First test of leadership

After thinking about the matter over last weekend, I finally decided to open my mouth and break my silence to my team members. I worried that I would end up scolding them but I think I did pretty well to remain calm despite my strongly worded speech and threats.

I do not want to micromanage and I give everyone flexibility, autonomy, and authority in hope that everyone will take their own initiative to help to manage branch operations and staff. Sadly the reality is just like the famous internet story:

"This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have."

So I gave everyone 1 last month of chance. If everyone remains bo chup, clearly the current method does not work. I will have to be more dictatorial and start rostering, putting everyone as the responsible person for certain things, demand updates, and make own decisions. It sounds more work to be wanting to be in control of all aspects but it is better to take control to prevent things from getting haywire instead of current state that eventually I need to take control but usually after things are haywire because the people who are supposed to be responsible are just bo chup.

Not an easy thing to have this kind of difficult talk but I am glad that I did it. I remain truthful to my principle to be open about things instead of hiding them and then only air all the dirty laundry during appraisal.

I am so tired with work and life in general. With limited time, there is just so much that I can do and certain things have to give away. Gym definitely affects the time and activity that I am left with after work. But I guess gym is a good activity, better than gaming, and better than to continue working at home. My CPIP final presentation is in exactly 4 weeks time and I am so screwed. I don't even have time to analyse the data so far. Don't even talk about slides, results, costings, etc. Die liao la.

Things are a bit slack in the past 2 days as I am away for course at Jurong. I made use of the lunch time to walk around Westgate and JEM and I finally decided to buy new working pants. I bought Kando Pants from Uniqlo at $59.90. It is expensive but I am desperate as one my newer pants were 'burnt' by the lady who ironed my clothes and already has a hole. I made special effort to get it at Plaza Singapura so that I can get capita star points. All the time and special effort made were wasted as in the end I forgot to scan the receipt. Stupid me :(

Still no progress

Another quarter has passed and this is my result. As seen from the photo that I took after the test, I am getting lousier that I only took the picture halfway and did not realise about it. Haiz.. Anyway before I forget:

~Pull up hold: 38 sec

~Push up: 23

~Squat: 56

~Burpee: 23

~Tabata protocol: all the missing boxes should be 8

Ok la, actually I did show some improvement from the previous quarter. I actually wanted to slack a bit by choosing goblet squat and tabata with dumbbell initially. I did not think I could go any faster for my normal squat (my thighs were giving away and I nearly fell down after the test in July) and I always dropped the ball halfway for tabata and hence I wanted to just do a 5kg dumbbell.

The coach knew my intention and did not let me. So it was quite a surprise that I still could go even faster for my squat and I managed to not drop the ball for tabata. The coach asked me not to do so fast for the tabata as the aim would be to make sure that I had the ball all the way.

So the plan for me next would be to do jump pull up all the way (instead of slacking to squat pull again when I am lazy or tired) and I have to work on my stamina. I was told that I could go faster if I did not 'control' the movement so much. Usually I am concerned about the form and I do not want to be breathless so I will control my movement.

Previously I needed 3 days rest after a quarterly test before I could go for normal session. This time I went only after 2 days. I survived although I regretted that I did not wait another day. Hahaha.. but the fact that I survived means that this is another improvement to recover faster. But ultimately, the actual goal that I want is still not achieved: weight loss :(

International selling

When I started selling my old and unwanted toys, I never imagined I would ever sell to overseas buyers. It is even more surprising that the channel that got me overseas buyer is Carousell which is based in Singapore. I decided to give it a try after eBay and forum hardwarezone did not seem to work for me anymore.

The first one I sold was Final Fantasy VIII Transcendent's Artist Collection: Rinoa & Siren. This was sold in mid-2016 and I forgot to write about it. After getting an undamaged one in Jakarta, I have been putting the damaged one on sale. This figure gave me a lot of headache a few years ago because of a stupid proxy Shopping Mall Japan (the posts are here and here) and I better not keep anything that reminds me of that bad experience. The buyer was from Spain. I felt so bad for him because the statue was damaged and EMS from Singapore was about $200. In total it was a crazy amount for a damaged figure. Well since he was very sure on getting this, I was also more than happy to sell. As a collector myself, I can understand the occasional irrational behaviour when it comes to buying collectibles.

Spent about USD 900 with the damaged Squall & Bahamut. Sold this for USD 600.

