The good news is – I have internet connection at my new home now. The previous entry was actually posted from a friend's house. Borrowed a friend’s bike and rode all the way to Urayasu (Gyotoku’s neighboring city, 2 train stations away) this afternoon to buy wireless LAN card. I wasn’t sure whether or not there was any available wireless network connection at my home, but I bought the card anyway, hoping there would be one. Alhamdulillah, one of my neighbours is using YahooBB wireless internet network, so basically I’m ‘menumpang’ for free. (typical Melayu kan – kalau boleh dapat free, nak aje)
The not-so-good news is – I went to Shibuya Police Station yesterday to check for an update on my lost wallet, and no, it hasn’t been found. I was told by the Malaysian Embassy that I needed a copy of the police report for the purpose of reissuing my MyKad and Malaysian driving licence when I go back to Malaysia, but since I went to the police station after 5 p.m., I have to return some other day before 5 p.m. in order to get a copy of the police report.
More not-so-good news – beginning April, Mambusho (along with JICA and even JPA) will reduce graduate students’ monthly stipend to 172,000 yen. A monthly decrease of 3000 yen compared to what we are receiving now. If you are wondering how much that is – in Tokyo, one can buy a dozen uncooked 900gm Halal roaster chicken with 3,000 yen. 12 uncooked whole chicken.
Other good news though – I found out that I put the receipt for the 60,000 yen reikin (key money) in the tenancy agreement file, meaning I could submit a claim for it from the Malaysian Embassy, which I did when I went to Shibuya yesterday. I found out that I had to pay 63,000 yen for chukai tesuryo (agent's fees) after all, and they could also be reimbursed by the Malaysian government, alhamdulillah.
And I didn’t had much trouble when I asked for reissuance of a Gaijin (Alien Registration) card at the Ichikawa City office yesterday morning. I felt relieved about not having to go to Meguro to do it all over again. Despite my limited Nihongo, alhamdulillah, I no longer have to rely on other people’s help in dealing with the officer at the Foreign Registration desk (as well as National Health Insurance). The officer took a look at my passport, made some call to the Meguro Ward Office where my first Gaijin card was issued, printed a few things, asked me to check on some information, and after a while issued the notice asking me to come and collect my card in 3-4 weeks time. (I can write my own address in kanji now – a vast improvement compared to when I had to ask a Malaysian undergraduate to assist me with writing my address in kanji during my first application of Gaijin card)
I’m pretty much settled now at my new home – and beginning to accept that my wallet might be lost for good despite hearing of other people’s success stories in getting their lost wallets returned. Yes, I’m gonna miss a lot of those stuff I had in there – especially the kad nikah and PPTD membership card (because the photos somehow looked better than most) but they are just things. Patah tumbuh, hilang berganti - whatever broken will grow back, whatever lost will be replaced. Even if replacement for my student card, for an instance, cost me 2000 yen. (worthy of 8 uncooked 900gm roaster chicken). Oh well…
No, I haven’t put up the curtain rails although I have already bought them as well as some curtains. My landlord promised to help me with putting up the curtain rails this weekend. The broken water pipe for the washing machine had been fixed, the lock for the bathroom door could not be fixed as yet (the landlord seemed very reluctant to buy a whole new door to replace it), and the TV is watchable now since I already bought the suitable antenna cable at Joshin in Urayasu this afternoon, where I got the wireless internet card.
I need to get some blankets before the rombongan Cik Kiah from Malaysia arrives – and Hien told me that I could get some used ones not far from her place. We promised to meet up in Shinjuku tomorrow. Oh, and I also promised to look up some suitable apato for Kak Tini’s friends in Gyotoku. I think I can do that since I'll be meeting the real estate agent this weekend over some issue of letting my family staying with me in the apartment. I was told by the landlord that the agreement we had was only to have me as a sole tenant, whereas I had been rather clear with the real estate agent that the reason I moved was because my family is coming and I could no longer stay at the single-tenants-only hostel where I used to live.
Anyway, it was good seeing Kak Tini, my fellow PTD who has been selected as a JICA scholar to do her Masters in International Relations at Waseda University this year. Since I was in Shibuya yesterday, I took the opportunity to visit her in JICA’s Tokyo International Centre, bringing along Beard Papa cream puff as a welcome gesture. I had some trouble finding my way from Yoyogi Uehara eki, but finally I managed to find TIC, and found her although several earlier calls went unanswered. I must admit that I’m a bit ashamed for not taking her out to dinner, (what with my limited fund and all) as it is normal for sempai to give their kohai a welcome treat. Instead, Kak Tini generously gave me a ‘buka puasa’ treat. The good thing about TIC is that they provide Halal meal, so yes, it was a welcomed change for me because instead of the normal seafood Saizeriya or Tenya stuff, I could have rice and chicken. With Indonesian sambal even.
We spent some time chatting after meal, talking about pros and cons of spending a little bit time and money to learn Nihongo, life as Waseda student, life in Tokyo and life in general. I haven’t seen her for so long, and while we have each grown and change in our own ways, we could still connect with each other. I have a feeling that it’s going to be fun to be seeing her and Fary, yet another PTD from our batch, in Waseda this coming semester, insya Allah. Ada geng la sikit.
Hmm… in less than 10 days time, insya Allah my family will be joining me here. And I haven’t even make any arrangement for their transport from Narita to here. Mak said they will bring some comforter along. It would be interesting to see if Mak choose to bring Narita comforter to Narita…
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