A competition of sorts

Quote of the day:
“Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.”
- Jerry Garcia

So there’s this competition that AKB48 and its management have set up yesterday at 6 PM, JST. The general idea is that anyone who has a Google+ account can participate and that to participate, one simply needs to write a support message for a member of your choice from ALL48 (including AKB, SKE, NMB and HKT), and simply convince others to +1 your posts. The competition is divided into seven languages and the highest +1 count post of each language becomes a winner who shall receive a personal thanks video from the supported member, as well as a chance to report the AKB48 27th Single General Elections event live on the 6th of June in Tokyo itself. After that, one person from the remaining Top 49 from each language will be also awarded through a lucky draw.

The verdict is, it’s an open-ended competition and the winner will not be easily determined. The event itself spans two weeks and that’s all the time you have to climb your posts to say, a few thousands. Now I’m not sure if I have any proper support whatsoever, but to anyone who might be reading this blog, I would request for an assistance from anyone who visits the blog, to credit a +1 at the post I will provide below. Your +1′s will be deeply appreciated, and of course, if you’re participating, I will help out as well.

Details: http://www.akb48plus.com/oshimen/en/index.html
My post: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113663831613327266197/posts/61LPYj4EvDu

If I could convince anyone who reads this to help me out, I would love it.

Catching up

Quote of the day:
“One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.”
- Randall Jarrell

As one would have noticed, this little blog hasn’t been updated in a very long time. Sure the last post might be a day or two ago but the previous one before that dates probably months back. So what is the purpose of this post? As a reminder that I have a blog and I should do my fair share of work to keep it running for whatever purpose it may have, for as long as possible. As per the quote, time moves by so quickly, especially at my age. Most of us probably wished we were older when we were kids but looking back, there’s much more to life than meets the eye. That being said, my school years were over, but I do wish I could travel back in time every now and then. Unfortunately that won’t be possible until a while later so I guess I’ll have to make the most of life now while I still can.

Now, exactly what needed catching up? Long story short, I did so many things that I could put them into a list of sorts.

In no chronological order:
- Got a Lego car set thing. Consists of almost 1,300 pieces and completed it in 3 days.
- Purchased 2 other singles and 1 album of AKB48, and 2 stage recordings of SKE48.
- Recently completed trial exams, and am currently having a two-week break.
- Watched a couple of movies, as well as the first time I’ve been to a karaoke box.
- Played, completed and replayed the Mass Effect trilogy which includes Mass Effect 3.
- Completed UCAS processes and to date, received two offers, each from Warwick and Sheffield.
- Learned the fact that Maeda Atsuko, centerpiece of AKB48 is stepping down soon.
- Performed yet more translations of favorite songs which I’ll probably put up soon.
- Started a mini-collection of unique photos, compiled into a somewhat empty album.

There’s definitely more to add to the list, but I’ll add them next time around since I can’t remember all of them just yet. If it’s anything, life needs to be recorded just because our memory systems are never fully functional. Also, watching a few things gave me an opportunity to learn even more new things. What might these new things be? I don’t know how to put it in words exactly, but whatever it is, I can feel it; and it’s given me a never-give-up kind of spirit. Certain people continue to give me hope, and I will continue to follow these people if that’s what keeps me content.

Japan Trip 2011 – Part 2: Kanto

Quote of the day:
Anyone who can handle a needle convincingly can make us see a thread which is not there.
- E. H. Gombrich

As much as I mentioned that this post would take yet another great amount of time, I realize that I don’t really have that much time on my hands. I also still want to keep this Japan log as a single piece or two consecutive posts anyways so here I go again. This next part will cover a different side of Japan that is the Kanto region. For many who do not know, the simplest example of the Kanto region is basically the central area of Japan where Tokyo and its surrounding cities are located. And now, the storytelling continues.

Day 4: Summary
- Departure via coach to Shizuoka
- Visited Owakudani (大涌谷, lit. Great Boiling Valley)
- Visited another temple, but unfortunately, forgot the name of it
- Stopped at an upper level of Mt. Fuji
- Checked into Fuji-Mihana Hotel, Mt. Fuji, Shizuoka

Day 4: Reviews & Details
We woke up that morning rather early and had breakfast, though I can’t exactly remember what I ate that morning. Anyway, with that settled, we went on for another one of those long bus rides, maybe about an hour or two, on a journey to Shizuoka where Mt. Fuji was located. Along the way, we stopped at another R&R for another toilet break. While we knew we weren’t in Shizuoka whatsoever, there was an extremely clear view of Mt. Fuji along with its snow cap. It was only normal that the ride got delayed due to photo shoots.

Some background information on Mt. Fuji; it is currently Japan’s tallest mountain at 3776 meters high and it is considered to be a dormant volcano with its last eruption occurring some 300 years ago. Despite being the tallest mountain however, it is rather short compared to others around the world. Mt. Fuji is also another symbol of Japan and is one of the most beautiful and rare mountains thanks to its almost symmetrical cone shape. That being said, I’ve seen Mt Fuji from many different spots and it seems to look the same all the while. Mt. Fuji is also a mountain made from three other mountains over a long time ago. The climbing season of Mt. Fuji usually occurs around July every year and local citizens would climb it to witness the first ray of sun. The reason for this is that Japan is the first country in Asia to receive sunlight, hence the nickname “Land of the Rising Sun”.

Now while Mt. Fuji was within sight, we weren’t anywhere near the mountain exactly. Our next stop was Owakudani (大涌谷, lit. Great Boiling Valley), a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs. Similar to Jigokudani in Hokkaido last year, it was a volcanic zone and the area wreaks of the smell of sulphur, commonly known to be the smell of rotten eggs. The lower grounds didn’t pose too much of a problem but the highest point where visitors can reach had that foul smell choking me a little. The valley is also a popular tourist site for its kuro-tamago (黒玉子, lit. black egg), a local specialty of eggs boiled in the hot springs themselves. As a symbol of longevity, eating one is said to extend your life by 7 years. One could eat up to two and a half eggs for a total og 17.5 years but eating three whole eggs isn’t advised for some apparent reason. Later on, we descended and had lunch, a set lunch as usual. There was a stunning view of the lake in front of the area. There happened to be a moving ferry at the time as well. Before leaving, I bought a set of photographs of Mt. Fuji from a souvenir shop below.

Later that afternoon, we visited another temple, but once again, I have failed to take notice of the temple’s name whatsoever. My only indication is that it is a Buddhist temple of sorts and is extremely uphill. At the top, one can find what seems to be a white Buddha statue. Before reaching the statue, one is certain to walk by many other statues which have a country label on them. I wasn’t too sure what the place was for but if I were to guess, it’s still a Buddhist temple. From the end of the temple where the white statue is located, there is an incredible view of Mt. Fuji. Obviously, I had to take pictures of it. Better yet, at the time of the photo, Mt. Fuji had small clouds around it, adding more photographic value to some of the ones I took.

