ふるさと home
Posted on: March 14, 2011
- In: arashi | happenings | japan | life | reflections
- Leave a Comment
the word ふるさと furusato literally means “hometown,” but it can also mean home, or where one belongs.
being a person who calls japan a second home – my REAL home, where i am happiest and at my most natural, it is heartbreaking to see the damage caused by the great tohoku earthquake last friday. it is not something that could have been prevented, but i am glad that japan is such an efficient country, and i am touched time and time again by the warmth, kindness and honesty of the japanese people in difficult times like these. being far away from japan right now, there is nothing much i can do but keep a close watch on them, and pray for the best.
right now, the only thing i can do, is share the following song :
“ふるさと furusato.”
this song was performed by arashi and many other young japanese singers during the annual kohaku utagassen program this year, and it is perhaps the most suitable song for this particular moment in time. the lyrics really warm one’s heart, and i believe every single word in it, is true.
[click here to listen to the song]
[the peaceful greenery that calms and soothes the soul]
夕暮れせまる空に 雲の汽車見つけた
なつかしい匂いの町に 帰りたくなる
as dusk approaches, i come across a train of clouds
i feel like returning to the town with the nostalgic scents
[strangers always ready to share a smile and a victory sign]
ひたむきに時をかさね 想いをつむぐ人たち
ひとりひとりの笑顔が いま
僕の そばに
earnestly piling up the times
of the people who made my memories
each and everyone’s smiles are now
by my side
[my beloved host family in osaka, who loves me unconditionally at all times]
めぐりあいたい人がそこにいる やさしさ広げて待っている
山も風も海の色も いちばん素直になれる場所
there are people there who I want to meet again
who are waiting for me with kindness
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas
it is the one place that i can be myself
[kind people who i met by chance in the arashi concert, are now my friends]
忘れられない物語がそこにある 手と手をつないで口ずさむ
山も風も海の色も
ここはふるさと
my unforgettable stories are there, and we hum as we hold hands
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas,
this is my hometown
[my kids in saitama, who clung to me and cried when i left, telling me to never forget them]
めぐりあいたい人がそこにいる やさしさ広げて待っている
山も風も海の色も
(ここはふるさと)
there are people there who I want to meet again
who are waiting for me with kindness
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas,
(this is my hometown)
[strangers who were more than glad to help, when i was lost and alone in the mountains of kyoto]
君のふるさと
your hometown
[the place where i am the happiest]
僕のふるさと
my hometown
ganbare nippon!!!
the sun will rise again tomorrow.
yokohama once again 横浜ふたたび
Posted on: November 1, 2010
backlog: 2010.5.30
yokohama is one of my favourite places for day trips; the sea breeze, the peaceful tree-lined streets with coffee shops, the artsy little shops that sells wooden spoons with rabbits carved on top. i’m not surprised it’s such a popular dating spot for couples, especially after sunset where it sparkles with colourful lights that blink cheerfully (｡◕‿‿◕｡)
on this day, i started my journey by getting off at 桜木町 sakuragicho, which is the title of a yuzu song.
after that, i took the bus to the red brick warehouse >w< i've been wanting to visit for a very long time but never had the chance or time to. the 赤いくつ red shoe buses run around yokohama‘s famous spots and it costs 100円 each time you get on, no matter how far you travel.
arrival at the red brick warehouse. i had no idea what it REALLY was, so i was pleasantly surprised when i stepped inside.
lush! you can smell it from miles away ヾ((（´*゜∀゜*｀）))ﾉｼ i wish i bought more lush before coming home… it’s my dream to have my house smell like lush…
more lush goodies!!!
there are a lot of small restaurants and cafes inside 🙂
cute little interior shops that make me want to have my own house~
there was a shop where everything in there has a rabbit motif. it’s creepy yet adorable at the same time.
i moved to chinatown after some shopping at the red brick warehouse! chinatown always smells like home – the steaming buns, the red lanterns, the chattering old ladies, the old messy shop selling chinese herbs and medicine.
santa claus in chinatown seems a bit out of place, though. it feels like a horror movie gone wrong.
back at shibuya. it’s funny how it feels like home, despite me being a foreigner.
high school boys on their way back from sports practice 🙂 i love japanese school uniforms, with their matching sports bags and parka jackets.
