Starcrash..aka Chloe!
Had dinner with her last night and it was a good session. :)
I told her "It always feels very nice to catch up with you." And I meant it from the bottom of my heart!
She said that she liked how we always just seamlessly pick things up from where we left off, even if it was a few years ago when we last met one-on-one.
Congratulations on your upcoming gal! I shall see a gorgeous you on that day!
And I know things are sketchy and uncertain at the moment but I believe things will pan out well and smoothly with you guys eventually!....
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Of crocheting and Granny....
Once I successfully crochet a coaster using normal yarn...I want to start learning how to make doilies.
Back to being Granny's girl...
Granny used to do some simple doilies when I was young and in primary school. I couldn't yet handle those at that point in time and so she only taught me basic crochet stitches and how to make a pouch. By the time I grew older and could probably master doilie-making tecniques, she was getting old and her fingers would not cooperate with her anymore. By then, she'd also stopped sewing her own blouses and even simple things like fixing buttons. I'd also been more occupied with friends and school and didn't learn it from her.....
Come to think of it, my mum didn't teach me much sewing, I think I learnt most things from Granny. Even my basic cross-stitch skills were taught by Granny....
Now that I've picked up my crochet needles again (and bought new ones of different sizes too), I can't help but remember some of those special moments with her when she taught me all these things....
Guess some of these crafts remind me of her alot.
Laoniang is still sick
Went to the doc again on Saturday morning. Another clinic.
Was told my throat had pus near the left tonsil....i.e. a throat infection had developed.
Was put on antibiotics and given medicated lozenges. Was also given something for the congested nose and Fluimucil for the phelgm.
Still feeling under the weather but I think I'm on the mend already....slowly but surely....
At least I don't feel that feverish anymore...
Jiayou jiayou....
Was told my throat had pus near the left tonsil....i.e. a throat infection had developed.
Was put on antibiotics and given medicated lozenges. Was also given something for the congested nose and Fluimucil for the phelgm.
Still feeling under the weather but I think I'm on the mend already....slowly but surely....
At least I don't feel that feverish anymore...
Jiayou jiayou....
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Laoniang is sick
Stuffed nose. Couldn’t breathe at night while sleeping. Had to breathe through my mouth. And that’s why I’m having a slight sore throat too. A secondary issue that popped up.
Slight fever last night as well and I’m aching abit now though there is no fever.
Went to the doc this morning. And the sweet lady doc gave me 2 days’ MC. I love her! Haha....
happy
Is when I spent 30-45mins this morning browsing through the shelves of a “macham macham” store, i.e one of those neighborhood stores where they sell anything and everything from sewing needles to plastic bags, and cigarettes to toilet seats.
My mum calls these stores “macham macham” stores and the name’s stuck with me too. :) Macham macham means anything and everything in Malay.
I bought several things to beef up my pathetic sewing kit at home. Yay! Now I’ve got silver and black press studs, a red coloured unpicker, a traditional tailor’s tape, and extra spoils of white and black threads.
And I managed to find something I missed having. Those little metal scissors that we used when we were young. Yay yay yay! And it cost only 50cents!
Monday, October 22, 2018
累.泪
累
Alyssa woke many times last night due to her cough and phelgm and stuffed nose.
Part of me felt pained to see her in such discomfort.
Part of me was raw and irritable at having been woken up many times.
Another part of me couldn't sleep well too as my nose was a little runny as well. (She must have passed it to me already)
Despite the multiple interruptions, my frazzled mind somehow decided it wanted to throw in a highly disturbing dream to add into the mix.
泪
Been crying these few days. Due to shows that I watch, articles that I read, and just so.
The disturbing dream that I had last night threw me into a bit of an emotional disarray as well.
I am a pantang person. I guess I won't jot down all details here. The details are fuzzy to me now anyway, though I remembered them clearly when I just woke from it.
But it's suffice to share that it involved the death of someone very dear to me. :(
Alyssa woke many times last night due to her cough and phelgm and stuffed nose.
Part of me felt pained to see her in such discomfort.
Part of me was raw and irritable at having been woken up many times.
Another part of me couldn't sleep well too as my nose was a little runny as well. (She must have passed it to me already)
Despite the multiple interruptions, my frazzled mind somehow decided it wanted to throw in a highly disturbing dream to add into the mix.
