Not Fun Anymore

One of the best ways to enjoy the serenity of Kyoto is planting your butt on a bike and cycle away. The plan was to head west, to Arashiyama area, because the area is not covered by the 500 yen day-pass bus service. Renting a bike is cheap and the pavements are good enough for cycling. It’s just that cyclists have to watch out for pedestrians, not the other way around.

Although exciting and fun, I couldn’t even sit comfortably once I got back to the hostel at the end of the day. It was arduous, landing my butt and getting up. The slightest movement will send a sharp pain to my pelvic bone. This has plagued me for a couple of days and only toward the end of my journey did I realize what went awry.

The freaking bike’s got no suspension system!! Goddammit!!

Old school bike with no bloody suspension

Sakura trees lining Horikawa River

Taking a break from cycling

Nice and wide pavements (but not everywhere that you can find this)

Gotta cross the Matsunoo Bridge to get to Matsunoo Shrine

Spotted an eagle circling the sky above the bridge

Matsunoo Shrine

Hozu Riverside

Togetsukyo Bridge

Bamboo forest near Nonomiya Shrine

Nonomiya Shrine

Nijo Castle, right-smack in the center of Kyoto

Dinner of rice and chicken cutlets

Good stuff. Potato chips.

Nara Park, famous for its free-roaming deers, terrorizing school-children and will headbutt tourists for some much sought-after senbei. Ahh… something new, something fresh, some much needed change of scene. I was very excited about this trip to Nara. The deers were allowed to go wherever they want because of the degree of respect they garnered for themselves for being the messenger of God( in this part of the area anyway). The go-between, the despatch-rider, the Jimmy boy, they are believed to being able to bow when you offer them a sincere bow yourself.

I tried, I bowed, with senbei in hand. It didn’t work. Probably wasn’t sincere enough. They were swarming me when they saw that I had senbei(s)(rice crackers) in my hands though.

They are domesticated-ly wild, if you get what I mean. They are tame enough to interact with humans but not washed. They eat senbei but will munch on your shirt once you run out of it. They won’t bat an eyelid if you try to touch them but will chase after screaming schoolkids.

I got head butted.

*Okay deer, just because you’re Japanese. I won’t make you apologize and go “summimasen! summimasen!!” Because your countrymen did enough of that, for the littlest thing and always make me feel bad for being stingy with my “sorry(s)”*

Bad, bad, deer.

We walked further up to Todaiji and into Daibotsu-den where the largest Buddha statue in Japan is housed.  And the statue itself is called the Daibotsu. Daibotsu-den is said to be the largest wooden building in the world. Meeting us near the entrance of this humongous structure is a statue of Yakushi Norai, a Buddha of medicine. It is said that if you touch any part of the statue and then touch the part of yourself, it will cure any ailments that you have there.

I touched my head, naturally. And I believe I got smarter. *ahem*

Stepping into the temple itself, it was awe-inspiring. Everything is huge, carved, wooden and beautifully done. Towards the exit, there is a hole in one of the pillar. Anyone who can go through it will achieve enlightenment, so it’s said.

Such touristy things I cannot resist not doing. So I lined up, saw how tiny the hole was, crawled in with my shoulders length-wise and pulled myself out with one arm. It was great knowing I’m still quite nimble, if ever that was an enlightenment.

Naturally, the kids were the most zen-like among all the people there because they just go through it again and again, like it was a tunnel in their usual playground. *Oh look, there she goes again! 15726187th time, I believe?*

Cute.

After that, we walked back to Nara Station, or rather, the street next to it. Lined with shops and covered walkways, it was where we got our lunch. It has also alot of souvenirs to offer, like fans, chopsticks, postcards, kimonos, the likes, but let’s get back to lunch. We ate at Mc D’s.  Oh-the-horror*gasp*…

Nothing like that actually, I was getting tired of Japanese and was relieved to get my hands on some globalized American-fast-food-chain grub. No offense to the Japanese people, if it makes you feel better, I get bored of Chinese food too, every other day. I had the Tomato Lettuce Bacon and chocolate pie. I must say this, the chocolate pie was superb. It has the crust of the McD’s pies that we have over here, but it’s shaped to a triangle and has chocolate filling oozing out of it. It’s costs only 100 yen, oh the joy!!

Anyway, after getting back to Kyoto Station, we headed to Kitayama, somewhere North of Kyoto. My travel companion was to meet a family friend of hers, and being the NBTD person that I am, I tagged along. They were very nice people and even brought us out for dinner in Sanjo for a dinner of okonomiyaki, widely known as the Japanese pancake but tastes better than any plain ol’ pancakes.

