Taiwan Rocks!

Nope I'm not going to start writing about my Taiwan trip just yet(even though I'm dying to-the trip was filled with so much joy and laughter nothing can contain it), at least not until i have all the pictures and videos about it. And i decided to shift the content to be more informative and hopefully help others in obtaining information. My home in kyoto

With that in mind, the journey in Japan continues.

I woke up to a fresh smell of Japanese lodging, one that is not built as a hotel but as a home and the thought of that is as spiritually lifting as it can possibly get. And so it kickstarts another great day. One which distinguish Japan from other countries and one where i will meet an unexpected someone.

The shrine of the Foxes

Row of tori one after another

A short 15mins train ride away from where we stayed, we started to our first destination, Fushimi Inari Shrine - the shrine of the foxes. It is also the place where Zhang Ziyi ran with the backdrop of many toris in the Memoirs Of The Geisha. But little did we know that this "shrine" actually refers to the whole mountain... With the thought that something good might be waiting at the top, we began our ascend not knowing how far it is to the summit. So our walk up gradually transform into a hike up as we went higher and higher. Even though it is the transition into winter, the hike up was no mean feat. And much to my surprise, a familiar figure emerged from the steps as I went higher.

Mr Foo Kok Wei(is that his gf??)

Mr Foo Kok Wei! My Civics Tutor(which basically means Class Teacher) from my JC. There is a long story between me and him but it will be mentioned here. In any case, it is still a pleasant surprise to see a familar face, especially in such an unexpected place.

Step by step we continue climbing, leaving behind Mr Foo who seems to had age catching up on him. And after an arduous workout, we finally reached the top to reveal a less than spectacular sight. Infact, the sight at the top seems like any other at the foot of the hill. So for those who intend to visit this place, please dont go further than 15mins up the hill, its not worth the time and effort to do it.

Kiyomizu temple

Next destination that we headed to is the kiyomizudera temple - Temple Of Water. The first thing that greeted us is the hordes of students entering and exiting the temple. Even though this temple is a popular site for tourist, it is the same for many class and even school excursion. The temple is a real beauty by itself offering sights that can potentially kill if you hold your breath for too long. Walked around the old streets of kyoto for some snacks and some purse for the ladies. After that its Home Sweet Home!

Students lining up for a group shot

Green Tea Ice Cream

Even though it is not a day filled with fun filled activities or meeting new people, this day shows me the reason why Japan is as it is today, a place yet modern and traditional at the same time.

Bitten By The Travel Bug

It almost seems to me that NS doesnt stand for National Service. Instead its more of Not Singapore. I have been travelling extensively during this period, much more than i ever travelled before. And once again, i will be jumping on a plane heading for taiwan in 2 days time!

I am half way through my post on Japan, have not even started on India(went a month ago) and now I will have another to catch up on once i am back.
But no matter, i am very sure that this trip will be one to remember.
So wish me luck and see you in 2 weeks time!

Long Live The King

Sunday isn't like any other day.

I love sunday, i really do.

Its a day where most people did not have to work.

Feeling less stressful, they mysterious transform into better conversing companion, at least for the day.



Putting that aside, my sunday in japan was well spent. Its a layered cake of modern societal custom mixed with passed down traditional rituals with a international observance as a cherry topping.

Last view of my hostel. It served us well for its cost.

Local Meto

We started the day off with the highly acclaimed Harajuku area where many youngsters came to satisfy their weekly cosplay appetite. But apparently we went abit too early, and we headed to the Meji Shrine just around the corner where we were told that we could be able to see weddings if we are lucky.

We didnt know how to get to the cosplay area so we followed them :D

What we didnt know was that the shrine is located in the middle of a big park and we had to take a 15mins walk to reach it. Fortunately for us the weather, the architecture and the people around made the the walk very enjoyable.

She Stopped for me!

Tradition where you have to wash your hands and mouth before entering a shrine

I guess sunday is really a good day for me, we not only witness 1 but 2 wedding ceremonies going on and one of the couple was a japanese lady and a eurasian guy!

A japanese couple

Its actually pretty cool to see a mix of asian and eurasian in a wedding photo line up

I took this great shot! They should make me their photographer instead

Nina went to ask if she could take a photo of them but was brushed aside nonchalantly by their photographer. It was funny watching her sulking as she walked away though.

There were many people writing wishes on wooden blocks and we too had a go at it. Although i dont really know who the god for that shrine is, i certainly hope he/she was feeling benevolent that day.

We went back to the area where most of the cosplayers were gathered after that and even though there was evidently more of them now, none of them seems to be geared up for a photo taking session. Most of them were just cuddling together and chatting away. We did see some interesting people though.

No i didnt hug him...
Cuddling in the cold

Cosplayers

Harajuku

Streets of Harajuku

Many people would have know that other than cosplay, harajuku is famous for its fashion apparels. We went to walk around abit and bought some stuff before my alarm on my phone rang.

Its time to depart for kyoto.

