Gone Today. Come Tomorrow!

A gush of good wind passes by and here we are again, looking back at a year of ups and downs, looking ahead to another year of... well more ups and downs. *shrugs* Life. It is what it is.

So what is 2009 for Hiyashibeeps? As the clock ticks closer to midnight, I'm here going through my 69 modest posts of the year. That itself is a tiny miny achievement of mine - to blog a tiny bit more every year. I guess that means I have to beat 70 next year. Hah! So here we go.

*********

January 2009
It was the month of Gong Xi Fa Cai. Whuah! That was early. Nothing interesting seemed to happen at the beginning of the year though. Hmm...

February 2009
I actually made the effort to take up a meme on Facebook and shared with the world 25 most random things about myself. It still amuses me now that I read it. What was I thinking?!

March 2009
11 posts in a month! Highest record ever. *bows* I got Happiness in a Bag. Hiyashibeeps got a new look. And omg! There's also my 'first time'. *giggles* I nominate March as my best month of the year. Who's with me? Me!

April 2009
Oh! Old friends. Seeing this post just reminded me that we need to do this again, like as soon as we possible can loh. My social life needs to revolves more than just my colleagues loh. Like seriously loh. LOH!!

May 2009
Oh my, this is a day to remember! Me working on Labour Day? Where's the justice!! Oh, wait. *grins*

June 2009
Hmm... mid year, mid excitement. Hard to pick one thing significant to be the highlight of the month. And therefore, we get everything! XD

July 2009
Another meet-up with another bunch of friends. Hahaha... 3 out of the 4 posts of the month are about these guys. Gosh, if any of you peeps are reading this, let's go somewhere again!

August 2009
This is an interesting month. First I learned that I have an 'addiction' problem, then I realised I have psychic power! Then again, I have always known about the latter but let's keep that between you and me. Hush hush.

September 2009
It's all about thank you, Thank You and more THANK YOUs! *smiles*

October 2009
This is the month where I officially declared myself the bad bad blogger. *ashamed*

November 2009
What's there to say? There was only one miserable post for this month! ONE! I guess I was trying to live up to the bad blogger declaration I made in October. *sigh*

December 2009
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It's a month of total Kris Allen fangurling. *blushes* I actually put aside all my Japan cray cray for the American Idol. Say woot? Hahaha. Not!

*********

And that wraps up 2009. That was a nice trip down memory lane. Just this afternoon, I was sitting here wonderful what have I exactly achieved this year. I remembered nothing in specific which was kind of a downer but then I realised it's not really about achievements. It's the memories! And that I have many.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Although it's been said many times many ways...

Christmas Day, 10.00am:
Wakey, wakey, round 3 of the morning.
I'm awake but I ain't getting up.

Christmas Day, 11.40am:
Ooo... I was wrong. There's more than just secret puddings! There's tiny mince pies, too! What else are they hiding from me? Yum!

Christmas Day, 1.20pm:
Woot? A typical Chinese lunch. Curry mee. Hahaha.

Christmas Day, 4.30pm:
Getting ready to play dress up for dinner.
Yen-san is getting married! On Christmas!

Christmas Day, 5.45pm:
By golly am I in such a Christmassy mood. =)

Did I go a little overboard here? *grins* Seriously. Ms Mummy came dragging her daughter exclaiming "Santarina... see santarina. Ask santarina jie jie give you present." o_O;; and the kid actually stared so hard that I got a little wary, "Say, I think your daughter is kinda believing it." Went by the night explaining that I'm already off from work and that all gifts were given the night before. LOL. Tonight, 'santarina' is just here for the dinner of her good friend. =)

Christmas Night, 11.00pm:
Another tiring night. Another early morning tomorrow! Oh, and I did promise to posty more the last time. It's a little late but it's still all Christmassy nonetheless, at least till Monday when work comes a calling.

*sings*

Although it's been said many times many ways...
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

My Merry Little Christmas Eve

Christmas eve, 8.05pm:
It warms the heart to be greeted by classic Christmas songs right at the gate followed by an aroma of good food as you enter the house and the scene of family members busy at the kitchen. *smiles*

Christmas eve, 8.15pm:
I saw a secret stash of Christmas pudding. Yummy!

