Week Two - Hiratsuka

Monday, 12 October 2009.
Back to training

The skin is still awful, and I found a whole bunch of hair fall off my comb while combing my hair. Is it the MSG, or the water, or my shampoo?
Anyway, training today was pretty dreary because the whole lot was conducted in the classroom. Turns out, the PEs in Japan too are sometimes faced with unsolved mysteries in terms of product problems, so we are not alone.

After training, we headed out together for dinner, all the 7 of us because the cafeteria was closed (It was apparently a holiday in Japan which we and the trainers were not involved in!) As CK, JC and I had travelled the streets of Hiratsuka on practically a daily basis, we seemed to lead the way to the place we were supposed to go for dinner. It was hilarious seeing CK being all tour guide-ish, informing our other 4 friends what restaurants there are and what they serve and the price range. Finally, we ended up at a very cozy looking place which served ramen noodles, but the variety of soup bases were much more interesting. I was incredibly glad to have found that chilli does indeed exist here and requested for the spicy soup base. It tasted like a fragrant version of curry mee. Chu paid for the meal stating that it was on the Thailand company’s account. I have also officially stopped eating rice for lunch and dinner. It takes up way too much space and time.

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Fully into the groove of the second week of training. Nevertheless, we had changed venues, and the PE office is right next door. I was incredibly distracted by the sounds of the paper shredder. Do they have that many confidential documents? Honestly, I’d rather not use the paper shredder… I use the recycle bin after I’ve used both sides of the paper!

I took 5 cups of Japanese green tea today. The chocolate milk carton I bought turns out to be a cocoa drink and lacks real milk. I worry to think of the fate of my bones these three weeks. Osteoporosis, please stay away. Unlike the last time, I noticed that I could at least drink plain water this time. Another bunch of hair came off the right side of my head today. And yet another thing to worry about.

JC, CK, Chu, PY and I headed to the Hiratsuka Station by bus after dinner to prepare for our Mt Fuji ‘expedition’ on Saturday. The temperature up there would be about 10 C. Naturally getting to the peak (0 C) would be out of the question, but no one wants to have news sent back home that they’re up on Mt Fuji, frozen or worse, dead due to hypothermia, either.  I wanted to get a beanie and a scarf and a small hand carry. Long story… but the beanies there were ugly as hell, so I only ended up with a scarf and the hand carry.

Anyway, CK mysteriously carried his backpack to town, something he’s never done before. And he went off shopping by himself stating that he’d meet us at stop no 6 (our stop) after 15 minutes or so. Also, we usually exchange news on items we found/bought, and this time, he pointedly refused to reveal what he got, stating that it’s a *guy thing…  and I thought it was women who usually played the mysterious card! Finished Lost Diaries tonight after a marathon reading session, regrettably. Now I’m out of books to read!

A few things I noticed this past one and a half weeks… living without the internet is possible, although you may miss certain things you usually do, like finding out what’s on people’s mind, or sharing what’s on yours, or communicating with certain people whom you occasionally communicate with via the internet, or even blogging, but it doesn’t kill you. The quiet life is not too bad, as long as you’ve got some good music (still loads available), good reads (I’m dead now), and something to pass the time with. I currently find that doing the laundry and reorganizing my music files makes time move. I kind of miss Malaysia, though…

* Naturally JC and I played a little game among ourselves trying to guess what CK could be so secretive about. Edit: Turns out we guessed correctly. Back in M'sia sort of admitted to getting some Japanese porn for himself and the guys... can't see why is that such a big secret!

14 October, 2009
Still in Hiratsuka

JC and I can’t seem to wait for Saturday where Mt Fuji beckons. Training was as usual… more discussion and we find out that all PEs have very similar problems. Slept late last night because of Lost Diaries, and paid dearly for it today as I was incredibly drowsy during training.

Attempted to make myself a cup of coffee from the Blendy coffee packet and gave up. Even with two sticks of sugar the coffee was bitter and made my hair rise on its ends. Pouring some milk from the mini milk containers didn’t help either. I think I will just stick with green tea after this.

Stayed in today as we have apparently seen all we needed to see in Hiratsuka. Had to do some packing as well as we shall be sending our big ass luggage by courier to Nagoya on Friday evening, our next point of training. I tried to do my report but seemed to have lost my gusto for it, instead I sat next to the laptop and listened to some new stuff a friend gave me over a month ago. Good stuff.

My plans to sleep early was thwarted by a sudden obsession to play solitaire, of all things!

Thursday, 15 October, 2009

I am planning to sleep early today. Training was ok, but we seem to keep repeating the grinding process, which should be good for me as it is the hardest part as well as that I happen to be in charge of it at my place. Still am moodless to do the reports. Went out with JC for a walk for chocolates for the people at the office. I got some free chopsticks today when I asked for a pair from the salesperson.

Spent the rest of the night doing laundry and listened to more music.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Last day of training in the Hiratsuka plant
I can’t believe that two weeks are over. This second week seems to have moved on pretty fast. It’s only 7:15 pm here as I type this and I’m incredibly sleepy. Managed to haul my big ass luggage down the stairs, and it’s now there awaiting the courier man who will arrive anytime between now and 9 pm.

Training was pretty good today, although I was still feeling drowsy (my sleep was disrupted by a pretty disturbing dream about me organizing a contest between a lion and a tiger to see who was better at catching a single prey, in this case a white fluffy rabbit in an open field as throngs of people who think gore is good looked on from elevated platforms. I even shook hands with the tiger! Nevertheless it was a sick sight as the rabbit turned from white to a pink hue and everyone knows what that pink colouring is. For some reason, I had to leave the place and drive home, leaving behind my jacket and bag, only it wasn’t home although my family lived there. I had to use the gps to find the venue again, and as I entered the elevated platform I was on earlier, it was blocked because there was a Chinese calligraphy competition for kids going on. I retrieved my stuff and woke up.) We ended the training session with a small photography session.

I shall attempt report writing in a bit.