watashi wa kaku sei jyou des... 03/01/08

I had butterflies in my stomach this afternoon... It was a funny experience. Come to think of it, my fears were all uncalled for. Haha... Yes, I was so anxious and nervous about meeting my Japanese pen pal that I wanted to shit the very moment I was about to meet him... Here's he full itinerary of our little brief yet memorable meeting! And luckily, I didn't Poo before meeting him. v('.')v

9:50am: My alarm went off and I had a hard time trying to pull myself up. I promised to give Veron a morning call at 10am so I better make sure I did just that. Fortunately, I managed to and well, I could hear from her voice that she was clearly exhausted from the run the night before. After hanging up with her, I was back to my needed sleep.

11:30am: The second alarm sounded and I finally had to drag myself out of bed as I was going to be late if I chose to be beaten by the zzZZ monster. I had a quick bath and got dressed. Before I know it, I was on my way to Veron's place to fetch her.

Well, when I went to her place, she was all well prepared and sitting on her chair reading her comic. Hym... To those that know her, this is a rare event as Veron is perpetually LATE! I'm thankful for her extra punctuality. Haha...

12:59pm: I finally reached ParkRoyal Hotel. I was really afraid about being late as I didn't wanna leave a bad impression with them since Japanese are famous for their punctuality etc... The moment I alighted the car and walked towards the lobby, I was telling Veron how scared I was... I was ecstatic!!! So much so that I wanted to shit... I was crapping and crapping alot to myself. Haha... I just couldn't help it man...

I wasn't sure Take could recognise me since the last photo I sent him was a candid shot taken during the Summer Fest which I had took with my folks back then. And the thing was that I had specs on. Haha... To make things worst, the only form of recognition of Take was the photo which he sent me during one of the first emails that we had exchanged. All I could remember was that his wife wasn't very pretty. Oops...

Boy was I in for a shock as I saw Take and his wifey. Haha... He is TALL!!! I think he is about 1.8m!!! And his wife, er... average height. But the thing is that, his wife looks so pretty!!!! Haha... I was WRONG to think that she was not at all gorgeous. Hee... We exchanged some greetings and we headed for my car. It wasn't a long journey but the dead silence between us made it seemed like a rather long and never ending path. Well, once we reached the car, things changed for the better. Take seemed to take a liking towards my car as he looked and examined it with due care. Haha... It was quite weird but well, I'm weird for my voracious appetite so, what's weird??!!?

Btw, I accidentally scratched the bumper of my car as I left the car park. Freak! I'm going to be slaughtered for sure. You folks should know why... = (

1:30pm: We reached Wen Tong Ji @ Balestier Road. From the short conversation the day before, I understood that Take's wife like to eat chicken rice. What other place to have delicious hainanese chicken rice then Wen Tong Ji ? Haha... Actually, I'm not a regular customer of the shop. After all, I have only been there once.

Finding a car park was real hard. I was glad to settle for Balestier Plaza's. It was slight walk to Wen Tong Ji from the car park and it was probably the best time to break the dead silence and we did just that.

1:45pm: We were finally got to the table in Wen Tong Ji. Hym... And we got the same table that I sat when I came with the Olympus team. Haha... It's fated. = P We ordered some food and we were started to chat.

The interesting Q came when Take asked why I approached him in the first place. Hym... As I have verifed from the archive of emails that we have exchanged, it was he who approached me first! Haha... It reads:

Hi keith. I'm Takeshi ,from japan.I like traveling foreign country and making friends.I enjoy leaning english and chinese.Let's having contact each other if you don't mind.I'm very open minded and easy going.hoping to heat from your mail.

Hee... No matter who approached who first, it clearly didn't matter at all. I was glad to find that I am one for his 5 pen pals from the webby that we met and I am the only surviving one! Haha... So proud when he said of he 5, he is most impressed by me. Hym... I really wonder why. Haha...

