Osaka Snap x 2

"Roll up, roll up!" urges Kuidaore Taro,
the mechanical clown in front of Osaka Meibutsu Kuidaore,
the city's oldest restaurant department store
-- which, sadly, will close on July 8, 2008

The Dotonbori Canal which runs parallel to
the famous Dotonbori food street

For those who worry that I might: Don't worry, I'm not going to give Osaka short shrift. Japan's third largest city may be derided by some as the Japanese urban equivalent of the Elephant Man but I thoroughly enjoyed the far too short period of time I spent there; this not least since Osaka is a truly superb place for foodies! :b

More than incidentally, someone else who has been to Osaka recently and seems to have a good time (sometimes frequenting the same places I did -- as this photo essay on her blog shows!) is one of this blog's regular visitors, sbk. I hope she'll put up more photos of Osaka and Japan in general on her blog... and hope that there are others out there hoping the same of me. ;)

Himeji Castle (photo-essay)

In a blog entry yesterday, I intimated that Himeji Castle -- which I visited together with the nearby Koko-en Garden, and the Shoshazan Engyoji (Engyoji Temple on Mount Shosha) on a day trip from Osaka -- really brought out the shutter bug in me. After seeing the following photos of the magnificent 17th century edifice also known as Shirasagijo (White Heron Castle) because its brilliant white exterior resembles a white heron in flight, I hope that you'll understand why it did:-

No doubt about it -- the seven storey
main castle keep (Daitenshu) dominates
the landscape of Himeji -- castle but also town

At the same time, it seems to play peek-a-boo
with the visitor making his or her way
along a suggested tour of Himeji-jo's expansive grounds

But all gets revealed as you get into the central area

And yes, visitors are allowed into the main castle keep
-- albeit only if they deign to remove their shoes
(in order to help preserve its original wooden floors)

Also, to get views like this,
one has to climb many flights of stairs as
there are no concessions to modernity like lifts
in this UNESCO World Heritage Listed-site

The Osakabe Shrine on the Daitenshu's top floor

Lest it be thought that only the Daitenshu
has aesthetic charm

Truly, the artistry apparent in so much of
Himeji Castle's architecture
really can take one's breath away

Himeji-jo up close

All those architectural angles and decorative details
were like visual nectar to this shutterbug!

For those who were wondering: Yes, I most definitely will be posting more Japan photos soon. In particular, I hope that you folks won't tire of seeing photos of Himeji-jo as I really did go snap happy when visiting the most spectacular as well as largest castle still in existence in that land. And for those who think the structure looks familiar: Among the films in which it has featured are Akira Kurosawa's Ran and Hollywood's The Last Samurai.

For myself though, have to admit that I saw the magnificent Ran so long ago -- more than 20 years, in fact! -- that, even while I definite still retain memories of that film, I couldn't recognize Himeji-jo as that castle in the cinematic masterwork. As for The Last Samurai: Suffice to say that, like with Memoirs of a Geisha, its trailer put me off wanting to watch that recognizably Orientalist movie.

As a result, one could say that I visited Himeji Castle with eyes unblinded my cinematic memories and (mis)conceptions. All the same, I soon was put in awe for it truly is a magnificent edifice... as I hope that this blog entry gives a sense, and my pictures of it will (continue to) show. :)

Something not seen often (thank goodness!)

Flooding in the MTR!

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is the crown jewel of Hong Kong's wonderful public transportation system -- which generally operates, unlike its Malaysian equivalents, with few glitches. It even continues to operate during adverse weather: e.g., even when a Typhoon 8 warning is in effect. I know this because I was in Hong Kong last year when a Typhoon 8 signal was raised. The 'funny' thing though is that although at the time the Typhoon 8 warnings got me pretty worried, the worst weather I may have encountered to date in Hong Kong was two nights ago and late into yesterday morning when a thunderstorm warning was in effect together with a black rainstorm warning.

What this translated into observable terms included lots of thunder, lightning and many inches plus centimeters of rain. And flooding... including in the Wan Chai MTR station! Fortunately, this was an isolated case and, also, one that occured near the surface (and one of the station exits, in fact). But, still... especially when it's considered that there are three different MTR routes that go under the significant body of water known as Victoria Harbour... :S

Update: For colorful confirmation and more details about the recent deluge, go over here.

Sapporo by day and night

Summer is not the season that most people would choose to visit Sapporo. After doing so for a few days in late May, I would have to concur with the majority opinion -- not because this means one missing out on attending the Sapporo Snow Festival but, rather, because, like with Hong Kong, summer seems to be the wettest time of the year there. (And although I learnt to ignore rain more towards the end of my Japan trip, that wasn't the case in Sapporo. Hence Hokkaido's largest city getting short shrift as far as my photographing tendencies were concerned.)

