Literally The Big Guy ;p

After a day off, we were back to see what’s out there. On our itinerary was Kamakura and Yokohama. It was a long trip from Chiba. We were on the train for over an hour I guess. Mega layo talaga. From the train station, we started our walkathon to the Great Buddha. We asked directions from a few people and it took us about 30 minutes by foot before we reached it. There were a lot of foreigners because it is a tourist spot.

I finally met the Big Guy. Mind you, He is indeed One Big Guy. I felt again the solemnity of the place. It wasn’t really quiet but you can feel a certain aura. We went inside the statue to see what’s inside, apparently nothing. hahaha!

I said a short prayer and just took pleasure of the surrounding. =) After an hour or two, we left and started to walk back to the station once again. It was much easier going back, maybe because we knew our way.

Off we went to Yokohama to see China Town, the largest in East Asia. We had some troubles looking for it. Medyo malabo kasi yung lugar mismo. We walked and walked before we finally saw it. It felt like just Binondo but times ten or more and definitely clean!

It was past four when we had our lunch at a yummy Chinese resto. Weeeeeee! Sabog talaga ang eating time pag nasa ibang bansa. You just want to maximize your time that sometimes you forget to eat on time or forget to eat at all. Besides, I enjoyed every single day that we were out. Sure it was tiring but I love to absorb everything about Japan, culture, art, beliefs, etc.

After being full to the brim, we had much more energy and went around to see what their China Town has to offer. Of course pap spotted the Chinese hat, which we bought. We used to have one a long time ago but it’s old and ugly already.

Finally we were good to go and another round of walkathon for us. My day was very exhausting and the warm sofa at home was very inviting. =) I learned a lot in one day and I never thought that learning could be soooooo entertaining. ‘til then…

Let the Snow fall!!!

Three days of going out made us really tired so we decided to take a day-off. We stayed at home but then decided to go out nearby. It was too quiet at home and mum wanted to buy some stuff in the grocery.

When we stepped out of the door, the cool breeze made us want to retreat. Then half-way thru our walk, it started to drizzle and finally rained. My sister and I were soooooo cold and partially wet from the rain. :S She said it was snowing but I couldn’t see it. It still looked like a drop of water to me.

Once we were inside the mall, ang sarap ng feeling. Alam mo yung mainit at hindi umuulan. We just killed time inside the mall before finally heading to the grocery. One thing about Japanese is self-service. I don’t mind, it’s actually good training right? Walang mayaman o mahirap, lahat kayo maglalagay ng binili niyo sa plastic, in short bagger ka. But if you’re used to how things are here in Pinas, I’m sorry to tell you it’s not going to work in Japan. Bawal ang prima donna.

Thankfully, it stopped raining on our way home. We were watching tv the entire afternoon while surfing the net on the side. It wasn’t that cold even inside the house. We have to turn the heater on everyday because we wouldn’t survive without it. But that day, it was warm.

Kuya Dante looked out of the window. Voila! Snow. They said it’s not cold when it snows so that was the reason why it wasn’t freezing. Pap and I were giddy about the snow. Mum and Ate experienced it already so it wasn’t a big deal for them.

We went outside and indeed it was snowing. It’s amazing how God does this thing. But then He is God and has all the power to do that. I was sooo amazed. I wanted to make halo-halo. hahaha! Ganun pala yung snow, parang shaved ice. I loved and hated it at the same time.

Pap said at age 61, he finally experienced snow. I am one lucky kid, at age 21 I have experienced it. Kuya Dante told us that it shouldn’t be snowing but it did. Sabi niya nagpakita lang daw sakin. Ang swerte ko talaga. =D

Dora has experienced snow. yippie! I wish it snowed a little more so that I was able to make a snowman. hahaha! But that would be asking too much. May next time pa naman. ‘til then…

Lost in Akihabara :)

Sunday is family day. That is a norm especially with us. So we went to hear Mass in Koiwa where ate is part of the choir. Yes friends, my sister sings. She doesn’t have the mighty (sorry) vocals but she can sing decently. I think that’s what sets us apart. Grabe kumapit yan ng mic! Nagcoconcert! =)) Sakto rin na may English Mass and it was Palm Sunday as well. So we were able to observe Holy Week. My dad was never a fan of out-of-town trips during this time of the year. He believes that Holy Week should be a time for reflection and fasting not for recreation. But we had no choice but to spend it out of the country because it was ate’s break, the only free time she has. This was the second Holy Week we spent outside Pinas, the first I was too young to remember. Yun lang that time, the place we were in observed Holy Week not like in Japan. Only Pinoys and few Japanese Catholics observed it. :S

Anyway, I had a very different Sunday Mass but all the same, still blessed. It was such a good thing to see other Pinoys and foreigners who I think have the same sentiments I had regarding Catholicism. Mahirap talaga ‘pag iba ka. Oh well.