Prior to this trip, we had earlier arrangement with a family in kyoto who would be holding us for 2 nights. We hopped on High Speed Bullet train and emerged out of kyoto station 4 hours later. Even though its my first time on a high speed rail and its going really fast, it actually doesn't feel alot different from normal trains. The only thing i would feel is the pinch in my wallet if we didn't get the rail pass. Mind you, a one way ticket to kyoto would cost more than S$150. And even though we bought the rail pass, its still an exorbitant S$363 for a week.

We though it was cold when we were in tokyo but we were proven very wrong when we arrive in kyoto, the moment we stepped out of the station, and the engaged the first wave of wind, we immediately ran for cover in the phone booth beside. 10mins later, our savior arrived with a much appreciated heated car!Hiding in a Phone booth

At first thought, the area where the family lived seems to be rather rural, there wasnt much buildings around and none that exceed 2 storey high. There was hardy any crowd walking around except for the occassional old man jogging in the neighbourhood. It is only after we entered the house that we realise that all the "gems" were all tucked away inside. Large screen LCD TV, computerized bathtub, washing machine that has buttons that looks like my keyboard, TV beside the sink(where they can watch tv while washing plates maybe?) hidden heater system, a total of 4 dishwashers(ok i have no idea why they had the tv beside the sink) and an automated toilet bowl( where they can heat, wash, massage and blow dry your rear, no kidding!)

One of the 2 kitchens in the house

Heater under the ground

We werent expecting them to do anything more than providing us a place to stay but much to our delight, they had prepared a feast for us that could easily feed 8 people. The food was prepared by Okasan(mother in japanese) and her pregnant daughter( THANKS ALOT!) and it was really good. We were initially worried about how we were going to buy food in this desolate place and they seem to read our minds with this meal.

The ladies in the house

\With our tummies full, we sat in front of the tv with our feets in the underground heater and had a little get-to-know-each-other session. Its not only for us and the family to know each other but also for the 4 of us to know each other better. We all came from different walks of life and were brought together with this sole purpose of discovering japan like no other and prior to this, we didnt had a chance to really know one another. It was fun for me to try conversing in japanese as i try to rake up as much memories of my past watched anime and dig up as many vocabulary as i can from there. Needless to say, it didnt work as well as i had expected(which explains why i'm having japanese lesson from a teacher now)

My bed for the 2 nights.

We talked well into the night before everybody decides to retire for the night. The next day we had a special guest apperance. Stay tuned fot it!

Flying Fishy

Day 2 is one of the rare occasions where we follow advice from a guide book. For myself, i would try as much as possible to avoid so called tourist traps and as much as possible experience a country as a local and not a tourist. But the highlights of these places simply are too good to miss.

Subway Station - A new home


This is how you order food

After oversleeping and missing the early Tuna auction at Tsukiji Fish market, we ventured into the arena of Scooter like vehicle zipping pass your side every second. Turns out they are all already on their way to delivering the sea products to the various stores. Seeing that we had already missed the great action, we wandered into the heart of the market and discovered a whole wet market which sells nothing but.... you guessed it right, sea food! Normally i wouldn't be so surprised by something i consume so very often but the myriad variety of seafood available there is really amazing. Seafood

Giant prawns
Tako!!
Strange Fish

Giant Clam
Friendly Store man whom we bought Japanese pancake from(the one that doraemon loves)



Being at a fish market, the only obvious thing to do is to have sushi for breakfast. We were directed to one that was deemed the "most popular" which had like a hundred people peering through the windows, and were told that it would take about 3 hours before we can even step into the place.

Yeah we may be Singaporeans but i personally did not like to queue for something for such a long time, so we ventured away searching for the restaurant with the most fisherman boots in it. We decided upon one that was tucked away at the corner of the area. Even the short queue took us 45mins to get in. Behind us was a German guy who did not speak any Japanese. So after a few small talks, we invited him to join us for sushi breakfast.
Bored while waiting
Prawn Head Miso Soup - It is superb! too bad there is only a head..

Sushi chef at work
Our sushi! We ate some before we took pictures. Too hungry!
German guy that joined us for breakfast

With our belly feeling more than satisfied, we headed to the Ginza area where big international brands were seen on both streets. We headed into a 9storey stationary shop called "Ito-ya" where the girls stock up on their kawaii tools.





Next stop, we headed to Akihabara where it is famous for the many electronic shops. We hooked up with a local university where they conduct free tours of the area. The guides which consist of the teachers and students were very friendly and the English that they spoke never failed to crack us up.

Our guides for the afternoon
How many traffic police can you spot?If only Singapore uniform looks like that
Anime!
More Anime!
This place is heaven


After purchasing anime goods, we boarded a train to a destination that i dont remember. During the journey, we spotted a large theme park from afar and immediately we hopped off and excitedly head towards it. We stopped for abit of snack along the way and when we reached, immediately joined the long queue for the roller coaster! I have never tried to ride a roller coaster in winter before and even though it wasn't snowing, its still freaking cold. But trust me, the experience was FANTASTIC! In the end we found out that the place is actually called Tokyo Dome which is a stadium where they hold baseball games. And beside it they built a shopping mall and a theme park.
Roadside Japanese pancake seller - the warm snack taste extremely delicious in the cold weather
Roadside "Yong Tau Foo" Store



Now why didn't Singapore think of that?

Roller Coaster beside National Stadium would be a great idea.