Eh-hum # 203

On September 28 (my last day in Japan), I:

Went to school:

Went to Sannomiya and visited a bookshop (Junkudo) and:

Read the first few pages of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Memories of My Melancholy Whores.
Oh yeah, also went to the bank and withdrew my remaining money and cancelled my cellphone account.

Ergo, I did not do anything out of the ordinary (though I attended a Sayonara party a week earlier, which was a blast).

But I couldn't help feel a little bit sad that I am leaving all of these familiar places and my way of life (no matter how mundane) in Kobe behind.

But I said to myself, it ain't over yet. Hmmm...I smell a plan (though this will take a while). Abangan.

Eh-hum # 202

Yesterday, I experienced the longest four hours in my life.

My flight was delayed, and I arrived at the NAIA Terminal 2 at 1:45 pm Philippine time. It took me a while to find my luggage, thanks to all the confusion that was going on around me. Ahhhh, yes, I am indeed in Manila, a city that is completely different from Kobe. Since I only slept for around three hours before leaving the residence/dormitory, my head was throbbing like crazy. The noisy and crowded airport (the arrival area, at least) was not helping either. I was on the verge on declaring it a very bad day, when I saw a familiar face in the crowd. My dad's. And suddenly, I felt like crying.

And I did. I lost it when I saw my mother, who hugged me, and my brother who went out and helped me with my luggage. I remembered not crying when they dropped me off at the departure area exactly one year ago. Maybe it was relief, or that I did not realize how much I missed my family until I saw them again yesterday. One year was not that long and it amazes me how fast it all went by. But I guess one year alone in a foreign country is a big deal. There's nothing like having your family within arm's reach.

Despite of the traffic, the pollution, the endless bad news on TV, I can honestly say I am so happy to be back.

There's more. The kitchen that evening was a sight to behold. And then, my cousins came over and we had dinner together. It was crazy...and it only gets better.

Eh-hum # 197

I have been busy lately...and schoolwork has little to do with it.

Have been going around the country, within Kansai and the southern part of Japan. Since my resources were limited, I used the train and the very cheap 18-kippu. But the trade off was I had to transfer trains as much as six times. That was when me and two other friends spent three days and four nights at Kyushu and visited Kumamoto and Nagasaki. Prior to that, I went with a friend to Shiga (and went castle-hopping) and to Hiroshima...by myself.

In Shiga prefecture, my friend and I visited two castles (named after the cities), Hikone and Nagahama, which both had spectacular views of Lake Biwa, the country's largest lake. In the evening, we went to the prefecture's capital, Otsu, to view a water show (fountains) on the lake.

Just an overnight stay since I primarily wanted to visit two places: Peace Memorial Park (Genbaku Dome, Peace Memorial Museum, etc) and Miyajima (Itsukushima Shrine, see picture above for its famous torii). Though not in my original itinerary, I also visited the Hiroshima Castle (one of five I have visited so far). Hiroshima is five hours away from Kobe, so the train ride was bearable. I didn't mind the fact that I went there alone and truth be told, I had a great time. I was not in a hurry to visit the must-see tourist sites and really took advantage of the free (or paid, depends on your perception) buffet breakfast at the modest but well furnished hotel where I stayed. Again, the trade-off was that I had to politely ask complete strangers to take my picture and there were moments that I ran out of things to think about. Nonetheless, the whole Hiroshima trip was worth it and I was reminded how people can be both civil and cruel at the same time.

On the other hand, Kyushu is at the least 15 hours away from Kobe Sannomiya by train. Hence, out of four days, we spent the two days traveling. Wish we could've stayed there for a week, but we had to look after our expenses. Again, I had a grand time, even though I was beat when I got home. Like Kobe, Nagasaki is a port city and where Europeans first saw a glimpse of Japan. We visited its Peace Park and Peace Museum and historical sites such as Dejima and a Confucian Temple. While in Kumamoto, we went to Mt. Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan, via ropeway. That was pretty exciting, because shortly after we took pictures, we had to evacuate the viewing deck because the volcano started spewing smoke that reached the danger level.

I hope to visit more places, particularly within Hyogo and the Kansai region. I also have to do some shopping since will be returning to the Philippines by the end of September. I am excited to go home, but will need to organize the stuffs that I have accumulated in the past year, and that am sure will be a pain in the a**. Worse than spending money on trips and photocopies. Sigh.