泪
Been crying these few days. Due to shows that I watch, articles that I read, and just so.
The disturbing dream that I had last night threw me into a bit of an emotional disarray as well.
I am a pantang person. I guess I won't jot down all details here. The details are fuzzy to me now anyway, though I remembered them clearly when I just woke from it.
But it's suffice to share that it involved the death of someone very dear to me. :(
Friday, October 19, 2018
Wish List Part 2
If we had a new home, what would be the new appliances/equipment that I would like to have? In addition to what we're having right now.....
- Standing garment steamer. I've been in love with these since my days working as a "management trainee" in a textile retail company. That was my first time seeing and using one. All of 16 years ago! :)
- Bigger TV. This isn't for me. It's for K...who has been yearning for a big TV since I dunno when haha.
- Big oven. Convection, not microwave....Enough to put a turkey or a big chicken in :D
- Airfryer! Something I've wanted but can't get because we don't have space in our kitchen.
- Pressure Cooker. On the fence for this one though...
- Printer/Scanner. Something that's needed in our home but we somehow don't have it. This will definitely come in handy when the girls get older and start formal education.
- Hifi. I'm dated. I still refer to it as a hifi. I just want to have a small radio to listen to. And also a music system or some sort where I can play spotify or my own music list...
- Threadmill. Yes, for keeping moderately fit....
Anything else? Hmm....
My list shows that I'm not that technologically advanced lol.
No Google home device listed there or any of those fancy stuff. To be honest, I have no idea what those things do actually or how they can help make our lives more efficient. Sometimes, I find that having these devices around make me more stressed and complicate things more for me actually. ;p
Maybe I'm traditional or maybe I am resistant to change. :)
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wish List
If I were to get a new home, and...
If I were to have sufficient funds...
I would like to have....
If I were to have sufficient funds...
I would like to have....
- Enough space for the 2 girls to run around and grow up in
- Enough space for the 4 of us to have common bonding spaces and yet, also have enough areas for each of us to have our own private spaces
- Enough storage space for my clothes and bags
- Enough storage space for the girls' books, clothes, art materials and toys
- A big kitchen! With enough space to store all the electrical appliances that we would like to get but can't because of our currently tiny kitchen
- A mini indoor area for my indoor plants and terrariums
- A mini outdoor area for my outdoor plants
- A study for K for his trading and videos and reading
- A study for the girls when they start with projects and homework and mugging for exams
- A study for me to indulge in my hobbies, and to do work
- A dining area where we can put a proper dining table where at least 8 to 10 people can sit around
- Enough space for a coffee table for the living room
Seems like I am big on space...
Pun intended lol.
Too much to ask for?
One can always dream..............
想当年
Laoniang had a nice bum up till maybe 5-6-7 years ago...Yes, I sincerely believe that.
It used to be pert and perky and had erm...enough flesh on it.
These days though...it seems to have lost its perkiness...and it's gone flat.
Not sure if deflated is the right word but yeah...you get the drift.
I wore a dress yesterday to go out with K and when I looked in the mirror....it was almost like a flat line from the back of my neck to my calves....
Not "qiao" anymore....
:(
It used to be pert and perky and had erm...enough flesh on it.
These days though...it seems to have lost its perkiness...and it's gone flat.
Not sure if deflated is the right word but yeah...you get the drift.
I wore a dress yesterday to go out with K and when I looked in the mirror....it was almost like a flat line from the back of my neck to my calves....
Not "qiao" anymore....
:(
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Laoniang is 38 liao!
When I was in my teens and even till my 20s, I used to think that folks in their 30s were “old”....not 60 or 70-yes-old type of old but yeah well, still old.
I’d read news of crime and articles would always carry lines reading “the 36-yr-old woman slashed....” or “the 37-yr-old was caught...”. I’d think to myself that these people were way older than me.
And then somehow, before I knew it, I’ve reached that age bracket too. Gosh. Like what I said to my parents. The youngest in the family is now already pushing 40!
Laoniang 老了!
Though in certain ways, I still feel like a young girl who is inexperienced and still has many many things to learn and experience for herself.
