Miraculous encounter
16/4/24: 4th Day Chiba @ Arioka Daiki
One of my sisters, Ya-chan and I went out early to Tokyo Station to find route to Goi Station.
Then my other sisters would come to Tokyo Station by taxi with my parents so that they wouldn't have to walk around with us to find the correct platform
(Most of the times, they would walk together with us to find the correct way to train station, despite I told them to stay at one place while my sister and I go to confirm the correct route - They wasted so much energy there)
Okay, everything went smoothly until the train came.
We planned to catch the train to Goi at 8 AM so that we can ride Kominato Train at 9 AM.
I don't know what happened, I rode first because if I don't enter first, they wouldn't ride because they were unsure whether it was the correct train or not.
But when I turned around, I saw my father and one of my younger sisters were outside the train and the door was already closed 🤦🏻
My father should be able to ride the train but because my sister was still outside, he got off the train to catch my sister
Gosh, my timing was already off here.
Ya-chan had to get off at the next station to go back to Tokyo Station to pick up my father and sister, while the rest and I proceeded to Goi Station and we would meet there.
Then, I received messages from my brother who was in Malaysia, telling me my father was not happy, moody because he was hungry, and my brother suggested me an Indian Halal restaurant in Goi.
Cut it short, I changed my plan again.
I gave up on the timing.
Let them spend their times in Yoro Valley, then we would have our late lunch at Goi before heading back to Tokyo, pack our luggages and check out - No time to rest
Telling the truth, I was very sad and almost cried.
I spent a lot of times and energy to plan this trip, but everyone didn't seem to enjoy it 😢
Was already gave up on the day.
I just wanted the day to finish as soon as possible so that my parents can rest.
(I also was sad because I missed to watch Hirunandesu at real time)
My sisters wanted to eat Japanese food but my parents didn't enjoy it, but still, priority is my parents, so I changed the next food plan to Indian, Arabic or Asian food.
I cancelled all the bookings I did for the next days.
It was a sad day, but not until we rode Kominato train.
The view was amazing, pleasant and peaceful.
Thanks God, everyone seemed to enjoy it, the mood changed 😀
At Yoro Valley Station, we rode bus to Awamata Waterfall. Chiba people we met throughout the journey were very nice and friendly 😍
My sister jokingly said, our impression of Chiba people was, as lively and noisy as Daiki 😂
Despite it passed its departed time, the bus driver waited for us because my parents couldn't walk faster to catch the bus.
He also stopped every time he saw someone walking, asking whether they wanted to ride the bus because the way to the station was far and they might miss their train.
Cut it short, we enjoy the nature through Kominato route and at Awamata Waterfall.
By the time we arrived at Goi, it was already around 4 PM plus, but we planned to have meal there.
Unfortunately or VERY FORTUNATELY the restaurant in Goi was closed. Okay, changed plan again 😅
We would return to Tokyo and have meal at Asian Monica restaurant which was close to our hotel.
The rest went first while Ya-chan and I went to retrieve shinkansen tickets.
It was already 5 PM, we were in a hurry.
I told the taxi driver, Nihonbashi Ningyocho, 2-chome because I thought it'd be complicated to tell him the exact address.
We'd go find the restaurant once we arrive at 2-chome, I told Ya-chan.
As soon as we got off the taxi, we walked so fast crossing the road, searching for the restaurant.
It was almost 17:30.
Then we were crossing another street, there were like few people were gathering near a junction, quite a crowd, I didn't care, I just wanted to arrive at the restaurant as soon as possible.
It was there that Ya-chan suddenly asked me, "Isn't it Daiki?"
Seriously I couldn't comprehend what she was saying.
I was running, tired, hypoxic and gasping for air
(The only food I ate that day was, few beans of edamame and water)
"Isn't it Daiki?"
I saw some familiar faces few meters from me.
I saw someone looked like Matsuo-san from Chocopura, then I saw next to him was Osada-san.
When we approached closer, I could see a very familiar face hidden in between the crowd, a very small figure in a cream parker and short pants, talking something in front of the camera.
(Ya-chan saw him first but I couldn't see him because he was surrounded by the staffs, the staffs were tall, and I'm just 149 cm, Ya-chan is taller than me)
I don't know, perhaps my brain was hypoxic and I started to have hallucination, but he was so sweet and small, the skin was very fair, fairer than those we saw on TV/ magazines, and glowing, radiant, the cheeks were chubby like soft buns that would bounce back if you touch!
