Konnichiwa!
(means hello! in Japanese)
Firstly, I'm very excited to be able to blog about this post! because..
When I was in school, I had aspired to become a travel writer or a travel journalist but all of that changed.. Well, not really. I just can't make up my mind on my career just yet. So we'll see..
The reason why I chose Japan to blog about is because I figured it has many beautiful sights there & it is definitely one of the best places to visit in my book.
To start things off, I was given the opportunity to visit Japan by participating in an annual cultural exchange programme offered by my school, Sri Garden last year. The school we were interacting with was Hokuryo High School, located in Kyoto & about 34 students from my school participated in the programme. The trip starting from the day of departure, was about 6 days. Instead of staying at one place, we moved around the Kansai region specifically the cities of Osaka, Kobe & Kyoto.
It was on Thursday evening, 15th July 2010 we departed from KLIA for Kansai International Airport. INTERESTING FACT! It is located on a man-made island! The flight was around 6 hours. As soon as we arrived, we were already on the bus on the way to our first destination!
Prank calling friends in KLIA while waiting for departure..
This is Nadiz. He dreams of becoming a pilot :)
Isabel & Arran, Kansai International Airport!
BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE & ONE OF ITS KIND, MAISHIMA INCINERATION PLANT was designed by an Austrian architect, Friedrich Stowasser (search him online! he designs a number of beautiful buildings around the globe!). My first impression of the building was it looked like there was going to be an indoor theme park because it didn't look like a garbage disposal centre. The reason why the building was designed in such way was because the garbage plant was located in the city of Osaka & as you know, Japan has a high tolerance for cleanliness. INCINERATION PLANT = GARBAGE DISPOSAL CENTRE, dirty? NO. From the entrance up till the exit we walked, it was clean, beautifully designed & colourful. The incineration plant was powered by high-tech machines controlled by the workers working in a control room. Each aspect of the building had its own functions.
THEME PARK?!
A model of the plant.
The machine that collects garbage to be incinerated.
The control room.
Lorries carrying garbage from the city to be disposed in the room where the machine carries the garbage to be incinerated.
Later on, we were on our way for lunch & the Osaka Castle. The roads in Japan were smooth! Not the traffic I mean, the roads there itself! There wasn't any potholes. We had a takoyaki making experience for lunch. YES, WE MADE OUR OWN TAKOYAKIS! & I have never tried takoyakis before, not even back home because it didn't occur in my mind to try. For those of you who don't know what takoyakis are, they are ball-shaped Japanese dumplings with grilled octopus inside.
See what I mean?!
LUNCH!
Jason making his takoyaki.
YUMM (:
After lunch, we took a walk to the Osaka Castle. It was beautiful. The castle itself had a few restorations done but it was same as it was before only the inside was changed into a museum for the public. We were told by the tour guide to go up to the 8th floor as it had a spectacular view of the city & of course, we did. From my point of view, the city of Osaka didn't have much greenery. Yes, there were a few parks & a baseball field but other than that, all you could see were buildings.
Osaka Castle.
It's an old well!
The pictures below are taken from the 8th floor of the Osaka Castle..
Soon after, we headed to the city of Kobe. We visited the Earthquake Reduction Centre. No pictures were allowed to take inside though. The reduction centre was basically a memorial for those who were affected by the earthquake around the area in 1995 & serves as a research facility. The centre was equipped with high tech equipments. We were brought to a room which had different shapes of screens all around. It was actually a room which screened footages from the earthquake. The visuals & the surrounded sound system were surreal! It was as if you were experiencing the quake itself. We then went to a theatre & the museum to learn about the buildings & more information about the earthquake. On our way there, we walked through a replica of the streets of Kobe after the earthquake.
Earthquake Reduction Centre.
We then headed to the city to do some shopping. If you're looking for unreleased or unavailable items back home, it is recommended for you to go there but you have to do a little bit of calculation for the items you're buying as the currency there is quite high. After shopping we headed to our hotel (I forgot the name), which was only a 3-star hotel but was more like a 4/5 star to me. The buffet spread was.. SUPERB. We even get to make our cotton candy! That was the end of the first day.