I do not post much about Final Fantasy Chrome as it took me a few years to complete it and then got lazy to take photos and post about it. Some were bought as bundles and I end up with few duplicates. Thus I am in the midst of selling the duplicates. I managed to sell one yesterday to a buyer in Japan. I just find it amusing that I bought this from a seller in Japan and now I am selling it to another person in Japan.

Sold for $200 so that is quite a nice $50 profit

The thing about selling internationally is Paypal is usually the go to method for safe transaction. Unfortunately, paypal fee is about 5% of the transaction value. I personally hate it when seller passes on the fee to the buyer and therefore I myself am not doing that. So usually I will just suck it up but of course in the future if there are more foreign buyers, I guess I have start splitting half-half.

Lastly, I managed to sell the Dream Kingdom book that I just bought at Kyoto during last month's trip for $20 and it still did not help to cure my heartache for spending $45 for importing one before the trip. The buyer happened to be attending FF concert too so at least that I did not have to make special arrangement for it.

Thank God for the 2 items sold yesterday and I pray for more things to find buyers soon.

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds ~ Jiritsu

Jiritsu means 30 years old and that is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Final Fantasy series. This year also marks the 10th year anniversary of Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concerts which started during the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy series. To mark the special occasion, Nobuo Uematsu himself was present to attend the concert.

I was expecting something special to mark the special occasion but it turned out to be disappointing. I went for the concert last year (read the post here) and almost everything that I wrote is still relevant for this year's concert since the concert venue, the orchestra, and the conductor are all still the same.

The repertoire is seriously worse this year. It may be the first time some songs are played for Distant Worlds but choosing the less popular tunes and the mellow ones as the first few songs really bring the mood down. Even the more upbeat songs end with an anti-climatic tune instead of a loud orchestra kind of bang. This year's concert definitely did not sell out as on my level, the right wing was only 30-40% filled. My row and the row behind me were half empty after the first half. Arnie did not engage the audience as much as last year and I believe the audience were also less crazy than last year. Overall, the energy level was poor and disappointing even for the 'Sephiroth' chants during One Winged Angel.

Nobuo Uematsu was there in the audience and I was surprised that Arnie did not have more interactions with him. I thought it would be nice if Uematsu-san were to conduct 1 song as an encore but that did not happen. He ran to join the choir instead for One Winged Angel. But hey he seems to be a very nice and easy-going man and he clearly enjoyed and had fun.

One song that really blew my mind is FF 6 Opera song. It features several styles of music (from opera, waltz, game kind of music) and it also features soloists. With a grand ending, this is the kind of fantastic song for a live orchestra.

Medley is missing and I am still hoping for Dissidia ending theme song that features a glimpse of soundtrack from each series.

I missed the merchandise last year so I arrived earlier at about 630pm and I queued for merchandise for about 40 minutes. I only bought the concert booklet which is very expensive at $35 and they did not even have a carrier bag! Seriously.. There were Chocobo and Mog's plushie for 30th anniversary for $60 each. Only 100 pcs for each and it was sold out by the time I was there. Crazy.. Lucky I already bought them when I was in Japan. The shirt was reasonably priced for concert merchandise at $25 but the design is too plain to get me interested.

I bought the cheapest ticket this year for $72.50 with restricted view. Never ever I will do this again as I wanted to watch a live concert/orchestra, not watching a live screening through a monitor. After 2 years of disappointment, I am not sure if my fanboy energy is enough to convince me to again if there is another one next year -which I doubt since this year's was not sold out and the audience was rather emo too.

The small monitor should just show the VIDEO on screen. Clearly the person who makes this never sit here. The orchestra is visible and there is no need to show them again from the monitor. What we cannot see is the screen and showing the whole stage on the monitor makes the screen too small and we still cannot see anything

USS Halloween Horror Nights 2017

I don't like USS and I swear I will never go in to pay. In fact the only 2 times I went to USS were because I had free tickets. I broke my promise as I paid about $50 for USS Halloween Horror Nights yesterday. A colleague recommended it as part of a team bonding so I said okay. Few weeks later she was transferred to another branch and I felt really really sian to go. Haiz..

The entry time began at 730pm. Since I worked and I had volunteering, I was deliberately late. Haha.. I only reached home at 7pm, had a quick snack for dinner since I doubted I would eat at USS, washed my face, and then left home at 730pm. Glad I was not kiasu since my friends queued for almost 1.5 hours just to enter the USS. Wew..

