3rd Apr (Thu)
Mentally and physically tired after the month of solo and so tempted to go on one myself before hubby flies off again in May for another month.
Why didn’t go earlier? Coz worried if hubby falls sick somebody needs to be home right? choy!choy!choy! He came back with no illness. Thank you 观音菩萨. So why worry about illness? Coz my dear hubby never listen to me during our last winter trip, never cover himself warm enough (despite all my naggings before leaving SIN and while we were there) and then fell sick. He also had gout attack on the 2nd day of our last family holiday. So when he went on a trip in Feb to Mar, the weather may still be cooling or cold as winter started late.
JUST CHECKING
Was looking at depart 20/4, arrive back 1/5 and then hubby flies off on 2/5. SQ cheapest $901.90. But with holiday so close is it possible for me to churn out a proper plan in such short time? It’s possible actually, I can piah if I want to. I did this before, coz maybe I thrive under pressure. Haha!
Checked with various dates and the difference can be $130++ with just a difference in one day. Checked with ANA, not worth to travel for 11hrs just to save $100+. I can fly to Europe with that travel time.
14th Apr (Mon)
Still toying the idea but just realised it’s golden week unless I push back avoid it but also needed to be back before hubby flies off the next day
Golden week starts 29th April - 6th May. I’ll be back I’m sure coz hubby needs to fly off on 2nd.
The place I want to go has Tulip field!!! That's what I wanted.
Alternative was a trip to Busan, honestly wasn’t hoping to catch anymore cherry blossoms but perhaps if I’m lucky I hope I can see tulip field. But dunno why no SQ flight to Busan.
14th Apr (Mon)
Went to check if have Shinkansen. Damn suay! Maintenance from 14th to 18th Apr. If I was looking at a 22nd or 24th Apr departure out of SIN, it's only 2-3 days before to do my booking. Maybe this is a hint that I shouldn't go now but delay the trip to a month plus later?
Can't remember which day ... but should be few days before 25th Apr when I told hubby my plans for travel before his following trip in July. He's due to fly off on 2nd May for a month.
The girls heard and wanted to follow me. No..... I mean I did consider if I wanted to bring lil' one with me but she couldn't give me a proper date. She has no idea when is her internship interview. Like that how? I cannot leave anything to last minute. Che-che as usual also wanted to tag along when she heard where I wanted to go but I explained that my trip will be long (as she doesn't have enough leave left for the year).
In a span of these few days, the girls decided they wanted to make their siblings trip to FUK. Lil' one's first and last trip to FUK was in 2022. Che-che went every year after 2022. Infact days before I dropped the news about my intention to travel in June, she asked me when can we go in July to FUK. After they made the decision to travel, she asked if I wanted to go with them but no money lah! And we can't leave poor daddy alone in SIN. So sad...he alone and we all travel, But then again, he had been on solo travelling since Feb, he's also alone.
They plan to go for few days once I’m back. Lil’ one was going to start her internship in July.
25th Apr (Fri)
They booked their tickets while I haven't booked mine yet. Haha! Coz I was also busy packing the bomb shelter lah! I have things to do.
26th April
Finally purchased my ticket. My air ticket cost lesser than theirs. Che-che only asked lil’ one to pay her back $800 when their ticket costs more than that. Che-che is paying for everything else. She’s so generous to her sister but not to me 😓.
Che-che booked their accommodation. Chose the same hotel as I booked for our 2024 trip. Why is she doing everything so fast? As if she’s afraid we’ll disagree in letting them go. Also she contacted Mio if she wants to meet up. Haha! Now my friend is also her friend.
*ps : Anyway, although I’m drafting this post now in April/May I will only post this once they’re back.
INSURANCE
Bought all our insurance on 28th April. Wah….can go broke leh! Then come July gotta buy again for hubby. hmm..
e-MFA
Must rmbr to register mine. Once everything is booked then I can do it.
FROM THINKING TO ACTION
2nd May
Bought the girls their e-SIM card. And to think their trip is after mine 🤣.
4th May (Sun)
@ 3+ am I began to book my accommodation for my first 2 stops then went to sleep. Not thinking anymore.
