Seasons of joy!

Beautiful lightings~

Asking Santa for some pressies...

My Long time Buddies...

Chilling at the Coffee house ...

Senseless fun...

And more chilling with the Babes...

Let's Cheers to Seasons of Joy, Laughter and Everlasting Happiness!

Autumn holiday in Japan - Part IV

Day 7 - Takayama, Shirakawago

After the bad disappointment on the previous day, I had no courage to venture too far. So I decided to change my itinery for the day: Instead of travelling all the way down to My Fuji, just to enjoy a few moment of wonders, I decided to stay pu tin Takayama and make a trip down to Shirakawago, and explore more of Takayama.

Shall let the pictures do the talking for this day.

Stepping out early in the morning - Sousuke~

Taking a morning stroll along the famous street..

That's right! ShinMeiMachi~

Followed by the Morning market...

And some surprise find...

Like these weird-looking pumkins! A few more days to Halloween I supposed!

Now, the bus ride to Shirakwago...

Beautiful skies and colourful flora...

A glimse at the lovely mountains as the bus crosses the bridge...

The scenery are just so beautiful... I couldn't possibly sjare all o them.

Here's one's taken while going through a partially covered tunnel...

Oh! Are we finally reaching Shirakawago?

Oh yes! Reached!! Here's how the whole village looks like (not a very well-taken picture.)

Lovely flowers by the side..

The famous 3s~

The enormous task of constructing the thatched grass roof that allows them to withstand all weather.... (Don't be mistaken, I'm not so lucky to witness this. It is a picture of a poster that I took.)

That's all for now.

Some thoughts along the way back to Kobe:

"I'm finally travelling with somebody tomorrow onwards!! Something to look forward to..."

Autumn in Japan Part III

Day 6 - Takayama

After several late nights, my body finally gave way to my fatigue and I was deaf to the ringing of the alarm clock until 45 minutes later.
Late for the first time during my autumn holiday in Japan! So late that I had to run down the streets to catch the subway to transfer to my Bullet train…
Despite, dashing down the streets and beating the working crowd at the busy subway, I still miss my Bullet train to Nagoya.

45minutes more sleep in the morning means lots of running, lots of waiting for the next connecting Shinkansen to Nagoya, more waiting and endearing through a restless ride in a Smoking cabin to Takayama.

As if this wasn’t good enough to punish the “piggy me”, I reached Takayama so late that I had to skip my planned trip to Shirakawago!
Well, I could only fall back on my back-up plan and bought a conbo tickets for the bus and ropeway to the Shinhodaka open-air onsen and take a glance of the Nothern Alps. Thinking that there is some time, I went in search of my lodging for the night – Sousuke.
Along the way, I met a nice Father, who showed me the way to my lodging. He even walked me to the train station where I’m supposed to catch a coach up the mountains. He even offered to introduce his family to me and show me around at night after my dinner! This cheers me up a bit after the bad start.

The coach ride was long but enjoyable. The changing colours of the autumn floras simply takes my breathe away.

When I reached the station, I tried searching for the open-air onsen in vain. Finally found out that it was closed for today when I make enquiries at the information counter. I was rather disappointed and tried asking why but my limited Japanese didn’t allow me to do that. Sigh.

Ropeway Station at Shin-ho-daka

I proceeded up the steep slope to take the ropeway to the Northern Alps. Little did I know that I was catching the last ride up to the 2nd Station. The worse thing is I did not realize that the last connecting ropeway on the 2nd station to the peak of Shinhodaka is leaving shortly after I disembarked from the connecting ropeway! I was slightly surprised at how excited my fellow passengers were after they alighted from the connecting ropeway, they were nearly running towards the next connecting ropeway station. My slow response and longer walk up to the next station caused me to miss my ride!!

A picture taken on my way up to the 2nd Station.

Am I unlucky or what? And I couldn’t understand why it was not stated or announced that the last ride up is going to start. And the staffs at the counters could only say “there is nothing we can do…” in their limited English…
I was so, so, so damn disappointed after coming all the way here and actually miss the chance to take the longest ropeway up to the peak to look at the acclaimed Nothern Alps of Japan! As they were trying helplessly to explain, I could only look down, trying very hard to hide my disappointment. When they finally brought someone over (someone who’s supposedly better with conversing English), I could no longer contain my disappointment any longer, I muttered “sorry” and make my way to the balcony outside.
I stumbled on a wooden bench and sat there, with tears flowing down uncontrollably. The loneliness of traveling that was so easily suppressed in my heart for the past few days suddenly burst out.
“How I miss traveling with my friend in Japan during Spring…!”

