Okay, so I've procrastinated enough and thinking about this day in the shower made me squeal. This day was special, why? IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

Period.
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Japan Day 4 (part A)

This is gonna be long.

So I woke up at 9.00 am, brushed my teeth and had my breakfast of blueberry toast with delicious Japanese yoghurt you can't find in Malaysia and a small serving of strawberries and mango I brought for my host family as a present. Lawl. My okaasan told me I was going to a high school that day and I was pissing my pants with excitement just thinking about it when I got into her car. Apparently that day okaasan had work so I was to stay with another fellow Malaysian (Qamarina) and her host parents for the day.

We got there and it turns out Qamarina lives in the city! WTF BBQ, I LIVE WITH THE MOUNTAINS AND PADDY FIELDS and she gets the malls and convenience stores all within walking distance? :(

So we got to her apartment and it's pretty cool. In Malaysia you just enter and walk into the lift right? In Japan there's this video intercom thing you need to go through if you want to visit somebody and walking into the elevator you have to insert your key or use the intercom to call said person living in the apartment. I felt like a hillbilly.

So we finally got to the fifth floor where they were staying and in their apartments they even have little gates, like real houses! I didn't get to take a picture of this so, gomen. When I got there, Qamarina was playing with the family's Playstation 3 that her host family just bought so I was mighty jealous. My okaasan was going to work that day so turns out I would be with Qamarina's host parents and her host sister and brother Yume and Rintaro for the day. Whee. So when my okaasan leaves, we watch TV before it's time to head for the high school.

All dressed up with nowhere to go (lol). Qamarina in her baju kurung, and me in my...pseudo sari. I even had the bindi thing, courtesy of Durkeswary from my class back home.

Then we get to Qamarina's okaasan's (let's call her Qkaasan for now kay?) friend's (phew!) car and she takes us on this REALLY REALLY long drive to someplace to buy omiyage (souvenirs). We went to this quaint little village like place that sold all kinds of weird Japanese knick-knacks and bric-a-brac. We were kind of hesitant to buy stuff, but in the end I got a packet of chopsticks made of 5 different kinds of wood for my uncle, and this really cute horse keychain that had a story to it.

The landlord of the shop. She agreed to let me snap her photo. :D


Koi pond :O

I WANTED TO BUY THIS PARASOL!! But I didn't think it could fit into my suitcase. :(



The keychain I bought resembles this 'horse'. Apparently it's some Fukushima symbol thing.



So after we bought our stuff and sight-seed abit, it was around like 12 o' clock. Qkaasan said we were only supposed to be at the high school at 2. So she and her friend drove us back to the city to this mall for lunch. Here's a small pic of my dessert. And lol, the restaurant we ate in was next to a Muji store. MUJI IS ♥.


Me and Qkaasan's friend were walking to the toire passing a music store, when something familiar caught my beady little eye. ZOMG IT'S TEGOMASSU and V6!


Finished lunch, got out of the mall, into the car and stopped inside a convenience store for awhile.


Qkaasan is the one looking at the camera. Her friend is the one driving. (Duh, it's her car).
Yes, that is a GPS/TV screen. Yes, it does work. Yes, it does turn into a screen when she parks her car. Yes, there is a camera in the back window. Yes, the car door is automatic and slides open to let you in/out. Cool ne?


So we reached the high school. Higashi High School was it's name. Higashi apparently means 'east' in Japanese.

WARNING: What you are about to read is Nicole fangirling. Tolerance towards fangirls and their stupidity is highly recommended. Thank you.

Ah, I remember this day like it was yesterday. Truly the best day of my life. Anyway...
Got to the school, met up with everyone (Nashriq, Baizura, Ida and Vivian). There were about 6 of us combined. Wheee. We were then escorted to some room to meet our fellow hosts of the day.


Upon entering, we were sat down in a row. Malaysian students in a row one side, Japanese students in a row opposite us, face to face. While waiting for things to start, me and Vivian (naturally) chatted about our families and showed off what we learned during the past few days.

Our first impression? "Wow, this school is soooo nice and clean!"
Second impression: "Hey, where are the BOYS?!?!?!"

NO SHIT. WE WERE SO DISAPPOINTED. THERE WERE LIKE ZERO BOYS IN ATTENDANCE AND THE ONLY MALES IN THE ROOM WAS NASHRIQ AND THE SCHOOL VICE PRINCIPAL. ;o; ;o;

Then things really got started and we were all told to introduce ourselves. The Japanese girls went first.

