Day 3: Osaka - 6 Dec 2017

We checked out from our hotel in Nagoya and had our McDonald's breakfast at the JR Nagoya station. Thereafter we went to book our one-way Shinkansen tickets to Osaka which took us quite some time.

The whole journey from Nagoya to Osaka was only 50 mins. It was such a comfortable ride that I wanted to catch a nap but couldn't because the journey was too short! From JR Osaka station to our MyStays Hotel Shinsaibashi, it was a short ride via subway train. Our hotel was conveniently located just 2 mins walk from exit 7 from the Shinsaibashi station and it was so near to Dotonbori as well.  This hotel's location is well positioned and the price we paid for triple room sharing were at $330 per night,  which was considered expensive.

We took a short stroll around the small shops around our hotel and had udon for lunch.  Thereafter,  we decided to check in and rested for an hour before heading out to Dontonbori.

The streets were filled with tourists.. And we tried various street foods made available. Ethan wasn't too cooperative that night and we had so much problems trying to keep him close to us given the crowds.  He didn't eat much at Gyu Kaku where we had our dinner (the Gyu Kaku prices were almost 30-40% cheaper than SG Chjimes outlet which I have tried before!).

Our triple room in Hotel MyStays

saw this Manneken Pis statue just outside our lunch venue..

At Dotonbori

the fish cakes and prawn cakes were nice

at Gyu Kaku

And of course,  he took the opportunity to ask for phone time in exchange to eat some beef and rice for dinner. We gave in reluctantly as we needed him to take some food.

It took us about 10 mins to walk back to our hotel and ob the way,  Ethan requested to eat some cup noodles for supper. So obviously he's not full with the amount of food he took at Gyu Kaku! 

Day 2: Nagoya - 5 Dec 2017

6 degrees today...  Brr...

We didn't have any concrete itinerary this time round so we moved around based on what we could research during our breakfast time.. So this was rather impromptu :)

Bakery near Nagoya station 

After breakfast,  we took a subway train out to Nagoya castle. It was located very near to the station so finding it wasn't too difficult. We had subscribed to Changi Wi-Fi service and it's assuring to have this on hand (in case we need to navigate). 

Some sightseeing inside the castle.. The boys had a lot of fun trying to pull the weight of some rocks which gave them a taste of the efforts required from the ancestors..

Taking a break at the foot of the castle..

Lunch at a small eatery near Nagoya castle,  surprisingly their fried chicken was really nice (crispy on the outside,  tender and juicy on the inside)

At Oasis 21, there was a ice skating event which we pay 500 yen per child for unlimited play!  (no additional charges for renting of skating shoes).
In such a cold weather,  the boys had alot of fun skating in the outdoor rink while we adults were frozen out in the open watching them!

At first,  they were not so steady.. 

 After 40 mins,  they were skating quite well - almost like a pro..

Sushi outlets are generally very popular wherever we go. We had to wait in the line for quite some time at this Oasis 21 store before we could get seats to have our dinner.  Their Salmon and Ebi were really nice and we ordered multiple times for the same plates! 

And whatever we go, this boy just want his kappa maki and tamago maki...

The boys pants and gloves were so messy with the fake snow from the ice-skating rink that we have to send our clothes to the laundry that night.

Day 1: Nagoya - 4 Dec 2017

We missed Japan so much that we decided to do another visit back there but this time round, exploring a different prefecture!

We were rather late when we booked our air tickets back in August and we took SQ as it was the cheapest option made available for the dates we were looking at (early Dec). To optimise our stay, we picked a midnight flight and hope the kids could sleep through the entire journey.

Supper at T3

Our flight was scheduled at 1.20am and by the time they turned off the lights and back on,  it was only a span of 3 hrs. Most of us didn't sleep well (or at all)  and we were completely zoned out when we reached Nagoya airport.

It took us some time to find our hotel and after our lunch,  we headed back to check in at 2pm and took an afternoon nap. It was so refreshing for all of us thereafter and we concluded that we shouldn't pick an overnight flight next time!

We explored around Nagoya station area during evening time and had our dinner there. We ended up having spaghetti for dinner which was not too bad.

There's a Muji and Loft located near Takashimaya and I managed to get some winter accessories at a discount in muji :) Thereafter I realised that other Muji store in Sakae doesn't carry sale the same sale items so again, the conclusion is.. buy when you see stuff during holidays!

Here's our itinerary :

Day 1 Nagoya

      From the airport, take the train (Meitetsu Railways) to Nagoya Station. It cost 1,230 yen for reserved seats first class cars. 30mins

      Richmond Hotel Nagoya Shinkansen-guchi (10 mins walk from Nagoya station)

Day 2 Nagoya

Day 3 Osaka

      From Nagoya station, take JR Tokaido Shinkansen - 60mins at 6,500 yen. Stop at Shin-Osaka station. Take subway Midosuji line to Shinsaibashi station. 2 min walk from Exit 7 to Hotel MyStays Shinsaibashi (love this location!)

