Summer 09 - Kansai 関西

Weeks since I last wrote huh. Was on my 2nd vacation of tis summer break, exploring the other part of Japan-Kansai (no, not kanasai). Haha. Me, as the organizer of this particular trip. . . of course DID planned well (I 1st thought) n expected it to run out smoothly. Hehe.

1st of Sep, we, 9 of us from different kousen (colleges in Japan) met at Yokohama train station n took the 8.34am train. 1st destination was Hiroshima. There is a ticket named, Seishunn 18 Kippu which is a cheap ticket can be used in a limited period of time, traveling all around Japan. Yes, we used it to travel way long from Tokyo down to Hiroshima! (worth it man!)18 hours of trains, numberers of transiting, we reached Hiroshima at 11.40pm. It wasn't tat tiring as we 1st thought it would be, instead we had fun having nap in trains, shopping our meals at convenience stores, running like hell to catch our next train, n of course chit-chatting the whole way (u can't miss tis out when traveling wit a bunch of 'aunties' huh, i mean girls). Haha. Gosh, I'm crapping! Ok, it was time for bed after a train-sitting day. Journey started the next day.

Hiroshima A-Bomb Dome.

An old man . . . ?

Our 1st visit was to the famous side of Hiroshima city, Peace Memorial Park where the A-Bomb Dome was located. " Wat's with tat old man?" should u guys think rite? By passer? No. Tour guide? Yes. Ordinary tour guide? No. Free tour guide + survivor from the atomic bomb (a baby in his mother's tummy). He was there to provide extra explaination which couldn't be get from the museum. We felt lucky n thanked for the knowledge.

Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki.

This Okonomiyaki is quite different with wat we have over at Tokyo, which includes noodle. Thumbs up!

Hiroshima Castle.

Miyajima Shrine.

Went to Hiroshima city's main spots in 1 n a half day, we continued towards Himeji n then Kobe. :)

Himeji Castle.

It was expected to be a boring walk around the castle, but enormously we made through the whole castle wit non-stop jokes n laughters! Great applause to those who came out wit the jokes.(also to those who didn't get mad to be joked with) Haha.

Kobe Chinatown.

'Family'-like dinner.

This was the best part of it. Besides munching chinese food while walking down the street, we had our dinner at a chinese restaurant (forgotten wat it called). We choosed a round table, although 8 of us had to squeezed among ourselves. ' Chinese wan round round one.' Said them. Haha. It wasn't that expensive as we thought. Enjoyed. =)

Fisherman's Market Buffet.

Had our lunch at Fisherman's Market Buffet, Mosaic. Thanks to Zhong Ing who got to know about this shop from one of her senior. (do hire her as the food tour guide) Haha.

One of the 3 largest Buddha Statue in Japan.

Kobe Port.

We went to Kobe Port for the night view of the night. Those are ships' ports where we can have a nice view of Kobe on the ship ride. Said them. We took our own sweet time, sitting, talking, snapping photos . . . of those ships. God must have been kidding with us when we found out later that ship was the last one of the day. Haha, Can't belief we were bidding farewell to it few minutes ago. God bless me, we were scheduled to still be in Kobe for the next 2 days. Gonna come again. Hehe.

Our next day started pretty late since we're just heading to one destination. The one and only Mt. Rokko.

Black sheep . . .?

Sheep herding garden was the place. Sheep all around us (sheep's shit should it be) was a new experience which we can't get from M'sia.

Digging . . . cow shit ??

We saw tis scene accidentally n everyone started staring at the old man who was stretching his hand into the cow's backside, digging it's shit! Disgusting isn't it? He done it to one cow, followed by another. Noticed pairs of eyes keeping an eye on him by the sideline, he came towards us.(without washing his hands!) ' Understand Japanese?' He 1st asked (of coz in Japanese). He introduced himself as a veterinarian, n wat he was doing moments ago was checking the cows to confirm whether they's pregnant or not. Amazed huh? (sorry for those who aren't. But I was) We made our way to the night view spot, located 3.3km from the garden. We went there on foot, took 1 hour.

Nite view from Mt. Rokko.

Our next stop, Kyoto prefecture.

bla bla bla . . .

( too lazy to comment anything about those) :P

Geisha.

