Well, my holiday have only reached 1/3 and that took 3 blogs dee...I'm not sure i can keep up with it...VERY TIRING LA! Anyway, this place in the pic is Nagaoka, its sorta like a fairyland when I was in the train travelling there...at first, there was only buildings around us and after the train entered this looooooong tunnel(theres even a station inside it with ppl aligning, wierd, wonder where are they heading?), then after like 20 minutes of non-stop tunneling, WHOLA! Virgin forest and mountains greeted me...SPLENDID! It was like going to another world after that long tunnel...and ya, this part is only the outskirts of Nagaoka, the town is kinda huge also(but still uncomparable to Osaka or Nagoya la!)....for those who read newspaper, the last huge earthquake happened here...so it should be safe for me la... Most part of the journey was spent playing cards with Boon, Fook Hee & Chin Wooi...with me losing the most(luckily money was not at stake..fuh!)
And if u ask of my purpose to Nagaoka, ITS THE FIREWORKS DISPLAY of course! I don't know for true. but ppl said that the fireworks display in Nagaoka is one of the best in Japan...and its TRUE! By the time we reached there, it was already noon & the entire station was swarmed with ppl! Everyone seems to know about this event and ppl from as far as Tokyo came just to see it....It gave me a good sign that it won't turn up as the previous let down at the beach...Well, another good thing was that Fong Zyin and Li Jia was there to pick us up and shoved us out of that 'stompede'.....as god planned, Boon's long time roomate, Kit How was there too! The dammed thing was that he was not there to meet us, just so happen to pass by only...WHAT LA! We dicided to visit his college's new hostel(the last was under renovation because of the earthquake)....it was err....under furnished I guess? Nothing much at all...well, bad parts out, we had a 'Meet the seniors' session at a restaurant nearby, and I had this 'insult' from my senior saying: "Hey! You look like Randy la...You know Randy right? You talk like him also lo...". I was like: "HAR!?? Ya, Randy was my roomate & we are the only two proud bananas there was but, me?....him?.....NO WAY!"(Sorry Randy if u see this, I just wanna be myself, not trying to look or be like anyone else!) Thank god another senior changed topic...about my sandals pula...asking me where I got mine and how much mine look like hers pula(it turns out to be the same sandals, just different colour, check my last 2 blogs to see it)...Since when did I copy ppl so much?
Well, after that 'You copied who' session, we headed for the fireworks display ASAP, since we didn't book any place earlier,(Yes ppl, to watch fireworks, you even need to book places! Jap style) we could only get those 'unreserved' places, which, by the time we were there, jammed to da max! Ok, the place we stood on was the walkway and it not supposed to be stood at...but if the Japs did the same, why not us? Hey, we are just trying to adept rite? Can't blame us....A few guards came and wanted to shoo us of, but thanks to the power of English and "We are from S'pore!"(Don't wanna spoil M'sia's name)...no guards managed to 'move' us out from our nice spot (middle row)...so there we stood, for 1 1/2 hours, watching the best fireworks display in my entire life...it was very-very-very beautiful.....(I just don't understand why Chin Wooi could fall asleep halfway?) Different themes of fireworks are displayed, from faces, nature, science & tech...u name it! The finale was the best of all dee....with 5 places shooting up fireworks at the same sequence with HUGE effect and everyone was like, "WOW","WOOR!","CUTE"...and other stuffs in Jap...And after it all ended, this unknown Jap tradition was brought to my notice. Everyone took out their hp, activated their flashlights and started waving in the air....as if to say "Well, its all over now, but its still nice knowing everyone here...take care!" Aww.....
้ฃในใ! EAT! ๅ! MAKAN!
After enjoying the fireworks display, time for some REST(We really needed that)...Fortunately for us, Fong Zyin(1st from right in the pic on top) knows this gal from China, who was soo kind of her to let us stay in her apartment....actually not her's, but her sis's apartment. So off we go to 'dreamland' for that night, waking up at about 1pm the next day, practacally starving to death....so there it was, Jeremy Cheong to the rescue! If you haven't guessed by now, the food on top of the table was prepared by me with Fong Zyin's help...no one else did anything at all!! Its not much actually, just fried rice and soup made with the left over chicken bones and some melon in it....Taste? Ehem, to tell the truth, it was the best tasting fried rice here in Japan (My mum still makes the best!)...but the soup was a failure to me...but hey, they drank all of it! WOW! So not nice but can still clean the entire pot, we must be damn hungry dee...The rest of the day was just spent gambling and chatting, no mood or energy to go anywhere....
