New camera!

After almost a year of consideration, I finally upgraded my digital camera. My old Canon Powershot A70 is still in reasonably good working condition, but its weight at 315g(?) & size always made me think twice about bringing it out.

I decided to pamper myself with a new Canon Ixus 860IS camera. It's still a little heavy at 155g(?) but the sleek design & size makes me want to bring it along whenever I go out. However it cost me a bomb at $610. Other brands offer similar features at a lower price, but I prefer Canon cameras because my old Canon camera served me well for 4 years. My sister has a Canon Ixus camera too. It's an older model but her photos always turn out very well -- sharp images with vivid colors.

I'm $610 poorer but happy with my new camera. Next on my list is a new laptop....... *in my dreams*

School holidays!!

It's finally school holidays! We've all been counting down to this holiday. Term 2 is too long at 3.5 months. We're tired, so are the kids. Everyone's in a happy festive mood so I spent the last 2 weeks of school making x'mas crafts with my students. It's a good thing I enjoy arts & crafts.

Influenced by my students, I made x'mas cards for my friends. I used to do that but with e-cards being fast & convenient, I stopped doing so for a long time. Though e-cards are interesting with flash etc, nothing beats receiving a hand-made card, no matter how ugly it is!

Wk 1 of my school holidays passed with me accomplishing none of the things I'm supposed to do. I had planned to use this holiday to prepare as much as I can for the wedding but laziness set in. I was hooked on to dramas online, always woke up late and went shopping often! Quite a busy x'mas season with more presents to buy than usual.

With only 2 weeks of holidays left, next week I must try harder to check off more items off my "To do" list. This school holiday is too SHORT!! I need more time!!!

My 2nd solo trip to Japan (Part 3)

Continuing on with my August trip.....

6 Aug (Monday) - Aomori / Oirase
Today was a killer. Totally exhausting!
Took an early train at 7.16am to Hachinohe, offloaded my stuff at the hotel & set off for Oirase by bus. The journey took me 1.5hrs but there was lovely scenery along the way.

I dropped off at a viewing point to take some photos and decided to take a short walk along the nature trail to the next nearest bus-stop. Wrong move. The trail took me 2 hrs!! Thought I was going to be lost & die in that trail liao.














I met a japanese couple in their 50s who probably felt i was very pitiful to be doing the hike alone & walked with me. They are serious hikers, checking their map for viewing spots along the way. I just wanted to finish it asap! We finally reached the end point at Lake Towada. You've no idea how happy I was. The couple were very kind and shared their lunch with me. After that I took a bus to Aomori to attend the famous Nebuta Festival held in summer. It's one of the 3 major summer festivals in the Tohoku region.

Aomori was crowded. There were tourists & people in festival costumes. A traditional festive feel at the place. When the actual procession of floats & dances started, people were cheering. It's like Singapore's Chingay parade I think. I really enjoyed it. I liked the colorful floats and the lively atmosphere.

With many people feeling "high" due to alcohol & the festive mood, fights broke out too. I happened to be near one. Saw the security trying to control a group of rowdy guys. When I walked off, a group of police holding baton sticks were rushing towards that spot. Not sure what happened later...

Having followed the procession in the opposite direction & snapping photos along the way, I lost my bearings and took a while to find the train station. Reached the Hachinohe at 10pm. Dead tired, yet I could still watch TV till 12am. Slept for solid 8hrs w/o dreams or waking up in the middle of the night.

Nebuta Festival videos

Here are some videos I took at the festival.

The start of the festival - I like the drums!



The procession



See how some participants dance. Very "high" already...



Wonder what they're cheering...

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.....