My 2nd solo trip to Japan (Part 2)

New Year's coming and I've yet to blog about my August trip. Here's part 2. More to come...

4 Aug (Saturday) - Sendai

Sendai has an interesting mix of city, historical, religious and nature sights. I was lucky to have a friend who sacrificed his Saturday and brought me around to various spots which I wouldn't have been able to cover on my own in a day. He's my internet penpal of 2 yrs whom I've never met. My instincts told me he's a decent fellow. Thank goodness I was right. He could speak good English so my brain didn't have to work too hard. Heehee...

We first went to Aobajo Castle for a view of the city. After that we went to Shiogama where he brought me to a fish port where I saw fresh whale meat for the first time. Lunch was sushi around the area. It's the best sushi I've ever tried. As the restaurants near the fishing port, the fish is so fresh, it melts in your mouth! A bit pai-seh to take photos though. If you see it, you'll drool!!

Next he brought me to Shiogama Shrine. I learnt the proper way of praying at a shrine (but forgotten liao) and he gave me a talisman. It's quite interesting. The talisman is a white envelop with a clear packet of whitish powder inside. Having heard some real-life eerie encounters in Japan's hotels, I hugged this talisman + the one from Kwan Yin temple to sleep every night during this trip!

We went to the famous Matsushima & boarded a ferry to view the islets. It was fun to see people feeding the seagulls with prawn crackers. I was too timid to do so, afraid that the seagulls would attack me. After that we ate fishcake which we BBQ ourselves. Not a wise choice considering the hot humid weather, but it's a specialty in that area so had try it!


Our last stop was at Akiu Otaki Falls, one of the 3 great waterfalls in Japan. Breathtaking view!

My penpal Takashi & I at the waterfall

After checking in at hotel, we went for dinner together. Ate the famous cold ramen with sesame sauce. Yummy! I love ramen, cold or hot. Reminds me of those days I packed cold ramen to school in Okazaki for lunch.

As I had to leave early the next morning & there's no coin laundry in the hotel, I walked to the nearest coin laundry on my own. It was late & the roads were quiet and the laundry place was located in such a quiet corner, I almost missed it. My first night alone in a hotel was bad. I was very scared even though I slept with my lights on. Didn't sleep well and woke up a few times at night. Finally I gave up, woke up at 6am & set off early.


5 Aug (Sunday) - Morioka
Back to lonely days but I enjoy it. Today's a full day out to Ryusendo Caves from Morioka. Duno why I'm so fascinated by the caves, just based on guidebooks. I took a 2hr bus trip there & another 2hrs back just to see the caves. Madness. I don't regret the trip there. I like the mysterious feel of the cave. It's cold & wet & a little creepy at times. Having to climb up steep narrow steps for better views were a killer though.

There was this crazy mum with a baby on her baby backpack. She wore pointed heels there! Almost every step she made on the stairs, she went "scary....." & some other sounds to show she's scared & worried. Her hubby was following behind agreeing with all her scared expressions. Idiots! Should've known better to go to such places in heels! And shouldn't the stupid father carry the baby instead? Higher chance of vainpots falling down the stairs as compared to men in proper shoes leh.

Back at Morioka, I tried the famous "Rei-men". It apparently originated from Korean. Cold, crunchy noodles in sour & spicy soup. What surprised me was a slice of watermelon in that bowl of noodles. I was like "huh? Are they serving dessert together with mains in a bowl?" It tasted alright. I like the noodles' texture but not the soup. A little too spicy for my liking.

Maybe I was tired. Slept well that night.....

Supermodel!

My hubby came to Singapore over the weekend, specially for our pre-wedding photoshoot. Arrived on Sat evening, went to the bridal shop to try on his suits then went home for a party. It was a fun night of games, drinks and chat with my sister's & brother's friends & my friends till 3am.

Sunday morning was spent sorting out souvenirs for his relatives. I had bought the stuff before he came to save on shopping time. After that we went to Suntec to eat the porridge buffet. Quite a good deal at $12.80 nett. Good variety though the food isn't that fantastic. Hubby enjoyed it though. I guess for someone used to plain simple meals, that was considered very yummy.

Next we went shopping for our wedding band. I had already chosen some designs I liked, so just had to bring him to choose, try ring size & make payment. It's a simple band that didn't cost much but we're very happy with it. We went shopping & met up with a friend before going home in the evening. We spent the rest of the evening preparing for our wedding shoot.

