Recently, I went to Uradome Beach which is situated in Iwami Town, east of Tottori City for camping. The camping was actually a yearly activity held by Malaysian Community of Okayama, Japan. I was like kind of weird since I am a new comer who came here just for a long break; my presence is not that important to the club and contributing to nothing. Meeting new people has always been difficult to me, I always insist on extended times to cope with something new. (-_-')

My hubby bought three tents for the community via online shopping and one lantern to provide light for BBQ at night, not using his money, Okayama club fees instead. My tent mate was not my husband but a nice married lady who is so friendly; it was nice chatting with her, it felt like we had long known each other. Okay, the weather was quite bad, I mean not suitable for camping activity; it’s raining all day long. My tent was leaky, the rain seeped into the tent, and it’s a cheap tent anyway, so you can guess the quality of its material was not up to standard of expensive ones. My hubby put double layers of blue tarps above the tent so that rains would not drip in, he did it while I was having sea-bathing with girls, when I came back to camping side with wet cloth, with a big smirk swollen with pride, he said “Look what have I done to your tent, it looks damn good”. I went through the night with deep sleep without insect repellent covering an inch of my body. Guys were watching world cup at my hubby’s car at that time. 

                                                                     After Solat Subuh

Though it’s raining, I did not want to leap the chance to have sea-bathing at Uradome beach as I might not be there again. It was freaking cold, the rain clouds painted the sky, the beach looked a bit murky, hid the sunshine. Would you believe me if I say beach will not look that beautiful if it is raining, it turns out to be gloomy and frightening, but it looks heavenly stunning when sun is shining bright, try to walk at the seashore when it is raining, you will believe me then. I took a swimming float with some girls and enjoyed the ride on the waves using float to keep buoying us up. Every time waves hit us, we would go up right away and go down following the rhythm of the waves. A few activities could not be carried out since the weather was not good.

For me, the best part of the camping was BBQ night, when it comes to food; it would be the best part of all because nobody would skip the moment of dining together, it was food that made us get together. I just love BBQ!

The last activity was when we were on the way back home; we dropped by a nice spot for sea-bathing again.We had to climb a flight of steps which cut through steep mountains for about twenty minutes before we reached the coastline, the coastline is crescent shaped and has nice fine soft sand and crystal clear water that I could see through a bird’s eye view from a few stopovers. The stopovers were located in the region of the top of the mountain; from there I could see the coastline at the foot of the mountain. Every time I reached at stopovers, it egged me on to proceed my trekking across the hill. It was quite tiresome but when I finally felt my skin met an ocean breezes, the feeling of tired seemed to fade away. When I slowly walked into the water, I could see some sides of the beach are a few rock islets where a number of types of small fish like to hide out. 

                                                  Sea-bathing at Uradome Island

I did snorkeling to view the beauty of undersea; it was so exhilarating that I felt like did not want to go back to earth! Colorful seaweed painted the ocean floor that numerous species of fish darted in and out. The underfoot seaweed could be seen obviously. Layered rock jutted out of the ocean at a sharp angle creating numerous small islands and cliffs behind.

Afterward, we drove back home and ready to drop!

The next few days, my husband and I departed to Shibukawa, at about 15-20 minutes from our home. We had our lunch there, only white rice and Sambal Ikan bilis, but we did not care much about the meal as our real aim was to have a sea-bathing there. The beach has brownish sands, not as soft as Urodome’s and lush-green pine trees were seen everywhere at the shores. 

                                                                              Wetting

The beach offers all the services visitors want, nevertheless, none of them are free. Swimming floats can be rented and available. Parking next to the beach is quite expensive, but not crowded; it’s good to go to nice places without cram-full of people, feel more privacy, right? (^_^). Some people were enjoying marine sports; we only enjoyed watching them because we were penny-pinching even to rent the floats. We have to tighten our belt as our money were rather limited, it’s running out!

                                                           After sea-bathing at Shibukawa

I enjoyed the time of my life here; I do believe that sea-bathing gives the essence of relaxation and have curative or therapeutic value. This was such a getaway before I am going to leave for a jet plane back to Malaysia on this Wednesday and gear up for a new work, a new environment, new people, new spirit, yes, with everything new. It’s kind of scary thinking about it, get into a new place and spend years there has always been my nightmare!

