To my loyal readers out there, sorry for the one week hiatus. I was busy soaking in the jeppun culture! I suppose a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll post some photos with a brief description instead.
Tokyo tower! Pretty boring actually, I din go up the observation deck though, its 14bucks! Haha come to think of it, I din went up taipei101 nor Petronas either. This tower just sticks like a sore thumb though, unlike the Eiffel Tower which has a river and a park and scenic spots nearby. Tokyo tower is just situated smack in the middle of an urban mess. and the shopping mall underneath the tower just destroys all pleasing aesthetics of the structure! A waste of time actually.. haha
Temple Zojoji. Totally unrealistic!! Founded A.D889. Designated National Treasure. 6 of the 15 tokugawa shoguns buried here. In the garden, there are trees planted by the General Grant, 18th President of the USA during his official visit. Woohooo!! Another one planted by Bush Snr. Tree planting eh, Fion:) Anw these grounds are sacred. Theres an unexplainable serene and calm peace within the temple grounds, despite it being just beside the lousy Tokyo tower and a large motorway.
Imperial Palace, where the present royal family still lives! Inner palace out of bounds though, but the garden is already nice enough! Japanese culture at its best, the gardens, tiled roofs, water bodies. A pity though it was drizzling when I was visiting.
There are swans gliding lazily across the moat surrounding the palace grounds. These beautiful birds and the kois really examplified Japanese waterscape pond culture!
Stuck outside the Palace gates. They will only open 2 days in the entire calendar. 2nd Jan (New Year) and 23rd Dec (Emperor's Birthday) The entire imperial household will meet the citizens at the balcony! how cool is that man
Tokyo-Edo Museum. This was taken inside the replica of Kabuki Theatre. Apparently during the Tokyo-Edo era, Kabuki Theatre is already very popular. They have certain tiered seats, the upper class, merchants, working class sitting designations etc etc, and the instruments and costumes are really elaborate!! This picture is a tribute to the dong dong chiang dunman dudes who have became my closest friends over the past decade. Doesn't the gong remind you of a certain weekly Tuesday afternoon activity?
This is what a replica of a shop during the Tokyo-Edo era. The Japanese are really famed for their wood block printing. 12 to 16 separate wooden blocks are used to print a certain picture! They are also adept at mixing colours etc. The grand prize of the Sumo tournament of the entire Japan is a personalised wood block printing of the winner's portrait, with his name on it. It is said the price of these winner's art pieces are worth the combined cost of houses of an entire DISTRICT!
Ah, bento time!! The Japanese culture is very anal about wasting time . Business students will know the notorious kaizen mode of cost savings etc. As such, Tokyo frowns upon slow lunches, hence the bento. These are an integral part of the working class tokyotites' diet. The variety is unrealistic! And I personally vouch for the standards of these fare. They can taste better than some food offered in our local Jap restaurants! Fion!! Are you looking at these? Lunch is supposed to be at least these! not milo and biscuits;) Glad your present company is 'forcing' you to eat better:P
AH look at their cup noodles!! The soup is akin to Ajisen Ramen's level! And there's meat too!! Do you know instant noodles are invented by Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Foods? Eh Nanchaku Gang, just when you think Taiwan's instant noodles are unrealistic, The land of the original Ramen still sets the standards.
Fion, I thought of the beans at your place the moment I came across this at the supermarket!! They literally sprout the dou miao from the beans, and just sold it unprocessed! Glad your little bean sprout is growing well though:)
Kaminarimon, outter gate of Sensoji Temple, Asakusa. The oldest and most sacred of temples in Tokyo. Built on-site AD645. It survived the world wars, earthquakes etc etc!! And look at the crowd man! Taking advantage of the week long public holiday, Japanese from all over the country came over for prayers and more. It is said to work really well! I prayed, we shall see;) Sekali the gods only accept Japanese prayers, lol. Shucks
Asakusa side streets. As you can see, its lined full of eateries! Full of authentic Jap food, its not those touristy kinds. The majority of the foodies here are Japanese! A cold Jap beer and yakiniku, takopachi, tempura , ramen etc. Bring an anorexic here and he/she's healed totally;)
View from Sensoji main hall. There's the pagoda and the carp streamers fluttering in the winds. The next day is Boy's day! Its a national holiday where the nation celebrates Children's (Boys) Day. Households will fly those streamers and display the Samurai armor and helmet. Don't worry though, Japan is not sexist, Girls day is on 3Mar, though it is not a national holiday. For once, the girls don't get it;P
The crowd at Sensoji Shrine again. Fascinating! I am so lucky to be able to experience the Jap culture firsthand.
This is the entire street between Sensoji, main temple and Kaminarimon, outer gate. Ridiculous long by itself already, and coupled with the crowd, it took us an hour just to walk from the outer gate to the temple itself. But the entire street is lined with Japanese rice crackers, dango, macha, redbean cakes and many sovenirs!!
Meiji Shrine!! One of the most popular and sacred shrine in Tokyo. We were so lucky that while visiting, we managed to catch a REAL wedding procession taking place!! This is the traditional Jap Wedding thingy. Totally unreal, it costs more than 50000SGD for the costume, priests, venue just for the ceremony! But I guess this is an event worthy of splurging lar. 50k just seems peanuts for the union with the love of your life!