i bought an adorable two-tiered wooden accessory box at the red brick warehouse for 1050円 （｀・ω・´）ﾉｼ
鞍馬 kurama
Posted on: September 20, 2010
backlog : 2010.05.23
my final day in kyoto during my weekend trip to kansai alone was spent in a small town called 鞍馬 kurama, about 40 minutes away from the main city of kyoto! it was not a very wise move, seeing as it was a city nestled in a quiet, somber mountain area, not to mention it was raining the whole day with strong wind gusts D: but there was nothing i can do because i’ve already planned on going to 鞍馬寺 kuramadera. i had also planned to visit mount hiei as well but i gave up because it was simply impossible.
mount kurama : the home of king of the tengu, who taught swordsmanship to minamoto no yoshitsune. it’s on the border of two prefectures, kyoto and shiga, and being a mountain town, it’s pretty boring and there’s nothing actually “touristy” here, unless…
you like huge, giant tengu goblins 🙂 hiro does! incidentally, this particular statue was featured in a t no arashi corner hahah!
the demons and spritis of kurama are considered some of the most famous in the country
entrance to kurama temple, which is famous for its long winding paths of red and white bonbori lanterns
it was raining too hard and the ground was too dangerous to trek up on foot so i opted for the cable car!
the winding stone-paved path towards the main hall. you can see how eerie it was D: summer it’s this cold and misty?
main hall of the temple
🙂 where i was, with only a summer cotton tunic and a really thin cardigan. an unforgettable experience!
some of the cutest wishing plates i’ve ever seen!
coming down from the temple 🙂 in the beginning, i was tempted to trek through the jungle all the way towards 貴船神社 kifune jinja but i couldn’t even see 5 steps in front of me due to the mist and there was this moment where something hit my mind : “crap, if i get lost in here NOBODY WOULD EVER KNOW AND I WOULD MISS MY BUS BACK TO TOKYO HENCE MISSING CLASS AND I COULD DIE IN HERE AND MY BODY WOULD ONLY BE FOUND 10 WEEKS LATER OMG WHAT DO I DO!!!”
but as luck would have had it, halfway through a small area in the jungle heading towards kifune jinja my feet got caught by a huge confusing tangle of tree roots in a area that was apparently named 魔王階段 devil steps o____o;; it was at this time that i met a group of extremely nice japanese ladies (and one man) who gathered a few times each year to go on trips together! they were really worried about me because i was all alone in the heavy rain and wind in the jungle and they said that if i joined them it would bring the number of people in the group to 12, which was a nice even number hahah!
they even treated me to lunch! 😀 i had matsutake udon *O* SO DELICIOUS!
the nicest people i’ve ever met!!! they were so kind to me, some of them gave me their name cards and one of them gave me her phone number, telling me to call her if i ever go to okinawa! the nice guy (who speaks excellent english and travels around a lot) lives in odaiba apparently and he actually invited me for coffee when we were both back in tokyo but with becki‘s arrival and all there was no time. too bad, really, because i would have loved to meet him once more!
after that, i parted ways with them as they were going to kifune jinja and i opted to go try my luck at the cable car station to go to mount hiei, but we all know how that ended up 😦 the rain and wind was too strong that the cable cars were temporarily suspended and there was no knowing when they’d restart, and the people at the ticket counter told me to come again another time because the temple closes at 4:30pm anyway…
so i made my wet, tired way back to kyoto and treated myself to a nice, nice dinner since it was such a miserable day for me. i had kyoto cuisine at a really posh looking restaurant called がんこ ganko at the train station that was a lot cheaper than it looked from the outside! i ordered the やわらぎ子鍋 yawaragi konabe set (2079円) ♪
pork shabu shabu to warm myself up after a long, rainy day in the mountains with no raincoat on! it really was a surprise i didn’t fall sick 😀
the whole set was so beautifully presented, it was such a shame to eat it! it was really affordable for such great food at a nice japanese restaurant that i couldn’t resist!!! i can’t wait to go back to kyoto again so i can try the other stuff on the menu with teddy >w< he would swoon and never ever be able to look at japanese food the same again hahah!
well worth the wait
Posted on: September 19, 2010
- In: arashi | life | mail | photos
- Leave a Comment
i finally received the parcel becki sent for my birthday a few days ago, and it really was well worth the wait. it was such an awesome present that i am still smiling everytime i think about it right now. i love you becki!
