Hello~
And YAY! For ROUND 2 of updates from my Kizuna Japan trip! ^^v
Ready or not, here we go~!
DAY 3Β
I left off after we checked in and spent a night at Hotel Omoide Roman-kan, Daigo Town, Ibaraki Prefecture.
This is just round 1 of my breakfast serving! It’s an international breakfast spread with traditional japanese food like porridge and side dishes which I took in round 2 but not pictured! π
We woke up to this BEAUTIFUL scenery. After breakfast, Ying, Greg and I decided to go for a quick walk and snap some #OOTD (means outfit of the day, for the uninitiated).
Cute plants, what do you call this? ^^
A candid photo of Greg shooting Ying’s #OOTD, using my camera’s miniature mode.
Our lunch bento box!
After lunch we also went for a walk around our hotel! π
And we saw little birds lined up on the cables/wires. How cute!
We also saw red berries along the way… Not sure if they were edible or not! π
The view of Daigo Town, just behind our hotel! Lots of restaurants that seem to thrive from the tourists and also visitors that drive along the road.
A closer look, the poster seems to say that the noodles are 100% handmade! π
After lunch, we headed to Oku-kuji Recreation Forest area where we made wooden planters to Β show support for the reconstruction of the affected areas, as our wooden planters will be used in the elementary school which we were visiting later during our trip. π
Materials for our wooden planter! Pieces of wood, nails wrapped in the newspaper and wooden hammer.
A quick shot of our Lasalle team ^^ You can also see the place where we were, it’s all made of wood and a very beautifully constructed place!
Β My buddy Ying very focused in putting the planter together! We took turns to hammer the nails in. π
Us with our constructed planter! ^^ And pardon our frizzy hair-dos that got all frizzed up in the high static environment, heh!
Now you see us, now you don’t! >.<
We also wrote encouraging messages on our planter! π
A shot of work that is still underway around the Oku-kuji forest area, taken from the coach, hence the blurry effect.Β 
Then we came to Fukuroda Falls! It’s one of the top 3 falls in Japan, with a different look each season. π
Us again! This time in our coats as it was pretty cold! π
There, thought you’d like to see the view of Fukuroda Falls in the 4 seasons as I do! ^^ Ok I think it’s just Summer/Spring, Autumn, Winter and then a view of the lake during summer/spring.
Sadly it’s end of winter so there was only a hint of green and not a very welcoming view but nonetheless you can see the the falls!Β 
Another view of the falls, this time with the top of the valley in sight.
And another! heh.
Me and what seems like the mascot of Fukuroda falls! SO CUTE RIGHT. (Mascot, not me, in case you think I’m praising myself, HAHA) I just noticed the falls is pictured on his hat! Mad cute! Basically it says 倧εηΊ on the hat, which is the Japanese name of DaigoΒ and the apple and fish are produces that the town is famous for. Cool huh! π
A beautiful shot of the group while we walked down from the falls… πΒ 
At the base of the falls were a slew of souvenir shops and as were early in the trip, we didn’t shop intently for souvenirs but we sure did try out the snacks! Here’s a caramel mochi (japanese for rice cake) which is sticky sweet!
This is the pretty amazing little stall that was barbecuing the rice mochis.
Then the ice cream booth caught our eyes! Many flavours but only apple and chocolate left by the time we bought.
Shot of my apple ice cream! I cannot emphasize how delicious it was, it has apple bits in it that I LOVE. Why can’t Singapore have this? >.<
Our ice cream and our thoroughly satisfied faces! ^^v
Day 4
After breakfast, we made our way to Kami No Sato a local craft workshop for a class on handmade Japanese paper, known as Washi.
This is our workshop tutor, pictured with the frame where he sieved the fibre from the pool of fibre in front of him.
He then showed us how to make markings on the Washi in the frame.
And quickly proceeded to fill the markings in with coloured fibre, in this case, red for the apple and brown of the stem.
The various buckets of coloured Washi fibre where we scooped from for our artwork! π
We didn’t have to do the sieving of the Washi fibre, so we just made the markings and filling in of the colours.
My completed Washi paper decoration! Our works would be sold in the paper shop and funds would go to supporting Kizuna project, which creates awareness of the reconstruction efforts in Japan since the major disaster happened in 2011.
Close up of my Washi paper, inspired by Japanese patterns and the produces of Daigo town, which is red apple and green tea. π
The lovely ladies at the paper shop where we bought ready Washi from! Can you see the beautiful paddle pop coloured papers which were used to wrap the items? Gotta love Japanese packaging! π
“θ²ε³ζ―η©Ί” Japan is a largely buddhist country and this is a famous buddhist saying that means what is visible is empty, but an illusion. I don’t subscribed to buddhist teachings, but I find it interesting as it explains the Zen concept which Japan is famous for. You can also see a bit of the ceiling of the paper shop, which is entirely plastered with writings!Β 
How the shop front looks like.
How the Kami No Sato paper shop looks like. It also has a small area for a museum of antique Japanese paper and books. Washi-making is a dying art and I am thankful we could experience something so uniquely Japan and culturally enriching.
Shot of the road along the paper shop and workshops and a photo-ception with SJ in the picture!
Activity 2 for the day, which we were very excited about, visiting Setsuko’s strawberry farm to pick and eat strawberries!!! ^^V
Mr Setsuko, the farmer and host telling us his experience of the disaster 2 years ago. He lost many customers as they stopped buying strawberries from him because of harmful rumours and they feared radiation but his produces have been certified to be healthy and fit for consumption. Thankfully his business has began to pick up and has reached 70% of customer support since the disaster struck. π
We took a walk through his tomato farm. The greenhouse technology is imported from Netherlands and Mr Setsuko expressed thankfulness that the structure and glass was very strong and withstood the severe earthquakes then.
A happy looking tomato! ^^
The greenhouse under the beautiful skies.
Plum flowers along the road outside the farm.
And a picture of us Lasalle girls, from left, Ade, Xav, me and Ying with the flowers! Credits to Xav’s from her FB ^^.
We then arrived at our final destination of the day, which is the next hotel for the trip!
ISOHARA SEASIDE HOTEL. *Mad love*
2550 Futatsujima Isohara-machi, Kitaibaraki-shi,
Ibaraki 319-1541 JAPAN
TEL:0293-42-0213 / ( from overseas 81-293-42-0213 )
FAX:0293-42-0536 / ( from overseas 81-293-42-0536 )
Website:Β http://www.isohara.co.jp/lang/English1.htm
This time I shared a room with Adeline and Xav. π The view of the pretty room from the entrance.
The beds.
THE VIEW of the seaside! SO NICE.Β *faints*
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