Neighbour and Friends in Osaka

25 March

Long time no see.
It has been so many days that we have reached Osaka and so far so good with the experiences. We finally got our cell phones in Japan (yaay!)

I got a Samsung Softbank 740sc, it is really good enough for my daily life, though not as good as Darren’s one but will make good use of it.

We actually went to different places around Hotarugaike by ourselves, we had our first experiences of getting on Hankyu, Monorail and walking to and fro one station twice. We figured out shortcuts to go back our home and we really enjoy the experience there.

It is really cold outside (even reached 1 degC!) there and we always want to stay at home and turn on our air-conditioner (which blows warm air of course +_+). Despite the temperature, I still manage to exercise to build up myself, after those exercise, my body always could cope with the cold and continue the rest of the day. =)

Ah.. Forgot to mention this. We actually moved into a quite nice room, the unit we live in has 3 rooms, 2 Japanese style room and one western kitchen + toilet. The address is:

3-13-10, I room, Hotarugaike, Kitamachi, Takahashi Bunka, Toyonaka City, Osaka.
豊中市，蛍池北町3丁目13-10，I室，高橋文化，大阪。


So for whoever want to send me something, please.. Haha! =)

Our bedroom, left: Darren; right: Franco

Window at our bedroom, nice view

Fusuma (a sliding door) between the bedroom and the middle room.

Entrance

Recently, around our place, we actually knew a few nice people and it is really the culture that newly moved in people to greet the neighbours and chat around. We actually did that and we got to know some kind people. First of all, we managed to meet Wilman Septina , who helped us with the room and took care of our affairs. He then introduced two Malaysian to us, Xi Kei and Yap. They are very nice people and they taught us to go around Japan and showed us some cheap supermarkets and different ways of living in Osaka. Yap offered us into his room (which is VERY Warm!) and we chit-chat at his room for about 30 to 45 minutes. He was also very kind to offer us his WiFi internet for us to surf and that saves us a much money for the internet subscription. I must thank God for all the arrangements, they are not just merely coincidence.

Through Koji and also by friends, we also managed to know that there is a International Student Room at the School of Engineering Science at Osaka University. Koji said that this place is a place to have snacks! Many international students will be gathering there during free time and according to our friends, we managed to know that the head of the international student centre, Ms. Tasaka Emiko (田坂恵美子), who is a VERY Kind and Friendly people, she could really help us in our life in campus, we could also register for Japanese lesson from her, which we need THE MOST! The class will be starting on 5 April 2010. Finally we have an official teacher to learn Japanese and I finally could have a teacher to help me study for my Intermediate level of Japanese. We felt so excited and we had a photo with Ms. Tasaka:

Photos with Ms. Tasaka

After the meeting, we had our very first lunch at Toyonaka Campus! I was quite unfamiliar with the system but eventually we managed to make an order and got it all settled for 490 Yen.

Lunch at La fore

I would want to thank Koji especially for helping us to settle so many things, I know that Koji was constantly busy with his research works and yet he was willing to take time for us, wiling to eat lunch with us, went to 100 yen shop with us, helped us with the mobile phone. I really appreciate his effort and we hope that we can adapt to the life in Osaka soon.

Now, in this environment that everything is Japanese, I believe that I could improve my Japanese further, listen to more Japanese speaking, I could improve myself with the language.
Experiences in Japanese environment:

1. Buying things in Supermarket
   
2. Asking about international card at Convenient store
   
3. Going to City Hall and listen to the instruction
   
4. Opening bank accounts at Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank (They do not understand English at all, I think…)
   

I am really enjoying the experience and I hope for more!

Tommorow (26 March) we will be going to Kyoto for 5 days, will be coming back on 31 March. Will update you all more on that! See ya!