I'm sure many of u guys came across with te word 'geisha' before rite? They are 'rare species' in Japan now. We got our way to Gion district, Kyoto. To 'stalk' those geishas. Haha. There were of coz many other foreigners wondering around the streets, waiting for the appearance of geisha. We were like paparazzi from M'sia running n following in groups when someone spotted any of the geisha. Haha. Fun experience though.

Osaka!! The day everyone waited for.

Universal Studios Japan.

No one ever miss USJ when they pay a visit to Osaka. We spent our whole day at the theme park enjoying the rides, shows (I slept twice), parades, n souvenirs. It's kinda theme park alike with Disneyland, but said to be nicer n more fun compared to Disney. Who knows, but I do think it was indeed a enjoyable place to go. Worth it despite expensive entrance fee + express tickets. :P

Bye-bye.

Skyscrapers night-view from sky-building.

Namba, Osaka.

It was shopping again, this time at a shopping heaven in Osaka - Namba. Everyone's hands were fully-occupied, except mine. (to those who know wat i mean. shuuuuu, to those who dun know, hmm..nth) :P

Nara.

Temples.

One of the 3 biggest Buddha Statue in Japan.

We were scheduled to walk around Nara for 2 days before we go back to Tokyo . . . But . . . we decided to shorten it to 1 day, n come back Namba to shop !! Haha. Namba was just too big n we did spend another day over there. We had movie (Subway) at 0101 Mall before we carried our luggage, from the train station's lockers to the bus stop, getting the bus back to Shinjuku, Tokyo.

*Addition*

3/9

20:20

Me, " Hello, I'm Lim. I wanna confirm my reservation for 3 nites. I'm coming today. . . Right?"

XXX Hostel, " Oh, Lim . . . You're coming today??!! I thought your reservation was for 4,5,6th of Sep?"

Me, " Oh, in tat case . . . hmm . . . see you tmr then! "

Due to my 'exellent' planning, we spent our nite at a karaoke box near Akashi Kousen on tat very nite. Haha. I never went for karaoke before.(really! swear!) So, it was my 1st n I guess te numbers may not stop at 1. Hehe.

Yes, this is Himeji castle, but guess wat we found out during te visit ??!! It was once the house of one of my fren!! Beh S.Z.!(u all sendiri tau la) The castle was her house? She, was a princess?? (read ahead) She guided the road like she've been there before, explaining tis n tat. Not long before we found out tat te place we were walking was once the accommodation of the maids!! Haha. She wasn't the princess, but the maid. Haha. (thanks beh, for giving a brief talk about ur house) :P

Carine, Beh, D.Sheng, S.Ying.

Beh, " Hey fatty! U say la how much u wanna bet! "

D.Sheng, " Walao eh 瘦马, bet then bet la. 100yen! "

S.Ying, " Count me in! "

Carine, " See them, kaki-judi . . . "

We wanted to find a soba (Japanese noodle) n they quarreled about the direction. Ended up betting. But in the end, it was just a misunderstanding. Everyone pointed to the same path in the end. Wasted about 10 minutes stopping by the road side quarreling about the bet. Haha.

D.Sheng, "Come to me . . ."

Pau showing D.Sheng a paper written "11pm meet at XXX Bar."

D.Sheng. "F**k u! Dun kacau I patto!"

Ehemm.. I guess nth else need to be said huh? Haha. Actually the story started when . . . once apon a time . . . a guy named D.Sheng owned 150 yen to a gal named S.Ying. She tried hard to get back her money but failed. So, a half-guy half-gal named Pau (she said herself tat she's half. I didn't accused her), knew tat n wanted to help S.Ying get back tat 150 yen with S.Ying offering a bread to Pau. Haha. Pau started with mumbling "150 yen 150 yen" in front of D.Sheng. 1st in english, n then in japanese. Next, Pau wrote '100 yen 返し' ( pay back 100 yen) in a piece of paper n keep on showing it to D.Sheng. Finally, D.Sheng lost the mental fight, n eventually paid te 150 yen back. The end of the love story between D.Sheng n Pau. (Hahahahahahahaha!!)

There goes my 2nd summer break trip in Japan. Started n ended with joy, laughters, happiness.