After dinner, we went Geisha-stalking in Gi-on. When I say ’stalking’, I wasn’t exaggerating. The Geishas, one would expect them to walk meticulously, to keep their balance while prodding on those clogs. On the contrary, one couldn’t even keep up with them even in sports shoes. They were that fast. Swarmed by tourists, holding their cameras and camcorders to their face, they just hurry from one building to another with their heads lowered, almost saying(with their body language) “get off my face, you freaking imbecile!Never see Geishas before AH??”. Intense.

The night ended after we walked around Shi-jo, near Gi-on on the way back to Kyoto Station and subsequently Tour Club.

The Famous Nara Park, it says

Deers waiting near a stall selling senbei. Very smart.

Oh, hei… A very demanding deer.

Grilled rice dango(s), on the temple grounds of Todaiji. Tastes suspiciously like senbei.

Daibotsu-den, from its entrance

Tourist trap

Waiting in line

Happy deers during happier times

The shopping street next to Nara Station

McD’s Sankakku Choco Pie!!

A very fun Okonomiyaki dinner

Gi-on at night

Quaint little alleys where the Geishas shuffle from establishment to establishment.

Stalker tip: stay at a certain  back alley and there will be a higher chance of seeing them.

Shijo ( hope I got this right) at night.

Today, we are going to leave Osaka for Kyoto, about 45 minutes away by train. Still in the Kansai area, Kyoto is more known for its temples, shrines and laid-back pace. We stayed in Tour club, sleeping in dorm beds. It was comfortable and has very good facilities, considering it’s a dorm. (Everything’s immaculate here, down to its zen garden and I can safely say it has the most comfortable bed of all 3 of the places I stayed in for the whole trip.) Since we are not to check-in until 4.30 in the afternoon, we left our luggages in their storage room and headed out.

Our first stop for the day is Hirano Shrine. It is required for everyone entering the shrine to wash up with the water provided near the entrance. It even provides instructions for unknowing people like me as how to wash up, the right way. The shrine was a beautiful place but it was small, somewhat a community shrine. Not many tourists venture here. I decided to drop by because it charges no admission fees( yes, cheapskate, I know. But when all other places charge an average of 500 yen a pop, I’d rather soak in some Japanese culture here).

We tried Omikuji, fortune telling of sorts. A stick with a number on it is obtained by shaking a cylindrical container and the number is then matched to a piece of paper disclosing the secrets of heavens about what the future lies for you. I had bad-luck. Bad, bad luck.

After Hirano Shrine, we walked up to Daitokuji and among its many sub-temples, we went into Daisen-in where it is famous for its zen garden. It is apparently some national treasure of a zen garden. As pictures were not allowed to be taken in there, I cannot really describe to you how boring it is. Okay, since it IS such a famous zen garden, I thought I should at least attempt to be zen(whatever that meant). So I sat there staring at some rocks and patterns on the sand. It was raining, cold and hard to concentrate. So I actually sat there for quite a while, not to be a zen-master, but to wait for the rain to subside.

It was already evening when we got back to Tour Club. After being shown our dorm, washing up and all, we walked to the nearby convenience store to grab some dinner. Apparently, that’s a norm in Japan, to buy meals from a convenience store. I got myself a pack of yakisoba and milk. Yakisoba was superb!! It’s my newfound favourite..wahahah… But I can’t seem to get Soba noodles here…*sigh*

So we brought our loot back to the hostel and they were showing The Last Samurai in the common room. Perfect! I landed my butt on the tatami mat with yakisoba pack and milk in hands and watched away merrily, though it’s for the 14321874th time .

Kyoto Eki(station)’s amazing architecture

The road to Kyoto Eki, from Tour Club

Self explainatory

Sakura trees leading to the shrine

Washing up before entering the shrine compound

An altar in the compound

The stand where you get omikuji notes, tie it to a structure next to the tree if it says bad luck and look at the amount of people with bad luck.

The grounds of Hirano Shrine

Lunch of MOS rice patty burger (the one in the upper pack)

Near the entrance of Daitokuji

The map showing how many sub-temples in Daitokuji(and there were many). Daisen-in’s entrance.

Somewhere along the way to Daisen-in, another sub-temple.

Beautiful Tuesday morning. And we got lost.