Descending the temple, we moved on to climb Mt. Fuji, although not literally. Due to the cloud formation on Mt. Fuji, it wasn’t possible to reach the higher levels of the mountain. However, we did manage to head up to the third level of the mountain just for the sake of visiting it. While there, I bought a bunch of souvenirs related to the mountain such as a few key chains and some 3D block crystals. The outside temperature at the time was approximately 5 degrees Celsius and snow was clearly visible on the roads, although not as soft as the one in Hokkaido. Coldness really went to a new level considering temperatures elsewhere were only approximately 10 degrees. After that, we descended to visit Mt. Fuji’s visitor center for a video of the history of Mt. Fuji including its formation and present activities. Aside from that, the souvenirs mentioned earlier could also be obtained here.

Once that was done with, it was time to check into our hotel at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Considering it was Mt. Fuji and its surroundings, the temperature was approximately 0 degrees throughout the night. We had buffet dinner in the hotel itself and one thing to note about he hotel was its hot spring availability. A year ago, I had three hot spring opportunities in Hokkaido but I had denied all of them for this rule; not a single strand of string must be on you. I decided to forgo that problem of mine and went for yet another first of experiences and it was just amazing.　Waters were at temperatures of 41 to 42 degrees Celsius and the hot spring was divided into an interior and and exterior one. The exterior one feels much hotter for some apparent reason and after having a 10 to 15 minute session in the springs, your body is so warm that you feel nothing even when standing outside at a temperature of -2 degrees Celsius wearing thin clothes.

Later that night we walked to the nearest 7-Eleven to grab refreshments and just have a leisurely walk. I also happened to get a limited edition 7-ElevenⅹAKB48 card that comes with purchase of 2 specific items. Do note however that “nearest” was an approximate 20 to 30 minute walk from the hotel. Given how it was so late and cold, it was painful for me to accept it in the first place. I was originally going to watch a local Japanese drama that night but having that AKB48 card compensates for it all the same. Either way, we slept tatami-style, that is we slept on floor mattresses for the night. Being extremely exhausted, I went to sleep as soon as I returned to the hotel and cleared everything up.

Day 5: Summary
- Departure via coach to Asakusa, Tokyo
- Passed by the Diet Building and Imperial Palace
- Visited Ginza St. a.k.a shopping haven
- Visited Shinjuku St. a.k.a another shopping haven
- Visited Harajuku St. a.k.a yet another shopping haven
- Checked into Keio Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku

Day 5: Reviews & Details
The listings in the summary may prove to be somewhat familiar; this is because the itinerary today was exactly the same as the year before. In other words, today was a second chance to revisit any places that we might not have been to the year before. But this time, there was a bonus that I didn’t get in the previous year. To begin the day, we had breakfast in the hotel before we checked out. Today’s breakfast had a little more variety, but I resolved to having a number of pancakes and hash browns; or more than just a number of them. In any case, we departed for Asakusa via coach immediately after breakfast.

Having mentioned that the day is almost identical, we arrived at the same place, that is the Asakusa Kannon Temple. Referencing my earlier post, the temple itself resembles an ancient looking one and it itself is a Buddhist temple. Away from the temple is the long shopping street hidden from public view which left the impression of Chinatown the last time. We did our common walking and wandering as usual. Similarly, we advanced with the tour guide to a local agency and confirmed our tickets for Disneyland, just as we did last year. Not only that, but we also had advances on our lunch venue. I’ll be skipping the actual details on lunch like I did before too, because the details are really scratchy, and it is again set lunch to begin with. The only new thing this time is the amount of AKB48 exposure I’m noticing; something I couldn’t pay attention to before I knew about them.

As with the itinerary, our next spot, or rather road, is Ginza street. As a general overview, Ginza is a shopping street guaranteed to empty the wallets of heavy spenders. And to make a correction to my entry last year, the street is only closed on weekends and not on holidays in general which meant traveling across roads is comparatively more difficult due to the stretch of the road itself. Referencing previous entries, the length of the road spans a good kilometer or two. Among some of the newer things we did here was actual shopping. While I did no actual spending on clothes, my brother took the liberty of grabbing several lines of clothes which weren’t presently available in our home country. What I did spend on however, is on CDs. While traveling along the long road, I happened to notice a music store selling some of the latest AKB48-and-related singles and I couldn’t help but buy them myself. The result of it: My first three singles, and the latest ones at that, from AKB48 and related groups. The singles I bought included AKB48′s 上からマリコ; AKB48′s subunit, French Kiss’ 最初のメール; AKB48′s subunit, Not yet’s ペラペラペラオ and SKE48′s オキドキ. My brother also got himself an iPhone case and a screen protector from the same gigantic Apple store we visited last year. I too originally wanted to buy a pair of headphones, until I found out it cost half a thousand MYR.

This next part is an additional bonus that first, wasn’t available last year and second, wasn’t part of the itinerary in the first place. Our next destination, instead of Shinjuku, was Harajuku. We left Ginza around 4 PM in the afternoon and made our way to Harajuku which, as mentioned, wasn’t originally part of the tour. Honestly, my first impression was that we got to visit a new place and that the day wouldn’t be completely identical. But little did I forget one thing; the moment we stepped down the bus, my brother called me and pointed out a building which had the label “AKB48 Harajuku Official Shop”. The whole time, my illness shrouded me badly enough to make me forget that Harajuku had an official shop of AKB48. But first, an overview of the street itself.

The street that the shop is part of is comparatively much smaller, much shorter and definitely much narrower than the one mentioned about Ginza. It was your typical street, narrower than usual, consisting of many stalls, shops and restaurants. Relatively speaking, the street resembles a modern and more advanced night market, if the description fits. For the most part, we did as much as the usual walking and made a few toilet visits. If it’s anything that we didn’t do, it was purchasing anything in particular. However, the statement proves to be untrue for one part of it.

The AKB48 Harajuku shop is almost a street corner shop with the actual corner shop being a pharmacy or convenience store. The shop itself has two levels; the lower being the general shop and the upper being restricted to only certain people with SMS codes, if not mistaken. The shop, like most official merchandize dealers, has a myriad of items ranging from collectible cards, calendars featuring specific members, foodstuffs, but most importantly, CDs, both singles and albums, as well as DVDs of all sorts ranging from general variety to special events such as the Request Hour. We were allocated two hours, but I spent about the first hour and a half just staring and thinking about what I should get. Skipping the long waiting time, the general conclusion is that I bought
three additional singles: AKB48′s 会いたかった; AKB48′s ヘビーローテーション and Maeda Atsuko’s Flower, as well as two packs of trading cards; these were just for show. In the same amount of time I spent staring at the items available, my brother took the liberty of visiting a sports apparel mega store and got himself a limited edition Barcelona jacket.

