Urutora No Hi

On The Run - Yokohama

2012-02-01T00:04:00.002+08:00

After my Autumn Reminiscence series, I thought I'd start on another. And it's something that I love doing and that's running, folks. Combine running and venturing out in a strange city = seeing things I probably won't be seeing otherwise.

On this "On The Run" Series, I'm just sharing photos I took while out running in a few places in Japan. ^^

My first running experience in Japan was in Yokohama. We stayed in a hotel just a few steps away from Shin-Yokohama Station and also quite near to Nissan Stadium.

We were going to take a train at 9.00am to Yufuin that morning so I needed to do my run early, to make time for rest, shower and breakfast. I woke up at 5.30am and got ready by 6.00am. Hubby had kindly accompanied me walking to the nearby park located in front of Nissan Stadium but he didn't linger for long. For good reason because it was drizzling when we made our way there. Since I am already up and alert, I decided to do a short run rather than going back to our hotel. Zaini on the other hand, after deciding that it was probably safe to leave me there alone, went back to the warmth of our hotel room.

If I'm not mistaken, I was running alongside the riverbank park of the Toriyama River. I wish the sun had risen much earlier but it was still dark after I finished my run at 7.00am.

Nissan Stadium in an almost darkness state. While doing my run there, saw a few runners doing their morning run too. See, I wasn't the only one who would do this on a cold, rainy morning. ^^

And this, the West Gate Bridge from Nissan Stadium for those heading to Shin-Yokohama Station. I made a few stop while doing a couple of laps there, to try take a good photo of the area with my compact camera. As you can see, didn't do much of a job at it. Ah well. C'est la vie.

and the last lap, on the gravelly path by the river back to our hotel. Next time, if we come back to this part of the world, I am going to take day photos of the area (and of course, do a bit of running again).

Still, if not for my running shoes, I would not have seen and experience this view of Japan during my trip. And I'm so happy I did! :)

A Perfect Arch

2012-01-30T13:49:00.000+08:00

On a train ride one wet morning in Japan, I saw a perfectly arched rainbow through the window of my train. I tried to capture it. Well, the keyword here is "tried".

I know I didn't make a good job nonetheless I tried and I'm sharing. （￣ー￣）

It was my first time seeing such a perfect arched rainbow. It was a wet, cold day that day but I consider myself lucky to experience a wet day because I got to see this!

Anyway, can you actually see the rainbow that I tried to capture in those two photos? (#^.^#)

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow"

Gilbert K Chesterton

Winter Bites

2012-01-28T00:05:00.000+08:00

and we saw snow fall in Hakodate. Such a novelty for us and despite getting our frozen ears to feel like they can fall off, it was a blast being on the south tip of Hokkaido in December 2011. ^^

I saw snowflakes! Through the train window...

It was sunny. It was snowing. It was cold. Brrr.... especially when you were totally unprepared, dressed for the autumn and not for the winter. But well, it was a spontaneous trip for us and we didn't regret it. A spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment decision to travel 2,000km. heh

The road leading to Hakodate's morning market - at 3pm. Obviously, the market is pretty quiet at at that time of the day. xD

Can't wait for 2014 and we can jump into some (A LOT) of outdoor onsens there! We have this romantic image of soaking in hot spring baths while being surrounded by total whiteness.

"Winter must be cold, for those with no warm memories"

Autumn Reminiscence - A Place That Feels Like Home

2012-01-26T00:04:00.001+08:00

OK, so I lied. Again. This "Autumn Reminiscence" series was supposed to be a 7-part posts, and I got 8 posts up already. I told you in the previous post that's the last post on autumn. Yeah yeah... I have no integrity. heh

I just think that it would remiss of me to not post about a place that we keep returning to. It's a place that I wouldn't mind living if or when I get the chance to one day, make Japan my home.

The street of Asakusa, on one fine Autum day... I do miss "my" Asakusa. ^^

psstt... there'll be a Sky Tree special one of these days. Wait for it.

As firmly cemented clam-shells
Fall apart in Autumn
So, I must take to the road again
Farewell, my friends
Matsuo Basho

Kiri jalan, kanan pun jalan
Sama tengah pokok mengkudu
Kirim jangan, pesan pun jangan
Sama-sama menahan rindu

translation:
Right and left, a path is broken
Round a small morinda tree
Give no message, send no token
Let our longing, dormant be!
and I guess that pretty much sum up my feelings for Japan.

While you are visiting, do read the previous Autumn Reminiscence posts that was put up earlier.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park
Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery
Autumn Reminiscence - Yokohama
Autumn Reminiscence - In A Foreign Country

Autumn Reminiscence - In A Foreign Country?

2012-01-23T00:04:00.002+08:00

No Spring nor Summer hath such grace

As I have seen in one autumnal face

John Donne

I've mentioned in my earlier post that the "Autumn Reminiscence" Series will be a 7-part posts but I just cannot resist putting up one more post.

This is Huis Ten Bosch. It is a them park and a residential-style resort built after a 17th century Dutch town.

It makes sense to have a place that somehow paid homage to the European country and architecture seeing that Nagasaki; where this park/resort is located - was the only port open for international trade and thus begin an extremely prosperous relationship between Japan and Holland.

While you are visiting, do read the previous Autumn Reminiscence posts that was put up earlier.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park
Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery
Autumn Reminiscence - Yokohama

And now, time to move on to a new season!

Before that, enjoy this haiku from a fellow blogger, HappySurfer -

Colors of autumn
Artist's delight on canvas
Forever preserved

HappySurfer

Autumn Reminiscence - Yokohama

2012-01-20T00:01:00.000+08:00

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower"

Albert Camus

Yokohama - Japan's second largest city.

We took a stroll around the Minato Mirai 21 which is a seaside urban area in Central Yokohama one fine Autumn morning.

and witnessed our very first autumn sights after 8 consecutive years visiting Japan. First experience is always memorable.

On the last day we were in Japan, the leaves left their tree and settled on the pavement.

Just like the leaves leaving their trees, leave we must back to our home in Kuala Lumpur.

And as with the seasons, return we will one day to Japan - that I am sure of. ^^

Pucuk pauh, delima batu
Anak sembilang di tapak tangan
Sungguh jauh, negeri satu
Hilang di mata, di hati jangan

a Malay pantun for lost love, but I think it is also apt for me and my "love" for Japan. ^^

translation:
A ruby, a mango shoot
A tiny catfish on my palm
The world is one, tho far to boot
When out of sight, keep memory warm.

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park
Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery

Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery

2012-01-18T00:01:00.001+08:00

Departing autumn
with hands spread open
chestnut burs
Matsuo Basho

The eternal home for many of Japan's luminaries; including the last of the Tokugawa Shogunate - Tokugawa Yoshinobu.

I felt slightly at odds visiting it, torn between the need to be respectful; as this is after all very much an active graveyard, and being a total tourist and snap photos of everything I see.

The cemetery was a quiet peaceful pocket in Tokyo and we heard birds chirping, saw colourful autumn colours and enjoyed a nice shady stroll through it. Like Rurousha mentioned in her post on Yanaka Cemetery (which, by the way was what made us finally venturing there) I wouldn't mind ending up here for my eternal resting place either. *^^*

And while we are on cemeteries, there'll be a post about an insect cemetery put up, one of these days so stay tuned. Visit me often because I sure as heck don't know when I'm gonna do the post. ^^

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park

Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park

2012-01-15T00:06:00.000+08:00

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree"

Emily Bronte

Tokyo's oldest park and a park that was originally part of Kaneiji Temple which used to be the largest and wealthiest temple in the city and a family temple for the ruling Tokugawa clan during the Edo period.

Yellow leaves dominated our view when we visited Ueno Park on an autumn day last year and what a sight it was.

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen

2014 will be another autumn adventure for us in Japan.

It's The Lunar New Year! And Other Holidays Too.

2012-01-13T18:20:00.001+08:00

The Lunar/Chinese New Year celebration is coming soon, in a week's time. Everywhere I turn, splashes of red can be seen. Red is after all, an auspicious colour.

That's me, in a very festive Chinese New Year mood

We ourselves (that's me and family) do not celebrate the Lunar New Year as we are both Malay and Muslims but Malaysians do enjoy a two-day public holidays for the lunar/Chinese New Year this Jan 23rd and 24th.

Wishing everyone who celebrates the Chinese New Year a Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai. Xin Nian Kuai Le. May you have a happy, auspicious and prosperous Chinese New Year.

I look forward to do some "loh hei" which means tossing of salad, with my fellow colleagues. It's a symbol for gathering prosperity. Toss the salad high with your chopsticks to raise good luck! The higher the toss, the better your luck will be. *^-^*

"Yee sang" literally means raw fish. It has raw strips of salmon as the main ingredients with shredded mix vege, jellyfish, crackers, sauces and condiments. Even though I mentioned that I don't celebrate the festival itself (I am neither a Buddhist nor a Chinese), I do enjoy having fun during the festival with my Chinese friends and colleagues.

Not only that, I am so looking forward to hampers and mandarin oranges that will be sent over to my department! I love free oranges! xD For singles, those oranges can come handy during "Chap Goh Mei" which marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration; by throwing them into rivers/sea in the hope of finding a good husband.

And in about three weeks, we Muslims will be celebrating the Maulidur Rasul which is the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. Yes, everyone gets a day off. The celebration itself though, is pretty much low-key.

Then, two days after the Maulidur Rasul; there is Thaipusam (another holiday, yeay!) an important festival for the Hindus. Also, Ponggal which is a Tamil harvest festival is celebrated this Sunday!

Diversity in culture, we certainly have in Malaysia.

Talking about diversity, how many languages are spoken in Malaysia? Well, for starters there's Malay (which is my mother tongue), Chinese (and spoken in many dialects too - Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, etc), Indian (Tamil being the predominant one but there's Hindi, Telugu etc spoken too) and then you have various ethnic languages too, like Iban, Kadazan etc. And of course, English is spoken in everyday life.

Being just bilingual in Malaysia can be rather a handicap.

I'm putting up this post here, instead of over at my other blog for the benefit of my non-Malaysian readers - specifically to Rurousha for a bit of insight on Malaysia. Can't talk about Japan incessantly, can we? Lest you think I don't care about my own country!

Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen

2012-01-12T00:08:00.003+08:00

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns"

George Eliot

Disclaimer :
The bird photo was not taken at Ritsurin Koen. It was just some random bird photo I took at Shinobazu Pond one fine Spring day many moons ago. ^^

A beautiful garden displaying her loveliest autumn splendour for all the view and savour. And savour the sights we did.

There are plenty more where this come from so stay tuned for another post (with more photos) on Ritsurin Koen in the future. I'm keeping the nicest photos for future posts. ^^

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscences while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara

Autumn Reminiscence - Nara

2012-01-09T18:09:00.000+08:00

at Nara

the fragrance of chrysanthemums

ancient Buddhas

Matsuo Basho

Guardian Kings
Temples and ancient sites
Historic treasures
Shinto's messengers of God
(no, this is not a haiku- just me lazy to write full sentences) ^^

When you such beauty before you, no words are needed. And no mere words can justify it, not to mention amateurish attempt at capturing the beauty. ^^!

Previous autumn reminiscencets can be found here:
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura

Sixmats, you mentioned you are planning to head over to Mount Fuji again. Care to try the Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji event on May 18th? ^^

Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura

2012-01-07T00:00:00.006+08:00

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spent almost all the daylight hours in the open-air"

Nathaniel Hawthorne

and spent it out in the open-air we did; one fine autumn day at the Shikoku Mura; an open air museum in Yashima, Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku Island.

Traditional farm and folk houses (there were some quarters for lighthouse keepers too) relocated from all over Shikoku are displayed at the open-air museum but before I put up my (most probably long, very detailed) post or posts on the traditional houses seen there; some autumn colours . Enjoy. ^^

Why stay indoors when one can spend the whole morning looking at such wonderful burst of colours and enjoy the crisp morning air, right?

