Japan Trip - 01.04.08 to 05.04.08

Came back from Japan early Sun morning....reached Singapore around 1.35am...I nearly cant wake up in the plane, cos was super tired from 5 days of sight-seeings, shopping, walking..

Day 1
Our flight was scheduled at 6am in the morning, so we have to reach airport before 4am...meaning, I din sleep the night...security was tight cos we are taking Northwest Airlines which is an US airline and its flys to Portland via Narita, Japan...I remembered back in 1999 when I flew Northwest to Hawaii, the check in was relax, with ppl q-ing for checking luggages, and getting their boarding passes. but after 911, all flights to US is facing tighter security.

Was at DFS shopping...as usual, gotten myself, my foundation, face wash, sunblock and my beloved estee plesaure...hehehes

Was not feeling well becos of my stupid gastric, so, i was sleeping on the filght most of the time...and...finally reached Japan. We touched down at abt 1.30pm (Japan Time). The first thing we did was to visit the toilet after clearing the customs...haha...

It was 15 degree, me n dear are feeling super cold, the coldness come from the wind and not the temperature. The first impression...Japan is so clean...people are so discipline, wont see any rubbish being thrown on the floor.. there is also an area specially designated to smokers for their fix..unlike Singapore, people just smoke while walking and the smoke just blow into others face...

On our way to the hotel, Sakura is every where..its the best time to be in Japan for sakura viewing.. We are lucky cos, its was still raining the past few days, and also snowing at Mt Fuji, but while we are there, there is no rain, and no snow, and the sky is clear for us to see Mt Fuji along the way up..

The rest of the day is free and easy...so we decided to head to Shinjuku Takashimaya for some shopping...We were at their train station, my god, its super messy...we made friends with another couple, Janice and John, so we decided to head to Shinjuku together...

Taka there is BIG...their 1 Taka is like 2 Taka here...BIG!!!! Shop in Taka till it closes...the first thing is to go Blue Label and Black Label..saw one nice bag at Blue Label, not the checks kind(I already have one in baby pink, no point getting one more of the same kind), if you dont look closer, you wont know its Blue Label. But I didnt get it cos I wanted another one that's from Burberry London itself, but I couldnt find it there..Dear didnt see anything nice in Black Label, so we went to Burberry London, saw one wallet, but he didnt get cos he say wait later see nicer one how?..so we headed to some other brands..nothing caught our eyes...Den I saw LV...haha, so happy, I went in (I knw its more ex there, I just want to see whether are there any designs that are not available in Singapore), but didnt see any..LV at Taka is bigger den the one at Singapore Taka, at least 2 times bigger...how wonderful if I am staying in Japan...haha..But Taka there closes super early...if I m not wrong, its 8pm..so after its closes, we decided to walk wald around the streets..

Hunger came in, and we had our dinner at Mac...their pork burger was superb...pork was tender...and nuggets were crispy...but they dont have chili or curry sauce...hmmm, never mind, cos we are all super hungry..after dinner, we continue to walk walk see see...wah, its super cold and windy..I m there shivering. The tour people say 20 degree, so didnt bring those think jackets, but it was like 13-16 degree..my god...

Day 2
Woke up like 6.30am Japan time, that is 5.30am here...sleepy head me was dragging myself out of the bed...we have to leave hotel at 8am, while waiting for the others to check out, we saw Sakura.. So, took photos..haha.

First stop was the Sensoji (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple), its one of the famous temple in Tokyo. A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon. We didnt have enough time to shop for things, there are so many things there, but no time to see all...we are only given 1 hr there...duhz.

After Sensoji, we headed to Odaiba, where the rainbow bridge, Ferris Wheel and the Fuji TV station are. We had lunch there, and...its chinese style buffet lunch, duhz, go all the way there to eat chinese food...

After Odaiba, we headed to Mt Fuji!!! As I had mention earlier, we are lucky to see Mt Fuji on our drive there..Its awesome, the scenery along the way, the snow when we reached...but too bad, cos we can only go up the 4th station, it was still snowing a few days before, so for safety reason, the road leading to 5th station was closed for clearing of snow.

