Breakfast in our rooms before setting off for the day. The night before, we bought sandwiches, milk and juice from the convenience store across the hotel. So early in the morning, we feasted on egg mayo sandwiches, tomato cucumber sandwiches, fried egg sandwiches - all surprisingly good! None of the dry, hard sort of bread you usually find in convenience stores. The bread was soft and the fillings tasty and generous - with a dash of wasabi for a kick - never knew tomato sandwich with wasabi tasted so good!
Today we decided to go to Nijo castle, in the heart of town. But before that, we bought the Kyoto Sightseeing Day Pass which qualified us for travel on buses and the subway in the Kyoto area. With that, we hopped on the subway (very similar in layout to our MRT!) and headed for Nijo castle.
At Nijo Castle, we bought tickets via (what else!) the vending machine before proceeding through the huge thick walls and the gate to the inner pathways leading to the main building.
Nijo castle was built for the shogun. It is known for its wooden 'nightingale floors' which squeak like a bird when someone walks on it - an ingenious way to alert the bodyguards to intruders. This being the palace, the place where daimyos (lords of the land) came to pay respects to the shogun, it was not a place where one could just wander at will. The visiting lords were kept in holding rooms with tatami mats, then escorted to the main audience room etc so no one would be walking around 'unnecessarily' in 'unauthorised' areas. Each of the rooms had walls painted in gold leaf and realistic motifs of animals eg leopards, tigers etc.
We had to take off our shoes, put them up neatly in wooden pigeonholes, before walking through the castle. Bedroom slippers were thoughtfully provided for those who did not wish to walk on their bare/stockinged feet.
Have to say it was a bit challenging to rein in the kids at first - especially Owain - they were thrilled with the nightingale floors and tended to bounce/jump on them, run on the passageways and generally made the usual exasperating kiddish nuisance. Definitely not with the stealth of the ninja! The Japanese attendants along the museum had to tell him politely not to run, use the rope barriers as a swing rope, not to make so much noise etc. Erm, quite embarrassing for them to tell us and for us to be on the receiving end!
The gardens of Nijo Castle were lovely and we were thrilled to see so many trees in full colour - the bright red of the Japanese maple and the yellow of the gingko tree.
After strolling round the gardens of Nijo Castle, we took the subway to the eastern hills of Kyoto - Higashiyama, an area known for lovely temples. Coming out of the station, we were not sure where to go exactly, but the answer soon presented itself - just follow the crowds! So off we went, through a tunnel, down one-car width lanes flanked by stone walls, wooden doors, clear water running from the hills towards Nanzenji.
Nanzenji is one of the most beautiful temple complexes in Kyoto. It is reputed for its great San-mon - gateway. One of the stories behind this is that of a local Robin Hood style character who stole from the rich to give to the poor. When he was caught, he was sentenced to die by being boiled alive - with his son! Legend has it that the brave man held up his son above the boiling water for as long as he could until he went under. And all of it right here at the San-mon. But of course nothing grisly remained to be seen and it was a hug entryway that we just walked through and admired. For Owain, he literally had to clamber over the doorstop since it was too high for his little legs to walk over!
We were just happy to wander around the grounds, to admire the lovely autumn-scapes all around us. On the grounds, we noticed something really pretty - road barriers made of steel that that had little steel birds perched on them. We all found them very charming! Details like these make the trip the fun discovery process that it is! From Nanzenji, we wandered further up to the Philosopher's Path. The Philosopher's Path was very pretty in autumn, a canal through which flowed clear cool water, flanked by private (and I imagine, expensive!) homes behind stone walls on one side and greenery on the other. Stone or bamboo bridges connected both sides from time to time, leading to unseen tea houses set in tiny gardens or bamboo groves.
It was a lovely day - briskly cold but the sky a deep blue. Outlined against this, the fiery red of the maples burned beautifully. By then the kids were getting cranky and hungry. We decided to abandon the Philosopher's Path and head down towards the main road in search of food. Away from the main tourist drag where the Path was, everything else looked shuttered and closed for the day since it was way past lunch. But persistence pays off and we eventually found a tiny mom-and-pop shop on the main road that sold (yes, again!) ramen!
It would be getting dark soon and I wanted to hit Kiyomizudera before it got dark, so we regretfully abandoned the walk back up the Philosopher's Path to the Silver Pavilion in favour of bus number 100 to get back to the lower reaches of Higashiyama where Kiyomizudera was. In Kyoto, getting up the bus was from the back door and alighting through the front. With our passes, it was not a problem. The bus ride allowed us to get some seats and for the kids to snooze - which they all promptly did - three kids crammed in a row on a bus seat, heads lolling back! Noticed something weird - the bus driver (and we would find this so in the other bus rides we took as well) would switch off the engine everytime the bus came to a stop - at a bus-stop, at a traffic light etc. Maybe it had to do with environmental reasons - not to keep the engine from idling too long and polluting the air but KH was muttering something about it being bad for the engine to be stopped and started again and again.
It was almost evening (3.30pm!) when we got to Chawan-zaka, the steep uphill approach to Kiyomizudera. And by gosh, carrying Trin and walking up that steep hill was not my idea of fun, so I passed her to KH who made like Arnold in the Terminator and just pumped his way up hill in quick time. I on the other hand, with Owain and Cait, decided to take a leisurely walk, stopping to look in the shops along the way. Chawanzaka (Teapot Lane) was named such because of the many porcelain and ceramics shops lining the lane. It was fun walking up and checking out the ceramics for sale - they had lovely little pots, bowls, cups etc.
Up on Kiyomizudera, huff and puff, we surveyed all of Kyoto city far below us! The walk seemed to have revived some flagging spirits and we were all in pretty good moods when we went to the first shrine to try our luck at getting our 'fortune slips'. Gillian's fortune was very bad so she tied it to the line of other unwanted fortune slips to 'discard' her bad luck. KH's fortune, while not that bad, also went that way. But the rest of us - me, Owain, Cait, Isaac and Trinity - had pretty fortunes! And of course all the kids enjoyed ringing the bells to summon the deity to make their wishes!
Clear Water temple or Kiyomizudera is known, is really a series of tiny temples and one big main hall sitting on top of a hill. The key attraction here is the main hall which was actually a stage, built on huge columns of wood jutting out of the hillsides. The place was packed with tourists. It was getting dark and to compound it, the grey skies opened up with a steady drizzle. So it was dark, cold and wet! And crowded!
We had no umbrella and the rain didn't look like it was stopping. Thankfully Trin was asleep in the sling, so I used the tail of the sling to cover her, tucked her legs under and into the pouch of the sling. She was nice and comfy and cosy as we walked as quickly as we could in the drizzle of rain downhill, taking shelter once in a while under a small seating area. On the way down, we chanced upon the famous spring which was responsible for the name Kiyomizudera - the water could purportedly cure many ills. The area just around the gushing water has been built up. There were queues of Japanese waiting for their turn at the spring. We saw them using the ladles provided to drink from, wash their hands, faces etc. But for us, it was a case of too cold, too rainy, too tired to try.
Luckily the rain eased up as we headed down Sannen-zaka (Three-Year Lane) to the main road. It was bustling with people, like Orchard Road at Christmas! The road was lined with restaurants, souvenir shops etc. I darted in one and bought Cait a little yukata. Later on, we found cream puffs! For 300yen a piece! Having never seen cream puffs sold in Japan until now, and understanding that Beard Papa in Singapore was $2 a puff, I thought this was an okay price. So we bought about five or six to be devoured later in the hotel room.
After that it was a wet, long tramp downhill where thankfully, we didn't have to wait long for a bus! But on the bus, it was standing room only and as I was only beginning to realise, the Japanese penchant for politeness did not extend to common courtesy to let mothers carrying heavy toddlers have their seat. So I carried Trin and stood all the way. By this time, I had been carrying Trin for hours. Can tell you my back was near breaking point and just shifting myself from foot to foot meant agonising pain in my left side.
Things got a bit better when I got off the bus and passed her to KH and Gillian. We all headed down to the Isetan basement at Kyoto station. Wow, there was such a lot of food - so many different types of rice, sushi etc! The place was chaotic as crowded as a train station at rush hour with shoppers pressed close together, steam rising from the various pots and displays and sales assistants thrusting us samples and urging: Dozo! Dozo!
The variety of food is mindboggling and everywhere we went there were samples galore. I had read that one could easily have a full meal on samples alone just moving through a Japanese food basement and they were right! The kids went wild. I was pestered left and right for "sushi, sushi, sushi, mom!" and "mom can I have the seaweed chicken please, pretty please please please!"
So we bought up a storm and got a bit carried away - ended up with sushi, yakitori, yes the seaweed chicken! And three different types of rice - yummy rice mixed in with Japanese seasoning - one had peas and gingko nuts with seaweed, another had silver fish with sweet potatoes, carrots and peas and another one with seaweed and plum shavings - very nice! And I treated myself to onigiri with mentaiko! I think we easily spent more than we would have spent had we had our dinner in a restaurant! And they had choux pastry too - cream puffs - at 180yen each - grrr!! Boy was I bummed to find out how conned I was by the shop at Sannenzaka!
We hauled our goodies back to the hotel room for a real feast. Should have seen how the kids fell upon the opened box of sushi! It was a filling dinner we had, sitting on our hotel beds, tv blaring - yes sure feels like home...
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/chongbrood/Day6Kyoto
Day 5 21 Nov 2007 Kyoto, Osaka
Up at 5.30am this morning, marshalled sleepy kids up and out the door by 6am. We had a shinkansen to Kyoto to catch at 7.06am. And Tokyo trains are notorious for being ruthlessly punctual. Be there not a minute before or else.
It was so early that we could not even have breakfast and the buses were not even running. We'd have to hustle to the train station on foot to make the connection to Tokyo station. While KH got the smaller kids out the door, he said over his shoulder and I distinctly HEARD: Make sure you have the room keys and return them.
Isaac was with me. Now I knew I had the keys just a couple of minutes before but right then, just as we were giving the rooms one last check, we could not find them. Thus began a frantic ransack of the room again in search of the missing keys. Time ticked by and I got more panicked. I sent Isaac down to the hotel lobby in search of KH and nope, the guy was gone. Along with the kids. They must have walked ahead. We trashed the room one more time. Then again. And then yet again. No keys. I think I must have sweated blood. We must have spent about 20min going through the room. My phone was in the other haversack that Gillian was carrying, so I couldn't even call KH to check.
Finally I just could not wait anymore. Heck it, I said. Everything was already paid in full, let's go. So Isaac and I clattered down the stairs, past the front desk. On a sudden suspicion, I checked the box of room keys and voila!! There they were!! I wasted 20min for nothing and now I still got to make tracks to get to the station which was easily about a 15min walk. We were cutting it very very close. I grumbled at the absent Uncle Chong. Grrr...
Isaac and I each had one large haversack each. We walked fast, our breaths making little puffs of steam. The children were fascinated and delighted with this phenomenon over the past few days and every chance they got, were busy puffing and blowing to see their breaths rise in the cold morning air. But this morning, we were too busy striding as fast as we could to care.
We could see KH, Gillian and the little ones far ahead but we walked briskly and soon caught up whereupon I gave a sheepish KH a verbal cuff about the head for telling me to check the room keys when Gillian already had them and thrown them in the box. Gah!
We didn't even have time to buy breakfast, just jump on the first train that came long. Then make the long trek from the Keiyo line to Tokyo station. Thankfully the shinkansen gates were not too far away from the main station plaza. But it was still go go go all the way as we dragged kids, bumped our backpacks and scrambled into the train. Without a minute to lose as it turned out - the train pulled away from the station barely a minute after we got on.
The shinkansen was very comfortable - airline style seats but with more legroom and recline action. We were all hungry and as soon as the overpriced food service comes rolling by, we leaped into action but the food service trollery was not very well stocked. Apart from overpriced Coke, we had some crab cakes (like our fishcakes) which everyone fought over. Have to say the crab cakes were good though!
