Phuket has changed a lot since we last visited. Several large shopping malls now replace the low-rise shophouses of the past. One of these mega shopping complexes is Jungceylon, which I’m fairly certain was not in existence that last time we were there. We were not really looking forward to shopping in Phuket (there’s nothing much to buy unless you are into sarongs, beach wear or swim wear) but we were running out of things to do in the day. Nights in Phuket were much more exciting and we had no lack of activities to occupy us.
It was a bright and sunny day. After shopping at Jungceylon and having taken lunch, we slowly walked our way back to Patong Beach. A long, sweaty walk but an interesting one nevertheless. Patong is a place that thrives at night, but is mostly sleepy in the day. We didn’t see many people, much less tourists, walking around. Most must have gone island-hopping or were sleeping in after a wild night of booze and fun. Not that we were complaining. Without throngs of tourists, we saw how the locals went about their daily lives without trying to be overly friendly in attempts to secure business deals. Less conditioned to be agreeable, more real.
Come night time, we chose to go for a show at Phuket Simon Cabaret. In case you are unfamiliar with cabarets in Thailand, in general they tend to be catered for mature audience and the ladies in the shows are not born females. All of them. Especially the attractive ones. Most, if not all of them would have undergone sex reassignment surgery.
The show was entertaining (though cheesy at some parts) and throughout the show, I was simply amazed at how pretty some of the ‘ladies’ looked. But there were also some who just looked wrong. I don’t wish to make a stand on sex assignment surgeries here and now but I do think it is very sad if an individual chooses it so that he could be part of a cabaret as a performer just so to feed the family. It’s one thing to claim that you feel like a woman when you are born a man, but it’s an entire different issue when you are born like a man, feels like one, but forces yourself to become a woman due to circumstances. I suspect the latter happens more often than we care to admit. Or that there is simply a large concentration of men in Thailand who feel like they are women and want to live as one. Statistically this just doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it?
Whichever the case, these ladies have my utmost respect. They made their choices and are at least making a decent livelihood being part of a cabaret.
If watching cabarets is not your cup of tea (as I have realised is not mine), you would most likely not be interested in Tiger Shows as well so skip that. There are other family-friendly shows like Phuket FantaSea, which we had already watched on our last trip. Otherwise just go bar or pub-hopping. Or have dinner on a Chinese junk. And round up the night with a Thai body massage. Numerous options out there.
The last time we visited Phuket was 4-5 years ago, before the tsunami tragedy struck the lovely island off the South-West coast of Thailand. We had wanted to visit earlier but the opportunity just never presented itself. Not being huge fans of beach resorts (because the mister doesn’t swim and the missus is not a particularly strong swimmer) meant that given a choice, we would usually rather be elsewhere.
This is not to sweepingly conclude that Phuket has nothing to offer to non-fans of water activities, because Phuket is anything but. While we do not go on island-hopping excursions or spend our time sun-tanning by the beach, Phuket is our go-to destination for cheap and good seafood. It is invariably also our top choice when we cannot afford the time for an extended trip or don’t wish to spend too much on a vacation.
It was only our 2nd time on a budget airline. The experience hadn’t been too bad since given our small stature, we do not need much legroom. In-flight entertainment wise, we could most definitely do without for a short 2-3 hour flight. Longer than that, I think I will probably bore to death though. ๐
Instead of going for the reputable hotel chains, this time the mister took the suggestion of one of his colleague’s to stay at a hotel he frequents whenever he travels to Phuket (which is like once every quarter!). At first glance, the hotel room wasn’t too bad but it didn’t take me long to find out that there was an issue with the drainage system; the room almost flooded when I took a shower because the drainage was so slow. And I have to qualify that I’m not one of those ladies who takes a 30-minute shower. Needless to say, I was rather unhappy with the mister’s choice.
While I’m not sure if all other other rooms are the same, or if the hotel improved the drainage system over the years, suffice it to say that I would not return to this hotel. Can’t even if I had wanted to, because I cannot recall the name of this hotel even if my life had depended on it.
On to the things that made me happy on this trip – the food. You might have already realised from the other blog posts that the mister and I are quite the foodie. And surprise surprise, despite his fussy palate, the mister actually loves Thai food.
Patong Beach is always our choice because it’s the most vibrant of all the beaches in Phuket, it’s accessible and food is easily available. If you are one of those who prefer to stay in the luxury villas at the quieter beaches, it is still rather convenient to get to Patong Beach either by renting your own bike or car, or flagging down a tuk-tuk. As a general rule, we do try not to drive overseas and diesel-driven vehicles make me nauseous so as far as possible, we walk everywhere when in Phuket.
As for seafood, it is not necessary to spend loads of money patronising the expensive-looking restaurants along the beach. But we are way too careful to randomly choose and settle for a street-side stall. There are cheap and rather hygienic options one or two streets down (parallel to the beach), we discovered on our first trip to Phuket years ago. Collectively, it’s like a big food centre with about 8-10 seafood stalls and clearly demarcated tables and chairs for each stall. We’ve been returning to this place every single time we revisit Phuket and our stomachs were always fine after dining there so I guess they passed the hygiene test.
The oysters were as fresh as they could get. Perhaps not as sweet and succulent as the ones I had in France but they were close enough. The way the Thais serve their fresh oysters are quite different from the way I am used to; a plate of 4 condiments was served to us but we couldn’t quite figure how they go with the oysters. I mostly just slurp them up with the chilli sauce that most resembled tobasco sauce.
We went back to the same place for dinner twice more when we were in Phuket. Clearly we are not very adventurous folks. But in our defence, there are close to 10 stalls we could try. And there is a large variety of seafood available. Only that we ordered almost the same dishes every single time. We are boring like that.
