Japan: Touring 100-Yen Shops

Ping who lived in Johor Bahru was the first one to tell me about "Daiso" in Melaka last April.

If three years ago, I just settled down in the new house, I would have got very excited to shop for household items. Now, the opening of this store where goods were imported from Japan and mostly sold at RM5 each would not motivate me to drive more often to Bandar Hilir.

But Ping whose studio was already crowded with decorative items still spent a lot of time and money during her first visit there. I thought after that trip she should be satisfied with this outlet.

Before our departure to Japan, Ping handed over a list to us, asking us to do the shopping on her behalf. Since I was not keen, Mum passed it to Ah Yu later, who fixed it on the refrigerator with a magnet. When we went out for meals, he would arrange a stop at a "Daiso" outlet.

This largest franchise of 100-yen shops had more than two thousand stores in whole Japan. So we easily found several outlets in and around the city of Moriya.

At first I helped to search for items which Ping could not find at "Daiso" Melaka. I started to get bored with exporing one "Daiso" after another while Ah Yu was still trying his best to fulfill Ping's request.

When we met her at Skype, she would ask, "How is the preparation of my list?" which made us smile, thinking of ourselves as servants of a shopping addict sister.

For her sake, we also went to a 100-yen store "Seria" owned by another company. Next to it was a 1000-yen shop which had been closed down.

There I finally found treasures for myself: rice bowls.

So, next time if you come to my house for a meal with rice, you will have a choice among my Chinese plastic bowls, Dumex ceramic bowls and Japanese 100-yen bowls.

Japan: Forty-Four Plates Of Sushi

My Japanese friends in France taught me how to make sushi with tinned tuna, mayonnaise, frozen crab stick, salad, cucumber, omelet, seaweed and round rice from Spain. Having grown up with long rice, I simply found the round rice was stickier and required more water to cook. But Akio once commented, "In Japan, this quality of rice is for dogs!" Thank God he did not further rebuked the processed seafood...

During recent years, sushi became popular in Malaysia and could be purchased even at hypermarkets. Every time I tasted one made with our local rice, Thai flagrant rice or other round rice, I would imagine Akio shaking his head.

So, I must not miss authentic sushi when I was Japan. Even though sushi restaurants were everywhere in Moriya, we only tried "Kura Sushi" recommended by Emi which was more than half an hour's driving from their house.

The specialities of this restaurant was their additive-free food all sold at a fixed price of 100 yen for every plate.

As we were six, we chose a table instead of the counter seats, around a rotating conveyer belt.

When plates with sushi, fruit and dessert were moving steadily in front of our table,

we picked our selections. If we could not find our desired dishes, special orders could be placed through the computerized screen above us. Then, the plates would be put on red bowls on the conveyor belt or marked, so that other customers knew those were ordered by someone.

Self-served tea and ice water were complimentary, with green tea powder in a storage container on the table. Condiments like pickled ginger were there to enhance the taste of the raw seafood. As soon as my tongue sensed the dipping sauce, the wasabi which was claimed to be without chemical seasonings somehow caused a chemical reaction inside my oral cavity. Then I would stop chewing my sushi for a few seconds until all vapour passed through my nostrils and ears!

Colourful "nigirizushi" (hand-formed sushi) and "makizushi" (rolled sushi) were a delight for our eyes. I was busy sending one sushi after another into my mouth, as Seng and Emi who were sitting next to the conveyer belt kept taking new plates onto our table. I could picture Akio smilingly saying to me, "Only our Japanese rice and fresh seafood can make this perfect combination deserved to be called sushi..."

When we finished the plates, we dropped them into a counting machine near our seat to be counted automatically. Last, we pressed a button to call the attendant and settle our bill. We had altogether consumed forty-four plates of sushi and two bowls of soup.

I doubt we would ever order forty-four plates of chicken rice in Batu Pahat which would cost the same price.

