Backtracked from the last event while I was still in Malaysia in mid March.
The night before my departure back to Japan, I attended a charity dinner with family.
You know, those kind of events that youngsters may not be interested in.
Vegetarian dishes were served on that dinner, but I have no complaints as I had enough meat throughout my holidays. Once in awhile I do appreciate meat-less meals for cleansing.
The dinner dragged on pretty long as they've to check on the timing of the VIPs, so I carelessly checked Facebook on my mobile. To my surprise, one of the Instagram photo were from taken in the hall I'm sitting in. It was taken by a friend whom I shall name as AC.
I wouldn't have thought that I'll bump into an old friend in this most unlikely occasion heh. I quickly did a search for old contact number and messaged her. Once I got to know where she's sitting I headed straight away.
Years it has been since I last met her. Couldn't remember clearly whether met her at TARC or at one of the gatherings, but if memory serves me right, the last time we met was in 2008?
As usual nowadays the conversation starts with asking what are you up to lately, still studying or working? As for me, I'd be asked if I've graduated already, which only happens next year.
Then, we proceed to updates of friends (gossips) and the old town where we grew up. She was surprised that we've lots of common friends from her secondary school, whom I get to know in later.
As far as my memory serves me correctly, AC is a friend whom I got to know the earliest, way back when we were in kindergarten bout 4 or 5 years old. Couldn't remember it clearly but I remember seeing her in the class photo from the kindergarten.
I switched to another kindergarten at 6 years old and surprisingly she switched to the same kindergarten as well.
And then, the story continues to primary school.
I still remember some of the details of my 1st day at school. I was quite happy because there were a few familiar faces in the same class, one of them being AC.
We were in the same classes throughout 6 years in primary school, so naturally we get along quite well.
Later, both of us went to different secondary schools.
I went into the mainstream co-ed school near the neighbourhood, while she attended a girls-only school slightly further away.
From time to time, say few times in a year we still bumped into each others, especially during the primary school's gathering.
By chance we attended the same college, TARC after graduating from secondary school, but that's not surprising entirely as it was the choice that most friends chose as well. I reunited with quite a lot of friends back in the collage.
But then again, TARC is quite huge and having lots of different faculties, it's not that frequent that you'd run into someone familiar.
So why am I writing everything so detail here? Well I thought it would be a good idea to leave some records down. At times when we gain lots of new information and experiences, some old memories woud inevitably being left forgotten....
She hasn't really changed that much, still as angelic as I remembered.
New acquaintances are made every year, but treasuring a long friendship like this one is simply, priceless. ;)
21 May 2013
06 May 2013
Thoughts on Malaysia's 13th General Election
Well, looks like a lot of Malaysians were disappointed by the election's results.
BN continues to rule for another 5 years.
Except that this time, the damage done is albeit slightly more severe than the previous in 2008.
For the sake of future reference purpose, a few stats about the 2013 general election's results.
Total parliament seats: 222
Barisan Nasional: 133 (60%)
Pakatan Rakyat: 89 (40%)
Another glorious defeat for the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat.
The opposition has clearly worked hard trying to persuade a few more votes to their sides, and they did managed to gain more votes than the 2008 edition, but still not enough to take over the federal government from the half-century old Barisan Nasional.
I've seen people made their dissatisfaction more vocal and obvious since then, partially thanks to the exponential leap in the mobile & Internet access.
To give a better perpectives, back then in 2008 the 1st generation iPhone had barely landed in Malaysia, and Android meant humanoid robot instead of the Google mobile OS. Nokia & Sony Eriksson were the big brands in mobile, and Black Berry had just started to lurk into the local Malaysia market.
In 2008's social networks, Facebook were cluttered with random quiz apps and were overwhelmed by the then popular Friendster. People would just use it for simple status updates and occasionally a pic or two, haven't crossed their mind that eventually it will be used as a tool to spread the 'fire'.
Twitter on the other hand, still remain rather quiet then, not as active as they are today.
Fast-forward 5 years later, today most people got their info through mobile & social networks. Younger generations especially, prefer to digest the news from the Internet rather than spoon-fed by the state-controlled medias.
News shown on the TV and Internet contrasted greatly in terms of the transparency and fairness. Normally on the newspaper I can only read news lauding the ruling party and bashes the opposition. And we rarely seen any reports praising the opposition either.
The clear disadvantage placed upon the opposition did not stop them from wooing the people via the alternative methods, namely the Internet and the classic way of public speeches. Their efforts ought to be recognized in my opinion.
Switching the focus on the ruling party, I for one, already anticipated dramas to be unfolded when the general election is being announced in April.
The prologue of the drama started with one of the opposition party, DAP suddenly received an order saying that they are not allowed to use their party's logo (a rocket) to contest in the election.
Outraged by this action, the other 2 parties of Pakatan Rakyat, PAS & PKR agreed to let DAP contest the election under their logos.
BN continues to rule for another 5 years.