I don’t have specific birthday wishes each year. I just wanna stay healthy, happy, blessed and loved. And I hope all my loved ones continue to stay healthy, happy and blessed with all the good things in the world too! And I hope for the girls to grow up healthy, happy, loving and smart.
Ok then again, it seems I have quite a number of wishes haha.
I got some shopping done today. Maybe around 1.5hrs of it? Short but it felt good to be able to browse through racks of clothing without little hands clinging on to you or little voices asking for your attention. It felt good to be able to grab some clothes and just head to the fitting room to try them on, without little feet rushing to follow you or little voices expressing their impatience. Lol.
Had lunch with K too! I appreciate the time spent together today...just the two of us...taking our own sweet time and not needing to rush things or cater to the whims and needs of the 2 little girls. :)
We went home after lunch and I managed to catch at least 2-2.5hrs of sleep.
17 October 2018.
A simple day spent but a day to remember nonetheless. :)
Monday, October 15, 2018
What would I do if I was not working full-time?
Besides looking after the house and the children, I think I would be:
- Watching Korean dramas and variety shows
- Listening to various music
- Learning the Korean language
- Learning how to play the guitar or piano
- Learning pottery (and picking up where I left off 25 years ago)
- Learning and picking up on the art of bonsai
- Learning and doing more gardening stuff
- Learning how to crochet properly
- Learning watercolour painting
- Learning yoga (and picking up where I left off 13/14 years ago)
- Learning how to create and sustain an online business
- Brainstorming on potential online business ideas
- Catching up with friends dear to me
- Spending more time with my parents, brother and nephew
Yeah, I think I'd want to do all those things....though I wonder if I can get the chance to do so even if I was not working. Lol the list is quite long.....
9 October 2018
Nadya turned 5!
5 is a milestone.
How time flies. Really.
From a wee tot,
To an almost young lady.
She's pretty.
She's smart and speaks well.
She's hardworking and attentive in class.
And,
She's also emotional.
She's scared of new things and experiences.
She's lacking in confidence.
But I'm sure,
She'll blossom as she grows older.
She'll develop further.
Right now,
I'm just thankful that,
She's healthy.
She's happy.
She's grows steadily.
*loves*
5 is a milestone.
How time flies. Really.
From a wee tot,
To an almost young lady.
She's pretty.
She's smart and speaks well.
She's hardworking and attentive in class.
And,
She's also emotional.
She's scared of new things and experiences.
She's lacking in confidence.
But I'm sure,
She'll blossom as she grows older.
She'll develop further.
Right now,
I'm just thankful that,
She's healthy.
She's happy.
She's grows steadily.
*loves*
School Projects
Alyssa had to do a fruit hat and she chose to do a strawberry....:)
Nadya had a challenging project. To do up a lion or mouse costume. She chose lion. (Which meant alot more work for the parents). K did an excellent job of thinking about the structural design of the costume....And this Mama was in charge of execution and making it happen...lol.
p/s: I'm starting to hate all these projects.....argh........3 more years of pre-school for Alyssa and 1 more year for Nadya. I hope primary school will have less of such things!
Friday, October 12, 2018
upset
Is when you happily forgot to keep your EZ Link card in its usual place and just shoved it into your back pocket.
Is when you happily went about your day only to realize that your card is not in your back pocket anymore near the end of the work day.
Is when you search high and low but still can’t find it. You even went to the place where you had lunch just in case it dropped there. You searched the toilets and your cubicle and your lunch wallet and nada, zilch, no have.....
Is when you realize that you have got friggin a lot of money in your card. $90 or so.
Is when you only have yourself to blame.
Sigh.
As a colleague said. Nvm, treat it as 破财挡灾....
Friends....
It's strange but these few days seems to be a catch-up session with people whom I've not contacted for a long while.
Texts from Suli and Chiewz.
Text conversation with Nadya's ex-classmate's (Charlotte) mum.
Text from ex-helper who's in Hong Kong.
Lunch with Patrick today.
Patrick ended up treating me cos my birthday's next week. He got me a small terrarium too, complete with a Totoro figurine inside.
Luckily I managed to grab some birthday presents for his kids 10mins before our lunch appointment hahaha...Their birthdays are in November.
Texts from Suli and Chiewz.
Text conversation with Nadya's ex-classmate's (Charlotte) mum.
