Asuke

We took off to Asuke the next day. It’s the small Japanese farm village nestled in a very pretty canyon not far from where we live (we’ve been here before too). They got to view all of the artisans at work from bamboo and rice paper umbrellas to hand-made paper and hand crafted knives. It really is a great place to see a small snapshot of life in the “good old days” (they have them here too). We enjoyed eating at the tofu restaurant again. It was Japanese surprise but at least we knew there would be no meat.

Disneyland!

Friday we got up VERY early – like 4am – to catch the bus, train and the shinkansen to head up for Disneyland! Books in hand we braved the crowds to enjoy the ambiance, the aura, the magic of Disneyland. I never tire of the place and it seems that I’ve passed this on to the girls. Believe it or not, while we were enjoying ourselves in Tokyo Disney, Twyla was enjoying herself in California Disney. The lines were LONG – longer than anything I’ve seen in California but our trusty books and a bit of storytelling carried us through. We all were disappointed not to be going back the next day…I don’t know that I’d want to endure 3 days, but 2 days would have been great.
Tokyo Disney is a great place to visit…”the happiest place on earth”…only in competition with the other Disney’s around the world but hey.... There are some definite differences though…the menus are all fish biased, though ice cream is easy to find. They only have one restaurant with a true “vegetarian” option (and it was quite good). Can’t say that’s much different from California Disney…don’t remember there being a lot of options there – though probably more salads at times other than breakfast.

Disneyland...continued

Cinderella’s castle is more like the one found in Florida (so we are told) with more of a surrounding wall and it seems a bit larger. We came through the entry arches (more rain here so the World Bazaar (our Main Street) is covered) and had the view of castle in front of us. It took walking until we were quite close to realize that the castle is being worked on. They had taken the scaffolding and painted on the castle. From a distance, you had no idea that the castle was actually covered up.
Another interesting item…they, of course, have the Haunted House here and it's set in the same gothic style house as in California. However, it is placed in Fantasyland because the Japanese believe ghosts only exist in fairy tales. There’s also no train that runs around the entire complex, though there is a monorail that will transport people outside the complex to Disney Sea as well as various resorts in the area.
We weathered it through, marveled at the crowds and the sea of umbrellas that burst out in the rain – certainly adds a lot of color to the landscape. Fortunately the rain was infrequent, the visiting and reading enjoyable and the day just delightful. We had a spectacular time, whizzing around on the fast rides, enjoying the shows and just relaxing. After the fast pace, this was a nice, slow day.

Asakusa Shrine - and Shopping

We headed out for Asakusa the next day, ready for some typical shopping in Japan for the girls. The shrine is flanked by streets of vendors in small stalls, all ready and willing to sell their wares to the tourists – and there and thousands of tourists filing by on this tiny street. The sakura was out, making it a festive occasion for both Japanese and gaijin. The shrine is approached through the Kaminarimon gate. This gate is guarded by two Kami – great carved gods with hideous faces designed to scare the intruders. The long walkway up to the temple’s second gate is where the many shops are located. They do have a wonderful collection of inexpensive souvenirs as well as some pretty nice quality Japanese arts, pottery, metal work and such. If not for the crowds, I could happily spend quite a while checking out some of the fabulous crafts.
Didn't get pictures of the shops but did find great shots of sakura. If you click on the title of this entry, it will take you to a website with pictures of some shops...and more information.
The vendor was interesting. He was selling some kind of food. He would pick up the "stand" and carry it around. When someone asked for food, he'd stop, set it down and sell to the person. When the sales dropped in that area, he'd pick it up again and move on.

Shinjuku and Mexican food

Most of our time was centered around Shinjuku. Our hotel was fairly close to the station – with an underground path making it convenient in the rain. We went searching for the Metropolitan Building because the girls had found a reference for tourist information. In the process of searching for it, we stumbled upon an opportunity to go up to the top of the building for a fantastic view of the city.
This is also the location of one of the El Torito restaurants - a definite must whenever we visit Tokyo. I do miss mexican food here.

