It is extremely very satisfying to complete 5KM run without stopping to catch my breath (and took less than 45mins). :D

It's also hard to believe that just 4 years ago I couldn't even run 1KM without *dying*.

(Of course, in return, I got the worse son-of-the-bitch body aching all over my body.)

So, should I join for the 10KM run event?

I like piano and violin. But I like violin when it is not played alone (which I wondering where am I going to find people to play with me?). Whereas piano CAN be played alone (except a decent upright piano is not cheap too).

Should I take up either of them, or none at all? Sigh.

(Haha, ok last night I dind't write my blog, too lazy already. Anyway....)

Wow, today is really tiring. It's almost the same tiring as when we were back at Tokyo. We went to Osaka to visit the Osaka Castle and the world biggest Aquarium. Our tour guide gave us alot of history lessons on Osaka Castle and the period where it aligned with our Chinese history. But because he was explaining in Mandarin, I sorta understood 3/4 of what he said. LOL. But it was interesting. The way Japan interacted with China decades years ago.

(And I saw a real sword! Reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin again LOL)

Then we ate Takoyaki just outside the castle! IT WAS AWESOME! Meooooww~~ *purrs*

And then we immediately headed to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, one of the world largest. Their main attraction was the Whale Sharks and some weird badass looking giant fishes that seems to be found only in the Ring of Life areas of the Pacific Ocean. And them? ARE REALLY VERY BIG. O_O They have this awesome glass tank that contained the animals, made out of acrylic glass, is super thick and BIG. Like 3/4 stories high.

After 2/3 hours inside there, (did I mention the weather in Kansai area is damn hot?!), we headed for our dinner. I realise Osaka shopping districts is totally not cheap at all, despite the appearance of it looks cheap. We saw a few that is really cheap, but they are all Made In China (TM).

Oh, I also realise ALOT OF ITEMS ARE MADE IN CHINA. =_=

I wanted to hunt for boots but they cost like $70-$100++. Then my friend told me all these stuffs in China is much much cheaper. So I decided next time I shall go China and do my shopping stuffs (or I ask my friend to buy for me LOL). My guide also keep complaining that Japanese cursine just cannot compare with China cursine. Parent also wanted to go there too!

At the end of the day, we walked and walked and walked ALOT, our feet and legs HURTS. >_

Today we have to wake up because apparently our tour guide never thought we 3 would walk so slow that we have no time to complete Nara tour yesterday, and stupid Japan, they have a supper early closing time!! It's so uncool!!! Why can't they have a late night healthy activities for people to enjoy?! Does all Japanese sleeps that early?!

Anyway, we went to Kiyomizu Temple, which was a temple dedicated to Guan Ying. It was the famous huge temple built on the mountain and we always see the place on postcards and such. (I'll post the pictures soon after I'm back) I made my prayers and bought amulets from there for me and my sister. LOL

After we headed to Kinkakuji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion), but we didn't really go in and see the temple because my guide said 500YEN as entrance fee is not worth viewing. So we walked this Philosopher's Path my friend told us about. About half way my guide told us this path is MORE popular in Spring, because that's where all the Sakura tree blooms along the walkpath. I saw the pictures in internet, it was really awesome. So we gave up completing the walk and walked back to our bus stop.

(*whispers* But I managed to pluck some autumn leaves out of the trees. :P After I reach SG I will laminate the leaves as bookmarks and hand it out as gifts. :x)

We managed to make it in time for our 3rd (unfortunately not the last of Kyoto) destination, Ginkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion). I TOOK ALOT OF AWESOME PICTURES OF THE TEMPLE!! Just nice when we reached the gold temple, it was sunset and the sun just shrone in the right places of the temple, making the gold plated tiles glow even more nicely.

This was our last destination of the day, half complete of the trip my guide initially planned.

