The final chapter of the trip we took during the winter/New Year vacation brings us to Osaka. Although our third visit to this city, this was our first time to the Minami (south) district of this vast city. We stayed one night in Shinsaibashi, also known as the fashion/shopping district of Osaka. There were so many impeccably dressed people on the streets of Shinsaibashi, and of course many department stores and brand-name fashion stores like Chanel and Gucci. I just know my younger sister would love it here.
As it so happens, our hotel was smack bang in the midst of Amerika Mura (literally means America Village), named perhaps in tribute of the Japanese obsession with anything American. There are many trendy shops (presumably American brand names, or at least influenced by the American fashion industry) and the streets teemed with fashionable young things. I felt sorry for the girls who were victimised by the impractical fashion of super-short shorts and skirts.
One of the streets of Amerika Mura:
It was late afternoon by the time we'd checked into the hotel. After we umm-ed and ah-ed over where to spend the rest of the evening, and we decided to head to Osaka Bay, otherwise known as Tempozan. Here, a giant ferris wheel dominated the landscape. At 112.5m height, it is one of the largest ferris wheels in the world, and it promised us great views of Osaka, Osaka Bay and Kobe. After exploring the Tempozan Marketplace next door (three storeys of shops and restaurants), we paid 700yen each and hopped onto the wheel for a 15minute ride. We were awarded with breathtaking night views (unfortunately all the photos taken from a moving wheel through a window didn't turn out as well as I'd like so I ain't posting any photos up).
The giant ferris wheel from (slightly) afar:
After a lovely dinner at one of the (better) restaurants in the Marketplace, we headed back into downtown and wandered down Dotombori Strip which is a bright, loud and bustling nightlife area full of restaurants and theatres.
Somewhere in the middle of Dotombori Arcade, which was crowded with people but the photo doesn't show that:
We then headed back to our hotel late in the night, and enjoyed a lazy morning before heading off back home (not before experiencing a hectic moment with cancelled train services due to the crazy weather).
Tuesday 30 January 2007
Friday 26 January 2007
Seafood specialties of Miyajima
I love it how many of the regional culinary specialties in Japan involves seafood of some sort! The food of Miyajima is anagomeishi, which is conger eel (similar to unagi, but not the same) with a special sauce on rice. Quite a simple dish, but quite pricey. We went to Fujita-ya that was recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide, and we left the place wondering why this place was recommended and not other (cheaper) places? We were also puzzled over why this place was also recommended in another book guide (was it Frommer's?) (we met a lone American traveller (using this other guide) attempting to get in Fujita-ya, but not knowing any Japanese, she was quite confused over what the lady was telling her. She ended up eating with us on our table, and then exploring Mt. Misen with us after).
The anagomeishi itself was quite yummy, but we felt that it wasn't really quite worth the 2300yen (around AU$23). (We saw other restaurants offering anagomeishi for around 1700yen.) Perhaps Fujita-ya gave more meat? Or perhaps it was trying to milk all the money it can from all the foreign tourists led here by their book guides. We'll never know.
Anagomeishi served with some soup and pickled veges:
Since Miyajima is within Hiroshima-ken, kaki (oyster) is another of Miyajima's specialty. Outside one of the restaurants specialising in kaki, there was a stall set up selling take-away grilled oysters for 200yen a-piece. It was hugely popular too, with a long line for the piping hot oysters. And it was soooo good! Plump, fresh oysters hot of the grill... Mmmm yum!
Big fat grilled oysters:
Maple trees are one of the trademarks of Miyajima, so one of the popular omiyage (souvenirs) to buy are the momiji manju (momiji is Japanese for maple, and manju for sweets). These are small cakes shaped like maple leaves with various fillings inside, including the standard anko (sweet jam/paste made out of adzuki beans), matcha (green tea flavour) and the ever-popular custard and chocolate fillings. It was quite yummy and I bought a couple of boxes to give my collegues. For those that don't know, in Japan, it's almost an expection that whenever you travel, you should bring back omiyage to share - I wrote about it in another post.
Momiji manju in the making:
The anagomeishi itself was quite yummy, but we felt that it wasn't really quite worth the 2300yen (around AU$23). (We saw other restaurants offering anagomeishi for around 1700yen.) Perhaps Fujita-ya gave more meat? Or perhaps it was trying to milk all the money it can from all the foreign tourists led here by their book guides. We'll never know.
Anagomeishi served with some soup and pickled veges:
Since Miyajima is within Hiroshima-ken, kaki (oyster) is another of Miyajima's specialty. Outside one of the restaurants specialising in kaki, there was a stall set up selling take-away grilled oysters for 200yen a-piece. It was hugely popular too, with a long line for the piping hot oysters. And it was soooo good! Plump, fresh oysters hot of the grill... Mmmm yum!
