Day Four - Hiroshima (Part 2)

Alright, the second part of the trip.



Now, we're on our way to lunch. Because of time constraints, we're gonna take the highway.



Initial D, anyone? You should've seen Uncle Omar drift through this one (ok ok I'm exaggerating)

Some of you might know that there's this place in Sentul where you can dine within an environment of some jungle or something like that, called Naili's Place.



Well, this is the Japanese version of such a restaurant. Just look at the surrounding! Food would taste better when you're gazing at the sakura blossoms!



A big lantern orb outside the restaurant.



The whole area is owned by a single restaurant, so this building belongs to them too. We decided to sit in one of the areas that is cozy and warm, coz the place is getting darn cold!



Here's Uncle Omar with the back setting of a Japanese garden. Such a dintinguished look (I mean him AND the backdrop :D)



This is what I had for lunch. It's a fish called Ayu. Simple fish but very tasty, goes well with rice and pickles.



Aww poor cat, but the fish is MINE!

After the fish, we went for dessert. Normally you would expect a scoop of ice cream in a bowl or some fruits on a platter.



Well, this is my dessert. Looks like some set lunch! Anyway, this is called Inaka Zensai, which is a type of mochi from the rural areas. Thank god Uncle Omar is there to teach us how to devour this thing.



First, we grill the mochi. Yup, pretty hard to believe, but this is the right thing to do.



Then, we pour the red bean soup into the bowl, and dip the mochi. My god, this is superb. I'm glad I grilled it in such a way that the outside is crispy but the inside is filled with oh-so-soft mochi. Goes really really well with the red bean soup.

Well let's go back to the environment, shall we? Not that I'm lazy to write anything, but the scenery around us was so breathtaking to the point that it was beyond words. I wish you'd all be here to see it. Well, just see it through the lens of my mom's camera.















It was getting dark, but Uncle Omar insisted that we had to go to this beautiful bridge called the Kintaikyo bridge. Uncle Omar said that advertisements use this bridge a lot by shooting a pretty japanese girl in kimono walking on the bridge.



And that's the bridge. Lucky for us, the rain didn't wash off all the Sakura petals on the tree. Sakura Blossoms + Bridge = Excellent photo!



Sakura Blossoms + Bridge + My mom? Hmmm, okay lah. :P



This is my favourite shot of the day! Took quite a while to get that cat look my way.



Uncle Omar mentioned that today the water level is surprisingly high. Somehow, it makes this picture look a whole lot better.



The backdrop is beautiful! Yup, that's all.



This perspective was my mom's idea. She does have great taste in photography after all.

What a trip, and that's not all! Rarely do tourists get the opportunity to visit a Japanese home, but Uncle Omar offers just that! He and his Japanese wife invited us for dinner. Of course, we gladly obliged :D.



This is half of his house. The other half is on the left, where he park his car. (Sorry lah, no space to go further behind)



The house is actually very spacious. His wife told us that Japanese houses on the countryside are normally cheaper and bigger than the ones in the city, and that's why they chose this house.



His wife insisted that we try her Malay cooking. And boy, do I miss home cooking or what! I know I always say that food so far has been so delicious, but I can't help it. Malay dishes or not, these are delicious! Just look at the fish, man! Even your eyes know how to feast on good food, rite?

I took two servings of rice, which is rather unsurprising. But my mom did the same thing! One score for Japanese home cooking! We were SO SO full, not knowing what the future holds for us...



...which is dessert. Three wonderful mochi types to eat. We couldn't tahan, so we took one mochi of each type and shared.



Having a friendly chat over dessert. And yea, that's Uncle Omar's wife, also the wonderful cook of our delicious meal.

After dinner, Uncle Omar invited us to the guest room.



This is the first time I sat in a kotatsu! So cool. I feel japanese-er and japanese-er by the day!

I showed Uncle Omar my blog, and he was impressed by my photos. heh heh *malu* He actually saw Daim's comment on him being so cool and that Daim wants to be just like him when he grows up. Nicely timed comment, I'd say!

After the little blog-sharing session, it was time to leave. So we took the obligatory family picture.



Oh, new to the scene is Uncle Omar's daughter, Sakina-san, who is at a school level equivalent to our Form 6 (compulsary level for all).



Oooh, look who came into the picture!

After that, we headed back to the hotel. That ends the exhaustive but exciting Day 4 of the Japan Trip. Tomorrow, my mom is gonna present the paper to the Japanese University students. Looking forward to that.