.Alhamdulillah.

I still have a whale of a time due to long break before I have a rough time of working as a teacher somewhere-I-don’t-know-yet as I am still waiting for my posting result. I think I need to must feed my cognition with something enlightened. I feel like my brain is having slow-paced mode owing to the decrease of neurons, Oh! lots of cessation turns me adrift. My world now is revolving around ‘me’ that I feel like, Oh my God! I desperately need to cudgel my brains or rack my brains by saddling with mind-challenging tasks otherwise I will get insane. I mean it! Perhaps I should go out whenever I feel ‘stuffy’ staying at home but residing in foreign country with a very ‘alien’ language make me feel terrified to go around freely without my hubby being by my side because I am afraid of losing my way. My hubby leaves some money on the table, with the keys for bicycle and house and asks me to go anywhere I like if I get bored, I refuse by saying the same thing again and again, ”Oh no, are you losing your mind, you will not see me again if I lost my way, don’t you know I can’t speak Nihonngo, and I am not familiar with the area!” . Ah-ha.(Mengada-ngada)

It’s not that I am afraid of doing something new, for all this while, I am used to be independent but living here with zero knowledge about Japan is not something standing on my head. I really want to attend Nihonggo class so that I‘ll be able to at least, read the ‘kanji’. My husband willing to teach me but I cannot catch on even a letter, I lose my focus because he’s not stern enough to motivate me to go extra miles in learning Nihonggo. He told me I am in no condition to have Nihonggo class because I am here for only a really short time.

First and foremost, you must know why the word SUMMER comes together with the word FLIES. It’s because the flies would appear when the winter faded away to give way to summer. During winter, I never see even a little tiny fly but as soon as the summer comes, the flies have suddenly sprung out of nowhere and it’s rather irritating seeing them swirling around. 

I loathe flies of all sorts, particularly ones that fly in a group and crawl. I know I am going crazy of griping over small matter but I have to get this one off my chest. This summer is turning out to be quite hot and there seem to be a lot more insects finding their way into my humble house than usual. Yesterday, we went into war against summer flies and maggots. I tell you, maggots look more disgusting than flies. 

Okay, yesterday night, after I had my shower and got myself soaked in the warm water in the bath tub with my eyes glued to TV screen watching England had been thumped by Germany by four goals to one; automatically England was out of the world cup. I was a bit upset because I support England, it  is where I was born though nothing about England remains fresh in my memory! (mengada-ngada lagi sekali, haha) Okay, so you know I was not in a good mood yesterday night, haha, I am exaggerating! The bad mood exceeded the limit when next tragedy triggered its peak, it all began when I got myself comfortable in the bed;  in all of sudden, I saw my hubby’s favourite white shirt that only worn for outings lying unfolded on the bed. Then, I turned to my hubby who was so absorbed in surfing internet for online shopping and asked him why he put his favourite shirt there as it was supposed to be kept in the cupboard. He told me that he found it inserted behind the dustbin that I may hang them and drop it while picking them up. Right at that moment, I was half-screaming, chattering that the shirt must be sullied that he should put it in the basket instead of putting it on the bed! While chattering and waving the shirt to him, I saw something creepy, little white creatures, and they were ugly little maggots! I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumped over the side, here and there’s the “thing” was quite literally just crawled on OUR bed. We brushed them down of our bed. Yuck! After that, my hubby instantly got up, dash, took a bag of rubbish out of the dustbin using newly-brought-gloved hands and threw it away not at the right time, he broke the rules of dumping garbage not within time allotment.(Thank  his lucky star that nobody caught him messing up in the darkest of midnight. We were so desperate of doing that, we could not stand the heat of living in a very bad atmosphere, we need some clean air.) I was just sitting at the side of bed doing nothing, I jumped out of my skin and quaked in my boots. Then, he brought the empty dustbin with maggots crawling all over it to the toilet, and I heard splashes of water afterward. I know the war does  not end here. We wage war almost every day! 

