♥Special Note: 25th March was Pandy-saurus’s Birthday♥
And here we go on another Picture Filled post of Day 6 of our Japan Trip. Before I forget, thanks to my 2 IT specialists (aka IT helpdesks) who took the effort to arrange their photos day by day, rename the folders for easy recognition and for distributing them in a timely fashion. It has made locating and uploading the pictures so much easier. Of course not to mention technical support for my laptop, iPhone and other gaming issues(ahem..mafia wars). ahhh.. it’s always an user problem isn’t it…
I think we started going a little overboard on the whole picture thing since day 2. Japan is really a beautiful country with breath-taking sights and an interesting culture. Blogging about our trip has been hard as there’s just simply so much to say, to note down wat we saw, experienced and felt completely is impossible and i’m scared that my words will let it down.
The start of Day 6 was an interesting one. It started with everyone waking up in a panic as we had all snoozed the alarms and overslept. We had all intended to wake up at 7ish to have enough time to reach the Kyoto Imperial Palace and register for the English speaking tour at 9am (which we thought it was at). Thanks to the major walk done the day before+clowning around and sleeping late the night before.. the snooze button was hit on both alarms and by the time someone (can’t remember who) snapped awake and yelled out “OMG, we’re late!!!” to wake everyone else up.. it was like 8ish…
We all started running around like mad chickens without a head to try to get ready for the day ahead and to race to the Imperial Place by 9am… plans for morning shower were scrapped and just the basic wash up was done (ok a little yucks don’t remind me). by the time we were ready it was like slightly past 9 and we were all tired already! See the problem was.. we intended to do a day trip up to Osaka that day too.. but with the Imperial Palace only holding 2 English tours (the 2nd and last English guided tour would only be at 2pm) if we missed the morning one, that would screw up the plans for the rest of the day.
Just as we were about to leave Sparkz, some smarty pants (obviously not me) decided to consult the “Planet Hollywood” and exclaimed “oei, the morning tour is at 10am la… we can still make it if we rush there now”……… CHEONG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….. we scuttled out of Sparks and headed to catch a bus to the palace… but we were too gan cheong and boarded a bus that we thought could bring us nearer to another stop where we could change bus. Alamak!! tat only made things worse and we ended up having to backtrack a little to board the right bus.. LUCKILY some of us know how to read maps and where the correct bus stops were. we alighted with 15 mins to spare..and realised that we were right at the other end of the freaking huge palace grounds (to be more precise..at the garden end) we were a little lost initially..but we walked in and looked at the map in the garden.. whilst Denny asked some random guy with a bicycle who was going by.. and he pointed us in the right direction… wah lauuuuuuuuu.. morning exercise lor.. we sprinted through the garden all the way to the buildings… and then realised that we were only at the carpark.. we still had to run all the way to register for the tour…… RAN like mad chickens without a head for another couple of minutes and burst through the doors at the “Imperial Household Agency” (Sound so damn drama right??)
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Japan Guide:
Application Guidelines for Tours of Visiting
Kyoto Imperial Palace (Free of Charge)
Individuals wishing to visit Kyoto Imperial Palace should apply for permission in accordance with the following guidelinesTours are conducted in English at the following times: 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m (Monday to Friday).
The tours will take approximately 1 hour
In case of full booking, your application will not be accepted.
(1) Applying in person (a) Groups of nine or less
[Period to receive your application]:From the first day of three months before the tour date up to 20 minutes before the tour time.Please bring your passport or Alien Registration Card to the counter in the Imperial Household Agency Kyoto Office.~
we were actually a bit later than the 20 mins in advance but we weren’t the last. they were really nice and we filled in the forms in a hurry and then headed through the gates of the Palace into the waiting room (which was already full). so exciting!!! wee!!! we stuffed our bags into a locker (FREE!!!) and didn’t have to wait long before we were ushered out to start the tour.
