salam and good evening. as promised, here if the full in depth story of my winter break which (sadly) ended last wednesday. brace yourselves, its a long one.
last year, apparently, on christmas eve i boarded a bus along with my mates heading towards a place somewhere in Nagaoka. it was Myoko Suginohara ski resort, where i will be spending 3 days snowboarding. also it was my first time so i was quite excited >.< no pics of me tumbling like jenga on my camera, just some scenery and stuffs.
breathtaking view
twas so cold apparently stalactites began to form (ps, not my car)
the ever so hardworking vehicle; the snowplough
snowboards ready for action, gondola station in the background
it was a fun and tiring experience, and by tiring i meant muscle aches all over. took two days’ worth of sleep to get me back up and running again lol. on d final day we head back to tokyo where dini and i took the bullet to nagoya. 350km journey, 1hr 40mins trip, price tag: dont ask i.i
picked up by khairil, then stayed an evening at a seniors’ house at tsu (finally getting d chance to play F1 2011 which in my opinion is very, hard). the next day sneaked into suzuka NCT where i played some TDU2 while our driver took a nap for the next trip the very same evening: hiroshima.
travelled by car all night, arrived in hiroshima as dawn broke. that morning we headed to miyajima island.
rode the ferry, miyajima island in the background
the torii, one of the three views of japan
the torii up close, during low tide
after the tour of the island, we headed back to mainland and went to the place i would say is the “symbol” of hiroshima.
the genbaku dome
a bit of something else; here is how they park cars in japan :O
for the night we stayed at a hostel. this is also a first for me since i prefer one-room-per-person lodgings. it was great, with full facilities (they even have wifi) and clean environment.
sinks
up ahead the loo, to the left is the shower room (also another one to the right)
my bed, chose lower bunk cos it's got curtains >.<
all the other beds
the following day (it’s dec 31st in case u lost count. i know i did haha) we decided to go to places such as the mazda museum and sorts. apparently they were all closed so we headed to kobe. we went to a buffet restaurant called the fisherman’s market for dinner but since it nearing the closing time, we decided to go the next day instead.
first day of the new year spent in kobe. on the left is the kobe tower.
what a meal it was. stomach so full. i almost threw up huhu
after lunch, we made a quick stop at kobe mosque for prayers.
interior. a bit like "nur kasih" if u know what i mean :)
exterior. fact: kobe mosque is the oldest in japan, opened in 1935
after that, we headed to tsuyama NCT to meet up with some pals.
roomies! pic courtesy of azo's fb
after a sushi dinner courtesy of ghempit, we headed back home and arrived at mie along with with two tsuyama-ians later that evening. it was quite a full house and so we all watched In Time (my third time and counting) before going to bed.
january 2nd arrived and now it was the time to visit toyota NCT. stopped by in time for lunch, a superb meal of rice and chicken curry with another dish of rice porridge (which i didnt eat cos the curry was SO DAMN GOOD) all courtesy of toyota chef daus.
with toyota-ians dini and daus
that evening we headed to nagoya for some sightseeing, eventually stopping by nagoya mosque for evening prayers and to an indian restaurant for briyani as our main course that night.
interior
exterior (sorry for bad lighting)
spent that night at suzuka NCT where we all watched Ombak Rindu. i never even got close to shedding a tear. (<< that was a lie.)
the next day i was PUMPED. sorta. its the event i would never miss each time i set foot on suzuka soil, and that is go karting! conditions was cold, barely any grip. i spun a couple of times to be frank. (spoken like a pro racer. koyaa).
candid with azo. i look like i was about to sneeze.
that evening we (actually daus) decided to pop in another movie so we watched The Hangover. barely. i watched halfway and then fell asleep. daus followed suit.
wednesday arrived and it was time to go home. it was an enjoyable week down in the kansai+chugoku region, so many pals and so many memories that came with them as well.
goodbye suzuka
before heading upwards, the suzuk-ians did gave me a treat, lunch at asanoya maguro. its serves hamburgers only that the ingredient is not meat, rather its maguro (tuna). tastes like meat though, but it isnt. confusing? pics!
on the right is the hamburger. d left one is teriyaki something2, rice under all that tuna
the aftermath. tak elok membazir ^^
that evening i took the slowest kodama shinkansen (nearly 3 hours instead of d usual one and half) just for the sake of having a seat. i was too tired and i knew i can barely stand for a 1.5 hour journey. arrived in shinagawa, headed to ueno for the ever so familiar utsunomiya line train back home to oyama. arrived in my room as i recall, 15 minutes before 10 pm. alhamdulillah, all is well ends well.
in short (well, not really) this is by far the most amazing if not AWESOME trip i ever had in japan. met up with friends (met new people as well), went to places i never dreamt i would go, did things i only imagined would do. it literally took my breath away. tiring, is the word. still, was worth every inch of oxygen inhaled :)
ws
Ahmad Hilmi 