I hope we can visit Fushimi Inari Shrine (Shadow Hearts) and Bamboo Forest (alot of animes? LOL) and Togetsukyo Bridge (Rurouni Kenshin)~

Today went to Nara because our guide told us Nara is a one day trip. Our guide took us to the Deer grounds and they were all so cute (and smelly and full of shit on the ground). Oh, I love the way they cries out. XD

The deers will gather around you once they realise you have those deer biscuits. And if you were in the area where there's more deers, you will soon realise 10 deers surrounding you immediately. LOL

Our guide was daring enough to venture into a ground with more than 30 deers and fed them. LOL. I kept thinking of that scene in the Lion King.

Then we went through this path lined with generations of stone lanterns. It was pretty cool to see the whole stretch road with lanterns.

Then the next stop is Todaiji (the whole deer park is just full of temples and shrines and etc). The temple is so huge and the Buddha status I think was the biggest I've seen. I followed my guide on doing the Japanese way of ritual of praying respect to the Buddha. It was so different and my guide was more religious than me, so he taught me a few lessons on our religion.

p/s: Btw, all these Japan history heritage tour is making me want to re-watch Rurouni Kenshin again~ (or the fanfic again) XD

Sigh, we went to wake up early and had 8am breakfast, so we could pack our plans in half a day. However, we could only do half of the trip! >_< I wanted to take the ropeway up to Owakudani Valley to have their black egg (bascially is eggs boiled in volcanic hot spring), then ropeway down to take a 25mins boat ride across the Lake Ashi, hoping to catch Mt Fuji and the red gate. Then we would walk this Old Tokaido path, I supposed it was an old road that Japanese people used to cross Hakone way way way back. The we will take bus back to our hotel and ready for the Shinkensen.

Sigh, stupid mountain transports. Everything was so slow there!

In the end, we could only managed to visit Little Prince museum and Owakudani. I had my black egg though! I thought it will been as smelling as the sulfur smell emitted from the volcano. (AND IT'S REALLY VERY SMELLY) But it tasted the same as normal half boiled egg. Tasty. :D

(I stopped writing my entry here and fell asleep last night. Haha. Was too tired already)

Then we stopped for a while, figuring out whether we have time to to travel down and cross the Lake Ashi. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TIME AT ALL! We only have time to travel complete the ropeway down to Lake Ashi, and back to Koen Kami (our hotel location).

BUT BUT BUT, while I was feeling disappointed on the way back because I didn't manage to walk the Old Tokaido path, I turned back and saw the Mt Fuji!!! IT WAS REALLY OH MY GOD!!!!!!

It was majestic!!! I was so stupid and lame to think it was just a mountain, but no!!! It rises above the mountains!!! It was just OMFG!!!! My camera is too lousy to capture the awesomeness. D:

Of course I was awe and happy enough to forget about the Old Tokaido path.

Then we rush stations to stations hoping to catch the next train as soon as possible, else we will be late to check in. (We had already missed the previous train we reserved)

The Shinkensen was really an eye opener. I saw it coming and suddenly I went O_O It was really very fast. LOL Too fast until it sounds really kinda scary.

Unfortunately we were able to catch the Kodama train, the slowest train among the 3 trains running along the Shinkensen (there's Nozomi, Hikari and kodama) because the train stops at all stations. The train was still fast enough that I could feel the air pressure in my ears.

AFTER 3 HOURS. We finally reached Kyoto. And we got lost a little while again. Hahah. (we have to get lost in Japan apparently)

Then we checked in, settled down for ahwile and headed out again for supper! I heard Kyoto small small eatries are awesome and cheap!! And we found one!! Yakitori!!! OMG!! I cannot describe the deliciousness of the Yakitori!! It is soooooooooooooooooooo NICE!!! SO NICE!!!!!! I had to have 2 sticks of the grilled pork!!!! And the chicken skin!!! It's different from what we have in Singapore!!!

We checked out on time, hoping to catch the 10.40am train. Unfortunately we went to the wrong station to buy the pass to Hakone, so we spent like 1-2 hrs walking around, asking information counters and checking out some other random stuffs. AND we totally underestimated the train travel time from Shinjuku to Gora.

Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto was fast. At least it was punctual. However, Hakone-Yumoto to Gora, it took like 40mins to go through all the 5/6 stations! Those friggin trains are like old models or they didn't bother to upgrade the train systems since years ago. But then again, we are at the mountain, I guess if we were going any faster, the train might fly off the railways! O_o

Anyway, we reached the inn an hour late: 4pm.

You would think we still have half the time to tour around the nearbys, but nooooooooo.... all of the local transportations stopped their services like around 5.30pm!

By the time we settled into our rooms, it's already 5pm! NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!! D:

So, our trip here was completely wasted in terms of sightseeing.

And because we spent half the day traveling to Gora, I can't meet up with shibbyfangirl tomorrow anymore again! D: I'm so sad! I haven't even taken a photo with her with my cam at all! DDD: I guess I have the neoprints as evidence that we have acually met! >_<

The only enjoyment of the day is the outdoor onsen. And I even experienced the japanese style shared bathroom! >_< *shy* Fortunately it was only me and my friend and this auntie who came in after we done bathing. (But I met a few girls on the way out and they were coming in.)

Then we went to meet up with my Art Director, Wayne~ And we exchanged our stories on what we did/went/saw on our trip so far. We chatted until midnight! It was so awesome! XD

Note to self: I feel I have completely toned/firmed up my calfs because of all the climbing up the stupid steep slopes. Maybe I could have slim down by the time I return back to Singapore. :x

(Agh, I miss watching Supernatural!)

My friends let me slept in until noon, while they sorta strolled around our neigbourhood. ANd Wiz managed to get this used Yukata & Obi at the price of $100! That's cheap! (But I'm..... kinda half broke? >_<) I'll visit the shop and see what else is suitable for my remaining budget.

After I'm done and out of our room, we headed for our breakfast. CHEAP sushi. Well, it's those scrolling belt sushi. Quite cheap, but very limited selection. LOL. I know I'm on budget, so I purposely picked those cheapest and had like only 5 plates. LOL. :P

Then I ALMOST forgot about going to Square Enix!!! How could I?!?! OMG.

We had a bit detour before reaching Square Enix (becoz I din bother to memorise the map and everything, but I still vaguely remember the surrounding landmark buildings. Lol.) AND I WAS SO TOUCHED!! Another sacred heaven! AND SEPHIROTH! LIFE-SIZED! (I took a picture of myself beside him too) XD Ahhh~ ♥

Then................







[Inserts BLACK HOLE]







SO. After that, we walked a bit further down for our Meiji Jingu, while Wiz separated from us because he had only Akihabara in mind for today. LOL. The forest was totally creepy and dark. Like that scene in Beauty and the Beast? Belle's father going into the dark part of the forest? It was totally that kind of atmosphere, especially with the many crows flying above us. (I realise the stray animals here are bigger sized than in SG...)

(I also realise the air in Japan is damn good for my face! I'm pimple-free! I LOVE COLD TEMPERATURES!)

(One more, Tokyo really have alot of fire incidents going on, becoz I keep hearing the fire alarm sounds everyday twice! WTH?)

After Meiji Jingu (and after 1 incident, we have officially affectionately called this Shrine 美极的金菇), we headed to Harajuku Station bound for Ikebukuro (yes, again).

Conclusion? 1 venue of sightseeing, 2 venues of money-sucking-like-black-holes.



Conclusion 2? Exprience and happiness is priceless, anything else, please use Mastercard.



*FLEES*

etc: Oh I forgot, tomorrow we are heading to Hakone! Miss Tokyo already!

Our day started pretty late; we only got out of our room around 12noon-ish, and spent some time idling around the Shinjuku Shopping district. I bought 2 pairs of nice and thin pattern stockings! And it cost only SGD27! XD

Then we headed abit down (I was trying to make my way down to the station), but my friend got to see this watson-type of store after a few blocks. LOL. There, I bought green/gold eyeshadow from this Kate brand I come to like it after I got my first one from Taiwan).