The rest of the tour group
View of the palace, despite most things being rebuit, they still held a very Asian historical cultural flavour. A lot of the colours and designs used were very China-inspired. Very wide spaces with large doorways gave the whole place such a grand feeling..
We were clowning around and cam-whoring so much at this central area that we were one of the last few to leave after being chased away by the “secret service agents”. Yes, the really cool thing was that we had secret agents dressed in black walking at the back of the tour group to make sure that no one else lingered longer than needed (yes, they actually told us.. “Ok, enough pictures, time to move along now..” very sternly) or wandered away into prohibited places in the Palace.. Haigh, should have tried to be funny and ask if I could take a photo with them or something…
Close up of my Kanzashi (Kanasai) hair piece for that day. Looks really like i’ve got a balding patch at the top of my head eh? eewwwww yuckssss so grossssss!!! Why did i even post up this picture??? a little regretful that I didn’t buy the smaller hair piece too (which has a shorter metal stick) so that I can do half heads.
Our tour guide was this really cutesy lady who had the tendency to repeat everything she said twice. “so the Emperor used to enter through that gate.. *nods* um. through that gate” or “the roof of the palace are made up of many layers. many layers.”
Close up cross section sample of the roof. It is made up of many layers of cypress wood (for ventilation) and held together by wood nails too so it has to be replaced every 30 years. Apparently it is to prevent the knowledge of the skilled trade from dying. verrryyyy interesting..
It was all very interesting, knowing the history and the symbolism of the items used (eg. vermillion columns, white gravel etc). as well as why some buildings face certain directions (for the breeze to come in, with a mini drain and elevated floors to allow better ventilation), why some items are used (white paint on the edge of the timber poles to keep out the termites but now only for decorational purposes). Very good for our general knowledge, i felt so much smarter after an hour. I have a strange suspicious that she actually just made up some of the answers as she went along though (eg. how did they keep warm in the winter nights when no fire is allowed to be lit and the entire place doesn’t have a heating system). ha ha. she seemed rather hesistant at some parts (before answering that the maids would heat up rocks outside and bring them in to the royal family/visitors). But overall i enjoyed the whole tour and it ended with a beautiful tour of a garden filled with cherry blossoms. It totally didn’t feel like an hour…
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Japan Guide:
The palace is situated in the Kyōto Gyoen (京都御苑 kyōto gyoen ), a rectangular enclosure 1.3 km north to south and 0.7 km east to west which also contains the Sento Imperial Palace gardens. The Gyoen dates from the early Edo Period when the residence of high court nobles were grouped close together with the Palace and the area walled. When the capital was moved to Tokyo, the residences of the court nobles were demolished and most of Kyōto Gyoen is now a park open to the public.
The main building on the Palace Grounds includes, among other halls, the Shishinden (紫宸殿, Hall for State Ceremonies), Seiryōden (清涼殿, lit. ‘cool, refreshing hall’), Kogosho (小御所, Court Room), Ogakumonsho (御学問所, Imperial Study or Library), and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials.
The main gate on the front, south, side of the Palace has a cypress-wood roof, and is supported by four pillars. This gate would have been used on the rare occasions of the Emperor welcoming a foreign diplomat or dignitary, as well as for many other important ceremonies of the State. To the sides lies a fence separating the inner areas from the general Palace Grounds, and just past this main gate is a second gate, painted in vermillion and roofed in tile, which leads to the Shishinden, the Hall for State Ceremonies. The Shishinden was used for such important ceremonies as the coronation of an Emperor and installation of a Crown Prince. It is 33 by 23 meters in size, and features a traditional architectural style, with a gabled and hipped roof. On either side of its main stairway were planted trees which would become very famous and sacred, a cherry (sakura) on the eastern, left side, and a tachibana tree on the right to the west.
The center of the Shishinden is surrounded by a hisashi (庇), a long, thin hallway which surrounded the main wing of an aristocrat’s home, in traditional Heian architecture. Within this is a wide open space, crossed by boarded-over sections, leading to the central throne room. The Throne itself, called takamikura (高御座), sits on an octagonal dais, five meters above the floor, and could be separated from the rest of the room by a curtain. The sliding door that hid the Emperor from view is called kenjou no shouji (賢聖障子), and had an image of 32 Chinese saints painted upon it, which became one of the primary models for all of Heian period painting.
