Denisegan's Xanga

Japan Spring 2009 - Day 3

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:50:23 GMT

half a year later I'm still stuck on this post!!! Japan spring =(

it's gonna be Japan winter 2009 soon !! Can't wait, I really need a break ler... anywhere will do, just wanna get away somewhere.

Ok so on to Japan day 3

Woke up to the motherly nakai-sans calling at the door. They do it so that we're ready and awake for the hot breakfast all freshly prepared at the breakfast area which only accomodates two or three families so that we may enjoy the exclusivity, relax and eat in the serene environment.

It's also the day that Doreen, Derick, Rose and myself would change room.... bo bien cuz apparently most Japanese only stay one night at a Ryokan and then other families may enjoy it after that as well? I'm confused if this is Japanese culture as that would mean money can't buy a longgggg stay at a ryoken can it?

The gorgeous view of the garden in the morning. We were to move to a smaller room upstairs which did not have a garden, but it was still pretty nonetheless.

At breakfast:-

I love Japanese breakfasts.... esp at this ryokan. We weren't overstuffed as we were in the previous Ryokan. And I liked the food.

Derick and I

Rice!! TOfu, pickles, veg, egg, and grilled fish.

The nakai-sans were veryyyy unscupulously polite and traditional. They stepped out of the room for a while and my brother, having finished his rice, went over to the rice bucket and scooped up more rice for himself. When the nakai-san came back and saw his refilled bowl (walau she's damn perceptive ok!!!) she bowed and apologized that he had to serve himself rice......

!!!!! young Japanese are sooooo not like that! but the traditional ones are just out of this world! Didn't think I'd ever see one

Forgot to mention.... there are several of these flower arrangements scattered about our room/toilet/dressing tables etc. See the impeccable service and attention to detail these people are capable of? It really is something!

After breakfast my mom and I (and the rest of the family in tow) went to a kimono rental shop to rent a kimono for the day.

of all colours, I chose pink....and ended up looking like a pink blob for the rest of the day.

pink blob

but look at my obi!!!!! it's damn nice right??? they did this with just one long piece of cloth and something that looked like a hair accessory (the green thing in the middle)

yeah they twisted, turned and folded the long obi so that it ended up like a pretty bow/flower

being very hiao in front of the mirror. of course we tried to get doreen to wear a kimono too but she staunchly refusedddd!!! nvm next time ill wear it with dana gan ~ nyehehehehe

While Derick and my dad and Rose went on their own to some far-off god forsaken fishing place (to fish of course), my mom,Doreen and I went to the Kiyomizu temple.

Again we grabbed at any chance of seeing a sakura tree. All the sakura there were in BUD ok!!! not opened yet. Imagine if the entire temple were surrounded with sakura? It'd be soooo beautiful.... or in the autumn when the leaves are out in their golden fiery splendour.

My mom chose this kimono

What more can I say la the whole Kyoto is pretty by itself, the temples dont need to say ady....beautiful

Doreen and I near the terrace

Mom and I.

We spotted a longggg line at the side before we entered into the veranda. We were thinking why on earth is there such a long line when the main attraction is the veranda area of the main hall (kiyomizu no butai) which is a beautiful wooden platform built on pillars that looked out at Kyoto ? Of course we were expecting to be looking out at a sea of sakura but no go la since all still in bud. =(

back to the main question... the long line.

Lawson also went to Kiyomizu .... a little while after our trip...then he told me that the long line is actually a queue to see the statue of the goddess of mercy and compassion, (kuan yin or Kannon in japan). They only open it up to public once every .... few decades???

wasted la T____T we were THISSS close and so ignorant of it.

nearby the terrace

Out at the veranda

I just realized I can qualify for "World's driest lips"

This is what happens when you don't listen to mummy

Mom

you can see th verandah better here, there's an interestin story behind it

Nah I copy and pasted from some website

The Japanese language has an expression: "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu." The nearest English equivalent is "to take the plunge." Tradition in Old Japan held that if you jumped from the terrace and lived, a wish you had made would be granted. The practice is now illegal, but during the Edo Era (1603 to 1867) some 234 people made the 40 foot leap and about 200 of them lived. The main hall is dedicated to the goddess of mercy.

Sources disagree as to the date that Kiyomizu was founded. But all sources agree that it was before 800 A.D. That makes the temple over 1200 years old. Kiyomizu was periodically destroyed by fire and by conquering armies. The current structure dates to 1633 AD when it was rebuilt entirely.

The Jishu-jinja Shrine and the God of Love

The Jishu-jinja shrine at Kiyomizu is dedicated to Okuninushino-Mikoto, the Japanese god of love and match making. The shrine includes a pair of "love stones" that sit about 60 feet from each other. Visitors try to walk between the stones with their eyes closed. If they succeed they supposedly will find true love. Someone can help the walker, but that means they will need a go between with their future true love.

A statue of the god Okuninushino-Mikoto and his messenger (a rabbit) are at the shrine entrance behind Kiyomizu's main hall. The temple's Shinto "Love Shrine" is popular with Japanese lonely hearts

Otowa Falls

Otowa Falls (known for the purity of its water; kiyomizu translates as "pure water")

Grab a scoop, catch the water falling in streams with it

And drink?

I really forgot what its for.... this is wht happens when you blog abt an event half as year later...

back of mom's head

Magnolia blossoms!! White, soft and they smell reallyyyyyyyyy good!!

That concluded the Kiyomizu trip. We thereafter sauntered down the busy streets winding down from the temple area. They're packed with souvenirs, food and what not. Mom, DOreen and I had some lunch, shopped for souvenirs (where I got some cute Japanese cloth bags) ... then we waited for the van to come and get us.

Awesome goma soft ice cream! THis shop sells the best goma (black sesame) foods. There's a goma mochi like pancake with black sesame filling....they sorta toast it on both sides and the result??? Slightly crispy mochi pancake with warm sweet black sesame paste inside.....Never had anything like it! Soooo good

Back at the RYokan in the new room.....the ever attentive nakai-san came up with some hot tea and towels

More pics

This pic reminds me so much of the Meiji era where men were starting to embrace western style clothing!!!

being hiao

lot of props in the room

hiao summore

End of Day 3

Neighbours

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:51:58 GMT

They're fighting again I can just hear it.

Yup I'm talking about the Korean family who lives right above me. Everytime they squabble I can hear the yelling and the scraping and the banging that goes on in the floor above.

Once when I came home, there was an ambulance parked near the security guard house. There were police at the foot of my block. For a moment my heart jumped to my throat, I thought something had happened to one of my family members.

As soon as I got up to my floor they were all at the door, peering at the stairs leading to the floor above us.

Apparently the Korean family had another loud argument, so loud that the Indian neighbour across from their door got so frightened and called up the police and ambulance. The Korean son had taken some money from his dad's wallet or something, his dad found out and gave the poor boy the whacking and scolding of his life. He's only 10-12 years old.

The fight was so raw and uncensored that the screaming even enticed the attention of neighbours from ACROSS the road.

Such madness.

I've seen the korean husband and wife before. They came home in their car after grocery shopping. It was the wife that dragged all the heavy groceries into the lift, her face all lined and aged with stress no doubt from all the fighting.

The husband is a short pompous looking fart. I got out at my floor and he got out at the floor above mine. He couldnt even wait to pass through their apartment door before he yelled at his wife in korean.

Male chauvinist pig. What makes a guy think he has the right to raise his hand at a woman? Or his own child?