Except that this time, the damage done is albeit slightly more severe than the previous in 2008.
For the sake of future reference purpose, a few stats about the 2013 general election's results.
Total parliament seats: 222
Barisan Nasional: 133 (60%)
Pakatan Rakyat: 89 (40%)
Another glorious defeat for the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat.
The opposition has clearly worked hard trying to persuade a few more votes to their sides, and they did managed to gain more votes than the 2008 edition, but still not enough to take over the federal government from the half-century old Barisan Nasional.
I've seen people made their dissatisfaction more vocal and obvious since then, partially thanks to the exponential leap in the mobile & Internet access.
To give a better perpectives, back then in 2008 the 1st generation iPhone had barely landed in Malaysia, and Android meant humanoid robot instead of the Google mobile OS. Nokia & Sony Eriksson were the big brands in mobile, and Black Berry had just started to lurk into the local Malaysia market.
In 2008's social networks, Facebook were cluttered with random quiz apps and were overwhelmed by the then popular Friendster. People would just use it for simple status updates and occasionally a pic or two, haven't crossed their mind that eventually it will be used as a tool to spread the 'fire'.
Twitter on the other hand, still remain rather quiet then, not as active as they are today.
Fast-forward 5 years later, today most people got their info through mobile & social networks. Younger generations especially, prefer to digest the news from the Internet rather than spoon-fed by the state-controlled medias.
News shown on the TV and Internet contrasted greatly in terms of the transparency and fairness. Normally on the newspaper I can only read news lauding the ruling party and bashes the opposition. And we rarely seen any reports praising the opposition either.
The clear disadvantage placed upon the opposition did not stop them from wooing the people via the alternative methods, namely the Internet and the classic way of public speeches. Their efforts ought to be recognized in my opinion.
Switching the focus on the ruling party, I for one, already anticipated dramas to be unfolded when the general election is being announced in April.
The prologue of the drama started with one of the opposition party, DAP suddenly received an order saying that they are not allowed to use their party's logo (a rocket) to contest in the election.
Outraged by this action, the other 2 parties of Pakatan Rakyat, PAS & PKR agreed to let DAP contest the election under their logos.
When this was announced, cyber troopers of the opposition party had a quick play with creativity to create mascots for the opposition parties, the hornbill bird is named "Ubah", which means 'change' in Malay.
The original Ubah bird, mascot of DAP.
The PAS version of Ubah bird.
The PKR version of Ubah bird.
Sooner or later lots of people on Facebook changed their profile pics to these mascots. I think these images appeal to the younger generation for it's fresh and original approach.
Then, just a week before the election there were rumours spreading saying that a bunch of foreign immigrants will be ferried in to the country to vote as phantom voters using the state-issued identity card. The rumours were strongly supported by photo evidences of the immigrants arriving at the airport and the fake ID cards being issued to them.
Of course, the only party with such resources and authority would be the current governing party.
This naturally cause another wave of outrage among the citizens, as the citizenship of Malaysia is being giving out too easily and abusively for the sake of winning the election.
To rub salt on the wound, police and state personnel is seen escorting the immigrants, all the way into the voting station on the morning of the voting day, which is 5th of May.
Generally, Malaysians are passionate and sometimes too emotional that things can get ugly when the emotions run high. There were reports of people clashing with the immigrants to prevent them entering the polling station to vote, but thankfully no casualties recorded.
And when the voting concluded on 5pm local time, it's time to make the counts.
During the counting progress, I read from my friends lamenting that the TV shows result way slower than the Internet, and it only highlights the seats that BN had won. But on the other side on the Internet, people are raving for the seats that PR had won.
However, one of the most mysterious event of the day would be the sudden blackout happened at the vote-counting station. By that time the opposition candidate is leading, but when the electricity is back online, suddenly there are a few extra boxes of votes waiting to be counted. Eventually the BN candidate won by slight margin.
So much dramas happened, and I got the feeling that this isn't over yet. But I'd like to suggest the strategist of BN to seriously considering applying for the scenario writer job in the Hollywood!
I remember back in the 2008's general election there were some "tricks" happening as well, so this time I'm not totally surprised by the anomalies, just wondering what kind of tricks hidden in their sleeves.
There must be reasons why, for a party who'd been governing the nation for 50 years+, suddenly suffer from a stiff competition from the opposition. Clearly, something must have gone wrong to caused such big changes. It's like, if you haven't done anything wrong or guilty, why be afraid of it?
This time I didn't register for vote. Not that I'm not patriotic, but knowing my circumstances of being overseas, although I do have the option for postal vote, but I chose to gave up this time as I prefer to be present at the polling station to vote with fellow folks. Another reason being to prevent the manipulation of postal vote, which we've heard so much about it since previous general elections.
Luckily, the result for my constitution went according to my wish.
People used to vote based on the individual candidate's performance or influence, but now many voted for the party regardless of the candidates, so that's why some cases of 1st-time candidate managed to defeat veteran candidates happened during the election.
