Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
what is a speigen? and The happiest places in Japan???
We arrived in Tokyo and checked into our capsule hotel (asakusa riverside)...... it's bananas!!!! We had a great sento (hot bath) on the top floor which was great after a long day out and about in the cold Tokyo weather. We got these awesome *ahem* PJ sets, which made us look like we were all in a mental hospital.
The first night we met 3 crazy swiss guys and an englishman who lived in NZ all drinking on the top floor. The swiss guys (german swiss) were stranded because of the volcano in iceland, and one was supposed to be at work on that day! The whole conversation was interspersed with ravings in Swiss-german and German-german. Check out our gnarly threads LOL!!
On our first day in Tokyo we were totally templed out, so we decided it was a good time to go to Disneyland!!! It was great! Just like the ones in America, but everyone's Japanese and you cant understand what theyre saying. EVERYONE was wearing these Mickey/Disney ears that you could buy there, including the guys :D
It was so much fun, I think even more so because Stacy has never been to a Disneyland, so it was like seeing it all through new eyes.
On the second day we went to Disneysea, which is another park of Disneyland. More grown up rides and rollercoasters... it was insane fun! Disneysea is pretty awesome - probably better than disneyland! There were NO lines, hardly any people!
The two days there were so much fun, we were all pretty sad that it was over :(
But more fun to come!
We went to Kamakura today, but headed home early because it was hosing down and we were freezing our butts off. Kamakura is the city with the giant outdoor Buddha statue, we got there just (like 5 mins) before the crowds got there, and even got to go inside the statue! On the way home we came across the drum museum, and for a bargain 300 yen (around $5) you could go in and play on all their drums! We spent a while in there and came out pretty exhausted. They had all sorts of drums from all over the world, but i think my favourites were the taiko and the steel drums.
till later!
xx Laura
The first night we met 3 crazy swiss guys and an englishman who lived in NZ all drinking on the top floor. The swiss guys (german swiss) were stranded because of the volcano in iceland, and one was supposed to be at work on that day! The whole conversation was interspersed with ravings in Swiss-german and German-german. Check out our gnarly threads LOL!!
On our first day in Tokyo we were totally templed out, so we decided it was a good time to go to Disneyland!!! It was great! Just like the ones in America, but everyone's Japanese and you cant understand what theyre saying. EVERYONE was wearing these Mickey/Disney ears that you could buy there, including the guys :D
It was so much fun, I think even more so because Stacy has never been to a Disneyland, so it was like seeing it all through new eyes.
On the second day we went to Disneysea, which is another park of Disneyland. More grown up rides and rollercoasters... it was insane fun! Disneysea is pretty awesome - probably better than disneyland! There were NO lines, hardly any people!
The two days there were so much fun, we were all pretty sad that it was over :(
But more fun to come!
We went to Kamakura today, but headed home early because it was hosing down and we were freezing our butts off. Kamakura is the city with the giant outdoor Buddha statue, we got there just (like 5 mins) before the crowds got there, and even got to go inside the statue! On the way home we came across the drum museum, and for a bargain 300 yen (around $5) you could go in and play on all their drums! We spent a while in there and came out pretty exhausted. They had all sorts of drums from all over the world, but i think my favourites were the taiko and the steel drums.
till later!
xx Laura
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Deer, Monkeys, and Gojira
Our day out at Nara and Uji was ace! We headed out in the morning to Nara, and it was freezing cold! We each wore about 5 layers, but were still popsicles by the end of the day. Nara is such a pretty quiet little city, with manic deer roaming around, eating your maps, eating each other, and begging for deer cookies! They were pretty frightening, when they really wanted something from you. I got butted in the butt, and Stace had his Nara city map stolen out of his pocket! I tried to get it back off the deer, but the deer wasn't having any of that. At the main temple there is a GIANT buddha statue... like, really really giant. There's also a hole in a pillar, where if you get through the hole, apparently you will have good luck for the rest of your life. Stace managed to fit through, so hopefully his awesome luck will cancel out my crummy luck :S
We had a stroll around town trying to find some gloves, because we were so cold, but we couldnt find any gloves at all! We had lunch at Mos Burger... which was, uh, not so good. Maybe stick to Maccas next time?
