When in Japan (what version are we in now?)

this was previously a long boring post I composed on 10th Oct 2017.

but!

I decided, not to post that and amended them to ... continue below:



as you know, last year I went to Japan and one of the places I visit was Tokyo Disneyland.

I only recently found out that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.


I don't know about that.

Have you been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio Japan? *smirk*


But to be very honest, I was very happy.

exhibit A

not even inside Disneyland the theme park yet. #whyamilikethis

Funny Story No. 1

After we purchased our tickets at the counter, we have to pass another gate, where the workers did a brief check inside your bag.
When it was my turn, this pakcik (really, he was an old man) took a quick glance inside my bag and said, "merci beaucoup" to which I automatically replied "merci" and got myself confused. Am I not in Japan? I'm pretty sure the uncle is Japanese too.



Funny Story No. 2

Me being obsess about getting Mr. Potatohead Popcorn Bucket.

I literally circled the ENTIRE Disneyland, stopping at every Popcorn Cart, looking for this MUST-HAVE popcorn bucket.
until at the end, I stopped at on popcorn cart and asked the worker "where *points at Dumbo popcorn bucket on their cart* Mr Potatohead?"
the lady said, "do you have map?"
with termendous relief I said, "Yes!"
and she told me go to the World Bazaar's Confectionery Store.
I went after saying 'thank you' in Japanese. coz I know how to say thank you in Japanese *lol*

Can you imagine how much time I could have saved if I asked in the first place??

When I get to the store, I was still lost. No Mr. Potatohead in sight.  but just as I was close to giving up and settled with buying a small Mrs. Potatohead figurine, I once again plug up the courage to ask the lady for the Mr. Potatohead Popcorn Bucket.
I don't know what happaned in between or what she said that made me go crazy. 
She said they have the Mr. Potatohead Popcorn Bucket and she left me qeueing for the cashier while she left for a back room, probably retrieving soon-to-be-mine popcorn bucket.
Again, I don't remember what happened, all I remember was being too excited and paid my item before running back to where I left si Bazilah to looked for the bucket. (yes, I left her at Tomorrowland to rest).

the highlight of my Disney adventure!

We went home soon  after that coz we were both very tired.

I was so amused by this. "Lost Children"

. . . 

TGIF: Throw back 14th Sep 2016

HELLO!

I think, I need to reconsider about doing that post about my Japan trip.

butt

I usually ended up talking/typing too much.
I'm afraid that bores people to death

*cringe*

I'll think about it lagi lah.

for now, I wana share this photo.

this was taken by a guy (with a backpack, kinda like the one used for hiking and stuff) on our way up the Inari Mountant, who asked us, "are you really going to go up mountain in flip flops?" and I, with so much exhilaration said, "yeah!"

in all honesty, we (Buzz and I) wasn't planning at all. 
I myself didn't know yg we were at the start of the climb!
I was just trying to get rid of the crowds.
I thought, the higher I get, the less crowded it'd become and we could take photos more peacefully.

So, there we were climbing the stone steps, a step a time (REALLY a step a time coz that 'flip flop' is really quite a challenge if you are not careful), and suddenly this guy started talking to us.
I don't remember much now but I remember him asking the cost of the Kimono to which I nervously replied, "around 3000 yen". 
and then he asked to take a picture of us (the above picture) coz he wondered if we already taken proper picture of just us two.
at first he took one with his phone and then he offered to take one with my phone coz I had mine on my hand at the time.
and then he asked if we really serious going to top with just flip flop. again, I answered yes.
and he hurriedly says his thanks (coz his other friends already ran pass him) and wish us luck with our flip flops. 
as he ran up the steps I shouted, "you too!" to which he turned back one last time, chortling or laughing and continue his ran up the mountain.

What I love most about that moment was, my relief feeling.
I voiced out my gratefulness to Buzz right away.
I told her, that's the longest conversation I have with a stranger. 
in English!
We were on our 6th day in Japan, and that guy reminds me that I can speak English properly and people understand me.
Pasal the last five days, I've been communicating in VERY broken English and often frustrated with myself for not being able to speak Japanese.

