I just realised, to some measure of shock, that yesterday marked 8 years since I left the shores of Singapore for that strange, albeit not-so-faraway Land of the Rising Sun.

Not for a short holiday, but for a purpose not many people would really think of.

I didn't even half-expect myself to be at Changi Airport that fateful morning, queueing up at the check-in counter, with a huge Samsonite suitcase and a big backpack of belongings which I believe would come in handy for the time I would spend in Japan.

The reality of actually going there for a university education hadn't sunk in yet. At least not before I was on the plane and streams of J-pop from the headphones filtered into my ears from the inflight entertainment, preceded by being greeted "Ohayou gozaimasu, youkouso!" by a couple of heavily-made up flight attendants, looking smart in their navy-blue JAL blazers and peaked caps, back bent forward almost 90 degrees as they repeated the same refrain to every single passenger.

So this is it, I thought to myself.

No turning back. No regrets.

I can't believe it has been 8 years since I took that big leap of faith, to venture where few would actually go to. To me, the memories of that fateful day, where I said my goodbyes to my family, my uncle and aunt and cousins and to the comfort zone of home, still remain as fresh in my mind as ever.

An education overseas didn't really cross my mind back then. To me, what mattered most was securing a scholarship to pay for my university education, without having to depend on my parents. They had paid a substantial amount for my secondary education and a whole lot of other stuff, and it just didn't feel right to have to make them pay my way through university.

It didn't matter where I studied; so long as I could get a scholarship, I would be more than happy. Of course it would be a real bonus if I could get one that enabled me to study overseas.

Imagine my surprise one day back in 1997 when I was told that I was offered a scholarship to go study in Japan.

Japan then seemed like a total enigma to me.

A country of clean, spotlessly clean streets, where everything runs like clockwork, where the people speak in a strange language, where they like their fish raw and noodles cold, where they pay money to bath together in their naked splendour, where you hear of schoolchildren killing themselves because some bigger kid(s) in school subject them to constant physical or physchological harassment, where they go "sou desu ne!" every so often as if it's something that has been ingrained in them since they were young, where they...

The list of impressions, some wrong, some totally spot-on, that I had then were endless.

So I was going to this place, to study for 5 years huh, I asked myself.

I knew nuts about the language but being the impulsive sort that I am, doing most things without much thought, I took up the offer nonetheless.

8 years on, I am back home, paying back my dues, or to put it in a nicer way, serving out my bond in the government. It is not a cushy job, and there are many times when I find myself facing a huge wall and lots of insecurities at work, but I guess at the end of the day, I can say that I am grateful I am in a stable job with lots of opportunities for learning and growth.

The opportunity to go to Japan for an education was a huge contributing factor no less.

Times will get tougher in the months or years ahead but I hope that I will be strong enough to overcome them. And maybe not just to have the strength, but also to possess the focus and the drive, which is sadly lacking in me to quite an extent at the moment, to see through all these challenges.

All these attributes, which I believe are within myself; if not, I believe I wouldn't have made it through my years in Japan.

It just takes some self-belief, on my part.