Ferris Wheel!

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After travelling for a bit around Japan,I can't help but notice that I can find at least one ferris wheel in each place we stopped for a visit. And these ferris wheels are permanent fixture at the place, unlike well... some ferris wheel we had in KL. OK, so there are amusement parks or something almost everywhere in Japan even  in the middle of what seemed nowhere; but that too is quite interesting to me. OK, OK I admit I'm easily impressed with stuff in that country. Sue me. XD

Anyone know how many amusement/theme parks are there all around Japan, by the way?

I harbour the hope of photographing each ferris wheel I encountered in Japan, but sometimes the circumstances did not allow me to do so. Hard to snap them in a moving vehicle or when it is rather far from where I was standing. I don't think me wanting to go nearer just to see it would be agreed on by the two boys anyway!

Anyhoo... I present you my measly photo collection of ferris wheel in Japan....

Found one at Mitsui Greenland in Kumamoto called the Rainbow ferris wheel. It is 100m in diameter and 105m tall and has  100,000 LED on it. Must be a sight to behold at night!

Another one at Mosaic Kobe's Harbour Land - simply named the big ferris wheel.

Can you see the Ferris wheel? It's behind that roller coaster track. We've been on the Ferris wheel but not on the roller coaster yet!

The Big O, found at Tokyo Dome. The world's first hubless Ferris Wheel, resembling a huge doughnut standing upright in the air.

And  lastly, one found in Odaiba - the Daikanransha (giant ferris wheel) built on top of the roof of Palette Town, standing tall with a diameter of 115m.

The Hustle And Bustle At Kawasaki Station

The two times we came to Kawasaki, I had hoped for some time to cover Yokohama but as it turned out both times we spent way too much time at Ultraman Club and the Bandai Namco Wonderpark and also an awesome good time over at a blogger friend's house. Kak Hani had so generously opened her house, even cooked a delicious lunch for us. Raimie got hooked playing Nintendo Wii with her son and daughter there and was pleading for us to get one by the time we stepped out the door. Did we get it? Read this post to know. ^^

Anyways, just some photos of Kawasaki Station. This is a pretty busy station, that's for sure. 

As with other big stations in Japan, plenty of stuff to see and shop in/around the station. Plenty of coin lockers at Kawasaki Station to stuff all those shopping bags for a while too.

A 300yen locker that we used to stash our stuff in before hitting the nearby mall after checking-out from our hotel.

We'll be heading back to Kawasaki for either the first few days of our upcoming trip or the last few days of it. I have some JAL vouchers and we are thinking of using it on a couple of nights over at Kawasaki's Nikko Hotel.

Anyhoo, I should seriously look into visiting Yokohama. But then again, after seeing photos of Enoshima on a few blogs that I've been reading, I'm tempted to make a side trip there instead. Whaddya think?

Loving Nature's Work at the Nation's Center OLA

Devil's Tower, a unique igneous intrusion

prairie grasslands near the badlands

I thought those striking man-made wonders would dwarf whatever work of nature there is in the area! After all, they call it Badlands, conjuring images of vast wastelands! I was dead wrong! Instead, the area engenders praise because of the abundance of painted cliffs, canyons, and mounds, unending prairie grasslands, sink holes from which great archaeological finds were unearthed, the world’s most complex and longest cave systems, and unique igneous intrusion formations!

a section of the Badlands' Wall in South Dakota

Over 65 million years ago, western America was buckling to create the Rockies, spilling large amounts of sediment eastward. Its volcanoes were also erupting, spitting out huge amounts of ash. Over time, they turned into layers of sand, silt, and mud stone. Then about 2 million years ago, huge continental ice sheets advanced southward, blocking the flow of north-flowing rivers, creating new courses eastward and southward. Flowing faster, the rivers sliced through the soft rocks. The Black Hills (black because 90% of the hills are covered with ponderosas) were created from a secondary upsurge after the Rockies, after which the water that covered most of the area drained and the Dakota Badlands were revealed.

 

Yellow Mounds in the Badlands

South Dakota’s Badlands National Park covers over 240,000 acres and preserves the sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass (over 20 varieties) prairie in the United States. Continuing erosion happens at about an inch a year by wind, rain, and snow. The Park is surrounded by a 50-mile long Wall of cliff shelves, dotted by interesting very old mounds, and embedded by a large number of fossils that are still continuing to be found even today.

Painted Canyon at Theodore Roosevelt National Park 

red hot scoria

North Dakota has its own version of Badlands. They call it the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The renowned conservationist president credits his success experiences here at the Maltese Cross Cabin which still stands at the Visitors’ Center. It is the least visited, though, and the formations are less spectacular. However, the reddish colors give the place vibrancy. Lightning strikes and prairie fires ignite coal beds beneath which bake the overlying sediments into a hard ‘scoria’ that is resistant to erosion.

almost complete bones of a mammoth 'in situ'

petrified bald cypress

Fossils offer the best clues to scientists and the Badlands are a rich source! The Petrified Gardens and Petrified Forest display many examples of tree petrifaction. The Museum of Geology in Rapid City houses the most complete bone framework of a tetracerops, a rhino-like beast the size of an elephant! At Hot Springs, south of Rapid City is Mammoth Site, a sink hole from which bones of 59 mammoths have been unearthed! Near the NE Wyoming Visitors’ Center (a model of net-zero energy use) is the Vore Buffalo Jump, another sinkhole where the bones of approximately 20,000 buffalos are preserved.

