Friday Macha: Tannan and Matsubara City

Matsubara City. Not many foreigners know about the existence of this city since it doesn't have any tourist attractions. But it's my second home, where i lived for around 6 months, graduated from high school and met many amazing friends. It's also where I cycled around and walked my dogs a lot during my free time. 

Matsubara City is situated south of Osaka City. By Kintetsu Line, it's one and only one train station, Kawachi-Matsubara station  is 20 minutes from Tenouji. Tenouji is 15 minutes away from Yodobashi Station, Osaka by Midosuji Line. In total, it takes around 40 minutes to go to Osaka from Matsubara, including time taken for train transfer. 

This is the map of the subway lines in Kansai Area of Osaka. The red line is Midosuji Line which has Yodobashi Station. As you can see, it's super duper convenient to travel around Osaka using the subway lines. You can use any line and end up at the same place in Osaka. The difference between these lines is the stations, hence travelling time. 

Then we have the complicated yet convenient JR lines that connects Osaka to Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Kobe and Kansai Airport. 

I'm sorry I can't find the Kintetsu Railway map, so i can't show you the line connecting Matsubara City to Tenouji. 

I stayed in a neighborhood called Tannan, situated right next to Mihara Ward and Tanjo neighborhood, It's mainly a residential area with paddy fields, small shops, convenience shops, factories and coffee houses in Tannan. Surprisingly, for a city girl like me, I found and still find Tannan very entertaining because it's a whole different ambiance to me. Plus, it's safer for me to cycle around and explore neighborhoods. I've cycled over to Mihara Ward many times to check out the houses and shops there. 

My home.

A view of Tannan from the balcony.

Tannan Community Hall in front of my home.

Paddy fields in Tannan.

Among the house in Tanjo, the neighborhood next to Tannan.

Sunset view in Matsubara City from the balcony of my house.

Walking the dogs around Tannan.

Outside a departmental store near Kawachi-Matsubara Station.

The main road of Tannan.

It took me around 10 minutes to cycle from Tannan to Kawachi-Matsubara station. The road I took is just a long straight road, so I didn't get lost easily. To go to my high school, Matsubara Senior High School, I would have to pass the train station and go straight to Miyakehigashi, which is where my high school is located at. By bicycle, it takes me 30 minutes from my house to my high school, hence I could afford to wake up at 7.30am. 7.30am is considered quite late in Japan. By 6am, it's already bright and sunny.

From Tannan, I can cycle to all directions, 360 degrees. Hence I would end up either at Kawachi-Matsubara Station, Mihara Ward, Kita Ward, Higashi Ward, Matsubara City Office, Miyakehigashi and anywhere along the way. So, I can say that it's a pretty strategic place since I can easily cycle to almost anywhere in Matsubara City.

I would say that Matsubara City is more of a residential area, unlike Osaka City with its bustling streets and shopping centres. There are actually tons of schools in this city itself. A few entertainment and shopping centres to avoid its residents from boredom; offices, hospitals, clinics, police stations, post offices, restaurants and shops for convenience. Nope, there is no cinema, sadly, so you have to travel to Tenouji or Namba to watch movies. 

Matsubara City Office usually organizes events to bring the community members closer to each other. One of the major events is Matsubara World Fiesta. My high school is actively involved in this event because 2 exchange students are sent to this school every year, hence allowing cultural experience sharing. The main reason this event is organised annually is that there are many foreigners staying in Matsubara City. Since it's convenient to travel to Osaka City yet affordable to reside at, why not? The World Fiesta provides tons of opportunities for its community to mingle around with foreigners and learn more about other countries. 

I'll talk about my experience when I participated in Matsubara World Fiesta in another post. :)

For your information, if you want to be a resident of Matsubara City, permanently or temporarily, you can handle the official documents at the Matsubara City Office. It is near the Matsubara Central Hospital, 5 minutes bicycle ride from Kawachi-Matsubara Station.

Address: Japan, Osaka Prefecture, Matsubara, Ao, １丁目１−１

Contact number: +81 72-334-1550

Friday Macha - Hanami in Early Spring

I love early spring. Not only it has a cooling and pleasant weather, it's also the peak of Hanami.

Hanami '花見' means flower viewing. Hana 花- flower; Mi 見- see. Many people commonly know Hanami as cherry blossom viewing. Cherry blossom is also known as sakura 桜. Just admire the picturesque scenery created by the cherry blossoms, whether from far or near. From far, the clusters of sakura trees look like clumps of pink or white clouds whereas from near, you can feel the personal touch of God's creation by having a close-up view on single blossoms.

My first Hanami was during my orientation programme in the Osaka Youth Hotel. My liaison person (an AFS volunteer who is in charge of my welfare and communication with AFS) brought me to my high school to meet up with my host family. Walking around 10 meters away from the hostel, I saw the sakura trees for the first time. It's not considered as cherry blossom viewing because honestly, I walked past the trees in the speed of light, only managing to capture a few pictures.

The second time I went for a real Hanami was thanks to the AFS tour around Osaka city. We had a mini dango picnic under the blooming cherry blossom trees, with the Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle) standing majestically behind them. Cherry blossoms are especially beautiful in combination with castles, temples and shrines.

My host family also brought me to a park nearby for Hanami. I was actually surprised to find the park crowded with families who were having picnic while admiring the beauty of cherry blossoms from a near distance. Some of them even  lied down and gazed dreamily at the flowers, lost in their own thoughts. I think the Japanese really appreciate the blessings of nature that it has become a tradition, part of their culture, to spend time with loved ones by enjoying nature together. And you'd be even surprised that the park was as clean as ever even after everyone had gone home. They actually cleaned up the junks, unlike those irresponsible people who can't even throw rubbish into nearby dustbins.