When the time was up, we went back to Shinjuku, just as we did last year. We didn’t do our usual traveling however. Instead, we followed another family who knew the location of a ramen restaurant. As a result, we had ramen for early dinner and the aforementioned family treated us. Seeing as we spent most of our time eating, there wasn’t much remainder time by the time we were done. Unfortunately for us, the next location was our actual dinner. In the previous year, we had a tempura set dinner in an office block of sorts. This time, the food was almost similar, but quoting our tour guide, the one we had this time around was better. In terms of location, it seemed to be yet another commercial office block. With dinner done, our next stop was Keio Plaza Hotel, where we checked in, and we were never to be seen for the rest of the night.

Day 6: Summary
- Departure via coach for a second trip to Tokyo Disneyland
- Had dinner at the same place as last year, buffet-style
- Checked into the same place as before, Narita Marroad International Hotel

Day 6: Reviews & Details
Today’s itinerary, as I am completely sure this time, is exactly identical to the one we had last year. This year’s Disneyland was simply a second chance to cover anything we may have missed before. We already had most of our fun last year thanks to the Fastpass tickets we found on the ground before. The roller coasters, as mentioned, were probably the greatest attractions there so it was only normal that we rode them again. Due to the lack of time last year, we didn’t manage to ride Splash Mountain. This time around, we rode it and we even got a commemorative photo to bring back home as well. As far as Space Mountain is concerned, I rode it once, but suffered a terrible headache later. This led me to leaving my brother and a new friend of ours, Tristan to ride Big Thunder Mountain without me.

Almost all the attractions were the same. There was a new Philharmagic 4D theater performance introduced this time but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t experienced in Hong Kong already. As a drawback, the attraction was done in Japanese too. Fortunately for me, I had the grounds to understand a partition of what was being said. The others however, I cannot say the same. This 4th D, similar to the one in Universal Studios. Seeing as we traveled alone this time, with Tristan in the group, we were literally free to roam in any direction we chose. There’s nothing much to be elaborated on the attractions as they were mostly the same. Decorations however, have been changed to suit the winter season. The same was done in the previous year, but newer additions were placed, including a fully decorated Christmas tree close to the main entrance. Our Fastpass tickets weren’t put to a total advantage, but we did what we could. We did however, wait about 40 minutes for a Monsters Inc. Ride n Go Seek attraction we missed before this. The attraction involves pointing a beam of light at the Monsters Inc. insignia to score points. The true score however, is not provided at the end of the game.

Some of the souvenirs we got this time were, in a sense, remarkable and memorable. Among the things I got upon leaving the aforementioned attraction included a T-shirt which I now wear to college occasionally, an almost completely decorated plastic cup, and a flashlight. Note that while it looks like a normal flashlight, it was bright enough to be blinding. Some of the other things included a 3-in-1 magic set, containing tricks involving coins, a seemingly broken pencil and a deck of cards. Another item I got was a magic book, which, if handled properly, can show pictures of blank pages, black and white pages, and fully colored pages. I also happened to pick up a Disney Lego set for fun during our last few shopping moments. I learned a while later that the set is only a small part of a larger collection and that the set can actually be obtained from local stores. A little decorative item among the stuff we got was a Mickey and Mike Wazowski Nano Lego figure. Made of extremely small parts, the item has to be hand-assembled, and the actual item will appear to be a block-shaped character. And as with the previous year, more key chains and other small decorations to go around.

Last year, we had our chances to eat smoked turkey legs. This time around, we had ice cream sandwiches and pizzas of different toppings. I personally made it a special lunch of sorts to have 3 slices of that pizza. The pizza in mind is a typical double meat, probably chicken, pizza topped with a lot of cheese and several slices of onion. This pizza is also served in a special box and is much larger than the typical size. Having 3 easily stuffed me but I swear I could have more if I wasn’t so sick at the time. My brother and Tristan tried some of the other toppings including mushroom, shrimp, some vegetable related topping, and it was our main source of food there. So to sum things up, we went into, got into a few places, ate ice cream, went into the Philharmagic, got into a few more places, had pizza for lunch, rode a bunch of roller coasters, had even more pizza because it was too awesome, went into the Monsters Inc. attraction, bought souvenirs, bought more souvenirs, bought even more souvenirs and when it was dark, we finally took leave. After that, we proceeded to buffet dinner.

This last day wasn’t as vibrant as before. The crew this year was more separated and were more inclined to stick to their bunch of people. So anyway, my brother and I had our own table and I was in charge of most of the frying and grilling. I took a reasonable amount of meat including chicken, beef and pork and basically grilled everything to a pretty good degree. The only problem was how weird the food looked. Well, I’m no expert chef, but at least I could tell if a piece of food was edible. Following the main course was the free soft-cream dispenser. Technically it was included in the main fees, but I’ll treat it to be free anyway. Compared to last year’s count of 3 serves, I had 5 or 6 this time around. Once we were done, the typical habit of stopping at each and every supermarket of sorts continued seeing as there was one downstairs of our dinner venue.

Carrying on, we checked into our final hotel, Narita Marroad International Hotel, where we claimed our “special orders items”. Similar to last year, we bought a bunch of snacks, a bracelet for my mom this time, some dried scallops. Well maybe it’s not as much as I expected, but we did spend some huge amount on that list, that’s as much as I remember. After collecting our stuff, we did a quick delivery of everyone’s orders. Some of the other clusters have ordered huge piles of items; which made deliveries somewhat problematic for a few of the rounds. After all of that was done, we pretty much did nothing except sleep because like every other thing, this holiday has to come to an end. So we made final checks, rearranged all our items, zipped everything up and went to sleep.

Day 7: Summary
- Had breakfast at Narita Marroad International Hotel
- Departure to KLIA, Malaysia @ 11 AM
- Arrival at KLIA, Malaysia @ 5:45 PM
- Hit home safely

Day 7: Reviews & Details
Today, like most other last days, is pretty self-explanatory. Today being the last day, I decided to wear the Monsters Inc. shirt for the rest of the day. So we got up, did yet another check for our items, and out for morning breakfast which included your typical international setup, break, milk and juice. Also to note, we bought two cartons of chocolate milk back from 7-Eleven near the Fuji Mihana Hotel. Ever since that night, those two cartons of milk had traveled with us to every other hotel we checked into. Figuring that is wasn’t allowed to go to waste, I consumed them despite my fullness since airport regulations state that there cannot be outside liquids present inside the airport.

Once the ticketing was complete, we were left with about an hour or so before our flight commenced; this meant more shopping. So what I did was buy two of those “I (heart) so-and-so” T-shirts; a white shirt reading “I (heart) Tokyo” and a black shirt reading “I (heart) Japan”. Among the other things I got were several key chains as well as the Shiroi Koibito biscuits we got from Hokkaido last year. After that, it was only waiting time before we headed home. The flight was another direct one to KLIA, and spanned about six and a half hours. I was watching movies throughout the flight, but I did take short naps somewhere in between. Lunch was also provided, and it was some sort of Japanese fish. It came along with some cheese and some non-sweet and non-spicy sauce. Unknowingly, I ate it and frankly, I thought that was the cheese. Regardless though, I loved it, and the actual cheese. Following the lunch was a small cup of Japanese-brand vanilla ice cream. After the long flight, we finally touched down in KLIA somewhere in the evening.