I didn't book the capsule hotel looks so miserably coffin small. Not enough plugs for me to charge things. I'll have lots of things to charge (2 portable batteries, fan, neck fan(?), phone, watch). My capsule will explode. Haha! I think the one in Himeji is by far the best one. It's so spacious. No chain for that. sad!
Ordered my SIM card. The reason why it took me longer than usual to buy my card was coz I had to research which network provider has the best reception. Will be heading to the trail so need access in the ulu places.
* Just sharing, Softbank and NTT Docomo top the list to be reachable in any ulu spot.
Just for laughs. The name Softbank reminds me of—> che-che outside Edion Namba. The same poster we saw in July 2024 as well
We didn’t go in in July, but in Dec we went in coz hubby wants to look for something. And we saw this huge poster smack on the first floor!
Ordered 15 days Daily 3GB + unlimited for $32.99, not from my regular seller tho.
6th May (Tue)
Needed a break from all the ‘I-dunno-what-I’m-busy-with’ and went to smell tulips 🌷 to recharge myself. Haha!
Okay, I did do a little today k…… at Project Açai
Only to realise “shit! no free wifi.” Had to hotspot my phone. Reminds me I have a portable wifi thingy at home. However SIN doesn’t have a mobile data SIM card with no expiry date to (perhaps) prevent misuse of card for crimes (?) Anyway how often do I end up in a place with no wifi? And how often do I bring my iPad out to do things now?
Received my SIM card. So fast!
8th and 9th May (Thu and Fri)
Hotels 3 and 4 still not booked yet. Still 想来想去 how many days should I stay in Hotel 3. Hotel 4 is the last one. Thinking if I should book the same hotel or should I book one closer to the airport or should I do a capsule hotel just for the experience? But after days of chiong-ing, will the capsule make it worst for my tired body?
All I have now are the tabs. My laptop will be on sleeping mode until all itinerary is planned out. But still no drive to work faster.
10th May (Sat)
This came in my inbox, I think my phone is hijacked 🤣. How is it that I receive this everytime from Sugi Bee Garden before I travel ? This ends in June, and last time there was a promo in my July trip.
11th May (Sun)
Finally remembered to switch to my motivational music. And so here I am working hard at 1.08am with Christmas jazz music. Typing one day itinerary where I noted I needed to climb close to 3000ft, 🫣 I had to stop my planning and check the conversion to metres - slightly less than 900m I’m trying to wonder if my knees and legs would give way. Then I’m just so thankful that I decided not to join a day tour which costs close to S$300 (crazy!) and basically yours truly who walks at snail speed will be chasing after the group. Nah! As long as I keep to the walking path, no cliff so I’m safe. I’m just so excited!
Working with music, at the same time with the notes in iPad to check thru what I had scribbled. Laptop is stacked up at eye level coz my neck is feeling the pain from looking down. And I'm supposed to be looking through the recipes to plan my menu for this month. Haha!
12th May (Mon)
I think I really have a big problem. I have mental slump in the day time. Come evening I suddenly have the drive to do something, with the slight distraction (tying this in blog now). Took 2 naps today, woke up even more tired. Yesterday spent time at bro's place until I couldn't do anything. So really I'm busy! I still need to do housework, not that I have 100% free time.
MTM, MTM. Should I go or not. I need to decide before I book my 3rd hotel. Should I have 2N back before my flight? Should I stay overnight in MTM? Worth to stay overnight with the hassles of moving hotels? Taking day trip out also too far. It's like the places I want to cover is the other side of NGN - MTM. There’s also K a place I really want to go. So many questions when one is going to finalise the proper itinerary planning. Perhaps I have to do it next trip, with NGN. I only have 13 days of tour, if only I have more days. But when I have more days I want to chiong all the way that I will have the same complaints of not having enough time. Sigh......need money also lah! Talk is cheap.
Anyway, whenever I was free I checked Revolut's exchange rate. I must remember to set reminder on phone to check next few days.