Big fat grilled oysters:
Maple trees are one of the trademarks of Miyajima, so one of the popular omiyage (souvenirs) to buy are the momiji manju (momiji is Japanese for maple, and manju for sweets). These are small cakes shaped like maple leaves with various fillings inside, including the standard anko (sweet jam/paste made out of adzuki beans), matcha (green tea flavour) and the ever-popular custard and chocolate fillings. It was quite yummy and I bought a couple of boxes to give my collegues. For those that don't know, in Japan, it's almost an expection that whenever you travel, you should bring back omiyage to share - I wrote about it in another post.
Momiji manju in the making:
Wednesday 24 January 2007
The sacred island of Miyajima
Part 3 of my chronicles of our New Year trip lands us in the island of Miyajima, home of Itsukushima-jinja (ie Itsukushima Shrine), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Haven't heard of it? Well, chances are, you have probably seen its famous 'floating' torii (Shinto shrine gate), which is one of the most photographed tourist attractions in Japan and rated as one of Japan's three best views. To get there, we had to ride the train from Hiroshima city for about 30mins and then take a short ferry ride to the island.
The torii from the ferry:
The island seems to be mainly a tourist spot with not much residential facilities, much like Rottnest Island back home in Perth. Deer roam freely around, much like Nara. The whole island is considered sacred, and the deer are seen as divine messengers. In one area, we saw two young bucks attempting to fight without any antlers, but in another area we saw a loving picture of a doe and her fawn. (From what I understand, the antlers of deer roaming in public access areas are sawn off for people's safety; they let the deer on the restricted slopes of the mountains keep their antlers)
Contrasting pictures of the nature of deer:
On this island, there is Mt. Misen, which is the holy mountain on this island. At 535m, we could either take a long hike to the peak, or take the cable car ('ropeway') up most of the way. We chose to do the ropeway up and hike back down. The ride took us to about 3/4 to the peak, and it was another 20-30minutes hike to the top. That was a lot of work especially since my legs were still quite sore from our snowboarding trip. On the way up, there was a rest point where we could view the giant iron pot said to have been used by a Buddhist saint in the 7th century and the water inside was kept simmering ever since. Surely the water inside needs to be replaced?
The said pot:
The view at the peak was gorgeous. Made our effort worth its while.
Us at the peak:
The view at the peak (lazy attmept at 'stitching' two photos together):
And the hike back down? It must have taken us well over 1 hour, although it seemed a lot longer. Needless to say, we were so glad to have finally reached the bottom. We weren't really all that interested to see the shrine (surely it can't be much different than the half-dozen other temples/shrines we've already been to?) so off we went to catch our ferry back to Hiroshima city. On our way to the jetty, we saw that the tide had receded and that the 'floating' torii was not 'floating':
High tide in mid-afternoon; lower tide in the early evening:
==
Just thought I'd share something interesting here. We meet many people on our travels, one of whom we'd first met on our Kobe trip - who would have thought that we'd bump into him again in Hiroshima! (He's a guy from Thailand working in Tokyo.) I mean, Japan is not really tiny Perth where you can say "It's a small town!"
The torii from the ferry:
The island seems to be mainly a tourist spot with not much residential facilities, much like Rottnest Island back home in Perth. Deer roam freely around, much like Nara. The whole island is considered sacred, and the deer are seen as divine messengers. In one area, we saw two young bucks attempting to fight without any antlers, but in another area we saw a loving picture of a doe and her fawn. (From what I understand, the antlers of deer roaming in public access areas are sawn off for people's safety; they let the deer on the restricted slopes of the mountains keep their antlers)
Contrasting pictures of the nature of deer:
On this island, there is Mt. Misen, which is the holy mountain on this island. At 535m, we could either take a long hike to the peak, or take the cable car ('ropeway') up most of the way. We chose to do the ropeway up and hike back down. The ride took us to about 3/4 to the peak, and it was another 20-30minutes hike to the top. That was a lot of work especially since my legs were still quite sore from our snowboarding trip. On the way up, there was a rest point where we could view the giant iron pot said to have been used by a Buddhist saint in the 7th century and the water inside was kept simmering ever since. Surely the water inside needs to be replaced?
The said pot:
The view at the peak was gorgeous. Made our effort worth its while.