Lunch was served and I was glad to find that they enjoyed the food, especially the chicken! Oh! Did I mention that Japanese are very conscious of their eating etiquette? I was so embarrassed with my uncouth eating looks that I hardly had much food. = ( The bomb came when the bill was brought to me...

The bill amounted to a total of $86.45. Well, without a second thought (coz I had about third of fourth), I took out my card... Take offered to go dutch but it just didn't feel right. What do you think? Anyway, I'm going to very very broke. Haha... Still, I am happy as I can finally say that I have treated Veron to a good meal after all the treats and little stuff I have recieved from her. Hee~~

After a hearty meal, we set off for my car. Hym, surprisingly, Take took another long look at my car again. Haha... Is it THAT special? I'm not sure about that but one thing for sure, he is very observant. IN the midst of the conversation in the car, he mentioned that my car plate is SGG5532 (is it that? I'm not sure man...) or something. It daunted on me that he is indeed an observant individual. And hor, he can speak Good Beijing Chinese! Haha... Though limited, his command of Chinese still amazes me considering it is all self-taught! 2 thumbs-up!!

2:30pm: We reached our house in a record timing of less than 15mins. Seemed like we were early as I didn't plan anything except dinner. Haha... We explored my room, my parent's and my bro's. Lucky I did a bit f tidying. I would not like them to see the way my room was 2 days ago. = P

As planned, I showed them my Taiwan photos. I was told that Take's wife has been to Taipei! Haha... She could recognise most of the places in the photos. And er... they got a good laugh when they saw my Beitou photo! Haha... My face was definitely red then. Take was always asking me if I am attached after his failed attempt at Wen TOng ji. He tried again as he saw Lorraine's photo and I promptly dismissed it. Haha... They were seriously amused by the number of photos that I have taken, mostly the ones that just had my face, BIG face in them.

Ah! Here 's what I receive from Take as a gift!

They are famous local sweets from Kyoto! As Take explained, they are iconic of Kyoto and is a must-try!! Haha... Thanx dude! I'm gonna share with my folks! Haha...

Well, apart from the perfect CHinese, Take also impressed me with his handwriting! I was quite confident of my own when he wrote down his and his wifey's...

Er... his handwriting is seriously very nice! Haha... Furukawa Takeshi and Furukawa Yuka!! Their names are so nice!!! And guess what my dear folks, please address me as Kaku Sei Jyou from now! Haha... It is my name is Japanese!!! Whao!!!! So happy!!!

Take has a great memory! He is able to tell the temple which I visit in Su Zhou! Haha... He is great! And his ability to recite one of the famous Tang poems clearly blown me and Veron away...

We chatted for a while before I handed him some gifts that I had gotten from Mustafa. Think they will get to know the price since they also visited Mustafa to grab some souvenirs. *faint* Anyway, before we left for Bugis, we took a group photo. The first try was terrible as we captured only the ladies. Here's the best we have taken:

5:05pm: We were talking back to the Guang Ying Temple along Waterloo street. I guess the conversation at my house had sort of "opened our hearts". We shared more conversations along the way. I thought them how to pray at the temple and interestingly, they didn't to try their luck on 求签. Take got a good one but his wife didn't managed. Hee... I quickly added that this really depends on the personal faith and not to take it too heart and I could see they didn't.

Not sure if they would like the taste, I decided to take them to try 龟苓膏. They have never tasted something like this but they did commented that it was nice. Haha... Perhaps they were polite. After all, it was bitter, very bitter. Hee...

We took a walk through Bugis Street. Nothing quite catch their attention except for a gigantic rotating metal fan in the middle of the Street. Haha... It is seriously titanic! I, myself, have never noticed that!!! What happened next really took me and Veron by surprise! Haha...

We saw a poster talking about Hokkaido fair, featuring Japanese food from a Japanese restaurant. We actually spent 15 mins scrutinising the poster! haha... Take and Yuka were laughing at the menu written on the poster... Seemed like the food that was being mentioned wasn't really representative of Hokkaido. Haha... Er... Did I mentioned the culture shock(the exact words from Yuka), when they saw Ajisen Ramen's Menu?! No explanation needed.