This is the second part of a 7-part Autumn Reminiscence posts that I'll do for this month. Have you seen the photos of Lake Kinrinko I posted up a few days earlier? ^^

Update:
Nothing to do with Japan or Autumn but just wanna share something to celebrate the New Year of 2012. By doing a 12K run at Padang Merbok with 4,000 other runners on Jan 8th. It was FUN!

Did a pretty lousy timing but in my defense - the route was hilly. It was up, uP and UP and downhill only towards the end.

Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko

2012-01-05T13:02:00.001+08:00

autumn colors

without a pot

of red-brown soup

Matsuo Basho

It's winter now in Japan (right? It's hard to think about winter in hot, sunny Malaysia) so pardon me for still showing autumnal photos that we took during our vacation in Japan last year.

Lake Kinrinko, a natural landmark in Yufuin and located beside Mount Yufu. We got there before tour groups arrived in bus loads and we managed to get a quiet time, enjoying the loveliness of the small lake. It got pretty crowded afterwards so we made a hasty retreat. Me, for a run and Zaini went back to have a good soak in the hot spring water.

The mist seen rising from the Lake during Autumn and Winter months are caused by both hot and cold water springing from the bottom.

I guess the water in the lake was just nice for the birds to enjoy and do a spot of cleansing, eh? ^^

Isn't autumn just so lovely? And to celebrate such loveliness, this is the first of a 7-part posts of places we visited with lovely autumn colours. Stay tuned!

2011 Trip Recap, Part II

2012-01-03T00:05:00.001+08:00

Still not too late to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR, right? あけましておめでとうございます again! :)

A continuation from my earlier post, recapping our trip to Japan made a few weeks ago in Dec 2011.

From Takamatsu in Shikoku, we made our way to Honshu Island on Day 8. Visited Nara for a few hours, stopped at Kyoto Station for a while, walked around Namba before finally calling it a day by boarding a sleeping train from Osaka to Tokyo. A pretty productive day, if I say so myself. ^^

Arrived Tokyo on Day 9 at 7.00am and proceeded on with more train journeys, all the way to Hakodate and view & touch some snow. Not to mention eating some awesome seafood there.

Stood in awe in front of the Kamakura Daibutsu on Day 10. It was raining the whole day we were there so had to re-adjust our plan but that's OK. There's always next time, right? ^^

Day 11 was spent with our most gracious host that day, Minor and his wife. It didn't rain that day, but it was COLD! Brrrr....

Day 12 was a sunny day, lucky for us. We took a stroll by the Sumida River, walking from our hotel in Senzoku and pretty soon found ourselves in Kinshicho.

Went to Ogawamachi on Day 13 for a spot of shopping

On Day 14, we started our day at Kappabashi. Then, we made our way to Ueno and visited Yanaka Cemetery and stumbled into a few more interesting sites along the way. We eventually stopped to rest at Nippori before making our way back to Ueno.

The last day of our 2011 trip saw us visiting Yokohama again. No concrete plans of going sight-seeing anywhere so we just meander around the area before finally making our way to Haneda Airport and boarded our AirAsia X flight.

A totally awesome trip. We got to see the sights we wanted and more. A few we didn't make it but we are not totally bummed over it. As I see it, that's an excuse to make a return visit, if we need any. xD

The 1st Day Of 2012

2012-01-01T16:08:00.005+08:00

and my first photo for 2012.

Did a 12K run under the sweltering heat decked in an almost all-black outfit this morning but enjoyed it nevertheless and did a 10K yesterday to say bye-bye to 2011.

What better place to spend the morning of 2012? Zaini and I spent the 1st day of 2012 in Putrajaya. In the background is the Perdana Putra which houses the office complex of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The roundabout where I was standing looked rather empty but as a matter of fact, the place was teeming with visitors; local and foreign alike.

And come earlier in the morning, this place would be filled with mountain bikers starting their morning rides. And a place for me to start my LSD runs in the weekend. No dogs to chase me here and low traffic; that and with great view of the Putrajaya lake makes it a good place to enjoy some fresh air.

Check out my posts on the other blog of mine for places to enjoy some fresh air in Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding area. ^^

How is your first day of 2012 so far? :)

2011 Trip Recap, Part I

2011-12-31T14:05:00.001+08:00

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! あけましておめでとうございます *^-^* Hope that 2012 will be a good year for everyone.

To celebrate the new year, a look back at 2011's trip to Japan which we made and ended just a few weeks ago. Hopefully, there'll be more Japan trips for us in the future! (Although we *agreed* to take a break from visiting Japan in 2012 & 2013).

We went sightseeing in Yokohama on our second day in Japan, the first day being too late to do anything other than checking-in and sleeping in a hotel near Haneda Airport for us.

From Yokohama, we made our way to Yufuin. Checked-in at a pretty cool cottage and had two baths all to ourselves.

The first half of Day 4 was spent sightseeing in Yufuin. Pity it rained after I had my morning run there because after we checked-out, we were unable to travel much around the area because it was a tad cold with the rain. But we made it to Lake Kinrinko and walked around the town area.

Day 5 was spent at Huis Ten Bosch, feeling like we were not in Japan but in Holland albeit Japanese speaking part of Holland. LOL

The evening was spent with a blogging friend, Hanny who lives in Kitakyushu, making and eating takoyaki with her two boys.

From Hakata, we made our way to Shikoku Island on Day 6 of our trip. Lrong was in Takamatsu that day and had kindly suggested to meet for lunch but as luck would have it, we were unable to secure any early train seats reservations and with the one we had, we arrived too late to meet-up for lunch.

So instead of heading straight to Takamatsu as planned earlier, we made our way to Matsuyama first. Walked from Matsuyama Station to Dogo Onsen and stopped whenever we see nice/interesting sites; which I will post more of soon.

Day 7 was spent visiting Shikoku Mura and Ritsurin Koen and the evening was spent walking around the port area and what is touted to be the biggest shopping street in Japan.

There were rainy and gloomy days when we were there but through Day 7, we were lucky that the rain didn't spoil our plan much. How were the days after that? Stay tuned!

Day 8 - Day 14 recap soon!

Postcards To Home

2011-12-29T14:04:00.000+08:00

Rather than sending them to others back home, we love sending postcards to ourselves from each city we visited when we are vacationing in Japan.

It's fun to look at the postcards and the stamps not to mention if there's any special postmark on it. ^^

This year, we have Hakodate, Yufuin, Dogo Onsen (Matsuyama), Nara, Enoshima, Kagawa added to our postcard collection.

And we have a new set of stamps added too.

Cute, right? *^-^*

An End To An Awesome Trip

2011-12-26T14:05:00.002+08:00

Gah! How did the two weeks vacation went by so quickly? What did we do in these two weeks? I wish we have more time! But home we must return and earn more money so that we can afford another vacation in the future. xD

Our flight back to Kuala Lumpur was a red-eye flight so we had a whole day in Japan for us to do last minute sightseeing and we just spent the day in Yokohama. Had some thoughts of going to Kirin Beer Village because... we went to Yebisu Beer Museum last year, so it'll be unfair if we didn't check out Kirin. Right? And why Beer Museum you ask, when I don't even drink beer? Simply because it's there.

Spent some time over at Nissan Gallery

Mommy looked at some cars, Daddy had a rest - sitting on one of the many chairs and couches there and Raimie "learnt" how to drive.

Did last minute soft drink purchase for Raimie

Mommy drooled over some colourful running shoes and somehow miraculously managed to refrain from buying anything

Raimie wasn't happy to be dragged over to Anpanman Museum. See the "forced" smile on his face? LOL "Mommy! Anpanman is for little kids!" he whines but did we listen? Nope.

Had some ice cream at Baskin Robbins to help the traumatised 9 year old recover from visiting that Anpanman Museum

Saw some illuminations

and ate dinner. I've had enough of rice so I insisted on a pasta dinner and got it; but of course with a Japanese twist. They serve a ginormous L sized omuraisu there too, which we were lucky enough to see, because the guys at the next table ordered one. They were enough to feed three adults! I kid you not! @.@

Daddy made some last minute duty-free purchases afterwards and before you know, it we were onboard our AirAsia flight and on our way home.

No fault with the Air Asia staff but the cabin smelled ranging from dead carcass to rotten cheese to wet dog to damp towel and finally my nose got used to the stank of sweaty, stinky socks and I was able to have some shut eye only to be woken up by this genius of a guy who was playing games very loudly in front of me. If I was his wife or daughter, he'll already be whacked and reminded to not be so noisy and inconsiderate. Meiwaku, and that sort of thing ya'know.

Next time I'm taking AirAsia flights, I'm bringing over some face masks! I think Air Asia can make good money selling air fresheners to passengers onboard too, if the ventilation doesn't improve. Hu~

Merry Xmas!

2011-12-25T00:08:00.000+08:00

In the spirit of Xmas merriness and sharing and whatnot, here's some random illumination/Christmassy shots I took while we were in Japan.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Taito Ward Walking

2011-12-23T11:05:00.000+08:00

The second last day for us in Japan was spent with a whole lot of walking.

I started the day with the most ideal way for me; running! Yeay me! My head felt heavy from being "lazy" taking a break from running the past few days since it rained both days we were in Kawasaki and the first two days in Tokyo, my gum was still throbbing painfully.

Started my short run from Sumida Boat River terminal, ran down to the next bridge (it was called Sakura Bridge or something, correct me please) ran back to the Azuma Bridge (the red lacquered bridge in front of the Asahi Beer building) and finish off by running all the way back to our hotel. I can probably search for the correct names of the bridge but I'm feeling lazy to fact-check.

After breakfast, we made our way to Kappabashi first. Spent about an hour there, looking at takoyaki mould and spending much of our time over at one shop there selling everything from food items to bento packaging to souvenir stuff. Cheap stuff and some of the "souvenir"y stuff sold at Nakamise-Dori can be found at that shop for half the price! No, I'm not going to tell you the shop's name. Go and head over to Kappabashi yourself.

Then, our foot took us to Ueno and we found this giant of a panda over at Ueno Station. Please don't try and feed the panda! xD

When in Ueno, gotta stroll a bit in Ueno Park. Maybe not the best park in Tokyo but hey, it is free to wander around it and you can meet some pretty interesting people there. We were there on Monday so the zoo and all the museums are closed. Saw plenty of runners doing their noon runs there. If I have more leisurely time in Tokyo, I am so gonna do a few rounds here, I tell you.

Walked past a few shrines, temples and stopped for a while at the 84,000 Jizo Statue and the Mushizuka, an insect cemetery to console the spirits of dead insects used as models for drawings.

before finally reaching our destination; the Yanaka cemetery. We talked about making our way to Tokyo University too that day, but eventually didn't.

After spending a bit of time meandering around the cemetery, we continued our walk to the nearby Nippori Station for lunch. A simple bread based lunch and we got on our way back to Ueno.

Raimie was such a good boy, spending more than 5 hours walking with us so as a reward, we spent time looking at games and toys at Yamashiroya and Yodobashi Camera in Ueno later.

Then, it's a walk back to Kappabashi and did some shopping there; completing our purchases moments before the store was set to close for the day at 5.30pm. Yup people, stores in Kappabashi close early so don't plan on late evening shopping there. Malls close at 8.00pm or 9.00pm. Complaining about wanting to do late-night shopping but can't? Go to Korea. Or better still, shop in Malaysia. But you can eat sushi all night long in Asakusa. Sushi Zanmai opens from 11.00am to 7.00am the next day.

Hurriedly walked through Sensoji Temple because I wanted to stop and buy something very "touristy" as requested by my siblings at Nakamise-dori.

By the time we arrived Nakamise-Dori, we've been asked for directions by Japanese person(s) three times that day! One at Yanaka Cemetery - a lady looking for a jizo or something. Second time was at Nippori Station - an elderly couple asking how to get to Yokohama and the third one in front of the Hozomon Gate - a guy wanted to ask something I didn't catch. Did we look so friendly that among all those people mingling there, we were the ones they asked for directions? xD

Four fridge magnets and a few boxes of ningyo-yaki (or whatever Zaini decided to buy for his colleagues) later, then it's time for dinner! Sushi dinner at Sushi Zanmai.

