Thoughts on Malaysia

I was back in Malaysia for about a month and have just returned to Japan this week. It was truly a time for relaxing and slowly enjoying my days in Malaysia.

I have not returned home for 3 years since I came to Japan. My excuses were always that I had not enough cash or time but really I think I wanted to explore Japan more. I was just checking out my jalan.net history and was pleasantly surprised to see that I have visited 30 out of the 47 prefectures in Japan and that the total number of districts I have visited was an astounding 1,741. (It's astounding at least to me).

But I digress.

I had intended to share about my feelings on returning to Malaysia after being in Japan for so long.

I've always said that the public transport system and Japanese manners were top notch when asked about Japan. There is so many more things I wish to experience in Japan and places I want to go. Because of that, I have very little room to think about Malaysia or the things I might have left behind. I talk to my family and friends every day through various software and applications so that even when I meet them back home it felt like all I was doing was to continue our conversations. I do however enjoy them.

The one thing that I wanted to do in Japan that I couldn't do was actually to drive. I miss driving so much. In Malaysia, if you can't drive, you didn't go anywhere. It was a country where driving a car was cheaper to maintain than using public transport. Which was why I made it a point to apply for an international driver's permit. I recently drove up to Wakayama from Osaka and enjoyed the breathtaking view from Mt Koya. I truly felt how convenient it was to be able to drive and wondered if I would still think of trains and buses the same way. I'll be moving to Chiba when I start work next month so I think I will definitely be leasing a car.

I love Malaysian food. If it's one thing I love it's food. I had so many favorites that I could never be sick of eating Malaysian food. I made sure that I sampled all my favorites before returning to Japan so I have no regrets.

People-wise, I might be missing the way my country is so easy-going and somewhat lackadaisical nature when it comes to rule-keeping and manners. (Although I would never agree it's a good thing.)

Driving, food, and attitude... I think I've covered everything.

Where should I go to next?

Back and Going Again

I didn't think about it then but perhaps I should have posted about my last trip to Japan. :D I thought it would be my first and last trip there since I don't print money but that trip taught me one thing... I can afford a trip to Japan!

It lasted 9 days. Costed me RM4500. That included my airfare, JR pass, hostel, phone rental, food, etc. Everything. I kept hearing from friends that I'd need at least RM8k to be there so I saved about that much and found out, I only needed half of it! It was a pretty good deal. All because Air Asia exists!

So, I went to Osaka, visited Kyoto, Tokyo and came back. Now, I'm ready to visit again :D

How Not To Spend V-day cum CNY

Spending V-day without that special someone is somewhat depressing if you're a festive person. (Which thankfully, I'm not.) But spending V-day with your brother? In two different shopping malls in less than two hours? Oh-em-gee.

I had expected pyramid and subang parade to be... well, quite dead on cny but I hadn't expected sooo many shops to be closed! There goes the bag shopping plan. Now I have no backpack to use. (I guess I could sew it up a bit more so it wouldn't break within the next... I don't know... one week?)

---

In view of my present boredom, I have decided to report on my daily activities. (Oh, it's a given I'd be spending time with darling given that he's back from Aussie until the end of February, so this won't be included in my report. ;P)

If I'm not doing labwork, I'm writing labwork.
If I'm doing non-labwork related activities, I'm on facebook.
If I'm not on facebook, I'm reading and responding to emails.
If I'm not dealing with emails, I'm dealing with MUPA-related events.

It's quite routine actually. I would add reading manga to this list but I've run out of manga I'd like to read. Recommendations anyone?

Current facebook apps:
+ Zoo World +
+ Mafia Wars +
+ Cafe World +
+ Restaurant City +
+ Bejeweled Blitz +

Recent Links
+ MUPA: a sub-division of the Monash Student Council +
+ MUPA Intranet: A site for all Monash Masters, PhD & Hons students +
+ Land of Acardia: A role playing site at deviantart +

Keeping Up With:
+ Ashita no Ou-sama (recently completed) +
+ Bloody Monday Season 2 +
+ Detective Conan +
+ Fairy Tail +
+ Full Metal Alchemist +
+ Goong +
+ Hajime no Ippo +
+ History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi +
+ K-On! +
+ Kekkaishi +
+ Naruto +
+ Skip Beat +
+ The One +
+ One Piece +
+ Xxxholic +

---

Spending time with family is important to many people. 
I on the other hand, try my best to spend as little time with them. 
I wonder why.