Two nights in Nagasaki.

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Musuem & Peace Park
I’ve been told by many that this is the much better experience compared to Hiroshima, which I’m yet to visit. I really appreciated being to take all the information in without hordes of people, and learn so much about the lesser-known of the two cities that suffered from such a horrific ordeal.

Kohei told me that one of the tour guides was speaking like he’d experienced it all first-hand. His spirit never seemed to waver during the time we were there, despite us being able to see the cataracts and keloid scars on one side of his face. It was solemn, but truly humbling.

Glover Garden
Another famous spot in Nagasaki. Within the grounds are two secret heart stones, that if found, legend says they will grant happiness to those who found them together. Happy to say we found them, and so did Pooh Bear. I’ve been forgetting to take him on little day trips I make lately, purely because they’re so impromptu, so I think he enjoyed the outing.

Mt. Inasa 

We headed up to Mt. Inasa after sunset on Saturday evening to visit Fuyu no yu, a place which most definitely didn’t disappoint. There’s something slightly special about relaxing in an onsen, accompanied by good friends, with the view overlooking the twinkling lights of Nagasaki. I fully recommend the salt sauna, however, I don't advise scrubbing your body raw and returning to 42 degree water afterwards.

Megane Bashi
Hands down my favourite place in Nagasaki so far was the so-called Spectacle Bridge.  Early on Sunday morning, Kohei and I took a stroll along the river, frolicked on the stepping stones (by that I mean I almost tripped and fell in about 4 times), and found yet another heart stone set in the wall. 

In the afternoon, we returned with manju in hand and sat on the riverbank to watch the koi swim by.

I also made a group of little friends, something which was a theme on this trip; on the ferry from Kumamoto I fell in love with a 2 year old who played peek-a-boo with me, clung to me like a koala, and refused to let go until I’d walked her to her family’s car.

Nearby was a cute little spot where I tasted my first Castella (カステラ), a light sponge cake which is a delicacy in Nagasaki. However, I think the novelty of the cute portion sized boxes outweighed the actual cake. 

All in all, although it was a fleeting visit, I’m looking forward to going back for a day trip with my parents on their upcoming trip. I wouldn’t have chosen a better bunch of people to sing along to Destiny’s Child in the car with (I'm looking at you, Clare and Sheridan), even if I did want to vom on the ferry.

Strawberry picking & saying goodbyes.

It’s finally edging towards spring in Kumamoto (despite pleas from my delicate pale skin), which means its strawberry galore. Thanks to Clare’s host mum, both Sheridan and I were invited along for an afternoon of strawberry picking in nearby Ueki.

Despite not being what I imagined (inside little greenhouses rather than immense fields of strawberries), it was a great day out and I’m looking forward to even more fruit picking in the future. The highlight for me was befriending some of the cutest children I’ve ever seen, who had picked some strawberries bigger than they were.

Fruit in Japan is one of the things that can sometimes be ridiculously expensive; just yesterday I saw a watermelon going for almost ¥8,000 (about £55). To put that into perspective, my day ticket to Tokyo DisneyLand costs less. However, I’ve never eaten such flavourful strawberries in my life, and I’m definitely a convert. I’m even branching out in my baking; this week I made a white chocolate matcha cake in my rice cooker for Sheridan’s birthday, topped with said strawberries, which was rather yummy if I do say so myself.

As the title suggests, I had some goodbyes to make this week too. I attended my first junior high school graduation ceremony, and although I’ve only taught my 3^rd graders for just over 6 months, it was actually pretty sad. So many little personalities I’ve grown to love will no longer brighten my day. To name a few:

• The kid who always showed me his socks because it stressed me out when he insisted on wearing knee high ones in summer.
• The kid who told me he loved me every day, proposed to me one lunchtime, told me the service was at 6am the next day and now we’re married.
• The kid who insisted I called him Goripanman (Gorilla + Anpanman) and it took me months to learn his actual name.
• The kid who was equally as clumsy as me during cleaning time, and we’d bond cleaning up our messes and whispering about Hello Kitty and K-pop.
• The kid that warmed to me when he learnt I listen to ONE OK ROCK, then spent ages talking about the new album and how he was studying English harder to understand it all.
• The wonderful bright soul who would always be beaming from ear to ear, who wrote me a beautiful goodbye note and never failed to energise me with her infectious smile.
• The kid I didn’t know cared so much, but came to me after graduation tearful, gave me a hug, and helped me get all of these pictures with students that I would have never seen again otherwise.