Text from ex-helper who's in Hong Kong.
Lunch with Patrick today.
Patrick ended up treating me cos my birthday's next week. He got me a small terrarium too, complete with a Totoro figurine inside.
Luckily I managed to grab some birthday presents for his kids 10mins before our lunch appointment hahaha...Their birthdays are in November.
Laoniang Haiku 9-7-9
Laoniang was content with Qoo10 for a long time.
Laoniang just discovered the world of Ezbuy.
Laoniang is as happy as a lark now haha.
Laoniang just discovered the world of Ezbuy.
Laoniang is as happy as a lark now haha.
Plants
One of my terrariums wasn't doing well in the office and I brought it home to 疗养 before the Osaka trip. I kept it on my table during the trip and kept it closed. After I came back from the trip, some parts of 2 fittonia plants inside had rotted away. And it was stinking up the terrarium :(
I think it was too hot in the house, versus what it had been used to in the cool office. There was too much moisture within as well....I had to remove all the plants within, except the moss, and replanted new fittonias inside. This new one should be ok.
===============
I have a pot of papaya seedlings. Most of them are tall and strong.
There are a bunch of smaller ones that didn't get to grow as tall as the others.
Before I went back to work, I found some time to remove the stragglers.
The leave of the papaya seedlings remind me of Japanese maple. I could not resist and I took the two strongest ones of the stragglers and repotted them in a glazed pot. The end result was that it looked like a fake maple bonsai seedling haha....
I think it was too hot in the house, versus what it had been used to in the cool office. There was too much moisture within as well....I had to remove all the plants within, except the moss, and replanted new fittonias inside. This new one should be ok.
===============
I have a pot of papaya seedlings. Most of them are tall and strong.
There are a bunch of smaller ones that didn't get to grow as tall as the others.
Before I went back to work, I found some time to remove the stragglers.
The leave of the papaya seedlings remind me of Japanese maple. I could not resist and I took the two strongest ones of the stragglers and repotted them in a glazed pot. The end result was that it looked like a fake maple bonsai seedling haha....
Conversations with a 3-yr-old
The other morning in the car, while on the way to school.
Alyssa: Mama, we have not listened to "Circus of Life" for a long time.
Me: "CIRCLE of Life" darling....
hahah...this was so cute...
===================
In the same car-ride, Alyssa spotted a dog outside along the road....
A: Mama! I see a coolie dog...
Me: Collie sayang....It's a collie. Coolie and collie are different things ya...
*chuckle*
Alyssa: Mama, we have not listened to "Circus of Life" for a long time.
Me: "CIRCLE of Life" darling....
hahah...this was so cute...
===================
In the same car-ride, Alyssa spotted a dog outside along the road....
A: Mama! I see a coolie dog...
Me: Collie sayang....It's a collie. Coolie and collie are different things ya...
*chuckle*
Osaka
It's been a 2-week hiatus from here...mainly because we went to Osaka!
We flew off on 28 September and flew home on 6 October.
Some stuff from the trip....
1. The Girls: On the Plane, Eating Habits, Relationship
I'm still amazed at how Nadya can watch 6 hours worth of cartoons going to Osaka, and another 6 hours worth of cartoon on the flight back from Osaka. I'd be doggone tired but she was still ok lol. She got pretty good at operating the touchscreen monitor and could make her own selections once I switched her monitor to "kids mode".
The girls ate well while there. They fed themselves mostly and there was not too much whining though they were sometimes still distracted. We brought a whole lot of milk powder for their before-sleep feeds and for Alyssa's middle-of-the-night feeds....BUT, for some reason, they didn't drink at all. Alyssa requested for milk sometimes but when we made the milk in a cup for her...she'd take a few sips and then reject the milk. Maybe it's because she still drinks from a bottle at home. Anyway, we ended up bringing back the entire pack of milk powder......
Nadya was a trooper...She walked alot during our stay in Osaka and although she sometimes complained of being tired, and whined a little, with some encouragement and goading, she still managed to trudge on. There were times that K had to carry her though, all 17/18kg of her, as she was really cranky and tired out from the walking.
Alyssa....sigh. I carried her alot and I went to bed each night aching and sore like f*ck. That's carrying 13kg and walking everywhere...sometimes up and down staircases too.
