Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Time to smell the roses
Remember, no matter, how busy you are, tale time off to smell the roses*literally*, below are pictures of white roses that were in bloom around the Nakono, Japan
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Providing Towards Earthquake Victims
Along the streets of Osaka and Kyoto, there are Japanese supporting and asking for donations for the Sichuan, China.
Today, there are still news of aftershocks in the Sichuan province where we came back. Its a blessing to be out of the area for us.
But seeing more news of aftershocks shattering the homes of the Chinese people, is worrying, many beautiful places are being ruined by mother nature.
I'm extremely touched by Sim and Maki's guesture. They have a big guesthouse and it is offered to the Volunteers who are in Chengdu to help out at the disaster-struck area.
Check for updates here.
Today, there are still news of aftershocks in the Sichuan province where we came back. Its a blessing to be out of the area for us.
But seeing more news of aftershocks shattering the homes of the Chinese people, is worrying, many beautiful places are being ruined by mother nature.
I'm extremely touched by Sim and Maki's guesture. They have a big guesthouse and it is offered to the Volunteers who are in Chengdu to help out at the disaster-struck area.
Check for updates here.
5 Days 4 Nights in Osaka
Dear family, friends & loved ones,
We will be departing Osaka for Tokyo @ about 9pm today. Initially, the ultimate "plant" was to travel northwards up via Nagoya, Mount Fuji or any other small towns, then finally Tokyo. However, there were some blockups throughout our planning such as the inability to access WIFI zones in Osaka (need for subsription if we have guessed correctly) , Japanese websites with no English translations, finding it a little too expensive to go to Manga & Internet cafes etc; Thus leading us with limited choices but to head for Tokyo first.
The current "plant" will be to arrive at Tokyo first, as travelling from Tokyo to Mount Fuji will be much easier (in terms of costs, reservations and probably travel time etc) than from Osaka to Mount Fuji. This way, Marco e Crazy Horse a.k.a Hugger @ Kyoto can also book his ticket back to Singapore when we arrive in Tokyo tomorrow morning.
We spent most of our time in Kyoto yesterday. While walking along the streets of Kyoto packed with Japanese students, Japanese tourists themselves, Kimono clad girls and some geishas. Stuart and I managed to master some useful Japanese phrases while Marco was struggling with his own.
Let me just show off one of the phrases we've learnt : "様ぉおkウォンでr婦llととに"
Ok, I've just crapped those above with the japanese keyboard. Its kind of frustrating to use by the way...
Benny
We will be departing Osaka for Tokyo @ about 9pm today. Initially, the ultimate "plant" was to travel northwards up via Nagoya, Mount Fuji or any other small towns, then finally Tokyo. However, there were some blockups throughout our planning such as the inability to access WIFI zones in Osaka (need for subsription if we have guessed correctly) , Japanese websites with no English translations, finding it a little too expensive to go to Manga & Internet cafes etc; Thus leading us with limited choices but to head for Tokyo first.
The current "plant" will be to arrive at Tokyo first, as travelling from Tokyo to Mount Fuji will be much easier (in terms of costs, reservations and probably travel time etc) than from Osaka to Mount Fuji. This way, Marco e Crazy Horse a.k.a Hugger @ Kyoto can also book his ticket back to Singapore when we arrive in Tokyo tomorrow morning.
We spent most of our time in Kyoto yesterday. While walking along the streets of Kyoto packed with Japanese students, Japanese tourists themselves, Kimono clad girls and some geishas. Stuart and I managed to master some useful Japanese phrases while Marco was struggling with his own.
Let me just show off one of the phrases we've learnt : "様ぉおkウォンでr婦llととに"
Ok, I've just crapped those above with the japanese keyboard. Its kind of frustrating to use by the way...
Benny
Kyoto, Japan Day 4
Kyoto is a nice place to see old Japan. The Gion area is a traditional town with lots of Buddhist shrines. One shrine of interest in particular is one which pays tributes to the batteries of artillery soldiers and horse-riding soldiers of the second world war.
Shrines
Stone statues and carvings are erected in the premises of the shrine as a memorial to the soldiers of specific battalions and batteries.
The bigger shrines are of the Buddhist and the traditional buildings which houses them are more refined and elaborate than in Osaka.
Where's Weipeng? Try to spot him in the photo above.
Wedding ceremony in a Shrine
Japanese in traditional dresses hold their wedding ceremonies in the shrine, the ceremony is formal and solemn. There is a aura of dignity and happiness in the ceremony. The aura is not broken even when lots of tourists,both local and foreigners, are taking photos of the event.
People
As it was a Sunday, they was a huge crowded and it was a definite good choice to visit on this day. You will see kimono-clad ladies and even geishas if you are lucky. The young Japanese ladies had fun dressing up and shopping for traditional cakes and pastries.
_____________________________________________
The entry is incomplete due to the lack of internet time. Internet is very expensive in Japan and it is not readily available.
I'm guessing it is due to the fact that Japanese are holding highly fanciful CDMA phones which allows them to surf the internet and watch TV, Wi-Fi is not widely available.
Marco
Osaka,after day trip in Kyoto May 08
Shrines
Stone statues and carvings are erected in the premises of the shrine as a memorial to the soldiers of specific battalions and batteries.
The bigger shrines are of the Buddhist and the traditional buildings which houses them are more refined and elaborate than in Osaka.
Where's Weipeng? Try to spot him in the photo above.
Wedding ceremony in a Shrine
Japanese in traditional dresses hold their wedding ceremonies in the shrine, the ceremony is formal and solemn. There is a aura of dignity and happiness in the ceremony. The aura is not broken even when lots of tourists,both local and foreigners, are taking photos of the event.
People
As it was a Sunday, they was a huge crowded and it was a definite good choice to visit on this day. You will see kimono-clad ladies and even geishas if you are lucky. The young Japanese ladies had fun dressing up and shopping for traditional cakes and pastries.
_____________________________________________
The entry is incomplete due to the lack of internet time. Internet is very expensive in Japan and it is not readily available.
I'm guessing it is due to the fact that Japanese are holding highly fanciful CDMA phones which allows them to surf the internet and watch TV, Wi-Fi is not widely available.
Marco
Osaka,after day trip in Kyoto May 08
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