Something else I'd recommend is that people don't spend a Monday in Sapporo since that is the day of the week that many of its attractions -- including the Historic Village of Hokkaido, the Ainu Museum and University's Botanical Gardens -- are closed to the public... Despite my doing so (and in a summer month to boot), this is not to say that I didn't manage to have a good time in that northern Japanese locale. And I hope that the following all too few pictures manage to give visitors to this blog a sense of that:-

The Sapporo Beer Museum --
one attraction that's open every day of the week!

Inside the beer museum -- decorative metal work,
including a large vat that's no longer in use

I wonder how many people took to
eating the hops before they installed those signs... ;b

Stained glass window that's one of many unlikely
beer-themed items -- including beer-flavored ice-cream
and chocolates with liquid beer centres! --
on view at the Sapporo Beer Museum

Sights like this got me realizing that
the Japanese are really into owls as well as
confirmed their liking of that which is kawaii ;)

Susukino -- where neon but also eateries,
brothels (or 'soapland's as they're called in Japan),
bars and beer abound

Obligatory food photo --

this of the tasty ikura, uni and mushroom bento
I ate on the plane flight out of Sapporo/Chitose
enroute to Kansai International Airport and Osaka

So... still hungry for some more after? I sure do hope so! :b

Genghis Khan in Japan!

So... am I successfully whetting your appetite
-- for more Japan photos, that is? ;b

Long before Japanese heart-throb Tadanobu Asano starred as Genghis Khan in Mongol, Genghis Khan was already very popular in one part of Japan. Genghis Khan -- the culinary dish, that is! For in Sapporo, when you talk about Genghis Khan, people tend to think you mean barbecue -- particularly lamb.

At the Sapporo Bier Garten (and yes, I detect a German influence/connection there!), my mother and I opted to feast on fresh lamb and lamb butt(ocks?) -- together with a side portion of vegetables -- barbecue. To go with what turned out to be a most delicious spread indeed, she opted for some Coca Cola (which came in a beer mug) and I for a supposedly medium-sized mug of Sapporo draft beer that turned out to be close to -- I kid you not! -- 1 litre in size!

The amazing thing is that for all of Japan being reputed to be a super expensive place to visit and live, the whole pretty substantial as well as delectable meal -- plus drinks -- for the two of us came to around 3,500 Yen.

On an additional interesting linguistic plus cultural note: For some reason, 'all you can eat'/buffet arrangements are called 'Viking' in Japan... And yes, at the Sapporo Bier Garten, one has the option of "going 'Viking'" -- either with just food alone or a food and drink combo! ;b

Tale of Japanese (mis)identity

This blog entry provides me with an excuse to put up
one more photo from my recent Japan trip -- this one taken
inside the Engyoji temple complex up on Shosazan

Some months back, I did a meme in which I mentioned that my ethnicity and/or nationality tends to get mis-identified a lot, including when my mother and I visited Taiwan last December and got frequently mistaken as Japanese. Well, after my most recent trip to Japan, my conclusion is that (my mother and) I do seem to come across as Japanese to even the Japanese -- or, at the least, it tends to be assumed by many of them that we can speak and understand their language!

Additionally, while in Hong Kong, I've been asked more than once, "Are you Korean or Japanese?" Whereby people get rather stunned when I tell them that I'm Malaysian. Part of the reason for their surprise, I think, is that I seem to be the rare Malaysian in Hong Kong who cannot speak Mandarin (because I attended Malay rather than Mandarin medium school in Malaysia) as well as is not all that fluent in Cantonese (because I'm from Hokkien-majority Penang rather than, say, Cantonese-dominated Ipoh -- the hometown of Michelle Yeoh -- and Kuala Lumpur). (On a related note, one reason why I never get mistaken for a Mainland Chinese person -- as a Hong Konger friend of mine pointed out -- is that I don't speak Mandarin.)

Among other things, this state of affairs resulted in an amusing conversation transpiring when I went to the laundry the day before I headed to Japan. To cut a long story short: The woman at the laundry that I spoke to (in bad Cantonese) asked me where I was from. When I said "Malaysia", her response was, "then why don't you speak Cantonese?" But, then, after I told her that I was off to Japan the next day, she seems to have figured that I had mistakenly told her that I was from Malaysia and, instead, was actually Japanese. Going on from there and thinking that I was Japanese, she changed her mind and decided that I spoke Cantonese very well!

All of which has me concluding that I speak Cantonese very badly if measured using the standards usually applied to Malaysians but very well if measured using the standard usually applied to Japanese folks...! ;b