// Mina-san, tadaima!

That would mean, "Everyone, I'm home!" :D

Japan is incredibly awesome. Indescribable beyond words. Each district in Tokyo has its own unique (and crazily out-of-this-world) sub-culture, and they're located only one station away from each other. Although living expenses are a tad too high (we had to pay at least 10 bucks for each meal, and the subway tickets are at least $1.90), I really enjoyed myself that 11 days.

Just walking along the cobbled streets (yes, and they're really clean cos there're no public dustbins so you have to carry your trash home) and breathing in the fresh air of Osaka (I'll never eat Singapore takoyaki ever again after I tasted the ones there), Kyoto, Mt Fuji (omg it freaking snowed in Spring, how bout that for a miracle), Shimbashi, Ueno, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Yokohama, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, Ebisu, Narita... Nostalgia has already settled heavily in my heart. I HAVE to go back again.

Photos will be coming soon, depending on how fast Fuiyi, Joce, Pris and Jing upload them. I gave up on my 3-year-old camera on the very first day of the trip. :D

Anyway, God has blessed me tremendously the entire trip. Listen to this:

On 4 April, we went to Motomachi Shopping Street in Yokohama. I decided to put my wallet and passport into Jing's bag cos I didn't want to lug around too much stuff while shopping. The last time I saw my wallet was around 4pm, and when I wanted to buy something at 6pm, I couldn't find my wallet anywhere. So I figured it either fell out of Jing's bag, or I forgot to take it out of dressing rooms where I tried on stuff I didn't buy. Pris helped me retrace my steps, checking all the shops we've been in while the rest looked for a police station. Along the way, we stood in the streets and prayed in the cold for God to help us find it with everything intact. But we couldn't find it in any of the shops we checked. And most of the shopkeepers couldn't speak English to save their lives.

When we arrived at the police station (it was more like a box cos it's really small), it was empty but unlocked. So we sat around on the tables and chairs and tried to call the police depot. Then the funniest thing happened - while we were so engrossed in trying to work the telephone, the policeman came back carrying his dinner.

Imagine this: You've had a quiet, uneventful day and you decide, "Oh well, since everything's a-okay in this peaceful place, I'll get myself a nice hot meal and go home early tonight." And then when you come back with your take-out, you see five frantic foreign females in your once-empty office, sitting in your chair and using your phone on your table. His expression on his face was priceless.

After many minutes of trying to understand each other, with help from Oakwood Apartments and a nice man from Yokohama Police Depot who could speak English, we finally had the report done. It was so cute when I told him my name, he was like, "Zhe-rah-ni san" under his breath as he started writing out Hiragana so he could pronounce my name properly.

Anyway the situation was quite hopeless cos I had S$1,500 cash and there was no form of identification in my wallet save for my name on my AmEx card and ATM card. So any normal geezer who picked up my wallet could've had a field day with all the moolah. Everyone seemed to think so too.

So Oakwood, our hotel, said to leave the case to them and the police and they'd notify us if anything happens. Which during the rest of our stay, nothing did. So I got by with borrowed money from Fuiyi (thank God for her generousity) and even though I love Japan, I wasn't in the best of moods. I've never lost my wallet in my entire life, and to do so for the first time in foreign soil with no parents was really traumatising.

Even though I prayed to God so many times every day for my wallet and gave thanks to Him for my wonderful friends in Japan and CG mates back home who have been keeping me in their prayers, and for the fact that it was only money I lost, and not my passport or my life... I still didn't have peace in my heart. In fact, when the time came for me to leave Japan, I questioned God, "Is it really in Your plan for me to lose my wallet for good? If so, please tell me. Only then will I try my best to come to terms with it and learn from my carelessness." Thinking back, I actually lacked faith cos I prayed with expectance that God will return my wallet back to me, and didn't want to think that He might actually want to teach me a lesson.

However, on the express train to Narita airport, I looked out of the window. It was raining quite heavily in the countryside so everything was grey, brown and green. Then suddenly, I saw a solitary Sakura tree. The sudden burst of white, pink and yellow amidst the dull and dreary hues was so refreshing and I knew God was telling me to leave everything up to Him. No matter the circumstance, He'll make it okay. And something in me just gave up on myself, so I started to trust God for real.

Eventually, I got over the entire incident. I even forgot about the huge amount of money, and got on with my life. Then yesterday at 3pm, while I was making my ATM card at the bank, Fuiyi called to tell me that Oakwood has emailed her saying that the police has found my wallet. Although details of its contents are confidential, which means I don't know if everything's intact, I still thank God so SO much for the way He has answered my prayers. He let me panic, He let me worry, He let me cry, He let me hope, He let me ache, He let me trust, He let me recover, He let me rejoice.

Isn't God great? Even though I'm far away in another country, I still look up to the same sky where He is. And He's unfailingly good to me.

If you guys are thinking of going for "An Evening Of Worship With Planetshakers & Tim Hughes" at The MAX Pavilion tonight, stop thinking and just GO. I went yesterday and it was dynamic. God's presence there was so strong, and because of the whole wallet thing, I could praise and sing to Him wholeheartedly.

In the house of God, there exists people from different walks of life. But all are here for one purpose: To worship the same God. And all believe in the same thing: With Him, you can do anything and everything. :)

// Mina-san, tadaima!