After Nara we went to Uji, which is the Japanese capital of green tea, and the setting of the last chapters of the Tale of Genji (Japanese epic story). We met this cute little old man named Miya on the train who got really excited that we were on the train because he was teaching himself english, and he finally had a chance to use it. His english was really awesome, and he had taught himself using a Japanese radio broadcast for 1 hour a day! What a character! When he smiled you could see his teeth... he only had bottom teeth! None on the top of his mouth! He was really sweet though, and thoroughly impressed with our 4 words of Japanese :D
Uji was one of my favourite spots we've been to so far. First we went to the Tale of Genji Museum, which was really well done. The displays were all in Japanese, but we were given free audio guides in english and it told a brief version of the story, and then we watched a video about the end of the story. I just bought the book (abridged version) today, and am really looking forward to it... I'll give you the brief run-down that I got from the museum:
Genji is born and is in love with his step-mum. He gets married, but had heaps of affairs because he's still in love with his step-mum. He meets someone who looks just like his step-mum and has a kid with her. His wife's attendants give one of his ex-lovers a heckling in public and shame her out so "her soul leaves her body" and she becomes a vengeful spirit, who attacks the wife while she's in childbirth. Genji flees. Emperor sends for him to come back. ... I missed this part.... he dies. The story picks up with his son and grandson (I think from the two different ladies) who are both competing for the same women, and its all super messy when they meet these two chicks, who are the daughters of this lord guy, and he dies and makes his two daughters promise not to leave Uji for frivolous reasons. The older one, who they are both after, vows that she wont ever marry, and they go after the younger sister. The older one is so upset about the situation the younger one is in (having to choose between the two) that she gets sick and dies. Then the younger one runs off to marry someone in town. Then they meet a princess from somewhere far away who *surprise surprise* looks just like the older sister who dies. One of them has it off with her, then the other one kidnaps her. She goes nuts because of the two fighting all the time, then she becomes a buddha and roams the land. Dont know what happens to the two guys.
Wow, so basically its Days of Our Lives, Japan-style. It was such a good museum though!
After that we crossed the bridge which is in the story, and went to the Byodoin temple (theres another one in Hawaii that I've also been to!). This temple is on the ten yen coin and theyre pretty proud of it :D
We wanted to do some tea testing, or a tea ceremony, because this is THE place to get green tea, and we ended up walking past this tea shop, where 16 generations of tea makers had been making tea! This guy was super proud of his tea and his heritage, and with good reason. They have a museum all about his family/tea company, and they have letters and purchase orders from Shoguns and Samurai from back in the 1600's and he's been in about 29483843 magazines and newspapers just about his tea. And the tea is FANTASTIC!!! Im not usually a tea drinker, but man, this tea is awesome!!! Pity I cant bring a whole bunch of it with me!!
The next day we went to Arashiyama, which is a little way out fo the centre of Kyoto. They have a few temples and things, and a monkey park!! Japanese snow monkeys! just minus the snow :D They are scary scary animals - they say dont look them in the eye... DONT LOOK THEM IN THE EYE!! They will jump at you and shriek scarily. You hike up the top of this hill and go into a caged room, where you can get apples and peanuts and feed them through the cages. You dont feel like theyre going to eat you if you step outside, but I think its more to protect you againt mobbing, because the monkeys give each other a bit of a beating to make sure they get the food.
We walked around the area and saw a lot of temples and things, and found the bamboo road, which was pretty awesome!
Today we went to the Golden Pavillion (Kinkakuji), a Handicrafts Centre, and the Heian Shrine. The Golden Pavillion is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but we were quite lucky that we went on a sunny day, because it brought the colour out quite well. The Heian Shrine was massive, and had a giant massive torii gate across the road. On the picture, May Lee is the tiny speck at the foot of the gate.
And finally, a note of warning... if you are ever in Japan, watch out for this woman:
She can eat. I dont mean like, wow, she eats a fair bit... I mean, OMG run for cover, she is a black hole and we're being sucked into her vortex!! This chick put away around 10 slices of pizza, two or three bowls of noodles and a bowl of rice and curry, and she was still going by the time we left! (we were at an all you can eat pizza place). She had a slice in one had, her other hand was twirling some spaghetti, and she was chewing some food all at the same time! AND she was SKINNY! Japanese people are a mystery to me :S :O
Anyways, nighty nite!
xx Laura
We had a stroll around town trying to find some gloves, because we were so cold, but we couldnt find any gloves at all! We had lunch at Mos Burger... which was, uh, not so good. Maybe stick to Maccas next time?
