Beauties and the "Beast"!

As suggested by the title of this post, this is a random post of flowers... and of myself :P The flower pics were taken on my own camera b4 it died on me... As you are probably aware, I'm not particularly fond of posting pictures of myself... but this time round, I managed to look somewhat photogenic in a few shots-- thanks to fellow DSLR enthusiast hehe. So yeah, I will be a bit ego and post a few this time round. Please bear with me... :P

Plush cushioned seats at roof terrace of Sebnem Hotel, Istanbul. Highly recommended for anyone who intends to visit!

Let me indulge a little and turn to an excerpt from Le Petit Prince... :P

You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you -- the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

Err, trying to act cute in the middle of nowhere. Cappadocia, Turkey.

Brr... Weather in Istanbul was pretty chilly when we first arrived... but it became really awesome when we returned for the last 2 nights after touring the rest of Turkey.

Trying to pull off a "look back" pose on an escalator at a metro station in Istanbul.

Charles and Keith in Cevahir Shopping Centre, Istanbul (apparently the largest shopping centre in Europe). Seems like this local shoe/accessories chain is doing pretty well. I also chanced upon "Zara Home" -- only can see, cannot buy... when one pretty towel costs a whopping $69...!!

Beautiful Turkey

My turkey trip was great. Lovely weather, beautiful sights, flowers blooming everywhere, warm hospitality from locals, yummy yummy food and great company... Though I broke my camera on Day 4 and got quite seasick during the end-up-going-nowhere boat cruise (kenah "cheated"), everything else went quite well...

I did a part free-and-easy, part local tour agency kinda itinerary. Istanbul was pretty tourist friendly-- the Sultanahmet area with all the major attractions was quite walkable; it was also easy to get around with an efficient and affordable public transport network (actually taxi fares were reasonable too, though we only found out on the 2nd last day!) Other "must-visit" Turkish destinations were somewhat more spread out btwn the western coast and central parts of Turkey, so we relied on the local tour agency for those bits. That allowed us to meet quite a few visitors from different countries; to our surprise we found out that quite a few ppl take like 1 month or more off work...!! Such decadence... Making my (seemingly long) 2-week getaway seem trivial in comparision hehe. Well, you make the best of what you can squeeze out; and it was definitely long enough for a decent recharge :)

Turkey's a place with a long and rich history; though it was cool to learn more I'm not a traveller terribly into history... the things that left me with the most vivid memories were the people, insights into the Turkish lifestyle, sampling different kinds of local cuisine... And well, they prob charge the most exorbitant rates for using public loos -- expect to pay btwn 0.5 to 1 turkish lira (Sing dollar/ Turkish lira exchange rate's about 1:1) each time...

I also like the Turkish ppl we met... They seem generally good-humored, warm and friendly. Though it doesn't seem like they get too many Singaporean tourists, with the Turkish frequently greeting us with "Konnichiwa" (or the Korean equivalent) at the touristy places... And when told that we're from Singapore, they articulate the three-syllables Sing-a-pour melodiously and knowingly... hehe, though i suspect half of them prob haven't heard of us before. I also gathered that fair-skinned Asians like us must be a pretty rare breed in town, especially when you get locals wanting to take pictures of you (which was odd), or with you, more than once.

Hee, ok, now for the pictures...

Tulips tulips everywhere in Istanbul!

Above: Shutter-happy in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Below: Tulips in front of the iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul.


Above: Lovely arches at this courtyard at the Blue Mosque.
Below: Need I say more?? :P

Had lunch at this cute cafe in Selcuk, Turkey.

Olives, olives and more olives! I tried to give them a second chance here, but well, I still dun quite fancy them...

We also visited Sirince, this village near Selcuk with greek houses. Quite a quaint little place, but sadly it's pretty ravaged by tourists today. Many turkish women just sat at their stalls weaving flower wreaths from fresh wildflowers... I got myself one for just 1 lira... :)

Above: Awesome views of the mountainscape during a long bus-ride...
Below: Blending into the fairy-chimney landscape at Cappadocia

Hee, I found "myself" at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, of course must take picture right? :P

A refreshing breakfast at the hotel roof terrace in Selcuk. Quite a few hotels use their roof terraces as their "selling point" on their websites... Then you go there and discover that everyone has got a roof terrace :P Oh well, not too surprising, given that it's really very pleasant to dine under the warm sunlight in spring.

