Wonderful Japan Trip

Day15 - Home Sweet Home (1-Apr)

2007-05-18T00:47:00.001+08:00

We arrived Kansai airport three hours before the departure time by an express train, u really hv to be a bit "kiasu" as the immigrant check-in took quite a long time due to the new restriction on liquid items.

we returning safely to Singapore after ard ~7hrs flight...
I do spend some time to reflect on the last 14days,the kindness of people I met, both locals and fellow travelers, Japan is such a wonderful place to visit:)

Day14 - Osaka Castle >> Namba (31-Mar)

2007-05-18T00:46:00.000+08:00

Osaka castle

Street performers are surrounded by crowd

Boat riding to Shinsaibashi

Shinsaibashi, a place where you will find wonderful restaurants offering great dishes there

Everybody is taking picture of this advertisement signboard.
This huge running man in neon "moves" apparently is famous!

First time seeing the classical guitar's sound hole on the top left corner of the body, was told that such design is for better sound projection...

"My Neighbor Totoro" or in japanese called "Tonari no Totoro"
Totoro was created by maestro Hayao Miyazaki, who is the man responsible for many wonderful animated features.

Day13 - Kobe >> Himeji Castle (30-Mar)

2007-05-18T00:42:00.001+08:00

Kobe City Nunobiki Herb Garden
About 200 kinds of herbs are kept in this garden, we really enjoyed and had a great fun looking around this fragrant garden. It's one of my favourite places too.

Beautiful scenery of kobe city from the view in cable car(ropeway)

HIMEJI CASTLE
********************

Himeji castle is said to be the most beautiful castle of its type in Japan, this castle is also known by the name of "Hakuro-jo" (the egret castle) due to its shapre and form.

Day12 - Osaka Universal Studios (29-Mar)

2007-05-18T00:41:00.000+08:00

Universal Studios Japan is a spectacular movie theme park placing guests of all ages in the heart of the world of Hollywood motion pictures.

Main entrance to the Universal Studios

32 flavours of popcorn awaiting u to try...

Osaka Takoyaki Museum

ET was one of my favourite movie, we had an awesome ET rides there.

Day11 - Nara Park (28-Mar)

2007-05-17T16:59:00.000+08:00

A very relax place to take a break, slow living pace as in a big contrast in Tokyo.
You can see a lot of deers here, but be careful and aware when you feed them as some might attack you.-juz like my frenz kena=)

Day10 - Kyoto Uzumasa Eigamura (27-Mar)

2007-05-15T20:35:00.000+08:00

Season change, things change, nothing is permanent.
Only memories will keep those stories...

Those were the days...

Day9 - Kyoto Temples Visit ( 26-Mar)

2007-05-15T20:34:00.000+08:00

Sanjusangendo >>Kiyomizudera >>Yasaka Shrine>>GION

Sanjusangendo is a temple in eastern Kyoto which is famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The temple was founded in 1164 and its present structures date from 1266.

Kiyomizudera ("Pure Water Temple") is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It stands in the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto and offers visitors a nice view over the city from its famous wooden terrace.

My photograph does not do justice at how incredible these views really were. Kiyomizu was my favorite place in Kyoto to hang around, one could easily spend a whole afternoon wandering around all the sites.I think from the number of people at Kiyomizu, this must also be a favorite of the Japanese;)

Dragon fountain for people to wash hand

'God' of mercy

Lantern in the temple

Sakura at night

Lanterns in Yasaka shrine

Day8 - Kyoto >>Imperial Palace>>Nijo Castle (25-Mar)

2007-05-15T20:32:00.000+08:00

It was a heavy rain in that morning,luckily we did bring pucho to cover up our stuff...the weather forecast is soooooooooo accurate!
We took buses from Kawaguchiko station to Gotemba and transfer to another bus to Minishima station and catch the next departure bullet train (shinkasen) to Kyoto station. Half day travelling on the road really made us tired but we were glad that the weather finally turn warm in Kyoto.

