Kakak in Japan (Pt 17, Nov 6)

Very tired day today. First, 2.5hrs of seminar in the morning. Then, another 4.5hrs of meeting in the noon. Making my head very very heavy. Must have a good sleep tonite. Too scare to fall asick on such a terribly cold week.

Back to my post.

After saying bye bye to Fukumoto sensei, we went to meet Liang Chuang (LC). A fren of mine in Chiba. Actually I've only seen her for twice. She was not familiar with Kyoto, asked if I could take her look around in Kyoto or not. Well, since I was bringing Kakak around too... so I asked her to jump in to join us. And yes, that nite, 3 of us squeezed in my small fish tank. Kekeke...



I decided to bring Kakak and LC to see Kiyomizudera (清水寺), a very famous temple in Kyoto. We decided to go by foot from Gion area. On the way, Kakak saw a family with pretty kimono for the 7-5-3 celebration.

"I want ler~ I want take pic with them." Kakak whispered to me.

So after asking their permission... there u go, the pics of 4 different generations... ;) Poor little gal, must have been quite a shock got stranger suddenly dragged her to smile in front of the camera. See~ she couldn't make herself smile that time. Gomenne~



Then, we past thru Maruyama Koen (円山公園), a famous park in Kyoto, especially for the Sakura flowers. It is a great place for autumn season as well.

The above is a pretty gingko tree in golden colour.



These are the fruits of gingko. Japanese like to eat gingko seed a lot, which are shown inside this pictures, the bottom 2 seeds. If you never touch a real gingko fruit before... u should try once... u would never forget the smell forever. How does it smell?? Like "SHIT"... I'm not kidding... it is really smell like a shit. I remembered when I first told my mum this is gingko... she didn't believe me, until I mashed the flesh to show her the seed. Hey hey... I guessed that was one of the shock she got from visiting Japan. :P



In Maruyama Koen, part of it have pretty colour combination oledi. Like this one... Mmm~~ young mama with her Kimono.



You bet Kakak won't miss out this kind of good chance. :P



Heee... this boy was playing so focusly near the pond. So fish fish quietly took one of his picture. Beautiful pond!



Next to this pond... another pond... but with a feeling quite different from its neighbour.



We saw one shop selling warabi mochi. One of my Kakak top favorite of Kyoto dessert. We tried to get a seat inside to enjoy the warabi mochi... But that would make us wait for more than 30 min. Arrgghhh~ we had to give up cause need to rush to the temple before the closing time. Wouldn't it be good to enjoy a bowl of good warabi mochi with this beautiful Koi pond beside? Must go to try next time.



On the way, we saw two gals dressed in Maiko costume. Dun know if they were the real Maiko as that street was a famous place for make up in Maiko cstume. Anyway, it was a lucky time for Kakak and LC... cause not easily you can spot one in costume like that (Well, it's not a difficult task either in Kyoto. :P)

Left to right : LC, Kakak and the 2 Maiko gals.



Kekeke... I think what I like the most on the way when walking along the slope to the temple... is the varities of food I can enjoy everytime. This was a new one I spotted... Kabocha Aisu (pumpkin ice cream). LC and me each bought one. The taste... REAL PUMPKIN~ it was good. Especially felt fresh with the idea of adding pumpkin paste as you can see in this pic. ;)



Finally, we saw this big red door. Yes! We finally reached the place after a slow dragging 1.5h walk because of we stop stop here, stop stop there.



See the people? It was nearly to the busiest season for the temple. Couldn't imagine when the peak time come. We walked up to the top for the temple. Not too high though...



Before entering the temple, usually Japanese must clean their hands... Kekeke... Kakak was tasting the water. Quality of water in Kyoto is good, so not really a problem for her to get cirit birit (diarrhea).



Kakak (left) and LC (right) with our 3 entrance tickets. Yap, in Japan, u have to pay for every temple you visit. This one was cheap, for only 300yen per person. Temples in Japan are belonged to private. In Japan, monks can also get married, drink alcohol... and they don't have to pay any tax to the government. They are rich~ (That was what my Japanese frens told me). Instead, 2 fathers of the gals in my lab are monks who own the temple.



The red leaves inside this temple.



Roof of Kiyomizudera temple in a late evening. Actually I wanted to take the temple look vs the evening view... But, had to give up that idea as too many head, impossible for me to take a good one without my tripod.



This is the main part of temple look from the other side of the temple. Crowded!



Beside this temple, you will see another famous small temple call Jishujinja (地主神社), free of charge. It is a very famous temple for 'LOVE'. In this pic, Kakak with her victory after she walked safely from one Love Stone to the next Love Stone. These were the famous 2 Love Stones. According to the explanation... as long as u walk straight safely from one stone to another stone... then your wish for ur romance will come true. Kekeke... I walked slanted 2 years ago... so until now... still the fish fish I am now lor~



We finished the temple. On the way dorn using another slope... saw this maccha chou cream. A bit too rich for the taste, but not a bad one.