In the picture below from left: Miku, Mikiko, Shoko, Kana and Saori. Not pictured is Haruna. (Lawl, you can see my tokidoki in this shot)

Then it was Vivian's turn. Next was me and here is an exclusive excerpt of my crappy speech:
"Konnichiwa! Hajimemashite, watashi wa Nikorru des! But you can uh, call me Nicole or Niko or....whatever. My hobbies are watching doramas and listening to music. Dozo yoroshiku onengaishimasu! Watashi wa KAT-TUN to Kamenashi Kazuya daisuki deeeees! *peace sign*"

((Translation: "Hello, nice to meet you my name is Nicole. You can call me Nicole or Nico or whatever. My hobbies are watching doramas and listening to music. Please take care of me. I like KAT-TUN and Kamenashi Kazuya!"))

*smacks head*

After we were done, we had to play a game. :)

You know those stupid games you play to break the ice? This was one of them. It's like the 'It' person has to wear this headband on their head with the name of a famous celebrity/personality on it. 'It' does not know who said celebrity/personality is written on headband. 'It' person and his teammates have to try and guess what the opposing team wrote by asking 'Yes' or 'No' questions like, "Is it a male or female?" "Is said person gay?" "Is said person alive?" Questions like "What colour is said person's hair?" were also accepted.

Saori (in blue shirt, tall girl), Shoko (white shirt), Miku (blue shirt), Nashriq (boy with pink ears), Baizura (red shirt) and Qamarina (yellow baju kurung) were in one team. Me (in pseudo sari), Vivian (cheongsam), Ida, Mikiko, Kana and Haruna were in another.

Our team had to go first with Haruna as 'It'. Our celebrity was Orlando Bloom. -_-;; But then again, WHO CARES ABOUT ORLANDO BLOOM DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME ON THIS AWESOME DAY?!!

So while Vivian and co were guessing the answer, I just stood there with a shit eating grin on my face. I had Vivian on one side and Mikiko on another. As we got started, I felt a tug on my right sleeve. I turned and smiled at Mikiko who was looking up at me with expectant eyes. She then clears her throat and asks me those magic words. The following conversation shall forever be etched in my brain for as long as I live:

"Nikko, do you like Kamenashi Kazuya?"

I swear I think I stopped breathing when those words left her lips.

Me : "Ye-es!" *nods like a mad woman*
Mikiko : "Sugoi! I like Kamenashi Kazuya too!"
Me : "OMG REALLY?!?!"
Mikiko : "Hai!"

And then I swear to you on my Kazuya posters, that we grabbed each other's arms and started jumping and squaeling with each other right in front of everybody. We were practically like, "Do you like KAT-TUN?!" "Yes!" "Your favourite member, Kamenashi?!" "YES!" And then we realised we looked like fools and stopped. Of course, I could not stop grinning my shit eating grin. :D :D :D :D

Then it was our turn to give Nashriq's team a celeb to guess and I give you 3 seconds to choose who we picked:

A) Kamenashi Kazuya
B) Akanishi Jin
C) Yamashita Tomohisa

If you chose A or C, then DING DING DING WE HAVE A LOSER. We made Nashriq into Jin. Of course, no one but me, Mikiko, Kana and Haruna knew who he was. Ida and Vivian were like walking question marks when I suggested his name. xD



In the end, Saori got the name correct and the rest of Nashriq's team (the Malaysian's mostly) were like "WTF WHO DA HELL IS HE?!"


Saori (blue) and Shoko (white). Oh, oh, did I mention? SAORI IS A BUSTED FAN!!! :O :3 xD! It was mutually agreed between me and Nashriq that Shoko was the prettiest out of everyone that day.


Second round, our team had to guess "Naruto" and Nashriq was "Marilyn Monroe." :D

For some reason this picture looks a bit wrong. Nashriq is wearing pink bunny ears and has his hands behind the chair like he's tied up. Meanwhile the girls are standing in a circle around him, ignoring his presence.

Then the game ended and I asked Mikiko my newfound best friend and fangirling comrade where the toilet was.

MMM, I COULD GET USED TO JAPANESE TOILETS.




Mikiko in a Baju Kebaya Vivian brought along.

Vivian, me (I know, I look like SHIT) and Mikiko (fellow Kazuya fangirl).

Shoko changing into baju kurung.

Group pic! Blacked out my eyes cause I really looked like shit.
From left: Baizura, Ida, Shoko, Nicole and Vivian.

Shoe lockers to put our shoes in.
School hallway upon entering. Behind the glass window is the teacher's staffroom.

FINALLY! Our eyes don't fail us, BOYS!

Shoko in baju kurung (Ida's)

Ida, Shoko (the pretty one), Nashriq and Baizura.