Wind Cave's boxwork formation

looking like Teddy at Jewel Cave

Aside from these badlands, grasslands, and treasure troves of fossils, complex cave systems are another world underneath. Jewel Cave is the second longest cave system in the world at 154 miles and still counting. It is named for calcite crystals that produce glowing cave walls. Wind Cave, on the other hand, is the fourth longest at 132 miles (also still counting). It is famous for the delicate boxwork formations inside and the howling wind that either blows in or out depending on barometric pressure differences.

Needles' Eye at Custer State Park

Then there are those igneous intrusions such as the monolithic, ridged Devil’s Tower, rising 5,112 ft. above sea level in the northeastern tip of Wyoming (remember Close Encounters). 5,000 rock climbers are challenged by it every year! Some believe that it is a volcanic neck but legend has it that the tower surged higher and higher to protect 8 kids from a giant bear’s claws. Bear Butte, another intrusion about 60 miles away, is where the giant bear died hungry. On the highest points of the Black Hills, Custer State Park has Cathedral Spires, Needles’ Eye, and other unique granite formations which were the first to be considered for the Presidents’ Sculpture but eventually lost to Mt. Rushmore, the artist’s choice.

Cathedral Spires at Custer State Park

The Center of the Nation

Before the addition of Alaska and Hawaii, the centermost point in America was in Lebanon, Kansas. Now, The Center of the Nation is actually 20 miles north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The compass rose marker surrounded by fifty state flags proudly marks it! It is about 150 miles south of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, 100 miles west of the Badlands and 60 miles north of the Black Hills, and 60 miles east of Devil’s Tower. What a fascinating place this Center makes one is bound to fall in love with these outstanding works of nature! Actually, I believe they helped inspire those striking works of man! 

the legend at the Devil's Tower Visitor Center

Next Stop: Rounding Out Our Great Plains Adventure!

I Miss This... The Tub

The itsy bitsy bath tub I love. This one was taken at Toyoko-Inn. Which one you ask? All Toyoko-Inn rooms look pretty much the same.

Although much smaller (or shorter?) than the usual western style tub, it is deep enough for total immersion up to the neck, it is designed for sitting in, not so much lying in.

We don't look at the normal western-style bath tub the same ever again. Now, if only we can get one of this installed at home. This and the hi-tech toilet. That's what I want for my birthday! Any sponsors? XD

One Sunday Afternoon

It was a hot day and it seemed like the whole of Tokyo decided to come out and play. 

I decided it would be fun to wear a Traditional Malay blouse (albeit with a modern twist, as I wore it with jeans instead of a sarong) while sightseeing in Tokyo. Raimie and Zaini wore Baju Melayu earlier in the day and nobody batted an eye at us. Why did we do it? We spent our Hari Raya AidilFitri in Japan!

Actually, we went to Shibuya to attend an open house at the Malaysian Embassy that day and went walking around after.

Walking  around Shibuya and Omotesando on Sundays can seriously be a claustrophobic experience because of the crowd- it's like you can't turn anywhere without seeing more people; but visitors are greeted with interesting sights  and activities too.

Anyway, a bit off tangent here - Japanese women sure has no qualms about putting on their make-up in public. I guess why waste time doing it at home when you are going to spend so much time on train. Might as well utilise that time, eh?

Taking a breather from the summer's stifling heat and enjoying a bit of people watching while sitting under the shade.

Saw a group of children bearing a mikoshi.

 and watched a drum performance for a bit

A huge turnout at the Vietnam fair held near Yoyogi Park.

 

A parade of dancers in Omotesando. Always fun to watch. I never knew what the event that were held on each  of the Sundays we visited there, but I enjoyed being there nonetheless.

Despite me complaining about the crowd here, we've never failed to visit this area on a Sunday when we vacation in Japan because of the energy felt there.

A Sea Of People

If you like crowds, Tokyo may fit you just fine. I've yet been to any local festival there during my vacation so I have no idea how the crowd be during festivals. But here are some photos taken on some random days while we were in Japan.

At Nakamise Dori on a weekend

Ueno Park in Spring

Omotesando on a hot summer Sunday

Disneyland without a crowd? I think that would be totally weird, even on weekdays.

and this, on the Mark Twain Riverboat in Disneyland. Man, it sure was packed!