The Seiryōden sits to the west of the Shishinden, facing east. It, too, has a hipped and gabled roof, and is comprised primarily of cypress wood. Originally a place where the Emperor would conduct his own personal affairs, the Seiryouden was later used for various gatherings and meetings as well. In the center is an area where the Emperor would rest, and on the east side of the hall, an area of two tatami was set aside for dignitaries and aristocrats to sit. Here was where the Emperor could conduct formal affairs. On the north side of the hall was an enclosed area where the Emperor would sleep at night; later, Emperors began to use the official residence. The west side was set aside for the Emperor’s breakfasts, and also contained the lavatories, while the south side was used by the keeper of the Imperial Archives. This area contained paintings by the masters of the Tosa school, and just outside, various rare bamboos were planted.
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Yah, basically that was what she told on the tour too!!!
The Oike-niwa is a strolling garden, the main feature of which is a large pond with an artificial shoreline toward the front and stepping stones across to a boat mooring place. There is an arc-shaped keyaki bridge that stretches across the pond. It is possible to enjoy this beautiful scenery from many different angles along the shore.
Heaps of photo taking here cos the whole scenery was beautiful. Apparently the emperor used to have poetry competitions here too whilst relaxing in the garden and enjoying the sights…
These photos were taken at the last stop of the tour. In the Cherry Blossom filled garden… when we were ushered through, everyone was like “WAAHHHHH” and snap snap snap. The succession of pictures is really as easy as 1…2…3…4!!! First MST was like “Ok, go and take a picture” so I stood there like a dodo.. then was like “Jo, go and take also..” so both of us posed like chicken neh nehs.. then “Shi Fu, join them too!” and 3 of us were penguins being tourist attractions at Phillip Island.. before finally…
A group picture.. we asked some ang moh tourist to help us take the picture…yeah!!!
We were led back to the waiting area to pick up our stuff and the whole waiting area was full again. This time for the Japanese tour!!!!! very popular place ah!!! so we hung around a little (and bought more coffee from the vending machines in the waiting area for our morning wake up call) before making our way on to Osaka. But we had barely made it out of the palace walls that we needed to pee (cos it was sooo cold) and nua-ed outside the grounds for a while more..So happy and satisfied that we managed to make it for the tour and that we had a little bit of exercise in the morning too!! Denny and I were making fun of Jo by imitating her tofu voice “my leg very pain.. have to run so much in the morning ahhhhhhhhhhhh”… ha ha.. that was quite funny…
So we finally had enough motivation had to walk to another bus stop to get back to Kyoto train station for the journey to Osaka.. but it was almost noon time and since we didn’t have much breakfast and had done massive morning exercise (i’m really stressing on the morning run hey.. ) and since the “golden arches” are everywhere.. fate would have it that we would pass a Maccas (also known as Ma-ka-ro-na-ru-do in Japan) and we got majorly distracted. I think it started with Mr Denny C going ” eh, have u guys tried the Shaka Shaka chicken (シャカシャカチキン ブラックペッパー)? it’s quite nice..” and we were like “DUHHHH.. you’ve been with us all the time, have we ever stepped into Maccas???” so we ended up going in and grabbing a quick snack since it was only like 100 Yen (Approx A$2). Jo also spent the time wisely navigating and planning how to get round and about at Osaka.
It’s the same concept as Mamee… you have like the whole bag, then you pour your seasoning in (we had Black pepper) and then shake it around (thus the name of Shaka Shaka Chicken) tear off the top part and then eat it!!! Of course everyone gets a token shot with the Shaka Shaka Chicken.. we could be spokespeople for Maccas!!!