The second dinner at our favourite place, we had pineapple rice. And ordered the usual ‘suspects’ – fresh oysters, barbecued prawns, vegetables and last but not the least, Seafood Tom Yam soup. We learnt something about big King prawns: though larger their meat don’t usually taste that good in comparison to smaller Tiger prawns. The next day, we switched back to Tiger prawns. Lesser meat but tastier for sure. The soups… no complaints. They were as authentic as they could get. We don’t get such tasty Tom Yam soups in Singapore. Not even close.
We left the big birthday meal to the last night in Phuket. And since there really wasn’t much shopping to be done there, we used the money we saved to splurge on that dinner. Apart from the oysters, pineapple rice and Tiger prawns, we ordered something different – crayfish. I didn’t actually like the way it was prepared, and was quick to tell the mister that when the dish was served. But oh, I spoke too soon. The crayfish was incredibly tasty and delish. I loved it, probably even more than the fresh oysters. And I am pretty sure we ordered some vegetables because we really love our greens. Must have neglected taking pictures before we excitedly dug in.
The star of the birthday dinner? This lobster weighing over 700 grams. This was supposedly the highlight but to be honest, I found the crayfish nicer than this. Good thing it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg. That’s why Phuket is our go-to place for seafood, with the exception of crabs. In my opinion, Singapore is still the go-to place for crabs. In my humble opinion, nothing beats our chilli crabs.
Without a doubt, the cities I am referring to are Nara (ๅฅ่ฏๅธ) and Osaka (ๅคง้ช) respectively. Nara, formerly known as Heijo (ๅนณๅ), was Japan’s first permanent capital, established in 710. Due to its historic status, Nara is replete with historic treasures and cultural significance. It is also home to some of Japan’s oldest and largest temples. Unfortunately, given its close proximity to two more popular tourist cities (approximately one hour by train from Kyoto and Osaka), little attention has been paid to Nara as a result. More often than not, it is just a by-the-way side trip people make before/after Kyoto or Osaka. Nara does have a lot offer, especially shrines and temples. Just need to give it the due attention it deserves, I reckon.
Here’s the whole lot of us taking a group photograph in front of the Nandaimon Gate (ๅๅคง้) leading to Todaiji Temple (ๆฑๅคงๅฏบ), one of the most historically significant temples in Japan. The gate, reconstructed in 1199 after a burndown in 1180, is in itself a rather impressive monument, not to mention humongous. There are apparently two statues by the side of the gate, guarding the temple (and since the gate is the gateway to the temple, it kind of makes sense) but since nobody explained that to us and we didn’t do any prior read-up, we didn’t really notice the statues. Oh well… part of the problem with guided tours is this reliance leading to false impressions that one will learn everything from the tour leader/guide.
And then the Eastern Great Temple (Todaiji Temple) came into sight as we crossed the Nandaimon Gate. On a rather non-related note… may I just comment on how much I just love all the entrance tickets we’d received on the trip? Interesting, and very pretty. Shows that the Japanese take pride even in the smallest details.
One of the reasons why Todaiji Temple is as famous as it is lies in the the word’s largest bronze statue of the Virocana Buddha (ๅคงไป) in the main hall, measuring almost 15 metres in height. It was rumoured that this project nearly crippled Japan’s economy at that time due to the massive demand of so much bronze for the statue. While I do have some pictures of the statue, I find them non-impressive in general (and thus does no justice to the real thing) so there is no intention to post any of it up here.
Sika deer from the nearby Nara Park wandered freely around the park compound. They are mostly tame but love congregating around new visitors to the park in hope of getting fed shika senbei (้นฟ็ ้ค ). We didn’t purchase the deer crackers because although I found the deer adorable, they also frightened me senseless. I cannot explain why, because some of them are so small they are comparable in size to the golden retrievers we have at home. Perhaps that’s the reason why – my furkids go absolutely bonkers when I feed them, and they are domesticated. The behaviour of the deer would understandably be even more unpredictable. This was why, adorable as they are, I refused to feed them those special crackers.
Not that they were going hungry from my lack of participation in the random feeding. Most other visitors to the park were brave enough to partake in this touristy activity, and the deer population couldn’t be happier. I wanted to stay as far away as possible, just putting enough distance for me to take some pretty shots of them.
Next on, to Osaka the well-known City of Vitality. And we had a lot of ground to cover in the little time we had there it was crazy.
There’s just this thing about guided tours and chinatowns. I have no idea why they always assume that Chinese tourists like to see the Chinatown. Same question as to why they like to serve us Chinese cuisine whenever they could. To please the older generation of travellers I guess, because the mum wanted Chinese cuisine almost every other meal. I know I mentioned that I do like visiting overseas chinatowns in general, however they are hardly the first or only thing I want to see of a new city I go to. Especially not when Osaka has so many places to see and do, quite unlike Yokohama. But oh well, we needed to settle our own lunch and the tour agency must have figured that we would love to have some Chinese food in the Chinatown. Thing is, never expect food in overseas chinatowns to ever taste authentic, or the way you expect it to taste like. Why? This is not because they are incapable of replicating the food but rather that they would have had to tweak little changes to the taste to appeal to the palate of the locals i.e. the Japanese in this case. Same reason why I found the Chinese food in Everett, Washington so incredibly sweet. But I digressed.
And then we dropped by Universal Studios Japan. Entrance tickets weren’t covered in the costs of the tour so some people opted to pay out of their own pockets to spend like, 1-2 hours in the park. The mum, little sis and I discussed over this and decided we didn’t want spend our time in yet another amusement park. Instead we opted to go shopping at a large shopping mall nearby. Can’t tell if we made the right choice or not but we were jolly happy doing some shopping whilst our tour mates complained of long queues in the park and how they ended up just browsing the merchandise stores. Don’t think we missed much eh? I would much prefer having a full day to explore the park properly instead.
