真冬の空のした ♪

So I think it's safe to say that I've failed completely at recording my time here in Japan in blog form. :( It's a little unfortunate, but I know I'm having the best of times here and those times are not about to be forgotten. So hey, it's daijoubu...right? haha.

Went to my first ever concert here in Japan last night, and as expected, it was fantaaastic.

Sounds cheesy, but 山下智久 actually inspires me a lot. :)
Good man, good man.

Post-Halloween Sunday

Dressed up as Audrey Hepburn (as Holly Golightly) from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
It was really funny, because at the stations there are these ad boards with Karina also dressed up as Audrey. So mid-conversation, Wagner was like, "Oh hey look, the lady behind you looks JUST like you!" hahaha


Anyway, I can't believe that Halloween's already come and gone!! To be honest, Halloween celebrations this year were a tiiiny bit lame because so many people just weren't down for actually celebrating. But oh well, I had a relatively good time anyway (: Took a new friend (friend of a fandom friend haha) clubbing in Roppongi 'cause she's never been.
Hit up A.I TOKYO first due to a random うわさ, then went to LEX again. First time lining up to get into LEX 'cause it was slightly later into the night, and oh my goodness it was jam-packed inside. Not that it isn't usually, but with the Halloween party and everything it was pretty ridiculous.

Funny story though... I don't know if it's because I just look extra Canadian-friendly or what, but last time I was at Lex, some Canadian guy tried to be witty and didn't really succeed, and this time...

Guy: So where are you from?
Me: America..
Guy: (makes funny face tinted with slight distaste) Canada's better than America....
Me: Oh...yeah, you think so?..haha
Guy: Really! It's just better, in many ways...
He then also proceeded to tell me he had friends from the US and that he's been to both, so that makes it legit for him to say which is better. hahaha.

Oh Canadians, what would I do without them.


ドキドキmoment of the night though!! was when he-who-must-not-be-named walked past me at the 改札 @ Roppongi Station (hibiya line, the exits 3,4 side! LOL) I know how much this makes me sound like a silly little high school girl, but hey, don't judge! ;)..
It was so out of nowhere, I still don't know how I managed to look straight at his face and realize that it was him! but uwaaa, so adorably tiny. and still the cutest boy I've seen in real life. Dear God, it'd be really amazing if I could see him again and maybe talk to him again and ...maybe get his number too? hehe

That aside, all of Roppongi last night was just so awesome because as soon as you got to the station, people all around you were dressed up and it was just really cool. :D
Glad I decided to go out last night to at least have seen it all!

Time flies

when you're having fun... but it doesn't slow down either, when you're not.

I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I'm gonna be out of this country a lot sooner than I want to be. This sucks!!
How does one go about making life into exactly what she wants it to be?

Honeymoon

I'm loving Tokyo.

Before we all go abroad, they always tell you about these emotional phases that you should expect to go through when you're in a foreign country. Phase one would be the Honeymoon phase, in which everything about the place feels great 'cause it's new...then eventually, that excitement will die out and you start feeling less in love with the place.

It's been a little over a month since I've arrived, and let me just say that I never believed in that Honeymoon Theory. Maybe in a different country, maybe...But Japan? Tokyo? No, not here.

I love this place. Everyone I love and loves me knows that.

And it's not that I don't see the "bad sides" of the city, it's not like I'm blinded by the love I have for it. I just love it, with everything there is here.




I wish I had more time to upload photos and do proper posts, but I'll be trying harder from now on!

Aaand she's off!

Bye Taiwan, Hello JAPAN :))))))

I met up with Char two days before flying off to Japan.. just what I needed before I left. :)

In Japan now... New peng-yo's are pretty awesome. The dorm is not bad. Classes haven't started..... Tokyo, of course, is fantastic as usual. ♥

All in all, I miss la famille and friends, but life in Japan reaaally isn't bad at all. ;)

I wanted to upload pictures just now but the connection here at the dorm is pretty lame. So I guess the few low-quality pics I've taken with my keitai will have to do for now. :]

First day of orientation, I woke up in my room at OVTA, turned on the TV, and this was the first thing that came into sight:

Oh, H1N1....

でもなんか… いいツーショット（笑）

I keep seeing this ad all over the metro....

I didn't get a pic of Miura Haruma's digicam ad, but that's all over the place too. <3

The "Bad Ass".

Riding the bad ass....hahaha.

Happy Bath Day ads at マツキヨ.

Shibuya during the day... featuring NYC boys. I didn't think those billboards would still be up. 8D

Take 2 of Shibuya

...featuring Aidan's head? haha

The lull before the storm. Waiting to cross the intersection.

Just being in the city makes me feel alive again. :)

(Ignore my retarded face-) 親子丼 for lunch at 吉野家!

NEWS x RUSS K

Nicole + Me + Oscar the Grouch <3>

Shibuya at night :)))

'Twas a good night; Saw college students go crazy at つぼ八, and it reminded me of how Gurecki先生 said she had some crazy times there when she was still in school.

I should get myself back into school mode soon, but unfortunately I think I'm a little too excited about everything for that right now.

"It's all happening!"

PS. I passed JLPT Level 2!!! I didn't tell many people about it, but I took it over the summer to see how I'd do and.....yay! :)

They say blood runs thicker than water...

So here's to family, and the times I spent bonding with mine this summer! :o)

My brother makes the best faces.

Me, my brother, my little cousin.

19 and 14!


Eugenia :)


Cherie :D (your 雙眼皮 pic!)


We're pretty much the same height now..... ew.