We intended to go to Sumiyoshi Taisha, further south-west from where we stayed. But the train rides/map/directions given confused us and we ended up chasing wild geese (yes, plural). So, we decided to skip the trip to the oldest shrine in Osaka because there were going to be many more shrines and temples in Kyoto anyway. Trust me, after 3 or 4 of those, nothing they say can interest you anymore than watching a lizard on the wall. So, we read that Tennoji park is a beautiful place to walk around. We arrived there, took some pictures of sakura trees and weren’t that impressed. Maybe I had too high an expectation.

We then left the park for Namba, to Den Den town, the supposedly electronics paradise of Osaka. It took us a long walk from the train station, a few wrong turns, a very helpful couple to point us the way and a very enthusiastic Oji-san(old uncle) walkingslow jogging along with us to get there. But Ojisan told us Lab 11 (Yamada Denki, which was recently opened, is a better bargain and brought us there instead). Of course, we thanked him as spiritedly as we could, on a busy street when we finally got our bearings right.

Indeed, Lab 11 is much cheaper than any other place. I found that out when we arrived in Akihabara, Tokyo a week later. Akihabara is famed for its streets lined with electronics superstores. But I wasn’t much of an gadget geek and will die if my dad finds out that I swiped the card for a PSP, even though it’s crazily cheaper than those sold in Malaysia. So, out of necessity, I bought only some batteries and a charger for my camera. Mind you, they’re not any ordinary batteries, these are Sanyo Enerloops, rechargeable up to a thousand times and bloody good according to reviews. The only problem is, the charger uses a two-pin plug and 110V which means it would certainly FRY if ever used only with adapter plugged into our sockets(230V). So, nowadays my dad has to charge those batteries with a transformer. Well, he’s very equipped with all these mumbo-jumbo electronics stuff.

After Lab 11, we rushed to Umeda Sky Building, in Umeda(of course) to catch the sunset. Because sunset is the highlight of the day, and what better way to enjoy it other than perched on a lazy chair in a cafe on the topmost floor of the 40 story landmark of Umeda?

We even attempted some night-shots on the rooftop observatory. But the wind was adamant at blowing us off the rooftop and I was shivering uncontrollably by the 3rd second I stepped foot in the open air. I was only in my shorts and a measly jacket, so it can’t be helped, practically running to the exit, I settled with taking pictures from the window.

Dinnertime was then spent in Hep FIVE, a shopping complex in Umeda. I had Katsudon –rice with pork slices and egg. It was superb but costs 900 yen which was quite a lot for some rice and pork. *sigh* It sucks when myour money is puny.

Since Joypolis Sega is also conveniently located in the same building, we gave it a peek after dinner. It’s actually a theme park of sorts, with arcades and a ferris wheel. Though it sounded interesting, reading off wikitravel, it was only two floors of arcades and some spookhouses. So, for the sake of doing something, I wasted a few hundred yens trying to grab a penguin with a hook.

By the time we got out of the arcade, wanting to look around the shops in the building, all of them were closed and walkways were barred. It was only 8 p.m!! I was beginning to hate their punctualness.

So, with nowhere else to go, we headed home. Braving through the cold night with my shorts. Not fun at all.

Pictures:

Non-too-impressive Sakura Trees in Tennoji Park

Ticket to Namba

Walking around Namba

Messing up in ShinsaiBashi, around Namba

Lunch at Yoshinoya. Spicy pork slices with rice and tea.

The elusive Lab 11

Umeda Sky Building

Walking around the eateries, basement of the Sky Building.

Nice carpet reminding where you’re standing at.

The observatory, seen one floor below it, from a window.

Sunset from the cafe window

Umeda’s night view from a safe place

The very delicous Katsu-Don to end the day

The second day of my journey and everything was going great. We wanted to indulge in some touristy/kiddy stuff and so, we went to the Kaiyukan or the Osaka Aquarium. The building is spectacular and apparently it houses a bloody huge aquarium (right…). As we follow the trail, we noticed that we were going from continent to continent and deeper into the sea. That’s a great concept if you ask me, because I can remember the stuff better. Too bad they didn’t go deep enough for me to see an angler fish, that ugly monster, bleh.

Again, pictures:

 The day started with me spotting a signboard.

 Kaiyukan. Very nice mural actually.

The Ferris wheel opposite Kaiyukan.

All the fish rejoice upon seeing me.

Fugly tortoise.

 Penguins posing.

Dolphins dancing.

Yu-chan, the whale with her cronies of the sea.

