Homestay with the Nakata Family (Part 3 of 3)

The Nakata Family House

Woke up at 8.30am only to find that breakfast was already waiting for me. The kids and mom were already waiting downstairs for me. Yah, I know what you are thinking now, but no, I was not guilty because the kids were also engrossed on their PlayStation 2 and Ikumi were half-way through some chores.

We left for BBQ at Kameda Park. We were late but not the last. Had miso soup, yaki-soba, seafood and lots of seafood, sausages and yaki BANANA! The families were really warm and nice to be with. The BBQ was a hive of activities. New activities happening every minute and there were many events happening in the same minute. There were over 20 members at the BBQ and only 5 foreigners. At one point, there was a magic show, on the other hand, it was about Malaysian food and then at another corner, someone dressed in Totoro appeared.
With the other host families

Konan related my yaki-soba horror story to my host family and the rest of the people listening to it. O well, he managed to embarrass me though. You see, last month I bought a packet of raw yaki-soba (then, it was only known as soba to me since I was kanji-dumb) after yearning for pork noodles.

Yaki-soba

To me, soba looked exactly like our Malaysian yellow noodles. In fact it came with packet ingredients just like our Maggi mee. So, I dumped everything in the pot to cook with it and it was a disaster. So happened Konan dropped by for a visit when the disaster struck. When we saw the same packet of soba at the BBQ and watched how it was cooked, he looked at me and laughed out loud. The ingredient packet was actually for frying and not as a soup base…o how silly! Well, I learnt from mistakes...
Time to wash up before going home

We packed to go home at 5.30pm when the weather turned chilly and too windy. The Japanese people surprised me with their sense of responsibility in public places. I mean, just like everyone else, I have heard that Japanese people are known for their discipline and now I could stand to attest this statement. I loved the way they handle garbage. They separate the garbage even in public areas based on combustibles and non-combustibles. I hope I had a before-after shot to describe in detail. They were so meticulous and even to look out for small sweet wrappers and comb the ground to make sure everything is picked up before leaving. Such high discipline of the Japanese made me shudder when I suddenly thought of the public picnic areas in Malaysia.

I reached home at 6.30pm. Once again, the Nakata family managed to pull a quick surprise on me again even to the last minute before I bode them farewell. Remember the yaki-soba story Konan told? While taking my bag out from the car boot, Ikumi gave me a new packet of yaki-soba and asked me to try cooking again. It was really touching. O well, it was just soba, but to me, it was more than that. She was so sai-sum and that really touched me.

I never realized how tired I was until after bathing and when I slumped on the sofa, trying to reconcile to myself on the enormous activities that took place from the day before to the very hour before I came home, and up to the grand finale from the Nakata family. Then I thought to myself…o boy, this is the best I ever had since coming here…..