This attracted fish fish more. Using okara (tofu refuse) to make into croquette. Brilliant idea. It was good actually, just that too small portion. Well, was just trying. In fact, it has a certificate to show that this is the only shop has this okara croquette. I think it was a good way to make promotion... Heh, any kuishinbo that wouldn't like to try some new idea of food? :P Not fish fish for sure. ;)

Ok, tomolo, will make a review about my favorite sushi shop near my place. This time, goin to show new sushi plates different from my previous 2 posts about it.

Stay tune. ;)

Kakak in Japan (Pt 16, Nov 6)

Half day with Fukumoto sensei

We left from Tokyo kind of early as we had to rush back to Kyoto to meet Fukumoto sensei, my Japanese language teacher.

While waiting for Shinkansen in Shinagawa Station, we still got a bout 30 min. Kakak was attracted by the Tachigui Soba (立ち食いそば) (stand and eat style soba). So, we shared a bowl.



Somehow Kakak wanted to try udon, so we ordered one. It was very cheap actually. A bowl like this I think only for 400yen. Surprisingly, the udon tasted better than its look. Kakak love~ it. She keep saying, "Oishii~". Kekeke... that's the most important Japanese word that she remembered. :P

3 hrs later, we were oledi in Kyoto. We met up with Fukumoto sensei. She drove us around for a while to show my Kakak how my school actually looks like.



It was a very sunny noon. See Kakak with her 'see teeth don't see eyes' smile, in front of the main campus of my school.



Kakak n Fukumoto sensei in front of the famous clock tower of the school. Fukumoto sensei is a pretty lady. Her figure still remain the same as 25 years ago. Amazing huh!

Kawamichiya



Later, sensei brought us to a very nice place for lunch. It is called Kawamichiya (河道屋), a shop that is specialized in making soba (蕎麦) (buckwheat noodle). I really like the entrance of the place we went. Very Kyoto style.



2 lovely ladies with their attracting smiles. ;)



I got even more impressed with a great garden that greeted us before we entered the restaurant.



We were led to our table. My my~ yes, we had our lunch beside a great garden like this. Aarrgghhh~ during late autumn time, I believe this garden will be even more splendid.



Not only the scene was so good... The food was fabulous too. This whole big plate was for 3 people portion.



The lady then put the ingredient layer by layer beautifully inside a donabe (土鍋) (claypot).



After that, we added in the soup and waited for the food to boil. Once we opened the lid... the great smell just ssoooossshhh~ into our noses immediately. We oledi get so starving by only the smell...

The taste?? Much much better than the smell. The taste was very mild, and yet... it was a taste that would make one addicted to it. I would say it was one of the best Kyoto hotpot dish that I have ever tried. All the ingredients used were the good standard one.

Fish Fish only unsatisfaction... a lot of things that I couldn't eat... :( which I gave them all to my Kakak. U bet Kakak get a great satisfaction from that.

"Sensei... ho shik... ho shik" which means very delicious in Hakka dialect. Actually this is their common understanding. As you see, Ho Shik (Hakka) and Oishii (Japanese) actually sound very similiar. So instead of saying Oishii... mum and Kakak owez say the word in Ho Shik. Yap, it was my mum who had this idea. :P

Mum even say "Mushi Mushi" (insect) rather than "Moshi Moshi" (hello) everytime on the phone to me. Arent's she creative?

The meats and seafoods were served with some fresh lime sprinkling before eating. And you know what? Kakak even grabbed my lime over... *bad bad* But then, this meal was meant for her... oh well~



After we finished all the food in the nabe, then we added in the soba (front) and the kishinmen (back) inside the soup, so that the sweetness of the soup would be absorbed by the noodles. Kekeke... I filled up my stomach with these CHO. Yum~ Yum~ I especially love kishimen, and this one was a surprise for me. It was thick compare to the normal one, and yes... it was very good, both the taste and the mouthfeel. Very munchy.



Fukumoto sensei even gave Kakak this Saga Nishiki (佐賀錦) purse. Saga Nishiki is a very famous textile in Saga prefecture.



Before we left the shop, I took another last shot of the garden. I love this place, and I'm sure I'll be going again.

After that, Fukumoto sensei rushed for her meeting, and Kakak n me rushed to another venue to meet with another fren for another half day fun.

That... will be for tomorrow.

Tata.

Kakak in Japan (Pt 15, Nov 5)

Headache! Headache! I got a headache problem with my pc today. Been dealing with it whole day. Tomolo can't do anything... need to wait till Monday. Just wish me luck that I can settle it on Monday. *sigh*

The 3rd part will be short with words. Just please enjoy the pics at the moment. Will update the details later.



We waited for the night parade. This was the first car. The parade was really good.



It's called Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade.



BIG Meow Meow~ Oops, can anyone tell me what movie was this? No idea.



This might be one of the character in Bugs. Hmm... I just love the wriggling way of it with so many colourful lights. Cute~



Peter Pan! Never wanted to grow up in his Neverland.



