Shiraoi Ainu Village

Sakura in late Spring

Our family decided to go to Japan a month after the earthquake and tsunami. If anything, by visiting Japan helps boost their economy, a lot.

Sis and I at a convenience store, picking up fash mags.

So the first stop was an aboriginal habitat in Hokkaido. Situated next to the forest of kotan is Porotokotan, which means the village beside the big lake (Lake Poroto).

Ainu Village

We were introduced to their houses, such that in most cases, all the huts in the olden days are built in the exact same manner, where both the exterior and interior (called Qi-sei) design are identical. In fact, even the positioning of the furniture is the same too. Everything is placed in one direction.

Part of the Ainu's lifestyle include barter trading. Villagers trade bear skin in exchange for salmon.

Real salmon hung above our heads as we listen to the stories.

These salmon were caught in fall and dried in Summer. The hut do smell like fish. But not that kind of fishy. Hur.

Our very cute and lively host

The wood shavings are used as decorations to chase away the evil spirits.

Hi dad.

The Ainu museum showcases some of the past tools.

Before exploring the vicinity, we watched the traditional Ainu folk dance that feature songs and dances that evoke the natural splendor of the North, such as iyomante rimse (a ceremonial dance for sending bears' spirits back to heaven), saroruncikap rimse (a crane dance), and an Ainu musical instrument mukkari (mouth harp).



 Saroruncikap rimse - the crane dance

Picture with the Ainu

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Summer Afterthoughts

It has been just a little over two weeks since I’m back from a two-month break. The destinations this time were San Francisco and Taipei. And though at the risk of sounding cliché, boy, this summer was definitely a memorable one.

 

I went for the summer session at the University of California, Berkeley, and you could say that I also took it as an opportunity to satisfy my wanderlust (guilty as charged!). This was the longest I’ve ever been away from ‘home’, and yet it didn’t feel like I left at all. 

Art8 class photo shot, Summer 2011

(From left standing: Ms Seraj Azin {my prof}, Anni Dai, Phoenix, Ai, Lauren, Me, Trisha, Adrianne, Anakaren, Vincent, Esion {Bao Di}, Adriana, Sol, Masie, Hanna, Justin, Logan, Emerson)

(From left kneeling: Kathy, Ever, Linda, Dana, Shehla) 

The moment I set foot back here, I was immediately greeted with the numerous reasons that drove me away in the first place – the sickeningly humid weather, rude, unappreciative people in the neighbourhood and the ever-increasing cost of living in Singapore.

Perhaps it was the culture, the people, the environment, or the interesting amalgam of all three factors that made me appreciate life and space so much more elsewhere. A newfound freedom is what I call it. While zipping around the big cities alone on my e-bike (hey, SF has many steep slopes!), I enjoyed the sights and sounds, and through open-mindedness I made new friends from all over the world. Even more surprisingly, I felt much happier there. I’d like to think I’m a more pleasant person now that I no longer get mad at little things, but it didn't last. 

Meeting <3 in Taipei, and meeting good friend there too!

It disgusts me to say that things are almost back to square one. The environment here makes it hard to focus on the positive things in life. What a bummer. So I have been wanting to update this blog for months, yet I don't have the discipline and drive to do so. I wonder why. It just reminds me of how much I wanted to be a broadcast personality in radio for years but not even close to attaining my goal. After years of trying and dreaming, it can be quite a blow to my ego. I wonder what it takes to make the cut in Singapore’s small and competitive industry, since media companies here are monopolized? Once, I thought I was a step closer to realizing my dream just because I got into the semi-finals for a competition. How naïve I was. Last week, I went for the open auditions for Fight Club 2011 and failed to get in. Sucks. 

Oh well, maybe better luck next time.

In school, friends have been asking me, 

"So how was Berkeley?"

 I always answer them: AWESOME. And that's the truth. I wouldn't give anything in the world to miss the past 2 months. There are just so many things I learnt and appreciate from this trip. I shall attempt to cover my journey with separate posts.


{Extra love to Jojo who took really good care of me while I'm there (you're the best!!!) and Sanyu who has been very patient. :) }



 

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The ANA Flight Experience

After my first flight experience with ANA, I have increasing doubts of why SIA remain top year after year as the best air carrier. I don’t think the other flights lose out in terms of food quality, entertainment and definitely not in customer service.

If any, ANA probably "own" SIA for its customer service. 

Previously when I fly by SIA, it’s quite difficult to get even a glass of water in the middle of the night to quench your thirst. Flights overnight have an odd dehydrating effect on me. On the contrary, the ANA flight attendants were seen carrying a variety of drinks, strolling up and down the aisle regularly, checking if the passengers needed another drink. And all these were done AFTER lights out.

There's a little down side to fly with ANA too. You know how it’s annoying when you finally manage to fall asleep on a very uncomfortable seat, only to be woken up less than an hour later by the sudden intrusion of lights and attendants peering right at you? I got that. :( They were serving me my breakfast because I didn’t put up my “Do Not Disturb” sign, so technically it’s my fault. Lol.

And I thought the Japanese are healthy people! Hahaha

My supper was served at 11+, then 3 hours later I was abruptly woken up for breakfast! At 2.30 in the morning!

Nevertheless, I didn’t regret waking up because the breakfast was SO good. :D Plus, the in-flight entertainment system is awesome. When we’re flying with SIA, we have to switch channels using the remote and if you missed any parts of a particular show, too bad, you got to wait for it to finish before catching the replay.

Edit: I was told by a school mate that my info is not updated. When he flew by SIA last year, the entertainment system had video-on-demand and could watch anything they wanted, whenever they wanted. There was also a very large library of shows and games too.

ANA, on the other hand, works on a video-on-demand system. We control mostly using our fingers (touch screen) and could pause, fast forward, and choose the language we want. All the programmes are very well-organized, making it easy even for my papa who isn't very English-literate.

Cushy earphones!

Well I spent the rest of the night flipping and turning because the ANA flight didn’t have reclining seats. Instead, the seat will slide out about an inch or two, and that’s about it. No leg rest or anything. D:

By the time we actually started touring, I wanted to sleep so badly. And that’s after yet another domestic flight flying into Hokkaido. Sleep-deprived. 

-

The return flight was much better with reclining seats. Fell asleep almost throughout the entire flight. Had breakfast at 5am (JP time, 4am SG time) and dozed off while eating. Yeah, I dozed off while chewing pancakes, and also when eating my apple slice. :P 

Tee hee.

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