Takayama [28/06]

Nakagawa-san decided to organise an outing for me and Shelly-san (from Taiwan) on the 28th/29th weekend. A week before, he asked us which places we would like to visit and gave us four choices: 1) Ise 2) Magome/Tsumago 3) Takayama 4) Kamikochi.

Though I have no preferences for any of the above, but I eliminated 2) Magome/Tsumago as it is the only one that do not fall under japan-guide.com 'Best of Japan' sights. Actually I have recommended a friend the week after that we should visit Kamikochi or Ise in the future. So I hope the final decision will be Takayama. As luck should have it, it is the rainy season and Ise is out as the frontline of the rain will fall on Ise first. Then I mention that Kamikochi is too far away. Final verdict on Friday afternoon, on Saturday we will visit Takayama (高山). Yea!

Nakagawa-san came to fetch me with his SUV (see picture below) on Saturday morning at 8.30am.



The journey takes 2 hours in all. I'm sitting in the middle with Shelly-san, while Nakagawa-san's 2 children are behind us with the parents in front. His 2 children are very active and feeling very happy. The boy is 4 years while the girl is only 2.

We left Komaki city and went up north along the expressway and mountain road. It passes by 'Japan's Rhine' - Kiso gawa. I took a photo of a red bridge below.




We went further up the mountain passes where the car drove through endless tunnels and zig-zag roads. We finally arrived at a flower farm which is 40km before Takayama. Beds of violet flowers line the stretch along the road. A break was taken there and we went on down for a photoshot. These are actually Lavender flowers. Nakagawa-san mentioned that these are actually used to make perfumes and fragrances. If we were to press the flower bud, we can scent the fragance smell on our fingers.




There are butterflies and bees going round the flowers. I took a close up shot of a bee below.




Just next to the farm is Kiso-gawa again. There are many people fishing along the river. The weather is cooling. It is neither hot or cold, just naturally cooling, perfect for an outdoor trip. The stretch along the farm has some beautiful river-mountain scenery.




We proceeded on our journey and arrived at Takayama around 12noon. This is the first time I'm not the tour guide. But I have the map memorised just in case. Our first activity for the day in Takayama is Lunch. Suzuki-san (refer to Singapore Tour 2008) recommended Nakagawa-san to go this restaurant - Kitchen HIDA. It serves Hida beef (飛騨牛), which is consider one of Japan's top 3 beef together with Kobe and Matsusaka.

I took a family photo of Nakagawa-san with his wife and children below.




And a photo of Shelly and me with the kids.




I went through a bit of beef-type orientation before the meal. There are different grades of beef. The superior one are the A-5 type which goes for 5,500 Yen for 100g. The A4 are split into two categories, the A-4 fillet type is 3,300 Yen (there's no fat in it) and the A-4 steak version is 4,200 Yen. And also the more normal A-3 type which is 2,800 Yen. The steak version has fat in it makes the entire meat tender. I went for the A-4 steak version set meal, as can be seen in the picture below.

The beef is definitely many times better than the 38RMB ones which I had in China. Hida beef taste really good. I have to admit, I don't really take beef once I'm back in Singapore.




After lunch, we cross over the road to Takayama Jinya (高山陣屋). Note the word Jinya, it is not Jinja which means shrine in Japanese (or Ninja). It is actually an old administrative building for the Takayama city and the current building dates back 200 years from the Tokugawa shogun period. We took a photo shot below. Nakagawa-san was the photographer.




We spent quite a bit of time here (around an hour). As there is an English tour going around just nice after I arrived, I decided to join in. The rest were going around the different rooms themselves while the kids are rolling on the tatami mats.

Here is one of the rooms after the entrance.




A garden in the Jinya.




The guided tour was quite good. From it I learnt quite a few stuff. One of which is the 'natural technology' which they used. See the picture below. You will notice a pot hanging from the ceiling top. This is where the people lit fires and hot their food and water. In those days u can't really control how hot you want the fire to be after you have started it. To heat the pot more or less than before, you have to alter the height of the pot. You do that by just shifting the hammer-like device in the middle. It is simple as that. It just uses the laws of friction and gravity to control the height easily.




The second interesting mechanism is the door lock. Look at the picture below. It does not use any screws or nuts. Just a natural wooden bolt. It is in its locking state now. To unlock it, just shift the L-shape frame below to the left and the bolt will drop. Simple as that.




We went through all the rooms and halls and saw the audience chamber. The words 'Piety' and 'Loyalty' are written on the wall.




We left the Jinya around 3pm and went on down to the Old Street just across the river. Takayama town is famous for its rice crackers and rice snacks. Nakagawa-san gave us a treat of the rice snacks below. Haha. The kids are having them.




The Old Street is called Sanmachi, which means three streets. The buildings are carefully preserved. In the buildings are actually shops (souvenir shops) and museums.




We spent the next 2 hours here shopping. Takayama is also famous for its faceless monkey - Sarubobo.




A traditional looking lamp along the street.




At the end of the first street across the road, we came upon this shop selling Hida Milk. What I find fascinating about it is that there are no one collecting money for purchases made from this fridge. The prices are written there below, 110Yen each. You pay by putting money into the coin can you see at the top. If you want change, you also get from there. This is absolute honesty at its best. The shopowner trusts his customers and the customers likewise will respect their purchases. I'm not sure whether can I find such a system elsewhere in the world. I have never seen it in Singapore.




We went along the second street and I find one of the shops to be fascinating. There is a garden in there where people can sample tea and enjoy the natural surroundings.




I took a quick snapshot with Nakagawa-san's children. They are really kawaii.