And yes, it was as yummy as it looks!! Gobbled everything down in record time and we were “on the road again..” back to Kyoto train station…
Yeah, back to the 3rd busiest train station in Japan..where you can actually get very good views of the Kyoto Tower (all together now…..wahhhhhhh)…
The weather forecast for the day was gloomy with overcast skies and we really wanted to cover as much as we could soon. Haigh, what would we do without the trusty navigators who once again guided us to the correct platform and we boarded the train bound express to Osaka. It was quite crowded and we couldn’t get a seat for most of the way. Luckily it was express and we only had to stand for like 30 mins.
We were in the peak hours Ladies Only cabin (to avoid Females being groped during peak hours). No groping applicable for us cos we were travelling during non peak hours.. Sorry Denny, NO groping of any sunnies for you that day.
By the time we arrived at Osaka Jo Koen Station which had fresher air than Tokyo once again, it was about noon time and we couldn’t really see any eateries in the vicinity. We really need food… just the though of Katsu Dons, Udons and Yakitoris were making the rock bands in our stomachs play louder. BUT still there was nothing decent nearby.
<Jo posing with Osaka-Jo Convention Centre>
We tried our luck at Osaka-Jo Convention Centre (Which is actually part of the Osaka Castle Grounds) further up the road through a park (which was like 15 mins away) but the security guard told us that it was closed. so MST had to approach him like 3 times to try and find out where we could get some food…ARHHHH wish i could have just slapped him to get some answers out from him. So annoying!!! We crossed a mini bridge and found ourselves at their CBD – looking area. Oh wait! it was their CBD.. i really love it when we accidently stumble upon things like that!!
This was an interesting pic taken to show that taxi drivers in EVERYCOUNTRY/CITY/NATION/SOCIETY are the same… stopped at a “no stopping” zone. cos they’re taxis so they ignore every freaking traffic rule there is..but somehow drive freaking slow when i’m in one!
Just when we were about to give up and just go for take away bento/macdonalds/subway.. we found an office building (that looked like the interior of The Concourse in Singapore) with the signboard outside showing the offices and shops inside. Immediately SPOTTED – Pictures of sukiyakis and bentos and other stuff… mai tu liao ah!!! cheong in and went upstairs where we discovered an entire floor of eateries…OMG like a treasure cove found.. just in time some more. I was so not looking forward to having a subway lunch (shi fu was the only one keen on it)…
We walked a whole big round before deciding on this particular restaurant.. based on popularity.. “Table for 4 please”… “Is it ok if you sit at separate tables?” LIKE DUHHHH of course not right? which is why we asked for a table of 4 not for 2 tables of 2… WOOOO SAAAAAAAAAAAAA……. so we had to throw thoughts of sampling the food at that restaurant out of the window and settle for 2nd choice instead… which as usual had like plastic displays of the bentos in this whole display cabinet outside.. spoilt for choice of proper hot Japanese food… we took a couple of minutes to decide on what to order.. plus shuttling in and out to view the display pictures before comparing them again with the menu. Finally got our orders in and time for MORE pictures..
I don’t know why MST has a cheeky look in this pic and i look si bei serious. Think I was QC-ing the pics and he must have been smug proud of some random pic.
the food was really good. … despite Denny making a boo boo of ordering nothing but vegetables. Search for it in the 3 pics below… ha ha ha…
Finally…. filled up and ready to cheong Osaka Castle..I (in my role of common fund treasurer) headed to the cashier, paid and we left. Happily walking back down the street later, we did a routine check of all our belongings (since the whole owl scroll episode in day 2 all of us became rather paranoid abt our valuables). Denny – CAMERA? CHECK! Grace – COMMON FUND money? CHECK! Jo – CAMERA? ehhhh?? Shi Fu – CAMERA??? EHHHHHHHHHHHHH??????????????? where was their camera??? oohhh noooooo… we were like “we were still taking photos of our lunch in the restaurant earlier with it.. who was the last one seen with it”. It was like a lightbulb went off on top of my head and I did a quick swear before sprinting back to the restaurant.. (now that i think back abt it.. i could have gotten appendicities….) and racing back up the escalators… back into the restaurant to grab the camera which I had left on the cashier table when I had paid for the meal and LUCKILY it was still there. WOOO SAAAAAAAAAA… when I got back downstairs..they were like “cha’yah” and shopping for some snacks at some little grocery shop like they all had 100% faith in me that i would bring the camera back safely.