The scenery was pretty interesting. You see the grey and tightly packed Tokyo and Yokohama city sprawl. Then the density of housing gets less and there's more greenery. I think we passed by the Pacific Ocean at one point and it was quite pretty in the morning. The town sitting in front of it looked sizeable but nice - cliffs and temple roofs and yes, the ubiquitious ferris wheel! I think this might have been the gateway to the Izu peninsula? Then further on we passed Mt Fuji on our right! I got excited and made KH take pictures of the snow-capped caldera. We were not alone in snapping away. The little old ladies sitting across from us were also fishing out cameras. It was a lovely day - the sky was so blue and the light made everything seem so fresh. Or maybe I was just high at the prospect of going to Kyoto!
Although we were technically on one of the world's fastest trains, you couldn't feel the speed sitting inside. Immediately outside the window, all was a blur but you could still see the countryside beyond. I think the Shinkansen Tokaido line generally runs through pretty populated areas - apart from a stretch just before Kyoto, most of the route ran through towns, large and small, some industrial areas, smallish farms and fields, ditches, over rivers, bridges. Once in a while in the distance you could see a flash of snow-clad mountains. That tiny stretch just before Kyoto is the prettiest - the rolling hills, mountains, and bamboo groves. Trees that were turning colours and giving the hillsides a patchwork quality of browns, reds, yellows and greens.
Two and a half hours later we pulled into Kyoto station. Initially, a very bewildering place. People briskly moving everywhere. It aroused in me the same thrilled open-mouthed gaze as I tried to take in everything - all the food stalls around, the shops selling quality food souvenirs, the brightness and polish and newness of it all. But with 5 kids, one can't stand and dawdle. So we tried to navigate our way to the back of the station, cross the road and right there - our hotel the New Miyako Hotel.
We couldn't check in yet since it was only 9.30am in the morning. So we left our bags there, crossed the road to the railway station, which also had an oldish shopping mall at its back end, and scouted for food there. Isaac chose a restaurant which had ramen and other stuff. But this was not a very good choice in the end - the place did not seem as spotlessly clean as the other places we went to, food was not great, portions were tiny for the price. But the kids as usual, wolfed it all down and said everything was good. Now you know why they're my favourite critics at home. KH sniffed that Kyoto seemed more pricey than Tokyo.
Hunger pangs satiated, we headed for the front of the station to try to get some information on the leafy situation in Kyoto. A first enquiry at an information counter proved dissatisfying until one kind Australian told me that there was a bigger TIC in the front of the station. But when we got there, it was all in Japanese. Which sent me up to the 9th floor to the TIC for foreigners, but also proved a bit non-productive. When I asked where the leaves were at their best, they just vaguely said: all of Kyoto is turning. Some at 30% some at 70%. Du-uh! sigh.
Since we were already at the station, we decided to just skip Kyoto today and head for Osaka instead. Piled into an express train which stopped only at two other stops before arriving at Osaka station - took only about half an hour. From there, it was an easy trip via subway (all connected with little walking! Yay! Can you tell that I was getting seriously tired from all that walking and carrying of Trin??) to Osaka Castle. Oh interesting note: it was here that I saw those train cars which were strictly reserved for women during peak hours!
Now my only reason for heading to Osaka castle was because dear Mr Chong said he wanted to re-visit the all the places he had been to in his sailing days - and Osaka castle was one of them. So okay, to make the man happy, off we went to Osaka castle.
The castle could be reached through a large park (yes, lots more walking!). The kids were given free rein and they joyfully ran off. Large avenues flanked with bushy fir-like trees and yellow-leafy gingko trees fanned out like spokes from a huge round fountain. And best of all - pigeons galore. The kids had a field day traumatising the pigeons.
Owain got so carried away running after the pigeons and yelling "Yaaaaaahhh!!!" at them that he didn't hear us calling him to walk on with us. So we did a very bad thing. We hid behind one of the bushy firs to watch what he would do when he realised we were gone.
Now all the children had been given a card from the New Miyako Hotel with strict instructions on what to do if they were lost. First - show someone (preferably a lady) or a policeman in uniform, or at a train station, the card and have them call the hotel. Or failing that, just stay put where they last saw us.
So after a few happy moments chasing the poor pigeons, Owain realised he was lost. Have to hand it to the little guy. He just stayed cool and calm. Walked one round around the fountain (looked so cute in his green bomber jacket with the hood up - this tiny figure in green walking around!) , then we saw him unzip his little pocket on his sleeve, take out the hotel card and tap it reflectively . Then he just hopped up on the rim of the fountain and sat there. No crying. No screaming. No hysteria. He just waited calmly for us to show up.
At this point I couldn't take it - he looked so cute sitting there and his behaviour was so cool - I made KH go over and get him. KH said he looked resigned sitting there and when he realised that daddy and Isaac kor-kor were there, he just gave them a sheepishly rueful expression, hopped off the fountain ledge and went with them. I gave him a hug - he was a real brave trouper not to have cried and to remain so calm.
After that, we hiked up (yes, hiked up!) a long flight of stairs, past the outer moat, up a hillock, past a park, across the inner moat and then into the castle grounds. Man, it was tiring!!
Nothing much to do/see in Osaka Castle. We didn't bother to go in. To his disappointment, KH could not find the cannon he had sat on 20 years ago when he was last here. And they had spiffed up the place so much it looked spanking new! The view from the castle grounds were great though. And I saw my first monk! Yes I am thrilled just by that alone! He was standing alone, head bowed with a conical hat, hand cupping an alms bowl, a string of beads around his neck, in full dark robes and white leggings. Exactly like the pictures!! A satisfying Japan moment for me.
From there, we trudged all the way down again. KH carrying Trin and walking ahead (thank God! Thought my arms were about to snap). I lagged behind with Owain, Isaac and Cait. Owain, I discovered, had deliberately put on his jacket the wrong way round and made his kor-kor zip it up, looking like he was in a strait-jacket. He was carefully picking fallen tiny red berries/seeds up and putting them into his hood, like a bowl. He even had Isaac and Cait helping him! He told me earnestly: mummy, we have to pick up all these berries to sell so that we can be rich! We can sell many many many berries and then we can be very very rich!
I had to work hard not to laugh but say instead: what happens when you sell all your berries here? Then you have no more berries next time to sell. You'd have to sell many many berries before you can be rich you know!
He thought about it and said: Okay, we have to bring some home to grow them so we can sell later. Hee, the fishball can be very fixated on S-11! But me being mean-spirited mum told him to throw away all his berries because "I'm not carrying a load of dusty sandy berries all the way to Singapore!"
Our walk down to the lower park where we started, was very idyllic. We took a slightly different path. KH and the girls could not be seen by then. So we took our time slowly going down. The kids swooped down on the fallen leaves, in search of the perfect red or yellow leaf in the lovely tree-lined avenue we were walking in. All around us were yellow gingkoes and some reddish maples. Then I heard it - the elegant notes of a saxophone. At first I grinned - piped in music in a park??
We followed the strains until it got louder and then I saw a young man, standing deep in the wooded area of the park, a music stand before him, concentrating on his saxophone. Oh it was lovely to just be in the moment! The blue skies, a light cool breeze, the yellow leaves on the trees, the crackle of leaves underfoot, the soaring music, my children with their hands full of leaves, faces wreathed in smiles of delight as they found one leaf after another. I will never forget just this little moment. I think in life, more likely when we travel, there will be moments like these - pure beauty, pure life. You wish it would last, that these moments can always permeate your life. But of course they can't ever last and that contributes to the sweetness of it.
Well, we lingered and made it down to the lower park where KH was waiting impatiently. He'd missed it all.
From Osaka Castle, we headed for the waterfront to Kaiyukan - the famed Osaka Aquarium.
It was blisteringly cold!! The wind just sliced through us as we literally struggled to the Aquarium. It was a 10-min walk, but seemed like forever with that kind of wind. And by then it was already getting dark at almost 4pm.
The aquarium cost us a whopping 2000yen per adult to enter! On hindsight, I would not go again. Having been to the large and lovely Monterey Bay aquarium in California, I felt this one was a letdown. Architecturally and as an aquarium. In all honesty I felt that even KL's Aquaria fared better in terms of display and certainly the architecture of the building does not even show up as well as the Tokyo Sea Life park at Kasai Rinkai Koen where we stayed. We went to the aquarium because of the whale shark. But now on hindsight, why support an organisation that keeps one of nature's largest and rarest of creatures in captivity? The only thing I really liked was how the place was structured - we had to take an escalator up to the 8th floor, then walk our way down, wending past huge tanks of fishes and sea creatures housed by the region they hail from. Right from the top would be the sea creatures from Japanese shores, then came the playful otters from the Aleutian islands, sea lions from California, penguins from antarctica etc before one came to the main attraction, the whale shark and others housed in the Pacific tank - a huge central core of water.
The kids loved the otters - cute furry faced creatures who charmed us all as they flipped, dove and torpedoed their slick bodies through the water. I think generally the kids had a good time - they seemed to enjoy looking at the fishes. But I have to say I feel very sorry for the whale shark. It was smaller than we expected. Later I learnt that they do adapt their size to fit the environment, and a tank is certainly no match for the oceans of the world. To see a creature like this aimlessly swimming and turning from one glass face of the tank to another is quite sad. The whale shark was often accompanied by a school of smaller fishes. Isaac joked that this was the star's entourage and fan club. The other-worldly jellyfish, glowing in the darkness, were also a visual treat for us.
After the aquarium, we went for some cheap take-out sushi, snacking our way through a kitschy and rather touristy layout of old Osaka food stalls. The kids again hankered for ramen but we said no. I thought I saw a series of tiny restaurants along the way from the station, and being typically Singaporean, wanted to zero in one that had (what else!) a slew of newspaper cuttings! Ha, we trust places that either have a queue or a whole noticeboard of newspaper cuttings and reviews!
The wind had died down and while it was chilly, it was not as cold as it was earlier. The streets were relatively empty though and I thought this was surprising for a touristy part of Osaka.
We stopped to eat at the ramen place I remembered. Pushing the sliding door aside and ducking under the nori, we entered a tiny quaint little place that looked as if time stood still. Wooden panelled walls, a bar lined with stools, kitschy decor items, coat hangers hanging on the wall and standing there behind the counter, a thin, unsmiling, bald man who was the cook, the wait staff all rolled into one. The place looked tiny, cosy and totally charming. Steam floated up from big pots behind the counter and Ella Fitzgerald sang. It was warm, a lovely respite from the cold outside. For me, it was another Japanese Moment. The whole place looked worn, dated and a bit tired. I can't explain the appeal. Yet everything, the place, the music, the food, the mood, was exactly perfect. I would not forget this easily.
With sign language and bad Japanese, we got our message across - six bowls of ramen and a serving of gyoza. As was usually the case in these tiny restaurants, we took up almost the entire bar counter! The one-man chef got to work, and soon good smells were wafting up from the wok in front of us and the clanging sounds of wok and spatula filled the air. When the ramen arrived, everyone dove right in. You could hear the sounds of the kids slurping away.
It was so early that we could not even have breakfast and the buses were not even running. We'd have to hustle to the train station on foot to make the connection to Tokyo station. While KH got the smaller kids out the door, he said over his shoulder and I distinctly HEARD: Make sure you have the room keys and return them.
Isaac was with me. Now I knew I had the keys just a couple of minutes before but right then, just as we were giving the rooms one last check, we could not find them. Thus began a frantic ransack of the room again in search of the missing keys. Time ticked by and I got more panicked. I sent Isaac down to the hotel lobby in search of KH and nope, the guy was gone. Along with the kids. They must have walked ahead. We trashed the room one more time. Then again. And then yet again. No keys. I think I must have sweated blood. We must have spent about 20min going through the room. My phone was in the other haversack that Gillian was carrying, so I couldn't even call KH to check.
