Shishamo night.

My first hanami this year was the worst!

It was night hanami organized by my department. So, keep it mind, I had it with a group of Japanese.

Well, as I have already aware, gathering with them are mostly about drinking and opening up to each other. They don't really feast.

If the event is proper, I was usually served with 'muslim-friendly' food. But this time..there were none...except the fish; shishamo.

shishamo. A fish filled with eggs. My new favorite:)

That night I felt the most uncomfortable. I was surrounded by drunk people who fed on pork BBQ, pork soup, and everything cook with pork! sigh.. 

Nasib baik I wasn't that hungry. I just had shishamo yang apparently sangat-sangat sedap!!seriously..sedap!!nak masak pun senang..campak je dlm kuali..balik2..siap!No need any seasoning ;)

I don't think I will join their hanami again!Once is enough.

You know..when it was about 9, I secretly prayed to Allah to save me from the crowd, and a few minutes later, hujan pouring down with extra strong wind which unable you to use any payung. Yes, I got down the steep hill in hujan without payung on and walk 2km to my bicycle. That was the wettest condition I had ever experienced in Japan so far.heh! What a night!

Balik tu demam..but I was immediately cured by presence of hubby at my front door at 12am:) 

Shukkeien Garden, Hiroshima City

Little that I know..there is a beautiful garden nearby my house! I never thought it was as beautiful >,<
I heard about this garden a lot of times before from the other foreigners. It was 5 minutes cycling from my house, hence the procrastination for months.
Because a visit to Onomichi turned out as a total failure, we decided to enjoy sakura nearby. Oh well, all sakuras the same anyways. hehe..
So, that's why we ended up going to aforementioned garden; the Shukkeien.
In my mind this garden is like another garden we can see everywhere tu..where people come and go with their dogs and kids.
Surprisingly, it was a paid-entrance garden. Starting from 250en for adult, 150en for student (that's me) and 100en for kids. Cheap still..but paid??
Our arrival was sort of welcomed with many pairs of brides and grooms doing photoshoot and occupied almost all single spot of sakura. sigh...But we enjoyed their company still. Rare view of Japanese pengantins bersepah-sepah depan mata anda.
As we left the crowd and went further ahead, that's when we got surprised by the landscape of the garden.
Only then we understand why this garden become the talk of my friends:)

Seifuu Pond. Around this pond ada banyak japanese style pondok2. Since the day we went here marking the official day of spring, many of the pondok already occupied. It's like finally they can stay outdoor. 

The bridge called, Kokoo-kyou. This garden has been existed for decades. Since before the world war II. During the devastating atomic bomb tragedy, many people seek refugees in here although this space was also severely affected. The only remained was this bridge while the other was immediately cleared out.

One of the shot we had at an area called "White Dragon Spring". When you passed this area,  you will only see such a view whenever you look up. Magnificent.  Be careful to watch your step as you walk. There are many people lying down the ground, sun bathing under bushes of sakura. 

You will see pondok-pondok macam ni. But this time it was closed.

A huge pond located in the middle of the garden. It was huge I initially thought it was a lake. Sangat bersih, well taken care of, full with tortoise, carps and many other fishes jumping up and down the surface. hehe..such a stress reliever:)

Sakura spot lagi..filled with many more bride and grooms:)

Japanese landscape from one end to another.

Carps everywhere.

Surprisingly, my husband had a good time here. I was at first worried of how he will enjoy himself in a pretty garden?>,< Apparently he likes it. Yokatta ne.
This garden is well preserved and taken care of. Lavatory at its tip top condition, cleanliness is beyond the word clean could explain. What else..hmm..it's worth every penny la senang cerita..>,<

Livin' up a dream

It's been a while:)

What's new? 

Many! I moved to a new house (will review about it later:P)..and..I enrolled in a baking class (this story is indeed short).

We stumbled upon this baking school on the quest of searching for an empty toilet. We passed several other toilet because it was too congested. When we came out from the third toilet...there it was, the ABC cooking studio. It has been there for a while, and just now we only noticed it.

G, my friend, had been talking about learning Japanese baking for years. But we never made any attempt to look for a school or doing anything about it. hehe..

For me, I thought I would never could afford it. In Japan, everything is so expensive >,< and this is especially in education and medical care.

On that day, ourselves were somehow wanted to know more. One thing because of the environment the school provided. It was an open kitchen, full with girls, baking and cooking together. 

I am so gurly that I really like to see that. hehe..

I thought I was waiting for G to come out off toilet. So, I decided to take a look around the studio. I wander in front of their cooking studio while overhearing the 'cooking sensei' explaining something to a new girl in front of their studio. After a while, I noticed G is nowhere in the toilet still, and apparently she was the new girl I mentioned the sensei was explaining too:/

A few minutes after that, we sat at a coffee shop, discussing about our schedule into learning cakes provided in their list. Yes, we decided to enroll and not wasting anymore 'air liur' by just saying. No more time to waste. It's time to live our dream.

Our serving, for new comer. 

During my first class with my sensei. I learnt to bake an ichigo (strawberry) swiss roll :)

Final yield:) We gotta bring home the products :) Anyways, I didn't mean to exaggerate..but this ichigo roll is to die for:P

G..with our products, nicely packed:D Anyway, I should thank her for her willingness to share interest with me:)

For the newcomer, we have to paste our wish on a tree:D

ehe...sebab kami kebuloq tahap x hengat..x makan seharian:D

There are a lot of cooking school in Japan. One of the famous is the one we go; The ABC Cooking Studio.

By registering their courses, we are entitled to browse their websites for recipe:)

Of course we can learn cooking/baking from internet/books. 

I decided to go to school to learn their techniques and secret to Japanese baking. Trust me, they handle baking a whole differently, let alone their cooking. It's like something you never see or heard of:)

One thing for sure, enrolling to this school made me feel happy:)

Hubby is even happier because, I am entitled for half price of total cost due to my 'student' status.

Alhamdulillah:)

So, peeps, what else you waiting for..go live up another of your dreams. One step at a time.