Yuka Revisits

I was awaken from my dream to the techno rhythm of “Untouchable.” As I fluttered my eyes open, I saw the black phone, neatly covered up and protected by a layer of silicone, flickering as the deafening ringtone filled the room mercilessly.

It was August 23rd, a dazzling Sunday morning as birds gracefully flew over rooftops, chirping away. About a year ago today, I hosted a Japanese girl with the name Yuka, who came to Malaysia under the Lions Club Youth Exchange program. Hosting her was a wonderful experience and a crazy adventure as together, we explored the confusing corners of Kuala Lumpur in sweltering afternoons on foot, taking silly pictures and laughing at the jokes we made.

Yuka’s strength is in mastering languages, which allowed us to communicate with her without much complication. That made jokes more sensible to her, which I fancy and it definitely spared us ample time for more outings rather than staying home trying to explain things to her with awkward body languages. Aside from her prowess in languages, she’s an amiable person who is very approachable and friendly. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that she had nested an enormous network of acquaintances during her 3 short weeks of stay over here.

After receiving the call, I heard this familiar voice propagating through the headset from the other side of the line. From that moment on, I knew that today was going to bring back nostalgic moments to me and relive those wonderful memories of Yuka previously etched in my mind. Yes, it was Yuka who had arrived a few days ago. She came over here along with her friends from Japan. After hanging out in Malaysia for about 6 days, Yuka decided to leave her gang and arrange a meet up with us on the second last day of her trip in Malaysia. So nice of her to remember us.

So all the excitement started all the way in Sunway Pyramid, where a guy whom Yuka had been staying with for the past few days, put her under our care. After ensuring that her belongings were safely placed in the trunk, we strolled around and traipsed from handbag shops to boutique aimlessly. Occasionally making fun of each other while trying on trendy shades and putting ugly polka dot dresses around Yuka’s neck.

There was a farewell party specially organized for those Japanese YEs that night in Sunway, but Yuka decided to fling it for a hearty meal with us in Italiannies at the Curve. It wasn’t entirely a regretful choice for her, in fact, it was a great decision to join us at the dinner despite the hard time she had when deciding on whether to join her Jap mates or us.

My dad ordered a plate of chicken lasagna along with some meatball pasta and a plate of steamed chicken with potatoes, seasoned with some Jalapeño slices and a spicy gravy. The expressions she made when relishing those delectable dishes while sipping at her bottomless iced lemon tea was priceless. When all the food were cleared up, she had to struggle to get up from the cozy chair she had been sitting on because she was too full. Had to pay a short visit to the toilet, I guess?

That’s not the right way to call it a day. Shortly after we reached home, we found ourselves heading out the door for supper! Of course, the best place to be was at Kayu in Ss 2. She loved the Roti Canai and the Teh Tarik, so a plate of Roti Canai and a glass of Teh Tarik it is.

After supper back home, we wanted to help her out in tidying her luggage bag as she’s leaving for the airport the following morning. Too bad, she lost the keys to her luggage. What carelessness. Thankfully, she later remembered that it was with one of her friends, so there wasn’t any luggage packing until the next morning. The best part – We called off the plan, donned our pajamas, settled down on a comfy sofa in the living room, and chatted half the morning away. What a day.

A trip to Sunway

Saturday, 2nd of August - Since we have been to One Utama, we are planning a visit to 'Egypt' today!

This morning, unlike most, we woke up late - 10 o'clock. Taking our own sweet time, we dressed ourselves up and filled our stomach with breads and cereals before departing from home. Shortly before 12 p.m., the huge lion and pyramid were in sight. We alighted from the one year old Myvi, snapped a picture and entered the shopping complex.

It's been a long time since I shopped or did anything here. Anyway, Yuka - the Japanese girl standing between me and my sister stopped by at Anna Sui, getting her nails polished with the free tester and her face made up in front of the promoter. How daring. Even I who was not the one using those free testers, standing beside her made me feel embarrassed. As you can see from the mirror, she was happily utilising those free testers on the counter. I admire her guts :)

Yuka is also one real fast shopper. She would go into a shop which has a large variety of clothes displaying and in the next minute or so she's out. If it was a rather small shop she went into, she would glance through the things on the shelves within seconds. My mother is the opposite of her. While waiting for my mother, we wandered off taking pictures randomly to kill time.

A little while later, I was already starving and my feet slightly aching - due to the lack of exercise. We then decided to have a hot bowl of pork noodles for lunch at the Esquire Kitchen. What a brilliant idea. I could see that Yuka was enjoying every single moment eating that bowl of noodles. "Oishi desu ka?" I asked, already knowing what the reply would be. "Oishi," was her instant rejoinder as she smiled back satisfyingly at me. Of course, we were contented. Yummy~~

After having all the noodles sucked and slurped into our drumming belly, we continued with our shopping. We even went outside to take some pictures of sunway lagoon. Then came snacking time when we entered a shop selling all types of candies with samples to try. Yuka tasted the sour plum and showed us this expression where we snapped it immediately. Funny~

Before we went home at 5 p.m., we sat down and ordered some coffee to quench our thirst at Toastbox! We discovered another thing then. She loves coffee very much and the toasted bread with kaya and butter was like food sent from heaven to her. She could almost finish the whole plate herself.

At night, we bought some "Yao Zha Guai" for supper. And there goes our lovely Saturday.

Walking straight

Wednesday, July 30th - 3rd day of hosting.

This is another day where people have to get up early from bed to get their lazy asses to work and to school. But, as for me and my sister, it's a total different story. Do you know that there are a total of 1300 free tickets given out each day if I'm not mistaken for a visit to the KLCC sky bridge? Yes, and we are going to get 3 of the 1300 tickets today!