Personally I'm on neutral stance, although ironically from the general tone of this post suggested that I'm inclined towards the leftist.
To be fair to BN, they did contributed greatly towards the development of the nation for the past few decades, especially during Tun Mahathir's reign. Many things that people enjoyed in downtown Kuala Lumpur today, is directly or indirectly involved by Mahathir.
But ever since he stepped down as Prime Minister 10 years ago, things went downhill. The improvements over the nation's capital still stuck in 90's level. We see seldom improvements over the 2000's and that could be one of the reasons why people are getting frustrated with the government.
And the skyrocketing crime rate doesn't help to ease the people either. One can find lots of different types of crimes being committed in the capital itself on the newspapers everyday, with petty crimes unreported at all due to how common it happened. I remain extra vigilance when wondering in downtown KL when I'm back there for holidays, as you'll never know if someone with ill agenda is targeting you anywhere, anytime.
Ideally, I'd like to see a 50-50 government instead of the current 60-40.
Ideally, both governing and opposition parties work up together for the sake of building up the nation, instead of focusing their time and energy abusing each others.
And last but not least, cut off the dramas and bullocks which has been the same old tactics for the past years, that people are already getting bored of it already.
Now what we can do is hope that the next young generation to vote on the next general election due in 2018. And hopefully some of the old veterans has quit before they got the chance to wreck another havoc again.
Have faith in the younger generations to wipe off the ugly stains left by the older generation.
People VS Authority
15 March 2013
A Simple Gathering
Whenever I'm back in Malaysia for holidays, one of the thing I look forward the most, is to meet with friends again. Ironically ever since I've moved away from Wangsa Maju area, I seldom step out of the home to travel downtown due to inconvenient transportation.
Just few days Tony asked me whether wanna meet up again with some friends and he's willing to ask other friends to join. Since we plan to meet on Friday afternoon, so it wasn't the best time as most friends are busy with their work or study.
So, I took LRT back to Wangsa Maju again.
I made a point that whenever I came back, I would try to visit that area again at least once.
The township of Desa Setapak still remain as lively as it's one of the main town to cater for TAR College students nearby. Noticed some familiar shops are still around but some has been replaced by something new. It's always nice to find some of my favourite stalls still around, like the Indian chendol located close to the center roundabout can be found during noon.
Desa Setapak is the place where I'd usually get my meals whenever I'm eating out. And the closest LRT station is located there as well, so I'm used to walk 20 mins from the old home to the train station. Until today I'm still very fond of that place for it's cheap & delicious food.
I arrived slightly earlier than planned and walk around the streets feeling nostalgic, recalling the place where our family had great meals eventhough the restaurant is no longer around for more than a decade already; pointing to the spot that used to be my favourite chicken rice stall (fav menu is roast chicken drumstick with extra siew yoke roast pork); feeling amazed that some of the stationary shops are still around for so long time.
Our gathering spot was at BRJ, a local mamak restaurant well-known by the locals.
I used to have a meal or two with my mates when they're done with a few rounds of DotA at the cyber cafe next to the restaurant.
Joining me first was Tony himself and Mark.
So as usual we'd catch up by asking each others what we're up to recently.
Was surprised that Tony had already completed his 4 years studies in the UK.
Meanwhile, Mark has just finished his 4 years degree at Kagoshima University and will be continuing his Master's degree there.
We went to Japan around the same time, but Mark has completed his Japanese language course earlier so he went straight into the university, while I attended a year of Japanese language course before I proceed into the university.
Although I was from different class, but we all get along well as I played football together with Tony (brilliant keeper he was), and I've known Mark since the primary school days.
Initially we talked about life in Japan and trying to compare the differences between education culture. We agreed that ordinary Malaysian student may appears to be a little too active in a Japanese classroom, while rather quiet and passive in a Western background classroom where the students would barge the lecturer with all sorts of questions after the class.
Later joining us was Prof Goh, still as academic as usual. I had chatted with him prior this and glad that at least he appears to be normal than I thought lol.... too much books and researches huh.... Seems like he's doing pretty well with his biotech course in NZ.
Around 6pm my classmate, Vinc joined us after finishing his intern. He's one of the few friends that studies food science, which is pretty interesting given Malaysia's a food paradise.
It's been a long time since we had met so naturally, lots of topics we talked about.
Eventually we've chatted from 3pm to 9pm, when I've to leave to catch the train back.
I had 3 drinks and a Maggi goreng which everything cost less than RM 10, to my surprise. But am grateful that price in Wangsa Maju still remains reasonable for all, as for the same items could cost about RM 15 in PJ area I think.
Kudos and many thanks to Tony who helped out to organize this small meeting, well 'til I meet with dear friends again next time, when I'm back again.
Just few days Tony asked me whether wanna meet up again with some friends and he's willing to ask other friends to join. Since we plan to meet on Friday afternoon, so it wasn't the best time as most friends are busy with their work or study.
So, I took LRT back to Wangsa Maju again.