After Nara we went to Uji, which is the Japanese capital of green tea, and the setting of the last chapters of the Tale of Genji (Japanese epic story). We met this cute little old man named Miya on the train who got really excited that we were on the train because he was teaching himself english, and he finally had a chance to use it. His english was really awesome, and he had taught himself using a Japanese radio broadcast for 1 hour a day! What a character! When he smiled you could see his teeth... he only had bottom teeth! None on the top of his mouth! He was really sweet though, and thoroughly impressed with our 4 words of Japanese :D
Uji was one of my favourite spots we've been to so far. First we went to the Tale of Genji Museum, which was really well done. The displays were all in Japanese, but we were given free audio guides in english and it told a brief version of the story, and then we watched a video about the end of the story. I just bought the book (abridged version) today, and am really looking forward to it... I'll give you the brief run-down that I got from the museum:
Genji is born and is in love with his step-mum. He gets married, but had heaps of affairs because he's still in love with his step-mum. He meets someone who looks just like his step-mum and has a kid with her. His wife's attendants give one of his ex-lovers a heckling in public and shame her out so "her soul leaves her body" and she becomes a vengeful spirit, who attacks the wife while she's in childbirth. Genji flees. Emperor sends for him to come back. ... I missed this part.... he dies. The story picks up with his son and grandson (I think from the two different ladies) who are both competing for the same women, and its all super messy when they meet these two chicks, who are the daughters of this lord guy, and he dies and makes his two daughters promise not to leave Uji for frivolous reasons. The older one, who they are both after, vows that she wont ever marry, and they go after the younger sister. The older one is so upset about the situation the younger one is in (having to choose between the two) that she gets sick and dies. Then the younger one runs off to marry someone in town. Then they meet a princess from somewhere far away who *surprise surprise* looks just like the older sister who dies. One of them has it off with her, then the other one kidnaps her. She goes nuts because of the two fighting all the time, then she becomes a buddha and roams the land. Dont know what happens to the two guys.
Wow, so basically its Days of Our Lives, Japan-style. It was such a good museum though!
After that we crossed the bridge which is in the story, and went to the Byodoin temple (theres another one in Hawaii that I've also been to!). This temple is on the ten yen coin and theyre pretty proud of it :D
We wanted to do some tea testing, or a tea ceremony, because this is THE place to get green tea, and we ended up walking past this tea shop, where 16 generations of tea makers had been making tea! This guy was super proud of his tea and his heritage, and with good reason. They have a museum all about his family/tea company, and they have letters and purchase orders from Shoguns and Samurai from back in the 1600's and he's been in about 29483843 magazines and newspapers just about his tea. And the tea is FANTASTIC!!! Im not usually a tea drinker, but man, this tea is awesome!!! Pity I cant bring a whole bunch of it with me!!
The next day we went to Arashiyama, which is a little way out fo the centre of Kyoto. They have a few temples and things, and a monkey park!! Japanese snow monkeys! just minus the snow :D They are scary scary animals - they say dont look them in the eye... DONT LOOK THEM IN THE EYE!! They will jump at you and shriek scarily. You hike up the top of this hill and go into a caged room, where you can get apples and peanuts and feed them through the cages. You dont feel like theyre going to eat you if you step outside, but I think its more to protect you againt mobbing, because the monkeys give each other a bit of a beating to make sure they get the food.
We walked around the area and saw a lot of temples and things, and found the bamboo road, which was pretty awesome!
Today we went to the Golden Pavillion (Kinkakuji), a Handicrafts Centre, and the Heian Shrine. The Golden Pavillion is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but we were quite lucky that we went on a sunny day, because it brought the colour out quite well. The Heian Shrine was massive, and had a giant massive torii gate across the road. On the picture, May Lee is the tiny speck at the foot of the gate.
And finally, a note of warning... if you are ever in Japan, watch out for this woman:
She can eat. I dont mean like, wow, she eats a fair bit... I mean, OMG run for cover, she is a black hole and we're being sucked into her vortex!! This chick put away around 10 slices of pizza, two or three bowls of noodles and a bowl of rice and curry, and she was still going by the time we left! (we were at an all you can eat pizza place). She had a slice in one had, her other hand was twirling some spaghetti, and she was chewing some food all at the same time! AND she was SKINNY! Japanese people are a mystery to me :S :O
Anyways, nighty nite!
xx Laura
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Nihon : Osaka - Kyoto
It's been so long since I wrote, where do I start?
We got to Miyajima after Hiroshima (we didnt stay in Hiroshima long because it was pouring down), and checked into our hostel. We met a NZ school group passing through!!! It was hilarious, their teacher made them recite Maori songs to prepare for their homestays, in the common room, in front of everyone (they were around 14 - 17 years old). We went to Miyajima island inthe afternoon, and it was packed with people, and the tide was low. There were heaps of museums and things to go to, and the atmosphere was just awesome. There were wild deer just roaming around, stealing and eating people's maps and things. We walked down to the torii gates and walked through them (supposedly good luck).