7/5/25 (Wed) : Revolut's rate is 110.6
9/5/25 (Fri) @ 1.30am : Revolut's rate is 111.8
9/5/25 (Fri) @ 1pm : Revolut's rate is 111.67
12/5/25 (Mon) : Revolut's rate is 113.02
12/5/25 (Mon) : According to this website --> https://longforecast.com/sgd-jpy. It's 113.26. Revolut has a lousier rate compared to Youtrip. But I chose to be different from the family members so I blame no one.
13/5/25 (Tue) @ 12.23 pm :Revolut's rate is 113.13
Was trying to book my one way bus ticket from first stop to second. My goodness! I spent a good whole 20mins trying and trying. What the heck is “half-width, within 20 characters”? I didn’t even put my full name - LATWL which is 15 characters. I normally just put LAT. I changed from using laptop to phone to iPad. Che-che said she has this problem too “when I …” “when you join your…” “my fan club. I just try and try until like forever” and she burst out laughing. Hmm….she’s feeling indifferent 😓.
Anyway, I managed it. Hopefully it’s the correct way. I used small letters and joined my LA together.
As for contact number which I encountered problem although there was a drop down Singapore +65, they asked for 9-11 digits when our number is only 8 digit. So I added another 65 infront of my number.
Finally! Bought my bus ticket. It’s already 12.30am 13th May now and I think I should quickly get all my bus and train tickets before booking the hotels. Hopefully I can get things done by today - 13th May (Tue).
Another bus ticket settled. I realised I should have used my Revolut 🤦🏻♀️. Sigh….
Good to know the different Highway Buses in the region I'm travelling
Nohi, Hokuriku, Kaetsuou, Iruka kotsu, Toyama chihou Tetsudou
Is it third party?
I hope not. I checked and it’s 90+% not scam.
Anyway more or less I know my plans is finalised, some places I can’t go on this trip for sure. Next time, next time must go back again.
Found out about a temple festival on the day I'm there in one city. So tempted to go but I've already planned to go somewhere else that day. Maybe it's not a good idea for me to go for the festival coz it's in a small place where I'll smell everyone's smelly armpits and hair and possibly faint. A year ago, watching Yamakasa that is held in an open area spread across many points in the city was good.
13th May (Tue)
Suppose to go tuina but the hot weather is making me lazy to leave the aircon mall. Excuses! Excuses! Hand numb again.
Plonked myself in a cooling KFC, in a corner just like the すみっコぐらし . But I ended most time editing my blog as I found some photos which I need to clear from the phone 🤦🏻♀️. When I barely started searching for 3rd hotel (My 3rd hotel now is a different place from the previous 3rd hotel I was talking about.) my stomach churned. Wah 😩…. I think I’m destined not to do anything outside.
Stop B is in the middle of two places I want to go. Both places (xx and yy) we went in December but coz it was with a tour, the whole trip was in a rush, basically just to 打卡打卡. XX - maybe it's doable with just a few hours stopover before I go C. YY - day trip possible too but only a few buses to leave YY for C. YY is a place we hardly see anything there coz of snow, we only had less than 2hrs there, with the many tour buses going in and everyone walking so slow coz it’s slippery took away some time from us. By the time we reached the place, we only had 1.5 or maybe 1 1/4hrs there. That’s why I hate to join tours! I didn’t have time to look at the shops and souvenirs, I zoomed thru all the way back to the bus coz it took me so long, walking uphill, to get to a spot I wanted to go.
Usually when I want to plan any itinerary I have to check if there’s any mode of transportation from point A to B, how many trains/buses per day, price, whatever factors. In this case, coz of the mountains blocking the way so travelling cannot be done from left to right but have to back track to main city then come up again. Abit siao but what to do when there’s no car. Ps. My IDP hasn’t expired. [I applied one for myself and che-che last year before our Dec trip for a just-in-case.] Anyway, that means whenever I plan any holiday, 什么该想的已经想了、什么没人会去管/想我也想了。That’s the reason why GrandMaster Tan told hubby I think alot BUT he doesn’t have to worry anything coz 你的老婆做的事情你可以放心、她会什么都做好好的。
After careful search and 想来想去 my initial plan of Stop A - B - C - D (had 2 places in mind as stated above) - E had to be switched to Stop A - B - D - C - E coz it’ll make sense for my two stops with only 2N or 1N to be put together as I intended to only have my personal effects in my haversack and TaQBin my luggage from A to C immediately. I can’t have a rolling luggage in Stop D. Means I have to do my minimal packing and a self-restraint not to buy too many snacks home.
