Day 2: Train to Hakata / Fukuoka

The Short Version, which appropriately summaries one of the most uneventful day:

Woke up late, took a long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long shit cannot send, oops, sorry, I meant SHINKANSEN ride to Hakata Station all the way south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south south of toyko.

The train ride was ridiculously long, can there's about only 3 things to do, as shown below, from background to foreground.

1) Play games on any and all sorts of 'Anti-Social' Platforms
2) Sleep
3) Take pictures of what people do on long train rides

(to be continued....)

Nothing much of note actually happened, but still, I am going to report all the rest of the mundane details, since the purpose of all this is for archiving purposes, in anticipation of another trip, with or without the original members, sometime probably 10 years down the road....

(continued)

Long and Boring Version:

Woke up late ( about 8.30am ) , but still earlier than the rest. There is but only one thing to do....take pictures. Yeah!

Lee Hoe in his ' Hoe ' shirt bought by Hui Jun as a birthday gift. Come to think of it, I have yet to give him 1 as well. But knowing my personality, probably never will, and my bulletproof (metaphorically) skin is thick enough to admit it.

I think I might have voyeuristic tendencies, taking pictures of people sleep is so fun, I want to take more.....

Impressive view from the rooftop in the morning. Should have taken a panoramic one. The Sun was so bright it felt more like 10am already. The Sun does rise early in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Made some Milo for myself as watched the others wake up.

And  the Sleeping Princess actually woke up first without being kissed by any prince.

And he wakes up, only to go back to sleep again.

And the Last to wake up took some photos of my crotch, claiming it as revenge for all the other sleeping photo......

.....As well as more photos of the Princess decides to return to dreamland, waiting for a non-existent prince.

And the Milo was diluted, but good enough to start the day....
Check out at 10am, marking the start of another agonizing trip back all the stairs of the guesthouse and train stations.
 

And this is how the multi-storey carpark look in better light conditions. Why are there lifts for cars but no lifts for me???? HAIX. SIANX.

And here's a description of the interesting things on Japan's transport.

The seats have cushions!!! Much better than the plastic we have to sit on back home. My butt feels warmer just looking at them. But I wonder if it takes much maintenance....

Carriages are separated by sliding doors.

 A map above door. Just like ours.

Got out of the subway, and changed to the JR Rail line. Back to Tokyo to catch our Shinkansen. But the view from the platform is pretty nice, without the safety doors. (actually, some of the other stations have them. It just happens that Ueno doesn't)
 

 With Si Rui

 Without Si Rui

A shophouse, complete with a food ticket machine, for the busy businessmen to buy their breakfast and eat while they are standing. Very efficient, this way, no chair, more space, hence more people can squeeze.

 Lee Hoe acting cool as always

 And a smoking room on the platform for the smokers, so that they can spare the non-smokers from the second-hand smoke while they can compete to see who dies faster. (Sorry, I do not like people who smokes, but I am guessing it is going to be pretty bad in the room as the smoke is probably going to gather up in such an enclosed room. Didn't bother to find out if there is a ventilation system inside.)

 Taking a photo of sanitary officers helping to improve the commuter's experience on the Shinkansen

 There are weird advertisements all around the train and train station as well.

Before boarding the trains, we needed to proceed over to the respective carriage that we are assigned to as stated on the ticket we booked.I had hoped that there would be seats where we could face each other, so that we might talk cock or play poker ( which I brought in anticipation of the long train trip ), but unfortunately, the arrangement was similar to that of the airlines.

And my sexiness exudes in these photos

 In the 3 by 2 formation, Lee Hoe, Hui jun and Me sat together while Si Rui volunteered for the seat separated by the aisle. 

But there are unfolding tables for us to use, which is perfect for putting our ROYAL (brand) Milk Tea, not depicted here as I finished off mine already.

Si Rui wasn't in a good position to take pictures, as there was a stranger sitting between him and the window. Refusing multiple offers to change seats, I eventually changed seats with Hui Jun, who was initially siting by the window seat, and Si Rui gave me his camera to take any scenery outside that I find worthwhile. After all, I am addicted to taking photos. Yay!

Lots and lots of farmland. Lots and lots of Photo-Bombing that needs some getting used to. Taking pictures in a Shinkansen is full of difficulties and frustration.