Last stop of the day before hotel, was the Hakone Peace Park...There are lots of Sukura, but due to the weather, they haven bloom..wasted, if not, it will be awesome.

Headed to our hotel..along the way, we are enjoying the scenery...and we drove past the Hakone Shrine, didnt manage to take a photo. Reached hotel after like 2hrs on the road...the hotel is build on the clift and facing Pacific Ocean!!!

We had a traditional Japanese dinner, and after dinner, we decided to try the hot spring...hahaha...hot spring in cold weather...so after hot spring, we went for a walk ard the open area of our hotel...nice feeling, walking in the cold wearing the traditional Japanese wear...

Day 3
We woke up late...hahaha...supposed to have a super quick breakfast and we checked of our room..on the way down, we met Janice and John...they are also late...hahaha, actully this tour they 4 of us kana comdemn le lor...

First on the list is the outdoor giant buddha..we are still so tired from lacking of sleep...hahaha, so didnt walk much...

Next, we went to a Ramen Museum, its build underground a copy of Japan in the 70s. The ramen is nice, the noodle very "q", not those kind of "meggie mee" u find here...hahaha

Next, we drove back to Tokyo, and headed to Ginza area...Shit lah, we only have 1.5hrs there, where got enough?...1 burberry building that's it...I mms a bag that i saw back to darling...hahaha, darling is at China, Xiamen...Willy super funny, he was telling the others there...her friend in Japan just mms back a bag and ask her want or not...hahaha, she is here, yet got ppl to help her shop...faint!!! hahaha, willy, u dont know meh..that's us mah...and i showed darling the photos, the sotong was super excited...cos, we had the exact same photo of Burberry Building...hahaha

Our Last stop before dinner was Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Japan's largest and wildest red light district.But as me and dear haven gotten our bags and wallet, we gave it a miss and go shopping...finally...we gotten our stuffs......

Dinner was at a bbq restaurant, but we are only given 1 hr to eat there...!@#$%^&*()...but the food there was nice and fresh, the only thing is that we cant really enjoy...

Day 4
Today is free and easy...but as usual, the 4 of us took our own sweet time...so by the time we reached Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market, it was already closed to 12pm...dear insist to find the market where they sell tonnes of fishes...but the action was between 5:00-9:00am...so we are super late to see...but we had a super nice lunch there..

We headed to Shibuya...there are lot of young people there...its so crowded!!! Nothing much to buy from there cos they are too kawaii...hahaha

den to Harajuku..where many young people gather around Harajuku Station and engage in cosplay ("costume play"), dressed up in crazy costumes to resemble anime characters, punk musicians, etc. But, we didnt see cos the best time to go is on a Sunday...

and lastly...Disneyland...hahahha...Disneyland closes at 10pm, by the time we came out, its abt 10.30pm...we rush the last few trains back to hotel, which is near the airport...but didnt managed to catch the hotel transfer...and dear is hungry, so Mac again (Its all 24hrs there)...and we took a cab back to hotel...for just a less den 10mins ride, the fare came up to be like S$40+...hahhaa...

Day 5
Today woke up late...at 10am..hahaha, checking out time is 11am..flight time is at 7pm...lalalala...went to a shopping centre near the hotel...nothing much except we had a nice lunch, dear finally ate his beef...

And it was home sweet home after that...BUT I DONT WANT TO COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

Photos to follow later..I lazy to post...

I still haven finish packing

I m flying off tmr early morning at 6am...which mean I will have to reach airport before 4am!!!! oh...I no need to sleep le lor...hahaha

I am still going over to dear's house for dinner...lalalalalala

oh yah, updates on the beloved huge luggage...dear says, CRAZY!!!!hahaha

alright....shall end here..finish work soon...off to dear's house for dinner...

I am still the SHOPPING QUEEN

haha, I am still the ultimate shopping queen...wanted just to get myself a big luggage, but ended up with 2 more jackets...