I made a point that whenever I came back, I would try to visit that area again at least once.
The township of Desa Setapak still remain as lively as it's one of the main town to cater for TAR College students nearby. Noticed some familiar shops are still around but some has been replaced by something new. It's always nice to find some of my favourite stalls still around, like the Indian chendol located close to the center roundabout can be found during noon.
Desa Setapak is the place where I'd usually get my meals whenever I'm eating out. And the closest LRT station is located there as well, so I'm used to walk 20 mins from the old home to the train station. Until today I'm still very fond of that place for it's cheap & delicious food.
I arrived slightly earlier than planned and walk around the streets feeling nostalgic, recalling the place where our family had great meals eventhough the restaurant is no longer around for more than a decade already; pointing to the spot that used to be my favourite chicken rice stall (fav menu is roast chicken drumstick with extra siew yoke roast pork); feeling amazed that some of the stationary shops are still around for so long time.
Our gathering spot was at BRJ, a local mamak restaurant well-known by the locals.
I used to have a meal or two with my mates when they're done with a few rounds of DotA at the cyber cafe next to the restaurant.
Joining me first was Tony himself and Mark.
So as usual we'd catch up by asking each others what we're up to recently.
Was surprised that Tony had already completed his 4 years studies in the UK.
Meanwhile, Mark has just finished his 4 years degree at Kagoshima University and will be continuing his Master's degree there.
We went to Japan around the same time, but Mark has completed his Japanese language course earlier so he went straight into the university, while I attended a year of Japanese language course before I proceed into the university.
Although I was from different class, but we all get along well as I played football together with Tony (brilliant keeper he was), and I've known Mark since the primary school days.
Initially we talked about life in Japan and trying to compare the differences between education culture. We agreed that ordinary Malaysian student may appears to be a little too active in a Japanese classroom, while rather quiet and passive in a Western background classroom where the students would barge the lecturer with all sorts of questions after the class.
Later joining us was Prof Goh, still as academic as usual. I had chatted with him prior this and glad that at least he appears to be normal than I thought lol.... too much books and researches huh.... Seems like he's doing pretty well with his biotech course in NZ.
Around 6pm my classmate, Vinc joined us after finishing his intern. He's one of the few friends that studies food science, which is pretty interesting given Malaysia's a food paradise.
It's been a long time since we had met so naturally, lots of topics we talked about.
Eventually we've chatted from 3pm to 9pm, when I've to leave to catch the train back.
I had 3 drinks and a Maggi goreng which everything cost less than RM 10, to my surprise. But am grateful that price in Wangsa Maju still remains reasonable for all, as for the same items could cost about RM 15 in PJ area I think.
Kudos and many thanks to Tony who helped out to organize this small meeting, well 'til I meet with dear friends again next time, when I'm back again.
14 March 2013
Reading back old blog posts
I'm very glad that I've maintained this blog up until today, ever since I started it in late 2004, if I'm not mistaken.
Although the blog's title had changed a few times, but the URL still remains the same at phantomclf.blogspot.com (though temporarily acquired phantomclf.net domain at a time).
Nowadays I rarely check on Blogger.com, but lately while trying to check out another blog that I used to managed, decided to pay a "visit" to my personal blog again.
I actually wanted to write something about my childhood, some sort of self memoir or something, so recall and visualize again what my childhood looks like.
I had this idea for some time already, and I couldn't remember if I'd written something like that before, so decided to check the blog again.
I was trying to see if I've drafted something, but noticed there are quite a lot of unpublished posts, still saved as draft. Decided to peek into it, entries written in early 2006. It was from my high school days and boy, that was 6 years ago already!!
Not going to mention specific posts, but those early 2006 posts were sort of entertaining, at least for myself to read it back again after all these years. It's good that I was honest writing the post so that I can retrieve a certain degree of genuine response from myself.
As crude as the texts were written, I had no regrets on splashing all the details out, and how I'd react and make the next move.
Right now I'm kinda drifted away from my true self, ever since started college and then studying overseas, somehow the core will change to something else, whether I like it or not.
Perhaps I'm the type that prefers to dwell on the past, because until today I'd still agree to say that high school's time was probably one of the the best times of my life so far. Sure, lately I had splendid experiences elsewhere, but none of the effects are long-lasting.
But of course, back then the situation and circumstances were greatly different than today. I had nothing much to worry about other than school life.
I was more daring back then, perhaps because knowing that I have a cushion behind so that even if I fall, I won't fall hard. The so-called cushion is actually a mindset to self-console and self-recover.
Back then, I used to gave advices for friends who're seeking for it. You know, teenagers at the age of 16, 17 has lots of "problems" heh. I thought I was rational back then, trying to influence people with my not-so-pro-opinions. But glad that it helped for most friends. Sometimes the brain just needed to be tricked in order for one to feel better.
However, I noticed such cushion gradually fades away as I entered college. But it gets worse when I went to Japan.