After several moments, they guy who knew a little bit more English came out and tried to comfort me. I guess he was lost on what to do with me as he could only say, “No, no..No, no,..come, come, I give you present…No, no, I give you present..”

I tired hard to fight back my tears, as I was so embarrassed showing my tears to strangers. But I just couldn’t stop my tears from flowing.

And the guy went on, “No, no….” and started chatting to me, possibly to divert my attention from my disappointment.

Thinking back, the scene was rather funny. Ha ha…

He brought me down to the little cafe where he’s working and made me a coroquette. He even offered to show me around Takayama after he knocks off. Such a sweet guy… But too bad, I’m meeting the nice father and his family after dinner.

I left shortly as I realized I got to catch the last ride down. When I reach the bus station, there was no one else except for a mother and her daughter. I hope I did not miss the last bus…! I checked the schedule again and was relieved when I realized that the last bus is coming in another 15mins’time. The sky dimmed as I waited. A little scary I thought.

The bus ride back was surprisingly longer than the ride up. I was running late for the dinner that I ordered at the Minshuku that I was staying. And I still got to walked a distance from the bus station where the bus is terminating. I was worried if I could find my way back to Sousuke as I got a little night blindness – not able to recognize the way at night, especially when I’m not so familiar with the place.

Well, my little night blindness problem was solved as the nice bus driver offered to drop me near my night lodging when I asked him how to get there. *Grinz* Saved lots of walking distance. Hee.. I was still complaining about his slow driving at the back of my mind a while ago… *guilty*

After a filling dinner, Junichiro introduce me to his wife, Hiromi, afterwhich, we went to fetch his elder son from his English class. I was made a guest appearance for a short while and got to interact with the cute kids there.

They showed me the beautiful night scenery of Takayama and the famous Samurai Street.

Dearest...

"時には急ぎすぎて　見失う事もあるよ　仕方ない
ずっと見守っているからって笑顔で
いつものように抱きしめた
あなたの笑顔に　何度助けられた だろう
ありがとう　ありがとう　Best Friend
ずっと　ずっと　ずっと　Best Friend"

Dearest Friend, you're not alone, wherever you're...
because we're here for you, always ~
In spirit and soul~

So, cheer up and let’s live life to the fullest!

Love,
¾ Girl Power

Pride and Prejudice

A story of innitial misunderstandings resolved between two lovely couple of different social standing. The setting portrays a brilliant satire of a polite society in the 18th - 19th century of England.

Darcy, a haughty, handsome and wealthy gentlemen who overcome his initial pride and disagreement on the notion of marriage to a girl of a lower class - even to the point of preventing the marriage of his good friend, Bingley, to whom he is so madly in love with (Jane Bennet, Elizabeth's beloved sister), with his overpowering affection for witty and vivacious Lizzy.

How sweet! The power of love...

I also admire Lizzy's ( Elizabeth) wit and honesty that made her stood out from the rest of the ladies featured in the film, even more appealing the prettiest of the lot (five bennet sisters), Jane. Her character is quite bold in a genteel society of the 19th century England, where politeness is observed to the point of preventing people from "speaking the truth from their heart".

Simple love...

As i was surfing through my "Daily Bread", i read this blog about a nice, touching song on ＂Ｌｏｖｅ ｉｓ　Ｓｉｍｐｌｅ＂－（Ｄｉｒｅｃｔ ｔｒａｎｓｌａｔｉｏｎ）．

简单爱。。。
令人招思默想的话题。。。

I still live in an ideal world where i believe Love can be simple if one love with their heart- truly and sincerely. But i guess i'm being too idealistic, as i was disappointed time and again when the harsh reality jolt me up from my dreamy world.

Nobody really believe in this anymore, and it takes two to clap. So, one silly idealistic fool would only cause disappointment and hurt to oneself.

Is that why people are getting more and more disillusioned about love?

Where is the innocence and courage that one used to have when love struck them? People fear rejection and even disappointment or hurt that might come at the end of it all. As such, became hesitant and dare not venture further to find their true love when uncertainty of whether the relationship will eventually work out tugged at their fragile heart.

