Contributed by Bobidom: Japan Trip - Part 3 - Fukui

Blog_For_Fun Thursday, June 3, 2010 Japan Food

This will be my last post on my educational visit in Fukui.
More excitement to come in Tokyo post next!

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First stop of the day...
The Tojinbo cliff!

Doesn't it remind you a bit like our own Tip of Borneo (Simpang Mengayau) in Kudat?
But with more rocks of course :)

Since I can't read Japanese there, I googled up some info to share it here ;)

The highlight of Tojinbo is an area of various roughly cut rocks that have been eroded by the ocean. There is a cliff that is about 1 km long, and the way that the waves of the Japan Sea hit against it is stunning. This is the only place in Japan that has a giant pyroxene andesite pillar-shaped jointing. Because of this geologically rare phenomenon, Tojinbo is designated as a national natural monument. - Source here

Or you can read more detail info here

See the cat?
His fur was thick and fluffy ^_^
Can't blame him coz the place was freaking cold.
I can't imagine how it'd be during winter @_@

Akiko-san said that the snow crab season is in the winter as well.
But we were lucky to bump into few stores selling it here.

Since we were ~~tempted by the food sample~~ a bit hungry,
we decided to buy BBQ baby octopus, green tea ice cream and a frozen crepe for our breakfast XD

The baby octopus was delicious.
But not the ice cream and frozen crepe.
I'd much prefer if the crepe was soft... not hard rock.

Next, we went to Ikiiki Salon Ai Ai.
No.. it's not a hair salon nor a beauty salon.
It's a daycare facilities for care prevention which provides leisure activities, muscle training & independent support projects for the elderly.

I don't have much to say about this place as its function is more or less the same as to other day care centre we went to before.

But what caught my attention was our next destination, which was the Silver Personnel Centre, an employment agency for the disabled and elderly with special talents/skills.

Here, you can see them working together to earn a living.
Though they might need certain assistance, but one can never beat their determination to complete the task given each day.

They also performed a song for us too :)

After saying goodbye, we proceeded to Mr. Sakai's (again, pronounced as Sa-Ka-I) house.

Mr. Sakai is a severely handicapped person living independently in the local community.

If you get the chance to see how he went through his daily lives, you'd agree that he's definitely one of the best example to encourage other handicapped person to be independent and live life happily.

Of course, there's a care taker whom he hired to assist him for certain house chores like laundry, setting up his special bed, washing dishes and etc.

This educational trip made possible thanks to my beloved mom.
Not only that we learned a lot but it also opened our eyes and perceptive about life, especially to be grateful for what we have .

Our farewell party was held at the Rasa Sayang Cafe *again*
This time, we were joined by everyone including the Malaysian students (we saw some new faces as well), Akiko-San and husband, Yumi-san and more.

All these wonderful meal were prepared by Chin-san :)
If you happen to go to Fukui and miss Malaysian cooking, you can give this place a try.
I love the Banana Cheese Roti Canai... *DELICIOUS*

Oh! Jehan also bought the 3 colour dango that Nadia was looking for :)

While everyone was happy chit chatting, Joeanne and I were worried that the dinner might end late *protocol wise, we HAD to wait for the minister to call it a night* and Hisham (the Malaysian student) already signaling us the limited time we had to reach for Onsen ><"

But thank goodness, we made it on time and learned that the Onsen still accepting customer and close at 2am??? @_@

LOL!
It was one hell of a VERY funny experience.
While every Japanese girls in the locker room didn't mind walking bare naked AND exposing EVERYTHING *oh gosh... the 'forest' scene is still fresh in my head*, the rest of us had difficulty in changing/showering at the open cubicle coz we work together (Joeanne) and barely know each other (Jehan) *except my sisters*.
Unless if it was me alone among other Japanese strangers, I'd just strut my bare naked body without feeling a thing XD

Traditionally, before getting into the Onsen, you are encouraged to take a bath and clean yourselves i.e. remove makeup & dirt on your body.
After that, you are to walk and submerge yourself in the hot water without any towel, except small towel on your head to prevent headache.

From the sound/giggle/action we made throughout the whole process of getting ourselves into the pool, I'm pretty sure the Japanese folks thought we came from some alien kampung, just like how I'd say when I see some japanese/korean/other foreigners came to Poring Hot Spring and making a fuss over little things hohohoho! XD

Sigh~ I really wish i could bring camera in =P but it was prohibited *dame-desu*

Now here we are AFTER the Onsen experience, fully fresh and energetic XD
Make sure you bring makeup remover/towel before going to any Onsen and drink lots of water after that :)