Before you continue reading this blog, try finding 2 of the 'new' China friends we made! The 1 on the right is the younger 1(23 dee actually) who is Fong Zyin's roomate in the hostel(now summer hols)...while the 1 on the left is the elder 1(age unknown) who works at an office nearby....they were just too good to all of us....not only did they allow us to stay with them, allow us(more of me actually) to use any 'materials' inside the fridge to cook, they even spent all their 'after work relax time' to go to the market and then cook for us! The meal was not something of a 'cincai' product, but a bowl of mixed 'God knows what great stuffs' inside! Its something like a steambot, but the soup was HEAVEN! Supa nice ler! Must learn how to cook dee...hahaha. THANX ALOT! Very greatful to know you ppl!
After a full stomach, we watched the life football tournament between China & Japan...which so happen that all of the guys are Jap fans, but kept quiet the whole night only...we even cheered when China scored, but swearing in our hearts...hahaha....what to do, we are endebted to the 2 Chinese Gals who made our holiday a great 1! I wasn't really ready for this pic as I was chatting to my mum who I so happened to forgot to call for 2 weeks dee...sorry Mum!
Aomori, Land Of Apples And Nothing But Apples....
So, half heartedly, we left Nagaoka to our next destination, Aomori....if u read my titles correctly and is looking at this pic, you would have guessed....this place is so popular with it, most apples sold in Japan are stated 'Grown in Aomori'. We learnt about this place in our text book while in PPKTJ so why miss it? Ok, we din saw any apple estates or plantations cos we were at the town area only(A car is needed to go such places) but Hey! Why do we need to go there when there is a stall just next to the train station? So, our tea break was a nutritional 1...finally....
There was not much expectation about this place besides apples until we saw this....guys & gals wearing some sort of 'clothing' walking all around? From my 4 months os experience in Japan, Japs don't wear such a thing unless....unless, THERES A FESTIVAL TONIGHT! I was true, there was a festival after all, and it so happen to be a popular 1 also...and is called? NEBUTA! (try to memorize it!)
Huge floats with a distinct display of 'Good versus Evil' was paraded around, with those Japs with the 'clothing' carrying and pushing it all around the streets, accompanied by waves and waves of children and old ppl singing and dancing...to please the god? I don't know, but it was a nice sight, unique with its own tradition and I dare to say that the 'clothing' was kinda nice too...The place was also crowded but a good thing is that Japs NEVER pushes! No matter how crowded or smal a place is....NEVER! Unlike M'sians...haih...
If you are trying to memorize the word Nebuta, here is a better way to help you...the word NE is a term that the meaning still eludes me, but the BUTA's meaning(in Jap) is written on this sign above...I wonder if the festival has anthing to do with it? It so happens that I saw this board at a row of shops near the festival and its a restaurant & pub kinda place...wierd!
After 1 hour, my legs gave up standing, I convinced the rest to head over to ASPAM(I don't know what it means till now and might never know!) which is actually a piramid building filled with gift shops on the bottom floor and an observation post on the top floor. It was kinda late ay that time, so most of the shops were closed, but fortunately, the observation area was still 'available'....well for 420yen, we got a good view from the tallest building in Aomori(I think?) and a can of whatever drink we chose...For those who think that standing up for 1 hour is an easy task, wait till u carry my 20kgs++ bag and try standing for 1 hour...gila heavy ler!
AFTER A TIRING DAY! Welcome to my hotel for that day....ya, it looks
pathetic, but a hotels in Jap are not cheap and whats the best way to
save some bucks when travelling? Sleep in the gardens! I don't know
bout you ppl, but I find sleeping by the roadside kinda fun(although
dangerous) and challenging....sleeping when ppl are staring at you,
mosquitos biting, robbers that might wanna steal my precious camera,
chilling temperature....maybe its the scouting I did that helped
alot...sleeping at all odds! Maybe I shouldn't have quitted because of
my 'ass-hole' patrol leader! Anyway, back to sleeping, we slept at
around 1am, and since we were also soo tired after an entire day, I
practially don't feel a thing until my hp woke me up at 5.30am sharp(we
are catching the earliest train to Hakodate, Hokkaido)...as of where
did I bathed, ya, there was a public bathing room about 1km away....it
was the 1st time that we have been seen by the opposite sex whose is
not blood related....if you are wondering, no, not any girl, nono, but
the 'AMA' who guards the middle section dividing guys from
gals....NO!!!!!!!!!!!
3 comments:
ewww,like what Randy said?let the "ama" saw everything?walau,nice pics of the fireworks..and u travelled a lot oso wor...the apples..sweet?
cool hols.. bt, im not really sure about the sleeping at roadside stuff.. the fireworks was super chunted la weih!! how come no pics of the peculiar ones?
hey put my topless pic without permission...i must demand payment from u...haha !!
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