Day-trip to the Japanese Alps : Soaking up in an onsen amidst the snow...

The Japanese Alps

Can I just say today was just uber good !! I awoke in my yukata strewn open hahah (somehow it dislodged over night ..) and saw snow falling outside my hotel window.. it is snowing in Takayama ! After a quick breakfast of Japanese porridge and salmon and the likes, I caught a local Nohi bus to Hirayu-Onsen (actually I did plan to go to the Shin-Hotaka Ropeway but was advised against it by the tourist information centre - stating it was still in operation but the view would be hopeless with the cloudy conditions ) .

Now most of the pictures were taken around the onsen itself ... of course no pictures within the onsen !!

Hirayu-no-mori : or the "forest of Hirayu" is this lovely onsen resort where you can choose between like 2 indoor onsens and multiple outdoor onsen baths. I was like walking around stark naked in the snow ; immersing myself in the bubbling sulphurous hotsprings with snow falling gently on my hair,cheeks .. around me was endless scenery of snow-covered pine-trees .. surreal .... it was very fun going from one outdoor hot-spring to another.. the temperature was like MINUS 5 deg C yet it never felt that cold although i was stark naked...

Onsen etiquette (very important !!! Japanese people respect you if you follow rules well )
(i) Go into the changing room
(ii) Strip naked. No need for yukata larh. Just bare balls. Keep clothes in locker.
(iii) Then go into the shower facility. Grab a stool and sit on it. Shower yourself with water at least > 40 deg C (adjust the markings accordingly on the faucet ) - shampoo/conditioner/body soap will be provided. Rinse yourself well with the hot water to acclimatise. Make sure no soap in armpits or genital areas !!
(iv) Then my personal favourite is to soak up a small towel with cold cold water ( usually can be found in a separate tub or just from the tap ) and put it on ur head - cools you down.
(v) Go feet first into onsen bath. Wait - acclimatise --then immerse your lower half + private parts into the onsen bath --> tahan , tahan --> then immerse until shoulders. Try not to plunge in directly coz you will feel giddy (excessive vasodilatation)

DON'T drink before you go for an onsen. i learnt it the hard way when i went for my hotel's onsen after a good dinner of beef steak with lots of Asahi beer - you will feel like your head is in this Malboro spin !
Up to you to shower after the onsen - i prefer not to.

WOOHOOO!! that was an awesome experience.

Soulful day at Nara

Nara - a city just out of Kyoto (approximately 55 minutes by JR train again ) : now today was a horribly rainy and blistery day so it wasn't good for sightseeing at all.. anyhow the key features of this place were the spiritual temple grounds , and the deer roaming around in the Nara park. In fact, most of the city is covered within the park grounds methinks .. most of the city's attractions are centred within the park grounds. so the deer literally roam everywhere - they are like the mascot of the city.

The magical Bamboo Groove of Saga-Arashiyama

I was so lucky that there was this special winter campaign for Saga-Arashiyama - for the period in which i was travelling in kyoto, a significant portion of Saga-Arashiyama would be illuminated during the nightfall. now most people go to Saga-Arashiyama - which is just a little out of kyoto by JR train - for the famous temples and of course the famed bamboo grove which is supposedly a dead ringer for the one in crouching tiger hidden dragon...

The bamboo grove became resplendid with sheer BRILLIANCE of colours..

Day 5 : Kyoto - Chasing the Geisha

Walking alone along a quiet labyrinth-like alley of traditional Japanese houses when suddenly i heard the familiar sound of wooden clogs melodiously clicking along the cobbled path. I came face to face with ..

G...E...I..S.H..A
and there were a lot more geishas who suddenly sprang out of nowhere. very very intriguing.

Day 3 Saturday - Yasukuni Shrine -> Ichigaya --> Ueno Ameyoko --> Harajuku --> Tokyo Bay/Odaiba

Yay ! I got the Tokyo Metro card.. which means for just like 1000 yen , i can zig-zag around the entire metro network as much as i want. exactly what i need. so i started off the morning by heading straight into the heart of controversy .. the Yasukuni Shrine , which everyone makes so much hoo-ha about the Japanese prime minister visiting. it was just one stop away from jimbocho so it was quite convenient. the weather was a little nippy but ok.