After the Mass, we left and had merienda in Yoshinoya before going to Akihabara, the major shopping area for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods, including new and used items (thanks wiki!). My dad enjoyed this trip though he said he didn’t enjoy the prices. Who told you we were buying pap? hahaha!

I personally had a great time. I am such a gadget junkie, minus the gadgets because I don’t have the budget. toinks! I had fun window-shopping and I had to control myself not to drool over all the DSLRs. One day, you will be mine. ;p

Oh What Fun!!!

The welcome dinner for us was a BLAST! We woke up early the next day to go to Ueno. We met up with Ate Cayl and Akichan at the train station then proceeded our journey around Ueno. We were sight-seeing but our main goal was to find the zoo entrance. Worth it naman dahil madaming magandang tanawin sa paligid. We entered a temple, tossed a coin and prayed. Ate and Ate Cayl lit incense as a tradition.

Finally, we saw the zoo entrance. It was the weekend so the zoo was packed with families. We went to Ueno Zoo and saw animals I’ve seen and never seen before. I loved the lazy polar bears and angas-looking penguins. :D But my favorite would have to be the gorilla, nakapose pa eh!

It was tiring but it was soooo much fun. I wish our zoo would be the same, housing lots of animals, clean and big. Sa lakad lang sa zoo, solve na ang exercise. After our zoo trip, we went to Ueno Park (just beside the zoo). People were all under the sakura. Hanami, a Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers (thanks wiki!) and people drink to celebrate. =D Who wouldn’t enjoy the beauty of sakura??

We parted ways with the Ate Cayl and Akichan because they were home-bound and we were off to Asakusa to see Sensoji Temple. It is Tokyo's oldest temple and one of its most significant (thanks again wiki!). We prayed and just adored the awesome place. :D

We took a breather and had some hot takoyaki (sila lang). Then we walked around looking everywhere. I saw this store selling the exact band I have for 1200 yen! Eh dito sa Pinas, 80 pesos lang. I should’ve brought a lot and sold it much cheaper. hahahaha! We saw another Buddha statue and imitated the people. We prayed like what they did. It’s giving respect to their beliefs and I do believe that Buddha is God in a different form. Technically, I was still praying to God. :D

It was yet another tiring day but the happiness was incomparable. I learned a lot about Japanese culture, appreciated art and nature all in one day. Japan has a lot to offer. ‘til then…

Edogawa Invasion

The next day, woke up, had brunch and left for Edogawa. It was cold to the point that I told my mum to book me a flight back to my sizzling Philippines. =)) So we were all wearing layers and layers of clothes but it wasn’t enough. You just have to bear with it and enjoy it. I finally met baba (Japanese for grandmother) and the woman was sooooo adorable and lovable. :D It felt like I had my lola once again. She is also petite and very malambing. Despite the language barrier, she was very endearing, talking to us even though we didn’t understand what she was saying. Ate had to translate it to us and she said nice things. If there was a word that would fit her, it would be this: NAKAKATUWA. I love oldies (I meant that in a god way) and seeing one makes me happy because I appreciate life even more. Masaya rin makipagkwentuhan sa mga lolo at lola. Subukan niyo. :D In my case, I was really eager to see baba because I wanted to thank her personally for being sooooo nice to my onechan (did I get the spelling right?) and of course to finally meet her in person. Webcam ko lang kasi siya nakikita dati tapos sa wakas nakita ko na siya at nayakap.

After getting warm, we set off once again to see ate’s hood and get a taste of it. Edogawa is a nice place to live in because it has an awesome park (but I think there’s a park everywhere in Japan), a lake nearby and just so many things to see. If I would put it, it’s like countryside but with a hint of the metro. Basta yun. I love that they have a soccer field, it’s for free unless you play after 5 or 6pm. You have to pay for the lights, but that’s a fair deal right? Not like here, usually you have to pay for your playing hours. They also have a track field, kahit yata tamad mapapatakbo sa ganda. Plus a ramp for skaters. You can tell that Japan is a progressive country by all these recreation parks. I remember someone told me before that once a country is able to provide playing field for its citizens, it’s a rich country. On that note, our country is really behind. =(

We enjoyed our time just sitting in a cozy bench, watching the kids play soccer and with the water fountain, it was freezing but they were playing as if it was a summer day. We bought hot choclit drinks in can, some bread and enjoyed our mini merienda. :D

We wanted to stay a little longer but it turned cloudy and started to drizzle. On our way back home, we spotted a cemetery and it was so solemn that I actually prayed when we passed by. Their cemetery is very much different from ours. Check the photo to know what I mean. I also had my first encounter with sakura and I fell in love with it. Love at first sight indeed. ♥♥♥

We left before six pm and dropped by ate’s favorite pastry, bought some sweets and spotted her old eyecandy. Aba! Snabero ang lolo mo pero pasimpleng tumitingin naman. ‘Di bale ate, madami pa dyan. =) Then it was too much to resist for mum so we went in the 100 yen store. Everything 100 yen (that’s 50 pesos) and it’s 25 hours open. San ka pa ‘di ba??

