Euro Travel & More

Yokohama’s Chinatown is huge – plenty of Chinese restaurant and they even have a store that can read your palm – some sort of feng shui master.  You can take a train from Tokyo to Yokohama – it’s like 45 mins if i remembered correctly. Chinatown in Yokohama opens at about 10am in the morning right up to 10pm in the evening – most stores and restaurants I am told are opened everyday.

The Chinatown here in Yokohama is as busy as the one in San Francisco.

Folks lining up to buy BBQ Pork bun – are they better than the ones in Japan – yup!! very yummy ! very smooth !

These sesame balls were so yummy! and as you can see – they were unlike the ones we get back home in Asia – where they are so oily – these were absolutely delicious without feeling sinful at all.  But there are more than just food in Yokohama’s Chinatown – there are gift stores, clothing store and even a food court if I remember correctly.  Find a shrine in yokohama chinatown and make your wish come true as well.

Another souvenir store – selling all sorts of panda.  They weren’t kidding when they said the Japanese loved their pandas.

Truth be told I wasn’t too keen in going to the Todaiji Temple in Nara – afterall, it is another temple and shrine right?  but we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of cherry blossom that was in bloom at that time.  The Todaiji Temple is one of the more well known temple for historical reasons – it also has one of the largest bronze Buddha.

A giant statue that guards the temple – they are known as the Nio Guardian Kings.   These are said to be national treasures.

Some deers found outside the temple – they were friendly too.

A Shrine

Kasuga Taisha

Cherry blossomsssss!!!  awesomeness!

This pillar is said to grant enlightenment in your next reincarnation – if you can squeeze thru’ the opening – hahah! not us – that’s for sure.

Massive destruction in Japan and many dead and lost their homes – in the aftermath of the Tsunami earlier today.  My heart goes out to the people in Japan.  Japan is such a beautiful place and to think that disaster struck just like that.  Japan is known for many earthquakes in fact i experienced it myself when I lived in Japan for 6 months  – but nothing compare to this – it was only a tremor – nothing up to this magnitude.   I cannot imagine going thru’ something like this – such helplessness if you watch some of the videos.  I’m praying for Japan and all the people affected by the earthquakes and Tsunami.  And for those planning a trip to Japan – now is not the time – but I’m sure common sense will prevail.

There are so many temples and shrines in Japan and you can’t go to Japan without visiting a few of them.  I can named so many that we’ve been to – but I’m sure – if you google it – you will find it yourself.  Since there are so many temples and shrines in Japan – I figured you should know by now that the Japanese are pretty religious people – but if I am not wrong – their prayer procedures are quite different from the ones in China and different parts of Asia.  Even the incense that they used in Japan are different from the ones they used in Japan – a lot milder  – while the temples in China are more glarish – and kinda scary at times.  But in Japan, the temple and shrines are pretty serene – well the ones that are not so touristy are anyways.

And only in Japan have I seen something like that – it’s wishes from the people who visits the temple – and then when I was in Taiwan – I saw something similar to this as well.  It is pretty unique – so if you wanted to make a wish – instead of a wishing well – you buy one of this tablets and write your well wishes on it and just hang it up.

Another temple in Japan – Tokyo -  the temples are usually closed at 4pm but the shrines are always opened.   Just note that there is an entry charge for a historical temple – but you also get a pamplet – explaining to you why it is historical.  I find the Kyoto shrines a lot more beautiful – what about you?

Found some pictures of the trip we took to Osaka on a bullet train for a food trip – I was staying in Japan for 6 months for work – so when we had a holiday – a long weekend – my co-workers and I – decided that we should go on and R&R to Osaka.   So we hop onto a bullet train and away we went.

Our tickets for the bullet train.

Whale testicles!  woohoo!!!  we kinda was not gonna try that – but what the heck eh ! you only lived once ! so how does it taste?  It tasted like intestines – the ones you eat when you have bak kut teh – so it wasn’t too, too bad – but I wouldn’t wanna eat it again – muahhahaha!!!  and yes ! i heard from our host that there is a  restaurant in Tokyo that serves Whale everything – from whale stomach to penises.  kekeke!!   you can have fried testicles too – I hear it’s better.  Is it exotic food? probably considered. what do you think?