What I realised was just how much I love my 2^nd graders, and how much of a mess I’ll be when they graduate next year. God help me if I stay here for the full 5 years; kids I started teaching in elementary school this year will be graduating junior high… I’ll probably feel like I’ve lost about 180 of my own children.

Ume hanami, you've stolen my heart.

The most beautiful season in Japan is approaching fast, and that, to me at least, is cherry blossom season. However, something that is most definitely overlooked are the plum blossoms, which come into season a little earlier.

This weekend, I went on a day trip to Dazaifu for some plum blossom viewing (ume hanami), with Kohei, his sister Hana, and her boyfriend, Ryo. Despite being a little early for the full bloom, it was absolutely stunning walking around the grounds of the Tenmangu Shrine. 

The colours were so much more varied than that of the cherry blossom, and being the pink-lover I am, I fell in love instantly. No words do it justice.

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve been somewhere so crowded with tourists, but it was nice being able to escape from the hustle and bustle, hide amongst some plum trees, and eat my new favourite snack: umegae mochi.
Whoever thought azuki (red bean) filled mochi that’s warm and crispy was a great idea, I applaud you.

The week earlier, Kohei and I took a drive up to Mojiko Retro Club, an area of Kitakyushu which connects Kyushu onto the main island.
The Kitakyushu Gotochi Hello Kitty seems to be proving rather elusive in my travels too, so it gives me even more of an excuse to keep going back.

Even better, I got a picture with the resident mascot, Jiimo, even if he does look suspiciously phallic.
I can claim to have ‘seen’ Yamaguchi now, but that will have to wait for another time, preferably when the weather isn’t so baltic.

Welcome to the SHINee World.

To anybody who knows me well, you'll know I was sucked into the deep pit of the K-pop world a while back and I'm still yet to return. The main reason for that were SHINee, a beautifully talented fivesome whose music now holds so many memories to me.
I knew there was no escape when I found myself buying a magazine in Hong Kong, despite not being able to read a blind bit of Chinese, purely because it was the first magazine I'd ever seen with them on the cover. I'm 99% sure that magazine is still in my bedroom at home now.

I've had so many near misses seeing them live, that when they announced their Japanese tour this year, I'd set myself up for disappointment. A ticket lottery is the common ticket procedure over here, and I was unsuccessful the first time. Thankfully I got my second chance back in January, when a last minute second lottery opened. I applied; for two different dates and with three accounts, figuring I'd be unlucky again. Low and behold, persistence paid off, and this weekend I found myself in a slight state of bewilderment walking into the arena.

It was a good job I wasn't closer to the stage, because I know my calm demeanor would have rapidly changed into something that would have gotten me escorted from the premises. Needless to say, my rowdy Scouse side made an appearance during the encore, when I was hands down the loudest person chanting.

I spent way too much money on merch, I couldn't really take any pictures or videos for fear of being kicked out, but I did get to see bae. Key slayed as always, and was unnecessarily fabulous for the duration. He also had pink hair again, which I was delighted about.
Along with that, there was a little section of the show that was London themed, so I'm pretending they knew there was a Brit in attendance and did it purely for me.

While I'm still holding out to see them in Korea, as their Japanese image is too kawaii for my liking sometimes, it was something I never thought I'd get to experience and I'm so glad I did. Bonus being I could actually understand a fair bit of their conversations too.
If you're curious as to what it was like, here's one of their past concert tour performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVyyDHoNADI . 

Thank you SHINee, for helping me discover a love for sexually androgynous Korean men, that still worries my father to this day. I'm happy to report the yellow fever is still going strong.

Setsubun fun!

Setsubun is one of the more fun traditional Japanese holidays, celebrated the day before the first day of spring according to the old lunar calendar. This year, it fell on February 3^rd, and I was invited to celebrate the day with Katy Yoshida and her little gems, Sayuri and Ayame.