And our visit to Osaka would not be complete without a cursory visit to Osaka Castle (ๅคง้ชๅ). Because the group made a consensual decision to spend more time at Universal Studios, we had less time at Osaka Castle as a consequence. It was near closing hour when we arrived, resulting in a mad rush to introduce us to this gorgeous castle. Quite a bit of drama behind this symbol of Osaka today but this is no place to discuss it. Interesting history nevertheless. And may I repeat again… gorgeous castle. Wished we had time to explore the interior including a visit to the museum.
Good thing the castle park doesn’t close, or if it does, not so early anyway. So we had a chance to walk around, enjoy the scenery and take more pictures of the castle. And then we had a simple dinner at an eatery in the park itself. Simple, yet delectable udon.
Finally it was time to head home. Kansai International Airport has an interesting control tower. Which I must take picture of, considering how a Singapore Airlines aircraft was also parked nearby. Picture perfect opportunity. And a great way to sum up a great trip. We didn’t learn very much of all the places we visited, but we sure saw a lot. It was also a good 7-day of bonding with the mum and the little sis. Truth is, I haven’t had much time for them ever since moving out after marriage so I cherish what little time I get to spend with them.
And Kyoto, the old Imperial Capital of Japan, was up next. Resources (from books to reviews from friends) reveal that Kyoto is one of the most, if not the most beautiful city in Japan because of its rich cultural heritage. They were not in any way speaking in jest. Kyoto, or what little I saw of it, is indeed an exceedingly beautiful city!
Starting the day off, the services of a maiko (geisha trainee) was sought in that she accompanied us to Heian Shrine (ๅนณๅฎ็ฅๅฎฎ), an Imperial Shinto Shrine for some unique photo-taking moments. I will readily admit that, like most other people, I know very little about the sui generis geisha culture beyond their glaringly obvious white makeup. Apparently this ‘escort service’ is a booming business for the geisha in Kyoto. Ensuring that the culture doesn’t die out completely, I guess. And it’s working. It’s just that I don’t envy them one single bit. There is no other way to put it across gently but they reminded me of… animals on exhibit in the zoo. Everyone jostled to take pictures with her, otherwise looked on curiously by the sidelines. I felt bad for her.
Looked beyond that and I started enjoying the beauty of Heian Shrine. Architecturally, it was an intricately alluring shrine with an expansive courtyard space. Couple that scene with a beautiful day and my favourite clear blue sky resulted in some of the most picturesque photographs taken on the trip.
Heian Shrine deifies both the founder and the last Emperor of the Heian Capital. Though not nearly half as famous or popular as Kiyomizu-dera (้ณ็พฝๅฑฑ ๆธ ๆฐดๅฏบ), this shrine too serves as a major tourist attraction for domestic and foreign visitors alike. And as typical of Shinto shrines, devotees could write their wishes or prayers on Ema (็ตต้ฆฌ) and hang them at designated racks. They could also receive random fortune lots (ๅพกๅพก็ฑค) by contributing a small token amount. All is well if the prediction turned out good. What if it were bad? According to Wikipedia, ‘when the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree or a wall of metal wires alongside other bad fortunes in the temple or shrine grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (ๆพ matsu) and the verb ‘to wait’ (ๅพ ใค matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer.‘ The poor tree…
A visit to Koyto is not complete unless one makes a trip to Kiyomizu-dera, arguably one of the most famous symbols of Kyoto. This historic Buddhist temple located halfway up the Otawa Mountain was established way back in 778. The temple was burned down several times in history, according to the temple’s website. Exactly which part and which building, I’m not sure. Even if we take into consideration the newest part of the temple (which was rebuilt latest in 1633), that still makes it over 300 years old. Based on the what I saw of the temple, I say they are doing an extremely good job out of maintaining this UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
There are two famous places within the temple – the Main Hall and the Kiyomizu Stage. Personally I try not to take pictures of the interior at places of worship because I find it disrespectful on so many counts. I do break this rule once in a while when I find the interior so overwhelmingly beautiful I have to take a picture to remember it by but in general, yup… that’s a principle I live by. And so, I do not have pictures of the famous Eleven Headed and Thousand Armed Kannon Bodhisattva. Furthermore the picture I have of the Kiyomizu Stage is of an uncommon angle, I would say. Most photographers shoot it from above (you will have more than enough examples to peruse if you google) but for some strange reason, I shot it from below. Blame it on my fascination with buildings and structures – I have to say that the Kiyomizu Stage, which is the verandah of the main hall built over a precipice, was intriguing. I stared at it for a very long time trying to figure out the construction method. No nails at all, that bit I deduced. Fascinating. The mum had to drag me away after some time because we had other places to go to. ๐
And then it was time for shopping! Not quite the usual type of shopping that other women love. The women in my family like tidbits and knickknacks, and Higashiyama District has everything to offer in this respect. The district is in total just about two kilometres long but we sure took a long time to clear this short distance.
We shopped for Omiyage (ใๅ็ฃ), stopped every few steps to look at the food offerings, and ended up eating a lot including waffles and ice-cream. A perfect wrap to our overview of beautiful Kyoto.
(In actuality, this post was written in Apr 2013, 6 years after the trip. In this duration, I have revisited Japan several times, on an average of once every year, but I never did once revisit Kyoto. It is in the pipeline but just not yet. Reliving the memories from this particular trip makes me want move the plan ahead to revist and explore Kyoto in further detail. This is a city that has so much to offer.)