Finally I just could not wait anymore. Heck it, I said. Everything was already paid in full, let's go. So Isaac and I clattered down the stairs, past the front desk. On a sudden suspicion, I checked the box of room keys and voila!! There they were!! I wasted 20min for nothing and now I still got to make tracks to get to the station which was easily about a 15min walk. We were cutting it very very close. I grumbled at the absent Uncle Chong. Grrr...
Isaac and I each had one large haversack each. We walked fast, our breaths making little puffs of steam. The children were fascinated and delighted with this phenomenon over the past few days and every chance they got, were busy puffing and blowing to see their breaths rise in the cold morning air. But this morning, we were too busy striding as fast as we could to care.
We could see KH, Gillian and the little ones far ahead but we walked briskly and soon caught up whereupon I gave a sheepish KH a verbal cuff about the head for telling me to check the room keys when Gillian already had them and thrown them in the box. Gah!
We didn't even have time to buy breakfast, just jump on the first train that came long. Then make the long trek from the Keiyo line to Tokyo station. Thankfully the shinkansen gates were not too far away from the main station plaza. But it was still go go go all the way as we dragged kids, bumped our backpacks and scrambled into the train. Without a minute to lose as it turned out - the train pulled away from the station barely a minute after we got on.
The shinkansen was very comfortable - airline style seats but with more legroom and recline action. We were all hungry and as soon as the overpriced food service comes rolling by, we leaped into action but the food service trollery was not very well stocked. Apart from overpriced Coke, we had some crab cakes (like our fishcakes) which everyone fought over. Have to say the crab cakes were good though!
The scenery was pretty interesting. You see the grey and tightly packed Tokyo and Yokohama city sprawl. Then the density of housing gets less and there's more greenery. I think we passed by the Pacific Ocean at one point and it was quite pretty in the morning. The town sitting in front of it looked sizeable but nice - cliffs and temple roofs and yes, the ubiquitious ferris wheel! I think this might have been the gateway to the Izu peninsula? Then further on we passed Mt Fuji on our right! I got excited and made KH take pictures of the snow-capped caldera. We were not alone in snapping away. The little old ladies sitting across from us were also fishing out cameras. It was a lovely day - the sky was so blue and the light made everything seem so fresh. Or maybe I was just high at the prospect of going to Kyoto!
Although we were technically on one of the world's fastest trains, you couldn't feel the speed sitting inside. Immediately outside the window, all was a blur but you could still see the countryside beyond. I think the Shinkansen Tokaido line generally runs through pretty populated areas - apart from a stretch just before Kyoto, most of the route ran through towns, large and small, some industrial areas, smallish farms and fields, ditches, over rivers, bridges. Once in a while in the distance you could see a flash of snow-clad mountains. That tiny stretch just before Kyoto is the prettiest - the rolling hills, mountains, and bamboo groves. Trees that were turning colours and giving the hillsides a patchwork quality of browns, reds, yellows and greens.
Two and a half hours later we pulled into Kyoto station. Initially, a very bewildering place. People briskly moving everywhere. It aroused in me the same thrilled open-mouthed gaze as I tried to take in everything - all the food stalls around, the shops selling quality food souvenirs, the brightness and polish and newness of it all. But with 5 kids, one can't stand and dawdle. So we tried to navigate our way to the back of the station, cross the road and right there - our hotel the New Miyako Hotel.
We couldn't check in yet since it was only 9.30am in the morning. So we left our bags there, crossed the road to the railway station, which also had an oldish shopping mall at its back end, and scouted for food there. Isaac chose a restaurant which had ramen and other stuff. But this was not a very good choice in the end - the place did not seem as spotlessly clean as the other places we went to, food was not great, portions were tiny for the price. But the kids as usual, wolfed it all down and said everything was good. Now you know why they're my favourite critics at home. KH sniffed that Kyoto seemed more pricey than Tokyo.
Hunger pangs satiated, we headed for the front of the station to try to get some information on the leafy situation in Kyoto. A first enquiry at an information counter proved dissatisfying until one kind Australian told me that there was a bigger TIC in the front of the station. But when we got there, it was all in Japanese. Which sent me up to the 9th floor to the TIC for foreigners, but also proved a bit non-productive. When I asked where the leaves were at their best, they just vaguely said: all of Kyoto is turning. Some at 30% some at 70%. Du-uh! sigh.
Since we were already at the station, we decided to just skip Kyoto today and head for Osaka instead. Piled into an express train which stopped only at two other stops before arriving at Osaka station - took only about half an hour. From there, it was an easy trip via subway (all connected with little walking! Yay! Can you tell that I was getting seriously tired from all that walking and carrying of Trin??) to Osaka Castle. Oh interesting note: it was here that I saw those train cars which were strictly reserved for women during peak hours!
Now my only reason for heading to Osaka castle was because dear Mr Chong said he wanted to re-visit the all the places he had been to in his sailing days - and Osaka castle was one of them. So okay, to make the man happy, off we went to Osaka castle.
The castle could be reached through a large park (yes, lots more walking!). The kids were given free rein and they joyfully ran off. Large avenues flanked with bushy fir-like trees and yellow-leafy gingko trees fanned out like spokes from a huge round fountain. And best of all - pigeons galore. The kids had a field day traumatising the pigeons.
Owain got so carried away running after the pigeons and yelling "Yaaaaaahhh!!!" at them that he didn't hear us calling him to walk on with us. So we did a very bad thing. We hid behind one of the bushy firs to watch what he would do when he realised we were gone.
Now all the children had been given a card from the New Miyako Hotel with strict instructions on what to do if they were lost. First - show someone (preferably a lady) or a policeman in uniform, or at a train station, the card and have them call the hotel. Or failing that, just stay put where they last saw us.
So after a few happy moments chasing the poor pigeons, Owain realised he was lost. Have to hand it to the little guy. He just stayed cool and calm. Walked one round around the fountain (looked so cute in his green bomber jacket with the hood up - this tiny figure in green walking around!) , then we saw him unzip his little pocket on his sleeve, take out the hotel card and tap it reflectively . Then he just hopped up on the rim of the fountain and sat there. No crying. No screaming. No hysteria. He just waited calmly for us to show up.
At this point I couldn't take it - he looked so cute sitting there and his behaviour was so cool - I made KH go over and get him. KH said he looked resigned sitting there and when he realised that daddy and Isaac kor-kor were there, he just gave them a sheepishly rueful expression, hopped off the fountain ledge and went with them. I gave him a hug - he was a real brave trouper not to have cried and to remain so calm.
After that, we hiked up (yes, hiked up!) a long flight of stairs, past the outer moat, up a hillock, past a park, across the inner moat and then into the castle grounds. Man, it was tiring!!
Nothing much to do/see in Osaka Castle. We didn't bother to go in. To his disappointment, KH could not find the cannon he had sat on 20 years ago when he was last here. And they had spiffed up the place so much it looked spanking new! The view from the castle grounds were great though. And I saw my first monk! Yes I am thrilled just by that alone! He was standing alone, head bowed with a conical hat, hand cupping an alms bowl, a string of beads around his neck, in full dark robes and white leggings. Exactly like the pictures!! A satisfying Japan moment for me.
From there, we trudged all the way down again. KH carrying Trin and walking ahead (thank God! Thought my arms were about to snap). I lagged behind with Owain, Isaac and Cait. Owain, I discovered, had deliberately put on his jacket the wrong way round and made his kor-kor zip it up, looking like he was in a strait-jacket. He was carefully picking fallen tiny red berries/seeds up and putting them into his hood, like a bowl. He even had Isaac and Cait helping him! He told me earnestly: mummy, we have to pick up all these berries to sell so that we can be rich! We can sell many many many berries and then we can be very very rich!
I had to work hard not to laugh but say instead: what happens when you sell all your berries here? Then you have no more berries next time to sell. You'd have to sell many many berries before you can be rich you know!
He thought about it and said: Okay, we have to bring some home to grow them so we can sell later. Hee, the fishball can be very fixated on S-11! But me being mean-spirited mum told him to throw away all his berries because "I'm not carrying a load of dusty sandy berries all the way to Singapore!"
Our walk down to the lower park where we started, was very idyllic. We took a slightly different path. KH and the girls could not be seen by then. So we took our time slowly going down. The kids swooped down on the fallen leaves, in search of the perfect red or yellow leaf in the lovely tree-lined avenue we were walking in. All around us were yellow gingkoes and some reddish maples. Then I heard it - the elegant notes of a saxophone. At first I grinned - piped in music in a park??
We followed the strains until it got louder and then I saw a young man, standing deep in the wooded area of the park, a music stand before him, concentrating on his saxophone. Oh it was lovely to just be in the moment! The blue skies, a light cool breeze, the yellow leaves on the trees, the crackle of leaves underfoot, the soaring music, my children with their hands full of leaves, faces wreathed in smiles of delight as they found one leaf after another. I will never forget just this little moment. I think in life, more likely when we travel, there will be moments like these - pure beauty, pure life. You wish it would last, that these moments can always permeate your life. But of course they can't ever last and that contributes to the sweetness of it.
Well, we lingered and made it down to the lower park where KH was waiting impatiently. He'd missed it all.
From Osaka Castle, we headed for the waterfront to Kaiyukan - the famed Osaka Aquarium.
It was blisteringly cold!! The wind just sliced through us as we literally struggled to the Aquarium. It was a 10-min walk, but seemed like forever with that kind of wind. And by then it was already getting dark at almost 4pm.
The aquarium cost us a whopping 2000yen per adult to enter! On hindsight, I would not go again. Having been to the large and lovely Monterey Bay aquarium in California, I felt this one was a letdown. Architecturally and as an aquarium. In all honesty I felt that even KL's Aquaria fared better in terms of display and certainly the architecture of the building does not even show up as well as the Tokyo Sea Life park at Kasai Rinkai Koen where we stayed. We went to the aquarium because of the whale shark. But now on hindsight, why support an organisation that keeps one of nature's largest and rarest of creatures in captivity? The only thing I really liked was how the place was structured - we had to take an escalator up to the 8th floor, then walk our way down, wending past huge tanks of fishes and sea creatures housed by the region they hail from. Right from the top would be the sea creatures from Japanese shores, then came the playful otters from the Aleutian islands, sea lions from California, penguins from antarctica etc before one came to the main attraction, the whale shark and others housed in the Pacific tank - a huge central core of water.
The kids loved the otters - cute furry faced creatures who charmed us all as they flipped, dove and torpedoed their slick bodies through the water. I think generally the kids had a good time - they seemed to enjoy looking at the fishes. But I have to say I feel very sorry for the whale shark. It was smaller than we expected. Later I learnt that they do adapt their size to fit the environment, and a tank is certainly no match for the oceans of the world. To see a creature like this aimlessly swimming and turning from one glass face of the tank to another is quite sad. The whale shark was often accompanied by a school of smaller fishes. Isaac joked that this was the star's entourage and fan club. The other-worldly jellyfish, glowing in the darkness, were also a visual treat for us.
After the aquarium, we went for some cheap take-out sushi, snacking our way through a kitschy and rather touristy layout of old Osaka food stalls. The kids again hankered for ramen but we said no. I thought I saw a series of tiny restaurants along the way from the station, and being typically Singaporean, wanted to zero in one that had (what else!) a slew of newspaper cuttings! Ha, we trust places that either have a queue or a whole noticeboard of newspaper cuttings and reviews!
The wind had died down and while it was chilly, it was not as cold as it was earlier. The streets were relatively empty though and I thought this was surprising for a touristy part of Osaka.
