Monday, August 13, 2007
summer 2007 - japan: hokkaido, tokyo.
:part IV:
discovered a lack of fotos in the past few posts..
no worries..
there will b loads in the following few posts..
first up..
the otaru canal..
looks good on pictures..
but..
when i first saw it..
it seriously just looks like any other canal..
not sure if the one near my house measures up to it..
well..
maybe it is slightly more picturesque..
got to give it some credit i guess..
next..
the musical box museum
set in a very quaint little town..
with numerous brick buildings..
clock towers..
cafes..
n the intoxicating smell wafting from bakeries..
we visited the musical box museum..
bought a necklace in a store specialising in musical boxes..
had tea..
the kind u can bring the cup home when the tea is gone..
sampled biscuits..
experienced a lost wallet scare..
before satisfying my beard-papa craving..
it wasnt the beard papa-brand..
but it was better than beard-papas..
i know its almost time for lunch..
but i couldnt resist..
lunch time..
n i wished i had more space..
thanx to the incredibly yummy cream puff that i tucked away..
i wasnt exactly the most hungry girl..
but lunch was..
kani-nabe..
crab steamboat..
hokkaido crabs..
i'll think of a way to stuff it in..
the whole point of hokkaido..
fresh seafood..
what better way than to start with crabs??
raw..
finally..
its boiling..
but..
only veg??
where r the crabs??
there..
the crabs..
steaming hot..
n after a round of intense activity..
whats left..
or shld i say..
nothing..
almost done with food??
not quite..
cherry farm coming up..
cherry farm..
allows us to pick them direct from the tree..
n eat them on the spot..
plus u get to pick 13 to bring home..
we calculated..
we needed to eat at least 50 cherries to make our trip worth it..
but we only managed about 20 odd each..
remember??
the cream puff..
n kani-nabe..
ohohoh..
plus..
if any of u are going fruit picking..
esp if they grow on trees..
pls do not wear skirts..
the ones that grow high up on the branches..
those that require u to climb up ladders..
r the sweetest..
since we were in skirts..
guess we had to live w the less big, less sweet ones..
ohohoh..
look what else we found..
a hello panda vending machine..
omg..
im so full..
i think im going to burst..
the trip is morphing into a food tour..
n..
since corn were in season as well..
they stopped for corn..
well..
if it'd been something similar to cup corn..
i would have found some way to force it down as well..
after all..
its not everyday we do this..
but..
luckily..
its corn on the cob..
not for us..
our stomach gets a bit of rest..
but what should come next but..
the ishiya chocolate factory..
look..
completely english style..
walking thru the chocolate factory..
the most intoxicating smell ever wafted thru the entire factory..
we were supposed to pay attention to the pdn processes over the yrs..
but my stomach..
depite being filled to the brim..
gave an involuntary rumble..
n craved for chocolate..
look..
the pdn process..
at a closer look..
ok..
hopefully we're done w eating for a while.
the sapporo tv tower..
looks a bit like the tokyo tower..
u think??
a miniature version..
theres supposed to b shopping as well..
an undergrd shopping mall..
as well as a tax free shop for food..
but..
while the rest fought thru crowds to snap up boxes after boxes of chocolates n biscuits..
i managed to pick out..
a shiseido uv lip gloss..
limited edition..
only in hokkaido..
my..
im tired out..
all ready to hit the sack once we get back to the hotel..
the wonders of following a tour group..
at least..
in the beginning..
no planning needed..
just hop on n off the bus..
plus..
no budget..
no youth hostels..
but hotels..
nice comfy hotels..
the rest of hokkaido..
i'll c u tmr..
im off..
a hot shower..
before i curl up in a warm comfy bed..
goodnite.
-bu-
10:37 PM
:part III:
day 1.
mega long day ahead..
just spent on travelling..
no exciting inflight entertainment..
w only each other to keep ourselves entertained..
we talked for ages..
about anything n everything under the sun..
until we had nothing else to talk about..
think we both know each others' entire life story by now..
drifted in and out of sleep..
wishing time would pass faster..
but instead..
time seemed to crawl by..
looking around..
trying to identify the people in our tour group..
looking to see if theres anyone remotely exciting..
i think not..
we think not..
guess we're on our own then..
oh..
btw..
our tour leader looks superbly young..
think he might have just graduated..
we later found out that he is still young..
still in uni..
just like us..
a part time job..
omg..
i think we need a job like that too..
our tour guide on the other hand..
not the typical japanese i was expecting..
but we will only find out later that she is a wonderful tour guide..
perfectly entertaining..
very observant..
that aside..
finally off the plane at narita airport..
n off on a domestic flight to hokkaido..
sighs.
when will we ever reach??
breakfast was at 0700 at burger king..
lunch was served on-board at 1000..
w only an ice-cream in the afternoon..
nothing fancy..
only kings vanilla ice-cream..
i wasnt hungry at 1000..
picked at the food..
only to regret later in the afternoon..
wayy hungry..
omg..
i was so happy when they said they were going to serve soup on-board the domestic flight..
even if i found out later that its only miso soup..
minus all the seaweed n tofu n everything else u would find in a miso soup..
anything to settle an empty stomach grumbling for attention..
i had 2 cups..
finally..
after an entire day of travelling..
one plan flight to another..
we landed..
in hokkaido..
light-headed from hunger..
i could have rushed into mos burger..
the first thing i saw when i entered the arrival hall..
but..
dinner's in 30 minutes..
at 2030..
guess ive already waited for so long..
i can afford to wait a little longer..
dinner was ok..
not the japanese fare i was expecting..
but i was hungry..
day 1..
over just like that..
oh-wells..
technically its day zero..
we still have many more days to go..
time to pick out what to wear..
maybe something simpler..
i'll leave the complicated ones for tokyo..
goodnite.