After a quiet and peaceful night sleeping at an Onsen Ryokan in Hakone (็ฎฑๆ น), we left early the next morning in search of the elusive Fuji-san (ๅฏๅฃซๅฑฑ), otherwise more commonly known as Mount Fuji. The plan was to have the coach bring us up to the Kawaguchiko (ๆฒณๅฃๆน) 5th Station for a closer view of the active stratovolcano, also the highest mountain in Japan. And if luck would have it, we might even get to walk a bit of the Yoshida Trail. Our tour leader did however pre-empt us that the trail might be closed considering that winter just passed and it might still be unsafe for trekking up the mountain.
To get to the Kawaguchiko 5th Station, we passed by Lake Yamanaka (ๅฑฑไธญๆน) and came across one of the legendary Swan-shaped pleasure boats. It was an overcast, otherwise good day with great weather. In other words, nightmarish conditions for me, the amateurish DSLR photographer.
Of the Fuji Five Lakes (ๅฏๅฃซไบๆน), Lake Yamanaka is the largest. And on a clear, cloudless day it offers a splendid view of magnificent Fuji-san. Except that it was a cloudful day when we visited. Not one to be daunted by a tiny, little failure I tried shooting Fuji-san again and again that day whenever I chanced upon her. Which was very often, of course, since we were after all in Hakone.
Take #1 was taken on the moving coach while we were in the vicinity of Lake Yamanaka. No chance of gazing upon the full beauty of Fuji-san because the summit was completely enveloped by clouds. Never mind though: the day was still young and I should have plentiful opportunities to shoot her again, hopefully in better weather conditions.
Take #2 was taken on the moving coach again, when we were nearing Kawaguchiko 5th Station. Risked getting lectured by walking to the front of the coach for this shot. But I think it was worth it. Probably the best shot I had of Fuji-san. The summit was still partially hidden. However there was just a tinge of it peeking through the clouds.
Take #3 was taken a few metres down from the previous shot. A closer shot but basically the conditions didn’t change. I was hopeful that we might see the summit as we ascended slowly to Kawaguchiko 5th Station.
But alas, Take #4 taken at Kawaguchiko 5th Station featured the same patch of clouds in the way of us and the summit. She was so near, yet so far. Well at least she lives up to her reputation of being elusive and out of reach. She is consistent in this way. ๐
There was no one else about, and absolutely nothing to do at Kawaguchiko 5th Station. We stopped and alighted the coach for some photo-taking but 1) it was cold being at higher altitude (2,300 m, to be precise) that had many of our tour mates went running to the coach in less than 10 minutes and 2) there were only so many photographs we could take. I reckon we were on our way again in less than 15 minutes. Which posed a real challenge to our tour leader since we were not supposed to leave till much later. Why, you may ask. Because our next destination was where we were supposed to have our lunch, and we were obviously way too early for that.
It helped that we were travelling with a group of very considerate and understanding tour mates. With her explanation, we were all agreeable to spending a little more time at Owakudani (ๅคงๆถ่ฐท). It sure beat hanging around Kawaguchiko 5th Station doing nothing in particular. Apart from having a manageable trail to explore, Owakudani (which is essentially a volcanic valley with sulphur vents and hot springs) is also famous for its black eggs (้ปๅต) and scenic view of Fuji-san on clear days. As already established earlier, it was not a clear day so we had no luck of seeing the whole of Fuji-san.
We walked on the Owakudani Trail a little but I was hasty to leave the area because the pungent smell of sulphur did not sit well with me. Instead the mum and I went to hang around the visitor’s centre because the restaurant where we were supposed to have our lunch was just adjacent to the centre, leaving the little sis to explore more of the trail by herself.
It was a hearty lunch we had. Some Nabe (้) it was but I can’t tell exactly what it was, now. It was in fact one of the most delectable meals of the whole trip. But what we were really impressed with was not the lunch itself, but the packs of strawberries on sale just outside the restaurant. The strawberries we get to purchase at reasonable prices in Singapore (hence eliminating the Japanese strawberries sold at Japanese supermarkets) are hardly tasty, and rarely sweet. The strawberries we ate at Owakudani were anything but. Big, juicy and also unbelievably sweet. I thought I tasted some really great strawberries at the Keukenhof near Amsterdam in 2005, but these just beat them hands down. I was never quite a fan of strawberries but after that experience, I absolutely love strawberries. They were that life-changing.
While we were at Owakudani, we of course must embark on the Lake Ashi Sightseeing Boat a.k.a. the Pirate Boat. Having no hopes of getting a better view of Fuji-san, we concentrated on enjoying other beautiful scenery. And spotted this beautiful red Torii (้ณฅๅฑ ) of Hakone Shrine (็ฎฑๆ น็ฅ็คพ) at the foot of Mount Hakone. While possibly not quite as spectacular as the ‘floating’ Torii of Itsukushima Shrine (ๅณๅณถ็ฅ็คพ), this Torii is magnificent and mysterious in its own way.
It was a long day, but was most certainly not over for us. Yet. Because it was time for us to experience for ourselves the real speed of Japan’s legendary Shinkansen (ๆฐๅนน็ท), or Bullet Trains that could operate at a maximum speed of 320 km/h. It was not completely necessary for us to board the Shinkansen to get to Osaka because our coach could traverse the same distance by road to meet up with us on the other side although it took much longer. It was a novel experience and really just for thrill of the speed. Except that we didn’t really feel the speed at all. The train was that stable on the move. I was duly impressed!