We went to so many temples up there, but unfortunately the weather was a bit crap, so we didnt go up the top of the mountain to the shrines up there. The next day we went back EARLY in the morning, and we got there before all the crowds got in. Luckily we managed to get to the Utsukushima Shrine when almost no one else was around, and the tide was pretty high, so it looked like the shrine was floating, and we had perfect, tourist-free shots of the floating torii!
It was such an amazing place, and wihtout the crowds of people its so peaceful and calm. It was still rainy and cloudy, so we didnt go up the mountain again. We caught the train to Kyoto and just had an evening chilling out.
The next day we met Tomoko-san, our guide from Kyoto Free Guides, at the Kyoto Station. We went to Fushimi Inarii and to a Zen temple, before heading back to the hostel to pick up May Lee. The temples were absolutely amazing! At Fushimi Inarii we saw a Shinto Priest doing a ritual for a man, and went for a brief walk around the torii gates. The zen temple was so serene it was amazing. The size of the zen garden was a surprise, and they re-do the stones every couple of days!
After that we met up with May Lee and carried on to Sanjusangen-do temple and the Kiyomizu temple, and Yasaka Shrine. Sanjusangen-do temple has a thousand buddha images in the longest room you have ever seen! In olden times they would hold archery competitions outside the hall, and sometimes these days women/girls of around 20 years old will do an archery competition in full costume/outfit.
The Kiyomizu Shrine is just amazing, definitely one of my most favourite places! It's high on a hill and there are balconies that hang over the edge. The views are breathtaking! Its hard to explain just how beautiful all the shrines and temples are in Japan!
There was a section where if you walked from one rock to another with your eyes closed you would be lucky in love/happy in your relationship. I managed to do it and bash into only one person!! There were so many people there!!!
We walked through all the backstreets to the Yasaka Shrine, which was pretty amazing. Just going through the little streets with so many stores and people was great, it was so cute! There were lots of foreigners dressing up in kimono and as Maiko/Geisha.
We ended up at the Yasaka shrine and had a look around. After that we went to the Nishiki Food Market and Tomoko-san explained all the crazy food we saw. We even ate a little octopus with a quail egg stuffed into it's head!! There were lots of fish and tentacles around!
We then said goodbye to Tomoko-san as she had to go. We were very lucky to have Tomoko-san showing us around, and it helped so much to have someone explain what everything meant, and what was allowed and not allowed in temples etc. It was a great experience! Thanks Tomoko-san!!
The next day we hired bikes and headed back to Fushimi Inarii with May Lee (she hadnt been there yet) and we took a walk around the top, where the torii gates just go on forever. Fushimi Inarii is one of my top sights for Kyoto (the other is Kiyomizu). At the bottom we saw a shop selling grilled SPARROW! So of course we had to buy one! You eat it bones and all... including the head and beak!!! I ate the body and Stacy ate the head!! It was actually really tasty!
We then had to go to Bic Camera because.........
My camera broke! Its only a few months old as well!! Goodbye $400!! *sigh* so now I have a new camera. Its a nice one, but it still sucks! We then went to Nijo Castle, which was a little bit of a let down because I was expecting a big stone castle. But they had a nightingale floor which was spooky - it really sounds like birds!!!
The next day we ended up going to this local market at a shrine, which was really cool, there are a lot of talented people here... most of their stuff is homemade - jewellery, clothes, cards, art, etc. We then went to the Silver Pavillion (Ginkakuji) which was really beautiful. The garden there is really well planned out and so GREEN!
We had an appointment to dress up as Maiko in the Kiyomizu area, so we shopped around there and then got dressed up!! It was the weirdest thing ever! They get you to put on this practically see through shift, then slather on this make up and get you to go pick your kimono. It's practically a production line! They also have these massive wigs which are super heavy! Me and May Lee dressed as Maiko, while Stacy dressed as a samurai. Me and May Lee's plan included a half an hour walk around the area, which was a crack up, everyone wanted pictures with us!!
After we managed to get off the makeup (with baby oil! All over the face!!) we had a bit of a shop around and then went to Gion Corner and saw some geishas (actually Maiko, apprentice Geishas). Man they move fast! You feel a bit stink taking pictures of them, epecially after dressing up as one and having people follow you around trying to take pictures and getting right in your face taking pictures!
Today we're going to Nara to see Buddhas and Deer!
see u
xx Laura
We got to Miyajima after Hiroshima (we didnt stay in Hiroshima long because it was pouring down), and checked into our hostel. We met a NZ school group passing through!!! It was hilarious, their teacher made them recite Maori songs to prepare for their homestays, in the common room, in front of everyone (they were around 14 - 17 years old). We went to Miyajima island inthe afternoon, and it was packed with people, and the tide was low. There were heaps of museums and things to go to, and the atmosphere was just awesome. There were wild deer just roaming around, stealing and eating people's maps and things. We walked down to the torii gates and walked through them (supposedly good luck).
