[2016 日本 Japan] 鹿兒島縣榻榻米 Kagoshima Prefecture Tatami

小時候經常看叮噹(現在已改名為多啦A夢)，最吸引我的是叮噹總是睡在衣櫃內，大雄就在榻榻米上舖上棉被，那就變成｢睡床｣。

Doraemon is the cartoon I used to watch a lot in my childhood. It was so interesting that Doraemon sleep inside the closet and Nobi (the boy who Doraemon stayed with all the time) put the blanket on the Tatami mattress to be his bed.

到達屋久島民宿，走上二樓，打開趟門，我眼前出現大雄的睡房，兩面窗﹑竹墊榻榻米﹑天花燈連著開關吊繩﹑叮噹的衣櫃睡房和房中唯一的矮桌。一切都十分日式，放下背包躺在榻榻米上，頭部貼近竹墊時，還聞到悠悠的竹香。經過三個小時船程，然後背著背包由碼頭走20分鐘到民宿，遇上大雨手腳濕透，那感覺很不舒服，所以當我躺下休息後，萬分不願意起來。外出後，心裡整天想著回民宿，因為榻榻米真的很舒服。

The room of the homestay in Yakushima is on the second floor. We opened the traditional Japanese slide door and I found the bedroom of Nobi in front of me. The room has two sides windows, bamboo Tatami floor, the ceiling light hanging with a long rope as power control,

[2016 日本 Japan] 鹿兒島縣溫泉 Kagoshima Prefecture Onsen

鹿兒島屬於九洲，九洲的溫泉在日本很有名，不難找到天然溫泉，因為全都是天然，並不是熱水浴。

Kagoshima Prefecture is one of the regions in Kyushu, Japan. Kyushu is well-known for Onsen (hotspring in Japanese). It is common to see onsen which are 100% natural, not like hot tub. 

單在鹿兒島便有多間溫泉，地圖清楚用紅色熱飲圖案，即是有三條打直波浪指示溫泉位置，如露天風呂、半山溫泉日式旅館﹑傳統溫泉浴堂等，

[2016 日本 Japan] 鹿兒島縣 Kagoshima Prefecture ATM

原來不單止是鹿兒島，而是整個日本的ATM都不一定受理日本以外國家簽發的提款咭。(第一次到日本，大鄉里出城) 機場有兩部ATM，一間是鹿兒島銀行，一間是郵局ATM。我們拿著不同銀行簽發的提款卡，都只能在郵局ATM成功提款，每人提了¥35,000，所以一共¥70,000 (約HKD5300)。

If you have a  debit card issued by any country but Japan, PLEASE keep reading. The ATM in Japan may not  accept  your card when you withdrew money. I didn't imagine this would cause us so much trouble in the days in Yakushima. We tried the only two ATM machines in Kagoshima Airport. One is operated by the  Kagoshima Bank which doesn't like our debit cards ; while another one is the post office ATM and luckily we can successfully  withdrew  ¥35,000 each. If we really have no cash, we could perhaps trade with people to get exchange of the ticket or food we need.  

由鹿兒島銀行營運的ATM 
ATM operated by Kagoshima Bank

郵局ATM
Post Office ATM

農曆七月電梯遇見帥哥 Handsome in the Elevator in July Lunar Calendar

兩個帥哥與我同在電梯內，他們是住在我樓下的兄弟。回到家中，我居然見到我的菲律賓同志同事在我家。我告訴他我碰到兩位帥哥，他們住在樓下。

I was in the elevator with two handsome guys.  They are brothers and live one floor down. When I arrived home,  I was surprised to see that my gay Filipino colleague was at my place. I told him I met two handsome and they live just downstairs.  

我們想了一個到訪帥哥家的藉口，好讓我們可以近距離看再看他們一次。我的同事十分興奮，用他的高八度聲線尖叫起來。不知什麼原因，我們最後跟帥哥們坐在餐廳內聊天，氣氛很好。但每當我想問他們一些關鍵問題時，總有一道閃光出現暫亂歌柄。

Then we come up with an idea to go to their place with an excuse so could have a closer look of the brothers. My colleague was soooo excited and used his signature high pitch voice to cheer!! Ended up we all sit at the restaurant with the handsome having nice conversation.  At a point,  I want to ask some critical questions,  a flash would appeared and interrupted me.  