First we went to Far East, but guess age is catching up on us, we found no nice tops, dresses there cos all are not suitable for us. But darling gotten herself one adidas white jacket there. (Dar's going to China, Xiamen next week)

We headed to the big Mango, I saw one nice crop jacket, but the last piece was the display, I didn't want cos, one of the buttons missing, so went to the one inside Isetan, and they have a new piece there.

We were quite tired so decided to have coffee at Starbucks, and after that, continue at the big Zara..Something hanging caught darling's eyes, a white baby doll jacket. Darling ask me to try, it turn out to be nice on me, I usually only wear dark colors, and hate white (haha). But as usual, no new piece, so ask one of them to call Taka Zara to check and reserve one new piece.

Wanted to go Topshop, but it's closed for private event, SianZZZZ...so headed to Sasa to get some toiletries for our individual coming trpis...

Den headed to Taka to get my jacket and also to Taka level 3 to look for luggage...didn't fancy anything...give up..while making a trip to watson at taka b2, saw this bazaar selling things..while looking from the esclator, something caught my eyes...luggages!!!!

Went to see see look look...hmmmm, darling says get a "4-wheel drive", meaning, there are 4 wheels at the bottom, no matter how you push or pull or anything, its not going to fall...but in the end, I gotten a "rear-wheel drive"..hahaha...we can get king of crappy and lame at times...

hmmmm, not too bad, after 50% was at $119.00 and its super huge when I compared with those I had at home. Mum and Dad say I crazy to buy such a big one back. I told them, no need to bring extra bag for check in when coming back from holidays. (We would usually bring one extra for check in on flight back, cos its usually not enough).

They say "SO BIG STILL WANT TO BRING EXTRA!!!!! HOW MUCH THINGS ARE YOU GOING TO BUY??????? SOME MORE STILL CAN EXPEND FOR ANOTHER 2INCH, BRING ONE MORE, U CRAZY!!!!" I was like laughing away, thinking to myself, really enough??? haha, should be lah... Dear haven see it yet, think he will also have the same reaction as my parents..shall see..............................

some photos to share

Well, some of the photos from Sat night at Rochester Park - North Border Bar & Grill

Our "Candlelight" dinner. Its already 9pm+ at night, I am hungry...

This was after our dinner. I am hungry till I have forgotten to captured our main dish...haha...

The candle that light up our table.

Nice desert...the chocolate flows from the cake, its super rich and not that sweet. The ice-cream is creamy. In all, this is really YUMMY!!!!

My drink - Vodka Lime, Dear is having red wine to go with his ribs, but I just want to have something that I like.

Dear is eating the nachos...the sauce with it is NICE!!

My rat always like to "wei wei xiao", he says more handsome...hahaha...Vain...

I have nothing better to do, so decided to do something to irritate rat rat..hahaha

Love this photo

mucks mucks mucks

Love him for being such a wonderful dear...MUCKS!!

Yesterday, one of my colleague came over my place and gave me Hello Kitty Marshmallow.

See its so super cute. (The photos are blur..all thanks to my W910i in which the camera sucks, I am begining to miss my N73..hmmm, I should use it some other day, haha)

See...the pick package is so so so so nice and sweet...

hmmmm, I opened one and eat...Its so nice...the starwberry inside is not very sweet, the very blissful feeling from eating that..haha...

I shall come back from Japan with this......Hello Kitty Starwberry Marshmallow!!

my long weekends...

Thurs Night - 20/03/2008
Going darling's house to stay over coz Mr Puah not in Singapore...ask dear dear to bring out some dvds, but he say I keep rushing him till he forgot (I was at granny's house, he says he's coming over to pick me up)...he asked, "how are we gals going to spend the night without dvds?"... haha, not to worry, without show, we shall have our bitching and gossiping session..hahaha,gals.....

Actually, we didnt stay up too late...around 1am, we are sleeping le lor. Darling cant sleep without air con on, so, I woke up with a block nose in the morning, aiyo..

Fri - 21/03/2008
Was sleeping the rest of the day at home after coming back from darling's house...mummy not working, she says she's cooking dinner...yipppy!! I have home cooked food!!

