robbed of all it's passion

Wednesday, December 7
3:17 PM

arrived home from japan yesterday morning only to be shocked by the latest news. something of extreme importance happened on the fourth of december. elsa lim tze joo is no longer living the 'single life' anymore. am so happy for her. her whinings will stop now. instead, i will listen to tales of sweet and romantic actions that tristan will do to sweep her off her feet. hey, if you cant have it, stories make a good substitute.

japan is still as i remembered, from a year or two ago. the temperature ranged from a freezing zero degree celsius to a comfortable fifteen. welcome back to the days of smearing truckloads of cream on my freezing and extremely dry skin. we didnt go on tour this time, instead we chose to walk on our own. which is better cause we got to sleep in and excercise more. i mean come on, during tours, after you eat, you jump straight on to the bus, sit on your ass and sleep.

the food was insanely good. the sashimi was to die for. and the raw beef, good god, it just melts in your mouth. as usual, churros was part of our daily diet, together with hot cocoa and japanese snacks. we applied lipbalm like nobody's business and still had frostbites on our lips. janice had it the worse. she had frostbites all over her thighs and spent the nights scratching away. needless to say, jacqueline and i had to endure her constant complains and whines.

the miracosta hotel at disney sea was one of the best hotels i ever stayed in. the bed was comfortable and their pillows were actually fluffy. the toilet was sparkling clean and their free toiletries were from shiseldo. i mean, for seven hundred dollars a night. im sure they can afford to give us all that we need. the hot springs at atami definitely rocked the vacation. let me give you the proper procedure for you to fully enjoy the hot springs.

STEP ONE: remove all article of clothing. (yes, women just strip naked in front of each other and walk into the public bath. so its a "i see her boobs you see boobs" kinda scenario.)
STEP TWO: grab the tiny towel and rinse your body with warm water.
STEP THREE: ease your body into the hot water(40degrees)
STEP FOUR: soak there for awhile until you feel that your body is warmer.
STEP FIVE: go to the corner where all the women are showering together and grab a shower (no cubicles. you just sit down and shower with all the other women)
STEP SIX: shower as usual, shampoo conditioner etc.
STEP SEVEN: after showering, go back to the hot spring and soak for awhile. or at least till you get kinda pruney.
STEP EIGHT: get out, rinse your body and apply the bathing salt to make your skin nice and smooth. rinse one more time before leaving the public bath.

tada. eight steps to enjoying your hot springs.

shopping wasnt that good. the shops closed pretty early and japanese clothes are really tiny. for everything you size that you think you wear in singapore, you have to get in a size or two bigger. bras included. it really isnt much cheaper in japan so i couldnt really buy much gifts back. especially luxurious foreign brands like TIFFANY&CO and DIOR cost much more in japan. a dior necklace that usually costs 150SGD, is 200SGD in japan. so it wasnt really worth buying it overseas.

although japan was fun and all, im still glad to be back home. got parties lined up all through december. and my holiday homework which is still not done. not to mention that im finally moving back to my newly renovated home. cleaning, packing, unpacking and more cleaning. still, christmas is coming and i LOVE christmas. the lights, the smell and just the basic christmas spirit. shopping centres in japan have been playing christmas songs on repeat so throughout my entire shopping trip, i kept hearing songs like "winter wonderland, let it snow". and also the britney spears song "my only wish this year" seems to be a hit among all the japanese shops.

I want my baby
I want someone to love me, someone to hold me
Maybe we'll be all the love under the mistletoe

-fin.