there are instructions and words written on the flaps of the box 😀 these were the order in which i was supposed to open the presents inside the box. each present was wrapped up in different colours ♥
i feel the ♥
she warned me it was like a rainbow threw up inside the box, and she wasn’t kidding 😀 it smelled really good (even from the outside) too!
birthday card ♥♥♥
it’s so pretty!!!
first box ♥
lush!!! shower jelly and massage bar ♥
second box ♥
purple lipgloss befitting of jun
third box ♥
more lush goodies! hair and body gel, and some soap
fourth box! ♥
this was such an awesome awesome surprise!
my favourite perfume which i can never find here in malaysia O_O
i love the bottle, it’s so pretty!!!
fifth!!! frogs on a yellow background ♥
she was so sneaky >w< she got me new shop photos!!!
each present had small colour-coded tags attached to them!!!
they were all “messages” from the members hahahahah i couldn’t stop laughing 😀 so cute!
my favourite ♥♥♥
there were 2 more, a blue one with dolphins and one more with poker cards on it 😀 she got me the tekkon kinkreet copy of H and a wink up with oh-chan on the cover!!! ♥♥♥
thank you so much becki!!! ♥ ベッキ、大スキ！♥
hiro updates
Posted on: July 14, 2010
- In: happenings | japan | life | outings | photos
- Leave a Comment
i haven’t been updating my blog in a very long time due to a lot of reasons. one of it being university, with all the end-of-semester reports and assignments to be finished. another reason would be captain who is an awesome travel buddy >w< too many things to do, so little time!
i'll update my blog properly on each and every place i've went in the past few weeks when all this madness is over, but for now, here is a short update on what i've been up to, hiro-style.
kamakura
shiga
kyoto
kobe
tokyo
nagasaki
fukuoka
kumamoto
almost two more weeks before i leave the wonderful land of the rising sun and return to my tropical island! i shall miss this place dearly 😦 *starts planning future trips back here to japan*
touchdown!
Posted on: June 23, 2010
backlog :2010.06.19
on saturday, i went to the narita express platform to pick captain up ♥ it was like a scene out from a really cheesy love drama hahah – we were running to greet each other and went all colkfneoicqhnovihn *insert spazz here*
she got me a present ♥
it comes in a pretty box!
and a nice little bag!
so pretty *O* it’s the cutest bracelet ever ;w; there’s a musical note for nino and a fish for ohchan!
after that, we went to harajuku because apparantly the softbank there is more efficient and foreigner-friendly. we got it done in less than 20 minutes omg :O
we saw the funniest vending machine EVER in one of the idol shops 😀 a vending machine that sells arashi photos!!!
we had epic purikura with our kaibutsu-kun caps and pikanchi shirts >w<
i’m sure we look crazy
after that, we went to shibuya‘s tower records to look at the kaibutsu-kun costume they have on display there >w< he's SO TINY!!!
so, so tiny hahah!
dinner time!!! all-you-can-eat sukiyaki at 1980円 per person ^^
fresh australian beef… how ironic!
pork from chiba prefecture
in to the pot it goes!
😀 yes we are happy
and dorky :p
i ♥ sukiyaki
and that’s the end of an awesome day – the first of many to come 🙂
マジシャンの誕生日 a magician’s birthday
Posted on: June 17, 2010
♪ お誕生日おめでとう！♪
happy 27th birthday to
♥♥♥ 二宮和也 ninomiya kazunari ♥♥♥
i love how happy you truly look whenever you’re together with the rest of them, especially when you’re on the stage in concerts!
🙂 this year’s birthday cake!
i can’t believe it’s been one year since i last celebrated! time really flies!
i wanted to get something yellow but the only one they had in yellow was orange-flavoured, and i’m not too fond of orange >o<;; this one had lemon jelly on top though, so it's somehow yellow? :p
i’ve given up on trying to write about how much i love you D: it’s just impossible to put into words…
so i’ll just let the photos do the talking :p
i’m praying for your good health, success and happiness! ♥ i hope you get a lot of love and rest for your birthday!!! ♥
nino birthday picspam #1
Posted on: June 16, 2010
- In: arashi | nino | photos
- Leave a Comment
it’s going to be nino‘s 27th birthday soon ♥♥ and in celebration of that, i will be posting my favourite photos of him! 😀 do bear with me, dear readers! :p
so here we go! the first picspam consists of some of my all-time favourite photos of him. it’s very VERY difficult to narrow it down to 12 photos, because there are so many good photos of him, but i tried my best!
