EVACOMICS BLOG

(Cont. Rental Nightmare in Tokyo ) After my battle with the evil property agent and management company, my dormitory staff recommended me to extend my stay here and then look for apartments/mansions slowly. This is much better than paying a huge sum upfront (4 months rent) for an apartment that I didn't get to see and with the fishy management company not returning any deposit. So instead of sayonara to 270,000yen (SG$4,2000) for a place I didn't get to view, it is better to spend a bit more, but to a place that I could actually see first. I accepted her kind offer and turned down my contract with the fishy property management company. This whole experience had made me realize one thing: that I hadn't been frugal enough. I'd been spending money too mindlessly and not saving enough for rainy days. More importantly, I'd underestimated the cost of renting a Tokyo mansion (concrete-built apartment in Japanese term) near my university within the great ring of fire

Ok, I assure you that this is towards the end of my Kyushu series. We visited the Peace Park in Nagasaki that commemorated its atomic bombing on the 9th Aug, 1945. The government had erected numerous monuments to offer the souls of the dead clean water that they had so desired during their last moments. 這是接近我的九州之行的尾聲。 我們在長崎參觀了紀念1945年8月9日，原子彈投下的和平公園。日本政府到處設立有乾淨水源的紀念碑，為了就是要給生前渴望水喝的死者。（中文版在下）

My students admired me to have a chance to study in Japan and I used to have this dream of coming here to pursue an education in comics and animation. But after actually attending the Japanese language school here, I now know that dream and reality is totally different. －為何不該來日本修美術設計－ 我的學生之前都很羨慕我有機會來日本唸書。我從青少年時代也很嚮往來日唸動漫的課程。不過在這裡上完一年的日語課程以後，發現夢想和現實是完全不同的。 （中文版在下）

Passing JLPT level 1 was not difficult. Passing my MBA entrance examination was also not a problem. But renting an ideal apartment in Japan, which fits your budget and requirements is a huge big problem, especially if you're a gaijin (foreigner)! 日語能力考試一級合格並不困難。MBA入學考試也沒問題。但是要在日本租到合適，又在預算之內的理想房子，卻是一件非常非常大的問題！特別是對於外國人簡直是困難$$$重重。 Everything here costs money, money, and more money$$$

Finally after 8 years since my last failed attempt to pass level 1, I managed to pass it without much problem :P It seems that as long as you don't get any grade C in any of the sections, plus your score is above 100/180, you'll get to pass! This makes the percentage passing score at just 55.5%, compared with the previous old 60% benchmark. Sayonara JLPT1! 沒想到我一級不合格的8年後，居然可以通過新格式的一級合格！原來只要不要在任何項目拿到C級，再加上總分在100/180以上的話，就能過關！所以新合格率只需55.5%，比以前的60%來得輕鬆。再見啦一級！

Tokyo today was freezing cold as it snowed for the whole day for the first time this year. I was gazing outside my window to rest my eyes and admire the snow (because there's no where else interesting to look at in my tiny 9sqm room), when I spotted these 2 cute parrot lovebirds on the tree in front of my veranda. Aww, I thought, one pair. Were they hiding out from the snow? But the withered tree provided no shelter... or were they dating? 今天東京第一次下了整天的白雪。我為了讓眼睛休息，眺望了一下窗外的雪景。突然看見2隻可愛的愛情鳥在陽台前的大樹上休息。我心想是不是在避雪啊？但是枯樹沒什麼用啊。還是它們在拍拖？ Then I got my shocking answer: 然後我得到了驚人的答案：

First day of Chinese New Year at Yokohama Chinatown wasn't as crowded as I'd thought. The area was brightly lit with chinois decorations and dotted with restaurants offering buffet. 橫濱的唐人街在新年的初一時並沒想像中的那麼擁擠。到處都有濃濃的中華燈飾，街邊也有很多吃到飽的餐廳。

I was quite surprised that Confucius is rather popular in Japan. 我很意外孔子竟然在日本如此受歡迎。

Well, because I am the only artist in residence, I was asked by an office lady to help her with some simple drawings for her friend's wedding. I agreed without hesitation, because it is an artist's joy that someone requests an artwork from you. So I spent over an hour and whipped out some drawings over the night despite my busy schedule. I thought that this job would be out of goodwill because I'd received some help from the office, e.g. to fix crappy things in the dorm. To my surprise, she seemed extremely satisfied and offered me an "orei" (gift) in return on Monday. I didn't expect it, but I was sure happy. But unfortunately, the gift never came. Maybe she didn't like them after all? I don't know. But this reminded me that this is exactly why many artists are still poor, because we draw for free and didn't know how to market or negotiate a deal for ourselves. This also brings about the same old problem of many Singapore companies that want

I was thinking of skipping this review, but I thought the museum's effort to raise awareness about volcanic eruption was rather well done. This small theater show made use of anime and puppet to narrate about what happened 200 years ago, called the "Shimabara Disaster". I was grateful that they had English guides :) 本來不要寫這篇的，但是因為我欣賞災難館為了提高大家對火山災害的意識，所以還是寫了。這小小的劇場使用了動畫和木偶來講述200年前，稱"島原大災害" 的故事。我很感謝他們有英文說明器 :)

Dejima, located in Nagasaki, was a man-made small island completed in 1636. The purpose was for Japanese to conduct trade with Portugals, but it was soon isolated due to rebellion to lift the  Christianity ban. It later became a major trading port between Netherlands and Japan. However, the island's surrounding was later reclaimed and thus the whole area had to be rebuilt to restore its previous glory. 位於長崎的出島是建於1636年的一座全人工小島。目的就是為了促進日本和葡萄牙之間的貿易，但是因為基督教禁令，所以完成沒多久就被隔離了。之後，變成了荷蘭和日本之間的主要貿易港口。可是現在的出島周圍已被填海，所以政府得重新重建。