I do admit that I was sort of cowardice, as back then I preferred to stay in the room facing the computer rather than joining friends outside. I should be thankful that it lasted not long, as ultimately I'm getting bored of staying in the room all the day and decided to explore outside more, in one of the long holidays at the end of 2009.
To briefly review my yearly timeline...
2006 - Form 5 in secondary school, having a great time in life and a major exam, SPM and the end of the year.
2008 - Enjoying life while studying A Levels in college, although the result was far from satisfying.
2010 - Started my university life in Japan. Was a rocky year but managed to pulled it off well.
2012 - 3rd year in the university, well-established and balancing life pretty smoothly.
2014 - ?
Now I wonder, what I'll become by 2014.
Will I finally start working? Or settle down in another new university to pursue post-grad course?
Will I still be in Japan, or back to Malaysia for good?
Alas, "Future can't be predicted, but can be created" .
Although the blog's title had changed a few times, but the URL still remains the same at phantomclf.blogspot.com (though temporarily acquired phantomclf.net domain at a time).
Nowadays I rarely check on Blogger.com, but lately while trying to check out another blog that I used to managed, decided to pay a "visit" to my personal blog again.
I actually wanted to write something about my childhood, some sort of self memoir or something, so recall and visualize again what my childhood looks like.
I had this idea for some time already, and I couldn't remember if I'd written something like that before, so decided to check the blog again.
I was trying to see if I've drafted something, but noticed there are quite a lot of unpublished posts, still saved as draft. Decided to peek into it, entries written in early 2006. It was from my high school days and boy, that was 6 years ago already!!
Not going to mention specific posts, but those early 2006 posts were sort of entertaining, at least for myself to read it back again after all these years. It's good that I was honest writing the post so that I can retrieve a certain degree of genuine response from myself.
As crude as the texts were written, I had no regrets on splashing all the details out, and how I'd react and make the next move.
Right now I'm kinda drifted away from my true self, ever since started college and then studying overseas, somehow the core will change to something else, whether I like it or not.
Perhaps I'm the type that prefers to dwell on the past, because until today I'd still agree to say that high school's time was probably one of the the best times of my life so far. Sure, lately I had splendid experiences elsewhere, but none of the effects are long-lasting.
But of course, back then the situation and circumstances were greatly different than today. I had nothing much to worry about other than school life.
I was more daring back then, perhaps because knowing that I have a cushion behind so that even if I fall, I won't fall hard. The so-called cushion is actually a mindset to self-console and self-recover.
Back then, I used to gave advices for friends who're seeking for it. You know, teenagers at the age of 16, 17 has lots of "problems" heh. I thought I was rational back then, trying to influence people with my not-so-pro-opinions. But glad that it helped for most friends. Sometimes the brain just needed to be tricked in order for one to feel better.
However, I noticed such cushion gradually fades away as I entered college. But it gets worse when I went to Japan.
I do admit that I was sort of cowardice, as back then I preferred to stay in the room facing the computer rather than joining friends outside. I should be thankful that it lasted not long, as ultimately I'm getting bored of staying in the room all the day and decided to explore outside more, in one of the long holidays at the end of 2009.
To briefly review my yearly timeline...
2006 - Form 5 in secondary school, having a great time in life and a major exam, SPM and the end of the year.
2008 - Enjoying life while studying A Levels in college, although the result was far from satisfying.
2010 - Started my university life in Japan. Was a rocky year but managed to pulled it off well.
2012 - 3rd year in the university, well-established and balancing life pretty smoothly.
2014 - ?
Now I wonder, what I'll become by 2014.
Will I finally start working? Or settle down in another new university to pursue post-grad course?
Will I still be in Japan, or back to Malaysia for good?
Alas, "Future can't be predicted, but can be created" .
I need to change my present self, to be as daring I used to be, to try out new stuffs. Lots of my current interests were credited to back then when I dared to discover new things, and this blog was one of the many interests.
Soon, I'll be heading back to Japan. This time, finishing my final year in the university.
Unlike previous years, this year I may not be coming back to Malaysia during summer, so another 1 year gap before I'll return to this homeland again.
But for now, I'm looking forward and excited on the opportunities lying ahead of me. Even though people keep saying the economy in Japan isn't doing well right now, but I still believe that there're still opportunities out there.
It's been awhile since I last written a blog post at such familiar pace and setting. Hopefully I can write a few more this year, rather than the pathetic less-than-10-posts-a-year problem that this blog has suffered for some years.
But I did take it as an indication that something was bothering me to such extent that I'm completely distracted from doing things I like such as writing blog here.
08 March 2013
Q & A: Studying in Japan as a private student (Part II)
Part I here
Financial management
One of the most important aspects of living in Japan is financial management.
For starters it's recommended to spare some cash, say 100k~200k yen. Even in Japan, credit card may not be widely accepted all over the places, particularly paying miscellaneous fees or buying stuffs off local shops. It's natural that for starters to spend a lot initially to get essential items ready, like futon, bicycle, and some other stuffs.