We left around 5.30pm. It started to drizzle a bit, only minor droplets. The rain intensified when we passed by Kiso-gawa but it shopped again when we got to Nagoya for our dinner. Nakagawa-san treated us to Omelette rice that evening. He sent us back and I got back to my dorm around 10pm. We were lucky to travel on the Saturday instead of Sunday as the main downpour came on the Sunday and it just rain endlessly. It is also a good time to update my blog.

I am grateful to Nakagawa-san for organising this trip for us.

Singapore Tour [06/06]

A few of my colleagues from Japan came down to Singapore for a 2 day meeting. The actual meeting only span 1.5 days and they have their Friday afternoon available for Rest and Relaxation. As it is their first time in Singapore, I managed to get approval from my boss to show them around Singapore. I love being host to foreign friends in Singapore. I clearly remember the first time I played host to my foreign friends was during my second year in university, when the malaysian friends I met at a camp came down for a day tour.

I have mentally plan out where to bring them the day before. Since they have been to the Singapore Zoo/Night Safari on Wednesday evening, that will be skipped and on to the main sights in Singapore - the City Hall area and the Merlion. This time round, my objective is also to let them sample the best culinary crusine Singapore has to offer. When I spend too long a time away from Singapore, the thing which I miss most will be the food. I believe every Singaporean will agree on this.

Before I start on my blog, I will have to thank my fellow colleague: Murakami-san and Suzuki-san for their photos. It is very well taken and I have to give credit to them as more than half the photos showcase here are given by them. Each time I publish my blog, I will filter through all the photos and only upload the best. So what you see in this posting is the best of our three photoshot. Photos with a date embedded in it are contributed by Murakami-san.

So we left office at 12pm and went down to their hotel first to put our bags. Their hotel is at Le Meridien, just next to the Istana. Thereafter we took a cab to Lau Pa Sat (Old Market) in the heart of the city at Raffles Place. This place has quite a history and has been our food centre for more than a hundred years. It has been refurbished several times but the architecture has been preserved. There is a great variety of culinary offerings at this centre. As it is lunch time, there is also quite a crowd. But we were able to find seats quite easily.




We ordered Chicken Rice (photo below) first. Chicken rice dishes can be found in Singapore, Malaysia and China but I think Singapore ones are the best. The flavour is unique and enticing. Thereafter we ordered Fried Hokkien Mee, Char Kuay Teow, Laksa and round it off with Sugarcane drink and Peach Tea. It is a mega lunch and we completed the entire course by 2pm.




Next we walked to the heart of Raffles Place. This scene is commonly shown on TV where busy Singaporeans are always rushing around between the financial and government offices for their duties.




Further down is one of Singapore's oldest bridge - the Cavenagh Bridge. This is quite a beautiful place for a photoshot with the Fullerton building at one end and the Asian Civilization Museum (ACM) at the other.




I begin looking for the Sir Stamford Raffles statue. I know there is a white and black colour one. We walked past the ACM and saw the black statue in front of the Victoria Theatre. Hmm... I don't know the location of the white statue. I asked an encik around the ACM and he told me to walk straight down and turn left. We walked as follows and viola! It is only later I learned that this is the spot where Sir Raffles landed in Singapore. The view is quite good with the financial district as the backdrop.




There are also many life-size figures around the Singapore river depicting life back then. I find this one to be particular interesting so Murakami-san and I decided to chip in and help out with the heavy bag.




Here is Cavenagh Bridge again with Fullerton Hotel as the backdrop. We went in there for a short break and the hotel basement also link to One Fullerton which is just next to Merlion park.




A photoshot of Fullerton hotel from the interior. I still remember 3 years back (before I started work), I came here for a Sun seminar spanning a day. The ambience is just great and they serve premium food at the seminar.




We went across and arrive at Merlion Park. The photo below is taken by Suzuki-san using her Casio camera (a newer generation as compared to mine).




Here is our group photo. From left, me, Suzuki-san, Murakami-san and Quah.




Our Singapore durian, or some call it by its professional name - Esplanade (you can pronounce it the French way or English way).




We walk down the bridge to the Esplanade along rows of beautiful flower.




From there we went across to the City Hall and the Supreme Count. At the Padang, I took a photo of the Singapore financial centre skyline.




Past the city hall, we arrived at one of Singapore's oldest church - the St. Andrews Cathedral. I heard from a tour guide later that this placed was struck by lightning three times.




Past Raffles City Shopping Centre, we arrived at Chijmes where Suzuki-san is looking for some textiles. It is also where Singapore one-and-only maid cafe is located. Here is a maid standing in front of the CosCafe.




Thereafter we went down to Raffles Hotel. I pointed out to them the famous Sikh which is Singapore's number one service staff. He is standing at the entrance to the hotel.




In the hotel, there is an area where wedding events are being held.




The final activity for the day before we break for dinner is the Duck Tour. I managed to make a telephone reservation when I was at the Merlion park at 3.30pm for the 5pm Duck Tour. It depart from Suntec City. We managed to reach there at 4.40pm, just in time for payment and to watch a short video on what's going to happen.




Here is the friendly tour guide of the Duck boat. The boat is reused from a Vietnam War war machine.




A view of the Singapore Flyer from the Singapore river.




An also the Merlion at sunset.




The duck tour lasted 50 minutes and we are back in Suntec city. I bring them around the Fountain of Wealth clockwise for good luck.




And finally we adjourn for our dinner. I have been planning to go to Newton Circus as it is another famous hangout at night which is quite close to the city centre. There are still frequent 'touting', though not as aggressive as in the past. We just settle for a stall and ordered BBQ Stingray, Kang Kong, You Tiao, Satay and Scallops vegetables.



We finished our dinner at 7.30pm and went back to hotel. We bid farewell to one another at 8.20pm. From there, I rushed on to my next appointment at Clarke Quay.