Along the I managed to contact my first LJ friend, shibbyfangirl and she's going to bring me to Ikebukuro! A fangirl's HEAVEN or MONEY SUCKER.

AND IT REALLY IS! I don't have a clue where to begin!

shibbyfangirl's friend was kind enough to help me though the vast shelves of unbelievable doujinshi. She even helped to sort through all the doujinshi!

(And all my mind was thinking THE WHOLE SET OF DOUJINSHI was what on my wanted list)



Unfortunately I had 2 doujinshi by my favorite artist, ARE NOVEL. Ughhh.

And UNFORTUNATELY I've also spent away $250.

After that we headed down to Shibuya to meet the other 2 of my traveling pals. Lizzie was recommending Shakey's Pizza. And OMG, it was soooooo cheap!

We split after that, Lizzie had an hr of train to travel to reach her friend's house. Then the 3 of us still thought we are abit early to go home, so we hang out at Shinjuku. (But I got half the mind to go home becoz the doujinshi was HEAVY and my shoulders hurt.) And we ended up walking through the "dodgy" streets. :D XJ was abit freaked out becoz she din realise what "entertainment" the guide book was saying. LOL. I wanted to quickly walked through the red districts, but I think it was toooooooooooooo shady. :x

p/s: I think I will make another trip to Ikebukuro, again, after Square Enix. >_>;; I shall spend the rest of the days at Kyoto & Osaka super budgety!

After last night lost in all 4 directions in Shinjuku, we are more wiser today. LOL!

By the time we woke and made ourselves to Shinjuku Station,it was already 10-ish, we had missed the Tsukiji Fish Market famous auction (which I TOTALLY not sad at all). But we still headed over there; Sushi for lunch! I heard so much about it on the internet, me and Wiz just had to make a trip there and have fresh and delicious sushi.

But we also heard that there will be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOG queue. So, yeah, we queued. For 2hrs.

As a typical Singaporean, we queued the first queue we came across, without knowing what the queue is for. Hahaha. We are on the wrong queue! We came for the sushi, the queue was for Sushi Don.

After 2hrs, we finally sat in a squeezy counter. I can't taste/appreciate Tuna and Octupus sushi, because there was WASABI inside. I CANNOT take it at all. BUT! The rest of the sushi was totally delicious!!!! I feel like I could taste freshness! Especially sea-uchian, Unagi, and Otoru! XD

After that satisfying and expensive lunch, we walked past this store and I ended up buying this Hello Kitty pants. LOL.

Then we headed to Toyko Tower. I dunno why I feel like this way, but after watching so many anime/manga (Card Captor Sakura, X/1999, etc), they always feature the Tokyo Tower. I just had this weird notion/daydream about the Tower.

We spent abit too much time on the tower, then by the time we reach Akihabara, it's around 8am. BUT the first shop we went into was K-BOOKS!! Yay! But the selection for slash is VERY LITTLE. Then we got hungry, so we stopped by at this vending-machine-ordering restaurant. We totally dun understand the menu at all! It's all japanese and the vending machine do not explain to us, haha, it's quite fun to order anonymously though LOL.

THEN I WENT TO TORA NO ANA. like 3 levels is for female only~! Enough said, this is where I will spend most of my money on. HAHA.

(Sorry for the heavy loading, we can't edit.)



THAT IS THE MAIN POINT OF MY JAPAN TRIP. THAT.IS.HEAVEN.

I AM SO HAPPY!

(Even if there's 1 or 2 books I don't really like.)

Then, this was what happened to the other members right now:




OMG, I am so tired now. Off now! (Sorry if the post seems like a report, but I'm really tired)

I got abit sad when I'm waving goodbye to my dad and my sis. :(

The 7hrs flight was slightly bumpy, but because I didn't zzz the night before, I spent most of the time on plane sleeping and eating. LOL

I had to recharge some energy for the rest of the day! (But I met one of my ex-colleague there! And apparently we are on the same flight!!! That's so cool!)