Christmas eve, 8.50pm:
Everyone was too stuffed to even touch the pudding. Woot?
Aww... no pudding.

Christmas eve, 9.30pm:
Meh doing the dishes.

Christmas eve, 9.50pm:
Watching Lord of the Rings on TV. I felt awfully tired for some reasons. I knew I wouldn't last the night.

Chritsmas eve, 11.30pm:
All cuddled up with my pillow on the sofa and dozing off. Didn't make it to the end of the movie after all. Got kicked off the sofa by sis, asking me to head off to bed.

Christmas eve, 11.50pm:
Sitting right in front of the computer, stubbornly staying awake with a nagging headache no thanks to the 'sudden awakening' from earlier.

Christmas, 12.50am:
Wireless connection went bonkers and that's when we finally to decide to call it a night.

Merry Christmas!

A Lie is a Lie, Even when it's White.

I say I'm ten, when I'm nine and a half,

my uncle tells a joke and I try to laugh,

in gym I fake a headache when I want to quit,

I say I love the sweater that my grandma knitted,

but that's a white lie (white lie),

it's the kind you want to tell,

a white lie (white lie),

so your mom won't have to yell,

a white lie (white lie),

everybody does it 'cause it's feel alright

and it's more polite,

but a lie is still lie, even when it's white.

I pretend I'm asleep when my dad walks in,

I said I ate my chicken but I just ate the skin,

your face can say you're lying when your mouth says you're not,

your pants are on fire but they're not too hot

when it's a white lie (white lie),

it's the kind you want to tell,

a white lie (white lie),

so your dad won't have to yell,

a white lie (white lie),

everybody does it 'cause it's feel alright

and it's more polite,

but a lie is still lie, even when it's white.

While it might be hard to say what's true,

would you want a white lie told to you?

Lovely! I hearts this a lot.

Who would have thought there's such a heart-warming scene in 'Lie to Me'. Hah! Then again, it's a songs about lies... so... *shrugs* And did I ever mention how I secretly adore Loker and his inability to lie. Poor dude. Gotta love/hate a guy that just had to tell you the truth.

"Do I look fat?"
"Umm.... "

Loker, white lie! White lie!

*grins*

I'm on my way in becoming a Japanese Chef

*grins*

So I went on The Great Okonomiyaki Hunt when I was in Japan. Not once! But twice! One turned out yucky, another one was totally awesome. Two different styles - one from the Kansai region while another from Hiroshima.

And guess what?!

I conquered them both this afternoon.

Again. Not One!

But Two!

Though I kind of cheated. Techically, my Hiroshima style okonomiyaki is a "Kansai style okonomiyaki plus yakisoba". Then again, that sort of constitute what a Hiroshima style okonomiyaki supposed to be. Hmm... it's just that instead of doing them layer by layer, I sorta jumble all of them up and cook it my way.

Hey! It's called 'IMPROVISE'
That's how we survive in life!
Whuah, what's with the sudden philosophy. Silly me.

Well at the end of the day, it turned out pretty alright with me.
Another Mission Accomplished. Yosh!

I could play this all day long...

Standing on a stool without a mic makes it all the more better.
*flails*



"Tell me why are we... so blind to see...
That the ones we hurt... are you and me.
We've been spending most our lives
living in a gansta's paradise..."

Say woot? One would think I'm singing the wrong song. LOL. I love mashups. *nods* Honestly, I couldn't bear listening to Coolio's version. As much as I love the chorus, I can never get pass the rap at the beginning of the song. But this is awesome. Then again, I might be biased since I'm in such a flaily mode. And tiny Kris is tiny. Forget the mic! Me prefer you standing up on the stool and sing without it. =)

I could go on and on, spamming my dying blog with more videos but let's make this a space-saving post and clickie here instead. Weeee!

I'm riding on a lyrical jam these days.

Wait me posty more.

Ti.red.I.am

Scratch the thought of work and play at the same time. Heck, a weekend of travelling and mall-hopping is way more tiresome than working. Longer hours and more physically-drained. Oh, and I'm not even getting paid for all the hard work. That's a weekend of buy buy money. Eeeeek! I mean bye bye money. -.-;; Oh, and my absence from work could only spell "More Work Tomorrow".

Yippee.
Gee, isn't it missing some exclamation marks.