This was my 3rd time to the Gotemba Premium Outlet for the bargain sale. My shopping friend was down with Influenza type A, now a rampage in Japan and Singapore, so I took the Premium Outlet Odakyu coach outside Shinjuku station that took me directly to the holy ground. Thankfully with no red leaves, the journey was much smoother than the previous trip and shorter than 90mins. A magnificent view of Mt. Fuji can be seen from far, even with a clear view of its foothill. WARNING: Lots of shopping blabbering ahead. 這是我第三次去御馬場outlet！為了就是正在舉行的冬季清貨大減價。我的朋友因為染上了在日本和新加坡肆虐的A型流感，所以我只好自己座 小田急高速快車 ，直接從新宿到outlet。 幸好這次沒有紅葉，所以路途比 上次的 順暢，路程也少過90分鐘。從遠方可以眺望到美麗的富士山，連山底也能看得清清楚楚。 警告：繼續閱讀會有很多購物的閒聊。

Just another castle... (I think there were too many castles in our tour). This one, located in Nagasaki,  was constructed in 1616 and contained a lot of exhibits from the period of Christianity suppression. 又是另一座城（我們的行程也太多了吧！？都看起來大同小異） 。這座島原城位於長崎縣，1616建成。裡面的展覽品大多是基督教禁止時的雕像，記錄等。

We took a ferry from Kumamoto to Nagasaki and the boring ride turned out to be like a zoo feeding frenzy. Tourists, who were like me, were snapping photographs non-stop to capture "the moment", when the sea gull grabbed the pocky stick. 原本從熊本到長崎的輪渡，竟變成了像動物園餵食的場面。很多遊客都紛紛狂拍照，為了就是拍到海鷗夾到pocky棒的那“一剎那”。

Kumamoto Castle was constructed between 1601-1607 but the entire castle above the stone platform had been destroyed by fire in 1877. A rebuilt of the castle was carried out in 1960 and was completed in 2008, based on remaining old photographs and written accounts about the castle. As you can see, the stone platform has two different colored stones, marking the original charred ones from the newly added ones. The curve on the wall was meant to trick samurais into climbing them, only to find out later that it's impossible and unfortunately became easy targets to be shot. 熊本城建於1601-1607年，但是整座城在1877年的大火中被燒毀。日本政府在1960年時，根據舊照片和紀錄開始重建這座國寶。從照片中可以看到基礎的石頭有兩種顏色。下面是較深色，被燒過的大石，上面則是後來蓋上的。牆壁的傾斜是為了誤導武士攀越攻城。武士爬到上端時才發現不可能前進，並成為箭下目標。

You may have remembered when I just moved into my international dorm , it was shockingly dirty. Then, there were the dirty sinks . But what I didn't mention earlier, was that either 1 or 2 girls in my floor, out of nearly 30 tenants, has been constantly dirtying the toilets by leaving her sh*t and urine around the toilet bowl! 你們可能記得當我 剛搬進這國際宿舍 時，有多麼的骯髒吧？結果， 洗手盆也是髒髒的 。不過我沒提到的是，連廁所也是髒的！在我這樓近30名住戶中，可能有一兩位一直把她們的尿和屎留在馬桶周圍，噁心死了！ I am particular about hygiene and this drives me insane. Complains to the admin office proved futile, so I finally resorted to draw a poster in hope to attract the culprit's attention into changing her inconsiderate habits. 因為我少許潔癖，所以這點常讓我抓狂。去事務所投訴也沒用，所以最後畫了一張海報貼在廁所外面，希望犯人改掉她的壞習慣。 Even with numerous posters pasted inside the cubicles, the culprit had ignored them. I am not sure if my poster would work, but I'd done my best. I hope all tenants be trained into keeping public places clean! 可惜，即使廁所裡面貼滿了如何正確使用的告示，犯人還是無動於衷。因此我不確定我的海報會不會有效，但是我已經盡力而為了

It's getting really cold in Tokyo now with everyday temperatures below 10 degrees.  What is a better food for winter than hot pot!? As expected, my smarty supermarket had already pumped up their shelves with lots of hot pot ingredients and soup base to embrace this demand. I soon joined in this delight with my multi-purpose rice cooker. 最近的東京每天氣溫都維持在攝氏10度以下。冬天的食物有什麼比火鍋更適合呢!? 當然，我附近的超市已經擺好了火鍋所需的湯底和材料了。 我和我的萬能飯鍋也因此加入了這個火鍋熱。

I came back to my tiny 9 sq meter Japan dorm only to find out that our floor's toilets had broken down and pipes in the washroom are leaking. On top of that, I have flu and sore-throat from too much unhealthy spicy and fried Singapore goodies. But, nothing,  NOTHING can stop me from scoring a L'occitane "Lucky Bag" which I had ordered 3 weeks ago from Hankyu online shopping mall and delivered today. This item was sold out within the first day. Muah-hahaha. 我回到我的小小日本9平方米房間，竟然發現這樓的廁所壞掉，洗手間的水管也漏水。不止這樣，我還因為吃太多油炸的新加坡美食而導致傷風喉嚨痛。可是！沒有任何東西能阻止我買到L'occitane的福袋!!! 這福袋是我3週前從Hankyu網購回來的，今天送到。福袋當天就售完了，可是我搶到了喔！哇哈哈哈～～～