♥♥ it’s often been said that he resembles a shiba inu, and i can’t agree more – it’s those expressive brown eyes!
well-known for his love of gaming, he also enjoys being cooped up at home in his pajamas with nothing but his baby-blue nintendo ds
he also gets giggly at the most unexpected moments!
he looks good in shirts with skinny ties
ask him what he’s obsessed about right now, and it would always be the same answer : magic
how he gets away with almost anything, and i really do mean anything : the pout (TM)
his childhood dream : professional baseball player
his loyal companion throughout the years : his guitar
his passion : stageplays, movies and acting
the shy japanese chef who falls in love : tawara ippei (haikei, chichiue-sama)
he doesn’t show much skin, but when he does, he does it well
i love this so much, i want a really big poster of it in my room
and last but not least :
the mayor of pathetic town who stole my heart : ariake kouichi (ryuusei no kizuna)
fangirl fun
Posted on: June 16, 2010
recently i’ve been going out a lot with megan, a fellow arashi fangirl that i met on lj quite some time ago 😀 it would have been so much more fun had we gotten the courage to speak to each other earlier, because we’re both going home soon! nevertheless, it has been really fun everytime we go out together 😀
last friday we went to pasela to watch the 5×10 dvd. it’s a really nice karaoke place that has a dvd player as well, so we could watch anything we want 😀 it was so much fun, waving our penlights and doing the hand movements along with them.
they even have mouthwash for you in the washrooms :O
after that, we went looking for something to eat, and we saw this : destiny. the words crab chahan with a big “umai!” exclaimation? it is definitely very leader-ish so we went in!
we sat at the counter so we could literally watch them cook our food
it has a really warm, welcoming atmosphere and an authentic chinese ambience
we both ordered the crab chahan
we both chose different sets though. mine came with a small plate of gyoza, and hers came with a small cup of kaarage
yesterday, i met up with her again for dinner 😀 it was quite an adventure! i was supposed to meet her at shibuya but she emailed me 15 minutes before our meeting time to tell me that she had forgotten her wallet at home, her suica had run out of credit and she is now stuck in ikebukuro with no money. i went to get her, and then we had a laugh at how aiba-ish it was 😀
we went to an all-you-can-eat place called nabezo where you could choose between sukiyaki, nabe and shabu shabu (1980円 per person).
it was surprisingly quiet for an all-you-can-eat place! the service was really good too!
😀 meat! unlimited pork and beef, as well as assorted vegetables and random stuff for nabe dishes. i love harusame!!!
us 🙂 i love her red tights and black mary-janes! her dress was really colourful too – really springlike! my outfit on the other hand was a bit more subdued and it looks like winter… hahah!
summer outing
Posted on: June 9, 2010
on saturday last week i went out for cakes with the malaysians 😀 we met up at shibuya and it made my day to see these two huge posters outside the station >w<
i finally took a more decent photo of myself with hachiko!
deru joined us later because she woke up late so azu, kat and i had some sushi to fill up our stomachs since we have not eaten anything for lunch (and azu claimed he can’t fill his stomach with only cakes =w=)
after deru arrived we took the train to 田園調布 denenchofu because i fell in love with the cakes at l’epi dor! there was a small street festival there as well and we made the mistake of taking a look… i spent money again – a really nice bamboo-bottomed handbag for kimono (4000円), and a white heko obi (1000円).
i fell in love with the mille feuille the last time i came, but since i’ve already tried it before, i decided to order something else : the chestnut bavarois ♥ (420円)
it was unexpectedly good :O i am not a big chestnut fan but this one had just the right amount of sweetness and the subtle fragrance of chestnut >w<
the one who hides and the one who poses
the normal ones 😀 hahah just kidding XD and i’ve just realized that we were dressed to match! kat and i in white, and deru and azu in black 😀 talk about contrasts!
the hydrangeas are starting to bloom now! i’m so happy!
possibly my favourite flowers, next to casablanca lilies ♥ they are so gorgeous! *o*
l'isle joyeuse 