I wanted to go Sentosa through the board walk but my friend recommended to take 188R or 963R. It was a new information that there are public buses to Sentosa now. The bus frequency is once every 30 minutes so I should go via the board walk also. Not to mention that the timing for both buses were not searchable via sgbuses app.

I did not have to queue to enter (yay!) but right from the start I already felt kinda meh. I know it is for halloween but it was just freaking dark. It was so painful for the eyes and the brain to try to look for ways and avoid bumping to others/things in such low lighting and at the same time people were wearing devil horns with blinking lights.

Since I experienced the Halloween event in USJ a few weeks ago, I can't avoid making comparisons. USS scare zone is definitely done more elaborately but I find that it covers too small of the area. It is quite unfortunate that the lighting was too dark that all the hard work to make all the props and make-ups cannot really be appreciated by the visitors. Nah.. don't even consider think of photos unless you have a very atas camera.

My friends were still queue-ing for their first attraction when I arrived so I decided to just walk around. As previously, in just less than an hour, I completed 1 round already. Surprisingly, the eateries were not crowded at all. I guess everyone was so excited to go for the ride instead of eating.

In total I experienced 3 haunted houses: the shaman one, the shopping mall one, and the mind of the psycho killer one. The estimated time were 160 mins for the first one although the actual time was about half an hour less. As it was getting less, the waiting time for the later ones were shorter but still in between 1-2 hours. We left close to 130am (the official closing time mentioned is 130am anyway) because someone was driving. Otherwise I would leave at 1030pm. Haha.. I reached home at 2am and I am still feeling tired today. Age is catching up real quick.

It may not be fair to compare as I only went for 1 halloween attraction in USJ but I am quite disappointed with USS one. There were too many people and we were just walking continuously and swiftly as a group through the haunted houses. I did not find it scary or exciting as you could see what would happen or who would jump out just by seeing the people in front of you. The zombie forest I tried in USJ was more exciting because entry was for small groups and subsequently the path diverged and the group became even smaller at certain sections. That would be more exciting. Nonetheless, thumbs up for the props and decoration in the haunted houses.

I can't understand how people would pay for this kind of thing, queue for hours (and having black faces and complaining while doing so), and scream like mad with the attractions. They all should know what they are signing up for.

I guess I am too mature for halloween stuff as it is quite easy to predict what will happen. When there is a curtain or a door, there is a high chance someone will jump. When there are mannequins, there will be a few which are humans, and so on. Having said that, I am still childish enough to enjoy Disneyland :p

After last night, my impression remains: I don't like USS and I swear I will never go in to pay again.

Wayang king

It has been a long time that I do not rant about work and I think it is time for one. 2 months ago I asked my boss to transfer someone with more experience to my branch. Wish was not granted. I was given someone relatively new with the reason that it would be easier for me to manage a new staff. Furthermore she is someone cheerful and sunny which will inject some positivity to negate my negativity.

Last week I was informed that this person would be transferred again. Sigh.. all my hard work to train her and to gel her with the team just went to the drain. This time I would get someone with more experience as she has been working for >1 year. Did not I ask for someone with this kind of traits just 2 months ago?

Lucky I was informed through phone as if it were done face to face, I don't think I can hide my displeasure. When asked if I had any concerns, I actually sarcastically asked "Do I have a choice?". My boss laughed and said "No actually you don't". So what is the point of all the pleasantries? A few weeks later she mentioned that she forgot that another girl from my branch lives in the west or otherwise she would transfer her. Err.. as if it matters to me WHO get transferred. What matters to me is as long the transfer affects my branch, I will have to do the extra work to get the team together again and to train the new person again.

The change will only be effective this coming Monday and yesterday I received another phone call that this new person may not be permanent at my branch. Seriously.. what the hell.. Nah this time I did not even bother to say or ask anything. What's the point? Haiz..

I did not have time to do my own work for the past week as I am busy with clearing people's shit all the time. Currently I have 2 new staff who are giving me headache. My colleagues are in charge of their training but now that it is reaching a crunch time, I have to do something while my own pre-reg is doing his external rotation. 1 is to be confirmed in 1 month time and I had to do the dirty work to inform her the expectations or else she will not be confirmed as a staff. Imagine.. just after 3 months in this new role and I have gain karma by sacking people already. The other person is worse as she was confirmed by another branch and then transferred to me. Seriously if the other branch was just confirming her so that she could be thrown to me, it was a dick move. I already informed my boss that if within 1 week this person could not be independent, I want her to be transferred back to the branch that confirmed her. Eat your own shit, man!