Well, after all is said, i still believe Love can be simple and simple love still exists. Hope that i can slowly muster the courage to follow my heart again...

Ｌｏｖｅ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｈａｖｅ　ｎｅｖｅｒ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｄｉｓａｐｐｏｉｎｔｅｄ　ｂｙ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ．．

Have been brooding over this...

It's juz a red maple leaf, but it's one of the only few red leaf that I managed to catch when I was in Japan during autumn ...

Guess I'm silly~

But why am I so careless... "Argh... if only I didn't use my credit card at the airport to buy anything.."

Our Birthdays!

Dinner date at Ma Maison (Japanese-Western fusion restaurant) was the highlight for me on Friday. Food was nice, ambience cozy and most importantly the company was fantastic.

Recount of my recent Japan trip took my attention away from the tempting food that was being served on the table. My buddies tried very hard to grill me on any "juicy developments" while I was in Japan to no avail. After dinner, we viewed the photos but they were soon bored with the never-ending pictures of beautiful scenery, flowers, spiders and streets. Then they started asking, “where are you … I want to see you in the pictures...” Ha ha ha… That’s how it is when traveling alone. An occasional shot of me became the highlight of the album.

Before we know it, the restaurant is closing, and we had to adjourn to Intercontinental Hotel lounge. I presented them with gifts from Japan (courtesy of Yingster and me). They were excited like little kids when they open up their presents; saying that I should go Japan more often so that they will have more gifts (from us). Their excitement caught the attention of the curious waiter at the hotel and Janster joked that it’s our birthday that night. And he actually believed it! Ha ha… he got our names and dedicated a song for us. What a night!

Look at their radiant smiles with the 1st round of gift presentation...

And more smiles with the second round of gift unwrapping session...

And that's us after a Great night out...

Autumn Holdiay in Japan - Part II

After Mt Aso, I dropped by Fukuoka for a quick tour. Did not go anywhere spectacular but managed to get my way to one of the streets (Nakasu) lined with Yat Tais, where I managed to order something with my lousy Japanese at one of the Ya Tai. The friendly couple tending the stall started rambling off and tried to make small talk with me in Japanese. I could only reply “wakarimsen… watashi wa shingaporu jin desu”. So embarrassing…

After two days away in Kyushu, I can finally return back “home” and basked in the comfort of Sevenspell’s wonderful company. Having not seen her for two nights, I couldn’t stop yaking till I was totally exhausted.

Day 5 – Hiroshima
First stop was made at the peace memorial park. Once I got off the tram, the Gembaku Domu (A-Bomb Dome) caught my attention. As I observed the melted concrete structure, something gripped me deep in my heart. Vision went blurred for a second by the overly moistened eyes. Strangely, it still looked depressingly grand although it was ruined to its skeletal-form.

Strolling further down the park, across a bridge was the Children’s Peace Monument surrounded by thousands of paper cranes inspired by a young leukaemia victim, Sadako. Groups of children surrounded the Monument and sang a nice little song before they form little lines to present their paper cranes to the clear display box flanking the monument. Across the road was the Flame of peace. Right at the other end is cenotape that forms a frame round the Flame of Peace, and the A-Bomb Dome across the river. Amazing~ I did not realized this until I review the picture I took. It was said that the Flame of Peace will only be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon has been destroyed. Let’s pray that the evil by mankind will not be repeated again, whether or not the last nuclear weapon on earth has been destroyed.

Check out the A-Bomb Dome in the background!

After that, I made my way to the widely-acclaimed spot claimed as (one of the three) best view of Japan, the floating torii of Itsukushima (Miyajima) jinja. He he…, this is the second one I have seen after Amanohashidate on the Northern coast of Kyoto prefecture. Two down, I’m left with islands of Matsushima near Sendai, Northern Honshu!

It's low tide! So I could actually go very near to the "floating gate"!

I took a ropeway to the peak of Mt Misen. It was beautiful but it’s a pity the skies were cloudy; else I bet the scenery would have been even more stunning. While I was admiring the beauty at the top of Mt Misen, a loner “hit” on me and asked to walk around Miyajima together. After Mt Misen, I can’t wait to get back to Kobe to meet Sevenspell for dinner! I went to change my reserve ticket to the earliest ride back once I hit the nearest JR station.

