Day 3 the happiest place on earth - Disneyland!

Rise and shine cos today is Disney day! As usual, no problem getting the kids up and going that morning because they all know we're headed for Disneyland. Unlike the first time, we took our time getting ready and getting there. Maybe the excitement factor has waned a bit since this is the second time.

After a good brekkie at Family Fifty's (I still love their simple salads with soya sauce dressing and big hard-boiled eggs with orange yolks!), we took the bus to the station and got on the next train to Maihama. We were late getting there and the hordes had already stormed the gates. We bought a 2-day passport for 10000yen per adult with the second day allocated to Disneysea. Once through the gates, as usual, there were lines galore for picture-taking with Mickey and his pals.

Now, the wise - no, sane - strategy would be to AVOID these lines and just stand about a metre or so away and just snap a picture or go for the less popular characters since Mickey and Minnie et al have lines that stretch past 50m! But because yours truly was so caught up with Disney fever, I insisted that we should have have a picture properly posed with at least ONE character. So I made a beeline for the three pigs who did not seem to have as many people crowding around them.

Well, after my porky experience, let the record show that I've now officially put the three pigs on my personal hate list. Pork will be big on my menu from now!

There I was, tugging Trin alone, swinging her here and there to try to get to ONE pig. They don't have lines but they do have people milling about them. If there was a line, it must have been an invisible one because I patiently waited, and waited... and waited and those bloody pigs (whom I mentally made into 24 types of sausages already) did not give us the time of day. Whenever I went up to one, they would turn away and face someone else, or wave at me but sign another girl's autograph books (who knew pigs could sign autographs?! Can their little trotters actually hold pens?) and so on it went. The last straw came when a protective pig minder came and gestured for me to give way to a disabled kid in a wheelchair. I have as much compassion as the next guy when it comes to people with disabilities but dammit I have been waiting for that stupid pig to take a picture and by God, I WILL take a dang picture even if it kills me!

Long and short of it was, the pigs won and I gave up. The last picture I have of that darn pig is this:

Kena scolded by a pig!

We finally made it into the park but all the fast passes for the new Monsters Inc attraction were gone and the line wound on and on for several hundred metres. Waiting time? 240min. Forget it. We had other stuff to do.

Finally in the park!

We were a little overwhelmed and this time, less ready with a clear strategy. The idea was to spend a bit more time in Tomorrowland since we usually miss this area. So we ended up taking a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blaster attraction and went off to do something else while waiting for our FP time slot. This was everyone's favourite because it was interactive - you could shoot Zorgs and tote up your score at the end. Heh, for the record, Isaac later scored the highest while daddy, to his dismay, ended up near the bottom of the table. And as for me, hah! Zorgs fear me!!

We picked the attraction with the shortest queue and ended up with the Microadventure - a 3D ride with glasses. Here's how cool we all looked in our glasses. Or at least, how cute Owain looks:

Microadventure was okay, but not great. Was never a fan of the 3D or 4D rides. We spent the rest of the morning at Toontown, in the Go'coaster and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Happy to say that roller-coaster phobic me survived the ride. Can see the kids eyes' rolling now at their wimpy mom.

Lunch was Mickey Mouse pizza. We took great delight in chomping his famous ears off. Really loved the packaging that Disney has. Not exactly environment-friendly in that they do not use recyclable plastic trays to transport your stuff to your table, they use nicely printed paper cup and food holders instead. But then again, the concept is nice and at the end of the meal, the left-overs and waste are carefully sorted out into bins for food waste, paper waste, ice etc. You'd never see this at McDonalds here.

For some reason, the park was really crowded that day. The last time we were here, it was not as bad. The queue for Monsters Inc never got better, even as the day waned. By the time we left - around 8pm, the queue was still stretching for at least 2hours!! Regretfully, we just had to leave it for another day.

