Time FLIES.

 

azure's brain still in kyoto leh. Osaka is like Tokyo but a more older version i think.

eerhh duno if its bec where we stayed or waht, its abit the dodgy leh ... as we arrived in Day 3 nite, its seems abit like the small alleys in geylang leh .... and occasionally, u get alots of drunkards....

okies la cheap hotel mah.

errh we got a good surprise when we see the ROOM. its Japanese TATAMI bed  - alemak !!!!!!! ok sounds nice only, it means mattress n sleep on floor lah, dud !! haha

okies bo bian, since we are here, just wat the romans do in rome or something like tat, anyway too tired to grab bags n go downstairs to ask that Mr Charlie - Chaplin alookalike concerige to change for us ... oh yah. forget to take his picture. MAN, HE IS CLASSIC. he looks & acts like Charlie Chaplin !!!!!!!!! and being Japanese, he gets unduely worried with us, the foreigners on when to use the public bath. apparently got time for either male / female usage, so dun barge in unwittingly. no locks. And to add to this. ONLY 1 SHOWER at ground floor.

ok ok before azure gets into the typical SG complaning thingy hahaha, ai yah, ok lah. the consolation is FREE internet haha

 

okies DAY 4. the weather doesn't seem to look too good. like overcast. nevermind. being KS SG, azure is armed with the SWEDE brolly. remember?? hahha okies damm pround of this brolly, as u can read in my prev blog entry haha. The Tenoji park, zoo eerrh nothing leh, but azure & Mei chanced upon some weird cemetry or so hidden high & well behind some high-class looking residential area !??!?! can u imagine?!! alemak man ....but being in Japan, there is nothing to be surprised of.

 

after the weird hunt, coupled with the ghostly weather, we headed to the Osaka Castle. Prior to this, we sort of saw a mini fako osaka castle near Tenoji park .... and there n then we wanted to bet with Ah Mike that THAT IS THE OSAKA CASTLE !! so the bet goes from 10 yen (too cheapo lah)to 1,000 yen hahaha but no takers .... hahah so RISK ADVERSE. hahah was trying to win some shopping $$ cos later we are going to the Shinsaibashi - apparently CHEAPEST SHOPPING in WHOLE of Japan !! haha errhh well reserved it for later....

 

Osaka Castle, looks good on the outside and inside its a museum .... apparently there is a time capsule there with some stuffs to be open in 7000yrs fr now... so its llike 69xx years now hahah duno. anyway, there is even a flower/plant MT Fuji hahaha so being touristy, its a MUST TAKE !! so its photo snaping. here we are introduced to the legendary guy Toyotomi Hideyoshi ... where he stayed in this castle..... Man this guy is damm inspirational & now i understand why. As u read his story, he is born to a farmer's boy, didn't achieve much until he joined some general home to stay in... just like the chinese 侠客 that type one. okies then he married apparently a smart wife (this just goes to say that behind every successful man, there is a woman hahahah.......) he used several strategies to fight his wars - including the water strategy that won the war without fighting which i'm quite impressed. it just reminds me of the 孙子兵法 ， 春秋三国， 战国七雄 that era with all the accounts of the generals.... there was also an exhibition of the strategist general there worth a look (sry forget his name - RAM memory aahaha). He united Japan apparently....

but his son was defeated by Tokygawa Leyasu...... sad case man. tat's the end of the happening times ....  i asked my colleagues back here, they all say during the years of the Hideyoshi were turbulent & many movies were made on that theme. There were lots of killings / wars and infact it was then the Korean genocide thingy... somehow this left me with mixed feelings.

 

Enuff abt the heavy warfare note; its SHOPPING TIME. how can ONE FORGET abt tat !! heading now to Shinsaibashi, the cosmetics were 30% off !! but alot were out of stock but the SK2 is really cheaper here for once !!! some of the very popular ones are still on normal price but well well its okies la .... the best part is Mei & azure again use the bad Japanese skills and get alot of SAMPLES hahaha and even negiotiated for a discount !!! totally unheard of in Japan i think hahahah - anyways told the auntie we are student and no $$. hahah i think we pass of as severely old students ahahha.... Mei was v pleased with her discounts haha

 

have to mention, its POURING now. time for SWEDE Brolly's action. hahah still we all got v wet.

 

Side track abit, we tried to locate the famous ramen shop @ shinsaibashi .... its the golden dragon ramen.. n WOOLAHH we got it !!! but but its a STANDING ramen stall !!!! WAAHHHHH.... we nearly died in exhaustion & laughter.... just as we are trying our BEST to find it, thinking to make it a pit stop for leg resting while we enjoy the savoury noodles as recommended by Virtual Tourist ....