Japan Spring- Day 2

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:05:14 GMT

Day 2 starts off.......

this is when we came down to Kyoto from Arima Onsen.

Pictures from 2nd Day Arima Onsen.

Breakfast.... we had thought to wake up at 8 to watch mochi pounding session.... but overslept and missed it. Not surprisingly =D

This Salmon seen above is cold. I thought it was a cold dish!!! Mana tau...

You see that string??? You have to PULL on it to activate the heat/steam. So the dish is heated up like that.

But I smartly ate everything cold. It was only halfway through the meal my dad discovered the heat up method =(

How would we know!!! Normally things are heated up in the kitchen!!!

More side dishes during breakfast. As usual, meals are huge esp for kaiseki types

Part of breakfast too. bamboo shoots/veg shavings and some noodles

Tamago! yummy.

Fruit and yoghurt

Refreshing lime juice

Greedy me with swollen eyes

How on earth do japanese stay so slim!!!

ooo they even had Mua zhee (mochi in chopped peanuts and sugar) top right of the picture

So they expect us to eat everything including that big bowl of rice!

Lastly

Soup with tofu, mushrooms and pork balls heated up mini steamboat style.

After breakfast we packed up and left amidst all the friendly goodbyes from the staff. They were all so nice and friendly!!!

Stuffed our baggage into the hired van and slept all throughout the journey to Kyoto. Several hours it was!

We reached our destination, hiragiiya ryokan where we were shown to our rooms and unloaded our luggages. Our rooms were awesome! but more on that later !!!

We immediately set off to trawl Kyoto for sakura. Since it was a little early for the season, we werent greeted by sakura petals blowing everywhere. Instead we saw a few sparse trees lining roads and rivers with small pink buds =(

Thank goodness the driver knew of some good places for flowers

The behind is peach blossoms!!. But it's like an entire garden of them right in Kyoto Imperial Palace. So gorgeous! We were right in the middle/end of the peach blossom/ plum blossom season. Everyone was out for a picnic/photo taking session with the plum and peach blossoms.

Gorgeous flowers

i loveeeeeeeeee the downy petals!!!

My mom

Yes, when we saw everyone else having a picnic under all the flowers we decided to have one too! Doreen/Derick and Rose went off to get some food and we spread it out on the grass.

Noodles, coke, sandwich, am not sure what else there was.

If only the sun wasn't so bright!!!

Finally a nice picture =D

After eating

At this point we were wondering if we could ever catch a glimpse of some early, full bloom sakura. Rose suddenly disappeared to look for some sakura and left us clueless as to where she was.

This was while waiting for her to return

she was gone for so long ok =(

But then she came back with good news! She found two"weeping willow" cherry blossom trees =DDDD

Derick sulked in this picture so we made him take a second one SMILING

yeah erm... not much improvement either ahem

during the long walk to the sakura area, we came across a magnificent magnolia tree

these huge soft flowers smell amazing! Sweet and soft fragrance.

(actually they smell like soap/perfume...the delicate kind)

HELLO THERE~~~ <3

sakura~

This weeping cherry sort is called shidarezakura. There are many other types of sakura of course. This is one of my favourites!

Gorgeousssssssss

Looks like a shower of pink sprays

Nothing beats being there to see it and to actually experience the atmosphere. The gentle swaying of sweeping branches laden with whitish pink, followed by a subtle breeze carrying forth petals from the flowers. It was magical I could almost attest to it!

obligatory family photo minus dana (muahahah sweet revenge)

Rose and I

Organizers for this Japan trip

Mom and a sulky derick

Couple appreciating the cherry blossoms

While snapping this photo, a japanese couple (yes the same one above) walked past and commented "Indonesian tourists, most likely" in Japanese.

I delighted in giving them a nice shock when I replied back that we're Malaysian in Japanese

mom and dad

Can't get enough of those flowers! Of course they are most gorgeous when they are out in full force in Kyoto!

Imagine walking down a path lined with pink (Ok so I'm not the greatest fan of pink but this is an exception!)

Grabbing the sakura branches for a photo

Not sure if I was allowed to grab them like that to take a photo

But after we were done taking photos, the Japanese couple decided to follow suit and took photos at the exact spot and with the exact pose that we did HAHAHHAHAA

Quite funny since while people from around the world would want to copy the Japanese, these Japanese couple copied a bunch of Malaysian tourists.

Then again there's Tadashi who knows more about Malaysia than me -___-"

We walked around looking for a place to eat. Derick needed some meat ==D Ventured into some place nearby hiiragiya ryokan. There were small shops, Nishiki Food market, Isetan, takashimaya on one of the main roads.

Good arrangement *sly smile*

I'm proud of this shot!!!

Inside the katsudon place we ate at

At the food market where we bought some Japanese snacks to bring back

The lantern spells "Yakitori" and hangs outside a small eatery

I have no idea what this is, but I like how this picture turned out!

The lighting is pretty and the stick divider is a nice touch

Then we returned to the Ryokan for dinner

Our room! (mine, doreen derick and Rose's). So huge isn't it? It's one of the party rooms apparently

The bathroom.... I didnt take a photo of it... cuz it was dark and i was scared HAHHAHAHA

It basically consisted of an ofuro and shower, and wooden stools to sit on while you wash yourself. The clean, fresh scent of pine and sandalwood was very strong I remember.... plus our shower gel/shampoo etc was made up of those things.

Another thing I noticed of these Ryokans.... there are fresh flowers everyday. In many forms of ikebana (flower arrangement). I loved how detailed and meticulous everything was in the Ryokan.

Derick playing his gameboy. The paper shutters beyond him and the table actually slide open to reveal a large wide screen TV.

Yes, this and the garden is also a part of our living space. =D

Beautiful!

This is the Nakai-san (attendant) who attended to us the whole trip. She's really nice/cultured/well-mannered

In this photo, she is setting out our dinner. Mom and dad join us in our room for dinner. It's strange to eat in the same room you sleep but it's normal in Japan? Doreen loved it too I'm sure =p

Seated for dinner.

Our menu for the meal... as before, the entire list is served to each and every one of us

And so the parade of food begins:-

Pea soup, peach cocktail, yubu (i forgot the rest)

Some sashimi

some more seafood

grilled seafood

soup and rice

can't remember!

Fruits

Again... I almost exploded after eating.

Me and derick with one of the flower arrangements in the room

The Nakais setting out our futons. We get to watch this time!

Fluffy futons!!!

Sooooooooooo nice and fluffy I love it!

Doreen again flew onto her futon after they were done. The pillows too were nice and plump. Love how everything is nice, downy and cloud-like!

Mom and I in our yukata provided by the Ryokan. You can wear this to lounge about and sleep?

and the overcoat.... hmm i forgot what it's called

In the garden with our geta

After this Doreen, derick and i just hung around, transferring pictures and watching movies on Doreen's laptop

End of Day 2

Japan Spring 2009 Day 1

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:05:18 GMT

I know I only just finished blogging about last year's Japan trip. But I wanted to write about this spring's Japan trip so I'm gonna hold off the Canada entry til after this~

My family and I planned to see the sakura this year. Rose was supposed to organize it, but things didn't go as planned so I had to ask Tadashi for help booking the Ryokan and stuff. He pulled through amazingly amidst all my panic.

The morning I was supposed to fly off to Japan I had the last minute nerves, you know the anxious feeling you get "What if the ryokan is not booked where are we gonna stay....Is my Visa properly done, what if I'm sent home after the long flight there??"

ya la paranoid ok! At the Japanese immigration, they stopped a woman travelling from Malaysia because she didn't have a Japanese visa (seeeee I'm not paranoid for nothing!!!)

