Universal Studios Osaka

Loud music pumped out from speakers hidden everywhere. It was the type of music you would hear from a scene where the hero improves himself all in a very short space of time to achieve the impossible... that kind of inspirational, adrenaline pumping track.

When the gates swung open, gazillions of young teenagers rushed through into the magic land. They were laughing, smiling, skipping. Ushers were waving at us at the entrance, they were all clothed in colourful costumes and wearing a bright smile on their faces.

This combination slowly made me smirk, then smile, then suddenly I was grinning like a Cheshire cat and waving my hands around in excitement. Gaz would be scared stiff at my transformation, if he wasn't feeling a little like that himself.

We got on all the rides, except the mother of all roller coasters - Hollywood Dream. It was long, big and curly! (keep it clean!) With this ride, we were very disappointed. We stopped by 4 times, twice there was a waiting time of over 90 mins, and the last two times it was closed temporarily (wonder if there was an accident, or just to hype up the expectations?).

We took a break from Universal Studios by visiting Osaka-jo to catch it during sunset. It's cool, we were given a UV stamp on the back of our hand to enable us to get back into the amusement park.

Osaka Jo

Most nights there is a light show at 7pm in Universal Studios called the Magical Starlight Parade. The show was phenomenal! They really don't skimp on the lights and decorations.

Goodbye Japan! Thanks for the good memories!

Himeji

We left Kyoto for Osaka today. The duration of the trip on the train was only 20 mins. Once we got there, we were able to check into our room almost immediately although official check in time was hours later. It was looking rather gloomy so we hurried and got on the train to Himeji (1 1/4 hours away).

Luckily the weather held up for our trip to Himeji. This is a shogun's residence and fort, boasting 6 storeys in height. It really is quite different to the other shogun's (samurais' boss) residences we've been to. This one is distinctly combatant in nature - a moat, little holes in the walls to pour hot oil or shoot arrows at their enemies, even specially designed shelves on the wall to store bows and other weapons.

Like any other place, we saw young girls ambling up the steep hills to the place on stilletos and aunties in business suits with their family looking like the trip was just an afterthought and that they'd come visit during working hours.

Himeji-jo
The stairs up each level were incredibly steep and steps were big. I salute these elderly persons climbing the stairs with more gusto I can gather!
View from the top

Cute mascot of Himeji

After we got back from Himeji the heavens opened and rain poured down. It was really miserable weather... we had dinner at KFC across from our hotel. KFC is really not that good in Japan. A certain lack of spice I thought, and the coleslaw tastes too vinegary. But with the heavy rain, and a broken brolly (the wind turned it inside out while we were at Himeji... I nearly hurt a Japanese auntie walking behind me. I got some stern words... but hey, not like I can control the wind OK!) we were in no mood to go anywhere else.

Japan has been interesting and fun, but I now look forward to our last day in Japan tomorrow. After 2 weeks here, I look forward to going back to M'sia to have some family time.

Kyoto - Kinkakuji

Undoubtedly one of the most breath taking man made structures in Japan I've visited so far is the Golden Pavilion or Kinkakuji in Japanese. And to think I nearly went to the wrong place...

The story started with us at the bus station looking at every sign and trying to figure out the route each bus goes to (see... that's the difficulty of not knowing Japanese or written Mandarin. So memalukan not to know Mandarin). Anyway, it was about our fifth sign when I saw Ginkakuji. OK... that's close enough. Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji.. what's the diff. We lined up for the bus but had the sense to ask someone. Some intense map tapping and sign language later, we found out that's the wrong bus.

You see, Ginkakuji is the Silver Pavilion while Kinkakuji is the Golden Pavilion. They're on opposite sides of Kyoto. Ginkakuji is not really silver, it's a residence built by the person who built Kinkakuji for his dad. Kinkakuji as you will see, is really gold... breathtakingly bling bling shimmering on a clear still lake on a sunny day... so beautiful!




After the visit to Kinkakuji, we went to Fushimi Inarii, well known for its 4000 torii gates. The temple is dedicated to the fox gods, known for being resourceful and cunning, just like the successful business people who has a torii gate erected in return for donations when they forge success in their business. It takes 1 1/2 hours to finish walking through all the torii gates.

We saw a Shinto ceremony dedicating a baby, and also receiving a family shrine at Fushimi Inarii. No pictures allowed but I was drawn to the sedate tempo of the ceremony which involved dancing, singing and musical instruments.

After the International Manga Museum we visited yesterday, Gaz had to have another spot of manga culture today. We visited Japan's famous export - Osamu Tezuka and his creation Astroboy! Osamu has since passed on but the boy with the rocket butt still lives on. Can you spot me?

