Kobe, The Port City

Admittedly we have yet to explore much of Kobe yet, as the only stop we made there was to look at one of the filming site of Ultraman Mebius' 2006  movie titled Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers (ウルトラマンメビウス&ウルトラ兄弟).

So what exactly did we do in Kobe other than going to the Waterfront? Let Mommy go in and out shops looking for clothes, that's what. I still have a pair of pants that I love dearly, bought at Uniqlo Kobe in my wardrobe.

A point of interest for Muslims - the first mosque built in Japan is in Kobe. Hajjah Halela's daughter got married at the Kobe Mosque on March 19, 2011. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing and linking up that post here. A Z Haida, who used to stay in Tokyo while doing her PhD visited Kobe Mosque way back in 2008, the same year we visited Kobe. ^^

What about Kobe beef, you ask? Eerrr... Kobe beef  isn't exactly high on our list of things to eat.

Osaka Walking - More Walking, Folks!

I really don't have anything insightful to add in my Osaka post. We had fun just wandering around. Who wouldn't, when one is in Osaka? It is a fun city!

Say hello to Glico Man.

 And got chummy with this clown. You guys knew this fella, right? ^^

Got fixated with this God, moving his jaw up and down at certain time during the day. People were actually video taping it!

What's the fascination with the Statue of Liberty?

Stumbled upon a Yakult lady, selling Yakult on a bicycle.No one is too tough to drink Yakult! XD

Dotonbori, away from the maddening crowd and Raimie in his male model mode.

Had some nice lunch and the boys enjoyed their bowls of udon a lot!

and at the end of each day in Osaka, a stop at Aeon was a must. It sure was fun running around in this supermarket.

We won't have much time to travel around Osaka during our next trip, but I told Zaini that since I have a lot of day shots of the place from earlier trips, we should visit this area at night next. I'd like that, but we'll see how it goes. *^^*

More Osaka Walking!

A continuation of the first post on Osaka Walking, the idea I copycat  from Lisa's Tokyo Walking series. Sorry, Lisa! 

Just some excuse to post more photos of us in Osaka.

We went to Yao one day, for the sole purpose of visiting Tsuburaya Jungle. What's that place, you ask? It's a place filled with Ultraman! WooT!

Being us, instead of the easy way of taking the bus direct to the place, we decided to walk.

Along the way, we saw this pink National battery vending machine or something

Passed by a cemetery

and a school

and finally we got to our destination. Tsuburaya Jungle, which is located in Ario Mall.

Who needs public transportation when one can just wander around a strange country and take lots of photos, make a nuisance to local folks and then somehow managed to find our way back. On our way back, we got on a wrong bus and ended up at some strange station I have no idea where. So strange that  we can't find  Osaka Station on the station's map that I had to ask for the stationmasters help to direct us to the correct platform and at which station to transfer. Great experience that.  

Osaka Walking

I'm taking a leaf out of Lisa's Ichigoichielove and do a similar post about us walking but instead of Tokyo Walking, we went Osaka Walking. *^^* Will this be a series or just a one-off post this year? Who knows?  Annnnd... if you want to know more about Lisa, read this fine interview Kirin had with her.

There was one year when instead of arriving into Japan through Narita Airport, we decided to enter through Kansai Airport instead. Once upon a time, we can get an open-jaw ticket at bargain price with JAL. Haven't seen those for a couple of years now - bargain tickets at JAL, not open-jaw ticket.

So where do tourists like us would normally head to once in Osaka? The Minami area, I guess. No? Correct me if I'm wrong then. ^^

In Dotonburi, we found

 a giant crab! It's alive! The claws were moving! @.@ Woo woo

 and a dragon too! Darn, it did not breathe fire.

We decided to join one of a number of long queues forming on the street and chose this stall called Honke Nippon Ichi Otako, to buy

takoyaki! Not exactly cheap, but I've never looked at takoyaki sold at Jusco here in Malaysia the same again. A guy at the stall welcomed us with a "Selamat Datang" greetings. Turned out he visited Sabah (or was it Sarawak?) before. He even recognised us when we came for the second time the next day.

Had some time with Ebisu-Sama. A Golden one, no less! XD

Went into the Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade and spent time at the Disney Store, of all places!

Raimie even had the chance to chat-up Peko-chan. LOL

OK, since I think I still want to post a few more photos of Osaka, I guess there'll be one or two more post on Osaka Walking!

Somewhere In The Ishikawa Prefecture

Let's see, we've visited the Ishikawa Prefecture and stayed the night in Kanazawa in 2007 and 2008. Don't have much to show in terms of photos because although we had plenty of photos at Ultraman Stadium.The rain that greeted us both years we were there didn't help us covering much place to sightsee anyway.