So the trip was 4 nights and 5 days long (for me, my dad and rose) to Kyoto. Mom and siblings left a day early as the small kids had exams (HHAHAHAHAHA). I flew to Osaka airport from Singapore and met my family there in the airport (they landed an hour earlier). From there we took a van to Taketoritei Maruyama, Arima Onsen.... prob about 2-3 hours drive from Osaka airport as the place is in Kobe. I chose this place because they have private hot springs!!! Don't have to go to the public onsens and see everyones privates! And I can take towels into the bath with me =D

The itinierary:-

18 March 2009 - arriving Kansai, Osaka at around 7am

[transfer from Osaka to Arima Onsen]

Accomodation: Taketoritei Maruyama

19 March 2009 - (around noon) Check out from Onsen Accomodation

- transfer from Onsen to Kyoto

- Kyoto city sightseeing

Accomodation: Hiragiya Ryokan

20 March 2009 - Kyoto and vicinity cities (including Hemehji and etc) sakura sightseeing

Accomodation: Hiragiya Ryokan

21 March 2009 - From Kyoto to Kansai Osaka

Turns out we were too early to see sakura T____T. BUT we were able to see the plum blossoms which normally come out before the sakura.

It took us a nice long hike up and down pebble paths and longkangs (just because they were easier to walk in ok!!)... on high heeled boots....

when we FINALLY reached the place i dropped my humongous camera bag in a corner and went picture crazy.

My mom's pretty here right??? =D

Plum blossoms have a really really sweet smell and are shaped like small rounded buds.

Aren't they pretty? like a froth of pink bubbles. I'm quite proud of this shot too! Still learning how to use my camera.

There's the pink variety and the white ones

My photo taking skills not bad ok!! nyek~

The area was quite high up overlooking the town. Arima Onsen itself is full of slopes and hilly paths

Gorgeous!!!

Mom and dad

taken with flash.... came out differently even with the harsh sunlight

yeah we took a LOT of photos to compensate for all that walking/hiking uphill just to see the plum blossoms!

more blossoms against the blue sky shots. Was super hot and sunny that day without a cloud in the sky.

the next few shots are us with the cameras....all trying hard to take nice shots

me with my canon 400D

Derick with my oh so awesome blinged camera... canon of course

Doreen gan with her 40D

Mom with my camera.

Taken with Rose's Nikon

mother and daughter hiao

HAHAAHHA

hot and sweaty and bothered with the bright sunlight.... and that the sunlight was not falling at the right places. You know when the background is nice you'd also need some nice sunlight positioning to make a nice photo?

The sunlight wasn't shining right that day T_________T

We got a Japanese passerby to take a photo for all of us.... I wonder why I didn't take out my tripod... after all I already lugged it all the way =(

Derick washing his hands/mouth at a nearby shrine.

Then we walked down to look for lunch. Had lunch at a small restaurant.

And let me tell you it was so good I forgot about taking a picture til I finished eating!

Kurimu soda (cream soda) was the bomb !! like the Lime and Vanilla popsicle I used to have when I was younger.... but nicer! So refreshing after the hot and sticky trek.

The tempura ebi was yummy too! While tempura is normally crispy, this one had more egg in it and it turned out so well!

Therefore the picture of the shell only instead of the whole thing before I greedily devoured it.

These orchids were so pretty they looked fake!

These too! but they were 100% real. I know cuz I felt them up =D

Walked around summore, went into souvenir shops and bought a few souvenirs, and Japanese snacks to try. Then we spotted this!

woo hoo! free hot springs to soak your tired feet in

we had to buy some cheap towels nearby to wipe off after we were done

was so darn hot!!! my feet felt like they were gonna explode

aren't these dogs cute!!! we spotted them twice while walking around arima onsen

me exhausted and waiting for the bus to take us back to the inn.

got into a bus full of old people. I think that Arima Onsen is where people go to when the retire... predominantly silver haired people!

Back at takotoritei:-

They served us plum tea and mochi

the plum tea had gold stuff in it. Was so gross !! Sour but ... gross... I dunno la! ahahahha it's just strange

mom gobbling the snack.

After which we were led off to pick the yukata of our choice. To use in the inn of course, not to take away unfortunately.

Mom on the cart before being wheeled off to the lift. HAHAHAHA

Parents' room

Which had its own onsen. The silver hot spring.

and a kotatsu! which I never tried in the end

Pretty Japanese lady explaining how the onsen, dinner and breakfast works.

I just realized how strange that sounds... how dinner and breakfast and the onsen works? dont u just go and eat and splash into the hot springs? In Japan I guess things are a little more meticulous and orderly.

our room! And here's how it works... in the daytime the tables and seats are set out like this. Then when you go off for dinner, the employees will come shuffling in to put the table and seats away and set out your futons side by side.

dressed to go to the hot springs

omg... doreen gan is my height....almost! omg !!!

next to the silver and gold springs

Arima Onsen has two kinds of springs: One is called "Kinsen" because the water is colored yellow-brown from its iron and salt. The other is "Ginsen," which contain radium and carbonate. The water of Ginsen is colorless.

one of them is supposed to be good for backs too but i forgot which

mom and doreen sitting beside the springs after a soak. Strange la it's an open onsen. Half of it is covered the rest is open air. Behind the onsen in a forest of bamboo i think. Mom was a bit paranoid someone would be watching hahahaha

blood circulation kicked in after a (Very HOT) soak in both the silver and gold baths. relaxing too

at dinner with our yukata.

It took us all so darn long to get into those yukatas! we were wrapping them up wrongly and tying the obis into weird knots! In the end we had to ask for help from the receptionist and a lady, skilled at kimono dressing, came up to our rooms to help wrap us into the yukatas.

doing the kawaii pose while waiting for dinner to be served

this is ony crazy long list for dinner ok. It's not that this is a menu where we choose what we want to eat... it's a menu where everything on this list is served to you!

strawberry wine. on a mini cart. So cute right??? and so delicious! Strawberry wine is the best wine ever!

And I love the eye for detail here.

see??? everything is so perfectly placed. This is Kaiseki.... healthy food... REALLY healthy food

sometimes abit too healthy =D

sashimi served with loads of greens. I thought it was weird at first but i fell in love with it after that. Now when I buy sashimi, i buy alfalfa sprouts to go with them.

tempura... served with salt??

beef.... which I threw over to Derick to eat since he was having difficulty with the healthy food. He only eats pork cutlets when we go for Japanese... never the raw stuff.

And you dump it into the pot to cook =D so cool *raves more about japan*

and more strawberry wine

am not sure why they served the rice last... and I'm not sure what that bowl beside the rice bowl contains... slimy stuff... I wonder if it's natto all blended into a paste to trick us into eating it... it didnt taste bad...it was just slimy

at this point i was about to burst

family in yukatas

The japanese girls love to put their hair into huge buns at the top of their heads. While theirs are nice and neat and plump, mine is just messy!! It's a mystery how they always look so good!

Back in the room.... futons laid out all ready for us to sleep. Doreen flew onto her soft downy comforter.

I shouldnt be worried that it'll be cold during winter, because there are heaters in the room. I loveeee these futons!!! So nice and fluffy!

Doreen and rose.

By this time we were all soooo sleeepy... it was already around 10-11 ish. But mom and I made another trip to the onsen while my dad soaked in their room.

Gold springs

That's all for day one!

