Kendo first grade!! ^^ (剣道1級審査OK!)

(from left)Katou san(teacher); Higuchi kun(kendo mate);me;Naito san(teacher)

in the kendo exam hall

Today I would like to share about [Kendo and I]!

Last year, Dec 13th, I passed my Kendo first grade(=coklat belt)

(hehe... sorry it is not up to date news.)

but, still hope to share the moment of happiness with you in my blog. ^^

During the exam, i have to fight with 2 opponents(about 1min each)

there are videos for me in the FIGHT! haha... My sensei(Naito san) took the video for me.

i was too nervous and i fall down 2 times at the first fight =.=

As for the exam judgement, as long as there are a bit of "skill of hitting", "spirit of shout" and "brave of attack", then consider pass. ^^

Have a look!

Fight Video 1 (i start from right)

Fight Video 2 (i start from left)

Some more photos!!

I have upgrade to 剣道一級! (my name: 洪麗君)

one of my favorite sensei(teacher) Tsuruma san

Received my certificate(temporary) of Kendo Grade 1

Kendo, still have very long way to go. Is very painful, but I love it. no pains, no gains

Planning to sit for black the belt exam this year April. Wish me luck. ^^

Japan Burger King + Malaysia Pepper

Dinner at Burger King @Kawasaki last Friday after kendo.

Was so surprised when i saw the Malaysia flag on the flyer and menu...

wondering what to do with Wooper?!!

then I read carefully....

[BLACK PEPPER WOOPER]!!! \\(^_^)//

>> they are promoting new flavor burger by using Malaysia produced pepper (Lada hitam buatan Malaysia... )!! haha....

My memory flashed back to the Secondary school Geography textbook, ya, Msia was one of the biggest exporter of Black Pepper! ^^

But is it to the extent of promoting using Msia Pepper?!! mm.... not sure how many people know about Msia pepper.

But at the end I ordered a Teriyaki Wooper instead of Lada Hitam one... hehe...

Autumn 秋

// Beautiful... is the word to describe Autumn in Japan.

-- Momiji 紅葉(Red Leaves) is truning red.. weather is getting cold... --

-- Through the momiji, the day looks brighter --

-- Temple and Momiji, is the best combination for Autumn of Japan --

-- Kuji 籤 (luck lottery ), must-have-item for temple --

-- Shinkyo (神橋) Sacred Bridge with red mountain--

-- Little waterfall at the temple, named 長さか流--

-- the photo all taken at Nikko City (日光)--

Nikko, by normal train, 2~3 hours away from Tokyo. Nikko+Autumn+Momiji = Must-Go!

Typhoon = BAD DAY.... 台風＝不幸な日

Typhoon (grade 18) hit Japan severely this morning. I was one of the victims among... i dont know how many thousand hundred people... almost every salary man go to work by train were effected (maybe 50% of Japan citizen got effected). The trains had to STOP because of the strong wind. The famous Tokyo Yamanote Line was dead completely!!!


Normally, I just go to work at Kawasaki which is one station away from where I am staying. But, today, I have to go Shibuya (one of the station in Yamanote Line) for some training. It only need 45min to reach Shibuya normally, but today I spent 5hours to reach there!!! I got out from dormitory at 7.30am, but reached my training center at 12.30pm..... (-_-!!!) I was totally wore out when I reached...... @_@

The things became worse because....
--------my IPod ran out of battery!!! (oh my god, i dont know how i past the time.... )

Then the worst is....
--------one the way, my handphone battery also gone!!! (I was thinking to take photo and video of: the umbrella "flip over" and flip back again... girls walking against the strong wind with a hand holding on their skirt... people sitting at the staircase and all around the station... people "squeeze" themselves into a "sardin train"... but i could not.... )

what a BAD DAY....

More details at

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/graph/typhoon18/glist.htm?gr=1874&ge=636

Work for Toshiba Japan? 日本の東芝で務める？

For my friends in Malaysia, would you like to work in Japan as I am now?

Here is the chance again.