Hee... Take promised me that he will bring me to the best local delicacies when I visit Osaka. He asked me to plan a trip there. Haha... I said I have no money and he said, "Do not worry a single thing when you are in Osaka. I will take care of everything". *sob sob* Those words were touching!!! Haha... I know if there is ever going to be a trip, not anytime soon.

6:45pm: We left for Bedok, the place where I had planned to show them some local delicacies of ours. But before that, to Lorraine's place first!

7:35pm: We were still in the car. Haha... The heavy traffic and wrong turn had caused us much precious time. Wonder if they are hungry already... There and again, were I more worried about mine!?

8:15pm: I finally managed to park my car somewhere FAR from Blk 85, Bedok. I was in dire need of a toilet! Help!!!

I was back at the dining table. Thankfully,I came before the food did. It was a brilliant idea to ask Lorraine along. She did the job of ordering the food. = P And my dad is right! Japaneses like fried noodles with prawns as Take and Yuka feasted down the plate of Hokkien Mee. Haha... Well, I hope they had their fill coz I think I didn't. I wanted to carry on eating but er... I seemed like to be the only survivor with Veron. = (

The night was still young and after consulting them, we decided to have more action before we called it a day. Next stop: Clark Quay!

Haha... I paid for the food again too! Well, I guess it was ok and hor, Lorraine and Veron so not cooporative! They let out my darkest secret that I am actually the stingiest among all and I hardly treat except for Take and Yuka's visit. *Bleah*

9:45pm:I really wonder if Take and Yuka were the tourists as I behaved more like one. Haha... Apparently they had been there during their last visit. Think they had Hagen Daiz Ice-cream then. Just realised that it was our first time(Veron, Lorraine and me) to Clark Quay in the night. Haha... See! We were indeed more like tourists ya!? Lucky that we managed to catch the next group photo together! We had an additional figure; Lorraine.

Nothing special except for the Turkish Ice-cream we had. And hor, ya, I paid for them too. I saw Yuka taking out $50 dollar notes. Well, since already all the way, why not make it a full one. If you understand what I am trying to say. Hee... (It is clearly not advisable to blog at 5 in the morning...)

10:40pm:I wasn't really sure if they like Clark Quay and er... Esplanade. Still, I decided to bring them to our last stop, the DURIAN.

Take had been to the Esplanade before, in the day during their last visit too. Well, I hoped he gets enchanted in some way by the night pictorial landscape of our CBD this time round. We strolled a tiny bit before settling at the bank along the Eplanade promenade.

Guess the mood and the lightning got into us as I chatted with Take from Singapore's history, politics, economics, education, army, social problems etc. And he gladly shared with me his points and views on Japan's too. It was definitely a great conversaton. It was a Man 2 Man's talk. Haha... Well, Veron had her share of Woman 2 Woman's talk. Apparently, Take and Yuka had been to many many countries! I'm so so impressed and jealous. Hee... There and again, they worked hard for it. = P

As we got mesmerized by the night scene, time seemed to have ticked by faster than usual.

11:59pm:I dropped Take and Yuka @ their hotel. SOmehow, I already began to miss them. Haha... Wished them the best of luck to their trip back etc... Time to say good bye. *sob sob* Just one day and there's already so much affinity and inclination. Hope I didn't fail them as a one day tour guide!

Wanna thank Veron and Lorraine for their big help! They really helped me alot. Thanx gals! Hope you folks enjoyed this as much as I had. Been an experience ya?! haha...

Anyway, someone told me don need to be so calculative or something about counting to the bits about the helps etc. Hee... That's really nice to hear but it is precisely so that I see a greater need to appreciate what I have. I believe in fate. Once again, thanx 4 everything!

I am looking forward to Take's next mail and I have decided to learn Jap! haha... I hope one day I can communicate with take in jap. Wish me luck!!! Ciao!!!