ITS NICE but not with weak legs !!! hahaha the power water tat we drunk fr Kyoto perhaps gave us the luck to find the place BUT its a very funny feeling to be ONCE - SO HAPPY u got it, BUT so UPSET tat there is NO CHAIR at all !!!

 

so we brace ourselves for this STANDING & EATING experience of the life-time with jelly legs & thunderous rain .... wat a sight...

take pic take pic... never been so so so cartoony hahhaha . But MUST say, its REALLY DELICIOUS !!!!!!!! its a MUST - EAT factor, but errhh... maybe u want to bring a chair there? haha...

 

as we were eating, even bery well-dressed auntie + family was there too!!! so it must be really thatttttt good !!

 

As the rain stopped, we went to Umeda sky building. .... . . just a tall plc where u get to see skyline.... apparently the BEST SUNSET is seen here !!!!!! If u r here be sure to ck out the B1, cos there are lots of idiotic pictures u can take hahahhah

 

 

 

Day 3

 

EYE shutter n blink blink 7am !!!! run for the toilet HA HA HA HA.

its a hostel remember, so its all sharing one... and only 1 toilet at the lvl 3. we kooning at lvl 4.

okies man, after a nite of packing n so on, we managed to grab out bags to ck out and bid farewell to this nice hostel...........

 

then its ON THE ROAD TIME again.

 

okie, today is a special day - cos w JB Ah Mike's timing - its the celebration of the JIDAI festival !!!!!!!! heheheh cool rite. sure la rem the theme of the journey ??? YA MAXIMISE YEN !! haha okies, but as usual before this, we gotta ck out the nijo castle first.

 

if u appreciate the engineering of the plc, u sure find this castle very very impressive. its has this nightingale floor ... the name is bec when u walk on it, the wooden floor makes a chirping sound cos its with moveable joints resting on the nails. this is the 1st time i come across nails not used for fixing but for sound effect ?!?!!!? cool rite. imagine u r nijia hahah trying to asssinate the guy in the room... u sure kana con & captured. anyone knows 轻功?? heheh i very much wana know if some chinese martial arts guy gonna be the killer can get away fr this superbly engineered floor ?? haha given the technology then, azure is quite impressed with the guy tat came out with this idea.

 

No time to waste. we race to the site of the Imperial Palace --> u shld see Ah Mike, super siao on with his cam, snapping like pro hahah or he is one - Oops i duno leh, let me ask him. hahah okies we all same la, being monkey around n taking shots with the guys.... for once, i dun feel like an alien. LOTS of nikkon pro photoman taking all the shots at the girls there!! Super siao on.

okies after all the shots, we wanted to secure a plc to watch the show leh. being in the hot sun & not willing to part with 2k yen. Mei & azure decided to thicken our skin (ya ya v thick already i know) and show off azure broken japanese ...... [okies i shall save ur ears on this] so we sort of frightened the frail ah pek & auntie there, by asking them if we can go to the rope railings & sit on the ground ... hahaha

it was such a joke, cos no one sit on the stony ground ... except us the idiots hahaha !!!!!!! well, u can pay 2000 yen to get a chair, but who cares, we got the SUPER FRONT ROW hahaha !!!!!!! and FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

okies ass hurts.... ouch hahaha

 

then its OSAKA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bullet train lah, then run there meh??

 

 

 

 

Eyes Open BIG BIG on the very morning at 7am??? Thanks to the ambitous planning to wack the western part of kyoto as the main game of the day. But 1st as usual to go some FREE SITES hahahha... ai yah told u this is a budget budget mah, wah liao hahha.. need to maxi the ¥¥¥  hahah.. so it meant a detour at times HA HA HA.

 

Okies dun waste time, take the JR (since leg still shag fr day 1 chonging) to go to the duno wat temple tat the memoirs of geisha movie was flimed there.... Fushimi Inari Shrine. Apparently there are these 20k red torii (the shrine thingy) & u got to run through them and ur biz luck will be super damm good. So to all biz man, come here to do a MARATHON hahah it takes 2.5hrs to walk up !! i got no idea how many KM it is. there was a map but i forgot to take haha. Thinking abt it, if can finish running sure very good luck - for all the effort HA HA

 

but of cos azure & gang devise a new plan. there are 2 rows of closely knitted torii, so we just run in & out (its 2 way) haha we MADE IT !! think the small ones also got 20k lah ahhaha... so made a wish to be tied to the messenger of the God, apparently, its the wolfs &/ dogs. Also there are packs of sands on sale - eeerh being a KS SG + the gang, its a MUST BUY lah. "FOR WAT" u may asked. errhh let me ask my Jap teacher then i revert hahah. Also rem to LIFT the stone there & say "ITS NOT HEAVY" when its @#$%^&* weighty hahahha ..... so all azure's wishes will come true !!