We managed to walk around Kenrokuen; a garden classified as one of three most beautifully landscaped gardens in Japan. I am so looking forward to visiting another; the Korakuen some time soon!

Instead of taking a bus from Komatsu Station to get to Ultraman Stadium, we decided to stop at Terai station and walked to the Stadium while enjoying the scenery. I think we walked for almost an hour but it was a really nice walk. We passed by rice fields (no rice planted that time, though), fields, schools and homes and got a glimpse of rural Japan.

In between the homes, the agriculture fields, factories and a huge Pachinko place and that Ultraman Stadium we had so badly wanted to visit, there was a small amusement park with plenty of rides. When we were there, it was pretty deserted.

We just couldn't resist snapping a photo of this interesting postbox, found in Kanazawa Station. ^^ Is that Momotaro?

and this too, enjoyed while taking a break over at some place in Forus complete with  posh waiters hovering.

At The Station : Kanazawa

I seriously think that my family is not fated to explore much of Kanazawa. The two times we visited Kanazawa, it rained almost the whole day! OK, we managed to visit Kenrokuen and made a trip to Terai to visit Ultraman Stadium; but other than that, we were indoors and spent much of the time exploring the  JR Kanazawa Station and the nearby Forus.

Zaini spent much of one evening traveling from Kanazawa station to Wakura-Onsen alone. The reason? Raimie left his Ultraman Max jacket in the train and we; through the help of the tourist office staff at the station, contacted the train authorities and they manage to locate Raimie's precious jacket (the one he was wearing in the first photo below). They offered to send the jacket back to us, and for us to collect at Kanazawa station the next day but as we were leaving early morning the next day, Zaini decided to hop on some trains and head off to Wakura-Onsen where the jacket had been found and was kept. Thinking back, we should have just ask them send the jacket back to Shin-Osaka instead! Oh well... at least Zaini had fun traveling and checking out more local trains during that journey. I'll post the photos of the trains soon!

Anyway, back to Kanazawa Station. The station truly has an aggressive architectural, artistic statement combining traditional Japanese themes. The reconstruction of the surrounding area is making progress for the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen (a high-speed railway line) to Kanazawa in 2014.

There is a glass dome called "Motenashi (Welcome) Dome," which look like a huge umbrella, at the east entrance of Kanazawa Station. The dome has a wooden gate called "Tsuzumi-mon," which symbolizes a traditional Japanese instrument called tsuzumi (hand drums).

Tameo Kobori, 74, a professor emeritus of Kanazawa University who was in charge of designing the square said that he wanted to change the image of Kanazawa, which is dismal because of its wintry weather, into a bright one with the building of the square in front of the station.

A smaller scale version of the Tsuzumi-mon gate can be found in the station. Raimie wasn't too co-operative  with me because I took this photo at 6.00am! We just arrived from Ueno taking the Midnight Express Noto train.

and a scale version of the station. Is is still there now, though?

And while we are at it, let me show you Komatsu Station. Pretty big and modern looking, for what look like a rather quiet town for us.

and here's Terai Station.Very retro.

Playing With Real Snow!

One sunny day in March 2008, we decided that we should go check out how real snow looks and feels like. So we hopped on the Tanigawa train and went to GALA Yuzawa. A mere one and half an hour's ride on the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo and we were there. The beauty of going to GALA Yuzawa is that the skiing experience is just a gondola ride away from the train station! How cool is that?

The fastest Joetsu shinkansen will take you there in just 77 minutes, if I'm not mistaken.

A view from the gondola we took from the train station up to the slopes.

Two snow "virgins" excited to play with real snow. WOOT!

We rented the amusement set (or something) that included a jacket, pants, gloves, boots and a sled. For Raimie, we even got him a helmet. We didn't plan to do any skiing that day, so no skiing lessons for us. Just simple fun of going sledding down the kids' slopes.

At the kids' slope

A "kuma' getting ready for hibernation. LOL

and then the little "kuma" decided to come out and play. ^^

and made a new friend.

We were there from 10.00am to 3.00pm and returned to Tokyo on the double-decker Max Tanigawa train. The poor exhausted boy; who had somehow managed to get his feet wet and cold while burrowing himself in all those snow, fell asleep almost immediately in the train. Note to self, bring extra socks if we decide to do this again in future.

Arriving our hotel two hours later, he started badgering us for the PSP game-LocoRoco that "Uncle Contamination" had let him play the day earlier. Oh no!

