隠れた深さ

a pale moon encroaches silently in the lake
and a carelessly flung pebble
breaks the silhouette into broadening ripples
trembling the water surface

Kugenuma Kaigan part 2

Kugenuma Kaigan 鵠沼海岸！！！



Weijin and Hansen



Hansen and me


The three of us went Kugenuma Kaigan (Shonan Beach) to try out the surfs. None of us had done surfing before, but it was damn cool! Reached in the late morning, went around to a few surf shops to look - Tstick, blah blah. Surfing classes were kinda full, but there was this shop that still had vacancies. Signing up for it, 5200yen (SGD67), we went to McDonalds for breakfast.

It was a three hour course that started at 1pm. So we watched this video for around 1 hour, learning the different types of the boards, how to lie flat on a board, paddle it into the sea, catch the wave, stand up on the board, do a drop-down turn, ride to the front of the board, and some tricks as well. It kinda sound stupid to watch a video, but it was actually quite helpful and I was kinda grateful for it afterwards. The big boss of the shop came up and offered us drinks during the video, very friendly guy.

So we did a few practise runs on land, then went to change into wetsuits (refer pic). They are f***ing difficult to wear! I swear mine took 15 mins, while the guys took 20+. I had to jump up and down to squeeze up the suit onto my legs and thighs, and then pull up to my waist, then plunge my arms into the sleeves. I was panting after changing, but there was a girl in wetsuit standing outside when I came out, so... w00t!

So headed off with two other foreigners (?) and four instructors to the beach. The three of us took longboards (easier than shortboards), and did some stretching and practise runs on the beach. Next was the paddling into the sea, although the instructors guided us. The sea was freaking cold, I was shivering when I entered, wondering if I would survive 5 minutes of it.

Then we were spurned around and held on like small kids. Well, in the beginning it was good because we can learn the exact moment of paddling forth to catch the wave and stand up on the board, but at around 80% of the course I wanted more freedom to try stuff myself... like the larger and crazier waves... muahwahahaha.

So of course my first wave failed, stood up for 3 seconds, lost my balance and toppled over to the left. F**king c**b* cold water greeted me, but it was f**king shiok la! Grabbed back the board using a cord attached to my ankle, I went back to the nearest available instructor and tried again.

Well, the waves were actually a little crazy that day (according to the instructors), and imo, the amount of fun you get is actually how pia you are, falling off and heading back for more punishment. I believe the girl that was with us didn't do like 60% of my tries.

So I was onto the board and riding a wave like the 4th or 5th try? It was freaking shiok la! I finally conquered the wave and was riding on top of it to the shallow sands, damn stylio! Well, it lasted like 10-15 seconds. I thought it was very well done, considering that the instructors held onto us at the shallower waters, with the sands right up ahead. That was why I was wanting to head off by myself after like 10 tries.

Well, but it can't be done, I'll try that next time. Anyway by the end of the three hours, I had swallowed 4 times huge portions of sea water, thank you it was very salty. And considering that I have till Gold Star, I think it was a crazy day and crazy waves. My shoulder freaking ached from glancing back at the waves, hands sore from riding the board, calves abit over-stretched from being too tensed up.

2 hours (3) was bloody sufficient for me for my virgin surfing, although I could go for more punishment, I didn't want to collapse at the end of the day. So we headed back to change, caught a few more glimpses of the wetsuit girl, and it was to Yokohama to eat.

Hasta la vista la, baby.

Kugenuma Kaigan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkXI7ofUnD0

http://shir0i.multiply.com/video/item/2
got problem processing the 3G2 video... can download and watch the full length

random photos

ok i think i posted this earlier but didnt talk much about it.
This is Shibuya crossing, where people cross the streets right outside Shibuya Station in all directions, N, NW, W, SW, S, SE, E, NE, you get the picture...
The photo is taken from 2nd floor Starbucks cafe overlooking the crossing, just when the signal turned green and people start crossing... When you are inside and people are swarming all around you, its CRAZY.
So this is the prelude to Shibuya, THE PLACE to be in Tokyo.



and this is me with yiuling at kamakura a couple of weeks ago... awful face... haha

Hare Hare Yukai FULL

love love suzumiya haruhi... haha

Competition (GUNPLA/MIA)

ok win bird

random photos

ok random photos that don't belong anywhere...

new shoes that i bought... heehee SGD65, 5145 yen


horse racing at pachinko (medal) game centre
(photography forbidden)


mealtime! rice, soup by yiuling, meat by yuhan, veggie by me... haha


http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Yokohama

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Roppongi

photos

did some reorg of my picasa albums, the previous links should probably not work now...
sorted the photos via areas, so some folders will be updated from time to time.

totally new folders are:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Harajuku
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Shibuya
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/SchoolYagamiCampus

Stolen photos

OK these are photos stolen from my friend who does photography with a wide-camera lens that is SGD1000++ so don't compare...

Takeshita street, Harajuku
This is the more popular street in Harajuku, which is pretty hiphop/VK/punk/jrock. It is where all youngsters come and shop, probably comparable to Bugis Street, on a larger and funkier scale.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chunl/448155662/

Prayer Boards at Meiji-Jingu
A famous temple near Harajuku, with nice sakura and a huge park that you can walk for hours. Got a large temple, think everyone in Tokyo comes here for the new year.
Write down your wishes on a prayer board (300 yen).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chunl/448155606/

chung cheng high main farewell year 2000

haha... this is so sweet... can u manage to spot me?

its damn hard to find me, i pontan so much... i could find waikeong, june, yifei, sweehock, qingsong, junyi easily at the start though...

photos 5

new friends that i made
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Friends

ginza shopping district (high class)
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/Ginza

keio university - mita campus... post more later
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/School

my room at the hostel
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/MyRoomAtMyHostelPlumeIs

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/JingumaeShrine

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/YoyogiPark

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/AsakusaSensoujiTemple

1 of the station closest to my dorm
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/KashimadaStation

photos 4

Ok somebody in China and multiply kana blocked... so I'm using Picasa now. Anyway, went to temple yesterday (sun). Its in Yokohama, in a place called Kamakura with many famous temples and such.

Went to the beach first and the guys had their lunch (i had my brunch at hostel), then went to Kannon Temple, where I prayed for everyone =), and then to see the Big Buddha statue nearby. Well the Big Buddha statue is definitely smaller than HK's, but hack.

Anyway I'm kinda allergic to sight-seeing and such, walk-see-take-photos-wow-cherry-blossom-wow-nuff. So probably no pictures for awhile, I gotta find something immersing to do man.

Kamakura and its beach
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/20070401KamakuraAndBeach

Kannon Temple
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/20070401KannonTemple

Big Buddha
http://picasaweb.google.com/zhongwei.lu/20070401BigBuddha