Us at the peak:
The view at the peak (lazy attmept at 'stitching' two photos together):
And the hike back down? It must have taken us well over 1 hour, although it seemed a lot longer. Needless to say, we were so glad to have finally reached the bottom. We weren't really all that interested to see the shrine (surely it can't be much different than the half-dozen other temples/shrines we've already been to?) so off we went to catch our ferry back to Hiroshima city. On our way to the jetty, we saw that the tide had receded and that the 'floating' torii was not 'floating':
High tide in mid-afternoon; lower tide in the early evening:
==
Just thought I'd share something interesting here. We meet many people on our travels, one of whom we'd first met on our Kobe trip - who would have thought that we'd bump into him again in Hiroshima! (He's a guy from Thailand working in Tokyo.) I mean, Japan is not really tiny Perth where you can say "It's a small town!"
Friday 19 January 2007
Hiroshima eats
Much to the delight of the foodie in me, one of the food specialty in Hiroshima is oysters. And winter is the best time to eat oysters. As the Japanese would say - "Rucky!" (aka 'lucky'). In fact, Hiroshima is the largest and most famous oyster cultivating prefecture in Japan, with Hiroshima's oyster production accounting for over 70% of the national oyster production. For me, the best way to enjoy oysters is au naturel. You'd think that eating oysters sashimi style would be normal in Japan, but strangely I did not once encounter a place that served raw oysters. I read somewhere that raw oysters can only be legally served if the water that the oysters were cultivated in are very clean. Fair enough - after all, I don't want to contract the norovirus, the common source of which are eating raw shellfish with double shells (shellfish absorb ocean water to feed, and human sewage is dumped into the ocean).
Suishin honten
According to the Lonely Planet Guide, Suishin is a good place to try kamameishi, which is rice mixed with kaki (oysters), ebi (prawns) or anago (eel). Of course we went for the kaki kamameishi. There are two places with the same name (Suishin) in the same area but one has a sushi bar and this one was just a casual restaurant. Service was good, and the food was great! English-speaking ability is somewhat limited, but we didn't have any trouble with ordering and paying.
You could just have the kamameishi rice for around 800 yen (you get a tiny plate of veges), or you can get the setto (set) for around 3000 yen. The set includes seven or eight other dishes, including kaki furai (fried oysters), sashimi, chawan mushi (steamed egg dish), fish, chicken and vegetables. It was so yummy! The dishes for the set came out in groups (some individually) and the waitress pointed to the menu to let us know which dish she'd just served. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't read a lot of the Japanese kanji characters on the menu but we were happy with guesswork. The food was very flavoursome, and I really liked the rice.
Dishes included in the set (anyone care to help with translation of the kanji/Chinese characters?):
The dishes:
Suishin (the other one with sushi bar)
We came back to the first Suishin because we saw a couple of things we wanted to try. Well, actually I think Rob only wanted to have o-toro (fattiest part of the tuna belly) sushi again. Myself, I wanted to try the kakinodote nabemono (oyster hotpot). We'd done a huge hike down Mt. Misen in Miyajima and a nourishing hotpot meal was what I needed. There are two sizes available, the lunch-size (probably enough only for one) was 1000yen (~AU$11) and the large size for around 2000yen. We went for the large one to share.
The kakinodote on stove in the middle of the table; and my bowl:
This diner had a sushi bar similar to the one we went to on our first trip to Osaka, where you can watch the chef make the sushi. I don't recall there being an English menu for the sushi, but we had fun reading the hiragana and katakana and going from there. Rob ordered what he thought was crab (because the name had the hiragana for kani, Japanese for crab, plus a few other kanji characters which we did not know) but it was grey colour and tasted more like the innards of crab - it wasn't unpleasant though. In general, the sushi were quite pricey - one piece of o-toro sushi was a whopping 525yen (~AU$6)!! But, they were fresh and well-prepared.
A selection of sushi (clockwise from top left) - kani (the innards?), uni (sea urchin roe), sake (salmon), unagi (broiled eel), and o-toro (tuna belly):
Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki
Hiroshima-yaki, as it is known, is quite different to the usual okonomiyaki we are used to (i.e. Kansai-style). Now, I would consider us to be somewhat knowledgeable on what good okonomiyaki should taste like, having eaten the dish in several cities including Kanazawa, Suzu, and the city where okonomiyaki was said to have originated from: Osaka itself. The biggest difference between the Kansai-style and Hiroshima-style would be the addition of soba and udon noodles. And the ingredients are layered rather than mixed all together. Plus, it's not a do-it-yourself affair, since it's not just a simple matter of mixing all the ingredients and chucking on the hotplate.
In Hiroshima, there is an area called Okonomimura, which literally means Okonomiyaki village. Lots of stalls and diners serving okonomiyaki, and we did not know where to start looking. Being in a bit of a hurry (did not want to miss our shinkansen to Osaka), we took the stairs of the first building we came to. That didn't help much to narrow the choice, because once inside, there were lots to choose from, so we just plonked ourselves down at the inner-most stall. And it was a good choice.