Yasukuni Shrine

the first entrance into the shrine.. i bumped into this over-enthusiastic man (not that one above) who was trying to sell the idea that the japanese troops in nanjing were actually doing people good and improving the people's living standards ( he actually had on display rows of pictures of happy chinese kids and civilians receiving the japanese troops with much enthusiasm ). in my mind, i am like ,the war is so over - and there's no need to pull all that merino lamb wool over my eyes because the world can see the invisible rifles and bayonets behind these poor chinese kids' backs if they dun smile like a geisha for the soldiers.
if not for the controversy(which i didn't bother going into) , the shrine is a lovely place as you can see above. pleasant place to stroll...
now this is also another character.. holding a tape-recorder chanting Japanese military anthems .. sigh .

Ueno - Ameyoko
Ueno is like next to Asakusa, and it offers a lot of great cheap eats and good funky stuff to buy. i bought like a billabong fur-jacket and an OP body-hugger which all looked pretty funky. price was ok .. about 200 bucks each i figure. haha who cares ? i am on holiday! and i freakin' didn't do like 7-8 calls per month for nothing!

Above is the eatery where i just threw in my coins and got a nice bowl of uberlicious tempura udon. there wasn't any place to sit , but it's ok. i gave my meal ticket , i got my bowl , i stood at the counter and slurped slurped slurped - like the way you slurp ******* hehe - (the louder you slurp , the better apparently in japan haha ) ... and i am done! return your tray and everyone in the eatery will start screaming "arigato gozaimashita"! and you are supposed to giggle back "gochisoosamadeshita (it was a feast!)".

Harajuku
Ok i wasn't so much into harajuku because of the funky hairstyles and clothes - anyway most of those dress-sense maniacs had already left for a funkier part of town when i came in the late evening (you can walk up from ginza ) . I stumbled upon - another of lonely planet's recommendations - Marion's crepes ! WOnderful wonderful - thin crepes encasing a delicious prism of thick , rich cream with a dash of chocolate chip and fresh strawberries - again along with the line of japanese convenience, you don't need to sit down and eat it with a knife/fork - they just wrap it up and you eat it the same way you eat a wrap at taco bell's ..
Harajuku - and featuring a branch of Murasaki Sports - the place where i purchased my winter garb at Ueno -

Tokyo Odaiba

Day 2 : Loving Tokyo bit by bit.

Ohaiyogozaimasu!
Akihabara - the Funan Centre/Sim Lim Square of Tokyo -
A pleasant stroll down to Yasukuni-dori from Jimbocho brought me to Akihabara where there are like Shinjuku-like and Shibuya-like buildings that advertise video game characters,cartoon figures instead of fashion brands. I would have really loved this place when i was a kid playing my 16-bit sega megadrive. As usual stores were all screaming about the latest Nintendo Wii ..

Prices in Akihabara were competitive but nowhere to be compared to Singapore. A Nikon D40X kit costs like 1100 in LAOX (the major superstore), but i figure Harvey Norman/Courts were of course selling their cameras at a slightly marked up price.

Lunch at Akihabara - tempura don with hot ramen -
Ok tummy growls. Got another ticket from the vending machine for a tempura don with a bowl of hot steaming ramen. The tempura was sooooo thinly fried , crisp to perfection. And once it is soaked in the tare, it just melts in your mouth. All this for like ?500 yen (<10>Asakusa
after all that megalomaniac kind of buildings-skyscraper galore, i was just happy to be in Asakusa. it was by no means a quiet neighbourhood -there were throngs of tourists here in fact. it's just that the buildings were a lot more old-school japanese - and the nearby sensouji temple made things a lot more placid. it was a pleasant stroll by the shops - 1000s of them in fact selling all-so-nicely packaged okashii (sweets) and omiyage (souvenir snacks). this looks like the most attractive district so far. fairly charming and not so much glitz.

one of the alleys in Asakusa ... now this is kinda of japan that i like. quieter and sedate. yes there are tourists and etc, but not the thronging screaming crowd that you experience in shibuya or shinjuku.

Sensouji temple by early evening .. sun sets really early in Tokyo during winter. nothing really much .. just a touch of spiritualism in midst of the urban chaos. good idea actually.