And of course, who can leave Turkey without tasting some Turkish tea (or Çay, pronounced "chai") served about everywhere in cute curvy glasses?

Am typiıng this from my cave hotel at Cappadocia, Turkey... The careless miınts broke her lovely F1.8 lens and possıbly the camera on Day 4... and so have been without my own camera for the past week or so :( but at least I took enough tulip and flower pics before the unfortunate accident to leave without regrets :P On the other hand, have been indulgiıng in too much cheese, meat and breads the past week or so... need to exercise way harder when I come back... :P

Greetings from Istanbul!

Today is Day 2 of my long Turkish getaway... Never in my life did I imagine that I'd see my lovely spring tulips in Istanbul... Think I ended up taking more flower pics than the "proper" attractions pics.. hee. Weather's a bit chilly, but the lovely sun feels great... reminds me of Berkeley weather on a nice spring morning. Aargh... dun want to go home already hehe.

Cake and photography on a Sat afternoon

There's a little jewel of a cafe tucked away in one corner of Chinatown... The cookbooks on display make me want to start baking all over again :(

Above: Dun be deceived by its "solid" exterior... It's full of melted Valrhona choc goodness on the inside!

Below: Pretty shadows cast on the adjacent table...

Countdown...

I am now only one week away from my 13-day Turkish holiday! :D Around this time next week, i would be waiting to board my flight...

Funeral

Think this MCYS commercial might be a little overplayed/overcirculated by now, but I still think it's a pretty good attempt by the govt to get ppl to think about getting married or setting up a family. I like how the message is more subtle and not so in-your-face, and the point about how tiny/quirky imperfections sometimes make our dear ones all the more endearing. On a totally unrelated note, thought the elderly chinese couple look like a real married couple in real life hehe.



I've also grown considerably lazy after stopping Japanese classes on Sundays. Now I really laze around more, leisurely read my newspapers etc... Feels good to be able to do nothing, really, once in a while. I think we all need that one/two days in a week to just be able to chill and relax. Recently I also feel like I am growing somewhat more comfortable in my own skin... dun think it's very obvious except to myself, but feel happy that I've made some progress in this aspect. Hee, though from time to time, I still wonder what is it about myself that makes me likeable :P

The 2nd half of this morning's annual conference felt like a pseudo NDP. The 'surprise' item at the end was a lot more interactive than expected -- not only were we requested to learn the actions of a rather dubious rap video on-the-spot; all attendees were given neon lightstick thingies to wear around our wrists... these later turned into waveable ultra-slim torches for the ending finale... Well, everyone was somewhat "submissive" (myself included) and went along with what we were told to do (haha, typical Singaporeans?) but hee, deep down cannot help but feel odd. Like, it was some sort of induced spontaneity...

The relatively smooth delivery of a speech I helped to co-draft also means that i can finally sleep soundy tonight :P And somewhat pleased that the anecdotal story I had decided to incorporate was quite well received by the audience. Working with someone whom I never knew that well beforehand (for the speech) also somewhat improved my impression/liking for her... I somehow appreciate discovering things about myself thru working with other people... eg. when it allows me to discover shortcomings about myself/ "gaps" that other people "fill in" simply because they operate differently and consequently view things differently. Well, I suppose that's why it can be pretty refreshing and potentially enlightening to mix around with people who have vastly different personalities from you once in a while.

I'm pleased it's the weekend again. Though the week's not been too bad either :) Work is blah, but nevermind -- me can look forward to my long holiday in 3 weeks' time! Tennis on thurs was actually pretty good for once-- maybe i am starting to finally get the hang of it! Though my brain still not very leakage-proof-- remember to do one thing but will forget something else :( When will I ever be able to play tennis gracefully and stylishly (like these experts playing at the adjacent court that night)... But as with many other things, I suppose I need to be patient and keep at it. Surely that day will come...? :P

Last night I took taxi after midnight for the first time in a very long while (hehe, I so guai1)... And to my horror discovered that the 50% surchage applied to the metered fare after 12 midnight. Not calculated based on when the passenger gets on the taxi... Was still so delighted after managing to flag down cab at like 11.52pm. Oh well, on hindsight it makes sense lah, else like close to 12am NO ONE would be able to get on a cab.

