to keep in touch.

My flight will be SQ986, on 9-Jan Sunday nite, terminal 2.. if u'recoming, give me a call k?

I'll also be suspending my starhub line from 10-Jan onwards, but u still can msg me via this number 91722482. Please send me Messages only unless important or urgent.. long distance calls are not cheap... :P thanks!

My address in Japan will be
ZIP CODE 662-0835
Nishinomiya city
Hirakimachi 8-29
CAPCOM Nishinomiya

or written in Japanese:
〒662-0835
西宮市平木町8-29
CAPCOM西宮寮

Its actually near osaka, I definitely welcome letters or parcels with goodies :)

If u have skype, my nick is booboogal. those who dun have.. u can download @ http://www.skype.com/. Of cos I will still be on msn: jocelynkhoo@hotmail.com, won't be on icq (1955142) that much anymore.. will oso be posting up pictures inJapan @ http://www.bbgphotos.blogspot.com/ & updating @http://www.booboogal.blogspot.com/.
If anyone wants me to get anithing for them, just give me ur addressand send me a email or something k?

Guess thats bout all i wan to say.. Love u all.. take care.. will miss u people..

Lots of Love,
Jocelyn

finally signed the training deed today! i'm finally on my way! jap test over as well.. definitely passed it :P and also got the air ticket! muahahaha!

SQ986 9-Jan Sunday Terminal 2. my flight is that nite after 12..

finally. less than a week to go.

it was obvious that everyone of us in the jap class had lightened an unbearable load after the test. light-hearted expressions all around.. we celebrated by having a long lunch at billy bombers. heh.. very happY! everyone was excited.. discussing wat it would be in Japan, planning wat to bring, how to survive and share stuff.. wee!! finally have the mood of leaving.. but to tell the truth.. am pretty much packed.. alot of the rest of the stuff is like daily things i still be using.. argh.. suddenly that its finally here, i feel like i need more time again. :(

my best fren is getting married! congrats xinhuan! i'm veri happy for her.. the proposal seems pretty romantic... i'm just very sad that i might not be part of her joy. :(

been feeling very emotional lately. tears well up at every little thing, some words, disappointment at being unable to eat my favourite food, an outing, a kind gesture, a train ride, a familiar song.. i'm not usually a crybaby.. but i guess i really am pretty much afraid of the future. fren getting married, feels things are changing uncontrollably, looming loneliness ahead, no support from parents.. although its a dream job and all, i am excited (i guess), but i just dun foresee happiness ahead. perhaps i should just ignore everything and do wat i want to.

i wan to come back for Xinhuan's wedding. Very Much. I agree with her, that i always tot my best fren should be there at all my life phases, marriage, childbirth etc. ok, not exactly childbirth, pregnancy i guess and maybe 1st month etc. it is quite impractical. but that's not important. i wan to be there, she wans me to be there, and if there ever is a need, when I get married, i will definitely fly her back for it too. cos she has to be here as well. i've nv been to any ROMs b4, and i definitely wan her one to be the first one i see. i wan to see for myself she's marrying someone who can give her happiness, to know she will have a gd marriage ahead of her. sounds kind of possessive but thats why i wan to be there so much. i am of cos envious of all these happening to her.. but definitely very very happy she has finally got the happiness she been waiting for.. Congratulations once again. i do wish u & kenneth to be happy together for life k? if he ever bullies u, i'm always here for u.

now listening to Jiang Nan by Lin JunJie.. think its a very romantic but sad song. how 2 bochup pple got together with no intention of commitment but in the end .. awwwwww... one got heartbroken by the other after they went thru thick and thin.. :(

江南
作詞：李瑞洵　作曲：林俊傑

風到這裡就是黏　黏住過客的思念
雨到了這裡纏成線　纏著我們流連人世間
妳在身邊就是緣　緣分寫在三生石上面
愛有萬分之一甜　寧願我就葬在這一點

＊圈圈圓圓圈圈　天天年年天天的我　深深看你的臉
　生氣的溫柔　埋怨的溫柔的臉

＃不懂愛恨情仇煎熬的我們　都以為相愛就像風雲的善變
　相信愛一天　抵過永遠　在這一剎那凍結了時間

△不懂怎麼表現溫柔的我們　還以為殉情只是古老的傳言
　離愁能有多痛　痛有多濃　當夢被埋在江南煙雨中　心碎了才懂

Repeat ＊,＃,△

相信愛一天　抵過永遠　在這一剎那凍結了時間

everytime i look @ his comp, i get disappointed all over again. veri very. first it was e****. now its his neighbour. must he tok in that flirtatious way? "nvm, xmas got me pei u". i did not noe u 2 ate apple strudel together. we didn't even do that b4. haiz. i really cannot stand u flirting. or toking flirtatiously to pple online. and telling other girls bout our problems. if u wanna do that, i will just release my disappointment online. here.

2 can play at a game.

yesterday.. i pampered myself and used up all my facial vouchers. and a thai massage as well. the massage was only so-so. i guess i'm just too uptight to enjoy massages.. but the facial was great.. skin felt silky smooth after that.. wat a great way to end the year..

had dinner with hp then he drove me to meet the 61 guys.. happy birthday YH & Guan! they gave us a kopitiam supper treat.. which was yummy but i was still quite full from dinner to fully enjoy.. after that went to guan's place where we watched World Without Thieves (the andy lau show) .. it was pretty gd. but i can't stand his hair piece. its bout 2 bands of thieves with amazing psychomotor skills pitting themselves against one another on the train to rob this gullible china boy who was really stupid. he went around shouting "Thieves! Thieves! Show yourself!" .... -.-" which thief would step out and answer him? in the end, turns out the train had a bunch of really smart undercover cops too. who outwitted all of them. but... the ending was horrible. :( as in.. it fits but i dun like it. haiz.

after that.. we played Ps2 the whole nite. or at least the guys did. my nose was getting worse, and i felt groggy so when they started playing winning's eleven, i fell asleep.. it was then i truly understood why eugene said the best photos will be in the mind. making fun of one another, making stupid jokes, having fun. these are the memories of the guys that i will always remember..