Another bus ticket purchased. This time I remembered to use my Revolut card. Seems like I’ll be travelling by their highway / express bus almost all journey. I even have the crazy thought of doing overnight bus 🤣. Stop C - E : had intention of taking train but realised it takes longer time to arrive into Stop E.
Tomorrow I hope I can get my hotels settled.
14th May (Wed)
was thinking maybe I should go fruit picking on my last full day so I have fresh produce to bring home. And I was hoping I can pick the benihoppe strawberries which are from Shizuoka. 😭.. strawberry picking ends in May. So when is a good time for travel?
@ 11.53pm. Music to keep me going
After research, I realised that although taking a bus from C to E is cheaper and shorter time they don’t allow huge luggage. Argh! That means I need to take a train instead.
Was so happy that I booked my last sector train tickets but ……..Argh! I booked the wrong date for my journey back from Stop C - E. Too many screens turned on at the same time then with wrong date popping up on my handphone screen. 我的天啊‼️🤦🏻♀️ Emailed them immediately.
15th Apr (Thu)
WTF?! All my tabs are gone! Did the laptop do a system update? My goodness!
No response from the website. And somehow made me feel that they won’t even respond to me. If worst come to worst, I’ll just honor my tickets but it means I’ll have 3N in last city before flying off. 为什么🧐? Why am I so careless? Never mind, that carelessness is not that bad a news until I found out it’s a third party platform I had booked my train ticket! Whatever I type on search engine keeps coming back to this page so I thought it’s the train website. Why did I let my guard down when I didn't when purchasing the buses' tickets? Maybe bus more likely and easier to change bus route on roads into the forest 🌳 and get kidnapped? I'll highly likely not get kidnap on trains coz they need the tracks to run. But then again who wants to kidnap an ugly fat lao char-boh ?
Today I did another search and 偏偏 the original JR site showed the trains when days before I checked I didn’t see the route. F#%^*!!
I paid S$20+ more, an amount I can have a nice meal with some small change back. Maybe I should console myself that whatever extras I paid will be paid back to me in extras many other ways, by my kind deed to warn others about third party platform. Maybe you’re all smarter than me lah! Ok, I feel damn stupid 🤦🏻♀️.
🤬 I can be complaining and complaining to no avail. I cannot blame anyone but myself for this mistake. Sigh…. This mistake that I may have to chiong fast fast the main sights in City C so that I can cover 2 small towns in one day coz I HAVE ONE DAY LESS!
🤔💭Maybe it’s doable since I used to chiong like siao in SQ days. Plus I don’t have to drag any kid with me, let me correct I don’t have to drag lil’ one with me (coz I often chase after the fast walker che-che 🤣, and long legged hubby) . However I must remember that was a 20+ young lady vs now a tired 49+ old tired lady with knee pain 😂.
Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise for me? With the extra night back in last stop, I can go another place? I guess I shouldn’t have any hope that they’ll ever read my email. I’ll give them till tonight. If not, I’ll just go ahead and book my hotels in Stop C and E.
In the night, my zhor gang time at 9, I saw emails with confirmed ticket and thought that’s it. I saw the amendment they made for me. Yay! That means my plan is all coming bit by bit together. Time to book hotels. Oh! I forgot I was looking at Hotel D too! So I have 3 more hotels to look through or maybe 2 if I intend to use the same one for last stop as my first stop. Took so bloody long to book Hotel D coz must search carefully mah… and coz I stopped halfway holiday planning to do my Ah-soh duty.
DONE !
Now to Hotel C. Picked out a few but now so tired at 3am on 16th Apr. My sleep pattern has gone haywire.
16th May (Fri)
Yay! Last 2 accommodations booked. Consolidate all hotel information into my Word, into the piece of paper that I will print out and paste infront of the study table for all to see and be envious. Joking! It's not for that reason. I like to put it down so everyone will know where I'm moving to next. Put in hotel contact number.