Japan: Going Up Mount Tsukuba By Cable Car

As Ah Yu was going to send Emi and me to Tsukuba International Christian Assembly Church that Sunday morning, he also planned an afternoon activity for all of us: visiting Mount Tsukuba, the main tourist attraction famous for its double peaks, Nantai-san (Mt Male Body) and Nyotai-san (Mt Female Body), which make a couple.

When we reached the car park, the first thing I noticed was a frog statue on the right.

I thought it was a theme park. Later I learned there was a frog-shaped rock "Gama-ishi" up there at the mountain.

We walked towards the left building

to take the cable car.

It was the first warm sunny day since we arrived in Japan. We were blessed with a clear view of the sky, the plain and the mountain.

Upon the arrival at the station on the notch, we had an ice-cream break at a restaurant-souvenir shop.

Then, we hiked towards the top of Nyotai-san, the higher of the two peaks.

The panorama was magnificent at 877 metres' height.


But Yuri did not seem to be very impressed.

Small shrines at both peaks were devoted to their respective gods based on the legends.

We enjoyed the abundance of nature

while climbing down the steps.

If I had wings, I would have flown in a glider instead of using the cable car again...

Japan: All The Children Love Anpanman!

During my primary school days, stories of Doraemon occupied an important place of my reading list, and that of many other Asians of my age. The animated series of this Japanese cultural icon, besides Crayon Shin-chan, are still one of the children's favorite TV programmes in Malaysia now.

When I was in Japan, Emi introduced to me Anpanman,

whose author Takashi Yanase was a Christian. This manga superhero with a head made of "anpan" (bread filled with red bean jam) goes anywhere to help anyone in trouble, to drive away villains, and to save people from starvation by allowing them to eat his head. After that, his father Jam Ojisan will bake a new face for him.

The fact that Anpanman, who sacrifices himself for the sake of justice, shares a lot of similarities with Jesus has been arousing questions of the analogy. Maybe that is why Malaysia has imported neither the manga nor the cartoon series to make known Anpanman, currently the most popular fictional character among the children under twelve in Japan.

Heavily merchandised, Anpanman appears on every imaginable children's product: game machines,

food packets,

even diapers packets, etc.

After seeing this cute man of justice everywhere for more than one week, not only I did not get bored, I grew to love Anpanman more and more.

May the children who are touched by stories of Anpanman will know Jesus Christ, the true bread of God who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:32-33).

Japan: Buffet Lunch

One day, Ah Yu drove us to a buffet restaurant which was well known for its variety of dishes with fresh vegetables directly from farms in Moriya.

The building was surrounded by plants. So, a wonderful greenery could be seen from the dining hall.

Inside the restaurant was also a small garden with a beautiful landscape.

When we stepped into the buffet hall, the dishes highlighted by the decorations and lighting attracted my eyes even more.

There were many types of plates for us to serve our food. Emi recommended a tray divided by nine equal compartments so that we just tried a small portion of everything.

This was my first-round serving of "tempura" (deep fried battered vegetable), omelet, "tofu" (bean curd), chicken pie with mashed potatoes, seaweed, "onigiri" (rice ball), etc.

The guys preferred the normal plates to take their favorite dishes.

When all the compartments of my tray were filled again for the second time,

my stomach was already full but my desire was not yet satisfied.

So, I continued to eat extra food left on our table, and desserts that Mum and Emi shared with me.

Later, Emi told me there were other dishes like curry and fried rice in other pots. But I could hardly move my body anymore.

Now I understood why free samples of cheese cakes were given to us earlier at the entrance to promote their bakery products sold independently. Had customers tasted them after the buffet which cost 1500 yen per adult and more expensive at night, they might not have appreciated the delicacies as much, nor considered to buy any back.

If they sold the special tray, many wives might buy it back to serve dishes for their husbands to taste all the foods they cook with love...

Japan: Attending A Church Service

I had only one special request during my stay in Japan: attending
a church service. Since Emi usually went to Moriya Baptist Church, I was prepared to experience a service in Japanese, with the Japanese believers and at a church under a different denomination from the ones I was familiar with. When I expressed my wish to Emi, she actually had thought of bringing me to her friend Asako's church which had English-Japanese bilingual services.

