my life

Woke up really early today. Was rather reluctant to get out of bed cause we slept rather late last night, and also the mattress on the tatami was rather comfortable:D

Visited 昭和新山 first thing in the morning. It was some baby volcano which formed when the mother volcano erupted. Nothing much there cause we weren’t really very close to the volcano itself.

Then we headed for lunch. Same as the previous day lunch, we went to this “wet market” like place where we could get out own seafood. Except now we were beside the Japan Sea. Pup bought this prawn which was 1200+ yen per prawn. They would de-shell it for you and it would still be alive. Supposingly you eat it live.

It’s so scary lar!! The prawn would move and then I would jump every time it moved. But it was okay lar. I was determined not to waste the prawn which cost about $19 each:)

After lunch we headed to Otaru, where the buildings were all preserved with at least 100 years of history. The buildings were all really pretty and there was this canal in the middle of the town:D There was a kind of European feel around the town:D

Musical box factory. I wanted to buy one which had the tune of Doraemon, but didn’t in the end. Shared one with Anson which played Moonlight Sonata.

Ate famous Hokkaido 7 flavoured ice-cream. Except there was only 5 flavours:D

Japanese High School students!!:D I mustered all my courage to ask them I could take a picture of them and they happily agreed!!:D They like not cold one, wear leggings enough already:X

Took cable car to the top of Mt. Tengu to see the night scenery. Best shot I could get. It was pretty but super cold:X

Took bus back to Sapporo. THE CITY!!~ It’s really like what we see in the movies and shows. There really is a large screen showing the news like in Death Note:D Walked past the Ramen Street where there were 16 Ramen shops in the same street!!:D

Tomorrow off shopping!!:D Hopefully can buy tons of stuff back!:D

To the Onsen now!!:D

::toodles::

9:05 PM

Woke up early despite sleeping rather late last night. Had nice nice breakfast too!:D KUANLIAN!!~ I did try to get a bottle of snow for you!!

BUT!! It’s now reduced to less than a quarter of the bottle of water:( Put the “after” picture later:X

Checked out of the hotel and travelled to somewhere beside the Pacific Ocean for lunch:D Ate some kind of steamboat. WOAH there was this “wet market” like thing were you could choose your own crab and calms to add to the soup:D

Me and the gigantic, famous Hokkaido crab!!:D

After lunch went to some cultural village to see some native Japanese there:D Scenery was damn nice;D

I realized I was more obsessed with the scenery there than the people and their “cultural performances”. But the scenery was really nice:D

After that went to Hell Valley. WOAH road was slippery but the scenery was nice too:D

Headed to the new hotel after that. A totally new experience cause it’s the Japanese style hotel!!:D Exterior and everything looks modern lar. But the rooms have tatami and those robes:D

During dinner:D

At the restaurant:)

After dinner went outside to walk. The town was really quiet and kind of deserted. They would be celebrating 100 years anniversary of the opening of the hot springs here, so there were really pretty light ups:D

After that Amelia and I went to the Onsen which was really really nice:D I think I’m addicted to Onsen already:D

Quote of the day: It’s a blessing to have a butt warmer when it’s –10 degrees celcius outside:D

I think I’m picture spamming more than anything:D HAHA. Now sitting at the hotel lobby and my hands are freezing cause anyone who walks pass and activates the auto-door makes cold chilling wind blow into the lobby.

It’s supposedly really late now so I better go sleep. So far have been able to post every day. Hopefully the next hotel would have free internet as well:D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERYL!!:D I LOVE YOU TRUCKLOADS:D <3

::toodles::

11:09 PM

Woke up at 6.30am Japan time. Washed up and had nice breakfast. I like the salad! Like the one at Sake Sushi:D Anyway we were super early trying to rent the skis. But it took super long for us to “get dressed” and get our skis. Anyway we went up the cable car to the top of the mountain cause supposedly the beginners ski there.

I must say, skiing is a tiring thing. For a person like me, with almost zero sense of balance and impossibly lousy stamina, skiing is tiring and NOT FUN. I’ll most probably not ski ever again. Skiing down was fast, stopping was difficult, climbing back up was tiring like shit. End of story. The whole thing about skiing was: taking ages to wear the skis, skiing down at high speed, crashing into something cause I don’t know how to stop, getting up and climbing up. It’s a vicious cycle:X

Was camping at the restaurant or sitting in the snow most of the time. Or maybe climbing took the most time. Sucks like crazy. But lying in the snow is fun:D The scenery at the top of the mountain was nice. Took some pictures, not alot we were skiing.