Then we spent 2 hrs in the airport clearing passports and figuring our way about. I told the hotel we were going to be late, but thankfully they are 24hrs reception. After we reached Shinjuku Station, about 7.45pm, WE GOT LOST. We needed to head west to our hotel, but.... once got out of the station, we lost all sense of our directions. Dunno which is north/south/east/west! And Wiz's GPS is not working properly! Our paper maps didn't have enough info on the buildings and etc, and the street signs are not helping at all!

We walked for about 30mins before realising we have been walking in the opposite direction!! OMG. (But the air is just so cooling! Like I'm walking in an air-con streets!!!)

I think we spent like 2hrs figuring which streets we are, which directions, and which way to go man! We keep asking the people there at every road junctions to make sure the directions we on are the right one! LOL!

Anyway we are finally settled in our room (apparently the bathroom is so much better than our bedroom haha!) and I had my first instant noodles/ramen! LOL. My first trial on suviving just on instant noodles seems to begin tonight!

I don't know, it seems I have been wishing to travel to Japan since I fell in love with Sailormoon when I was a kid. And now that I'm here, I don't know what I should be feeling! Everyone else would think I must be jumping up and down.... but, not really.

Everything feel so unreal! Like I'm not really here? I just can't believe myself!

(And not all the girls in Japan are all so beautiful and cute as I had thought! Everyone is as normal as I can find in Taiwan... maybe I'm not having culture shock yet.)

I hope I can find more good stuffs tomorrow! We are going to Tsukiji Fish Market and the famous anime/manga/games lovers' favourite place: AKIHABARA.

P/S: I WANT TO WATCH SUPERNATURAL 502!!! T_T

I'm ashamed to say that I started working on the artworks... like 2 weeks ago? :P And candygramme only managed to see the complete cover art... like the same day as the post date???? *runs*


Anyway, let's get on with it!


Fic title: Mirror, Mirror
Author name: candygramme
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 29,477
Summary: Jensen Ackles is a well-respected photographer, courted by the media and the shiny people of Tinseltown. Sadly, he's getting bored with success and beginning to become self destructive. In an attempt to break Jensen out of his ennui, his friend, Steve Carlson, offers him a challenge. "Take the first person we meet when we leave the party and make them into a star before the year is over..."



( One is not work-safe AT ALL! BEWARE! XD )

Final Fantasy: Distant World Concert on 23 May 2009 in Singapore, Esplanade!!! This is the best thing that ever happened to me~ XD The concert is too overwhelming and splendid! Initially I thought my seat was too far and corner from the stage, but we're actually seated just right!!! The concert hall was pretty, like a cathedral~ But I hate their "NO Video/Camera Please!" zzzz -___- their security is simply toooooooo tight, man!!

It was really exciting to see Conductor Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu Sensei(special apearance), that I clapped my hands till they're red and numb~ (I am THAT excited)~~XD The first song to start off with is Liberi Fatali from FFVIII, our choir (Victoria Chorale + The Vocal Consort) are damn good!!! Kyaaaaa~~ Especially the man choir, they are very powerful. (And I was still afraid that our Singapore Orchestra and Choir..erm..cannot make it >_>;; THANKFULLY, I thought wrong~ XD Am so beginning to LOVE LOVE LOVE them~) This is one of my favourite song, I was so excited + agitated that I almost cried!! (实在太感动了!!) All I can say for the rest of the songs are simply astonishing!! (Kowtow to our Singapore Festival Orchestra, they are splendid!!!)

I was really starting to get disappointed that they didn't play One Winged Angel from FFVII, it was my (everybody's) favourite song. I was hopping that they will play it for the Encore, but Conductor decided to play Terra's Theme from FFVI. Then Nobuo Uematsu sensei was inivited to the stage, we were STILL hoping they were gonna play One Winged Angel (maybe prehaps with Sensei conducting? :x) They started talking about Poll on the Battle theme arrangment, then everyone decided to go for FFVII - Jenova and FFVI - Dancing Mad. LAST BUT NO LEAST, ONE WINGED ANGEL!!!! I was really starting to give up hoping when they are ending soon.

