Japan Homestay

Cheesie is planning to go to japan for a homestay! I think its the same company that organized mine when I went to japan for a homestay myself. Can't really remember much because it happened 2 years ago but I'll try hard to recap on the stuff that I did during my homestay :)

I remembered that my mom had to drive me from penang to Empress hotel to meet up with the other guys. Hahaha! I went with Guisong. The first person who came up and chatted with me was Stephanie which we remained good friends till now :) I remembered during one of the workshops I had to remember all of the names of the people participating... I had a tough time remembering all of them as Malay names seem the same XD Ok, less talk more pictures right? Here are some of the pics that we took during our 1 day crash course of Japanese culture before we flew to japan:

Note: This post contains images of me from 2 years ago. Viewers are advised to exercise extreme caution as your eyes might hurt when looking at my face. Keep pictures of your male/female idol (i.e. Lee Hom, Leah Dizon, Alice Tzheng etc) beside you when viewing this pose. Look at them instead of me when you can't stand my face. Thanks!


Stephanie's group presentation (about Malaysian stuff I think)


Group photo of winter Nagoya 06'


First ray of sunlight! When we were going arrive at "The land of the rising sun"

Guisong, Hafiz and I were different from the batch as most of the people's foster parents live near or in Nagoya while 3 of us were to take Shinkansen to the Hamamatsu city which is located in the Shizuoka Prefecture. (Yes! only 3 of us among 40+ people had the chance to try the shinkansen!) Hamamatzu is famous for the manufacturing of musical instruments as most of the major manufacturers if musical instruments is based in Hamamatzu city. Does Kawai and Yamaha ring a bell? Suzuki's HQ is also based in this city and Honda was also found in this city as well.


The Shinkansen train station


Best pic I could take of the bullet train, it was too fast!

My foster family came to pick me up. They are from the Shimada family, besides my foster father(Takashi Shimada) and my foster mom(Etsuko Shimada) I have a grandma and an 18 year old sister.

Some pics of my house + family members:

My tatami bed! How cool is that!


The living room (There is a heater under the table, I wish I had this now T_T)


Me + Mai Shimada (sis)


Me + bobo-chan (family dog, extremely intelligent)

We did some touring of the city but it was a pity as I couldn't experience the Hamamatzu festival which made this city stand out from others.

Quote from wikipedia:
"Hamamatsu Festival, held from May 3 through May 5 each year, is well-known for Takoage Gassen, or the kite fight, and luxuriously decorated palace-like floats. The festival originated about 430 years ago, when the lord of Hamamatsu Castle celebrated the birth of his first son by flying kites. In the Meiji Era, the celebration of the birth of a first son by flying Hatsu Dako, or the first kite, became popular, and this tradition has survived in the form of Hamamatsu Festival. It is extremely exciting to see over 160 large kites flying in the sky to the sound of trumpets.
Those who visit Hamamatsu at this time of the year can experience the city at its most exciting time. During the nights of Hamamatsu Festival, people parade downtown carrying over 70 yatai, or palace-lake floats, that are beautifully decorated while playing Japanese traditional festival music. The festival reaches its peak when groups of people compete by violently marching across town. (Naka-ku, Minami-ku - May)"


The Hamamatsu Festival


Usually they race around the city (car vs car) with a mini orchestra inside the cart.

My okasan also invited Guisong's and Hafiz's foster parents to her house for a little get togather party.

Making Takoyaki (octupus balls)


Make Make Make XD


Played Dress up with the girls at night XD

We spent the next few days visiting schools, which include a kindergarden, a primary school and Hamamatsu High. Besides that, we also went to Hamamatsu Castle, quite a breath taking sight although it is not as famous as the other castles in Japan.



Kids!!! They were really cute and nice!!!


Hamamatsu High School


Pics with the students


I attended a class on history of Japan... VERY HARD Understanding what the teacher is talking. Even the students agree with me :)


Girls posing for us (instead of paying attention during class) ^_^


P.E. Lessons (Girls were playing tennis while guys were playing sccocer)


Japanese making Muah Chee (Actually its not but I forgot the name of the stuff)



Hamamatsu Castle (It would be nicer during spring as the sakura{Chery Blossom} trees would make the view spactacular!) Like this:



Sad faces on the kids when we were going back

After that We met up with the rest of the group at Nagoya and headed for Tokyo disneyland. Spent a day there before taking a flight back to Malaysia.


Tokyo Disneyland!!!


A photo with the younger kids which went on the trip


There are about 500MB of pictures that I've wanted to upload but this would make the blogpost too long and draggy... Well, this will have to do for now! I have fond memories of Japan and I wish to go back to visit my foster family after I've graduated from uni.

Miss them a lot!!!