Fukuoka Day 3

 School starts today. At 9am. And I arrived 20 minutes past 9am. I was lost. Scurrying like a mouse for the at least half an hour, running up and down the station exits before the Central Post Office set me right. Hence, I missed my placement test, and went straight into orientation.

School is fun. My classmates are from America, France, Germany, Quebec. My teacher is Japanese but non-rigidly so. We laugh questions to the teacher, the teacher laughs it back. So much that I think my lungs are more tired than my brain after the intensive 4 hours of lesson. 

For example today, we were learning to use: because ~ too much, therefore ~.

Q: _________すぎたから、疲れたんです。

(Because __________ too much, therefore I was tired.)

A: アクスビデオが見すぎたから、疲れたんです。

(Because I watched too much X video, therefore I was tired.)

One of the more colourful answers offered.

And I think the best thing is there is no racial discrimination here, despite it being so predominantly Anglo-Saxon, simply because everyone is here because they like Asia. It was comforting (and a little strange) when my Caucasian classmates go, "Oh my god! You know Chinese? That means you already know Kanji?!" 

After class, I went straight to Mitsukoshi 三越, having already scouted out the place, and bought myself a tea set at Fruit Cafe Hanako フルツカーフぇハナ子.

 A cafe cum patisserie that specialises in fresh fruits in their pastries, meaning they pile and heap mountain of fruits onto their cakes and tarts. This was the first patisserie that caught my eye in this sea of gourmet heaven. It was the abnormal ratio of fruits to pastry base that is so attention-grabbing that I automatically stop to stare at the display fridge because I was trying to figure out if this shop was selling fruits or cakes. It is the strawberry season now.

 Cake set ケーキセート ¥850 gives you a slice of tart or cake and a cup of tea or coffee.

The strawberry tart 苺タルと is nothing fanciful. A plain almond tart base, filled with fresh cream and topped with an exaggerated amount of strawberries. There was more than enough strawberries to go with each mouthful of tart and cream. And for me, it was really satisfying to eat something so simple yet so good in a long time. I would probably go back to have their fruit cake.

 Dinner shopping.

Maki-zushi 巻寿司

 and seaweed salad わかめサラダ.

End.

Fukuoka Day 2

Day 2 was a Sunday, school has not started, which meant I was free to explore Fukuoka at my own leisure.
 

 Like a person who has all the time in the world, I strolled to the neighbourhood bakery called Collin's Bakery on the right of Ijiri Station, in the crisp morning air. Brr, it was 7℃. The bakery was in full gear, churning out all sorts of breads. I could practically taste the bread in the air the moment I stepped into the warm bakery. The cashier had a polite smile on her face, and a slightly harassed look as she was the only one manning the front. The drinks selection was either instant or packaged. I took a sausage bread and a chocolate croissant and a carton of fresh milk, and went up one floor to the sitting area. Ah! So this is the look of a modest bakery in a small suburb.

When I was working, back in Singapore, eating breakfast was a technique, refined over time. It was how fast you can eat without spilling too much in the car while driving to work. Day 2 in Fukuoka, I sat down and chewed on my bread like a connoisseur. And thought to myself, Hmm! This unassuming little bakery actually makes quite a mean chocolate croissant! It makes so much difference when you can savour a bread slowly, while looking out the window and just enjoying the good things in life. I wondered if everyone led a life like this, yes productivity would go down, economy might not be as competitive, but hell, I think we would be a great deal happier.

 

 I spent the rest of the morning exploring the neighbourhood, and, to my delight, discovered a market street where groceries and household materials were sold. There were also a sushi bar, a gyoza shop and a bento stall which were all closed on a Sunday.

 Guess what? Sunday was also Hinamatsuri ひな祭り Day! Happy Girls' Day!

 You know, I haven't had a bath since I reached Fukuoka... It was just too cold! So I thought I might as well take my bath at the onsen house. And coincidentally, the nearest onsen happened to be at Futsukaichi 二日市 (about 5 train stops from Ijiri 井尻), the very same one I visited when I first came to Fukuoka. The entry fee have been increased from ¥200 to ¥300 though. A traditionalist would love this place!