 

no time no time, take train back to kyoto station & head to the main site today the Kiyomizu Temple !!!!!!! hr fr frends its a MUST SEE !!

okies go there chop chop... again azure is cornered by the rows of shops, entricing me to part with my beloved ¥¥ yen.... hahaha... mocha ice-cream, gifts, etc etc.... again i miss the big picture. haha ok ok; before i forgot, the water here is a MUST DRINK !! i think i put in the album liao. drink already super power again ....

 

wah liaos its 2 days rows of power man..... hahaha

 

okies then its all the shrines there; i forgot most of the names - refer to my album hahah.... and the shopping area of the Gion. there side the guys were queing some muar chee thingy for ¥80 per stick, azure gang gave up cos the q is too long. duno if its really nice or if its really cheap or wat .... hahhaa... its ROW N ROW of shoppings till we all blur again ....

 

shag really shag ............

 

KAR SERNNNG ahhh !!!!!!!!!!

 

okies for the benefit of azure's wwf (world wide friends); Kar Serng - literately meant "leg aching" in a Chinese dialect. hence here used as an expression to tell others that azure is suffering from foot/leg/muscle aching hahahaa ...

 

the main culprit is JB Ah Mike & Co. (they are gonna wack me if they read this haha)

and of cos azure's every madness to maximise both $ & time - well, this time is ¥ Jap yen hahaha ...

so as usual, azure if full of the MUST DO & MUST EAT - lists hahah.... how can life be too boring with that hahaa. ... shaggaddoole yah

 

First thing first, since this chapter is a prelude haha --> azure haven has been so fully overbooked due to overwhelming response fr all ... so the past weeks, its been a BOOM TOWN haha .... Cousin Sim + pal & JB Ah Mike Gang in town too. so its kinda cramp haha just like olden days hdb 2roomers haha

 

then, dad-to-be Ng (as he likes this kind of expression) is back to SG; awaiting for his princess Chole to arrive & spending time with sweet mum-to-be XF [so sweet rite] & so azure become a part-time house-keeper. Talk abt multi-jobs...... hahaha

 

And so, its FINALLY a trip again after sooOOOooooOOOo long. i can't rem when was the last time i took a holiday. but still, looking back i think i spend more awake hours hahah again being a KS SG haha and this round with JB Ah Mike (yes, its Johore Bahru; Malaysia) it was a super duper feeper luuper trip to ........................... KYOTO & OSAKA hahaha!!

 

okies i think as i go along with this <On the Road> series, its going to take me pretty long. haha... see got chance with kind courtesy of mates with JB M & Co. 's impressive & artistic shots to be put up here or not haha - more pics ah. spice up abit haha

 

 

2nd thing now: i think better be grateful to be a SG, u can't imagine the funny things that is required from our neighbouring country just to enter here ...... since this is politically sensitive & azure advocate the FJ theory, this issue is kept here. if u wana know then pte email haha.

all wrongs unreserved.

 

3rd thing: JR Railpass is the way to go man if u r travelling to different cities. its a freaking expensive thing to be w/o it .....of cos being azure, sure got lobang la..... now i realise the importance of black market 黑店 haha Oops .. ai yoh serious leh its really called the black shop as in the chinese words haha. so the saying is correct --> when there is a demand, there is a supply.

 

~ JB Ah Mike & Co still roaming round the streets of tokyo now heeheeheehee

 

Mt Fuji conqured !!!

 

hehhehe azure is survvived !!!

 

Thanks for all the encouragement & also ur goody concerns .... appreciated !!!

 

okies back to civilisation at 7am in the Tokyo office [like my gd frend said], its like another day ... but the beautiful sunrise & the breath-taking clouds formation in the sky of yesterday still remains vividly in my mind .....  hahah but reality is legs aching like monkeys & wobbling back to the office.... haha penguin walk better than me hahah .... v v v v v shaggggggg ahhhhh

 

started out on Sat ... joined a local climbing group but got absolutely no one idea wat they were talking (my Nihongo still is warui desu ne) so end of story just do watever they are doing & pray hahaa ..... so its a sat noon to the 5th station at 2,600m where azure start climbing with a walking stick (buy it at 900 yen so that u can get some chop/ markings at each of the stations u reach mah !! haha v touristy) then OFF i go ... blur like sotong then follow the climbing guide. wah liao eh, man, he is very GUNG HO okies, full pack with ski sticks / walking sticks etc n proper shoes .... me being here on work ... only arm with track shoes + deuter backpack so malu haha like abit out ...

ai yah bo chap la, wat to do, already here, 既来之，则安之.... so PRAY lor. wat to do haha... okies then the walk begins ... a nice one, like Bt Timah to the 6th station, wah like easy like tat, dun be mad, this is just the begining .....