After checked in to Kyoto Station West hotel, we can't wait to go to Imperial Palace Agency Office to apply permission for the visit but too bad that the office was closed on Sunday. Despite the disappoinment, we were soon enlightened to see so many beautiful sakuras in the garden. It's gorgeous, no wonder so many japanese will take vacation during cherries blossom season. They really like sakuras, you can see many of them are well equipped with the pro. camera and tripod set are busying taking pictures there.

Nijo Castle

Beautiful Sakura

Day7 - Fuji Five Lakes (24-Mar)

2007-05-15T20:20:00.000+08:00

The Fuji Five Lake region (Fujigoko) is located at the foot of Mount Fuji at an altitude of roughly 1000 meters above sea level in mountainous Yamanashi Prefecture. It is one of the best places to view Mount Fuji from a close distance.

Due to the cloudy weather in last two days, we have decided to try our luck to "see" the sacred Fujisan by going to Kawaguchico as per intitial plan. We left Fuji-Hakone at 8am and proceed to Gotemba station. From there, we need to get another bus which takes about 1.5hrs to Kawaguchico Station. 皇天不负有心人, we saw Fujisan along the travel journey! I was so excited , my finger can't stop pressing the camera shutter button, afraid this beautiful poster-like scene hanging on the sky will just disappear in the next minutes. I can expressed the feeling merely through plain words, for those who has seen the sacred mountain in the first time definitely know what I am saying ;)

Heading towards Fuji Five Lakes

Fujisan just behind the tourism information counter

Petit Hotel Ebisuya

Sightseeing bus

Day5&6 - Hakone (22/23-Mar)

2007-05-15T19:19:00.000+08:00

We left Tokyo early morning by taking train from Shinjuku station to Odawara station, then took local bus from Odawara to Sengkyoro which very near to Fuji-Hakone guest house.

Outdoor Onsen(hotspring) at Fuji-Hakone guesthouse

Hakone Shrine

More photos coming soon...

Day4 - Ochanomizu Musical Instrument Street (21-Mar)

2007-05-15T18:27:00.000+08:00

There are a lot of huge musical instrument stores in Tokyo. Many thanks to my japanese friend Masami san who brought us to the great musical instrument street.

TPGC friends, as requested here is the station name where you guys can visits next time,must include them into your itinerary if you never been there before. Those shops here are not like Yamaha or Music Plaza in Singapore whereby one shop selling all sort of instrument...=)

Be sure to check Shin Okubo as well,there's a few cool acoustic guitar shop there, some do sell used guitars and musical scores for ensemble. You might get a good deal there as majority are made in Japan.

JR Station: Ochanomizu ,Shin Okubo

Beautiful ancient lute-like guitarlele, some with love shape sound hole.

Day3 - Tsukiji Fish Market ->Ueno Park (20-Mar)

2007-05-07T18:14:00.000+08:00

Tsukiji Market is best known as one of the world's largest fish markets, handling over 2,000 tons of marine products per day. So, this is the must-visit place!

You can see many kinds of fresh fish, shellfish and other seafood and also the busy atmosphere of scooters, trucks, sellers and buyers hurrying around.It's a site where serious business is conducted, we were very careful while taking pictures, afraid we might obstructing the traffic along the narrow lanes.

Ueno Park

Day2 - Tokyo Disneyland (19-Mar)

2007-04-25T02:21:00.000+08:00

Castle

Disney cartoon characters

Beautiful Mosaic

Day1 - Narita Airport (18-Mar)

2007-04-24T22:30:00.000+08:00

Tokyo Narita Airport

The weather in Tokyo is pretty COLD, temperature at night is about two degree celsius which considered very cold to peoples like us who came from southeast Asia.(We were freezing while walking along the pathway)

Y2 and me arrived Tokyo Narita Airport in the evening, airport staff are very friendly and helpful.We took train to Ikebukuro station and checked-in to star plaza hotel at late evening. We never expect there are no escalators or lift from any exit from the station, this is first time for both of us carrying luggages by climbing up the staircase...Y2 claimed that she has lost weight after the trip;) Hey y2, that is a special pre-arranged free slimming programme for u huh !