On the flight home

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:30:39 GMT

On the flight back home to KL, I trudged my way through the narrow aisles .... as ungraceful as ever with two bags in tow. When I finally got to my seat, I found out that the passenger sitting beside me was a little girl of no more than 9-10 years old.

3 things occured to me.... firstly, that I may probably hit her with my trolley bag while hoisting it into the overhead compartment.... secondly, she was travelling alone (I confirmed this later when some of the crew members escorted her out of the plane to the immigration)....and thirdly the little kid was occupying the aisle seat while I occupied the window seat.

This little girl quietly got out of her seat without me even asking her so that I could dump my handbag onto my seat and fling my trolley bag up onto the oh so out-of-reach overhead compartments.

I was thinking then that this girl had nice manners. Then as I proceeded to sit down, I asked her if she would like to switch seats so she could have the window seat (which is what is considered a prime seat for many people like my younger siblings). Instead of mumbling an "ok" or "no" with shy, downcast eyes (or maybe in some cases, snottier replies!), she looked me straight in the eye, beamed and said "It's ok".

I don't know why but I was pleasantly taken aback by that wide smile. Certainly didn't expect it. When the flight attendants handed out the health declaration forms to us, the kid took out a neat, black planner with her passport details, ticket and handwritten travel checklist all nicely tucked into the folds and pockets in the organizer. She then slowly and meticulously filled out the form. I on the other hand, scrounged around haphazardly in my bag for a pen, the ticket stub and my passport which were scattered among other items in my bag.

During the flight she took out a book to read... Daddy Long Legs.. which brought back memories of Enid Blyton's weird and wonderful tales that I used to devour. The little girl had on a face mask, was neat, organized, well-mannered, really cute, and precocious on top of everything.

Despite all that I was reminded of her age when the plane went through some bad turbulence and her hands, one of which was clutching her book, grabbed at both her armrests... she was obviously scared though she didn't utter a word or a single cry.

Looking at this little girl, my maternal instincts started raging and I realize that I do want to have children. And now I'm hoping that I might have a daughter that's just like her.

Japan day 5 - KYOTO!!

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:27:47 GMT

Hohoho~ long time no see blog! been busy but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! It's the year of the Ox =D

Went to take shoot fireworks... as in take photos of the fireworks.

Camped out under our tripods for 6 hours near the merlion on NYE. Luckily Melvin jom place otherwise we probably wont be able to get the shots that we did.

I was the noob one there with my kit lens. Melvin and Edmund had some really good lenses T____T

Luckily I managed to borrow a tripod beforehand otherwise I wouldnt have been able to shoot anything at all.

My first shot =D

a wide angle would have done wonders T_________T

rambutan!

this is how hell looks like *nods head*

I'm only putting up the acceptable ones so not many here

this is my pride and joy!!! looks like fairies doesnt it!!! It's my clearest, smoke-less shot

edmund, melvin and I celebrating our first fireworks shoot. Edmund is using his wireless remote.

The hellish journey back home. This is Cityhall MRT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanted to finish off the Japan trip =D after all these months I left it sitting under "drafts"

alice got bullied

yeah! matching pyjamas!!

hello kitty on top of that.

it's getting more and more comfy now =D wish i bought more.

ACBC !!

awww miss you aliceee!!!

next day... woke up early to go to Kyoto. The day I've been waiting for!!!

But my goodness I got a shock at the Shinkansen prices. Seriously.... few hundred ringgit to Kyoto one way. Burnt a hole right through my pockets.

In the shinkansen

where all of us ended up snoring away. so tired!!!

dana and chryseis

This is gonna be a long picture post.

outside the shinkansen. desperately trying to open my eyes. Chryseis and Dana are smart.... wear sunnies

Not sure if we were veryyyy hungry or too unsure of where to have our lunch. So we just went into the first decent looking restaurant we went to (while still in the station).

The food was average la

Tempura udon?

And we took pics with this statue of a Geisha!! Just in case we don't get to see any in Gion

Kyoto!!! Less city-like than Tokyo. I love it!!!

in the cab on the way to our first destination: Fushimi Inari Shrine

I chose the destinations we were to visit in Kyoto

My choices were:-

1) Fushimi Inari Shrine - Because it looked sooooooo gorgeous in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. The rows and rows of torii. Red and glowing

2) Gion - I secretly harboured hopes of nabbing a geisha to take a photo with. Or even better dress up as one and take photo, like tiong, iming and chekkie did! Looked so fun!

3) Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) - Another scenic location. Beautiful...

me in the front.... for the purpose of paying the taxi driver each time T_______T

is that all I'm there for huh huhhh???

we're hereeeee

in front of the entrance of the shrine

There are some basic manners that we need to observe while at shrines. First, we need to bow deeply and make ourselves presentable in front of the Torii, which is the gateway to the shrine.

Second, we need to wash our hands and mouth at the Chozuya to purify ourselves.

i forgot what we had to do here....hold the scoop with your right hand , pour water into the other hand, and drink/rinse mouth with water before placing it back

Attempting to follow instructions

Not sure how well we followed instructions haahhahah

perhaps we should have watched how the others did it first!!!

I love all things japanese =DD

Handling the big camera is always tricky.... I need more tips

our "4 princesses" picture HAHAHAHAHHA

*shudder*

I loveeeeeeee Kyoto!!!

Dana is so aware of the camera

When we pray, we need to throw a coin in offering box. After throwing a coin we need to ring the bell, and bow two times, clap two times and pray. After praying we need to bow again.

I think we were deciding on the coin to drop into the box. Apparently a certain coin is better. Forgot already. This is what happens when you leave something too long and come back and try to blog about it.

See those ribbons at the back?

You pull on them to ring the bell. So cool!!!

I think this is where ppl write their wishes on paper and then tie them here.

took lots of pictures while looking for the spot that I wanted =DDD

love this photo of dana and chryseis

sigh~ don't you think it's so pretty!!!

finally! almost reached the area

THIS!!! people.... THIS!!! is why I chose fushimi inari shrine. it's because of all this red glowing passage

the path split into two but we weren't keen on walking the whole way

I think it's absolutely magical

The... year ? I don't knowwww!!!

Have you ever watched Memoirs of a Geisha before?

This is the place where Chiyo-chan runs through at the very end of the movie. Sooooooo beautiful. Of course, it looked much bigger in the movie than it did in real life, cuz it was a child running through it after all how could I forget T____T

i'm gonna come back here some day when my camera skills are better!!!

but.... so many mosquitoes... i got bitten T____T

exiting the place.

Next stop! We hopped onto a cab to Gion!

I think it's quite obvious why I chose the place.... I harboured a secret agenda to see a geisha up close. To be entertained by one is way out of budget

Entrance to some... i honestly have no idea haha

Traditional houses, entrances, name plates

I was intrigued by everything.

Yes we were on a mission.... to find a geisha and some museum or show which was closed or not running T___T

I don't know what I felt back then.... like being transported into a Jap movie or back in time.

Now if only Alice were wearing a kimono

this is one weird shot. wonder who took it ~

hello obachan in kimono =DDD *stalk stalk

Where there are more women donning traditional yukatas/kimonos, complete with the sash, tabi socks and slippers and paying respect to different houses, bowing dozens of times before leaving each place.

We fulfilled our mission to take photos with a geiko/geisha (or at least people who are dressing up as them)

sighhhh~ they're costumes so pretty! and the accessories... and obi sash

long obi sashes are for

mmmm.... we caught a maiko!!!

but i have a sneaky suspicion that she was just a girl dressing up as one

but anyway! mission geisha targeting completed! albeit a little cheating was involved.

