Snowboarded

23rd of December, 2009.
A long bus ride the night before.
A bone-chilling cold morning.
A fun 3 hours of waiting.
A 10 minutes of suit-up and gear-up session.
A cool lift up to the top of the beginner's course.
A brief briefing and crash course.
And then it began.

I strongly believe that the count of falls i had on that day surpasses the total count of falls i ever have up to then. Not that each of the fall was not painful; but eventually i feel immune to the pain.

By the end of the day (literally, as in by night falls), the muscles of my lower body gained independence from my mind control. And they chose to stop reacting to my orders. That resulted in gradual escalation of amount of falls. I knew i have reached my limit for the day, and thus i stopped then.

The long bus ride back to Yokohama was still alright. Going to bed on that night felt a lot tougher than usual, but still possible. The following morning, it was a miracle i managed to roll down the bed and pull myself to work. The aching parts of my body were uncountable. And it lasted for days without much signs of getting better. Till today. I finally feel that my body is recovering. The coup is coming to an end.

What an amazing trip it was. The thrill of sliding down scary steep slopes. The victorious moments when things were done right (as in not falling). The feeling of beating yourself. All in all, the experience; freaking awesome.

Cannot wait for the next trip.
8th of January, 2010. Here i come.

Sakuragichou

A very beginning. The very early days. The very first. And then the dark years.

On an extremely rare occasion, i found you again. And everything else that leads up to this day; a blessing. You may not find KS much of a friend, but i am grateful for him still.

Okay. I have finally somewhat completed my conquest of Sakuragichou. Covering Aka-renga, Port Terminal, Motomachi and Chinatown; only a few more spots left to be explored. Next week onwards, conquest on Tokyo shall begin.

Meeting up with JW today felt very much like a bonus. Or a belated birthday present (literally).  Or an early Christmas present. It was a very relaxing and comfortable outing; exploring new places while catching-up and chatting. And being introduced to some super addictive snacks. And the Sony VS Canon.

But perhaps, the most interesting part was finding out about Hai Peng; my all-time favorite coffee-shop. And JW is the heir of it. The world just got so much smaller tonight.

Hope more of these to come.

Presents

I have got XH and V planning for my birthday celebration in advance, that itself was quite unusual; and nice. Then i was treated for one of the BEST dinner i ever had. The following day i had the world's best croissant for breakfast. Then i went to Sakuragi-chou for a walk, and simply fell in love with the place more and more. Then it was dinner time. Friends came from pretty far away all the way to Sakuragi-chou just to have dinner with me. I was seriously moved by that. After some crazy photos shooting at a classic-looking arena, i went drinking with R and FW; an all-you-can-drink in 2 hours session was pretty awesome. And today, i met up with K and his boss together with XH at Kita-Senjyu. Good time chatting. And then mom called to wish me. Being able to hear her voice again after her operation, that itself was a great present for me.

So this year was an amazingly fruitful birthday: a super tasty case of chocolates, an egg cutting gadget, a pair of colorful warm-looking socks, a box of fresh strawberries, 2 awesome dinners, 2 birthday cards, about 40 birthday wishes on my Facebook, and a very special email.

Thank you very much, people, for all of the above. Love you people.

(The rest of the post refers to the special email i mentioned earlier.)

Dear V,

I'm sure he was an amazing one. And he looked much warmer than the way you described him though. He must have been a very fun person. I guess i know where the FUN part of you comes from now. And i could never picture him dancing while you were singing; that must have been a priceless moment. I wish i could have met him, and learn about every beautiful piece God has placed in him.

I know he means a lot to you. Much more than words can ever explain. But i am sure you mean much more to him than you ever imagine; because before you even started to get to know him, he was already loving you.

I know what it feels like to miss out the last moments. Along with the remorse of wishing you have done what you did not. But that is not how he would want you to feel.

I believe he wishes you joy. I believe he wishes you life and life in abundance. I believe he doesn't want you to feel regret for what you did not say or do; because he knows exactly who you are. His beloved grand daughter, whom he is proud of, forevermore.

And i would like to dedicate a song for him, on behalf of you. Hope you would like it, or at least not be offended by it. My present for you.

Farewell.