Why am I being sarcastic to myself? *frowns*

Happy thoughts, Vin!
Think happy thoughts!

Hmm... now now, it's not all that bad. This was also my first "trip away from home" with my younger sister. Together exploring new grounds for her next study destination. I don't get why mom's that worried when I was practically threw myself to an unknown land more than 7 years ago and survived just fine. WAIT! That was 7 years ago? Now I'm feeling old. This post is just depressing. I should stop. Go to bed. Brace myself for tomorrow. Good night.

Yeah right. As if I'm ready and done for bed.
Much to do. Much to do.

I miss bed.

I have the sudden urge to express that thought, but am too lazy to make an effort to find a place to slot it into this post appropriately.

This has to be one of the most disorientated post ever.

Cute.

Yeah right.

I just can't help myself.

A Japanese Summer: Chapter Eight (i)

Better late than never. As much as I procastinates, I am still determined to finish the series because it means so much to me. On the 11th day in Japan, we headed to a little hot spring town called Kinosaki Onsen. The name is a dead giveaway as the word 'Onsen'
(温泉) itself means 'hot spring'. There you go, pick up a little Japanese as you read. =)

Going to the onsen was something both of us was very excited yet nervous about. This is of course for one obvious reason - getting naked in front of someone else! And when you know you're going to umm... be that 'expose', there's another list of concerns that pops up in mind. *cough cough* There was certainly a need to educate ourselves properly on the DOs-and DON'Ts at the hot springs. Thank God for Google!

I confess. We fell in love with McD Japan after our last late night snack two nights before. As if Ebi Burger aka Prawn Burger wasn't impressive enough... LO AND BEHOLD! Bacon Egg & Cheese Burger for breakfast!

Bacon wei! BACON!

And with your choice of Cafe Au Lait.

SAY WOOT?

Not just your usual "Coffee or tea?" but an actual list of beverages to choose from. Choices that include "Cafe Au Lait". Awww.... I crave for Japanese McD right now! I miss. I want.

And so we headed off to the station after breakfast. And there we found Platform Zero. Hahaha... that's a first. I guess Japan just never fail to amuse.

That's the train to Kinosaki Onsen. Even the train matches the destination. Old town. Old train. The queue was already quite long when we arrived. All hurdled up for the free seating section of the train. Naturally we didn't get any seats and had to stand almost all the way of the journey which took over an hour and a half or so.

I finally got a seat just a few stops away from Kinosaki. Sat next to this shabby old man with bad breath. (-_-) If that's not bad enough, said ojisan was very keen in having a conversation even though I pretend to not understand most of the things he said. And hey, I'm in a foreign land and in no place to be inpolite to elders. Ojisan kept introducing a good place to visit which I wished we could if we had the time. A place about 40 minutes bus ride away from Kinosaki that offered the unique noodle eating experience that I previously saw on tv where you catch the flowing noodle with your chopsticks and such. But alas, we were tight on schedule and it's just too dangerous to meddle with our plans.

Finally we arrived. There's a mini bus waiting outside of the station that takes visitors to their respective guesthouse. See, Kinosaki Onsen is known for its seven different onsens throughout town and thus, there's also numerous Japanese guesthouses (ryokan) throughout the little town as well. Every visitor is bound to head to one of them. Ours was called Tsutaya.

Tsutaya Ryokan!

Authentic Japanese guesthouses are much much more expensive than all our previous little hotel stays. One night here costed over RM600 PER PERSON which is more costly than our 3-night stay in Kyoto. But we can't go by a trip to Japan without experiencing sleeping on a futon and being served with the best food and service.

This is officially the pampered part of our entire trip.

And by pampered, I mean the best service in town. Mr Receptionist here carried our bags up for us and served us tea in our rooms. And we even had obachan serving us like she was our butler. Obachan was there to prepare our meal in our rooms and even dressed us up in our yukata which Izumi-san, the hotel owner offered to lend us for free. When she offered we hesistated at first because we read on the website that yukatas are rent for a price but Izumi said it's a complement from her and asked us to choose the ones we like. Did I mention that Izumi-san speak fluent English? Probably the best speaker among all the Japanese we've met in our trip.

Tea and biscuit served.



The room. Pweetty.



The toilet. Hahaha!

