World Heritage Shirakawago

Ok, I'll just continue with my never ending stories, masih cerita winter,cerita basi but who cares right;)

Shirakawago, is one of the places in my to-visit-list before I leave Japan for good. I saw my senior's picture, a light up version of Shirakawago during winter and I knew that I had to go to this place! It was so white and beautiful. So serene. MashaAllah.
And when I began to check about the place and found out that it's one of the Japan's World Heritage Site, I don't need another reason. World Heritage! 世界遺産という言葉に弱い女なの、むふ。 And we've been planning to go there since last year actually, but since I was very near to my due date last winter, we decided to wait first. And alhamdulillah my dream came true last winter. Thank you hubby dear, you know I love you!

We went to Gokayama(五箇山） first. Smaller than Shirakawago, hence little tourists there. So memang boleh relax2 pusing the area, visit the old house,ambil gambar with no crowd, parking pon senang.

And we were so glad we went to Gokayama first, nikmati the old house puas2 sebab Shirakawaga tersangatlah ramai orang. Agak berserabut, with all the snow lagi. Nak parking pon susah, so kami pusing2 dengan kereta saja before we went up to 白川郷城山展望台, a perfect spot for the panoramic view of the village. We went up by car, jalan agak bahaya sebab sempit & licin. Tapi alhamdulillah selamat:) Ada shuttle bus naik atas actually untuk tourist yang parking di bawah, lagipon parking kat atas tersangatlah sikit. Ada juga yang berjalan kaki! Jauh jugak tau. We were lucky though sebab ramai yang naik bas. Tunggu 10mins, dapatlah parking.

And the view from the top was MashaAllah, terlalu cantik. Looks like a miniature house, topped with a snow. Kat atas tu ramai sangat tourist dari pelbagai negara, memang kecoh;) Sasuga gaijin, haha! Ada service ambil gambar with the background, macam kat USJ or Disneyland tu, yang dia print on the spot tu, tapi boleh juga minta dia ambilkan pakai kamera sendiri;)

Hajat di hati nak tengok light up tapi sebab sejuk & takut nak balik malam dengan cuaca tak menentu, by noon kami dah gerak pulang. Lunch pon makan onirigi saja dalam kereta. Lagipon kami ada tetamu dari jauh tengah menunggu di Matsumoto:)

We really had fun on this short trip! Looking forward for the long holiday, so we can go jalan-jalan again. 次、どこ行こうかな～

Hello March

Assalamualaikum, err how are you dear blog? I'm so sorry for neglecting you for a month. No spesific reasons, but ever since I moved the laptop to the kitchen, I barely had time to sit down and browse the net. The kitchen is too cold! Too many stories to tell, but I don't even finish with my last year stories, duhh. I will try slowly, insyaAllah.

Well, to begin with, lets just wrap things up with some of pictures from my Instagram. Oh, don't you just love Instagram! I don't need my DSLR anymore hihihi.

So January was great! New year with my best friends, and then we celebrated our second anniversary and my birthday. Matsumoto was snowing, we played, we laugh, we still love Matsumoto castle, Shafi was getting bigger and smarter, alhamdulillah we are blessed.

Then February came.Shafi sayang turned one! We had a small party at home, we went renew visa, renew our passport, met Ida and Apeq, went to IKEA, we shopped, we had fun. And Shafi learned to walk, and my love to gardening had never lessen.

And today is March already. I keep trying new recipes, meet new friends on IG, hubby is cooking too, we really enjoy each and every day. And Shafi has confirmed his nursery, and we're going to be busy this month. Mama-tachi are coming.Too many things to be prepare.Shafi still need to be breastfeed to sleep, he rejects bottles, he's cheeky but nevertheless I thank Allah for the all the times I got to spend with him and my husband. I am one happy mama:)

Well I better stop here. I'm waiting for Shafi to wake up from his nap and we're going out for a walk along the riverside back of our house. Oh, I have less than a month to be with Shafi all day long, to slowly eating our breakfast, singing on the kids program, going out for a walk, bake cookies together, oh oh oh. Going to miss this but gotta make the most of this precious time left.

Mata ne:)

Y.u.k.i

Semalam baru sembang2 dengan Yumi-san, mama tomo merangkap jiran dekat rumah ni,yang Matsumoto ni sejuk je lebih, yuki (snow) tak turun banyak mana pon. Tak sempat nak bagi anak buat snowman depan rumah, biasanya by noon, yuki dah cair, tinggal sikit saja. Yumi-san baru pindah sini juga, dari Yamanashi. Kami kerja sama office dulu, tapi lepas kahwin, dia terus berhenti kerja. Nihonjin, ramai yang begitu.