Day 4 Osaka

Day 5 Osaka

Day 6 Kanazawa 

      Activated JR pass - 5-day JR pass $169 per adult, $85 per child. Take from Shin-Osaka or Osaka station - 2.5hrs.

      Hotel Mystays Kanazawa Castle (lovely hotel as well! so near to the station)

      Reserve Nohi Bus to Shirakawa-Go first

Day 7 Shirakawa-go

      Bus stop #2 on the east side of JR Kanazawa Station. Journey takes about 1 hour 20mins. Accomodation is at Hisamatsu 

Day 8 Takayama - Hirayu

      From Shirakawago bus terminal, take the Nobi bus to Takayama. (50mins) At Takayama station, take Nohi Bus to Hirayu Onsen (not covered by JR pass) - 1,570 yen

      

       Accommodation: Hodakaso Sanganoyu -  506-1433, Takayama, Okuhidaonsengo Hirayu 138 (love this place too)

Day 9 Nagoya

      From Hirayu Bus Terminal, take Nohi Bus to Takayama Station - not covered by JR - 1,570 yen

      From Takayama station, take the JR Hida limited express. 2 hrs 30 mins. Covered by JR Pass.

      Back at Richmond Hotel Nagoya Shinkansen-guchi for 1 night

Day 10 Departure - SQ 10.30 am

Apart from the transport and accommodation.. we did not plan out the rest of the itinerary.. so it's going to be fun just exploring each place

Ethan's and PaPa's birthday celebrations

Both Ethan and PaPa's birthdays were only 1 month apart and we had our fair share of their favorite food for the past few weeks :)

PSLE results day

The moment of truth finally happened on 24th November (Friday). I have applied to work from home on that day so that I could be there with Caden to provide any emotional support he needed in school.

I was feeling chilled during this school holiday until the eve of the results day when most of my friends started to show their support in our watsapp group. It was all triggered from good intentions but they resulted in BIG butterflies in my tummy ... on the results day, it was nerve-wreaking as we waited for the time to pass from 8am....

We reached school at about 11am and the school Principal (Mr Gao) gave a long speech about the school's vision and values... etc, etc.. and finally talked about how this year's cohort has fared. Generally, improvement from last year's results, and notably, big improvement in distinction rate for Higher Chinese.

Suddenly, Mr Gao announced the students who scored 250 and above so all of us could give our applause to these kids who have done well.. and I was elated that he was included in the list !

Whilst he did well to achieve his distinction in Higher Chinese, his overall aggregate fell short of the cut-off points for his dream school... we spoke to him and he was well aware of the situation and accepted that we will try out another school which is equally focused in Bilingualism. We told him that he has done well and deserved a pat on his back! (although the journey this year was tough)

Fingers crossed - hope that he gets into the choices we have put up in our selection list!

Update on 22 Dec : Caden was posted to Dunman High - and I'm happy that he made it there based on his own credits although we missed out on the DSA opportunity.

Our DSA journey 2017

We were given some encouragement by our neighbors to put Caden through the DSA application this year because of the words "if you don't try,  you never know "

So I decided to do submit applications to 2 schools of his choice in June. Although I know the chances are very slim,  given that he didn't have consistent academic records over the past 2 years and have not won any awards in any competitions - I went on to apply under the CCA leadership domain for both schools. 

True enough,  we never heard from 1 of the schools throughout the selection period. But miraculously,  the other school shortlisted him for a first round of interview in July.  I think Caden was happy then but we didn't make any efforts to prepare him for potential questions because I feel that he has to either think of the questions and prepare his own responses himself. And the first round of interview didn't seem to go well because he told me that he couldn't get to speak as much as the other 2 students in the group interview as they were grabbing every opportunity to answer the questions first..  So I thought it will be a no-go after round 1.

Miraculously,  we were called up for round 2 interview sometime in early Aug. I was thinking maybe the school is probably looking out for genuine candidates who don't respond in a scripted manner. I didn't prep him again for round 2 but rendered my support by driving and accompanying him to the school. 

During registration,  I was taken aback with the no. of applicants scheduled for round 2 and worked out that the probability of being selection is at most 35% (true enough, this year's intake from DSA is 35%). Mentally I was prepared but I didn't share this stats with Caden prior to his session. He felt good after the interview but I knew he couldn't address most of the questions well when he shared with me his responses to the questions asked.  

True enough, today we received the rejection letter from the school. Coupled with the results from his prelims,  I hope this will be the last push for him to get out of his complacency and work harder. I can't read if he's upset or affected with the rejection news but we told him that the only way to get into those schools now are very much dependent on his final results. 

PSLE - Countdown to 9 more days

9 more days to first paper of the anticipated national exams.

All I am asking / hoping is that my dear son is making good use of his spare time after school to do revision. 

Still questioning if I have made a right choice by working on most days in the last 6 months when most mummies would have already been on sabbatical leave this year.