Come Away with Me

I can hardly wait!

In less than 2 weeks time, I will be picking up Alvin at the Fukuoka International airport and i can hardly wait! To be more precise, he will be coming on 19th October. Yes, he is the first visitor to this island where i call my home in Japan, earlier than dad and mom who had already bought tickets to come on 8th November.

Initially, we planned for him to visit during the last two weeks of 2006 so that we can spend Christmas and New Year together. However he found a new job recently and will start work in mid November. As such we had to reschedule his trip and what could be a better timing than to come during the intervening period. Thanks to his current firm who kept sending him off to Dubai for business trips on numerous occasions, this guy chalked up enough mileage to redeem a round trip ticket to Fukuoka! =)

So on top of my usual work and daily practice for an upcoming dance performance(more abt this in a later post), I've been researching on places to visit, checking out good hotel deals and planning both Alvin's and my parents' itineraries. There's a fair bit of work to look into and can get tiring at times. Not that i am complaining. The fact is i am looking forward to seeing all of them again since August. Ever since i got here, they've been calling me almost everyday to check if i settled in nicely, whether i've been eating well etc. They've listened to my stories at Narao and tried their best to picture the place i am at, the life i am leading and the friends that i made here. Now I am so happy that they are finally coming here and see everything for themselves :)

I asked Alvin a few days ago when we were on the phone what he wants to see when he visits. He said this time he wants to see the other side of Japan, the real Japan which he had heard so many stories through my never ending illustrations of life in the countryside. And i told him that he needn't have to worry abt that cos Narao is as real as it can get. He'd been to Tokyo once 4 years ago but Tokyo is not a real or fair reflection of the whole Japan. It is the capital city, one of the most populated and bustling city in the world, no doubt abt it. But the fact is more than 70% of Japanese actually reside in the countryside and many had never stepped foot outside their own prefectures. Being a much bigger country compared to Singapore, there is still a relatively huge city and country divide. I was told by a teacher at one of my elementary schools a few weeks back that to really experience traditional and authentic Japanese culture, lifesyle and her people, there is no better place to be than in the inaka and i couldn't agree more with him. So this trip shall be what it is, to see the REAL Japan :p

And how can a trip to the mecca of hot spring baths be without a visit to a Japanese onsen(温泉)? In Kyushu, there are many active volcanoes thus ensuring many natural hot spring areas, of which many had developed into sophisticated onsen resorts in recent times. After having watched all these beautiful hot spring ryokans on the tv all this while, it's finally time for a personal experience!

In order to minimise my leave taking and making mulitple trips out to the city to fetch them, we finalised an impeccable plan that will ensure me good company for an entire month. As mentioned, Alvin will reach Fukuoka on 19th Oct and he is going back on the 8th Nov, which is the day that dad and mom will arrive! I can't believe how the timing just falls into place perfectly and my sweet supervisor readily approved all my leave too. So all in all, everything looks set and i can hardly wait!

posted by テレサ @ 12:10 AM