＜TOSHIBA Recruitment Talk at University Malaya＞

DATE : Oct 7th, 2009

TIME : 3pm - 4:30pm

VENUE : Auditorium Eng. Faculty

LINK: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/saiyou/international/index.htm

Toshiba has a recruitment program called GLOBAL RECRUITMENT PROGRAM, which held every year to recruit people from all over Asia to work in Japan. You can make many friends from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Philipine and even Europe.

I was recruited in 2008, which is the third badge of Global Employees. This time is the 5th year of the program running.

You might worry about the field involved. Only Semiconductor? Actually Toshiba is a big corporate in Japan. The engineering field of the company ranging from LED, Semicon, Home Appliances, Machine, Turbine to Nuclear Power Plant.... all you can think about.

Another worry might language. Dont know anything about Japanese? Dont worry, the company will prepare everthing well for you. After I graduated, I had 3 months Japanese language class in (ICLS -->http://www.icls.com.my/ is a very GOOD language center located in Subang!)Malaysia to learn the basic. Then after came Japan, I had many more trainings in Japan, as you can read from my blog... Japanese, Robot, Career Building Training, Culture Exchange and etc.

Walk in the interview room and TRY it out! It might become your turning point of you life.

which it is what exactly happened to me. ^^

DONT WORRY and good luck!

Rasa Malaysia ラサ マレーシア ～3000yen/pax

RASA MALAYSIA （ラサ　マレーシア） http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/g275501/ is a restaurant located at Ginza (銀座) Tokyo, which is the best authentic Malaysia food I had ever tried in Japan! If you never tried Malaysia Food before, please have a meal there, it will not dissapoint you! (i assure) or If you are home-sick or miss the food back home, you really should GO! :)

you will see this once you enter the shop.... RASA MALAYSIA means "Taste of Malaysia"　in Malay . ラサマレーシア はマレー語では”マレーシアの味”という意味です。



the arrangements of the shop... still not bad. :)

the meal started with drinks... we had Teh Tarik, Lychee, Cin Cau Syrup (Sirap), and Bandung. Teh Tarik is kind of teh which is very common in Malaysia, (i guess) it became famous after our first astronaut attempted to make Teh Tarik in Space... Cincau is something like jelly in black colour and Syrup is the juice of Rose which is a favourite drink for Malay people. Bandung is Syrup+milk. The best goes to Teh Tarik, it really taste like Mamak-made! (made me more home sick after drank it).

before the war of the meal starts, we took photo with the drinks...

the appettizer is the crunchy Spring Roll with the Thai sauce.

Sate (サーテ) is like Yakitori (焼き鳥) in Japan but it made by traditional spices and with the Peanut sauce. It really taste like Kajang Sate(the most famous Sate Shop in Malaysia)!!!

Char Kue Tiow is fried mee similar as Yakisoba (焼きそば) but the taste is different. I dont know how to describe the taste but it really tasted like home-made... dont miss it if you go there!

Malacca Hai Nan Chicken Rice with the Ball Rice (added with sesame oil i guess) and the White Chicken. Even the sauces are good!

Claypot Chicken Rice with the mushroom and chicken... this i think my Dad has better recipe... hehe...

Santan Chicken Curry which is spicy but tasty!

I am kind of missing the Wantan Mee at Banting, so i ordered Water Wantan. It is like GyouZa (餃子) which the meat is wrapped.

Dessert time!!! デザート！Mango Pudding, im not sure is Malaysia famous for this, but i like Pudding. :)

Bo Bo Cha Cha is a traditional sweet dessert that every house it Malaysia makes. I used to ate it (when my mom is in good mod) when i was home... because it takes time to prepare for the ingredients. Made by Sweet Potato, Yam, Coconut Milk, Tapioca(タピオカ)....




Lastly, Fried Banana. This is a special-made fried banana which invented by the shop. The cold and soft banana is wrapped by the crunchy and hot skin. I never tried such fantastic banana even in Malaysia!! haha... 美味しかった！

I spent about 3000yen (~RM100) for the meal.... I am very satisfied with all the food and for sure i will go again (although is a bit expensive)... coz im damn home-sick now... o(^_^)o

Make sure you make reservation and print the coupon(15% off) before you go. First time we went, without any reservation and we waited for 2 hours, the worse was we stil couldnt get a table!!!! Rasa Malaysia --->http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/g275501/

Shizuoka 2days trip 静岡２泊の旅

Last weekend I went to my friend, Ozawa Yusuke (小澤佑輔)`s house at Shizuoka (静岡),　Shimizu Town (清水市). About 2-3hour away from my place, Yokohama (横浜). They are my team mate during the 1 month orientation of new employee.