Dear came and pick me up to darling's house, cos I have left something there...poor dar, haven eat, msg-ed me and ask me to help her packed food..its was like 10+ in the night..

Dear says he wants to go Mustafa to get somethings, reached the around 11pm+, by the time after we had gotten our stuffs, we realized, it like nearly 2am in the morning...haha, den that rat says hungry, wanted to eat something, I was still full, but in the end, while waiting for dear's wanton mee to come, I saw someone eating chicken rice and it smells so nice...dear went to order..haha, so being the glutton me...I ate half of it and dear ate the other half...lalalala

Sat - 22/03/2008
Today is my lunar birthday...mummy bought me breakfast and placed an ang pow on top of the package...hehes...nothing much to do, so watch tv and feeling tired, I went back to sleep...

I was preparing myself to go out..den daddy came back from work, he gave me another ang pow..haha, I am the happy gal..

Dear pick me up for dinner, he brought me to Rochester Park for dinner. We went to North Border Bar & Grill, the food there is nice, the dessert is even nicer...(photos next time, I am lazy to resize them).

Went for movie after that, dear:"Vivo or Cine?"
Me:"Cine"

Reached there around 11pm, the movie "Semi-Pro" starts at 11.15pm, but, its the first 2 rows..so we went for the next show at 1.15am..wah, 2 hours...we spent the rest of the time, at NYDC...I told dear, no more waiting for more then 2 hours, I so tired...But the moive is worth the wait, its funny, the song "Love Me Sexy", the phase "Everybody Loves Everybody, ELE"

Sun - 23/08/2008
The usual sunday stuffs, eat,watch tv, sleep...

haha, I am such a pig..who loves eating, watching tv, sleeping and shopping...lalalalala

I am a size S for ONCE...hahaha

Was at Vivo with dear the other day to catch the movie "Horton"

After getting our tickets, there are still some time to shop around...went to Esprit, den to Topshop, but didn't see anything nice...but when I was at Zara, something caught my eyes, a black dress...hahaha, just a sinple little black dress...it look small because of the ribbon around the wasit area, so well I took size "L" to the changing room...

But I was inside, I untied the ribbon, wah!!!it is really large compared to the usual Zara "L"...so I ask the gal to get me "M", but its still a bit lose on me...den "S"...it fits perfectly...hahaha, (no, I did not lose enough weight to fit into a "S", I'm usually a "M" or "L" for certain cut).

So as gals being gals..the smaller the size on the tag, the happier we get..hahaha...

Dear was nagging me for spending money again, on another dress to add to the a lot of dresses I have...

Dear: "Nice must buy meh? I see a few nice shirts, I also didn't buy......"

Me: "You buy shirts for what????? You hardly wear shirts out...I wear dresses to work most of the days hor.."

Dear: "..............................."

Haha, I win again..Actually its too late to stop me from buying...coz by the time he sees me (he went to River Island while I was still at Zara), I have already paid...lalalalalalalalala...

boring day

I am here in the office, doing my GST reports, at the same time...hanging on with my stupid gastric..

yes, gastric is coming back again...and i dont know why..irritated with it...meaning that i will have to endure yet another round of pain, vomiting, not able to eat, etc, etc, etc...kaoz...what's wrong with my stomach????...

Japan Trip CONFIRM!!!

The tour agent called me up and says that the Japan trip is confirm, meaning that there is enough people to fly..

I still remember dear and me was at the NATAS fair the other time...looking for a tour to Japan, which will include Tokyo, Osaka, Mt Fuji, Disneyland, bullet train rides, and the hot springs as well as time for shopping. Being the our first time to Japan, we are thinking that its better to go on a tour than free and easy. so that the next time we will know where to go.

Most of the tour agents offered similar tours, but there isn't one that we fancy. Most of the flights are in the night, meaning that we will waste one day, they are more for sightseeings, that leaves us no time to shop around, and its very pack from one place to another, 7 days is not enough, thought of extending for 2 more nights, but it will come up to like S3,000+...