CAUTION: I'm not saying my English is great (as you can see from my Grammatical mistake on all of my post), I'm just saying it felt good to speak to a stranger, with my second language, and he understands it, without me struggling to make myself understood. 
that is all.

When we finally back at our hotel, I search for this guy on Instagram, but of course, that mission fail.
coz, I don't know what I should be searching for. 
I search for our photo with the hashtag FushimiInariShrine but do you know how many thousand people uses that hashtag?
let me tell you.
TERLALU BANYAK!
So, I gave up.

I regret not being brave enough to ask to take picture of him or with him too.
I couldn't even remember his face.

I guess, thank you sir! 
for the small talk. 
for taking proper picture of us two. 
I also hope that you are not a psycho or a creep. 
I pray that you are genuinely a good and nice person.

. . .

a/n: I am inspired to make another post  ≧◡≦

Throw Back Saturday

throw back to 10th Sep 2016

remember last time when I can not post a video in my USJ, Harry Potter world post?

welp.

Here it is

a short clip of me

fangirling

when entering Hogmeade

#Iwanagoback

edit: wow. that uploaded so fast and I am impress! too bad I have no other video to upload.

. . .

2017 is here!

Happy New Year!! 

*throws confetti*

I am just thankful that I made it thru another year.

Been thru my worst in 2016 but that is now in the past and on to the here and now, onto the future.

No public resolutions, just a personal ones  ≧◡≦

I've been thru so much that I know I can make it thru anything.

Thank you to all who have been there, supporting me, giving me words of advise, and most of all, still are with me to this day.

Thank you! ◕3◕

Lastly, 

let's embark 2017 with positivity yo!

 ┏(＾0＾)┛┗(＾0＾) ┓

coz we all need that most.

Lot of love,

Az Nuur Ajeerah Awang.

a.k.a. 

leeVengeance 

a.k.a.

Onew's future waifeu. ╰(◡‿◡✿╰)

(◕‿◕✿)

. . .

pending DIY Project no.2

anndddddddd
here's another one.

this was done the Saturday (3rd Dec) before the Sunday (4th Dec) I went to Miri.

I've been putting off my Japan journal for so many times but that Saturday, I was feeling rajin and finally making an effort to start.
but as I was trying to make DIY pockets to attach in my current journal, I figured, my pockets will be too big for my current journal.
So I decided to make my own journal.

My sister shared me a video on FB and I watched it once before I started mine
but now when I look for it, the video was deleted.
like, *feeling so lost right now*

So, I guess, I'll just share my pictures then.

the video was actually a DIY photo album, with crafty/deco feel about it (suddenly lupa what it really calls XP)
but i figured, i could make it into a journal, however ways I want to be, right?

First, I cut off two set of manila paper as a front and back cover, making sure they are slightly bigger than a certain 'special' map.
after that I cut another smaller piece of manila card for the spine.
In the video, the lady actually used some hard board card for the cover and spice but since I don't know where I could find one here in Brunei, I just used the next best thing, manila card. they're tougher than normal paper anyway.

Next,
I attached all three paper using a colored paper (yellow), so that it'd be easier to bend.

then I used simple wrapping paper to cover the front and back.

I didn't capture the moment when I cut the paper off, only when I already wrapped them.

after that I made inner spines thingy.

the measurement was like, the bottom most is 14cm, the one after is 13.5cm, next is 13cm, after that 12.5cm and so on.
I think you can make how ever many you want. I made 16 pieces.
in the video, the lady made them with colored papers all the way but I only have a few colored papers, so I alternate mine with normal white paper.

Selepas itu, I  bend the paper like so

in the video, I'm supposed to bend like 2cm from outside edge of the paper. but what I actually did was bend the paper in half, and then bend again half on each side. 
LOL
after I finished bending, I can see where my mistakes were.
but I was lazy to amend and I began gluing these pieces to the spine.

I used double-sided tape. 
In the beginning, for the spine, I used some white glue but since it took ages to dry,
I used the double-sided tape, like the one the lady used (excessively) in the video.
turns out, her ways were a lot easier and faster LOL

few more pieces and I ran out off tape.

So, I went out to buy some. LOL sanggup~

this is the finish products.

