Nara 奈良- Kyoto 京都 - Kobe 神戸 - Endearing Japanese Cities
Posted On Saturday, October 22, 2005 at at 12:29 AM by Alvin
Just over an hour's train journey outside Osaka, lied the three most traditional and interesting Japanese cities: Nara, Kyoto and Kobe.Nara (奈良) had a relaxed atmosphere with many peaceful park areas, intriguing temples and ancient village alley ways. A side note, believe it or not, the Japanese Space Agency was located in this ancient and lovely city as my colleague from Italy was stationed here for a year.
Kyoto (京都) had numerous temples which were world-famous such as the Kinkokchi and luckily there were buses that could take visitors around this lovely city. We could easily spend another 3 days here to fully explore and get to know Kyoto properly as the city was deceptively village-like with its peacefulness and quietness; but in actual fact, it was a very large city with 1.5 million inhabitants.
Kobe (神戸) lied right by the sea, it was very modern and many buildings had been resurrected after the horrible earthquake in 1994 and there was an interesting "Foreigners Hills" at the nearby hill sides of Kobe. We walked along the port side and found Kobe to be a very active container port with busy cargo ships coming in and out of the harbour. The "Foreigners Hills" was interesting and original as many buildings were designed according to the styles of the originating countries; so there were Dutch village houses, miniature German castles as well as French Chateaus !
As it was Autumn, we also took a train out to Arashiyama (嵐山) where there were maple leaves aplenty and the area was so colorful with maple leaves turning all shades of green, purple and amber. Arashiyama was around an hour's train from Osaka and the whole area smelt of Autumn freshness; it was a wonderful experience to listen to the sound of crushing leaves with every step we took on our walk in this beautiful countryside.
And a big round of applause (clapping sound here) for Mandy, as she had become the true mathematician in decoding the complex and wondrous Osaka train timetables to get us to these cities !
The Kyoto train station was clean and modern. The train station had a futuristic design and offered a glimpse of the "Blade Runners" film set. We had a spot of leisurely afternoon tea at the cake shop located at the middle levels of the train station and enjoyed the view very much before we boarded the train back to Osaka. Thanks Mandy, you're a hero !
Lost In Translation - Osaka 大阪
Posted On Tuesday, October 18, 2005 at at 12:25 AM by Alvin
Lots of people, miles of shops, modern facilities, fantastic neon lights and yummy Sushi was a good summary of the city of Osaka (大阪). Oh yes, and getting lost five times a day in Osaka made exploring this city that much more thorough (honest). But really, Osaka had lots more to offer - we walked till we dropped along the famous shopping Shinsaibashi (心齋橋), Namba (難波) and Dotonbori (道頓堀) areas, yeh, all 5 KM of these dazzling shops, above and below ground ! We thoroughly enjoyed our climb up the Osakajo Castle (大阪城天守閣) which had a vantage point up a hill overlooking this busy city. We feasted on fresh sushi bought from the Kuromon Ichiba (黒門市場) market each evening just before closing times and got a real bargain ! We marvelled at the general organised chaos that was Osaka and yet found a calmness and politeness in the city's peoples and drivers alike - perhaps a case in point of the art of Zen at work in this very agreeable city !
Where We Went In Nepal And India - The Map
Posted On Friday, February 11, 2005 at at 2:53 AM by Alvin
Chilling Out in the Kerala Backwaters Before Moving On To Bangalore
Posted On Saturday, January 15, 2005 at at 12:15 AM by AlvinWe had one of the most relaxing days of our trip in India when we just cruised around the backwaters in Kerala. The boatmen doubled up as magnificent chefs as they churned out plates of South Indian classic dishes. We based ourselves at the lovely fishing port of Kochi for a few days before boarding the characteristic Indian "cruise" near a town called Alleppey. Pure relaxation ! That was exactly what we needed before the hustle and bustle of Bangalore - the I.T. city of India where we found the city to be clean and efficient.
Cyber Cafe in Ooty
Posted On Tuesday, January 11, 2005 at at 12:11 AM by Alvin
Well, we've used a few cyber cafes in our travels but this one in the middle of an Indian highland town (Ooty) was just too cool ! And, it had a few of the latest models of DELLs and IBMs in there ! We managed to find out information for our Air India flights from Kochi to Bangalore and even booked the flights a few hours later back in Ooty town proper !The Glittering Palace Of Mysore
Posted On Sunday, January 9, 2005 at at 12:09 AM by AlvinWith the news of the Tsunami (resulting from an earthquake in Aceh in Indonesia), causing disasters around the world, we have to change our plans for this trip in India. We were going to go full circle around Indian's South, but now we will spend a few more days in Mysore and fly off to Bangalore. We tried to stay happy and say a prayer for the world in our travels during this very sad event. We spent time in Mysore where we walked down (2 hours) from the Chamundi Hill, visited the city zoo and explored the Mysore Palace on a Sunday night when it was lit up like jewels.
India is a country of immense contrast, to say the least. Having seen the magnificent Mysore palace last night, we were greeted by the "local" and down-to-earth bus station for our bus up the Chamundi Hill ! Hey ! But take notice that we all QUEUED up !
On the way down Chamundi Hill, we also bumped into one of the Hindu Goddesses - Goddess Of The Sacred Cow - Nandy and here is the photo we took with Nandy. The name of the photo, I hear you ask ? When Mandy Meets Nandy, of course !
A Bollywood Production
Posted On at at 12:05 AM by AlvinWe bumped into a Bollywood production on our way up the Chamundi Hill just outside Mysore. The production set was very colorful and full of the energetic dances we are all accustomed to in the Bollywood films.
During this trip, we were also impressed with the larger-than-life movie posters displayed outside the cinemas, here is one of our favourites !
During this trip, we were also impressed with the larger-than-life movie posters displayed outside the cinemas, here is one of our favourites !
Spending Christmas in Mumbai and New Year in Goa
Posted On Sunday, January 2, 2005 at at 12:03 AM by AlvinWe felt progressively more and more in a holiday mood as we traveled South because Christmas and NY was getting nearer and also the weather was getting warmer. Northern India was very special but it was cold ! We relaxed in Mumbai as we walked through the affluent suburbs towards the Hanging Gardens and we enjoyed a Kingfisher Beer by the beach in Goa on NY's eve.