Tapi hari ni, bila bangun, gembiranya bila tengok putih di luar sana. Bila tengok berita, Tokyo pon turun yuki, 初雪　datte! Di sini dari pagi sampai tengahari tak henti2 turun, jadi tebal juga, dalam 30cm, dapatlah kami bawa anak2 main di luar bila tengahari tadi. Seronok tengok Shafi & Shuki-kun main yuki, terjerit2. Thank you Allah!

**Yuki ni memang seronok, tapi kalau dah cair payah juga, jalan licin, nak berjalan kena perlahan, nak bawa kereta, kena lebih hati2. Teringat masa di Niigata dulu, selalu jatuh masa nak pergi kelas sebab selalu pergi giri2,heh;) Natsukashiii na~

Herbs are dying

Basil and parsley, were the first green that I bought, thanks to them, my interest to gardening has deepen. I had them put on my kitchen cabinet, such a good company they were! Nak guna, petik saja. But sadly, they both died when were back to Malaysia for 2weeks. I just let them stay inside, should've put them outside next time, kalau hujan they still got chance. Tapi itu cerita summer lepas, when mister sun was shining brightly all day long.

I bought them basil & parsley from the flower shop nearby, the only herbs they can offer. I tried to search for more varieties, but I can't find any until one day I spotted this tiny steel rack at D2 gardening corner putting a lot of herbs (seedlings) for sell. I always buy plants at Watahan, (a home center here, very similar to D2) before, but since I've found my favorite herbs in D2, it has been my most favorite place to go for gardening shopping. The price is cheap too compare to the local flower shop.

So, in early autum (quite late I know but that was right after I discovered herbs in D2, wished I had found them earlier) I started to grow some herbs at my backyard. I let them in their vinyl pots first for 2 days to check for pests. Alhamdulillah, no pests, they were doing good. Only then I transferred them in a garden. I was thinking of transferring them into the containers or pots,so I can bring them in whenever they have problem outside, but I didn't have enough pots nor soils for them, can't wait for another weekend to buy so I just planted them, all of them directly to soil. The labels said they can stand until -5degree temperature, they'll doing fine during winter. So I thought.

And they were doing good during autumn. This was taken after two weeks planted. Not much care needed, just water them when they look dry. My favorite is soup parsley, eh nama bukan main glamour, daun sup je pon because it's hard to find one in the market. But I like rosemary too, the mint too! Suka semualah:)
I used them a lot, well soup parsley in a soup of course, enjoy mint with my tea, and to make my cakes look good, and the rest of them to make a roast chicken, pasta, and many many more. Oh growing herbs is so much fun!

And when herbs were on sale during the end of autumn I just can't help to buy more. So I added apple mint and orange mint to the family. Mints just smell right!

But as the winter steps in, they started to get weak especially the mints. Rosemary, thyme & soup parsley somehow are doing pretty good. Winter in Matsumoto can reach down to minus 10 degree during night and the next morning. They looked so cold everytime I go looking for them in the morning. I should have build a shelter for them, but I was just too lazy,tsk.

And just look at them when the snow continue to fall. Poor them to be covered under the now:( Must be cold huh. Gomenne.I just hope you guys survive, if not all, just you, yes soup parsley, oh and you too sweet rosemary, please. Next time I will put you nicely in a pots, and bring you in when its cold outside ok. I promise!

Semalam di Toyama

After about two hours drive from Itoigawa, we were safely arrived at Prime Hotel, Toyama located very near to the Toyama station. Snow was falling quite heavily during our way there, so we had to go slow and steady. No rush tough, we didn't have any big agenda in Toyama;) Just find a good place to eat and sleep.

The hotel we stayed was quite cheap, so not much to expect.  Just a standard room with queen size bed, a shower & toilet and an internet excess. Kalau nak duduk bilik best2, baik duduk hotel di Malaysia, kan. Lucky enough, they offer a breakfast buffet for their guests.

After checked in & solah, kami terus keluar jalan-jalan cari makan. Disebabkan sudah gelap, we chose to had our dinner at food court in a shopping complex near Toyama eki, (station). You can never go wrong with food court, mesti ada kedai yang boleh makan.

Since Toyama tepi laut, like Niigata, Toyama is also famous with the seafood, to name a few yang glamour are shiro ebi (white shrimp) & hotaru ika　（firefly squid). Jadi mama Shafi ambil kesempatan to try all Toyama 名物　in one plate, and ordered 中越うまいもの膳. 2,000yen, semua ada,murah lagi dari ikan yang abah Shafi makan tengahari tadi, hihi.

