Study Trip

Finally, I can blog again. I was yet again, having a whole lot of bad luck last week. My dearest darling baby notebook had "fever" again!! She won't look at me, or rather won't let me look at HER. Had to send her to the hospital again.

At last, I received my notebook.. and finally they changed the LCD display panel though they kept insisting that nothing was wrong. I am praying really hard that there won't be a fourth time!!! God knows what I will do!

I am extremely tired now, but I really need to blog. I want to... I need to....

Ok, here we go, I went on a free study trip to Tanba last last Friday, 26th Nov. We went to a pottery factory and to Sasayama Castle. It was fun...

The trip was organized by the International Student Center of Kobe University for all foreign students. A total of 40 students, 1 先生, 2 staffs went to Tanba by bus. We departed at 9a.m and reached Tanba 1 hour later. Will explain the trip through photos...

While on the bus.. some people were busy chatting away, some busy eating, some busy playing with their mobile phones... while some just slept!!!!


Christian zzzz-ing
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When we reached the pottery factory, we were ushered into the pottery making room. There were rows after rows after rows of mini stools and a long table with a lot of boards and a stump of clay. This was how it looked like.


What is thissss....
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Then a guy explained to us the ways to produce a nice cup. But he spoke in Japanese and Ms. Angeline here can't really understand. But as he was explainng he was moving his fingers really fast.

Well, first, we need to start with the base. The base should be round and at least 1 cm thick.


Start with the base
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Then using the remaining clay, roll it, till it is really long. And circle the "long" clay round and round the base. Repeat a couple of times.


Roll... then go round n round!!!
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And then suddenly, it looked like this.. Ermm, don't ask me how. The guy is a pro!!


Somehow... it turned into this!!!
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A cup??
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Finished
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And here we are, the end-product. He used less than 5 minutes to finish this cup. We were then allowed to work with the clay in front of us. Ahahah, but we weren't pros and of course the whole process was filled with frustration, curse words, and also fun!!! And here are some of the innovative creations!


Hmm.....Art....
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My masterpiece.. ehem, looked kinda bad though!! :(


Masterpiece
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The whole process takes up to 1 month. So we will only receive the artwork one month later. We had bentou for lunch at the park next to the factory.

A bunch of primary school students were also there on a study trip. And when they saw us having lunch, they were pretty excited. They were even more excited when they saw us taking photos. They started posing for the camera.


Jap kids.. come running
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And they got more and more excited when a French Guy tried to take a photo using his mobile phone.. Look at what happened!! Gosh, those kids were so wild!!!!


Japanese Kids... eager to take photo..
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And after lunch, we boarded the same bus and was off to Sasayama Castle, another 40 minutes away. And again, some were busy talking, some busy munching away, some busy sending n receiving emails, some busy taking photos and obviously some zzzz-ing!!!


Christian zzzzz again!!!
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Sasayama Castle was just an ordinary castle. Well, after visiting Himeji Castle, Sasayama Castle is just "normal". I did not even take a photo from the outside. Here is a photo of Esther (Spain) and Christian (Canadian born Hongkie) trying the reading glasses provided inside the castle for the ojiisan and obaasan to put the "STAMP". (In Japan, people like to collect Stamps when they go visiting).


Reading glasses??
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And outside the Castle, there is a Shrine, here, u can see Ms. Angeline pretending to make a wish and ring the bell...


Pretending to make a wish
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Though the Castle was nothing special, the scenery from the top of the castle was beautiful. Just look at the mountains and the green... Beautiful...enchanting!!!


Love the beautiful mountain n green scenery....
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Another photo showing the beautiful scenery...


Nice Scenery.. Sasayama Castle
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Then we stop by a souvenir place to buy some omiyage (Japanese like to buy souvenirs when they go for holiday). The last destination was to the Disaster Relieve Center, 5 minutes from the place I stay.

There, we were shown movies and photos of the Great Hanshin Earthquake 1995. It was really, extremely scary. By the way, an earthquake hit Hokkaido yesterday night.

I bought a box of black bean truffle for my friends here in the dorm and a black bean cake for my fellow colleagues in the lab as omiyage. Tanba is famous for its black beans and kuri (chestnuts).


Truffle... n Me... in my room :b
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The truffle was extremely superbly delicious. But, I did not have a chance to try the black bean cake because it was all gone before I even noticed....


Black Bean Truffle
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