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"....

*****

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.

******

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.

.......