One of the many quaint alleys and shopping streets in Asakusa as evening beckons.

I had a great meal at this restaurant. don't you love the fact that they all have such gorgeous displays .. i had the colourful "matsume" (the one in the black bowl) .. yanni would love the red beans (i ain't such a big fan but apparently red bean/green bean is like a sine qua non of Japanese dessert making.
I had the wonderful Negitoro (upper row ; inner most in maroon bowl) ; which is like mashed raw fatty tuna over a deep bowl of rice.

Tokyo Tower
Well if you have been to the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building (now especially that Empire State building), what you are gonna experience would be pretty disappointing. not that worth the 700+ yen.
The view is just okay.. nothing really compared to the Empire State Building or even that Shanghai tower (what name was that tower ? sheesh i just went in March )

Day 1 : Lost in Tokyo !

The day started with again a uneventful Malaysia Airlines flight to Narita Airport, transferring at Kuala Lumpur of course. Well sort of eventful despite the fact i got a real F.O.N. queen who sat next to me for both the SIN-KUL and KUL-NRT sectors. God! He was like "i dun like the taste of this guava juice. i want the orange juice." , (moments prior to landing)"i need some peanuts.. now" , (after a few bites of his OWN special meal)"i dun like the taste of this.. i want that beef". Thank god we had 3 japanese flight attendants onboard the NRT sector to pander to his needs.

Arrival in Tokyo-Narita Airport
I was just so tired these few days after all those calls that i just slept thru the red-eye flight without touching the IFE system. Landed in Narita Terminal 2 in the bright early morning. Sailed through customs/immigration - noted new fingerprinting system and photo-taking system at immigration. No problems.

Ok. So far so good. Went over to the Keisei Line counter to get a ticket on the Keisei Line to Oshiage --> Aoto, as recommended by the hotel. At first, i didn't want to speak my dead japanese (probably died in the closet after 5 yrs of medical school), but somehow the counter staff were just terribly uncomfortable in English. Oh god.. managed to get my point across somehow in japanese somehow.

One thing reminded me though.. everyone , i mean everyone from train attendant, ticketing agent and even the convenience store girl was just terribly polite and sweet to me. gosh, i have been working in nuh too long :-P

Getting lost in the train system
Okay for the uninitiated, the train system looks confusing so i asked and asked in my dead-but-now-awakening japanese. missd 1 or 2 stops but that's ok. all the good training in europe in carrying 30kg backpacks across amsterdam made this <10kg>Sakura Hotel , Jimbocho
Found my way amidst heavy human-traffic to Jimbocho, the bookshop district located sort of in central Tokyo. Very quiet and unremarkable hotel, with mini-sized rooms.. thank god for the free LAN line in the room (you have to set up the modem, phone jack and VDSL (not VDRL) line yourself though. 6000 yen a night ? Counter-staff were friendly enough.

Finding lunch from a vending machine
Ok finding lunch in Jimbocho. After roaming and roaming, there was this constant fear of entering a Japanese restaurant and struggling with the menu and my dead-but-now-slowly-awakening japanese. curiously i entered this little ramen shop with this vending machine thingy. apparently all you need to do is to choose the food item you want, and pop in the appropriate amount of cash , voila you get a meal ticket , give the ticket to the cook and within 1-2 mins, you have a bowl of fresh ramen/tempura. you still gotta noe how to read japanese coz' the illustrations are quite miserable. i found this really unique and convenient.

Shinjuku
Total chaos , i mean total chaos - this place was just teeming with people and wild-styled teenagers. quite unremarkable coz i am quite used to this kinda scene in new york.

Shibuya
UTTER chaos! i was just screaming to find a place to hide from the throngs of harajuku princesses and yakuza boys .. found refuge in a slightly more upmarket restaurant serving OMU rice (hehe) - they even had a french waitress that could speak english. so i let my japanese take a rest for the night haha.

TOKYU Shibuya
in front of Tokyo Shibuya was this amazing intersection where if the pedestrian lights turn green, a good number - say like >1000s ? of pedestrians crisscross an entire intersection at a particular instance. i was like a little termite scurrying back.