The best of~*

the previous post is actually a very lengthy preface to an activity we did with the JHS 3rd years yesterday – my very last class with the loveliest bunch of students. they asked me a variety of questions using superlatives and got me thinking a little about some things i just wanna note down or share:

1. What food did you eat the most in Japan? – It has to be tuna mayo onigiri, perfect for a snack or when you’re in a rush. i prefer the ebi mayo (prawn) version but it’s not as common. Next will have to be kare raisu (Japanese curry rice) and omurice I think.

2. What was the most delicious food in Japan? – The students are actually only referring to Japanese food, which is hard because i like most Japanese food and what i choose to eat depends only on what i’m in the mood for. I’ve really enjoyed the food i had at previous school enkais (at a hotel near USJ and another at the Imperial), the meal that a Japanese teacher’s Kyoto-wife prepared for us, kani cream pasta and this amazing Italian restaurant near Momodani station on the JR loop line.

3. Which place did you visit the most in Japan? – It’s probably the Umeda Sky Building, which is also my favourite place in Osaka. For non-tourist attractions, it’s a fight between the Toho Cinema in Umeda, the izakaya Za-watami at Nodahanshin and another izakaya behind El Panchos. actually, El Panchos (Mexican restaurant) and the Dutch restaurant on Nakanoshima might be in the running too, although i havent been to either in the longest time.

4. Which was the most beautiful place in Japan? – I don’t know the answer to this, but i recall being really fascinated by the mist that formed in the valley below the highway while travelling back from Takayama. i’m only thinking about the places i’ve been to while on JET, otherwise i’m sure Hokkaido will make this list – i will soon find out if my first impressions are correct! *excited* I also think everywhere in autumn is gorgeous when the leaves change colour.

5. Where in Japan do you want to return to the most? – Since i’m going back to Hokkaido it’ll have to be Okinawa. i want to spend more time driving (i.e. being driven) along the coast and to visit Iriomote too. I think Yakushima is considered part of Kyushu, but i’d like to go there too. Okinawa food is amazing!

6. What was the most interesting/surprising thing about Japan? – The most interesting thing I think has to be the host boys along the Dotonbori bridge. As for most surprising, perhaps that people queue to get on the trains, or that women use Otohime** in the toilets. However, many of the female students don’t know what Otohime is (the boys definitely dont know cos male toilets arent equipped with them), which i find even more surprising.

 

and here are a few which i thought of:

7. What are some of the best places to visit? – I love Nara Park; now that I think of it, it’s most probably the place i’ve been to the most. Asuka in Nara Prefecture is great too, especially nearing autumn. I also especially recommend Taketomi island in Okinawa and Kamakura in spring. other nice places to visit would be Miyajima, Koya-san (wakayama), Arashiyama in Kyoto and Hida-no-Sato in Takayama.

8. What are some of the most overrated places/events in Japan? – oooh. Yoshino for sakura wins hands down; others include Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama (too crowded) and Matsushima Bay near Sendai (pretty but definitely not top 3 most scenic material). I’d include Harajuku too, though perhaps not for the first timer to Japan. As for events, Kyoto’s Daimonji is rubbish, and there’s this other fire festival in Nara (a side of the mountain is set alight) that i heard was a huge letdown too. i’m personally not a fan of festivals at all – too crowded, too hot and generally not all that enjoyable. Go once or twice and that’s enough!

9. What are the best things to do in Japan? – Go around the temples in autumn! it’s the most beautiful season in Japan, and temples often open till late for night illuminations. That said, go to all the illumination events there are: Kobe’s Illuminarie, Kyoto’s Higashimaya Hanatouro, Osaka’s Nakanoshima Christmas Light up, Nara-to-kae, etc. Try also to spend a night in a proper Japanese ryokan with a full kaiseki meal – you won’t regret the cost one bit. Sakura viewing is a must too, of course.

10. What will you miss the most about Japan? – The four seasons with their accompanying hype (eg crabs in winter, mango and pineapples in summer), seasonal Kit Kat, omurice, bukkake udon, delicious fried tofu, cheap and fresh sushi and widely available cocktails. For non-food related aspects (i’m making an effort here!) – buses and trains that’re usually on time, buses telling you what stop is coming up next and the convenience of combinis/vending machines.  Maybe also the presence of strange/interesting people on the street.

 

What are some of your best ofs~?

 

*: i dont watch TV, but if I did, the show “The Best House, 1,2,3” would be top on my list of must-watch shows. each week, about 4 tv personalities present the Best (or most amazing, unbelievable, beautiful, etc) 3 things in a theme of their choice. Past themes include mosaics, transvestites, weight loss stories and inventions.

