lots-of-omiyage

I was delighted to receive several Omiyages today. 3 from Stockholm, Sweden c/o Chito and Jorge - chocolates, a coaster and a bottle opener; 1 from Okinawa c/o Gap - Chinsuko and 1 from Kyoto c/o Shirai-san - Tagasode sachet . The chocolate tastes really sweet and nice. I should have some again tomorrow as there are still left since the other guys weren't around today. :P The coaster and bottle opener is a good combination to think that Sweden is a beer loving country. Chinsuko tastes similar like other Filipo traditional sweets such as polvoron. while the Tagasode sachet is an incense pouch that can be used as a home fragrance. It was a trade of my Philippine Jeepney given to my team as my omiyage when I came back from the Philippines. Omiyage as always is well-appreciated! :D Thanks guys!

on top of Tokyo...

After attending the mass today at Yotsuya, I thought of dropping by at Takashimaya Square in Shinjuku to buy JLPT application form. As always, I ended up exiting at the wrong side of the station - Shinjuku station has over 200 exits! :D After strolling for some time and finding my way back to the right exit, I read "Tokyo Metropolitan Skyscraper District". Then I remembered that the "Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building" has an observatory that offers a free view of Tokyo city. Changed plans, I went to the skyscraper first to enjoy the freebie. There were two observatories - North and South, I went to both. :D The disappointing part - It was raining! Although I have a good look of the whole city, I wasn't able to see the mountains that surround Tokyo. I was just surprised how big is the Meiji Jingu Shrine combined with Yoyogi park, it is indeed a forest within the city! iPhlip will definitely come back here, maybe on a more sunny day or on a romantic evening with my W2B. :)

Japan's future

Japan will decide their future today, 30th of August 2009 when the general election takes place to determine their next leadership. It is widely expected that the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will take over most of the seats in the House of Representatives which designates Japan's Prime Minister by defeating the ruling coaltion Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito Party. Still, most of the Japanese remained a bit skeptical if they are ready for a new leadership. Who wouldn't? After 54 years of rule, they had took Japan on top of the world (well, almost) but somehow had let them down for some time these days. Although, LDP had appealed to the people that it will just take a little bit more time for them to get the economy back on track. Hontou ka? That's the big question, most of the Japanese have in their mind today. iPhlip's take....DPJ to win - They have a big chance of luring people on their side as they share the sympathy of the public ! Well, let's see in a couple of days/weeks....

JLPT challenge!

98 days to go before the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and I still need to study about 2000 words and around 300 kanjis to prepare for the Level 2 exam! Plus the special grammars of course! Whew! It's make or break for this year as it will be a different game starting next year - It will be changed from 4 levels to 5 levels. Glad that my sensei is pushing me hard to pass this year's exam. She believes in me so help me God! :D

Whack!

I'm so glad to see the book "A Whack on the Side of the Head" lying on my mailbox when I got home today! I bought it from Amazon last Thursday after reading Steve McConell's "Code Complete 2". He recommended "Conceptual Blockbusting" in his book to improve a Software Engineer's creativity but when I browsed thru other related books, I found "Whack" very interesting; plus it has greater reviews. I just hope I made the right decision to buy this one and that this book can help me unleash the creative juices from my head! This would be fun! Can't wait to turn the 1st page...

Not my cup of tea?

I've been thinking of blogging or writing a journal for quite some time but i just don't feel i can express my thoughts very well. Anyway, might as well try it. This really isn't my cup of tea I guess but maybe by doing this once in a while, I can improve and get to like it. Maybe it could also help me organize my thoughts. :P Besides, it would be interesting to know some time in the future what events have taken place in my life and what were my thoughts back then. This would be exciting! The adventure starts today...a month before my 30th bday!