It’s a wonder what one night of good rest could do to a person. From the grouch I was the day before I transformed into someone in considerably better spirits the next morning. That was until I saw the rain. What a mood dampener…
Still, the show must go on. The coach transported us to Yokohama (ๆจชๆต) where we spent time for the better half of the day. First and foremost, the Yokohama Chinatown (ๆจชๆตไธญ่ฏ่ก) cannot be missed. Purported to be the largest Chinatown not only in Japan but in Asia, it started and grew exponentially in 1859 following opening of the sea port in Yokohama. Today not many Chinese are still living within Yokohama Chinatown itself but it remains a major sightseeing spot and a must visit for many overseas Chinese tourists. Us included.
Personally, I have always found chinatowns fascinating. For a start, I’m always amazed by the fact that Chinese have somehow found their way to all parts of the world: from Yokohama to San Francisco, London to Barcelona. This is also the very reason why I am a Singaporean – because my ancestors travelled all the way down from Canton to Singapore!
Because of the unrelenting rain, we didn’t stay very long shopping around Chinatown. Furthermore, most things that could be found in and around Yokohama Chinatown are easily available in Singapore so nothing much intrigued us. After visiting this iconic location in Yokohama, we headed for yet another iconic location – Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (ๆฐๆจชๆตใฉใผใกใณๅ็ฉ้คจ). And no, no spelling error there.
To be precise, Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum isn’t exactly a museum but more like a three-storey food amusement park where some of the biggest names in the Ramen circuit in Japan are gathered together to provide visitors (mostly overseas tourists) a convenient one-stop regional Ramen experience. At last count, 9 carefully selected Ramen branches occupy the stores at the basement level of the ‘museum’, which is very tastefully donned up like the yesteryear of Tokyo complete with billboards overhead and music blaring from the loudspeakers as if they were played on a gramophone.
It was a very tight space accommodating the many people who were either queueing at their favourite Ramen store, browsing around trying to decide on which Ramen to eat, or basically standing around to soak in the whole atmosphere. And in order to allow patrons to be able to taste more of the Ramen offered, half portions are available. Which is a very good strategy if one intends to eat to one’s fill, provided time is not a factor. The queues were outrageously long when we visited!
Our tour leader’s personal recommendation was the Sapporo-style Ramen. Clearly it was one of the most popular stalls because the queue was, in much correspondence with its status, equally impressive. After walking round and round aimlessly, the mum, the little sis and I decided on patronising the stall with one of the shortest queue – Harukiya Ramen (ๆฅๆจๅฑ). We reckoned any of the stalls would serve delicious Ramen, so it didn’t really matter which choice we made. Our deduction was quite right.
We didn’t have to wait too long for our 3 bowls of Tokyo-style Ramen. On a cold and wet winter day as such, there couldn’t be a more inviting and welcoming sight than a bowl of noodles complete with piping hot soup. As with any other Ramen stall, the patrons quietly waited for their order to arrive, concentrated on their Ramen when it arrived, and then quickly vacated the seats after being done with their food. We did the same. In no time, we were done with our lunch and all ready to explore the rest of the ‘museum’ which includes an area showing Ramen exhibits and history (the true ‘museum’ part of this building) and a shopping area for the Ramen enthusiasts to bring vacuum-packed Ramen home with them, on top of other knickknacks. However I think nothing beats Ramen in fresh, thick broth prepared by chefs who obviously know what they are doing compared to us novices so as much as I love my Ramen, I will never be tempted to buy those vacuum packs.
The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, repleted with symbols and memorabilia reminiscent of urban Tokyo in the 1960’s, was a truly fun place to visit as we relived how life was back then during the ‘Ramen boom’, so to speak. But it is also one of those places where you visit once, and once is enough to last you a lifetime. I revisited the food amusement park 18 months later, with the mister in tow. It was kind of a trip we specially made down to Yokohama from downtown Tokyo (where we bunked in with a good friend), and let’s just say my companions (the mister and good friend) were not amused with my making them travel all the way to Yokohama just so to visit this ‘museum’. So I guess it’s only worth a visit if you truly love your Ramen, or stay within striking distance. Otherwise, good Ramen alternatives are easily available everywhere in Tokyo.
The entrance tickets are so pretty!
Our next stop for the day – Sanrio Puroland, a rather small-scaled indoor theme park about 30 minutes away by train from Shinjuku Station. Unlike Tokyo Disneyland, Sanrio Puroland appeals much more to younger children. But the stationery shop selling all sorts of Sanrio character merchandise saw an endless stream of wide-eyed customers, adults included. While there also exist Sanrio stores in Singapore, none is at this scale with such a complete collection of merchandise. I’m not a huge fan of Sanrio (although the little sis loves My Melody) but even then, I was equally taken by the cute array of pinky merchandise. The little sis, needless to say, was elated to have found numerous authentic My Melody stationery.
Sanrio Puroland was truly an eye-opener. I’d never seen indoor amusement parks that elaborately adorned. I had initially thought that Lotte World Amusement Park in Seoul is one of its kind in the world and I was completely dazzled. But that was before I saw Sanrio Puroland. It might not be entirely fair to compare the two because they are obviously different in terms of scale, and appeal. Lotte World after all, still has to maintain outdoor thrill rides while Sanrio Puroland probably easily generates more than enough income to sustain the park from the sale of Sanrio merchandise alone.
Subsequent visits back to Tokyo always sees me wanting to return to Sanrio Puroland but the trip out never quite materialised over the numerous trips we made. One big reason is that this indoor amusement park really doesn’t appeal much to me. It is definitely worth visiting if you have young children, especially girls, in tow. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be missing anything much.
After a rather long flight including a layover at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, the mum, the little sis and I stepped foot on Japan soil. And immediately, as typical of most guided tours, we were whisked off from Tokyo Narita International Airport to Tokyo Disneyland. It was not our first Disneyland visit (the honour goes to Disneyland in California, albeit 20 years ago) and we were most certainly not expecting to be wowed like children. We were after all over a century old, ages combined.
