Shōgatsu (正月) with JCKL
Surprisingly here in Malaysia, there's actually quite a large number or native Japanese residing here and naturally would send their kids to local Japanese oriented schools to receive their education hence there are communities like JCKL (Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur), JFKL (Japan Foundation of Kuala Lumpur) and so forth to help them procure information needed from local resources.
Despite having a large number of Japanese in this community, that doesn't mean it's only limited to them in fact if you are a Malaysian but who wants to participate in their activities or send your kids for Japanese classes by all means you are welcome to sign up as a member!
Such cute mini Maiko (舞妓) spotted!
In fact i have a few friends who are currently taking their pre-university in Teikyo Institution in JCKL, so once they are done with this course they can proceed to further their studies in Japan as this sole institution is recognized by The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakusho) as “University preparatory course for students without 12 years of education” operating outside Japan.- Institut Bahasa Teikyo
Here in JCKL, they not only offer primary education but also have extra curricular activities which are open to the public for sign ups like Kendo, Iaido, Judo, Dance classes, cooking, etc.
If you are interested to sign up to use their facilities and join/ send your kids for classes, you can apply or inquire here.
That's all for the introduction part of JCKL *phew* sound macam i promoting their club or something, padahal just sharing pffftttt!
Just recently JCKL, had their member's only New Year celebration festival, and i have to admit it felt almost like those school Japanese festivals we usually see on anime where they have tents pitched outside with lanterns surrounding the area waiting to be lit up at night, voices of children laughing and struggling over common Japanese festival games like 金魚掬い Kingyo-sukui (scooping goldfish) and the scent of BBQ grilled foods everywhere (including your hair lol).
Kingyo-sukui but using balls instead of fishes lol.
What i like about these festivals, it doesn't matter much about the size but just the ambiance alone can make one feel happy just being there :)
Was there to catch dear ol' Kuzu's Iaido performance which i promised that i'll never missed anyone of it if it's possible and i've managed to kept my word so far. Hopefully that will continue no matter how far we are apart in this world. Love you to bits you dumb kayu numb-skull, but as usual people won't realized what they have until it's gone for good, till then i'll just hold on to whatever is left in this limited time on earth.
Found someone being so "graceful" pfffftt lol. Trust me, he's only that graceful when it comes to his katana and other of his toys because they are his "babies" (-_-) and if you are a girl, sorry you won't be treated as gentle as his toys haha. Am i not such a 'good' friend? XD
Arrived rather early though as i didn't know the official festival opening only starts at 6pm onwards lel and i was there at 2pm, at least i managed to catch a few shots of the Iaido team rehearsing under the scorching hot sun lol. Could also hear the Taiko rehearsing from a distance as well, loud and clear, made me super excited to catch their show later at night.
What i love about the rain is what comes after it, a beautiful sky or maybe a rainbow or two :)
By 3.30pm the place was technically flocking with families but the heavy downpour that came shortly was totally uncalled for leaving everyone scattered lol. So those who came early probably left by 6pm via the shuttle van service provided by JCKL to and fro from Tien Hou temple since there wasn't much option for parking nearby and JCKL was using their parking lot for the festival.
Unless of course you park at Mid Valley and walk to JCKL which it's about 10 minutes?
That's usually how to get to JCKL anyways, from Bangsar lrt i would take the free shuttle bus to MV and from there walk up to seputeh.
Got myself a bag of multi flavored kitkat which i failed to get while i was in Chiba last year lol, saw them at Narita Airport but didn't have enough Yen with me.
Eating in a Japanese classrooms? Checked.
Reminds me of my school days when i always eat in class haha, such a terrible student and yea, this is one heck of a tough squid to eat. Think i battled for almost 30 minutes before almost giving up on it till i remembered, i paid RM16 for this stick, so must finish it lol wtf.
This was really a fun experience, seeing kids and adults dressed up for performance, all so eager and excited for their turns on stage that alone shows how 'sporting' the community is :)
Check out the video i made for the festival, you can even catch the Iaido team's full segment followed by Jodo and finishing off with the powerful Taiko (和太鼓 - Japanese drums) performance.
Watch till the end to catch the Taiko performance ;D
If my memory serves me correctly, they were also the same community who was in charge of Publika's Bon Odori last year too and i do hope they'll have their Bon Odori celebration there annually. More reasons for me not to ever go back to the one in Shah Alam lol.
For More JCKL updates, don't forget to follow them on Facebook- Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur!
Official website | www.jckl.org.my
Address | No.2 Jalan 1/86, Off Jalan Taman Seputeh,
Taman Seputeh, 58000 Kuala Lumpur
Email | Officeattojckl.Org.My
Great Performance guys! Taken with their sensei (far right) & mentor (2nd left), sorry i forgot their names because my memory is bad >.<
Raw unedited footage of the Iaido & Jodo segment.
XOXO,
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