What's that you ask? That's natto temaki sushi and they were yummy!

All that walking didn't leave me unaffected. Just look at my poor blistered left heel. Poor foot. I really do abuse you a lot, right? Three blisters, forming on top of each other that's been there since Day 4 in Japan. But dear two feet of mine, you know I love you, right? I adore you so much that we'll start training for Standard Chartered Marathon 2012 soon! Yeay us! ^^

We were out from 10.00am and only returned at 8.00pm. I decided not to go out again, after looking at my lopsided face in the mirror (left cheek was obviously puffy, the effects of my swollen gum) but "genki" Zaini went out again and after three hours, still not a peep from him! He must be having a lot of fun! ^^

A week after returning from our 2011 Japan vacation, I'm still halfway through taking antibiotics for the gum of mine. Good times. *^-^*

Ogawamachi For A Day!

2011-12-21T14:05:00.005+08:00

Day 13 is like a non-event. We spent more than half a day at Ogawamachi, climbing up steps after steps into/up the numerous sporting goods there looking for a bargain.

There are a whole lot of ski and snowboarding shops there alongside with golf, tennis, baseball, basketball and what else? Running of course! I tell you, I was ever so ready to re-mortgage my house to buy the awesome stuff there.

All the completely blinding colours the running shoes that are on sale there. OMG! OMG! Dunno why, but I do so like to be easily identified when running. Bright pink, neon green, the likes.... white running shoes is soooo boring. heh heh

And to further prove my point, here's me in pink amongst a sea of white at one night running event I took part a few months ago in Putrajaya.

Back to the story, a staff at Mizuno store encouraged us to try the foot analysis for free but we declined. I'm afraid to fall into the deep abyss of wanting to buy after doing all those testing!

Not intimidated by the queue at this particular udon shop, we joined the herd and had a very nice udon lunch there. Gave the girl dishing out the udon bowl a headache because the ones that we wanted to order, I had no idea how to pronounce since it was written in kanji. I can do hiragana and katakana. Heck I can do Hangul too (OK, reading and mouthing the sounds aloud doesn't mean I know the language) but kanji... I concede defeat.

They were busy. The line was long. But a staff came out to us and took time to double confirm our order according to the picture shown. We bring chaos wherever we went in Japan. Be warned! heh! We are sorry we have caused you trouble, udon shop staff. ;p

The best thing of all this was, nobody behind us fidgeted and look over at us wanting to see the cause of the holdup. You know you are in Malaysia when just spending a few extra seconds at the automated gate over at Immigration would warrant a comment from the next person in line. "Why so slow?" is commonly heard. ;p

After amply filling our tummy, then it's time to do some serious shopping! Raimie sported a new Nike bag soon after and Mommy had a few purchases on her own. Mommy was very restraint and only spent 18,000yen for her running gears. No new shoes though, despite being so so so tempted to get at least one pair.

Daddy, who had looked at a few pair of Asics Made in Japan running shoes range, decided to not buy anything yet. Scrooge! LOL

By the time we were done, it was approaching 4.00pm and we decided to head back to our hotel and rested a bit before going out again for dinner and a bit of "grocery" shopping.

Such a boring day, eh? ^^

When it's time for a winter Hokkaido vacation in 2014 (planning way ahead, aren't we?), we are so going to drop by this area and buy our snow/ski stuff and whatnot. Unless of course, you kind soul out there willing to lend your stuff to us. *hint hint* hihihi

Asakusa To Kinshicho On Foot

2011-12-19T14:05:00.004+08:00

The second day we were in Tokyo, we woke up to a bright, sunny day which was a relief for us. I don't know whether I can stand any more rainy, gloomy days for the rest of our vacation.

Walked along the Sumida River to recce the route for my run. Unfortunately, up to Day 3 in Tokyo; I haven't done any running yet.

Saw some people dressed as some kind of heroes (power rangers wannabe or something), with a guy with a bazooka of a lens photographing them. The best part was, nobody else there even batted an eyelid at them.

Saw hordes of tourists and plenty of them are part of tour groups. All trying to capture a good photo of the Asahi Beer Tower and the golden poop; errr.... flame on top of it and also the Tokyo Sky Tree.

We have to make a confession. We too can't resist taking obscene amount of photos of the Sky Tree from different angles. (Note: photos taken by Zaini. I do not have the patience to take "artsy" photos like this)

Walked some more and saw this humongous doggies on the first floor of ~~an apartment~~ a building, which I'm told is a doggie school or something. Good thing they aren't alive. xD

Saw baseball team(s) having a practice session at a field somewhere. Passed by and entered a warehouse sale going on. (Note: random photos like this are of course mine!)

Stumbled upon and stopped by a few shrines and suddenly we found ourselves in Kinshicho.

Had an early lunch at Yayoi-ken in Kinshicho, located opposite Tobu Levant Hotel. There used to be a Yoshinoya outlet there but now found a Burger King place instead.

Spent a bit of time at the nearby Arca Kit before deciding to head over to Akihabara. Raimie had been badgering us over a Nintendo 3DS game that was released that day, Monster Hunter 3G. Saw them at a M-Land but decided to check out the game over at Yodobashi-Akiba. Bad idea. The place was choked with shoppers and the game was sold out there.

Walked back to M-Land after checking out a few other stores and by now the price of the game there had gone up 300yen! At least, it wasn't above the recommended retail price.

Son was pretty stoked getting the game albeit at a higher price. You know, he is sure showing sign of growing up. He didn't buy any of the Kamen Rider/Rangers/Ultraman figures and toys; spending the bulk of his allocated cash on games instead.

Arrived back to our hotel and I immediately crashed. While I felt just fine in the morning, I wasn't feeling too good later in the day and refused to go out again afterwards. Zaini went out alone and came back with dinner packed for Raimie and I. Just bread for me, fast food for Raimie and a bagel for poor Zaini who wasn't keen on eating out alone.

Anyway, why did we walk from Asakusa to Kinshicho in the first place? Because we can! ^^

Oh, by the way. Can I gloat a little?

I am so proud of my Son! Raimie ran a 3K race on Sunday with Zaini accompanying him doing the run in Putrajaya, the Larian Jom! Kitar Semula 2011.

I went solo and did my 7K run and proud to say managed to bag one of the few, limited medals given out.

Job well done Son! :)

To Tokyo!

2011-12-16T14:05:00.001+08:00

After a rainy day visiting Enoshima and Kamakura; the next day continued to be a cold gloomy day. We checked out from our hotel in Kawasaki and head-off to Tokyo. Left our luggage at the hotel in Senzoku before walking around for a bit and finally made our way to meet up with a blogging friend in Tokyo; Minor.

Because the day was so cold, we ditched the plan to visit a couple of parks and instead Minor brought us to Sunshine City's Namco Namja Town.

Had a romantic ride on the Bianca Vita, the merry-go-round and then enjoyed a lovely dessert at Ice Cream City.

Afterwards, we had a spot of ping pong game and also Othello board game before dinner. Well, Zaini and Raimie did. I just sat around and take photos. ^^

Dinner was lovely. Minor and his wife were so hospitable to us that we felt kinda guilty for imposing on them.

While we chatted with Minor at the dinner table, his wife taught Raimie how to fold paper cranes. Did I tell you that Raimie loves origami? I did, right? :)

Pretty soon it was time to make our way back to our hotel and part company with our lovely hosts. Raimie spent hours in our hotel room afterwards folding paper cranes some more. All in all, it was a great day with an equally awesome company.

To Minor and wife, thank you so much for your kind hospitality.
We are blessed to meet generous people during our trip. :) By the way, there is another post about hospitable people in Japan over at my other site.

From Kawasaki To Enoshima On A Rainy Day

2011-12-15T14:05:00.000+08:00

Things didn't go as planned on Day 10 of our trip. It rained almost the whole day! Booohooo!

Got out from our warm hotel room late and had brunch at Kawasaki Station food court. Udon for Zaini and I and Raimie had two shrimp filled onigiris.

By now, I was nursing a swollen, throbbing gum and chewing was torture! Ugh... Just the thing you need when on vacation; in a country you barely speak the language. I prepared a whole lot of medicine for the trip but nothing for this. Got something from the drug store and it actually took 3 days for the throbbing to stop. :(

And that's why folks, no running for me these few days. The throbbing coupled with a blistered heel makes bad travel company but continuing on...

From Kawasaki Station, we travelled to Ofuna. Purchased the Kamakura Enoshima Pass and travelled to Enoshima. The day turned out to be more of train rides trips instead of visiting sites in Enoshima and Kamakura. Bummer.

Deciding not to brave the cold rain and risked a sick child afterwards, we spent a bit of time there indoors before deciding it's best to try and visit some sites in Kamakura instead. Woe us. (Insert choice Shakespearean curses here if you like) LOL

With the rain we had to chose which site to visit in Kamakura and we selected the Kamakura Daibutsu, with long stops at souvenir shops. I don't know about you but while the Daibutsu itself is great and all, the fact that the people at the ticket counter and souvenir shops readily speaks English to me makes the experience less thrilling. Hard to please this one foreign tourist, eh? xD

It was still raining after our visit to Daibutsu and Zaini "pretended" not to hear me wanting to visit Hasedera. huhuhu Can't blame him though. We didn't have our umbrella with us this time, having forgotten and left it in Osaka. :(

You can't say we didn't make an effort to sightsee in Enoshima. We did make our way there after visiting Daibutsu but then decided to call it quits and hopped on the Shonan Monorail (cool, this suspended monorail, I tell you) from Shonan-Enoshima Station to Ofuna Station. For train buffs, the Shonan monorail is the first monorail of its kind in Japan.

Arrived Kawasaki Station feeling completely famished so we headed to the nearest Yayoi-ken there and had a nice hot (and cheap) dinner.

I was ready to call it quits for the day but the two boys wanted to go out some more (more like going to check out some games at Yodobashi Camera) so after hoarding boxes of chocolates along with a bottle of gum medicine that I had no idea consisted of what, we went our separate ways.

Those two really had a good time without me because it took them ages to return to our hotel room afterwards!

By the way, when this post is up; we are already safe and sound back home in warm, sunny Malaysia. ^^ Not to mention back to work. Ugh.

The Balance 1,000KM Journey Was To...

2011-12-13T14:56:00.004+08:00

A continuation of previous post. We've already travelled for about 1,000KM in a mere 12 hours but it was only half of the journey that we set out to do.

Arriving Tokyo Station at 7.00am, after taking the Sunrise Izumo train from Osaka station; we then took the new shinkansen on the Tohoku shinkansen line - the Hayabusa and made our trip to Shin-Aomori. But that's not the end of our trip! Also, just like to mention here, out of the three new shinkansen rolled out this year, we managed to get onboard two of them. Yeay us!

Had a simple breakfast onboard, egg & tuna sandwiches for Zaini and I and Raimie had a Panda choco bread.

After a 3-hour train ride; it was time to transfer train again and this time for the

Limited express Super Hakucho train from Shin-Aomori at the tip of Honshu Island to the southern tip of Hokkaido; to Hakodate (good guess, Rurousha!) and completed our journey of almost 2,000KM in a bit more than 24 hours. We cut short our trip in Shikoku literally for this because you see, our 7-days JR Passes were expiring that day and we thought; what the heck! Screw common sense. Might as well do something crazy with it. It's not as if this is gonna be our last trip to Japan anyway. ^^

We were greeted by this sight after coming out from the undersea tunnel that the train used to travel from Shin-Aomori to Hakodate. It was raining in Aomori and snow was falling here!

Arrived at Hakodate Station completely famished so first agenda there was to eat lunch. Fresh seafood, of course!

Walked around the station and viewed some schoolchildren's artwork there.

Before heading out the check the town area.

and went to the nearby market. Friendly marketplace merchants calling us to check their wares but get this... in Chinese! LOL

Walking around a bit then snow started falling around us and before long it became too cold. Raimie complained his ears are getting frozen so I let him borrow my hat. ;)

As we needed to travel back to Tokyo the same day (or night) to fully utilise our expiring JR Passes, we didn't stray too far from the station. The cold, snowy day didn't help us explore much either. So, after buying massive amount of souvenirs at a nearby shop, it's time to board our train back to Shin-Aomori before taking a train to Tokyo then to Kawasaki where we had our hotel reservation already made at Nikko Hotel there.