Kyoto

We discovered to our horror that the $600 JR Pass we bought is really inefficient for travelling around Kyoto. Kyoto is best served by the subway and bus, neither of which is available with the JR Pass. The walk from Kyoto train station to our hotel about 3 blocks away nearly broke my legs. A case of my knack for choosing 'good' hotels really working for us (but honey, they all look so spacious in the pictures and near to the train stations on the maps!). We had no choice but to get a 2 day freepass that allows us to use certain subway and bus lines in Kyoto for an additional 2000 yen per person.

The first destination for us was the Imperial Palace gardens. Not many people were there in the morning (we arrived around 8am) except for joggers. After the gardens we went to Nijo-jo (jo meaning castle in Japanese) which was a shogun's residence. We got to see the beautiful artworks on the wall, the nightingale floor (floor squeaks so no one can walk inside the castle without notice) and gardens.

Sakura at the Imperial Palace Gardens
A must-visit on Gaz's list is the International manga Museum so we went there after lunch. We spent about 3 hours in this place although there really isn't much on there. Reason? Because there are rows and rows of free manga in every language imaginable, and I found Doraemon in Malay among the shelves. I spent 1 hour reading Doraemon and 2 hours reading Oshinbo (this is really hot!).

We were there till closing time, after which we went to a well known shopping street Terramachi-dori (dori-Japanese for street). Although it is a street with shops, it has a roof over the it which makes it look like a shopping mall. Interspersed between the shops selling clothes, food etc are temples! It seems that it used to be a street with many temples until the govt dictated it to be a shopping street and relocated many of them elsewhere.

We also went to Gion, where geishas come out to play at night, and the place where Arthur Golden's book Geisha is based. Strings of lanterns hung along the street, and there were people everywhere. But there were also mysterious alleys behind teahouses (now restaurants) where I imagine a geisha would pop out anytime hurrying to her next engagement.
This used to be a teahouse (overheard from one English speaking guide talking to her group)

I love Kyoto, it really is a beautiful cultural place. On weekends, girls and women alike wear kimonos looking like beautiful butterflies fluttering down the street. I find the city has a good mix of big city and cultural attractions.

Nara

Nara is a place that is famous for its shrines and temples, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the temples we visited housed a giant Buddha which was very impressive.

Also in abundance at Nara are its deers, considered sacred creatures. Legend has it that a god arrived at Nara on a deer to guard the new capital (in Nara). Now, the deers roam free everywhere in Nara, and tourists are encouraged to buy deer biscuits to feed them.

We didn't buy any deer biscuits. This was a mistake because Gaz was involved in a tug of war with a deer over a map he was holding in his hands. The deer managed to chomp off a large piece of the map before he left us shaking. It was like the deer was saying to us, 'That'll show you to come into MY territory without any food!'

Hey guys, some new kids on the block! Let's go get some food from them!

Whadya mean you don't have any food for us??

I. WANT. MY. FOOD, dude!


When they're not terrorising tourists, they're docile little Bambi's

Takayama Food

There isn't much to do at night in Takayama. After all, the specialty of the town is the preservation of the original structures of old Japan, so after night falls and especially on a cold night it is very odd for a couple of tourists to be wandering the streets.

We were lucky that we had dinner early at 6pm. Because we were the last customers of this particular joint. Shortly after we finished our fabulous bowl of karey udon, the couple who ran the place packed up, and straight after we left, switched off the lights and locked the doors.

Delicious karey udon - simple Jap curry with udon. Very addictive.

Gaz's order - we didn't know what this was because the shop didn't have any pictures, or a word of English. Our trial and error ordering method worked out OK in the end.

So, we went back to the hotel and rifle through our backpacks for snacks. That is how the stockpile of foods we initially wanted to bring home for friends and family as presents became less and less towards the end of our trip. We had also brought our laptop so that was a great lifesaver. The internet, present in almost all hotel rooms (except the ryokan in Takayama) in the form of a cable, is a marvelous thing.

Night snack. Is this an egg?

No, this is an egg custard with black sesame dessert!

Takayama

We arrived at Takayama to snow!! Snow capped trees, snow on the pavement, snow everywhere. We don't see snow in Melbourne, except when one goes up to the mountains for skiing during winter so you can understand why this is a big deal to me. We were not prepared for it though, so keeping our feet dry was a challenge.





A shrine with sarubobo's. Sarubobo (left of the picture, hanging from the pegs) is literally translated as monkey baby and is an amulet associated with Takayama. It is a faceless human shaped doll, traditionally made by grandmothers to be given to their granddaughters as a charm for a good marriage, easy childbirth (monkeys have easy childbirth) and good relationships.