**: Otohime translates to ‘sound princess’. For some reason women in japan are uncomfortable having their toilet sounds overheard by other toilet users, and used to flush in order to cover those sounds. it was declared a waste of water and all toilets (except those in schools, train stations and Osaka City Hall) are now equipped with Otohime – you press a button (sometimes it’s automatic and hence really annoying) and a loud flushing sound will be played for about 25seconds.

taketomi island, okinawa

the last full day in okinawa was spent on taketomi island, this really small island about 10 minutes away from ishigaki by boat. we were lured there by its description in lonely planet:

 

A mere 10-minute boat ride from Ishigaki-jima, the tiny islet of Taketomi-jima is a ‘living museum’ of Ryūkȳū culture. Centred on a flower-bedecked village of traditional houses complete with red kawara (tiled) roofs, coral walls and shiisa (lion-dog rooftop guardian) statues, Taketomi is a breath of fresh air if you’re sick of concrete.

In order to preserve the island’s historic ambience, residents (one-third of whom are over 70 years old) have joined together to ban signs of modernism such as asphalt. As a result, the island is criss crossed by a series of crushed-coral roads that are ideally explored by the humble push bike. Taketomi is also refreshingly free of other eye-sores such as the ubiquitous convenience store, though there are plenty of adorable ‘Mom & Pop’ shops scattered around the island

 

at LP’s advice, we hired bicycles – they were really expensive – to cycle around the island, and it reminded me of pulau ubin in terms of its remoteness and village-ness. perhaps because of that, the island didnt really seem as magical and alluring as LP made it out to be, even though it was definitely pretty and a nice place to spend the day.

contrary to its description, it does has asphalt roads, one of which also happened to be the first road we encountered on the island. more accurately, it is that the centre of the island is criss-crossed by crushed-coral roads, which were pretty but somewhat of a bitch to cycle on – the trick is to only go straight ahead, as trying to move forward diagonally would mean you falling off your bike.

there werent that many shops on the island either; there were a couple of eating places and one “mama store” that sold nostalgically old-fashioned ice lollies. it was also interesting that while taketomi island is famous among the japanese for one of its beaches that has star-shaped sand, there wasnt any mention of this beach in LP despite the fact that busloads of tourists spend a fair amount of time on that beach searching for star-shaped grains of sand to bring home as souvenirs. in fact, LP is somewhat disappointingly inaccurate when it comes to certain information on okinawa, so just watch out when planning your trip there.

people searching for star-shaped sand above, and an example of it below. searching for it is fun (i think), but it wasnt that easy as it might appear to be, and it’s far more convenient to buy a bottle of it for 100yen from the souvenir shops on the island and on ishigaki island.

the beach had lots of stray cats too – a total of 7 or 9, which is by far the greatest number i’ve ever seen in one place, as stray cats arent common in japan anyway!

it wasnt till i’d been to okinawa that i realise how many images of the island seen in stores such as Loft are actually from taketomi. Pictures of shiisa, for example, which are the guardian statues common in okinawa, are very often actually those residing on this particular house on taketomi:

its precisely because its images are sold as postcards and so on that photography is prohibited.. not like there was anyone there to stop us though..

i was too busy relaxing on the beaches of taketomi that i didnt take many photos, but there’re about 3 good beaches and 1 area that has a good view, and the following photos are of the last place:

these pics seem a bit dark, but the weather was awesome that day. bright and very sunny weather that got us both sunburnt..

check out how clear the water is!

look at how tanned i was… and this was just in the middle of the day around noon!

here’s an example of the crushed-coral roads on the island:

stone walls and pretty flowers:

there were also some sights on the island; though what exactly some of them were, like this one, we werent too sure:

another peace bell:

taketomi also has a viewing tower, although it isnt very high nor is there much to see. it was still an experience though, as the steps up the tower were very very steep and narrow:

okinawa – ishigaki island

finally i’m back to posting pictures of okinawa, but a closer look at my photos just now made me realise that all the nice pictures werent taken by me!! so i have nothing nice to show for the sueyoshi park in naha, the pineapple park and the ocean expo park in nago, and the nakijin castle ruins.. :(

i took a few more pictures when we left the main island of okinawa and headed to ishigaki island, one of the many outlying islands. ishigaki is about 2 hours away from naha by plane, but about 14 hours by ship! air travel was less than 3000yen more expensive than sea travel, which is nothing in terms of the time saved !