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

We visited the Peace Memorial Park one time way back in 2008. I've posted up posts on the Children's Peace Monument and the A-Bomb Dome earlier and I just thought I should show other memorials and monuments we visited in the Memorial Park. There are plenty of monuments,memorials and museums there that you can visit and learn more about the tragic atomic bombing in 1945. 

The A-Bomb Dome.

The Peace Flame with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the background.

The Peace Flame is a monument to the victims of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, but it has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum  is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. The Museum has exhibits and information covering the build up to war, the role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects, along with substantial memorabilia and pictures from the bombing. The building also offers some marvelous views of the Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and A-Bomb Dome. reference from Wikipedia.

 The Memorial Cenotaph. In the background - the Peace Pond and the A-Bomb Dome.

Near the center of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The cenotaph carries the epitaph, "Rest in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated". The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952.

And the last photo in my collection of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park - Peace Bell.

The bell was made by bell-caster Masahiko Katori, holder of important intangible cultural assets (a living national treasure). On its surface a world map without national boundaries symbolising "one world" is embossed. The place where the log hits the bell shows the atomic energy symbol, expressing hope for the abolition of atomic and hydrogen bombs. On the opposite side is a mirror to reflect the heart of the person who rings the bell.

One can spend the whole day there, silently and respectfully visiting the myriad of memorials and monuments there. We were there for only half a day so we weren't able to see all we should see. And with a 6 year old at the time of our visit, I didn't think visiting the museum would be appropriate for him yet. Maybe when he's a tad bigger and able to understand and ask questions about the purpose of the memorial and the tragic loss of lives due to human lust & greed for power.

The A-Bomb Dome

What would a visit to Hiroshima be without visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and a stop at this A-Bomb Dome? I've posted up about Sadako Sasaki and the Children's Peace Monument earlier, and if you missed it, do visit and read about it.

The A-Bomb Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome,原爆ドーム,Genbaku Dōmu) is Hiroshima's best-known symbol and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Prior to the bombing, this Dome was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

I'm not going to go in detail about this dome because I think you can pretty much google it up and find a wealth on information about it immediately. Go on, google them up. You should, you know.

Children's Peace Monument And A Story Of Sadako Sasaki

We visited Hiroshima Peace Park in 2008. When we reached the Children's Peace Monument, we saw brightly colored paper cranes everywhere and this monument. The photo wasn't good, I know, but on top on the bell-like structure is a statue of Sadako Sasaki holding a crane. I didn't know who she was and the significance of her and the monument at that time.

Who was Sadako Sasaki? She was a Japanese girl who lived in Hiroshima, Japan. She was two when the atomic bomb was dropped about one mile away from her home. She and her family managed to escape, although her grandmother; who ran back to fetch something from their house was never seen again.

Though an atomic bombing survivor, Sadako was a healthy and energetic child who never missed a day of  school due to illness and was also a good runner. However, she fell ill when she was 11, and it got worse. In 1955, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, a cancer which affected many children who had been exposed to radiation because of the atomic bomb. Her family was told that she would have less than one year to live, and as she grew more ill, she was admitted to Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. In August, 1000 paper cranes folded by high school students in Nagoya were delivered to the patients in the hospital. Sadako's room too, was brightened by the cranes folded in a myriad of colors.

Believing that folding paper cranes would help her recover, she too started folding them. However, on October 25 1955, after an eight-month struggle with the disease, she passed away; exactly a year since her class  (and team) had won the relay on their school's Field Day. (Oh my... I've started tearing up as I'm typing this)...

Sadako's death triggered a campaign to build a monument to pray for world peace and the peaceful repose of the many children killed by the atomic bomb. The Children's Peace Monument (原爆の子の像), Genbaku no Ko no Zō; was designed by native artists Kazuo Kikuchi and Kiyoshi Ikebe. It was built using money derived from a fund-raising campaign by Japanese school children including Sadako's classmates, with the main statue entitled 'A-bomb Children' being unveiled on the 5th of May, 1958, on Children's Day in Japan.

Thousands of origami cranes from all over the world are offered around the monument on a daily basis, with ancient Japanese tradition holding that one who folds a thousand cranes can have one wish granted.

At the base of the monument is a black marble slab on which is inscribed in Japanese:
これはぼくらの叫びです　これは私たちの祈りです　世界に平和をきずくための
Kore wa bokura no sakebi desu. Kore wa watashitachi no inori desu. Sekai ni heiwa o kizuku tame no.
This is our cry. This is our prayer - for building peace in the world.

To know more about Sadako Sasaki, click on this link.