A Hello Kitty sarubobo

Food, Food, and more Food!

Some pictures from our dinner at the ryokan...





There must have been at least 20 different dishes in the meal. Simply the best eating experience ever. There were pickled veges, shabu shabu using Takayama beef, rice, sashimi, tempura, soup, both hot and cold dishes.

We were served dinner in our room, and after that someone came to make our futon for the night. The whole process is as graceful as watching a dance.

The next morning, more dishes were served in our room for breakfast. I find this dish particularly eye catching - poached eggs in miso. The yolk when broken made for a beautiful display of bright orange against the brown of the miso.



After a hearty brekky we said goodbye to Hakone and set out for Nagoya. The raincloud followed us to Nagoya so Gaz decided I needed an upliftt. What better than a good unagi meal to lift my spirits!

The unagi grilled to perfection, simply melted in my mouth. The menu outlined the way to eat this pot of unagi rice - divide it to 4 portions. One portion to eat as is, 2nd portion with the condiments provided of seaweed, wasabi and spring onions, 3rd portion with the condiments and also some soup. The final portion to be eaten as you prefer. I loved the way the unagi blended nicely with the seaweed and spring onions so I had it that way.





Chicken karaage with rice

Hakone

We are leaving Tokyo for Hakone today. First, the shinkansen (below) to Odawara, then the local train to Hakone Moto. One of the attractions of Hakone is the opportunity to tour the place with a range of transport - funicular train, cable car, ship. We got a pass which allows access to all modes of transport for 3900 yen each (about RM 120).

The view from Gora, the base of the mountain. Like winter wonderland..

After the funicular train ride (unmissable experience. The train kept zig zagging up the mountain when we thought it could not possibly have the power to climb up), we went on a cable car up Soun Zan.

Lake Ashinko, where we could have seen Mt Fuji on a clear day. It was however too cloudy. We sat on one of those pirate ships and spent 30 mins gliding on the clear water. Even saw a pirate on the ship!

After a long day, we relaxed in our ryokan. This is the view from our apartment.

Rainy Day

One of the things I wish I can buy, along with the plane tickets, accommodation while on holiday is good weather. Unfortunately I have no control over that. It has been raining for two days now and puts a dampner on the tone of the holiday. Seeing it was pouring, we went to the National Museum. Admission fees to the property was 600 yen per person, and that allows entrance into all five buildings on the grounds for general exhibitions only.

One of the museums, housing the Asian collection.

This must be as comfortable as wearing... metal.

No dripping umbrellas allowed inside, so lock them!

After a day at the museum, we took the train to Yokohama, 40 minutes away. The weather isn't any different there, it's still raining. Yokohama has the largest Chinatown in Japan, so that's where we went for some familiar sights and food. Compared to Melbourne's 2 street Chinatown, Yokohama is a suburb!

Chinese grocery shops with their wares spilling out onto the sidewalks.

The familiar arch, a must in every Chinatown!

One of our mission in Yokohama is to look for decent Chinese food. Truth be told, I was dying for some reasonably priced Chinese food. Although I adore Japanese food, it's time to eat something I grew up with. While we were comparing menus among the restaurants on the main street, a lady slid up to us and started telling us in Mandarin about her restaurant nearby that can offer a better price. To top it up, she'll even give us FOC xiao long bao if we went to her r'ant.

The offer seemed good, so we went with her. I wasn't walking fast enough for her liking, because she linked her hands with mine and literally dragged me to her restaurant, all the time asking where I was from, how much the average wages are in Malaysia because her brother wanted to work there, how much is the conversion rate from RM to Renminbi etc. Just to be friendly, and so that I wouldn't change my mind about going with her I suppose.

The restaurant is located away from the main street, and does not look as flashy as the ones we've seen so far. Also, there was no one in the restaurant. I got a little scared actually... was a group of people ready at the back of the shop to pounce on us to take away our passports and money? Or our kidneys?

No such thing happened, and as we progressed with our meal, more people trickled into the shop, brought in by the lady we'd seen earlier. The meal itself was satisfactory, and we got our complimentary xiao long baos served steaming in a bamboo steamer. It was a nice end to our meal.

Exploring Tokyo

My knees gave out on me after the two days of hard walking... I should have done some training before embarking on this ambitious trip. Our plan is to visit quite a number of places around Japan, travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto with a backpack each. So we took it easy today and did some leisurely exploring of Tokyo.

Can't break that homey-ness in me, just had to visit a supermarket and look at the local produce.


Was at the Imperial Gardens and saw a large contingent of marathon runners passing through the city. Kampate!

Tokyo Imperial Palace

Tokyo by night - crowded, rowdy and full of life.