Yokohama Bay with Kaz and Kazumi

We met Kaz and Kazumi in Yokohama the next day for a delightful, if a bit wet, cruise around Yokohama Bay. The cruise line is offers a number of trips around the bay, including luncheons, dinner, tea as well as just the roughly two hour tour. Being the brave and hearty souls that we are (and too late to register for the lunch or tea – and SPENDY) we took just the cruise. Now that’s fine…on a sunny day. We got what I would consider to be the best view – outside, looking over the Bay, great visibility – except for the rain, and the wind and the tiny blankets. Ah well…we were enjoying nature. We did have a lovely time visiting with Kaz and Kazumi, enjoying the scene – it is a nice bay and the suspension bridges are very pretty. It will have to be something to try again on a warm, balmy, summer day.
While the girls spent the next day shopping (did I mention they like to shop?) in Shubuya, Jeff and I were back at work. It was really sad that their two weeks were over.

Mount Aso on Kyushu

It’s amazingly simple to travel in Japan on the airlines. We had been told we only needed to be at the airport 20 minutes ahead of time – and at Oita – it would have worked! We, of course, didn’t believe them and arrived early…to wait. Ah well…at least we had our books.
Our first flight was to Kumamoto where we joined a tour out to Mount Aso. This is a bit of a misnomer…there really is no “Mount Aso”; it’s actually a caldera that is about 12 miles in diameter. Inside this huge caldera there are numerous volcanoes and cinder cones, one of which is still active. That, of course, is the one the tour bus took us up to – Naka-dake. There is a cable-car running up to the summit where we enjoyed a Japanese style lunch and a walk up to the rim of the 100m deep crater. Did I mention it was chilly up there? (freezing) And the wind was howling? (even colder) And the gases stank? (and no gas masks). Needless to say, we went back inside to find the kerosene heater to warm up while we waited for the cable car to return.
Click on the title to go to a web page with more information about this area. It looks like a place to visit in the summer - wonderful camping I'm sure.

Sanai Kogen Hotel

We traveled through the caldera to the Kurokawa onsen area – a very popular place for onsens – or hot spring Japanese bath house. This is apparently a very famous area. We stayed at the Sanai Kogen Hotel – a large but very modest looking hotel with fabulous service. They came to pick us up at the bus stop – and took us to a gorgeous room overlooking the caldera and the bath houses. We decided to use the outdoor one – despite the cold weather. I must admit, I wore my pj bottoms under the kimono – it seemed a bit too breezy to me. Now why I worried is beyond me – the bath house is outdoors. In this delightfully cold weather, one takes a shower in a very cold room (it was inside but only because it had a roof and 2 walls) and then quickly heads outside to sink into a nice, warm, pool of water. You have your tiny little towel with you – dish-towel width and probably twice as long. This doesn’t go it the water but it serves for “modesty”. It is so cold out of the water that the towel is frozen by the time you pick it up. It crackled. Ah yes, the things we go through to experience “the nature”.
It was a nice view – you could see the volcano across the way with wisps of steam and lots of brown hillsides – it is still winter over here, and it proved it. Great sunset in the deep, dark cloudy sky. We woke up to a white landscape – with wind blown walks. Gorgeous, but rather cold. If you look at the snowy picture, on the right side you'll see the roof of a building...that's the outside onsen the place is famous for.

Dining at Sanai

We had the most exotic dinner imaginable. We had a small tatami room reserved just for us. When we entered, they had laid out the table with 7 or 8 dishes - the hors d’oeurves. They had a selection of sashimi (some sushi with fish, some without), tofu dishes and various vegetables. Then they brought in another collection of dishes – again a mixture of fish, beef and veggies. This went on for 3 or 4 more courses. They also had rice and a couple of kinds of soup. We began by eating most of what was served on each plate to having a taste of things because we were too full. It was unbelievable. The service was spectacular!!!
The next day we went back to the bus stop where we were picked up by a different tour bus. The woman guide was wonderful – she didn’t speak a word of English but made sure we knew where we were going and found English brochures for us everywhere we went. This bus was posh with wonderful seats and even a tiny chandelier! Big change from the day before.
We also visited the home of a famous Japanese songwriter, Rentaro Taki. He was a young man who was a musical prodigy, writing songs particularly for children – and still famous today. The guide sang one of his songs – and though it was new to us, all of the Japanese knew the piece.