I am also quite pissed with my colleagues who are in charge of their training but they are not doing anything extra to solve the problem. But I just heard one is planning to leave so whatever la.

The past 2 days are also a reminder how unfit I am to be in a leadership position. I still find it difficult to control my emotion. Deep in my heart, I want to be someone understanding that people will make mistakes and so on. But when their mistakes become problems for me to solve, I just lose my cool as it will just eat my own time for my own work.

I finally saw the end product of the video that was filmed few months ago. The voiceless acting part exceeded my expectations. In fact, I could not believe the faces that I made in the video. No way my face was like that in real life. Haha.. it was fully fake and called acting after all. The interview part was really embarrassing. I did not really pay attention to the words that I said as I was already so ashamed with my voice and my accent. Anyway I know my voice is so 'unique' that it always sounds very weird when it goes to any electronic device whether it is phone, microphone, PA system etc. I think I sounded like a small kid :( The accent was completely unexpected as people keep telling me that my Singlish is very good so it was really surprising that in the video it was damn obvious from my accent that I am a foreigner. As much as I am curious to listen to my words in the video, I think it was a blessing in disguise that I was too distracted to listen. Otherwise I would be very critical of myself with my choice of words or the unintentional grammar mistakes if there was any. I am so jealous of the other people in the video: how good and natural they are in the interview part. Obviously a career change is not an option for me anymore.

On a happier note, my photo has appeared in the corporate website and I am very happy that the quote picked for the caption the one more professional sounding. Lol. I think I look too giggly in the photo that it is obvious that I am wayang-ing again. Haha..

There are few people who asked me why I remove my specs for the photo or video. Obviously it is so that people cannot recognise me in real life. Haha.. another reason is because I think I look better without specs. So now it is left with the fall prevention video that I have not seen. I think this would be the most embarrassing one as I am acting with talking in this one T_T

First race/run

I just completed CSC Run 2017 today. Few months ago, my colleagues and I were so excited about this as none of us had ever joined this kind of run. We joined out of curiosity and just to experience it. As the day came closer, we were feeling more and more dreadful. Last night I was regretting why I even thought of joining. I was so self conscious about what to wear for the race as I find the race singlet to be revealing. In the end I decided to just heck and still wear it as it is. Fat then fat lo. I think I can see a bit of improvement from the gym. At least now my arms show some definition of the biceps compared to the last time I took a photo with a singlet in Bintan 3 years ago.

I only trained once a few weeks ago before my Japan trip and my body was sore for the next 2-3 days. I did note even complete 5km lol. From that experience, I chose not to train again this week and just whack during the race. Thank goodness that I was able to complete the 5km. Running around the track and running around the city is a huge difference. The flag off time was 745am and I was done by 825am. That was much faster than my initial expectation of 1 hour. Not to mention that I only started jogging after the 1km mark. There was only 1 water point near the u-turn and as always, once I stopped, it was difficult to restart again. Subsequently it was an alternate jogging and walking.

The race starting and ending point was at Marina Barrage and the nearest MRT is at Bayfront. I think we spent more time on the way to MRT to take photos with our medals than the actual time spent for the race itself. Haha.. Not expected from a bunch of first time runners. I am pretty happy that I did not feel as tired or sore as the one and only training few weeks ago. Right now I am feeling more tired from the lack of sleep last night rather than from the race.

Finally I have met my target to experience this kind race/run and I don't think I will do this again in the future. I am not a fan of running/jogging after all.

It has only been 1 week since my holiday but my energy level is back to what it was before the holiday. Work really sucks. Not to mention that next week is already October and I just have to start throwing some interventions for my project.

I should have suspended my gym membership another week and to restart in October. It was kinda wasted since I only went for 2 times this week. I am still very lazy and tired. I have not even got the time to look and organise the photos taken in Japan.

I gained a few kgs when I went to Japan in 2015 and I am really scared to weigh myself. After a week, I decided to accept reality and I am very pleased that I actually lose weight! Omg omg I am back to 64kg. It has been a long time since I could get back to less than 65kg. I better not waste this opportunity to return to my cereal dinner everyday.

