So, what's up huh?
During the two-weeks new year break, apart from what I'd written in previous entry, I 'd managed to
- finish reading "Judges & Jury" and "London Bridges" by James Patterson, "The Broker" by John Grisham and "Number 10" by Sue Townsend. I know, I know, I should be reading academic books, not story books, but old habits die hard and all that...;
- take advantage of New Year bargains offer to buy Kose Sekkisei stuff for myself, a pair of glasses for hubby, as well as won a small Kaeru-chan toy for my baby and an "Ai Nori" mug in two separate lucky draws. "Ai Nori" is a Fuji TV reality-show involving a "love wagon" which goes around the world, and when they were ready, players were supposed to ask one player of the opposite sex who they were interested in, to return with them to Japan. Some ended as happy couples, some left devastatingly alone, and some simply retired after being in the game for some time without finding anyone they could be interested in.
- visit Asakusa area on New Year. It was already after Asar - so it was quite surprising to see the line for people to enter Sensoji (one of the oldest temples in Tokyo area) was still very long (think about 500 meter) and growing. The place was still crowded, most of the shops on the main streets closed, the streets opened only for pedestrians and we took some pictures in the middle of the usually busy main street a'la "ini jalan bapa kami yang punya" style. I should have not been that surprised though, after all most Japanese only pray once or twice a year. There were plenty of Christian missionaries all over Sensoji neighboring areas, both nihonjin and gaijin, holding placards urging people to learn more about the eternal life of Jesus, the death of a savior, with loud speakers repeating some recorded messages about Christianity again and again. I told hubby, maybe we should suggest to AMIR or IPIJ to invite those who are free and their Muslim nihonjin friends to come and distribute brochures about Islam too in this crowded area next year. There is so much that we still need to do to right the misperception most nihonjin seem to have about Islam and Muslim, and maybe we should learn a thing or two from those Christian missionary who stood up all day long holding their respective signboard.
- visit the Imperial Palace on January 2 (the only other day the Palace inner ground was open for public was on December 23, the Emperor's birthday). Very tight security. Do not bring any liquid in cans or plastic bottles - they had to be thrown away or else you will have to keep your bag in safe keeping at a counter manned by police officers. I was first asked by a young lady officer to either finish up or throw the content of feeding bottle for my baby. I tried persuading my baby to finish the bottle up; but another elder gentleman officer said that it was okay to enter with the bottle still half full, since baby might cry without his bottle. Oh, and no plastic container of any kind - the police inside the palace compound checked on Humaidi's toy twice to ensure that it was just a toy and not some explosive or something. Those with baby stroller and wheelchair get privileged treatment - so even though we were rather late, we were ushered to the front line. Hubby who wanted to take a better shot of the Emperor's family exchanged place with Faizly who had been manning the other stroller for a while just so he got to be on the front line. Granted, the Emperor is not my king, and I earlier thought that the place would be crowded with old people who are known to be more loyal to the Emperor than the younger generation - so I was surprised to see lots and lots of young people - singles, in groups and with families, all together chorusing "banzai" and waving the Japanese flags (freely distributed before we entered the security check area) oh-so-proudly and happily right after the Emperor made one of his hourly appearances and gave ultra-short new year greetings speech that day.
- visit Palette Town in Odaiba after the visit to Imperial Palace ended. Oh, we had a long, long walk that day... and Faizly must be very exhausted playing baby sitter for the kids while the parents berhoga-hoga, especially at Toyota Mega Web. I tried out the rally racing simulator machine and oh my - it was really difficult to handle compared to real life driving. Despite the "gelong-gelong macam mabuk" bumpy ride, I managed to finish it before the 3-minute-limit was up, so was pretty satisfied (it took a 30-minute wait after all). Hubby asked me to join him entering the simulator theater - and it was much, much better than trying out the simulator machine. No dizzying experience, and we managed to have a 'feel' of how one racer overtook not one, but four cars, to emerge the winner of the competition. Huzaifah had some fun in Venus Fort, very much mesmerized by the ever changing sky scenes - from twinkling blue and green stars in a dark-dark night, to the yellowish evening sunset and clear morning sky. The only "down" side to the trip is that dogs were allowed to be unleashed in the first floor of the mall. It's not that we don't like dogs, it's just that we have to go through some hassle of special cleansing ritual if the dog lick us, or if wet dogs make contact with us. When I was in UK, I really hated it when a dog suddenly appeared in front of me and the owner would casually say "It's okay love, he won't bite, he just wants to play...", always made me felt like replying - "I don't care if your dog wants to play - but I can't, okay?"
- watch all 17 episodes plus "the making of" Korean drama "Coffee Prince". I don't usually watch Korean drama, but my cousin Firdhaus loves them, and had in the past influenced me to watch "Full House" and "Wonderful Life". Zyrin's musings on "Coffee Prince" kind of prompted me to watch it - and yup, I enjoyed it. I still sometimes hum to the tune of the song the lead hero sang over the phone to the boyish-looking heroin (believably so too, unlike the heroin in J-drama Hana Kimi who still very much looked like a girl) just before they were supposed to be apart for 2 years.
Okay, now that the holiday is over, I should be concentrating on my thesis now. I mean, seriously...
Oh by the way, Kit, thanks for your do'a (winks).
Note to Kak Lela - "ada masa cecair merah yang dikeluarkan oleh jasmani wanita boleh menjadi tanda gembira, dan saya telah mendapat petanda itu! Syukur, alhamdulillah..."
Happy New Year 1429 Hijriah to my Muslim readers
May it be a better year, and may we be blessed by Allah always.
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