We also went to Don Quixote, to check out pap’s obsession, electronics. After all our pit stops, we met up with Papa Miyata and finally set off to our welcome dinner. There was really no need for that but the Japs were oh sooooo nice. =) Kampai for awesomeness!

It was nice to finally be inside somewhere warm. I almost died of hypothermia. hihi! Baba wasn’t able to come with us, her old age won’t allow her long walk. =( The entire Nakayama family was present to welcome us as well.

I am not a fan of Japanese cuisine for one reason, I don’t eat not-so cooked food. So I was a little bit scared that I might be put on the spot to eat sushi. :S I only ate sushi once in my life and that was because it was a sushi party of my bestfriend, baru. Thankfully, my sister warned them. Yakiniku is delicioso, yumyum!!! Dora enjoyed her yakiniku. =D It was such a struggle with the chopsticks not to mention a pair of eyes looking my way. Consciousness galore!

A gazillion photos and stories later, we billed out. The men had so much to talk about that we went to a videoke (they call it karaoke) after dinner which wasn’t part f the plan? Nakayamasan even wanted us to stay overnight but we had to refuse because we had plans early the next day and a hangover wouldn’t help. haha! Japanese love to sing. They sang, I listened. That was the game plan. Or so I thought. I was comfortably seated and snapping away with the gigicam when Papa Miyata handed me the mic! Eeeeeeek! I told him that I don’t really sing but my sister and mother sold me out!!! They were nodding with conviction that I should sing. Sige na, wag na mag-inarte at magpapilit. You could ask my friends, whenever we would have videoke night, lugi talaga ako kasi hindi ako kumakanta. But I was put on the spot, so I breathed in and belted out. hahahaha! Si Papa naman pinakanta na nga ako, Celine Dion pa pinili na kanta! Ayayayay! So napa-near, far, wherever you are ako doon! =))

It was an awesome welcome dinner. Thank you very much for the yummy yakiniku dinner and shidax after. Oh yeah, Kaorusan gave me and mum cute bags. :D Sobra-sobra naman sa bait. I officially ♥♥♥ Japs!!! ‘til then…

Dora invades Land of the Rising Sun

March 25, mum, pap and I trooped to the airport with our carry-ons and check-in baggage. We had to wait for a few minutes before they allowed us to check-in. Mum had to check with the airport people what the load was. Thankfully, they made all their efforts to bank us seats. Puno kasi ang economy. So there I was trying not to grin because my bakal still hurts but I was secretly wishing that we would be upgraded. Pero economy class yung boarding pass naming so goodbye dream. You would think I’m such an ungrateful kid. It’s not that, but business class is heaven on earth. But that moment, whatever it takes to take us to ate. :D

While we killed time before boarding, our names were paged. I had two things in mind that time: One, we may be denied boarding at the last minute OR we were going to be upgraded. So when mum approached the counter, it wasn’t either of the two. We were given better seats instead. Yung nasa boarding pass kasi sa dulo na so they moved us in the bulk area (more legroom) plus tanaw ang Mabuhay class. So near yet so far away ang drama ko. haaaaaaaay…

We were oh so prepared for this trip that mum had to buy stuff in the morning of our flight. Eto na yata ang pinakasabog na trip namin. =)) Because of that, we had our pseudo lunch before boarding around two in the afternoon. Isang slice ng pizza lang!

So when hot meals were served during the flight, I ate it with gusto even if my bakals was giving me a hard time. Nothing will stop me from eating! I must say, the chicken teriyaki was good for airplane standards. ;p On second thought, I was just extremely hungry that’s why it tasted so good. LOL

As I was starting to get bored, I took photos of the clouds outside (I love window seat!) and random things. My eyes finally fell on the tv set waiting for me. =) Individual tv sets on economy?? Now that’s not so bad. So I played tetris for a bit and watched a movie until we landed in the Land of the Rising Sun aka Sushilandia. =D

It was drizzling outside and as soon as we stepped out the aircraft, it was freezing! I had to wear my jacket and mind you I was wearing long sleeves. Ganun kalamig. Thank heavens ate was such a genius for bringing extra boots for me or my feet would’ve been frozen.