We last parted with Lee-san when we saw our father through the transparent glass separating the pathways. When we saw him, we had our last words with Lee-san and carried on. We loaded the luggage into my father’s car and rode an hour ride back home, stopping at an R&R for a short drink before heading back. We unloaded everything, I got out of my long johns, did more unloading, totaled our spending and kept the rest of the money while returning the USD denominations. After that, we had a taste of local food once again before we closed the night. I opened up my 7 singles and played them throughout, even watching some of the DVDs included with the singles. Before sleeping, I took the time to set up the Nano Lego Mickey Mouse figure; it sits on the table in my room now. The next day, everything had returned to normal and we had stories to tell everyone.

Japan Trip 2011 – Part 1: Kansai

Quote of the day:
“I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.”
- Franklin P. Adams

This is gonna be heck of a long post, that’s all the warning I can give this time. Reflecting the quote above, I actually learned many things through that particular method. Take for example my interest to which some may call an obsession, AKB48. It was in fact NMB48 that led me to learning about AKB48 in the first place. From that point on, I picked up Japanese and guess what, I ended up in Japan once again for the second year in a row except this time, I was more prepared and the country didn’t seem so foreign to me anymore. I was heavily criticized for not picking up Chinese, my supposed birth language, and instead picking up Japanese, something else completely unrelated. It didn’t matter much what anyone had to say about it because in the end, I knew I would find some good use in doing so and the effects were clearly positive. Before moving on to the main topic, it’s Christmas Eve at the start of this post so Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year 2012. Now, I shall get back to what will be an even more detailed post about how my second trip to Japan was my ticket to a few new things.

Day 1: Summary
- Last day of college; two tests and under bad health conditions
- Arrived home around 5 PM for last minute preparation
- Left house around 7 PM for departure to KLIA
- Departure to Kansai International Airport at 11:45 PM

Day 1: Reviews & Details
Okay, there isn’t much to be detailing this day just like last year because it simply counted as an itinerary day and nothing more, but there are details outside of the trip that may be worth noting. The day of our flight happened to be my last day of college for the second semester as it was. I had two somewhat important tests in store that day and I was struck with influenza A H1N1 several days before this day. It was troublesome enough to experience fever, flu, weakness, cough and several other symptoms so there was the suggestion to yet again forfeit the trip for health reasons. After the tests were concluded, we, my brother and I, decided that it’s not that big of a deal and chose to go for this valuable trip anyway and so we did.

We made last minute preparations at home, got scolded, advised and many other things one could expect from parents before a long separation. We left home later that evening for the airport but stopped at an R&R to have a last cup of “teh tarik” before flying off for the next 7 days. After that little dinner, we met up with the same tour guide we had as we did the year before. About that last cup, it wasn’t the last cup exactly. I had another vanilla milkshake before departure. After passing through the immigration gates and splitting from our dad, we basically just stood around until it was time for flight. This time around, we took one of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 airliners and I have to admit, it is definitely something to be reckoned with. The flight commenced close to midnight and we remained in the air for the next 6 hours. Unlike last year, we were not nervous, but instead, horribly ill. It was very cold the next morning. Our next destination was Kansai International Airport, Japan.

Day 2: Summary
- Arrival in Kansai International Airport at 6 AM local time
- Went to Universal Studios Japan, Osaka
- Checked into Cross Hotel, Osaka in the evening
- Dinner and leisurely walk after dark

Day 2: Reviews & Details
Basically, I could hardly sleep through the flight because external temperatures had already dropped below -10 degrees Celsius and I haven’t got my winter clothing prepared at that time. In addition to the cold weather, I had the window seat so it was rather difficult to stay warm. Add that to the illness and things weren’t just going your way. We had landed in the morning when the sun was just rising. Upon arrival in Kansai, we quickly changed into thicker clothing and proceeded to our first and only highlight of the day, Universal Studios Japan. Also to note, Kansai International Airport is actually a sea airport.

Just as we did the previous year, we tasted Japan’s fresh, cold air once more. The coach ride from the airport to Universal Studios itself took about half an hour so I took the time to observe Osaka’s roads. As it seems, Osaka looks like what seems to be an industrial prefecture with many reactors within sight. Aside from that, Osaka looks like a highly populated prefecture to be in. From a far distance, Universal Studios seems to be an ordinary looking theme park with a roller coaster that encompasses about half of the air region of the place. I do regret however, not enjoying everything the place had to offer. This was mostly due to health reasons, lack of time as well as overly long queues.

Universal Studios introduces a number of attractions which exhibit some of the most amazing effects used in entertainment. One of the attractions related to Spiderman has its 4-D feature where the 4th D is given by effects such as heat, actual flames, motion seats, water sprays, and several other things that make the scene look as if it was happening live. Another attraction called Backdraft, introduced a set of flames, literally. The attraction was primarily reenacting a scene from the movie “Backdraft” where a factory fire starts spreading and causes more destruction. While the entire thing was planned, everything seemed to be very real. The flames made the set look as if it was really burning but in the end, it wasn’t burning at all. Another attraction is the Terminator one which involves transformations between actual reality and virtual reality. One moment, they were playing a specific scene through a screen and when you least realize it, the character actually appears on stage. Think about a bike coming at you, playing on the screen. Moments later, there is a bike on the stage with a real person operating it.

Overall, Universal Studios displayed some of the commonly used techniques in filming entertainment. Among other things include the roller coaster and several other attractions which had overly long queues as stated earlier. In short, besides showing these effects, the place is a theme park in general, similar to Tokyo Disneyland, except much smaller in scale. We got in at 9 AM and left at 3 PM later that afternoon and it was a direct check-in to our hotel for the day. After about 30-45 minutes, we were in the heart of Osaka. Our hotel that day was not a building on its own, but rather one of the lots on the side of the road. Nevertheless, it was still a 5-star hotel which had an amazing bathroom, at least compared to the other hotels we visited throughout both trips.

About a half hour after our check-in, we walked out for an early dinner and our dinner that evening was shabu-shabu, commonly known as steamboat. Unlike typical steamboat meals however, instead of soup, only plain water was used and instead of a fixed course, it was a buffet. Meats and vegetables of any kind could be added into the boat at no extra charge. Once we were done with that, we walked around the place, looking for anything notable to purchase but in the end it was just a casual walk. We then returned to the hotel around 7-8 PM and basically called the night to an end just like that. Comparatively speaking, this was rather early for us so I took the liberty of watching some TV and use the internet since I’d brought my laptop this time around. Among some of the things I watched, I managed to catch a live performance by AKB48, SKE48 and NMB48 by pure coincidence. It seems that there was an award show going on at the time of the broadcast. After that, I took a long bath and I almost forgot, the hotel had yukatas, commonly known as Japanese robes; the same ones I had described last year. I’d used them throughout the trip and this hotel was no exception. With much time to rest, the night closed in quietly. Our next destination the next day would be Kyoto, former capital of Japan.

