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Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fukuoka and Farewell

I think this is going to be my longest post ever. Wanted to squeeze whatever that was left of my Japan trip to this post, thus it is so long.
This post is about all the other days in Japan. Of course, I could not include all, but most of them are here.

We went to Dazaifu one day after school. Dazaifu is a place where there is a shrine which is famous for praying for one's studies.

From left, Marisa, Gen, Clarence, Ashleigh and Rayne.

Me at the shrine.


I actually came to this shrine before last year end of June, when I went Fukuoka for homestay. At that time, the おみくじ were all dark blue. It was the World Cup season and many people were praying for Japan's victory. So, I guess the shrine wanted to suit the season and changed their papers to blue. This time when I went, it was aqua blue.

The place where you tie the おみくじ. You only tie the おみくじ when it predicts not good stuffs.

 Sitting on some steps on the street leading up to the shrine.



One of the days, there was a small-scale 祭り near where I stayed.
Multi-culturalism at work. Or should I say cultural globalization?

 The water balloon yoyos! You have to use a strip of paper tied to a hook to hook these water ballons out of a pool of water.

 Strawberry かきごり。おいしい！

The goldfish game where you are supposed to catch the goldfish using a paper net.



Of course, during my stay in Fukuoka, I went to the karaoke about 5-6 times. Haha..really fun. This is one of the times where there was only 4 of us, but we got a room with a huge double decked sofa with pillows all around! Talk about singing in comfort!
こいち、クレ、Me、ゆうすけ



This was another time after school where we first tried the 足湯。Yes! It is an ofuro for feet! Imagine sitting down soaking your feet in warm water and singing. There are even bath slippers for you to wear to walk around. And a clothes hanger!

Marisa, Gen, ゆうすけ, Me, Ashleigh, Cheryl and Pamela!

This was another day in the same room. 　あゆみ、Gen, Marisa, さとK, Me, なぎさ、まさ



One of the weekends, the ATW tutors decided to plan a trip to the beach. I mean..since it's summer. They chose this beach that was really far from the city in the 田舎area. It took like 1 plus to 2 hrs to reach the place.

The train station. Doesn't it reminds you of 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ drama where サクandアキ went to release his grandfather's ashes into the wind?

Really like in the dramas. This is the train station entrance.

Me, Marisa and Cheryl

ATW at the beach!



Since the beach was so far from the city and near to まさ's house, I stayed over her house that night.
Miu, まさ's cat. Miu is still a baby and really naughty! She ran out of the house a few times. But she's also very cute. Kinda miss her.



Although I didn't sign up for homestay, Jiahui's host mum invited me and クレto stay over. We ate a really good dinner of shabu shabu and sushi. Her host family has a really cute dog.

ピーちゃん！ピーちゃんis so hyper and loves to play. She's really cute. She stepped over all our beddings refusing to let us get on it. -_-'''



I told myself that when I'm in Japan, I must eat Charcoal grill. It is like so expensive in Singapore! So, one of the last nights, we went to a nearby restaurant for charcoal grill after karaoke.

The restaurant even supplied plastic aprons so that we won't get our clothes dirty and that smoky. The toilet even supplied toothbrush! Imagine that! It was すっごくおいしかった！



Yup, we spent National Day in Japan. Being away from your own country makes you patiotic somehow. We wanted to wear all red and white..but obviously most of us didn't have any. And Gen, being Gen, started to sing National Day songs and some of the rest followed. We even said the pledge! Like...hello? Haha... So we decided to commemorate the day with a picture of the Singaporeans.

Yes, Gen's dress is supposed to be the flag. Haha... I can't believe we took this photo!



One of the last days, we decided to eat all the food we can and me and クレheaded for a 焼き鳥restaurant. Definitely a must-try!

We were sitting by the counter while they cooked for us.



On the last day, it was really quite sad. I mean, after staying in Fukuoka for 6 weeks, I grew quite attached to the place and the people. After making so many friends and settling down into the lifestyle, etc.

My Japanese 5 class.



We had a farewell on our last day. It was really quite sad with everyone saying their byes and taking photos for rememberance.

Me and トモミ

Jordan, Ricky (Yakuza 2), Do Hoon (Yakuza 1) and Mirgim

ATW cake! The tutors made it! It was huge and yummy!



まさ and なぎさ also had a farewell dinner for me at なぎさ's apartment. We had kimchi hotpot. It was really yummy! We even played Wii. It was really fun! I recommend all gamers to buy Wii. Haha..can work your arms at the same time.

Kimchi hotpot

なぎさ loves Stitch. Her room is filled with Stitches all around! This is just one portion only!



Finally it was time to say goodbye at the airport. I was really touched coz a whole group of friends whom I met last year when I came to Fukuoka, and met only once or a few times this trip, came to send me off! And they each had a present for me. It was really touching!

Friends from last year's homestay.
Me and やなぎ

Jiahui's host family whom I stayed at their house for a night.


なぎさ、Me、まさ


I really enjoyed myself this trip to Japan and really made alot of friends. Although some I may never see again, I really treasured the 6 weeks that we spent in Fukuoka. It was an experience that I willnever forget. I would say that this is the most enriching trip where I really got to experience the lifestyle in Japan and enjoyed their entertainment like karaoke and baseball. This trip really taught me alot of things and there is so much that I want to say to all those that I met, but yet words just can't express how I feel.

本当にありがとう！皆に会って、本当に良かった！皆のおかげで、私は福岡で本当にとても楽しかった！シンガポールに帰ったもう２ヶ月ぐらいけど、いつ福岡に戻るか、いつ皆に会うことができるか、毎日考えている。福岡でのこと、皆のこと、絶対一生忘れないのよ！もしシンガポールに来れば、是非連絡してください！

~ { 1:18 AM }
reflections @ 1:18 AM