They weren't chubby as in 'fat' but chubby and glowing like a baby.
(I forgot to say, he looks younger than on TV)
I couldn't believe my eyes, I pointed my finger towards him, asking Ya-chan, "Daiki? Daiki? Daiki?"
I think I said it slowly because I felt very rude and worried I'd disturb their recording.
He stopped talking in front of the camera, looked at my way and smiled, waving his right hand lowly and bowed lightly.
As I walked past him (behind all the staffs) (from his right side to the left),
I wished him "Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu" slowly,
I didn't rise my tone I swear, I didn't shout, I thought he didn't hear that,
but he replied "Ah, arigatou gozaimasu" and bowed lightly again.
As we passed the group of staffs, we stopped at quite an open space, like 5 large mozaics from him.
I just wanted to see him, I thought they would continue the shooting, but they didn't.
He 'escorted' us with his eyes until we passed to the left and stopped there, and kept smiling at us.
I was just looking at him, when I realized my sister took out her phone to snap his picture (because her phone was on the whole time as she was looking at the google map)
Okay, a very good and fast reflex, unlike me.
That time, he was turning facing the camera to continue the shooting - He didn't really realize my sister was about to snap his photo I think
But I was panicked, I thought we cannot take photos.
I didn't want to do something rude, so I stopped my sister.
So I looked at him and asked if we could take his photo.
Two staffs immediately came closer and said "Sumimasen" with 🙅
He looked at me and did this pose 🙏🏻
He said something!
"Gomen nasai"?
Why I cannot recall it now?
I could remember it till just now.
As I'm writing this, all the memories fly 😭😭😭😭
(EDIT: My memory comes back, I'm sure he said "Gomen nasai" with this gomen nasai 🙏🏻 pose ----- Cutely while tilting his head a bit to the left side, shutting his eyes tight --- Okay, just imagine Dai-chan apologizing cutely)
I apologized, "Ah, sumimasen" few times, bowed few times as I walked away.
I wished I could stay longer but I didn't want to bother them, I didn't want to make it look like his fans disturbed the flow of the shooting.
That's why I didn't dare to talk in normal tone, I was almost whispering actually, and I didn't dare to greet Matsuo-san and Osada-san as well despite they were there looking.
Now thinking back, I feel very bad and rude to him, Chocopura and the staffs for disturbing them.
I even didn't want to talk to him at first because that'd disturb them, but I thought I wouldn't have this chance again, that's why I gathered all the courage and be as rude as to wish him happy birthday while they were working/ recording
It was a undescribable miraculous experience but left me a bad feeling at the same time.
I left before apologizing to the team for disturbing them.
I wished I had said "Jyama shite sumimasen, shitsurei shimashita"
Anyhow, I managed to find the restaurant which was very close to the shooting.
Gasping for air, my brain was very hypoxic, I told my other sisters, "Daiki! We saw Daiki! He was there!"
"Who? Arioka Daiki!?"
So everyone returned back (or rather running as fast as we could) to see him.
He didn't turn to our side though, and they started to walk to the other side. I think he didn't notice us because by the time we arrived, they were about to left.
My sisters told me, such a waste because the few people gathered there even recorded it on their phone.
I don't know whether they were his fans or not because everyone was so relaxed and calm, unpanicked like me.
My sister jokingly teased me, "You went until Chiba but end up meeting him in Tokyo, so randomly on the street"
Overall, my impression was,
what I saw on TV was like 70% of Arioka Daiki.
He was way way way more more more more prettttierrrr and cuterrr and smaller!
I couldn't remember the rest of my journey I just wanna recall back our short conversation.
Memories, please come back to me 😭😭😭😭
17/4/24
We managed to see full bloom sakura at Takayama and Shirakawago
18/4/24
My parents enjoyed the animals, penguins and sea creatures at Ten-ouji Zoo and Kaiyukan Aquarium.
We ate delicious halal burger, had big crabs and shrimps sold by 'singlet oniisan' both at Kuromon Market.
We didn't manage to go to Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park though ☹️
But we returned to Osaka Ca
Daiki wore these clothes, Matsuo-san wore PULL UP T-shirt