But not before getting some Hakodate ekiben to enjoy in our train for dinner later. Yummy!

Crazy, arent' we? *^-^*

2,000KM In 24 Hours!

2011-12-11T15:26:00.000+08:00

The beauty of JR Pass, allowing us to travel at almost obscene mileage to god knows where in Japan without worrying about any extra cost and we can pretty much plan our trip on a whim.

We scrapped plans to visit the neighbouring island near Takamatsu. Decided not to go to Obokke Kobokke and Kochi either. And with skipping those places; we covered almost 2,000km instead, but to where? Stay tuned until the end of this post!

I started the day by doing a short run, this time along the Tamamo-Koen instead of the port area. Anyway, Tamamo-Koen is just beside the port but the good thing about running near the park was that it's less windy (read: less cold). I actually woke up earlier and had the intention to do a 10K run that morning, but the blister on my left heel started to bother me a bit so I cut short the run to just a 6K instead. :(

From Takamatsu, we took the train to Okayama Station then onwards to Shin-Osaka but not before buying ekiben at Okayama Station. Raimie insisted on having an anago ekiben, one of the more expensive ekiben sold at the stall. *clever boy*

Then, we made our way to Nara. Patted some deers, stepped on a lot of deer poop, looked at temples and gazed in awe at the autumn colours there.

Plenty of school kids on field trip to Nara that day. Not to mention a lot of foreign tourists along with Japanese tourists.

After Nara, we made a stop at Kyoto Station; walked out a few minutes from the station and decided to it was too cold to venture any further and look for Kyoto illumination; so we just stay put in the warm departmental store until it's time to make a move to Osaka.

Spent a little bit of time walking around Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi area; which by the way is very much alive even late in the evening. For info, this photo was taken at 11.00pm at night. *^^*

With a big nose like that, who can resist, eh? xD

Enjoyed a cuppa (or two) of free coffee at McDonald's using coupons that were handed out earlier. Well, free coffee for those ordering small sized coffee, 50yen for medium sized. Can't say no to that, right?

Took a 11.23pm (if I'm not mistaken) train from JR Namba Station to Osaka Station and waited for a train that was arriving at 12.34am.Of course at 12.30am, the train station were already deserted except for the train station staff and paasengers boarding the midnight train.

and with taking the midnight train, we spent the night in this train cubicle and slept on a mat type sleeping section in the train and screwed our hotel reservation at Shin-Osaka. But now, spending almost 1,000km in 12 hours; where we were actually heading to? It's only half of the total journey that we made when we reach to the last stop of this midnight train. Any guesses? ^^

The Kagawa Prefecture

2011-12-09T17:10:00.000+08:00

I started the day by going out for a run (alone, this time) at 6.00am. The Takamatsu Port is just about 1km away from the hotel we were staying in. It helped that I saw a runner (in compression wear, no less) along the way so I just kept pace (read: make sure he was within sight) with him until I knew roughly where I wanted to do my run.

Watching the sun rises in the cold morning was really nice. Plenty of runners/joggers/walkers around not to mention people fishing too.

I had a one hour run there, being outrun by most of the runners there (man, they are all fast!) before heading back to the warm hotel room to get ready for breakfast and our scheduled sightseeing for the day.

First site visited - the Open Air Museum; Shikoku Mura. Spent about 2-3 hours there before going to another site, this time nearer to our hotel.

We spent almost two hours at Ritsurin Koen, following the recommended 1 hour course.

Had a late lunch at one of the udon shop at the shopping street/arcade right in front of our hotel. We ate everything and gulped down every single drop of the soup. It was sooooooo goooooood!

After a bit of rest, we went out again and we walked by Tamamo-Koen which is just beside the port.

Then, braving the cold, windy evening; we headed over to the port area to check out the ferry time to the neighbouring islands.

and finishing off the day's walk by strolling at the largest shopping street in Japan. And yes, it does go on and on and on.... But at 5.00pm, half the shops are closed/closing and at 7.00pm; most of them are already closed.

The Fourth Island

2011-12-08T16:57:00.002+08:00

Shikoku; the smallest island of the four main islands in Japan and that's the destination we're headed to in Day 5.

Took this very cutely decorated Anpanman character Limited Express Shikaze train from Okayama to Matsuyama, just minutes before it's set to depart from the station. It took about 2 and a half hours to get from Okayama to Matsuyama.

Arrived Matsuyama Station, looked around for an English map of the area but can't find one. Had lunch at a nearby cafe eating sandwiches and an anpanman bread for Raimie.

Instead of taking the streetcar, we decided to walk around the area. Firstly we walked towards Matsuyama Castle but after arriving at the ropeway station, decided not to "waste" money so we just contend ourselves with looking at the castle from afar; and then walked again and this time all the way to

Dogo Onsen but with a few stops at nearby attraction along the way.

Got on board the Limited Express Ishizuchi at 5.37pm and arriving Takamatsu Station at 7.57pm. The area looked pretty quiet with most shops at the station and along the way to our hotel closed or closing; so we decided to just eat a konbini bought dinner.

Sightseeing in Takamatsu the next day! Not to mention running! :)

Synchronise Your Watches!

2011-12-06T14:05:00.002+08:00

When one has the habit of arriving the train platform just minutes before the train departs, it is imperative that our watch is synchronised to train station's time. ^^

Day 5 : Huis Ten Bosch. Got on board the train just seconds before it departs. Same thing happen when we took the LEX Okayama to Matsuyama. heh

We went to this recreation of the Huis Ten Bosch in Netherlands theme park, located in Nagasaki Prefecture. Raimie had requested a visit there for his birthday present. As a trade-off, he agreed to cancel the trip to Ultramanland in Kumamoto for this.

The view inside the Dutch theme park. One can almost be forgiven for mistaking us being somewhere other than Japan.

Since our main reason is for One Piece attractions, that's what and where we made a beeline for. The One Piece attractions, ships and gift shops!

Mommy, Son & Chopper!

The Thousand Sunny ship. We got onboard it (gotta pay up extra for the privilege) to set sailing on it.

Raimie and the ship

Onboard the ship, with Monkey D Luffy

Daddy and his "new girlfriend"

Setting sail. Brrr.... Cold & windy

We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, and went back at 3.00pm, arriving Hakata Station at 5.00ish. We went back to our hotel room and picked up a few stuff, and took a Limited Express train to Moji Station.

Moji Station

We spent a couple of hours eating takoyaki with a blogger friend, Hanny and her Sons. We had planned to only make a short stop there, but I guess when one is with good company, time does flies. Before we knew it, it was almost 11.00pm! Thank you so much to Hanny and her family for putting up with us! If you remember, when we came to this part of town in 2008, Hanny played host to us too!

A near deserted Kokura Station. We were waiting for the shinkansen to arrive for us to get back to Hakata Station.

The Third...

2011-12-04T15:07:00.003+08:00

time we visited Kyushu. Our first visit was in 2007. Second one was in 2008. Third one in 2011.

Day 4 in Japan, we woke up in Yufuin. I wanted to wake up at 5.00am but somehow only managed to wake up at 7.00am.

First thing, had a hot spring bath to warm up the muscles before going out for an early morning walk with hubby to a nearby Lake Kinrinko (more like a pond to me).

Lovely view of autumn with splashes of colour everywhere we turn at Lake Kinrinko. More of the lake later. We spent about an hour there, before making our way back as tour groups started to swarm the lake area.

While Zaini head back to our cottage, I did a short run around for about 30 minutes. While doing my cool-down walk, got stopped by Japanese tourists asking for directions. I must look like a local. LOL

Passing time, Zaini had a more leisurely pursuit - enjoying his baths while looking at the colours of autumn while soaking in the hot water.

Returned to Hakata later, arriving at 3.00pm. Rested a bit in our hotel room before making our way out again, only to find that it was raining that evening. Decided to gamble it and made our way to Nakasu and Tenjin area and walk around looking for the famous yatai (food stalls). When it looked like the rain wasn't letting up, we quickly made our way to

the nearby Canal City and window shopped. We spent a couple of hours there and just when Raimie started complaining about getting tired, we found stores selling his favourite anime & tokukatsu series merchandises so he was happy for a while there. Deciding the rain wasn't gonna stop, we decided to just make a dash back to our hotel which was nearby Hakata Station.

Rain did stop for a while and allowed us to enjoy the splendour of the illumination in front of Hakata Station. They are awesome!

The last activity for the day, and the most important one at that, we bought a cake to celebrate Raimie's birthday moments before the store closed.

Happy 9th birthday, Son! And as agreed, his birthday present was to be given the next day and we had to travel to Sasebo to present it to our Son. ^^

And The Second Part Is...

2011-12-02T21:21:00.001+08:00

Day 3 in Japan. Lots of time in trains and it was great! Get ready for photo laden post (again!)

We started the day by waking up at 5.00am because I had this crazy idea of wanting to go out for a run and Zaini knows better than to thwart me.

It was raining and freezing cold Thursday morning, but my lovely hubby accompanied me and walked with me to a nearby park. He went back to the comfort of our hotel room as I started doing a few loops by the river (or big drain?) near Nissan Stadium.

Had breakfast and yes, I like to combine eating rice and Japanese side dishes along with bread. There is such a thing as too much rice for me! ;)

Took the shinkansen Hikari to Shin-Osaka station from Shin-Yokohama. Then, got on the shinkansen Sakura to Hakata before making our final ride on Yufuin No Mori express train to Yufuin.

And when we are onboard a shinkansen, there is one thing we must do especially on long journeys. We indulge with enjoying ekiben! Yummy.

Last time we were at Hakata Station was in 2008 and the station was still undergoing some massive renovation. It is totally a swanky station now. Foreign tourists friendly too. The JR ticket offices here are much tourist friendly than the one at Shin-Yokohama.

On board the Yufuin No Mori express sightseeing train. Friendly crew. Raimie even got a sticker from that nice conductor.

Some lovely sights to see enroute to Yufuin.

Arrived our cottage that we booked through a friend around 5.30pm and here we are by the cool fireplace waiting to check-in.

There are two hot spring baths to enjoy all to ourselves at our very own cottage and dip in we sure did. Plenty of time too. The place has an indoor bath and an outdoor one too. Guess which one is our favourite?

By 7.00pm the town of Yufuin is pretty quiet. We found a store/mart called On 365 or something that sells a lot of thing at bargain price.

Then, it's back to our warm state-of-the art cottage and dip-in the baths some more. I wanted to wake up at 5.00am the next day but I guess I slept so comfortably that I only woke up at 7.00am this morning!

Firsts!

2011-11-30T20:24:00.000+08:00

There are many firsts in this trip, so far on Day 1 & Day 2. Gonna keep the post short and sweet (in narrative) but with lots of photos. *^-^*

We arrived Tokyo International Airport, Haneda in one piece on our first ever plane trip with Air Asia X. I do have to say the budget carrier exceeded our expectation and for th price we paid our fares, I certainly will consider taking it again!

First ever arrival to Japan via Haneda. We arrived 20 minutes earlier than scheduled, but even with the earlier arrival, most shops are already closed for the night.

First meal in Japan was bento bought at 7-11. 300+yen bento for each of us and a melon pan for Raimie, washed down with a grape drink thant cost 105yen for 1ltr.

The next day, our first lunch in Japan was at Tenya, at Shin-Yokohama station. We were famished! Raimie keep wanting to go eat curry at Coco Ichiba and we keep reminding him that we cannot eat the Japanese curry in Japan. Oh dear.

First time setting our eyes on the Nippon Maru but didn't go and visit the Maritime Museum.

Raimie having a breather at the nearby park. It was noon, the weather was nice, cool & sunny. Saw a few runners doing their lunchtime run and got jealous & wish I'm running too. LOL

First "aki" experience in Yokohama

then, we walked to this Red Brick Warehouse

then, Raimie got tired and decided to plonk his butt anywhere

but we managed to prod him to get moving with a promise to let him buy the thing that he's been hankering for and we walked from the Red Brick House to the Cup Noodle Museum then all the way to Yokohama Station and went to Yodobashi Camera which is near the station. We even stopped at a sports store and spent ages there and went to buy some Uniqlo stuff for Raimie.

