KUIFA
There were 3 guys and 2 girls in total - from the left: Masaki, Ritsuki, Danny, Mayuko and Ayaka.
Masaki's a really lively and enthusiatic person, and he was always encouraging us to speak to him in English just so he could learn more new words. He was also really knowledgeable about Singapore history and economy, and played Shougi (kinda reminds me of Shikamaru albeit less of the lazy mendokusai thing going on).
Ritsuki is slightly shyer but he was really nice and smiled a lot. I'd always ask him if he's tired because he spends idle times dozing off really easily LOL.
Danny is the American chap who's really outspoken and always making things lively for everyone. He's doing his Masters in Kyushu University so he's older than probably all of us. He's always getting into little messes here and there because the first day he arrived in Singapore he misplaced a bag in the airport. He also "lost" his camera at the Night Safari which got us (and the NS staff) in a frenzy until he realised it was in his bag all along HAHA.
Mayuko my buddy is such a darling and I'll never forget the memories we have together. We had a lot to talk about - from Japanese artistes we like and the current dramas (she watches both dramas I blogged about the post before!!!) to our families etc. We took selfies everyday too and had our own special hi-five :3
Ayaka is quite quiet as well but she's really sweet. I didn't get to talk much to her besides occasionally enquiring if all's okay and whether she'd like to try something. However according to Eileen, she's in a relationship and is doing her best in it :)
At Botanic Gardens
The past week was rather busy but really, really fun :) As I mentioned in the previous post, I volunteered to host a girl from Kyushu University for the week that their group of five stayed in Singapore. I was nervous and all jittery as I waited at the arrival hall in Changi with the other JSS peeps - probably because I was already worrying about how I'd look after my buddy for the next 6 days. But all that anxiety was unnecessary because Mayuko, my buddy, and the other KUIFA members were all really friendly.
From my LINE chat, I expected Mayuko to speak English more since she did type in English in our conversations before we met. However I found myself using Japanese all the time, which was a little nerve-wrecking at first since I wouldn't know when I'd say something weird. I became a lot more confident in speaking when my friends and Mayuko assured me my Japanese was rather decent - and Mayuko would happily teach me some vocabulary whenever I asked her what something was called in Japanese. The funny thing was that during the course of their stay, I was speaking Japanese so much that whenever I talked to my parents some Japanese would inevitably slip out LOL. I don't know if that counts as "occupational" hazard.
There were 3 guys and 2 girls in total - from the left: Masaki, Ritsuki, Danny, Mayuko and Ayaka.
Masaki's a really lively and enthusiatic person, and he was always encouraging us to speak to him in English just so he could learn more new words. He was also really knowledgeable about Singapore history and economy, and played Shougi (kinda reminds me of Shikamaru albeit less of the lazy mendokusai thing going on).
Ritsuki is slightly shyer but he was really nice and smiled a lot. I'd always ask him if he's tired because he spends idle times dozing off really easily LOL.
Danny is the American chap who's really outspoken and always making things lively for everyone. He's doing his Masters in Kyushu University so he's older than probably all of us. He's always getting into little messes here and there because the first day he arrived in Singapore he misplaced a bag in the airport. He also "lost" his camera at the Night Safari which got us (and the NS staff) in a frenzy until he realised it was in his bag all along HAHA.
Mayuko my buddy is such a darling and I'll never forget the memories we have together. We had a lot to talk about - from Japanese artistes we like and the current dramas (she watches both dramas I blogged about the post before!!!) to our families etc. We took selfies everyday too and had our own special hi-five :3
Ayaka is quite quiet as well but she's really sweet. I didn't get to talk much to her besides occasionally enquiring if all's okay and whether she'd like to try something. However according to Eileen, she's in a relationship and is doing her best in it :)
At Chinatown forming the word 'CHINA'!
Dozing off on the train
Throughout the course of their stay, we did A LOT of walking. I felt pretty bad for them because they were visibly tired and they kept stretching their legs to ease the strain on them. However thanks to all the walking I think I did lose about a kilogram HAHAHA.
Dinner with the family
There was a night designated on the fourth day for us local buddies to take them to dinner with our families. While the other buddies ate out with them, I wanted Mayuko to try home-cooked food (by my awesome Mom). Stacey came home to join us as well that night to meet Mayuko! When Mayuko and I entered the front door, Stacey immediately leapt up from the sofa and said "Hajimemashite" in the funniest, stiffest, most robotic way I've ever heard in my life - and all of us couldn't stop laughing at my bewildered sister who genuinely thought she pronounced it right!