Day 3: Summary
- Departure via coach to Kyoto
- Visited Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺, lit. Kiyomizu Temple)
- Visited another temple, but unfortunately, forgot the name of it
- Visited Kinkaku-ji, (金閣寺, lit. Temple of the Golden Pavilion)
- Departure via coach to a bullet train station, passing through the prefecture of Nagoya
- Experience a bullet train ride to the hotel area in Hamamatsu
- Checked into Okura ACT City Hotel, Hamamatsu

Day 3: Reviews & Details
Today was a day dedicated to Kyoto, the former capital of Japan. Kyoto has been quoted, phrased or even named a living museum. This is due to the amount of temples, national sites, world heritage sites that exist in this very city. Because of that, our visits today were mostly temples; not one, not two, but three of them. We woke up in the morning, in Osaka and had our breakfast. Since it was only our first night in Japan for the tour, things got messy once again and I screwed up, causing the both of us to have a really rushed breakfast. Not that I can help waking up late since my sleeping hours were already imbalanced anyway. After a reasonable breakfast, we left Osaka and traveled to Kyoto. Upon a half hour from departure, we made our stop at Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most popular tourist zones in Kyoto and also a world heritage site.

The temple itself has history dating back to 778 and from what information I could find, the present state of the temple was a result of restoration to the structure back in 1633, meaning that the structure has remained this way for a minimum of 375 years. Another thing to note that the structure is made of strictly 100% wood; not a single nail has been used to construct this temple. The naming of the temple comes from the waterfalls within the temple with kiyomizu meaning clear or pure water.

Kiyomizu-dera has multiple interesting things to note including some traditions. One of them was to jump off the stage of the temple. In the past, it was said that if anyone could survive a jump from a 13m height, his or her wish would be granted. This however, was too dangerous and is no longer allowed at the temple. Another popular activity involves a pair of stones called the “Love Stones”. Set apart along a pathway of length 6m or so, if a person can walk from one stone to the other with his or her eyes closed, he or she will find true love. Aside from that, there is as a waterfall in the main hall in which three channels of water fall into a pond below. It is said that the water has wish-granting powers. As a result, it is common for visitors to catch the water and drink it themselves. Last but not least, there is a stunning view of Kyoto from the temple which cannot be described by words. However, it is also the same view that exists all over the internet. The primary difference, the four seasons of the year. The view however, amazing.

A small thing to add about the temple is the road that leads up to the temple. It was a rather constricted road as we went higher which means only pedestrians were able to use that road. Along the sides of the road were many shops of all sorts including one that sells non-official AKB stuff. I took the liberty of grabbing a few simple key chains while I was there. Meanwhile, others would buy snacks, maybe even Japanese souvenirs of sorts. We then had lunch which happened to be a Chinese course. Having said so though, it doesn’t feel like those at home. Either way, we went on to our next location when we were done.

The next destination was unfortunately a temple whose name I couldn’t remember. It was a temple however, decorated in red and has a very large gate. The temple happens to be a former castle, if not mistaken and the road is paved with small rocks, slightly larger than sand. They used these rocks because it would ward off ninja in the past because even if ninja could slip unseen, they would not slip unheard. This was particularly interesting information for me as I was mostly complaining about the small rocks. The temple itself as I remembered was a popular site for a tradition in Japan known as the Shichi-Go-San (七五三, lit. 7-5-3). It is a traditional rite of passage for three- and seven-year-old girls as well as three- and five-year-old boys held annually on 15th November and guess what, we were there on 15th November itself; talk about pure luck. On that day itself, we found many children all dressed up in hakamas and kimonos for the first time in their lives. Aside from that, photography of the children is a rather common thing there. We didn’t stay here for too long however, spending only about a half hour there.

Later that, we departed for Kinkakuji (金閣寺, lit. Temple of the Golden Pavilion). Another one of those world heritage sites, Kinkakuji was a temple one can call a golden temple at first sight. While the details of construction isn’t too clear, I know that it was once before burned down to the ground. The temple as we see today is a close replicate reconstruction of the temple completed in 2003. The temple on its own was a simple villa which was then converted into a Zen temple when it was bought by a different person. The temple consists of three stories in which the top two are covered with pure gold leaf and it serves to house relics of the Buddha. This building also serves to be a model base for the Ginkakuji (銀閣寺, lit. Temple of the Silver Pavilion) as well as the Shoukokuji (相国寺), another temple in Kyoto. There isn’t anything too interesting to do around here except for the view of the temple which sits in the middle of the lake. I guess that trait is already common for sightseeing; just simply stunning views.

That pretty much concluded most of the day. After that temple visit, our next stop was Hamamatsu. However, the trick to that is the fact that we needed a minimum 3-hour ride from Kyoto all the way there, passing through one of Japan’s larger cities known as Nagoya or as known to me, the home of SKE48. As stated however, we were only passing through and we didn’t make any stops in Nagoya whatsoever. It was already a pretty hectic day considering most of today’s activities involve mostly walking. This bus ride gave us a chance to rest and sleep to refresh ourselves. An interesting thing to note was when we stopped on a highway R&R for toilet breaks. It is there that I managed to find an AKB 2012 calendar box set which would eventually become my first purchase of an official item belonging to AKB. To think that if I didn’t need the toilet at the time, I wouldn’t have got it. I came to find out later that the box set was actually limited, so that’s a real lucky time for me. The trip then continued until we reached a train station. I wasn’t too clear about where the station was, however. I only knew we were headed to Hamamatsu.

And for the last part of the day, or rather night, we experienced a bullet train ride for the first time. The bullet train system runs on a Maglev technology, standing for magnetic levitation, and is technically a non-contact system. The huge mass is levitated by a magnetic system and is said to experience near-zero ground friction. This means that the train can potentially accelerate to extreme speeds in just a matter of a few seconds and the highest speed recorded by a Maglev train was an experimental 518 kilometers per hour. That is approximately 4.7 times the speed of a typical highway car. For commercial trains, this can range between 250 km per hour to 400 km per hour. Despite traveling at that speed however, due to it being a non-contact system, the ride was unbelievably smooth and one could sleep in the carriage without feeling a single thing. Standing outside the train while waiting however was another story. Whenever a train was passing through a station, a huge force can be felt as though the train is sucking you towards it. The train was moving so fast that anything very near to it would’ve been sucked in if there was no resistance. Even non-moving trains could experience the same force and this was due to Bernoulli’s principle.

