hokkaido and taiwan day 13
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
mused @ 5:40 PM
hokkaido is the name of the islet (one of 4 main japanese ones) at the northern most end of japan. it is nearly locked in eternal winter; snow is as commonplace as grass. my family headed there for a 5 day holiday from 27 nov - 1 dec.
hokkaido is famous for its hot spring baths. the temperatures vary from 40-45 degrees and the baths have different uses (beautifing, detoxifying etc). there are entire hotels with its concept built around that of a hot spring. u can walk around the hotel wearing only the yukata (japanese traditional dress) and sleep on mattresses on tatami mats that magically appear after 7pm. the only catch in these hot springs is that you have to bath naked. because the japanese regard them more has baths rather than spas.
bought loads of stuff, chocs mainly. it was really hard to do shopping because the tour time was mostly devoted to sight seeing.
in my time there, i visited mountain parks, sulphur valleys, giant lakes... scenic areas. the sights are beatiful. but what hit me the most was when it snowed on the 4th day. the snowflakes were huge and with the postcard background of hokkaido in the backdrop, it reminded me of a pretty few anime scenes. especially when i was at the hokkaido shinto shrine on that day. it was only the second time i had seen snow falling from the sky.
today in taiwan, i went to this place called costco. basically, imagine ntuc. then imagine it X 10,000. everything in it too. they sell items by bulk. i have never seen such a huge frosties box before. my mum and i went insane in there. we bought and bought. giant kettles chips packets(yes the very ex but very nice ones), giant pepperridge farm cookies packets. heck. i even bought a pair ck jeans for 50 sing! and yes its original!
in the afternoon, me and my mum walked around the shilin mrt area. in the end, i ended up in a beautician clinic. i did a treament there much akin to skin peeling (putting acid on the face) and facial combined. the facial wasn't painful. it was more painful talking to the beautician for 40 minutes straight and trying to make sense to her in chinese. it was like a oral exam, except there are no marks and that you are lying down. but you are still trying to make yourself sound stupid.
i still gotta get my clothes. i gonna scout shilin night market tmw again. and on sat, i gonna meet toh yean lih (one of my ns officers) for dinner. he is in taipei for holiday. probably head off to mos after. :P
ps. i been watching death note anime and i have to conclude that it is good. but disturbing. yea. disturbing.
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