Recap Of 2008

Here is a recapitulation of my last three-hundred-and-sixty-six days.

JANUARY

• Had a low-key New Year celebration at home, while Skyping with her at midnight.
• Back to Malaysia for a couple of weeks and managed to catch-up with some of my family and close relatives.
• My short trip ended much sooner than I would have hoped for, and had her to send me off at KLIA.
• Joined a ski trip with other international students and Japanese friends at Tsunan. That was my first and only skiing experience to date.
• My tutor and I teamed up and our robot came as the first runners-up in the robotic battle among my classmates.
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FEBRUARY

• Attended the Nagaoka Snow Festival, in which I participated in the snowman construction.
• Managed to catch the night illumination during the snow festival, which was a serenely beautiful sight.
• Experienced the method of rice cake pounding, and at the same time, the school organised a farewell party for the fifth graders of international students.
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MARCH

• I was in contemplation whether to stay in my hostel throughout my spring break, or set off to somewhere. Eventually, I chose the latter and managed to cover some parts of Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura, Enoshima, Yokohama and Asakusa.
• Had a simple meeting-up with my batchmates in Ueno and Shinjuku, in which we had hanami at night in Ueno Park, barbeque buffet and karaoke all the way.
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APRIL

• Celebrated my 21st birthday, which was one of my most memorable one.
  
• Joined the rest of the Malaysian for sakura sight-seeing or hanami in Yukyuzan Park.
• Had a bowling-cum-okonomiyaki outing with the international students and several Japanese students at the town.
• Visited Echigo Hillside Park to enjoy the magnificent sight of colourful tulips.
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MAY

• Joined the rest of my batchmates, seniors and juniors for the traditional Golden Week Gathering in Tokyo. It was a just awesome and great to meet up with the familiar faces after some time.
• From our usual daily routine of going to lectures, we took the weekend off to visit a local vegetable farm nearby our college and planted sweet potatoes, besides learning how to make soba. Five months later, we got to taste the sweet potatoes we planted earlier.
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JUNE

• The annual school trip organised for the international students this year took us to Saitama, Nikko and a few more places in Tochigi prefecture, including the visit to Tobu World Square.
• Had the dormitory festival and again, the event that caught the eyes of people was the Mr Ladies' Contest.
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JULY

• Represented my class in the futsal event during the college ball tournament but unfortunately, we didn't manage to make it to the final.
• Another trip for the international students to Oze National Park.
• We turned one-year old.
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AUGUST

• Summer came and it started with the Nagaoka Festival, followed by the well-known Nagaoka Fireworks Festival for two straight nights.
• Returned home to spend my summer holiday in Malaysia.
• Went to Kolej Kedua in Sri Rampai, the hostel where I used to live while studying in PPKTJ to give a talk to the juniors.
• Returned to my alma mater, Saint George Institution to catch up with the teachers.
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How can a visit back to Malaysia be complete without indulging myself with the delicious and tempting local food. Here are a compilation of some of the food I had when I was back.

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SEPTEMBER

• Became the tour guide for the Japanese lecturers and students during their visit to KL.
• Visited the new place of PPKTJ together with the Japanese lecturers and students, and watched the students battled it out during the robotic car race.
• Spend some time of my holiday to meet-up with my friends and at the same time was taken around places while enjoying the local food.
• Celebrated the Mooncake Festival and managed to have a taste of the mooncakes after a lapse of a year.
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OCTOBER

• Joined the rest of the Malaysians in Nagaoka to celebrate Raya together. Satay, rendang, ketupat and nasi himpit all made their presence on that day.
• Eikawa sensei and Atsuko sensei pay a visit to Nagaoka Kosen and we managed to join them for a short event.
• Went to Kamo city for a pear plucking trip.
• The annual Sports Meet in college, in which the tug-of-war team comprising of the international students almost made it to the final.

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NOVEMBER

• The Malaysian students in my college opened a stall selling satay, samosa, jelly and syrup during the college festival, in which we earned more than 80,000 yen.
• Participated in a blood donation campaign in my college; it was my first time donating blood in Japan.
• Had a trip to Niigata city in which we visited Niigata Science Museum and learned some simple skills of kendo and karate.
  
• Joined four other students from my college for a homestay programme in Mitsuke town.
  
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DECEMBER

• Came back to Malaysia for my winter break, and travelled from south (Singapore) to north (Taiping). The remaining days were spent at Michelle's hometown in Malacca with a couple of days at Genting and KL.
  HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!