MST posing outside the snack shop an dshi fu’s back view whilst Jo was hunting down her sour plum jelly sweet or something….
After that little drama scare, we could FINALLY head back to Osaka Castle.
We saw it from afar and were like “WAHHHHHH” and then…..
THE SKIES OPENED AND IT STARTED POURING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
like seriously big huge fat ass drops of water!!!!!!!!!!
Can still manage to squeeze in a group photo whilst seeking shelter from the pouring rain.
Pictures in the rain whilst walking to the castle. If you squint enough, you can see Jo and Shi Fu in the last pictures amongst the trees. They are so tiny they look like ants. poor things.
*super sianz look*. Luckily this time round we had 2 brolleys and it was so cold.. I was like shivering from getting half wet cos MST and I were clowning around with the umbrella. We plodded our way over the bridge and sought shelter for a while in the gateway but it was quite apparent that the rain wouldn’t ease up any time soon and we should just make it all the way rather than stopping halfway.. really amazing how despite being in the rain and all, we could STILL stop for PHOTOS. ha ha . it was so funny…
These pictures were taken before we crossed the bridge to the castle..in order for the umbrella to not be in the picture and minimise rain-falling-on-your-head contact…we had to 1..2…3 and then put the umbrella down in time for the shot.. (as shown by MST).. Unfortunately you can still see part of the brolley in Shi Fu and Jo’s picture..and finally.. me just thinking i’m waterproof and refusing the umbrella totally. not the smartest student in class as proven once again…
OH man.. these photos.. are … rather cheesy.. we were like tryin to take pics of the Osaka city skyline as well as the Osaka Castle in the background.. so we were like taking photos of each other and then swopping positions.. hmm.. the colour quality seems nicer from Jo’s camera but the pictures from Denny’s camera seem sharper….
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Japan Guide:
Osaka Castle (大坂城・大阪城 Ōsaka-jō ) is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
Originally called Ozakajō, it is one of Japan’s most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers.
The Castle grounds, which cover approximately 60,000 square meters (15 acres)[1] contain thirteen structures which have been designated as Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese government,[2] including the Toyokuni Shrine, dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
The castle is open to the public, and is easily accessible from Osakajōkōen Station on the JR West Osaka Loop Line. It is a popular spot during festival seasons, and especially during the cherry blossom bloom (hanami), when the sprawling castle grounds are covered with food vendors and taiko drummers. The large indoor arena Osaka-jo Hall is also located within the grounds of the castle park.
Castle Museum
The castle’s interior consists of eight floors devoted mainly to exhibits describing Hideyoshi Toyotomi and his era complete with a series of hologram-enhanced peep shows, a folding screen depicting the 1615 Summer War that destroyed Hideyoshi’s castle, and culminating in the 8th floor observation deck that offers one of the finest panoramic views of Osaka, enhanced by a wide open green foreground.
Entry to the Main Tower is 600 yen
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After buying the tickets from the vending machine (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) we trottered our way into the Castle.. and there was a well in the courtyard…
Posed picture of me yelling “Yueniang” as in Little Nonya scene where Jeanette Aw gets pushed into the well… ok so not everyone got the origin of this picture.. haigh..
When we finally (FINALLY!) reached the Castle and obtained our free pre-recorded tour guide headset and our dear Jo made a little joke abt the Chinese option for me…to our horror, the lady at the counter thought that she was being serious and started speaking Mandarin to me. I was a little shocked at first but we later found out that it’s quite common for mainlanders to head to Japan for work and they can speak very fluent Japanese as well as Chinese.
