Some questions raised in the comments asking if the annual check up cost me money or not. Well, the one in campus is totally for free, I have no idea about the public medical insurance that I apply will cover the annual check up or not.

On Friday, I visited my first dentistry check up in Japan in the campus health center. First of all, we should do reservation, and I did it a week before. ;P

And the day for the ballet performance came, we went to the Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo.
It rained heavily too, ah.. the rainy season already come. -_-;

The place was good, the performance Yuki Onna was impressive.
As for the gospel ballet, not really enjoyed it. I found out that the teacher taught in the ballet class also performed that day. She’s 高瀬瑶子 Yoko Takase

At the end of the performance, we took the pictures with the dancers on the stage….. So happy, he he..

Just impressed the slim dancers and envy their shape, the three girls then went to Shibuya for a 90-minutes keeki-tabehoudai (cake/dessert buffet). haha..
The buffet restaurant name is Sweet Paradise.

There’ll always be the first time for everything and people always say first time experience can give you an unforgetable impression. Do you agree? For ex, your first teeth, first entering school, first job, first love, first kiss, first car, first spouse.. oops, ha ha..

As year has changed, the repetition started from my 2nd time experiencing spring, the busy-ness for those administrative stuffs, and today also the 2nd time for the annual check up in the campus. If you ever read and laughed me for the last year frustating medical check up, today I felt frustating, but in different way.

1. Body weight& height measurement
I began to think that even digital machine doesn’t guarantee the accuracy. My height changed to 158.5cm instead of last year’s measurement 156.7cm. And the weight? haha, it’s 54kg.. The last year 52.5kg already frustated me, but now I should accept the reality, because in the winter I put on my weight until 57kg, yay! ~freaky, the heaviest weight in my life time. And the BMI was 21.
Yosh, hope in summer, I can get back the shape to 49/50kg, wanna have sunbathing with bikini in Bali. ha ha..

2. Chest x-ray
Last year, I completely clueless on the instruction to take off the bra(hadagi-肌着）, pin the hair, but today, not because I’ve got the experience that made me comprehend the procedure, but I found that my Japanese was improved (a little), ha ha..

3. Blood pressure and the questionaires of medical history
The blood pressure not that changed with the last year. 103-64.

4. Blood test
I was so relax that it took me not that long as last year.

5. ElectroCardioGraphy
The nurse was shocked seeing me only wear one blouse, asking if it’s not cold.. ha ha.. Yup, I get used to love the 11 degree Celcius, so I responded her with smile.. She replied “It’s because you’re still young, heh.. ha ha..” while checking and telling my result was good.

6. Urinalysis
Last year I got my period (seiri-生理）、fortunately I didn’t have it today during the checkup but have it after the medical check up’s over. fufufu..

So what made me frustating?
It rained heavily this morning, that the train was on delay.. And it then affected my plan to complete the medical check up before the class’s started.
So I was doing everything extremely fast : run fast with heavy stuffs, wrote the application fast, skipped the 3 persons that had come earlier before me, and made all the swift movements from one phase to another phase of the medical check-up.

Yet, I was still late for 20 mins for the class. Entering the class, soon be offered the kanji quiz paper to be completed parallely listening to sensei’s explanation. Yay..
Anyway thanks God for this day : 2 reports’re submitted, kanji quiz and the medical check up were all done. Also thank you for the wonderful one year in Japan!

It’s haha no hi (母の日) in Japan today, so I was tickled to call mom, speaking in Japanese congratulated her on the mother’s day. She simply laughed. ^^

I just found out that different countries have different dates on celebrating Mother’s day. Never noticed it before when I was in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, it’s on December 22 while for example, in Thailand, it’s on August, 12, which’s the queen’s birthday. As she’s regarded as the mother of Thai people then it turned out to be mother’s day.

And as for Mongolian, it’s on March,8 (actually woman’s day) and June,1 celebrating mothers and childrens’ day. So it’s the only country in the world that celebrate mother’s day twice in a year.
Isn’t it unique?

Happy mothers’ day for all moms in the world, here’re some quotes for you moms.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs… since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb

Happy mother’s day, mom! I hope to cook her some home-cooked Japanese food, ha ha.. (wait until I come back home, mom.. promise.. )
Love you mom.. muah muah (this is usual salutation before ending the phone-call, ha ha..)

Bento (弁当）means more or less like home-packed meal or take-out lunch box.
Shokuji (食事) itself means meal.

Well, this is the random version of my home-made bento and shokuji, and of course it’s not a real pure Japanese style. It’s the combination of katei-ryouri(家庭料理）-simply home-cooked meal.

Description from up to down, left to right.
(1) Indonesia Style Nasi Goreng - Fried Rice with some beans, carrot, tomato and cucumber, frozen shrimp with the topping of fried onion and of course the chilli sauce. ^^, I brought along one apple too.

(2) Two hearted-scoops of brown rice + beans, steamed meat dumpling (シュウマイーshuumai)、Chinese style mapo toufu (bean curd) with scallion and shrimp.

(3) My own-version bento’s ready to be taken out.
(4) Fried egg with scallion, red+green paprica, and shrimp.
(5) Sayur asin (I don’t know the english, salty veggie? ha ha) with boneless chicken breast.
(6) One flower-scoop with the Japanese dried topping sake(salmon) and nori(seaweed) + salmon meat with mayonnaise

(7) Kitsune Udon(famous Japanese cuisine-wheat based noodle, topped with aburaage(sweetened deep-fried tofu pockets). It’s when I ate out, after tiring running from the morning class from one campus to another campus.

(8.) Veggie(can be any green veggie for me) with tomato and shrimps, usually I always use oyster sauce and potato starch (katakuriko-片栗粉）to make it sticky.