Talking about love, this two old lovebirds are my parents!! Haha they remarked that the entire trip I am their cameraman, porter, guide etc. Not that I mind:))) Behind them are wishes from visitors to the shrine. People will just write their wishes onto the wooden block provided and hang it behind those panels. I had wanted to write something too, but I reckoned 500Yen to put a Singaporean wish for a Japanese shrine to bless is just too darn gekgian.
Main hall of the shrine. Aren't those Samurai armor majestic?! Too bad the inner hall is off limits to visitors, only Shinto priests can access. Wasted!!
Japanese Sake! These is a replica of the old sake storage vats. I personally cant appreciate alcohol. To me, sake just tastes like rice vinegar. But this potent little drink does wonders! 3small cup and you are knocked out. It is said that surgeons of the past used sake during the WW II where anesthesia is low in supply! Tsu tsu tsu, maybe this will solve all your problems! WAHAHA
Japanese flower arrangement! Really an art! Flowers are already nice by themselves, the Japs just brought it up another level with the complementary arrangements. Its colourful without being too loud, gives people a sense of peacefulness, and the quiet grounds further adds to the mood too! niceee
My favourite of the lot!! Simple design, simply beautiful! Feels so comfortable just by looking at the picture. Fion, looking at the photo now, the bonsai reminds me of you and your tree;)
Takeshita Street, young people's street! Totally crowded, totally trendy, totally suitable for shopaholics and fashionistas. I shopped till darn shagged!! Bought a total of.. 1 can of soda, haha! The aching muscles are due to fighting to walk through the crowd. Joleen, you will totally adore this street man!!
Akihabara, electronic town!! Techies paradise. Take Simlim square, decrease costs by a significant bit, multiply the size by a few hundred times. All the buildings you see in this picture are Simlim sized electronic malls! And this is just a side street!! These goes on for the entire district! The stuff here are really cheap compared to Singapore, because Japan is so technologically advanced, stuff that might be outdated there might not actually have been launched yet in Singapore!
Place where we tried the heavenly yakiniku!! The literal translation of the shopfront is 'BBQ meat three thousand miles'. You can smell the BBQ across the street! Wah the meat is unrealistic!! So succulent, a nice blend of marbled fat and meat, some high quality beef and pork. The sound of meat sizzling on a chargrill metal mesh is music to my ears! Some leek and garlic, a little soy sauce, this is my idea of the Last Supper man!!! The cost is a little bomb though, but thats the whole idea of travelling with parents!! haha just kidding.
Some street performer. Apparently he's darn good at it. There's a sizeable crowd in front of him, though I din catch it on camera. Very comical kind, marries singing with comedy. Everyone's practically choking over his jokes la! I would probably have joined in their laughter if I had know what exactly was he singing about. On a side note, Mr Kia, I thought of you the moment I see this fella. It seemed the EXACT attire you would wear, exact stuff you would do, HAHAHA
Ichigo Bliss!! Fion, after some consultation and tasting with a few boxes of these, I think I am getting it le;) Haha for those who don't know this heavenly dessert, just step into any Mos Burger outlet and order it! It is much cheaper and nice in Japan. I accidentally left one box at the refrigerator instead of the freezer, and it actually tastes MUCH BETTER when the strawberry is soft but still cold!!
Tsukiji Fish market, world famous wet fish market in Tokyo!! The seafood here is unbelievably fresh! The variety and quantity of marine produce is crazy lar. From those hideous looking underwater creatures, giant calms, eels, fish, sharks, to the main stream tunas salmons etc, this place has it all. That is my hand in comparison with the biggest tuna head I have ever seen. My hand, as you all know, isn't exactly considered small, that fish head is just plain ridiculous lar!!
The fish body needs a pushcart the length of 1.5 person, and the fishmonger needs to wield a halberd to process the fish! Btw the halberd is a two handed big assed knife.
Restaurants just beside the fish market, as expected, the seafood is unbelievably fresh! You can get certain species of scallops, calms and even octopus live! Imagine the tentacles all chopped up and yet still squirming in your plate!! A whole new experience man! And Fion, its this place that serves the different cuts of tuna and you all time favourite Salmon sashimi! Haha you should be there to experience it man!! We shall see lar ah;)
Taken at the airport transit area. This is just so symbolic of the Japanese culture. Exotic, mysterious and ass-kicking at the same time! That pretty much sums up my trip:) Oh on a side note, my return flight had some problems, so United Airlines kindly transferred us to All Nippon Airways for our flight to Singapore, with a seat upgrade!! Woohoo!! All I can say is that, ANA is just slightly below Singapore Airlines man. And I meant it as a compliment. The food is good, service top notch, and the air stewardesses are really hot! If not for the Kebaya and the inflight entertainment, SQ might not be able to compare to ANA's service quality.
All in all, its been a pretty good trip. Though there are times where I felt like a 23yr old lightbulb with the 2 old lovebirds. A pity din get to explore the night life. 1 person lar, I scared. Would have been interesting though!
Mum was saying that this is probably a recce trip for me. She already surmised that I'll be back either this year end or the next. Mums ah, they have a knack for predicting the pretty OBVIOUS. lol!!
So heres to you all, you and of course you:) I already have some lobangs for the tickets. LETS VISIT JAPAN AGAIN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE!!!
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