End of stay in Japan

My internship in NEC is coming to an end soon. I have mixed feelings now that I am going back to Singapore. Two months ago, i cannot wait to get back to Singapore, but somehow these past 2 months, i have explored many places and discovered the many facets of the Japanese culture and life. It is certainly very interesting (とてもおもしろい）.

I made some very good acquaintances here in Japan. ちばくん (Chiba)、しめくん(Shime)、ささまくん(Sasama)　and あきひこさん (Akihiko) are some of the nicest and closest colleagues I have. Fellow intern, Thomas Perrin has been a very close friend also, as 2 lonely people who live nearby will naturally be when they are in a foreign country. The secretary in the lab where I work, しまだ (Shimada) has also been a very nice person who helped me a lot. For example, when we need to call a restaurant to reserve table for dinner, or to call the post office about receiving a parcel, etc... Shimada-san has also been a very entertaining person in the office, providing nice conversation during tea breaks. These are people who will make me miss Japan.

Also, food is another big pull factor for me. The food in Japan is simply unique and tasty. How can you possibly make raw food more tasty than cooked food? Maguro don mixed with ikura is one of my favourite. Also, of course the Kansai specialty like Yakitori, Okonomiyaki, Kobe gyu (teppanyaki style) are other food which i also find extremely tasty and interesting. There are many more Japanese food that I would like to try but have not a chance to. Raw fugu (poison fish) is one of them.

One of the best things that I like to do during my free time here is to explore the scenic places which are so abundant in Japan. It seems like the government has so well planned that every area has at least 1 scenic places so that Japanese can visit these places every other weekend. Well, that is actually not a logical explanation as most of these places exist since a long time ago. I had the opportunity to live in Japan during the amazing Autumn time, the cold winter and now, also a little bit of Spring, which has kind of a crazy weather (in one day, the temperature can be between 9 deg Celcius to 20 deg Celcius). Different seasons give a different view and feel to different places. Take Kyoto, which is a very popular tourists destination. Each season, the view is equally amazing, but you get different experience. I am worried what will I do now on my weekends in Singapore?

I had this wonderful opportunity to live in Japan, and to work in NEC which is such a well known company throughout the world. Moments that I spent here will forever be cherished and it will also mark a very unique time of my lifetime. Somehow during this time in Japan, I learned to manage my relationship better and this has serve to benefit my personal relationship with my family and girlfriend.

Thank you Japan, ありがとうございました！