We stopped to eat at the ramen place I remembered. Pushing the sliding door aside and ducking under the nori, we entered a tiny quaint little place that looked as if time stood still. Wooden panelled walls, a bar lined with stools, kitschy decor items, coat hangers hanging on the wall and standing there behind the counter, a thin, unsmiling, bald man who was the cook, the wait staff all rolled into one. The place looked tiny, cosy and totally charming. Steam floated up from big pots behind the counter and Ella Fitzgerald sang. It was warm, a lovely respite from the cold outside. For me, it was another Japanese Moment. The whole place looked worn, dated and a bit tired. I can't explain the appeal. Yet everything, the place, the music, the food, the mood, was exactly perfect. I would not forget this easily.
With sign language and bad Japanese, we got our message across - six bowls of ramen and a serving of gyoza. As was usually the case in these tiny restaurants, we took up almost the entire bar counter! The one-man chef got to work, and soon good smells were wafting up from the wok in front of us and the clanging sounds of wok and spatula filled the air. When the ramen arrived, everyone dove right in. You could hear the sounds of the kids slurping away.
After dinner, it was a long way home to Kyoto (or at least it seemed long to me, tired and carrying Trin). We stood all the way on the train from Osaka station back to Kyoto. I was grateful that the hotel was so near the station - well within staggering distance! But before we hit the hotel, we decided to take my colleague Chee Yong's advice and just buy breakfast from the konbini. So we stocked up on milk, sandwiches and juice. At 9pm the place was still packed with commuters coming and going.
We checked in the hotel and were shown to our rooms. I took room 832 which faced the shinkansen tracks and Kyoto station. KH, Cait, Isaac and Owain took the room opposite ours which faced the new wing of the hotel. Once the noise and bustle of settling all the children, giving their baths etc, settled any squabbling over the tv remote control and all that is finally over, I crawled into bed, lay down with Trin and let her nurse while I just lay flat.
Have to say that so far the kids have been real troupers about all the walking. Owain would still try his luck and ask to be carried, but when told no, he would gamely walk. I think he's been pretty good about it so far. Sometimes I do feel a bit sorry to his little legs pumping away, given the distances we've been walking. The only one who has not walked much is Trin and I am paying the price - carrying her around all day is really very tiring. Even the sling does not help as much because by the time the end of the day rolls round, I get a really tired throbbing pain in the left side. And there's not much use in passing her to KH because she only wanted me to carry her. sigh. At night, really beat from a day of walking etc, it felt really very very good to just lie down flat on the bed and hope you'd never have to get up again! Bliss...
Tomorrow - Kyoto!
Day 4 20 Nov 2007 Tokyo Disneyland
Disneyland today!
No wonder the kids all went to bed early the night before with no fuss - they knew they'd have to get up early for Disneyland!
We thought of walking to the nearby Sougo Recreation Park to get the shuttle to TDR but missed the earlier one. While we were there, the usual bus for the train station came by so we hopped on and went by bus/train instead, which was not a problem since Maihama station is only the next stop. The kids were jumping with pent up excitement - not only because it was Disneyland but because we were going to meet Auntie Rita and her brood!
The excitement in the air was palpable from the moment we stepped out of the train at Maihama as a familiar Disney theme tinkled in the air as the station's 'theme song'. For a weekday, we were stunned to see loads of people exiting the station and flooding towards Disney. At the main plaza area where the gates were, queues were already forming. We thought people were queing up for tickets and obediently joined the queues. Each line was at least 50min long! Later we discovered that they were not queing for tickets but queing to GET IN! They must have season tickets then? I wouldn't be surprised, given the Japanese love for Pooh and the Mouse.
It was only 8.15am in the morning (TDR opened at 8.30am) and the place was already packed. Mainly young people in their late teens/early 20s. Didn't they have to work or go to school? There were so many of them - and while the girls were dressed fashionably, tights, miniskirts, boots and jackets, many of them also wore those huge fluffy character hats eg a Pooh head, or Eeyore head, or Mike's (from Monsters Inc.) head etc - complete with fluffy ears! It looked incongruous with their outfit but they gamely wore those! I think they really either love pop disney culture or they are enthusiastically just getting into the mood - probably a combination of both! Oh and I saw another Gothic Lolita, complete with petticoat skirts and bonnet!
It was cloudy overhead, chilly, but the mood was upbeat. When the gates opened, you could see hordes of people literally running into the park, heading for their favourite attractions to beat the queues. I've been to LA Disney and Paris Disney and never have I seen people run like this when the gates opened!
Disney characters were out in full force, taking pictures, shaking hands, posing and welcoming people into the park for the day. The queues/crowds around the secondary characters were not very long but you'd know where Mickey and Minnie were by the length of the queues - people just obediently lined up to take pictures/shake hands - no milling about or pushing and shoving, this was Japan after all! Trin was delighted and fascinated by the characters. We took a picture with Robin Hood then went to Main Street where I had agreed to meet Rita.
I went off to the loo and when I came back, the Tans were already there and all the kids were busy yakking and catching up. After a round of pictures, it was strategy time. We decided to get our Fast Passes for Pooh's Hunny Hunt - I'd read that this was the best ride in Tokyo Disneyland, with the longest queues - firstly because the Japanese have a life-long love affair with the yellow bear and his pals and secondly because the ride has fantastic technology such that each ride you take may well be different as the cars will head off in different directions.
The Fastpass itself has a queue, but we got our tickets and were told to come back at 12.30pm. After our Fastpass, we went for the Small World ride. This is a Disney classic and it didn't have a queue formed yet so there was no waiting in line. The ride was as fascinating and beautiful as I remembered. It was themed for Christmas, so the little animated dolls were singing Jingle Bells in different languages! The costumes were richly detailed and it was fun to see the different cultural national costumes. The kids asked me how come no Singapore though! I did wonder why there was nothing much on the South East Asian region - apart from Thailand and the Philippines. There was no baju kurong or any dress that represented Indonesia, Malaysia etc. Oh well.
After the Small World came the Haunted Mansion. I liked the US and Euro versions but felt the Japanese version was a letdown - firstly of course it can't be helped that the narration was all in Japanese, but the elevator downward movement was also hardly significant. And yes, how scary can it be when you're packed into a hallway with 50 other people!
Trin and I sat together and she enjoyed the ride. She didn't think it was scary - just enjoyed the motion, the lights and the colours. The older kids of course just rolled their eyes and complained about how 'not scary!' it was. Which I do agree with. I think the Snow White ride was loads scarier than the Haunted Mansion - and that was one ride that Trin was also unnerved by, whimpering towards the end.
Well rather than give you a blow by blow account of our day at Disney, suffice to say that we took almost 70% of the rides. The big favourite of the kids - big and small - was Big Thunder Mountain. They loved the roller coaster element. And of course, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster - where they went twice, happily zapping the Evil Emperor Zurg and his battery guzzling minions.
Going with the Tans was fun. The kids really enjoyed hanging out together in Disneyland. And its always nice to see familiar faces in a foreign land - gives a good feeling. The weather was good, skies were blue and queues were not too long. We took Fastpasses wherever we could - for Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. So queing was minimal.
The Pooh's Hunny Hunt was really good. Even with the Fastpass, there was still about a 20min waiting time. We walked through a lovely themed waiting area, literally through the pages of a Pooh story book. It was delightful to see some familiar pages there - the one about the time that Pooh got stuck in Rabbits' door was one of them.
Lunch was a chicken meal. KH and I had seen a couple chewing on a huge drumstick. So KH, the insatiable chicken drumstick fan, tried to ask people where they had gotten it from by using a combination of grunts and sign language. It was a gigantic mutant turkey leg which I could not finish but was polished off by my eager barbarians who even after walloping their meal, could not wait to get their hands on mine.
Interesting things we noticed about Tokyo Disneyland were:
1) The place was super clean. You could practically eat off the floor. Although the park is old - about 20 years already, there were no signs of wear and tear, no peeling paint, no scuffed marks. Everything was maintained so well! Before a parade, you'd get groups of uniformed cleaners literally 'clearing' the path of any debris. These guys should be hired to walk airport runways! We were waiting in line for one attraction when we noticed that someone had spilt some popcorn and created a mess in the queuing area. The attendant manning the ride did not call for a cleaner, but just held the line back, took up a broom and swept it all up - every last crumb - before she let the line move. Had this happened in any theme park in Malaysia or elsewhere, I can imagine the mess being left there for yonks, people trampling on it and making it worse etc, before anything could be done. Not so here. And I found it interesting that they multi-tasked and took responsibility for their stations. Perhaps other park attendants (cast members they are called in Disney) in other theme parks would have just radioed for a cleaner to come, their main role being clearly crowd management into the ride itself only and not maintenance. I was impressed. I wondered if it was part of their training or their cultural make-up.
2) The rides seemed abbreviated. Nowhere was this clearer than the Dumbo ride. Thank God I didn't queue. The others did and they queued for so long, only to have the ride last about a minute and a half! Truly a dumbo ride - we were left dumb-founded at the speed of it!
3) You know when and where a parade would be taking place well ahead of time. Not by looking into the park guide. As we wandered through the park, suddenly right in front of us would be a Japanese group on a mat. Seemingly right smack in the middle of the road. They were 'choping' their places for the parade - which, when we checked, was not likely to start for another hour! I think they really love the parades. We were relatively lucky. Our encounters with the parades were more by chance than design. We would be walking along and then realise, hey they're cordoning off the place for a parade! But by evening, the crowd had thinned and while we didn't have to 'chope' front row seats for the Christmas parade an hour ahead of time, we had no problems getting the spots we wanted.
4) While watching the parade, I was struck by the energy and enthusiasm of the performers. Some of them were no longer spring chickens. I was fascinated and in awe when I watched a man in his late 40s, mid 50s perform - he was just part of the walking/dancing band but he carried out his routine with such verve and expression - he really threw himself into it. It was marvellous to see! In Singapore, I think you'd be hard pressed to find people of that age in these jobs and doing them with such joy!
5) Watching the Japanese watch the parades confirmed my suspicion that these guys all had season passes. They knew ALL the moves - and danced/moved along to the choreography so well that I think they had to have seen this many times before to be so familiar! But hey, if I lived near Disney, I think I too would have season tickets to the park - it would be, for us, like being Friends of the Zoo - we'd drop in often! Watching them gamely go with the flow and then watching our group (I was across the road, photographing them watching the parade), I was struck by the difference in attitude. The Japanese would be clapping enthusiastically, waving at the characters, big smiles all around, joining in the choreography obediently when urged by the cast members. Our guys? Just watched the show passively, no waves, clapping at the end only and definitely no audience participation vibes! I could tell they were probably in awe and just watching the spectacle, but there was just no demonstrative joy!! sigh... We're really a hard audience to please. I told them later what a killjoy they all were.
By around 6.30pm, the Tans left for their hotel - a sad parting for the kids. Very funny to watch. You'd think they were long-lost lovers separated for good the way they were acting. The Chongs stayed on for one more go at Small World - totally zero queue this time. And then they went on the teacups - which I begged off, thanks to one pukey incident at Euro Disney years ago.
Then came the night's most embarrassing moment.
We headed for the carousel. Four concentric rows of lovely horses. KH picked the outermost one, I took the next inner row. Placed Trin on a horse and got up behind her. Before the ride could start, the attendant saw me and gestured with limited English: No sit! Cannot - No, no! No sit! Down!
Okay, okay. I got the message and came down, feeling a bit sheepish. Then KH, perched up on the horse behind said: Eh, why are you getting down? Sit lah!
When I explained why, he gestured dismissively and loftily pointed out: See, even the guy in front of us is sitting up there with a kid! Just get up and sit lah!
Yeah, it made sense - why on earth not? Why could I NOT sit up there with Trin? So I swung myself up and the ride began. Couple of seconds into the ride, I realised that the ride was pretty slow and even thought to myself: wah, kinda slow for a carousel right?? Whoa... now it's even slowing down...