We watched the parades (from afar. We have many quasi-parade shots with lots of other people's heads in the frame which will never be published in this blog) and went on our favourites - Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and checked out some new ones - Star Tours, Grand Race Circuitway, Peter Pan, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, the Western River Railroad and a couple more - generally those we never covered the first time we were here two years ago. We also made time to eat - the smoked turkey leg was as ginormous and just as delicious as I remembered.

Some tips to enjoy Disney:

1) Make use of parades. The Japanese love parades and would stake out their spots well in advance of the actual parade. So when people are watching the parades, go for the rides. I tugged Trin over to the lovely Pooh's Hunny Hunt and it was empty - queue time only 10min. The minute the parade ended, we tried to go for the same ride with the rest of the kids (who were busy watching the parade) and wait time had swelled to 70min!

2) Use the FastPass wisely. Once you take the FastPass, you can only get your next FP after a certain time has lapsed. We got ours for Buzz Lightyear ride but then could not get a FP until hours later when we finally got another one for Haunted Mansion.

3) When the night falls, people start to leave and the place is far less crowded. So by 4.30pm when it got dark, biological clocks start chiming for dinner and exits so the place thinned out. We could get a ride for the Grand Circuit Raceway for a wait time of only 25min. We also got a ride on the carousel for a 10-min wait time.

4) Queue, queue and queue. Even for photo ops and toilet stalls. The Japanese are too polite to tell you off if you potong jalan, but icy looks can prevail. I did the Japanese thing and queued even for a photo op with the Monsters Inc car for Trin! And even then, no matter how long you take, no one actually chases you to hurry up with it. Maybe because of all the queueing, people feel entitled to take their time.

5) Strollers are very useful for sleepy and cranky tots and tired moms. While I do not relish dragging a stroller through Japan, I think renting one in Disney has a great deal of merit.

6) Don't dismiss the 'easy' rides. In all our visits to all the Disney parks, KH and I have never taken the Jungle Railroad, believing it to be just a joyride round the park. But this time, because the queue was non-existent, we checked it out and had a good time. Disney's impeccable theming again, works to create a realistic yet fun ride into the wild west.

Because we'd been to Disney already, and pretty much seen/done what we wanted, we left the park early - around 8pm. Trin was sleepy, cranky and a deadweight - in no particular order. So we left and had dinner at the same ramen joint we dined at the night before. Just across the road from the hotel.

Fukurou was a simple set-up but churned out great food. Kids loved the ramen and I loved mentaiko rice! The ramen also came with a bowl of rice which I had no difficulty polishing off accompanied by the yummy condiments on the table - preserved veg (like kiam chye buay) and a kimchi-like chilli dish of koo chye. Very nice.

Trin slept through the meal, too tired to rouse and eat. The kids gobbled everything in sight and had seconds. I wrestled with the vending machine but triumphed thanks to the very kind waiter/chef whom we discovered, came from Malaysia - Ipoh to be precise! The young man had come to Japan to study but because the economy back home was not that promising, he had stayed on. Its been 10 years already and he's gone native, marrying a Japanese woman and having a 3-year-old daughter with her.

I found it a bit disconcerting that the guy would get a degree but end up serving tables in an obscure ramen joint in a Tokyo suburb. But I think it can't be easy for him to get a salary-man type of job in Japan since he is a foreigner and the Japanese are notorious for closing ranks against foreigners. I don't think though, that he would ever go back to Malaysia (although I think his prospects can't be as bad as he thinks) now that he has a family here. It would take too much effort for his wife and child to settle down there in an unfamiliar climate and amid unfamiliar customs.

It was a nice conversation we had and although we'd been in Tokyo only less than a week, it sure felt good to hear a familiar accent! He could not speak English that well but his Mandarin was delightfully Malaysian! I think I felt a bit sad at leaving the restaurant and breaking the nice connection we had made. A bit like leaving home behind again.

Day 2 Tokyo... we think?

