Monday, December 06, 2004
hi again!
Monday, December 06, 2004
i'm so sorry i haven't blogged for a long time. i've returned from japan for about 2 weeks. the exchange program was really great. the group had prepared quite well for the trip, in terms of dance, presentations, whatever. i've learnt a lot from this trip. it was my first time travelling alone. to be honest, i felt afraid. i've been travelling with my mummy or my family since young. but never alone. it's quite an experience. i'm someone who needs reassurance. i'm a little insecure. i get emotional easily. like at the airport, when everyone's daddy, mummy were there, mine wasn't. can't blame them. they were busy with a friend from barcelona. they were sending him off to the airport too. terminal 2. i was at termianl 1. fortuantely they rushed down. i felt so much better after seeing them. i was on the verge of tears. lol. to think about it, it's pretty silly for a big girl like me.
we had fun at the airport. after checking in, we went to the duty free shops in the airport. i haven't been overseas for a long time. we took the skytrain to the other terminal and ran around with out bags like animals. haha. there were a couple of cute japanese guys(students). i love their uniform, it look so much smarter than our in singapore.
before boarding the plane, i made a few phone calls to my family and some friends.
after a few hours of inflight movies, we finally saw the sun. it was about 7 ++++ in japan, tokyo. we arrived at Narita Ariport. i felt like crap in my stomach. must be indigestion, the roti prata churnning in my stomach. haha. we took a bus to haneda airport. i didn't feel better there. i tried puking, but there's no use. we had lunch at haneda. i had lunch with vanessa, her mum, edwin, alistair, weijoe. it was so expensice. we chalked up a bill of ¥6800. lol. most of them didn't like their food. lol, all of them had a go for my katsu curry. lol.
we took a flight to miyazaki airport later. that flight was the worst of my entire life. i was so freaked out by the turbulance. i was like 'ARE WE GOING TO FREAKING DIE???!!!' cause i don't want to just DIE LIKE THAT!!! haha. it was a two hour nightmare. haha.
alright. so we arrived at haneda. we had a warm reception. it was so sweet of those reps. we left for superhotel later. and a dinner followed. the dinner was so cool. it was a buffet. and we HAD SO much food. i had dinner with the family(edwin, vanessa, her mum), conan, and weijoe. after that, we left earlier and went for a lil shopping. and returned for debreif.
day2:
the hotel room was so freaking small, but uh so cosy. i love the toilet. especially the toilet bowl. they wash yr ass for you. i heard lots of stupid stories about the toilet bowl during the trip. haha. we woke up the next day for breakfast at the lobby. it was quite alright. typical japanese breakfast. rice, miso, blabla. we left for Aya town for the homestay. we went to Aya town school. it was a get away from the busy city life. you see big farms there. it's basically organic farms. they are very environmently friendly. the students were so polite. everyone would give you their megawatt smile and say hello to you. so friendly! =D we went to a suspension bridge.the view was spectacular. it was beautiful. we went to a farm. an orange farm. the air was so fresh and it's so cooling!. the oranges were so juicy and sweet. so so so fresh. ha. we went to the flower clock. it looks like the teletubbies playground. it's quite a sight. we rode on a horse too. i was so excited about the horse. haha. it was quite an experience. heh. i saw my host, miki there. she had horseback riding lesson i think. she's pretty.
we went back to the school. and met out host and their family. i saw miki's mum. i was scared at first. but now i love her as my mum. the homestay was really great. first night we had dinner in this diner like swensons. it's joyfull down there. it was a cosy place. i did stupid things there. don't ask. haha. xiao han's host, ayaka, is my host's miki's best friend. han and i were best friends before. haha.. so during the homestay, i hanged out quite a lot with han.
day 3:
i had a great sleep. the bed was so cosy. even better than my house. but i still love my own pillow and my blosters. and my sponge bob. haha..
her room was cosy. and i found a picture of her and wei chong on her desk!!!! heh heh heh. lol.
we went to a lot of places that day.