And let Raimie buy what he's been waiting eagerly to get - a Nintendo 3DS and two games.

In total, we spent almost 10 hours on our feet today, with only a few short breaks - to eat lunch & stuff. Zaini is now happily snoring away and Raimie is still badgering me to let him play his new Nintendo but it needs to be charged first! I gotta get some sleep soon. Planning to hit a nearby park early tomorrow morning for a bit of run. Night!

Japan In A Few Hours!

2011-11-29T12:58:00.002+08:00

By the time this post is up, we should be on our way to Japan and will be arriving Haneda Airport at 10.30pm.

Not flying JAL this time. We are taking AirAsia's flight for the first time in our lives! It's gonna take a bit of getting used to flying during the day instead of a night flight like we had all these years either with SQ, MAS or (mostly) JAL. Not to mention, no free in-flight entertainment. It's time to read some books!

See you in Japan in a few hours!

The Itinerary So Far

2011-11-26T14:05:00.046+08:00

OK... A few more days to go. W00T! W00T!

Lets' see... Where are we heading off to in Japan this time? What will we be doing, while traipsing the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu?

For the benefit of you who might or might not care, here's the "hazy" itinerary so far. Like most trips we did to Japan, it's subject to change - depending on mood, budget, weather and general goodwill of the parties (mainly me and hubby) involved. ;)

So far the plan is:

Day 1 Arrival Haneda. Too late to do anything so it's pretty much, checking-in and zzzzzz
Day 2 Yokohama
Day 3 Taking a loooong train trip (not that I'm complaining) all the way to Yufuin. Checking-in at Yufuin Bettei Itsuki for the night. Onsen time!
Day 4 Sightseeing in Yufuin before heading off to Fukuoka
Day 5 Huis Ten Bosch!
Day 6 Takamatsu
Day 7 Takamatsu
Day 8 Final day on the island of Shikoku before heading off to Osaka. Night trip in Osaka. Wanna take night photos there
Day 9 Kawasaki. Raimie opted to not go to Ultramanland in Kumamoto in favour of One Piece at Huis Ten Bosch so we'll just go to Ultraman Club at Namco Wonderpark in Kawasaki instead.
Day 10 Kamakura? But I wanna go to Enoshima too!
Day 11 Meeting up with a blogger friend and sightsee around his home area - two parks and a traditional street. *Tanoshimi*! ^^
Day 12 Asakusa/Ueno/random places in Tokyo. I think I wanna go to Showa Kinen park, after seeing Rurousha's excellent photos - Tokyo's best ginkgo avenue. I'm sure you'll be tempted to visit too after seeing her awesome photos!
Day 13 Nikko maybe?
Day 14 Random places in Tokyo. Time to do some shopping!
Day 15 If we have enough leftover cash; maybe we'll head to Disneyland again. But we'll see.

As you can see, Day 13 -15 are still pretty much unplanned yet but we'll be staying in Tokyo. I'm looking forward to do a bit of run along Sumida River. :)

Can't Wait

2011-11-23T14:05:00.003+08:00

to see this. Hope we aren't too late to view them!

eat of lot of these, over and over again over the course of two weeks.

ride a lot of these. The fast ones, the slow ones - we don't mind. We'll ride them all if we can. :)

take a few dips in these. Yufuin, wait for us!

and visit a few of these too

Can you tell that I'm excited? Just one more week to go and Japan, see you there! ^^

Asakusa Walking, At Night

2011-11-21T14:05:00.003+08:00

As you know, we have a soft spot for Asakusa. The nightlife in Asakusa may not be that happening but that's the way we like it. It's a place where I can comfortably walk around with my son when Zaini went out to do his "own" thing at night.

But it doesn't mean Asakusa is dead at night. Plenty of interesting stuff to see, once the night comes.

You have to know too that Asakusa does have its seedy part. Walk further and out of the tourist trail, you can find a certain "theater" that you might not want your child to see its posters. Charming, eh?

Toy Shopping

2011-11-18T14:05:00.001+08:00

Shopping in Japan! Each of us have our own list of shopping to be done. And this is the one time that Raimie is allowed a free rein to do some toy/games shopping (within an allotted budget, of course).

He knows how much he is allowed to spend and with that budget, he already has list made out. He is pretty much his father's son - him and his list. LOL

Asakusa Walking

2011-11-16T14:05:00.001+08:00

Both Zaini and I are very fond of Asakusa. Its' nice and laid back, once you get away from the crazy tourist crowd that congregate at the Kaminarimon Gate, shopping for ehem, tacky souvenir stuff at Nakamise Dori or visiting Senso-ji.

Asakusa, that we've come to love...

One Piece Fanboys

2011-11-13T14:05:00.005+08:00

Because of One Piece, we'll be heading off to Huis Ten Bosch again to enjoy whatever One Piece attractions there.

The last time we visited the theme park was in 2008. I wouldn't have thought of us making a return visit to the park, but there are two One Piece fanboys in the family.

Raimie wants so badly to see the Thousand Sunny and Going Merry ships. His Daddy is a fan too thus the reason that the request to travel 1 hour and 40 minutes from Hakata Station to Huis Ten Bosch received no objection.

If you are a One Piece fan, what would you love to see the most there?

And looking at all those One Piece character inspired menu at the restaurant - wouldn't you want to have a try, even if they might not taste all that nice? Just because it look soooooo cute? Somehow the dish above reminded me of Lisa of Ichigoichielove. *^-^*

Now, if only we can afford to stay at the posh ANA JR Huis Ten Bosch hotel. That would be soooooo awesome (for mommy, of course) ;)

Craving For Autumn Fruits

2011-11-10T14:05:00.003+08:00

Mmmmm... being able to get our hands on these juicy fruits would be so, so lovely.

Sweet, fleshy Kaki or persimmon. It is interestingly called (to me,at least) pisang kaki in Malay. Pisang is Malay for banana, by the way.

Budo or grapes. Sweet smelling and sweet tasting grapes. I sure miss these most.

Crunchy, juicy Nashi or pears.

Sweet and crisp Ringo or apples.

Wouldn't say no to a juicy Mikan or mandarin orange either.

Some of the fruits may no longer be in season when we arrive to Japan. I wonder what fruits can I indulge there? *^-^*

Scared Silly And Loving It

2011-11-08T14:05:00.002+08:00

Raimie loves haunted houses and visit them we must if we go to any theme parks or carnivals. Being scared silly can be a lot of fun sometimes.

I should've posted this up in time for the Halloween, but I only got the idea after reading Cocomino's post about Temple during Festival and him mentioning about haunted houses.

The Mystery Zone at Tedori Fish Land, way out in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The Thriller Car attraction at Hanayashiki Amusement Park. The "ghosts" are so obviously mechanical and stuff but it's good scary fun for the kids. ^^

The Haunted Mansion at Hanayashiki Amusement Park too. It is an "audio" type of scare, with flickering lights and whatnot to complete the effect while we sat around a dinner table of a mansion setting; but it sure can be scary. A Japanese girl in our group actually cried out of fear.

Fun, fun scary ride on Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea despite enduring a two-hour queue. We would've skipped this if not for the fact that Raimie really, really wanted to go and have a ride there. It's a popular ride, so if you plan to ride this, be there early to either queue or get your fastpass ticket. FAST The fastpass will run out fast at this attraction.

Then, of course we had to go to the Haunted Mansion Holiday Nightmare at Tokyo Disneyland. The characters of Tim Burton's Night Before Christmas with the existing original 999 ghosts, ghouls and other scary "beings" made this one pretty fun. Raimie totally loves it!

The Snow White Adventure ride at Tokyo Disneyland can be a scary one too. I heard a lot of bawlings when we were inside the attraction. This ride is classified as attractions for small children, but don't expect a whole sunny, cheery ride here. It started off cute and sunny, and turn to dark and menacing soon. Just look at the dwarfs' expressions. xD

Visiting haunted and scary rides in an evening is sure more fun than visiting it during the day. I suppose it's the added "spooky" atmosphere. Can't go wrong if there are Halloween decorations around too. *^-^*

Almost There! The Shopping Before The Trip

2011-11-06T13:05:00.000+08:00

My brain currently kinda on a shutdown mode. I just can't think of anything to write on Japan anymore, other than harping on and on about our travel preparation; which by the way isn't saying much. LOL

My brain must've decided to go on vacation way before the physical body actually does! Hahah

Clothes shopping done. Cheap long sleeved shirts from FOS for Raimie. 3 shirts for the price on one! Cool!

A pair of long john for him too just in case it gets too cold there. We may buy him another jacket when we get to Japan to replace the old one he'll be wearing for the first few days.

For me, the idea is to put on layers instead of opting for heavy jackets that we won't use ever again. I survived wearing a Roxy hoodie with a long-sleeved shirt in February 2002, so I think I'll survive Japan in early December with three layers of clothing. Right? I hope I can.

Zaini - he's opting for some Nike pro combat wear that he'll be able to use again while cycling as his innerwear and layer it with a short and a jacket.

Both of us are trying to creative in our purchases this time. We probably won't use any thick clothing much after this trip so we try to buy things that we'll be able to use again here at home.

By the way, have you heard about Nagoya Women's Marathon 2012 which is held together with the Nagoya City Marathon on March 11, 2012? They are expecting 15,000 runners for the women's full marathon segment. I wish I can be there running along other awesome women marathoners!

That said, with running occupying my mind lately, I can't wait to do a few runs in Japan. Looking at Lrong's photos of Takamatsu Port/Sunport is making me sooooooo excited to do a couple of morning runs there.

Too Much Japan Already?

2011-11-03T13:05:00.000+08:00

We've really been indulging in Japanese food more often these past few months compared to months before. Heck, we somewhat stopped eating Japanese food after our trip last year.

Recently, it was lunch or dinner at Kampachi, Miyagi, repeat visits to Sushi Zen, Sukiya, Hokkaido Ichiba...

And on Saturday,

had a visit to HIS Travel Agency for our JR Pass

Stopped by Pavillion and of course we had to spend some time at Tokyo Street on Level 6 of the mall. I can totally fool myself and think that I'm on the floor where all the restaurants are in a Japanese mall. xD

Spent some $$$ buying stuff we had no idea we need at Daiso. Daiso is eviiiillllll.... LOL

Had a really nice lunch at Sukiya enjoying an all-you-can-eat meat for just RM29.80++. Shabu-shabu or sukiyaki anyone? We just concentrated on eating meat (lots of them) and almost ignored the vege bar. Hahaha

I bought some stuff at Uniqlo to wear during our vacation. Some good find there as the item I bought are almost similarly priced as those sold in Yen in Japan, like my RM79.90 fleece jacket that's on sale in Japan for 1,990 yen. (Current rate : 100yen = RM4.10)

Raimie had a new interest now. Origami! All thanks to a Taiwanese comic book based, Korean SBS TV Production animation called The Origami Warriors.

I think we should stop purchasing anything from Japan or eating Japanese food for now and wait till we get to Japan. heh heh

Almost There! Buying JR Pass

2011-11-01T13:05:00.001+08:00

or rather, buying the Exchange Order in Malaysia and exchanging it (hence the name) to JR Pass once we get to Japan.

The past few years, we bought our JR Pass over at JAL office in Jalan Ampang as we usually bought our flight ticket from JAL. This year though, we had to buy it elsewhere as we are flying to Japan using AirAsia instead. That, and the fact that JAL office in KL has moved from Jalan Ampang to KLIA. Such a hassle to go there to buy our JR Pass, right?

Total damage for a 7-day JR Pass (28,300yen per adult and 14,150yen for child) = RM2,900++ and we can have unlimited travel through the length and breadth of Japan on JR trains.

Japan - here we come!

It's Halloween Time!