We arrived at Narita at 7.04am, Tokyo time. Everyone was quite zombie-like due to lack of sleep, but generally cheerful and excited - hey, we're in Tokyo, people!

First stop, JR counter in the basement of Terminal 2. We had to exchange our JR pass vouchers for the actual passes. I also made seat reservations. Note that while it may be easy and convenient to hop on and off trains because of the JR pass, certain segments might be worth making seat reservations since they are likely to be full and you don't want to have to stand or have to sit in a smoking carriage.

Even then, when I tried to make the reservations for the last leg of our journey from Okayama to Tokyo on the shinkansen, I was told it was all fully booked and I had to content myself with reservations in the smoking car.

While I was busy with the paperwork, the kids (see left picture) sat on the ground, drank the first of many drinks from the ubiquitous vending machines, argued, played hand games, chased each other around the place and generally left me feeling nervy. I didn't think Japanese kids behaved like this and did NOT want disapproving looks shot at me. But despite me reading them the usual sermon, the peace never lasted for long.
It was a bright and sunny autumn day we arrived. The Narita Express or NEX cut through green rice fields set beneath a deeply azure sky. Here and there, you could see the occasional Jizo shrine along the country roads. It reminded me that I was well and truly back in Japan. The hillsides were still largely green although there were already some trees which had turned colour.

But we were so zonked out from the flight we just could not stay awake and pretty soon, we were all snoozing to the gentle rocking of the train.

We arrived at Tokyo station, found coin lockers easily, stuffed our bags in and took a train on the Yamanote line to Ueno. But before that we grabbed a quick but expensive lunch of pasta and pizza in one of the restaurants in Tokyo station.

It felt good to be back. Things looked and felt the same and yet different. While I enjoyed the familiarity - being able to navigate my way around a bit more easily this time, I still thrilled to the fact that I was finally in Japan again. The little details still bring a big grin to my face. Check out these Crocs for instance. We were in Ameyoko market and a shop was selling these original Crocs lined with fleece and they looked so comfy I wish I wear one right now.

Ameyoko was packed with people. 'Ame' being a close abbreviation of America and 'yoko' being alley, Ameyoko was born out of a thriving black market during the American occupation of Tokyo in the post-war years. Today, it is still a market - with all manner of fish, dried foods, clothes and food stalls. Its very noisy, colourful and teeming with people.

We saw a stall selling sashimi and sushi don on the cheap - prices hovered around 500 to 700yen a bowl - and salivated at the variety - they had a good range of tekkadon, chirashi-don, negitoro don and so on. Really regretted the earlier pizza and pasta. People were sitting on stools, gobbling down the fish and rice, coming and going like a fast food joint.

Following Ameyoko, we took a subway to Asakusa and headed for the Sumida-gawa and Sensoji. We didn't go far. The cherry trees there had already lost most of their leaves. Can imagine the spectacular sight in autumn though. Lots of people lining up to board the river cruises and the line stretched for more than 100m! Philippe Starck's controversial golden flame, or beer froth or er, turd (depending on your interpretation!) gleamed across the river. Caught sight of the futuristic looking suijo bus on the river. Owain wished he could get a ride.

Sensoji was as crowded as ever, and as smoky too. As per tradition, we stood at the giant joss urn and wafted the incense smoke over for good luck and good health. I took an omikuji (fortune telling slip) and mine said, among other things: "...the patient will recover..." Which I hope would happen for dad. Happy to say that, writing this 15 days later after the trip and with dad still in the High Dependency ward when I left, it was a good portent because dad looks so much better today when I saw him. We have had nothing but good news since and I think he's pretty much out of the woods.

This is smoky and crowded Sensoji.

I really liked this detail - this is the underside of the huge lantern hanging in the Kaminarimon gate. While everyone usually takes a shot of the huge lantern and then passes by beneath it through the gate, no one really looks up to see the beautiful wooden details of the lantern base.