Sign above road indicating that you've entered okonomiyaki land; and being overwhelmed by the choices:
We both went for seafood, one with soba and the other with udon. This included pork, egg and a lot of cabbage, each for around 1300yen (~AU$14.50). I took lots of photos, so one can compare how Hiroshima-style differs from the Kansai-style. The only part that contained the flour batter was the base (plenty of carbs provided by the noodles). It was very filling, even for Rob.
At the beginning of the cooking process (note - the cook was not the epitome of 'Service with a smile'); putting ingredients on top:
With most of the ingredients piled on; flipped over, cooking noodles:
Placing the piles on top of its respective noodle pile; the eggs were first cooked on the hotplate and then placed on top, then generous amount of seasoning was brushed on:
Finished product:
Suishin honten
According to the Lonely Planet Guide, Suishin is a good place to try kamameishi, which is rice mixed with kaki (oysters), ebi (prawns) or anago (eel). Of course we went for the kaki kamameishi. There are two places with the same name (Suishin) in the same area but one has a sushi bar and this one was just a casual restaurant. Service was good, and the food was great! English-speaking ability is somewhat limited, but we didn't have any trouble with ordering and paying.
You could just have the kamameishi rice for around 800 yen (you get a tiny plate of veges), or you can get the setto (set) for around 3000 yen. The set includes seven or eight other dishes, including kaki furai (fried oysters), sashimi, chawan mushi (steamed egg dish), fish, chicken and vegetables. It was so yummy! The dishes for the set came out in groups (some individually) and the waitress pointed to the menu to let us know which dish she'd just served. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't read a lot of the Japanese kanji characters on the menu but we were happy with guesswork. The food was very flavoursome, and I really liked the rice.
Dishes included in the set (anyone care to help with translation of the kanji/Chinese characters?):
The dishes:
Suishin (the other one with sushi bar)
We came back to the first Suishin because we saw a couple of things we wanted to try. Well, actually I think Rob only wanted to have o-toro (fattiest part of the tuna belly) sushi again. Myself, I wanted to try the kakinodote nabemono (oyster hotpot). We'd done a huge hike down Mt. Misen in Miyajima and a nourishing hotpot meal was what I needed. There are two sizes available, the lunch-size (probably enough only for one) was 1000yen (~AU$11) and the large size for around 2000yen. We went for the large one to share.
The kakinodote on stove in the middle of the table; and my bowl:
This diner had a sushi bar similar to the one we went to on our first trip to Osaka, where you can watch the chef make the sushi. I don't recall there being an English menu for the sushi, but we had fun reading the hiragana and katakana and going from there. Rob ordered what he thought was crab (because the name had the hiragana for kani, Japanese for crab, plus a few other kanji characters which we did not know) but it was grey colour and tasted more like the innards of crab - it wasn't unpleasant though. In general, the sushi were quite pricey - one piece of o-toro sushi was a whopping 525yen (~AU$6)!! But, they were fresh and well-prepared.
A selection of sushi (clockwise from top left) - kani (the innards?), uni (sea urchin roe), sake (salmon), unagi (broiled eel), and o-toro (tuna belly):
Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki
Hiroshima-yaki, as it is known, is quite different to the usual okonomiyaki we are used to (i.e. Kansai-style). Now, I would consider us to be somewhat knowledgeable on what good okonomiyaki should taste like, having eaten the dish in several cities including Kanazawa, Suzu, and the city where okonomiyaki was said to have originated from: Osaka itself. The biggest difference between the Kansai-style and Hiroshima-style would be the addition of soba and udon noodles. And the ingredients are layered rather than mixed all together. Plus, it's not a do-it-yourself affair, since it's not just a simple matter of mixing all the ingredients and chucking on the hotplate.
In Hiroshima, there is an area called Okonomimura, which literally means Okonomiyaki village. Lots of stalls and diners serving okonomiyaki, and we did not know where to start looking. Being in a bit of a hurry (did not want to miss our shinkansen to Osaka), we took the stairs of the first building we came to. That didn't help much to narrow the choice, because once inside, there were lots to choose from, so we just plonked ourselves down at the inner-most stall. And it was a good choice.
Sign above road indicating that you've entered okonomiyaki land; and being overwhelmed by the choices:
We both went for seafood, one with soba and the other with udon. This included pork, egg and a lot of cabbage, each for around 1300yen (~AU$14.50). I took lots of photos, so one can compare how Hiroshima-style differs from the Kansai-style. The only part that contained the flour batter was the base (plenty of carbs provided by the noodles). It was very filling, even for Rob.
