Stuck a midst unknowing, endless loneliness...

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Diary Entry - Japan Trip (21 - 27 November 2008)

HELLO EVERYONE. I'm back from Japan~

After experiencing a boring 6 hour flight, watching Wall.E, pausing it after 3 minutes each time, then falling asleep.

Reached there and met our tour guide, who was super nice. I'll elaborate later.

So we went out of the airport, and the air outside was much colder than inside. And so we went to take the bus and headed for Shuzenji in Shizuoka. The bus trip was... 4 hours long. Was suffering from motion sickness there. XD

Reached the foot of the hill Shuzenji Techinical High School located on. The wind was blowing like hell and Shuzenji students came down to fetch us. Went up the hill, freezing. Reached there, had this mini party with sandwiches, etc. Then after meeting our host family, we went home with them. Well, knowing that I could speak Japanese, they were like speaking to me in Japanese all the while. How fun. Their family consists of Hisamasa (Dad), Sumie (Mum), Marina (Eldest Daughter), Erina (Second Daughter) and Shion (Youngest Daughter). Went back to their home, or rather, a house borrowed from their friend, changed out of school uniform, and went out for dinner with them. Had a few sushi and drinks, didn't feel like eating much.

Went back home, they got our baths ready while we chatted with them. Iman went for the bath first, while I stayed to chat with them. Then later it went opposite. Went to sleep, the room was warm. Slept well.

Then the next morning, had croissant and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then we were to the Shuzenji Station to meet the rest and headed off for a mountain to watch Mt. Fuji. Took many nice photos of Mt Fuji. :D

Then we went to Niji no Sato, Village of Rainbow. There were British Village, Izu no Kuni Village, Maple Forest, Works Village etc. And we fed carps in the pond. Had lunch at this restaurant, then went for hot springs at Hyaku Warai.

Went to the Axis Katsuragi, where we would perform the next day, to check out the place. Then we went home with the host family. They went to the supermart to get some stuff for a party that night. Their friends and Sumie's (Mum) father and sister came. Well, they all smoked, but the dinner was fun. After that, they gave us a whole bag of presents. How nice of them. And they called all their friends just to find if anyone knows where to get Toda Erika posters, for Chongwei. And because I said I wanted anime posters, they tried to find hard covers for the posters, and when they could not, they made one themselves with a hard PVC pipe.

Then it was the performance on 23 November 2008. Was quite nervous because I had to face the crowd and speak in their native language. But they said I did well. Shuzenji won the champion that day. That night, some of Marina's friends in Shuzenji who also performed, and I think one of them was the host for Phyllan and Tianfu, came over. Had fun because they were a bit crazy and this girl started dancing Hare Hare Yukai in front of everyone! Music was from my phone. XD

Then later we went for hot springs at the basement of the house before coming back up. They left early, so we stayed up to chat with the host for the last time in a while. Stayed up until around 2am until Hisa said he was tired, so we went to sleep. Woke up next morning and went to have breakfast at a convenience store, had egg sandwich. They sent us to Shuzenji Station, then we baid farewell and left for Tokyo.

Had a long bus trip, fell well asleep on the bus. Reached the hostel at who knows what time. Left our luggages at the hostel storage room and headed back on the bus for Disneyland!

Well, the place was quite crowded, since it was a public holiday there and such. My aunt's camera was a bit weird and it kept going out of battery, so I was quite disappointed. And later it began raining. =.= Oh well, I still had fun. Tried a few rides and also the roller coaster. XD Bought a whole lot of stuff there too.

Then we headed back to Iidabashi to have dinner then it was back to the hostel. Called home that night. Spent 1000yen for a 7 minutes and 36 seconds call. XD

Oh well. Then next morning, we had breakfast before heading for Akihabara, where I bought so many stuff at the Tokyo Anime Center and Animate. Well, first went to the Tokyo Anime Center and bought this Detective Conan 2009 calendar and some Bleach keychain for Bro. Saw this Evangelion figurine, but it wasn't the same as what he asked me to buy so I left it there. Went on later to shop at Animate, alone. Bought more stuff for other people, as well as a Conan poster and a D.Grayman poster, Evangelion calendar and found no Evangelion figurine. So I ran back to the Tokyo Anime Center to buy the other one.

After lunch, it was Asakusa. Shopped a lot before Sensouji, bought a whole bag of stuff like lucky charms and stuff. Had fun spending there. Then I went to get my fortune told at the Omikuji, and my fortune was bad. Went into the temple and prayed for a bit before coming back out to shop.

For the whole day, I spent 15000yen. :D

That night, we took a bus to Kisarazu Sougou High School in Chiba, and their Vice-Principal, who looked like he was in his 70s, waited there for us in the cold. We hopped on to their school bus and they took us to their school for dinner. We ate and later realised that they had put us in a hotel instead of their dormitory. How nice of them.

And next morning, their school bus took us to their school for breakfast before their second performance. Another same thing again. Then we went out for a visit at Nippon Steel Kimitsu Works, a steel factory. Holy, it was hot inside. The visit was brief, and we went back to their school for a school tour. After touring places like Kendo gym, Judo gym and basketball courts, badminton courts, table-tennis court, etc, we went up this tower in their school and captured a few pictures of sunset. We came down, the sky was already dark, and the time was... 5.15pm Japan time. XD

So we went to their canteen to have dinner before heading back to the hotel. Had card games and random games until late in the night. Enjoyed scenery of the night sky somemore before falling asleep at 2am. Woke up at 6.30am and got ready to head for the airport. The Kisarazu school bus came and picked us up for breakfast at their school before taking us to the airport with a bigger bus. They were so nice.

Checked in our luggages at the airport and deposited some in the lockers. Headed over to AEON, a shopping mall nearby by shuttle bus, and did a bit of shopping. Well, didn't buy much.

Went back to the airport and baid farewell to the tour conductor/guide, Uri-chan (Urita Taeko), before heading into the Departure.

She was really nice, it wasn't her work to research and explain everything about everywhere, but she did. And she checked out everything for us and did all the contact. Besides that, she bought umbrellas in Disneyland because it was raining, and gave it to us. Also, she bought many many warmers (warm packs) for us, with her own money.

Okay, and it was departure. Spent another 5500yen in the daparture because I didn't want to bring back so much money. Had a terrible flight. Was long and shitty.

Okay, finally, I reached Singapore at 1am GMT +8. Went home, gave out presents, bathed, etc. Fell asleep at nearing 4am. XD

Okay, pictures time. Gee, this will take long.

Our hosting parents. The mum is 34 and the dad is 36. Their oldest daughter is 17!

Mount Fuji from another mountain. I heard that someone took a picture of Mt. Fuji from this same place and it was sent for an exhibition in the US. That made Mt. Fuji famous.

Those red maple leaves in the Niji no Sato. How nice.

Another picture of nice maple leaves.

This is what I call 木漏れ日. I mentioned that term and the tour guide was shocked that I knew such a word.

Our host family. From the left: Hisamasa, Sumie, Shion, Erina, Marina, Iman, Me. Their family is Watanabe, anyway.

That's Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland. Sorry for someone's head there.

Kaminari-mon at Asakusa.

Sunset on the bus.

Almost sunset. Taken on the ground.

Almost sunset. Taken on the tower.

Mr Yip giving Uri-chan the presents from Singapore.

Okay. That's all I'm nice enough to upload. They take quite long, you know.

Have thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Haha. But still, feels great to be back in Singapore. The sunny sky and warm weather. XD

posted at 2:59 PM

今すぐ君に逢いたい．．．