We all gave the Nade Botokesan Buddha a nice massage as we passed. He is renowned as a doctor and is said to be the patron saint of healing and good health. You can see where the bronze statue is rubbed to a nice shine by the many thousands who must have rubbed him for some luck! This journey seems to have a great deal of significance when it comes to health, for obvious reasons!

Note that not all of Sensoji and its environs are busy and crowded. We wandered off into some of the backlanes and found serene little green patches and tiny peaceful shrines which seem forlorn and forgotten by most in favour of the bigger stars at Sensoji.

But this is precisely what I like about Japan. You get the big blockbuster sights but tiny quiet surprises are still around the corner. If you wander off the mainstream, you never know what you will find.

By this time in the early afternoon, we were really just sleep-walking. Despite wanting to carry on, and our initial plan was to move on to Shibuya for the nightscape, we threw in the towel and headed for our hotel in Maihaima. Poor Owain was so tired that he literally slept standing up in the train to Kasai Rinkai Koen! And by the way, the weather that day? Hot! We were ready for temps of 15deg or so, but got 18deg and that was great for strolling around in tees but in our jackets etc... we were really perspiring!

Day 1Japan here we come!

We had a long day that Saturday. In the morning, we had Owain's graduation concert to attend and some last minute packing to do. The MAS web check-in had failed the night before, which left me a bit antsy about not getting good seats on both legs to Tokyo.

True enough, we did not manage to secure good seats and the second leg of the journey from KL to Tokyo saw all of us separated - Gillian and Isaac sitting individually by themselves further away from us. The younger kids, KH and I managed to sit quite close together, separated by the aisle.

At Changi airport, taking advantage of the free internet access. Kids were thrilled to have free internet and used the time to play games - even Trinity!

We took the shuttle flight to KL and then changed planes with barely half an hour to spare. The kids, with the exception of Trin, were thrilled to have inflight movies and games. By the time the plane took off for Tokyo at around 11pm, I was completely zonked. I think I pretty much slept through the flight, not even waking for meals, until Trin started crying/whining. That should have warned me about the days to come, but fuzzy from sleep, it just didn't clue me in. Despite repeated warnings, the older kids did NOT sleep until around 4am when we shut down the system for them. But by then, it was a case of too much game-time, too little shut-eye and too late since we would be landing by 7am.

Japan back on track... for now

Dad seems to be stable. He will need surgery at some point but for now, things are pretty much status quo. Japan plans for now, will go back on track. In the event that things change suddenly, well, can't be helped. But if dad remains in a stable condition, I think we will go ahead with the trip.

That said, I made some adjustments to the accommodations, making early cancellations for Vi and mom since for now, Vi and mom will be staying put and not travelling with us. But if anything changes and they come along, well, I think it would not be an issue making additional arrangements.

Briefly, I have gone on to make reservations for Hiroshima and cancelled my reservation for Miyajima at the Forest Villa. In Hiroshima, we will stay at the Chisun Hotel. This is conveniently located with a tram stop right in front of the hotel. Walking distance to the Peace Park too.

In Miyajima, we will stay at the Auberge Watanabe.

I think I might have gone a bit numb about the cost since Auberge Watanabe is far costlier than Forest Villa (though better value - meals provided, including a 9-course kaiseki feast and overall better 'atmosphere'). I am just throwing caution to the wind and splurging. Its that sort of devil-may-care reckless mood that gleefully tells me to just go ahead and spend, kinda like why people fly planes and race cars. You know you might die but you'll die doing what makes you happy. That's the kind of number-numbness I have right now. One day when I wake from my travel-induced stupor (when the credit card bills come) I'm sure all this will come back and bite me where it hurts most.

But until then, ah what the heck...

Osaka hotel confirmed

Booked the hotel for the one and only night we will spend in Osaka. Initially I was considering the Namba Oriental Hotel but a last minute check on Tripadvisor pulled me towards Hotel Ichiei instead.

