Land of the Rising Sun: Farmstay

We spent 2 nights staying with our host family at the countryside. As it was my first homestay, I felt rather uptight and restricted initially. Was worried that I might do something wrong or rude, especially in a Japanese family where customs and practices are strictly adhered to. Just when I was becoming to feel at home, it was time to leave. =(

View from the main entrance of the house. The air was really really fresh!

View from the kitchen. It felt so great waking up in the morning and seeing such scenery.

The cosy living room where we (two buddies and I) had our meals and watched tv. On the last night we watched tv with our host mum for almost 5 hours. Well, it was raining heavily outside and there was nothing much to do at night. Watched the last episode of a drama which I'm currently watching now haha. Watching without subtitles was indeed a challenge, even at my level.

Tried plucking some long beans in the field. Efficiency was very low haha. And I think the ones I plucked were a little short...oops. Due to the continuous rain, we didn't get to do much farmwork at all.

We went for an art-and-craft session during the homestay. Cheers for completing the paper cutting! Glad that I didn't make any major mistakes otherwise the whole cutting will be spoilt.

What a heavy breakfast. Most of the vegetables and fruits were freshly plucked from the fields, so they tasted quite different.

Curry rice for lunch! The best Japanese curry I've ever tasted! We almost finished the whole pot. As we ate, my host mum was preparing more food to add on to these...

This dinner came right after our tea-time snacks. Upon looking at the food, our stomach felt hungry immediately. Throughout the homestay we just ate and ate and ate, like cows in the farm.

Our final breakfast before leaving. We couldn't finish most of the food for the previous meals, (the share is only for 3 of us) but this one we tried our best to finish as much as possible. Anyway the leftovers were kept, and my host mum would do something to transform them into another dish which would be served in the next meal. So amazing.

View from the town's winery. The sky had to become clear when we were leaving...zzz.

Pic with my host mum. She's such a great cook =). I will always miss her wonderful dishes.

Land of the Rising Sun: Panorama

The scenery of Japan is just so different from Singapore, even in the city areas. While Singapore is filled with high rise flats and skyscrapers everywhere, Japan's urban areas are mostly low rise buildings spread over a large area, thus creating a wide urban view. Coupled with hills and mountains at the background, it forms a really beautiful scenery. =)

This is the view of the port city Fukuoka. The bus was travelling on a highway shortly after leaving the Fukuoka airport. Everyone was fascinated by the view, especially those who don't travel often like me.

Outside view from our accommodation for the first night. Went to roam around the streets in the morning and saw little kids toddling their way to school. They carried yellow box-ish bags and wore yellow caps - looks like a bunch of cute ducklings =p.

Uh...it's going to rain soon. In fact the rain spoilt much of our activities.

On the way to Mount Aso, the biggest active volcano in Japan. Saw many farmlands and fields along the way. They looked very neat, nicely terraced and segregated. How I love looking at those fog blanketing the mountains.

The fog was nice to see, but not when plans had to be cancelled. We are inside the fog now and water droplets sprinkled as wind blew. Quite cooling actually. There was no scenery outside as everything was just pure white. Visibilty plunged. I wonder how the bus driver managed to drive up the steep slopes under this kind of weather.

We couldn't get to see the fuming crater of Mount Aso as the cable car service was suspended. Sigh. Instead we visited the volcano musuem. The special effects and mechanisms used to display the formation of Mount Aso and its peaks were quite interesting to watch.

We also visited Takachiho gorge. The nature, trees, rocks, rivers are just beautiful.

Took many pictures along the way. But thanks to the rather heavy drizzle, we had to rush down the path quickly. Didn't have the luxury of time to observe the surroundings.

The city's on fire? Nope, the smoke is just steam gas emerging from several hot spring spots in the city.

Superb view from the hot spring hotel. It's dusk.

We went to hell too. I do hope hell is as beautiful as this.

Throughout the trip the bus travelled a lot on highways, thus we were able to admire the wonderful landscape of Kyushu. Anyway the bus driver is the best one I've ever met. He would always greet us whenever we leave or return to the bus. He even gave us a little souvenir for helping him keep his bus clean. =)

These photos do little justice to the fantastic scenery in Japan. It would be much better to see it first hand with our own eyes though.

Land of the Rising Sun: Peace after War

We visited Nagasaki, a city which is known for being a victim of the atomic bomb.

This is the entrance to the Atomic Bomb Museum. The abundance of ponds and fountains at this site symbolizes the victims' thirst for water when the land became literally fried by the bomb.