Well, for the base, at least.

I'm supposed to attached paper on the spine. but since I havent got my Japan pictures printed yet, 
I decided to left it as it is for now.

Yatah jua tu nah. pasal 'cuci gambar' ah. putting it on and off since the day I came back from the trip.
I need to get a move on.

Karang sampai the next trip and still balum cuci yg 2016 punya.

ah well..

once again, you'll know when I finish with this. 

xD

. . .

Japan Trip Day 2.0

Let's sub-title this as PICTURES ARE NOT ENOUGH!

and also

SUPER LONG POST

and

I WILL MAKE YOU JELES!! Wehwehweh
. . .

composing this in public coz, my brother.

*rolled eyes*

So, day 2 in Japan was *jeng jeng jeng*

MY BIRTHDAY!!

and I screenshot this


(say goodbye to the 'Slide to Open' features)

lupa ku if this was taken when I woke up or when we're ready to go to Universal Studio Japan.

pokoknya, aku excited and can not wait for Harry Potter!

We bought tickets on the spot. We were supposed to buy them online but for some hassle reason, I decided we didn't. yatah kami bali time di sana sja.
The Q was pretty long but the service was kinda fast, so we weren't there for even 30 mins.
I guess it was just my birthday. (hahaha)

Since it was my birthday, Bazilah actually agree to just go straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter part of the USJ.
we actually got turned away once we got to the entrace.
*nangis*

I read somewhere that you need to book an entry tix (it's free).
the reason being for them to control the number of people flocking into HP world.
So, on we went looking for a certain ticket kiosk (as directed by one of the HP helpers).
We got lost.
and my impatient ass almost cried when we couldn't find the ticketing kiosk.
hahah seriously
but once we found it, there were a lot of Qs (coz a lot of ticket kiosks!) and before my ass could properly panic, there were a lot helpers there (coz everything is in Japanese and I was scared of not being able to obtain that entrance tix) and before (once again) my ass could cry, we were helped and we were on our way back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.



took this picture coz at first I thought I could keep it but at the entrance, the ticket person ambil balik this tix (instead of durang punch a hole on it or something).
note: Eventhough on the ticket it says 10:30 till 11:30, we actually stayed inside Hp world right up until 4pm or something. they didn't shoo you away or anything if you overstayed.

so, it was a long way away before you could see the Hogsmeade gate.

i found a lamp that actually reminded me of Narnia

(and this pathway is not even halfway to the park!)

and Mr. Weasley's magical car turned beast.

I had a video when I was entering Hogsmeade but I don't know if the internet would upload it today.
(i tried again on the 7th Oct, but video still refuses to load -__- )

I don't have picture of the gate.

once we masuk that place, GAH!
words really inda dpt explain how I felt
this is like my entire teenage years bursting out and greeting the place
everything was like a dream.
the feeling of you wanting to take pictures of everything but you also want to just 'be there'.
like you wish your eyes can just capture everything for you and auto transfer those images from your brain to your phone.
you know that feeling?!

but lucky I was rational and took as many pictures/videos when I could. or remembered to. LOL


of course, there were things yg I didn't take picture of.
partly because I was lazy to snap them. HAHAHA
I mean, COME ON!
I was there in person!
and as much as I want to share with people about my experience (being physically there),
there's just so much photo or video I could share.

But
in all seriousness,
I was just ...IN AWE!
like, I WANA LIVE THERE!

I wonder how the workers feel being there all the time?
I mean, I could die happy there (hahaha)


I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking next. (with captions if I could think of any xP)


Butterbeer (non-alcoholic it says) tasted like a dream~~~~




(trying on my wand, "Give it a wave" Mr Ollivander said)


the female part of the 'Public Convenience'. 
Thats what it says outside the restroom.



If Brunei is hot, Japan at that time was WAY hotter. like, daym!


Coz my brain said, 'Pick your nose, it'd be hilarious!'


Trying on my new move at one of the alley



'Death is just the beginning' The Mummy. not a HP quote.

that maybe the last picture I took from HP world but I will be back in two years time to take some more!! (InsyaAllah~~)

. . .