Next thing I knew the ride came to a stop and the attendant came up to me and said/gestured even more frantically and yet, in the apologetic Japanese way: Sumimasen NO! NO SIT!! CANNOT! NO NO NO!!
By then the horse had been lifted quite high so I had to swing my leg over in a hurry and come down. I did it so fast that I must have popped a ligament somewhere - it hurt to walk after that. I asked why I could not and indignantly pointed at the man in front. The attendant replied: Please, sorry, only outside horse!
Argh!! Great. Why didn't anyone tell me earlier!
To make things worse, my horse had stopped right in front of the queuing area where all eyes were now trained on me. Everyone on the carousel was also looking at me. Then I heard a rush of Japanese and saw the nodding heads in the crowd, heard the murmuring and then understanding dawned - I was being used as an example! The attendant must have explained to the crowd - see this mad silly foreign woman here who can't listen to instructions! blah blah blah...
Then the carousel started again. Trin stayed on the horse. I stayed down. But made sure I shot KH lots of murderous looks!
We called it a day at Disney only after catching the beautifully illuminated Electric Light Parade, and of course, the fireworks above the castle - which terrified Trin no end. The rides didn't scare her but the boom of fireworks always do - be it NDP or TDR fireworks!
After that, it was a long, tiring struggle, carrying a sleeping Trin all the way back to the train station, to the bus, to the hotel to crash. I was so tired that I could only stagger. To make things worse, we all had to be up early and out of the hotel by 6am the next day to catch the shinkansen!
Day 3 19 Nov 2007 Tokyo - Imperial Palace, Odaiba
After breakfast, we headed to the Imperial Palace. Phew it was bitterly cold! I could only breathe by gasping like a fish out of water everytime the wind hit. Isaac walked backwards so that his back faced the wind and all of us just kept our heads down, hands in pockets as we trudged across the huge wide plaza to the Imperial Palace. The sun was out, the sky was blue but our teeth were chattering!
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/chongbrood/Day3Tokyo
On hindsight, I did wonder what was the purpose in going there since we could not enter the palace and did not feel inclined to wander its grounds since the cold was so sharp that morning. We stopped by the moat and took the usual pictures of the famed Nijubashi bridge in the background.
The place was crowded with tour groups - people from China and Taiwan. One of them asked us curiously: "Are all these children... yours?" We said yes and the woman beamed: "Wah! We thought you were looking after some other person's children, not all could be yours... Well you are lucky - how wonderful to have a large family. In China, we can't have so many. For people to have even 2, it costs a great deal of money." Ah, in Japan as in Singapore - we get the same reaction.
After the Imperial Palace, we took a subway to Shimbashi station and changed to the new state-of-the-art Yurikamome line. This is a driverless train which ran to and around Odaiba where we were headed. Odaiba is a reclaimed island that now houses the high-tech modern 21st century face of Japan.
So yesterday we saw the 'old' and today we're exploring the new. The Yurikamome was a comfortable ride (very different from the sentosa monorail!) that took us over the waterfront area and onto the beautiful Rainbow Bridge which leads to Odaiba.
First stop in Odaiba was the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation or Miraikan as it is known in Japanese. We arrived just in time for a quick lunch at the cafe and then to the robotics section to see ASIMO, the world's first humanoid robot. Unfortunately, everything was in Japanese so we could not understand what was going on, but it was cute to see ASIMO run!
The exhibits in the Miraikan offered translations in English, but many of the technologies on show there really went over my head! Just too 'cheem'. We did enjoy the exhibits on the human brain, entered a real submersible (you'd be surprised how tiny the actual amount of space was!), walked through a real space capsule and saw the cramped living quarters of astronauts (now I know how they 'did their business' up in space - one literally has to be strapped down for the fun to begin! The Miraikan also had this huge plasma globe suspended in the air which showed the weather patterns of the world in real time, so one could see the shifting clouds, the wind, the ocean currents all on the move. It was a very pretty sight!
From Miraikan, we took the Yurikamome to Venus Fort where the Toyota Megaweb was. The place is a big car showroom with every Toyota model under the sun - including KH's 'favourite' Wish! The fun thing to do there for the kids, is to put together an electric battery car and then drive it round the circuit. But because all instructions were in Japanese, we begged off that part and opted for just the driving bit. So Isaac and Gillian went a few slow and sedate rounds - which annoyed Isaac who itched to speed and groaned when he was told "No overtaking and no speeding!"
Following that, we all went for a joyride in a real electric car. Two per car so disgruntled Isaac had to cool his heels until Gillian came back and took him on the ride. Gillian was tall enough to 'drive' so she took the wheels of one car. So did I. Owain sat with me. What a let-down - everything was programmed already so all we had to do was sit there - the car went at its own speed, on the fixed route (there was only one track!). But Owain and I had a very entertaining chat in the car about how he was going to be rich someday and buy this car for me, and how he was going to be so rich that he would fill his house with money - never mind the furniture! And everyday, he added eyes sparkling with glee, he would count his money!! Ai-yi-yi!
After we finished the Toyota Megaweb, it was already night. So we went to Venus Fort to the Burberry Blue Label to buy one very auntie-looking bag for my bro. Paul had asked me to do this so in consideration of our new-found bond at dad's bedside, I agreed to do so. Geez. We bought the bag 38000yen (remember this figure!) and went off 'home' via the Rinkai Line.
Stopped for dinner at a ramen joint beneath the Shin-Kiba station. Then as we tried to get the tickets for the train home, we witnessed Tokyo rush hour in its glory. Sort of. There was just this never-ending stream of people - suited in black or dark blue, men and women, carrying briefcases, bags etc all looking very purposeful and moving almost as one body - flowing from the ticket-gates to the entrance/exit of the station.
The river of people was moving so fast we could not cut across to the bank of ticket vending machines opposite. So we just stood and watched and marvelled. Shenton Way at peak is nothing compared to this. And we're only talking about Shin-Kiba here - just a semi-suburban outlying station - not even Shinjuku and yet the massive stream of people was just amazing to watch. Where do they come from and where are they headed and why does everyone look so busy and why are they always in such a hurry?
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/chongbrood/Day3Tokyo
Day 2 18 Nov 2007 Tokyo Meiji Jingu, Shinjuku
The hotel provided a simple buffet spread for breakfast. Less than the full spread one would get at the big hotels, but decent enough and better value than many Australian motels would. The Family Fifty's at Maihama hotel is similar in structure and set-up to chain motels in the US eg Motel 6, in France like the Formula 1 chain. But I think this offers better value. For Tokyo, the rooms are a decent size, holding a double bed and a sofa bed which converts into a single bed, ensuite bathrooms and breakfast.
We took the subway to Shinjuku and walked to the TMG - it was 4pm, almost sunset by then. The picture on the right is the Citizens Plaza. Up on the north tower, we could see the lights of Tokyo coming on, the neon of Shinjuku just starting to glow and the sun setting, Mt Fuji in silhouette. Far below was the vast expanse of green that was Yoyogi Park and a glimpse of the turquoise roofs of Meiji Jingu shrine. It struck me how much a concrete sprawl Tokyo was, how huge.
When we got down, we walked for a while in East Shinjuku checking out dinner options before settling on a kaiten sushi place. 105yen per plate for 'normal' sushi and 210 for the more expensive cuts. We were too big a group to sit together so we split up. The older kids sat together and KH and the younger kids and I took another space. With no one to 'control' how much they could take, the bigger kids went wild - plates of ikura, maguro etc piled up quickly. I tried some natto - ugh. For the first time in my life I actually left some sushi uneaten. I thought it was uni (sea urchin) but it wasn't. The smell was just too overpowering. I'd tried uni in Singapore and never had a problem so I think this was probably not uni but natto.
We had cold hardboiled eggs (orange yolks!) , bread, pastry, juice, milk, cereal, fruit and salad (I discovered the lovely tanginess of a Japanese sesame dressing!) . Then it was off to a day of sightseeing in Tokyo itself.
We took a bus to the train station (not cheap - it cost 200yen per adult, 100yen for a child, so all in the bus trip alone cost 700yen for all of us) which was two stops away. From there, at the station, we studied the big train map carefully and surveyed the automatic ticket vending machine with some trepidation before giving up and asking the man at the counter. KH and I used the Suica stored value card but had to buy tickets for the kids.
Up on the platform, it was sunny, briskly cool and windy - perfect day. Kasai Rinkai Koen spread out before us. We could see the large ferris wheel, the Tokyo Sea Life Park, the lovely resthouse fronting the manmade shoreline. I was thrilled to see that the leaves on the trees were already well coloured! I was a bit apprehensive that they would not be since before departure, I was religiously checking the Japanese sites for koyo updates and the picture did not look good - the sites were saying that lots of places were still relatively green or were just beginning to turn.
On the platform, noticed it was so cute that each train station had their own little piece of music that played when the train was departing. (Later on I would discover that Maihama station's music was a Disney theme - fitting since it was the station for Disneyland!)
We had no problems arriving at Tokyo but noted that the walk from the Keiyo line to the Tokyo station was a long one. From there, we plunged into bustling Tokyo station and changed trains to the green Yamanote line which took us all the way to Harajuku station.
Harajuku station on a Sunday was packed with people. I was hoping to spot the infamous Cosplay kids but only saw a couple on the bridge to the park. We headed for the Meiji Jingu shrine in the heart of the park. Lovely day to walk. Lots of Tokyo-ites and tourists leisurely moving into the shrine. It was about a shady 500m walk in, flanked by greenery and tall shady trees on both sides. We had to pass under two huge wooden torii gates en route. The wood was 1500year-old cypress from Taiwan. We saw lots of very very cute little boys and girls dressed in gorgeous kimonos!
It was the weekend for Shichi-Go-San. Literally 7-5-3. A festival for children aged 7, 5 or 3 yos where they would dress up in their best, go to the shrines with their families seek blessings for good health, success etc. Those little girls in their vibrant red, purple, mauve kimonos, some with a fur collar etc, in their tiny getas, hair piled up and pinned with flowers, looked so demure and so cute! We took lots of pictures of these little ones and were not alone in doing so - lots of other gaijins were also busy snapping away, grinning from ear to ear.
At the shrine, we did our first purification ritual for the trip - the first of many! Ladle some water from the trough, pour over one hand, then the other. Some people poured water into their cupped palms, gargled and spat into the drain below, but we just kept to the hand-washing bit. When we entered the shrine, we saw we were in luck! There was a Shinto wedding going on. The bride, powdered white and dressed in a white brocade kimono, stood under a tree with her groom, dressed in sober black and grey traditional robes. Later we saw the full procession, led by the Shinto priest.
It was the weekend for Shichi-Go-San. Literally 7-5-3. A festival for children aged 7, 5 or 3 yos where they would dress up in their best, go to the shrines with their families seek blessings for good health, success etc. Those little girls in their vibrant red, purple, mauve kimonos, some with a fur collar etc, in their tiny getas, hair piled up and pinned with flowers, looked so demure and so cute! We took lots of pictures of these little ones and were not alone in doing so - lots of other gaijins were also busy snapping away, grinning from ear to ear.
At the shrine, we did our first purification ritual for the trip - the first of many! Ladle some water from the trough, pour over one hand, then the other. Some people poured water into their cupped palms, gargled and spat into the drain below, but we just kept to the hand-washing bit. When we entered the shrine, we saw we were in luck! There was a Shinto wedding going on. The bride, powdered white and dressed in a white brocade kimono, stood under a tree with her groom, dressed in sober black and grey traditional robes. Later we saw the full procession, led by the Shinto priest.
The main deity enshrined in the Meiji Jingu shrine was the Meiji emperor and his empress. The kids and KH wanted to make wishes in front of the shrine, so we observed what everyone was doing and followed suit - drop a few yen into the collection box, clap twice, bow, hands clasped and make a wish.
