New Year! New Experience!

Happy New Year (Gregorian Calendar)!!! Salam Maal Hijrah 1429 too (Muslim Calendar)!! 明けましておめでとうございます！！For the whole week of new year holiday last week, I have spent it at Nagano, experiencing snow and also snowboarding for the first time in my entire 23 years of life!!! This definitely will be among the most memorable New Year although I do really miss to celebrate it in Malaysia with Shikin and bbq poker night at Alan's Place with budak koleq.

The place where I and another 31 participants of this MSAJ Kansai snowboarding trip went is called Hakuba Iwatake Ski Resort. I have asked the permission from my sensei to join this trip several weeks earlier in a bounenkai (new year's end party). At that time, he said jokingly that I have to be very careful...not about my safety..but be careful towards cute girls..Seems that sensei still possess a little sense of humour left out of his daily hectic schedule and strict personality. At the party, I also had my first experience in eating blow fish fugu- ikan buntal cooked by qualified licensed chef as per explained by my assoc prof and enjoying myself from amusing speech and memorabilia from newcomers in our lab, Natthanong, Pramila and Asmadi.

According to my assoc prof, there were three most expensive food in Japan. In the third place is fugu, followed by kani (crab-big red one with juicy flesh) in the second place. The champion is shockingly something very exotic which is the right hand of a bear!!kuma no migi te!! The right one is more expensive then the left as it is the one being used by the bear to reach for the honey...Certainly it is a rare information but I did not dare to eat a bear's hand...The right hand may be used to reach for the honey but might as well being used to slap a poacher's face to death..plus it's not really good to eat endangered species. ;) (the reason why I don't eat cheap and easily available whale's meat here).

Snowboarding is not an easy task for a first timer but after various of falling styles, I begin to catch up the most important aspects which is sliding with balance and nevertheless, you should kick out the fear of heights and speed and just let the adrenaline flows and the fun of it will follow next. After 2 days, amazingly that I have successfully managed to maneuver the board well and even simultaneously did the S-turn and switch from front to back as I wish. Thanks to Omaq, Nadzrul, Cik Sal for basic coaching and the amateurs team (Firdaus, Madi, Mc, Nuru) for a wonderful experience. Experienced snowboarders like Aca, Meri, Joto n Najmi said that this group is the most hayaii-quick learner among all and for me, that is a compliment. We also managed to make a snowman-yuki daruma courtesy of Potato, Carrot and Capsicum that Madi brought all the way from Kyoto, ate pricy unagi don-rice in a bowl with eel set and play poker on the second night onwards (everybody slept in ache on the first night). There is also a Hindustan movie screening, Om Shanti Om organised by Shawn and Dejj but I fell asleep exhaustively before the end of it.

While writing this, I got a visit from Aca, Najmi, Antu, Meri and Pdot all the way from Osaka for a short night trip to Kyoto. At 2 am, nothing that I could offer apart from jokes, stories, strawberry and peach juice. Hereby with this post, I do attached some of the photos during my trip. In life, you should try what you want while you have the opportunity to do it. Or else, when you carry a heavy responsbility as a father or head of the family later, you might regret that you did not live your bachelor's life to the fullest of it. To all, be good and be bold...It's a beginning of a new chapter again this year so make sure it will be a great one...