Thursday, September 25, 2008

Hello - from the Land of the Rising Sun...

Hello from Japan!!

Hmmm...Ayah did it again. Remember, in January this year when he came to Japan, all the while thinking that his flight was for Kobe, when it was actually for Tokyo? Nasib baik lah he was travelling with his sponsors that time. If not? Aiyoooo...

Well, this time around, he told me that his meeting was to be in Tokyo - BUT, we found out at KLIA last night that it's actually to be held in Sendai, about 1 1/2 hours train ride to the north-east of Tokyo. That's about the same distance as Tokyo-Nagoya!

And again, nasib baik the sponsor's Malaysian rep, Mr. Gu*n was travelling with us last night. If not, sure terkial-kial we all.

Hopeless betul lah laki I ni... Hehehe! (But, I still love you to bits, dear :))

We touched down at Narita at 7:38a.m, and was met by Ayah's Japanese sponsors - Mr Os*wa, and took the train to Tokyo Central. From there, we took the 10:56.m train to Sendai,and reached Sendai at 12:37p.m.

Why am I giving all these exact times? Well, simply because the Japanese are SO punctual! Not a second more, not a second less! Tension gua...nyaris-nyaris missed the train pagi tadi.

We were only able to check-in into the Sendai Me*ro*oli*an Hotel at 2:00p.m, and after checking in, both Ayah and I fell asleep. We were supposed to meet up with the sponsors and another couple (from Indonesia - Dr. Mu*aw*ar and wife) at 5:00p.m at the hotel lobby, to have our iftar, so Ayah set the alarm for 4:30p.m. But, horror-horror - we only woke up at 5:05p.m!! Apparently Ayah forgot to take into account the 1 hour time difference, and 4:30p.m in Malaysia would mean that the alarm would only go off at 5:30 p.m Japan time!!!

Hopeless betul lah laki I ni...Hahaha! (But, again - I still love you to bits, dear :))

So, we were 25 minutes late just now - not a good impression to set with Ayah's Japanese sponsors, huh?

Today's berbuka in Sendai was at 5:32p.m, but, due to our tardiness, we only berbuka at 6:05p.m. No big deal - it was still more than one hour earlier than berbuka in KL, right? (And Hanna, if you're reading this, Mommy just have this to say to you - "JANGAN JELES, OKAY??!..." Hahaha!)

We went for a Teppanyaki iftar tonight. And as always, whenever we travel abroad, it's fish and seafood for the whole trip for us. And for sahur, we've equipped ourselves with a few packets of Maggi Mee :). Imsak is at 3:55a.m, by the way.

We had a mixture of Seafood and Fish Teppanyaki which was served with Garlic Fried Rice, only to find out that there were tiny bits of beef in the rice after tasting it!! We had earlier asked our Japanese sponsor if there was any meat in it, and he said "No"! Well, tak sengaja. Tak per kot? Nasib baik it was just about the amount of a tip of the spoon.

Anyway, we're going to have loads of seafood and fish for the next 3 days or so, and that would mean that Ayah would also be taking loads of Ar*oxia as preventive measures - in case those yummylicious sea creatures trigger his gout ;)

Ayah will be one of the commentators for a Live Cardio Procedure tomorrow afternoon, and he's chairing another session on Saturday afternoon. Nasib baik lah wi-fi kat hotel ni FOC! So, while he's at the sessions, Insya Allah I'll be in the room, surfing and hopping the blogosphere with my Portege.

I just love the wi-fi here - it took me only about 5 minutes to upload the pics to this posting, whereas it would have taken me nearly half an hour to do the same back home! Jepun, oh Jepun...

In the mean time, here are some pics of our first day in Tokyo/Sendai.

Errr....is it just me? But, do I LOOK round in my new tudung style, OR I AM INDEED ROUND (despite having lost 3kg this Ramadhan?!)

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

aisey - dok bilik aje? go out!!!! see the place! :D

Anonymous said...

salam kak shana ...

where got round la? hehehe ...

it's so nice for you both to have a 'little' break together ... kira honeymoon number berapa ye? hehehe ...

anyway ... enjoy yourselves and more photos aaa ...

arigato gozaimasu!

:o) me

udinb said...

Seronok dapat pergi ke negara matahari terbit.

Thats the place I wanna go, tapi mahal lah. Tunggulah Air Asia bagi free seats.

btw the seafood really look fresh, mesti sedap punya. Plz enjoy, jangan lupa balik Raya

IBU said...

Moshi moshi!

Aisey fren, cam mana nih? Black tudung also can look round-round one? hehehe....

But never mind, you still look younger than Mrs M*nawar. kakaka...

p/s Kalau terserempak kazumi shimada, salam peluk cium ek?

p/s would we be getting another bookmarker? I punya aritu dah patah lah! ishhh... x malu nyer.