But anticipation and excitement lingering in the atmosphere does strange things to people, even sane and mature adults. While standing in line and waiting to enter the resort the minute it opened, we felt a magical aura about to descend upon us. In spite of ourselves, we were getting all excited about entering the magic land! ๐
It wasn’t fun at all just waiting around doing nothing, so we started taking pictures. Lots of them. Trust me when I say you will not find a lack of subject matter for photography at Tokyo Disneyland, or for that matter, any of the Disneyland resorts in the world. Everything was insanely brightly-coloured and incredibly cute, all rightly done so in an attempt to attract the attention of children and ‘eternal children’ alike. Like the young children, we too were squealing in excitement when the Disney characters strolled out to mingle with the crowd before the resort officially opened its doors for the day.
Tokyo Disneyland opened its doors to the first visitors on 15 Apr, 1983 and comprises 7 themed areas namely: Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Westernland (the 4 classic Disney lands), Critter Country, Mickey’s Toontown and the Grand Bazaar. We were not looking to doing any of the rides and actually spent the most of our time at the Grand Bazaar window-shopping or taking pictures at all corners of the resort. Even the mum, who is unusually camera-shy because of her tendency to blink whenever her pictures are taken, felt uplifted enough to have her portrait taken by me, and several times at that!
Mum amongst her favourite flowers. ๐
The weather was generally fine on the day we visited the Tokyo Disneyland, however the sky was unfortunately grey and overcast most of the time. Any photographer would have much preferred a clear blue sky instead, but this is the way with winter – the sky could go either way. Given that the turrets of the Cinderella Castle at Tokyo Disneyland are largely painted in tan colour, a snapshot of it taken on an overcast day is going to result in a castle that looks more muted than impressive. This was a major regret from our first visit to Tokyo Disneyland. And it didn’t help that I was dressed in a boringly understated, army green-coloured overcoat. My pictures with the castle just turned out looking colourless and dull.
While we didn’t queue for any of the rides (didn’t want to deprive the real children of their chances at getting on the rides – plus the queues were insanely long!), we made sure we didn’t miss the daytime parade. It was not necessary to take special note of the parade timings (we definitely didn’t!). Just take cue from the Japanese visitors at the resort if you didn’t come across any of the notice boards bearing the timings. As per the resort’s unique regulation, visitors could spread out their plastic sheets or ground coverings and sit by the road side one hour before the scheduled time of the parade. You would think one hour is hell of a long time to sit around doing nothing ay? Not to the majority of the Japanese at the resort. They came fully prepared with plastic mats, and took opportunity of the one-hour wait to have a picnic-lunch with their children. No hustling and no pushing: everything was executed orderly and quietly. To be quite honest, I was expecting nothing less from the civic-minded Japanese.
I have not been to the other Disney resorts around the world. Not since I was 11 anyway. So, is this orderly scene common at all? From what I remember of my visit to California’s Disneyland, hardly anyone was sitting down during the parade; most people were just standing around behind the first two rows of sitters. Have things change over the years?
On this trip we discovered something very intriguing about Tokyo Disneyland – popcorn buckets. While strolling about the park’s nooks and crannies we came across a stall selling the Chip ‘n’ Dale version and without even a second of hesitation, I started queueing for the popcorn. And bucket of course. Well yes, I am a huge long-time fan of Chip ‘n’ Dale. And then I saw a child carrying one with Winnie-the-Pooh. Make a guess what I wanted to do next? I went on a frantic search for the stall selling that particular version of popcorn bucket, with the mum and little sis in tow. Alas, we didn’t manage to locate the stall. Could have, if we had more time, or discovered it earlier. Reluctantly, we left the resort to meet up with our tour leader and tour-mates. Can’t say though, that I wasn’t looking forward to checking into our hotel. Badly wanted to shower. And dress warmer.
So was the day fun for us, given that we had no young children in tow when we visited? A resounding yes! And would I revisit? Absolutely!
It was in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when Taiwan variety shows permeated our cable TV and captivated many Singaporeans’ hearts. Everyone I knew seemed to want to travel to Taiwan, most wanting particularly to experience their vibrant night markets.
The hubs and I would have loved to join the bandwagon and satiate our curiosity, except that we never did find time to do that. That opportunity arose at the end of the year in 2006 – we grabbed it and made an impromptu decision to make a short trip to Taipei over the Christmas holiday, with lil sis in tow. It ended up being a trip of several firsts: our first time flying with a budget airline, our first trip to Taipei, and the first time lil sis took charge of the itinerary.
In the day when the legendary night markets were still not in operation, we visited the major tourist spots in Taipei. Our first destination was National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (ๅ็ซๅ็ถ็ดๅฟต้คจ). We managed to catch the change-of-guards ceremony and were quite enthralled, unlike the locals who were going about their own business in the park – either relaxing or exercising.
There was an art exhibition going on in the premise, but we didn’t enter to take a look. Unfortunately, none of us three were familiar with Chinese paintings or calligraphy and can’t quite appreciate the exhibits.
It was a cloudy day. and with the sun hidden, we were feeling the chills. We brisk walked quickly to our next destination, Taipei 101 (ๅฐๅ101) where we could take refuge indoors. Completed in 2003, Taipei 101 building stands at 508m and comprises 101 storeys (thereby the name) and 5 storeys of basement. And between 2004 and 2010, it was lauded as the tallest building in the world, only to be surpassed by Burj Khalifa in 2010. Not that I think that this superfluous title means anything, to be honest. The title won’t stick anyway; there is bound to be another tallest building being constructed elsewhere. Makes me kinda wonder by the time I die, what’s the height of the tallest building in the world.