If you're lucky you may get stuffs leftover by seniors, which really helped to save up a lot.
Or if you’re staying together with a bunch of friends, some of the essential needs can be shared together which save cost too, such as cooking utensils.
If you’re really short of cash, it is possible to withdraw cash from ATM using the credit card, but be warned that the transaction fee is not cheap, so use it when you really need it.
Setting up a bank account
The Japanese language school I attended was kind enough to help us to setup a Japanese bank account. I was being told that it's not easy for non-Japanese to apply a bank account in Japan without a guarantor. Having a proper bank account is definitely useful for bank transactions.
Another great alternative would be Japan Post bank (ゆうちょ銀行), which is the bank associated with the post office. Almost anyone can apply for it, and it’s very convenient to set the JP bank’s account as auto-paying account for bills. Definitely save up lots of hassle and some services even give discount for auto-paying the bill.
Transferring money from Malaysia
Once we’ve run out of juice we’ll need reinforcement.
Now then, since you’ve a bank account ready, so it’s time to transfer money into it?
Initially I had the money transferred from Malaysia to the Japanese bank, but the transaction fee of JPY 5,000 (about RM 200 by that time’s rate) was a little too much to bear, so I’ve decided to try another method.
During the summer holiday I went back to Malaysia and opened a Maybank account.
The Maybank cherry debit card is very useful as it's a credit card and ATM card at the same time.
Once you’ve your Maybank account loaded, to get the money in Japan go to the ATM that supports PLUS card. If you flip over the Maybank card you’ll see a PLUS symbol. Usually in Japan, Seven-Eleven’s ATM supports PLUS card. I’ve seen that some bank’s ATM supports as well, but personally haven’t tried it before.
Do make sure that when withdrawing, choose Saving Account instead of Credit Card. For each transaction, RM 12 is charged for processing fees, which I tthink is still pretty reasonable. Do take note that there’s a default limit of RM 5,000 withdrawal per day, but you can set the limit yourself using a Maybank ATM in Malaysia.
I’ve seen my friend uses Citibank as they have branches in Tokyo.
Another method I’ve heard but haven’t tried is Western Union service.
It’s essentially an international money transfer service that’s able to send money rather swiftly.
They seem to have a few outlets in Tokyo that handles Western Union transaction so might as well check it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's all for today before it gets too long-winded..... To be continued in Part III.
Financial management
One of the most important aspects of living in Japan is financial management.
For starters it's recommended to spare some cash, say 100k~200k yen. Even in Japan, credit card may not be widely accepted all over the places, particularly paying miscellaneous fees or buying stuffs off local shops. It's natural that for starters to spend a lot initially to get essential items ready, like futon, bicycle, and some other stuffs.
If you're lucky you may get stuffs leftover by seniors, which really helped to save up a lot.
Or if you’re staying together with a bunch of friends, some of the essential needs can be shared together which save cost too, such as cooking utensils.
If you’re really short of cash, it is possible to withdraw cash from ATM using the credit card, but be warned that the transaction fee is not cheap, so use it when you really need it.
Setting up a bank account
The Japanese language school I attended was kind enough to help us to setup a Japanese bank account. I was being told that it's not easy for non-Japanese to apply a bank account in Japan without a guarantor. Having a proper bank account is definitely useful for bank transactions.
Another great alternative would be Japan Post bank (ゆうちょ銀行), which is the bank associated with the post office. Almost anyone can apply for it, and it’s very convenient to set the JP bank’s account as auto-paying account for bills. Definitely save up lots of hassle and some services even give discount for auto-paying the bill.
Transferring money from Malaysia
Once we’ve run out of juice we’ll need reinforcement.
Now then, since you’ve a bank account ready, so it’s time to transfer money into it?
Initially I had the money transferred from Malaysia to the Japanese bank, but the transaction fee of JPY 5,000 (about RM 200 by that time’s rate) was a little too much to bear, so I’ve decided to try another method.
During the summer holiday I went back to Malaysia and opened a Maybank account.
The Maybank cherry debit card is very useful as it's a credit card and ATM card at the same time.
Once you’ve your Maybank account loaded, to get the money in Japan go to the ATM that supports PLUS card. If you flip over the Maybank card you’ll see a PLUS symbol. Usually in Japan, Seven-Eleven’s ATM supports PLUS card. I’ve seen that some bank’s ATM supports as well, but personally haven’t tried it before.
Do make sure that when withdrawing, choose Saving Account instead of Credit Card. For each transaction, RM 12 is charged for processing fees, which I tthink is still pretty reasonable. Do take note that there’s a default limit of RM 5,000 withdrawal per day, but you can set the limit yourself using a Maybank ATM in Malaysia.
I’ve seen my friend uses Citibank as they have branches in Tokyo.
Another method I’ve heard but haven’t tried is Western Union service.
It’s essentially an international money transfer service that’s able to send money rather swiftly.