Will end my frivolous chapalang post with a lovely piece by J.S. Bach. Since I heard the Tang Quartet cellist play this at The Importance of Being Earnest, it's been stuck in my head! Though the song kinda gets a bit boring towards the end, the starting bit is so catchy and lovely.... :)

Beautiful Sunday

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday and the baby blue sky is infused with lovely cottony clouds :) Unfortunately I need to stop lazing around and get some serious work done... Before that, let me indulge a little and treat you to another gorgeous sunrise -- a Feb 24 sunrise to be exact :P Discovered them when I whipped out my neglected 40D to capture the T.L.C lunch prepared by mum this afternoon...

Ta-dah... A simple but lovingly prepared lunch. When I discovered that the green soybeans (you typically pay an exorbitant $1.90 or more for like a meagre 15 pods in Japanese restaurants) didn't come in this form (ie. extracted from pods by mum), I gave her a sheepish grin and felt really sweet inside.

I've never been so continuously sleepy throughout the week in a while. But luckily I have not managed to break record of falling asleep right in front of Nobel Laureate speaker, like I did some 4 years ago... and then got suaned1 and blackmailed forever by some people. Though it's been a tiring week, life has been relatively decent nonetheless. Pulled off an emcee stint for long service award ceremony on Wed; ended my term as CCM secy this week (finally! after an arduous 9 mths...); had quite a bit of fun celebrating boss's birthday with colleagues; and ended the long work week with nice dinner and lovely company at the Botanic Gardens. Was going to end up not leaving work on time today, but thanks to a system shutdown of sorts, LN was not login-able and I had excuse to not do what boss requested me to do at 5.30pm... :P

But of course, how can life be all work and no play... there's a long holiday in sight! :D
Above pic: Another sunrise from my balcony... can you spot the airport control tower and the cute little crescent? :)

Departures (Okuribito)

Wanna watch this...

This afternoon, after much pain and sweat, finally sent out annual conference speech outline that i had been working on past couple of days... Felt rather scary 'cos this time round, no one to clear and after i finish just anyhow whack and send out to the whoevers I needed to send to. The most mortifying thing though was that in barely 1 hr, my email got circulated back to me by boss-- asking me to check on stuff pertaining to my own unit... well, at that point in time i wanted to faint... cos means like prob whole world got my chapalang rather last min draft outline... :(( And were asked by their respective admin heads to give comments...

Oh well, I am strong... I will survive...

i dun really know why, but recently there's no urge to blog... it's been a tiring but eventful week; and though I have to work this weekend I'm still really glad the work week's over! Some time in the middle of the week I woke up to a most amazing sunrise... yet had like only 5 seconds to admire it... how sad is that... ;P

I am a lucky little "scatterbrain" who has managed to smoke my way through so far... and who has been showered with love by the kind 'aunties' around... let's hope the luck lasts me all the way till end of consultation next Sun...

I also cannot bluff properly or master the art of suave talk. And somehow when ppl do it so effortlessly it makes me cringe quite a bit deep down... Though I feel uncomfortable being so bad at it, I guess can also console myself that it's probably nothing I would feel very proud of even if I manage to pick it up :P

Going to the hairdresser's is always a pretty terrifying experience. Esp when you're somewhat vain. And I suppose more so when you don't really have someone you always go to, who knows what suits you and really takes the effort to tailor a good hairstyle for you...

So ever since my highly value-for-money stylist at Funan got promoted to senior stylist; I've been relegated to lost-sheep status... (yeah I am cheapo and refuse to pay like twice price for same quality... I mean, promotion doesn't mean he suddenly becomes way better, but it's a fact he now charges almost twice as much!) Since I'm lazy, always end up making do with mediocre stylist who is half-hearted but still does alright job... But then cos there's this element of risk and uncertainty, the process is worrisome and the outcome, very potentially brood-worthy... And for some inexplicable reason, even when the haircut turns out alright, I'd frequently feel like the previous unkempt self was more loveable, till the new look grows on me like 2 weeks later :P

Sadly I am now trapped in the brooding period...

Past my mid-twenties...

It's pretty depressing that I'm already one day into my late twenties... :P But that fact of life aside, the first day of being 26 actually felt real nice, cos I didn't have to work; and felt really loved :) That aside, also gave myself some nice treats hehe... old already, need to start 'pampering' myself more... :P

Feeling the travel itch again.

There's a bunch of 20th anniversary airfare deals on SilkAir, such as $398 all-in-fare to Kathmandu, Nepal... and a bunch of other interesting and slightly further Asian destinations that are not China (somehow no urge to go China for time being).

Hmmm....

