Last week, Hansen and I went to Wakama to see the Bamboo Light-up Festival (竹灯夜). We made pit stops on the way. First we went to Kobe's Kitano-cho to visit the Starbucks concept store. It's a 2-storey Starbucks with a couple of rooms and comfy sofas. Nice place for chilling! It's a 1 hour drive from Kakogawa (our place) to Kobe. Kitano-cho is actually behind my school, and I never knew haha. It's where all the rich people live and it's on top of a hill. In the past, it used to be an angmoh settlement.

We left at around 1PM and headed to the next pit stop. This time, it took us 3 hours. I forgot the name of the place but it was up a mountain. The winding road up the mountain was damn narrow. It's like the same width of 1.5 lanes in Singapore and it was split into 2 lanes for uphill and downhill traffic. It reminded me of Initial D. The car was swinging left and right, it was a miracle I didn't get motion sickness. Up the mountain, we visited a temple. Some of the trees that lined the road towards the temple already had red leaves.

Then it was time to head to Wakayama, another 1 hour plus journey. It was only 5 plus in the evening and the sun was already setting. We reached at 6PM. The Bamboo Light-up Festival was really no big deal. I don't think it was worth the trip. Luckily we made those pit stops or else, it would have been a totally blah day.

By the time we reached home, it was 10.30PM.

Another interesting thing I learnt today on the news. The most common leg problem for women in Japan is swelling or maybe water retention. They did an experiment on the effects of different shoes. The volume of their legs were measured in the morning and evening. The women had to step into a bucket of water and check the difference in depth of the water. The shoes that causes the legs to swell the most are boots. Apparently the water just gathers at the shin area. Next are heels and then finally flats with not much difference. The doctor then recommended a leg exercise to allow better blood circulation.

Next up was the return of Won Bin. I think he cane to Japan to promote his new movie, Mother. According to the news, Won Bin is one of Koreans 四大天王, together with Bae Yong Jun, Lee Byung Hoon and some other guy. There were many fans at the airport, mostly obasans and a group of 17 year old girls. When interviewed on why they like about Won Bin, one of the 17 year old said that when she sees Won Bin smiles, they will feel happy too. Then the reporter was like, "ahhh, Won Bin Smile" and at the same time a video of Won Bin smiling came up. Then Won Bin arrived at the airport and everyone started screaming his name, mostly obasans. He waved while walking past them and got into the van. He was still smiling when he was in it and looking out. Then the narrator said, "there it is, Won Bin Smile." Haha funny!

That's the end of news!

We finally put the cover over the kotatsu and I've started wearing socks at home because the floorboards are getting cold.I bought a new chair yesterday too, and it has a back support since I always get back aches after sitting on the cushion for too long. The cover of the kotatsu is useful for hiding my stack of notes too. It reduces the clutter in the room.

I finally used the spin-dry function for my hand-washed clothes. Haha I've got no more strength to squeeze them dry after spending a long time bending over the small sink trying to wash them.

3 weeks have gone by so fast since I came here. I'm super behind my JLPT1 revision. There is homework everyday and I just wrote an essay for the first time in my life last week. It reminded me of writing chinese compositions last time. Haha must use those powerful 成语 and phrases. Since I've started learning Japanese 4 years ago, I've been learning the traditional chinese kanji, and I totally forgot how to write 工場 in the simplified form. It's actually 工厂 according to my chinese classmate. Man, looks damn foreign. Haha oh well. I don't know whether my Japanese has improved since I got here, but hopefully it has, even if it's only a little.