 

Then the climb from Sat 1.30pm to 5.30pm-ish by then its evening.... all smelly & sweaty & cold, got into the hut at the 8th level. here the most amazing thingy, we are packed one to one along the double decker space so small n tight that u cant squat up nor u can lie down with 2 feets side by side. its like 1.5 of ur leg space... how to rest?!?? i think i felt more terrible man... so after abt 2hrs, i call it quits n went out of the room... then its freezing cold man... but looking up the sky, u can see the most amazing thing ... a clear SKY with STARS !!!!!!!! millions of them.... the 2nd time i see this sight [like the skies in Mongolia] by then i forgot abt my cold & also the moonlight was able to cast a shadow of Fuji on the clouds !!! Interesting site ... the hut auntie asked me to see it ... was above the clouds at the hut at abt 3,200m

 

heng ah..... brought the heat packs... its FREEZING cold .... n there are alot of climbers freezing outside cos its cost $$ just to stay in the hut mah ... even drinks are sold at a premium. the same pokari sweat drink cost u 200yen at 5th station, it inflates to 400yen at the 8th Station ... so must bring lots of water on ur own. even a tiny small bowl of miso soup cost u 400yen...

then at 11.30pm --> it must be like one of the longest nite tat i ever had ... its pitch dark  ... armed with the head-lamp n also a thicker jacket, i continued my journey .... then must wear gloves cos u need some climbing & the rocks aren't friendly to ur hands ... even the toughest one. sometimes u got balance n step up n look around for a better step to take while the strong wind kept blowing on ur head ....

its around here at the 8th station i started to feel abit dizzy n headache ... duno if its lack of sleep or lack of oxygen cos a nice frend fr the SG O/S portal told  me tat i may suffer fr mt sickness cos the O2 level is pretty thin out here at this height [heheh did abit research mah] so i bought a oxygen can here [btw, Japan sell everything in the 7-11, even oxygen cans hahah!!] so i try to  sniff it lor but like didn't help much leh ... maybe it does psychologically hahah ... ... its really painful experience then, with the headache & the knees going weak & jelly & really for once i feel i am breathing really HARD .... just a few steps, gasping for air ... too urbanised lah ... too urbanised hahha ....
and sad case is u r only at the 8th station where the FUN [siao on part begins .....]

 

then here its a rocks uphill - alemak like never ending story... i can't even see the top, just zig-zag rows of head-lamps/ torch of the climber before me .... then bo pian lah, just DO IT... then climb, checking each path with a stick, n there are signs sticking here - beware of falling rocks -- yah as if helpful like tat. how to avoid in that position haha u dun even know where ur leg is stepping or ur hands .. to add to this, gasping for air every step u take ... every move u make hahah... ... anyway there is a misadventure here hahah ....

 

climb climb climb, u only see the person's hikking boots  infront of u ... with the wind & the cold & the headache & ur fatigue is killing .... then i climb n climb then just when i was abt to pass another hut -- i got PULLED BACK on my bagpack --> alemak wat happened??? shocked... then this jap guy keep telling me something like "go back there no no no" then pulled my bag as i wanted to follow on ... then later ask me to sort of go into the hut ....eeerhh i didn't want to cos i no need to rest mah, besides dun think  i want pay like some silly freaking yen to stay in the hut hahaa... i need to catch sunrise !! very gan jiong "no no, ii dewa arimasen...etc etc" muttering all the jit puen lang tat i learnt fr my sensei here hahah

 

 ... then he FORCED me to sit there on the bench outside like a small gal... shit man, how can he be like tat .... i was thinking wat happened hahah .... my electronic translator didn't help haha cos he duno wat i was talking ... only know i'm a gaijin fr SG haha. Then later from his tag i figured out that he is another climb guide and he thinks tat i'm lost cos apparently, without me knowing, i was climbing with ANOTHER GROUP... hahhahah joker of the joker ...