The train ride was fine since we were comfortably seated and it had heater (yeeeey!). The only thing was it was an express train and it didn’t stop in our station so we had to take another train back. Two stations lang naman. Patawa si tourist guide lumagpas tuloy kami. =))

From the train station, we took a cab to get to the place we were staying in. Maraming, maraming salamat po Kuya Dante at Ate Arlene. =D Sisterrific had some troubles giving the direction to the driver and ended up calling Kuya Dante for help. Mag-aral ka nga talaga ng Nihonggo. ;p

Finally, we were “home”. We unloaded our stuff from the cab, took it inside the house, settled in for a moment and had late dinner. Pizza yumyum! So Dora has finally landed in Japan. ‘til then.. =D

I miss Sydney

I can’t help but look back what happened to me exactly a year ago… I’ve been doing random time check since the other day because that was the time that mum and I left for Sydney to have some fun. :D

As I am making this blog, we were on our way to my aunt’s place in Melbourne. But let me share with you why I just can’t get enough of my Sydney trip… I will make one about my Melbourne trip soon.

March 09, 2009, while the rest of my block was heading down to Calaruega (up to this day, I wished that I was able to go to my retreat then had my Aussie trip), I was on my way to the airport with mum for our Sydney trip. It was really a difficult decision for me since it was my one and only retreat, my one last chance to bond with my friends and blockmates before we all go our separate ways. On the other hand, if I missed the flight, my visa would be expired for the second time in a row. So clearly, it was Sydney or Sydney?? Kidding! Mum actually gave me a choice but I couldn’t miss Aussie another time. So with a heavy heart, I went against the flow. Believe me, my heart and soul was with you guys during your retreat. I even had my own retreat letters. :D I had my “soul-searching” by the beach for an hour instead of three days.

We arrived in Sydney 8pm and waited for Tito Jonathan to pick us up. The trip to their place was quite long, almost an hour, 80kph-100kph. Imagine how far. Tired as I was, I kept my eyes wide open to see everything. :D

Finally, we got to their place and it was really nice to see Tita Amy and the kids all grown up. They had crab for dinner while I had pasta (Tita Amy prepared it just in case I didn’t like to eat crab. Thanks tita!). Then we settled in our designated room and had our well-deserved sleep.

Next day, we woke up early, had yummy breakfast and off we went with Tita Amy. She took the day off to tour us around. :D I had a blast touring around Sydney once again. It was my first ever trip and going back to my childhood memories made me feel like a kid again. Sydney will always have a special place in my heart. ♥♥♥ I seriously want to migrate there. It’s one of the few choices I have for migration. :D

We had lunch at the Establishment, it’s one of the good restos there where professionals have their lunch. Yummy steak! :D They even have catchy photos around the resto. Chefs and people covered in veggies and fruits ONLY. Enticing right? =))

After lunch, tita had to do some errands and so we went separate ways. Mum and I went to the Opera House, Circular Quay and Hyde Park. Mum asked me if I wanted to go see the Sydney Aquarium once more but I said no na. Once is enough and I was thinking we could use the money for other stuff instead. We had an awesome time eating Baskin’ Robbins. Yumyumyum!!! :D

We went strolling around the city and took lots of photos. I loved being inside the Church. Super quiet. All my memories of that place came rushing. The place felt the same. It was still the same. I love how time flies and things are still constantly the same and you love it the way it is. Mum and I waited for Tito Jonathan at the train station parking lot.

The next day, it was with yet another heavy heart that we packed our things and said goodbye to the kids, tito, tita and their cozy home. We left our stuff at tita’s office and toured Central once more. We went to shops we’ve never been to. I am definitely in love with Sydney. ♥♥♥ We had lunch with tita at a Thai restaurant and I must admit that I eat Pad Thai from that moment. :D

Tita Amy gave mum some money to buy the “kids” aka me, ate and kuya stuff because she didn’t know what we want daw. She didn’t have to. Their hospitality was more than enough for us. We picked up our stuff around 4pm and said our warmest gratitude to Tita Amy and the rest of the Wenceslao family.

We stayed in Bardwell Park station, waiting for Tito Rod. The man was surprised to see our baggage. Napabuhat siya ng wala sa oras eh. Instant macho. Thanks tito! :D We had early dinner at this membership resto. Uncle Vernon was a member of this golf area that caters a variety of cuisine. Lamb chops, yumyum! :D

We went to their place to have some coffee before they sent us off to the airport. I really had an AWESOME time in Sydney. It was one helluva trip. Sayang bitin. I shall be back soon my Sydney. ;p

P.S You might be wondering why I am blogging this after a year. Why?? For the simple reason that I can’t get enough of my Sydney experience and it’s refreshing to relive my adventures when I don’t have to worry about anything and just be plain care-free. I miss that. But I miss Sydney the most! Take me there!!! ‘til then… ;p