Monday, December 01, 2008 @ 3:38 PM
I'm back from Japan; Kyushu{okay, many many days ago!!}=]and i'm totally loving it to core!!!
Well, i didn't really get what i wanted, those anime/manga stuffs and the albums, but i bought lots of food enough to stuff myself and gain weight=]
You know, Japanese snacks are damn delicious!! If you can't find what you really wanted, then just go for food stuff.
I did went into the CD shop at one of the Aeon mall, the mall is damn nice, and damn big, can shop until you go nuts!!
The Antic Cafe album is very hard to find, i search high and low but still can't find. Then i saw this album by ON/OFF on the 'NEW' shelf. That should be my 2nd choice, but their album pricing is very shocking{people will probably get a heart attack!!}, one album for 4800 Yen, if you convert to sin dollars, its $76.8{Whoa!!}.
In Singapore, if you go to any CD shop, CDs normally cost like around $20-maybe $30++, but one album for $76.8 is way too much, my dad would probably kill me.
It also exceeded my budget, which is at most $50 for one album.
Shall start on the actual trip, i shouldn't said until too detailed, shall only touch on the fun stuff and other weird moments, starting from Day 1.
Day 1
Our first destination was this rather tall building, suppose to be the 2 tallest building in Japan{if i remembered correctly}. You can see an overview of the place when you go right up to the top.
I'm not sure which comes first, Robo square or a school festival in a University.
At the Robo Square, there were lots of robots{as the name suggest}, but staying there too long will be abit 'sian', after all, its just robots, robots and more robots
At the University for their school festival, most of it them are selling food, we eat over there and ended up feeling very full and therefore not much appetite for lunch although the lunch looks pretty good.
Later, we went to Kumamoto Castle. The scenery over there is really beautiful, and we also observe that the crows in Japan are different from the crows in Singapore in terms of size and their calling, the crows there are much fatter and larger in size, BIG FAT CROWS!!
The accommodation for night time is a farm in Gokase.
Its really nice, there were six of us in this particular host family, they're real nice and great hosts, and dinner was spread from the very tip to the very end of the table, but its too much for us. It makes me feel bad not being able to finish their food, but it really was damn delicious {thumbs up!!}.
Day 2
Our breakfast was still at the farm, and it was again a wide spread over the dinning table{but i think the dinner was more scary}.
It was pretty cold, and there was 'smoke' when we talked, damn fun and cool, itsd just too bad it didn't snow.
After that, we went to the Kyusendo cave and Forest House Edison Museum.
The cave was okay, but slippery. I thought the Edison Museum was rather interesting, all of the inventions there, from past till modern.
Next is the Coca-cola factory, nothing much there, its rather similar as Singapore's NEWater visit. Good thing we got free cola to drink=]
Following after, the Satsuma Glass Factory, they say until very nice sounding, glass cutting, sounds very professional, but its basically they give you a round glass and you draw some patterns{straight lines are easier}, then you just go to the machine and it will carve it out, more like DnT{bad memories for me about sec 2 dnt}.Finally, we had our dinner at Aeon mall, its big but its also expensive.
The hotel for the day{and the next 2 days too} is Kagoshima SUNROYAL Hotel, its pretty high class in a sense, most likely 5 stars or something. I had a good night sleep there=]
Day 3
We woke up early in the morning for Sakurajima, and the ship ride was like 10 min. But the ride was damn 'shioking', the wind was strong and blowing straight at our faces, and we could see Sakurajima approaching us. And our so called 'watermelon bus' and other vehicles could go on board too.
Later, we went to dye our own cloth, we were told how to create patterns by using rubber bands and tie it around the piece of cloth. My end product was a rather random design.
After that we went to Reimeikan{Japanese Garden or something}. Its mostly flowers amd there were also lots of spiders.
Day 4
You've gotta be kidding me!! 5 hours of boat ride{to and fro} to Yakushima just to see a few thousand year-old tree. And that winding road up to see the tree, i think the bus driver encounter some problems too, the road is just turns after turns, luckily, i didn't get sick.
And that's all for the day's activity.
Day 5
First destination, the Kirishima Shrine. Our tour guide said its about this shrine, dedicated to a god whom had created land. We went there to pray, well, its more like wishing. We took out a coin and throw it into this thing{i don't know what it is called} and then bow and clap and make your wish.
Next is our exchange programme with Takeokadai High School.
The students there are really nice. And their welcome was abit scary though.
They were like one big bunch of students crowding at their school entrance and welcoming us, also waving a tiny Singapore flag in their hands.
My buddy is Misato Yomura, she's really nice can!! They brought us around the school premises, and its abit like school introduction, they have alot of activities, Zhonghua seem a little pathetic there.
The home stay was nice, but their bus and train{kinda like our MRT} was a little expensive.
And my buddy has two cats at home, kawaii ne~.
Day 6
My buddy's dad drove us to school that morning, at school, we continued with the exchange programme. OH, then our school was presenting, then each of us was paired to 2 Japanese and we were supposed to like interact with each other. I cant remember their names, but i can remember clearly their questions{damn cute lah}The first few still make sense, they asked something about Sentosa and the food in Singapore. Then they were like asking "Do you have Mcdonalds in Singapore, how much is the burger". I think most students asked this question, LOL. Then they ask me like "Do you know any Japanese singer?".
Then they were like asking...
Them: "Do you know Arashi?"
Me: "Yeah"
Them: "Sugoi, sugoi ne!!"{Wow, they were like totally amaze like that, like Arashi famous till Singapore also know about it}
Them: "Which guy do you like in Arashi?"
Okay, this question has seriously got me stunned. First thing first, i didn't know how to answer them. I mean i know of Arashi, but i never really look at them clearly or something, and they all look rather alike one way or another, and who's who, i don't know their names either.
And then comes to the end of this dialogue session.
For this night, we stayed in Chisan Hotel HAKATA. Its damn creepy, why's the room key a key and not a card?? And then we were like all freaked out. The toilet was also damn small, i kept banging my arm against the walls while bathing. The toilet seat was cold and then the flush thing, the tank can be opened and you can see all the pipings in there. What a bad night.
Day 7
Last day, nothing much.
HOME SWEET HOME=] but also =[
Man, i really missed Japan, and especially the cooling weather{though it can really be very cold at times}. I think most people are already tired of Japanese food as we had Japanese food everyday, but i still can have more. I don't mind another bento or a bowl of miso soup. The only yucky thing about the food is all the so called fancy food, good to look but not good to eat, its totally tasteless.
I missed my buddy, eventhough we know each other only for a few days, but we become really close somehow. But we will be able to see them soon, in just 2 days time=]
I wish i could rewind back to the past and start all over again=]
Japan Trip'08 is loved.
*All pictures later okay!!*