 Our dinner in Tennoji Train Station(I hope I didn’t remember wrongly, because the food was good and cheap, relatively speaking). Very nice place actually, the station.

Well, before having dinner and after Kaiyukan, we actually hung around at Tempozan Market Hall, near Kaiyukan. Had lunch there and walked around. Nothing much there, so I didn’t take any pictures. Except for my lunch of Udon, but I didn’t post it up because my face got in the way…Hah.

Eons ago, I mentioned that I would really love to go to Japan, the land of the rising sun. My parents were obviously against it, citing reasons like I’m too young, too reckless, know nothing about everything and tried to convince me that after graduation would be a better time. I did not take any of that.

Maybe I have been selfish in these matters, I decide and want everything my way. Calls were made to and from back home to me. Some were really good arguments, some turned ugly. I finally won them over but kept on questioning myself whether I went too far with my parents this time. I kinda had half a mind to give up when there were troubles booking the flight(we wanted to see the sakuras but the only flights available were from early May, which translates to being able only to see sakura tree trunks). But this chance will not come again, vaguely understanding this, I pushed on. And finally the flight was decided to be on 14th April 11:55pm, the day of the final paper for the exam week itself. It was unfortunate for my travel companion to have a paper that day and had to rush to catch the flight but she made it in time and that’s all that mattered.

So it was an Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo, two-week trip. We landed at Kansai International at 7 in the morning, local time, to a beautiful morning. Not bothered by lack of sleep, we soldiered on, almost with springs in our steps to check-in to our hotel. It took a 50-minute train ride and a 7-minute walk to our hotel(if we actually knew where we were going), which is located near Tennoji, Osaka.

Well, the walk around the park took us the whole afternoon and we headed back to the hotel. I was so tired I slept for an hour or so and by the time I woke up, it was around seven. Then I showered and we later headed up to Dotonbori for dinner. What’s disappointing, is that, in Japan, and I mean all parts, the shops close at 8p.m, sharp. If you walk the shopping areas any time after that, you’ll feel deserted. But thank god food outlets(and pachinko outlets) at least wait until 10. Yeah, 10, wth.

I had in mind to try takoyaki, little batter-balls filled with octopus and cabbage, because Osaka is where it’s originated and I love them to bits AND was thoroughly devastated when the ‘Tako Tao’ outlet in south city plaza bit the dust. I was hoping to find Tako King, with the famed “big red octopus wearing a crown”(to quote wikitravel). Instead , I found a giant mechanical crab(which was also a landmark of sorts, ok?). Never mind then, I settled for a takoyaki stall with a number of people gathering around and wasn’t that disappointed after all.

Now, of course those little balls weren’t filling. We walked around further and finally decided to have ramen at a supposedly famous shop. Hey, they’ve got newspaper clips and were supposedly recommended by lonely planet or something. And we weren’t disappointed.

Okay, this has somehow got to do with Naruto. I had expected to eat ramen by the roadside and stuff, but don’t you EVARR believe that lie. The most was just people standing while holding those huge noodle bowls to their face, slurping merrily away, and THAT was only in the train station. So, Japan myth number one, busted.

Pictures:

Onboard meal of a chicken or beef and I chose the beef.

Osaka Castle

Dotonbori at night

Kids looking forward for dinner at a goldfish stall en route to Osaka Castle

View from the window, Kansai International to Shin-Imamiya.

Dotonbori Street

Our main mode of transportation.

Guess what Phoebs? We saw Daffler The Wabbit near the castle.

The was an old dude playing Kuidaore Taro in the park near the Castle.

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I was so exhausted by the end of the day that I slept VERY well that night. Really, because I didn’t even catch 20 winks the night before.

There are many stories regarding the origin of the dumpling and the tradition of eating it on this certain day. The most commonly repeated one was something about a scholar(Qu Yuan) who was upset(well, maybe saddened, or hurt or pissed, or any other similar adjectives that rocks ur socks yea) when the emperor refused to take his advice and instead listened to some allegedly evil bigshots. Qu Yuan then wandered to some lake or river or sea (or other bodies of water, I can’t really remember the story) and dunked himself in. Possibly tying his body to a huge rock beforehand so that his body won’t float up days later(this is probably dramatization in my part). Villagers were concerned and pitied this tortured soul, so they made loads of dumplings(changs) to throw into the spot where he nose-dived. In hope that the fish and whatever else in there won’t nibble on his body. I’d say, those fishies were certainly having a feast those few days, all those changs and the body itself to boot.

Me?

I just eat my dumpling quietly. And enjoy it slowly.

