Obon Yasumi: Zao and Yamagata

Last week was a long holiday in Japan, the Obon holidays.

It was the time when Japanese return to their kampungs to pay a visit to their ancestors' graves or take the opportunity to travel overseas.Somewhat like Hari Raya la.

Since my husband got a 10 days off, we went to a few places nearby. A Japanese family friend suggested Zao and Yamagata. Zao is an active volcano and Yamagata is a prefecture west of Miyagi, facing the Japan Sea.

So on the 1st day of the holidays we went there with a Malaysian trainee and the Japanese friend, Sato-san. The road up to Zao was like cacing, as seen on the navigator. On the way, we stopped at a stall for a break. The weather was foggy but getting clearer as we reached the top.Zao was amazing, the color of the "lake" is green, not blue like Mt. Aso.

Then we drove down to Yamagata..again jalannya macam cacing. Pening lalat dibuatnya. At Yamagata we only did 1 thing...we bought "suika" --tembikai. It was a shop run by the local farmer and they served some for tasting...Mak oii...manisnyeeee....and the tembikai was so big and solid (isinya tak lembik). Ada orang tu sampai terbeliak mata bila makan tembikai yang manis tu..hehe

And there I was buying 2 for the family and another 2 for my friends in Fukuoka. And guess how many Sato-san bought? 10 !! Nasib baik muat kereta Wish tu...