While fetching my younger sister to school, my mother dropped the three of us - me, my elder sister and the Japanese girl - at the Taman Bahagia LRT station. As expected, the LRT was so packed and cramped with people that I could hardly breathe and kept on perspiring. That's one of the implications of the hike in petrol prices. That also made me wonder of how those people in China survive going to work everyday in those super crowded trains of theirs.

By the time we reached KLCC, the ticketing counter was already crowded with people queuing up in an 'S' shape. Reluctantly, we went to queue up as well. There were many foreigners sitting and waiting patiently to get their tickets. The wait wasn't very long as we stood for about a half an hour or so.

Up at the sky bridge which is 170m above street level, the whole Kuala Lumpur city is in full view and the scenery is fantastic. And not to forget, I have a slight acrophobia thanks to my 'wonderful' imagination, so it's a little scary too.

A view of KLCC park from the sky bridge

Pictures taken at KLCC park

At noon, the scorching sun above was burning into my skin. We quicken our pace, walking towards the KL convention centre as fast as possible, as the merciless sun gets hotter and hotter. After taking some rests, we headed towards Pavilion to have our lunch and of course, for shopping! We bought a plate of Char Kuey Tiow, Asam Laksa and Nasi Lemak from the food court there. She likes Asam Laksa best and thinks that Nasi Lemak is too spicy. Anyways, we did a little shopping after lunch and she bought herself a pink Guess handbag which costs RM440! Rich people -.-

Believe it or not, we later walked from Pavilion all the way to China town under the burning sun because of the poor transportation in KL! Torturing.. At China town, she bought herself some souvenirs and a watch which we bargained the price for her. She did not seem to be interested in those pirated stuff sold there though. Rich people -.-

After taking some pictures, we advanced to Central Market to see whether she has anything to buy from there. We then called it a day and went home by LRT. Tiring~~

Knowing "Her" well

After having a hearty dinner at home on Monday night, we -my parents, elder sister and I- rushed straight to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Neither of us nor our relatives were going overseas or outstation. So what were we actually rushing to the airport for? You wonder..

Since the year of 2005, I have been hosting Japanese Youth Exchangees (YE). This year, as usual, I'm hosting once again. As the Lions Club Youth Exchange Program is getting a negative feedback annually, I suppose, the number of YEs that are allowed to come to Malaysia is gradually decreasing, as if there are quotas set. The same situation is as well faced by our fellow Malaysian YEs.

Anyway, the Japanese girl I'm hosting came from a town called Nanno located in the Gifu prefecture. Her name is Yuka Miura. It is undeniable that her English is fabulous for a Japanese student as she understands what we are saying excellently. Body language and dictionary are of seldom use. I'm glad.

It was Monday night when we picked her up at the KLIA airport. She was so excited and worked up when she saw us that she was speechless for a moment. Soon after we arrived home, we brought her out to the Kayu in SS2 to satisfy her empty stomach and to quench her thirst. There, she tried the delicious and crispy Roti Canai, Tosai and Naan. And of course, the never-to-miss Teh Tarik. She was amused by the way those Rotis are made. She has not tasted Roti Tissue and Nasi Briyani though.

On the following morning, we woke up early and brought her to Pasar Pagi.

Tasting some Jack Fruits~

Surprisingly, she doesn't think it smells but she hates the taste of it.

Me teaching her how to play Congkak.

Last Day in Takayama

The last day in Takayama was unforgettable. All of us violated the rules by staying up late instead of getting into our beds by 10 o'clock. We cherished the moment by chatting, playing, taking pictures and some even started dancing in the living room next to our dorm. The head of the Norikura Youth Friendship Center was willing to close an eye on our undisciplined behavior as we would be meeting our respective host families on the following day. I ended up sleeping for only 2 hours.

Me and Yong Bao

Pei Chin and Me

Me and Miss Kumiko

Me and May May

Me and Takuji

Crazy moments..

Zhan Sheng

Love birds..

More pics and more posers..

Goddess of Gamblers

Party time!! The girls belanja xD

Saturday night fever!

What's my favourite class?

Back in Aichi Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, if you have forgotten what that is.. It's the National Norikura Youth Friendship Center, the place where we stayed overnight for 2 days in Takayama. We were explained all the rules and regulations as they were not to be violated when we were there. We had to make our own beds, wash our own plates, sweep the floor, clean the toilets, etc. Tiring.. Then, there was a fitting session. Of what? Ski wear of course. We tried on the ski boots, ski gloves, wind blocker for the next day's skiing class!!! Man, I really love skiing. We were thought how to ski by the ski instructors, which I already knew how. I skiied once when I went to Korea in 2006 during Chinese New Year with FCC. As such, I skiied like a.. pro *ahem* when we tried skiing on the beginner's area. My group's instructor said I can be a ski instructor too. What can I do? This is called talent right? *ahem* *ahem* again. After lunch, the instructors brought us to a "prower" skiing zone. Not all of us went to ski there. A lot of them chickened out. What a waste. It was a great experience although there were mishaps. Many of them fell because the slope was too steep. I didn't fall of course. *ahem* *ahem* again. After reaching the foot of the mountain, yea we skiied from a mountain top, we sat cable car back to the top. It was fun and time passed by faster especially when we were having fun. Here are some pics I took..

Enjoying the snow..

The so-called beginner's hill..

Me skiing without using the sticks..

Japanese..

Skiing, skiing and skiing..
Beautiful sceneries from the mountain top

This was where we skiied..

Me and Vivianne

Han Liang, Me, Edward and Joel..