Bad days are meant to be blogged and eaten away...

This morning 'the colleague who calls me names' gave me a pack of half-eaten Marks & Spencer gingerbread men her daughter had rejected... I figured the little one didn't quite fancy the taste of ginger... Anyways, it was a lovely gesture on her part but a truly unfortunate fate for the cute gingerbread men, cos all 6 of them were gobbled up by a pek chek me by the end of the day. That's about 18 grams of fat ingested... Well, they happen to be butter gingerbread cookies.

I dunno if it's a very girl thing, but when I feel discouraged/ demoralised/ upset about something, then I just can't concentrate too well on other tasks for the rest of the day. Whereas some "unfeeling?? :P" ppl can be so emotionally unaffected and manage to clearly delineate work and feelings and be productive all the time. That's a cool skill I have yet to master. Sigh. And of course, their productivity's also not hampered by the cumbersome/distracting snacking of cookies throughout a stressful day.

Glad that it's the end of my bad day, but suspect tmr's not gonna be very much better. Nonetheless, I'm really thankful for lovely ppl around me/within sms-distance (haha) that have brightened up an otherwise even greyer day... :)

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

As usual, I only discover and like things ten months after everyone else... ;)

Happy Valentine's!

I'm so happy it's weekend, cos I can finally take a proper break to rest, laze around and recharge a bit...

Today also happens to be mum's birthday, and this morning I woke up to a tiny surprise... Dad, while getting his healthy breakfast at his fav erm Loyang Point, got my mum ONE stalk of rose! (Earlier in week I told him this year why dun I order a bouquet on his behalf for mum then he said ok, but he subsequently went and told my mum about my plan, in the end we didn't buy cos she said dun waste money... I thought that was it, no flowers... Hmm, so in the end he still had something up his sleeve) It was all rather sweet because he like NEVER EVER buys flowers. Dunno why today decided to get a flower... so we all poked fun at him, good-humoredly. And though it kinda came in tacky packaging, it was a pretty nice and 'fresh' rose :)

To all my dear friends out there, here's wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's!

My pok Samsung phone has died on me a 2nd time... this time round the touch screen buttons have both gone on strike... :( Work is also piling up with no end in sight. Sigh, my life is bleak... for this week and next week :(

Little heart tuggers...

Sometimes, little things make all the difference. 2 little items at 2 restaurants caught my eye...

I thought this white "pom-pom" flower at Marmalade Pantry looked really cute. The petals remind me of a chrysanthemum, perhaps a spherical kind or what! I asked the waitress what kind of flower it was... but she was equally clueless. So it shall remain the pom-pom flower in my dictionary :P

Little glass of white cum brown sugar cubes at PS Cafe, Palais Renaissance... Though pretty, we figured it was actually somewhat unhygienic. Like, if unfinished by end of day throw away quite wasted, but on other hand, quite gross if they get recycled repeatedly hehe :P

"The Guillotine Times"

Sounds like the title of some horror novel? Far from it... But it's disturbing enough to me that it's some official term associated with the ongoing Budget Debate... Not sure why I never came across this term till an email cascaded down from MND was circulated early this morning. Basically, as I understand it, each Ministry is allocated some time to discuss its expenditure during these "Committee of Supply" sessions (that's another senseless term that I cannot figure out, but at least it does not conjure any negative/fear-inducing image) and so during this "guillotine" time, each Ministry's "head" is literally on the chopping board huh... Concurrently, key officers under each Ministry are supposed to standby just in case their inputs are needed to answer questions. Then some say that must really physically be in workstations all the time..?! I mean, understand we need to provide support/inputs in event queries cascade down... but cannot help but wonder why there's need to induce "can lose your head anytime" kinda fear leh...

Dun like the idea that way to get ppl to do things seriously is to instil fear in them, be it via deviously crafted phrases (though I wonder if like COS it's actually some antiquated term passed down from eons ago) or severe punishments for mistakes... So unhealthy if whole system is governed by fear, rather than genuine commitment towards serving the public well.

I think I'm having yusheng overdose-- after lao1-ing with diff grps of ppl some 4 times over the past 6 days or so... Nonetheless, I never get sick of the tiny squarish keropoks... :P On top of yusheng, have also been 'rampantly' indulging in new year cookies and other sinful stuff... Coupled with my highly irregular gym-going the past month... it's pretty understandable why I am feeling really guilty now :P Add to that my pretty lousy performance at the weekly tennis sessions (I think sometimes coach exercises more than me hehe) it's time to cut-back on high-calorie items in diet... Alas, I know I will almost certainly fail if I attempt dieting, just cos willpower to resist food/snacks is too weak hehe... After all, why torture myself...? :P

TGIW!

