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© * étoile filante
inspiration/colours: mintyapple
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reference: x / x
title: February 2012, when starts settles
date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
time: 12:32 AM
Alright, promised a Japan trip post! So, here we go!

Day 1, 25 December 2011
To Japan! Darn, it took 13 hours, 2 flights to reach Japan Kyushu. That's like one of the longest flight compared to visiting other parts of Japan. The trip was really shag, didn't have much sleep and was studying Business Law on the plane as the exam is near. Visited the 18 hot springs of hell, they come in different colors and is really hot, for viewing but not bathing! And it's really windy and cold, literally freezing as we left our jackets in the luggage. Check-in to the hotel soon after. Wore the yukata and went down for dinner. Been to Japan so many times, but that day is the first time I ever tried a public hot spring. Damn! Out of the 8 days in Japan, the hotel's food for Day 1 is best! The fresh sashimi, the pure and really fresh soft ice cream made out of milk, and the creampuffs! Superb. Nippon tamemono, saiko desu!!!


Day 2, 26 December 2011

Day 2 started with a mud bath at the beach. Forgot to ask the tour guide to help us take a photo! I
t's really nice, but it got us all dirtied, so we have to bathe in the hot spring inside the building. Then, we proceeded to have lunch on a mountain, uh.. what mountain..? Don't know, but a snowy one! It snowed for a while, what I always want to see when going on a vacation, cause it doesn't snow in Singapore! Sat in a cable ca
r to the top of the volcanic mountain. I thought snow and volcanic mountain never co-existed. It's really, really cold. Like negative 16 to 20, and the smell of the sulfur, makes your lungs really unbearable. Descended the mountain and traveled to Kumamoto, 4hrs of travelling I think, so we retired early.

Day 3, 27 December 2011

Ninja training! The castles are really big and beautiful, can't imagine how they built it at that er
a. Lingered for a while to study the history, take photos and eat deserts before leaving. Went to visit a Vinegar factory, bought a bottle of Blueberry Vinegar, love the taste. Had dinner at hotel, and to the hot spring again!
Day 4, 28 December 2011

Visited the nearby temple first. Actually, we're suppose to go to the orchard and flower field, but it's near New Year and the Japanese are all overseas.. And partly because of the season. Did some wishings at the temple and drew charms! For most temple in Japan, they have these altars with charms in them. So you just donate a certain amount and take the charm. What you picked is actually fated and destined. So, there's 3 types, fortune, career and relationship. I only picked the career and relationship. Got a neutral for career, and it meant that I needa study hard. But, I got a ‘大吉’ for relationship! In english it means, big happiness or good news. Got the tour guide to translate it and it says, the heaven is singing a love song for you, as you'll be in love and be in a relationship soon! Hope so, seriously. Then, one of the girl in our tour group picked the relationship charm. Tour guide laughed and translated it out loud, he said that it's bad luck in relationship and her love life is like a dying tree! That made us all burst into laughter. Then, proceeded to dip our feet in a hot spring nearby the temple, visited the glass factory and went shopping. That's it for the day. But at night, when my dad and I went to the hot spring, we saw the same koreans the day before. Started chatting and got to know each other. Exchanged contacts in case we are going over to Korea and they could show us around!
Day 5, 29 December 2011

Boarded the ferry to go to another city of Japan, Hiroshima was it? Alright so, the ferry was accompanied with many seagulls and we are allowed to feed them! It's amazing, cause yeah, you can't do it in Singapore.. Visited the Samurai houses after we alighted, then to the butterfly lovers mansion. When night falls, we boarded the cable car up the mountain again, to catch the best city lights scenery of Japan. Really cool, best if you go there with your lover, just so romantic and amazing.Day 6, 30 December 2011
To Nagasaki Peace Park, the spot where they atomic bomb was dropped. Museum wasn't open due to New Year. Then we went to Tenjin underground shopping complex to shop! It's really really big and we couldn't even cover 1/4 of the shopping complex. Proceeded to Canal City, nicknamed the 'City within the City' cause it's even BIGGER. So big that the map indicates the NSEW. The tour guide said that the superior ramen can be found inside the shopping complex. Found it, paid the machine and the waitress showed us our seats. The comments for the ramen? GODLY. I didn't even realize I finished the whole bowl, even the soup. The broth is made of crushed pig's bone, pressured by a flask, so there wouldn't be any bits left, just pure thick soup. Handmade noodles, Hard-boiled egg with liquid yolk, fresh pork slices and green onions. Wanted a 2nd bowl, even a 3rd, but you know that for such a food, 1 serving is enough. Oh yes, Japan's working attitude. Before you sit down, they will clean your seats and and table with the first cloth. Then, they clean it again with the 2nd, cleaner cloth. They wipe and arrange the chopsticks, tissue and spices, then allow you to sit. No wonder they are this world's most respected people.Day 7, December 31 2011

Last day of the tour, went to another temple where you need to cross a long shopping street to reach there. Shopped awhile, then proceeded to Japan's outlet mall. Not much in special, just shopping, and mostly winter wear. When night falls, we traveled to the airport and headed back to Singapore.Summary: Japan is really a good place to stay at if there's no earthquake. They have no beggars there because of their pride and their income, nobody is poor there. Can you believe? Japan's economy rised in the economy crisis. So their currency now, it's a lil bit higher than Europe's. That's why it's cheaper for them to travel to other countries than within their own country. Only rich people travel in their own country as mentioned by the tour guide. And Japan's pride, when we leave the restaurants or places, the managers and staffs or just one representative will be outside the building, waving and bowing to us, even when we are 50-70m away from the building. That's what makes them respectable. Japan = quality, loyal, safe. Talking about these, in some parts of Japan, the shopkeeper of some shops, they just leave the products unattended, and leave a box there. If you wanna buy something, just take the product and put the money inside the box. It's all about trust, though they don't use this in the city cause it's much complicated and the city usually comprises of other nationals. There's more, but I think you can already vision what Japan is like.


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