Besides being Photo-bombed by random object, the high speed of the Shinkansen caused me to missed many supposedly good shots. By the time I noticed something interesting and switch on my camera, the train would have shifted to another not so nice spot.

Because of this, I had to be on standby almost at all time, ready for the next thing. Though it is really tiring, but it was sometimes still not enough. Anything that slightly perks my interest, I took its picture without a second thought, which let me to end up with many poorly taken photos or scenes that actually turn out to be uninteresting.
So after a while, I changed strategy and just took random photos, hoping to catch something interesting by chance.

By the first hour, almost everyone is sleeping.

At a random station on the way to Shin-Osaka, Si Rui, took back his camera, took a photo of his brunch(???) and me, before lending it to me again. Slowly but surely, we are developing Instagram tendencies.

More photos

 Wind Power!

 More Wind Power!

I discovered I have this fetish for water bodies, glistering in the Sun. Nature's wonder that you don't really see much in Singapore, since many of the rivers are channelized and look not much different from drains.

 Terraced Mountain are another common

 Enormous baseball field. I have heard Japanese love their baseball.

 And a torii gate in the middle of nowhere, a shrine not in sight.

Actually, there is also something similar, but at a much more epic scale as we passed by Nagoya, the famed Itsukushima Shrine's Floating Torii
Gate. It actually looked more impressive from the Shinkansen than from the pictures you can see from the Internet as it was probably high tide and you cannot see its base, giving it the illusion of being much bigger than it actually is. But too bad, it was on Si Rui's side, so couldn't take its picture.

 Kyoto! We're getting close to our pit stop after unimaginably long hours on the train, at least for me, since the others kind of just slept through the whole train trip.

 In Japan, land is a precious commodity, even for the dead.

Finally, Osaka. Time to eat. What's better to fill my stomach than Japanese Curry Rice?
Side note: The train schedule display switches from Japanese to English periodically, which made it very convenient for us.

 Udon for Hui Jun...

 ....and yakisoba for Si Rui and okonomiyaki for Lee Hoe

And I think I just saw the counterpart of the Naughty G drink over here. Would have tried it if it wasn't made from veggie

 
And back to the train with a photogenic face.

Our ride from Shin-Osaka to Hakata was on the Sakura Express. (Previously, we were on the Hikari Express. There are actually many Shinkansen services available, some of which are not covered by the JR Rail Pass)
The seating arrangement on this train is slightly different, 2 x 2 instead of the 3 x 2 previously. It was better in the sense that no one was segregated, not that it mattered since we going to sleep anyway.

And then we had this little bet, I will lean on Hui Jun's shoulder and she will pat my head if Si Rui hugged Lee Hoe. Totally unfair bet, but then again, we never did fully hold up our side of the bargain.

After observing Lee Hoe and Hui Jun, Si Rui decided to start his own accounting book to keep track of his spending in Japan as well. As for me, I have no need for such record. Too much effort and commitment. I'll just let my stingy nature to do the thinking.

 Now for more scenery. I actually fell asleep after a while, so there's not much on his part.

And we have reached our destination.

 A helpful train station captain.

Seeing this reminded me of Bakemonogatari. There was also a girl screaming and giving out flyers of it to attract passerby into the shop. She tried really hard, but to no avail. I also never did visit the shop. Kind of regretted it when I realised I never enjoyed all the bifferent types of food that's on the MUST EAT list, like pudding and 'choco banana' Next time must remember to do more research.

Si Rui and Lee Hoe decided that our lodging was close enough for us to walk to. Personally, I am not very comfortable with this, because if we get lost, then we Hong Gan Liao.....
And so, we just followed our superb navigator.

Check In!

 and this is the key to our room. WTH! Why is the key chain so much bigger than the key.

 Leaving our luggage in the room, time for dinner. And Lee Hoe showed us how to use a wooden stick ( I don't know its proper name ) to wear your shoe without the need to bend. Cool.

 Walk backed to the station for Macdonalds. Quest for the elusive Mac Pork that Lee Hoe had a craving for.

 Quest failed. Double quarter-pounder for Lee Hoe

Some American Idaho Burger (hash brown on meat patty) for the me and Si Rui.

There is no sauce given to go with the fries, so Hui Jun was helping me to check up her Japanese phrase book on how to ask for sauce. However, there wasn't any phrase fit for this situation, so I went ahead to spew random broken Japanese that I knew to the person at the counter.
 [ 'Sauce imas ka?' Actually, ' (something) imas ka? ' very useful when travelling in Japan. The hard part is just the (something) ]

I successfully came back with ketchup. Then, I discovered I do not like ketchup with fries, so it was back to pure fries for me. I missed Singapore already.

