“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
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| Mini Log Cabin Quilt |
Before my Japan trip last January, me and my friends discussed
about taking a quilt to Japan and take quilt photos with snow background just like
those quilters we saw in Instagram. Since I would be traveling solo, I decided to
take mini quilt. I completed this quilt just 2 days before my departure. It was
a hectic week!!
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| Kanazawa Station |
This time, I was not very fit throughout the trip. I had a sore
throat and my nose kept bleeding due to the cold and dry weather. For me who
grew up in a tropical country, winter (snow or no snow) is always
tough. Besides the winter eczema, the nose bleeding business is really bothersome.
Anyway, we decided to go to Kanazawa with the grand plan to visit
Gokayama or Shirakawago. But then, man proposes God disposes! Weather was not
cooperative during our stay in Kanazawa.
Since the other three girls, brought their suitcase, we decided to
take a taxi to our rented Airbnb. The problem with Japan is there was hardly
any people who can speak English. Thank God for the google translate. But, you
have to write a proper English sentences for Google to translate it properly.
Or else another long conversation will take place.
The attendance In the taxi stand at the Kanazawa station was a
nice old man who tried to help us. When we showed him the address, he could not
make out what is what (it was written in English). After several minutes, he
took me to the information center and thankfully, there was a lady there who spoke a decent
English. After another lost in
translation conversation, the lady decided to call the house owner, and finally
we got our address written in Japanese (pheeww)! Happily the attendant took us to the other
side of taxi stand et voila, our fancy SUV taxi!! We were surprised, between
thrilled and worried, praying it won’t be too expensive LOL. Luckily we
travelled in group!! The taxi driver was a nice gentleman, he didn’t speak
English but tried his best to tell us any landmarks we passed along the way. He even got
down to check out if the house we rented was the correct one.
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| Arigato gozaimashita |
The house we rented via Airbnb in Kanazawa was a two storey house. It’s
called the Ibaragi House. Luckily we were on the ground floor. The Japanese
keep the house key in a mini box with combination lock. It was a little tricky
to open, especially when you were cold and in a hurry. After several attempt (
and a message to the owner later) we were able to unlock the house. The Ibaragi
house was very compact and comfortable. The sliding door on the other side of
the house remind me of Lee sang Yoon drama! Hahaha. Anyway, we were quite
comfortable there since the owner provided us with extra blankets, electric heater and hot water
bags.
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| The Ibaragi House Airbnb Kanazawa |
After settling down, we decided to brave the cold and walk around the city.
The city is quite impressive with big brand shops, but I love to see the indie designers shops. Most of these shops have either French or English name.
I suppose many Japanese love French vintage theme or English Victorian theme.
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| coffee shop in front our rented home |
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| can you see the star? |
The next day, we thought of going to Gokayama, but we were too
late plus we were uncertain with the weather. It was raining and snowing in the
morning when we left the house.
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| breakfast at Mister Donut - The donuts we had did not contain any lark, mirin, or sake. We asked and apparently they have all ingredients listed in their computer!! |
We decided to get a one day tourist pass and go
to Higashi Chaya district, where we can see the old Japanese houses which mostly are souvenir shops or tea shops (Chaya literally means Tea house)
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| the loop bus - a hop on hop off bus |
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| A cafe as we enter the Higashi Chaya |
By the time, I felt a bit feverish and I ran out of my antibiotics! (sigh!). After strolling a bit, me and Kak Jenny decided to go into a noodle shop. She loved her noodle soup esp Soba!! I could not have anything since there was no halal food. So I just enjoy a cup of matcha aka green tea with lots of sugar! Hey, I need energy, right?!
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| Noodle Shop & Souvenir shop |
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| The vintage shop next to the tea stall |
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| look at those patchwork bag made from kimono fabrics!! |
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| Me and my quilt again ^_^ |
After a bit of photo session near the bus stop, we
decided to go to the Kenrokuen Garden and Castle. The 2 girls – mbak Belly and
Kak Ria, went ahead to check out both, while
me and Kak Jenny, decided not to go. By the time it was raining and snowing intermittently.
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| Kanazawa Castle |
We decided to catch the loop bus and
got down at the mall near our rented airbnb ! But not before I took another
photo in front of the castle gate!
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| the Kanazawa scene as we were leaving |
Hopefully, next time we can go and check the castle and the garden and hopefully in a friendlier weather!
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| Thank you for the beautiful memories girls! <3 |
No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang
Now, mission accomplished!
Until then,
Happy Sewing
I will write more about Japan trip in the next posts. Subscribe to my blog via email so you won't miss interesting post!
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