The end of November ~ 11月の終わり

November flew by really quick and quite a few changes came with it!

11月はあっと言う間に終わってしまいましたが、色々変わりました。

 

It snowed earlier during the month and it was our first time seeing slightly heavier snowfall in Sapporo. Which we made the most of with a snowball fight and I made my first snow angel ever.

Although the snow is gone for now, I know it’ll be back with a vengance soon. I love the snow, so I’ll be enjoying every day of it!

11月の中旬に雪が降って、札幌にはその量を見るのが初めてでした。せっかくだったので、友達と雪合繊をして、私は初めて体で雪にエンジェルを書きました。雪は今降っていないけど、戻ったらもっと激しく沢山降ると思います！雪が大好きだから、毎日雪を見られるのを楽しみにしています。

Due to a certain concert, I definitely have a new found love for Shinee’s Jonghyun ♥ I always loved them all equally, but seeing them in person made me realise how awesome he is! (I still love them all, though! (´„•ω•„)♥)

あるライブのお陰で、シャイニーのジョンヒョンが好きになりました！♥ シャイニー全員同じぐらい好きだったけど、やっぱり直接ライブに行って、自分の目で見たら、ジョンヒョンは本当にカッコいいなぁと思った！（それにしてもシャイニー全員もそうだけどね！(´„•ω•„)♥）

My outlook on day to day life and the way I spend money has definitely changed this month thanks to my best friend tesjapn, who I enjoyed a delicious tart and meaningful conversation with last Friday.

先週の金曜日にテスと一緒に凄く美味しいタルトを食べながら、意味深長な話をしましたので、テスのお陰で自分の日常もお金の使い方に関する考え方が変わりました。

That night I also proceeded to step out of my comfort zone and change my hair colour! We mixed pink and red and it turned out awesome thanks again to Tesu ♥

同日の夜に不安を乗り越えて、髪の毛を普段染めない色を挑戦しました。ピンクと赤色のヘアカラーを混ぜてみたので、緊張していたけど、テスのお陰で上手く行きました！♥

We also made it on the Twitter page of our favourite thrift shop “I ♥ Store” when we were playing around with their wigs!

今月私達の大好きな中古品特価販売店のツイッターにお店のウイッグで遊んでいた時の写真を撮られて、載せられました！

My YouTube channel reached over 200 subscribers, which I was very happy about as I didn’t think so many people would support me! (*^^*)

YouTubeチャネルの登録者は200人も越えたので、凄く嬉しかったです。こんなにサポートしてくれる人が居ると思わなかったんです。皆さん、本当にありがとうございます。

We found some great friends to party with and have enjoyed some really fun nights out at izakayas and karaoke places!

楽しい友達ができて、最近はたまに居酒屋やカラオケに行ったりして、その友達と楽しんでいます！

The atmosphere of the city is also starting to change as Christmas, snow festivals and the end of the year is drawing closer.

_Choko♥

クリスマスや雪祭りや年末が近付くと街の雰囲気も変わり始めましたね。

チョコ♥

ふるさとに見られない光景 | Something I Can't See in my Hometown

久々に投稿しますが、最近忙しくて色んな事情のせいでYouTubeでもTumblrでも投稿できませんでした... (╥ω╥`)

Lately, I've been really busy and due to various circumstances I haven't been able to post to YouTube or Tumblr... So I'm posting for the first time in a while. (╥ω╥`)

この間暴風と豪雪があって、近所の光景がとても綺麗になりました！

The other day we had strong gales and heavy snowfall,  so the view of my neighbourhood became very beautiful!

雪がしばらく降って、止みましたが、雪はメルボルンにはなかなか見られないものだから、やっぱり雪を見て喜びました。友達と雪合繊をしたりして、雪で沢山遊びました。

Snow only fell for a short while and then stopped, but you can't really ever see in Melbourne so I was delighted when I saw it was snowing!

札幌はこれから寒くなるので、雪が毎日見られるのが凄く楽しみにしています！

チョコ♡

From now on Sapporo will be getting colder, so I'm really looking forward to seeing snow everyday!!

_Choko♡

6 Months After Moving to Sapporo ♥ 札幌に引っ越してから6ヶ月後

こんにちは、みんな！チョコでーす！♥

Hello, everyone! Choko here~! ♥

最近自分のビデオの広告しか投稿していないので、やはり日本での生活にとって投稿するべきだろうと思って普通に投稿したいと思います。

Considering I only ever post advertisements for my videos here, I figured I should actually start blogging properly about life in Japan.

もう6ヶ月経ったなんてありえないのよ。

To think that six months has already passed is almost unbelievable.

もう3月7日から今まで日本に居たのだが、札幌にあるちっちゃいアパートに引っ越したのは3月28日だ。

Although I've been in Japan for nearly 7 months, I didn't move into my little apartment near Sapporo until the 28th of March.

ところで、引っ越すのが、結構大変だったのよ。もし私のYouTubeチャネルを知っているなら、3月に東京・京都・大阪を旅行したということも知っているでしょう。
北海道に戻ってきたら、札幌に引っ越す前、2週間ぐらい向基の家に泊まった。

And mind you, the moving day was hectic. If you watch my YouTube channel, you'll know that during March I went on a holiday. After we came back to Hokkaido, I stayed at his place for around two weeks before I had to move to Sapporo.

札幌に引っ越す話はまた後で投稿します。

But that story is for another time.

