Japan Trip 18-25.12.2009 - Place Visited & Street View Part 2

One of the famous shrine in Kyushu. This house a rest place for the generals that visit the shrine. There are pebbles on the ground, this is to prevent there are ninjas getting near the house to assassinate the generals.













This is the staircase to the shrine. The generals and his family will stay a night in the house shown above before starting to pray in the morning.














The shrine














All the stalls were covered and was getting ready for their new years












This park wasn't in our schedule, but our tour guide brought us along as it is on our way to other place. And we had known from the local store owner, we are the 1st oversea tours that went to the park!!!











The natural water falls in the park









Vending machines that was just outside the local store
















One of the famous hot spring in Japan

















Scene inside of the hot spring park












Steams are every where in the hot spring park











Tour around the town. The white gases was in fact steams from the hot spring. The geographic of the town was so unique that, all the house hold were connected with the hot water from the hot spring. In other words, all the residents there literally had their own private hot spring connected to their house.










Sewerage cover found randomly on the street













Underground shopping street










An active volcano. We stopped by there for a pit stop rest, and on scene, the volcano was giving out a lot of dust smoke. Then the next day, our tour guide said that the local government had issued and warning that the volcano is once again active and may erupt in the possible future.










A famous castle in Sakurai Jima















A very nice a solid castle that was standing there since a few hundred years ago.








On a hill in Skurai Jima looking down to the town












On a hill in Skurai Jima looking down to the town












An active volcano just opposite the town of Sakurai Jima










At a central park in Sakurai Jima


























A volcano in Mount Aso
















On our way up to Mount Aso












Our room in Mount Aso, a quite commercialised hotspring. There was a lot of international tourist there.









Morning scene of the room. Looked like and igloo...

The hotel that was near the Hard Rock Cafe

The Fukuoka Dome, taken from my hotel room window. That night, there was a SMAP concert there in the dome, and we kinda suspected that we were staying in the same hotel with SMAP that night!!!!

Lol...

Japan Trip 18-25.12.2009 - Place Visited & Street View Part 1

Finally, time to board the aircraft to JAPAN!!!!

Weeeeee~~~

So, still the usual, 5 hours to Seoul Inchoen, then transit to Fukuoka.... waited like 2 hours in Incheon... Not too bad also...

ha ha ha ha

Finally touched down in Fukuoka airport, even though I'm not the tour leader this time still got ordered by my mum to escort the 2 grandparent (not mine, but the others' tour members') out to the waiting hall through the Immigration check up 1st. Got through nicely, got picture snapped at the counter with finger printed on the screening pad (felt like an idiot though when the officer asked me to smile at the small camera in front of me)....

Then got my luggage, walk through the custom, and there goes... Always the hardest part, searching for the tour guide that had been assigned to my mum's company.... Luckily this time was easy because I came our quite early... Saw the guide and the driver as well, and out of politeness bow to them and introduce myself (man, should have asked mosquito to do that instead of me >:( )....

Then wait till all the tour members come out, we begin our Luxury Japan Trip in Fukuoka!!!!!!!

Touch down at Fukuoka International Airport

View on our way to Unzen....

Some old tradition house along the rural road

to Unzen

At Unzen, this hot spring is only specially

for soaking legs only...

Views outside the international airport

 Miniature of pearl farm

tools of harvesting farm

types of pearl

River bank of the castle of some general (can't remember the name :P)

Small shrine on our way to the general castle

 Decoration of a mall

Vending machine that sell ALL kinds of cigarettes...

On our way to Unzen.....

Rural Street View...

our hotel on the 1st day... the totally traditional Japanese style one...

room was decently sized

We heard from the staff that it rarely snow in that area... Well, what can I say? Fukuoka welcomed us!!!!!!

Shop owners preparing to go home...

The Family's style snow man.....

Street was empty, was just only 8.30pm at that time....

some closed shops....

snow covered the whole place after one night, was taken in the next morning when we woke up

Street view, just out side of our hotel....

 Pachingko!!!! Went in, but don't get how the game was played, so come back out again

replicas of real food, it looks super real....

Japan Trip 18-25.12.2009 - Pre-departure

Finally et to go to Japan!!! Mua ha ha ha ha.... Preparation need to be done... This time, as usual, going to Japan with family, and also A-wei.

All of us have to have documentation prepared before we can go apply for visa, However, just 10 days before we were suppose to fly off to Japan, our documentation got return by the Japanese embassy office in KK, reason was, because our passport was A xxxxxxxx, meaning that we are from A zone, we have to go back to A zone to submit our document. In which it meant, we have to go all the way back to KL to get the application done. And to make things stress, visa application takes up 5-7 working days....