The song set me going hysteria (everyone too~) It was really very overwhelming (MORE THAN THAT!!! 激动啊!!), I almost cried from excitment and relieve! FINALLY, long awaited!!! (真的是终于啊！！等了好久啊！激动+感动得我快哭了! Cry from relieve!!) >_<

I'm starting to miss the concert already, I hope they'll come back soon with new songs (but keep One Winged Angel)!! XD~ Many thanks to Singapore Arts Festival and GameAxis from making my dream comes true~ And to Singapore Festival Orchestra, Victoria Chorale and The Vocal Consort for blasting me off with their powerful music~ XD Kyaaaaaaaaa~ (I could sleep smiling in my dreams~)

- Hua in dream state signing out -

Another fanart I've participated in spn_giftxchnge. I just like the challenge and the motivation to draw (since most of the time I'm just way too lazy to pick my pencil) from participating 2008's spn_j2_bigbang. :D And 2009's bigbang is opening soon!

I supposed to have alot time of draw one fanart. I mean, ONE fanart compared to the eight bigbang fanarts? This is nothing.

Well, serve this lazy me right for leaving it to the last minute. I did everything (2 sketching and photoshopping) the night before Christmas and sending it off to the moderators on the dawn of xmas. Because I had to leave house for Malaysia in an hour and I still had not packed my luggage! I won't be able to access the internet once I left my house so I had to send it off by then.

Serves me right. D:

Fortunately I managed to find a pc and internet to post usmc75's gift to spn_giftxchnge while I'm at M'sia. \o/

And so presenting:

( Here )

Have a Supernatural Merry Christmas and Happy 2009 New year!! :D

When you see this, post another Supernatural quote in your lj. Let's see how long this can go on for.

Dean: Whoa, easy, tiger.

Sam: Dean? You scared the crap out of me.

Dean: That's because you're out of practice. Or not. Get off me.


I'm so going to re-watch S1-3! :D

It's really been a long time since I last took up my pencil and draw. Was it 3 years ago? I was a little afraid that I can't pick up where I left it, so I kept bugging my poor sis 3 days before the deadline for the signup ended. I'm that indecisive! :X 

Title: What Remains
Author: Merrin / walkawayslowly    
Pairings/Characters: Dean/Sam, Bobby, OMC/OFC
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 39,500
The short summary: This is the one where Dean loses his memory and himself, and Sam has to find both.
The back-of-the-book-summary: In Jefferson, Texas a man ends a generations-old curse and saves all the town's children, but completely loses his memory in the process. When it's discovered that he's a wanted criminal, the town comes together to conceal him out of gratitude for what he's done for them, giving him an apartment, a job and a whole new life. It takes seven months for Sam to find Dean, and when he finally does, he has to adapt to being around a man who has no idea that he used to be Sam's brother.

ETA: Commentary added.

( And here I am.... )This definitely has a different feel than the rest.


 </div>

YES!!! Please feed me more of Jensen Ackles in Australia!!!!!! 

*keeps refreshing flist*

This is the first time I'm recommending a SPN/RPS fic. Not sure who will notice since I'm always lurking around the fandom. But this time, I really must rec this great one.

Fic: In a Mirror Distorted and Indistinct
Author: felisblanco
Pairings: Jensen/Jared (Jared/Sandy, Jensen/OFC)
Summary: They keep calling him beautiful. Pretty. “Come on. Look this way. Give us a smile, Jensen.” He smiles and blinks against the flashes, fighting the urge to lower his eyes, to hide the blush burning under layers of makeup. Sweat runs down his back, his hands tremble.
He’s not pretty, not beautiful. He’s small and weak and pathetic and one day they’re all gonna figure it out. One day…

This story makes me cried like a baby. Emotional and powerful. Really a MUST read! *sniffing*