The photoshoot was on Monday. It's almost a full day event. We reported at 10am & the make-up artist took almost an hour to do up our make-up & hairstyle. We started with the indoor studio shoots. It was fun, especially coz hubby is quite a comedian who isn't afraid of doing silly poses just for fun. As he isn't conversant in English, I had to translate and the photographer & his assistant sometimes used body language to explain. This created some laughter too. After 3 outfits, we had lunch before setting off for outdoor shoots.

Outdoor shoot was very fun! We wore our yukatas (summer kimono) & took photos at some chinese shop houses. I wore a lovely gown with big can-can in it for photos taken outside a church & museum. It was raining heavily when we were indoors & drizzling when outdoors. By the time we went for church/museum photos, the rain had stopped. The photoshoot ended by 5.30pm. Quite half-dead by then.

The whole process of posing for photos was interesting. I had to look at my fingers or gown or flowers while hubby would usually be looking at me. However hubby kept looking at the camera. The photographer & his assistant kept reminding him "Look at your wife!". The funniest part was when he had to kiss me. Instead of looking at me, he peeped at the camera while kissing! He either likes the camera, the photographer or thinks he's supermodel ah...

With the photoshoot done, I felt very relieved and hungry. I had been dieting just to look good in photos! We went to Jumbo for yummy seafood with my dad & brother. We had black pepper crab, BBQ fish, geo-clam, baby squid, mee goreng, desserts and beer. O-i-shi-i!!! I went home for more snacks and beer with hubby. At night we wrapped the xmas gifts for his family, chatted a little then went to sleep.

Hubby's really like a supermodel on an assignment. This morning he left on a 8.20am flight. He's only in S'pore for 2 full days -- 1 for photo, 1 for shopping. Though it's short, he enjoyed himself. It's a different experience from his 1st trip here. Hope he can come back to Singapore with me more often.....

Miss his nonsense already.....

New fan of ゆず (Yuzu)?

I was bored & finding songs on Youtube when I stumbled on Yuzu's songs. I remember my Hokkaido friends had specially driven 7 hours by car to attend their concert in Sapporo, so I thought their songs might be nice. This is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

My hubby's coming!

Counting down to 17th November now. Although it's a very short trip, I'm glad he can make it. We have to rush down to the bridal shop to get his suit on the day he arrives, followed by a dinner gathering at my house for him to meet the wedding helpers. On Sunday we've to buy the wedding bands. We'll do the photoshoot on Monday & he'll fly back to Japan on Tuesday morning. Sounds like a supermodel on a photoshoot assignment? heehee...

The things students do....

Not sure if it's because the term is coming to an end, so the mood in school and during lessons is more relaxed these days. I'm beginning to feel a little sad about leaving. It's really fun to teach even though it's frustrating at times.

The other day my P2 kid had to write sentences like "These are hats." This blur boy wrote it as "Thesearehats." I told him to re-write with spacing between the words. He came back with "T h e s e a r e h a t s." I had to control my laughter when I saw it. He finally got it correct the 3rd round. He must be thinking why I'm torturing him!

My P5 students had to pair up and write a ghost story for Halloween. While they were doing their work, I saw 1 of the girls shaking the table. Puzzled, I went over for a look. Apparently they were trying to write words with a scary & shaky font, so 1 shaked the table while the other wrote. Haha...smart kids!

I was in a "near-fight" with my P5 boy the other day. He was rocking his chair with his legs and his elbows were leaning on the table. Like in a flying position. That's distracting for me & his classmates and dangerous for him too. I warned him twice to stop it but he was back at it soon after warning. Finally I just went straight to him without warning & tried to grab the chair away from him. What followed was a "wrestling fight" between us --> he hooking his legs tightly onto the chair while I tried to pry his legs away from the chair. The whole class stopped work & looked on, duno in fear or shock. I finally pulled the chair away from him and told him he doesn't need a chair if he doesn't know how to sit. A while later I returned him his chair and he sat down properly and quietly for the rest of the lesson. And he no longer sits in that flying manner now.

Today I had a P4 girl telling me "Miss Chan, I love you" in a joking manner. So I replied her, "I love you too, MUACKS". And we just burst out laughing. They are surprised that I gave them a loud disgusting kiss sound. I was just as surprised that I could be so crazy. Haha.....

Sometimes I wonder...... am I a "teacher from hell" or a "crazy teacher"?