workaholic

noun
one who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work.

actually. i don't really understand that word. i always claim that im not because i don't love work. i love my life more. it is more like if im force to do a job then i love my freelance design job. but if given a choice, i rather watch dvds (having said that i had not do my grey's and prison break3, sleep, journal and read.

but im just thinking maybe the urge and the compulsion to finish my work. if that sense of responsibility is it, then i am. that qualifies me in the category of workaholic. usually i am but now im not only that but im overworked.

signs im officially overwork:
1. i dont even have 4 hours of sleep some days. i wake up at 5am almost everyday regardless of what time i sleep
2. my whole extended family wanted to celebrate my birthday for me. so they all left me to finish my work and gathered at mid valley to shop first. that is definitely not a brilliant idea because i was dealing with my printer till pass 2pm so they all end up having a party without the birthday girl. i felt terrible and bought all of them lunch the next day.
3. i rush out of my house everyday
4. i go to at least two to three offices a day
5. i skip lunch and dinner like nobody business, given the time i rather sleep
6. i feel like im drunk when i drive (floating). i can't even think which junction to take, yes even familiar roads. so now i practice thinking aloud. and... i kiss the car in front of me. really slowly... my car rolled and touched her car. the fanatic woman came out and screamed at me behind my window. yes before even looking at her own car. but anyway it was so soft, no damage done to both our cars. but i guess that is a warning!
7. i still receive calls for job and im finally learn to decline. i can't handle any more
8. i start to feel like i dont want to work anymore. im not enjoying my design work like i did few months ago
9. i took forever to upload my japan photos
10. im left my master keys at the door and when to bed

---
despite all that, everday i never fail:
1. to drink a cup of starbucks latte
2. join my different colleagues for meals
3. to leave my house with foundation to cover my dark circles
4. to laugh and talk to ppl
5. to eat my chocolate, cruchie (and yes even vitamin B complex cannot help me stop mouth ulser)

call me crazy but thus far at least ppl still like me, that's probably the very reason im still in it

tokyo myth no4: girls in japan wear skimpy clothings

for your info they do not, ermm probably just one or two. or maybe we didn't go to the clubbing area (sorry we meant to check it out, but our legs were just too tired every night). just imagine, we hardly see even anyone wearing sleeveless. but watch out for the harajuku kids. you can only catch them on weekends and that is where we make sure we land ourselves on sunday.

day4: HARAJUKU, OEDO ONSEN MONOGATARI AND VENUS FORT
nothing quite like
1. enormous food: the dessert shop at harajuku

photo by steph


this is yummy good


yes even orange juice looks different but it taste exactly the same :)

2. extreme ppl: the harajuku kids

this kids are making up in the same restaurant. don't play play they have book reference. they will all pull a trolley bag like this with their costume inside


photo by steph
this is one of the costume shop


photo by steph
and so we go around looking at which direction they are coming from because we are looking for the nest


photo by steph
... hmm should we go in or up that road


photo by steph
never thought i can see any cute guys here. now we can officially take his photo


photo by steph
and yes we found that. we did take the invitation seriously.


photo by steph
check out the goldfishes hanging on the little aquariums on his ear


photo by steph


photo by steph


photo by steph


photo by steph


photo by steph


photo by steph


i like this photo

3. extravagant hotbath: the oedo onsen

photo by steph
first we keep our shoes in this place


photo by steph
then we go in to pay our entry ticket


next, we chose our kimono. don't need to speak jap. just tell them which no.


then get changed to our kimono


photo by steph
welcome to the onsen-land


photo by steph

this is the hotbath area we cannot take photos. i we moved to the hotbath before dinner. honestly i confess, i had not seen as many naked women in my life before.


yes don't be suaku like us. we are not suppose to hide our wallet in our kimono. it will all be charged to the the barcode tag (right) we have with our keys. and the right is this tag that will beep when our food is ready. sorry im a little thrilled by it.




photo by steph


another shopping mall nearby




the onsen and this mall, is where all the couples hangout. pretty romantic place isn't it?



drama of the day
remember i put this no.1 for a reason. (total damage: RM300 for a week, approximately only 10mins everyday)


statement of the day
cy: ok, im glad we are going back tomorrow. im a bit sick of the food already. i think one week is just nice
steph: food or guys?
cy: well, if i find a cute bf here. i don't mind eating less muahahahaha

---
i woke up on saturday morning and decided i should go singapore this weekend to celebrate elaine's birthday and visit asher, the little foo. and so i packed my stuff and drove down. the smart me left my ezlink card and singapore atm card. that will be S$20 for the weekend. then i found out that my credit/debit card can be used as a atm card in singapore (phew) :) im getting a bit forgetful and clumsy nowadays. must had overwork.

tokyo myth no3: the escalators are faster in japan

that is so not true. although it is true they are a lot of ppl in tokyo. its escalator is definitely slower than those in spore. the train interchange is so so big. just the thought of walking to the other train wears us off. waiting for the escalator to carry us from one point to the other seems like forever.

day3: EDO-TOKYO ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM AND SHIBUYA
10 things we don't have in malaysia
1. cool macdonald's breakfast
yes i mentioned. we don't have cool macdonalds food like this. not to mention the 'M' on our burger. this is layered of pancake with maple syrup and bacon and cheese as the feeling. what a scrumptious breakfast. arghh... just the thought of it.


ok we might have this... but it is just so yummy i need to show you.