2011-10-30T19:31:00.000+08:00

Any plans trick-or-treating tonight with the kids? Or painting the town red in your costumes? Then again, Japanese doesn't need Halloween to go out in costumes if you take into account those cosplayers. ;)

From what I observed, stores in Japan sure embraced the Halloween wholeheartedly with all the Halloween merchandise being sold.

Even Ultraman isn't spared, as can be seen at the M78 shop (official Ultraman shop).

1 More Month

2011-10-29T01:05:00.001+08:00

Just one more month (one month three days to be exact) for our Son to meet his heroes and celebrate his birthday with them.

Nuff said. *^-^*

Yes, The Rooms Can Be Small

2011-10-27T13:05:00.001+08:00

Someone asked me whether it is true that hotel rooms in Japan are small. Yes, they are. OK, we've stayed in spacious rooms in international brand hotels but we paid a premium for them. And well, small rooms are more prevalent in big cities than in rural towns.

I don't mind staying in minuscule rooms because we don't exactly plan to spend the bulk of our vacation in our hotel rooms!

Small room with equally tiny bathroom at Toyoko Inn. The plus point of staying at this hotel chain for us is, the corresponding cheap rates they offer.

Tiny rooms at Nikko Hotel, Ginza and a compact room at Nikko Hotel, Kawasaki. The only reason we stayed here was because we had JAL vouchers we received redeeming our JAL mileage. The wardrobe in Ginza was just a tad taller than 8 year old Raimie!@.@

You think we want to waste 20,000yen a night staying in Ginza when we can just spend 7,000yen for a night in Toyoko Inn somewhere in Asakusa? I might as well save some $$$ and use it to buy a pair of shoes! Hohoho

And at least the rooms we stayed in are not as claustrophobic as sleeping in a capsule hotel! Though I wish I tried to sleep there at least once.

I may not be fussy about the rooms, but I draw the line at staying in a dorm. I've lived in a dormitory since I was 13 up to college so no more dorm nights for me, thanks! I need my privacy now.

Almost There! Keeping The Boy Occupied

2011-10-25T13:05:00.000+08:00

We are guilty of letting our son have a go at his Nintendo DSi every time we are on long train journeys in Japan. That's the only way to keep him from the need to run around or bother other commuters. Raimie can be such a nosy boy when nobody is paying attention to him. Though once you, a stranger talked to him, he'll clam up and hide behind his Mom!

But he is still not allowed to play it while we were put sight-seeing or while walking around! Only on trains or while in long queues so that he won't get too bored or fidgety. I totally wonder why some parents let their children be occupied with whatever handheld games they have while walking around. It's better to sightsee or just be aware of the crowd than being engrossed in your own world, right?

I wish he would want to read books once in a while, but oh well. No such luck yet!

What's your secret to keeping your child/children happy while on a vacation?

The Akabeko

2011-10-23T13:05:00.002+08:00

I've written a bit about the Akabeko in my earlier post on Aizu-Wakamatsu some time back, but I just thought I'd post it up again. Why? Because it's sooooooo cute! That's why.

When we first see this, we thought of it as a dog mascot or a pig or something. Arriving Aizu-Wakamatsu station, we saw this red animal but had no idea what it was. It's one of those times that I learn about something of the place after visiting, by searching for info on it.

Yup, I only learnt about the story/legend of akabeko after our trip to Aizu-Wakamatsu. But, better late than not knowing at all, right?

Raimie and a mechanical akabeko in frontof Aizu-Wakamatsu station, while waiting to board the steam locomotive SL Bantetsu Monogatari Go from Aizu-Wakamatsu to Niigata.

Anyhoo, an akabeko ( 赤べこ) is a toy from the Aizu region, made from two pieces papier-mache covered bamboo or wooden frame and shaped & painted to look like a red cow/ox. One piece represents the head & neck and the other piece for its body. The head &neck hangs from a string and fits into a hollow body, enabling the head to bob up and down whenever it is moved.

The toy is based on a real cow that helped in the construction of a temple; Enzo-Ji. Upon completion of the temple, the cow had willingly give its soul to Buddha. Another version mentioned that the cow had refused to leave the construction site and became a permanent fixture there. The cow then became a symbol of zealous devotion to the Buddha.

Akabeko toys was reportedly created during the late 16th or early 17th century and became popular as charms to ward off small pox and other illnesses, and the superstition prevails until current time.

I wish I bought an akabeko as a souvenir. Even without the superstition, the red cow makes a totally cute souvenir.

Cheap Eats

2011-10-20T13:05:00.005+08:00

I think if you are not that particular about what you eat, eating for below RM15.00 (350yen) per person per meal is extremely doable. You can enjoy ramen and curry rice at about 300-400yen. (No ramen or curry rice for us though!) Of course it is easier to find cheap stuff when one has no issues on what to avoid.

Yoshinoya's beef bowl and curry rice will only set you back for about 280-330yen.

Or if you have eat like a bird, just like our son, an onigiri (rice ball) cost less than 200yen a piece.

A cheap bento place. Everything on sale for less than 250yen a pack. Cheap, no frills meal to keep the hunger pangs away if you somehow blow your budget. xD

Ekiben (bento sold at train stations) can be rather expensive with an average price of 1,000yen per box but konbini (convenience store) or supermarkets bento can be quite cheap. Buying them later at night (say around 9.00pm) you can get discounts off them too. But you may have to fight for them with the "obachan" next to you!

Set meals can be affordable too, with outlets offering set meals at less than 1,000yen.

There are many cheap eats restaurants out there as those in Japan can attest to. Us visitors to be more adventurous and venture out to look for them and not be afraid to poke around and ask questions. Unless of course, you totally don't mind eating at posh places and hotel restaurants while you are vacationing in Japan, that is (or you are travelling with a tour group and all meals are already taken care of).

Why would you want to eat instant noodles brought over from home there in Japan when you can eat other stuff there?

What's your favourite affordable eatery in Japan? Share, please!

The Shogun Mound

2011-10-19T01:05:00.000+08:00

Almost There! The Yen Is Sure Expensive!

2011-10-17T13:05:00.005+08:00

OK, we just figure we might as well change some now looking at the trend of Yen rates going up, up and up against the Ringgit. From just RM3.00+ for 100yen five years ago to RM4.00 - RM4.15 now...

I am so not going to shop much in Japan this year! Boohooo!

No, not going to charge anything not budgeted to our credit cards. I don't want to be adding more debt just for going on this vacation!

Running In Japan?

2011-10-14T13:05:00.007+08:00

I don't know whether I can really do this while on vacation but I hope to be able to do a bit of morning runs while in Japan. At least twice a week? My optimistic plan is to do 8 runs during the 15 days we are there.

It won't be a daily thing, and I probably only able to do it at places we stay for more than 1 night because I don't want to lug my smelly, sweaty clothes to another town.

I spent a bit of time looking for running routes at places we will be staying. While googling about it, I chanced upon Dru's blog called Dru's Misadventures — Andrewのブログです and his post about the Sumida River. I think I want to try running alongside the Sumida River when we get to Asakusa! He had so kindly created a map of a running course for me. Thanks Dru. :)

I'm definitely looking forward to do it and maybe get to see sights that I won't see during our normal sightseeing. Planning to run with a compact camera in hand too!

Now, if only I can find a route to run in Hakata, Takamatsu and Kawasaki next. I'm looking at MapMyRun for a bit of info.

Of course, this plan of mine will only happen if I can actually wake up at 5am! That and getting over the fear of getting lost. I can get lost easily as I am quite "directionally" challenged. Zaini just told me to go to the nearest "koban" and ask for help instead of asking him go out and accompany me; if I do get myself lost running around. xD

If I really follow through this plan of mine, there would be a segment of Japan Running posts here after our trip. ^^

p.s.

I finished my run at Putrajaya Night Marathon last night (Oct 15) in one piece despite the hiccups I had earlier before this race - injury, slipped into a drain, all that nonsense.

The timing might not be something to shout about, but I'm still proud of myself. *^-^*

I need to start training again for the next race in Nov. Wish me luck!

Sleeping On The Floor?

2011-10-12T13:05:00.002+08:00

One of the highlight staying at a Japanese Inn/ryokan for us apart from enjoying the hot spring/onsen is sleeping on futons. Futon consisted of shikibuton (under/bottom mattress) and kakebuton (comforters/quilted bedcover). Different type of futon are used depending on season (and personal preference).

If we are to use a futon here in Malaysia, instead of a thick bedcover (of course, it wouldn't be a problem if one is sleeping in an air-conditioned room), we would use just a mofu (blanket). I always wanted to have buckwheat pillows to use at home, but I can't seem to find them here. There are pillows with pockets of buckwheat but it didn't feel the same. I noticed that I sleep really well using these buckwheat pillows.

Futons laid out for us to sleep on, after dinner.

Raimie, feeling so comfy and happy on his futon. Kids love this, I bet.

He's certainly slept well on futons. Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

There Are Many Ways To Flush

2011-10-10T13:05:00.007+08:00

I wrote this remembering with a chuckle colleagues experience using a Japanese hi-tech toilet at the now defunct Ninja Jones Restaurant at MidValley Northpoint. They were so excited using the toilet but a few of them whispered to me that they couldn't find the handle to flush.

But of course, plenty of posh toilets in Malaysia don't need you to do anything after finishing your "business" other than stand up and it'll automatically flush for you, right? But just in case you are in Japan, you can't find the handle and the foreign words on buttons scares you and you don't want to fiddle around in case you press a wrong button; here's some photos of them here.

There are flush buttons and all those awesome buttons to cleanse your *ehem* private areas. Be careful not to spray yourself wet! LOL

Some music or sound to cover embarrassing noise you might emit? No problem. Some toilets can cover those noises for you!

Now, no matter what you do. Once you finished your business, don't forget to flush and flush properly! I'm quite baffled on why some people seems to conveniently forgot to do it at public toilets, even at the office. That's no good, people. :(

And you know, every time I sit on the cold toilet seat, I'll be missing the warm toilets seats in Japan. ;p

At The Railway Museum

2011-10-08T13:05:00.001+08:00

A must for any train buffs visiting Japan! A visit to the Railway Museum in Saitama.

The History Zone is the best part there for me. All those old trains on exhibit for visitors to see. Awesome!

Miniature models need some TLC too.

The museum is an interactive museum and the kids zone is a fun place for children to learn more about train technology.

The best part for us, apart from being able to learn about the history of trains in Japan and how it evolves to the current, super-efficient system was the fact that we can enter, touch and feel the exhibits.

Almost There! Getting The Visa Done

2011-10-06T13:05:00.008+08:00

All these years, we had the travel agent arranged for our visas at the Japan Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. I've visited the Embassy (and many other embassies in KL) a few times but that's for work. For my own visa application, I had the travel agent do it for me because they do it for free. Why waste petrol and time if others are willing to do it FOC for you, right? Some agents do it for a fee, but I don't buy my tickets from them.

This year we are travelling to Japan on Air Asia and we booked our tickets online so we got to do our visa on our own. Zaini and I took a day off last Friday to celebrate our birthdays and well, the morning of our birthday was spent at the Embassy! Nice, memorable way to spend a birthday, eh! Nothing beats going through the scanner to go in the Embassy to celebrate our big day. Kakaka

Spent like a total of 3 minutes submitting our application and off we went!

Visas done. Now, what else do we need for our trip? Just some Yen and I think we are set to go! WooT!

Yukake Jizo Statue

2011-10-04T13:05:00.002+08:00

There are plenty of things to see and learn about at Bessho Onsen and not just about soaking in hot spring water if you vacation there. I've written a number of posts on Bessho Onsen and that's because a visit there was truly enjoyable for us. There are still a number of places we've yet to visit there. Our 2D1N there last year sure wasn't enough!

Under this nondescript wooden structure is the

The Yukake Jizo Statue at Bessho Onsen.

The story goes -

When a man named Shunzo who had deep faith in the great Nichiren was travelling through the swamps of Sado to pay respects to the imprisoned teacher, he heard a voice calling "Shunzo, Shunzo" yet nobody was seen.

The voice then said " I have been trapped in the mud for a very long time. How I would love to soak myself in the springs of Shinano. If you cleanse me there, I will grant your wishes".