After an approximate 15-20 minutes, we arrived in Hamamatsu and went for our dinner first in the station itself. I couldn’t quite remember what the food type was, but I clearly remember having a lot of fish and green tea to go along with it. Later that night, we walked to our hotel which was just a short distance away from the train station. We checked into Okura ACT City Hotel which happened to be a base for performances. As an addition, we had ramen once again, and a first time for this trip a while after our check-in. I was also then introduced to the ordering system done in some, or many of Japan’s restaurants. One would need to insert bills or coins into a machine and similar to a vending machine, one would need to choose the food of his or her choice. Once that is done, an order is sent to the restaurant and any change would be returned. Later that, the waiters would automatically serve you your food just as you ordered it. After sharing 2 bowls of ramen among 3 people, we went back to the hotel and closed the night in. The next destination the next day, was Mt. Fuji, Shizuoka.

Now due to the present length of the post, I’ll probably split the logs into two just as I did the previous year. Also, as I just noticed, I had divided the past logs into Hokkaido and Tokyo separately. I realize this time that I could break the logs into Kansai and Kanto. Well, that’s about it for this round. The next one shall continue sometime soon.

To be visionary

Quote of the day:
There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.
- Pablo Picasso

In the recent days, I kept telling myself; I shouldn’t be the person I was several years ago back in secondary school. I was always one to think with logic and nothing but pure logic. Everything I did had to be based on intuition and calculated risk. Clearly, if the risk wasn’t worth it, I wasn’t supposed to do it. This nature has also led to a big problem with pride especially when related to intelligence. To date, I still carry that trait and I’m trying to reduce it even if it means defying myself.

Ever since the ending of SPM times and the beginning of this whole AKB fandom, to an extent some may call an obsession, I’ve been trying to readjust myself to be more balanced. I don’t just want to be the smart guy and that’s the end of the line just like that. I want to carry on whatever I have, release some of this pride and be more creative, more outgoing and more visionary. I’ll add another quote from a picture I found some time earlier. We should have clear sights of our goals, but we don’t want to just stare at it and do absolutely nothing. A vision must come with an action. However, the said vision must start from something in particular. With that, one must be forever optimistic and ignore all obstacles along the way.

The AS final exams have begun for me at least a week and a half ago and so far, it’s been progressing rather well. The practical paper for chemistry wasn’t that dreadful while the physics paper was comparatively easy compared to the previous experiments we did. With relation to goals, I still don’t have a particular one in sight when it comes to my life in full. All I can say for now is that I need that perfect score from my exams. Whether that is achievable or otherwise, that is another question.

Now onto the real reason of the post. Weeks ago, probably a week or two, I’ve read of a story where a lucky boy got to literally hang out with members of AKB48 during the 「Everyday, カチューシャ」 single recording period in Guam. The boy, whose father was a loyal fan of AKB48, informed him of their arrival and decided to snag a quick look at how things went down at the set. He was a local resident himself and he was living the dream. Management took notice of him when he appeared and even gave him tasks for the girls in order to make it look as normal as possible. He had plenty of conversations with the girls and the best part was that he got to take pictures under the condition that he needed to maintain strict camera rules and regulations.

Pictures would explain this further but that paragraph above alone is enough to explain how much I want that to happen in my own life. This isn’t the only event that’s compelled me to write this post. I may be crazy or obsessed or whatever, but I had a number of dreams that were related to some of the members themselves. There’s no point into explaining how the dream went considering it was totally nonsensical and impossible to occur in this world we live in. Some say that people who appear in your dreams could be people from the past or the future. I’ll never know if that is true or otherwise but maybe it’s an indication?

Now, some information on the ’48 groups themselves. AKB48′s sister group, NMB48, has recently started a big chain of releases starting a couple of weeks ago when the AS exams have just started. While NMB’s and AKB’s singles have been released, SKE’s latest single is next in line, followed by a couple of subunit tracks. Thus far, I have added 3 new songs into my CD and readjusted a couple of tracks, bringing the total number of tracks to 34. That’s as much as I have for now.

A very important event of AKB48 is about to take soon, namely the AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 for 2012. News indicate that the event will no longer be held at Shibuya-AX, but rather at the larger Tokyo Dome City Hall, reported to be able to seat 3,100 people instead of AX’s 1,500-person capacity. The upcoming concert will span over 4 days as usual but have newer restrictions which limit the set list to strictly singles and stages only. All subunits and solo tracks will be performed in a separate event sometime later. The event will be held from 19th to the 22nd of January. I don’t know what the odds are of me attending that event live, but I certainly hope there’s that chance. If at all that fails, maybe I’ll have to resolve to downloading from scratch and who knows how long it would take for them to upload the entire thing.

To have a dream, a goal, or a vision means to have something set in mind. With that, a plan must be formed, carried out, and set in stone. With all that aside, I still have the intention to meet Maeda Atsuko in person one day. There are currently way too many limiters that I myself cannot identify. At this point, I’m really lost of words. I’ll put it this way; you want to do something but there are so many things that prohibit you from doing such things. Maybe some time in the future, I’ll get to meet her even if it is just for a couple of minutes, or even seconds. All I have to do is to remain continuously optimistic and hope for the best. Until then, I have to work my way to that stage. I just know, somehow, I’ll be able to do it someday.

Time to make it a little more frequent

Quote of the day:
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Sometimes writing senseless points can be quite meaningful. Yes, that sentence pretty much contradicted itself, but what matters is I get the job done right? Another day passes on; a quiet one at that and the AS final exams start to draw closer and closer. At the time of post, I have an approximate 4 days to go when rounded to the nearest day and I’ve STILL yet to start on any serious work. I don’t want to invite trouble or anything but I really can’t find the right mood to start on the work. Maybe tomorrow, it’s got to be soon enough or I will suffer big time later on.

A recent thing is that the iOS 5 was released today. However I was stupid enough not to be aware about the fact that it is not ready for an untethered jailbreak yet and hence, I’m stuck at this new version momentarily without any of my usual apps. Well it could be a good thing. For one, it means lesser distractions. On another hand, I have no access to my Japanese learning tool and a lot of other things for the next few days or even weeks.

Well unlike other posts, this one doesn’t serve much of a purpose. In the end, I suppose this post is not even going to net 500 words but an attempt is an attempt nonetheless. The only thing left to do now is to fix up my phone, prepare for the AS final exams for real and not goof off, spam more and more AKB music everyday and last but not least, get priorities straight and enjoy life. Talent struck Maeda Atsuko (yet another reference from my sweetheart idol) and I’ll compensate for that by hitting what no one else is able to see, my success. That should be it for now.

What we do and why we do it

Quote of the day:
“You live and learn. At any rate, you live.”
- Douglas Adams

At any rate, we are always learning about something. It’s been some time ever since my last post which apparently goes back to 24th August. A lot has gone on in these few weeks like a bunch of holidays, preparation for AS exams, AS trial exams, and more things in typical plain old life itself. As much as I told myself to blog a little more often, I couldn’t bring myself to it. What is this supposed to mean? My laziness is being taken to a whole new level? Or do I really have that few things to write about? I can’t tell myself, but what remains true is that I need to keep writing if this whole project were to carry on further.