Feast your eyes on the most magnificent puff ever!!!! this one is goma (black sesame)

We found the store tucked away in some random corner while we were in Gion wandering about, lost.

Alice and Chryseis's bag

Sisterssss!

hello sweets =D

i forgot what flavour she took... green tea?

Sitting at the front of the taxi.... to pay the cab fares T_________T SOB !!!

WHY MEEEE~

Gion - geisha targeting accomplished. Next up. KENKAKUJI!!! *Golden pavilion* I somewhat remember going there when I was younger.

On the way to Kenkakuji ~ Kyoto is chock full of scenic buildings, shrines and history

Dana and the ... admission ticket?

alice with hers

omg this Chriseis had to stick it on her forehead... chinese vampire style

me and mine. yes i'm devoid of creativity.

This was where we paid 200 yen each to swing the log to hit the bell. And pray/make a wish. Received a postcard each =D

It was fun hehehe~

Leaving the gigantic bell to search for the main attraction... the gold temple itself.

There's also a silver version named Ginkakuji... but they never got around to covering it with silver.

Gorgeous isn't it?

alice

chryseissss

This picture is one of my favs. me, alice and chryseis

This was taken by Dana as you can see, since she's not in the picture

<3 I'm sooooo coming back here again

I love this pic toooo

Taken by Alice

All of us. Wonder if we would have seen autumn leaves if we came in autumn instead?

here comes captionless pictures

After we had our fill of the main structure, we trudged up the path behind it, along with the rest of the visitors.

It led up to this hut selling fortunes and charms

I think that moss covered place is where people used to wash themselves after using the toilet? (I DONT KNOW!!!! aliceee can you remember what you translated for me!!!???)

Chryseissss don't fall innnnn~

Bought one charm. I've forgotten what's it for though. Dana and I bought a pair for my parents too

Try your luck throwing coins into that little stone basin.... I swear you'll never get it in -_-" *grim*

this pic of chryseis is so cute =D

yeah we clambered all the way up. Slippers are the best!!! Esp during the summer when you need to walk a lot. Forget about sneakers!!! They're way too hot!

I should have blogged about this immediately after the trip..... can't remember all the little details now.

hello bag =) come to momma ~ *gleam*

as you can see, the most pariah looking slipper is mine

awwww i miss everyone

Waiting for the shinkansen... which cost 13000 yen one way. Two way ticket goes up to 26000 yen. Which is 260 USD. For a two to three hour train ride each way.

My pockets felt so.. soo.... empty as you can imagine =(

The rip-off shinkansen tickets

alice went wandering off while I got hold of the tickets. And she found a pastry shop!

Look at all the creations!!!

Strawberries seem to be a predominant feature in Japanese foods.... along with melons and peaches

macaroonSSS on.... i'm not sure what type of fruit is that... is it a fruit?

More strawberries and whipped cream. Chocolate pocky-like sticks

Now this is interesting.... oranges? peaches? blackberry, cream...

look at all thatttt *droooolll* so pretty!!!!

We rushed back to Tokyo in time to collect Alice and Dana's blinged mirrors.

Yes, they bought simple cheap mirrors, and took it to a "bling" shop where they stick on the diamantes for you, in the pattern of your choice.

This is Dana's. ahahhaha

alice's... sorry, the lighting is terrible

Oh I love me so much *preen*

Do this if you want to wrinkle up faster

Forgot what this was T_____T

Yummy!!

I love Japanese style spaghetti where they add half cooked eggs on top. and wafu cream sauce!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued. I know this is a SUPER backdated post but oh well. No time la T__T and I'm rusty

T____T saaaaaaaaaadddd

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:38:28 GMT

I've been neglecting my blog lately hahahaha. Ooops.

Been busy .... and distracted. Blogging normally eats up about two hours.

Lately on holidays and even on weekends, I've been waking up at seven or eight. This happens even when I sleep late, at about 3 or so. Of course I make myself go right back to sleep. Wake up for what!

Is this the result of working life? That the incorrigible pig in me gets an automatic wake up call from my own internal clock. how can!!!!

Besides that, I feel extremely lonely. Put aside the fact that I stay with my grandmother and aunt. It's the fact that I don't have anyone my own age to communicate with and relate to. In university, everyone was more or less the same age, we could still chat and talk, we were still more or less in the same campus area . It was so comfortable and blissful. It was also very enjoyable in college where/even though everyone was lumped into one area and couldn't really move too far from the college due to boarding school restrictions.

But now? I don't know. it doesnt make things better that my friends are mostly in the uk.

Maybe it's cuz i miss uni life. I miss how things were before. I miss my independence. And I miss the cold weather. The hot weather here makes me so tired

And I'm still unfamiliar with a lot of things.... so it doesn't help. I'm doing my best and will try harder to familiarize myself, but for the time being...

I feel awful

Day 4: Harajuku, Sanryuu

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:33:34 GMT

Not sure what time we woke up that day. But it wasn't early that's for sure =D

We made our way to Harajuku, fashion capital/street of Japan. So excited ok =D Not sure if this beats Shibuya though

LOOOKKKKKKK goth/lolita clothes

so fascinating!

I've always always read about cosplayers and lolis =D and seen pics too of course. Never really seen costumes for sale all splayed out on the streets.

Then again...akihabra is probably a better place to get costumes...kinky ones even(especially) ahahahaha.

Punk/Dark/goth

i.e. black clothes, some red to signify blood and violence, chains, silver accessories

I bet I ming shops here =p

Harajuku is a very busy place, the streets were teeming with all sorts of people. Lots of funky shops

Looking for a place to have lunch

Not sure what shop is this. Too busy rushing by

Found a small restaurant to have lunch. THis place serves really good katsudon =D

Dana and I

I think we all had the same thing. The three of us in the cosy restaurant where we had to bend our heads to get into the place.

More pics of us stuffing our faces

Alice

So yummyyyyy!

Sigh~ <3

(am in the airport now, waiting for the flight back to singapore. Very conscious of kids running around and people walking to and fro and all the announcements made makes me feel very very uneasy....like my flight is going off without me T_________T Please proceed to gate bla bla bla for boarding immediately. Panggilan terakhir untuk penerbangan etc etc etc ........ makes me feel very kan chiong hahahaha)

Plain tofu tastes soooo good with ginger and spring onion. And a bit of bonito stock

watch my hair flatten over the course of the day T_________T

lingerie shop

I swear, the Japanese women cheat people wan! the bikinis are padded until so gao! more gao than the brasseries ok! And their D cup is actually B cup

Plus side is, they have a wide variety.

I love girly shops <3<3

(tho I'd rather they be less pink)

Weird system. The there are two dressing rooms at the back of the shop, across the room from each other. Certain brands, we can only try in dressing room 1, the other brands, try it in dressing room 2. If you try the stuff in dressing room 1 and you want to buy it, you have to buy it at the counter right outside dressing room 1 before proceeding to dressing room 2 to try/buy.

So weird -.-"

dana with the brick cam

outside this weird costume shop

I don't know what costumes are these! At first sight I thought they were meant to be some traditional costumes, but on a closer look I find that....they look more like star trek costumes

=DDDDD

We bought some hair accessories from this shop...again, lots of nice things to see/buy. This Mickey statue was placed at the entrance of the shop

I really wonder what's the connection between Mickey Mouse and the accessory shop. Not like he's wearing any accessories also! Yes he's totally overdecorated but nothing relevant to a hair accessory shop

Then there's the waffle place

Sigh ~ <3

We fell in love with the sight of this display....