I saw the ema votive tablets and decided to buy one for 500yen and write a wish on it. The ema would be hung up with the others and prayers offered for it the next morning by the Shinto priests. I wished for a speedy recovery for dad, Gillian passing her PSLE and good wishes for all of us. So far, two out of three ain't bad! 
We also bought an omamori for Gillian. This is a charm for success in an entrance exam. Very pretty thing in white brocade with the purpose of the charm and the shrine's name embroidered on it. I also took the opportunity to get my 'fortune' slip - a stanza of a poem written by the Meiji emperor. It was a beautiful verse and I found it meaningful.
Mizu
Utsuwa niha
shitagai nagara
iwagane mo
tosu ha mizu no
chikara narikere
It means: Water does not oppose any vessels and takes the form of its vessel. Water seems to be obedient, flexible, and not self-assertive. However, water can break rocks with its consecutive concentrated drops. So people should also have flexibility for any situation such as thought and human relationship, and have consecutive concentration to do something important. I found this very meaningful.
It means: Water does not oppose any vessels and takes the form of its vessel. Water seems to be obedient, flexible, and not self-assertive. However, water can break rocks with its consecutive concentrated drops. So people should also have flexibility for any situation such as thought and human relationship, and have consecutive concentration to do something important. I found this very meaningful.
After the shrine, we walked across to Harajuku and the very busy Takeshita-dori. More Cosplay kids were coming out now. The trend seemed to be doll-like 19th century dressing with stiff corsets, flowery prints, stiff petticoat skirts, high frilled lace collars and bonnets - paired incongruously with kohl-lined gothic make-up! We also saw a grown man dressed as a baby - complete with baby bonnet and giant pacifier! The kids couldn't take their eyes off the guy asked me why the man was dressed like that. I said that some people just enjoy dressing up like that for fun. Lame, I know.
Owain was whining for McDonalds or sushi but there wasn't a sushi joint in sight. So we pushed on, followed our noses which led us up a flight of stairs to a teensy ramen joint, bar counter seating, vending machine for tickets and a queue that stretched halfway down the stairs with the locals so we figured must be good.
When we finally got a seat, we filled up 2/3 of the restaurant! The ramen was very good and came with an extra bowl of rice. We had to order extra bowls of noodles cos the kids loved the ramen so much. I think it was about 600-700yen a bowl (with the rice). But I think I was conscious that we could not take our time to eat leisurely as the queue was forming already outside the place. When we left, I practised my teensy bit of pidgin Japanese and to the choruses of "arigato-gozaimashite" from the cook and the helper, I said "Gochiso-sama deshita!" and it was good to see their looks of surprised pleasure!
Owain was whining for McDonalds or sushi but there wasn't a sushi joint in sight. So we pushed on, followed our noses which led us up a flight of stairs to a teensy ramen joint, bar counter seating, vending machine for tickets and a queue that stretched halfway down the stairs with the locals so we figured must be good.
When we finally got a seat, we filled up 2/3 of the restaurant! The ramen was very good and came with an extra bowl of rice. We had to order extra bowls of noodles cos the kids loved the ramen so much. I think it was about 600-700yen a bowl (with the rice). But I think I was conscious that we could not take our time to eat leisurely as the queue was forming already outside the place. When we left, I practised my teensy bit of pidgin Japanese and to the choruses of "arigato-gozaimashite" from the cook and the helper, I said "Gochiso-sama deshita!" and it was good to see their looks of surprised pleasure! We walked down Omotesando Blvd - the Orchard Rd of Tokyo but much much higher end. Saw Prada, Issey Miyake and all the big names. At one point, I remember KH lifting Owain onto his shoulders for a view. Because the street was a slope, we all turned back to look down the slope and my gosh - it was a just a huge sea, a constant wide rushing river of people that just kept coming and coming. Where do all these people come from? I had to keep reminding myself that Tokyo was a city of 16million.
On Omotesando you really see all kinds of people. Dogs dressed up in turtle neck sweaters. Goths. Lolitas. And a very weird old man on a bike dressed in a skirt, with a flowery hat and two fishbowls of live goldfish dangling from his ears or his hat or something like that.
On Omotesando you really see all kinds of people. Dogs dressed up in turtle neck sweaters. Goths. Lolitas. And a very weird old man on a bike dressed in a skirt, with a flowery hat and two fishbowls of live goldfish dangling from his ears or his hat or something like that.
We took the subway to Shinjuku and walked to the TMG - it was 4pm, almost sunset by then. The picture on the right is the Citizens Plaza. Up on the north tower, we could see the lights of Tokyo coming on, the neon of Shinjuku just starting to glow and the sun setting, Mt Fuji in silhouette. Far below was the vast expanse of green that was Yoyogi Park and a glimpse of the turquoise roofs of Meiji Jingu shrine. It struck me how much a concrete sprawl Tokyo was, how huge. When we got down, we walked for a while in East Shinjuku checking out dinner options before settling on a kaiten sushi place. 105yen per plate for 'normal' sushi and 210 for the more expensive cuts. We were too big a group to sit together so we split up. The older kids sat together and KH and the younger kids and I took another space. With no one to 'control' how much they could take, the bigger kids went wild - plates of ikura, maguro etc piled up quickly. I tried some natto - ugh. For the first time in my life I actually left some sushi uneaten. I thought it was uni (sea urchin) but it wasn't. The smell was just too overpowering. I'd tried uni in Singapore and never had a problem so I think this was probably not uni but natto. We went to the Alta building, famed for the big screen and where everyone seemed to be waiting for everyone else. Crowds of young people stood there on the chilly pavement, oblivious to the crowd and the cold, busy flipping open their mobile phones and texting away or playing games. After a while it was a case of too much neon, too tired kids and too cold! So we took a train back to Tokyo station. On a hunch after I checked the map, we took an escalator up and voila - the Tokyo International Forum - one of the most interesting architectural landmarks in Tokyo. The building, meant for conventions and meetings, was built like a glass ship - lots of steel and glass soaring upwards connected by sky bridges. It was beautiful, especially when lit at night.
So ends our first day in Tokyo.
Other little things that struck me today - how the Japanese religiously separated their trash. You'd never find a bin that one can just throw rubbish in. We found ourselves carrying bits of used tissue paper and accumulating them because we just could not find a bin to throw them in. Waste receptacles were clearly labelled: bottles, PET bottles, cans, newspapers/papers. Now why couldn't we do a similar thing in Singapore? Just using less plastic bags in Singapore already created so much resistance. And here in Japan, people were readily, automatically already separating their trash in public - don't even talk about how they do this at home!
Another thing that struck me - the keep left unspoken rule. On an escalator, everyone keeps left, leaving the right a clear path to move up. Back in Singapore I've seen this happen too, but not as religiously as in Japan. You could get a scolding from someone in a hurry if you did not keep left!
Also while walking in Takeshita Dori, I saw someone carrying a baby in an MIM sling! He saw me and we sort of nodded/smiled a bit - must be from the same neck of the woods!
And when we were at the very busy Shinjuku station, Trinity decided to lie facedown on the station floor to do the breaststroke. All attempts to lift her up were met with screams. So we decided it was best to just let her be. sigh. The Tokyoites just stepped around her and went on their way but not before casting curious looks - I don't think their kids behave like this in public. Come to think of it, I don't think their kids behave badly at all! I've never seen a Japanese kid scream or throw a fit in public. Nor have I seen Japanese parents stand and furiously tell their kids off, fingers wagging - as I have done.
More tomorrow!
Day 1 17 Nov 2007 Tokyo - Arrival at Narita!
If you're following from my other blog, you'd know how anguished I was to make the decision to go and leave my dad, still unconscious in the Cardiac CCU.
My flight to Japan left at 9.45am. So at 6.30am, my mum, sister and brother picked me, Gillian and Trinity up to go to the hospital to see my dad. After we'd seen him, said our silent 'see-ya later!', we went to the airport, breakfasted there while I changed another $1000 into Japanese yen. The exchange rate was poor and I got far less than what I'd gotten before.
Finally, it was time to leave. Said our goodbyes and hugs and then we're through the glass walls heading to Immigration. I turned to look. Mum was still waving. I felt another glob of doubt - was it a mistake to go? But no time to think, passports asked for, given, returned and it was time to pass through immigration and move on.
The flight was okay. Trin nursed non-stop practically while Gillian was making the fullest use of the inflight entertainment system! The food on board was not fantastic but I was hungry.
We landed at Narita at 1750pm. It was dark outside already. I had my first experience of the wonder-loo at the airport - the multi-function toilet bowl that could mask sounds of agonised groaning of the constipated (kidding!), shoot a warm spray of water to clean the privates and warm air to blow dry!
I switched on my phone and saw a flurry of messages. My aunt from Shanghai asking about dad. My cousins. Concerned friends. A heartening one from mum who says dad has been taken off the ventilator which is a good sign. And one from KH who said he would be waiting for us in the arrival lobby! Yippee! The original plan was for him to take the limo bus into the Maihama area and get into the hotel first. But he decided to take a tour of the Narita temple area instead while waiting for my plane to get in, then return to the airport to meet us.
Immigration was a breeze. Carrying Trin meant a quick pass to a counter with no queue, so we passed through very very quickly. We only checked in one large haversack, so we picked that up and went on leaving the crowds behind.
Exiting the arrival area, we had a joyful reunion with KH and the rest of the kids who already had a headstart into the Japanese experience with a ticketing machine for ramen! We headed down to the train station and bought our N'EX+Suica combination. The N'EX works as a train ticket directly to Tokyo city while the Suica was like our Easi-link stored-value MRT card. The kids did not have Suica since it would involve filling in lots of forms etc, so forget it. NEX was half price for the bigger kids and free for Owain and Trin.
The NEX was a smooth and easy ride into Tokyo station. It was comfortable and clean with reserved seating with the tickets. My first glimpses of Japan were of neon streaking past, porch lights left on, bridges spanning huge rivers and then, as the train drew nearer Tokyo station, densely packed housing running just next to the tracks and overhead expressways.
At Tokyo station, we stopped to figure out where and how to go. We had to take the Keiyo line to Kasai Rinkai Koen station. What I read was all coming to life - the throngs of people in the station, each purposefully striding in different directions, the fashionably dressed women (even the tiny toddlers were stylish - girls wearing elegant boots and tailored woollen coats with fur cuffs - no sneakers and jeans in sight!), the brightly lit and coloured stores selling food, newsstands selling snacks, drinks, tidbits, cigarettes, sweets and stacks of eye-popping magazines, manga and soft porn. The array was bewildering. The energy was vibrant. Welcome to Tokyo!
We used the loo and while waiting for us outside, an old man carrying a plastic bag full of mandarin oranges distributed one each to my children. Huh??? A little Japanese girl around Trin's age was fascinated by Trin and didn't want to leave even when her mother gently urged her on. I think they said hello in some baby language.
Finally we got our bearings and hiked off to the Keiyo line which took about 15 to 20 min alone. There were escalators and travellators but it still took us about that long to make the connection. It was not hard to find the way though - everything was clearly sign-posted in English and romanji. And the lines were colour-coded, so we just followed the signs for the red circle.
Taking the Keiyo line is also not a problem. The NE'X tickets got us that far into Kasai Rinkai Koen. On the train, a Japanese couple struck up a conversation with Gillian, smiling and saying in halting English: Your bag looks heavy!
When we arrived at Kasai Rinkai Koen, it was another 1.2km trek into the residential area where the hotel was. It was chilly but not very cold. I was exhilarated by the cold air - it just reinforced the newness of the whole journey.
I knew my way to the hotel since I'd studied the map well before we left. But once we were out of the station, we bumped into the kind couple on the train again. They asked where we were going and nodded when we told them. They gestured and told us to follow them. So we tramped companionably with them all the way. The gentleman could speak some English and when we said we were from Singapore, he smiled and said: Beautiful country!