Shunzo then entered the swamp and extracted a single jizo (Ksitigarbha deity) and he rushed to Shinano and placed it in the waters of Bessho. From that time, Shunzo lived a joyous life blessed with a beautiful wife and children.

On Nichiren - he was a controversial figure during his time. Born in 1222 in the village of Kominato, Nagase district. One source of controversy is the perception that Nichiren Buddhism is exclusivist.

This can be traced to Nichiren's remonstrations with government officials and leaders of the Buddhist schools in Japan. He criticized them for their manipulations of the populace for political and religious control. Citing Buddhist sutras and commentaries, Nichiren argued that the Buddhist teachings were being distorted for their own gain (see the compilation of Nichiren's exchanges with government leaders and Buddhist practitioners in "The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin" 1999).

Almost There! Adjusting The Palate?

2011-10-02T13:05:00.000+08:00

We seem to be enjoying Japanese food more often lately here in KL now that the trip to Japan is just two months away. Didn't seem to care about going to any Japanese restaurants after our vacation last year and now; here we are eating Japanese food every week!

I guess it's a way of our tummy anticipating the upcoming trip!

It was Sushi Zen at Gardens Mall one week. The boy of ours craved for some sushi. I had their tempura set which was the set of the day/week/month. Can't remember which. Zaini had ebidon, I think.

Then, it was dinner for two at Kampachi Restaurant over at Equatorial Bangi-Putrajaya on Zaini's birthday. We went completely unadventurous and ordered the teshoku (set meal). Kaki tama don (oyster & egg) for me and grilled cod fish for hubby.

We can't enjoy Japanese food and let our Son miss the treat too, so we took him for lunch at Miyagi Restaurant in Bandar Baru Bangi. Generous portion. Nice ambiance. I told Zaini it was like entering a Mom and Pop eatery somewhere not frequented by tourists in Japan. It even had the smell of a joint like some small eating place in the back alley of Asakusa! Heh!

Sushi & udon set for Raimie, Yakiniku set for Zaini and I had teppan beef set. Burp!

Will we be eating more Japanese food in the coming weeks I wonder?

Cosmos

2011-09-29T13:05:00.003+08:00

Cosmos flower, the classic flower of Autumn. I read somewhere that the kanji of Cosmos is written as the "autumn cherry blossom".

What else makes me think of autumn? This too...

Persimmon

Mention Cosmos to my Son and I know his first thought of Cosmos would be, what else? Ultraman Cosmos!

He'll be meeting all those Ultra Heroes soon, as his 9th birthday treat. :)

No Exact Change? No Problem

2011-09-27T13:05:00.003+08:00

One thing I absolutely love (well, one of many anyway) about travelling on buses in Japan is that I don't need to bang my head looking for exact change before boarding any bus, unlike using the RapidKL buses here in Kuala Lumpur.

Gotta love that blue machine that can change bills to coins.

Just be careful not to put the notes you want to change in the slot for paying the fare!

Of course, if one plans to ride the bus often, a bus card may be a better deal and less hassle than slotting coins every time you board or alight from a bus.

Japanese Curry, Anyone?

2011-09-25T13:05:00.001+08:00

Curry. Who likes curry? I do even though I know eating curries a few hours before I start my running workout will make me feel all heavy and acidic.

The curry we would normally see here in KL. Both Zaini and I love curry especially fish head curry.

A dish of fish head curry I cooked many, many moons ago.

Japanese curry is way different from the curries we are used to. It had different texture and taste from Indian curries or curries we are familiar with in Malaysia.

Curry (kare if you pronounce it the Japanese way) is a popular dish in Japan. Japanese curries can contain ingredients such as carrots, apple and honey. oooph! The "weirdness" of their curries I think was due to the influence coming not from Indian curries but it came through the British Navy.

Curry rice can be a cheap option to eat when one is in Japan. For us though, it is something we avoided just like ramen due to the content of lard or any meat products in the sauce.

But that didn't stop us from enjoying them where we can! We can eat Japanese version of curry in Malaysia instead. *^-^*

Ebi furai curry Zaini had at Mizu Restaurant in Bangsar.

Forgot what it's called but it's fried chicken curry rice. No, no tonkatsu curry rice for us, thanks. For obvious reason.

You may have biased view about curries and eating authentic version of curries... Fair enough. But why form a view on that and not be adventurous with your tastebud. After all, Malaysian cooked curries altered to suit our taste too be it Chinese style or Malay style, compared to the real Indian deal, you know.

The Things I Did To Celebrate My Birthday

2011-09-23T13:06:00.006+08:00

A break from my posts about Japan.

The Wednesday, Sep 21st this year started swell for me; what with being inundated with wishes on this blog, FB and from friends and colleagues.

Thanks you all! You peeps really made my day. And I had a nice celebration this year too.

Celebration started a few days early on Sunday with an early morning road race.Yup, I entered a 10K race for my birthday. ^^

Never forget to smile for the camera even when you are exhausted from the run! xD

I can now officially enter some races under the Women Senior Category, instead of Women Open. Nothing made you feel young and sprightly than being called a "Veteran" you know. （ ´,_ゝ`)

I'm supposed to run another race (it's a charity run) this Sunday to celebrate me getting older but I don't think I can make it. :(

That Sunday afternoon was also spent over at my Sis' house. My niece shares the same birthday as me and my brother-in-law's (the Daddy) birthday is on Sep 22. Plenty of celebration.

On Wednesday, at the office, I had already informed colleagues that I have no intention to celebrate, eat out since I don't eat heavy lunch or even cut cake. But the ladies surprised me by buying this:

And this:

My Boss even gave me a present though it was nice, the mention of "Age Defying" on the label of the expensive creams is kinda.... making me feel old. q(;^;)p

Zaini took us out and we had dinner at Tony Roma's. I was craving for some protein and eating those succulent ribs there sure hit the spot. Yum!

Today, on Zaini's birthday; we are spending the morning over at Japan Embassy, applying our visa. Then, it's off for a 3D2N "staycation" at a nearby hotel.

See you when I see you! *^-^*

It's My Birthday!

2011-09-21T00:05:00.001+08:00

Happy birthday to me!

Last year on this date, I was in Sendai, Japan. The year before that, we spent the day visiting the Railway Museum located near JR Omiya Station. This year, I'm working on my birthday. It's by choice actually. I'd rather save up my annual leave for the upcoming trip in three month's time. Anyway, both Zaini and I will be taking the day off on Zaini's birthday on Sep 23rd.

When You Set The Fun Button On!

2011-09-18T13:05:00.001+08:00

When you choose to have fun and not be critical of the places and situation you are in, chances are that trip will be fun.

Even when one gets on "boring" kiddie rides like these:

My point is - why go anywhere or do anything if one decide to be critical and negative. Life should be enjoyed to the fullest. Forget about talking crap about places or what others are doing. We should set our mind for good and positive things instead of wallowing in negativity.

Be silly once in a while and have fun!

By the way, in case you are wondering - those photos were taken at Hanayashiki Amusement Park. I have lots more photos at the park that I should share here. I'm just waiting for the right "story" to come up to go together with them. *^^*

We Travel Light

2011-09-16T13:07:00.003+08:00

We usually take about three shirts and an extra pair of jeans each when we go for our vacation, be it a 2D 1N trip or a fortnight trip. We do bring a big (or two) bag along when we go to Japan, but that's for the stuff we are going to take back from our trip not bring over!

So this is essential to us and we do look for it when we are on vacation. What is? These...

Coin operated detergent dispenser, washing machine and dryer. Gotta find them at least every three days when we are there! ^^

How Deep Are We Underground?

2011-09-14T13:05:00.003+08:00

Sometimes, you enter a rather nondescript looking station like the one in the photo to board a train. Instead of going down just a flight of stairs, you saw a seemingly endless downward tunnel.

You keep on going down by the stairs or the escalators and after a while, you start to wonder how deep are you exactly underground.

And you start to marvel how they managed to dig so deep underground for the station and track and yet life goes on above ground.

We are not even halfway up yet! Won't be seeing the sunlight yet until you take a few more escalators up. o.O

Going up, uP and UP! And keep to left when you are on one. ^^

Thinking about these maze in the belly of Tokyo somehow reminded me of my own hometown in Raub, Pahang. In its heyday of mining in the early of 20th century; Raub was the "Malayan Capital of Gold". Using shaft mining and operated by the Royal Australian Gold Mine; these tunnel snaked through under the town. No building in the town centre of Raub can be more than 4-storey high because of these tunnel. The tunnels were blasted closed by the British during the Japanese Occupation in the WWII.

A controversial mining is set to work full force in Raub using the "carbon in leach" method using sodium cyanide to get gold from old mines that used traditional mining methods previously.

Nyuto Onsen Walking Part II

2011-09-12T13:05:00.000+08:00

More photos we took while strolling around Taenoyu Onsen in Nyuto Onsen. See earlier post of Nyuto Onsen Walking, Part I too. Yea, so there are endless photos of this place and plenty that I've yet to share.

And if there is just one more reader who is like me, I bet that reader appreciate the fact there are extensive photos of any place that he/she is looking & researching at. No? Who cares if it's just me anyway. xD

The Sendatsu river. It must be nice to go and take a dip there, but even in mid-September; the weather was already chilly in this part of Japan. I think I'd freeze over if I dare to dip my feet in it!

The bus stop located right across the street from Taenoyu Onsen.

Some random flowers we saw

In front of Ogama Onsen. Not a soul can be seen early in the morning. It was before breakfast time, after all. What better time to have a quiet couple walk together with the one you love? <3

and there's water, water, water flowing everywhere here. Hot spring water too!

A foot bath at Ogama Onsen, located a few hundred metres from Taenoyu Onsen.

We even saw an old water pump. No, it's not in working condition, I think...

I wish I can take a dip in some hot spring water soon. Never mind. I'll just settle for a dip in the bath tub instead for the time being. ^^

I Like Yellow Too

2011-09-09T13:05:00.003+08:00

There's a post about the colour green earlier. Green gives me a calm feeling. It also gives out a certain cooling feel. Walking along a path with green moss made me feel like I was transported to feudal era. Heh.

Anyways, to make the colour green, one needs yellow and blue, right?

Yellow is cheerful. Yellow is bright. Yellow is hope. Yellow is optimistic.

Yellow flowers are always nice

as are these yummy, juicy yellow pears

Yellow uni (sea urchin) which is up there amongst the stuff I love to eat

but the best view and it sure is nothing better than seeing a sea of yellow rice fields as far as the eyes can see.

You know, I do think we Asians can't stray far or too long from our rice. Rice is sustenance. Rice is life. Rice is sacred.

and for Bananazஇ,

how did I forget about this yellow Banana man in Moji? xD

And I guess after his a "Blue" themed post should be in order. What say you? Who cares. I'm putting it up regardless!

Autumn Is Sanma Time?

2011-09-07T13:05:00.004+08:00

Grilled sanma is a staple of "teishiku" or set lunch and what better time to enjoy this fish than in autumn when it is in season; having swum down from the cold northern seas.

Grilled sanma served with a little grated radish on the side, a bowl of rice and a steaming bowl of miso, cold tofu and some pickles - can't beat this set meal! It happen to be my favourite.

Can't wait for the Iwate Fair to be held at Jusco so that I can buy some "cheap" fresh sanma though by the look of it, getting any stocks from Japan over at the supermarket nowadays may be a bit of a problem. The Japanese food aisles at Jusco Mid Valley are quite empty and left unstocked. :(

Anyhoo... a fresh sanma and a prepared sanma I grilled myself at home.

It's easy to serve these sanma fish. Just a matter of sprinkling some salt and grilling it to your liking. No need to gut the fish too! Just grill them whole.

Instead of serving it with grated daikon/radish; I served it Malay style - with kicap (thick soy sauce), sliced shallots and lime juice. It was smashing!

One day I got into this experimenting mood and decided to cook the sanma "assam pedas" style. Can't say I limit myself to just a certain way of cooking, eh? *^-^*

If you are in Japan in Autumn, don't forget to eat sanma (and think of me). Kakaka

There are other food that makes me think of Autumn. Kuri (chesnut) comes to mind too. A post of all those kuri I ate soon?