I think the girls grew closer during the trip. *hearts* And I think Nadya developed more of her caring side as a big sister. I'd like to think it was partly due to me asking her for help to look after Alyssa. Sometimes, if they were both walking, I'd ask Nadya to hold hands with Alyssa and make sure she keeps to the side of the road or the pavement. Or I'd seek Nadya's help to brush Alyssa's hair, etc...I saw her taking her own initiative and guiding Alyssa along and looking after her the other day...my heart felt so warm seeing that...:)
2. Dotonburi
Tourist trap area haha. Some shops are pricier but there are still some places selling reasonably priced food. The area is busy and tourists mill around at all times of the day. Still it makes for a nice stroll, especially at night when all the neon signs and streetlights light up.
We of course had to take the obligatory picture with the iconic Mr Glico Man and the moving mechanical crab haha. K was disappointed that we didn't get to try many many types of food...but well, when you've two kids with you...sometimes ti does get difficult to queue up or step into different restaurants.
3. Chouette Owl Cafe
I'm glad we went to this cafe. We went out of our way to find 2 cat cafes on Monday but they both didn't accept kids below the age of 7 or 10 and we were quite disappointed. So I was really happy we managed to go the the owl cafe. The girls liked the owls so much K ended up buying them an owl feather each.
Alyssa's and my favourite owls were Azuki and Chip. K liked a white snowy owl called Arashi and Nadya didn't have any particular favourite I think. Alyssa was initially afraid and didn't dare to pet the birds but gathered up her courage after awhile.
I had mixed feelings about the birds though. While I appreciated the opportunity to interact and pat them up close, I also felt sad that they were chained to wooden perches and were not flying around in their natural habitat.
4. Nara Park
We took the Kintetsu Line out to Nara, a neighbouring town from Osaka. Nara Park had deer roaming around and we bought deer feed for them. Bad idea cos we were immediately swarmed by deer big and small, male and female. Alyssa was in my arms and clinging on to me for dear life. Nadya was spooked as well and started shrieking. Lol, other tourists were looking at us being surrounded by the deer. K got bitten on his belly by an aggressive male buck looking for food. We ended up throwing some of the feed on the ground to get away from the deer....I didn't even get to pet one because whenever I tried putting my hand out, one of them would think there was food and would try to chomp down on my hand...
Things got alot calmer once we managed to get away from that main group of deer. We managed to explore parts of the surrounding park and I was glad we did so. Nadya acted up a little but soon found joy in playing with the gravel on the ground lol. Both girls were squatting down and grabbing handfuls of the gravel. The architecture of the temples and shrines there were quite nice...It was also a very bright and sunny day and it made for good pictures. :)
5. Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium)
This place really impressed me. We did not only see fishes, we saw other animals like seals, sealions, penguins and capybara too. Their main tank located in the centre of the building was a huge-ass tank which housed whale sharks, manta rays and giant garoupa as well as other types of smaller fishes. I was awed by this main tank and totally loved the visit to the Kaiyukan! The way they displayed the jellyfishes was also very artistic and cool. If the SEA aquarium in Singapore is rated an 8, I'd say the one in Osaka is a 9. :)
6. Kuromon Ichiba Market
We got lost when we exited the subway. It was only our 2nd day in the city and we were still confused by the mainly Japanese signs. We spent a good 15-20mins just trying to figure out which direction to go and where to walk. Only to realise that the entrance to the market was actually just a minute's walk away haha. K was excited to visit the market. There were loads of stuff to eat and try. I was erm,,,less enthusiastic though. I'm not so adventurous when it comes to food, especially street food. He tried fugu (puffer fish), eel, whale meat, eel innards and sea urchin. The girls were mainly just curious about the various types of seafood around and the different colours of the stalls...we ended up having udon for lunch at a small restaurant.
7. Food in general
K kept complaining that we didn't get to try sushi. I complained that we didn't get to try gyoza and okonomiyaki. But actually.....we did try these things - oyako-don, gyu-don, cold and hot soba, various types of udon, ramen, takoyaki, saba, rolled egg, and omu rice. We even got the chance to have dinner at a Japanese grill place where we grilled/barbequed our own food).