2. we won't have dustbin like this in macdonalds
because we wont even throw everything in one bin now. don't even think that we will separate the trash.

photo by steph

3. we don't have distilled water from the tap


4. we don't have as many helpful ppl around
the day we arrived. just that one straight 10mins route from the train station to the hotel. two strangers volunteeringly ask us "do you need any help?" one after another. and we felt like angels directed us to our hotel. then throughout our trip. a few passer by actually offered to take photos for us "you two, take photo together?" i mean of course in kl, we are taught never to trust a stranger. who knows he will run away with our camera. but really they are really impressive. this is one of those helpful uncle.


this is the photo he took for us after a good 5 mins holding it. ok he tried, we only met one of such weird ppl. others just talk to themselves in public. ok... one chase us in and out the train.


5. we don't get cute buses like this

photo by steph

6. we don't have such a nice architectural museum

photo by steph


photo by steph


photo by steph

7. we don't get such a crowd even in spore train station

photo by steph

8. we don't get such a big crowd of good looking ppl

photo by steph



yes even the policeman looks younger and cuter. ok... i know the some sporean police looks good too.


and the kids are goodness cute

photo by steph

9. we don't get such hard boil egg with half boil yoke

photo by steph

10. we won't ever have such a hanger behind our sits because the bag will surely not be there after we finish our meal

photo by steph

drama of the day
i worked in japan. yes in fact 80% of the september hello! issue 9, i finished it in japan. i don't know how i did it but i rest more than usual. somehow i just woke up very early every morning. steph was saying she felt horrible i slept later than her but wakes up earlier than her every morning. honestly i think it is God.

photo by steph

statement of the day
"hey, our taste (for guys) are the same when we are here. it means that we both know what is good looking. just that when we are in malaysia. we both compromise some things and i guessed we compromise different things, thus the different taste." chaiyen

tokyo myth no2: japan is an expensive place to go

it is bit more expensive then average but it is still affordable.

each of our meals cost from rm15-rm30 (of course we never go into those high end restaurants).

each plate of this yummy stuff cost about rm6-rm14 which i think is the normal price we pay at genki sushi here, no?


above photo by steph
steph's favourite


above photo by steph
why do mcdonalds when we have it in kl. the additional stuff they have on their menu is seriously good. the breakfast and mc pork. the thought of it makes me hungry


above photo by steph
we pay only rm50-80 each for this nice room


above photo by steph
with personal bathroom, im not complaning eventhough it is so small. don't even think of making out here. hehe...

ok besides the point that handiplast cost rm7 for a box of ten. and AA battery cost rm12 for 4. the rest are bearable. all in all i only spend rm4k including airfare and tax. both steph and i actually have rm1k left because we over budget our expenses. well, again of course we shop wisely. i mean what is the point of getting something more expensive then what we can get it back here right? also we only take train and walk except for our last day we took a cab because we couldnt carry our extra big bag on top of what we brought.

conclusion: japan is a shopping haven. both for the rich and not so rich. even if you dont have the luxury to shop, it is still worth a trip. somehow their old and new buildings look equally beautiful. i mean take a look at their boutiques. they are really impressive.

day2: SHIMOKITA, GINZA, TOKYO TOWER

the old

the lane right outside our hotel


kaneji temple, near our hotel






above photo by steph




above photo by steph


above photo by steph


above photo by steph




above photo by steph




the new




above photo by steph


above photo by steph


above photo by steph


above photo by steph


above photo by steph
mac, this photo steph took for me


above photo by steph


above photo by steph
look at the cool changing light display on the chanel building


above photo by steph


above photo by steph
somehow all their lift have sit, i guess for you to rest because you might be too tired, shopping this whole street


above photo by steph
and yes steph will raved all about the gucci cafe, it does look impressive though




above photo by steph

you know she was pretty impressed when she took even photo the washroom


drama of the day








if you notice that none of us was in the photo at the tokyo tower. well that is because i went there alone. yes all by myself. because the smart me decided to go back to work and rest while steph continue to do her window shopping at ginza. i do not have a 3G phone to use in japan, so we made plans to meet at the train station at a certain time to go to tokyo tower. which was plain stupid because the train station has like 5 lines. and so the brilliant me make a mess when i waited for her at the wrong place.

and so this is the drama. we waited for each other for 1 hour. then i decided to ask ppl where i am and i realised i was waiting at the wrong place. so i walked to her line which she told me later she did the same. so i guessed we miss each other just by seconds. yah very drama, like a korean series with background music. so she is not there. i went high and low to find a phone that can make international call but thanks to technology. the number that i thought i remember is wrong by one digit. so i managed to call someone in malaysia but not her.

now, the drama continues, the music still playing on the background. are we fated to meet. so i try to figure my way to tokyo tower. every step hoping to see her. walking that street all alone, getting my own ticket, taking the lift up that tower. circling the place twice and not see her. i finally concluded either she has left or she has not come at all.

so i let my guard down. try to enjoy the night scene. i'm not sure is it the night scene or being right on top of such a beautiful city. not sure is it all the couples around or the fact that i am trying to reach someone and i couldn't. this question about fate came, why certain ppl are given a second chance and some are not. the mixture of it just trigger a little bit of emotions. like i once said under what not to do after break up, it is not good to travel alone. but i guess only for a night will not do me too much harm :)

statement of the day

steph adapting very well to the local culture. touching up in the middle of the street