Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games

Dear bloggy,

Life have been awesome lately and I feel like I'm about to pop from happiness and shiawase-ness.

Or maybe I'm just feeling high from the new coffee.

Recently, I had the honor of being the secretary/guide for our kl table tennis team for the Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games held in Tokyo. So basically my job is to make sure the 3 girls, 3 boys and 3 officials are safe and that the program goes smoothly and the team understand what's going on. My first time mixing with 12-15 years old peeps after being one myself so you can imagine how..... stimulating it is for me.

                                              

On the first day, after brooding over what to call me for a long time, one of the 小瓜blurted out the word 'aunty' and I was like

First time in my entire life kena referred as aunty. Thank you, Anabelle. I will remember you forever haha. It reminded me of the episode my mum told me where after we moved to our new house in miri, she heard the neighbour's kid calling 'ah po! ah po!' and my mum was like turning round and round trying to search who the kid was calling - to realise the little boy was calling HER! XD

Anyway, after that, they quickly learn that I only respond to them when they call me 'jie' or 'leng lui'. Since my mei mei doesn't call me jie, it's also actually the first time in my whole life to be referred as jie :`)

One thing I realised about the kl badminton and table tennis teams is that the badminton team is reallyyy high in the morning whereas the table tennis team is docile and drowsy. Then in the evening  after the matches, the table tennis team becomes little monsters whereas the badminton team is worn out and becomes docile.

                       

the badminton team's girls... i missed out taking picture with one of them :( 


小瓜們　were all awed by my flip-phone which was provided by my company to keep in touch.  Sort of like "wow!! what is this magic?? " reaction. All had smartphones already and were constantly taking selfies and searching for wifi. I finally got to use the phrase  "Kids nowadays *tsk tsk*". I remember I only had my first hp when I was in form 4 like that haha.

Soaking in hot bubble bath and looking out to Tokyo Tower from my room's window were my 癒し (relaxation) every night. I think I did a pretty good job fluffing the bubbles XD. 

I went up Tokyo Tower with them and regretted that I have never been up with boyboy before. Since I have always had near zero interest in going up high buildings to look over city views, I was surprised that I enjoyed myself as much.

This one reminds me of a startfish.

 And I finally found out why there is a layer of blue color in the red Tokyo Tower when looked from outside. Haha I ish horrible guide.. Didn't know there were two floors of observation deck so we spent most of the time on the floor we arrived at. Then when we were trying to leave, we found out we have to take the stairs down one floor for the elevators to go down. And we arrived at this mesmerizing blue floor.


Every day I am reminded again and again how energetic, mischievous and emotional teenagers can be. And thank god I am over that period （＠＾＾＠）／

Thinking back there were really plenty of funny moments over the week.

小瓜們 sibeh cute and the kl officials were all so friendly that though I didn't go back home this summer, being with them for 24/7 did gave me the sensation of being back in Malaysia. Thanks ("⌒∇⌒")

Fairytale Castle, Innsbruck, Swarovski Museum

Road trip to Neuschwantein Castle and Innsbruck 

And so nearly 2 full months after returning to Japan, I finally have the mood and time to write again. Of course memory fades so I don't really remember as much as I wanted to write down so lucky you will be spared of the dreary details.

DAY 1

Sunrise from my uni dorm room. Definitely the most dazzling sunrise that had greeted me in a long long while. We went to fetch the car which IY had pre-booked. Super happy that we are driving there instead of the original plan to take public transportation because all the worthwhile spots are scattered along the way.

Chiemsee Lake, our first stop! I was hoping for a green water lake but this looked a lot more like the sea. We're already in Germany at this point btw.

M helped to create the background by tossing her handmade muffin to the seagulls.　*sniff*

There it is. Our pretty fairytale castle perched between the snowy-capped mountains.  M kindly suggested to stop the car when she saw I was trying to get a good picture.

The town where the castle was located was dreamy as well.

Hohenswangau Castle-The other castle which is also located within walking distance. We were confused at first and wondered if this was the fairytale castle. It looks like a lego castle to me^^. Pity its cuteness is dimmed by the much more famous Neuschwanstein Castle.

Since you cannot drive up to the doors of the castle, you can either hike your way up the hill (40mins) or take the shuttle bus with an arbitrary schedule. We waited for nearly 30 minutes without knowing if the bus would really come and finally gave up and started leaving when the bus showed up and we all scampered back.
.

 There's a bridge especially to admire the castle from afar.

On our way to the castle. Really like this shot.

The door of the castle. The reviews online mostly said the tour inside the castle wasn't worth it so we didn't bothered to go in.

ga-ga-ga Finally a green-water lake! The sun was already setting so it was getting less and less greener by the second.. I forgot what's the name of this lake.. Plansee maybe? It was on our way to Innsbruck from the castle.

Didn't want to upload this photo as I don't want my dear bf to be jealous...but my legs soooo thin here, how can I resist??

Some creative couple poses to be remembered :D
On our way back to Innsbruck we saw a lot snow-capped mountains. It was kind of funny to remember how desperate I was to catch a glimpse of them back in Nepal when it's just almost everywhere in this area.

DAY 2 - Innsbruck, Swarovski Museum

Weehee~ I've lusted after this museum after I first saw it on 9gag. 

Many hard to understand art inside.

must.take.selfie

mini maze behind the museum

Though I enjoyed the museum, I wouldn't say it was worth the price of the entrance ticket. It was mostly art pieces made with crystals. Would definitely have been nicer if they write about where the crystals come from, how they manufacture and design it etc.

Olympic ski jump

 It was a wet and gloomy day and rained on and off so the main attraction of  Innsbruck, the capital of alps was nowhere to be seen. With normal good weather you would be able to see the majestic alps surrounding the town.

Whereas with my friends here I would have to think twice before inviting a new friend to join ina trip, these guys really made me feel welcome.. always making sure I'm not left out and would apologize profusely whenever they accidentally talked in spanish. I feel damn lucky to have met them^^

*********************************

COST

rental car :                133euro/5ppl

gasoline :                    79euro/5ppl

hostelling international : 25euro

swarovski museum :      11euro