Stone Buddha's

We also visited an old samurai home - amazingly located in the middle of the city. We walked in through a gate and wound our way through a few gardens until we came to the old style home. It was fascinating to walk backwards through time. The house was expansive (given that we’re in Japan) and tucked away so neatly. It was a warren of small rooms – not even sure how you’d wend your way through the place if people were actually living in it. The garden would have been really nice had it been spring time. Oh well…..did enjoy a nearby waterfall. The walk around it was nice. Didn’t really like sitting in the bus all the time.
We took a trip to visit The Usuki Sekibutso or Stone Buddahs, National Treasures of Japan. (Basically, these are important cultural items that are considered to be exemplary of Japanese culture.) These stone images were sculptured from the Heian era (794 A.D.-1192) to the Kamakura (1192-1333) era. There are fifty-nine images here that have been designated as national treasures. Sadly, nature had taken over many of the sculptures and they required some major restoration. They are now protected by wooden awnings and caretakers who work on removing plant growth that continues to creep back. Sadly, no one knows exactly why the Buddha’s were sculpted here.
We spent that night in another onsen in Yufuin, this time with a view of Mount Yufudake (another mountain in the Aso chain). This time we had our meal served in our room – the woman bringing tray after tray of wonderful delicacies. Once again we finished up VERY full.

Ferry to Oita Airport

The trip the airport was extremely interesting. We were told to take the train out to Oita and catch a bus to the ferry that would take us to the airport. We can do this. The train was a breeze to catch and we headed out toward Oita. We took off to find a restaurant for lunch and then went to locate the bus to the ferry. Well…that was a little more difficult. First, we were in the wrong spot. Then, we found the right spot, could even read “airport” and the timetable so we were fine. We were a little confused about the “Ho-va” they had marked on the sign (in Japanese, of course). We just thought it was the Japanese way of saying harbor (you know …ha-ba). It seemed close enough and the driver accepted our mispronunciation so all was fine. We arrived in time, bought our tickets and got ready to board the ferry…then we walked across the concrete pad to the “boat” sitting on the pad. It was a hover craft that we were riding on to the airport – and what a ride it was. This thing lifted itself up (lots of air under it) and it proceeded to travel across the concrete and down to the water. It was FAST! But also very bumpy. The craziest part was our arrival at the airport. We could see the concrete pad coming up…we traveled up the ramp and then we kept going and going and going…sliding around corners, until we finally arrived at the airport. It was really a cool ride!!!
They have little brochures on the ferry - complete with some English entries including "What you should know about hovercrafts". It includes information about it being "fast and cool". They also assure you that safety measures have been taken (it can stop in 10 seconds- unbelievable!) and that it has been "carefully designed".
There is a link from the title of this entry takes you to the Oita Airport. There's a box on the map that shows the hovercraft ferry boarding area. You can see the concrete "road" we traveled from the water.

On to Singapore

We spent the last few days of our vacation in Singapore, a fabulous, if not tiny, country. We had a wonderful time!
We spent a day wandering about different parts of the city. Orchid Road is a large shopping area with thousands of shops – including a couple of great book stores – in English! Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time there. Then we wandered about the downtown section of the city – location of the famous “Singapore Lion”. The name Singapore came from a prince, long ago, who, upon landing on the island, saw an animal he thought was a lion (never has been a lion on Singapore). Anyway…he called the land “Singa Pura” which means Lion City and it stuck.
We went to the National Museum of Singapore (to escape the rain for a while). It was absolutely a fantastic place to visit. They had a lot about the history of Singapore, its discovery, early years, how it evolved, but the most spectacular part about it was HOW it was presented. They had two parallel histories presented at the same time, one track from the perspective of industry, the state, the “official” tract and then the personal tract, stories about the people alive at the time, how things affected them, how they lived. It was fascinating and very well done.

Raffles Hotel

No trip to Singapore is complete without a visit to the famous Raffles Hotel, home of the famous Singapore Sling. This hotel started out as 10-room colonial style bungalows on the beach. Interestingly…the hotel has not moved from its original site…but the ocean is now some 500 meters away. It has enjoyed popularity throughout its history and has been THE place to stay in Singapore. You’re definitely paying for the atmosphere!