Waffles, sweet treats, and pretty deco

I loveeeeeeee how Alice looks here

so pretty, like a doll liddat

Dana chose a good flavour... though I can't remember what it is already.

I went for boring Strawberry and cream (but I like it okkk) with some strawberry ice cream?

More of the enticing display *drool*

This girl looks kinda grumpy hahahaha

Can you see our beautiful waffle cone?

*salivates

I'm sorry I couldn't help it

it's too pretty

T____T Why Alice and Dana have so many pics together *jealous

Issit cuz im the cameraman T_____T

Strawberry and creaaaaam

I shared the cone with Alice....too near dinner-time...but we just had to get a cone T_________T

Dana and I with our cones

Dana's self-taking skills are so good la can you tell =D

ahahhahaaha

In the middle of Harajuku

Mooo~

I love the blurry background made by people rushing past. Makes the pic look very busy! (it was busy to start with anyway )

-.-"

Lovesss<3

Alice bought that hair accessory at the shop

Entrance to the street

SO hard to take a picture....too many people walking in and out

Alice and Dana T_____T

Alice and Dana AGAIN (at the station)

grrrr is it not enough that BOTH of you are in uk (and im here alone in Singapore T________T so sadddd)

Chryseis finally arrived that day. We took off to Ropponggi to have dinner at this very posh place. They hang our bags up for us and all *weeps for joy*

See the people in the background? I think one of them worked in Indonesia before and recognized us as Malaysians (he's ang moh ok o.0 and could speak some malay)

This is the 'Before' picture

The following picture.........

"After"

we had BIBS ok!!!!! tied around our necks! like babies!!!

Red bibs

erm....red halterneck

Nezha with a plate of fried urchin and rice topped with egg

We sat right in front of the chef. Yes, it's one of those restaurants where you can watch the chef cook your food right before your eyes.

Here is the chef setting the urchin on fire

Doesnt it look like some evil tarantula emerging from the flames of hell

(ok I watch too much anime HAHAHHAHAHA)

Not sure what he's sauteeing here

waiting for our food

Oops, I think these are the things the chef needed to make the fried sea urchin fried rice (which alice and I ordered)

I think the egg is so cute lorrrr!!

The chef is packing the rice into the metal thingy to shape the rice

Laaaaaaammmmmbbbbbbbbb <3 we loveeeeee

Alice took the tomatoes of course

I think this is pork

Erm and that's the hunk of beef that Dana and Chryseis ordered

Omg and Chyrseis and I had FOIE GRASSS!!!! WHICH WAS SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD WITH THAT CARAMELISED FRUIT.

rich + sweet = heaven (literally! so much cholesterol ok!)

Not sure if this is escargot....with garlic bits on top

After a very very filling meal, we headed to KIDDYLAND

Yup, Alice had to go there for all the hello kitty stuff -.-"

erm...take pic with spidey first

took me many tries, dunno where the clear pic went to

sorryyyy!

At kiddyland.... (by that time it started to pour outside)

She got a lot! (but then again so did i...just not all hello kitty)

I headed to the anime/manga floor. Lots of naruto stuff, some bleach, some one piece (blech =Z)

What are these things! why so cute and soft wan

Oh and I havent mentioned...I think Lilo and stitch have become a big thing in Japan (either that or there's another movie being released/released already) and now Stitch has a girlfriend

Imma name her stitchess. She's pink and has long wavy antennaes -.-"

Yeahhh Chryseis had to teman us =DDDD

Alice in her wonderland -.-"

(dont kill me ok alice =DDDD)

After which, we went home with our purchases (which was a lot! I found some cute hello kitty drawers (the type you put accessories in)

And as if dinner wasn't heavy enough, we went for supper HAHAHAAHAH

freshness burger is the best burger you'll ever get in Japan. Forget about MOS. THis is the real deal!

Soft burger bun, as fluffy as only Japanese burger buns can get.

and the best thing is, there's not only beef there, but a lot of other non-beef options ahahahha

This would be bacon and egg. SSOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good

I think this is the beef one....

Takes a little slower than fast food places, because the guy has to cook everything once you order.... but at least it comes out piping hot and fresh

Chryseis playing with her phone/dictionary/I dunno I'm horrible at gadgets

Dana the gangsta

Listening intently to Chryseis

The counter

Remember this name!!!

see la my hair so flat already

such a comfortable scene....

im definitely going back to uk to visit T__________T

I was doing my reading and suddenly the image of Cannon Park shopping centre just flashed into my mind. In that second I saw Iceland and Wilkinsons and the path to Tesco....and Boots tucked into a corner, Fresh Asia which is characterised by the very kampung small display of vegetables and rice and instant noodles outside the shop.

And I wanted to cry T________T I really really wanted to cry. I'm Warwick-sick T_________T So many fond memories there, it's so hard to let go.

*Emo pic* but Alice spoils it by doing a suckerfish in the background -.-"

This reminds me of McDonalds =DDD

T________T

T______T

Chryseis recommends the best eating places =D (im comin back and by that time you need to recommend more places okkkkkkk chryseis? hahahaaha)

Alice trying out the yukata I got in Harajuiku

But, I FAILED at putting it on her

Then we figured out how to put it on to make it look (slightly) more presentable on the outside (pls don't talk about the inside...its just layers of cloth jammed up and tightened somewhere to make it look less like i'm drowning in the yukata

erm...slightly more presentable.......

kakashi!!!! (scarecrow)

so random haiks.

Day 3: Shinjuku, Takashimaya times square, Tokyu Hands

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:07:25 GMT

Since we came back from the hot springs so late the previous night, we only got to sleep around 4-5 something. Busy transferring photos every night into alice's com so that we'd have more space to take more pics!

End result: we slept in T____T and woke up AT 12 MIDDAY!!!! it was one or two something in the afternoong by the time we got out. but it's ok since we had nothing much on our agenda, just shopping in Shinjuku (which means I get to buy my drawing tools!!! lots and lots of toners, copic markers, manga drafting papers etc etc..... now if only i could use them T_____T)

Took the underground to Shinjuku, walked through Lumine and walked to Takashimaya Times square.

Had some lunch at a place that looked quite nice from the outside. and it was AWESOME!!!! really good food!

Me and my uni cream sauce spaghetti, and Dana with her squid ink spaghetti

Alice and her lobster pasta

everything was so good

Yes, that may be black and icky looking but it was very unique and delicious

Uni cream sauce pasta....the ultimate comfort food

The uni itself is raw, and has a creamy texture to it. Some people love it, some hate it but I really like it, Alice and Dana loved it as well

Alice's lobster pasta

So yummy <3

Very satisfactory!

I forgot what's the name of the salad. But there's raw fish in it. Quite nice and refreshing. Only Alice and I ate it

Of course Alice ate the tomatoes, she had no choice I just shovelled them at her

*angelic smile*

Squid ink lips

HAHAHAHHAHAHA

Finally tokyu hands!

Alice's first time there too so I made her take a picture with the sign

And we spent agesssssss there

Sorting out coloured pencil leads, pretty files, drawing tools, paper clips etc etc etc so much stuff there ok. Stickers la organisers everything! they have everything!

THen we explored the lower floors and found this place where we could choose our own camera stickers (diff patterns of flowers, symbols, etc etc )and zhng our cameras!