At the beginning of the cooking process (note - the cook was not the epitome of 'Service with a smile'); putting ingredients on top:
With most of the ingredients piled on; flipped over, cooking noodles:
Placing the piles on top of its respective noodle pile; the eggs were first cooked on the hotplate and then placed on top, then generous amount of seasoning was brushed on:
Finished product:
Tuesday 16 January 2007
Update on everyday living
Lots of posts about the places we've travelled and food we've eaten - but how is everyday winter life in Japan for us? (Does anyone care? Hello?? *echo*) It's been almost a month since my last non-travel and non-food-related update, and I thought it's about time for another one, so here goes..
-It's already middle of winter, but much to my delight, it has been a warm-ish one so far. In fact, the weather right now is much like Perth's winter (blue skies with some cloud), except the daytime temperature remains below 10degC. Mind you, that's not to say that the winter here is generally like Perth's gorgeous winter - it was cold and drizzly most of last week. Not much snow around at the moment because any snow melts as soon as it touches the ground. Some mornings I'd see snow on the roofs and cars, but the snow soon melts away. So far, I haven't had to confront my fear of driving in the snow - yet. I'm hoping that I won't have to at all this winter.
-Are we still riding our bicycles? Yes, we are happily embracing our 'crazy gaijin' status and keeping our bicycles in use in the cold winter months. I think it's quite safe as long as there are no snow or ice cover on the road. We rode the 10km to town on Saturday for the first time in three weeks and it was pretty good. A bit chilly, but it's nothing new because I remember riding to work in 1degC in the mornings in Perth.
-We're always subject to the hospitality and kindness of Japanese people. Last month, one of the older teachers at my school gave me a huge bag of new rice (i.e. newly harvested), a jar of umeboshi (preserved sour plums), some persimmons and apples - I think they were all from his family's farm. And just last week, we had a total stranger (one of our neighbours) offering to lend us his spare heater when we brought the only kerosene heater in our possession to the nearest service station down the road for repair (we found out that the stinky-ness is not normal) and he overheard that we did not have an extra one to use in the meantime. These are just two examples. I find that I am often baking something to give someone who has shown kindness to us.
-We've been going to judo classes with Kim and Richie every Thursday nights since the end of November last year. Most of the class consist of elementary-aged kids, who are very skilled! Thankfully the main judo sensei is an English teacher so communication is not so much of a problem. Alex and John will also begin attending classes this year, so it looks like judo on Thursdays will be gaijin central. The sensei and his assistants have been very kind to accommodate having us as part of their Thursday class.
Oh, and remember how I said that one of my photos was chosen for the JET Program calendar? We've received copies of the calendar and it looks like I'm the only 1st year JET whose photo made it into the 2007 calendar. Yay!
-It's already middle of winter, but much to my delight, it has been a warm-ish one so far. In fact, the weather right now is much like Perth's winter (blue skies with some cloud), except the daytime temperature remains below 10degC. Mind you, that's not to say that the winter here is generally like Perth's gorgeous winter - it was cold and drizzly most of last week. Not much snow around at the moment because any snow melts as soon as it touches the ground. Some mornings I'd see snow on the roofs and cars, but the snow soon melts away. So far, I haven't had to confront my fear of driving in the snow - yet. I'm hoping that I won't have to at all this winter.
-Are we still riding our bicycles? Yes, we are happily embracing our 'crazy gaijin' status and keeping our bicycles in use in the cold winter months. I think it's quite safe as long as there are no snow or ice cover on the road. We rode the 10km to town on Saturday for the first time in three weeks and it was pretty good. A bit chilly, but it's nothing new because I remember riding to work in 1degC in the mornings in Perth.
-We're always subject to the hospitality and kindness of Japanese people. Last month, one of the older teachers at my school gave me a huge bag of new rice (i.e. newly harvested), a jar of umeboshi (preserved sour plums), some persimmons and apples - I think they were all from his family's farm. And just last week, we had a total stranger (one of our neighbours) offering to lend us his spare heater when we brought the only kerosene heater in our possession to the nearest service station down the road for repair (we found out that the stinky-ness is not normal) and he overheard that we did not have an extra one to use in the meantime. These are just two examples. I find that I am often baking something to give someone who has shown kindness to us.
-We've been going to judo classes with Kim and Richie every Thursday nights since the end of November last year. Most of the class consist of elementary-aged kids, who are very skilled! Thankfully the main judo sensei is an English teacher so communication is not so much of a problem. Alex and John will also begin attending classes this year, so it looks like judo on Thursdays will be gaijin central. The sensei and his assistants have been very kind to accommodate having us as part of their Thursday class.