Their semi-western Japanese rooms look interesting. I booked one of those which can sleep three and another Japanese room which sleeps five. For 5000yen a night per adult and 4500yen per child, I think its reasonable.

The hotel is right on top of the Namba Nankai station, a mere 2min walk away. This places us right in the heart of downtown Osaka, near Dotonbori. We plan to spend the day either going up to the Minka koen in northern Osaka or just hanging around the downtown area. Having been to the Tempozan area and the aquarium the last time, we don't want to revisit. Another option is to try Universal Studios but I am not keen since many of the rides are 3D or 4D rides (a big no-no for me since I am prone to motion sickness) and quite a number would have height restrictions.

Osaka would also be a good time for us to split up for an afternoon if we really want to. After more than a week of being in each other's hair, it would be good to go off on separate adventures for a while to recoup some lost space!

Looking forward to the neon zones, food and street life of Dotonbori and after that, a good night's rest at Ichiei!

Getting under the Japanese skin

Someone commented that going to Japan is like seeing Singapore from a different perspective. I thought I caught a whiff of a sneer in that comment. It did make me think though, why I was so fascinated with the place.

Well, first I think the comment is not invalid or unfair. I think Japan had a big influence on Singapore when we were growing ourselves into an economic miracle. The whole 'productivity' and 'courtesy' campaigns we had in the early days certainly had some root in Japanese work ethic and culture. Our efficiency, while still at very high levels, is not honed to an art which the Japanese have - the way they run their trains and the way we run ours is testimony!

The Japanese view of the end being more than justified the means is also not dissimilar as well - witness our ruthlessly relentless pursuit of new and modern and 'better' at the cost of sacrificing the 'older' or 'shabbier' eg our approach to building conservation (case in point the sacrifice of the old brick National Library building for a road tunnel that cuts travel time by less than 3min!). Practicality wins over sentiment most of the time. In Japan too, there has been a price to pay for relentless modernization, for endlessly building and building and this is discussed in Alex Kerr's book Dogs and Demons. In many places, the Japanese landscape has changed beyond recognition thanks to over-enthusiastic construction work and almost everywhere, some degree of environmental degradation has set in.

But yet, there is a lot more to the picture. I am fascinated by their mindset of community before self. Despite the flamboyance of the geisha and the cosplayers in Harajuku, the sense of individuality is very much subdued. I read somewhere (in "Lost Japan" I think!)that while the cosplay kids revel in the attention they get, once its sunset, they pack up, change into their ordinary clothes and ride the train back home to their usual lives. And while expressions of fashion like this is tolerated and indulged, you will find that most, once out of school and wearing the mantle of adulthood, will just conform to the usual social order and social norms. In this sense again, I wonder how different we are from the Japanese.

The Japanese code of bushido, or the way of the warrior, is another fascination. The sense of honour (and shame) that they have, in the old days to commit seppuku and today, to resign in face of disappointment or scandal, is interesting to read about.

I am no Japanese scholar and I am probably scratching the skin of the surface only and can never hope to do justice to this topic. But I remain a curious bystander and observer of these issues. When I go to Japan, the things I read - good, bad and ugly - all help to give a deeper depth and breadth to my travel experiences. So while I can appreciate the architecture of a gassho-zukuri house or a machiya, I can equally lament the loss of a changing landscape in preference for 'modernity' and efficiency.

Hence to me, when I research a destination, its not just about where to go and which train to catch and what to see. I like to go beyond the travel guidebooks to books that try to penetrate the Japanese skin. Alex Kerr's books "Dogs and Demons" and "Lost Japan" are staples on my bookshelf. Right now, the bio of Saigo Takamori gives insight into the mindset of the last samurai and the way of the warrior. "Hitching A Ride with Buddha" sketches caricatures and portraits of the average Japanese in his Honda picking up a hitchhiker and letting him glimpse a peek into their lives. Lafcadio Hearn's writing on Japanese supernatural tales give shivery insight into one aspect of Japanese folklore.