Was very tired from all the walking and questioning...decided to have a drink outside before continuing...then all of a sudden, something caught dear's eyes...5 days to Japan, Tokyo, looks like it every thing we want...but I was simply too tired to go on...so I told him, go out den come in again...I want to rest first...

After the break, we went in straight to the agent, and see what it offers...it came up to be a very good deal, we get to fly in the morning, flight at 6am, and come back in the late evening, reach Singapore at 1.35am...hahah

Its every thing we are looking for...tour around Tokyo city, a night stay at the foot of Mt Fuji, hot spring, Disneyland, lots of time for shopping and not forgetting the cherry blossom is also at this time. Its a free and easy cum tour thingy. So we decided to give up Osaka, and head to Tokyo straight.

But, we didn't book from the first one we see...they only giving $50 discount per booking...was telling dear, go look look again, den the same thing and price caught our eyes again...this time round, we just book straight and paid the deposit coz, they give us $100 discount per booking...haha...save a bit more...so can go there eat a bit more...hahaha

Japan....can't wait to shop for blue label, eat sushi, see cherry blossom and meeting mickey mouse..hahahaha...

presents from Darling

Yiipppyyyyy!!!! Gotten my present from darling last night...it's a big big bag...room enough for A4 size file,my wallet, card holder, coin pouch, make-up pouch, etc, etc, etc...throw in jacket...there is still room..hehes..THANKS DARLING!!!!!! dear dear also says it's nice...hehes..

I always wanted a big bag with simple design (plain color, without the whole bag in prints) so that I can throw everything in, and bring to work or shopping..most of the bags at home are either "checks" or "Gs"..so .....this is really something I have been finding..

Another to add to my ever growing collection of bags that I have lost count and some have been laying around for ages without me bringing out. Oh yah..I just cleared a few before CYN...and AL if you are reading this, you would have guess that the black bag will be yours soon..haha. But hor, that bag really handy leh, good for overseas trips, and on days tt I'm in t-shirt and shorts, my specs, and without any make-up...haha..see how lah...

My God!!!!

That sleeping auditor is back in the office...the first time she's here...she was sleeping in the room...and making herself very comfortable in the meeting room..shaking legs, stonning now and then, etc, etc....

hmmm....now, tt meeting room is being booked....so she is there in the open section...i doubt that she will sleep...

Really wonder...is it right to ask an inexperience junior auditor to audit a big company???? Yap, its only part of the audit (the GST and the Tax Computation part)...but, but, but, but....the question she ask is "funny"...

Some of the egs -

she :" is there any letter(s) from (lets call the audit firm - AF) or IRAS to states that to which YA has it been finalized?"

me:" AF won't know, its is all stated in the NOA that has been send from IRAS to the co directly (usually the amemded one tt states " your assessment has been finalized based on the tax computation you have submitted")"

IRAS sent all the information to the company directly without going through the audit firms...wonder why she ask whether AF has send any letters to us to tell us to state that it has been finalized till which YA...

next...(email forwarded to me by my boss)

she in the email:" AF has sighted the group GST Form F5 made for 4th Qtr noted the difference between the Form F5 and the GL amount."

me:" HUH??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 months figs tie to 1 whole yr??????????!!!!!!!!! Some more, we are on group registration, take your whole life also cannot tie lah!!!!!!!!!!!!"

5 companies GST amt submit together for 4th Qtr, you want to tie that amt to 1 company 1 whole yr amt?????????????? ~FAINT!!!!!!!!~ you teach me how to tie...of coz of difference lah...3 mths Form F5 tie to 3 mths GL mah...(btw, I have already finish the recon for tt co end Feb08, the amt now sit in nicely in GL for the last 3 mths, and tie nicely to Form F5 if you exclude the other companies' amt) DUHZ!!!!!!!

Thirdly...
she:" the tax paid fig in the tax comp is different from the figs in the GL..."

me thinking:" anyone with accounting knowledge would somehow know that the tax paid in the tax comp WILL DEFINITELY be different from the accpunting tax paid fig...we will need to take back in all the not allowable expenses!!!!"

hmmm, really wonder....Will I be that blur if I ever become an auditor????haha...better not...