so i 乖乖 sit there then my guide came up laffing and told me to choto-mate ...cos they are resting at another hut down there hahaha... ooOOOps,  so i waited till my group is up ... n then i 乖乖  re-joined ... climbed too fast - gan jiong spider...see rocks just wack hahahha

okies, with Mr Guide now watching me tat this monkey Singaporean is still inline haha ... okies... as i walked n climbed... it gets worse, v tired, knees like abt to give way, slipped here n there ... the cold wind GUSHING up ... heng with the heat pad, stick on the neck, back & so on... its @#$%^& cold & with ur sweat drying on u ... it doesn't help man ... some guys/ gals gave up ... no idea wat happen cos can't understand the lang ... then others says "GAMBATE !!!" something like tat as i was walking .... slowly step by step, i realised tat the SUN is RISING SOooooOOOn !! cannot cannot, then it was another few hundred metre dash. saw my watch its 4.30am, there is another slope before i reach the PEAK !! then pulled my legs & use the stick ... breathing very very heavily ... duno is my heart or lungs not working ... can feel u r catchin breathe & then also i only feel much better taking DEEP DEEP breathes. ... ..

ITS SUNRISE at abt 4.45am - ish SUN morning !! its beautiful. beyond words, v moving. then behind u see some ice starting to form... its like icicles cos the official climbing season is over ... so Mt Fuji will be closed till next summer .....

 

errh the climbing down is a sickening thing ... slopes n slops of volcanic ashes n rocks, its like u r perpetually SLIDING down, slipping with every step and its scary ... haha cos i duno how to slide hahah .. fell fell here n there ...things are not helping with the sticks ... the Pro used some form of a ski / walking sticks - think tat helps a great deal .... then with my walking stick stamped with all the stations, i made my way down very very slowly. taking time to rest on my own....cos really shagggged ... the downhill took me abt 3.5hrs and back to the 5th station ...

 

there we waited for the rest of the group ...
took my shoes off ... forgot abt taking pics ... lay there like a dead rock, sun taning my poor feet, carefully puting my legs straight on the groumd, forget abt the heat & the crowd or the next batch of climbers, too tired too shag out ....... n i actually fell asleep on my backpack till i hear thy name "hon san hon san ikimasu "...... haha

 

just like back to the NPCC days ahhah but its no Bt Timah hor  ... its Mt Fuji 3,776 m !!!! apparently highest peak in Japan. too bad i didn't carry a SG Flag, then i can take a pic hahah but i got a Jap Flag with the stamped tat i've climbed on the 3 Sep haha...

shag really shag super shag ... can't believe it ....
dun ask me if i want to do it again ....

Japanese got this saying - You only climb Mt Fuji once, to climb it twice then you are a fool ....

haha wat do u think haha

azure back again to tokyo.

though i wish so say azure is back home.

anyways put up some UB city pics on the Album hahah

 

after-thoughts: its a WONDERFUL plc with clear blue sky n mountains .... but i think its abit pricy ....

for interest sake being a fx person haha

 

went to a singaporean co-owned hotel there even met the Boss Billy there... Cool guy, been there for 16yrs !! infact he say he was on the 财经追辑 show in SG last week --> u got watch or not?!?!?

So there is singaporean food hahah !! chicken rice at abt USD 7.50 ... alemak all the tokyo pricing !!! fainted... and there is a Japanese Town !! and there i feel eh how come cannot escape the clutches of Jit Puen ?!?!

okies anyway loads of ang mohs + Japs there... & probably tat's y the prices are HIGH !!!

 

the white tents - geyers -> not cheap leh ... 1 nite USD 60.00 no toilet hor.... so u go somewhere hahaa..

if u interested la.

 

abit unsafe cos friends even wana send the car to me for a day to bring me everywhere cos taxi is meter-less and u really duno where u r going unless u speak Mongolian or Russian maybe ... errhh btw the alpha-characters on the buildings are Russian ....

 

no need to ride horses --> cab rides are like horse rides haha

Food --> beef, mutton, more beef & more mutton & bigbig housefly joining u in ur meals hahahha !!! btw i only managed to get 1 nice meal there ... oops...

OH YA Mongolian Voka  !!  --> apparently HIGH in alcohol content & 3 shots is the std to knock u out... no idea but secretly bgt a small bottle back hahah will be doing some ribena voka to try out hahah

 

errh shopping --> CASHMERE , world best ...errh = v exp. eg a scarf USD 15-36, pull over USD38-99 , but the italian design all take the cashmere fr here... just buy 1 lor. can use mah ... ... ... since world best wat to do, px also best

 

oh ya the pics w the ancient mongol solider --> this yr is the 800th anniversary where the country hero Gengkis Khan set off to sort of conquer half the world?!!?? hahah okies, there was show on it .. COOL.. except for the flying sand w the 500 horses troop... but its really nice ...

okies anything u wana know then ask me la ... haha .. hv a gd w/e !!

:( its laundry day again for me....