That would mean, "Everyone, I'm home!" :D

Japan is incredibly awesome. Indescribable beyond words. Each district in Tokyo has its own unique (and crazily out-of-this-world) sub-culture, and they're located only one station away from each other. Although living expenses are a tad too high (we had to pay at least 10 bucks for each meal, and the subway tickets are at least $1.90), I really enjoyed myself that 11 days.

Just walking along the cobbled streets (yes, and they're really clean cos there're no public dustbins so you have to carry your trash home) and breathing in the fresh air of Osaka (I'll never eat Singapore takoyaki ever again after I tasted the ones there), Kyoto, Mt Fuji (omg it freaking snowed in Spring, how bout that for a miracle), Shimbashi, Ueno, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Yokohama, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, Ebisu, Narita... Nostalgia has already settled heavily in my heart. I HAVE to go back again.

Photos will be coming soon, depending on how fast Fuiyi, Joce, Pris and Jing upload them. I gave up on my 3-year-old camera on the very first day of the trip. :D

Anyway, God has blessed me tremendously the entire trip. Listen to this:

On 4 April, we went to Motomachi Shopping Street in Yokohama. I decided to put my wallet and passport into Jing's bag cos I didn't want to lug around too much stuff while shopping. The last time I saw my wallet was around 4pm, and when I wanted to buy something at 6pm, I couldn't find my wallet anywhere. So I figured it either fell out of Jing's bag, or I forgot to take it out of dressing rooms where I tried on stuff I didn't buy. Pris helped me retrace my steps, checking all the shops we've been in while the rest looked for a police station. Along the way, we stood in the streets and prayed in the cold for God to help us find it with everything intact. But we couldn't find it in any of the shops we checked. And most of the shopkeepers couldn't speak English to save their lives.

When we arrived at the police station (it was more like a box cos it's really small), it was empty but unlocked. So we sat around on the tables and chairs and tried to call the police depot. Then the funniest thing happened - while we were so engrossed in trying to work the telephone, the policeman came back carrying his dinner.

Imagine this: You've had a quiet, uneventful day and you decide, "Oh well, since everything's a-okay in this peaceful place, I'll get myself a nice hot meal and go home early tonight." And then when you come back with your take-out, you see five frantic foreign females in your once-empty office, sitting in your chair and using your phone on your table. His expression on his face was priceless.

After many minutes of trying to understand each other, with help from Oakwood Apartments and a nice man from Yokohama Police Depot who could speak English, we finally had the report done. It was so cute when I told him my name, he was like, "Zhe-rah-ni san" under his breath as he started writing out Hiragana so he could pronounce my name properly.

Anyway the situation was quite hopeless cos I had S$1,500 cash and there was no form of identification in my wallet save for my name on my AmEx card and ATM card. So any normal geezer who picked up my wallet could've had a field day with all the moolah. Everyone seemed to think so too.

So Oakwood, our hotel, said to leave the case to them and the police and they'd notify us if anything happens. Which during the rest of our stay, nothing did. So I got by with borrowed money from Fuiyi (thank God for her generousity) and even though I love Japan, I wasn't in the best of moods. I've never lost my wallet in my entire life, and to do so for the first time in foreign soil with no parents was really traumatising.

Even though I prayed to God so many times every day for my wallet and gave thanks to Him for my wonderful friends in Japan and CG mates back home who have been keeping me in their prayers, and for the fact that it was only money I lost, and not my passport or my life... I still didn't have peace in my heart. In fact, when the time came for me to leave Japan, I questioned God, "Is it really in Your plan for me to lose my wallet for good? If so, please tell me. Only then will I try my best to come to terms with it and learn from my carelessness." Thinking back, I actually lacked faith cos I prayed with expectance that God will return my wallet back to me, and didn't want to think that He might actually want to teach me a lesson.

However, on the express train to Narita airport, I looked out of the window. It was raining quite heavily in the countryside so everything was grey, brown and green. Then suddenly, I saw a solitary Sakura tree. The sudden burst of white, pink and yellow amidst the dull and dreary hues was so refreshing and I knew God was telling me to leave everything up to Him. No matter the circumstance, He'll make it okay. And something in me just gave up on myself, so I started to trust God for real.

Eventually, I got over the entire incident. I even forgot about the huge amount of money, and got on with my life. Then yesterday at 3pm, while I was making my ATM card at the bank, Fuiyi called to tell me that Oakwood has emailed her saying that the police has found my wallet. Although details of its contents are confidential, which means I don't know if everything's intact, I still thank God so SO much for the way He has answered my prayers. He let me panic, He let me worry, He let me cry, He let me hope, He let me ache, He let me trust, He let me recover, He let me rejoice.

Isn't God great? Even though I'm far away in another country, I still look up to the same sky where He is. And He's unfailingly good to me.

If you guys are thinking of going for "An Evening Of Worship With Planetshakers & Tim Hughes" at The MAX Pavilion tonight, stop thinking and just GO. I went yesterday and it was dynamic. God's presence there was so strong, and because of the whole wallet thing, I could praise and sing to Him wholeheartedly.

In the house of God, there exists people from different walks of life. But all are here for one purpose: To worship the same God. And all believe in the same thing: With Him, you can do anything and everything. :)