Came down the mountain at about 2+ and then had ramen/udon at the hotel restaurant. After that we went to walk around, wanting to play with the sledge. That was when we were walking on the road and Mup slipped. She dislocated her elbow. Was rather scary at the point of time cause we didn’t know what to do. But the Japanese staff at the hotel, shops were really friendly and nice and helpful. In the end called our tour guides and Amelia, Pup followed Mup to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Anson and I went with Aunty Audrey and family to the Onsen again. After that we were quite tired so we fell asleep in the hotel room. Didn’t we know Mup came back already and they were ringing the doorbell. We didn’t hear it cause we were sleeping. LOL:D

Anyway, according to Pup, the hospital in Japan is like super efficient. I thought they would take ages cause had to wait and stuff but turns out it was super fast and they came back real quick. Well I kind of wished I went too. Like take a took around.

Dinner was buffet which was really nice. Had nice nice crabs, which Hokkaido is famous for. Desert was nice too, I spammed ice cream:D I really can’t emphasize how nice Hokkaido dairy products are. Milk, yogurt, cheese:D

After dinner went to the souvenir shop to buy some stuff cause we got a 2000 yen rebate for not using the cleaning service for the rooms. Then we went to the arcade where Amelia, Anson, Samuel, Sarah and I took neoprints. LOL sounds lame to be taking neoprints but we’re in Japan! Why not? And it’s cheaper. 400 yen, about 6 bucks in Singapore. The feeling was quite… interesting cause we’re taking neoprints in Japan. Like the place which invented it:D

And now blogging at the hotel. It’s not in the hotel room, but in the common area in the basement. I can’t believe it’s only 10.14pm back in Singapore. It’s 11.14pm here and I’m supposed to be sleeping early cause we’ll be checking out tomorrow. Bye Furano Skiing Resort:(

Just a few pictures cause I really have to go now.

MOST SATISFIED SHOT OF THE DAY:D

KUANLIAN!! I did try to get a bottle of snow!! Failed today. Shall try again tomorrow before i leave!:D

::toodles::

10:19 PM

Woke up at 6.45am Japan time. Pup said it was snowing and woke us up to see. Finally got to see snow!!:D And fresh snow falling from the sky!!:D Washed up then went downstairs to experience the snow. Woah it was cold… but we weren’t really wearing alot because we just wanted to test out the temperature.

Breakfast was nice. Drank really nice milk from Hokkaido. There was American style breakfast and Japanese style (porridge and rice). Left for Furano Ski Resort after that. Along the way went to some wine brewing place and cheese making place. It was kind of free and easy, exploring the place ourselves. Was busy taking pictures most of the time. The coolest thing was that Amelia, Anson and I bought ice-cream at the cheese making place. Mine was milk flavoured, which tasted somewhat like vanilla. We walked outside to the snow for fun, and the ice-cream was harder outside than inside. SERIOUS!!:D

Reached Furano New Prince Ski Resort at about 2.45pm, which meant that we only had about 1 hour to explore in the snow (if we wanted) before the sun sets. It’s sian to know that the sun sets so early and you hardly have time to walk around and play. Went to play with the snow and laid in the snow:D It was really fun:)

And after we got enough of the cold we went to the Onsen (hot spring). ERM it was kind of weird at first cause everyone was walking around naked. But “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” so when in Japan, do as the Japanese do. After awhile it didn’t feel that bad. The Onsen was nice!!:D Nice and warm, not really hot. We went into the cold one too, but it was really freezing cold. The hot one was at 41 degrees and the cold one at 18.

Had very early dinner at the hotel restaurant. Wah the food was all in super small portions. But it’s quality not quantity. Food was rather nice, just that we kept thinking we weren’t going to be full just eating that little bit and ate alot of rice.

Shopped a little at the “convenient store” downstairs for some snacks and stuff then came up. Packed the room abit and now I’m blogging here. Currently it’s 8.52pm in Japan.

It seriously feels like really late cause the sky turned dark a LONG LONG time ago:X And I’m rather tired already.