ishigaki is also the entrance point from the rest of okinawa to the other islands in its vincinity, all way south of okinawa.

in fact, as can be seen from above, ishigaki is closer to taipei (270km) than it is to naha (410km), or the rest of japan for that matter.

there unfortunately was little of interest on ishigaki itself that was accessible without a car.. the island seems completely reliant on tourism, yet there was the sense that the residents dont really like tourists (who can blame them?) and definitely arent as friendly as the people in naha or nago. in fact, we got into a small problem with a restaurant owner who was annoyed that we parked our rental bikes in the space behind the back door of his restaurant, when it wasnt even like we were blocking the door OR preventing other customers from parking their cars in that space (we didnt even know it was a parking lot, as there were no markings of any sort to identify it as such!). we certainly didnt deserve the rudeness he showed us..

we spent our two half days in ishigaki doing nothing much at all.. just walking around and relaxing in our room, and visiting the small shopping area many, many times (cos we were absent minded and kept forgetting one thing or another, or otherwise going there too late when all the shops have closed).

one of the things that we found slightly interesting was this:

there’re lots of world peace bells in japan..

and of course, ishigaki declares non-nuclear peace, although i would certainly not call it a city:

shuri castle, naha - okinawa

shuri castle is one of the major sights in okinawa, and is a nice walk from the monorail station. the surrounding park made for a relaxing time on a sunny summer-ish day..

i frolicked - or attempted clumsily to - in this huge patch of grass and tiny flowers

one characteristic of okinawan buildings is that their roofs are more concrete than tile..

 

along the path to the castle..

this lady was feeding the ducks as she strolled along the river

cute!!

heron!

 

check out what i saw at the gate of this primary school:

the side gate of the castle grounds:

the main castle buiding..

and the cool dragon atop it..

a small garden within the palace which looks more savanna-like than tropical!

inside the throne room.. it was very shiny..

so totally chinese..

beautiful toilet decoration..

and the old prefectural museum outside the castle:

okinawa - naha

i'm finally getting down to posting pictures from my okinawa trip! i didnt take that many photos - lazy cos there's a DSLR nearby - but i think i have some interesting ones!

okinawa is southwest of the main islands of japan and is actually nearer to taiwan. i wont go deep into the history of okinawa - its somewhat complicated - but suffice to say that it has been very heavily influenced by Chinese and Korean culture throughout its history, having had close trade and political ties with those two countries. it formerly existed as part of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and only became part of japan in the last few centuries - or less (im very hazy on this). as a result, it has a culture different from that of mainland japan, and may appear as similar to its east asian neighbours as it does to japan. the presence of the USA bases on the islands also has an impact on its culture - you see a lot more english signs and 'western symbols' - including the very very awesome A&W!!

osaka was cold when i left - and it is cold once again, dammit - but okinawa was nicely tropical and sunny. due to the tropical climate, the vegetation that grows there is more or less the same as what you get in singapore, and it REALLY reminded me of home when i first stepped out of the airport:

does it totally look like a multi-storey carpark in sg?

a view of the monorail track - its the most convenient way to get around the main area of naha. however, its really dumb cos the monorail doesnt extend to this world heritage park that's just about 1 station-distance away from the last station on the line. the only way to get there is by taxi from that aforesaid station.

i think this part looks quite cool!

i love the curve.. although okinawa seems rather urban from these few pictures, it actually isnt that urbanised. the buildings arent that high and are a comfortable space apart, and its calm and quiet there, even in the crowded areas. it was a very stark contrast to osaka. food is cheaper too - lunch on the first day was less than 1000yen, and included salad, clam rice, a main, side dishes of pickles and some claypot rice, soup, a drink and dessert. so cheap!! once you get of the city, it reminds me a lot of thailand actually.

the japanese are very fond of having cute drawings on their signs, and the above monorail door is a good example. check out the 2 cartoon figures on it:

the crab reminding you to watch out for the door..

and a crying boy warning you the pain of getting your hand stuck in the door. haha.

you get your fair share of amusing signs in okinawa too:

the above just sounds wrong on so many counts..

people who like bittergourd should go to okinawa, cos thats one of their famous products! it was a bit troublesome trying to avoid eating bittergourd when we were there.. any salad or veggie dishes usually contained it.

my ultraman impersonation in front of one of the shops along the main shopping street.. we walked up and down that street every night we were in naha, partly cos there's nothing else to do, and partly cos we somehow always found the need to go to one shop or another..