The toilet is sorta outside of the room, right at the corridor to our room. Yes, we even had our own corridor to our room. Obviously sliding paper doors are not secure enough and therefore we have a typical wooden door with a modern lock which led to a little space before the actual sliding door to the room.

On the other side of the room is another set of sliding door that led to another section with windows looking out to the street. Yes, the sink is here. How nice is it to brush your teeth as you enjoy the morning view of people walking down the street?

Hahaha... these are not our yukata. These were the easy slip-ons that you wear out to the onsens. Every guesthouse has their own design. Thus, the people working in the onsen can easily identify you as guests of which guesthouse and bring back your 'geta' (Japanese slippers) when you're about to leave the bath house.

It's a simple yet amazing system that works wonders. You step into a bath house and remove your slippers. The people there will collect it and keep it aside. Then you go in and enjoy your dip in the onsen. You come back out and they will be ready with your slippers again. Hahaha! Wonderful.

We went around the guesthouse and took some pictures of the place.


And we find 'prettiness' one after another.


Finally we reached the female bath in the hotel. A small hot bath for hotel guests only. We decided to take our first step slowly in private and therefore came here for our first bath together before heading out the the public bathhouses.

When we entered there was already a girl in the bath which left us in a dilemma on whether to enter or not. We felt silly standing there unsure whether to undress and enter. Then the girl came out and was completely comfortable in her own skin which made us felt even more silly for the awkwardness we had. HAHAHAHA! Finally we got rid of all the silliness and just went 'what the hell' and just well, went for it. And there it was the two of us in one bath, soaking in a bath of extremely HOT WATER, giggling with a little awkwardness.

*blushes*

Is this even something appropriate to share here?
Ahhhhhhh...!

After the bath, we decided to head out to town. Here's a shot of the front desk. There were slippers of different sizes for guests nicely arranged right in front. Oh, I forgot to mention that we had to remove our shoes before entering the guesthouse. That explains the slippers.



Of course there were also different sizes of 'geta' for you
to wonder outside. =)



Kinosaki Onsen is known for its seven bath houses located throughout town, each with their own characteristic, i.e. the oldest bath houses, the smallest, etc. This is Goshono-yu.

This is Ichino-yu.

The one other bath house that I managed to photographed. They were the only two we saw while we went out on a stroll during the day with our cameras. We discovered the rest during the evening when we were out on a "try-all-bath-houses-mission".



Guess who was there to greet us when we came back to our room? Obachaaan! And sumptuous dinner! Now before dinner was served, obachan even helped us wear our yukata. Hahaha... and Cubbie was smart enough to have the entire thing recorded because we knew we were on our own the next day when we checked out and switched to a budget-friendly hotel a train stop away from here. We simply could not afford another night of such luxury.

The recorded video even came in handy this year during Bon Odori as we fussed about wearing our yukata for the event... which reminds me I haven't even blog about that. @_@ *hopeless*



Now let's get back to sumptuous dinner. =)



Scallopie. Crabbie. And Sashimi.

Even the rice came in style.
Gosh how Cubbie love the rice that she ate two bowls of it.

Mission accomplished!
Time for a stroll outside to loose all the pounds we just gained in that one meal.

And we didn't even need to ask anyone to help us take our photo. Someone offered. See how nice Japanese people are?! They saw two silly gals taking photos of each other and came forward to ask if we need any help. Now that's real hospitality.

Remember the bridge? Yup. This is the night view of that same opening shot at the very top of this post. Water clear enough to actually see the reflection of the bridge even during the night.
How pweeetty can it get?

See! Everyone is walking around in their yukata.

Oh, and if you think coming back to a room filled with food was amazing....

This time we were greeted with laid-out futons.

Comfy!

Yeah, we slept on the floor but that turned out to be the best night of sleep throughout our stay in Japan. Cubbie desperately wants to own a futon now. Hahaha...

*******

Oh one last interesting point. We heard sirens through the night, assuming people kinda went overboard in soaking in the hot spring and passed out. ^^;; So like always, moderation is the key!

Next update: Bon Odori in Japan!

Sweet Home Alabama

I'm a smiley today. Thanks to Mr Clean Hands.

I've been a bad bad blogger

Then again, I don't think I'm even worthy to call myself one.
At least not at the moment.