Mom very lovingly made fried hokkien noodles and grilled chicken wings, which Mayuko thoroughly enjoyed (she later told me it was the best dish she ate throughout her whole stay here). In another funny moment my mom was trying to encourage Mayuko to eat more prawns but she said "hebi" (which actually IS prawn in Hokkien) with the intention of saying "ebi". The thing is, "hebi" is actually snake in Japanese :')
Walking the streets of Little India
Trying the King of Fruits
We let the Japanese buddies try our most revered fruit - the durian! Danny already tried it before during his travels, but the rest haven't. The verdict was that it tasted really weird to them so in the end KaiFu, Brandon and Eileen finished it all up with pleasure.
Farewell at the airport
Last picture before seeing off Mayuko
I'm sorry I didn't write everything out except the memorable moments (all of them are)! As we sent them off, I was really sad because in that one week I had already gotten so used to seeing them everyday, living with Mayuko etc. Hopefully if I go over next summer I'll get to meet all of them again!
夏祭り
Yukata girls!
I'm not in the picture here (probably goofing off somewhere) but this picture taken by Renyue makes for a good and fitting cover picture.
This year's my second 夏祭り Natsu Matsuri, which means Summer Festival. Since I came late last year and didn't get to experience much of the festival besides some food and the bon odori dance, I was pretty determined to get the full experience this time round. I went to the festival with a JSS senpai Wen Kai, and we queued for about an hour just to be able to rent yukatas and get dressed in them!
Wen Kai probably wasn't the most prepared for yukata-wearing, because he wore jeans and covered shoes - so the end result was that all was well until you looked down and saw his jeans peeping from under the hem of his yukata - especially since he measures nearly 1.9 metres :') But the experience is really worth it when you join everyone else to dress for the festival and it adds to the whole festive mood. It was chaotic in the changing room - after I was passed my yukata, a lady directed me to another lady who helped dress me in the midst of other girls and assistants dressing up.
Since they had to secure the yukata firmly, they pretty much squeezed the air out of me as they tied my obi. I felt like I couldn't really eat a lot because of that LOL. I kindly gave up my remaining half of the ramen that I bought to Huan Ran who was unsatisfied with some overpriced onigiri he ate earlier on. It was really hot and I was wearing two layers since I wore the yukata over my clothes. It was especially difficult to walk too since the skirt of the yukata restricts the distance you can stretch your legs out - staircases were my enemies for that night. But oh, the sacrifices we make just to look graceful in a yukata :')
I had a great time taking lots of photos with the other JSS peeps who were there. We all went down to the field to dance to the bon odori and it was a blast! At that point of time when we all gathered for a group photo (which no one has uploaded yet at this point T_T) I felt really grateful for the people I met in JSS. I thought I'd just continue being isolated and closed off in university, but because of them I'm making so many new memories to keep. So thank you :)
Aaaand here's a flood of selfies for you to get tired of looking at my face :D The quality of the photos seem to diminish later and that's probably because I ran out of strength to hold up my phone properly after bon odori.
With Weiling, Renyue, Kah Hui and Melvyn + his empty bowl of noodles
With Wenkai (not featuring the out of place jeans and shoes haha)
With Renyue who always has such great sense and style!
With Weiling who's always saving my life in various matters <3
With Kah Hui, the senpai I respect the most! And she's the new president of JSS too!!
With Andy who was helping out at the yukata dressing for men - we were at natsumatsuri together a year ago!
With Teresa who's always a ball of energy when combined with Zehui!
With Cindy who always fusses over me and gives me a lot of love! <3
With Shirlyn who's also always lively and makes me laugh all the time!
With Zehui, the other half of the explosive combi with Teresa! And also a fellow Hey! Say! JUMP fan girl <3
With the cute Fangyi whom I've known since we were in the same OG in last year's camp!
With the pretty and really feminine Pamela with her ethereal style <3
With the totally adorable Vivian who's always great fun to be around!
3/7 of our OG from last year's camp - myself, Fangyi and Huanran!
It was pretty tiring and my yukata was kinda falling apart after jumping so much at the bon odori :') But nevertheless it was awesome and I enjoyed myself so much. I'm already looking forward to the next 夏祭り next year :D
Here ends my long post which I tried to summarize >< I doubt I'd have a lot of time to post now that school is already charging full steam ahead. But the memories and fun I had would be sufficient for me to keep spirited when the times get tough!