The next day, we went to Hokuryo High School in Kyoto as part of the programme. We were assigned to our host families. On my first day with my host, Rio Sakamoto & her friend, Mizuki decided to take me around the streets of Kyoto. We went to a department store. It was similar to the Isetan we have back home, only bigger &. They had an arcade above & I lost about RM 10 just by playing games because I was told to by my host. I also couldn't resist her because we had a communication barrier. Kyoto was like a small town with narrow roads but it was still beautiful. If you're looking for a quiet place to getaway, Kyoto is your place. We then headed back to my host's home, had dinner & slept. By the way, everywhere you go around Japan, the toilets there are high-tech as well even in their homes.
RIO!
On the following day, we went to the Golden Temple or known as Kinkaki-Ju Temple. It is protected by UNESCO. The temple or pavilion is completely made of gold. It is definitely a place to visit! I also had a chance to view an old Japanese house & drank green tea with GOLD! Yes, GOLD! inside. I DRANK GOLD! & no, i didn't poo gold. We then took the subway & had a very long walk (going & back!) to Kiyomizu temple. It was located on a hill but the walk was worth it as I had saw Japanese girls wearing Yukata (Japanese Summer Kimono) & had a chance to try different types of mochi, Japanese sweets on the way. It was summer by the way!. Kiyomizu temple was a huge temple which had other temples within. As we arrived, we headed to the love temple. My Japanese host & her friends made me try all sorts of fortune-telling-lucky stones & other things around the temple. After spending the afternoon there we headed back to Hokuryo High School for a party. We played many games, learned about the Japanese culture & had dinner. We were all dressed in Yukatas as well! Later, we went back home & played fireworks.
At the entrance of Kinkaki-Ju Temple with Rio & her friends.
The Golden Temple.
An old traditional Japanese house.
Green tea with gold!
This is the guy who gave me samples of mochis.
The entrance of Kiyomizu Temple.
Kyoto Tower.
Rainforest!
Entrance of the Love Temple.
My Yukata <3
The boys, Rahim & Nadiz in theirs.
The pictures below are Japanese instruments played by the Hokuyo Parent-Teacher Association volunteers.
This was taken during the party. Those are my teachers & friends who participated in the programme.
It was then the day we separated from our hosts. Before the closing ceremony started, my host took me to the park. It had a huge lake with big koi fishes inside & ducks. We walked around & then headed back to school for the closing ceremony. We learned how to make pottery, tea cups to be precise like the ones used in Japanese restaurants. By the way, the food in Japan was delicious! From noodles to tempuras!. After the closing ceremony, we went to a Kimono Fashion Show. Beautiful Kimonos indeed & headed back to Osaka. We stayed at a resort on a hill. It had a bowling alley & many other facilities there. A must try is the Japanese hot spring indoors & outdoors filled with healthy minerals in the water. It will put you to sleep like a baby. We slept on the floor by the way! It's traditionally Japanese!
See how narrow the road is?! This was on the way down from my host's house.
The park.
Big-sized koi fishes.
Tea cup designing tools.
Making pottery.
Below are pictures from the fashion show.
The view from the balcony of our room.
The boys getting ready to go to the hot springs.
On our last day in Japan, we went to Universal Studios! (Oh, the joy of going to a theme park instead of school on a Monday). We spent the whole day there & then went back to our resort at night. It was then off back home the next day. In addition, if you're wondering about the boys who are often in the pictures they are Rahim, Nadiz & Jason. Three of my closest friends who participated in the trip.
We slept on the floor! It was comfortable & very cooling :) We slept like babies!
Last picture of the boys before departure.
The entrance of the park.
Universal City Walk at night.
It was a trip to be cherished for life! I saw many beautiful & interesting things. I had fun as well! So yes, Japan is definitely one of the best places to go!
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