I need to finish my drafts. I need to make new ones.

I need to punish myself.

Then again, shouldn't blogging be fun and willing?

This is not a job.
*nods*

Convince me otherwise.

Until then...

The Pirated Father

Apparently four days of holiday kind of took a toll on all of us upon returning to work on Wednesday. Everyone's brain gone a little kaput. LOL.

Mr Cool: So, the one that's working as a manager is his original father is it?

Cik Datang: Ya.

*noticed something isn't quite right here*
Me: Eh, so what? The other one is the pirated father?

*silence*

Cik Datang: HAHAHAHA!

Mr Cool: Then what do you call him then? Real father?

Me: There's a word for it.
*thinks hard*


SEE! Physically present at work but brain not quite 100% there yet.


Mr Cool: What? what?!

Me: Arrgh! What's the word again. *mumbles* genetic... nope...


Cik Datang and Mr Cool continued to laugh and banter over "pirated" and "orginal" fathers. Leaving me on my own in my quest for the 'truth'. Totally not helping. Hmmph! Then finally!

Me: AH! Biological!
*felt like I just won a jackpot there... LOL*

Mr Cool: Oh ya! Biological. That's the word.

Me: Original pulak!
*gives Mr Cool 'the look'*

Everyone: HAHAHAHA...

The Great Appreciation Post. THANK YOU!

So I kind of proved that I got dorkie friends in my last two posts here and here. I think I owe some big Thank Yous to those who are less dorkie and got me "real gifts" instead. *grins*


To dearest Cubbie:
Thank You for a present that came way back in July. Talk about an obssession on being the first. You won hands down! For that, you're the first to be 'appreciated' here.

A gift delivered all the way from Taiwan to Kuala Lumpur. Then, personally delivered from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. *hearts*
I confessed! I used it a few random times way before my birthday but it officially made its debut as 'The New Bag' during Birthday Week. And yes Cubbie, it's been getting good reviews from fellow colleagues. Thumbs up!

To my dearest colleagues:
Thank You for my simple yet outrageously eye-catching Crocs.

It's RED. It's PLAID!
It's not entirely the 'safest' gift to get someone.
But I love it. Because I chose it. HAHAHA.
I Have No Shame.

To my dearest family:
Thank You for that silly tiny cake that you got simply because you thought my birthday dinner request would cost a fortune. Turned out I picked a noisy little cafe to have our dinner. Now you owe me a bigger and better cake. *grins*

To my dearest papa:
I know you read my post, and you being the one I inherited my characteristics from should know better that I'm not pissed about it at all. You got to admit, it was funny. :P


To my dearest godmom:
Thank You for the heartwarming phone call at night that you never miss each year.

To everyone else:
Thank You for spamming my facebook and filling up my sms inbox.

I Appreciate You All.

Pretty Blue. In A Good Way.

Clear blue skies.

Don't you just love the holidays?

SELAMAT HARI RAYA!

I'm such a simple person...

...that it's pretty easy to make me happy.

Like I said earlier, it doesn't take lots of money nor effort to put a smile on my face.

Present from Mr Skimmer Dude.

I specifically requested no more Ribena Pastilles from Seven-Eleven this year and lookie at what I got. An actual present and it's wrapped! Wow. So who cares if it's wrapped in some random paper he probably dugged from the office. For a guy who wraps Christmas present with newspaper, I'm honoured that he even wrapped the gift and written a note. LOL.

Everyone in my room crowded round as I opened the gift.

Cik Datang: It's probably s'thing he found laying around downstairs.

Everyone else: Hahahaha... yeah.

Mr Skimmer Dude: See. I'm very thoughtful wan. It's something for you to do while you're on the bus everyday.

Everyone: Ooo...

That got everyone curious...

TAA-DAA!

It's a Rubik's Cube! And honestly, I LIKE!

Me: Hahaha.. I actually like it very much. But Seven-Eleven?
*points to the half torn price tag*

Mr Skimmer Dude: What to do? I panicked lah!

Me: Woot? *laughs*

And Yay! I'm old enough to play it. *silly me*

*******

So being 25 might not be happiest thing but turning 25 was sure a whole lot of fun.
Does that even make sense?
*grins*

Video Presento From Mr Clean Hands

And he said: "Okay, Jovin. This is your birthday present."