The ride home seems longer than usual as I think of my favouriteTaro ramen that I would be having later.

My poor Ixy has recovered from her cold...

On the third day of my holiday in Japan, my Ixus i decided to take a break... Her brain was still functioning, but she refused to lend me her "eyes" to the world. I wondered if she has caught a cold~

When I was on my way back to Singapore, the weather turns warmer, and she recovered! Indeed, she has caught a cold... Phew!

It got me wondering if I should get another camera in case ixy decided to take a break again...

Went to MS Colours at AMK for a look today, and the helpful guy recomended Kodak camera for it's true and realistic colours (of the pictures). He took a picture of me using Canon Ixus 55 and Kodak and printed out the pictures directly (without any editing using photoshop). There was a contrasting difference in the colour quality of the photos taken by the 2 cameras. (Top-Ixus 55; Bottom - Kodak)

Wow! It looks like Kodak does produce pictures with truer colours and more details... I never realised pictures taken with Ixus has warmer colours... But I still prefer the design of Ixus... Humm... shall decide whether I should start saving for a new camera first...

Back in Singapore!

As the morning sun warmed my feet, I woke up in a daze. For a split second, I could not figure out where I was. I looked aroung the empty spaces and could not find the usual familiar face I see every morning. No more "ohayo~", no more silly giggles to start my day...

A funny feeling creeped in, I don't know what it is, it just feels kinda weird. I think I'm starting to miss Japan - the people, the weather, the food, and the culture over there...

I tried going back to bed after my brunch, hoping to get back that same kind of feeling that I had when I was in Japan. But before I could get into "LaLa Land", I got to wake up and prepare for my dinner appointment.

Meeting up with my friend was good as she helped to bring me back to where I am. And I slowly get used to being back home - in Singapore.

Oh! We had dinner at this nice Japanese restaurant along Wheelock Place. Hee.. Japanese food again. Oiishi~!

Autum holiday in Japan-Part I

I started off the tour with the 3rd to the 7th day alone to various parts of Japan. Initially, I was rather apprehensive of how the tour would turn out as this is the first time I would be traveling alone. (I have never imagined I would be doing this one day as I could never understand why one would want to travel alone!)

Plans has been made to the smallest details - accommodations booked, JR rail tickets bought, Shinkansen schedule checked; seat reserved and itinerary planned. Yet I was unsettled, as I would be alone in a foreign land with my dear friend several hours away from me… and my mastery of Japanese language was pathetic. Time did not allow me to revise whatever little I have learnt during my Uni-years. Sigh.

Day 3 – Kyushu, Beppu
As I set off, I took a picture of the first sunrise I witnessed from Ying’s lodge (early enough to catch it! Rare for late sleeper like me), and I hurried off to catch a subway to transfer to the bullet train.

Upon reaching, I checked-in to the Minshuku; got the directions and bus route to get to the Jigoku (8 Hells). I felt rather silly hopping to all Eight Hells as the “Oniyama-Jigoku” is rather pathetic with the poorly caged crocodiles and alligators. Why is it listed as one of the Eight Hells I wonder…

My Favourite Jigoku~

The pathetic one~

All went well and I even managed to find a nice little Japanese restaurant for dinner. Shopping alone was rather boring, and the streets were quiet. And shops closed really early in Japan. I guess this is the “off-season” for travel. After a call to report my safety, watched a bit of Japanese news, I turn in early (by my normal standard).

Sumptuous spread for dinner~

Day 4 – Kyushu, Mt Aso
A nice warm spring bath in the morning was simply heavenly. The best thing is that it’s a private bath, so I have the whole Onsen to myself! Woo hoo! After I took a picture with the Minshuku’s friendly host, I set off to my next destination in Kyushu – Mt Aso.

Beautiful scenery along the highway and the chilling air simply takes my breath away…
Soon, I reached the foot of Mt Aso at the train station, and transferred to another bus to get to the peak of Mt Aso. There was only another lone ranger that got on the bus with me – looks like I’m not alone (in traveling alone).

Another dose of scenic view kept my camera really busy, as I clicked away, trying to capture the perfect shot. Grand mountains, vast blue skies, cows pasturing on the lush field, wild flowers swaying in the breeze as the bus moved round the curvy roads up the mountain.

At the top of Mt Aso station, I took a ropeway up to the peak and witness the puffing smoke rising from the largest crater I have ever seen; or should I say this is the first time I ever get so close to an active volcano!