札幌国際日本語学院でもう6ヶ月勉強していて、明日からクラスがもう半分卒業した予定だ。月曜日から5人しかいない。卒業した学生はほとんど帰国するのだが、他の学生は日本の大学院に行ったり、日本で就職したりするかねない。

I've been studying at JLI for 6 months now and as of tomorrow, half my class will have graduated. Some are going to graduate school, some will return to their country and some might even look for work.

短い間でも別れるのが辛いが、学校は夢を叶える為の一歩だと覚えなきゃいけない。学生はみんな夢を持ち、学校に通う。その夢はただ日本語が上手になりたくて、それで国に帰って仕事に日本語を使いたいということでもいいし、日本に住むことでも、日本で働く

It's sad to part after such a short amount of time, but I have to keep reminding myself that school is the stepping stone to each student's dream. Whether that dream is just to get better at Japanese and go back home, to live in Japan, to work for a Japanese company, work at a travel company in their own country or whatever it may be... Everyone has their purpose for coming here and I'm here to chase my dream too.

自信を失ってしまうと、去年頑張ったところも、出来ないと思ったことが出来た時も思い出してみる。

Every time I start to lose hope, I try to remind myself of how hard I worked last year and all the things I was able to accomplish that I never thought I could.

新しい道が見えてきたので、「これからもっと頑張らないと」と思った。YouTubeでも勉強でも頑張りたい！頑張ることが出来るようにバランスが大切だと思う。

Now that I can see new paths again, I'm reminded of how hard I need to start working again. I want to do my best, both with YouTube and my studies. I think that to pull it off, balance is important.

来週から上級のクラスに入ることになった。もう12月に日本語能力試験の1級を目指しているので、試験の為に頑張っているが、不安だ。日本人が言っていることがほとんど分かるけど、何かが足りない気がする。

And as of next week, I'll be entering the advanced class. I'm already aiming for the JLPT N1 in December, so I'm going to be working hard on that, and though I understand a lot, I always feel like something in me is lacking.

単語も漢字も足りないので、それを一生懸命勉強したいと思う。言語を習うのが長い長い道だと分かっているのに、自分に厳しくないなら、怠け者になっちゃう。でも、逆にそれは非生産的で、自信が全部無くなっちゃう。

My vocabulary, my kanji, I really need to work on these. Learning a language is a long road, and I know this. Maybe I'm too hard on myself, but if I'm not, I'll get slack, but sometimes it's actually counterproductive and cripples me.

やる気が無くなってしまって、「頑張れ！出来るよ！」という考えがあっても、その考えもプレッシャーのせいで無くなってしまう。この状態から元気を出すのがかなり難しい。「よく日本まで来られたよ」と自分を褒めてみても、気持ちがもっと悪くなってしまう。

I lose motivation and any thought that ever said 'You can do it!', when I felt down suddenly runs into the furthest corner of my brain and cowers under the pressure. It's really hard to bring myself back from this point once I hit it, even trying to give myself some credit for how far I've come only makes it worse.

その時ストレスやほかの悩みも溜まっていたので、元気出したいと思っても、無理だった。

So much stress was building up at the time and I had many other issues I was worrying about, so that didn't help my condition either.

テスのお陰で元気出せた。私の精神の状態がめちゃくちゃになるとテスはいつも支えてくれているので、テスにも今までの支えてくれた時もこれからのも感謝している。

It was all thanks to Tess who pulled me back out of it. Tess is always giving me a push in the back when my brain starts to go haywire and I'm forever grateful for those times past, and will be grateful for those to come.

最近、「6ヶ月後オーストラリアに戻らなきゃいけないよ。日本に戻れない可能性があるよ」という悩みが出てきているが、積極的に考えようとしている。「日本に戻れるように、今何が出来るか」とか「どの学校がいいか」とか「奨学金もらえるかな？」とかについてよく考えている。今それしか出来ないので、その質問を全部答える為に頑張る。

Although lately I've been struggling with the idea of 'In six months time you have to go back to Australia and maybe you can't come back to Japan', I'm trying to think positively. 'What can I do now to start working towards being able to come back?', 'Which school is best for me?', 'Can I get a scholarship?' are things I've been asking myself to try and work out what I can do here and now. That's the only thing I can do, so I'll work my hardest to answer all of these.

学校やほかのことについて書きたかったので、また近いうちに投稿しますよ！

I wanted to talk more about school and many other things, so I'll blog again soon!

終わりまで読んで頂いてありがとうございます！

Thanks for reading my essay, haha!

チョコ♥

_Choko♥

秘密のビーチ A secret beach

秘密のビーチ
A secret beach

オーストラリアの夏は大変暑いので、子供の頃に海によく行きましたが、高校を卒業してから行かなくなったのです。私の体は暑い天気に弱くなりましたので、夏に海に行ったら、凄く大変でした。日焼け止めを使っても、何をしてもいつも日焼けをしましたので、海に行くのは嫌になりました。オーストラリアでは太陽の暑さが凄く強く感じます。私の体はそんな天気に弱いので、ビーチだけではなく、夏に出かけることも少し嫌になりました。他のメルボルンの人も暑い天気の国の人もよくそんな暑さに慣れますが、私はいつも体の調子が悪くなったのです。

I used to go to the beach frequently when I was a child, but because Australia's Summer is extremely hot, once I graduated from high school, I stopped going to the beach. My body became pretty weak to hot weather so if I went to the beach during Summer, it was really difficult for me. Even if I used sunscreen, no matter what I did, I would get burnt, so going to the beach became unpleasant. In Australia, the Sun's heat feels really strong. Since my body is weak to that sort of heat, not only going to the beach but just going out during the Summer was a little unpleasant. Other people in Melbourne and especially people from countries with hotter climates would usually become used to it, but I would usually become unwell during the Summer.