Basically we buy the stickers, and let the guy stick it on for us where we would like them to be

but we have to stick the blings on ourselves though

Alice showing off her camera design

Dana and her orh orh colours T_____T

Me and my camera.... which is similar to Alice's. When in Japan, go for the more Jap style i.e. sakura!

Had dinner at this sushi place

It was alright, we were too hungry. I think this was while we waited for the guy to stick on the patterns on our cameras.

Me and sis

Alice and I

Sigh~ when will be the next time i go on holiday with the girls?

T____T

i miss you aliceeeee

Group photo.

It's funny, in that shop, even the men chefs were curious about my LV bag. They asked where I got it, they've never seen this style before etc etc

And when I was leaving the restaurant, some of the waiters/waitresses touched my bag on my way out.

Erm, I love LV bags, I know that they are priced at horrendous prices where if I buy one bag now with my salary, I would have to starve for months, and I've not counted rent (since im staying with family) or bills yet T____T

But I just can't understand their infatuation with my bag.

I think it's just Japan... right?

Itadakimasuuu~

Alice and her chirashi don

My chirashi don

In all our hype about Japan, I totally forgot to research for a chirashi don restaurant.... where they have sushi rice covered in different types/styles of sashimi. I would have loved that!

Dana and her plate of pickled sushi

I wonder what's the pink stuff on my rice?

Then we headed home with our newly zhnged cameras ......Presenting the prettiest cameras in the world (let me shiok abit ok)

That's Alice's peace offerings to the cameras -.-" mini oreos -.-"

Alice's cacated camera (shutter cannot shut properly) is flanked by Dana and my cameras

I love this pic!

Awwww.....

miss you guys

Purposely set the camera so that these pretty cameras are the centre of attention

I like it that we're the blurry background and the cameras are in sharp focus

And i think this picture is so cute =DDDDDDDD i love this pic loads!

me, alice and dana

This is before we started blinging our cameras.

Because Chong brought us to Shinjuku station where Chryseis and her often eat supper

Chong (not sure if that's how you spell it T___T sorry chong hahahaha) and dana

Alice, milk green tea, me and cheesy fries omg this is better than KFC Singapore's cheesy fries!

they're so crispy and I can eat the whole plate by myself

Itadakimasuuu

Eh why you guys don't have HEART and SPIRIT wan!

must do it kawaii ne ok!

like alice!

I think it's the Japanese in her T____T natural ahahhaah

And this is some rice smothered in roe sauce and avocado. Yes... very rich. It's nice but a little too rich for me.

Chryseis and Chong loves this dish tho

Choc cake is ok la, doesnt beat "The Banquet"'s choc cake with melting middle

This on the other hand is really really good!!! Dana loves this!

Then on the way back we made a new friend. Meet:-

MIMI CHANNNNN

Her owner often walks her down the road where Chryseis stays. So we bumped into her like three times during our stay in Japan. And the old lady (her owner) can always recognize us because we squeal from one end of the road to the other: MIMI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANN!!!!!!"

ISN'T SHE SO CUTE! she's only 3 months! so so cute!

her owner is obviously very doting. but of course, her pup is soooo cuteee

back home, starting to bling our cameras

there's the glue, and the pincers.... very detailed work...needs a lot of patience

stickkkkkkkkkkk~

Alice picking up the small blings with the pincer

Dana, cutting out our leftover stickers to stick on the back of her camera, didnt bling hers in the end

Alice stuck more flowers on her CAMERA SCREEN ok!!! block the screen only!

Chong

so pretty =D

Me fussing over my camera, chong, looking at.... the blings/stickers I think? which were scattered all over the table oops =p

Almost finished!

Sticky little things T__________T

FINISHEEEEEEEEEEEEED

faster say its nice!

Then erm.... we got bored

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

we bought these Minnie mouse bands at a Disney store in Takashimaya. Identical bands hahahaha

and we tied our hair into buns on the top of our heads

we keep ourselves well entertained ok!

nenek scolding sulking brat HAHAHAHHAHA

more normal pics

minus the headband i meant

Those were good times =DDD Chong came in from her shower/skin routine and saw us laughing like idiots with these bands

THen alice went and got out her Mac so here are our webcam pics T____T

Monkey god, Stonehedge and E.T.

The ostrich and the two buffaloes

Soft effects

old school

That's the end of Day 3. I'm feeling emo already... work tomorrow T________T

Day 2 - Tokyo Disneyland, Onsen

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:03:18 GMT

Ah, just saw this pic on photobucket. This was when we stepped out of the taxi and were waiting for Chong to come and rescue us from the streets T_______T

note the huge bags at our side

Ok! Tokyo Disneyland (this will be the second time I've been to Disneyland in a year.... within a span of two to three months).... I think I really love Disneyland hahahahaha

At Chryseis's place, ready to go!

The Beatles, our rock band -.-"

In the lift.

We had to change trains and midjourney we wandered into a sushi place for something to eat. Disneyland is not a place where we could sit at a restaurant and relax and chit chat. Because......queues are horribly long EVERYWHERE! if you want to chit chat, you will not have any time to go on any of the rides.

unfortunately the sushi shop didn't give much of variety, though the dishes they did serve was good. Conveyer belts, what to do....perhaps we should have ordered from the sushi chef too T______T

I take awesome pics

Bow to me now =D

Then we wandered out and found a pastry shop. Lots of stuff at the train/underground stations.

Sigh, Japanese pastries/food are so cute

So nice right! How do they sell things like these!!! Malaysia don have wan! UK/Europe too. Japan is the best! Cute things, cute food, cute clothes, cute culture, cute everything

Cute mickey-shaped handles - on the monorail

Cute window

hahahah ok ok I'll stop it

Ya I took this too!

Dana's hair looks super long here

Aiya these pics are nice. But later on I think someone accidentally pushed the ISO button so that the pictures came out grainy T____T

Alice: *sulks* I want that bun back!!!

Alice: Imma steal it while she's busy with the camera

*wraps tongue around bun and swallows it whole*

waiting for the monorail, of which we also had to pay for T___T

Dana doing her thing -.-"

Finally at Disney Sea!

Alice and the globe

Doesn't that sound like the name of a book? =D

Alice in Wonderland =DDD

Before we could do anything else, we headed straight for the shops..... to get us some Disney LURVEEEE

Which is of course, these headbands! What's disneyland without em??? In Paris Disneyland, almost every kid was dolled up in a Disney cartoon cosplay. At Tokyo Disneysea, all the teeny-bopper harajuku Japanese were in Disney headbands (ok la not all, but there were quite a few out in yukatas)

I tried on the Stitch headband, alice had on a bambi headband

These are our final choices of headband!

and yes, the similar pose =D let's call it "The poseee"

I'm very lame, pls bear with me, too tired to think of anything else

Alice and her Mickey fan

Me and my new Disney umbrella (no cartoon characters on it! )

We insisted on the umbrellas. Say no to the sun!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ya la what to do we hate getting tanned and I'm also scared of skin cancer.

Dana on the other hand doesnt mind it

Tokyo Disneysea

I think our headbands suit all three of us well =D

Coincidentially,

Dana's minnie mouse suits her outfit

Alice's Aristocat kitten's hairband suits her white top

And my Chip and Dale hairband suits my dress + belt........too bad I didn't have my Chip and Dale bedroom slippers T_______T so fluffy and comfy

On the way to Indiana Jones

The photo below shows how much stuff I was lugging around with me

First, the umbrella, quite mafan to keep opening and closing it, or swerving away from people cuz I'm short so that umbrella that I hold has a 50% chance of whacking someone in the eye

THe other 50% are small kids.