Oh, and remember how I said that one of my photos was chosen for the JET Program calendar? We've received copies of the calendar and it looks like I'm the only 1st year JET whose photo made it into the 2007 calendar. Yay!
Saturday 13 January 2007
Hiroshima, the city of peace
On Thursday, the Shinkansen whizzed us to Hiroshima. It got us to our destination in half the time it would have taken a Thunderbird Express for the same distance. Yep, it was pretty fast. Once in Hiroshima, we grabbed a late lunch and then headed to Heiwa-koen (Peace Memorial Park). Hiroshima is pretty well another big city, with shopping arcades filled with the young, hip and fashionable (school vacation period).
Inside the main shopping arcade:
Message of peace
We all know what happened to Hiroshima during the World War II, but you don't actually begin to understand the horror and sadness of the tragedy until you set foot in the Park. However, it was more than just horror and sadness - we left with a feeling of admiration for the people of the city, for their tenacity and perseverence towards recovery from the incident, and for changing the tragic experience into a positive one to advocate peace and voice an anti-war message to the world.
Pictures speak a thousand words, and I shall let them speak (with a little anecdote about the meaning behind each memorial article). These are photos of just some of the many memorial articles around in Hiroshima - I didn't want to bore readers with too many, and I hope you will take the time to read and look at the photos I have put up.
A-bomb dome - This building was only a few meters away from the hypocenter (aka ground zero, where the bomb exploded). This building was the subject of controversy as many wanted it to remain to serve as a reminder to the world of the tragedy, but others felt that the building was an unwanted reminder of the tragedy. It is now a Unesco World Heritage site.
The A-bomb dome; and the view from Aioi Bridge, which was the apparent target of the atomic bombing:
Children's Peace Monument - in memory of the children who died as a result of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. This is a 9m monument with a bell and golden crane inside, and a bronze statue of a girl lifting a crane on top of the monument. This monument was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, a girl exposed to radiation at 2 years old. When she developed leukemia 10 years later, she decided to start folding 1000 paper cranes (it's an ancient Japanese belief that your wish will come true if you fold 1000 cranes). She passed away before reaching her goal, but her classmates folded the rest. This story is well-known around the world now, and this site displays paper cranes contributed by students all around the world.
Rob checking out the monument; golden crane and the bell inside the monument; me sitting with the paper cranes:
Cenotaph and the Flame of Peace - The cenotaph contains the names of all known victims of the bomb. The Flame of Peace will only be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon on the earth has been destroyed. The cenotaph frames the Flame and the A-bomb Dome when you look through it.
The cenotaph, the Flame and the Dome:
National Peace Memorial Hall - this is a contemplative hall of rememberence and a register where the names and photographs of the bomb victims are kept. There are several memoirs and testimonies you can read here to get a perspective of the event through the eyes of victims and survivors - it really is quite sad.
Monument outside the Memorial Hall depicting the hands of the clock at 8:15; inside, the Hall of Remembrance - the wall is a panorama recreating the view of the bombed city, and is made of 140,000 tiles which is the number of people estimated to have died by the end of 1945 (there is another '8:15' monument at the centre of this hall):
The Museum - here you find out more about the history of events before and after the atomic bomb event. Both sides of the story is shown here, and you can also get first-hand accounts of the aftereffects of the bomb.
Replica of the A-bomb Dome inside the Museum:
And a couple of other peace memorial pieces
A row of lighted pillars with the word 'Peace' written in many languages on them:
Peace clock tower - chimes at 8:15am every morning in "prayer for perpetual peace":
Inside the main shopping arcade:
Message of peace
We all know what happened to Hiroshima during the World War II, but you don't actually begin to understand the horror and sadness of the tragedy until you set foot in the Park. However, it was more than just horror and sadness - we left with a feeling of admiration for the people of the city, for their tenacity and perseverence towards recovery from the incident, and for changing the tragic experience into a positive one to advocate peace and voice an anti-war message to the world.
Pictures speak a thousand words, and I shall let them speak (with a little anecdote about the meaning behind each memorial article). These are photos of just some of the many memorial articles around in Hiroshima - I didn't want to bore readers with too many, and I hope you will take the time to read and look at the photos I have put up.
A-bomb dome - This building was only a few meters away from the hypocenter (aka ground zero, where the bomb exploded). This building was the subject of controversy as many wanted it to remain to serve as a reminder to the world of the tragedy, but others felt that the building was an unwanted reminder of the tragedy. It is now a Unesco World Heritage site.