MamaEta said...

Shana, Amboi...posing gitu romantik yee....and cuba pakai tudung putih...rase takde lah nampak bulat sangat..kan dalam gambar semua nampak lebih 'exaggerate'...

Salam Eidul fitri ok....Selamat bergembira..tata!!..and really miss ur mee rebus..yummy....errr...ade resepi baru lagi ke..yg ala-ala jepang!

wanshana said...

Kudo,

Haizal's sessions both start at 1:00p.m - susah nak plan for sightseeing. The guided tour only starts at 9a.m and we would have to rush back to the conference by 12:30p.m. And the weather - alahai, dok hujan since yesterday.

But the hotel is right smack in the middle of Sendai and surrounded by malls. At least we could get the souvenir huntings over and done with, first :).

Insya Allah tomorrow we'll try to squeeze some time to see the place.

wanshana said...

Salam Motley,

Thanks :)

Aiyoooo...if THAT is not round, I don't know what that is lah, sister. Hahaha!

Yes, it's nice to get away just the two of us, but, of course dok teringat kat the kids all the time. And because we're feeling guilty, ALL our shopping so far has been JUST for the kids!

Insya Allah more photos coming soon :)

Take care.

wanshana said...

Udinb,

Yes, Japan is one very unique country. The people are SO punctual, SO polite, and they SO don't speak English at all! And of course, the whole country is SO clean :). Food suitable for Muslims susah nak cari if we don't speak the language.

Yes, it's mahal here. That's why we only come here if ada orang sponsor ;) The last time, I was in Nagoya for a 3 week research trip, all fully sponsored - rasa macam orang kaya... Hehehe!

I think your daughters would love it here coz' baju for teenagers and young ladies bermacam-macam gaya and fashion :)

Insya Allah we'll be back home in Malaysia this Sunday.

wanshana said...

Ibu,

Moshi moshi...

Tu lah tu... Memang sah salah tudung. Hahaha!

Errr, considering that Mrs Mu*aw*ar already has 4 cucus, I can say that she looks REALLY good for a grandma, okey?! (compared to me whose eldest daughter is only 12 y.o!)

Terserempak Kazumi Shimada? I wouldn't know - coz ALL of them look the same to me. Hehehe!

Another Chokin bookmark?! Bisa diatur if you want it, insya Allah :)

wanshana said...

Eta,

Thanks :)

Kalau pakai tudung putih, mau I nampak macam ikan paus kot?!

Actually, boleh kalau nak posing lagi romantik. But, sebab bulan puasa, kan? HAHAHA!

Insya Allah, ada rezqi for my Mee Rebus next time, okay?

Salam Aidilfitri to you and family, too. Maaf Zahir Batin. Semoga bergembira di samping keluarga.

Dad of 4+1 said...

Shana,Haizal & kids

Eid Mubarak!!

From all of Us

wanshana said...

Dear Dad & Mom of 4+1, AND of course the 4+1, too ;)

Thank you.

Eid Mubarak to you guys, too!

Berapa jenis biskut and cakes Yani buat this year? Raya kat Kedah or Johor this time?

Have a safe journey balik kampung.

Anonymous said...

Salam Kak Shana,

Bestnya can get away like this.....and seafood heaven for 3 days!! Yum, yum, yum.

Got your txt the other day, sorry about the fon. Read your entry about it, know exactly how you feel. I lost mine together with my wallet, carkeys, housekeys, duit all cards plus driving licence with my address on it in ASDA!!! Someone pinched it from my shopping trolley, can you believe that? My then, 2 1/2 year old son was sitting on the trolley pulak tu...some people are just......!

Anyway, insyAllah we must meet up some time. Have the most splendid Raya ever this year!!

Eid Mubarak to all....

Murni

Madam Tai Tai Again said...

Shana,

I pun nak a sponsor!!! Is there anyone who wants to sponsor me for a free holiday?!!

Me, myself and i said...

Shana,

Jangan lupa balik MALAYSIA.........

MAMAMIA said...

Beraya kat sana ke? Takkan kot...

Baru skrng perasan tahi lalat manis tu...

Ni tudung ori Mu*awwa*ah or sewaktu dgnnya? Kalau bukan yg ori, where did U buy it from? Mu*awwa*ah tu mahallah, tapi memanglah fabric dia cantik. Nak try pujuk Papapia for last minute shopping. Eish... tak habis2,

wanshana said...

Murni,

Yes - seafood heaven indeed (which could turn out to be a gout hell for Ayah later! Hehehe!)

Mak aiiii...tension I baca about your losses tu. If I were you, mau terduduk kat ASDA tu! I suppose you had to change all your locks after that. Geramnyer! Yes, some people are just.... Grrrrr!