So, to fix things right, I need to fly back to KL early morning. I took Air Asia bound to KL around 7.00 am, reached LCCT around 9.20am, then catch the express bus to KL Central and reach there 10.30 am. Luckily, my mum had sent some one to meet me and the Central, so i dun have to go all the way to Putera Jaya. Things gone good and every document was all checked by the guy who meet me and got every thing done by 11.00 am, so need to head back to LCCT. Then the next problem come! Cause in the morning I bought the ticket directly from the counter, so I wasn't able to buy a return ticket from there as well. So need to go back to LCCT to check the nearest flight that bound back to KK. Reach there around 12.30 pm, check with the counter, and guess wat? They told me that the next possible flight was the next day 6.00 pm. hell no I'm going to wait that long!!!!

So, i check if there are other flight in LCCT that fly to KK, and sadly, no. So, took an express bus to KLIA. Reach KLIA, they say there are flights that bound to KK, but need to be wait listed. so wait and wait and wait and wait..... and finally got the last flight back to KK at 7.30 pm.

Gosh, was so exhausted that day. Then we need to start packing. As usual also, I'm the one who organise everything... LOL...

4 days before we bound to fly to Japan, our visa is not back yet form Japan. All of us was stressed to the max, cause we were so anticipated to go to Japan. Then the next day, when me and A-wei and Mosquito and the 2 devil went for last time shopping to get all the things we needed to Japan, something happened! First, A-wei, Mosquito and A-bi were trying on a few pairs of jeans in F.O.S. Me and Mei2 went to toilet and came back while waiting for them to try on their garment, and both of us were so tired, that we decided to sit at a bench near the fitting room. Then suddenly, every thing went black. The whole shopping complex had lost its current.And so happenly 2 minutes before the black out, Mei2 went into the fitting room to kacau a-Wei. So once the black out, I heard Mei2 screamed. Then, all 4 of them came out quickly form the fitting rooms. We wanted to pay for the garment that we wanted, but turned out that there weren't even back up generators running, so the sales can't operate the cash register.

Then a-wei grew worried, and ask us to get out of the building as fast as possible. Once we got out from the building to the street, a-wei told us stories happened some of the shopping complex during black-out, which mostly involves with cold-blooded robbery. We can't leave as well because i've parked the car in the parking lot. So, we went to the near by McDonald for some light snacks and waited for the current to come back. During the wait, mum call me. That time, Mei2 was playing at the play land, Mosquito and A-bi went to toilet, so only left me and A-wei that time. In the phone, mum told me the phone was rejected. I was 1st quite shocked. Then, i found it was a bit strange, because it the visa not approved, she will sound very stressed, but her voice when she was talking to me was to joyful, at once i knew she was lying... LOL, then, mosquito knew bout the "lie" and me, a-wei and Mosquito decided to play the trick on a-bi and mei2. Should have look how disappointed the 2 devils were when we told them we are not going to Japan. They didn't even talk much on our way back home. We kept it so long until dinner, we told the 2 devils that it was just a prank, LOL, i never seen their face change so fast... LOL!!!!

Then, same prank played to my dad, but was done by my mum. Dad then phoned me to confirm the news, then only i reveal the prank, and he was shooting at me.... LOL... make him though that he can't go play snow....LOL....

~Creative luggage tag done by A-bi~

~Packed luggage waiting to go on board!~

KL Trip 02-06.12.2009 Part 4

So, finally the second last day of the KL trip... We woke up quite early in the morning, had our break fast, then our last round of shopping, then head back to Seremban before 12 noon. We reach Seremban around noon, then dad drop us (except mei mei) to the hairdresser to get our hair done. Then we were ready for the wedding dinner.

During the dinner, Nai Nai sang a song specially for the newly wed, and our mischievous second aunt, again, ask all of us the grand children to go up to the stage to support her... LOL, we did went up, and made it look so much like Nai Nai is having her own concert...

Everyone was quite high and drunk that evening, and then we head back to the house around 10.30 p.m. Then the next morning, was the tea ceremony. The newly wed have to give tea to the older generation, and the younger ones get to get ang pau from the newly wed, which makes me a bit embarrassing, cause running from the groom, which was my cousin brother, i'm just after him in line, and of course, which makes me the "eldest" that takes ang pau from them... sigh....

After the tea ceremony, we have to rush to the airport to get the latest flight back to KK. Sigh, we were having great times together with the long time no see relatives. I wonder when will we be able to have this kind of gathering anytime soon in the future...