The weird or exotic stuff outta the way – we then had Kobe beef.

Some Shabu-Shabu for a cold night in late November.

We had some hairy crab too.

More BBQ Crab

Crab sashimi – I never had crab sashimi before till that day – it was pretty decent.  More on the trip not food but sightseeing in another post.

The last day that I was in Kyoto – I asked asked a co-worker to accompany me to Himeji Castle – after all, I had to visit at least one castle – while living in Japan for a few months as an expat.   Unfortunately, no one wanted to go – so I had to venture out on my own.  And being a shy expat at that time – I didn’t really make it that far – because there was no one to tell me all about the history.  But I did get to tour it a little.

The Himeji Castle was built in the 1300s – and the castle was restored in the middle of 1950s.  The inside of the castle looked absolutely perfect to me, but there were little holes for the purpose of defending the castle I think from any intruders.  The path towards the top of the castle was longer than I had expected – it was a quiet day – when I visited – I remembered and at the top of the castle – there was an awesome view of the entire city.  The Himeji Castle is also known as the White Heron Castle.  For those in Kyoto – please do make a visit to Himeji Castle – highly recommended.

By now – I’m sure you all know that Japan is another food paradise – anywheres in Japan – be it Tokyo , Hokkaido or Kyoto – you can find good food and  food market.  But today – I found some pictures of the food market in Kyoto and I thought I should share some with you all.  Kyoto Nishiki Food Market is located about 10 – 15 minutes away from the JR Kyoto Station. Everytime, I go to Kyoto – and every time I visit the food market – I see throngs of people – not only tourist but locals as well.

One can find plenty of stalls like these – sell cooked food and raw food – and they are all so pretty up – sometimes I buy them back to the hotel – I don’t wanna eat them.

Lots of seafood for picking as you can see here.

Strawberries are handpicked and the sweetest at 500 yen each.  There is also a stall selling tofu donut – but unfortunately, I had forgotten to take a picture of them.  Lots of pickles to be found – and I’m sure I would love some to bring home – unfortunately, I can’t carry them onto the plane – so I was told – so I didn’t try.

Freshly fried fish – that you can buy and eat right away.

We stayed at this 5 star hotel – sponsored by our hotel actually – else we can never afford a 5 star hotel in Japan.   All the rooms are suite rooms and are a mixture of the western and japanese style rooms.  They have a luxurious bath in the room and a japanese shower plus a jacuzzi in the room.  The hotel provides you with breakfast and other meals too and of course – you can choose to play on the golf course.  Balcony in the room – can be used for a night cap or even morning breakfast.  Grand XIV Golf and Spa Resort Hamanako  @ Hamamatsu city of Shizuoka prefecture.

The lobby of the resort

At the reception – all the front desk personnel dressed in white – pretty smart.

The bedroom suite.

The golf course

More of the golf course.

My friends asked me why I am writing more and more about Asia – i replied maybe it is because i miss home very much? maybe it’s the traveling I am missing and all the interesting things that i missed sharing and the adventures I have had before.  I haven’t really been home for a long time and Asia has changed so much and this picture taken by a friend reminded me so much of the time we encountered the lovely apprentice Geisha when we were in Kyoto.

Before living in Japan for a few months because of work – I’ve often wondered if the shows with Geisha – were they just traditional ladies that doesn’t exist now – since Japan is so modern and if they do exist – what kind of benefits do they get.  For sure – this old trade – of cultural entertainment – may not be everyone’s cup of tea no more.  Normal companies in Japan offers good benefits like a retirement plan, insurance and disability insurance for those doing labor jobs – so what does these ladies who started training really young have in store for them?  But of course, we will never know because this trade is so secretive it seems – that even taking pictures of them are rare.

We did go for a Geisha show and it’s nothing like what we thought it would be – but a cultural show with dances, a puppet show and a tea ceremony.  The art of dancing by the Geisha – was truly precise and refine – nothing like those I’ve seen – it was an eye opener for me at least.   The Geisha are still pretty much a mystery and if only i can get to find out more about them – i certainly would.  Movies and stories portray them as a high class prostitutes/mistresses for rich men – during the olden days – but i’m pretty sure they are not just that.   Are you as curious as I?