Singapore Zoos (note the plural)

Finally, I’ve made it to my favorite place of all here in Singapore…the ZOO! Actually, they have 2 zoos here – one for during the day and one for the night. Night Safari was spectacular.
First, a bit of information about the zoos. They have created the enclosures in the zoo very creatively, using the natural flora and fauna throughout to support the jungle environment – very effectively I might add. Natural barriers abound and, at first glance, it looks like there are only trees separating areas, keeping the animals apart (and secure from the people). Actually, there are walls there but they’re totally disguised. The walls are built to look like jungle and then they’ve allowed the jungle to grow right up to it. It’s hard to notice the wall unless you actually look. Deep and wide moats are also used, with brush growing up, disguising the fact that there’s a 20 some-odd foot canyon in front of you – it appears that there’s nothing between you and the animals. As an added precaution, electric fences are in place also but again, you need to look (especially in the night zoo).

BATS!!!!

The Night Safari has over 900 nocturnal animals living with the wildlife park. There are 3 different walking trails you can take, meandering through the Himalayan expanse to the plains of Africa. The views were spectacular and while it was dark, there were plenty of lights available to see your way and view the animals. The highlight of the whole trip was the bats (you knew I was going to say that). This exhibit was contained with giant nets surrounding the enclosure. No glass, however, was included. Instead, there were triple doors, inviting you into their night world. You stepped inside to whirring wings and chirps as the bats swirled above you on their search for food. I loved watching them fly about, squabble with others over a choice fruit and then settle down to clean themselves or watch us wander about. You could feel the air movements as they flew past – nothing short of breathtaking.
I must admit the picture leaves much to be desired but it was the only one that even remotely came out.

Singapore Zoo - during the day

The Singapore Zoo during the day is also a rare treat. The jungle environment is used to the fullest extent, to give wonderful enclosures for all of the animals. They have quite a few areas that you can walk through, getting very close to the animals. The Australian one had you right up next to the animals – I’m afraid it’s one that would never make it in the states – someone would step over the small fence for sure – or feed the animal some plastic something. It was pretty special to be so close to kangaroos and emus. The round fence pole you see in the picture is it...that's what keeps people out and animals in (for this exhibit at least).

Begging Otters

The river otters were precious – they looked like they were one moment away from starvation! They put on a great act.

Elephants, in the rain

They put on a huge show with the elephants but once again it was raining and raining and raining (it’s that darn season again, told you they need to change the name) and they cancelled the show. We did get to see a bit of it, the animals worked together to move some of the logs about. The funniest bit was when they were cleaning up when they called it quits – one keeper was working with an elephant to move a log and the elephant dropped it in a particularly large puddle. The keeper was soaked (not that he wasn’t already but this was pretty muddy). Not sure if the elephant had a motive or not…

Candi Dasa

Candi Dasa is a small fishing village on the east coast of Bali with delightful ocean views and plenty of places to take in. We stayed in the delightful WaterGarden Bungalows, the place with the pond right outside our door. Talk about relaxing!! It was heavenly. The bungalows were arranged in such a way that while you could see the one next to you, there was an aura of privacy with all the plants found in between. The deck out front was wide and spacious – delightful for doing yoga – calm, pleasant, relaxing. The place came with our own geckos for keeping the bugs down and koi in the water. If you’ve checked out the pictures of Bali I’ve posted, you’ll see some of my koi along with the wonderful four-poster bed!

Water Palace

We took a tour the first day we were there. They have lots of guides available to take you anywhere you want. We took off to visit a few of the landmarks in the area. One of the stops was the Taman Tirta Ganga – a “resting place” built by one of the Kings. It is now referred to as a water palace with traditional Balinese architecture with the influences of both Chinese and Western design.
The most famous pool is filled with warrior statues and pads you can walk about on, weaving through the various statues. The water is unbelievably clear and the surrounding area is picture perfect. People come and spend the day here because there is also a swimming pool that anyone can use. It’s also the location of many weddings, what with the gorgeous views, fountains, pools and a fabulous bridge.