One thing that surprised me was that the food there was quite salty and heavily seasoned. I started having a sore throat after 3-4 days there. Too salty for my liking actually. As for it being heavily seasoned....well, what more to expect coming from the land that invented MSG? haha...
8. Subway
Way too many stairs haha. Some of the interchanges were twice (or more) as large as our Dhoby Ghaut interchange. We were lost a couple of times and most of the time, we had to walk very far just to change lines...Still, I'm amazed at how well-connected the city is. Even more amazed but the number of subway lines and privately run railway lines. The first time I saw the map while planning for the trip, I was utterly confused about how to get from point A to point B haha.
9. Weather
We thought the weather would be 15-25C and we went on a shopping spree to get heat-tech and thicker stuff for the girls. We stocked up on long pants and long sleeves for the girls. It ended up being around 27-28C in the day....with the sun sometimes being as strong or strong than that in Singapore. The only good thing is that Japan's not as humid as Singapore and you sweat less as a result. It only got cold on one night when it started raining and got chilly.
Last but not least....
10. Plants
I loved all the temperate plants and trees that grew there...so pretty...
Moss was also plentiful along the sidewalks and pathways...basically you could find moss anywhere you went. Sometimes they were thick and so fluffy I wanted to dig them out and bring them back to Singapore...I saw many types of maple and pine too...and other coniferous trees...They were all so pretty I was tempted to break off some branches to bring back to Singapore in the hope of rooting them....Alas, I didn't. But it made my heart full to see the pretty foliage there. :)
We flew off on 28 September and flew home on 6 October.
Some stuff from the trip....
1. The Girls: On the Plane, Eating Habits, Relationship
I'm still amazed at how Nadya can watch 6 hours worth of cartoons going to Osaka, and another 6 hours worth of cartoon on the flight back from Osaka. I'd be doggone tired but she was still ok lol. She got pretty good at operating the touchscreen monitor and could make her own selections once I switched her monitor to "kids mode".
The girls ate well while there. They fed themselves mostly and there was not too much whining though they were sometimes still distracted. We brought a whole lot of milk powder for their before-sleep feeds and for Alyssa's middle-of-the-night feeds....BUT, for some reason, they didn't drink at all. Alyssa requested for milk sometimes but when we made the milk in a cup for her...she'd take a few sips and then reject the milk. Maybe it's because she still drinks from a bottle at home. Anyway, we ended up bringing back the entire pack of milk powder......
Nadya was a trooper...She walked alot during our stay in Osaka and although she sometimes complained of being tired, and whined a little, with some encouragement and goading, she still managed to trudge on. There were times that K had to carry her though, all 17/18kg of her, as she was really cranky and tired out from the walking.
Alyssa....sigh. I carried her alot and I went to bed each night aching and sore like f*ck. That's carrying 13kg and walking everywhere...sometimes up and down staircases too.
I think the girls grew closer during the trip. *hearts* And I think Nadya developed more of her caring side as a big sister. I'd like to think it was partly due to me asking her for help to look after Alyssa. Sometimes, if they were both walking, I'd ask Nadya to hold hands with Alyssa and make sure she keeps to the side of the road or the pavement. Or I'd seek Nadya's help to brush Alyssa's hair, etc...I saw her taking her own initiative and guiding Alyssa along and looking after her the other day...my heart felt so warm seeing that...:)
2. Dotonburi
Tourist trap area haha. Some shops are pricier but there are still some places selling reasonably priced food. The area is busy and tourists mill around at all times of the day. Still it makes for a nice stroll, especially at night when all the neon signs and streetlights light up.
We of course had to take the obligatory picture with the iconic Mr Glico Man and the moving mechanical crab haha. K was disappointed that we didn't get to try many many types of food...but well, when you've two kids with you...sometimes ti does get difficult to queue up or step into different restaurants.
3. Chouette Owl Cafe
I'm glad we went to this cafe. We went out of our way to find 2 cat cafes on Monday but they both didn't accept kids below the age of 7 or 10 and we were quite disappointed. So I was really happy we managed to go the the owl cafe. The girls liked the owls so much K ended up buying them an owl feather each.
Alyssa's and my favourite owls were Azuki and Chip. K liked a white snowy owl called Arashi and Nadya didn't have any particular favourite I think. Alyssa was initially afraid and didn't dare to pet the birds but gathered up her courage after awhile.