Skiing tomorrow at the resort:D And all other “playing with snow” activities:D

::toodles::

8:21 PM

It’s currently 11.09pm, Japan time. 10.09pm Singapore time. There’s no internet connection at the hotel now:X Only LAN cable for rent and I’m NOT going to pay extra to rent those wires. LOL:D

I still don’t feel that we’re in Japan now. Maybe it’s because I haven’t felt the cold weather (not much yet). We’re now staying at the airport hotel, which is erm… super puny. I hardly have space to sit while packing my luggage. And the 3 of us have to squeeze in a room. Not that I don’t like it but there’s not even enough space to add an extra bed. So Amelia and Anson have to squeeze on 1 bed:(

Couldn’t sleep much last night. I guess it was due to excitement plus hunger? Flipped and flopped around until 1 something and I don’t know how much of the remaining 2 plus hours I managed to sleep. Woke up rather enthusiastically and then headed to the airport in 大姨仗’s mini bus. We were quite early so we went to Macdonals for breakfast. Felt a little weird, maybe cause we weren’t used to eating so early.

Checked in, boarded blah blah blah… We took off at about 8.30am in Singapore. Air Stewardess were really nice and polite. The flight was like 6,7 hours and I was seriously bored throughout. Amelia and I started doodling on my notebook and laughing at our stupid conversations. Didn’t sleep much though.

There was this cute Japanese boy and his mom waiting outside the toilet in the plane. He was stomping his feet cause he was urgent. Then his mom kept saying “Chotomate (wait for awhile)” and “Daijobu (it’s okay)”. And then when the person inside finally came out, they went in and after awhile, the mom inside went “AHH!” The boy peed all over the floor. The mother came out to ask the air stewardess to help clean up and went “Sumimasen (excuse me)” and “Gomeinasai (sorry)”. Just a little 趣事 in the airplane:D

Reached Narita Airport at 4 plus Japan time. WTH it was already dark like 7+ back in Singapore. It seriously felt weird and I had to keep reminding myself it was only 4, and 3 back in Singapore. Had our very first meal at the waiting area for our domestic flight. Food in Japan is seriously expensive. A hotdog is like 5 bucks?? I looked around for a rather long time before I decided I didn’t want to eat but Pup got me a hotdog in the end.

Boarded a bus to get on the plane to Chitose Airport in Sapporo. It looked like it was in the middle of the night though it was only 6 plus Japan time. Weather was really nice, about 13 degrees Celsius:D

Flight to Sapporo was really fast. Slept most of the time (I guess) cause I was quite tired. The flight was only about 1 hour plus anyway. Landed at Chitose Airport at about 8.30pm Japan time. The guide brought us to the hotel we were staying, which is here, at the airport. And then there was this super amusing scene. Cause we all hadn’t had dinner and were hungry, we were all rushing to the only Ramen shop open in the airport. As in really running there before it closes. I felt kind of bad cause they most probably already cleaned up and got ready to close when 13 of us rushed in to order Ramen. LOL:D But the ramen was rather nice:D

Actually it was rather hot indoors. I actually sweated indoors. In the end a few of us walked outside of the airport to enjoy the “natural aircon” which was about I don't know-2 degrees? The most fun part about it was that we were in long sleeves or short sleeves only. LOL I was in short sleeves. But it was really fun and cooling. Everyone started exhaling with their mouths to see the “smoke” coming out of their mouth:D

And now we just finished bathing; Amelia and Anson are going to sleep. I’m going to sleep too. Leaving for the Ski Resort tomorrow morning. I really don’t like the fact that we are changing hotels every 1,2 days:(

Overall Japan is nice. Weather, food, people, everything. Looking forward to the rest of my trip:D

::toodles::

10:55 PM

8.12.09 Tuesday
June, Xinhua and I gathered at Evelyn’s house to plan Jiaxin’s birthday surprise. We got everything planned in a jiffy. Xinhua called Jiaxin to ask her out on Friday. That was all Jiaxin knew by then.