One thing about Japan, I don‘t know whether good or bad it may sound to you, you must put the wastes in the proper city-designated garbage bag that must be bought in the market before you dump them. Simply said, you have to spend your money even for a plastic garbage bag. Besides that, there are regulations of garbage disposal according to office hours in the right place provided. It has schedule, you can only throw away your household wastes according to specific time determined in the rules, for instance, garbage can be disposed on Thursday morning so that means, disposing garbage on Saturday, Monday and etc are not allowed otherwise, you will be sued/warned if you get caught. So, even if you have a mountain of rubbish in your house, you cannot clear it up straight away whenever you want. My hubby always complains about this thing because during summer, rubbish cannot stay longer, it will attract those flies and I tell you, it’s irritating and disgusting that will lead us a dog’s life. The regulations are strictly abide by local people. I can’t imagine if the same rule is implemented in Malaysia, do you think will it work for Malaysians? 

                                                       The plastic bag for household waste

Every day, yes, everyday, the kitchen was littered with maggots and flies that seemed to just come in and die every day. The dustbin always being an ideal place for those creatures. The only problem is we cannot clear up the carnage every day. In order to chase them away, we bought a number of insecticides to kill them. They died but then, another group takes turn, the cycle seems to be non-stopping! 

                 Insecticides that we bought        

Earlier next morning, I happened to look around. The flies seemed to go away, but not forever. They really came back! I am not going to have a terrible battle with dozens and dozens of summer flies though it is totally grossed out. The question come across my mind, where do these summer flies come from? Where do they live during winter?

30.06.2010

Last weekend, I and along with the families who live in Okayama went on two days trip at Kaienbou, a very nice place not far from Tottori, Japan. It took 3 hours from my humble house in Okayama. Before the trip, a meeting was held for the division of tasks for each involved so that the orderly planning for the activities ran smoothly. My jobs were easy, I was put charge of buying fruits and frying anchovies for Sunday breakfast as we were going to have Nasi Lemak. This was the first time I was involved in holiday activities with other families. The experience was precious because I learned how to handle a trip involving many peoples, it is not easy when it comes to managing people. Certainly interesting! 

                                                                At the Cabin of Keinbou

We gathered at one of convenience stores called "Diyo” before departing, “Diyo” is the most familiar market among us to buy any daily necessities. After ensuring that everyone was already there and ready, with bells on, we shove off and traveled in convoy. After two hours of driving, we arrived at the edge of the mountains to have a picnic and dine for lunch. 

                                                                    Picnic

Afterward, we went ahead with the next plan, to go to the final destination. We feasted our eyes on the beautiful spacious ocean along the way before reaching the cabin. The cabin was ideal for those who prefer a quiet holiday away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Such a nice place where you can find harmony with yourselves and nature, crystal-clear sea in front of the cabins and a generous sun which gives a beauty and health, I would say that this a real paradise for lovers of serene and quite nature. The cabin was comfortable enough for us as there was a little kitchette area with a fridge, microwave and rice cooker. At second floor, the was a hall for sleeping. The house was wooden-made, clean, big and everything was in good condition, there was also a big screen TV with two microphones for karaoke. At night, we had a whale of a time at BBQ. Grilled chickens; meat and seafood were dished up, the foods were delectably delicious!

                                                     Before having Jacuzzi Hot tubs

         Jacuzzi Hot Tubs

The happiest and the most romantic moment was when my husband and I got to beat the chill on the midnight by soaking in Jacuzzi bath tub, stretched ourselves out in the whirlpool foam and bubbles with our head landed on the edge; we were roofed with night sky while facing the ocean. Jacuzzi bath tub rejuvenated our sore muscles and joints after a long day of play and got to spend the quality time together made us feel healthier, as fresh as daisy and more relaxed. 

At the morning, I suffered from menstrual pain that I could handle it pretty well at first. It did not reduce my appetite to gobble up Nasi Lemak. On the way back home, we dropped by Sand Dune, the centre of attraction in Tottori. As I have visited the place before, I managed to take a rest as my first day of period means that the pain could take a turn for the worse. A few hours later, I could not stand the pain so I  forced myself to swallow two painkillers. It did not work at all! Alhamdulillah, now, I am up and about again (^^;).