We bought the entrance tickets and took the elevator to the observatory on the 89th storey. Apparently we could climb to 91st storey for the open-air observatory but it was closed on the day we visited, possibly due to strong winds. Really would have loved to experience how strong the winds could get at around 400m in height.
After Taipei 101, we walked around and came by this Van Gogh inspired mural of Cafe Terrace at Night. That wasn’t the only mural we came about as we ambled around the city. I loved how Taipei seems to exude this artistic aura everywhere we go. It took many years for Singapore to catch on and embrace our artistic talent.
Keeping up with the rhythm of lil sis’ hectic itinerary, we next made our way to The National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine (ๅๆฐ้ฉๅฝๅฟ ็็ฅ ) located in Yuanshan (ๅๅฑฑ), located very nearby the famous Grand Hotel (ๅๅฑฑๅคง้ฃฏๅบ).
A perfect reflection captured on the knob of the heavy iron gates.
On hindsight, I’m truly not so certain why we decided to go ahead to this shrine because it was quite a bitch to get to, not to mention we didn’t know how to proceed to our next location after our visit. Sure, the hourly change-of-guards ceremony was really impressive, and it’s a beautiful place. However, this shrine is actually dedicated to some 400k Kuomintang soldiers who fell during the civil war against Chinese communists in mainland China. So if you think about it, this shrine has very little to do with Taiwan.
Anyways, the history between People’s Republic of China and Republic of China is complicated and people take different sides. I’m not here to discuss anything remotely close to this issue. Just reflecting on how difficult it was to leave this shrine. We couldn’t flag any taxi (there were none!) and even contemplated hiking up to Grand Hotel so that we could leave the area.
Suffice it to say that we were extremely grateful when a taxi finally pulled over and stopped to pick us up. By then we were famished and so tired from the walking our first foray into Taipei’s night market scene was nothing short of amazing. No pictures because it was simply impossible to even lift my camera given how jam-packed the night markets were. I marvel bloggers who can do that. It’s a skill I will never be able to pick up!
The next morning we continued on to another yet another memorial site – National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (ไธญๆญฃ็บชๅฟตๅ ), erected in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China.
It was a beautiful winter morning, with not a shred of cloud cover in the sky. I’m not a huge fan of the sun, but it’s winter… so the heat was actually welcoming.
In comparison to National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, there were far less locals about at the CKS Memorial Hall. I’m guessing that’s because there is hardly any shady spot to be found at the latter location, leaving visitors very much at the mercy of the elements. Have to admit that we didn’t spend much time there before we left for shopping.
If there was anything really memorable from this short, first trip to Taipei, it was their bookstores. I love Eslite, especially their lovely 24-hr Dunnan store. We spent a lot of time browsing books there and I didn’t want to leave. [Update: Eslite Dunnan Store has ceased operations as of May 2020.] As e-books gain traction and online shopping making life more convenient, physical bookstores are feeling the heat. I hope Eslite keeps their physical stores – bookstore browsing is high on my list whenever i travel.
Our schedule started early in the day, as typical of most guided tours. It didn’t matter that I was sufficiently under the weather to have taken a slow day, or skipped some locations if we were vacationing on our own. A guided tour meant that we have to move with the group, no matter what.
We saw the more important places in Lisbon, ate the world-famous Portuguese egg tarts, but only went on our way towards the highlight of the day well after noon. Yes, we were going to Fรกtima, the town of the famed Marian apparition that appeared six times before three shepherd children back in 1917.
For the uninitiated, the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to three shepherd children Lucia (aged 10), Francisco (aged 8) and Jacinta (aged 7) as they were tending to their flock in a pasture not far away from Fรกtima, in May 1917. In subsequent months, the Lady appeared to the children five more times, and further entrusted them with three secrets, famously known as The Three Secrets of Fรกtima. The first two secrets were released in full in 1941. The third secret, though written in 1944, was only revealed in 2000 and is shrouded in mystery. Till today, many believe that the third secret has not been revealed in full, or is false.
The two younger children Francisco and Jacinta Marto, whom had several times predicted their deaths to their mother, died in 1919 and 1920 respectively, and were beatified on 13 May 2000, on the 83rd anniversary of the first Marian apparition they saw. Lรบcia Santos, the eldest of the three children, lived the longest till the age of 97, in Feb 2005. A year later, her remains were laid to rest in the Shrine of Fรกtima. And we happened to have visited the Sanctuary of Fรกtima several months after this.
Fรกtima is used to serving large numbers of pilgrims, an average of 4 million every year, and that includes their no-frills cafeteria too. We had a simple lunch after arriving and had an interesting, lengthy discussion with our fellow tour mates about Catholicism, Christianity and the different denominations.
Having visited in May 2006, we happened upon the sanctuary when it was commemorating its 90th anniversary (since the first Marian apparition was recorded). And the good thing about travelling with a tour? It was fairly easy getting a fellow tour mate to take pictures of us, for us. I looked so pale. ๐ฅ
We cleansed ourselves at the Holy Water Font prior to entering the basilica, a little surprised at how cold the water was.
It took us quite a while to finally step foot in the Basilica and we were surprised by how cool it was inside, juxtaposed against the hot, humid weather we experienced at the plaza. And just as how quickly my cheeks sizzled to a bright red like tomatoes sitting on a barbecue grill when we were outside, my flushed face started cooling rapidly in the shade. It was almost reflective of my inner state of mind: in a turmoil versus a strange calm. At this point, it is probably important to mention that I had visited Fรกtima in a disturbed state of mind, having had a lot on my mind. And of course, I was also having a cold.
I took time for my eyes to adjust to the darkness (it was in fact much darker than what was shown in the photograph below). When I was ready, I genuflected at the end of the centre aisle before proceeding slowly towards the altar ahead, in awe of the calm and peace washing over me.