Owari da

Last meal in Japan

Japan holiday is over and I am just done unpacking. Lucky I am taking leave tomorrow as I don't think I can tahan. Haha.. Despite reaching early, the time at airport was quite tight. I was surprised that we are expected to remove our own tax free receipts stuck to our passports. Jeez.. If I knew that, I would have removed it earlier to save time. I cannot anyhow remove it so as not to damage the passport. I went to have tendon for breakfast. I was craving for tendon in the past 2 days but did not have the chance to eat one so at the airport was the last chance. By the time I reached the waiting gate, it was time to enter the plane so time well spent in the airport.

I was lucky that I had an empty chair next to me in the plane so I had a bit more space. I did not really sleep and spent most of the time watching movies: Sagrada Reset part 1 and part 2, Kiseki: Sobito of that Day and Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High. I was quite lost with the Sagrada Reset and I sort of fall asleep halfway during part 2. Because of that I rewound a bit and I did not manage to complete Teiichi. I should have watched Teiichi first because it is much more enjoyable. Kiseki: Sobito of that Day is a movie about the band GReeeeN and I am very glad that I watch it.

With the holiday over, it is time for some reflection. Firstly I have completed my calculations and this 1 week in Japan cost me about $4000. I did not feel that I spent so much because I came back still with so much cash. Lol.. This is the danger of credit card use overseas. Actually it is quite unexpected also as 2 years ago when I was in Tokyo, not many shops accepted credit card yet.

When travelling with others, it is always best to have an agreed itinerary. Otherwise, it is better not to travel together as it will create a lot of irritation. Or perhaps if just want to save on the accomodation, we can always have an agreement that we will split to pursue our own interests.

I did more shopping than taking photos at this trip and I realised that I enjoy taking photos and experienced new things (like the photo studios and onsen) more than shopping. Okay perhaps I should change that to I enjoy having my photos being taken. Lol. I also like to enjoy the places like the locals and to travel in a more relaxed pace instead of racing against time to cover as many places as possible.

Before I left, I felt anxious about the first day alone. But after the experience, I am quite confident to be travelling solo now :) At least to Japan. With internet connection, google map is always at the fingertips and there is little worry about getting lost. I have to admit that as much as I still prefer a hardcopy map, there will be times that google map will come to rescue me.

I have definitely developed a thicker skin to ask strangers to help me to take pictures. It is sad but majority cannot take photos to achieve my level of expectations and satisfaction. Perhaps I should reduce my own expectations of not having my legs cut, buildings cut, slanted pictures, disproportionate human and background, etc and just enjoy the moment. Sadly selfies are not an option for me since I don't like my ugliness to be accentuated.

This trip also served as a test if my attempt to learn Japanese for the past 2 years bears any fruit. Sadly I still have a loooooong way to go :( I really like and want to learn and revise again but I just don't have the time with my priority is for gaming and sleeping.

Okay time to tidy up my photos and get back to work again. Sian..

Japan Trip Day 8: Osaka

All good things must come to an end and this is the last day of my holiday. Last day is always reserved for food and last minute shopping so I woke up later than usual this morning (still earlier than my friends). I went back to Don Quijote at Dotonbori to get 2 sets of jinbei, wasabi kit kat, and a Japan sling bag. It was a dilemma about the sling bag as I was torn between its utility and my needs. I like the design and all that but usually I carry so many barang-barang that surely this sling bag cannot fit. In the end I decided to get a discounted one (1900 yen from the original price 2900 yen) so that I could get the tax free. Alamak stupid me for not reading properly. The thing about tax free in Japan is that different shops have different requirements. I thought 5400 yen purchase in Don Quijote was the requirement but actually it was 5400 yen for consumables and 5400 yen for non-consumables. The tax free was not applicable to me as I bought a mixture of consumables (kit kat) and non-consumables (bag and jinbei).

Next destination was Kuromon Market which was bloody crowded as compared to the weekday when I went there with my friends earlier this week. It was crazy but I spent almost 10000 yen just for food and in a market. I don't want to think too much about it but they were good and they are in my stomach already. I tried not to overkill my stomach and my wallet so I decided not to get the kushiyaki, the fried stuff, and the croquettes. On the way there I passed by a vending machine that had the banana milk that I saw in Kyoto so I had a very happy brunch.