                                                                      Sand Dune, Tottori.

We had the times of our lives during the trip! We had a ball! Thanks everyone who involved in the trip! ( ^^,). Ukhwah Fillah Abadan Abada.

Gembaku Domu is not the only reason why people all over the world come to Japan since it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. One of the sites listed in the World heritage is Miyajima Island. Miyajima is not an ordinary island as its uniquely scenic view never resembles any island on earth; furthermore, the island constitutes the most famous temple in Japan. Therefore, some people regard it as a "temple island" due to the large number of temples around the island. The sight in Miyajima made it rank as one of Japan’s three best views! My husband seemed not to talk much about the place we would be going to. Perhaps he wished to let me witness the panorama on my own and come up with my own perspective without being influenced by his outlook.

By the time we arrived at ferry station for the cross-channel ferry service, I was too thrilled, extremely agitated and very excited that my heartbeat vibrated vigorously. We spent a few minutes to find an ideal location to park our car, the car which had brought us to a lot of new places of interest. Pity that car! I had to leave her for a while because we must cross over the deep-sea by taking a ferry! The weather was so hot since it was the beginning of autumn, the heat was like penetrating deep into my skin layers and burning inside, much different to the hot weather in Malaysia. My husband got a cap to protect her face; I had none so he bought me a cheap umbrella to keep my mouth shut from complaining all the whole length of our crossing. I was such a wet blanket, I knew. I kept silent then. As there was a horde of people crammed at one place, we had to insert ourselves between the crowds to line up in a long queue just for two tickets!

We finally got in the air-conditioned ferry, rested on the cozy stool just for a few moments as my husband was too raring to stand outside so that we could breathe and smell the air of island not so far away. I kept his mouth shut while trailing his steps to walk off via the ferry access. He chose a strategic space for us. We both stood on our foot at the edge of ferry to enjoy nice view with our arms cuddling each other. We stood still in silence, my cheeks brushing his, the warmth of his hand caressed my waist and Yeah! Feast our eyes on the panoramic scenery. Oh man! Wonderful! Does it sound romantic? Ah-Ha.

As the ferry sailed across the island, we could detect a giant shrine from distance and most passengers became rather impressed, they turned their head over the shrine. It is called O-Tori (The Grande shrine gate). It looked like floating in the water because of the not-so-high tide. That was the biggest shrine I have ever seen in my life! It was a mark that we were about getting there in minutes. The shrines was too huge, stayed stump in garish red that a bull might butt it and die in instant, its red was so bright and flared up just like my emotion gazing at the torii (gate). The island must have becoming so famous because of the shrine which is the symbol of Miyajima Island. The red shrine straddles the bay and leads to the hefty temple gate at the mouth of the same bay. According to their belief, the main building was built over water to avoid offending from God and it consists of many subsidiary shrines and buildings all linked by large corridors and galleries. The island just as clean as a whistle.

As we disembarked from the ferry, we were greeted by a large number of deer along the way. We were a bit staggered at first but then started to realize that the island is actually dwelt by tame deer. If deer are able to understand humans’ languages, I may have taught them to stop seizing and grabbing any food that people are gripping in hands! It is believed that the Miyajima deer have lived on the Miyajima Island for 6000 years. Based on their belief, deer is a messenger of the gods in Shinto (Japanese native religion). They are very well treated by people meaning that nobody should be scared to stroke them. I saw one of the deer snatched a piece of yellow paper from a man and everybody burst into laughter watching the scene. They ate everything seemed delicious in their eyes. I had got the munchies when our tummy began producing a familiar rhythm, I could catch on the sound, and yes! It told me “ La-la-la, you must give me something to eat, la-la-la, I am craving now, la-la-la”! . The sound was so irritating and distracting, forced us to search for a perfect area to have our meal. We stopped over the empty side along the embankment, then we crossed our legs and let them dangling merrily while feeding a mouthful of fried rice. We were absorbed in our eats, in all of sudden, a deer appeared sniveling. Promtply, we hid our food in a plastic bag and on the verge of running a mile, my ticket fell out of my sling bag, she gripped the ticket using his jaws, and munched and gobbled it as if it was so yummy like Dunkin Donuts! I yelled our loud,

“Hey! Oh my God, Abang, she’s eating my ticket!” My husband replied,

“Just let it be, it’s her luck!”