Another busy week (half-week) at work just whizzed past, thankfully... And I'm trying to enjoy every moment of my precious weekend... Thru no conscious effort of my own, this year has seen me engaging in more people-oriented activities on weekends... catching up with ppl and other wholesome activities that are not shopping :P This afternoon I also managed to catch my idol Jamie whip up some really yummy-looking yet healthy salads. J-- he actually tried to concoct his own yuzu salad dressing while preparing this salad with tuna sashimi hee...

I know this is really kinda late, but here's the last instalment of my winter adventures in Japan (Just some random pics this time round... mainly of food :P)

A teddy bear cafe just outside our Takayama ryokan... We had a late breakfast there. Three teddy towels for three of us :)
We chose a seat near all the teddies... And freely arranged them to join our meal ha. (Only for pics lah, not the whole meal...)

The matcha green tea latte I ordered came with a tiny bowl of biscuits... One of them's in the shape of a teddy bear!
An okonomiyaki place in Kyoto, Gion district (the geisha district). This eatery was really kinda weird/bit sleazy... Well, you can dine with these life-sized mannequins... And 'admire' the bordering-on-porn drawings on the noticeboards...

Yummy caramelized sweet potato from supermarket!!! Very delicious... but had really sticky teeth after that :(

My convenience store purchases... I love the convenience stores in Japan. There's a staggering variety of lovely-looking drinks/snacks/ice-cream to choose from. Above: Milk pudding and instant matcha latte (the one with hearts on the packaging comes with two tiny kit kats too) I love matcha... Why they dun sell in 7-Eleven here...

A huge snow rabbit to end off the series of Japan posts.... ;)

My "triad chief" director

Ha, I finally managed to upload this photo... Of my dept director dressed up as Chinese "lao3 da4"... Hehe, I loved the birdcage. Think he also felt very pleased dressed up like this for the night :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's rare that I actually get some 'peace and quiet' to myself on a Chinese New Year's eve, but it's nice to have this little window of personal time to laze around and reflect a little...

These days, Chinese New Year really isn't very meaningful for me. This year, I'm just thankful to be able to enjoy a (much-deserved!) long weekend break. Though it's THE TIME to get-together and catch up with relatives, I really dun fancy having routine reunion dinners with aunties/uncles/cousins (on dad's side) whose 'affairs' I only hear about occasionally when parents engage in dinnertime/bedtime gossip... Aiyah i probably shouldn't be such a cynic but deep down it bothers me quite a bit why all of us continue the yearly practice of visiting one another just for the sake of 'adhering to custom'... For example, mum complains to me XXX aunt's well-off daughters always hav this see-ppl-no-up attitude and very sian3 that we still have to visit them... Seriously, if we all dun REALLY want to do it, then why not NOT do it and like laze at home during CNY right? :P And why do ppl have to be fake and pretend to enjoy entertaining guests we do not truly welcome in our homes? Oh well, perhaps when peers start to set up own families/ have own place I'll truly have some fun visiting ppl during CNY... ;)

Oops, after much complaining, I hope I have not doused the festive mood too much! To all my dear friends out there, I sincerely wish you a good year ahead and a work-free long weekend to relax and recharge :)

It's been a crazy week... And it doesn't help that I wun be feeling TGIF! cos tmr would be just as busy... Oh well, at least I'm gonna get a long weekend... before the things I owe ppl come haunting me again... Sigh, tph correctly pointed out that when I'm free, will complain that I'm bored; yet when I'm busy, feel super drained... hehe :P

International Mafia Convention 2009

Our annual D & D was held at Ritz-Carlton yesterday evening... The most enjoyable part for me, well, was seeing bosses dressed up to the theme. And it's not everyday that you can see your own director dressed in red chinese-style robe, complete with sunglasses and birdcage prop ;P And this year's much less stressful, since I'm out of the comm :P

The good view from the complimentary hotel room...