札幌の夏の天気を凄く楽しみにしていたので、夏が始まったから、ずっとずっとテスに「海に行きたい！」とか「海に泳ぎたい！」とかを言っていました。

In Sapporo, I was seriously looking forward to the Summer weather, so when Summer began, to Tess I would always say things like, "I want to go to the beach!" or "I want to swim in the ocean!" and such.

天気はとても良かった日にテスと日本人の友達の大地が「海に行こう」と誘われました。海に行ってピクニックをすることにした。JR線の電車で小樽まで行きました。時間はあまり掛からなかったが、もし乗り遅れたら次の電車が来るのは30分後でした。私たちはラッキーだったので、ぎりぎり間に合いました。電車で行くと景色はどんどん田舎っぽくなりました。自然が大好きな私たちは凄く喜んでいました。楽しそうでにぎやかな街だったが、自然も見えたし、とても素敵でした。

On a day with really lovely weather, Tess and our Japanese friend Daichi invited me to go to the beach with them! We decided to go to the beach and have a picnic. We went by the JR train line to Otaru. It didn't take too much time but if we missed the train, the next train would be in 30 minutes. We were lucky, so we made it just in time. When you go by train, the scenery slowly becomes more and more like the countryside. The three of us who love nature were really pleased. Of course, in Otaru, you still have a fun looking, bustling town, but you can still see nature, so it was really lovely.

海に行く前にコンビニに行ってアイスやピクニックの食べ物を買っていい所を探し始めました。

Before we went to the beach, we stopped by a convenience store, where we bought ice-cream or icy poles and food and drink for the picnic. Then we headed to the beach to look for a good spot.



上の写真に映っている所まで行って、誰も居なかったんです。凄く静かな場所でした。そこで止まって三人で一緒に食べました。楽しく話が出来てとても楽しかったです。食べ終わってからみんなでのんびりしていて、ゆっくり話したり景色を見たりしました。静かだったので、みんなが冷静に考えられました。景色は綺麗だったし、波の音に癒されていたし、ストレスをほとんど解消することができました。

We went to a place on the beach shown in the picture above, and there was no one there. It was an extremely quiet place. We stopped there and all ate together. We were able to enjoy talking together, so it was a lot of fun. When we finished eating, we all sat around doing things like having relaxed conversations and enjoying the view. It was so quiet so we all had a chance to think calmly about various things. The scenery was beautiful and the sound of the waves was so healing that we were able to release most of our stress.

やっぱり自然が素敵な場所に行くとホッとします。

As expected, whenever we go to a place with nature, it's so relaxing.



オーストラリアと比べると日本に居たら、太陽の暑さはあまり強くないと思いますが、ずっと日に浴びていたので、時間が経つとどんどん暑くなりました。水着を着ていなかったので、泳げませんでしたが、足を海に入れました。海は思ったより暖かかったので、気持ちが良くて、凄く喜んでいました。今度海に行ったら水着を着ておいて泳ぎたいです！

When I compare it to Australia, being in Japan, the heat of the sun isn't that strong, but as I was bathing in the sun the whole time, as time passed I started to get pretty hot. I wasn't wearing a swimsuit, so I couldn't swim to cool off, but I could dip my feet in the ocean. The ocean was warmer than I expected so it felt really nice and I was really pleased. Next time I go to the beach, I want to wear a swimsuit so that I can go for a swim!

石のビーチも初めてだったが、期待したよりとても楽しかったです！ピクニックは楽しかったし、ピクニックも美味しかったので、砂がなくてもこんなビーチも楽しいと思います。

It was my first time being to a stone beach, but it exceeded my expectations and was really fun! The picnic we had was yum and it was really fun to explore the rocks, so I think that even without sand, a beach like this is really fun.

けっきょく自然が好きな私たちは夕日までそのビーチにいて太陽が見えないときまで景色を見てゆっくり話していました。素晴らしい一日でした。

In the end, because we like nature we ended up staying to watch the sunset, and we stayed watching the scenery and talking until we couldn't see the sun anymore. It was a really wonderful day.

太陽が見えなくなった時に、みんなで帰ろうとしましたが、みんなのお腹が空いてきて海鮮料理か寿司を食べたかったんです。せっかく小樽まで来たので、一緒に寿司を食べました。和楽というレストランは安くてとても美味しかったです！特に少し焼いたサバの寿司は一番美味しかったです！食べてからみんなが疲れていたのでゆっくり帰りました。

When we couldn't see the sun anymore, we all went to go home, but, we had gotten hungry and wanted to eat seafood cuisine or sushi. Because we'd come all the way to Otaru, it was a good opportunity to eat sushi. We found a restaurant called "Waraku" which was cheap and really yum! Particularly the sushi with slightly grilled 'Saba' (mackerel) on top was the tastiest!! After we finished eating, we'd all gotten fairly tired, so we slowly headed home.



