ahbu loves YOU! <3

Kumamoto Day 5

Day 5 was supposed to be free and easy day but we decided that we should visit the kumamoto castle together since it's like the icon of the city..

Miyuki's bridge!

Group Pic before entering



the sky very nice hor? that's why there are so many pics of the sky.. it was the ONLY day when i was there that the clouds were so puffy and the sky so blue.. i was like "the sky very nice today!" for the whole morning till my friends were like "yes, we know.. you said it many times.." lol

Cynthia and Sharon mimicking the stance of the statue

one of the artifacts

miki is so extra in this photo.. lol

view from the top of the castle

towards the last day, the sg girls can't help grabbing the cute jap guys for photos.. lol

the sky was so nice~!

the sky was SO NICE~!

the sky was SSOOO NICEEEE~!

japan's trishaw?! lol

ok i cheated.. this is photoshoped.. but this is their sign for their post.. yuppx..

finally we were in the city!! shopping!!!

fresh fruits and vege!!

best denki!



miki making funny faces at lunch

curry omelete rice!! OISHIIIII~!
i can't believe i used a coin to pay for my lunch lahz.. this plate of rice is only like 339 yen (~S$3), which i paid for with a 500 yen coin.. the good thing about shopping with the locals is that they know what is affordable and what is not..

neoprint is so damn cheap!!!! we took A LOT! lol..

the shop where i spent almost all my fortune.. lol.. i was amazed by the range of merchandise and manga.. there were yaoi, hentai and doujinshis.. i spent an awlful long time in there.. it's truly HEAVEN!!! otaku Wei Sheng bought plenty of mangas! including a Darker than Black one.. Hei looks so HAWT on the cover!! the mangas are so cheap as compared to the same Japanese version in Kinokuniya.. T-T why can't i read japanese?!?!

look at the uber pretty getas and yukata strings!! but they are mighty expensive too! xD

looks familiar?

Dinner was a quite different.. a kinda restaurant that we don't have in Singapore.. and it's awfully cheap too! $10 for the whole table of 6 girls and it was rather filling

Teppanyaki- with kaoru as our chef! not only she plays soccers well, she cooks well too!

rather innovative isn't it? i think Seoul Garden should close down and make way for DIY teppanyaki!!!

we could add as much cuttlefish chips and sauce as we want!

look at all the food!

night scene! just one photo.. hahax.. i rather dislike night photography..

on the public bus back to the dorm.. i think they should adopt Singapore's EZ-link system instead of taking a ticket and looking at the board in front for the fare..

Elmo and Cookie Monster caught at a Catcher-Catcher machine.. i NEVER play catcher-catcher in Singapore coz the machines are crack and the attending staff aren't that nice.. In Japan, you can point out to the staff which one you want and he/she will open the machine and place the toy as close to the hole as possible such that when you slightly knock it, it'll drop out.. Plus, the "claws" of the Japanese machines give very firm grips, unlike their Singaporean counterparts, which are such jerks.. (pun intended)

i'm infected by your mao dun-ness

posted by quack @ 9:56 pm

Kumamoto Day 4

Day 4 was another day of sight-seeing again.. But first we had an industrial visit to Sony where no photos are allowed.. it was rather boring lahz.. the technical part would be of interest to the IT and Engineering students but definitely not me..

After the industrial visit, we moved to a scenic location for lunch! yesh again.. i like this little idea of a nice place for lunch instead of just having the bento on the bus.. it shows how particular Japanese are when it comes to having meals..

minasan unpacking their bentos

scenic view

大观峰- but it sure was cold.. brrr..


look! i'm flying!!









After lunch, we moved off to the long-awaited shrine.. Most of the girls were anticipating it because we expected to get 守护符, which we heard are very 灵..



washing our hands before entering

their way of drawing lots is different from ours.. i drew one a 吉 lot with a little golden turtle inside.. i gave my lot, which was in Japanese, to Miyuki to translate and i only understood one thing she said:"Love good!!" i certainly hope so.. lol



ring ring, clap clap, bow and make a wish!

after you get your lot, no matter whether it's good or bad, you are supposed to walk around this tree 2 times before tying the paper on the tree or around the fence.. Males turn clockwise while females turn anti-clockwise..

after the shrine, we boarded the bus to view an active volcano.. on the way, there were cows and horses on the pastures.. the girls kept waking up a half-conscious me to see them.. but i was more concerned about sleeping rather than looking at the animals.. lol.. i always sleep when i board the bus..

but i still managed to snap a few pics of the scenery from the bus


and after a long and sleepy bus ride, we arrived at the volcano!!

you can easily spot the strips of barren land caused by an eruption years ago..

the crater



you can actually see the "waves" of lava hardening on this strip of land.. pardon me, my geo is failing me..



stairways to the top

it was mighty cold and windy up there.. i wonder how Xin Yu can survive with just a dry fit t-shirt..

it felt as if we were in the clouds..

the wind's strong, alright..

After the volcano, we went to another shrine.. it wasn't much of a novelty this time round..

drinking spring water







lots tied on a red string




after a tiring day, some of the girls went for osen! (hot spring) after the initial embarrassment of stripping totally naked (yesh, no swimsuits allowed and only a face sized towel is allowed), we thoroughly enjoyed the bath.. it was very refreshing and good!

history just keeps repeating itself, doesn't it?

posted by quack @ 10:14 am