I didn't notice this the last time I was here, but Futsukaichi Onsen 二日市温泉 has a vending machine that sells this particular milk from Daisen Milk Farm 大山まきば, which comes in a glass bottle and a paper cap, and when you drink it, you will finish it all because you know this is the kind of milk that you have been looking for your whole life. Especially after an onsen bath. (For those who have never experienced onsen, just so you know, onsen makes one hungry)　

 The fastest way to Futsukaichi Onsen would be by the local Nishitetsu bus. But you would see alot more things if you walked, which I did, and got lost in the winding alleys for more than half an hour (not that I don't have time to spare) thanks to my superb sense of misdirection..

 Opposite the Onsen, there is a quaint little cafe that serves home-style Japanese food.

 I promised you a cake a day, didn't I? 

Tiramisu, the only cake offered here, plucked right out of a Japanese recipe book by the look and taste of it. It would have been alright if it were called Rarecheese instead, because that is what it exactly is, a smooth, bland rarecheese with a coffee soaked sponge base. It lacked the soul of a Tiramisu, an unabashedly sweet, liquor-soaked, creamy Italian tiramisu. But don't you think the owner put a lot of heart and thought in the plating of this simple cake? Thumbs up to that.

 See? Walking and getting lost helps because I stumbled upon this humble shrine...

 and saw my first Sakura blossom.

 Somei Yoshinozakura   染井吉野桜

End.

Start of A New Chapter

The view from my window is actually a Japanese gravestone. hohoho.

こんいちわみんなさん！元気ですか？　いま福岡にいっていますよ〜！（福岡はすごくさむい！！）　

私はいま学校で日本語おがんばって勉強しょます。 だからときどきにこのスペスに日本語でかけます。ごめんなさい、私の日本語は上手はありませんですが、がんばります。 :D

Hello Everybody. I am glad to be typing in English again. I just arrived in Fukuoka, Japan yesterday. It is ccoooooold in Fukuoka. Around 7℃ in the day. I traveled to my dormitory via public transport, which includes lugging my 21kg luggage up and down the concrete stairs while transiting between train lines. And 2 hours after leaving the airport, I arrived at Hakata Sharey Apartment, in a quiet little suburb called Ijiri いじり.

Now, let me describe my room so you can get a sense of what it is like, what I call capsule-living. Room 228 (my room number), like any other superior rooms (there are 3 classes: regular, superior and deluxe), is very small and clean. In that small rectangular space, they managed to fit in a single bed, a table (for my laptop), and another small working table, an open closet, a small refrigerator and a 3-tier shelving for my personal belongings. On top of that, it has a bathroom attached to it that has an actual bathtub, which I am already looking forward to using. My back door opens to a really narrow balcony that is equipped with racks for me to air my laundry. And my balcony offers the superb view of a Japanese garden, complete with the serene quality of Japanese tombstones. So basically it is a comfortable, cozy place.

I had my first lunch at this little joint outside Ijiri station.

 Katsu-don かつ丼  ¥600

The pork is nothing special, the sauce is average. But when the owner fried the pork cutlet to order and cooked the egg to perfection that it was still wobbly when it made its way to my table, the combination of juicy, crispy pork cutlet and wobbly, semi-soft eggs, all piping hot, is so so good.

I spent the afternoon exploring the food department of Mitsukoshi 三越 at Tenjin 天神.  It never cease to amaze me every time I visit this food heaven. And seeing the variety and quality of the cakes offered here makes me want to rush back into the kitchen to bake. I am inspired. And I have decided. I am going to eat one new cake or pastry everyday, and write about it. I can see you salivating already. :D

Since it is the strawberry season, I bought myself jumbo strawberries ¥630 to munch on while I watch Kuroko no Basket 黒子のバスケ! nom nom nom.

End.