But I have a feeling, dumplings are heading the same direction as mooncakes. Commercialization is the only way to go nowadays. It will not be long before you see taut little bunches of changs in a glossy and funkily designed paperbags, meant as gifts for friends and families. It doesn’t matter anymore whether tastes good or not, whether it’s machine-made or lovingly wrapped by a gross fat man.

Just like it’s mooncake brother(or sister, in case u’re a feminist), it’ll serve its purpose as long as it’s prettily wrapped. Some smartass will eventually come up with some brilliant idea to infuse it with some quirky flavors, good for your health gimmicks and sell it off tenfold the price of the humble bak chang now. He(or she, godamn u feminists) will very certainly reap profits because we consumers are suckers for those shit.

Thank God they can’t find a machine to wrap those bak changs at this moment because I just hate the thought that my bak chang is just one of the many clones lying on the conveyor belt, waiting for the next component to put a stamp on it or something, in a sterile environment, like a science experiment. I’ll have those gross fat hands wrap them anytime.

But it won’t be long before a machine is perfected just for this purpose. You and me, probably graying, will reminisce how much better the chang tastes back in those days. Before you know it, another smartass will come up with the idea of a franchise selling hand-made bak changs. And we will unwittingly pay a higher price for a product of this ‘new’ concept because we will always be suckers like that(look at all those kopitiam cafes).

Rinse and repeat.

It’s so predictable that it has lost its flavor.

And did I tell you what’s my favourite chang?

It’s those little ones with red bean paste inside. But I don’t get them often, I dunno why.

Dear tOast,

Happy 21st. Let not your mind be idle. Let not your life be stagnant. Live life to the fullest. Treasure those around you and be that a lil’ bit more patient.

Love,

tOast

*that’s for my self, if you haven’t already noticed…*

Other than that, this is a new phase of my live. Where I can vote, drink and gamble legitimately.

Not that I would do any of these often but at least there won’t be any hindrance if ever I want to. But it’ll also mark a time when I should handle things in a more grown up way. I’ll be accounted for everything that I do and say.

Geez, so tiresome all these…

Gnite.

Really, now I dunno whether it’s the over-sleeping or over-staring(at screens and books/mags/newspaper) that’s giving me this damning pain everytime I rub my eye, the left eye, MY left.

So, I had a peek in the mirror and found nothing wrong.

Geez….

I hope it’s just gonna be alright some time soon. Otherwise, it means something is very wrong because I’ve spent the last 5 days or so rubbing a painful eye. Oohhh… Maybe I’ve pulled a muscle…an eye muscle… how did that ever happen? or even happen?

Damn… maybe it’s karma.

Hahahah….. too much of My Name is Earl.

I witnessed a serious accident today, on the way back from Ipoh. It was on the main road of Ayer Tawar, a crowd of people congregated, some watching from a distance, the rest causing traffic congestion.

There was an ambulance blaring its siren but I didn’t see any paramedics or anything. Two police personnels had just arrived and were taking their own sweet time getting out of the car. One even slung a very mean looking machine gun over his shoulder. They walked slowly towards the scene. As we drove by, I saw some people clamoring around a Grey Proton Wira. Two were trying to get someone out of backseat of the wrecked car. These people were in plainclothes and they look more like the victim’s friends or family than paramedics or firemen.

There is a couple of things I couldn’t get over. First, why would the policemen need a machine gun?  To taunt the already grieve-stricken people?To show who’s boss? Just in case a fight broke out? Even if a fight did breakout, what? They’re gonna start randomly shoot people? It’s disheartening for me to see him swing that machine gun so nonchalantly like it’s part of his daily job, like there might be a need for it. There should at least be consideration towards the family of the crash victim. This is a crash-site, not a scene of a robbery. And bloody hell, how slowly can these guys walk towards the wrecked car, it’s seriously frustrating to see them ’sashaying’ all the way there. Gawd…

Secondly, where were the paramedics? Sitting in the little ambulance waiting for the victim to be  slotted into the back of the car magically? It’s very dangerous for people with no medical knowledge to move a crash victim. Moreover with the commotion around her, she might just break a few more bones and felt worse that she already is, being a spectacle, that is. Were these paramedics even trained? Seriously, how professional is this?

Sometimes, I think all we need is to have a bit of heart.

And some foresight. (It might seem unrelated but trust me, it’ll amaze you how little people actually have it and should these policemen of paramedics have the foresight, plan ahead a little, it would certainly have been quickly resolved)