nateniale's travels

Japan is a country that we had been multiple times and can never get sick of! This time round, we trav elled in springtime. A three generation trip to Japan in May 2019, with my parents in their 60s and our girls, Ed 2 years old and Em 4 years old.  9 days 8 nights 1 country - Japan 9 cities - Fukuoka, Munakata, Hagi, Yamaguchi, Iwakuni, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Tomonoura, Onomichi 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) Itsukushima Shrine 1 timezone - GMT+9 1 currency - Japanese Yen Day 1 | Fukuoka  福岡  Flight to Fukuoka  Ohari Park - playground, Fukuoka castle ruin Ichiran Tenjin Nishidori - ultra-rich porky soup with ramen Stay @ Fukuoka (1 night) Day 2 |  Munakata 宗像  to Hagi  萩 Rent a car Munakata Shrine - part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, built around the...

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 8 - Himeji } The plan was to spend half a day in Himeji, but due to some delay in leaving Osaka, we only managed to reach Himeji late afternoon. The main, if not only, reason tourists flock to Himeji is to visit the Himeji-jo - the Himeji Castle. Once we reached Himeji, we walked along the (presumably) main road that leads right up to the castle. We were able to catch glimpses of the castle along the way. Once we got there, two things caught my eyes: (1) the number of people all around the area (2) the sign board that seems to be saying that it will be closing at 4pm which did not give us much time. Undeterred, we walked all the way in to the ticketing counter and ask the officer if we can still visit the castle. After some slow Japanese (which doesn't help with our comprehension) and hand signals, we figured out that the last entry is at 4pm but the castle is open till 5. So, we bought our tickets and walked right up to the main castle. The main castle...

How often do you see colours when you travel? Saw this blog little brown pen . It takes colour into a whole new meaning! Check out her blog with lots of photos in her collection of Paris in colour .  It does make you wonder. What colours are there in the last city you went to? So, here's my version of.... japan in red { Click here for other photos of Japan which are not colour coordinated }

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 7 & 8 - Osaka } We reached Osaka in the late afternoon and by the time we got to our hotel, which was supposed to be less than 10 minutes walking distance from the train station, the sun was already setting. The reason? We got lost in the huge, complicated and confusing Shin-Osaka Station. Armed with a Japanese map of the hotel , we were walking up and down the stairs, walking towards various exits with the numbers shown in the map, and ended up lost in the huge station. We tried asking for directions many times, and the locals were extremely helpful! While they were willing to help, the language barrier proved to be too much to overcome. So, while we continued to be lost, I loved how they would still try their very best to speak Japanese slowly with lots of hand movements, in the hope that we would be able to understand them. In the end, a kind Japanese control station lady walked with us to one of the exit and drew directions while explaining in s...

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 7 - Kyoto } Wanting to make full use of our second, and final day, in Kyoto, we took off (relatively) early in the morning. We only had half a day left before leaving for Osaka in the late afternoon. The plan was to spend the day around northern Kyoto, but at the last minute, we decided that we wanted to have the ultimate torii experience! The Ultimate Torii Experience Walking down the orange torii gates was a surreal experience. If you have watched Memoirs of Geisha, you may remember the scene where the young Sayuri ran through a gateway of orange torii gates. That scene was filmed in Fushimi Inari Taisha . The torii gates were donated by worshipers with their names written on one side of the torii gates (see the 4th photo with all the wordings), and put along a pathway going up the hill behind the main building. We only managed to walk a section of it, and even then we couldn't stop snapping photos! While it looked orange when we were there, it cam...

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 6 - Kyoto } It was finally time to visit Kyoto! While I love the vibrant and electric feeling that Tokyo radiates, I would still take culture and history over people and city anytime. Kyoto has one of the most number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan and many historical buildings. So, I was excited to see what the city has to offer. Once we reached the Kyoto Station, we went up to the Kyoto Tower that offered a 360 degrees view of Kyoto from 100 metres above ground. While the view was great (and I loved the mountains at the horizon), the tower looked like an out-of-place candle. Kiyomizudera Temple From the bus stop at the main road, it was an uphill climb to reach the Kiyomizudera Temple. The path was filled with shops and restaurants catering to tourists and selling many local specialties and souvenirs. The best feature of the temple was the wooden platform standing above the hill. It provided a great view of the city amidst the cherry blosso...