My husband chortled; I just looked daggers at the deer and chuckled. Phew! Thank God the ticket had been used beforehand as a by-pass to get access to primary temple, so I didn’t need it. I still coveted it for a sentimental-value purpose though!

We paced through the walkways of the primary temple and cut through a group of visitors whom accent showed they came from China. We found countless glistening coins slipped everywhere in between plywoods of the temple’s wall that might come from those who made wishes. As a Muslim, we don’t have to do that, we can just pray at anywhere at any time without donating a penny to our God. If we fancy to do so, we can donate the pennies to poor people or people in need. It was such an eye-opener that different religion has different way of praying, yet we must respect the differences. Actually, Miyajima has been attacked by an incredible typhoon, so renovation has been made to make it operate like now.

In order to buy some souvenirs, we had a poke around the row of shops there. We took a stroll along one of the island’s charming walking path through walking trails which surrounded with seaside town areas, the path cut through the island’s forest and offers beautiful views on the town. Suddenly we realized we lost our tripod case, we had a toing and froing all over, unfortunately, we didn’t stumble on it.



We went back home in the dark of night, worn-out, fit to drop and we slept like a log. The day after, we suffered from feet ache!

Now these questions are not new. War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man. At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease -- the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences.~ Barack Obama

Each country possesses its history, holds its respective chronicle. Bitterness, sweetness, happy and sorrow, all are blended and unified to construe History. History itself tells the origin of one’s country no matter how great or weak the country is, a matter of life and death, history of one’s country introduces what Patriotism is all about. The word patriotism initially comes from a Greek word meaning fatherland. For most of history, love of fatherland or homeland was an attachment to the physical features of the land. (Http://Wikipedia.com). In other word, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Patriotism means love for or devotion to one's country. Patriotism is responsible for the born of spirit inside us which sets off our willingness, our enthusiasm to do anything for the sake of our motherland to the bitter end.

My apology; I have no intention to open the history of my own country, probably because I am jaded enough, tired of political turbulence that led by cronyism, to make matter worst, it is supported by media propaganda. I hate being in a state of turbulence, being powerless and helpless , at the same time I hate being compelled and forced to nod my head over bureaucracy despite the fact that I hate and piss off with it. You can regard me as a rebellious person. I don’t speak out loud but I do rebel in silent mode. Not afraid to admit I am one from millions who wish for positive changes of my country, if not for me but for my children in the future. Sorry if I’m sound like crying foul.

I am not a Japanese/nihongo; I am not a supporter of communism, neither a fighter of rising sun country- Japan. Nevertheless, I am just a naive vacationer in this foreign country. Before this, I never get awakened to the suffering of ancient Japanese resulted from the tragic downfall took place in 1945 during World War II long time ago, until I stepped my own foot on Hiroshima land. The land that rich of lessons about the death of innocents, the land which tells us War does not bring any good. I am anxious to recall great lessons I attained during my journey to Hiroshima. What happened to Hiroshima was like a death-blow.

Our journey to Hiroshima from Okayama only takes 3 hours in exact if using Highway. In order to cut our expenditure, to save some money for paying toll so we chose 5 hours road that has no toll. Soon after we arrived, we parked our car to have our lunch to supply energy for a non-stop long journey we were going to occupy. Then we had a look at the most famous landmark in Hiroshima which resembles the function of A-Famosa building as a landmark in Malacca. It is called the Atomic Bomb Dome ("Gembaku Domu" in Japanese). Your trip throughout Japan won’t accomplish if you don’t pay a visit to Hiroshima where the first nuclear bombing mission in the world occurred.