For one, the 2011 remake of Hana Kimi has ended somewhere in the recent weeks. Apparently it was one episode shorter than its previous counterpart. Not that I’m unhappy about it or anything but then again I wish I could see my idol a little more in action. So much for Maeda keeping short hair now. Ratings were low as it was throughout the other episodes; now that I wish I could do something about it. Related AKB news include a recent じゃんけん大会 (Janken Taikai) or a Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament which was held to determine the 16-member lineup for the upcoming 24th single later in December and what better way to clear the competition by having Shinoda Mariko to come out top. Among the sadder things include Maeda and Yuko both losing in their first rounds. Other than that, a 23rd single is due release on 26th October, yet I already have a slightly shorter version on that. I also finally took the time to download the entire ここにいたこと album in which 3 of the 10 original songs in the album made it into my self-burned CD.

That’s pretty much what I have for now regarding AKB. Not as little as I thought I had. The next update would be all-college. First off, my trial results turned out much worse than what I expected. There were no A grades and the highest was just two Bs coming from physics and maths. The other two subjects were graded C, for thinking skills and E for chemistry no thanks the blasted organic component of the exam which covered at least a third of the paper. From the time of post, I’ve left another 5 days before the actual AS exams and the first paper is the chemistry practical one. Not that one can actually practice on that paper but I haven’t been doing my share of work as of late. Procrastinating more and more each day will only lead to a heap of work to cover things up. Long story short, must work, or else.

Next thing came my birthday which was as plain as ever. All went pretty normal just like every year. A simple cake, a tired day from school which is now college, and a random gift out of nowhere. While the Vios itself was counted a much earlier gift, I got a Sony S-Frame anyway when I woke up from my evening nap. It was a digital photo frame which supported all sorts of input and had 2 GB internal memory as well. I took the opportunity to transfer at least 700 of my pictures from when me and my brother were in Japan. The only downside to it is that for it to work, it needed an input power source. Since there’s no space to put it for now, it remains unpowered in my room.

Time for the rant section. I can’t understand why dogs, not literally, exist in this world that we live in. It’s been a strongly established fact that humans are selfish, but why do some have to be that and be stupid? I hate that some people have nothing better to do other than to disturb others’ lives and the worst part is that they always get away with it. Something needs to be done about these people and it’s not gonna need only the general public, but even authorities need to take action on this or we will all perish very soon. I don’t understand it. Why do they do that? Why do they need to make people suffer? If peace and simplicity will not work, we use violence to solve the problem. However, advice has said over a billion times, violence never resolves anything. Fine, then what do we use to resolve it? War is necessary for one to win. No matter how one tries to dodge it, it will be forever inevitable if one side remains stubborn. I can only hope something changes soon, for I really cannot live this kind of quiet lifestyle already.

Something about logs and recording

Quote of the day:
“Be life long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for.”
- David Starr Jordan

Now this is exactly what I will be writing about this time around. These days, I find that I barely have the time or the mood to write post after post in the blog. But as of late, I start to realize that recording every part of your life is important. I’m guessing that one may ask where this is all coming from but I’d have to say it’s all thanks to a drama. Because of this drama, I have gained the interest in logging everything I do and now I have a sudden urge to be using my Handycam or even the camera on my phone for that matter. As quoted from that drama, you are young only once, and hence, you might as well make full use of your time when you are young.

I had just went into Maeda Atsuko’s blog and found that once upon a time in 2009, she had 292 blog entries in a single month. They weren’t too long and neither were they too short. All her posts were nice and sweet and it was a perfect way to keep in touch with your past once you grow older and older. Maeda has inspired me in ways uncountable and while it is insignificant to others, I don’t care what their opinions are. I am entitled to my own doing and I most definitely will see to it that Maeda continues to inspire me with her normal life. The things she does, the way she lives, it is all so simple. In fact, it is so simple that she is both having a normal life and yet she’s popular and my sweetheart of all time. If she can do this, why can’t I? If she can live in that manner, why can’t I?

From the drama as well as her daily lifestyles, I have definite learned much and there’s just so much to update on this blog. The 花ざかりの君たちへイケメン♂パラダイス２００７ summary, a new upcoming 花ざかりの君たちへイケメン☆パラダイス２０１１ summary, a few things about college and certainly a lot more to share about my drama experiences. It’s about time I shoot my numbers higher on the blog. The more the memories, the more the happiness, the more complete my life will be.

花ざかりの君たちへ | Hanazakari No Kimitachi He

Quote of the day:
“There are lots of ways of being miserable, but there’s only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running round after happiness. If you make up your mind not to be happy there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a fairly good time.”
- Edith Warthon

There’s really much to be said about life. For example, one could see life as a very big drama, a very big one. In fact, dramas are mostly filled with emotion but I never thought that this one drama could push me to such an extent. Over the course of that particular drama, I was definitely dazed more than once and there were times when I would just sit down in total blankness, asking myself what happened and why I was staring into blank space. It could’ve been too emotional for me, or I was simply too amazed. While I don’t know what exactly it is, it helps me define what is “a great drama”.

The drama I kept mentioning is entitled 「花ざかりの君たちへ」 or otherwise known as 「Hanazakari no Kimitachi he」, often shortened to simply Hana Kimi. Based on a manga originally authored in 2004, this drama was created in 2007 and reflects a very similar story. I might be doing a full episode rewrite every now and then and it’s been a while since I did any descriptive writing myself so why not write about something I absolutely love? This would allow my expressive side to show a little more. Somehow I can’t help but feel that there’s a need to write or tell someone about this; I need to share my thoughts and feelings. Nonetheless, I should at least write a summary.

Ashiya Mizuki (芦屋瑞樹) is a Japanese girl from America who fled from her family alone, returning to Japan to regain the motivation of a boy by the name of Sano Izumi (佐野泉) in a high-classed, all-boys high school named Ohsaka Gakuen (桜咲学園). His school was an all-boys school and hence, Ashiya had to enroll and disguise herself as a boy. The background story revolves around Ashiya intending to witness Sano’s amazing high jump abilities which had gained the attention of the world. When Sano had traveled to America for the competition, Ashiya was trailing him to the camp when she was captured by a number of thugs. Sano noticed her and quickly attempted to rescue her. When Ashiya had gotten free, Sano tried to escape from them until he came to a dead end. He resorted to his last move and quickly tried to jump over a fence when his leg was cut with a knife. Ever since then, Sano had gave up on high jumping for all his life and Ashiya felt that she is at fault for causing such an incident to occur. Hence, she enrolled in the school in order to return Sano’s smile back and persuade him to jump once again or she would not return to America.

