ITC, Job Coach & Okonomiyaki

Last thursday & friday was our individual training and I choosed to go and look at the IT center for the disabled and also at Job Coaching. So on thursday Keiko arrange for me & Nerand to go to the ITC (IT Center) Tokyo.... This center provides IT training for PWDS
Sorry...can't remember her name but this lady was explaining to us some of the devices used by PWDs to assisst them to use the computer.

Many types of mouse and keyboards

This is call Intellikeys. The keys are changable. Good for UV members but damn expensive.
I like this one.... can you guess what it is? It is invented by a parent of a child with intellectual disability. Here no matter what disbility you have if necessary they will come out with a device to assisst you in using the computer. Good right? Instead of telling a PWD that they cannot use becoz it's not suitable....

Keiko was worried that I was not getting enough info..... actually she's right becoz I didn't have much time to ask the lady more questions but I guess I can alwiz email her.
After the IT center we visited a Special School at Oota Ward. Sendai-san, who is in charge of vocational training was showing us around the school and explaining the system. Funny I have not even visited any special schools in Malaysia yet. This school works closely with the Employment Support Center for PWDs to provide support for students who are employed after graduation.

The next day coincidentally all 5 of us choose job coach so we are went together (so much for individualise training!) to Oota Ward again to the employment support center to get some insights on job coaching. After that we went to Haneda Airport to visit one of the PWDs who is working at Starbucks.
Keiko enjoying her cup of coffee. She wanted to belanja us coffee but none of us took up her offer. The boys don't really drink coffee and I told her that I will never buy starbucks coffee becoz of how the company in US exploit the coffee farmers at Ethopia. Dun know if she stills enjoy her coffee after what I told her! hahahahaha
The boy beside Nerand in the green apron is the PWID working at starbucks and the guy next to him is the shop manager. He is now learning how to be a barrista. Matsuura asked us not to put the picture in any of our organisation homepage becoz of copyright and stuff and I told her dun worry... we will never advertise for Starbucks!hmmmm I think I just did.... should I take out the pict above?
They have a TV inside the toilet.... not TV programs but advertisements. Makes me wants to do my er..... business longer! hahahaha

After the airport, we visited another PWID working in a supermarket. She has been working there since May.

After that we went back to the employment support center for Q&A on job coaching.

When we finally reached TIC it was almost 7:30pm and I had an appointment with Yoko at 7pm! Last saw her in April last year when she was sent to UV to support a PWLD from JOCV (Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer) Previously she has worked in Malaysia for 2 years and that is why her malay is good... better than mine! Rush over to meet her at the Yoyogi-Uehara station and she bought me to a nearby restaurant and we had okonomiyaki.

That's her cooking the okonomiyaki like an expert. She's from Osaka and that's where okonomiyaki is from.

Oishi

Tried something called er....."mirku, morko" dunno how to call it.....something like that which is only available in Tokyo....cheese, cabbage & flour. And we use like mini spatula to eat it as it cooks slowly on the pan.
This is Ms Yoko Sato. We spend most of the night laughing & laughing. I was updating her on UV's activities and talking about Malaysia's political scene. And she knows how hard it is to work with government servants as she was based in Pahang for 2 years..... oh and of course we complain about the royalty. She told me that once she was surprised to hear that when the sultan of pahang visited a village that was flooded they have to present him with basket of fruits in order that he might grant them more money for relief! They lost almost most of their processions and yet they have to give him something. I told her that's malaysian's style or mentality. Sad......

BTW she's 5 months pregnant. Aiyooo...she's as gila as me.....imagine her being a mother.... poor kid! hahahaha And we were having our conversation in Malay as she only knows a liiiitttlle bit of english... Funny... 1 Japanese & 1 Chinese speaking Malay in a jap restaurant. Have not laughed that much since coming to Japan. Yoko...Arigato Gosaimasu.....