I am a Virgin

Yes I am. And I don't want to hear the sniggers.

It has been so so so long since I held a tennis racket. Probably May 2007 was the last time I played. Then I could hit pretty decently, angled the height and strength of the shot if I had enough preparation. Basically I could really say "Hey, I can play tennis".

Due to a nagging arm injury and leaving Uni and starting with all the lessons and preparation to fly to Japan (mostly the latter since I don't really care about the pain in the arm), I have stopped tennis all the way till I arrived in Japan. And over here, I did not have the time or a place or even someone to hit with...till now.

I took my first shot and saw it sailed wide out. I could not do simple stuff properly like feeding the ball back properly. My favourite shot (forehand) was actually the worst. It just went out, bonkers, no amount of spin could get it in. And the funny thing is, I can serve and still keep the ball in (even though the power would have gotten me into lots of trouble if I was doing that in Uni). My worst shot; the backhand; actually sailed in beautifully. Goodness, I am so out of shape. I held the handle so tight, as if this was my first time. I fumbled here and there and my heart was beating every second. Got so frustrated I could not hit the way I want. My legs were lazy, my anticipation was screwed up.

I want to blame the weather, the court and the racket. But I have to face the truth....

I am a virgin again. No I mean, I am a virgin,
at Tennis

If Yan can Cook, so can Yeo

So, being stuck alone in a land where food is more expensive then home; i had to start to cook on my own. Well, let's just say my skills are limited to Eggs, Charmee (Instant of course) and any other instant stuff. Basically, food that is hard to go wrong.

I got some of my friends down to have dinner while I whipped up some spaghetti with minced meat and mushrooms. Why is it so simple, the sauce comes in a can, all i had to do it chopped some tomatoes, squish some fresh tomato into it and season to taste. I did realise that the sauce have to taste stronger cause once you mix it with the spaghetti, the taste becomes milder. Which was I think the major flaw this time round. I would love for a thicker sauce too. Notice something wrong? Wrong kind of cheese used! No choice when you realised halfway thru the cooking that you forgot to get some cheese.

And the victims were the two taiwanese. I could not bear to poison my fellow country man!

And of course we had to have some drinks. Got some cheap Japanese wine which tasted like grape juice to me. Cheap wine imitation....or maybe cause i got the really cheap one. The pitiful amount of drinks ran out really fast, and I had to resort to making us some 3-in-1 coffee from Singapore. Weird combination of drinks I would say.
Kel saved the day when the wine, baileys and beer ran out, with......And snacks came along with it.


and we had cheese and some blueberry yougart sweet that I bought. Plus cheese crackers. We chatted for very long. I was in the kitchen from 8.30. I got back at 3am.



Another story of cooking. My first real attempt at fried rice was a failure, but only because i got the wrong type of rice. I used the extra sticky and starchy (even for japanese standard) rice, which ended more like fried rice balls. So wanting to try to cook fried rice before I eventually try to poison more people, I used some left over and did a 5min quickie to it. And TADAAAAHHH


It actually taste pretty good. Cooked to how I like it, slightly pepperish. Now to find out how Crystal Jade makes that extra omphhh taste. Any suggestions?

I am officially NERD-ed

My friend passed me a link

https://www.cstringdirect.com/

the first thing I thought was it was some programming stuff. CString = Class String

When I entered the page....hohoho

Snowboard

I went off to Nagano (3 hours bus ride away from Tokyo City) for a day trip to learn snowboarding. WOOO HOOO!!!!! First time snowboarding, for that matter; I have not even ski before (Other then the X-country ski which is totally different). We had to catch the 7.30 bus so we can get a couple of hours of snowboarding. Which meant, I left my dormity at 5.20am. Goodness, but no choice...did not have the cash to ride the shinkansen.

A whole bunch of newbies and no proper lesson. We got a friend to teach us the basics. Ermm, which is more like how do you put on the board, stand up and break. The rest is left for us to explore. The falling down came to us all very rapidly.


I thought one of the many challenges was to learn how to get up the lift and alight from it with your board on. It was a case of monkey see, monkey do. And of course, plenty of falls.

Not too sure why, but I think it is actually quite easy to pick up. Of couse the falls and collection of bumps is part of learning, it was pretty much alright. I can roughly do some simple snowboarding. And with better speed control and more practice, i will probably look cooler while i board down! haha! The next time, it will be learning other boarding patterns.

In my collection of falls, I flipped and spun like many times before landing on my ass. I caught the tip of the board while falling down and spun even more. I lost control and found myself in a snow ditch under the ski lifts. And many many many manymany more.

A word of advice, get proper gloves. Check out mine....if became ice after the few hours of snowboarding.


Ouch....my knee is brusied. I had a very big fall which resulted constant pain in my butt and lower back. My wrists hurts from breaking the falls and my muscles are acheing from the exertion. I expect tomorrow to be worst, when the full effects of fatigue hits in.

So what is my advice for learning boarding. Hmm...don't be afraid to fall. Knocks are common, but without them, you will never move pass the first obstcle of sliding slowly and breaking.

Goodness

And this was not the peak of me being plump




Oh man....so young then, so old now

Random thoughts

The colours are pretty nice over here....but I did not bother to take a nice picture as it was freezing outside.


The old aircon which takes 30mins for me to feel any form or heat. Goodness.....

Chef...I am not

Fish, seasoned with salt, black pepper. Pan fried with slices of garlic.


Fusion Melted Cheese Rice. Added some mushrooms and lapcheong (waxed sasuage). Somehow it was really tasteless. I think I have to do something to the rice and add some seasoning into the cheese.


Stir Fry Vege with Oyster Sauce. I thought I will not get this wrong, but it came out alittle salty. Probably too much oyster sauce.

Day Out in the snow on a bike

I decided to grab my bike and explore the little village I am staying.



Check out the refrigeration lockers....keep your bag cold! haha!

Halfway through, it decided to snow and grew heavier and heavier. Chanced upon a small temple and decided to snap a few shots.









It's freezing...

Big and Red

I just had to show the strawberries again. Smells so good, taste good....ahhh....I love the strawberry season


Check out the size of it....as big as my lenes

First Day of Lunar New Year

It is suppose to be red...but all white greeted me.

My room and new toys

I had to fix some some box to hang my soap cause there is no place to put it like the previous place.


My first rice cooker in my life. I had to read the manual and ask my friend how it works to learn how to use it. MIRACULOUS device I tell you.


The food area

I did not have shelves, thus the need to get cupboards. The plastic one is Made in Japan and it cost WAY TOO MUCH for a plastic box.

My bicycle since this is a village so everywhere is very far apart. And the basket is necessary for market days, I am so domestic now

Reunion Dinner in Japan

Reunion Dinner......