Ooohhh yes, I feel very welcomed indeed. :)

Then it was snack time! We had takoyaki or TAKO-TAKO as I like to call it. Mmmm delicious! It's basically little Japanese octopus balls, you can get them in Jusco One Utama or SS2 Pasar malam for those of you who have necer tried. Delicious things.

We also had some sort of custard, chocolate and red bean filled puffs. And to wash all that wonderful food down, apple juice, orange juice and milk tea.

During this wonderful time of eating of course, I grabbed the opportunity to chat with Mikiko about JE matters. Apparenly Saori (Busted fan) and Shoko (pretty girl) were also KAT-TUN fans. Soon we were chatting about NEWS, Kanjani8 and Arashi as well and I was the star of the day leaving Vivian, Baizura, Nashriq and Ida to eat my dust.

WHO SAYS FANGIRLING AND JE WON'T GET ME ANYWHERE? Even manga freak Nashriq could not relate to them, whereas I could with my wonderful Japanese idorus.

Saori told me she had been to a KAT-TUN concert and that her favourite member was *DANG DANG DANG*

NAKAMARU!

Never met a Maru fan before, so hey, something new. Then we proceeded to chat about Busted and how sad it was that they separated, why Charlie left, you know fangirl politics.

Moral of the story? It was FATE. How many girls in Japan do you know who likes Busted? And because KAT-TUN and Kazuya are such huge stars in Japan, that's why I could relate to every female in that room. HA.


The slippers say "Kori yama" something "Higashi" something.

Group picture 1.
Top row (left to right):
Nicole, Qamarina, Vivian, Miku, Mikiko, Ida, Shoko, Baizura, Saori.

Bottom row (left to right):
Haruna, Kana and Nashriq.


Group pic 2.

Then lalalala, we got to have a tour of the school! I uploaded a really short video so you guys could get a gist of it.



(c) Nicole Yeong.
The person saying "Hi!" in the vid is me and the girl with the peace sign is Mikiko. :D

So first up, the music/choir room.

Choir girls. I have a video of this, but it's not particularly wonderful so, yeah.

View from the corridors.

Empty classroom. Reminded me so much of Nobuta. ;_; CHU-NYUU!

Oohh! This was something new, and Shuodo classroom. Shuodo is Japanese calligraphy.



Let me note here, from what Vivian and I observed, none of the boys in this school so far were hot. NONE.

Until this guy. He looks a wee bit like Masuda Takahisa from NEWS ne? (one on the right in black)


Massu



So sweet, let me take his picture some more! The guy in blue was a little hoity-toity.

Then we made our way out of the building to their band room. Starting to think that their school specialised in music.

This really pretty girl kinda reminded of Krystle's sister. Lol, random I know.




You see this dude? He looked like one those Japanese gangsters/badass. He was staring at me cause I was snapping his picture and taking videos of the room.

He ended up posing for me but my camera blurred it. :(


Ran into cute Massu boy again. Such a nice guy. Note: Still haven't seen any drop dead gorgeous boys yet.

Hello, BASEBALL. I was practically hyperventilating, "OMG BASEBALL, KAZUYA'S FAVOURITE SPORT!" to Vivian's ear. Mikiko heard me and was like, "Yeah!"


Then we turned around and ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh. Be still my beating heart ♥. Kokoro wa doki doki!



Lawl, the boy in white is posing when he noticed my camera.

AHHHHHHH BISHOUNEN!!!

He was so cute and hot and so shy!! He wouldn't face the camera but keep smiling this really cute smile of his and HELLO hottie at the back with the rolled up sleeves. HELLO HELLO KON-NI-CHI-WA HOTTIE AT THE BACK.


Another cute boy, slightly geeky looking. Still kinda cute.

AND THEN BOOM. We hit the Jackpot. A whole building full of fit, sweating, Japanese boys in sports uniforms. WE STRUCK GOLD. I tell you, me and Vivian stood here for like 15 minutes straight drooling over the boys and wouldn't leave until we got a good shot of them. We even got videos.

Please excuse the background voices. :)




And then Kana did something to make us love her. She got them to come out and snap a pic with us when they finished their game! YES JACKPOT BABY.

Picture 1
From left: Nashriq, japanese boy, japanese boy, japanese boy, japanese boy, next to him is ME :) and Vivian.


Picture 2You can see how I'm trying to not so subtly get closer to the guy next to me. Heh.



And that's it for Nicole's Japan Homestay Day 4 (part A). Come back for Part B cause the fun in Higashi aint over yet. :P This freaking post took me like 2 hours to upload, edit and write up but it's worth it.

Ja ne!

Labels: BEST DAY OF MY LIFE, Bishounen, Japan