Oh yah! For sure we wouldn't miss out the Snow White in Disneyland. :)



I love this green dragon, though I dun know which movie was it too. :P So outdated with movies. *terrible* When the nose blown out white mist, just making fish fish excited. Kekeke...



Ah~ Beauty and The Beast. I really like all the little characters inside. They are too adorable~ "Shall we dance? Shall we dance?!..."



A blur pic of the main casts in the movie. The Beauty... and... the beast.



Ok, lousy fish oso dun know what movie is this? But I like the sunny smile.



The parade was presented by Unisys. Well, it was a different feeling from the noon parade.



Kakak wanted to go inside for the Mickey show, but we were kind of constrained with the time. So have to give up this one. A memoriable pic better than nothing.

Instead for this one, we ended up lining up for omost 2 hrs for the Winnie the Pooh Ride.



A view of the well-decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the Bazaar Street.



Lastly, we had to bid farewell to our Christmas Fantasy in Tokyo Disneyland.



That nite, when we reached back to Hui Wen's place, my 3 gal buddies came to greet us for a short while before we zzzzzz....

4 leng lui... Kekeke... Front: Hui Wen. Behind (left to right) : Hui Min, Chor Wai, Kakak. You know what, me and the three gals, our name all have the mandarin pronunciation 'Hui'. What a coincidence.

Monday, new topic for Kakak in Japan back in Kyoto. ;)

Tata.

Kakak in Japan (Pt 14, Nov 5)

After a very full buffet lunch, we decided to make ourselves more relax by watching Disney's Dreams on Parade. We chose a nice place to sit down. I was busy with my camera, and my Kakak was busy with the hats.



See this 2 guys? They have been kept looking at us. That was wat Kakak told me. So, I turned my camera to them, and started to take their pics. Kekeke... They noticed that, and turned away shyly. Guessed those smiles were for my camera. :P

Know why??



This...



and this... were the reasons. They must have been thinking Kakak n me were some kind of nuts. Kekeke...

We turned ourselves into more crazy by making more actions together. Haha!! It was so fun.



Then, a staff came to teach us how to clap when the show started to welcome the parade.



Yeah!! Finally it started. I love the parade in Tokyo Disneyland (TDL) more than Universal Studio Japan. Much more things to see.

Hohoho... Santa and Rudolphs are coming to the town~

Not only the kids, even the adults were enjoying themselves.



With stacking presents behind his cart.



Of course, Christmas wouldn't be complete without a nice Christmas tree.



Ah~ big Bear Bear. I'm sure Wai Wai will love this one. Kekeke...



Fish Fish likes Chip 'n Dale a lot. They are the cutest chipmunks... so cunningly smart.



Oh... Donald and Daisy came with a big ribbon cart. With ginger bread men dancing around them. Ai yar~ wonder if the Shrek's ginger man was inside too or not...



My Fair Lady, the 1st movie of Audrey Hepburn that fish fish watched. Love it so much that even though I hardly could understand any English that time, I still never skipped it everytime the tv replayed it again.

Correction: >.< This is not My Fair Lady. I gave the wrong info. Should be Mary Poppins. Thanks Nina a lot for telling fish fish this. *shame shame*



The main casts of Disneyland, Mickey and Minnie were in the finale of the parade. Cute red!!



After that, Kakak and me rushed for another stage performance in Tomorrowland. On the way, we thought the Cinderella Castle looked really cute in between 2 bunches of BIG candy sticks. But the crowd?? Headache...

We were lucky enough to be there 45 min earlier be4 the show started. We actually went there in the noon time, but we were rejected outside as the show was oledi full with audiences that time. And the staffs rejected us and the other not allowed to in audiences with quite a rude way. Which was a very phenomenon to be seen in Japan. They said we need to come 30 min earlier. Hmm!! Now we are 45min earlier... still got any excuse or not??



It was a very nice show. It was kind of dark. Didn't able to capture much nice pictures. Here were the two which fish fish think still ok. Lovely costumes!! I love the combination of the white and gold, made it feel more elegant.



The finale of the show. Nice~

When we were leaving the place, my my... a long queue was waiting for the final performance of this show for that day. Which was in another 1 hr later.

We rushed for another performance... again! Kakak n me got the seats for watching the Christmas Stage Performance that we didn't enjoy in the noon time.



This was how the stage looked in front of our seats. Great view huh!! So glad we went for the lucky draw. Shiawase~



The performance was based on a story bout giving a 'Surprising Present' to Santa.



It was definitely much nicer than afternoon with the lightning effects... and of course, no burning sun on your face. What more, a very clear view with no blocking in front.



Among the performance, Kakak n me loved this part the most. The idea of using pretty gals to form a Christmas Tree. Brilliant!! The tree grow higher and slowly up to the sky. Gee...



The finale definitely a very good one. Something that is very worth to be a nice memory.

To be cont...