Sorry to have missed you when you were back home that day. Insya Allah, ada rezqi we will meet up - kalau tak kat Malaysia, maybe kat UK? ;)

Raya ni ambik cuti tak? What's the menu for pagi raya, ya?

Here's wishing you, Iqbal and the kids a blessed Eid ul Fitri. Maaf Zahir Batin.

Take care, dear :)

wanshana said...

Gina,

Memang best! Hehehe!

It was supposed to be for Ayah alone, but he requested for his sponsors to include me by downgrading his Business Class flight to Economy, and the difference to be used to pay for my ticket :)

So far, dah 4 times he did this, and beside this Sendai trip, I also had the chance to follow him to Barcelona, Rome and Kobe before this.

Flight sponsored, hotel sponsored, meals taken care off... If only they also provide shopping money, too! Hahaha! (Bagi betis nak peha lah ni...)

Why don't you ask MrS if his company can do the same whenever he has to travel abroad for business?

The only drawback - I can't help thinking about the kids whenever it's just the two of us travelling :(

wanshana said...

Ize-thesimpleme @ Mek Zae!!!

Alahai!!! You ke?! Hari tu masa you commented on my earlier posting, I hopped over to your blog, but, it didn't click that it was you!!!

Good to have you here, mate. And welcome to the blogging world. Can I link your blog to mine, please?

Nope, mana boleh raya kat sini. Menangis tak berlagu lah I nanti. Kesian kat anak-anak. Insya Allah by iftar this Sunday dah sampai rumah :)

Here's wishing you and family a blessed Eid ul Fitri. Maaf Zahir Batin, and all the best to your daughter for her PMR.

Take care, dear.

wanshana said...

Mamamia,

No - Raya mesti kat Malaysia...

Tahi lalat tu - ori. (Un)fortunately tudung bukan Mu*awar*ah ori. Hehehe!

I've never bought anything from Mun*awar*ah. Mahal sangatlah, Mamamia...

I got the tudungs from Lameez (they have a booth at The Curve until Malam Raya - they're based at one of the bungalows in Tmn Tun, near Devi's Corner). I find that the Lameez tudungs are of very high quality, too, but much cheaper than Mu*awar*ah's. I also have a few which I bought at Plaza Mas Alam (fabric tak berapa cantik tapinya)

Selamat memujuk Papapia. Semoga mendapat tudung raya lip lap yang glamour :)

ZABS said...

Kombanwa Wanshana.
Salam kenal. Ke sini dari blog kerp. Akan beraya di sana ke? Saya pernah beraya di sana lama dulu, tahun 1979....

Unknown said...

whoarrrr bestttt...:-) nampak udang terbaring dalam pinggan tu...yummmmyyyyy sunggguh!! berapa bil makan makan macam tu??

enjoy japan ma'am wan shana dan ayah.

wanshana said...

Kombanwa Pak Zabs,

Salam kenal kembali. Terima kasih kerana 'melompat' ke sini. Saya juga sebenarnya selalu 'melompat' ke sana, tapi, malu nak tinggalkan comment :)

Hmmmm, macam mana ya beraya di Jepun? Tak ader suasana Berpuasa and Raya langsung. And I guess back then in 1979, there weren't many Malaysians around. If in Tokyo, at least boleh beraya di Kedutaan.

Semalam Ayah buat lawak 'tak berapa pandai' - he tried to cari channel which had Azan Maghrib for berbuka, tapi asyik dapat Channel showing Sumo!

Selamat Hari Raya, Pak Zabs. Maaf Zahir Batin :)

wanshana said...

Abang Id,

Thanks. Yes, Japan is a nice place to visit, but I find Sendai to be quite a "non-character" city, unlike Nagoya, Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo.

Hmmmm... Memang best tengok udang terbaring macam tu. Tapi, if we had to pay for the meal ourselves, sure we all pun terbaring jugak lepas tu! Hahaha!

Sorry, I seriously don't have any idea as to how much the meal cost as everything was paid for by the sponsors. But, I heard Ayah joked with them - the bill for that one meal was still lower than the cost of ONE stent/wire which Ayah's hospital purchased from them! Hehehe!

And one stent/wire easily costs at least RM2k! So, maybe the dinner cost around RM1.2 - RM1.5k kot?

Kalau tak ader sponsor, sure Ayah and I makan Maggi ajer kot for berbuka?! Hahaha!

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin diucapkan kepada Abang Id, Kak LiL and anak-anak.

Kak LiL masak Nasi Dagang ke pagi raya nanti, Abang Id?

Unknown said...

wanshana...:-)

lovely, just to see u guys enjoying life together! hehehe


raya nanti....kami belum plan nak buat open house. nasi dagang tu ada my wife's best fren ( kelatanese ) and my fren too yang terdengar I rindukan nasi dagang dan dah volunteer to mask for us...foc!

lovely!

u enjoy!

and ...i linked urs.