I had mixed feelings about the birds though. While I appreciated the opportunity to interact and pat them up close, I also felt sad that they were chained to wooden perches and were not flying around in their natural habitat.
4. Nara Park
We took the Kintetsu Line out to Nara, a neighbouring town from Osaka. Nara Park had deer roaming around and we bought deer feed for them. Bad idea cos we were immediately swarmed by deer big and small, male and female. Alyssa was in my arms and clinging on to me for dear life. Nadya was spooked as well and started shrieking. Lol, other tourists were looking at us being surrounded by the deer. K got bitten on his belly by an aggressive male buck looking for food. We ended up throwing some of the feed on the ground to get away from the deer....I didn't even get to pet one because whenever I tried putting my hand out, one of them would think there was food and would try to chomp down on my hand...
Things got alot calmer once we managed to get away from that main group of deer. We managed to explore parts of the surrounding park and I was glad we did so. Nadya acted up a little but soon found joy in playing with the gravel on the ground lol. Both girls were squatting down and grabbing handfuls of the gravel. The architecture of the temples and shrines there were quite nice...It was also a very bright and sunny day and it made for good pictures. :)
5. Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium)
This place really impressed me. We did not only see fishes, we saw other animals like seals, sealions, penguins and capybara too. Their main tank located in the centre of the building was a huge-ass tank which housed whale sharks, manta rays and giant garoupa as well as other types of smaller fishes. I was awed by this main tank and totally loved the visit to the Kaiyukan! The way they displayed the jellyfishes was also very artistic and cool. If the SEA aquarium in Singapore is rated an 8, I'd say the one in Osaka is a 9. :)
6. Kuromon Ichiba Market
We got lost when we exited the subway. It was only our 2nd day in the city and we were still confused by the mainly Japanese signs. We spent a good 15-20mins just trying to figure out which direction to go and where to walk. Only to realise that the entrance to the market was actually just a minute's walk away haha. K was excited to visit the market. There were loads of stuff to eat and try. I was erm,,,less enthusiastic though. I'm not so adventurous when it comes to food, especially street food. He tried fugu (puffer fish), eel, whale meat, eel innards and sea urchin. The girls were mainly just curious about the various types of seafood around and the different colours of the stalls...we ended up having udon for lunch at a small restaurant.
7. Food in general
K kept complaining that we didn't get to try sushi. I complained that we didn't get to try gyoza and okonomiyaki. But actually.....we did try these things - oyako-don, gyu-don, cold and hot soba, various types of udon, ramen, takoyaki, saba, rolled egg, and omu rice. We even got the chance to have dinner at a Japanese grill place where we grilled/barbequed our own food).
One thing that surprised me was that the food there was quite salty and heavily seasoned. I started having a sore throat after 3-4 days there. Too salty for my liking actually. As for it being heavily seasoned....well, what more to expect coming from the land that invented MSG? haha...
8. Subway
Way too many stairs haha. Some of the interchanges were twice (or more) as large as our Dhoby Ghaut interchange. We were lost a couple of times and most of the time, we had to walk very far just to change lines...Still, I'm amazed at how well-connected the city is. Even more amazed but the number of subway lines and privately run railway lines. The first time I saw the map while planning for the trip, I was utterly confused about how to get from point A to point B haha.
9. Weather
We thought the weather would be 15-25C and we went on a shopping spree to get heat-tech and thicker stuff for the girls. We stocked up on long pants and long sleeves for the girls. It ended up being around 27-28C in the day....with the sun sometimes being as strong or strong than that in Singapore. The only good thing is that Japan's not as humid as Singapore and you sweat less as a result. It only got cold on one night when it started raining and got chilly.
Last but not least....
10. Plants
I loved all the temperate plants and trees that grew there...so pretty...
Moss was also plentiful along the sidewalks and pathways...basically you could find moss anywhere you went. Sometimes they were thick and so fluffy I wanted to dig them out and bring them back to Singapore...I saw many types of maple and pine too...and other coniferous trees...They were all so pretty I was tempted to break off some branches to bring back to Singapore in the hope of rooting them....Alas, I didn't. But it made my heart full to see the pretty foliage there. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)