We went to so many temples up there, but unfortunately the weather was a bit crap, so we didnt go up the top of the mountain to the shrines up there. The next day we went back EARLY in the morning, and we got there before all the crowds got in. Luckily we managed to get to the Utsukushima Shrine when almost no one else was around, and the tide was pretty high, so it looked like the shrine was floating, and we had perfect, tourist-free shots of the floating torii!
It was such an amazing place, and wihtout the crowds of people its so peaceful and calm. It was still rainy and cloudy, so we didnt go up the mountain again. We caught the train to Kyoto and just had an evening chilling out.
The next day we met Tomoko-san, our guide from Kyoto Free Guides, at the Kyoto Station. We went to Fushimi Inarii and to a Zen temple, before heading back to the hostel to pick up May Lee. The temples were absolutely amazing! At Fushimi Inarii we saw a Shinto Priest doing a ritual for a man, and went for a brief walk around the torii gates. The zen temple was so serene it was amazing. The size of the zen garden was a surprise, and they re-do the stones every couple of days!
After that we met up with May Lee and carried on to Sanjusangen-do temple and the Kiyomizu temple, and Yasaka Shrine. Sanjusangen-do temple has a thousand buddha images in the longest room you have ever seen! In olden times they would hold archery competitions outside the hall, and sometimes these days women/girls of around 20 years old will do an archery competition in full costume/outfit.
The Kiyomizu Shrine is just amazing, definitely one of my most favourite places! It's high on a hill and there are balconies that hang over the edge. The views are breathtaking! Its hard to explain just how beautiful all the shrines and temples are in Japan!
There was a section where if you walked from one rock to another with your eyes closed you would be lucky in love/happy in your relationship. I managed to do it and bash into only one person!! There were so many people there!!!
We walked through all the backstreets to the Yasaka Shrine, which was pretty amazing. Just going through the little streets with so many stores and people was great, it was so cute! There were lots of foreigners dressing up in kimono and as Maiko/Geisha.
We ended up at the Yasaka shrine and had a look around. After that we went to the Nishiki Food Market and Tomoko-san explained all the crazy food we saw. We even ate a little octopus with a quail egg stuffed into it's head!! There were lots of fish and tentacles around!
We then said goodbye to Tomoko-san as she had to go. We were very lucky to have Tomoko-san showing us around, and it helped so much to have someone explain what everything meant, and what was allowed and not allowed in temples etc. It was a great experience! Thanks Tomoko-san!!
The next day we hired bikes and headed back to Fushimi Inarii with May Lee (she hadnt been there yet) and we took a walk around the top, where the torii gates just go on forever. Fushimi Inarii is one of my top sights for Kyoto (the other is Kiyomizu). At the bottom we saw a shop selling grilled SPARROW! So of course we had to buy one! You eat it bones and all... including the head and beak!!! I ate the body and Stacy ate the head!! It was actually really tasty!
We then had to go to Bic Camera because.........
My camera broke! Its only a few months old as well!! Goodbye $400!! *sigh* so now I have a new camera. Its a nice one, but it still sucks! We then went to Nijo Castle, which was a little bit of a let down because I was expecting a big stone castle. But they had a nightingale floor which was spooky - it really sounds like birds!!!
The next day we ended up going to this local market at a shrine, which was really cool, there are a lot of talented people here... most of their stuff is homemade - jewellery, clothes, cards, art, etc. We then went to the Silver Pavillion (Ginkakuji) which was really beautiful. The garden there is really well planned out and so GREEN!
We had an appointment to dress up as Maiko in the Kiyomizu area, so we shopped around there and then got dressed up!! It was the weirdest thing ever! They get you to put on this practically see through shift, then slather on this make up and get you to go pick your kimono. It's practically a production line! They also have these massive wigs which are super heavy! Me and May Lee dressed as Maiko, while Stacy dressed as a samurai. Me and May Lee's plan included a half an hour walk around the area, which was a crack up, everyone wanted pictures with us!!
After we managed to get off the makeup (with baby oil! All over the face!!) we had a bit of a shop around and then went to Gion Corner and saw some geishas (actually Maiko, apprentice Geishas). Man they move fast! You feel a bit stink taking pictures of them, epecially after dressing up as one and having people follow you around trying to take pictures and getting right in your face taking pictures!
Today we're going to Nara to see Buddhas and Deer!
see u
xx Laura
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