It just goes to show that it doesn't take lots (money nor effort)
to put a smile on someone's face.
Maybe turning 25 is not that bad after all. Maybe.

Goodbye August. Hello September.

I'm glad it's over. August was just not my month to say the least. It was just "cloudy" and I'm not talking about the weather here, though it pretty much fit to describe that as well.

What a bumpy ride it was to get from July to September. August was just filled with potholes, bumps and annoying red traffic lights one after the other. You get the idea. I was just not at my tip-top self and it was just frustrating. It's like the downtime of the year. I do hope it'll start picking up now that we're a week into September which also means I'm about to officially get older. Again! It's starting to get scary.

21 was liberating. 22 was the end of one good thing and the beginning of another. 23 was a number I kinda like for no apparent reason *grins* and 24 was definitely "My Year" for more reasons that one. Then came *cough* 25 in which all I could think of is getting old. Ugh.

I think it's time to reflect and plan... for an awesome 26. Who's with me?

*sings* I Know.. I Know... I Know..

Oh I Know!

Got an ex-colleague's wedding invitation earlier this week and the following conversation ensued...

Mr Clean Hands: When is it ah?

Me: It's on a Tuesday.
(in a matter-of-fact kinda voice)

Mr Clean Hands: Oh... so you're going?

Me: Ya! Of course. Why not?

Mr Clean Hands: Well at least it's near.

Me: *blinks* Near to where?
(Note: I live across the sea from this place... not near at all!)

Mr Clean Hands: Near to the office loh.

Me: We're not working on that day lah!

Mr Clean Hands: *confused* Who's not working?

Me: You? Me? Neither of us.
(again in a matter-of-fact kinda voice)

Mr Clean Hands: Eh? WHY?!

and before I could answered...

Mr Clean Hands: Oh... Raya is it? Oh... I wonder if I'll be going anywhere... *thinks*

Me: Even if you do go anywhere, you'll be back here by then. (another matter-of-fact statement)

Mr Clean Hands: Eh?! How you know?
*once again staring at me in surprise*

Me: Well.. we start work on Wednesday. You'll definitely be back by Tuesday night. (answered with a straight face)

Mr Clean Hands: *thinks* Hmm... true!

Me: Hahahaha.. you must be keep thinking "Eh? How she knows ah?"
*finally started to laugh*

Mr Clean Hands: Hahahaha... YALAH!
*also started to laugh*

*grins*

Oh I Know. I always do.

I Had A Monday

It's been awhile but at least it was cosy.

How was your Monday?

I Have a Confession!

I have a big problem of throwing away stuff.

I have a big problem of hitting the "Delete" button.

I don't think I grasp the idea of "giving it up".

No Siree.

I have over 880 favourites in my browser!

881 to be exact. How awesome is that?

Says here folder was created in January 2009 right? That was the date I last formatted my notebook. Hahaha... I literally moved the folder to another drive whenever I format the computer and move it back again after that. Last check, I have favourite links dated back as old as 2004. *silly grins* There are dead links in there as well. Some of the webbies and fandoms that I used to visit on a daily basis back have gone inactive.

I favourite links cause I visit them on a daily basis. I favourite links cause I love what I just read and just in case I ever want to read them again. Besides, a good read deserves a second read yes? Though it rarely happens. *frowns* Cause good stuff just keep on coming on the world wide web.

And I never delete them because well...

"You never know... just in case."

I confess. I am addicted to the "Favourites" button.

All Hail Technology!

It was just the other day where Easter Bunny was doing her assignment on "computer and the internet" and she asked:

"What is Information Age to you?"

Got my own answer that same night.

This!

A Japanese Summer: Chapter Seven

Aiyoh. I think the proscastination has finally taken its toll on me. I'm slowly losing the words to describe. But rest assured that even if memory fails me, pictures speak a thousand words.

Me! 'Word-less'?
無理。。。絶対無理!
(muri...zettai muri!)

So after our geisha tour and a McPrawn Fillet supper the night before, we woke up tired yet excited as ever. It's a bullet train ride down to Hiroshima!

Hiroshima Station has the most amazing sight ever!

Now why do I always think of "Kenshin" whenever I think of Hiroshima and particularly the railway station. *grins* Always do. Always will.

