New Year

After participating in the event of striking the Night-watch bell for 108 times, it's time to welcome the year 2013. Despite of the crazy cold weather, I still decided to proceed to pay my respect at 'Yasaka Shrine'. In Japan, the first visit to a shrine each and every year is also known as 'Hatsumoode'. The locals will pray for their well-being for the upcoming year on this visit.

Despite of the cold weather, the shrine still managed to attract the attention of a lot of visitors. (In fact, on that very night, there might be more than 100,000 visitors paying their respect at the 'Yasaka Shrine'.)

After paying their respect at the shrine, most people will either buy a lucky amulet, known as 'Omamori', or paper fortune lots, known as 'Omikuji'. (I, myself have went ahead with the 'Omikuji'. O.OV)

After that, I decided to give some of the food stalls located within the shrine compound a try. (What amazed me the most, was the fact that there was this Indian selling spicy Indian food within the shrine compound. And trust me, by eating spicy food during a cold weather can really help you a lot.)

After filling up my stomach with lots of food, it's time for me to return to my hotel. By the time I reached the hotel, it's like 4am in the morning and there's a big surprise waiting for me when I woke up... to be continued.

* Click here to find out more about 'Yasaka Shrine'.

New Year's Eve

Though this is slightly a bit too late, but how did you spend your 2013 New Year's Eve? In fact...

for a start, I went to my favourite Buckwheat Noodles restaurant in Kyoto, Japan on the New Year's Eve of 2013. The name of this restaurant would be 'Honke Owariya'. (In fact, I was eating a rectangular shaped tidbit, also known as 'Soba Ita', which is made from Buckwheat Noodles right now. I was so madly in love with it that I could easily finish a box of it within an hour. By the way, each box contains 50 pieces of 'Soba Ita'.)

'Nishin Soba' This is indeed an infamous Buckwheat Noodles restaurant. The Buckwheat Noodles over here are pretty soft and relatively cheap. And the ingredients are pretty fresh and deliciously good. In fact, after giving this restaurant a try, it have greatly increased my passion for Buckwheat Noodles. However, why did the Japanese have the custom of eating Buckwheat Noodles on New Year's Eve? There's a Japanese saying that states that by eating the Buckwheat Noodles that are pretty thin and long on New Year's Eve symbolises longevity.

After having a delicious meal, I decided to
do a bit of window shopping follow up with...

the task of queueing up outside 'Kodai-Ji' temple. This queue is actually meant for the first 108 people to get a chance to strike the Night-watch bell of the temple on New Year's Eve.

From 11pm onwards, those that were selected one after the other will step forward and strike the Night-watch bell once. Why did they struck the Night-watch bell 108 times? According to Buddhism, 108 symbolises the number of desires that trouble the body and soul of a person. Therefore by striking the bell 108 times symbolise the process of removing all your desires and cleanse your body and soul.

A serious looking me...?

Some other photos that were taken in 'Kodai-Ji'.

After paying a visit to 'Kodai-ji'...to be continued

* Click here to find out more about the Buckwheat Noodles restaurant 'Honke Owariya'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Kodai-Ji' temple.

2012～2013 Japan Trip - Man V.S. Monkey

I have seen the infamous hot spring Monkeys during my trip this/last year. Let the journey begin.

Before you enter the Monkey park, I would strongly suggest that you do not bring a plastic bag.

Why?

The following shows the outcome of my plastic bag...

One of the hot spring monkeys have snatched my plastic bag away. (There goes my fruit-flavoured sweets~~~)

Besides for the rule of not to carry a plastic bag, here are some other rules that one would have to take note.


Here are some photos of the hot spring Monkeys.

(Click the following image for more photos.)

* Click here to find out more about 'Jigokudani Yaen-koen'.

2012～2013 Japan Trip - Sightseeing

I went on a trip to Japan last December. Throughout my trip to Japan, I have been to numerous places, seen numerous sights and most importantly, learn more about the Japanese Culture. The following are the photos for my recent trip.

(Click the following images for more photos.)

Kyoto
Arashiyama Togetsukyo	Arashiyama Sagano Romantic Train	Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
Arashiyama Kurumazaki Jinja	Yasaka Shrine	Ebisu Jinja
Fushimi Inari Taisha	Kamigamo Jinja	Kiyomizudera
Kyoto Station	New Year Eve and New Year	Nishiki Market
Takimoto	Udon Museum	Ichijoji

Kameoka

Kanazawa
Noh Museum		Kenrokuen

Wakayama

Nagoya
Nagoya Castle	Kakuozan Nittaiji	Oasis 21
Midland Square	Asahi Beer Factory	Atsuta Jinja

Inuyama
Urakuen	Inuyama Castle

Aichi
Oogata Jinja	Tagata Jinja

Matsumoto
	Matsumoto Castle (Crow Castle)

Nagano
Zenkoji Kyojuin Youth Hotel	Zenkoji

Yudanaka
Jigokudani Yaen-koen		Uotoshi-Ryokan

Hiroshima
	Hiroshima Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum + Atomic Bomb Dome

Miyajima
Itsukushima Shrine	>Mt. Misan

Okayama
Okayama Castle(Crow Castle)	Korakuen

Takayama
Hida no Sato	Showakan	Shiroyama Park + Teramachi
Daisyonyudo	Hanasato no Yu	Zenkoji

Hirayu
	Bus Terminal

Shinhotaka
Ropeway	Shinzansou

Shirakawa-Go
	TOYOTA Shirakawa-Go Eco-Institute

Mt. Fuji

Others