Hokkaido trip Day 2

Everyday started out damn early lar.
7am call time n on the bus by 8.
Mind u japan is 1 hr ahead of sg time, so tt means we wake at 6am sg time every day.
Argh.. so much for holiday...

zzzzzz

First stop of the day
Shikotsu-toya National Park

some sort of crater

Where we went on a boat ride ..
under the decks to these see thru windows...

To see these naturally formed rocks..

Its natural!! Not cut!


Nice weather n smiles!!

First contact with famous Hokkaido Milk softee ice creams...
They have these ice cream icons all over the place!!!
Milky n smoothhh.... hmmm~

BBQ Ika! (squid)

Dad loves food.
He ate sooo much this trip.. aiyoh.

Scallops so big.
Another thingy Hokkaido is good for...

N my first contact with the lavender Hello Kitty at the first souvenir store i stepped into..

It's bloody Gloomy BearXHello Kitty in Hokkaido!!!!!
*SCREAMSSS*

Exclusive!!!

My first buy. 1590yen
Ex but MUST!

Over the whole of 2nd n 3rd day...
i found these in ALL souvenir shops we stepped in...
Lavender HK only available in hokkaido n nowhere else...
Can dieee!!

I bought these!!
Left to right: Talking kitty circa'97, Lavender Hk in Fox (some Ainu thingy, explain later)

but wat i really want is this!!!!
PILLOW!

but by then mama nagging n scolding me saying i went overboard with the kitty products le ;_(
See.. tour with family is like this...

But i realllyyyy like itttt...........
Sigh~

Well... but tt's life.

Lunch is this!!!

Meats!
the mutton was how sweeet!

Another thing hokkaido is really good for is their sweet corn.
Goddamn Sweet n gorgeous tasting.... yums!

Dessert bar, not counting the softee machine n candy floss machine..
But we were only given 1 hr for a freakin buffet bbq meal lei.
Not enough time for me to savour some authentic green tea ice cream after my meats!!

Dang!
But guess joining a tour group is like tt one lor.
rush rush rush~


Off to the Sapporo Brew Factory next!!
Beer!!

Sapporo Classic Beer.
ONLY AVAILABLE in Hokkaido.
N nowhere else, not even in other parts of Japan apparently.
how exclusive!!

Free tasting session!!

They allowed us to sample Sapporo CLASSIC n the readily available Sapporo Black Label.

Complete with accompaniments
Like seriously, Japanese hosts r fab man
Sapporo Beer crackers n cheese!! Whoop!

I actually can taste the difference
REALLY! cos we played blind taste tests within the family..

N the winner is....
SAPPORO CLASSIC!!
the taste so much more full bodied/strong watever...
But it leaves a lingering good taste in the back of yr throat n the gassy feeling is more whole lar.

Next Stop...
The Ainu Museum as mentioned in the Kitty pics.
Some indigenious race in Japan long long ago



The Ainu Dog!!
So fox like!
Explains the Fox Lavender Kitty!!
So fat n chubby hor the dog!!! ;D

Huge ass black bears
Active too!!!!
Must b bout 2metres tall cos this particular bear kept standing up to scratch his back against the cage rails!
Cute!!

We were all rounded up in little huts to watch performances
The little huts had real smoked salmon hanging from the roofs
Smoked salmon tt were hung there all year round for the Ainu ppl to eat when they had to hibernate in winter.

Then now the smoked salmon were packaged n sold in real time.
But we looked up n saw cobwebs hanging from a part of the fishes n wondered..
"huh...."

Took some videos but had some trouble uploading them...
will try one day when im free la
R they jus performers or original Ainu ppl? who apparently still exist!


Last stop for the day..
Or rather.. Hell Valley..

Noboribetsu Jigokidani...

A sulphourous valley famous for its hot springs/baths
N extremely kampong i must add.
Not many ppl speak english here!

This little spring bubbles up to a great boil every 5-8mins mysteriously at 80 degree celsius..

Check into kampong hotel!!!!!
Complete with Tatami!!!
No internet connection though explains y i couldn't update last night.

A kampong where ppl have no qualms wearing their Yakutas up n around...
Family pic in japanese traditional!

One last timer shot before we went for our set dinner

Cool or wat!!!

Verdict: COOL
But it looks better than it tastes.
Maybe cos i was all pre prepared n laid out while waiting for us to come in.

I know...
Yukata with purple tights n birkenstocks??
Wahahahah

We were rushing cos we spent time taking pictures la!!!

While we were out at dinner...
They set out the beds for us on the tatami..
Turn down service anyone?? ;)

We went out for a walk shortly after dinner into the quiet village..
N found another geyser...

Mush bigger one this time....