皆さん、夏休みは後もう少しで始まるので、勉強も必要ですが、たまにこんな旅はとてもいい経験になります。ぜひ小樽に行って見てください！和楽もポセイ丼というレストランはどちらも安くて美味しいし、海も素晴らしいので、お勧めします！

Everyone, after just a little longer the summer holidays will begin, so studying is important, but remember occasionally trips like this are a really good experience. Definitely try going to Otaru! Restaurants called "Poseidon" (making a joke with the name of the boat 'Poseidon', '丼' means rice and their specialty is sashimi on a bowl of rice!), and "Waraku" are both cheap and delicious and the ocean is wonderful so, I suggest this place!!

学校は近くて好きな散歩する場所 Close to the school, a place I like to go for a walk

学校は近くて好きな散歩する場所
Close to the school, a place I like to go for a walk

先月、テスという私のオーストラリア人の友達と一緒に天気がとても良かった日に散歩しに行こうと決めました。その時、そんなに天気がいい日は久々だったので、せっかく出かけるべきだと思いました。学校が近くにある円山公園まで歩いていって、桜はあまり咲いていなかったのが残念でした。その上円山公園は非常に込んでいたので、昼食を食べられるところを見つける可能性がなかったようでした。お花見をする代わりに、自然歩道は円山公園の近くにあると友達から聞いたので、行ってみることにしました。

Last month, on a day when the weather was lovely, my Australian friend Tess and I decided we'd go for a walk. At that time, it had been a while since the weather was that good, so we decided we should go out. We walked to Maruyama Park which is close to school, cherry blossoms weren't really blooming yet which was a shame. On top of that Maruyama Park was so crowded, so the chance of us finding a spot to eat lunch seemed unlikely. Instead of doing 'ohanami' (watching cherry blossoms when they're blooming), we heard that there was a nature trail nearby from a friend and decided to go and take a look.



散歩の長さは思ったより長くなりましたが、少し暖かすぎたのにとても良かったです。山を登りながら下りている人はたまに「こんにちは！」と挨拶に優しく言いました。オーストラリアでは田舎に住んでいる以外の人はそうしないだろうと思いました。知らない人に挨拶するのはオーストラリアだったらとても珍しいと思います。植物や木の色は凄く綺麗で、素敵な散歩でした。山の一番高い所まで歩いて少し休みました。回りを見ると私たちのアパートビルが見えると気付きました！景色はとても綺麗でした。

Ｔhe walk was a little bit longer than we expected, but it was a really good day despite being a little too warm. While walking up the mountain, other people who were coming down the mountain would greet us sometimes with a friendly, "hello!". In Australia, I feel that especially in the city, greeting strangers is very rare! The trees and plants looked really beautiful, everything was so green and lively. It was a really lovely walk. We reached the highest point and decided to take a rest. We looked around and noticed that we could see our apartment building from the top! The view was really nice and the sky was so clear and blue.



山のふもとに戻ってから、開拓神社が近くにある屋台を見に行きました。道は凄く込んでいて、子供や恋人や家族や友達はみんな色々な食べ物やものを買っていました。テスと私はチョコバナナやトッフィーを食べました！
昼食を食べるように公園で場所を見つけて、「Lil' Brats Brass Band」というバンドのライブを道の右側に行われていたので、食べながらバンド曲を聞きました。公園の雰囲気がもっとにぎやかになりました。バンドの回りに居る人は楽しそうに踊ったり話したりしました。バンドのメンバーを一人と話して、札幌に来るのは2年ぶりだと言っていました。

Once we came back to the road, we took a look at the stalls near Kaitaku Shrine. The path was crowded with children, couples, families and friends all buying various food and items. Tess and I ate a chocolate coated banana, it was so good! We also ate various toffee fruit!
We found a place to sit and eat our lunch after that. We ate while listening to a band called the "Lil' Brats Brass Band" across the street playing music! The atmosphere in the park became much more lively! Everyone was dancing and having fun! I spoke to one of the band members who said it had been 2 years since they had come to Sapporo.



学校が終わった後や週末に散歩したいなら円山公園の自然歩道はとても素敵なところです！

So if you ever feel up to going for a walk after school or on the weekend, Maruyama Parks' nature trail is a really lovely place to go!

100 SUBS ♥♥

I reached 100 subscribers on YouTube today!! ; 3 ;

I haven't been able to upload recently, but I've got a whole lot of videos ready and lined up, so you'll be seeing them soon!! Asldfhsdj I'm really happy!

Thank you to everyone who subscribed, if you're reading this!! ♥♥ Please look forward to more videos! ^^

屋上にある素晴らしいビアガーデン A wonderful rooftop beer garden

この間札幌を通して室蘭に帰っている友達に会えました。三、四ヶ月ぶりだったので、また会えて良かったです。テスと他の札幌に住んでいる日本人の友達も居たので、四人で長く話せました。少し暑かったので、昼食にソフトクリームを沢山食べました。コールド・ストーン・クリーマリーで買いました。他のソフトクリームのお店でソフトクリームを買いましたが、また甘くて冷たいものを食べたかったので、コールドストーンにも行きました。それは札幌駅のパセオセンターにありました。とても人気があり、美味しいお店です！スタッフはよくオーダーを作っている間に他のスタッフと一緒に歌います。歌を聞くといつも大きい笑顔をします。とても楽しくていいアルバイトの環境みたいです。

The other day I was able to meet up with a friend who was passing through Sapporo on his way home to Muroran. We hadn't met in a few months so it was really great to see him again. We were able to talk for a long time with some other friends of ours. It was a hot day so we all ate lots of ice cream for lunch. We bought ice cream at Cold Stone, which was really delicious! The cold stone was in Sapporo station's Paseo centre. It's very popular and delicious! The staff like to sing songs while they're making your ice cream. It always puts a smile on my face when I go there. It seems like such a nice work environment.