This monument marks the hypocentre of the atomic bomb, and the concentric circles represent its radial effect to the vicinity.

The peace statue. Each limb has its own meaning. By the way it's the rainy season in Japan now.

Kumamoto Castle. Used to be occupied by samurais.

The view from the top of the castle.

Beautiful colourful paintings on the walls and sliding doors of the castle interior.

Dazaifu Tenmangu. One of the famous shinto shrines in Kyushu.

A long stretch of shopping street leading to the shrine. Traditional Japanese souvenirs and pastries can be bought here.

Land of the Rising Sun: Transition

After looking forward to this trip for more than 2 months, I could finally step foot onto Japan! Although I went to the same Kyushu region last time, and visited a few familiar places that I've been to 13 years ago, the experience this time was totally different! It's because this is the first time I visited Japan after I began studying the language 9 years ago. Couldn't wait to put my Japanese into practical use =p.

Since I've never travelled anywhere further than Japan, I could say this is my furthest trip overseas. Though it lasted for only 7 days, this is also my longest period away from Singapore. (my past overseas trips only lasted at most 5 days) Of course, this is my first plane journey after 10 years. The feeling of boarding a plane is so exciting!

The flight was 1 am, so I had to report at the airport by 10 pm the previous day. Had ample time to pack my stuff during the day. My luggage would have been lighter if not for those unnecessary stuffs which I didn't even touch throughout the trip (eg. jacket). FYI it's summer in Japan now.

After some briefings and misc check-in stuff, we crossed the customs easily by scanning our biometric passports. So fast and convenient! We were then free to roam around the restricted area.

Almost onboard the plane...so excited!!!

Quite a few seats were vacant, so I shifted to occupy the window seat at the front. Sadly, my camera couldn't capture the night view very well, but witnessing through my own eyes is good enough.

At night, the runway strips at Changi Airport look really spectacular! Just like tons of stars on the ground! The starry sight only lasted for a minute as the plane began to take off. Then the night view of Singapore island presented before my eyes. Very very dazzling. Some described it as 'light pollution'. The Flyer can be seen as a tiny circle among the crowd of lights.

Played around with the in-flight entertainment system, listened to Fish's album and the SIA mandopop channel hosted by Bukoh Mary. As expected, I couldn't sleep well in the plane. Before long, it was dawn.

A magnificent view of the rising sun at the horizon.

A closer look. I missed this view 13 years ago. That time my flight was around the same timing too.

The typical plane food. I ate so slowly that everyone's tray was collected except mine haha.

Before long, we finally reached Fukuoka Airport. That's when all the adventure began. But for now let's fast forward to the departure day.

Boarding the flight back to SG. Luckily I brought an extra bag along for all my omiyage (souvenirs).

The skies are so clear. The sea is so blue. The clouds are so white! The slightly curved horizon is an evidence that the Earth is indeed round.

The plane flew past the southern tip of Taiwan. The stretch of land slightly visible at the far end along the horizon is China.

The flight lunch.

The flight path. Couldn't get a steady shot due to turbulence.

Some flight statistics. The outside temperature is so cold (-55 deg C) that ice crystals formed on the window.

Islands can be clearly visible from the plane. The tall towering clouds are simply amazing.

Back to my home island.

Quite lucky I could get a window seat for both to and fro journeys. The view is the best when the skies are clear, and when the plane is not flying through the clouds. However the sun can be scorching bright at times.

Yup, this finally fulfills my desire of riding on the plane. =)

Portrait

Ok I dunno what to blog now, so I went to dig out some pictures saved in my files...

Who's this? So cute haha... Feel like wearing one of those bags too!

Here's the answer to my previous qn. The right one, not left one. Both have wide opened eyes but the expression is completely different lol.

Guo Liang has been quite daring lately...

Stunned by the results? It's like totally 恍神

Poor Yuzhu. Cheeks must be really painful...

What am I? Rabbit? Chipmunk?

"Hello, I am Beatrice. May I help chew?" Whoa so seductive...

Have always been impressed by Zhou Chongqing's crossdressing, ever since 真爱无敌 (the angel show starring Chen Hanwei, Jacelyn Tay and Wong Lilin). Not forgetting his contagious laughter.

He stole the show during this skit...hahaaa

Or do you prefer this? I think Auntie Lucy is getting more popular than Zhou Chongqing now.

Auntie Lucy even has her own fanclub! @ http://auntylucyfc.blogspot.com/

我很 shy 的！Hahahaha.... *flaps hands*