Land of the Rising Sun: Streets of Japan

Japanese buildings look very attractive. They have all kinds of signs and banners hung on the outside, usually with colourful and creative drawings and patterns. Some look very cute too! =) As the bus drove through the city, I was busy observing the surrounding structures, shop banners and even road signs. (at suburbs or highway, I was admiring the scenery) Didn't sleep in the bus at all though everyone else made use of the long journey to catch some sleep. Felt it's a waste to sleep through an overseas tour...

The last day of the trip was free and easy. That was when I spent most of my money...on food! Haha. Thought I would buy some fashion related stuff like clothes, but there was nothing extraordinary that caught my eyes. Or rather, they can be found too in Singapore.

Though it looks messy with all the overhead cables, I like the simplicity and primitiveness of the shophouses.

Very cute building right? It's a karaoke + game arcade centre.

At the train platform. The route map can be difficult to decipher (but not as bad as tokyo). They have a normal train (stops at every stop), express train (skips some stops), super express train (stops only at main stations), etc. To make things worse, they might have express-normal train (skips a few stops), fast-express (skips more stops) and many combinations of speed. Thus it's normal to see trains zooming past the platform without stopping. (nice wind) But generally, Japan trains are well known for their punctuality.

We sat the normal train (aka slowpoke). This train had to give way to many other faster trains, so we took longer than expected to reach our destination.

Our first stop for the free-and-easy. Nothing really special about the urban city, except the large banners on the building top. Singapore doesn't allow this by the way.

More pictures on urban Japan. Along the streets, Japanese fashion can be observed. Generally they dress better than people I see in Orchard haha. But there are really many elderly people strolling the streets, clearly showing the aging population.

At certain junctions, the traffic lights will play a melody while green man. Very interesting.

This shopping mall has Uniqlo, Muji, Daiso, and other familiar Japanese brands. Touring the newly opened Ion Orchard reminds me of my time here. It has so many Japanese stores at the basement.

The bus is very passenger-friendly, with a display in front showing the next stop and fare charges for every stage. You'll never miss a stop or pay the wrong fare. One major difference from SG bus is, passengers board from the rear door and alight from the front, making payment when alighting instead. The bus is also eco-friendly, by turning off the engine when stopping at traffic lights.

My teacher recommended this ramen restaurant. Sat at the counter as it was very crowded.

Don't underestimate this ramen...the meat is really heavenly! Super soft and tender! Melts in your mouth. One of the best ramen I've ever tasted.

Every hour a chime will play and clowns will start appearing and performing. =)

Had our final dinner in this izakaya (Japanese sushi/sake bar). What an appetizing display.

The sushis are not cheap! One piece (not plate) costs around S$5 to $6. They are a little too high class for me to appreciate, but the meat tasted very fresh and tender. Ate horse meat for the first time here...no comments. Haha.

Couldn't find kakigori (shaved ice) so I settled for a parfait instead. The matcha ice cream was superb!

The pretty packaging was too tempting to resist. Anyway this is not all, I bought more at the airport. Very nice sweets, snacks and cakes. ^_^ Yea I bought a cow back too.

If you're craving for this kind of Japanese sweets and snacks, or their very attractive packaging, you can find a lot in Ion Orchard. It has Royce chocolates too! Some of the stuff I bought from Japan can be spotted there too. Don't know whether to be happy or sad...

Land of the Rising Sun: Glorious Food

Actually I'm not very particular about food. As long as its taste is acceptable, and can make me feel reasonably satiated, I'm fine with it. However as I savour better and better food, and prices become higher and higher, I can't help being more particular on the quality and taste. In the food paradise of Japan, how can I not discuss about it?

Generally Japanese cuisine in Japan is much better than in Singapore. (Quite obvious right?) Most of the food tasted heavenly to me, from the main course to the dessert. Japanese do put in much effort in the presentation of the food, that's why most of them look so appetizing. I really applaude the concept of putting up display dishes at the entrance of the restaurant. It makes passers-by so tempted to dine in.

Wow! The typical long table in Japanese group meals. These food was already prepared on the table nicely when we arrived. It's normal to get numb legs while eating haha.

Hmm, I don't really like to eat the fish in this manner. And it's not easy to eat just with a pair of chopsticks, at least for me. Well, I'm too pampered by forks and spoons.

What's this chuck of yellowish thingy on the grill? In Singapore we normally don't get to cook it ourselves. Being clueless of what to do, we requested the waiter to help us grill. =p

It's okonomiyaki! Japanese pancake. The serving was so huge. =) I like how we could top the sauce ourselves. The sauces were very tasty too!

Bought some tidbits from the supa (supermarket) and bread from the kombini (convenience store) The packaging is so colourful! And Japanese bread is superb! Regretted not trying their famous melon bread...

Breakfast. Doesn't look a lot but it can be very filling, due to the compacted rice of the onigiri, coupled with the miso soup.

A healthy buffet (that's what was written on the signplate). Tasted natto for the first time here and it was... >_< My tastebuds became spoilted after that. The food was really nice there was not enough time to enjoy it.

Lunch at APU cafeteria. How I wish NUS has such delicious food too.

Soooo many dishes! Where should I start from? Japanese like to serve their food in small portions. The good thing is, if you dislike one of the dishes, you can still enjoy most of the meal by skipping it. I pity the dishwasher though...

This meal is equivalent to 2 main courses! Rice on the left and noodles on the right...amazing. Had difficulty finishing all of them. There was still a slice of cake which came after that. Being a slow eater (most of you should know), I was the last to finish. When I saw the hosts and teacher looking at me, I quickly gobbled down the cake. Didn't get to slowly enjoy it. =(

This is an 'under-image' of the entire meal, there were more to meet than eye. This photo only shows 50% of the whole dinner. The rice came shortly after this. Just as we thought that was all, a big bowl of udon came! The udon was really nice but I was too full to finish, and ended up throwing most of them away.

