Japan Trip : Part 3

Going back to Nagoya was the same route from how we came. Took Shinkansen again, alight in Nagoya, change to private line and then back to Okazaki. But this time round, we had more things to carry! Our luggage was heavier and in addition, we had an extra hand-carry, filled with all the food stuffs! We were practically dragging our bags back to the apartment! Finally arrived back at my sis’s place. Load off all our stuffs and we quickly started packing our luggage. Went out again before noon, as my sis needs to go back to school to pay up her outstanding rental and utilities as well as to bid farewell to her classmates. Initially, we had wanted to walk, then we saw Aaron-san, my sis’s friend. He is basically the bicycle man, whereby people who leaves Japan will sell their bicycles to him, and he in turn will get rid of the bicycle, thus he has lots of bicycles on hand. Got Aaron to lend me one of his bicycles. Unfortunately, the key was with my sis’s neighbour and she was in school. Poor Aaron, he had to use a saw and started cutting up the bicycle lock! That was really nice of him!...Anyway, it was really a comical scene after that. Well, I have not been cycling for a few years, besides, I can only cycle straight road, bends and turnings for me is a disaster! Imagine now I have to cycle not only straight road, but up and down hill, turning into small lanes etc. It was really a torture! Worst of all, the bicycle that Aaron lend me, seems to have some balancing problem. It resembles those foldable bicycle, whereby the wheels are so small and the handle bar is so difficult to control and with a bad cyclist like me, I nearly ended up crashing into the drain. Guess I was also quite paranoid of crashing, thus ½ the time I was peddling with my feet! Ahahah…It was really a funny scene coz my sis would have cycled and disappeared no where in sight and I was way behind, trying to catch up with her. When I finally catch up and see her from afar, whereby she’s there waiting for me, I’ll start shouting “Den Wo, Den Wo”!! (Wait for Me)…hahahah… Even when I was doing “warm-up” on the bicycle, Aaron was already laughing away at my poor balancing skills! I guess my sis and Aaron has never seen such a lousy cyclist like me! Ahaha

Managed to struggle and cycle all the way to my sis’s school. It’s actually quite near from her house, but due to my slow cycling speed, it took a longer time than usual for my sis to reach school! My sis school is quite a small building which has several levels. Went in to the Admin office with her where she settled all her admin stuffs. Then she brought me to her classroom, and introduced me to her classmates there. Help them take some photos and then my sis got some of her close friends and jio them go KTV together!! As some of my sis’s friends still need to attend lessons, we went to the supermarket to buy some snacks first while waiting for them to dismiss from school.

We sang like nobody’s business for 3 hours. Surprisingly, they have updated Mandarin songs in Japan and they even have songs by Jay Chou! It’s basically like the KTV here in Singapore, but it seems more high-tech! After KTV, we head down to a big shopping mall, whereby my sis used to work in the McDonald’s there. She went there to bid her final farewell, and also took some photos for remembrance. As we ate quite a lot while in the KTV, we bought only Sashimi, pork cutlet, wine and some snacks for dinner. It was a private farewell dinner with Evelyn, Chong-san and Liyun, all of whom are my sis close pals while studying in Japan. We ate and crap all the way till nearly 1am, and had to end the night early, coz we had an early flight back to Singapore @ 9.50am. It was a tearful farewell for Evelyn and my sis. After all, they had gone to Japan together and both have developed a strong friendship in this 1 year, and now, my sis is going back first. Lucky, Chong-san and Liyun were around to liven up the atmosphere.

Woke up at around 5am. Checked and made sure we did not leave anything behind. Went to Mini-Stop, a convenience store just opposite my sis apartment to buy some snacks to eat while on the bus. My sis booked the cab at 6.20am to take us to the bus station where we have to catch the 6.45am bus, a 1½ hrs ride to the airport! Liyun and Chong-san were really sweet to wake up at around 5.45am to see us off. Chong-san even helped us to carry our luggage down and both waited with us for the cab to arrive. Bid a final goodbye to them and we went off the bus station. Slept like pig upon boarding the bus. Guess, we were really deprived of sleep and by the time we were awake, we had already arrived at the airport. Had wanted to do some last minute shopping at the airport. All thanks to the “efficient” system in Nagoya’s airport, that we ended up jammed and were nearly late to board our flight despite being 2 hours earlier at the airport before departure! There goes our shopping. Went straight to take the airbus to our flight. It wasn’t a full flight, so my sis and I had 2 rows of seat all to ourselves! As usual, I slept mostly throughout the journey. After nearly 6hrs, we finally arrived at Changi Airport. It’s really good to be back again. Although I had only gone for 9days, it seems longer than that. Coming back home was more eating again! That very evening, my parents went to Serangoon Gardens “Chomp-Chomp” and ‘da-bao’ BBQ chicken wings, stingray, Satay and Char Kway Tieow! *Yummy*…How can I ever lose weight with such good food around!!...

Anyway, this trip to Japan has really been an eye-opener. I’m really amazed with their language, culture and their way of life. The girls there are all well groomed; full make-up with super thick foundation, fake eye lashes, blusher, lip balm etc. and most importantly, their nicely done up hair. I seriously wonder what time they have to wake up everyday to make themselves look pretty! Even the students are the same! They will fold up their skirts which is so short that they can’t even bend down at all and their eyes are drawn with either dark blue or black eyeliners dusted with white or bronze eye-shadow! The guys are the worst! All, if not most of their eye browns are trimmed to perfect arches and shapes. Their hair all neatly and nicely gelled up. Most of them are in black suits, even the bus or cab drivers. Even the train station masters are in suits! Like what my sis told me, they are all very image conscious. Infact, 95% of the Japanese all carry branded bags! LV, Gucci, Prada etc. is a very common sight in Japan! No matter is male or female, all carry branded bags!

Also saw the ugly side of the Japanese. The males are not as gentleman as they seemed to be. Infact, you feel that they are quite perverted. I guess that explains why in the main train station, they have a special boarding area, whereby the whole carriage is for females only! The aunties/obasans in Japan are really very rude! They are the only ones who will go round pushing other people and always jump queue! Damn pissed! The toilets are also not that clean either. Most of the public toilet really stinks!

On the whole, it was a good experience and I did have lots of fun there. Don’t mind going back there again if I can find a sponsor again! Ahaha…