Emi had been acquainted with Asako who had responded to her online offer to give out extra hangers. From Asako's profile, Emi could tell she was a Christian. When they met in person, they also found out that Asako's parents-in-law were from the same church as Emi!

Emi only knew Asako was serving in a pentecostal church with a lot of Filipinos. When I verified the list of Assemblies Of God (AOG) churches in Ibaraki-ken, I confirmed Tsukuba International Christian Assembly Church was one of them. So, finally God was still sending me to an AOG church like the one I had been attending in Melaka. What a plan!

Emi had never been to Asako's church in Tsukuba which was a neighbouring city to Moriya. She estimated a fourty-five minutes' journey by car. Since only two of us were attending, Ah Yu, our driver, would bring Mum, Seng and Yuri to nearby shops in Tsukuba while waiting for us.

It finally took almost an hour to reach the destination. Being used to churches located on busy roads, at shop lots or at industrial areas in Malaysia for so many years since my return from France, it was nice to see a church building brilliantly and tranquilly standing on its own.

When we entered, we were received warmly by ushers who did not have typical Japanese looks. Then Asako also welcomed us and led us to be seated.

The service was about to start. Like at Calvary Life Assembly (CLA), we were asked to stand on our feet to sing together with the worship team.

Asako was playing the flute, a music instrument that I would love to learn.

The songs in English were all unknown to me,

except for one we also sang at CLA with a higher rhythm and stronger dynamics.

The pastor made some announcements and asked us to greet one another. Inside that small building there were around forty of us, mostly foreigners, united in God's love. According to Emi, many Japanese considered practising a religion fervently as a kind of superstition. So, I was not surprised to learn that the majority of the churches in Japan had an average attendance of less than thirty.

The sermon by Pastor Don Smith from the US was about the power we receive when the Holy Spirit has come upon us, so that we shall be witnesses to Jesus (Acts 1:8).

After the guest speaker said a sentence, he paused to let the lady, who was also the pianist during the worship, translate into Japanese for those who did not understand English very well.

As it was the first Sunday of the month, we had our Holy Communion to remind us that all our sins had been forgiven by God's grace.

The whole service finished at half past twelve. As Ah Yu was waiting for us in the car, we did not stay long to have fellowship with others. Hopefully, our prayers in Malaysia will continue to intercede for the other 99% of the Japanese who have not yet believed in our Saviour.

Japan: Gotong-Royong At The Residential Area

Ah Yu told us he was going to clean the nearby ground with other residents on the first Sunday morning of our stay in Moriya. Before 9am that day, a van with a female voice through a loud speaker passed by houses to remind the event, organized thrice a year by the committee of the residential area. If only lorries passing by our houses in Malaysia could also use this kind of soft and sweet recorded voice when they were selling mattresses or buying old newspapers from us...

When Ah Yu left the house, I was going out from the bathroom. Interested in knowing people's activities, I quickly went to the place which was less than thirty seconds' walk. He was listening to instructions from the team leader together with others. He introduced me and they all welcomed me to join them.

The task was simple: to weed the paths for pedestrians or cyclists.

I was the only one who was pulling out wild plants without any hand protection. Ah Yu offered to pass a pair of gloves to me from the house. But since it was nothing compared to the quantity of weed I regularly had to remove with my bare hands in my garden in Melaka, I preferred to save his trouble.

As the participation was not imposed to anybody, some came in families

while others in individuals. Ah Yu's next-door neighbours did not turn up at all.

Degradable plastic bags were provided for the extracted weed.

Finally, a van came to collect the garbage.

The "gotong-royong" lasted about half an hour. All of us were gathered again before we left with a bottle of green tea each.

I wished we had the same activity in Paya Rumput to beautify the landscape, maintain cleanliness of our residential area, spur interaction among the residents or develop responsibility and teamwork. But when I came back to Melaka, looking at the drain in front of my right neighbours' house,

and the temporary garbage store with the open door of my left neighbours' house,

I realized we still had a long long way to go.