Secondly the fan. It was sweltering hot in Japan ok !!! Note the burning sun! My hair wilted and eyeliner melted

=( I also wanted a fan that looked somewhat Japanesey =D These business people think of everything to make money

Thirdly the gigantic camera. Want to take nice pics ma, it's my last holiday before I start work. And as always, girly trips require nice pics be taken!

4th, gigantic camera bag: T_________T I don't wanna b ring it along either, but it's probably essential

5th slippers, for the long long hours of walking and queueing

Outside the temple of the something something haiyo i forgot ady la STM old already

We queued for ages. but Indiana Jones, Tokyo Disneysea is the best ride ever. Not heart-stopping, heart-attacking inducing, yet so fun! <3

Indian Jones workplace

-.-"

butting into alice's pic

oops blur

I love my SLR =D

love it

love it. but the pictures turned grainy after that T______T stupid high ISO

This is what happens when you let Denise Gan drive

lalala~

Done with the ride, hiding in the shade. THis picture looks kinda... gisaeng-ish (Korean Equivalent of Geisha). They used to sit that way.

Waiting for Dana Gan to buy our ice-creams/ice-pops from the vendor nearby.

Mickey Mouse! Apple flavour

Yummyyy

Alice wanted a mickey mouse ice pop too. But when Dana listed all the flavours to her: Apple, Orange, Tiramisu etc etc, she chose Tiramisu, which turned out to be this round thing HAHHAHAHA

She's pictured here merajuking

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

Die Mickey! I never really liked Mickey Mouse. I think it's because when I was young, I went to see some Disney on ice performance. And the Mickey seemed kinda full of himself like "Hi, Mickey Mouse is here" etc etc etc. like boasting to the whole wide world

Ok la so it's not his fault, its his job BUT I still don't like him! Too egoistic HAHAHAHHAHA

Bye bye orange mickey

This pic is so nice and clear! We're on our way to the Aladdin place. Forgot why though.

Alice and her Stitch drink

me and Dana in front of a Masjid

Alice and me with more Masjid views

Arabian marketplace

Brownish tones!!! =D

Lining up for some ride at the Mermaid Lagoon area

just taking pics

I think this pic is nice, don't know why Dana didnt like it

T_________T I wanna be in the pic too

HEHEHEHHEHE I gave dana the boot

So this was all we were lining up for. Nothing much at all, but ok la to entertain alice HAHAHAHAH

the line was pretty long too, surprisingly.

But even if the ride sucks, there will still be a long long line for it

Japanese are really patient T____T

I really like the deco, so creative. Wonder how long they took to design all these

Alice looks realli cute in this pic too

Miss you aliceeeee

Cove

Waterfall

Mosaics that looks really similar to the one at the park overlooking Barcelona, Spain. Gaudi works

Snooty fish

Equally snooty Alice haahhaha

King Triton

Triton's Kingdom

I loved little Mermaid when I was a kid. Little Mermaid 2 is not bad either,just that Ariel looked older HAHAHAHAH

eh wait cannot laugh, I'm already peaking T________T

Chip in mermaid land

Triton's kingdom is sooooo pretty

We watched the little mermaid performance where "Ariel" was hooked up to lines and swam in the air. quite cool. She was doing so many flips while being hoisted by the lines.

Alice thought her wig would fall off

HAHAHAAH

my goodness the things she thinks of.

Her wig is part of her costume la hahahahah as in literally...stuck... to her costume

I think this Eric looks kinda girly don't you think? and that dog right, his head and front paws turn one direction, his bum goes in a diff direction

tsk tsk lack of coordination ahahahha

Dana and the flounder hat

I wonder if we are actually allowed to take pictures in a Disney store, cuz I took loads in Disneyland Paris and TOkyo Disneyland

hohoho~

alice the goldfish

Goofy. Never liked goofy either. Me and Dana

More scenic pictures

Here is Dana mimicking a Japanese girl who took a photo at this exact spot before her. and she was all KAWAII-NEEEE~ with her peace sign fingers spread impossibly far apart, glued to the two sides of her face, and feet turned inwards with ^ ^ as eyes.

So yeah... Dana u not kawaii ne enough!!

I tried but I failed, so i'm not putting that pic up

Alice doing a very good job HAHAHAHHA

Dana and I

Sisters!

Dana bought that mermaid straw at the Mermaid lagoon area, and Alice sulked cus hers was ugly Stitch HAHAHAHHA

quaint scenery

Dana and the big cam

Perpetually blur T____T

Dana and the balloon lady

Kitten in distress!

Dale, oh Dale, wherefore are thou

Your chip hunny-bunnie-chipmunk is waiting ... just for youuuu (CAN YOU FEEL THE GOOSE PIMPLES PANG TZE CHING!?)

....

no response, grrr I hate you Dale T_________T

*runs off wailing into the sunset*

Alice and Dana went to the shops to buy stuff again. I forgot to buy the stuff I initially wanted

Gesturing to Dana to hurry up and get into the pic

Very blur pic T____T What to do, not used to the big cam yet. That's what we call our SLRs....the big cams

Quite appropriate. We can call it the brick cams too....so heavy!

This is really cool. They have loads of small pictures of people happy and laughing, then they arranged it to make this Donald and Daisy picture. Nice and soft colours. very pretty!

"The poseeee" in the loo

Waiting for the monorail?

Alice by the vending machines at the train station

At shinjuku, we walked over to Times square, takashimaya. Dana and I had planned to go to the Sharksfin place our family ate at couple of years back.

We did find it, but the sharksfin wasnt as awesome as before. Smaller portions, mixed with other stuff, no wonder become cheaper la T___T

Alice and I ordered a set meal for two people. Quite a lot of small things la

Sharksfin

My dish of prawn salad

My Peking duck pancake

Dont know what this is

Meat and bun?

don't know what these are either

Vegetable fried rice

All was good la actually, just the sharksfin not as good as before

Then, Alice and I ngeh ngeh want to go to an Onsen (Hot spring), and we researched like siao to find a hot spring that didn't require us to remove our clothing. But the only one we could find open at that hour was two hours away (mind you, it was 11 or 12 at night already).

And all that was left was this spa LaQua, which was ambiguous as to whether clothes were allowed in the hot baths or not.

Unfortunately...they were not allowed T________T Dana and Alice ended up having a foot spa, only dipping their legs in the hot water. I took my towel in with me into the water HAHAHAHAHHA so damn hot ok, scalding hot at first. Very hard to not just jump out of the water. But slowly I got used to it, changed baths a few times, from the indoor, boring still bath, to the indoor bath that spouted strong currents to massage the body, to an outdoor bath (but still covered) which had some natural settings and had hot spring water pumped up from the ground. Salty!

I got dizzy after staying in too long. SO yeah, never stay in the hot bath too long otherwise you would most likely faint.

Then summore must shower before and after going into the baths. they have open cubicles equipped with soaps and shampoos with large mirrors where everyone can see everyone else having their shower sitting down on short small stools.

In the changing rooms there are hair dryers, make up areas etc etc. The full package. very cool!

my muscles were so relaxed after that! Alice and Dana's feet were very relaxed too HAHAHAHHA

Then I also turned pink

that's me on the far right. Damn pink right!!!

Grabbed a bite (or a few more) to eat at the convenience store....brought all the food back =D

Onigiri how i missed you

Alice and her keropok

Dana and her sandwich

Our erm.... hord of food for winter