Why didn't book capsule hotel eventually? Though I did mention in 2023 that if I ever did a solo trip, I'll go for capsule hotel. Coz they were too (1) miserably small with insufficient charger. I saw one in my first stop but it's far away from main station. Himeji's capsule hotel really spoil the market, now I cannot look for something smaller than that. (2) might be hot inside, and we have to draw the blinds down. (3) Will be strolling hiking at 2 places + the other usual more than 20K steps per day so I definitely need good proper rest.
IT PAYS TO BE A VIP. HAHA!
On sidenote, I didn’t know I’m already a VIP Gold in Agoda before I made the last 2 bookings.
I'm also on the second of three tiers in Booking.com
Am a Gold heading to Platinum in Trip.com
Expedia is the lousiest - just otw to Silver 😂.
Hubby is always the one doing all the accommodation bookings for our holidays so he has a more atas status than me, I’m sure.
So these bookings, I've scored a few good discounts. The only one that I couldn't get any discount was because I had to make my reservations with them direct.
TIME TO START AND CONTINUE WHATEVER I'VE LEFT OFF PREVIOUSLY
Now that I’ve lost all the tabs, there were some darn good information in those tabs, I need to start all over again. Sianz! And it’s already 0016hrs (17th May) now, what’s so surprising when my brain is more productive at night. Haha! Wait! Let me go and clear the kitchen now. Time for a break.
e-MFA
With the cities confirmed, I registered my presence in Japan to MFA.
MISCELLANEOUS
After all bookings paid, my Revolut was left with pathetic amount. Thus I topped up my Revolut ¥195991 to make it ¥200000 (S$1748.32 Revolut’s rate. Outside rate S$1786.20)
17th May (Sat)
So exhausted today so not doing any planning. Here’s the reason why I’m not a superwoman as what friends always say I am.
while waiting for the pharmacist, I decided to check on my Suica card. Topped up ¥4761 to make it to ¥15000 (S$133.96) instead of my usual ¥20000
19th May (Mon)
Love it when it’s Monday coz lil’ one is on HBL. Coincidentally che-che WFH today so I woke up late. I set my alarm for 10.15am coz I don’t have to prepare any breakfast but I woke at 10.30am. I guess I didn’t hear the alarm went off. Today’s dinner is all steamed dishes in Ms Thermie so it makes cleaning up easier. Still, it would be better if things are done for me at the click of my fingers. Came back into the room and need to start my job. I gave up scanning items (from my bomb shelter clearance), will probably do that after I return from trip 吧！Hopefully can find time by then.
My ling-ling arrived. Muahaha! I can’t believe I bought this. They said have 🐻 in the trail. Aiyah! Say Yosemite got bears, 去了三次 also never encounter any bears. I’m just hoping the weather is kind to me on the day I intend to stroll. Should I pack my hiking sticks? 😂 好像太夸张。
Are there bears?
Ok... so are there bears? They say there are bears in the huge valley but the trail I'm going it's unlikely to come across any as that is a (1) high traffic area. From what I know and heard before was to (2) make as much noise as you can. I believe my loud voice (thanks to SQ training) will make them think I'm a T-Rex OR I can (3) sing song as I walk 🎜 "I'm going on a bear hunt." 🎝. (4) Talk to myself. Siao! (5) I'm going in summer so they must have their fill in spring after hibernation, maybe I'll likely survive. (6) Alot of the videos shows no bear at all. I didn't come across any hiker with a David Attenborough animal footage. Or maybe those who suay suay died after being mauled by the bear never had the chance to broadcast their video 🤣🤣.
My preventive measures
Because I can't get hold of any bear spray and I think it's prohibited in Japan, I'll have to have other preventive measures.