As I was approaching the altar, an elderly, stooping lady I assessed to be of Eastern European descent was headed towards me, in the opposite direction. Under normal circumstances, I would have moved to the right to allow her passage but I was arrested by the kindness I saw in her cloudy greyish-blue eyes. And understanding. She reminded me so much of my late grandmother (she was truly quite a figure to fathom with: very mean to her daughters-in-law but I was the apple of her eye) whom I missed so much.
Instead of walking on, I halted on the spot, with the mister standing right behind me. The elderly lady continued to approach, stopped in front of me, and then lifted her hand to caress my cheek adoringly. It took me completely by surprise and I couldn’t recover quickly enough to react to her motherly gesture. She gave me a smile, and then went on her way.
When we could finally find our voice again, the mister commented, ‘Maybe she has never seen an Asian before?’
I shook my head. That wouldn’t explain the elderly lady’s queer behaviour. Furthermore, this is Fรกtima, a world renown Catholic pilgrimage site where there are no lack of Asian faces amongst pilgrims hailing from all around the world. I won’t go as far to say that it was a spiritual encounter, and it wasn’t so amazing as to cure my cold instantaneously… but it was definitely strange. Very few cultures in the world actually sanction touching a stranger’s face, or am I wrong?
This encounter weighed heavily on my heart long after we left Fรกtima. Some years later, I signed up for RCIA to complete my spiritual journey. I once shared with the Brother in charge of our RCIA journey about my unique experience in Fรกtima and after some contemplation, he gave me a new perspective that was food for thought. He said, perhaps the elderly lady was an angel sent by my grandmother to comfort me in my time of need.
Whatever it was, this inexplicably strange encounter played a key role in my decision to return to the Church. And because of this, Fรกtima shall forever be a very special place for me, spiritually.
TRIVIA: What exactly are The Three Secrets of Fรกtima that the three Portuguese children were entrusted with in 1917?
According to the Vatican’s website, the first secret directly referenced to the frightening vision of hell where ‘Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear…’.
In direct response to the fear incited by the first secret, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was necessary to save the souls of poor sinners otherwise destined for hell. There were also references to the end of WWI and how a worse war would occur (WWII) during the reign of Pope Pius XI should men continue not doing God’s Will and Russian not convert. That was the second secret.
The third secret was recorded, sealed and revealed amidst controversy. Sister Lucia, the last of the three children still alive, fell seriously ill in 1943. It was suggested that she recorded down the third secret (which she never revealed) in the event of her death but she was two-minded about it since she was told not to reveal the secret at the time it she received it. In Jan 1944, Sister Lucia was ordered to record it down and kept safe in a sealed envelope, and eventually sent to Rome for safekeeping in 1957. It was eventually revealed and read in Rome in Jun 2000, which sparked another heated argument (as to why it was revealed in Rome and not Fรกtima, where the event occurred). Although different interpretations of the secret exist, it summarily revealed the vision of the Pope, together with his priests and laypersons being attacked by soldiers. Some say it alluded to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul I in 1981. Some fanatics claimed that the there was a fourth secret in the sealed envelope involving information on the end of the world that was withheld by the Vatican.
Onward to the rock fortress of Gibraltar! It’s really confusing, because while being located on the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula, of Spain, it is under British control. What? Yes, that was my reaction too.
In essence, Gibraltar is one of the fourteen remaining British Overseas Territories, remnants of the British Empire. With an area of 6.7 sq kilometres and home to slightly over 32,000 persons, it is a mere 1% of the size of Madrid, the largest city of Spain.
A parting shot in Torremolinos before moving south to Gibraltar.The famed monolithic Rock of Gibraltar.
As our coach made way into Gibraltar, we saw the imposing presence of the limestone monolith that, legend has it, marks one end of the limit to the known world (the other end being Jebel Musa, on the opposite side of the Strait of Gibraltar).
Gibraltar has only one main street, and it runs through the only runway the small airport has jurisdiction over. Yes, you read it right, it runs across the runway. Very strange and it made me very nervous, considering how runway incursion is a massive bane of any aerodrome controller’s life.
Turns out everyone who drives into and out of Gibraltar are very used to this arrangement, where vehicular traffic have to halt before barriers and red lights, to allow aircraft to take-off or land. It isn’t too much of a hassle, since the airport sees only about a total of 30 flights per week but that is expected to rise exponentially over the years. I hope they have a better arrangement by then.
The ancient Moorish Castle purported to be built in the 8th century.
Right away, we were all whisked to Europa Point, located at the most southerly point of Gibraltar, in hope of having a glimpse of Morocco. Alas, it was too hazy over the waters. We were sorely disappointed but it was alright, there were other sights to see at the viewpoint like the lighthouse, the Harding’s Battery, a mosque and a shrine.
On a clear day, one can see as far as Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar.
Europa Point is only this large; it didn’t take us all too long to explore the area thoroughly so our tour continued to Upper Rock Nature Reserve. (Update : the name has since been changed to Gibraltar Nature Reserve in 2013).
Barbary Macaques are native to Gibraltar, and are mostly seen on the Upper Rock. They appear to be tail-less, thanks to evolution, which has deemed tails to be useless to them over the centuries. The sightseeing bus stopped at a site at the Upper Rock so we could come up close and personal with the primates. I even attempted to pose near one to take a picture together, but I have to admit that I chickened out and daren’t go too near. The macaques are wild, after all.
You can see part of the runway in the background of the picture above. It continues to baffle me how Gibraltar operates with a main street running across their only runway. Fascinated, even.
After spending half a day exploring and understanding Gibraltar, we left for lunch before heading for Seville, capital of Andalusia.
Wayfaring: Still 