I tell you, we were already tired from the previous day that by the time we walked out of HP, we didn't have enough energy to play other rides. 
Seriously!
ahaha

So what we did was that, we just walked around USJ.
its definitely bigger than the one in Singapore, thats for sure.
but both still give me that awesome feelings for just being inside the park.

I managed to play the Flying Dinosour, from the Jurassic Park part of USJ.



a very awesome 'flying' roller coaster.

cBuzz didn't join me. So I went solo.

and I could've moved along the Q just fine but I was stopped twice coz I was using a 'headscarf' and this Flying Dinosour ride does not allow people wearing anything that is loose and one of those things include 'scarf'.
Thus, being the strict rule follower that they are, they stopped me twice, trying to explain to me in English that I need to use a certain jacket (that actually was supposed to be used during water ride).
Of course I don't have picture for that coz I actually left my bag with cBuzz. I only had my hand towel with me at that time.
Anyway, I don't know how long I was there 'Q-ing' but once I got on the ride, I understand why they were very strict. the moment before the ride get off, our seats was pulled up from the feet, so we were actually in a 'flying' position.
and the ride was super fast, it actually go up and down, side ways and twisting around. Lucky I didn't feel like puking. I saw mostly sky. a section of the coaster track goes inside a tunnel! 
I was mostly laughing. ahahah coz I enjoyed it so much! I screamed certain area, of course but mostly was feeling so giddy.
hahaha crazy

Lapas tu, we were supposed to Q and watch the Under World show but Buzz wasn't feeling it so we just continued to walk around the park.

I didn't take picture but from the moment we stepped onto the Universal Cit Station, there were a lot of cosplayers. All universal movies' characters of course.
there were; 
1. Sexy Police girlfriend + Prisoner boyfriend, 
2. hot Sexy female/male SWAT team, 
3. Maids, 
4. Minions (Minions are the craze there), 
5. Sexy (stripper like) mom with her kids,
6. Sexy army, 
and 
many many MANY more!
most people actually went there dressing (what we call here in Brunei when people dress similar in color/pattern) Sekayu.
it was all very interesting to watch.

I might not play all the ride outside of Harry Potter world but the scenery in USJ is entertaining enough man! like, daayyymmmmmmm!

hahahah

I think we left USJ at around 5pm kali and we bought dinner before we went back to our hostel.

got lost once though before we finally made our way to rest our feet a bit at our hostel's lounge before we made our way to Osaka Castle.

. . .

a/n: told you its a long post. Thank you for even reading this far. xD this was supposed to be posted yesterday, 6th of Oct but internet being its awesome-self, and the pictures refuses to upload. but, here it is, edited and posted on the 8th Oct.

Hope everyone enjoy their weekend ahead xD

Japan Trip Day 1.3

We will sub-title this post as 'Jalan saja. Bila tah lagi' part A

. . .

So, we left our hostel to go look for USJ, Food, and Data Line.
Buzz asked the Drop Inn receptionist earlier where we can buy a data line and the lady told her that for sure to find them at Osaka Station. because it's a main stop place where every convenient needs at.
So, to Osaka Station we went.
Once there,
pasal kami masih trying to get our bearing, we couldn't get anything right.
endingnya, kami ke Information coutner tah saja, betanya.

Lesson Learn no. 2: Jangan Malu Betanya. When in doubt, ASK.

mula2, the Information lady told us we could buy the data line at their counter but they said they only accept payment via credit card. We only have cash! so we asked her where we can buy the data line and she very kindly show us the direction to the place where we could buy the data line.

Lesson Learn no. 3: READ! and don't assume labels and signs. Most labels in Japan has English.

EXIT signs there are in Yellow color. So, when the lady told us the name of the place we should go (Umeda something), I was looking for a purple label. I don't remember if she showed us a map with purple logo or something but I was looking for a purple colored label.
BUT luckily for us, I read the label the second I could not find the purple colored ones.
and true enough, the Umeda was mentioned on the Yellow colored label.
Remember I mentioned EXIT signs being Yellow? I guess thats why we both skipped the Yellow Labels.
hahaha macam, udah ku pikir kan balik, memang pun ke Umeda atu EXITing the Osaka Station, so that is why the label is in Yellow.
So, follow the labels direction lah kami after that.