I forget to bring my camera out with me a lot, so these two are stolen from Eugenia:
afternoon tea @ Tienmu Sogo

♥♥

Last gathering of the summer before we all go our separate ways...

Me and the 'rents.

:D love!
You're finally heading to the States, but I'll be in Japan.. :(

:)


fambam love! with a blurred mother due to zipai fail.


:D I love this picture.

I hate camera flashes.

Everyone from my mom's side that was still in Taiwan that night.... not many, actually. :]

It's when I look at the people I've grown up with since.. literally as far as I can remember, that I realize how much we've all come. How much we've grown and changed, but at the same time managed to stay the same. And I love that. :)

Yay, us! ;)

I (turned 19 and) woke up alone

About two weeks ago, as I was sitting in my cubicle at HSBC, I had a strangely epiphanic moment.

It sounds cliche when I put it this way, but basically, I realized (very sadly) that I'm not a kid anymore.

Or rather, I can't be a kid anymore.

Obviously, it wasn't the first time I'd toyed with the ideas of growing up and not-growing up. Those same questions and thoughts pop back into mind every now and then, and Vicky and I have had so many talks about how sometimes - despite being "of age" - we make semi-conscious choices to hide behind the excuses of "I'm just a kid", "I don't know, I'm too young", or "I can't, I don't have the experience".

When we were kids, everyone wanted to be "grown up". It's as if those two magic words granted you all the power, freedom, and (thus, I guess) happiness in the world. Yet, the closer I got to actually being "Grown Up", the more I realized that: a) I didn't know if I was ready for all the responsibilities that came with adulthood, and b) I wasn't even really sure where that final destination of Grown Up actually was. I mean, where does 'growing up' end? And when do you say with confidence, "I have grown into a matured woman"?

So as I "grew up" a little, I stopped looking forward to growing up the way I did before (oh, irony!). And, as anyone who has been in touch with me in the past 2 months would know, by the time my 19th birthday came around, I was already feeling old and reluctant to to give up my 'childhood' and 'youth'.

Being a kid means you get to rely on your parents, your elders, the adults around you who can not only guide you and help you, but also protect you and do things for you. Being a kid means you have all that back-up.

But now?

I'm on my own.

That's what I realized: I'm alone now.

Not to say that I don't have an incredibly supportive family, awesome friends, and people who care. But when it comes down to it, I'm on my own now. My loved ones can't "be me" for me. My actions and decisions are the ones that will determine who I am to the world.

I might still see myself as a clueless child when I'm on the job, working with "grown ups", but people have already begun to see me as an adult. Being a 10-year-old might be a good excuse, but being "only 19" is not. Responsibilities and expectations rise; Gradually, people have stopped and will stop seeing me as only a chick under my parents' wings.

I will just be, me.

Everything I do from here on out actually matters. That's the scariest part of it all.

Successes and failures alike; from now on, they'll all be filed into that "Jessica Cheng" folder that I'm going to carry around for the rest of my life. The things that I do, choices that I make.. From now on I can't just talk about them as episodes from "when I was young...."

Everything I do is going to matter, to the person I'm becoming.

As a kid I did things because I had to; I did things well because I was expected or encouraged to. But from here on out, I have to change that mindset and learn to do things for myself. Life and all the experiences that come along the way, they're what I make out of them. Every time I give something less than 100% of what I've got, I'm giving up some of my own potential. Every time I let go of an opportunity because no one pushed me to fight for it, I deny a possibility. When I choose to be only mediocre, I deprive my own self of excellence.

I'm nineteen.

I can't deny officially being on that road to "old" and "grown up".

I can't pull off that "kid" excuse much longer.

I'm alone.

:)

A little bit of summer so far.

I don't even know where to start. It's so hard to believe that nearly three months have gone by since summer vacation started for me. Just crazy.

So I figured, since a picture's worth a thousand words, and I do happen to have a little more than a few of them on my hands... I'll just let them speak for themselves. Uploading photos is still a major pain, though, so I guess this will just be a fraction of what this vacation has consisted of thus far.

I made delicious ジェシカ流 omelettes for breakfast the first or second day back!
Yumyums, totally nutritious :P

First week back, I think? Went to NTU to watch Eugenia perform ;)

Made 肉じゃが with whatever was available in my fridge. :o)

Met up with Kelly

and Eva, for お好み焼き<3

and もんじゃ焼き :9

Dinner and froyo!

with vickyちゃん

and Rainbow!

And then we took a family trip to Green Bay!

Prettyyyy :)

Ready to get not just tanned, but DARK.

le fam bam!

To be continued... (Gosh blogger takes forever to upload these pics and it's killing me!)

And yes, I am aware that I still haven't made my long meaningful post about turning 19 yet. It's because there's just so much that rushes into mind when I think about coming down to the last of my teenage years, and I haven't had the time and energy to let all the thoughts sink in yet. Or maybe its the summer drowsies. Or both. But anyway, I've been trying to sort my thoughts out bit by bit, so the post is coming soon..... I think. Not that I think anyone would really care about my birthday-reflections, but I always feel a little uncomfortable with myself if I don't take the time every birthday and/or every new year's eve to look back at the person I've been and think about the person I'd like to be.

Happy birthday to me.

As of July 28th, 2009 (today!), I am officially nineteen years old!

I think one of the major goals I'll set for myself this year is to live a healthier lifestyle. The plan comes in 3 simple steps:

1. Go to bed earlier

2. Eat a more balanced diet

3. Work out regularly

Now whether or not I can accomplish all of this is the real question. Anyway...I definitely have more to say about gaining another year, but I'm absolutely exhausted right now, so tonight's probably a good time to get started on my "sleep earlier" plan ;)

Laters.