-bu-
10:14 PM
:part II:
n we're really off..
on a 7-day hokkaido tour..
4-day extension in tokyo..
-bu-
10:05 PM
:part I:
its finally here..
19th july 2007..
my luggage..
all packed n ready for an early morning flight..
theres only one problem..
my luggage is kinda full..
brought all my favourite things..
from clothes to accessories to shoes..
luckily for extendable luggages..
how the shopping will fit into an already full bag will somehow work out..
im sure of it..
nothing to worry about..
but i threw in a duffel bag for good measure..
just in case..
-bu-
9:57 PM
:prelude:
travelled to so many places around europe..
but still..
i prefer asia..
feels more like home..
taiwan, korea..
in the very least..
we look just like any other on the streets..
the korea trip after a's were a blast..
minus the fact that
it was cold..
we were decked out in jeans all day..
complete with windbreakers..
100% touristy..
but mega fun..
its the first time ive been on a trip w frens..
sch trips aside..
we survived..
dint kill each other..
except for 5 minutes of giving each other the cold shoulder..
when i went over to london..
we had such grand plans..
they'll come over..
n we'll tour europe..
i couldnt wait to show them around..
my home away from home..
but plans changed..
n i was slightly disappointed..
but..
new plans were made..
n disappointment gave way to excitement..
i couldnt wait..
japan.
ive never been there..
only saw it on television..
the creative core of asia..
the fashion hub for all shoppaholics..
more than half a year of planning..
i simply assumed my daddy would give the go ahead..
after all..
its during summer hols..
luckily..
he did..
tho he forgot he ever did..
but he did..
so many times i remember..
sprawled across the sofa..
fone in hand..
when exam preparations were forgotten..
planning the tour..
finalising our extension plans..
from 2 days 2 nights..
to 3 day 3 nights..
to 4 day 3 nights..
to 4 day 4 nights..
we could have gone on forever..
but guess 11 days would have to do..
after looking forward to it for so long..
its finally here..
n we were off to japan..
-bu-
9:23 PM
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
wo3. zhi3 neng2 jie1 shou4.
its time to move on.
-bu-
8:43 PM
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
wo3 men2. hui2 bu4 liao3 guo4 qu4.
everythings changed.
i know.
its time i start getting used to it.
so y am i like a leaky tap?
-bu-
10:13 AM
Monday, August 06, 2007
...
the words i'd been dreading to hear.
the words i'd hoped were only a result of my own insecurity.
but,
things will never be the same again.
things can never be the same again.
i destroyed the one thing i never wanted to destroy.
i drove the one person i never wanted to away.
i feel horrid.
i am horrid.
i thought i loved you as much as you did.
but i never tried to understand.
or at least i tried.
but still never understood.
you were right.
i judged.
n i hated him.
for hurting you.
i didnt know how to deal with pain.
so i transformed it into hate.
im sorry.
my love for you, i showed it all wrong.
i never felt more alone in my entire life.
as if a wall i never imagined existed now stands between us.
a world i can now only look in from outside.
i wish i can turn back time.
right everything i did wrong.
but time stands solid.
like the wall that now stands.
one i cant see, but i can feel.
the wrong that i shall live to regret.
i cant go back.
i can only wait for time to heal.
...
-bu-
7:03 PM
Sunday, August 05, 2007
i messed up.
big time.
i created a mess so big that i cant seem to find a way to pick up the pieces.
so thats how it feels like.
to be suddenly invisible.
i needed someone to talk to.
i really did.
if only to listen to me cry.
i know i should stop.
but i cant seem to do so.
im sorry.
i really am.
i wish i could turn back time.
but,
i think i just lost myself my bestest friend.
i drove meaw away.
-bu-
7:44 PM
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
endless preparations...
a yrs work finally mastered...
only to be measured by a 3 hr paper...
it felt like forever...
the end wouldnt come...
but now...
im free again...
free to laze around in bed...
free to dream up recipes...
free to do nothing at all...
free from unproductive guilt...
before...
all i wanted was to crawl in bed n make up for my massive sleep debt...
but...
now that being awake no longer equates to work...
sleeping feels like a waste of time...
theres only one problem...
theres nothing to do...
bliss...
-bu-
5:49 PM
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
everyones ending...
n soon there will b only me...
just a little over 30 hours n counting...
i can do this...
i need to...
>__<'''
-bu-
1:07 AM