EVACOMICS BLOG

Finally free to check out the Christmas Illumination in Tokyo! My friend and I decided to visit the one at Tokyo Midtown since it's said to be quite nice. We caught a nice view with Tokyo Tower as the backdrop :P Check out my youtube video below! 終於有空看聖誕燈飾了！聽說東京中城的聖誕燈飾蠻不錯，所以我們決定去那裡看看。我們的視野剛好對准東京鐵塔，所以還挺不錯的 :P 看看我的youtube影像吧！

I went to catch the Van Gogh exhibition today. Although it is a Friday, the exhibition was packed with many retirees, housewives and tourists! I forgot that Japan, with an aging population, has a lot of  retirees with lots of free time and money to spend. I didn't have a great time there because people were hogging in front of apparently hit paintings with their hearing guides (costing 500yen rental each, only available in Japanese). 今天去看了一下Van Gogh的展覽。雖然是星期五，但是展覽擠滿了退休人士，家庭主婦和觀光客！我忘了日本現在人口老化中，有很多老人有大壩的時間和金錢可以花。因為他們有花500yen租只有日文版的hearing guide（聲音機？），所以都卡在熱門作品的前面不動，氣死我了。

Oura Cathedral, located in Nagasaki at Kyushu prefecture, is the oldest church in Japan completed in December 1864. It was designated as a National Treasure on 23 Jan 1933. This church is also named as "Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs". 大浦天主堂位於九州的長崎。建於1864年，是日本最古老的一棟教堂。1933年時被認定為國寶，正式名字為“26聖殉教者天主堂”。 How Christianity spread in Japan was largely credited to a Spanish missionary, Francis Xavier, who arrived on Kagoshima island in 1549. However it was later banned in 1587 due to feudal lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's fear that Christianity was a barrier to his plan of uniting the whole of Japan. Centuries after his death, the country was re-opened and Christians, who went into hiding, came out. Nagasaki, which was the heart of Christianity activity, still remains as a prefecture with majority of its population as Christians. －中文省略 XD －

The scholarship organization held a talk and sponsored us a trip to watch the traditional Japanese puppet show at the National Theatre today. Our ticket costs 3600yen/each between the 5~7th rows. 今天獎學金集團又辦了一個講座，和一起去日本國立劇場來觀賞日本傳統木偶劇。 我們在第5~7排，票價3600yen。

Sorry I'd been very busy. Now that I finally have a bit of time before my Japanese school exam (exams again!?), it's time to show off my recent online shopping loot :P 真是抱歉最近實在是太忙了。在日語學校的期末考之前，抽出一點時間來炫耀一下我最近的網購大收穫:P

  2 weeks ago, there was a Winter Sale at Gotemba Premium Outlets located in Hakone, where you can get a nice view of Mt. Fuji. Unlike the Chelsea Premium Outlets in California, this outlet has more branded boutiques such as Prada, Tods, Ferragamo, YSL, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari, etc. It is also the biggest outlet in Japan. 2週前逛了在箱根的御馬場outlet，那時正有冬季促銷，還能欣賞到美麗的富士山風景。和加州的Chelsea Premium Outlet不一樣的是，這間outlet有比較多名牌商店，例如Prada, Ferragamo, YSL, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari，等。御馬場也是全日本最大的outlet。

I finished my GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) on Friday so I was thrilled that the autumn leaves waited for me to see them, thanks to the warmer temperatures which delayed this year's red leaves viewing. 今年的紅葉因為受到比往年更暖的氣候影響，所以較晚變紅。很慶幸秋季的葉子有等我在星期五考完GMAT :P

Our first night was spent in one of these hostels run by the state government. The hostel name can be interpreted as "National Youth Nature/Exchange Hostel". These hostels are wide-spread throughout the nation and are always situated within nature bountiful mountains. They are popular with schools and companies who want to train their people because they are equipped with classrooms, assembly halls, sports and camping facilities. However be warned that there are a lot of taking off shoes and changing to slippers or walk bare footed in Japanese facilities and museums! 我們的初晚在這類國立宿舍渡過。名字可翻譯為"國立青少年交流／自然之家"。這類宿舍遍佈全國，而且通常位於充滿大自然的山上。因為裡面都備有教室，禮堂和其它運動和露營設施，對那些要集訓學生的學校，童子軍，公司等受歡迎。不過在日本的設施和博物館內，得常脫鞋穿鞋，非常麻煩。

I recently bought this silicone cookware which came together with its magazine to teach you how to use it with your microwave. For the price of 1680yen, it's quite cheap to consider if you're paying for both the cookware and the recipe magazine. 最近買了一本教妳如何使用微波爐和硅樹脂鍋子的小雜誌，還附上特別鍋子。以1680yen的價格來說，有雜誌又有鍋子算是蠻換算的。

During the 21st Oct, scholars from the same organization and I went for a 4 days 3 night study trip to Kyushu to learn more about the Japanese culture, history and customs, as well as to interact with the local Japanese. Our first stop was the Aso mountains located at the heart of Kumamoto.  10月21日，我和其他獎學金學生一起去了一趟4天3夜的九州研修。目的是為了對日本的文化，歷史和生活有更深一層的認識，並且于當地的日本人交流。我們的第一站就是位於熊本縣中央的阿蘇山。 Aso mountains is filled with man-made grasslands, wide-spread through human intervention of burning and clearing the lands for cow grazing. It was a nice change to walk around open space unlike the crowded streets of Tokyo. Though feeling relaxed, there is not much scenery to look at during that time. 人工草原遍佈了整座阿蘇山，這些都是通過人為燃燒出來的，為了就是能放牛。 在廣闊的草原中漫步和在東京的擁擠街頭是截然不同的新鮮感覺。雖然心情很放鬆，不過那時沒什麼好風景欣賞。