Started at the highest level (the rooftop balcony) and worked our way down each level. It was mainly exhibits and displays or war stuff during the period of this dude Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The views from the top wer ebeautiful though. The skies were clearing up a little and we could see rather far now… the castle grounds were huge though, can imagine it being so majestic in the past, with the moat, chery blossom trees and what not.. the decors (too fancy a term for them cos they probs have some symoblic meaning) are actually coated with real gold or something.. …
Us at the top with me being too cold and wet to force out a smile for the camera.
When we worked our way down, we were not allowed to take any photographs at the higher levels.. and by the time we reached the lower levels we were just too tired and lazy (yah, never imagined that hey!) to take any more. At the basement after returning our headsets, our smartest Jo Lau wanted to do a coin souvenir thingy.. that could stamp a personalised message and date and watever on the coin..so she happy slotted in her money and choose her message..upon reaching the last step which was to place the coin in the designated groove for the machine to imprint it, we were like “huh?? wat coin??” before realising that you had to spend more money at the machine beside the imprinting machine to get like a huge coin (about the size of the gold chocolate coins but twice the thickness) before you brought the coin over to be imprinted.. DUHHHHH but in the end she had a pretty gold one done up anyways…
Upon venturing out into the castle garden, we saw ….a time capsule.. to be opened in like 5000 years.. i kept on repeating myself.. “how do they know that there will still be humans around after 5000 years???” but obviously none of them could be bothered to entertain me… ha ha ha
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Japan Guide:
In 1968 two Japanese companies, Panasonic Corporation and The Mainichi Newspapers, agreed to undertake a joint time capsule project in celebration of the Japan World Exposition 1970. Two time capsules identical in every detail were buried adjacent to Osaka Castle. The lower capsule will remain buried for 5,000 years. The upper capsule (A control capsule) was opened in 2000 to examine the condition of its contents. After undergoing laboratory testing it was reburied and will be opened every 100 years thereafter so that the latest preservation techniques can be used to ensure their safekeeping. The 2,090 items in the capsule were chosen by a team of scientists, engineers, and historians that reflected everyday life in 1970. Other items include a silk condom, false teeth, a glass eye, insects encased in resin, an origami instruction book, handcuffs and counterfeit money.
Interesting Fact: A contest was held among Japanese schoolchildren to write a letter addressed To the People living 5,000 from now. The winner was a fourth grader from Tokyo who wrote: “How are you, people of 5,000 years from now? I wish I could live again in your age but I am quite happy now. I have kind parents and also a sister with whom I quarrel with once in a while. We must do our best until the next age takes over. Goodbye from 5,000 years in the past.”
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We were rather lucky cos as wewere wandering around, the sun actually came out from behind the rain clouds for a short period of time and we quickly snapped away at the national monument.
Us with the castle.. Jo and I attempted luvo pics so many times that Shi Fu was like “just let me take the photo for you gals!!”
and then we discovered that there was a mini pond garden at the side.. and it was super picture pretty too..but since the pics are all of the CASTLE still..shan’t upload them cos uploading pictures to WordPress is a bitch!
I attempted to use the public phone to call Bobo to wish her happybirthday but couldn’t figure out how to dial international!!! and Denny was like “i don’t use public phones and I don’t call international on my mobile” so i was helpless.. haigh..
Last stop for the day was to be dinner at Dotombori Shopping Street (Jo had been pracitising how to say it for the whole day already)… so we had to head back to a train station to hop on to Nanba station (sounds like a bad word hey!).. and along the way to the train station we stumbled upon another deserted park and starting cam whoring again with nature!!
Acting brainy with MST’s specs
Happy Tree Huggers
The boys doing jump shots
Tokyo Band Posing around again
Luvo shot with pretty tree background…
When you see the fountain, that means that the end of the castle grounds has been reached and the train station isn’t that far away..
Dotomburi Dinner will be in another post to be updated tomorrow…. Too many stories and pictures. and updates.. the post will prob take another 6 hours or something.
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