The A-bomb dome; and the view from Aioi Bridge, which was the apparent target of the atomic bombing:
Children's Peace Monument - in memory of the children who died as a result of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. This is a 9m monument with a bell and golden crane inside, and a bronze statue of a girl lifting a crane on top of the monument. This monument was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, a girl exposed to radiation at 2 years old. When she developed leukemia 10 years later, she decided to start folding 1000 paper cranes (it's an ancient Japanese belief that your wish will come true if you fold 1000 cranes). She passed away before reaching her goal, but her classmates folded the rest. This story is well-known around the world now, and this site displays paper cranes contributed by students all around the world.
Rob checking out the monument; golden crane and the bell inside the monument; me sitting with the paper cranes:
Cenotaph and the Flame of Peace - The cenotaph contains the names of all known victims of the bomb. The Flame of Peace will only be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon on the earth has been destroyed. The cenotaph frames the Flame and the A-bomb Dome when you look through it.
The cenotaph, the Flame and the Dome:
National Peace Memorial Hall - this is a contemplative hall of rememberence and a register where the names and photographs of the bomb victims are kept. There are several memoirs and testimonies you can read here to get a perspective of the event through the eyes of victims and survivors - it really is quite sad.
Monument outside the Memorial Hall depicting the hands of the clock at 8:15; inside, the Hall of Remembrance - the wall is a panorama recreating the view of the bombed city, and is made of 140,000 tiles which is the number of people estimated to have died by the end of 1945 (there is another '8:15' monument at the centre of this hall):
The Museum - here you find out more about the history of events before and after the atomic bomb event. Both sides of the story is shown here, and you can also get first-hand accounts of the aftereffects of the bomb.
Replica of the A-bomb Dome inside the Museum:
And a couple of other peace memorial pieces
A row of lighted pillars with the word 'Peace' written in many languages on them:
Peace clock tower - chimes at 8:15am every morning in "prayer for perpetual peace":
Friday 12 January 2007
Japanese dining @ Tsukihi-tei, Nara
After the long walk in Nara-koen, dodging people crowd and feeding deer, we headed back to town in search for dinner. Tsukihi-tei (tsuki means moon and hi is sun) is located in the Higashi-muki arcade, and was one of the places recommended by the Japan's Lonely Planet Guide to try. Good, simple kaiseki sets at affordable prices are available here (much more so than our 'affordable' kaiseki meal in Kyoto, but also much simpler). Both our meals cost less than 1700yen each (AU$18 to AU$19). Service was polite and faultless (I have yet to fault a restaurant in Japan for their service), and the atmosphere was relaxed and laidback.
Rob ordered the tenshin bento which included some sashimi, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), grilled fish, goma dofu (sesame tofu), chawan mushi (Japanese steamed egg), takikomi gohan (a rice dish), a noodle soup and some fruits with jelly to finish off. Not just a pretty face, this set was tasty.
Tenshin bento:
I went for something less extravagant, the sashimi set. This included tsukemono, chawan mushi, some sweetened dried tiny fish (similar to ikan bilis or dried anchovies), plain rice and noodle soup. The sashimi was fresh and the chawan mushi was very yummy.
Sashimi set:
Rob ordered the tenshin bento which included some sashimi, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), grilled fish, goma dofu (sesame tofu), chawan mushi (Japanese steamed egg), takikomi gohan (a rice dish), a noodle soup and some fruits with jelly to finish off. Not just a pretty face, this set was tasty.
Tenshin bento:
I went for something less extravagant, the sashimi set. This included tsukemono, chawan mushi, some sweetened dried tiny fish (similar to ikan bilis or dried anchovies), plain rice and noodle soup. The sashimi was fresh and the chawan mushi was very yummy.
Sashimi set:
Thursday 11 January 2007
Nara - Oh deer, that's a huge statue!
(Pun intended.)
We headed to Nara last Wednesday, which was the last day of the Japanese New Year holiday. Nara, like Kyoto, retained a bit of old-Japan feel, which is fitting for its historical stature in Japan (it was the first permanent capital of Japan, about 1300 years ago). Also like Kyoto, there are many temples and shrines located in Nara. It's a Japanese New Year custom and tradition to visit shrines and temples, and being the 3rd of January, the streets of Nara were absolutely packed with Japanese families making their annual pilgrimage.
The busy crowd in Nara-koen:
A five-storey pagoda (Rob at the bottom right corner - he wasn't aware I was including him in the photo):
Street
The main road was also filled with festival stalls selling lots of junkfood yummies like takoyaki (fried octopus balls), okonomiyaki (pancake/omelette), oden (a type of hotpot) etc as well as a few local specialties we've never seen before, like egg and various toppings on a large piece of senbei (mochi rice cracker) which also doubled as a plate.