Malamnya lepas masuk furo, nenyak kami tidur. Katil besar, white sheet, tilam bantal empuk, rasa nak angkut bawa balik rumah,hih. Shafi pon sampai bangun lewat esok paginya, terpaksa kejut nak bawa pergi breakfast. By 9:30am, kami dah siap check out and get ready to continue our journey. Shirakawagou, here we come!

I think Shafi really enjoyed his first stay over at the hotel. Alhamdulillah, tak nangis langsung. Risau juga sebab tempat baru kan, tapi nampaknya Shafi is a big boy already, yelah dah nak masuk setahun pon. Ah, nanka sabishii..

Diaper pouch for Shafi

I think I had to face it already, yang winter in Matsumoto tak sesuai untuk gardening. All the plants that I sowed last autumn, nampak sungguh sejuk tak bermaya. Bila pagi saja memang layu, tapi tengahari bila matahari keluar, nampak segar tapi esok paginya layu pula. Kesian tengok:( Well to begin with, it was my fault sebab lambat semai benih2 tu because I thought Matsumoto ni kawasan sederhana sejuk, tapi rupanya2 salah. Macamana boleh salah one the most basic part,tsk.

So now bila Shafi tidur, I tried to concentrate more on sewing. Lepas jahitkan bib Shafi hari tu, semangat berkobar2 nak jahitkan yang lain pula and when I came across this wonderful sewing site, I found this. I knew I had to give it a try because the tutorial is so easy to follow. And the linen, I love everything about linen:)

And after some hard work in the kitchen, (err my sewing machine is in the kitchen) my diaper pouch is done! This pouch can fit 3-4 diapers and a packet of wet tissue. I am more than happy with the end result eventhough kalau tengok dekat2 senget benget sana sini,hih.

Singgah sebentar di Niigata

So our short winter trip started on 12/30. Our main destination located somewhere in between Gifu & Toyama, and we decided to drive along 日本海, (nihonkai, the sea) passing Niigata-Toyama before we reach Gifu. Sudah lama tak tengok laut, rindu pula. Actually, we wanted to stayed a night at Niigata, to enjoy the sea view but all the hotels & ryoukan were full ( some were closed) due to year end holiday. Luckily we found a cheap one in Toyama, so Shafi first night out  (err, I mean here in Japan) was at Toyama, yes it's his first stay over trip!

The weather was so nice, bright sunny but still so cold. We didn't take highways, we drove slowly along jalan kampung just to enjoy the season view. When we came near Lake Aoki (for the third time this year, tsk), hubby even asked if we wanted to try our luck again on the ring. Aha, good try hubby but I passed, didn't want to spoil the vacation mood because I knew I had to give up already and wait patiently for the new one;)

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And when we entered Hakuba area, mashaAllah it was all white the slopes were all busy with the skiers, the snowboarders. They looked soo tiny from below.

We drove along road no 148 until we entered Niigata prefecture, and along the way I can't stop ooh, aah, ooh because of the scenery. The mountain, the tree, the river subhanallah too pretty in white.

We first stopped at Marine Dream at Itoigawa, Niigata. Kani (crab) is famous here, 紅ズワイガニ (zuwaigani)
to be specific. There's a lot of stalls selling fresh & boiled crab, well most of the stalls sell crab actually and obachan yang jual semua were very good in attracting customers. Terasa nak beli je tapi mama Shafi tak pandai masak ketam, err tak pandai potong;) Abah Shafi pula tak berapa minat sebab leceh katanya nak makan, heh selamat.

We had lunch there, at the restaurant inside the building named 番屋. Nampak ramai orang beratur, so must be good. I had kani & some sashimi while hubby had ikan bakar, のどぐろ ikan bertekak hitam namanya. And guess how much ikan tekak hitam tu cost? 3,000yen, ishh mahal kan. The price was not stated in the menu, but we didn't expect ikan bakar can be this expensive,hihi. Selamat sedap!

And before we continued our journey to Toyama, we took a brief walk by the sea side. Fuyu no umi, nanka kowai; ombak besar dan garang. Angin sejuk, mencucuk2, ishh berpuitis pula;) Tak sampai 5minit pon kami di tepi laut, langit makin mendung, salji pon dah mula turun, jadi cepat2 kami ke kereta. We still got 90km before we reach our final stop of the day, Toyama.