Grilled squid for 580 yen, Matsuzaka beef for 2500 yen, Wagyu sushi for 1500 yen, and Ootoro sushi for 2800 yen

I returned back to Yodobashi as there was a new section to celebrate Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary.  I bought the postcard set as well as the plushes that I missed the preorders. I also bought Chocobo card game hoping to sell them :(

With that, I declared that my holiday is over and I would only spend the rest of the day somewhere near airbnb. I kaypoh to check Mandarake Grandchaos again and as what I expected, the spot where Heero and Relena that I bought previously was taken by the matching SDX Divine Knight Wing. Ouch!! After googling, I discovered that this was actually offered by Premium Bandai Singapore earlier this year for $160 and Mandarake price was only 12000 yen. I went back to repack my items and then I decided to just buy it!! On the way to the cashier, I saw Aladdin & Jasmine figures from Tomy Disney Magical Collection for 1000 yen and 1200 yen respectively. These are figures from ages ago as I remembered the last time I saw them was in my early years in Singapore. They are so old that I cannot even find a decent google images of them.

SDX Divine Knight Wing

Can replace the head with Heero's head

It was not 6pm yet and after walking passed the photo studio where I made photos on the first day, I finally decided to be thick skin and do another session. This time I picked a darker and boring colour kimono. It was the same lady as last week and she still remembered me. I told her that I wanted more half body shots and if possible I wanted different poses. She was very nice to help to create more poses and gave suggestions when I wanted a lying down pose. Lol. The shop actually had a quiver property leh! Arrgh.. should have worn that too last week when doing the bow and arrow poses.

While waiting for the photos to be printed, I went back to Dotonbori to try gyoza from a shop that I passed by this morning. The gyoza was quite disappointing though.. Although I wanted to take away, the gyoza was not packed in a closed container so I ate it in front of a shop that played AAA Niji video on loop. Lol. This is one of the videos that usually I watch/listen on repeat at home too leh. Really a sign to go home soon. Starbucks was still crowded with the queue snaking outside the shop and it looks like I do not get to try any Starbucks in Japan.

After collecting the latest photos, I bought a wagyu burger from Amerikamura area just a few steps further from Mandarake as well as takoyaki from another store near our airbnb. From the 3 shops around, I think this is by far the best.

And that's all :( Sayonara T_T huhuhu

Japan Day Trip 7: Kobe, Arima Onsen

As expected yesterday about the split, I split with my friends right from the morning. Upon arriving in Kobe, a friend wanted to eat breakfast while I always wake up early to grab something from nearby Family Mart for breakfast so that I can have more regular meals. Thus I told them that I would make my wait to Nunobiki-no-taki or Nunobiki Falls first.

I am usually proud of my sense of direction with traditional map but today was not the day. The waterfall is of walking distance from the back of Shin-Kobe station but I went to the opposite direction. In the end I had to rely on google map and GPS. Along the way, I met my friends who were there earlier although they only made their way after their breakfast.

I was quite excited about the hike because I was expecting something like Fushimi Inari. Well I was very wrong because this was a real hike with steep angle and kinda rough rocky pathway. Along the way I was panting and had to take a break for photos. Lol. We reached the waterfall on top and it started to drizzle so we made our way back. The journey back down was equally difficult as the hike up. It was not as breathless but I had to be careful not to slip.

I did not there were a few waterfalls but I just took the stairs because on the map, the waterfall seems to be quite high in the mountain lol

Nunobiki-no-taki

My friends decided to explore the city while I decided to hike up another route which I believed would lead me to the herb garden. Again I was wrong as this route basically brought me back to the waterfall but from a higher view. The hike was equally tiring but felt a bit easier because each step was slightly bigger than the previous route. Usually I enjoy such scenic nature walk but with the slight drizzle and there was no other people along the way, I felt a bit worried too. Every rustle could be wild animals ready to pounce on me. Haha.. I took a break somewhere along the way where I met another 2 tourists and we struck a little conversation. At the top, I met another 2 tourists and I should have asked them to take a photo of me with the waterfall :( I was expecting that I would meet more tourists but because of the drizzle there was nobody else. So in the end I did not have any photo from the other side of the waterfall.

The other side and higher side to view the water fall

It was totally not planned but I decided to go to Arima Onsen instead of exploring Kobe. This was because I saw some signage about Arima Onsen at Shin-Kobe station and it is not that far to go there. I wanted to have lunch first but most eateries at Shin-Kobe were full and I should just go find lunch at Arima. Onsen is a Japanese culture that is very unique. It is natural human feeling to not want to get naked in front of other people and despite my adventurousness, I still had reservations. I decided to just YOLO. Anyway I was alone and with noone I knew, I don't care if strangers see me naked. 