Bali-loving

 Hello everybody. Long time no see. 

It's been a long time since I wrote anything here. I blame it on work for sucking the life out of my imaginary pen. However, I am pleased to inform you that I have been nursing that imaginary pen of mine to some semblance of life, now that I am on my 6 months break. (Hooray!) 

You may expect lots of ramblings here, with a splash of adventure there for I'll be spending a short 3 months in Fukuoka, Japan soon. For now, please bear with me while I digest my most recent 5-day Chinese New Year getaway to Bali, Indonesia.

 

Bali 

The word brings to mind a land of lush tropical vegetation, exotic Balinese-Malay dance, architecture and food, bustling street markets swollen with vendors and customers alike, haggling over prices, amid touristy commercialism. That is if you stay in highly populated areas like Kuta and Ubud.

My traveling companions, Mum, UncleK and Aunt A, and I wanted a quieter trip, less talking, more seeing, hence we chose The Damai, a resort located at Lovina, the Northernmost tip of Bali for two nights, and later Eco Bali Stay, a nest of lodges hidden in the rice paddy hills 2 hours from Ubud.

Arriving at Denpasar airport, the old, rundown though still traditionally beautiful airport (there is a new airport under construction, to be ready late 2013/early 2014, so they say...), our driver from The Damai is already waiting to take us on the 3 hour ride to Lovina. The driver, who when asked told us to call him "Made", pronounced as Ma-Di (which we belatedly realised is a salutation of sorts for drivers in general after all our subsequent drivers offered their names as "Made"), brought us to lunch at a local fuss-free Nasi Padang stall. Nasi Padang is very similar to Singapore's mix vegetable rice, where you pair the rice with vegetable dishes laid out by the chef, except with Nasi Padang, all the dishes are placed on serving plates on your table in which you eat whatever you like, and the leftovers will go back to the big containers where they came from. Not the most hygienic way to go about eating, but its so damn (pardon the french) tasty.

The way to Lovina is long and winding, includes traversing across a mountain. You'd need a strong stomach for the ride but the view of the rolling valleys and the cool, misty breeze blowing across your face, especially at the top of the mountain, is well-worth the rough and tumble of the road.

 We arrived at The Damai in the evening at around 7pm, just enough time for a light dinner and then sleep.

The Damai is a beautiful, well-kept resort which boasts of its own vegetable garden and superb facilities. You can see, we were surrounded by greenery and could literally pluck any fruit we fancy with the help of the abundant supply of gardeners. The rooms were tastefully decorated a la Balinese, with all the modern comforts you can ask for, and kept rigorously clean. I was especially charmed by the outdoor bath and jacuzzi. It is such an experience to bathe amid ferns, creepers and calla lilies.

The next morning.

Breakfast starts with a plate of fresh fruits and a glass of fruit juice of your choice. I had papaya to help with my perpetual constipated condition.

Breakfast evolves from a intermediary home-made bread basket into a scrumptious Mie Goreng.

We basically enjoyed the facilities of the resort thoroughly (read: lazed around), trawling its gardens and visiting the spa pavilion for famous Balinese massages.

2nd morning: American style breakfast.

Japanese style breakfast.

I was mighty impressed by the presentation of the grilled mahi-mahi (local fish) over smoked green-tea.

Good-bye modern comforts!

 

Shortly after breakfast, the driver (another Made) from Eco Bali Stay came to pick us up. En route to Ubud, we visited the Singaraja local market, which is quite a pop-up event, hidden behind a row of shop houses. Our prized purchases: local palm sugar and Balinese rice!

A local sweet sold by the grandmotherly lady who kept smiling at us, the camera-wielding foreigners. The sweet comprises a sort of rice pancake drizzled liberally with palm sugar and dessicated coconut, with some sweet glutinous rice at the side.

Mum was strangely durian-crazy during the trip, ever since she spotted road-side durian vendors with her sharp eyes on one of our rides. You can imagine how happy she was to find durians in the market!