Sigh, seems like age is catching up with me... The other day a lil boy at the tennis courts called me 'auntie' even though I was dressed in a relatively youthful-looking outfit... Hai, old = old huh, even dressing doesn't help... :P

Then this afternoon my "beloved" colleague gave me a most "flattering" nickname..."rou4 rou4". this is her second time telling me that I actually have arms that are nice to pinch... I rebutted that's cos she has been pinching ppl with bony, fleshless arms. HMPH! Though she tried really hard to make amends afterwards, I told her I'd remember her remark FOREVER. Actually I am relatively unaffected by her frivolous comment since I think that it isn't entirely justified, but you know, today the evil streak in me was itching to induce guilt in someone... :P

Japan Winter 08/09 - New Year Special

Hee, finally got down to writing this 2nd post on Japan trip...Feel like I've had very decent work-life balance the past week, what with movies, tennis and chilling out with dear frens; some of whom I only see on yearly basis... :(

So after some 4 days of snowy adventure, the minshuku gang left the relatively uncrowded countryside and arrived in big-cityish Kyoto some 3 hrs later... Trip was planned such that we would spend New Year's Eve in Kyoto... since we could then witness the new year rituals/ festivities during Japanese New Year (正月 - pronounced as shogatsu). Kyoto was supposed to be MY destination, since I was clearly the most beguiled by guide books (they all hail Kyoto as THE quintessential Japanese destination). But lazy me clearly didn't do as much preparation as I should have, esp given my pre-trip enthusiasm... hee. Nonetheless, we got on fine (I think? ;P), and with the very extensive and tourist-friendly bus network, still managed to visit the key attractions Kyoto was famous for.

Apparently on New Year's Eve in Japan, most temples will ring the temple bell 108 times to "ring in" the new year... Apparently this is to curb the 108 mortal desires, which according to Buddhist belief, torment humankind. To witness this special bell-ringing, we set off at 10 something from our hostel to one of the more famous temples in the vicinity, Chion-in Temple... Unfortunately the buses headed towards our destination were all packed with the new year crowds, so we ended up taking a night stroll towards the temple....

Along the way we sighted hordes of people at the entrance of Yasaka Shrine (a pretty famous shrine in Kyoto)... Well, the original grand plan was to visit the temple and head over to a nearby shrine (the Japanese also have this tradition of visiting a Shinto shrine for new year... the first visit to a shrine for the year is termed 'hatsumode' and I guess it makes practical sense to do the temple ringing/shrine visit together...) Not so surprisingly, we were "immobilised" for a good half hour in the human jam while walking thru Yasaka Shrine and never made it to the temple... And so ended up ushering the new year in the middle of a human jam flanked by Japanese-style pasar malam stalls on both sides... ;)

Lanterns at Yasaka Shrine...

At the shrine, you can browse through a variety of new year merchandise for good fortune/health/warding off evil forces; from protective charms to... "demon-slaying arrows" (hamaya) :P

Or make a new year wish for your loved ones :)

More new year crowds at Fushimi Inari Shrine, late morning on Jan 1st (The one with the impressive tunnel of red torii gates)

This was also my first encounter with the omikuji (fortunes in the Japanese context, similar to what ppl do in Chinese temples here too), and the creepy omikuji machine... which we first chanced upon in a shrine in Takayama. We were curious what the machine does, and so I put in a 100 yen coin to test it out... This at once triggered the Japanese doll (originally positioned towards the fortune-seeker and standing right under the torii gate. she holds like a mini tray, i guess meant for collecting the fortune), who turns back into the temple-looking enclosure at the back.... We simultaneously screamed when that happened... Cos i mean, it was just kinda creepy... haha. When she like 'came out' again, we figured that the machine had run out of fortunes cos her tray was empty and there was nothing for us to 'collect'... Oh well, so no fortune for me. Both S and J were visibly relieved at the absence of any fortune, but somehow I lingered on... feeling a bit cheated... Our conjectures were subsequently confirmed by a staff who came out to put a "no more fortunes for the day" sign across the coin slot minutes after we tried it out...

Stole a shot of a Japanese lady reading her omikuji... I figured it must have been a decent one! We saw many Japanese tying their fortunes after reading them... but had no idea why... After reading up more on omikujis, I realised that there were many varying degrees of good/bad luck... And so you keep your blessings and tie your curses on the structures provided.... Makes sense i guess. Weird to say this, but the curses made a pretty sight... And so I was rather obsessed with them :P More omikuji shots taken at Fushimi Inari Shrine and temple in Asakusa...




Hee, stay tuned for the 3rd instalment of other random pics from my trip.... When I feel hardworking enough again :)