There are several onsens but after quickly googling, my choice is only Taiko no Yu as it is the only one providing towels and reviews mention to be quite English-friendly. It was drizzling (heavier than at Kobe) and again I lost my way before deciding the use google map and GPS. It required a bit of hiking so it was my third time hiking today. With all the sweat and discomfort, I really needed a good bath.

Let me describe the onsen experience. Upon entering the building, I was supposed to remove my shoes and put them in the locker in front. During check in (the 2400 yen was paid up front), the reception kept the locker key and I got another key for the locker inside the onsen facility. A bathing towel, a face towel, and the kimono to be worn in the facility were provided. I was quite happy with rabbit pictures and I got to choose green kimono colour as well. Haha.. There was this barcoded bracelet thing to be used inside for the food and omiyage so there was no need to carry wallet. Upon check out, the barcode was scanned again and anything additional was paid then.

The changing area was quite big and I was quite lost. There was no others and I was not sure what I was supposed to do. I knew I was supposed to change to the kimono here but I was not sure if I was suppose to keep my underwear or not. I went to the toilet to change to my bottom as I did not want anyone to see me naked in the locker room lol. I decided to just not wear my underwear.

Taiko no Yu is actually part of Arima View hotel and the entrance for non-hotel stayers is on the 3rd floor. The onsen facilities are in the 2nd floor. Before entering the onsen proper, there is another locker room to put the kimono as now really have be naked already. Tada...

For someone wearing specs, the different temperature caused foggy lens. It was not as if I wanted to see other people naked clearly but I had to have clear vision to not lose my footing. I have done proper research of onsen etiquettes and watched Japanese shows or anime with onsen scenes so I knew I had to shower first before going into the onsen.

The change in temperature with the onsen water was not too bad but I nearly slipped as the onsen water was quite streamy. It was not easy to manouver to ensure that the towel did not touch the water, hair did not touch the water, my specs, and I did not know if the barcode bracelet thingy could be immersed in water or not (after seeing others, it was actually fine).

The good thing about Taiko no Yu is that there are 2 types of water: the brown and the clear one. The brown one is suitable for the shy one as anything under the water is not visible. Haha.. So yah no need to expose myself and no need to see others' dicks as well. Taiko no Yu also has an outdoor area. The outdoor area is not completely open with roofs made of planks of wood with gaps between the planks. As it was raining, those woods were helpful so that we could still soak and not drenched. Just before returning to the locker, there was another onsen with cold water. I am not sure what the purpose is but it was refreshing to dip there for awhile before going back to the locker.

After experiencing both, I decided to have my lunch. It was still around 2pm and since I only used 1 towel, I decided to go the onsen again after lunch to repeat the experience another time. I really had to take some pictures as proof that I had been here. There was a purikura machine so this was where my 100 yen coins were finally useful lol. Still not enough and I asked other visitors to take a picture of me near the wall with the Taiko no Yu signage.

Yay! Finally I get to strike another thing from my bucket list. Haha.. Today is a Friday so luckily it is not so crowded. It will be quite uncomfortable to dip if there are too many people. The crowd was also mostly old people and I only saw a handful of young people. It is really interesting and I cannot understand how some people are perfectly comfortable naked with their friends. Some were not even trying to cover their modesty. Lol.

I left about 3pm and there was a free bus to the station running every half an hour. I should have waited for this bus earlier instead of being impatient and tried to find my own way which in the end took longer because I lost my way also.

On the way back to Osaka, I thought I lost my way as the station names were different from those in the morning. I got Hankyu and Hanshin confused and I was actually going back to Umeda instead of Namba. No wonder all the station names were different. It was raining at Osaka so I went back to airbnb first to get my umbrella and I decided to try the takoyaki from a stall near there. As always with my luck, when I went out again with the umbrella, the rain already stopped and there was no need of the umbrella at all -_-

It was ironic that I stayed a stone throw away but only now on the 2nd last day of the trip that I went to explore Dotonbori area. There was nothing to buy at Bookoff, the Starbucks queue was crazy, and I just had dinner at one of the cafes at the subway as I was too tired to walk to Takashimaya again. I went to Don Quijote at Dotonbori and yay, there is jinbei here. I don't need to go back to Kyoto tomorrow just to get jinbei lol. Although I am also tempted to go see the anime shops at Avanti malls la.