We bought our data line and our next destination was Universal City Station, where the Universal Studio Japan is at!!
I suggested to go there was because I don't want to get lost the next day, our actually day going there.



and also, I just couldn't wait for the next day!

first glimpse of my home.



bought dinner


got lost on the train back to our hostel. we decided to eat dinner first before we both pengsan, deprive of food.
seriously, it is not like Singapore. Japan is seriously a bigger country and Osaka is like, sub-big size city.

eating my bento sushi.


I bought two coz aku tamak.
MUAHAHAHAH! 
I finished both, don't worry. not wasting food.
these two cost around JPY500 and JPY600 each. consider expensive lah since aku bali atu around Universal (outside the theme park) area.

this drink is delicious! actually bought at the 7eleven near our hostel.

Lipton Peach Tea

ada Milk Tea flavor which aku nada took picture of! like what?!
menikmati banar rah ku tu sampi lupa kan menggambar.

After dinner, we went to this Tenjimbashisuji Shopping Street.
supposed to be famous.
but when we got there, most of the shops were closed.
and I remember reading somewhere about Friday nights is the night out for the men in Japan, like after work thingy. I couldn't remember the detail well and I malas to search the article now. I'm guessing, that was why most shops were close early, since kami pigi atu at around 9pm++ almost 10pm.



Sekali round saja kami dsana ah...after that balik tah kami, we were so tireddddd and kaki almost fell off already at that point.

we needed to rest well for the next day's adventures.
although I remember we didn't left the lounge area until it was pass midnight. hahaha 

. . .

Japan Trip Day 1.1

Lets sub-title this post as 'Lost'

. . .

As soon as we landed, we both looked for toilet first.
coz our body wasn't cooperating well with us.
hahahah
Once that settled, we both were tired and all our plans actually thrown out of the window.
seriously.

we were looking for the Japan Railway office/counter to exchange our passes when we were approached by the airport police officer.
kami dua tarus nebes
coz we both pakai tudung
maybe ia pikir kami terrorist!

but he said it was just a random security check and we tried to be calm. we ended up asking him where the JR counter was and he helped us.

We did the exchange, and since we were sorta given a free hotspot wifi password thingy, we forgot our intention to buy the data line at the airport.
so basically, we left the airport, board a JR train that would bring us to our hotel, 'blindly'.


(sorry buzz, but I don't have train picture on the first day. ^_^v)


I said 'blindly' because, once we were on the train, the internet was not at all stable (coz, durh! its a moving train) and we couldn't get proper map to our hotel.

and of course, once we arrived at our next station (supposedly 5 mins walk from that station to our hotel) and we were extremely lost.
both tired. both hangry (hungry and angry HAHAHAH).
We first asked help from 7eleven employee. he showed a map, but that was not much help coz we don't know Japan, let alone their local map.
sekali, one last resort, literally dragging our tired feet, cBuzz decided to tanya hawker Machi selling cold drinks. I waited for her in front of a parking area where it was limbu (sheltered from direct sunlight) coz Japan weather was still hot when we got there. like, if Brunei is hot, Japan is hotter. I got sunburn. 
anyway, while I waited, this paci, the parking carer (i think), approached me and tried to help. we both don't speak each other's languages, but what touches me at that moment was how nice he was trying to help eventhough we couldn't really communicate.
a few minutes into it, then came a passersby, we called him 'Uncle' (coz he was a lot younger looking than the paci), and the paci asked him for help too. Lucky for us this uncle know English!
thus, the uncle helped next. he followed the map the 7eleven gave us at first, but after we got lost again, cBuzz suggested he called the hotel and asked for direction. He called, and found out the map was wrongly given to us and very kindly, he helped us walked to our hotel!
We were just thankful! and said thank you to him a lots of time! nasib kami tau cana cakap 'thank you' in Japanese. LOL

At this point, we already regretting our neglect of buying the data line at the airport.
INTERNET IS IMPORTANT PEOPLE!
especially tempat baru.
Lesson Learn no. 1; bali data line before anything else!