2.5 hours later, with a sore bum and a slightly upset stomach from the extremely bumpy ride, we were safely deposited at Eco Bali Stay.

Eco Bali Stay is a truly secluded (more so than The Damai) lodging situated deep inside the hills, at the heart of the paddy fields. We actually passed several village settlements before getting to Eco Bali Stay. John, the investor and mastermind behind these beautiful lodges, is very kind to open his place to the local village kids, who use the fields to practice silat, a traditional Malay dance-form.

We stayed at the Harvest lodge, the largest out of the six available, with two bathrooms and bedrooms. Our lodge offers this amazing view of the paddy fields, which is literally a stone's throw distance away. During the night, you could hear all sorts of living creatures, singing, creaking, tapping, adding their individual parts in harmony to the great orchestra of Mother nature. As a city girl, I wasn't quite used to the sounds, and was in fact in fear of a frog invasion from the loud croaking that was coming from all directions. But come second night, I found it rather enjoyable, just sitting at the living area listening, with a cup of hot tea and a book on my lap. Then you could slowly pick out the unique voices of these little singers of the night.

Alas! If only I could combine The Damai's rooms and facilities with Eco Bali Stay's ideal location, then it would have been the perfect trip. If you are determined to be pleased with the lodges at Eco Bali Stay, then you shouldn't have too high an expectation of its comfort and cleanliness. In fact, it is best not to have an expectation at all. Mum and I are still scratching at the "souvenirs" given by whatever bugs that deemed us tasty enough to have bitten us so thoroughly during our stay. haha, scratch away!

I guess the best part of Eco Bali Stay besides its superb scenic views, is the Mini's kitchen and restaurant. The kitchen uses fruits and vegetables harvested from its extensive gardens, and poultry from the outside village. You can tell everything is uber fresh from the taste and look of the dishes. I was definitely very happy with the food. :)

Bakso and Malay spiced chicken soup (I forgot the name of this dish).

Mini's chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

We spent our time trawling the grounds as usual.

Into the paddy fields.

Dinner: Nasi Campur

Breakfast: Balinese pancake. As it was written on the menu. But it tasted like a lighter version of french crepe, probably from the rice flour it uses. The nutty and very fragrant local palm sugar was heavenly!

Straight after breakfast, we attempted the approximately 10km long Red Trail, which brought us through the mountain passes surrounding Eco Bali Stay. 

Into the flora and fauna we go!

Armed with our hats, water bottles (kindly prepared by the kitchen girls), and camera...

we passed the curious inhabitants of the trail...

crossed bridges, scrambled across stone paths, and muddied our way through ditches...

and seen many spectacular sights that most people wouldn't even dream of seeing.

The last bit of the road leading back to our lodges was frankly physically exhausting. It was an uphill climb upon gravelly roads through the villages with the unforgiving afternoon sun beating down on our backs. I have not sweated like this in the longest time. I remembered thanking the gods for every little breeze that came our way.

Rest stop! Mum continued her quest for durian...

More durians!

I did not touch any. 

I cannot imagine eating durian, this pungent, sticky, creamy fruit on such a hot day. I was plenty grateful for a bottle of Aqua.

Lunch after a 3.5 hour hike was particularly satisfying. It was like my stomach finally recovered from the bumpy, upsetting ride the day before, and started growling. Finally.

We arranged for pak pak (grandfather) from the village to teach us basket-weaving.

I honestly still do not understand the intricacies of basket-weaving even after completely the lesson. But lots of smiling and nodding got me a pretty basket! (made mostly by pak pak, haha)

2nd Dinner: A very organic Bebek betutu. Roasted spiced duck.

Once again, Mini's awesome kitchen.

Must not forget Ash, the crazy dog who gnawed and slobbered all over my hands, must be the happiest dog I have ever seen. She is the only dog I have seen who shows every single one of her teeth when she smiles.

Good-bye Eco Bali Stay! I will miss you and your rice fields! But no itchy-scratchy please!

End.