札幌駅のバスターミナルで友達を見送ってから、残っている三人で他の所に行くことにしました。札幌駅を出て、札幌ビアガーデンを見かけました。私たちはそんなところは楽しそうと思ったが、けっきょく人は多すぎて、空いている席は無かったのです。日本人の友達は「他のビアガーデンは空いているかどうか確認しよう」と言っていました。みんなはノルベサというビルまで歩いて行って、ビアガーデンに着くと沢山の席は空いていると気付きました。音楽も雰囲気もとても楽しくて生き生きとしていました。あまり込んでいなくて良かったです。

We saw him off at Sapporo Station's bus terminal, but decided we wanted to go out somewhere. As we left Sapporo station, we saw the Sapporo Beer Garden outside of the station. We thought it looked like fun, but it was so busy, we couldn't get a seat. My friend suggested we check to see if one of the other beer gardens had space. So we walked over to the Norbesa building rooftop which had lots of space. The music and atmosphere was really fun and lively, we were lucky it wasn't too busy at all.


↑テスはとてもカッコいい  ↑Tess is really cool!

最近天気は凄くいいので、屋上のビアガーデンでのんびりして太陽の優しい暖かさと涼しい風を楽しみました。景色を見られ、ゆっくり話すことが出来ました。二時間くらい笑ったり楽しんだりしました。

The weather has been really lovely of late, so we sat on the rooftop for a little while soaking up the gentle warmth of the Sun and enjoyed the cool breeze. We could look at the cityscape and have a relaxed conversation. We spent a few hours there laughing and having fun.


ビールはあまり高くないし、雰囲気はとてもいいし、お勧めします！とてもいい所です！

The beers aren't too expensive and the atmosphere is really nice, so I suggest you give it a try, it's a really nice place!! 


このところの情報を詳しく知りたい人はこちらのリンクをクリックしてください！ http://beer.30min.jp/place/2402649
この屋上にあるビアガーデンは八月の終わりころまで開いています！

Check out this website for more details; http://beer.30min.jp/place/2402649
The rooftop beer garden will be open until the end of August!!

支えてくれた大切な友達 A precious friend that supported me

海外に引っ越すのは初めてです。日本以外海外行ったことがありませんでした。タスマニアに行ったことがありますが、それは海外だと言えません。最初は少し緊張しましたが、日本の生活にどんどん慣れました。海外に引っ越すのは大変だったのに、価値が沢山あります。例えば、オーストラリアに住んだ時には母と弟と暮らして家事はあまりしませんでしたが、一人暮らしをしたら掃除も洗濯をしなきゃいけないから、家事は楽しくなりまし！料理は時々しましたが、もししたら母を手伝いましたので、自分で料理をするのはあまりしたことがありませんでした。

It's the first time I've ever moved overseas and apart from going to Japan, I've never been anywhere else overseas. I've been to Tasmania, technically over water, but you can't call it overseas. I was a little nervous at first, but I gradually got used to living in Japan. But as expected, even though moving overseas was difficult, it's really worth it. For example, when I lived in Australia, I lived with my mother and younger brother and I didn't really do housework (other than cleaning my room and helping occasionally), but when you're living alone cleaning and laundry are things you have to do so, housework became fun for me! I cooked occasionally, but when I did, I was usually just helping Mum out. I had never really had much chance to cook by myself. Now I'm really interested in cooking too!

画像：(左から右） １．札幌に引っ越した日。 ２．私は肉じゃがを作ってみた。３．円山公園を散歩した日。
Pictures: (From left to right) 1. The day I moved to Sapporo. 2. "Nikujyaga" was one of the dishes I tried to make. 3. Taking a walk in Maruyama Park.

札幌はとても住みやすくて、買い物や地下鉄の乗り方に慣れるのは全然難しくなかったです。今住んでいるところは本当に好きなんですが、とても大事な友達が一匹居ないのです。オーストラリアに置いて来なければいけなかった「ザック」という可愛がっている子猫に本当に会いたいんです。アルバイトが本当に大変だった日にも、何かあった日にも、私が帰った時にすぐ私の側に居て会うだけで喜んでいたように見えました。

Sapporo's a really easy place to live in, so getting used to shopping, how to travel via the subway was not difficult at all. I really like the place where I'm living now, but one little friend of mine isn't here with me... I had to leave him in Australia when I came to Japan, I really want to meet him, "Zach" the kitten I love so much! On days when my part time job was really difficult, and even on days when something was up, whenever I came home he was always by my side right away, and was pleased just by meeting me.

海外に引っ越すと寂しい時はもちろんあるともう分かっていましたが、弟はよくザックの写真を送ってくれますので、貰ったら私いつも嬉しくて寂しさが無くなります。札幌が本当に大好きで、夢を追いかけに来たので、一緒に居られなくても私の大事な友達を愛しく考えて安心します。

I already understood that moving overseas I'd definitely have times where I'm lonely, but my brother often sends pictures for me, so I always feel happy and less lonely when I receive them. I really love Sapporo and I came here to chase my dreams, so even if we're not together, I'll always think of my important friend fondly and feel at ease.