They seem to have a few outlets in Tokyo that handles Western Union transaction so might as well check it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's all for today before it gets too long-winded..... To be continued in Part III.
02 February 2013
Q & A: Studying in Japan as a private student (Part I)
Was thinking to write long-winded post as usual, but thought it could be a better idea to make it a Q&A style....
Q: What makes you chose to study in Japan at the first place?
When I’m done with my A levels exam in end of 2008, initially my plan was to consider settling down in local private institution, or maybe heading to Australia to further studies. What I planned to study was something related to humanities & culture, in another term, anthropology.
Then, out of sudden my father asked whether I’m interested to further study in Japan.
It was a tempting offer, because unlike my sisters, I did not consider studying in China at all. Maybe Taiwan? But either way, given the chance, why not give it a try, to the land of Far East.
Then, I reconsider my initial study plan, from humanities, to sound engineering/acoustics.
Ever since secondary school’s time I’ve been hooked up with music, so I thought it was another possible choice.
Q: Your brief history of staying in Japan.
I arrived in Japan in the early April of 2009.
Stayed at Arakawa district (荒川区) of Tokyo for a year while attending Japanese language school, Asian Students Cultural Association (アジア学生文化協会) located at Bunkyo district (文京区).
Then in March 2010, I moved to Kawagoe (川越市) of Saitama prefecture to study in Shobi University (尚美学園大学). Tentatively I’ll be graduating in March 2014.
Q: How long did you spent to study the Japanese language?
I spent a few months studying the basics of Japanese before departing to Japan.
Followed by a year’s intensive course studying the the Japanese language school for full time.
Some other Japanese language schools usually took 1.5 to 2 years to complete the course, our’s only offered a year or 1.5 years’ course. The reason is because most other schools they teach at a lower pace and class ends early in the afternoon, allowing the students to have extra time to work part-time to earn money. Our school however, usually classes ended 2:30 pm the earliest, or up until 5pm depending on the subjects.
In the university, I picked up a lot conversational Japanese by talking to fellow coursemates and the lecturers. The Japanese language class in the university didn’t helped much though. The best way to improve the Japanese, is using it on daily basis.
Q: By just studying a year of Japanese language, is it enough to cope with your studies in the university?
Surprisingly, I didn’t find it that hard right from the beginning.
Perhaps I’m used to listening to the lecturer-style of speaking, but in contrast, I find it kinda hard to understand the conversation of normal students.
I’m not a genius or anything, so the credits belong to the lecturers who’re able to make complicated things easy to digest for someone who studied Japanese for just a year or so.
A lot of the terms are in katakana, which sounded similar to English so it definitely helps a lot in understanding the lessons better.
Q: How much do you spend a month? Can you provide a rough figure breakdown?
Normally I’d spent around JPY 100,000~120,000 per month.
The breakdowns:
Rent - 30,000 yen
Bills - ~18,000 yen (electric, Internet, gas, water, mobile)
Food - ~30,000 yen
Transportation - ~10,000 yen
Other expenses - ~20,000 yen
Details of the breakdowns.
Rent - The part of Saitama I’m staying is still relatively cheaper compared to Tokyo. For the similar 1-room unit I’m staying, it would have cost more than 50k yen in downtown Tokyo.
Bills - Depending on the season, the differences of electric and gas bill is quite significant.
Currently winter is the most expensive of all, as switching on the heater for longer time and hot shower would cost more. In summer however, the gas bill is almost minimum pay as cool shower took place of the warm water.
Food - Food took up quite a huge sum in the total expenses. Well to be honest, I don’t cook and I mostly had my meals outside. My room doesn’t have a proper kitchen and makes cooking a lot hassle and messier than I did back in the previous hostel I stayed.
So what I usually did is to visit local supermarkets later in the evening, say after 7pm to hunt for discounted food. Sometimes I’d had ramen or sushi as a treat.
But when I travel to downtown Tokyo or somewhere else, I’d like to try something different so I don’t mind stretching a little more on food.
Transportation - There are times that I needed to travel to downtown Tokyo quite frequently, but sometimes not at all. By average, I travel to Tokyo 1~3 times in a month.
Other expenses - I don’t spend much on clothings, so instead I take that money to spend it in Book Off, a 2nd hand goods chain. Mostly I’d spend on CDs and books, and when I couldn’t get what I want in the store, I’d head to Amazon for 2nd hand goods.
Q: How can you afford to cope with the expenses, especially when you’re a private student?
Thanks to the university, I’ve managed to scored full-waiver for university tuition fees for 2 years back to back, and now hoping that I can extend it for another year, which is my final year. It helps a lot as it covers 850k yen which is quite a huge sum of money.
I’ve tried to applied for a few scholarships, but wasn’t selected for those that offer 100k yen per month. But anyhow I settle down with the one provided by JASSO which gives up 48k yen per month.
And, I’m working part-time in the university somehow helps to cover up a little more especially on the daily spendings on food.