(1) Try not to take too many pictures in that forested area and walk quickly. Or ... (2) I'll make sure when I walk, I'm not alone. That is quite a popular time for hiking so I won't be alone, so I can walk and stop the same time as the people infront of me. (3) Be vigilant. Instead of always turning my head around looking suspiciously at people/gypsies in the streets, now I'm doing it to look out for bears (4) I have my 'whistle and a torchlight to attract attention', tho I must admit the torchlight is useless in bright daylight. Long time ago bro taught me the morse code for SOS, I still remember that. When I tested the whistle, it was loud to me, I don't know if I can trust myself with my ears. Whistle has to be loud at 100 or more decibel (5) hang the bell and keep swinging my haversack. Ring the bells along the way like those cows in Switzerland (6) no food in my bag. If I need to pack the sandwich I'll have to use a few ziplocs. Not 100% fool proof but maybe it might work.
I'm #%^*-ing going to die
In the event if I'm that suay to come across one, stand still. Play dead? But maybe playing dead will not help coz I'll likely come across a black bear not a grizzly bear. Anyway in any case, if I spot one (one thumb rule advice from the US NPs) I'm definitely going to walk back and not walk forward. Who cares about not able to see the next town, I'd rather not see the next town then not see the other sights I had planned for for the rests of the holiday. Keep my eyes on the bear, never turn my back on the bear. I'll have to walk backwards until I'm safe to walk on properly. Then find the bus stop and take the bus to the next town. Haha!
If my prayers don't work and I'm superbly damn suay, I'll just have to lie down on my front and cover my head and neck. If the bear wants to roll me like a cookie sheet then I have to make sure I force roll myself back laying on my front. I've rolled myself a few times from the shikibuton in the mornings so I've received good training. 我做得到.
If all fails, please buy me tulips and play classical music. Thank you.
Damn slow progress with my itinerary planning. More so coz I’m on solo now, I have nobody to taichi stuffs even simple task like packing food.
20th May (Tue)
When I start panicking coz it’s only 15 days to my trip 🤣. Betcha I gotta work my hands and small brain off. I set a dateline to finish planning and have everything booked 2 weeks before my trip for every holiday BUT I’M BEHIND TIME NOW!! So why am I writing this now? Coz I get distracted easily 🤣.
Dropped lil’ one in school and decided to stay out. But it’s difficult for me to bring the old (battery can barely last an hour) laptop out coz I need 🔌 . So it’s like I need to do something but can’t fully type it in. I have something in Notes but just can’t transfer it to my Microsoft Word. I’m kosong dumb when it comes to IT.
Music, drink coz I need something to chope seat in Starbucks. Bought the cake later coz mouth itchy need something sweet. Paper to write down the itinerary - which is (1), (2), (3) coz I must make sure I don’t walk from east to west then suddenly go back again. So yah….yours truly needs everything planned before hand.
Big thanks for Google maps now where I can key in the date and time for train schedule. Go back home tonight I can plonk in more detailed details. 我知道要怎么走了。
21st May (Wed)
Eat snake day with an important date with N, she asked me why go solo? I have no one to talk to. She’s not the first to ask me and tell me that. I don’t need to talk to anyone. Cited asking for opinion esp when shopping. But I don’t shop. It’s doable for me, I’ve been doing lots of independent solo travelling in SQ days and doing this now is the same - just older - but my curiosity and desire to travel remains.
Talked about me going to hiking, I laughed when I said “they said it’s going to be 2-3hrs but I think it’ll take me 5-6hrs.” Coz I think I’ll be stopping by for not 1001 pictures but 2002. When one is alone, I can walk fast (ahem ahem) or slow or stop to take pics.
She asked me what do I do when I see a bear? I laughed and said just a few. She gave me one look and kept silent as if telling me something, I said “It means I’m not ready.” ''How about bees?'' she asked again. After what I said, I did mention something about water but paused coz there's no pond in the trail I'm going 🤣. Was thinking to run to hide in a house or scream herupu herupu but only if there's a soul around or a house or something enclosed around. N asked if I knew the bees will hover above water, of course I knew that's why I think that's not a good solution for me. I can swim but I'm not a mermaid - can't hold breath underwater for long. I'll just lie down and cover my ears, neck and face down. N gave me another weird look. I repeated myself ''so it means I'm not ready to hike''. **bitchy mode on* dunno to say if she’s sincerely worried for me or maybe she’s just jealous so trying to find ways to dissuade me. Haha! I'm joking about the jealousy. I'll just WhatsApp her after I complete the hike to 报平安.
