Life, Travel, GRACE

On the second day of my trip, I decided to visit some of the public toilets under The Tokyo Toilet project. The idea was inspired by the film  Perfect Days . Since the public toilets under this project are scattered around western side of Tokyo, I visited a few in Shibuya area, which are quite close to each other. One notable location is Yoyogi Park.  One of the highlights of these designer toilets is the transparent toilet. Its transparent glass walls will turn opaque when the door is locked. This feature is based on the electrochromic effect. However, this feature is unavailable during late autumn and winter, which coincided my visit. The key takeaway from this visit: an eye opening experience about toilet culture and social inclusivity. Yoyogi Park The transparent toilet Another transparent toilet in community park The park in Yoyogi Hachimangu Shrine Another view of the park Mushroom design public toilet

Just returned from a solo trip to Japan end of last month. The trip coincided with a conference in Sendai. It was an 8-day trip, including 2 days of travel. Took a direct flight from KL to Tokyo on the afternoon of October 23rd (Wednesday), arriving that night. By the time I cleared immigration, it was almost midnight. Then took a train to downtown Shimbashi. Without detailed research on the location of my booked capsule hotel, I ended up walking in the wrong direction and almost being harassed by roadside pimps (lol). After getting free Wi-Fi at a convenience store, finally able to find the hotel. Once checked in, took a hot bath (it was an open bath). That was the end of the day.  In-flight meal of ANA airline Male-only capsule hotel with open hot spring You can browse manga for free after soaking

A visit to a few subway stations in Stockholm is a must for art lovers. Most of the stations are decorated with art, and they are close to the city center. Just get a metro map and plan a few stops—or explore every stop—to marvel at the art. There are three main lines: red, blue, and green, so it's quite easy to navigate. Here are some snapshots of a few of the stations. Elevator view of central station T-Centralen station Radhuset station Another view of the station Stadshagen station (I think :) ) Odenplan station Back to the central station T-Centralen station Mosaic art at T-Centralen station  Skârholmen Station - near to Ikea Stadion station - one of my favourite Stadion station Rainbow theme of Stadion station Another view at the Stadion station One corner at the Stadion station Tekniska högskolan station Falling apple? Tekniska högskolan station Inside the Tekniska högskolan station Universitetet station. The constrast of red wall with the stony surrounding. Knowledge and in...

 After my first entry on Stockholm last year, I guess it's time to continue sharing my experiences, albeit a year later. Let me briefly share my experience in Stockholm's old town, Gamla Stan. We signed up for a free walking tour on the day of our arrival. We reached the meeting point late but fortunately managed to join the group as we walked toward the starting location. To be honest, I don't quite remember the exact route we took, but it's easy to find one online. A better self-guided walking tour is also available  here . The old town offers many pleasant walking experiences, not to mention the narrowest alley in the country. At the end of the tour, we visited the Nobel Prize Museum.  Alley view of the town One of the famous landmarks. The stone that is dated centuries old.  One of the statues in the middle of the town. View of the German Church Facade of the building. The narrow alley. Open space at one corner of the town. Statue of  St George and the drago...

 Have been wanting to write about giving. For most Christians, one should give one-tenth of his/her income. Some ministries encourage generous and cheerful giving, i.e. without limiting the amount of giving. After many sermons and online commentaries in the past few years, I came to conclusion that there are three categories of giving, based on this old article  that is still applicable to modern life, which I have also applied in my way of giving. The first one is the main giving, or sacred tithe (Num. 18: 21,24). This is the giving we contribute to the ministry and church periodically. The second type is the tithe of the feasts (Deut. 14:22-27). Basically, you set aside a portion for recreation, with family members, if possible, specificially for a vacation with a religious purpose. I have set aside some portion for this purpose - family vacation and socializing. And lastly, there is giving for the poor (Deut. 14:28,28). Although the Scripture mentions tithing for the p...

Since I have visited Sweden and Norway last year, I thought maybe it would be better to add Finland in my bucket list. So I looked up for conferences to would be held in Finland. Well, initially Iceland was in the top list. Unfortunately, academic conference event in that country is scarce. So finally, came to Finland this week, with side trip to Estonia. Didn’t put any expectation on this visit as I’d expected the environment would be somewhat similar to Sweden / Norway. Well, turned out it’s out of my expectation. The capital city, Helsinki is quiet, i.e. less people walking in the city. Maybe most of the citizens gone out for their summer vacations? I reached Helsinki late afternoon yesterday. After an hour plus of immigration clearance and baggage claim, we (a friend of mine and myself) took the train to the city. I would say the whole journey was quite seamless, where the station is situated within the airport terminal area. A single trip would cost €4.10. After checking in the ho...