-aya castle
-winery town
-bowling
-karaoke
we had bento on the car. ha, i had this funny tasting red bean rice. we left for a concert for us from the school's concert band and ensemble. it was so good! after that, miki and i went home to bathe and we went to isana's house. vanessa and elvany's host house to stay over. we went online a lil and i chated with terrance and ken. it feels good to talk to friends back in singapore. ken was like 'NO, you can't be in japan!' ha. he's so dumb.
isana's dad returned when vanessa and i and vany were doing some friendship bands for the japs. vanessa freaked out and hid under the table. vany hid in a corner. i was like wth. hahaha.. vanessa told me that the dad was a crazy pervert. hahaha. he was drunk from the sochu. he said lots of funny nonsense. he even wanted vanessa to marry the son. haha....
day 4: we woke up and atempted to hid from the dad. but he was having breakfast and he asked us to join him. we had great breakfast. we even had desert to go along. i had tiramisu. yum. haha.. after that, i returned to miki's house to bathe then we left for miyazaki town for shopping. i bought quite a lot of stuff for my friends. after that, han went to cut her hair. and we took turns to stay with her. after shopping the whole day, we went home. han and ayaka went to miki's house too. it was the last day of the home stay. though i didn't talk a lot to miki's mum, but i felt closer to her than miki. her mum really touched me. we may have the communication barriar, but this made us appreciate each other evern better.
day 5:
it was a school day. we were introduced to the school officially. the band performed again. another wonderful performance. we went to the class and later played games with them. it was something like a improvised catching game. it's not a non brainer. lol. we had great fun. all the guys were ogling at levees. haha. she's gorgeous. who can blame her? haha. right, back to subject. ok. after that, we had gym lesson. we played quite a lot of sports.
later we had lunch in the class. it was an eye opener. haha.. the guys were not bad looking. heh. after that, they showed us around the school. it's not very big, but they are a very diciplined bunch of people. they are all so nice. =) after that, we did area cleaning. and suddenly everyone closed their eyes(the japs). we were like 'huh'?
but this closing eye thing is when their school bell rings. it's sorta a meditation thing to remind them to slow down whatever they are doing and when they open their eyes, they won't do things in a rush. i find this really good. especially in a fast paced life we lead here in singapore, sometimes we really need to slow down and reflect if this is what we really want. and think about it. if i have a choice, i'd live there. after the area cleaning, we had lessons. it was japanese language. lol. we were bored to death. after that we went home. to get ready for the farewell party. han and i went to the school early. about 5.30. we were told to meet in school. but obviously we had a miscommunication when it turned 6.15 and no one was there. so we saw miss kit lee and mr michael, they told us we were supposed to meet in the cutural centre for tyhe farewell. and told us about the miscommunication. what kukus we were. in the end, a teacher sent us there. the farewell was kinda fun. we danced, sang out hearts out and cried out hearts out. my okasan cried when i told her that i thank her for taking care of me these few days in japanese. my eyes were watering already. god. after the party, before boarding the bus, she was holding my hand all the way to the bus. i was so worked out. i was so so so so so miserable. i cried all the way back the the hotel. goodness, while i'm typing this, i feel like weeping again. i miss my okasan so much!
day 6: free day!!!!!! shopped till i dropped. hahah.. we shopped till 2 and reterned to the hotel forgetting that the hotel is closed for cleaning. and vanessa mum did the craziest thing. she took out whatever we bought and laid on the streets. and said 'douzo!' to whoever who went past. it meant please! lol. sometimes when we lay our pride aside, we really have fun. i was laughing like mad. hahahaha!! it was the funniest thing that happened. we went back to the hotel at 3 and vanessa had a nap. while i went to han's room to disturb her. we left for the town again at 6 and came back about 10 plus. we had lots of neoprints. it was much more cheaper there. there's this sofa machine in heeren which they have the same one there. in singapore, you have to pay $10 for it but we paid ¥400 for it. which is about S$6+. less than $7. it's so worth it. we took it 6 times. haha. it was so much fun. they had costumes for us to change in.
day 7: it's a whole FREAKING DAY of travelling. my okasan saw me off from miyazaki airport. i cried all the way to haneda again. before i went for my first flight, okasan brought me to the shop and bought me some stuff. i was like 'iie(no). nevermind' but she insisted. she held my hands again. she treated me like her own daughter please. even miss cat lee said she felt so touched when she saw us. goodness. i was so freaking sad when we left. i didn't even want to leave. it's all the irritating flights again. sian.
this trip is the highlight of my 2004.
10:34 PM |
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