I’ll be doing that on my first full day, I also don’t want to die at the start of my holiday. But tours don’t take you on the hike, they just drive you to one town and then to the next. And that tour costs close to S$300. Personal tour is going to cost S$400+++ or maybe even 600++ coz there’s only me. The person who is going to earn that amount of money will laugh to the bank coz it's basically accompanying me for the hike/gai-gai (which I already know the way from watching all the Youtube videos). The only thing I can think of the advantage of having a guide with me is the bear have the choice to kill either one of us. I'll have a 1/2 probability chance of survival!!!
22nd May (Thu)
Did some food shopping for Mio. I tend to prioritise this than my planning. 🤣
23rd May (Fri)
Sat at KFC in the morning after dropping her in school. And yah... I did a little of itinerary. Didn't get to type in down in my laptop but I plan which places to go first and then the sequence by looking at Google map. The creepy man came by and sat down next to me looking at me. He meant no harm but just creepy lor.
I really hope things will align for me beautifully. If only I could leave earlier or actually I should have also travelled the same time as hubby right? Haha! But both of us 放心不下 girls left alone. Why I hope for things to align for me, coz I know I won’t be able to go to the tulips field anymore. Tulips is the official flower for the place I'm going. It’s one of the reason why I wanted to go there, I mean there’s tulip gardens in many countries but I think I’d like to choose Japan for now (tho I miss AMS).
The best time to see the alps is from late Nov to March, and I’m 3 months behind, will I be able to see the alps from the city? Will my photos turn out well? Maybe can ask my talented bro to do his comical drawing for me. It's usually cloudy even in summer so it's rare to see the mountains so clearly. Which explains why it's difficult to see Mt Fuji in summer. (Then again, I was so suay that for that journey to Tokyo when Mr Fuji is supposedly next to me but I CAN'T SEE A THING!!)
And the thing about the alps, to see and to do the route all at different timing. June is not exactly a good time to go Japan, it’s bloody hot and it's the rainy season in the Honshu region. Kyushu sees more rain in July, August. Will I have the chance to do this next year? I can't seem to have the best of both worlds in this trip. So this trip is I can't see tulips but hiking trails are open. Or do I want to be able to see tulips but can't hike? Anyway, I'm going now with low expectations to see the alps, if I do see then I'm extremely lucky.
Last minute change to plans when lil' one had to meet the Asst Manager for her intern, I dropped by Starbucks (again) after picking her up from school.
Back at Eastpoint. 🤣 Turned on ipad, wrote down 2 sentences and then I was singing to Frank Sinatra's music playing in the mall. The rest of the time I spent clearing photos from phone camera roll.
24th May (Sat)
Booked the tickets for one route. They have online reservation for all the various transportations to the place. I would have paid double if I joined a tour, where I will be rushed through and still not the 3/4 route I’m planning to do. With this on my own trip, though the hassle is that booking has to be done a month prior (I'm really lucky I was still able to get a ticket 11 days prior) I’m not being rushed.
Booked 了 but I need to collect my tickets at the station. Sigh.... Why can't they just let us print all the tickets at home?
25th May (Sun)
I know weather prediction may not be that accurate but really suay lor. At first when I checked the weather for the highlight of the trip place it showed sunny days. Now for all freaking 5 days I'm there it has to RAIN and sun is out on the day I depart. £$%^! Should I have delayed my trip to July? Nope! It means something else has closed for the season. And by July, August the heat will kill me even before I walk 100m. So if I go in March for the ideal view, the tulips field is not open. Sigh..... I think I really have no luck to go to tulips field at all. For the route I'm going, I would think that Oct/Nov is the best time to go when everything is all melted and maybe it's autumn with all the foliage. Ahh.....maybe I can only watch from youtube videos. No money to keep travelling.
At least one of my bucket list item still remains positive for me. I was thinking it might be lower coz ☀️ is out.