That's not all though. Dessert came when we were already feeling bloated...cheese cake, melon and grapes. Oh that was the best dessert I've ever had! (despite the bloated stomach) The fruits were heavenly and the juicy melon melted in my mouth!

This meal was not as fanatastic as the previous ones, but nevertheless good. It was rather a heavy breakfast, with such a huge serving of rice. I wish they could serve some bread too...

Ok I'm feeling so hungry now. Will be grabbing something to eat soon...

Land of the Rising Sun: School Life

The trip also included 2 school visits, a university and an elementary (primary) school. Before the trip I was already looking forward to interacting with the students, which turned out better than expected. Both are international schools and their facilities are really superb! Of course their fees are sky-high too. =p

Asian Pacific University (APU). I really like the design of the school, feels so clean and fresh. Students of many nationalities can be seen too. We were a given a mini assignment where we had to interview students (in Japanese) and present our findings. It indeed posed a great challenge to my command of Japanese. >_<

APU has a culture-week program, to increase awareness and appreciation for different cultures around the world. The cultures will rotate every week. The week we went happened to be 'Chinese Week', hence we could see red lanterns hung around the campus pathways, as well as exhibits at the cafeteria. Talking about the cafeteria, it has a semi-buffet style where you can take whatever food from any store then pay them altogether at the cashier. Very tempting to 'over-take'...haha.

APU enjoys extremely nice views and sceneries from almost every angle of the campus, as it is built high on the slope. This is the best view from the campus, which overlooks the main city at the bottom, the adjacent sea and the mountain range beyond. Makes me feel like studying there!!

My first time wearing a yukata! Wasn't sure about how to wear so I think it was worn wrongly somewhere. Anyway the yukata can be worn anywhere around the hotel, even in restaurants and outside streets too! The hotel has hot springs so I went to try a dip for the first time. Oh my it was SUPER HOT! Felt like a lobster being cooked. Couldn't stand the temperature and came out after 10 minutes.

Is this some kind of ballroom? Nope, this is the cateferia of a school hostel. Utterly amazed by the high-class design. The food served was really really delicious too. Many restaurants in SG can't even compare to that...

Linden Hall Elementary School. A nice field, nice scenery behind and hyperactive children running around. The school is literally a playground to the students. Was impressed by their non-exhaustive liveliness and vivacity, which can be hardly seen in SG schools.

They even have a forest playground! (with tarzan ropes and tree climbing) The kids were very agile and able to navigate through the undulating ground easily. I suddenly feel so old... In SG, such playground would have been ruled out due to safety considerations.

Other than academic subjects, the school also provides a wholesome education including gardening, farming and pottery classes. These kids will definitely grow up to become talented individuals. =)

The interior of the school building. Extremely clean! The school adopts a bilingual education system and thus the students are fluent in both English and Japanese. They can even speak English better than me! I'm so ashamed... >_<

We sat in a Grade 1 Japanese class. The kids were soooo enthusiastic in asking and answering questions! (In SG everyone will just stay quiet or talk among themselves) The whole session was so bustling and lively with the students' active participation. A culture shock indeed. When I said I like to eat bread, everyone will raise their hands frantically and reply 'me too me too!' Haha so cute. ^_^

Some of you might find the textbook illustration familiar. It's about a farmer and his whole family (and pets) helping to pull out a giant turnip. So nostalgic...

I like the spacious and open design of the classroom, which is filled with natural sunlight. The environment is so conducive for learning. For their science lessons (conducted in the lab), they learn advanced things which we'll never learn in primary school. Moreover they study science in both langauges. Thumbs up for their wonderful education policy!

Due to security reasons, their faces cannot be uploaded, so I can't show how cute the children are here. =)

Land of the Rising Sun: Where Technology Meets Tradition

Besides roaming about the suburbs, we also visited places where the advanced technology of Japan can be witnessed. On one hand, Japanese introduces high-tech devices into their daily activities. Many of which can be hardly found in Singapore, like the "super-toilet bowl which has more functions than a handphone". On the other hand, traditional practices are still being strictly followed. People can still be seen wearing traditional customs like kimono and yukata on the streets, among trendy fashion and formal business suits. The mix of modernity and tradition is what I like about the Japanese society.

We visited NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) as the first stop of our trip. This is an open studio where visitors at the main lobby can watch live filming from the outside.

NHK is moving towards 'All-Digital' broadcast. What an interesting diagram!

Their programmes look very interesting. Wished I could watch Japanese programmes from Singapore. Those with variety shows and dramas, not the NHK news channel that Starhub provides...

Does this pyramid remind you of one very famous musuem? (forgot the name and place...)

Robosquare. A gallery which exhibits many high-tech robots that can respond like a living animal, eg. robodog.

So cute! This otter (?) is used for used for robot therapy in places like homes for the aged.

There was a robot performance too. We were amazed by their perfect coordination and flexible movements.

I felt at home as I met so many of my kind (servbot).

Japan has tons of vending machines on the streets, even in secluded places close to forested areas! Maintaining and refilling them must be a great chore. In certain places, like highway koisk, you can even see 10 over vending machines lined together. Not to forget that Japan has the weirdest vending machines, which even sells things like ramen, takoyaki, bread buns, umbrella, underwear, flowers, etc...

Fukuoka Tower, a new iconic building of the city.

National Musuem of Kyushu. It looks like bird from this angle...

We warped through a magical tunnel from the museum to Daizaifu Tenmangu, a famous shinto shrine where I bought protective charms. (refer to first entry)

By the way, the toilets is a must-try when you go Japan! It's really very comfortable!