I did receive an amount of backup fund back home, but I try not to touch them unless I really needed it. I’d either use it to pay some other fees, or maybe use it for traveling.
To be continued...
Q: What makes you chose to study in Japan at the first place?
When I’m done with my A levels exam in end of 2008, initially my plan was to consider settling down in local private institution, or maybe heading to Australia to further studies. What I planned to study was something related to humanities & culture, in another term, anthropology.
Then, out of sudden my father asked whether I’m interested to further study in Japan.
It was a tempting offer, because unlike my sisters, I did not consider studying in China at all. Maybe Taiwan? But either way, given the chance, why not give it a try, to the land of Far East.
Then, I reconsider my initial study plan, from humanities, to sound engineering/acoustics.
Ever since secondary school’s time I’ve been hooked up with music, so I thought it was another possible choice.
Q: Your brief history of staying in Japan.
I arrived in Japan in the early April of 2009.
Stayed at Arakawa district (荒川区) of Tokyo for a year while attending Japanese language school, Asian Students Cultural Association (アジア学生文化協会) located at Bunkyo district (文京区).
Then in March 2010, I moved to Kawagoe (川越市) of Saitama prefecture to study in Shobi University (尚美学園大学). Tentatively I’ll be graduating in March 2014.
Q: How long did you spent to study the Japanese language?
I spent a few months studying the basics of Japanese before departing to Japan.
Followed by a year’s intensive course studying the the Japanese language school for full time.
Some other Japanese language schools usually took 1.5 to 2 years to complete the course, our’s only offered a year or 1.5 years’ course. The reason is because most other schools they teach at a lower pace and class ends early in the afternoon, allowing the students to have extra time to work part-time to earn money. Our school however, usually classes ended 2:30 pm the earliest, or up until 5pm depending on the subjects.
In the university, I picked up a lot conversational Japanese by talking to fellow coursemates and the lecturers. The Japanese language class in the university didn’t helped much though. The best way to improve the Japanese, is using it on daily basis.
Q: By just studying a year of Japanese language, is it enough to cope with your studies in the university?
Surprisingly, I didn’t find it that hard right from the beginning.
Perhaps I’m used to listening to the lecturer-style of speaking, but in contrast, I find it kinda hard to understand the conversation of normal students.
I’m not a genius or anything, so the credits belong to the lecturers who’re able to make complicated things easy to digest for someone who studied Japanese for just a year or so.
A lot of the terms are in katakana, which sounded similar to English so it definitely helps a lot in understanding the lessons better.
Q: How much do you spend a month? Can you provide a rough figure breakdown?
Normally I’d spent around JPY 100,000~120,000 per month.
The breakdowns:
Rent - 30,000 yen
Bills - ~18,000 yen (electric, Internet, gas, water, mobile)
Food - ~30,000 yen
Transportation - ~10,000 yen
Other expenses - ~20,000 yen
Details of the breakdowns.
Rent - The part of Saitama I’m staying is still relatively cheaper compared to Tokyo. For the similar 1-room unit I’m staying, it would have cost more than 50k yen in downtown Tokyo.
Bills - Depending on the season, the differences of electric and gas bill is quite significant.
Currently winter is the most expensive of all, as switching on the heater for longer time and hot shower would cost more. In summer however, the gas bill is almost minimum pay as cool shower took place of the warm water.
Food - Food took up quite a huge sum in the total expenses. Well to be honest, I don’t cook and I mostly had my meals outside. My room doesn’t have a proper kitchen and makes cooking a lot hassle and messier than I did back in the previous hostel I stayed.
So what I usually did is to visit local supermarkets later in the evening, say after 7pm to hunt for discounted food. Sometimes I’d had ramen or sushi as a treat.
But when I travel to downtown Tokyo or somewhere else, I’d like to try something different so I don’t mind stretching a little more on food.
Transportation - There are times that I needed to travel to downtown Tokyo quite frequently, but sometimes not at all. By average, I travel to Tokyo 1~3 times in a month.
Other expenses - I don’t spend much on clothings, so instead I take that money to spend it in Book Off, a 2nd hand goods chain. Mostly I’d spend on CDs and books, and when I couldn’t get what I want in the store, I’d head to Amazon for 2nd hand goods.
Q: How can you afford to cope with the expenses, especially when you’re a private student?
Thanks to the university, I’ve managed to scored full-waiver for university tuition fees for 2 years back to back, and now hoping that I can extend it for another year, which is my final year. It helps a lot as it covers 850k yen which is quite a huge sum of money.
I’ve tried to applied for a few scholarships, but wasn’t selected for those that offer 100k yen per month. But anyhow I settle down with the one provided by JASSO which gives up 48k yen per month.
And, I’m working part-time in the university somehow helps to cover up a little more especially on the daily spendings on food.
I did receive an amount of backup fund back home, but I try not to touch them unless I really needed it. I’d either use it to pay some other fees, or maybe use it for traveling.
To be continued...
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