[2016 越南 胡志明 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam] 水上木偶戲 Water Puppet Show

多謝三嬸的悉心安排，來了越南幾天，天天吃得飽，去旅行不外乎是吃喝玩樂，玩得開心，食得放心，那就十分完美。這幾天都做到以上所說，只是間中有人鬧情緒，大人因小朋友頑皮而經常動肝火，兄弟之間出現誤會，愛面子不道歉而不快，小朋友爭玩具鬧交，針鋒相對最後由大人出手化解，但歸根究底都是一家人，轉頭便會放下芥蒂，圍在一起吃飯。

Thank you for the sweet arrangement of my Auntie Three. The days in Vietnam were all Eat, Play, Sleep. I had a lot of fun and eating a lot of good food. The only imperfect would be the bad moments between each other. Adults were angry of their naughty kids, they had misunderstanding among each other but the wrong one refused to apology, the kids fought among themselves and hated each other. All in all, we belong to the same family and would not angry for long. That is true because we sit together to have the next meal later on.

三嬸安排了越南最後一餐吃海鮮宴，還由她媽媽親自下廚，由買料到煮一手包辦，餵飽我們一行廿人的胃！

Our last meal in Vietnam is Seafood Buffet, organised by Auntie Three and prepared by her mom. Her mom took our order and be the chef to cook. A total of 20 tummies are satisfied.

[2016 越南 胡志明 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam] 羊乳羊奶羊奶珠事件 Goat Milk/Goat Cheese/ Goat Nipples?!

參加Sinh Tourist的一天團，Sinh Tourist 是具規模的當地旅行社，不單在胡志明市，在河內都有分行，包辦本地一天團、越南短線團、老撾柬埔寨的長線團﹑特定主題如登山﹑單車、生態團，還有越南菜烹飪班。旅行團主要以英文越文為主，但我看到單張也有提供粵語或日文，如果人多包團便可以要求其他語言。報名及出發當日都有很多客人，絕對不是掛羊頭賣狗肉的黑店，大家可以放心。

We joined the one day tour organised by Sinh Tourist which is a large scale tourist agency in Vietnam. They have another branch in Hanoi other than the one in Ho Chi Minh City. They offer one day tour, few days trip in Vietnam, tour to Laos and Cambodia, tour featuring hiking, cycling, eco and nature, or even Vietnamese cooking class. The guide speaks English and Vietnamese. However, Cantonese or Japanese can be provided upon requested, such as the group is tailor made to the group of foreigners. I saw lots of tourists on the day we enrolled and set off. So the reputation is good and if you are lazy to plan, that would be an option.

先坐兩小時巴士離開胡志明市前往效區，再轉小船到訪蜜蜂/米紙/椰子島品嚐蜂蜜、參觀米紙、椰子製品生產過程。

To head to the country side, we first took two hours coach to leave Ho Chi Minh City. After that, another boat ride to the island to see the production of honey, Vietnamese rice sheet, coconut products.

[2016 越南 胡志明 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam] 越南婚禮 Vietnamese Wedding

今天重要環節就是接新娘和晚上的飲宴，稍為整理好儀容便出發，我叔叔沒有邀請朋友來做兄弟團，但不用怕，因為家族陣容龐大，單靠我其他叔叔們，我哥和一班堂弟妹已經夠睇頭，這便是名副其實的｢兄！弟！團｣！

Wedding Day!! We picked up the bride in the morning and had the banquet at night. Woke up early and dressed up ourselves. My uncle, the groom, did not invite his friends to come nor having the groomsmen. That would not be an issue when his whole family were present to support him. I have a lots of uncles, together with my brother and all my cousins, he has the warmest “Groomsmen & Groomswomen” ever. 

Chinese Sharing: In marriage, the bride and the groom will find their best/ good friends to be the bridesmaids/ groomsmen. In Chinese, we literally called the bridesmaids/ groomsmen as Group of Sisters/ Brothers even we are not biological related. In my uncle case, he did has his best groomsmen which formed by a group of his biological brothers.