Merry Christmas! The most famous holiday is the world is here except that its not a holiday in Japan. Yeah, I was surprised too when I realised. This fact though did not matter too much, as I soon realised. Everyone thronged into my place early in the morning much to my amazement. Up til now I still wonder how in the world everyone gets up so early. Its like so tiring everyday and I don't really about the rest but I almost never sleep earlier than 2am everynight, furthermore, the cold really makes me wanna hide in the bed, under the protection of the warm covers.

I had to drag myself out of the bed. A visit to a Japanese Shrine (Jinja) was the plan for the morning. We had the honour of Yuka chan bringing us on this occasion. The 5 of us got put on our jackets and hopped into her car. This is my first time visiting a religious ground in Japan. Most Japaanese practise Shinto as their religion and they go to Shinto Shrines to pray mostly only during certain important occasions. There was a Teine Jinja not too far from my place, a approximately 15 minutes drive was all it took to reach the Shrine.

There was long flight of steps that needed to be conquered before we could see the main shrine itself. Being something new to most of us, our curiosity and cam-whoring quality naturally got aroused. We snapped photos all the way from the foot of the Shrine to the top to the inside of the shrine. The was this gigantic bell with a thick, or rather very thick rope attached to it. The way to pray was to use the rope to ring the bell a couple of times and then put your hands together before sending your thoughts to the divine beings. This process was clearly demostrated by another worshipper who went before us.

We proceeded to offer our prayers, following the proper process strictly. Following this, Yuka brought us to a reception area where you can obtain a fortune telling slip by making a donation. Everyone got themselves one but only mine was the lousier one and therefore had to tied the slip of paper onto a string located back up the steps. THis is supposed to help neutralize the bad fortune. I really hope it works. LOL.

Everyone got a couple of souvenirs and then left for home. Back home, it was time for some mochi making session! And did I mention that the whole place is filled with kids? They are still as lively, as energetic and as adorable as ever. Still I can't escape from having to carry and swing them around, but I've got pretty used to doing it already and in fact enjoyed making merry with them. Kaito this time managed to trick me. He pointed to the floor and ushered me to sit there. I didn't suspect anything and just sat down. Then without warning, he just jumped onto me, sat on my legs an gave me a grin and then went on to play his DS Lite. Only then I realised that he just wanted to sit on my laps. Aren't kids just cute or what!

Anyway there was a lot of fun going around and he couldn't stay still for long. LOL. Everyone too tried their hand at making mochi. The whole process was made a breeze by a mochi machine though. We just had to roll the rice thingy into balls and eat it with whatever condiments we like. Whether you like the traditional mochi really depends on individual tastes I guess. I thought the balls were ok but I didn't exactly like the condiments, Na To, especially! June would best be able to empathize and understand this I guess. LOL. Well, our Japanese friends totally loved what they made though, adults and kids alike. I think the best analogy is probably the way Singaporeans love durians and how some are totally disgusted by it.

I found out something interesting during this time as well. Since all the kids started bring along their Christmas present, supposedly from Santa but we all know better, I told them about my encounter with Mebae last night and to my serious surprise, the rest had similar experiences as well with the kids at their place. I really wonder how the adults manage to pull this lie for so many years. Apparently the older kids who already knew the truth didn't give away the game. Nice isn't it. I believe they all know how it feels to believe in Santa in the past and wants every kids to enjoy this phase of their life. This will probably be a everlasting childhood memory for them in years to come.

After cleaning the mess from mochi making, we all went to a mall to shop and get some supplies. There was this big hypermart called Aeon in there which sell everything from computer peripherals to foodstuffs. Everyone went except June and her host Miyan whom brought June to a concert which Koharu is due to perform. Once there, I wasted no time in zooming on the stuffs I already had in mind. I went straight for a Webcam, then spare ribs and then followed by Corn chocolates. The first 2 are for tonight's use while the corn chocs are to fulfil Zhiwei's order. I intend to give the Webcam as a Christmas present as I guess Ron chan must be frustrated that she can't really webcam with Hazuki in Spain. The spare ribs is for me to try my hand at the Bak Kut Teh which I brought from Singapore.

I still had half an hour left before we were suppose to gather and I went around the mall for a walk. I went back to the rendevous point on time and saw Haru and Asa fast asleep in their trolley cars. It was really a cute sight to behold although we had problems getting them out of the cars. But still they remain in dreamland throughout the whole process of dragging them out of the car. LOL. Everyone then parted ways and went back to our respective homes.

Ron chan and me started with dinner preparations immediately. I worked on my Bak Ku Teh with Ron chan lending me a hand when I needed help, Anyway the spare ribs were pretty large and long. I wanted to chop it up into smaller pieces and asked for a chopper but she didn't have any! We tried using all the knives available but even with all my brute strength, the ribs couldn't be cut. I had no choice but to dump it all in in the humongous state.

While we were cooking, Mebae was trying on her Ski boots and blades. She is going to attend ski lessons tomorrow at Teine Yama. Superb! If only I had ski training when I was little, I'm sure I'll be very pro by now. LOL. The food was soon ready. I tasted the Bak Ku Teh, it was pretty bland, I think we put too much water. It wasn't what I expected but Ron chan told me the smell was nice and it tasted good. I was, well, relieved somewhat whether or not it is true. LOL. What Ron chan prepared was a million times more delicious. I totally almost ignored my Bak Kut Teh and just kept eating what she prepared. The main course was none then Osushi!

The Nori (paper seaweed), Rice and sashimi are prepared separately and we had the leisure of deciding the quantity of each ingredient we want to make our own sushi. It was a fabulous way to eat sushi and sashimi. The rice was the sweetest and most delicious I ever eaten as well. I have never tasted rice this nice in my life, serious. It was sweet in a very nice way and can definitely be eaten on its own even without anything else to accompany it. Naoto, Mabae and me totally cleared the whole table man.

Next up was the christmas cake which I bought yesterday and I made them wear the Reindeer horns I bought as well. We swtiched off the lights and lighted candles on the christmas cake. Then Mebae went on the blow out the candles but not before Naoto tries to disturb her sister by pretending to want to blow out the candles as well. It was so funny to see how Mebae keeps screaming at her brother to stop blowing. LOL. We took quite a number of photos together and they presented me my christmas gift which was a funky T-shirt from UNIQLO. Loved it to bits.

I helped to clear up after the feast and after that I brought out the Singapore guides and maps from my luggage. I raised the topic about the possiblity of Ron chan visiting Singapore in the near future while chatting with her about the attractions Singapore had. I did advise her to go from 2010 onwards though, when most of the construction for the major attractions are scheduled to be completed.

By this time, Mebae was already pretty frustrated that she could not get her christmas present, which was a mini karaoke box, to work. Japs can really invents stuffs man. I actually saw tears streaming from her eyes at one time and this made me determined to get it working at all costs. So I took the device from the table where she left it after she has given up, to try to help check how to operate it and I think I saved the day. I tried my best to read through the Japnese user manual and managed to turn it on and found out how to download songs into the cartridge from the internet. Smiles instantly returned to her rosy face. I was so glad to see her smile again you know. But problem now is that the website is down and there was no songs in the cartridge. I tried and tried the whole night but to no avail. I had to convince her to try again tomorrow.

Concurrently, I also managed to get the webcam I bought to work as well. I also helped create more space in the harddisk by uninstalling the games Naoto didn't want to play anymore from the computer. I thought the least I could help out in the family before I go is to give the laptop a good maintenance.

This day is both a very happy and sad one. Happy because I think I've grown closer to the Kawakami family and felt like part of them even though my Jap still sucks. Sad because this marks the 2nd last day with them.