26th May (Mon)
My new hats finally arrived from Beneunder. Lil' one burst out laughing saying that the hat (the black one) is an Aunty hat. I'm already an aunty so it makes no difference. I remarked "I look even more aunty when I use my arm sleeves too! But I had to protect myself coz I'm going hiking." The caps I have at home doesn't really protect the side of my face.
This colour matches one of my sports attire
This trusty arm sleeves saved me from the glaring sun for many years, it's very cooling. Not sure how many colours they have now but it's always difficult to find something that is matching. I can have a maroon sports top, black sports bottom, white arm sleeve, white or blue cap, maroon sports shoes. Wah... walk out macam like a clown like that with mismatched colours 🤣
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My umbrella is indispensable, should I buy one more umbrella in Japan? Haha! I bought two umbrellas in both my 2023 and 2024 July trips, I should not break the streak. Must remember to pack my portable fan, should I bring my Coolify neck fan? 太夸张吗？Later end up raining throughout my trip. Choy!Choy!Choy! Shoe covers! My shoes is not waterproof!
Trust the Japanese to be so innovative. I haven't tried them all and the towel is a life saver, for a short while though. Another thing I love to pack from SIN is Sarasara body wipes, it keeps the skin feeling clean after perspiration. I will buy the cooling towel and maybe ヒヤロン when I'm there. Maybe I should eat かき氷 when I'm there.
Websites that I go to whenever I need to check for weather :
27th May (Tue)
Came across a samurai residence in the google map and that got me thinking. I should ask Mio if they are the descendants of any samurai clan, I hope this comical friend of mine don't give me any weird funny remarks.
Countless Japan trips but we have never stepped into any visit to a samurai residence though we were close to going into one once.
31st May (Sat)
Borrowed her low value Icoca card. Not sure, but it sounds like one prefecture doesn't accept Suica but Icoca. At the same time she passed me her clear folder booklet asking me to put the cards inside here.
This girl ah… なにわ男子 are the ambassadors for Family Club Store this year, and there are 4 stores in Japan - Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. In less than 7 months she would have the limited edition cards from all the 4 stores. 2 are acquired by her friends, 1 will be acquired by moi and the last at FUK would be purchased by her personally. She’s going to make her sister help her take many photos 🤣.
Bought another new fan, this time with the mist thingy. I'm bringing both fans with me for sure.
1st June (Sun)
Finally my itinerary is completed. First time I completed planning so last minute.
Wanted to book my airport transfer otw back but they expect me to type my name in kanji and katakana. Really weird and so I thought google can help me and my name in kanji became 百合杏 which has a totally different pronunciation from riri-an. No choice I'll get my return tickets when I arrive into the city since I need to get tickets into the city.
Tomorrow I will have to do my packing, colour my strands of white hair, paint my nails. My goodness! Really everything is so so last minute, I hope I won't forget to pack something in the process.
Papers papers
Filed in accordingly - bus tickets, itinerary then hotel booking, itinerary, bus tickets ….. 58 pages of itinerary. Oh shit! Suppose to email myself to keep a digital copy and I forgot 🤦🏻♀️.
Finally I can shut down the laptop
2nd Jun (Mon)
Finally packed my bag. So last minute. Used che-che’s luggage and I thought I won’t fill up even one side of the luggage space but I did. OMG!
3rd Jun (Tue)
On Monday @ 11+am - Was extremely happy when I saw I had the whole row to myself for both sectors. No money to pay for flat bed means I can only pray hard nobody occupies the row so I can lay down to sleep 🤣
Checked in at 11.49pm
Decided to kapo and as close to midnight ... Why why why? Why must this passenger so last minute buy the aisle seat. There are so many aisle seats around, why must you choose my row? 😠
Pray please please please return sector no change
Did I pack my hiking sticks? NO
I didn’t even pack my Sandmarc iPhone lenses. Haha! Honestly this is a good opportunity for me to pack the filter and dunno what lenses I have since I have no one to stop me taking 1001 or 2002 pictures but ….. I think it’s taking up space in the bag. Waste money only! Quite troublesome lah! I need to use the phone cover in order to fit the lenses, then how am I going to use my sling holder? I have to keep changing. So ley chey.
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