After that Evelyn and I went to West Mall to get Jiaxin’s presents. Kind of a rush cause we all had to get her present by Friday. Got her present then went home:)

9.12.09 Thursday
Okay kind of off-track but Jiaxin, June, Xinhua, Evelyn and I went to Jurong Safra Kbox. The system was new and it used a touch screen to choose the song. There were Korean songs!!~ We were super high singing “迷你裙” and “Sorry Sorry”. Overall it was really fun:D

After seeing Jiaxin off at the bus-interchange (actually she rushed to catch her bus), 4 of us went to JP to carry out our plan. Evelyn had to leave early so 3 of us went to buy the required stuff. Bought balloons, strawberries and the last was the cake. June actually thought of what to draw on the cake! We could decorate our own cake so it was kind of interesting for me. June was really cool:D 強者!

10.12.09 Friday
PLAN IN ACTION!!~ Xinhua freaked me out when she told me Jiaxin was on the JE MRT platform when I just alighted the train, and freaked me out even more when she said “I think Jiaxin is behind you.” Luckily it wasn’t but Jiaxin said she saw me walking to IMM o.0

Xinhua successfully made Jiaxin pissed by making her wait for 1 hour at Mcdonals. Meanwhile, June, Xinhua and I were at Daiso. It was kind of scary up there too cause we didn’t write the birthday missions on paper. So in the end we tore the envelopes instead of using paper. No pen, so we used the tester eyeliner in Daiso to write! I was so scared that some staff would come to scold us!:X

After we were finally done, Xinhua called Jiaxin up to Daiso, tricked her that her Mom asked her to buy some stuff, but it was to find June and I who were hiding in some part of Daiso. When she came nearby I started running here and there, making sure she didn’t see me. And then “SURPRISE!!~” Couldn’t say the same for June cause she seemed more surprised that Jiaxin found her first. HAHA:D

Shopped around at Daiso and bought bunny ears, some ears/horns, 2 Dim Sum Dolls which June and I named Caicai and Huahua:D After that we went to Cafe Cartel for lunch. Evelyn joined us soon. Hmm food wasn’t fantastic but I think we laughed alot. Not EVEN ice-cream eh:D

Then the birthday mission started!!~ 1. Find a 美男 (according to your standards) and 合照. This took ages. In the end because we had no time so we found her an ang-moh boy boy to take a picture with. 2. Dance Sorry Sorry/ Ring Ding Dong outside Giant. Jiaxin was like 千百個不願意. But in the end June danced with her. Some people were looking but there were some so blur that they walked right into the camera when Xinhua was taking the video. 3. Get 3 strangers to sing Happy Birthday song for you. In the end only did 1, and it so happened we bumped into Mr Cheng so he sang for Jiaxin:D

Next part of the mission, took train to June’s house. 4. Burst 16 balloons using 8 different ways. (1 way for 2 balloons) In the end Jiaxin and Evelyn were so freaked out by the balloons the 3 of us took turns to burst them. We were so “excited” about bursting them while the other 2 were hiding in the corners. HAHA:D

Then the 重頭戲. Jiaxin’s cake! With our decorated cake plus un-blowable candles:D She took very long to blow out everything:) June’s aunt was very nice, helped us prepared fruits and ice-cream:D THANK YOU!!:D

Now I know how they felt when they scammed me on my birthday:D It was fun but tiring, and scary too. For some reason my heart was beating very fast although it was not me doing those missions:D

Pictures!!!:D (some only, all uploaded to facebook:D)

I love you guys<3 Though we’ve drifted apart a little, separate classes and stuff, but we still have tons of fun together and can go crazy together. Really love you guys alot!!:D

Leaving for Japan tomorrow. Not really excited and jittery yet. But I think I will be by tomorrow:D Bought a zoom lens just now, so I guess I’ll be taking tons of nice pretty pictures with the camera in Japan:D

I’ll be bringing the com there and I’ll blog if I get internet connection:D If internet connection is free at the hotel, I guess I’ll blog everyday. If not I’ll type the blog post then post whenever I find connection:D

SS501 Persona in Hong Kong tonight:D When will it be our turn??!!!~

Oh well we shall go hunt for SS501 stuff in Japan, if Hokkaido even has such stuff:X Nevertheless, I shall thoroughly enjoy myself in Japan:D

See you guys when I come back!!:D:D:D

BYE BYE SINGAPORE! HELLO JAPAN, HOKKAIDO!!~

13.12.09 to 20.12.09:D

*still holding this teeny weeny bit of hope that we will meet SS501 at the Narita Airport:)*

::toodles::

7:58 PM