On The Way To Nyuto Onsen...

2011-09-05T13:05:00.004+08:00

We took the Akita Shinkansen Komachi from Ueno Station to Tazawako Station for our one night stay at Taenoyu Onsen in Nyuto Onsen. I know I've posted endless post about Tazawako and Nyuto Onsen but hey! Why not post another one lest one stray visitor looking for some info chances upon this blog. ^^

Sorry. I am shameless enough to rehash old stories until it's time for me to make a new one. (3 more months to go, folks! And you bet I'll be blogging real time from Japan)

Anyways, if you want to read more about the area, just click on the either Akita, Tazawako or Nyuto Onsen tags listed at my sidebar.

At Tazawako Station. This dragon head reminds me that there is the Kakunodate Yama Festival from Sep 7th - 9th. We were supposed to go last year but as we changed our travel date at the last minute and arriving later, no floats crashing were witnessed by us. Just the thought of seeing two floats facing each other and crashing over the right-of-way is downright awesome.

By changing the travel last minute last year, we screwed our hard to get, need 6 months in advance room reservation to spend a night in a room with no electricity and has an irori right smack in the middle of the room at Tsurunoyu Onsen. There were other rooms available but what's the fun in staying in other "normal" room. I want the whole rustic, sleep like samurais experience!

Before making our way to Nyuto Onsen; a quick bento lunch for Raimie. Om nom nom...

Then it was time to board the bus. We got on the bus at bus stop no. 1 and made a stop at Lake Tazawa as planned.

At the rest area by the Lake, are shops and there are free food samples there. Free sampling galore for us. Didn't go out empty-handed; we bought ourselves a postcard bearing the photo of Tatsuko and Raimie got his wish to eat a "goma"/sesame soft ice-cream. ;p

A view of the lovely, pristine Lake Tazawa. You know, I'm all crazy about running nowadays (I'm gonna run in the Putrajaya Night Marathon next month. Yeay!) so I should just mention here that Lake Tazawa will be holding its 26th Annual Marathon on Sunday, Sep 18th. Maybe I should enter one year, should our travel date to Japan coincide with the marathon. After all, the Tokyo Marathon would be soooooo out of my league if I ever harbour the hope of running races in Japan! ^^!

I wonder if "Barutan Seijin" will be running again this year. Unlike in Ultraman, Barutan Seijin is a nice alien at Tazawako Marathon. He was an escort runner for one visually impaired runner. Salute to both runners! Much respect from me to them.

After sightseeing, it was time to board the bus again and head to Nyuto Onsen. Off we go! We were rewarded with these awesome views along the way:

Breathtaking view of the lake, of the mountains and of course rice fields.

We arrived Taenoyu Onsen just in time for check-in. Why waste getting there late instead of being there right on the dot the exact time you are allowed to check-in? Kakaka

I Will Promise You

2011-09-04T13:05:00.000+08:00

even with all those cute Korean guys distracting me, I will live with my eyes only for you.

Happy 12th anniversary to us!

Now if you excuse me, I need to stare at my computer screen watching those cute Korean guys again. Let me know when dinner is ready. ^^

Oden. What's That?

2011-09-02T13:05:00.001+08:00

Oden is kinda a Japanese hot pot dish, consisting of a number of ingredients simmered light, soy sauce based soup.

A sign at a shop selling oden in Asakusa. We went in out of curiosity and was greeted by a gruff lady-owner who told us she doesn't sell rice at the shop (or something similar to that nature. I told you my Japanese is rather bad, right?)

Stuff simmering in a vat. Care to try some? Popular ingredients include boiled eggs, daikon, konnyaku, tsukune, assortment of fried tofu, surimi and of course many other stuff. Think steamboat or yong tau fu but with the stuff already simmering for ages instead of dipped in hot water shortly before eating.

A plate of oden we enjoyed at Mizu restaurant, here in Kuala Lumpur. Eating oden in KL is not exactly cheap. We are eating high-brow oden here in KL, while you can enjoy oden as street food and also it can be be bought at konbini (convenience stores) in Japan.

An oden portable cooker sold in a shop in Kappabashi. Also not exactly cheap at 10,000yen a pop! That's almost RM400! @.@

So instead of buying that oden cooker thingy when we wanted to eat oden at home, I just throw the stuff in a normal pot.

And these folks, my homemade oden.

with the soup base from this packet of soup mix. Can be found easily at supermarkets, if they have stock that is. Jusco Mid Valley Japanese food items shelves are strangely empty nowadays. :(

Nyuto Onsen Walking Part I

2011-08-30T00:08:00.047+08:00

A night at Taenoyu Onsen, one of eight onsen ryokan located in the mountains of Eastern Akita prefecture is bliss. Surrounded by greenery, we enjoyed crisp, clean air that refreshed and rejuvenate us. After hectic days of sightseeing and rushing everywhere, it's really nice to sit back and chill and let the slow pace of life be the tonic for more hectic days to come. ^^

The front view of Taenoyu Onsen. There's a bus stop located right in front of this ryokan, so if you are taking a bus here, it's just a matter of crossing the road when you arrived. A staff immediately came out and greeted us even before we stepped in the ryokan. Taking a bus for our return journey was easy too. We just sat at the bench in front of the ryokan until the bus came and stopped for us.

Taenoyu Onsen is located beside the Sendatsu river. This is the view from our room and it was sure nice to sleep with the sound of flowing dream accompanying our slumber. Sleep well, we did!

On a rather cold morning on the second day we were there, after a really refreshing dip in the hot water; I decided to take a walk and enjoy the fresh air. I didn't venture out too far, though. Wouldn't want to get lost, would we? *^-^*

Another view of Sendatsu river, through the trees

Found a small shrine by the foot of the hill/mountain right next to Taenoyu Onsen

What/which God/Goddess is this?

It was already chilly when we were there although it was still the summer months. It was nice to spend the days in colder areas of Akita instead of returning to a hotter Tokyo afterwards!

Then, we decided it might be nice to walk out further and check out the area. Stay tuned for the upcoming photos. :)

I Like Green

2011-08-28T00:08:00.000+08:00

Even if it's green moss!

A place covered in green moss evokes a rather mysterious feel, don't you think? I do. ^^

I'm on a holiday mood. Can you tell? ^^ Can't seem to think of anything more to write here. But, as I said... I love green. It soothes me so. :)

By The Sea

2011-08-25T13:07:00.003+08:00

If you google up about towns or villages by the sea in Japan, the result is sadly about the March 11 tsunami. A sad reminder of the tragedy that we should never forget.

Fishing villages overlooking Sea of Japan

Port city of Kitakyushu, if I'm not wrong.

I can't wait to visit quaint fishing villages by the coastal area of Seto Inland Sea. A visit to a smaller island too, perhaps? ^^

A Tiny Shrine Amidst The Craziness Of An Amusement Park

2011-08-23T13:03:00.000+08:00

Well, what do you expect from an amusement park located in Asakusa, right? ^^

Shounkaku Shrine "Burabo", Hanayashiki's God of fortune.

After spending hours of crazy fun at the oldest amusement park in Japan, why not pay a visit to the shrine located on the rooftop of the multi-storey Shounkaku building. Have a breather there too, and get away from the crowd downstairs, if you wish.

You also get this view from the rooftop.

Carnival Games

2011-08-21T13:07:00.002+08:00

We have yet been to any matsuri (festival) in Japan but we got a chance to try out some pretty fun carnival games at Hanayashiki Amusement Park.

What's your favourite festival games?

Handouts Are Good

2011-08-19T13:05:00.001+08:00

When people hand over stuff (pamphlets, samples and whatnot) while you walk around in Japan, just take it. That's what we learn. Because the stuff that got handed over may be some coupons for cheap eats somewhere or discount on stuff.

Why pay full price of things when you can get it at cheaper price with coupons, right? I scour for it in KL and I do it in Japan too! It helps to lower our food expenses, that's for sure and also it got us to eateries that we wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I kinda miss getting free tissues though. Our tissue bounty last year was a far cry from what we used to get in previous years. Either it's because we went sightseeing at unhip places or the economy was bad for companies to do tissue advertising anymore. And, and where are all those cosmetic samples I used to get when we strolled around Shibuya? Where????!!!!

Used to get freebies when we checked-in at Toyoko-Inn too, but no freebies last year. I miss my free socks!

With the amount of night we checked-in and checked-out at Toyoko-Inn branches, Zaini need not buy socks for a year! LOL

I guess no such luck this year. :(

But as I said, them handouts are gooooood...

Water Spouting Dragon

2011-08-17T13:05:00.005+08:00

Water - the source of life, and in some cases - tourism too; which can mean a source of livelihood to the community involved.

The smell of sulfurous water at Bessho Onsen; one of Nagano's classic onsen resort town was a tad funky, but it is said to have beautifying prowess and clearing certain ailments, so I just pinched my nose and drink away. I need help in the beauty department, after all. XD

Tour Tokyo With Hello Kitty

2011-08-15T13:05:00.003+08:00

Would you want to go around Tokyo with Hello Kitty?

A must for Hello Kitty fanatics, riding these double-decker Hato bus with Hello Kitty everywhere, on the exterior and the interior. I'm guessing there's bound to be Hello Kitty under your butt too, when you sit. (^o^)

Who says you can have too much Hello Kitty exposure, especially when you are in Japan! d(>w<)b

Empty...

2011-08-13T13:05:00.027+08:00

Believe it or not, you can find empty trains in Japan. It's not all rush-hour crush boarding them all day long! ^^

and to accompany the empty train photos I loaded up here, here a video from JYJ.

I love Japan and all that, but I'm nuts over Korean guys! *^-^*

Bessho Onsen Night Walk

2011-08-11T13:05:00.001+08:00

Let's see. I had posts on Tokyo Walks, Osaka Walks, Kawasaki Walks on this blog before.

Time for Bessho Onsen walk segment, I say. ^^

After having our bath and dinner at the hotel we were staying in at Bessho Onsen; we had this bright idea of going out and checking out the neighbourhood again. We strolled around the town earlier in the day but didn't managed to cover all the places that we wanted to see.

Visiting a deserted Kitamuki Kannon Temple in early evening and was greeted by this upon reaching to top of the stairs.

Passed by a "soto-yu" (public bath). Entry to the public baths here (there are four?, I think) is 150yen.


We later decided that it might be fun to visit the Anrakuji Temple, with its octagonal pagoda so off we went, walking into darkness. Not a soul in sight and we were just accompanied by the sound of barking dogs. The temple actually closes at 5.00pm but we figured that we might get a glimpse of the pagoda even at night.

Along the dimly lit path towards Anrakuji Temple. We didn't made it all the way to the Temple though. It started to rain halfway there so we had to run back and look for shelter. And I was wearing a "getha" to complement my "yukata". Not a great outfit for running. xD

and found shelter from the rain at a foot bath area. Sitting there dipping our feet and enjoying the nice, hot water watching the area. Man, this is one quiet town at night. Not that I'm complaining though.

Keeping Track Of Expenses While On Vacation

2011-08-09T13:05:00.002+08:00

Zaini doesn't care about our balancing our daily expenses back home (that's my job), just that when we are on vacation, he did all the daily reconciliation without fail.

The reason being, we didn't want to overspend on things that we run out of cash way before our last day in Japan! We always have a strict budget and we follow the budget pretty well. And no, we don't use our credit card there.

For those who don't know - that's a train ticket in the photo above. Pretty small and I was always petrified about losing them so I always, always passed my tickets to Zaini for safekeeping.

But how do we keep track on non-receipted expenses? Easy! Just take a photo of it and check the photos when we are doing our balancing. ^^

Anyway, good thing that stuff in Japan are priced pretty standard everywhere too. And thank goodness for digital camera!

And all the extras $$$, we splurge on the last few days of our vacation! :)

Sunflowers

2011-08-07T13:05:00.002+08:00

Sunflowers, found on a sidewalk in Asakusa that seemed to be shying away from the bright sunlight.