また会える日を待っています♥
I am waiting for the day we can meet again. ♥

こんな風に他の人生の壁を乗り越えたいと思います。これからも自分をもっとチャレンジしたいです。
日本語の勉強も日常のことを全部頑張ります！

In this way, I want to overcome other obstacles in life too.From now on, I want to challenge myself much more. I'm going to do my best in learning Japanese, and everything else too!

♥学校♥ - Part 1 (School and class life)

I decided I'd divide these blogs up so that it is easier to read!! The video to this blog can be viewed here!!

~School and Class Life~

Before classes began, there were interviews held with many students being screened for the class. They were screened to allow the teachers to assess by their personalities whether they would be able to commit to an intensive class.

I was working a lot at the time and forgot that I was working on the day of my interview, as I remembered, I was rushing over to the university, but I realised it was too late and my interview had already passed. I was so upset, I thought I'd lost my chance. But I pulled myself together, called up the teacher and explained what happened, she said she was happy to reschedule the interview.
        I was so nervous in my interview, I wanted to speak Japanese to them, but then I didn't know how they'd take it or whether they would accept me into the course or not. So I stuck to English and tried my best to answer questions quickly. I still don't know why they picked me.

Class began in March 2013, and I met the students I'd be doing class with. At first there was around 18 of us. We all got along alright, there was quite a mixed group of people, some a little older, some fresh out of high school, some with jobs, some without, some studying for work and others who seemed confused as to why they were there.
        Due to the intensive nature of the class, it felt like being back in high school again, and though I didn't mind, it clearly showed it was taking its' toll on some other students who struggled to get out of bed in the morning, or weren't used to having to study outside of class too. I'd never really studied outside of class either, but in 2013 I changed so much. I was studying everyday after class and on weekends whenever I could. I'd do revision as well as pre-study the week before we'd start a new chapter, I'd already be studying the next chapter. That was the only way I could keep up.

The class was really unique, we'd practice pronunciation and speaking so much in class. It really felt like what a language course should be. We had the opportunity to practice conversing and even in during class, if we had a question, asking in Japanese was encouraged too! Though, sometimes I felt like the only one who'd try...
       We also had frequent visitors sessions with Japanese students from English language schools in Melbourne, our very first visitors session was with students from a high school in Japan who had come to Melbourne for a short time. We would play language games and chat and try to practice English and Japanese with each other. It was a really great experience and I met some really lovely people through the visitors sessions!

I have no idea how this pose started!! I'm the one in the Rilakkuma jumper~

I did unexpectedly well throughout the year, I only did Certificates I, II and IV due to money problems I had to skip Certificate III, but for Certificate I, I scored 99/100, Certificate II 96/100 and for Certificate IV 94/100!! These sort of scores I had never achieved in my life!! I was never really good at much in high school, and I only did well in the two subjects I cared about which were media studies and theatre studies. But never would I get near perfect scores for the whole term! I was delightfully surprised at how well I did and it pushed me to study more and more outside of my Japanese classes.

I'm the one with the short brown hair, black shirt to the left of the girl with the white dress!!

I looked forward to class everyday. It was what was keeping me going last year, the teachers were great, my friends were so lovely and I was enjoying learning what I had dreamed of learning since primary school! My high school and primary school only taught Italian and after discovering anime in primary school, then starting to watch it in Japanese in high school, I thought it sounded beautiful and wanted to learn it myself. But I couldn't do that at my schools, I got a taste of what it was like when I moved schools for a month in my final year of primary school. But I couldn't settle into that school so I had to move back and endure learning Italian. As lovely a language as Italian is, what I really wanted to learn was Japanese. So I was really sad that I couldn't learn it in high school. In its stead, I did home study and learned via the internet and watched lots of anime, movies, dramas and listened to lots of music, I also watched a lot of videos on YouTube that taught rules and such about Japanese.
          I looked forward to class every day because it was what I had been dreaming of for years, and was so glad that I finally got to learn properly.

All of us being crazy after a visitors session. I'll never forget how much fun I had last year.

_チョコ♥

Stories from 2013 ♥Cosplay♥

こんにちは、みんなー！

チョコですー！！

Hey guys!

So I've started my short segment on Youtube that will run up until I find out whether or not I'll be able to get a student visa to study at a Japanese language school in Sapporo!!

The first video will be about cosplay, so in this post, I'll write a little bit more about it and post photos!
You can watch the video about it here!!

So onto the blog side of this...

Cosplay for me in 2013 was really put on the backburner due to school. I bought a lot of wigs and planned so much, but I didn't have the time to do any of them.

The two costumes I managed to complete in 2013 was my Ulquiorra (Final form version) cosplay...

Photo thanks to Terry Ng

Photo thanks to Neil Creek Photography

And my Karakuri Burst - Kagamine Rin Cosplay.

Photo thanks to Trung Do Photography

Photo thanks to Neil Creek Photography

Each were difficult in different ways.

First let's start with the Kagamine Rin cosplay, since I didn't talk about it in the video.

I won't call it a furisode, but that was what it was intended to be, but the robe I'm wearing was especially difficult. I'd never tried to make a yukata or anything before so trying to make a furisode was really hard, the sleeves are much longer than a yukata! They still weren't as long as I wanted them to be!

