My grandmother sounded very happy to hear that I was going to visit them this weekend, and while I was there, she was stuffing me with sushi and miso soup. I found it a bit awkward when I wandered into the kitchen and she told me to go back to the living room and sit down and wait for her to bring me food. =x

For the first time ever, the bedroom upstairs had only 1 futon (which my grandfather spread for me), as compared to the usual 3 or 4 when my family is there. But it's very cosy, and it felt like it was my own room:

Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep in peace because I had a horrible stomach ache. It must've been all the flies hovering around the food. When my stomach finally settled, I snuggled in and fell asleep, only to be jolted out of sleep and bolting for the bedroom door at 3.45am. Why? A damn earthquake. AGAIN. It's only been a few days into October and I've already experienced two earthquakes, bloody hell! This time I was less scared, and mixed with the fear was irritation. But that didn't stop me from rushing to open the door (those doorframes in old houses are more likely to get out of shape and become impossible to open during a major earthquake, and opening the door is to ensure an escape route!). How many people jump at the slightest tremor like I do? At my grandparents' place it seems more creepy because there are more squeaks and other noises made by the stuff in the room when the house shakes. Yet there was nary a movement from my grandparents. In any case, I am grateful for the big flashlight my grandmother forced on me.

In the day we had lunch together at this sushi place. For 105 yen per plate (for most items), it's cheaper than in Singapore, and fresher, and has more variety. But I didn't eat so much, because 1) I just had sushi for dinner the previous day and 2) I didn't want to risk having the toilet rushes. There was this egg roll thing with rice sticking out of it (bottom left in montage below) which made me think of... a piece of tissue sticking out of the box in the tissue box cover. Don't you see the resemblance?

Lo and behold, I made my anti-social grandfather take a picture with me! And there's actually a hint of a smile playing about the corners of his mouth, hurray!

After lunch I went out with my grandmother to Enoshima (I think this is it) for sightseeing. We were walking across the bridge to the little island when we saw these:

They were so incredibly cute, we (and a couple of other people) spent a few minutes there patting them, cuddling them... Super soft, super nice to touch. The kindly old man didn't mind all the attention we showered on his pets. As I picked up the other baby rabbit not featured above, I could feel its heart going thud thud thud. I wonder if it was terrified, although it didn't try to escape.

That part of Enoshima looked like a small bustling island, I loved the little lanes flanked by shops selling sofuto kuri-mu (they were just ice cream cones) and all sorts of other food and souvenirs. The things, the place, the people... It feels different from Singapore. I mean, yeah, it isn't Singapore, but still, there's a certain feeling. To me even the air smells different. Sometimes in Singapore I'll come across a particular smell/feel in the air and it'll remind me of Japan. Anyhow, I liked the quaintness, the unique Japan feel to it. Took pictures of the things/monuments I saw along the way:

We were making our way to top of the island to the viewing tower when we came across this fat cat nonchalently going up the steps, purposely heading towards the food court at the top of the steps. It sure had attitude; When we called to it, it single-mindedly ignored us and continued on its journey. Reminds me of the fatty back home. :) Cats with attitude are cool!

At the top we had a bird's eye view of Enoshima, so of course I whipped out my camera and took numerous pictures.

We took turns to take pictures of each other, although sometimes we asked a passer by to take a picture of us both. I have to say, my grandmother is a terrible photographer. She takes time to figure out which way to point the camera, then takes more time to try to get me and the background in the frame although the screen's big and clear, then takes even more time to ask me if I'm ready although I've been ready for the past 20 seconds (I get quite exasperated), before finally taking the picture (which occasionally turns out blur thanks to shaky hands, or slanted o.O).

These pictures, I'm particularly fond of:

However, I've to add that because I was quite some distance beneath the crow, it doesn't look particularly big in the picture. Either that, or that crow was small, not the monstrous ones I usually see. REALLY, I'm not lying!!! >.<

the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel ... is the light of an oncoming train ;p



they don't look half bad, do they?