We started with mamamaki, or bean throwing, which is what this festival is most famous for. You shout “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” whilst throwing beans at the oni (demon). This signifies driving away the bad spirits, and welcoming good luck into your home.

I’ll admit I got a little too into this, as did the kids, because there were beans EVERYWHERE. I found a bean in my shoe later that evening, even when my shoes hadn’t been in the room.
After the craziness of the bean throwing, we all had to pick up and eat the number of beans corresponding to our age. I’m not sure if Ayane was being super cute like usual, or secretly trying to hint I look closer to 75 than 21.

Next, we ate ehoumaki, a special type of sushi roll that you eat facing the “lucky direction” for that year. It’s believed that if you close your eyes and concentrate until you finish eating, your dream will come true. Little Sayuri was taking things very seriously. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about spilling pork onto my shirt.

I had a wonderful evening afterwards, being graced with some dance performances from the kids, having tickle fights and being treated to a cuppa and some Turkish delight from good old Marks & Spencer. Sayuri did mention it was her first time eating dinner with a teacher, something that must be quite strange; I'm just super grateful to have a little taste of home mixed with Japan, and a wonderful family to enjoy it with.

Guess who just re-contracted!

Here’s a definitive, but not all-inclusive, list of things I’ve learnt during these past 6 months living in Japan. Don’t judge me for the pettiness.

Things I genuinely don’t understand:

• The obsession with PPAP – It makes my life a living hell because I hear it almost daily, and god forbid I have to teach a lesson about fruits. I will admit though, I have found myself dancing along to it, and found the “Pan Pineapple Apple Pan” (pan is bread) at a nearby bakery to be quite ingenious.

• Don Quijote - a wonderful emporium where you can buy eggs, Tiffany jewellery and sex toys under one roof. I may not understand it, but it’s fabulous.

•  Why, Japanese people, do you complain it’s so cold and set the staff room heater to 25 degrees? Maybe, if you actually closed some of the windows in school, it wouldn’t be so baltic.

• Pee fright – Everyone pees, please stop with the obnoxiously loud river sounds produced by the toilets, or frantically flushing the loo when you hear someone enter.

Things that make me irrationally angry:

• Tatami mats – I practically have a pet in my house that I neither wanted nor asked for, but requires a ridiculous amount of sweeping and drinking red wine in anywhere but my kitchen levels up the risk factor by 100%.

• Shampoo and moisturiser – The cause of the most recent rant in my life. I am not dry, I do not need to be extra moisturised a.k.a made greasy. Happy to report I got shampoo and moisturiser for Christmas though yay.

•  Nobody holds doors open for anyone - I’m mainly looking at you, young females. How about making both of our lives a little easier and open the door, rather than squeezing through the smallest gap so you don’t feel obliged to hold it for me.

• Laces. I didn’t realise how many of my shoes are not practical for Japanese life, especially winter ones.

General life:

•  I’ve been craving a crumpet for about two months now.

•  In summer, I live in what is comparable to Satan’s sweaty paradise.

• In winter, when it’s -4, your apartment will also feel -4 because there’s no insulation.

• Finding underwear to fit your junk is impossible.

• The inevitable ‘what’s the best konbini’ discussion. I’m a Family Mart girl all the way (unless I want a yoghurt drink or chicken teriyaki onigiri. That’s the only time 7/11 makes a break for 1^st place).

• The lack of bins – However, the “garbage disposal Granny”, who inspects my varying bags of recycling daily, has finally left me alone because I’m more abiding than most of my neighbourhood. It’s sad that I even think that’s an accomplishment.

• I still don’t know why my ‘bathroom’ sink is by my front door.

  

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad. I wouldn’t have signed a contract to spend another 18 months here if I wasn’t having a ball here in Kumamoto!

In fact, this is more something for me to look back on in the future, when many of these things having seemingly become the norm, so I can laugh at my foreignness in the early days.

Here’s hoping that I manage to continue my winning streak of "not dropping a bathroom slipper into a squat toilet" until July 2018.