Before I continue about the trip, let`s have a flashback for the orientation, it happened 4months ago... I had never publish anything about my classmate yet! ^^ (was busy that time... hehe) In a class about 40 Japanese, I was the only `alien` and it was an unforgetable experience.... felt like very useless, and I totally couldnt communicate with them coz they speak too fast.... was very tired coz everyday I have to 120% concentrate to try to understand them and the teachers... but always end up I only exist physically in the class.... well, even now, im still working on it. :)




my first nomikai (飲み会)with my teamate... nomikai is a "drinking party" which is a way to make friends and get to know each other for Japanese. For Malaysian, is same as out yamcha / mamak habit.

my teamate again. the photo taken during the 3day2nights camp at Hakone (箱根). We were having our Adventure Rally. it was fun although we lose. :p

Here is my whole classmate (3 team in a class). We made the class flag which became the Champion for the flag competition. We were class C4, TOC(4)BA. C stands for Confidence, Cotinue, Challenge, Create... the spirit of new employee!

That`s a little story about my working life which I left out.... okay, let`s continue with the SHIZUOKA trip!!!

Shizuoka, where the highest mountain in Japan, Fuji located. Just few hours away from Yokohama...

we took the train... for about 3 hours journey...

then we reached the town called Shimizu. The amazing thing is, the guy in the photo, his name also is Shinmizu! 清水～ haha... he is so famous... the place named after him.

Shimizu is a place near to the sea. Fish is fresh and sashimi (raw fish) meal is a must! That is Sakura Ebi (Cherry Blossom Prawn) and Maguro (Tuna) rice. with a bit Ikura (Salmon roe).

This was what i ordered, Negi Toro (Green Onion Minched Tuna) rice. It was delicious, but a bit too raw for me.... I gave to my friend after ate half of it. :p

The sea is so near, so we fishing... This is my first catch! the fish name is something like Makigawa... duno... haha..

After took picture and had fun with the pity fish, we released it to the sea. :) [look, the fish seem very angry!! ]

Believe it or not, this is another catch!! hehe.... guess total i got how many?!!

the romantic sunset made me sad...


we were waiting.. waiting and waiting patiently for the.... hungry fish to get caught... hehe

was a great fishing experience! thank to my friend who teach me way of fishing.. and finally, i got total 5 catch!!! :) the champion of the day! hehe...

then we went to a department store. We found this, Japanese call it karakara, I call it "turning egg". I got an orange handphone strap, which orange is also one of the famous things in Shizuoka.

Dinner time! This is Oden, which like our SteamBoat, but it had added sauce and seaweed powder. Is one of the must-eat-food in Shizuoka. but.. the best is......

this!!! superd delicious!!! is it the Fried Sakura Ebi (Cherry Blossom Prawn) rice with Udon (Japanese Noodle). The Ebi is SWEET!!! :) My friend said, in Japan Sakura Ebi only can be found at Shizuoka. [duno why i couldnt rotate the photo to the right angle... it became like this after i uploaded it.... ]

the hotel and the view, i love Shizuoka! you can feel the nature of beauty everywhere.

We went to the beach... we found of one the world heritage, The Stone!!! :)

We climbed mountain... (by car... ) the tea plant...

then we also saw BIG ballon which the children is inside it!!! i wish i can get in too. Imaging that im in a bubble and standing on the water! how awesome it is!!! :p

another special thing about Shizuoka... this is the place were the author of Maruchan (小丸子)　was born.

in the train, on the way back to "reality"... although it was only 2 days 1 night trip, but i felt like long holiday of golden week. mm.. maybe because of the fishing.... waiting.. waiting.. and waiting.... time went slowly......

nearly forget, Shizuoka is the place where earthquake happened last few weekss... hehehe... [which mentioned in my last post]