• Nov 12 (Wed): returned from Japan. Went to bed at around 10pm;
  
  
• Nov 13 (Thur): Got up at around 4am. Went to bed at around 8pm;
  
  
• Nov 14 (Fri): Got up at around 3am. Went to bed at around 9pm;
  
  
• Nov 15 (Sat): Got up at around 4am. Took a nap at around 4:30pm for an hour? Went to bed at around midnight;
  
  
• Nov 16 (Sun): Got up at around 1pm!!!! Tried to go to bed at around midnight;
  
  
• Nov 17 (Mon): Now. Present. Had been In and out of the sleep for the last 5 hours.

It's just passed 5am now, and I give up on more sleep.

I shouldn't have taken that nap on Saturday afternoon, and I wish that mom would have waken me up on Sunday morning! But mom said that I slept so peacefully and thought that I was tired, she didn't want to wake me up.

I don't know how many cups of coffee I would need today to keep me awake at work!

If you had been wondering why I hadn't updated my LJ since I returned from Japan, I could tell you that I was tired.... I'm still am! For the last few days, I start feeling sleepy at 2 or 3pm. I feel that I absolutely need to to go to bed at around 8 or 9pm, and then I would wake up at around 3 or 4am the next morning! This morning, it was a bit better: I woke up at around 5am. I haven't completely used to the time on the East Cost of North America yet. And speaking of which, it's more difficult to adjust to the time here in Ontario than in Japan. In Japan, I would get up around 5 or 6am, but I didn't remember I would want to sleep at 2 in the afternoon! Also, I didn't remember feeling the need to go to bed at 8pm. I'm not sure why.

( What I have done in Japan, and what I think about my trip. )

Last but not least, I uploaded some of my photos on my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84227&l=82318&id=547451412. I haven't uploaded any photos from the fish market yet, but I will upload more photos later.

This is my last evening in Japan. Let me give you a list of random things I learn about Japan:

1. Despite Japan being a modern country, majority of Japanese don't speak a language other than Japanese. Also, I've been to many touristy places and I don't think there are enough English signs around. Therefore, I believe that foreign tourists have a hard time getting around in Japan.
   
   
2. If you want to use a language other than Japanese to get around Tokyo, the best language to use is Mandarin Chinese. I'm surprised at how many Japanese speak Mandarin Chinese. Even one of the immigration officer tried to speak Mandarin Chinese to me as I was entering the Japanese soil. Also, the Japanese language is very similar to Chinese; I understand more than 75% of the Japanese signs around the city.
   
   
3. I can't understand why so many Japanese mistake me as a Japanese. I really want the local people here cut me some slack.
   
   
4. I haven't met a lot of Caucasians in Japan; when I do, half of them speak Japanese.
   
   
5. Eating in Japan doesn't have to be expensive if you can stomach its local food. And local food is not only limited to sushi and udon. It also includes Western-food-in-Japanese-style. A good but cheap meal usually cost less than 1000 yen ($10 USD).
   
   
6. But don't think that you could have cheaper food by going to a smaller restaurant with shabbier setting. Food costs the almost same regardless the interior of the restaurants. Anyway, food are more than decent in Japan, regardless the size or the interior design of the restaurants.
   
   
7. I don't know how one can avoid shopping in Tokyo. I have been bombarded by ads constantly in the last few days -- on the train, inside the subway station, etc. Also, many touristy districts in Tokyo are actually shopping districts. In the last 3 days, I'd been at least 4 or 5 shopping districts. And yes, I dropped a few hundred dollars USD.
   
   
8. I believe at least one in 10 women in Tokyo has a Coach handbag; there must be an equal number of women in Tokyo have LV handbags!
   
   
9. Japaneses are very honest. I left my camera at a restaurant where the staff don't speak English. I returned the next day. With some difficulty, the staff understood that I was the owner of the camera that was left behind. The staff took out my camera from the cupboard, with a piece of paper stuck on it. The paper noted the date, time, and on which table I left behind my camera.
   
   
10. Vehicles in Japan are extremely small but extremely cute.

I'll be catching the plane tomorrow morning. See you after I return to Canada!

I'll be leaving home in 2 hours. So I think this will be the last entry before I leave for Japan. I don't know when and where I can get internet in Japan so I'm not sure if I could post an entry while I'm there. I'm hoping that I could. If not, I will "see" you late next week. Have a good fortnight.

Urgh...

Earlier this month I talked about a girl from work who was hired to work part-time in the branch.

The next time I see the girl, I would like to shout at her!

She is supposed to come into work Thursday mornings and again Fridays full-day. She works in my team Thursday morning, helping out with our filing and mailing.

I haven't seen her for 2 weeks. The last time I spoke to her, she said that her exams were coming up and she got permission from my branch manager to take a week off. I didn't know why she didn't come in last week. Yesterday, I asked my branch manager if the girl was coming in this morning. The branch manager checked his e-mail, and then told me that the girl had excused herself for another week.

The girl got the part time job in the branch because her father knows the branch manager. I know that, these days, it's important to have connection in order to get a job; but once you get the job, you should treat it seriously! How could the girl excuse herself for not coming to work for 3 weeks, and her only excuse was her schoolwork? I don't get it! Is her schoolwork affected by her part time job? Does she have any money to spend now because she hasn't come into work for so long? I really want to know.

Meanwhile, it looks like that I will have to go into work the upcoming Sunday. I'll be on vacation in Japan starting next Tuesday, and no one will do my work for almost 2 weeks. Also, since the girl hasn't shown up for 3 weeks, I better go in to clear those work otherwise would have been done by the girl. The filing pile has become horribly huge. I would prefer to go in on Saturday, but I have an exam to write on that day.

If I would know that the stock markets would crash in September and October, I might not choose to go away in November after all. I should see myself working overtime in weekends after I come back from vacation just to catch up.