The mountains near the crater~

*Shall continue with the rest another day...so stay tuned!*

Congratulations Janster!!!

Today, you're legally part of a blissful union...

Congrats my dear friend!
Can't wait to witness the actual ceremony in February...
My Blessings will always be with you where ever I am~


Love, Hugs and Kisses,
me.

Nihhon Go....Here I come..

YaBaDaBaDoO...!! It's finally holiday! And I'm finally going to Japan again!! ~ One of my favourite destination in Asia.

Hours ago, I was still trying to finish packing and get some sleep. I reckon this is the first time I'm going on a trip alone and I'm so worried that I'll forget to bring something and plus the Huge lugguage case that i borrowed from my dearest friend, I started loading mysuitcase with more groceries for my dear friend in Japan. Haha.. Typica KS Singaporean. Hope this time round, i wouldn't miss out anything..

After a tedious packing process, I ended up sleepin at 2.30am - 2n half hours of sleep left *Oh no...*

Decisions, decisions...

18 days more... and I have not decided where I should go during my one week self-exploration period in the Land of the rising sun. "Clicking" through pages of region guides , sponging on whatever suggestions offered; flipping through more guides...

Limited by shortage of time, bewildered by vast choices; constraint by budget, drawn by the beauty of northern wilderness...

One year anniversary...

Last night was my 1st DnD at my current company. It’s like a celebration for my one year anniversary with the Company. The feeling was totally different as compared to the previous DnD I attended in my previous firm. Probably so when I don’t have the group of colleagues who went through the “thick and thin” with me. I guess the bondings with my ex-colleagues were established through the nights of rehearsing for our performance in our first year and late night kopi sessions on Friday nights. How I miss those days…

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable night with free flow of booze (white, red, mixers except for my favourite tequila) and entertaining host for the night. The party ended with more partying at Thumper till the wee hours. Non-stop dancing till my legs turn jelly…

Some pictures to share..

(1st pic:With my friend and ex-room-mate in NTU - happen to have curls on our hair ; 2nd pic: Wif my Orientation Group Junior from my uni days - cool!)

Chilling out with the Babes...

I can’t wait to meet up with the pretty babes later… Especially so when Hazelyn suggested going for the Ladies Nite buffet deal at “くしんぼ”. The huge spread of sumptuous dishes kept popping out in my mind…My all-time favourite Sashimi, piping hot paper steamboat, crispy tempura, sushi… *Drooling* The more I think of it, the more hungry I feel…

“Guruu..Grghh…” humm… That must be my stomach calling out for the yummy food although I have just taken my lunch.

When we finally reached Sky Garden at Suntec City, my heart dropped. A queue was forming outside “くしんぼ”. There goes my buffet dinner…In the end, we satisfy our craving for Japanese food at our usual Japanese restaurant, “いちばん” by the Fountain of Wealth.

Our sumptuous spread~

While we were waiting for our food, our Dearest Fangster brings out her pretty Victoria Secrets paper bag. I was surprised that she got gifts for us! It was actually bought during her Chicago trip weeks ago. Hee... It was so long ago that I nearly forgot she had “just” came back from Chicago! Well, nothing intimate from Victoria Secrets. *Grinz* For a moment I was wondering how she could figure all our sizes. We got a pretty “skinny scarf” - which could be used as scarf, belt or anything that our creativity allows, and a tube of “Very Moisturizing Hand and Body Moisturizer” from Victoria Secrets. And since I will be going to Japan soon, I was asked to deliver the gifts to Yingster.

Right after our sumptuous dinner, we headed for our chill out session. The walk was really tiring with my heavy notebook. We were turn-off by the presence of huge pack of wolves at Balaclava, and we proceeded to our usual hideout at City Space with the scenic night view of Singapore city. We kick start our night with our favourite drink- Tequila Shots. We tried ordering something different that night. And poor Hazelyn ended up with a champagne flute of grouse smelly “Hamburg”. Even when I tried holding my breath before drinking it, the strong pungent scent would sting my throat before I could taste the bitter tasting fluid. “Argh...” Three cheers for our brave Hazelyn who managed to finish up the drink! Other than the nice couches and beautiful night scene, the company was great! We even has fun snapping away with Fangster new toy… Hee… Our favourite sport.

Giving our "Bird" face~