Went to Tower Records, which happened to be in the same building.

Taxis waiting in parking lots in front of the building, not queue up to form one ridiculously long line. Taxis are expensive and not many people take it.

In Japan, There are ATMs in the 7-11s. Helpful as a emergency source of cash, but must remember to activate Visa/Mastercard for overseas use beforehand. Cash does not come cheap as well as there is plenty of surcharge.

Bought some beer (damn cheap over here, around 200~300yen per can) and tibbits from the convenience shop and went back to the room to party.

Sitting around the Kotatsu (heated table depicted in the center) felt great, especially since the weather is quite cold at night.

And The Lady can really drink. Though she keeps insisting that the amount is insignificant, considering that we have not seen what her other friends are capable of.

Possessed by Sadako, unfortunately, I have short hair.
Sadako must have long hair, else she would just look depressed, instead of creepy.

The laptop here is not that useful as there is only WiFi available in the building was at the reception area. Very inconvenient for me as I cannot be bothered to drag my laptop there every time i want to use it. This is where smartphone comes in handy the rest. I wonder why do I still bother lugging around my piece of brick.
( Literally, as my 'dumbphone' had no reception anywhere. I only continued to carried it around such that it might come in handy if there is any situation occurs that requires me to throw something small and hard. )
Additionally, walking to and fro the corridor to the reception is irritating, as the floorboards are creaky and it causes the cupboards and the items displayed to shake, not knowing whether will it really fall of the shelves.

These are the only 2 points I disliked about the ryokan, but its relatively cheap price, free yukata and most of all, free hot public bath ( you can't say you came to Japan if you never tried this ) more than makes up for it.

First time wearing a yukata. My skin tingles in excitement upon such new experience.
Had a little debate whether we should wear a yukata to the bath, since we don't really know how to wear it properly and it's also not compulsory, it might offend any hardcore Japanese that might be around. But in the end, I couldn't care less about that, cause it's fun.

Went with Lee Hoe to the bath, Si Rui stayed behind to ' jarga ' the room, as Hui Jun left for the private shower earlier and have yet to return.

It was a unnerving and interesting experience. You have to fully strip yourself in a common changing area before entering. You only bring in a towelette to scrub your body, so you will be letting everyone see your naked self. Though, essentially, there is nothing much to see and nobody cares as well, I was still a little nervous and embarrassed. When I almost finish stripping, Lee Hoe decided he needs to use the toilet first. I didn't really want to enter without him, so I chose to wait in the changing room like an idiot, watching naked people come and go, my still naked body caressed by the cold cold wind. Damn, why he take so long.....

There are some bathing etiquette to follow as well, like thoroughly cleansing oneself at a separate shower area before one can use the bath, no swimming in the bath, etc etc, so I hope I never do anything seriously wrong.

There's free body foam, shampoo, a stool and a mini wash basin provided at the shower area. The shower head were positioned at around abdominal level, so obviously, we are not suppose to shower standing. So we sat down on the stool, wet ourselves with the shower, use Lee Hoe's soap and shampoo (since he brought some to share for the trip) , collect some water on the wash basin to wash off the soap, and SPLASH! Rub with the towelette ( Didn't know what I was doing, just following Lee Hoe's example, who probably followed what the others did ), and SPLASH! Repeat process until satisfied.

Lee Hoe went off without trying the bath while I gave up trying when the water was too freaking hot for my liking. My delicate skin screamed in pain at the slightest contact with the water. WTF!!! I was jumping in and out of the bath like a lunatic squirrel multiple times before I gave up.
' Die liao! How to enjoy Onsen (hot spring) when the water like that one? '

Hui Jun didn't change into yukata. *sigh*
Yukata felt airy and is kind of very revealing. If only I have a girlfriend....then maybe she can wear it and maybe set off some orgasmic reactions.

Everyone doing their accounting....

The day ended as me and Lee Hoe slept in our yukata. The futon felt warm and cozy, very comfortable. (The ryokan also provided an idiots guide to ryokan living, complete with instructions on how to set up the futon.)


P.S. Here's some more pictures of the sleeping beauty. Lol