Saluting Man-Made Wonders of South Dakota OLA

an ordinary American couple among America's greatest men
in one of America's finest memorials to democracy 

South Dakota is a true revelation. We thought that the only thing to see there is Mt. Rushmore and the unfinished Crazy Horse Memorial! Little did I know that tourism, aside from cattle, is its life blood. So, instead of a single post, it will probably take me 2 to tell all our stories and show our best photos! In this first part I will include the wonders made by man while the second will deal with those made by nature.  

the profile of America's father

Seeing Mt. Rushmore for the first time gave me goose bumps. 60-ft faces of 465-ft tall Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln were carved by Gutzon Borglum, under commission from the federal government, and 360 men on the solid granite walls of the mountain. Dedicated in 1927 and completed 2 years after the death of Borglum in 1941, it stands as a solid memorial of American democracy. Film greats such as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and North by Northwest were filmed there.

the Crazy Horse Memorial after 60 years
of dedicated work by the Korczak family...
to be completed in perhaps in another 60 years?

The other solid memorial will be the world’s largest sculpture, 641 feet long and 563 feet wide. Crazy Horse was the leader of the Indians who won at the Little Bighorn Battlefield and massacred the 263 men (please see my post last week), including Custer.  A private project started by the Lakota (Dakota came from this name) elders who in 1948 contacted Korczak, a Polish immigrant and former assistant to Borglum, it is now being continued as the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation of Korczak’s family.

the missile in its underground silo
ready for its asignment...no more!

Aside from these inspiring works, there is also a menacing testament to war and destruction. At the East Entrance to the Badlands is the Minuteman II Missile Historic Site, the first memorial to the Cold War after which thousands of such sites were deactivated. It consists of 2 sites: Delta 01, the Launch Control Facility and Delta-09, the Underground Silo. I shivered at the thought that 500 of these missiles that can be deployed remotely by the flick of a finger and render human tragedy are still active in the country.

the Traveler's Chapel at the Wall Drug Store

well, what can I do? Bill found another!

 At the West Entrance is the inspiring story of a hardworking prairie family. Ted Hustead graduated from pharmacy school in 1929. After 2 years of working with other pharmacists, he, wife Dorothy and son Bill set out to look for a small town with a Catholic church and found Wall. Five years later they stumbled upon the secret that made their store famous: free ice water for thirsty travelers! They continue to serve 5,000 glasses of ice water a day and Wall Drug Store has become a tourist destination with many ice water wells, a Traveler’s Chapel, 26 western retail outlets, 300 Western paintings, a 560-seat restaurant of western cooking, singing raccoons, a Jackalope, a roaring T-Rex, and other fun stuff!

the view of Rapid City from the Dinosaur Park

Washington and 43 other presidents
grace downtown Rapid City 

Rapid City has complemented all these attractions by building a Dinosaur Park with towering life-size prehistoric dinosaur replicas on its highest point. 43 presidents also grace downtown Rapid City! Kids will also have loads of fun at Teddy Bear Town (with the largest collection of teddy bears in the world), and Storybook Island, a 4-acre park of the best-loved fairy tale characters!

the absolutely lovely Chapel on the Hills

Another unique structure is Chapel on the Hills, an exact replica of the famous intricately carved wooden Stavkirk Chapel in Borgund, Norway (which we plan to see when we go to Europe). And Sturgis, the city that draws hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists for a mammoth rally every August, is just nearby!

the unique town of Sturgis

Colossal, menacing, inspiring, child-like, and quaint works of legends like Boglum, Korczak, the Husteads, etc. are all around the Black Hills of South Dakota. I am glad we allotted 3 weeks to stay here. We have not even told you about the works of nature. The Badlands, Custer State Park, Devil’s Tower, Mammoth Site, the cave systems, etc.  Stop by again next week!

Walking in Osaka, At The Park

You don't think I am finished yet with my useless photos of Osaka, do you? Bwahaha! More wandering around Osaka, and this time it's to the park. Osaka-jo koen to be exact. Translation : Osaka Castle Park.

But first, let me show you the Shin-Osaka Station.

The very boxy and dinky looking (compared to other stations around Japan, in my opinion) Shin-Osaka Station. Our hotel was near to this station.Walking from the station to our hotel, I had the same feeling as going to Puduraya bus station. Ah... it's been awhile since I last inhaled that much smoke fumes from vehicles.

But there are nice things to see there too, like this taxi driver feeding some pigeons while waiting in a queue for passengers.

Not exactly walking, but saw plenty of these view on the train before we started off walking to some places we didn't intend to go in the first place!

I really wanted to capture all those awesome red bridges we passed by in Japan while taking the train, but have yet to get a good photo of them. :(

In front of the Osakajokoen station. Nice orange jumpsuit, eh?

There was a concert going on at the Osakajo Hall with some band playing so plenty of fans milling about, looking very excited. We did in fact became curious (not to mention very "kay-poh') and went around the back of the hall to check out what the fuss was all about. Saw plenty of crews, a lot of vehicles for the equipments but alas, no stars. :(

A road train in service at the park.

I wish I had taken some photos of the many, many cats (fat ones too!) at the park- at the entrance of the Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle) actually. Somebody must've been feeding the cats well there. I wonder whether  those cats are still there, as this particular visit was yonks ago. :D

Despite the chill; it was spring - a nice ice-cream break after a visit to the castle. Can't go wrong with ice cream! :)