“Gembaku Domu" situated next to the Aioi river. According to history, when the bomb blew up, thousands of badly burned residents threw themselves into the rivers to relieve the pain. Unfortunately, most of them didn't stay alive, they died instantly, and therefore there were hundreds of corpses floating in the river. This is a center of attraction for tourist from all over the world. Why does it significant to Japan in the first place? This was one of the few buildings left standing within a two kilometer (one and a quarter mile) radius of the explosion. It's remarkable that anything of the building survived at all, because it's estimated that the shock wave from the bomb created a pressure of 35 tons per square meter at the hypocenter. (Richard Seaman, 2009). No wonder Gembaku Domu is inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list.

In order to learn more about the history of Hiroshima, we dropped by nearby museum, The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum which offers brief information of the world war II in details as well as exhibits all the things related to World War II. I had to move in and out of the crowd of Mat Saleh who were much taller than me, peeped and peered apprehensively through the crack of their armpits at the color-screen which played the history of World War II. All I really remember, there’s a story of Albert Einstein narrated in the short film. Right at that very moment, I threw one question to myself, Should I blame Albert Einstein for his formation of atomic bomb? For your knowledge, Einstein sent a letter to the President Franklin D. Roosevelt to inform the efforts in Nazi Germany to purify U-235 with which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb.

I put the sequence of the history in a very short and simple chain like this. One August 6, 1945, a uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima. Though It missed by only 800 feet, thousands people were killed and badly injured in instant. Then, on August 9, Nagasaki was the second target where plutonium bomb nicknamed “fat boy” was dropped. In 10 August 1945, Japan surrendered. Don’t ask me why the bomb got a very cute nickname. Oh, Drat that "little boy"! Drat that "fat boy"!

Camera was not allowed, so the vivid images could only be recorded in my memory. The museum was quite large that I spent more than one hour wanders indoors. Many goods and chattels left by war victims put on show in the glass wall. There was a bicycle of a kid remained half-collapsed; the kid was on the way coming back from school when bomb suddenly killed him. Ragged shirts which were the shirts worn by bomb victim hung over, and even skin chips of dead victim were displayed there!! Yucks! It surprised me when I saw a thumb of the victim lay on a piece of wood! I swear it’s a real thumb that has been preserved so it’s still in a mint condition! Every passer-by would stop at halt with their eyes nearly popped out of their head looking at that thing. Half-burned of the stack of paper money was also one of the historical remains. I could not forget the statue of walking people with their skins melting like a burning candle due to chemical reactions of the nuclear. It looked real and scary!

The view of Hiroshima before the bomb dropped was totally different like cheese and chalks. Just imagine a city like Kuala Lumpur turns into ashes. How is it? I saw some of the Japanese visitors dropped their jaws and sniffed tears; perhaps they were bemoaning the suffering of their ancestors. I was also on the verge of tears but I didn’t cry, evaded from blushing if my hubby spots me weeping! The impact of the World War II have left great effects mentally, physically and spiritually especially to Japanese.


That might be a turning point for Japan to rise and bring back to life again and you can see now; Japan is one of the richest countries, well-developed country in the world.

Finally, I reached the exit of the museum where a long table embedded to wall lining up along the path, at the hidden corner, there was a log book provided especially for visitors to leave their last notes, comments, feedback or anything they want to say. I opened the book, I learnt that written responses came from many races from many countries like Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Thailand, Australia and many else. Perhaps I was the first Malaysian writing down something in that book. I didn’t remember exactly how many words I wrote, but almost half of the page filled with my ugly handwriting. Suddenly my husband was like insinuating me, followed by a cheeky smile.

“As if you want to write a long essay here, do you?” I put the final full stop after finishing the last few sentences.

We went out from the museum and crossed over the historical area, Peace Memorial Park. This was previously an urban district called Nakajima. In 1603-1868, it’s like Selat Melaka where business and trades became the main purpose of a thriving commercial center. As the Edo era ended, then appeared Meiji Era from 1868 till 1912 that made it as the political, administrative and commercial heart of Hiroshima. It is believed that about 6.500 people lived in this district at the time of the atomic bombing, nearly all the lives were snuffed out as the whole district vanished after the Little boy dropped.

We then continued our journey to Miyajima Island! Bye-bye Hiroshima, thanks a lot for teaching us that we must ban WAR! Peace-No-War!