Gratified to hear it but I don't think Singapore is exactly what I would call 'beautiful'!
They walked us all the way to the doorstep of the hotel, out of their usual route home. We thanked them profusely in English and in Japanese which delighted the lady even more. I'd read that Tokyo-ites can be immensely helpful and will go out of their way to help and show you the right way to go, so this is again, another big experience come to life.
Once at the hotel, it was more like a small motel, we split into two rooms (each room is a triple room that cost about 9400yen a night, with its own bathroom). The rooms were small but not overly so. We had space for a double bed, a sofa which converts to a single bed and a coffee table. No wardrobe though, but this is more than what I would expect from Tokyo hotels already size-wise. We also had a TV and the only English channel played Planet of the Apes - the Charlton Heston version!!
We were all tired from the commute from the airport and I was especially so since had less than a couple of hours of sleep the night before. So we all just crashed and slept like logs!
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/chongbrood/Day1ArrivalAtNarita
My flight to Japan left at 9.45am. So at 6.30am, my mum, sister and brother picked me, Gillian and Trinity up to go to the hospital to see my dad. After we'd seen him, said our silent 'see-ya later!', we went to the airport, breakfasted there while I changed another $1000 into Japanese yen. The exchange rate was poor and I got far less than what I'd gotten before.
Finally, it was time to leave. Said our goodbyes and hugs and then we're through the glass walls heading to Immigration. I turned to look. Mum was still waving. I felt another glob of doubt - was it a mistake to go? But no time to think, passports asked for, given, returned and it was time to pass through immigration and move on.
The flight was okay. Trin nursed non-stop practically while Gillian was making the fullest use of the inflight entertainment system! The food on board was not fantastic but I was hungry.
We landed at Narita at 1750pm. It was dark outside already. I had my first experience of the wonder-loo at the airport - the multi-function toilet bowl that could mask sounds of agonised groaning of the constipated (kidding!), shoot a warm spray of water to clean the privates and warm air to blow dry!
I switched on my phone and saw a flurry of messages. My aunt from Shanghai asking about dad. My cousins. Concerned friends. A heartening one from mum who says dad has been taken off the ventilator which is a good sign. And one from KH who said he would be waiting for us in the arrival lobby! Yippee! The original plan was for him to take the limo bus into the Maihama area and get into the hotel first. But he decided to take a tour of the Narita temple area instead while waiting for my plane to get in, then return to the airport to meet us.
Immigration was a breeze. Carrying Trin meant a quick pass to a counter with no queue, so we passed through very very quickly. We only checked in one large haversack, so we picked that up and went on leaving the crowds behind.
Exiting the arrival area, we had a joyful reunion with KH and the rest of the kids who already had a headstart into the Japanese experience with a ticketing machine for ramen! We headed down to the train station and bought our N'EX+Suica combination. The N'EX works as a train ticket directly to Tokyo city while the Suica was like our Easi-link stored-value MRT card. The kids did not have Suica since it would involve filling in lots of forms etc, so forget it. NEX was half price for the bigger kids and free for Owain and Trin.
The NEX was a smooth and easy ride into Tokyo station. It was comfortable and clean with reserved seating with the tickets. My first glimpses of Japan were of neon streaking past, porch lights left on, bridges spanning huge rivers and then, as the train drew nearer Tokyo station, densely packed housing running just next to the tracks and overhead expressways.
At Tokyo station, we stopped to figure out where and how to go. We had to take the Keiyo line to Kasai Rinkai Koen station. What I read was all coming to life - the throngs of people in the station, each purposefully striding in different directions, the fashionably dressed women (even the tiny toddlers were stylish - girls wearing elegant boots and tailored woollen coats with fur cuffs - no sneakers and jeans in sight!), the brightly lit and coloured stores selling food, newsstands selling snacks, drinks, tidbits, cigarettes, sweets and stacks of eye-popping magazines, manga and soft porn. The array was bewildering. The energy was vibrant. Welcome to Tokyo!
We used the loo and while waiting for us outside, an old man carrying a plastic bag full of mandarin oranges distributed one each to my children. Huh??? A little Japanese girl around Trin's age was fascinated by Trin and didn't want to leave even when her mother gently urged her on. I think they said hello in some baby language.
Finally we got our bearings and hiked off to the Keiyo line which took about 15 to 20 min alone. There were escalators and travellators but it still took us about that long to make the connection. It was not hard to find the way though - everything was clearly sign-posted in English and romanji. And the lines were colour-coded, so we just followed the signs for the red circle.
Taking the Keiyo line is also not a problem. The NE'X tickets got us that far into Kasai Rinkai Koen. On the train, a Japanese couple struck up a conversation with Gillian, smiling and saying in halting English: Your bag looks heavy!
When we arrived at Kasai Rinkai Koen, it was another 1.2km trek into the residential area where the hotel was. It was chilly but not very cold. I was exhilarated by the cold air - it just reinforced the newness of the whole journey.
I knew my way to the hotel since I'd studied the map well before we left. But once we were out of the station, we bumped into the kind couple on the train again. They asked where we were going and nodded when we told them. They gestured and told us to follow them. So we tramped companionably with them all the way. The gentleman could speak some English and when we said we were from Singapore, he smiled and said: Beautiful country!
Gratified to hear it but I don't think Singapore is exactly what I would call 'beautiful'!
They walked us all the way to the doorstep of the hotel, out of their usual route home. We thanked them profusely in English and in Japanese which delighted the lady even more. I'd read that Tokyo-ites can be immensely helpful and will go out of their way to help and show you the right way to go, so this is again, another big experience come to life.
Once at the hotel, it was more like a small motel, we split into two rooms (each room is a triple room that cost about 9400yen a night, with its own bathroom). The rooms were small but not overly so. We had space for a double bed, a sofa which converts to a single bed and a coffee table. No wardrobe though, but this is more than what I would expect from Tokyo hotels already size-wise. We also had a TV and the only English channel played Planet of the Apes - the Charlton Heston version!!
We were all tired from the commute from the airport and I was especially so since had less than a couple of hours of sleep the night before. So we all just crashed and slept like logs!
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/chongbrood/Day1ArrivalAtNarita
Planning for Japan
Planning for Japan started very early in 2007. We realised that KH's Krisflyer points were about to expire if we didn't do something about it and it was a huge chunk - about 22,000miles. Extending the mileage would cost too much so we had to figure out a way to use them.
First option was actually Vietnam. I liked the idea of Hanoi and then sub-trips to Halong Bay and into the Sapa Valley. I had romantic visions of sitting on a raft, piloted by women in conical hats, drifting through a sea of green rice paddies with mountains looming overhead. KH brought me back down to earth when he said he didn't think the baby would sit still on a raft for 2 hours just admiring the scenery!
The cost of it also didn't make sense to me. It would cost about $5000. For a little bit more, we could go further, I thought. I considered Hong Kong - they had a cool climate, theme parks which the kids would enjoy etc but upon further research, I was not impressed with HK Disneyland - it didn't seem to be a full Disney park and lacked some key rides (chiefly Haunted Mansion!). So again, I looked further and then it hit me. If we're talking Disneyland, and LA is too far and too expensive, then why not Tokyo?
So I did my research and counted my pennies. With the Krisflyer points, we could book two tickets. KH was due to fly to and from Europe twice more during the year and this would easily chalk up enough points for a third ticket. We also realised then that NorthWest Airlines had a special promo deal with the UOB Signature card - 2 tickets for the price of 1! That would help save quite a lot.
Everyone said that Japan would be expensive. Whenever I mentioned Japan, jaws would drop and people tsk at how expensive it would be. But when I did my research - the Lonely Planet Japan, The Rough Guide to Japan, websites like JapanGuide.com etc all showed that the cost of travel in Japan was not as prohibitive as we thought. In fact, compared to the US or Europe, with the higher exchange rates, higher airfares, Japan would be a more economical choice. Even when compared with Australia, with the high Aussie dollar to the Sing dollar, and considering food costs/accomodation costs in Australia for our family size, even an Aussie trip would be quite costly. Japan was looking more attractive by the minute.
The more I read about Japan, the more excited I got and the more fascinated I was with the land, the people, the culture. I also had to consider the ages of the children and what would interest them. No point spending so much just to drag bored and unwilling children along from cathedral to museum. So HK was out (lacklustre Disneyland + both KH and I have been there), China was out (don't think the kids would thrill to too much of 3000 years of culture) and anywhere nearby was out (climate too similar!). Korea and Taiwan were out (KH was already baulking at Japan and went on and on about how Japan, Korea and Taiwan are the last three places on planet earth that he ever wanted to go to and while I did not agree about Japan, I did agree with his sentiments on Korea and Taiwan - bleah).
Japan, I reasoned - had the weather, the scenery (cherry blossoms? autumn foliage?), the culture (shinto shrines and buddhist temples), the fun (Disney Resort and Universal Studios), good food (the kids' eyes shine whenever sushi is mentioned) and glitzy city life.
With that, we agreed to go to Japan. Cherry blossom time in April was out - it was Gillian's PSLE year and we agreed that there would be no major trips before the big exam and what kind of Singaporean mother would I be if I didn't dangle the big trip as a carrot/incentive to work harder? So that left autumn or winter. Winter was too cold and autumn seemed ideal - to catch the lovely foliage and to enjoy good clear weather. Autumn in Japan had little rain, lots of clear skies but yet with crisply chilly temperatures.
I made the Krisflyer bookings for 9 days in November, bought the Northwest 2-for-1 deal and then went online to explore accomodation and land travel options and to piece together an itinerary. This was in Feb 2007. It took me almost the whole year to tweak the itinerary. I kept changing my mind - sometimes too much information is not a good thing.
Japan being so big, had lots of things to see and places to go. But the essential seemed to be Tokyo and Kyoto. One a shiny polished new capital and the other the dignified ancient capital. A must for the kids is at least a day or two in the Disney Resort. Disney Sea is new and unique to the Disney park family, and from what I read, lovingly detailed and elaborate in theming, but the rides also seemed more geared to older kids and adults. So for now, with the constraint in time, I killed Disney Sea and stuck to a day in Disneyland.
I also wanted a day at the famed Ghibli museum - where the works of Hayao Miyazaki were showcased. Fans of Japanese animation such as Totoro, Spirited Away, LaPuta, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns, Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke etc would know what I mean. I've always loved the colours, the characters and the whimsy that is so characteristic of a Ghibli production. So six months before the trip, I started immersing the children with Ghibli works. I found a box set of DVDs and the kids got hooked. Watching the animation together with them gave me a chance to casually point out certain interesting elements of life in Japan eg the use of the onsen (Spirited Away), the family bath (Totoro), the architecture of a typical Japanese house with shoji screens and tatami mats, the Shinto belief in Totoro, the 2nd World War (Grave of the Fireflies) etc. It helped create a sense of excitement and awareness in the children. Unfortunately, two weeks before the trip we realised that the Ghibli museum would be closed for the week that we would be in town! Drat that.
From the library, we borrowed picture books on Japan for the children to read, flip through the pictures etc. Food-wise they were already salivating at the thought of daily sushi! But I also introduced them to other foods eg ramen, soba, udon, oyakko-don etc.
We went into Google Earth where I showed them the places we would be going to, the Disney resort website, pictures of autumn in Kyoto etc. All this helped to whet their appetite for the trip.
To keep everyone as healthy as possible before the trip (I was worried about travelling in a plane with badly congested noses/ears in the event someone had the flu/cold - the pressure on the ears can be very painful and severe), I dosed everyone (KH and I included) with Sambucol, Echinecea and Vit C starting from about 8 to 6 weeks before departure.
My own personal research took the shape of web searches, guide books and chats with colleagues who have been to and/or lived in Japan. In the Design School, there are many who have done so and they willingly shared their impressions, gave great advice, tips etc.
