Photo of the Day – Castella

My friend bought me Castella cake which is famous food from Nagasaki City. It tastes GREAT! Oishii!! Yummy
The texture is more or less like cheese cakes, but with different flavour.

Castella or Kasutera (Japanese: カステラ) is a sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup. It is popular at festivals and as a street food in Japan. Now a specialty of Nagasaki, the cake is thought to be originally from Spain, brought by way of Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese pão de Castela, meaning “bread from Castile“. Castella cake is usually sold in long boxes, with the cake inside being approximately 27cm long. It is somewhat similar to English madeira cake, also associated with Portugal. Note that there are similar types of sponge cakes named after the same fashion, in French: Pain d’Espagne, in Italian: Pan di Spagna, in Greek: Pantespani (Castile is a former kingdom of Spain comprising its central provinces, thus “Pain d’Espagne’ is quasi synonymous to “bread from Castile”).

Sources from wikipedia

Quote of the day – Today and Tomorrow

“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow!”
– James A .Michener

50 Lessons in Life

50 Lessons in Life
Found in The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy  living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw
everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Source: Fwd mail from Wee Kee

Thinking about Peace in Nagasaki

Today attended Asia Youth Peace Program , Report Day and Closing.
We were engaged with Q n A and some discussion. Could not really understand what they were saying.
The whole event is in Japanese. Luckly there was a teacher who help us with the translation and so we did the discussion with english.
Yokatta… Overall it was a fun and exciting event. Thank you Matsumoto sensei for inviting me

Peace!!

For full photo album click here

Journey of Life – Inspired by Deep thought

What will be our future?
Where are we standing now?
Why are we here?
When will it ends?

we might not know what are the answers
We cannot fore see our future
Or have everything we desired
But what we can do is
dream about it, plan about it
Walk to each check point one at a time
At the end of the day
when u look back at your journey
you knew that you have made it that far
It will give u courage and confidence
to put you forward
with each greater and further leap

Well you know you have a friend who is walking with you side by side in this journey

Settling down in Japan

It has been 2 weeks since i first came to Nagasaki, Japan on 1st Oct 2007. With limited Japanese Yen, i managed to get all the necessary items for my daily life. Well, the classes has started a week ago. Not too hectic, but quite demanding sometimes especially the Japanese language studies.

So if you would have asked me what is the first impression of Japan, i would answer you with the following :-

1) first thing to do is to learn how to seperate garbage.

2) there are more than enough vending machine and things that can be sold in vending machine is more than you can imagine.

3) Internet connection can go up to 100mbps with Q-Broadband with only 5000Yen ++ per month (RM150)

4) Public bath and On-sen is exciting and embarrassing at first, fun and enjoyable when get used to it.

5) Green Tea and Miso Soup are part of the breakfast, lunch and dinner.

6) sumimasen is the most common word used and followed by arigatou.

7) Tap water are safe to drink.

You must not eat while walking, you must not smoke while walking.

9) Talking in public transportation is impolite.

10) The commercial ad are interesting to watch

First thing to learn is to seperate garbage…

Nagasaki small city

Peace Park in Nagasaki

Again Nagasaki City

The international house that i’m staying currently. Nishimachi Kankan in short

Delicious Nagasaki Chanpon. Famous Dish in Nagasaki

Nagasaki Night Scenary

For more photos click here