Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Rikugien Gardens @ Bunkyo-ku Tokyo

We always adore the Japanese who often practice Art as a graceful way of Living.
They would take great pains and planning to beautify & perfect 
their environmental areas from the gardens, landscapes, buildings'
ambiance and even the correct postures to eat or sip the green tea. 
That's beautiful and amazing Art to me.

We headed to Rikugien Gardens as it was often lauded for the best
place to appreciate the foliage of Autumn's myriad colours.
This gardens at Bunkyo-Ku was built around 1700s.





1. We took the JR Yamanote Line train from Akasaka to 
Komagome Station and walked some 30 minutes to the gardens
instead of just 10 minutes as we were lost in circles.
I enjoyed getting lost as I could admire the neat houses
with trees growing abundance of orange and peach fruits!
It was a sight to behold.




 2. My wifey who was my trip's banker & navigator paid
300 Yen each for entrance fees.





3. They even placed a pretty bonsai with beautiful blooms
on the table next to the brochures.






4. The older generations sat to relax and chat after a good
stroll around the Rikugien Gardens.






5. There are many similar pots of full blooming flowers around
Tokyo's temples and gardens.




6. Their chrysanthemums are so huge like my face!




7. The arched entrance with me greeting everyone
..."YOKOSO!"...




8. There is a huge lake in the middle of the gardens.




9. The Autumn's colourful trees have not reached its peak yet
as we visited too early.




10. The Japanese folks are always excited to watch the colourful 
Autumn's trees as well as the Spring's Cherry Blossoms by 
monitoring the daily seasonal reports over the internet.




 11. It was my first sighting of wild Mandarin Ducks!




12. A view of the lake through the pines.




13. The lake of Rikugien Gardens.




14. The folks came in proper Japanese Kimono attires to
enjoy the scenic gardens.



15. Many pine trees were neatly wrapped with straw mats
and tied into a sakura flower's end knots.
Do you know the reason they are tied just before Winter?




16. Here the notice board shared its reasons - When the winter comes,
they will try to catch all the harmful insects by wrapping the trunks with
the "Komo-Maki" method of using straw mats. They would tie 2 lines
with the looser line above so that the insects would crawl inside
and stay warm throughout the winter, as the 2nd lower line
would be tied very tightly to prevent them from crawling down.
By Spring, the would remove the straw mats and burn them
together with all the insects.
BLUEK!!!!



17. My Japanese doll.




18. We would have enjoyed this exact scenery if we have visited
Rikugien Gardens during the end of Autumn in December. 
This shot was taken from HERE




19. Am I too tall for the Arch or the Arch is too short?
.... "SAYONARA"....




*****









Friday, November 27, 2015

Tokyo Cruise @ Sumida River

We finished our visit at Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa and proceeded
to walk to our next destination at Azuma Bridge which is in the
same vicinity.



1. One thief says Hi-5!!




2. In Japan, we will always see all the artistic characters, mascots 
and cute icons everywhere. The folks there use Art as their way
of life which enabled them to fully appreciate their nature 
and beautiful surroundings.





3. We slowly strolled along the interesting malls and neat covered
shopping areas which was a bliss. One traditional restaurant 
caught my eyes and we had their tastiest tempura for lunch.
Sorry no photos, as usual.





4. The Tokyo Cruise embarks daily from this building 
beside the Azuma bridge.




5. The prominent Sky Tree Tower is flanked by 2 buildings
and an artistic golden icon. Blogger SK has pointed out to me
that is Asahi Beer Brewery's building with a Golden Flames
on its roof.




6. A traditional cruise boat arrived and it looked old fashioned.




7. Yay! Jumping with joy. 
My boat has arrived!




8. That's a hi-tech looking boat that looks
like a Cat Fish! We have booked this
Asakusa-Odaiba Direct Line which
is 50 minutes @ 1560 Yen.




9. We hopped into the very spacious boat with glass top
for full panoramic viewing. It has a drinks bar and clean
toilets on board. I loved it.




10. The boat gently cruised down Sumida River towards the
Tokyo Bay where the man-made Odaiba Island lies.





11. Tokyo city has got so many spectacular tall buildings on both sides
of the river. This one is a high end residential condos
with fabulous river views below!





12. We passed under a total of 12 interesting bridges.




13. Everyone was relaxed and many dozed off dreaming away on this
love boat. Some ladies were all smiles and snapped many photos of the
boat's captain.




14. This was the handsome captain who looked like the famous actor.
Do you remember Hideki Saijo??




15. Most of the boat's passengers were on the roof top to enjoy
the chilly breeze of early Winter and snapped photos.




16. We all got off at the Hinode Pier on the Odaiba Island
which is man made with full of shopping & entertainment
being housed together under one roof.
I was shivering because I left my warm jacket
at home in Kuala Lumpur. I was silly alright.




17. View of the Tokyo Bay from Odaiba's DECKS.




18. It is a lovely place to dine and chat at the waterfront.




19. We came here twice but didn't have time to step into
the Legoland or Madame Tussaud's.


******



Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Senso-Ji Temple @ Asakusa, Tokyo

Every year, some 30 million visitors visit this oldest temple 
in Tokyo's Asakusa. Maybe tens of thousands have 
Blogged and Facebooked this powerful shrine as well. 
Here I will try to post something different 
besides their famous big red lantern.



 1. You can easily reach this famous temple by
any means of transportation.

By Train
Tobu ISKYTREE Line: Five minutes' walk from Asakusa Station
Tokyo Metro Ginza Line: Five minutes' walk from Asakusa Station
Tsukuba Express Line: Five minutes' walk from Asakusa Station
Toei Subway Asakusa Line: Seven minutes' walk from 
the A4 exit of Asakusa Station




 2. A Happy Jump at the entrance.



 

3. Kawai ladies also came to pray. 

 


 4. The huge Red and Black lanterns at the main entrance.

 


5. Behind the lantern, a huge scene of tourists doing shopping.

 


6. I had a good time browsing the traditional products
and ate all their cakes & desserts.




 7. Nothing is cheap here but if you don't buy them here,
you might miss it forever! Elsewhere might not sell these
souvenirs.



 8. We had these freshest warm mochi sticks.
So yummilicious & sticky!



 9. Side view of the main temple's hall.




10. Another big red lantern upon entering the shrine of
the Kannon Boddisatva's statue.






11. The main altar of the Goddess Kannon.





12. Spotted a man doing a beautiful watercolour work of the
shrine with the Sky Tree Tower.



 13. This was what he was drawing.




 14. Beautiful big doors at the side entrance.




 15. Ladies in traditional kimono admiring the small 
landscaped area at the side.




 16. This garden has little shrines and lush landscaped plants
with Koi Fish ponds.






17. The koi fishes are very huge in Japan!





 18. The side view of the Kannon Temple.



19. I hope to get enlightened in this life.


.......




Unforgettable Day

😓 Yesterday was the weakest day of my whole entire life. I had to crawl my way to stay at my sister's place. At her Mont Kiara condo...