A takoyaki stall; and another stall making imagawayaki/taiyaki/oobanyaki with fillings like custard, chocolate and anko (sweet red bean paste):
Deer
Nara is also home to lots of deer. In fact, Nara-koen has approximately 1200 deer. Really, that was probably my main reason to visit Nara - to feed the deer. There were bold and timid deer, as well as indifferent ones (although the indifference was probably because the deer were stuffed with the deer biscuits that the hordes of tourists have been feeding them that day).
Todai-ji
The next morning on our way to Todaiji, the streets were blissfully empty. There were, however, lots of hungry deer who literally attacked anyone with anything in their hands that looked like food. Poor Rob had deer slag all over his jumper and pants :P
An empty road - a stark contrast to yesterday's crowd; and hungry deer:
Todai-ji is a world heritage temple, and includes Daibutsuden Hall which is the world's largest wooded structure (apparently the present structure is 2/3rds of the original size). And it has to be huge because it houses a large 15m-tall statue of Buddha.
Daibutsuden Hall; a water 'fountain' just outside the Hall (for drinking and washing); and the huge statue (for size comparison, note the man in green standing at the base of the statue near the candle stands - the candle stands were as big as the man was. Big flowers too):
At the base of one of the wooden pillars inside this Hall, there is a hole which is apparently the size of the Buddha statue's nose. It is said that if you can crawl through the hole (ew yuck! Why would anyone see if they are fit to be booger?) then you're a step closer to enlightenment. Or something like that. I don't believe the stuff but I decided to go for it anyway because I want to see if I could be booger. No no, my real reason was photo op - Rob wasn't all too keen on going through the hole, and taking a shot of a hole on its own is pretty boring.
By midday that day, we were on our way to the city of Hiroshima, which is the highlight of this trip (and fittingly so). Stay tuned!
We headed to Nara last Wednesday, which was the last day of the Japanese New Year holiday. Nara, like Kyoto, retained a bit of old-Japan feel, which is fitting for its historical stature in Japan (it was the first permanent capital of Japan, about 1300 years ago). Also like Kyoto, there are many temples and shrines located in Nara. It's a Japanese New Year custom and tradition to visit shrines and temples, and being the 3rd of January, the streets of Nara were absolutely packed with Japanese families making their annual pilgrimage.
The busy crowd in Nara-koen:
A five-storey pagoda (Rob at the bottom right corner - he wasn't aware I was including him in the photo):
Street
The main road was also filled with festival stalls selling lots of junkfood yummies like takoyaki (fried octopus balls), okonomiyaki (pancake/omelette), oden (a type of hotpot) etc as well as a few local specialties we've never seen before, like egg and various toppings on a large piece of senbei (mochi rice cracker) which also doubled as a plate.
A takoyaki stall; and another stall making imagawayaki/taiyaki/oobanyaki with fillings like custard, chocolate and anko (sweet red bean paste):
Deer
Nara is also home to lots of deer. In fact, Nara-koen has approximately 1200 deer. Really, that was probably my main reason to visit Nara - to feed the deer. There were bold and timid deer, as well as indifferent ones (although the indifference was probably because the deer were stuffed with the deer biscuits that the hordes of tourists have been feeding them that day).
Todai-ji
The next morning on our way to Todaiji, the streets were blissfully empty. There were, however, lots of hungry deer who literally attacked anyone with anything in their hands that looked like food. Poor Rob had deer slag all over his jumper and pants :P
An empty road - a stark contrast to yesterday's crowd; and hungry deer:
Todai-ji is a world heritage temple, and includes Daibutsuden Hall which is the world's largest wooded structure (apparently the present structure is 2/3rds of the original size). And it has to be huge because it houses a large 15m-tall statue of Buddha.
Daibutsuden Hall; a water 'fountain' just outside the Hall (for drinking and washing); and the huge statue (for size comparison, note the man in green standing at the base of the statue near the candle stands - the candle stands were as big as the man was. Big flowers too):
At the base of one of the wooden pillars inside this Hall, there is a hole which is apparently the size of the Buddha statue's nose. It is said that if you can crawl through the hole (ew yuck! Why would anyone see if they are fit to be booger?) then you're a step closer to enlightenment. Or something like that. I don't believe the stuff but I decided to go for it anyway because I want to see if I could be booger. No no, my real reason was photo op - Rob wasn't all too keen on going through the hole, and taking a shot of a hole on its own is pretty boring.
By midday that day, we were on our way to the city of Hiroshima, which is the highlight of this trip (and fittingly so). Stay tuned!
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