It was also the first body hugging, wrap dress that I'd ever tried to make, and although making the dress was easy enough, making a figure-hugging dress with fabric that does not stretch to fit my body was the real challenge. It only JUST fit. Walking was difficult to say the least. Other than that it was really fun to wear! I had such a great day when I debuted this with my best friend. It was the first time we used liquid colodion to make the scars on our faces!

Photo thanks to Regan Lau

Now onto Ulquiorra.

There were so many frustrating and difficult moments, but it all came together in the end and I felt really pleased with what I achieved in a month!! Especially when I had school 4 days a week 9am-3pm and then worked on weekends and then for two weeks I did around 30 hours each week before the convention and still got it done!

Working with expanding foam was interesting, but very tough! I looked at tutorials from Kamui Cosplay, who I think is amazing! Check out her site here, and her exapanding foam tutorial here!!
As you can see in my first picture, the horns were massive, probably about 60-70cm tall, yet they were so light!

Photo thanks to Neil Creek Photography!

Trying not to smile was so hard for me! I wanted to stay in character!!
Anyway, that cosplay was particularly stressful for me and I worked with a lot of materials I was unfamiliar with and only had a month to work out how to use them effectively!
But I think cosplay also became more and more stressful for me because I'd only ever cosplay to conventions so I always wanted to do something big for it. And because I had done a really popular cosplay from the year before, I wanted to jump out of my comfort zone more.

I kept trying to push myself to go one better and better each year.

I went from doing Kagamine Rin (Synchronicity) to doing something as big as Saber from Fate/Stay Night and then Ulquiorra in his final form (Bleach). 

Photo thanks to RXL Photographics

I felt a bit pressured, but I felt like I wasn't good enough, or maybe people wouldn't like me.

But my main reason for stopping cosplay and simply admiring it was because my focus was shifting more to learning Japanese. I felt like I was growing up too, and although that doesn't necessarily mean that when you get old you shouldn't cosplay. I felt that personally, because I was growing up I didn't feel like it was such a big priority anymore.

Last year was also the year I bought my first cosplay, here are a couple of pictures for you!

Me (Left) with the lovely Reni Leow (Right)

Photo thanks to Michael L Nguyen

Photo thanks to Trung Do Photography

 I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit more about my experiences last year and learning a little bit more about me!

_チョコ♥

♥コスプレー♥

こんにちはー！

チョコですー！！

Hey guys, so I recorded a new video today which I will most likely be uploading over the weekend! It's the first of four videos that will entail what I have been upto the past year, each will have a theme based on an aspect of my life that changed me drastically, but for the better!

I wonder if you can guess what the first theme will be...?

_チョコ♥

End to a crazy year

こんにちは～

久々にブログを書きたくなりました！

Every year comes and goes full of excitement, memories (the good and bad), new experiences and many challenges. But I don't think any year challenged me as much at 2013 so far.

I had wanted to post so much more, but maybe I will have more chance to this year!

I heard a fair few people say, "Oh 2013 isn't that memorable!" But, particularly for me, 2013 marks a massive turning point in my life.

I'd fallen into a fairly dark place, during my first year of university in 2012 and decided I'd had enough of sleeping through lectures and bludging my way through tutorials. It wasn't that I didn't try, of course, I did. But when a lecturer tells you in your film class―that should be open to interpretation―that your essay is wrong, despite providing reasons for why you have interpreted it in such a way... Well, hit me really hard. Everything became a chore except for the class I took out of rebellion, the story book making and comic making class. That really kept me going throughout the year and it was the only thing I actually tried in after my lecturer's comments gradually chewed away at my self esteem.

So I'd had enough, and I deferred my course for a year pursuing a dream I'd held since I the end of primary school―to study Japanese. Both my primary school and high school were in a region where only Italian was offered as a second language subject. And since going overseas was also a big dream of mine, I did the extra year of Italian just to go on the school trip. But we didn't have enough numbers, and to my dismay it was cancelled. I would have preferred to learn Japanese over Italian, but I always tried my best.

In March, 2013, my course began. I missed orientation due to work and so the first lesson was like a second orientation day so everyone could get to know each other. Maybe some people already knew each other, but after a whole year of clinging to a high school friend at my previous uni and not making any friends; I was more than just nervous. My class had its oddballs (including myself), but I got to know so many wonderful people. The hours made it feel like high school again, Monday-Thursday usually around 9am-3pm.
We had a different teacher every day, which was amazing, three Japanese native teachers and one Australian teacher who may as well have been a native speaker.

To be completely honest, I was never much of a diligent student in high school, especially my last few years. I dropped everything to do with maths and science, because I was confident that "I didn't need it". But when it came to Japanese I would study at home after school, I studied very slowly at my own pace only using the internet as my textbook. I learnt to write hiragana and katakana (not correctly, mind you. So many sites on the internet try to teach you the computer font rather than written script!). I also learnt very basic grammar and slowly started to build a vocabulary. So I went into my first class in 2013 with some knowledge under my belt.
Even though I knew a lot of the content we were studying, I studied every day. I even studied at work during the quiet periods. I got better marks that I ever had in my life and finished my first semester with a score of 99 for term one and 96 for term two, my exam marks included in this. I almost couldn't believe it.