All these books are but pieces of a gigantic puzzle I am trying to piece together. Bits and pieces of clues to a larger picture. I don't think I can ever get there, but it sure is fun to try!

Finetuning Kyoto

Now that the main skeleton of the itinerary is done, all that is left is to fill in the spaces and fatten it up a bit with details.

In Kyoto, we only have one and a half days. It is certainly not enough to cover everything. In fact, I think even if we had stayed in Kyoto for months, it would not be enough to cover everything! Wise ones who visit and stay in Kyoto have said that the city offers so many tiny fascinating little nooks and crannies that it would be hard to discover them all even if you stay for a lifetime.

Well, I don't have a lifetime to spend in Kyoto (unfortunately!) and since we have been there before, and I want to cover more ground in the rest of Japan, we'll just have to make do with one and a half days. I console myself that this means I just have to keep coming back!

My options are:

1) half day in Kibune and Kurama. As Janice suggested, take the Eizan rail line from Demachiyanagi (only 30min ride) to Kurama. Kurama is known for its onsen and Kuramadera while Kibune's shrine is known for its waters with healing powers. Apparently its known as the 'Lourdes of Japan'! Well, having been to the original Lourdes, it is certainly tempting to head for this one. The deity there is also known for granting wishes pertaining to marriage. It sounds so very interesting to me - especially since KH works in the water industry! I think Kibune and Kurama is off the beaten track but will still have lovely autumn foliage to show off. Janice recommends an evening visit where the maples are lit up. Lovely!

2) Exploring the Northwest sector of Kyoto. We have not been here and covered the main sights of Ryoanji and Kinkakuji. Now how could any traveller worth his salt, come to Kyoto and not see these iconic sights? Yet I feel that coming here would be to jostle with crowds and just ticking off the sights as if on some checklist - which is not the way I like to travel. Still, seeing Kinkakuji with the phoenix all aglow on top against fiery autumn leaves would be a treat. My beef also is that the transport connections to the northwest are not fantastic and I would hate to have a long commute by bus! Recently though, I 'discovered' the highly under-rated Koto-in and Obai-ji, all part of the Daitokuji complex. Literally a warren of lanes in a 'temple village' where so many sub-temples congregate, Daitokuji sounds like an interesting place to visit. I could probably combine this with Ryoanji and Kinkakuji - making it a full day trip.

3) Sticking to the tried but true eastern hills of Kyoto - Higashiyama. We covered it in bits and pieces the last time and I think we did not do justice to the place. Last trip, we barely made inroads into Nanzen-ji, we skipped Eikando and barely made it 10min into the Philosopher's Walk before we gave up, headed downhill for ramen and bussed down to Chawanzaka and up to Kiyomizudera. Boy was that a long walk uphill! Even at Kiyomizudera, we missed a lot of stuff since it was near dark and closing time, wet and drizzly. We saw the beautiful stage, but missed the Jishu jinja the 'love shrine'. Because it as cold/wet, we went quickly downhill after that and did not walk around the older lanes of Ninnenzaka etc. We also missed Gion, Yasaka Jinja etc. So this time, I am thinking of revisiting Kiyomizudera and covering more ground in the area.

4) Visit the Toji flea market (which we also missed the last time) for nice 2nd hand kimono buys, and then heading to Nara for half a day. We don't intend to go to Horyuji, but just to Todaiji, Kasuga shrine and the general area of Nara park. The kids would enjoy feeding the heavenly messangers of the gods I'm sure! But KH said, we get the heavenly messangers at Miyajima too! A deer is a deer is a deer right?

So I'm really in a fixed. Over the past few days, I have narrowed down my options to these 4 combinations. I'd really love to do them all but its just not possible. The only thing to do is to get in from Kanazawa as early as possible so that we'd have as much daylight time in Kyoto on the first day, leaving us more time to cover more ground in the second day.

Decisions, decisions - such fun to ponder these dilemma.