When I booked my accomodation, I made sure the first few nights' stay would be at a hotel near Disney - I knew that we would very likely stay late at the park and I didn't want to have to make long commutes from TDR back to Tokyo city with 5 cranky tired kids. So I picked Family Fifty's at Mahaima. This was a simple motel set-up which was one train station away from TDR and 15min away from Tokyo station. For about 9400yen a night for a triple room including a buffet continental breakfast, this was a very good deal. We booked two rooms for four nights.
I also found a very good shinkansen+hotel deal to Kyoto from Sunrise Tours, an offshoot of JTB (Japan Travel Bureau). It cost about $2700 and included shinkansen round trip travel from Tokyo to Kyoto and back, hotel stays at an upmarket hotel for 3 nights for all of us.
For our last night in Tokyo, I found a cosy, quaint little ryokan tucked away in a quiet corner of Tokyo called Ryokan Kangetsu. I could have booked the Tokyo International Youth Hostel (it was much nearer to Tokyo station than Kangetsu) but I also wanted the children to have a ryokan experience (ie sleeping on futons, using the rotemburo etc). That cost about $200 a night for all of us in one large room.
With everything almost done, I confirmed my itinerary, borrowed books from the library, did a lastminute scramble for long johns, borrowed backpacks and winter jackets, practised some basic Japanese phrases and we were ready to go.
First option was actually Vietnam. I liked the idea of Hanoi and then sub-trips to Halong Bay and into the Sapa Valley. I had romantic visions of sitting on a raft, piloted by women in conical hats, drifting through a sea of green rice paddies with mountains looming overhead. KH brought me back down to earth when he said he didn't think the baby would sit still on a raft for 2 hours just admiring the scenery!
The cost of it also didn't make sense to me. It would cost about $5000. For a little bit more, we could go further, I thought. I considered Hong Kong - they had a cool climate, theme parks which the kids would enjoy etc but upon further research, I was not impressed with HK Disneyland - it didn't seem to be a full Disney park and lacked some key rides (chiefly Haunted Mansion!). So again, I looked further and then it hit me. If we're talking Disneyland, and LA is too far and too expensive, then why not Tokyo?
So I did my research and counted my pennies. With the Krisflyer points, we could book two tickets. KH was due to fly to and from Europe twice more during the year and this would easily chalk up enough points for a third ticket. We also realised then that NorthWest Airlines had a special promo deal with the UOB Signature card - 2 tickets for the price of 1! That would help save quite a lot.
Everyone said that Japan would be expensive. Whenever I mentioned Japan, jaws would drop and people tsk at how expensive it would be. But when I did my research - the Lonely Planet Japan, The Rough Guide to Japan, websites like JapanGuide.com etc all showed that the cost of travel in Japan was not as prohibitive as we thought. In fact, compared to the US or Europe, with the higher exchange rates, higher airfares, Japan would be a more economical choice. Even when compared with Australia, with the high Aussie dollar to the Sing dollar, and considering food costs/accomodation costs in Australia for our family size, even an Aussie trip would be quite costly. Japan was looking more attractive by the minute.
The more I read about Japan, the more excited I got and the more fascinated I was with the land, the people, the culture. I also had to consider the ages of the children and what would interest them. No point spending so much just to drag bored and unwilling children along from cathedral to museum. So HK was out (lacklustre Disneyland + both KH and I have been there), China was out (don't think the kids would thrill to too much of 3000 years of culture) and anywhere nearby was out (climate too similar!). Korea and Taiwan were out (KH was already baulking at Japan and went on and on about how Japan, Korea and Taiwan are the last three places on planet earth that he ever wanted to go to and while I did not agree about Japan, I did agree with his sentiments on Korea and Taiwan - bleah).
Japan, I reasoned - had the weather, the scenery (cherry blossoms? autumn foliage?), the culture (shinto shrines and buddhist temples), the fun (Disney Resort and Universal Studios), good food (the kids' eyes shine whenever sushi is mentioned) and glitzy city life.
With that, we agreed to go to Japan. Cherry blossom time in April was out - it was Gillian's PSLE year and we agreed that there would be no major trips before the big exam and what kind of Singaporean mother would I be if I didn't dangle the big trip as a carrot/incentive to work harder? So that left autumn or winter. Winter was too cold and autumn seemed ideal - to catch the lovely foliage and to enjoy good clear weather. Autumn in Japan had little rain, lots of clear skies but yet with crisply chilly temperatures.
I made the Krisflyer bookings for 9 days in November, bought the Northwest 2-for-1 deal and then went online to explore accomodation and land travel options and to piece together an itinerary. This was in Feb 2007. It took me almost the whole year to tweak the itinerary. I kept changing my mind - sometimes too much information is not a good thing.
Japan being so big, had lots of things to see and places to go. But the essential seemed to be Tokyo and Kyoto. One a shiny polished new capital and the other the dignified ancient capital. A must for the kids is at least a day or two in the Disney Resort. Disney Sea is new and unique to the Disney park family, and from what I read, lovingly detailed and elaborate in theming, but the rides also seemed more geared to older kids and adults. So for now, with the constraint in time, I killed Disney Sea and stuck to a day in Disneyland.
I also wanted a day at the famed Ghibli museum - where the works of Hayao Miyazaki were showcased. Fans of Japanese animation such as Totoro, Spirited Away, LaPuta, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns, Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke etc would know what I mean. I've always loved the colours, the characters and the whimsy that is so characteristic of a Ghibli production. So six months before the trip, I started immersing the children with Ghibli works. I found a box set of DVDs and the kids got hooked. Watching the animation together with them gave me a chance to casually point out certain interesting elements of life in Japan eg the use of the onsen (Spirited Away), the family bath (Totoro), the architecture of a typical Japanese house with shoji screens and tatami mats, the Shinto belief in Totoro, the 2nd World War (Grave of the Fireflies) etc. It helped create a sense of excitement and awareness in the children. Unfortunately, two weeks before the trip we realised that the Ghibli museum would be closed for the week that we would be in town! Drat that.
From the library, we borrowed picture books on Japan for the children to read, flip through the pictures etc. Food-wise they were already salivating at the thought of daily sushi! But I also introduced them to other foods eg ramen, soba, udon, oyakko-don etc.
We went into Google Earth where I showed them the places we would be going to, the Disney resort website, pictures of autumn in Kyoto etc. All this helped to whet their appetite for the trip.
To keep everyone as healthy as possible before the trip (I was worried about travelling in a plane with badly congested noses/ears in the event someone had the flu/cold - the pressure on the ears can be very painful and severe), I dosed everyone (KH and I included) with Sambucol, Echinecea and Vit C starting from about 8 to 6 weeks before departure.
My own personal research took the shape of web searches, guide books and chats with colleagues who have been to and/or lived in Japan. In the Design School, there are many who have done so and they willingly shared their impressions, gave great advice, tips etc.
When I booked my accomodation, I made sure the first few nights' stay would be at a hotel near Disney - I knew that we would very likely stay late at the park and I didn't want to have to make long commutes from TDR back to Tokyo city with 5 cranky tired kids. So I picked Family Fifty's at Mahaima. This was a simple motel set-up which was one train station away from TDR and 15min away from Tokyo station. For about 9400yen a night for a triple room including a buffet continental breakfast, this was a very good deal. We booked two rooms for four nights.
I also found a very good shinkansen+hotel deal to Kyoto from Sunrise Tours, an offshoot of JTB (Japan Travel Bureau). It cost about $2700 and included shinkansen round trip travel from Tokyo to Kyoto and back, hotel stays at an upmarket hotel for 3 nights for all of us.
For our last night in Tokyo, I found a cosy, quaint little ryokan tucked away in a quiet corner of Tokyo called Ryokan Kangetsu. I could have booked the Tokyo International Youth Hostel (it was much nearer to Tokyo station than Kangetsu) but I also wanted the children to have a ryokan experience (ie sleeping on futons, using the rotemburo etc). That cost about $200 a night for all of us in one large room.
With everything almost done, I confirmed my itinerary, borrowed books from the library, did a lastminute scramble for long johns, borrowed backpacks and winter jackets, practised some basic Japanese phrases and we were ready to go.
Introduction
I've always loved travelling.
From my very first excursion out of Singapore waters on the Russian cruise ship Turkmenia at the age of 14, with my parents, my brother and sister, I've loved to travel. The ship was a bit hoky and back then, the women on board looked and sounded like men on 'roids! The trip itself was just to Penang and back, but the damage was done - I was bitten badly by the travel bug.
Since then, either alone or with my family, then with my boyfriend, now husband and today, with my large family, I've been to many places. But I'm always hungry for more. In a year, you'd find me out of Singapore at least once - if not on a plane somewhere, then at least across the border to our nearest neighbour Malaysia, a country I've come to love from travelling its many highways and kampong lanes. When I am not travelling or too broke to travel, you'd find me wistfully trawling the internet for travelogues and my library card used up with travel guides, travel stories etc.
Having children has not stopped me from being on the move. We just pack 'em up and go. The youngest that I've ever taken on a trip with me was baby Trinity Rose, who at the age of 3 weeks, took a plane with me to Australia and patiently sat in with me during various birth education workshops. So a child's age has never stopped me from travelling, neither have the numbers. As the family got larger, we just adapted to the new requirements and got on with it. Neither has pregnancy nor birth stopped me from travelling - I've travelled 5months pregnant, 8 months pregnant and 3 weeks post-partum and usually with at least one to four kids in tow.
I've met parents who either stopped travelling once they had kids, or choose to travel but leave their babies behind (I did that once - never again!) or travel with their children but bring along a rearguard of maids, extended family members and a whole store of baby/child paraphernalia including - I've heard - baby playpen, baby strollers, sterilisers, crock-pots, rice-cookers, etc. I get exhausted just thinking of the list.
We, however, like to travel light and move around easily. If I had to bring so much stuff with me when I travel, I figure I might as well stay home.
KH has been bugging me for the longest time to document our travels. So here it is. I'm starting off the blog with our recent trip to Japan.
From my very first excursion out of Singapore waters on the Russian cruise ship Turkmenia at the age of 14, with my parents, my brother and sister, I've loved to travel. The ship was a bit hoky and back then, the women on board looked and sounded like men on 'roids! The trip itself was just to Penang and back, but the damage was done - I was bitten badly by the travel bug.
Since then, either alone or with my family, then with my boyfriend, now husband and today, with my large family, I've been to many places. But I'm always hungry for more. In a year, you'd find me out of Singapore at least once - if not on a plane somewhere, then at least across the border to our nearest neighbour Malaysia, a country I've come to love from travelling its many highways and kampong lanes. When I am not travelling or too broke to travel, you'd find me wistfully trawling the internet for travelogues and my library card used up with travel guides, travel stories etc.
Having children has not stopped me from being on the move. We just pack 'em up and go. The youngest that I've ever taken on a trip with me was baby Trinity Rose, who at the age of 3 weeks, took a plane with me to Australia and patiently sat in with me during various birth education workshops. So a child's age has never stopped me from travelling, neither have the numbers. As the family got larger, we just adapted to the new requirements and got on with it. Neither has pregnancy nor birth stopped me from travelling - I've travelled 5months pregnant, 8 months pregnant and 3 weeks post-partum and usually with at least one to four kids in tow.
I've met parents who either stopped travelling once they had kids, or choose to travel but leave their babies behind (I did that once - never again!) or travel with their children but bring along a rearguard of maids, extended family members and a whole store of baby/child paraphernalia including - I've heard - baby playpen, baby strollers, sterilisers, crock-pots, rice-cookers, etc. I get exhausted just thinking of the list.
We, however, like to travel light and move around easily. If I had to bring so much stuff with me when I travel, I figure I might as well stay home.
KH has been bugging me for the longest time to document our travels. So here it is. I'm starting off the blog with our recent trip to Japan.
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