Popular spots for Hanami and admission fees:
Tokyo:

1. Shinjuku Gyoen (10 minute walk from Shinjuuku Station, 200￥)
2. Ueno Park (A few minutes walk from Ueno Station)
3. Sumida Park (A few minutes walk from Asakusa Station)
4. Meguro River (Near Nakameguro Station)

Osaka:

1. Osaka Castle Park
2. Kema Sakuranomiya Park (Near Sakuranomiya Station)

Kyoto:

1. Philosopher's Path (Between Gingakuji Golden Pavilion and Nanzenji Temple)
2. Maruyama Park (Next to Yasaka Shrine)
3. Arashiyama (Northwest of Central Kyoto)

Kanazawa:

1. Kenrokuen (15-minute bus ride from Kanazawa Station, 300￥)

Nagoya:

1. Yamazakigawa Riverside (10-minute walk from Mizuho Undojo Higashi Station)
2. Nagoya Castle (Short walk from Shiyakusho-mae Station, 500￥)
3. Tsurama Koen (Tsrama Station)

Fuji Five Lakes

1. Northern Shores of Kawaguchiko (10 to 25-minute bus ride from Kawaguchiko Station)
2. Chureito Pagoda (15 to 20-minute walk from Shimo-Yoshida Station)

Himeji:

1. Himeji Castle (15 to 20-minute walk from Himeji Station, 600￥)

Hiroshima:

1. Miyajima (45-minute ferry ride from Hiroshima Jetty near Hiroshima Station)

Fukuoka:

1. Fukuoka Castle (5 to 10-minute walk from Ohori Koen Station)
2. Uminonakamichi Seaside Park (Near JR Uminonakamichi Station, 400￥)

Hokkaido:

1. Matsumae Park (Matsumae Town)
2. Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Shrine (5-minute walk from Tosai Subway Maruyama Koen Station)

If you don't really have time to visit these places, don't worry too much. There are tons of sakura tress around Japan, even at the small streets in small towns. Or, just simply ask the locals for the nearest park which has sakura trees: "Hanami ni ikitai desu ga, sakura no hana ga atte moyori no kouen wa doko desu ka."

And yes!!! Spring is arriving!!! 

First Step In Japan.

I'm introducing a new section to this blog, known as Friday Macha. Friday means Friday (obviously) while macha means green tea in Japanese. Friday Macha will be a special section in which I share whatever I can remember about my 10-month AFS student exchange programme in Japan, with you readers. I truly regret that I didn't blog about my journey while I was there. It would have been better compared to now. Well now I need to refer to my diary besides getting correct facts from the Japanese websites.

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Let's not waste time by starting on the moment I set foot on the land of Nippon. Before retrieving our luggage and proceeding into the arrival hall, my group which consisted of 14 Malaysian students had to go through the immigration counters. We weren't accompanied by any adults; parents, officers or guardians, meaning that we were actually on our own. In other words, we had temporary freedom from our parents and guardians. Grew horns we did...right after we walked pass the immigration officers and into the oh-ever-amazing Japanese toilets. Malaysia is not an outdated countries in terms of restrooms. But believe me, we were behaving like aliens who just landed on Earth. Toilets in Japan are more advanced than those in developed countries. We call these toilets the BIDET TOILETS, also known as the Super Toilets.

I went, "Jo, there are buttons on the side of the toilet bowl!" *pressed the music button, played toilet-flushing sound* "Ahh..I thought they would play some Beyonce's songs." *facepalm*

A typical basic bidet toilet has bidet washing, anus washing and seat warming (the best thing on Earth during winter). More advanced bidet toilets have additional features such as massage options, deodorization and water jet adjustments. I've tried the one with massage options but honestly, i felt no difference. Just the humming sound of the machine of the toilet.

Chatting excitedly among ourselves, we entered the arrival hall, dragging our huge 25 kg luggage and hand luggage. We were greeted by a few AFS volunteers. Japanese student volunteers. Hence, those who have studied basic Japanese tried to converse with them in simple Japanese. Anthony was among the first ones to speak to them in nihongo (Japanese). The common words and sentences we used:

1. Genki desu ka. 元気ですか。(How are you?)
2. Genki desu. 元気です。(I am fine, thank you.)
3. Watashi no namae wa ....... 私の名前は.... (My name is ......)
4. Anata wa kirei desu. あなたは綺麗です。(You are beautiful.)
5. Hajimemashite. はじめまして。(Nice to meet you.)
6. Hai. はい。(Yes.)
7. Iie. いいえ。(No.)

While waiting for students from other countries to arrive, we lingered around the airport and eventually decided to buy our very first Japanese meals at the ubiquitous Lawson convenience store. Tell me, who would never start converting the currency when you're in a foreign country? I bet the cashier there had a shock to see the 14 of us calculating and converting the price. At that time, 100￥is equivalent to around RM3.60 to RM3.80. So, a 500￥tuna onigiri cost RM19 at most! I could have bought a filling black pepper chicken chop with that RM19!!!

Nevertheless, I had my first onigiri with shrimp filling. It felt so delicious simply because it was my first onigiri. Nowadays, I just eat onigiri with the 'meh' feeling.  

Once everyone had arrived, we boarded the shuttle buses to head to Narita Airport Hotel for an unexpected journey. 

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I don't think I would want to blog about my stay in Japan in the diary way of writing. I prefer writing about random things I can think of from the stay. So it won't be like Day 1, then Day 2 and so on. It gets really boring, in my opinion. 

Friday Macha

Friday Macha!!!

Coming soon to this blog on this Friday night (Malaysia time)!!

Hint: It's not a drink, neither a dessert.