Hugeass scallops

Another Hokkaido thing.
Alaskan crabs.
Check out the one at 12o'clock attempting escape...

My daddy the red devil

Brave, strong, extremely well read n knowledgable though incredulously loud n embarrassing sometimes...;D
His knee so hurts n u can tell by the way he walks but he still holds up so well...
My heart aches whenever there r steps n stairs n slopes n all we can do is remind him not to eat too much cos the bigger his tum tum gets, its gonna add more strain to his knees n hips.


Well.. love hate relationship with my cute cuddly daddy~~
;)


Pachinko machines.. or something..
Daddy says they r Japanese ppl fav past time.
Like jack pot/pinball slot machines??

Convenience store buy of the day. Spotted at 7-11
YUMMY Milk Bread!!
Another "ONLY Hokkaido" product

That's it for Day 2.
Ended at Noribetsu spring kampong place where i got so frustrated cos the reception did not understand me when i tried to ask whether they charge for calling a toll free number cos i missed my hunny so much.

So frustrating cos not only i can't smoke, i can't text cos my phone no 3G n now no internet!?!
n i din bring my running shoes cos i tot nights will end late but Noooo!
So bored i finally uploaded all 3plus Gb of mambo jambo music from my thumb drive to my lappy n im lapping them all up now n uplifting my mood somewhat slightly.

I'm gonna shower before i start on Day 3.
Another early morning n long day with not enough time for shopping n more volcanoes n mountains..... -__-

The only good thing bout this is tt i get to bond with my 2 sisters n its kinda fun.. ;)

Hokkaido trip Day 1

Day 1 was spent on the plane...........
Watched He's not that into You n Confessions of a Shopaholic!!!

It felt so good to finally board a full service (non budget) plane n not have to work for once...
been a looooong time since maaannn....

Thus i was having fun rediscovering the joy of being a passenger... ;D

Pictures from a well travelled but 'sua ku' flygirl......

Happy n relaxed parents...

3 sisters...

Forever getting dry eyes when passengering on flights...
eyes still itchy as hell now its damn annoying lar!
Never happens when workin!

Snap shots of JAL's animated safety vid....
Cute!

Drinks served shortly after take off...
Wat a refreshing change to peanuts! Jap rice crackers!!
I could eat tons of these man!!!

Plum wine/Choya on the left n JAL's drink. something called Sky-something la.
Citrone flavoured

My sister ordered Sake!!

Cute right!?




*gasp* the cap is the cup the cup is the cap!!!
The 2 sisters squealed n Sake bottle became a souvenir... ;D

Lunch!!! My sister's beef

My salmon

Parents knock out after lunch cos we had such an early morning...
the maxi cab was waiting for us at 6 in the a.m.

Tea n muffin before touch down....

So here i m at the Sapporo airport hotel for the night before moving off again
We arrived from Narita airport via domestic on a 1.5 hr JAL flight n landed approx 9pm (8pm sg).
EVERYTHING is closed..
except vending machines..

thank god for free internet .. for this hotel...more to come!!

11th to 17th Hokkaido!!

Im all packed n ready for the family trip...
only things i feel antsy about r

1) only got 3 stix of cigs

hope i can get to a smokes vending machine when i run out there.
Will i even have a chance to sneak a fag?!?!? *nose drips*

2) my brand new Ixus 85 which im not too familiar with....

Sometimes leaving home with new stuff can be pretty disorientating...
Wat if i lose it!??!? WAt if wat if wat if??!
but otherwise, it's a good chance to test its battery life, wat with the bigger LCD n all.

okie shut it Dodo the tech laggard.
;p

3) no handphone reception for 6 days......
spongy taught me to use internet sms......... but only got 1 hotel with free internet....
*frets*

Reminder to self to buy Starhub cards later at the airport!!!!

Other than tt.. im all set.
i dunno why im so antsy bout a holiday when i fly so much for work every other day. -___-

Ixus to Ixus~

My dear 5.5 yr old Canon Ixus 40....

You r the very first camera i bought for myself with my 3rd paycheck when i joined flying...
You digi cams were all so expensive then!!
SGD$695 u were.....

U were the first luxury item i could bring myself to buy when i was so used to being a frugal bit*h.
N only cos the first insurance package i got from my uni coursemate turned insurance agent promised n gave me a $150 voucher to Tangs.

You were shiny n new.... actually u still r now! ;)
N u brought so much joy to my life by capturing all my memories in the past 5 years.
You followed me around the world on my escapades, all the first times in my life, always there in my cabin bag... n never minded being jostled around all the time.

U were there by my side day n night, partying hard n wild n never ran away from me no matter how i mishandled you.

U helped me capture all the material tt went into the now defunct strange-n-beautiful.blogspot.com

I even broke yr LCD screen once... n i never got u a screen guard sticker come to think bout it.
N u never complained once bout the scratches i inflicted upon u....