. . .

Japan Trip Day 1.0

Seminggu Kemudian~

hahaha

Life is so busy right now and my lazy-o-meter isn't helping either.

Butt

Here goes my so-called Japan Trip journal ...thingy..

Day 1.0

Day one wasn't really in Japan yet, coz we were using Singapore Airline, hence we had a layover in Singapore first before we fly off to Japan.
We left Brunei on 8th Sep at 11:55am and arrived in Singapore at around 2pm.
Our flight to Japan from Singapore was on 9th Sep at 1:25am.
as mentioned on the previous post, our layover was more than 12hours!!!
I tell you, my anxiety level was unbearably high!

for some reason, me and Buzz had matching color baju.



telepasi! seriously, we were both so busy before the trip, we didn't have time to discuss baju.

Anyway, to pass the time, we spent our time playing playstation game at Terminal 2 of Changi Airport.
this part is too bad; I didn't take picture.
but the place was over the Koi Pond area.
Google it.
hahahah

Lupa ku nama game nya. It was Japanese base/theme/backstory (coz ada Samurai and map Japan ..thingy), adventure, missions to finish, etc. I suck at it but at least it got my mind away from my nerves. coz seriously, my nerves were everywhere!

~Fast foward~
We boarded plane to Osaka, Japan on time and as we were settling down, one of the cabin crew approached me and asked if I'm 'Miss Awana' and I said 'No' with a smile and continued talking sama cBuzz. until the lady once again said to me 'Is your birthday tomorrow?' then aku te-klik and nodded yes, she greeted me and long story short, She said they had a cake for me which she will give to me once we landed in Japan.
Malu ku!!!
Aku tau sapa punya angkara!!!
I was/am grateful, of course!
but!
argh!
malu ya amat!

After that, no more surprises and before long I was off. coz I was dizzy/nauseated. I couldn't really sleep. I kept waking up every other hour wishing we landed already ahahah inda penyabar~. 
the next hundred times I open my eyes, the cabin lights were on and we began our descent to Japan.

. . .

a/n:



once again, Thank You to my kazen, Ka Tin for the advance notice to your fellow cabin crews!

. . .

Me is backk

3 more days and it would be a month since my last post.

Hi guys!
I am back! and I just got back from my Japan trip yesterday too.

before I post anything about the trip, lets get a few 'Lesson Learn' out of the way.

1. you might want to study your flight time before you buy them. Ours had a layover of over 12 hours before we finally fly off to Japan and thats another 8 hours. THE WAITING WAS UNBEARABLE!



2. buy data line, rent pocket wi-fi, etc at the airport when you arrived. utmost important!
We didn't. and it was hard trying to find our hotel without the internet. we didn't even have a map. and none of us can read Kenji! nasib ada a paci and an uncle sudi to help us lost ladies. ahahaha

3. you might want to check the nearest train station (if thats your main transport) to your hotel AND place of destination. It might say on Agoda that "20mins from this destination to that destination" In reality, we stayed at a hotel that was 5 to 7 stops away from our wanted destination. *ketawa sampai keluar air mata* its not even funny.

4. Jangan malu bertanya. Kalau inda tau, tanya. If you didn't ask, the answer will always be 'No'. 
Just ask, When in doubt, ask. People in Japan are very helpful. Some are more friendlier than others but they still help. You may look dumb to them but hey, you're a visitor. you don't live there. you are bound to not know about stuff. What I like about Japan is that even when they do not speak English well, they still try their hardest and best to help you. its very touching.

5. I don't know about you but my best choice for footwear was my Fipper, the currently famous flip flop in Brunei. 



I wore shoes the day I fly to Japan (8th and 9th), and then when I was in Universal Studio Japan (10th) and lastly, I wore it at Disneyland (12th). the rest, I just slipped on my flip flop. remember when I mentioned about how our hotel was far away from the train station? yeah, I walked a lot and I'm telling you now that I never walked so much in my life! thus my feet hurt like hell hence the wearing comfortably of the flip flop.

I might be missing some more points but
I think that is all for now.
I will add some more in the next post if I came across one along the way.

Until next time, 
ciao~

. . .