It was around the middle of the first semester that I started to change as a person before I even knew what was going on. Cosplay, my long time hobby since 2009 had become so hard to fit in to my schedule, became majorly stressful as the much awaited (and ironically became the final Manifest convention ever) Manifest 2013 was soon approaching. Not only was I working a ridiculous amount of hours, I was rehearsing my speech for the Japanese Speech Contest in Melbourne (which I'll talk about next) every day, and I was attempting the most difficult cosplay I had ever tried to make in my life―little did I know, it would be my last. (At least for now!)
Ulquiorra Schiffer in his final form. I'm a woman and I laughed at the pure insanity of this idea. But I managed to pull it off and I was really proud of what I managed to pull off in a ridiculously short amount of time. Considering how little sewing there was to be done, I thought it would fail, sewing is usually my field. But I made most of my pieces with little to no sewing. I even attached my ridiculously large horns on the day of the convention―and they were surprisingly comfortable!

Photos thanks to Neil Creek Photography

This was around the time I had fallen into a massive slump since I was denied concession fees for my Japanese course, so I wasn't able to afford some of my course. My teacher was kind enough to allow me to home study and work to pay for the just the final term. But being away from class had really degraded me in so many ways. I worked really hard and only just managed to scrape by and attend Certificate IV, the final term of my course. But I don't regret it. I came back and straight away we were preparing for camp, where we met a group of students who came from Hokkaido on a study tour to my university. Everyone was so lovely!

I was once again able to concentrate on study and I passed Certificate IV with 94% overall! I expected to do much worse! Less than a week later, we departed for our Japan Study Tour.

As the beginning of 2014 was drawing near, I began to plan my study and move to Japan. It was tough, and there were a lot of times I thought I wouldn't be able to afford it or that my application wouldn't make it on time. But in the end, a school in Sapporo is likely to accept me and I'm looking forward to starting a new life there!! \(^^)/

I know that this year was tough in many ways, and I will face many challenges in 2014, but I believe that this massive step for me is a leap towards achieving my dream. I will work harder than ever and strive no matter what obstacles I've faced with. I've found happiness, now I want to reach my dream.
I'm not giving up ever.

If you read this, thank you. If you didn't bother, I don't blame you! Hahaa!

I want to start blogging more this year on my life and experiences in Japan, so please look forward to it!! ^^

_チョコ

More reviews coming!

Hello~

So as it happens, I've gone on another unannounced hiatus! ^^; For that, I'm sorry.

But on another note, I'm on holidays! Therefore, I'll be doing a few more contact lens reviews as I have a fair few that haven't been reviewed and really need one!

My hiatus is largely due to the intensive Japanese course I am taking, I've been studying more than ever in my life, and I'm doing alright in something for once! I'm really loving it, and I'll be studying lots on the holidays, but I'm also preparing for Manifest in August. Yes, I really need to get my butt moving. I'll be cosplaying Ulquiorra in his final form, so hopefully, it will look alright!! > <; which I will be entering into the cosplay competition with Justin as Ichigo in his final hollow form. I think my best friend may enter as Ishida, but I'm not yet sure.

As for Sunday, I'll be Fate/Zero Saber in the suit! Which my costume just needs a few alterations. And with Justin as Kiritsugu... his costume needs some slightly more serious alterations -___-; never getting anything commissioned again. But we definitely won't be entering these, we decided to use it as a relaxing costume for the second day.

Anyway, look forward, over the next few weeks, to some geo, i.fairy anddddd some other reviews, whatever else I've got in my bathroom drawer! Haha!

With that, thanks for reading and I'll be writing some more soon!

＿チョコ♥

i.Fairy Ruby Red circle lens review~ ♥

Hello~!!

Not that many people read my blog, but I'm sorry for not posting for so long!!! ; A ;

The tasks I had to do at university made me quite busy > <; I still haven't even done all my homework~~

Anyway, onto the review!!! >:3

i.Fairy Ruby Red circle lens information:
Series: Ruby
Colour: Red
Diameter: 16.2mm
Base Curve: 8.6mm
Center Thickness: 0.04mm
Water Content: 55%
Lens' Lifetime: 1 Year Disposable (recommended 6 months).
Power Range: Plano. (But you can get from 0~850 Degree)

My friend bought these lenses for me from Geo-lens house on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Geo-Lens-House/111387182218902?fref=ts

Item: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=123077091049911&set=a.123065904384363.15093.111387182218902&type=3&theater

They were pretty affordable and the shipping wasn't too expensive!

Photo thanks to Trung Do :)

 This was my most recent use of the contacts, for my Karakuri Burst Rin cosplay!!

I really love these contacts, despite having bright blue eyes, if it's not too bright outside, the contacts look amazing! Otherwise it's still not too bad! ^-^

In regards to comfort, the high water content makes them really comfortable! And I don't usually have to use wetting solution until after 5-6 hours, they stay comfortable for quite a long time!

Photo courtesy of Michael Nguyen :D

The colour is lovely and vivid, even in slightly darker shots! And I think that the design of the Ruby red makes it suitable for both cute and scary cosplay! Since the large black edge is good for a dolly and dark sort of look. So I would also recommend it to gothic lolitas as well as cosplayers who are going for an edgy or scary look to their eyes!

This lovely shot, taken by Neil Creek Photography!

I tend to like wearing larger contacts because I like the dolly eye effect on me! And my eyes don't seem to agree with 14mm contacts as much for some strange reason, so I love these contacts since they are massive!!

Onto the verdict!

Comfort: 10/10
Colour/Strength of colour: 9/10
Price: 9/10
Overall: 9/10!! ♥

Much love for these contacts and I will be sad when I have to throw them away, but if I ever need red contacts, I will be sure to buy them again! ^^

_Choko♥