Snacks on the trains. Odd combination of flavours.
Hmm... which flavour is "me"?



From the train station, it was a good walk down to the pier. Yup, Hiroshima was just a stop-over. We're heading to Miyajima where the famous gigantic Tori gate is. The Tori is as good as the symbol of Japan as ... Mount Fuji?



I don't get why the picture is so awesomely 'blue'. No, I did not tweak it in Photoshop. It's just sooo dang blue. The ferry had just left when we arrived so of course we turned waiting time to photo time as we click away.

Finally the ferry arrived. Aww... of course it gave me a little tingling feeling of home. Come on lah, I ride the ferry to work every day and at that moment it just reminded me of home. *grins* The ferry is relatively smaller than the one here in Penang. What amazed me was that both vehicles and passengers shared the same dock. @_@ I forgot what was the exact sequence but it was something like... vehicle out > passenger out > passenger in > vehicle in?

A shot of the Tori from the ferry. See those tiny dots on the beach, hahaha... humans humans! Told you the Tori was huge! When we arrived on the island, it was way passed lunch time then and we were hungry. Once again, Cubbie's Lonely Planet guidebook came to our aid and we were eagered to try some Hiroshima styled Okonomiyaki. For the extra knowledge: Hiroshima version has yakisoba added into the dish. Yummy!

Unlike our last Okonomiyaki adventure, this time we managed to locate the shop with ease. Hahaha... probably because 1) woohoo... bright day light! and 2) there's one obvious main street that was filled with people. LOL.



This time around, we didn't need to make the Okonomiyaki ourselves. Yay! Hahaha... the last time we had the joy of cooking it ourselves, it didn't turn out delicious at all. So this time we were all the more glad to let the experts do their job.

*giggles* Lady don't look to happy being in the spotlight.

But she sure made delicious Japanese pizzas. We splurged a little and ordered the Osyter Special which costed us 1050 yen. Hmm.. and that's obout RM35 for a plate of Hiroshima goodness. We shared the plate for a more economical RM17.50 each. Aiyah... we semi-budget travellers must save every yen worth of money!

Hmm... and you probably think wah, my memory must be superb to even remember how much that costed. Hahaha... I took a shot of the price in another photo lah. Hey, my Virgo nature signalled the need to prepare for blogging. *grins*

*Cubbie inner thoughts*
Are you done? I wanna eat the oysters already!

XD

After we got our stomachs filled, we finally started to notice the shops around us.

Pretty stuff in front of every shop possible. *clicked*

"Oh hey there little bambi!"

I swear this is the last chapter with deers in them. Hahaha...

The row of shops ended and the arc marked the beginning of the path towards the shrine.

Pretty cove, pretty scenery deserved a shot. Oh... at the far end there was where we docked earlier and the shops were those we had walked pass earlier. From here on, it's pwetty piccies all the way. =)

*clicked*

Itsukushima Shrine! *clicked*

Nice angle. A little bit of everything. *clicked*

Everyone was lining up here for a shot. And the nice Japanese family in front of us helped us took the photo. Thank you!

Ah... Cubbie silently took a photo of the two daughters as they were just beside us while we were waiting.

Barrel of wine? I'm not too sure but wth.. *clicked*

Pwetty. *clicked*

Lookie Cubbie got the Great Tori on her palm!
*silly silly* Us goofing off at the beach. Taking shots after shots to get the perfect one. Oh did I mentioned Cubbie's birthday is like 4 days after mine. Yup, that's two annoyingly particular Virgos travelling together. Go figure. *lol*

Cik Datang would once again comment:
"How you keep getting shots with no people in them?
Japan no people wan ah?"

AHAHAHA!

We got 'skill'. We go 'talent'.

Last picture of deers I promise! *runs*

We left before dinner because we could not risk missing the second last train back to Kyoto. If anything happened we gotta have a back-up last ride home right? Cannot risk it in a foreign land. Cannot! Unfortunately that also means we had to skip the fireworks display during the night. It would have been pretty caused you would see the fireworks firing from the sea. How cool is that? But staying a night on the island would cost our pitiful pockets a biggy hole in them.

Z'all right... fireworks coming up next. No way we're missing one while we're in Japan during summer right?

Next Up: Hot Springs! Getting naked in front of each other. Malunya.