In the beginning, she was subjected to all sorts of mishaps and other whacky situations due to the fact that the school was an all-boys school. A number of situations include being unable to use the bathroom, being treated like a boy, being treated physically, sexual harassment, bullying, sounding like a girl, looking like a girl, and several other things. Throughout the course of the school time, Ashiya had stayed in a dorm with Sano for a roommate, by pure coincidence. As an additional statement, the dorms were split into three particular “factions”. The first dorm was for the athletic bunch with a bad-tempered black belt as the dorm head. The third dorm on the other hand, housed the artistic students with a dorm head who thinks everything can be solved with his “intelligence”. Meanwhile, Ashiya chose the second dorm, where she and the rest of the students were generally mixed and normal students.

Considering how this is getting really long, I guess I’ll be doing a rewrite on each and every episode sometime soon; some project this will turn out to become. After all, everything I’ve written above would easily sum up the first episode or two, probably just the first. Whichever the case, there’s definitely more to come about this. Even till now, I am still extremely touched by everything I’ve seen thus far. This drama, by all means, is the greatest drama I’ve seen yet. There’s no appropriate reason for me to say such a thing but even so, I believe my mind already knows what it is and hence, so be it. Never before have I been so moved by such a simple story.

Halfway through 2011

Quote of the day:
“If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.”
- Oprah Winfrey

It’s another quiet 1 AM here where I feel bored enough that I have to write something to get a couple of things off my mind. It’s been, as the post heading indicates, halfway through the year of 2011, and honestly, I feel quite misled and quite lost on a few things. Most of these “things” though, would be reflecting college life as it is.

It’s been almost 4 full months since my A-Levels started and really, it’s not as cut as I thought it would be. For starters, many people claim, or rather live, this statement: Education is necessary to succeed in life and probably to get a job while you’re at it. I personally believe that education is highly overrated despite what I have went through for the past 11 years of educational life. I admit, I am academic myself, but to base that education is the key root to everything in life is not a wise idea. For starters, A-Levels is pretty much a pain throughout these months. Could be the fact that I enrolled in the March, otherwise known as the express intake but then again, even though it’s been 4 months, I’ve yet to develop an idea of what I want or will be doing in the far future. Okay, chances are that I’ll be doing Mechanical Engineering as a degree program, but here comes the question in mind: Will it have synergy with whatever interests I have in the first place?

College life isn’t a privilege. As fun as that sounds, unless your decision is solid, one would be stuck with the massive decision-making throughout the possible 1 to 2 years of this phase. Directionless, misled, contrasts and conflicts, these are the few reasons to deter and stray you away from your original goal. True that I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph, chances are that I’m doing Mechanical Engineering, but only because it sounds viable for me. Viable here only means I’m most capable of doing such a course and not any other courses. But again, conflicts arise. My interests lie in a few places. AKB48 will highly be referenced in this not because I’m obsessed with it, but only because it’s true.

Okay, first off, I took a year’s time of guitar lessons from the end of 2009 through 2010 up until the beginning of my SPM examinations. Obviously, academic people like me and not extra-curricular like others would not match well with anything that involves a “social hobby”, something I define as something people do regularly and is easily recognized in public. The whole point is, despite what nature I have, I place my interest in music, music creation, digital technology, information technology, graphics and imaging, and whatsoever related to whatever I just mentioned. So to crosscheck, did I choose A-Levels simply because it leads to a powerful degree? Or am I really being misled? I’m not following my interest and hence, not choosing properly.

True enough there is a strong debate between lucrativeness and interest. There isn’t a point to be doing whatever it is you are doing just because it’s fun. If it doesn’t grant you any decent salary or income, that particular thing you’re doing would be obsolete. That’s where the biggest cross comes in. Most people cannot even afford tertiary education. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate what my parents are doing for me, but it’s just at times, I wish I didn’t have to choose between such things. Moving back to the previous paragraph, I find myself using computers all the time. I cannot see myself not touching this Alienware M15x for at least once a day. Okay maybe there were a couple of days, but in the long run, technology is my forte, or it will be if I keep this up.

The next dispute is the choice of universities once the A-Levels is done with. My classmates are always around the block talking and discussing about which university to enroll in once the program is completed and what not. Meanwhile, I have the slightest idea of where to be going. The US? The UK? Japan? Australia? There is sure one heck of a gigantic list of countries, let alone universities, to choose from. As far as the A-Levels is concerned, it’s clear enough that UK would be the greatest option. Okay sure, UK is one of the most prestigious countries to be doing a degree program of any sort, but what about the culture there? It isn’t the same there and it would most certainly not feel like home. In fact, the US sounds better, but anyone from where I live would have to suffer a 12-hour reversal if he or she decides on the US. Australia? I’ve heard a number of Asian racist issues and I’d certainly not like to be involved in anything.

There are other factors such as cost, distance, timezone issues, and maybe any other things one could think about. The problem here is: Malaysia doesn’t have a decent-enough university to be granting internationally recognized degrees. Now honestly, as much as education is overrated and everything, there is pride in holding a world-class degree. Education is something one will undergo as if his or her life depends on it, which has some sort of 50% weightage in this case. It’s unfair to say that a construction worker is less smart than a doctor; that is plain wrong philosophy. All these things lead up to one and only one other thing: Is tertiary education even needed in the first place? It causes hassle, it causes expenditure, it causes time consumption, and probably many other things. Yet people still insist to place their children in prestigious institutions hoping to bring up the family name someday.

As far as my college life is concerned, I have yet to set my sights on any country, I have yet to choose an institution of my liking, heck I have even yet to pick on a course that befits whatever my interests are; Mechanical Engineering was and is until now, just a draft choice. Honestly, all the while, my subject combination fits my strong subjects in SPM as well as matching the requirements my dad has placed for me to take over his company in the far future. Then again with AKB48 all around, that whole concept might just seem a little too far off. Think about it, would I rather sit in a factory or somewhere in the outlying areas generating a large revenue while driving myself up to complete exhaustion or would I be somewhere else doing digital editing while not earning as much while having the time of my life? Your career is, after all, your lifetime source of income.

There’s just too much to think about at this point of time. While AKB48 members are having fun, getting tired everyday, generating a good amount of income, becoming famous and everything, I’m just a normal guy doing his college education which is oh-so-compulsory and directionless. AKB48 members have been in the business since they were young, in which they still are. Some like Matsui Jurina even started at a mere age of 11; something almost no one else could match. AKB48′s symbol Maeda Atsuko started since she was 14 and she recently had her 20th birthday. I really envy them, but not in the negative sense. Someday, I really wish I could be working with them and not whatever it is I went through, nearly 18 years of standardized lifestyle and normality.

I will be covering an update post on AKB48 but maybe at another time. Although this post is nearly reaching a length of 1,500 words, there’s not much to stop me from continuing what I have to say about this course in life. An AKB48 update, coming up next.