(9) Tuna Mayo Onigiri- Japanese rice formed into oval/triange/roll, often wrapped with nori.
I used tuna and mayonnaise, it’s the failed home-cooked, still practise to make a beautiful neat onigiri, these ones are messy, but absolutely tasted good. ^^)v

(10) Bean-sprout (moyashi) with tomato, scallion, and oyster sauce. ha ha.
(11) Fried egg with tomato only.

(12) Chinese Chicken Herb Soup, it’s really recommended to strenghten body immune. My mom used to cook it for us. For woman also, it’s recommended to add like *pai feng wan or with **tienchi tablet( I never used tienchi,actually. :p)

(13) It’s one of the ingredient included in the Chinese Chicken Herb Soup. My mom told me its name is Gou Qi Zi in Mandarin (Fructus Lycii Wolfberries/Goji Berries), it’s rich in vit C, contains large amount of vit B1,B6, E, and it’s good for eyes. I now sometimes eat it as snacks.

(14) It’s when I ate at home, scoop of rice with 10) and 11) together.
(15) and (16), the software repeating the pic again, ha ha..

So, do you notice how simple my cook is? and how I love shrimp? ha ha.. As for meat, I often eat chicken meat, it’s more healthy I think.

While I have more time, I think that I’ll learn how to cook Japanese cuisine, and since the new dormitory dominates with International students, I guess I’ll learn another country cuisine too, hopefully.. ^^ 

*Pai feng wan is chinese traditional herb, has the indication for health, malnutirion after childbirth and regulation menstrual ailments. I drink this regularly.
**Tienchi is the herbal remedy for high cholesterol, blood pressure or over-obesity. It’s good to promote blood circulation, relieving swelling, and so on.

Four wake-up alarms set on my mobile phone, and one alarm clock that I put a bit far away from bed, so I should make an effort to turn it off and wake up, of course!
And today I woke up at 5, not having enough sleep.

Feel sick of the 1kyuu kanji quiz, the sakubun-composition that should be submitted every week, also the reading class that turn me out as the most-idiot-alike in the class, really hard.. -_-;; It’s the journal publication chosen by the Japanese sensei. I’m dying, sensei already told me that my level doesn’t match the class requirement and recommend me that I’d better give up, jleb.. jleb.. my heart hurt.. ha ha..
Yeah the class occupied by the Chinese and Koreans dominantly.
But I beg her to let me participating in the class, considering by the end of semester, at least I’ll improve, no matter even how little the progress’ll be. I asked if I can get the materials before the class so I’ll be able to prepare, but we can’t, shouganai.. Yosh, gotta keep up the pace!

Today also I had the meeting, usually conducted in English with my supervisor, but due to the plan to collaborate with another university, the one who made presentation was speaking in Japanese, and I sometimes asking what the meaning of the words she spoke(and finally found it out not important vocabulary) jleb.. jleb..

Just now, went to the gym-the dorm facility, I managed to check the blood pressure.
It’s still very low, 80-60, OMG.. I should eat more mutton I think. Regret not eating that much in the Mongol Festival. LOL. I run out Sangobion stock, should go to doctor and consult, it’s not a good idea to stick on Indonesia’s medicine anymore..
I don’t feel dizzy anyway like the indication of low blood pressure, until I was washing my teeth plan to sleep, as I’m just home from study room.. but abruptly I felt dizzy..
“Is this the effect now?” Ah.. it’s earthquake, rushing out to see if my TV is safe (remember Lokman’s teasing : “Aren’t you scared to put your TV that high? beware when earthquake comes..”
Ah, it’s safe, not that shaked. And the most important thing, I’m not dizzy because of the lack of sleep or low blood pressure.

Neglect my not-important posting, I’m sleepy and wrote unconciously..
Have 1st shift morning class, gotta sleep.. oyasumi.. Tomorrow’ll be better

Last Wednesday, I had a wonderful chance to attend the Japan Prize/日本国際受賞式（nihon kokusai jyusho siki) There’s the review on the morning show, the reporter asked some pedestrians passed by.
It seems like many people even Japanese, don’t know about Japan Prize.

Japan Prize has been established to honor scientists and researchers from all over the world who are recognized to have made original and outstanding achievements in science and technology and who have made substantial contributions to the advancement of science and technology and to peace and prosperity of mankind.

There’s a “Gospel Ballet” and “Yuki Onna” performance by ABC

It’s the charity concert in cooperation with all African Embassies in Tokyo to raise money for African kids, so that they can replace dangerous kerosene lamps with solar lamps.

Day/Date: Saturday /May 10, 2008
Time : 14.00-15.30 / 17.00-18.30
Place : Italian Cultural Institute of Tokyo, Kudanshita

Entrance : 3,000 yen

There is an African food buffet and kids are welcomed!
So, if you’re interested, please book your schedule on that day.
For reservation, please call 03-3723-4006/7.

What time really flies, it’s another year of Golden Week I spent in Japan.

I planned to invite friends come for housewarming party, but cancelled due to several reasons. I was invited to go to the Chapel in Higashi Nakano and also Mongol Festival in Hikarigaoka.
The one invited me to The Chapel is Korean, though I’m not Christian as I told her but she said it’s okay. As I’m not kinda religious and fanatic, so I made up my mind going there. The service was in Japanese, and did I understand? Not really, ha ha.. A lot of koreans and Japanese. There’s an International Festival Gospel too after the service, a really attractive performance from different countries. Hontou ni tanoshikatta yo. At the end of service, I got the new testament and also a CD of gospel songs.

Have you ever kept your un-realized childhood dream and now it’s about to get back those dreams? I had some :  carrying trophies generally and being a ballet dancer specifically.