Japan (Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Kansai)
This is another post with regard to Japan and the various cities such as Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Kansai. This is another journey which I have indulged in. This was during Spring. We travelled by air to Nagoya airport and later check into our hotel, the Royal Park Inn Nagoya.
Our first destination was Mount Fuji which is the symbol of Japan, due to the weather condition and safety reason, our coach was allowed to drive up only to the 1st station. Therefore we were enable to have a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji as it was covered by thick cloud. We move on to another surrounding area where we can do our shopping on some local Japanese products and souvenirs. After that, visit Fuji Hakone Peach Park which is completed with Japanese-style garden, great Peace Pagoda and Golden Buddha, which is another famous spot for viewing Sakura (cherry blossom) and Mt Fuji. Visited the Owakudani Volcano Valley, it is a famous volcanic area with its plums of sulfurous steam gushing from the ground, we can have a taste of the famous Japanese “Black Shell Eggs” boiled in the sulfurous hot spring water believe to lengthens our life if we take it. We bought a pack of 6 and hopefully after digested, we are warrantied to live few more years longer than what is was fated.This was the belief of the people there. Next, I managed to visit the Oshino Hakkai as a last destination for the day. It is whereby 8 springs pools gush forth, fed by currents that flow from Mount Fuji. Thereafter, we have our dinner and proceed to visit Nagoya Italian Village. We went back to our hotel quite late as we need to walk quite a distance as our coach could not reach to the Hotel Front.
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| Cherry Blossom |
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Owakudani Volcano Valley
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The next day, we went to Kyoto, an ancient and cultural city of Japan, a living museum and artistic heritage. We visited one of the world cultural heritage the Kiyomizu Temple (rise from Higashiyama Hill) founded in 798 AD, the temple is dedicated to Juichi-men, the 11 headed Kannon (Goddess of Mercy). The main hall is the major attraction with its broad wooden veranda which juts out over a wooden canyon, well known as “the stage of Kiyomizu” supported at height of 15 metres by 139 pillars.Later we visited the Helan Shrine, which was constructed for the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto in 1892.The shrine was surrounded with ponds of water lilies. It was indeed a peaceful and beautiful sight. I then got to experience the world-famous and speedy Shinkansen (Bullet Train). I must say, the trains are incredibly punctual!
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Helan Shrine
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The next early morning we transfered to Keihan Universal Hotel in Osaka which is only a walking distance to the Universal Studio. We went to the Universal Studio Themed Parks (USJ) and have ourselves thrilled with Universal Studio’s motion picture magic from Shrek’s 4D Adventure, Moster Rock, Wicked, Sesame Street 4D Movie Magic, 3D Terminator 2, Water World “Live” show and Backdraft where we feel and experience the burning fury as an explosive 5 alarm thriller roars to life. The Ride include Jurassic Park where when the boat plunge into total darkness from the height of 25.9 meter, strap down onto the water causing an impact so great that the water splashed up and covered us at the end of the ride, we were wet all over. Later we proceed to The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Back to The Future, ET Adventure, Dinosaur “Alive”, Jaws which is a voyage into shark-infested waters and much more. Later, we got our hand stamped for re-entry with invisible Studio’s mark at the exit point, to have our dinner at Hard Rock Café and re-enter to USJ again to catch the last minute 4D ride and other program.
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| Dinner at Hard Rock |
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| Universal Studio |
After breakfast the next morning, we head to Nara to visit the famous deer park, the Todaiji Temple, the Daibutsuden, where the world largest wooden structure of the Great Buddha is housed. Later we went to Osaka Castle Park which served as the landmark in the unification of Japan during the 16th century built by Hideyoshi Toyotomi who succeeded in unifying the entire nation. We bought the admission ticket, 600 JPY/pax through the vending machine for admission into the Osaka Castle museum for history at a glace and also to have a magnificient panoramic view of the whole Osaka City on the 8th Floor. After the museum visit, we went for shopping at Motomachi Street. In Nara, we did visit the Sake Breweries to have some general idea on how sake wine is made. We also tasted several different types sake (Japanese rice wine). After this, we visited the Nankin-machi, one of the 3 biggest China town in Japan, there are lots of food arcade along both side of the streets.
During this visit, I got a more throughout view of Japan sceneries, culture, lifestyle, and histories. It is no doubt that we often heard about a Japanese being able to surpass the age of 100 years due to their healthy lifestyle and in certain areas confined to the traditional teachings and methods. It was an awesome experience having to visit Japan again. It was all in and all out a wonderful and memorable experience which is indeed worth every single penny wasted. I would definitely encourage people to go to Japan, to expose themselves to everything from culture to histories and from there we can see how did Japan become so successful today after the World War II.
Places Visited in Japan (Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Kansai) |
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