You have served me so bloody well my dear old Ixus 4.

N you r still working like a dream, no matter how hard i work you. (e.g bloody turning u on n off n on n off multiple times in a 3 min period..)

Though yr battery used to last me an intense 5 day Paris sightseeing trip without requiring a single charge (freakin amazing or wat!) ..to jus 1.5-2 days of rough use now... u r still bloody amazing~;D



But the time has come.... not to decommission you but to put u in retiring mode.

The bf has decided to present me with yr younger brother the Ixus 85 n it pains me to put u aside... much less pass u along to my youngest sister.

I held u in my hand last night n marvelled at how sleek n compact you r even though u r bloody old laR!

Im so familiar with u now n there's so much more to learn with yr younger brother.
But dun worry, i will make sure i teach my sister to treasure u like i did before i hand u over to her. ;)

I will always remember u n love u..........

TGIF my ass.

it's Friday.
N i gotta report for work at 2315 hrs later...

Completely not thrilled la.

This love hate relationship with my work....
When will it turn to jus a hate hate r'ship huh??

I guess I will go rub some lamps in bkk later in the month n ask for way out from the genie after all....
Maybe wish tt someone will drop a big break in my lap.. or something.

Everybody needs a direction or definite sign sometime in their life right?

Make it last forever......

Another night with the Dome Darlings...

Dunno y after tt night i had this morbid thought tt the group will slowly drift apart in time cos we no longer have fun/interesting outings no more....

U know... like after all the board games fun n mahjong....
I wonder if our bonds r really strong enough to weather big changes???

In my opinion the group tightened in '06 with Co n Adi's wedding n it's jus 3 yrs running with the regular meet ups for birthdays n occasions.....

okie. once again... thinking tooooo much...
Von slap me for being morbid n even thinking this.

*piak*

eeps ...

i deleted a post today.

i dun think any of my 2 readers will actually notice cos this blog is quite crap in the first place.

Nothing lar.. jus bitching bout the bonus tt one.

you know... just to be safe.

im not very net savvy so i can't like literally look over my shoulders to check if got pple tracking me down mah.

i jus wanna save up to my target amount n move on to permanent doggie classes.

I hope by then the money is enough.

The itch to shop n spend money was soooo strong today....
But i tell myself to be strong cos the earlier i accumulate tt sum of money, the earlier i can quit.
Gambatte!!!!

To say it nicely... or bloody blatantly... hmmm

So recently this show called the S Factor aired its final episode in Sg..

I was damn bo liao one day in London n tot.. hmmm... wat should i do since i already paid for 24 hrs internet...

Looking for something light n hopefully good entertainment, i searched for the show in You Tube.

"Wah really have ah!?!?" was my reaction.

Really got people so free nothing to do but upload random tv shows it seems.

anywoo.. the point of this blog.

i wanted to write some really mean stuff after watching episode 6 bout dining n etiquette n deportment stuff but thennnn........ ;D

Yar, so the final episode aired n there were some really bitter cat fights going on in the show man.

But after tt i did a search online n ended up with a question to myself.
There were some girls with blogs basically... n some said nasty bitchy stuff n got all flamed n everything.
But one of the girls pretty much just narrated everything tt happened on set without a single vulgar word, or bad mouthing anyone at all.

The thing is Girl-who-only-has-nice-things-to-say is also, not incidentally titled Nice girl by the rest of the girls...

But Girl-with-bitchy-blog attracted so much attention (though negative) but definitely much more readership. Though she might not be on such friendly terms with most of them...

Then i got to thinking bout my own blogging style, n how strange-n-beautiful got me into so much trouble with the company end of last year...
But how much satisfaction i derived outta it lar! ;D

Maybe u can judge me for not yet coming to terms with wat had happened to me n my still-rebellious views on blogging...
but there r just some people out there who needs to say how they feel.
I for one love to scold $#^^%$%# cos it just makes me feel better.
Some pple like attention for the attention, i just like to talk out loud lar. ;D

Though i also agree tt certain more explicit posts should be locked for more privacy, i think also tt sometimes, bad things can be said to sound nice, n the obvious stuff can come across as vague as long as there is the right choice of words.

Oh well, dunno wats the point of this blog also, but im also wondering does a bitchy blog like mine suggest to readers who do not know me personally as a bitchy person as well??

But then again... nice is boring?! no?

Sigh..... okie thinking too much~

Time to sleep. Shitty shift morrow.
DC if u read this in time, i will actually b in Syd for the night. u can buzz me.
But very short stay la n i have another one next next week.
I know u coming back to sg soon n u veli busy over there, so i wont impose on u to buy me a 10pm dinner again. ;p