Japan Tent (Part 3 - Wajima and Kanazawa)

Let's get back to Japan Tent Story. The last time I left off with my day in Wajima. This time, the story in Wajima still continues. (long blog precaution! ;-))

Day 4 (Aug 1)

Since Wajima is very famous for lacquerware and its gold decoration, we had a chance to experience 沈金 (my poor translation says 'the sunken gold' and it refers to the technique used in applying gold on the engraved lacquerware.)

Beautiful, isn't it?!?! ^^
this is the only Wajima group picture I have... so just wanna put it on here as well

In the afternoon, we also had a chance to try the Taiko drum. It doesn't look that hard, but it really was. The first couple of moves were just fine, but the later it gets, the more complicated and a lot of us were totally lost.

we were splitted in groups and learned how to play with group's sensei
then each group performed individually
our group won first price! yippee!! (picture with O-chan from Korea)

That afternoon, we all went to Wajima-so for Wajima Japan Party. Some of us went down to the beach and enjoyed a bit of our little free time.

with Pauline from Mexico
kampai!!Khaing and I with Yamashita Family (beautiful sunset, huh?)Koto PerformanceWe all took little try with the song 'Sakura' (Chona from Philippines)Wajima Taiko (御神事太鼓） Performance --

We had quite a good time hanging out playing mind games afterward. Thanks to my BE friends who equipped me with mind game skills - those people couldn't trick me for long. But I think we did trick a lot of people that night. hee hee =P

Wajima trip came to its ending when we had a semi-formal farewell ceremony the next morning before our departure back to Kanazawa. It was definitely a really wonderful trip. I really had a great time!

Day 5 (Aug 2)

Right after we got back to Kanazawa, we met with our new host family and the new time began. I was kindly accepted as a daughter to Niida Familyalong with another friend from Poland, Magdhae. Okasan and Kotsue were the ones picking us up. We went back for yummy somen (Japanese cold noodle) lunch, then went back out for some Kanazawa sightseeing with Kotsue and her friend, Shingo (If I ever spelled his name right!) It was actually a very bright idea of Japan Tent to get cooperation from tourist spots around the prefecture. As long as we have Japan Tent tags with us, we are allowed to enter those spots for free or at group discount rates. (This was also true in Wajima.)

Our first stop was this Karakuri Musuem where a lot of mechanical dolls and trick toys are collected.
Then, we stopped by for Shoyu Ice Cream. Yes, it is made with soy sauce flavor! This area of town (I forgot the name of the city) is famous for soy sauce production, so soy sauce ice cream is made famous as a by-product. It sounds gross, but it tasted surprizingly good.
On the way back in town, we stopped by the new prefecture building. Went up the top floor, you can see 360-degree view of the city. It is at a pretty good location since one side you see the Japan Sea, the opposite side you see Hakusan Mountain. Kanazawa is considered a small town in Japan. People here consider it a rurul area. You definitely see a lot of rice paddy around. But to me, doesn't matter how they say it's rural, it is totally not as rural as what you can see in my country. Below is a picture of Kanazawa city. Don't you agree it is already a city?
We made our way back in town and swang by Higashi Geisha house area. It is somewhat like Gion in Kyoto, but since there are still a limited number of tourists, it is rather more peaceful to walk around.
(Below shows some Japanese goods from shops around the area)


Our first home dinner was a real festa! (and my beloved Sushi!!! yum :9!!!)

I will leave my today's blog with the picture of Niida Family. (too bad we didn't get to meet the host brother!)

... more to come