Japan in Autumn

Hello Kitty !

We visited Japan in early November 2015. We decided on this trip about four months before. That's unusual considering our track record. There was plenty of time to plan this adventure and the initial plan included an itinerary covering Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and possibly Kobe over 9 days. We researched the Japan Rail (JR) Pass, which gives unlimited travel throughout Japan.....exciting stuff.

Soon, reality set in. I could not see myself lugging a 30kg suitcase around railway stations nor drag this through subways and malls. We then decided to be more pragmatic, which is to station ourselves in Osaka and make day trips to the surrounding areas by train. Turned out that this is not a bad thing to do if you are the type of traveller who enjoys the free-and-easy holiday rather than one packed with as many things as possible in as short a time as possible.

The weather was very pleasant during the time we were there. This is a view from our hotel room. The temperature was a pleasant 18 to 20 degrees Celsius most of the time.

View from our hotel room

We did the usual tourist stuff with the sightseeing. If you love temples, shrines and parks, they are aplenty. We were quite selective with the places we visited as we wanted to take things easy. These are some of the highlights from the sightseeing we did.

Osaka Castle in background

There is a time capsule which was buried in 1970 and will only be opened after 5,000 years! I hope someone has set this in his calendar.

A flock of birds!

I was fortunate to have captured this flock of birds in flight. I always dreamed of a shot like this but never had the opportunity.

Osaka Castle amid the autumn foliage

I was hoping that autumn would be in "full bloom" but looks like we were still little early. Still, there was a hint of autumn foliage.

Kinkaku-ji Temple in Kyoto (Golden Pavilion)

Kinkaku-ji is one of the most busy attractions all year round. It is so busy that they advise the best time to visit is either early in the morning or after they are closed!

Moss covered ground in autumn

We also headed to an area called Pontocho, which has rustic looking little backstreets and we were told that if we were lucky, we could catch some geishas in traditional costumes.

I guess this qualifies as rustic looking

Hmmm....I don't think they are geishas

One evening, we headed to Dotonbori. It is a popular night-spot in Osaka with restaurants and night-life.

The Glico Pocky Man!

This is the iconic Glico Pocky Man. It is amazing how an LED display like this can become so famous.

We had a wonderful dinner at a little restaurant called Kobegyu Steak Ken.  It is not easy to find but the service is second to none. They serve great Kobe beef Teppanyaki style. It is not cheap but well worth the experience. Service is highly personalised and the couple which run the restaurant never have more than 8 or 9 guests to ensure the quality of service.

This is the unassuming entrance to the restaurant!

Instant photo at the end of the meal :)

Chef Ken was most personable. At the end of our dinner, he walked us to the lift (restaurant located on the second floor). When the lift door opened on the ground floor, he was already there to bid us goodbye! That's service!

Our tourist pursuits brought us to a few more interesting places.

Universal Studios Osaka

Still Halloween at Universal Studios

The Japanese love Minions!

Reflection of Hogwarts Castle

Spiderman!

The Parade

The Japanese came all decked out to spend their day at Universal Studios. Many dressed to a theme. Some photos to illustrate this.

Cool outfits

More interesting outfits

We visited Todai-ji Temple in Nara. It is a Buddhist temple which was first built in 728 AD.

Todai-ji

Todai-ji houses a large statue of Buddha

Nice gate !

There are deer roaming freely around the temple grounds. According to the brochures, the deer are gentle and polite. One brochure I read even mentioned that they will bow to you when you feed them. Don't believe that! I had my butt nipped several times when I was trying to get away from them. They look adorable though.

Bambi!

Autumn colours

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is worth a visit. It is much better than the SEA Aquarium we have back home. I find the fish here more lively and interactive.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

These are some of the better photographs I managed to capture.

A playful dolphin

Whale Shark

Beautiful Jellyfish

Penguins having a tiff

Next to Kaiyakun is Tempozan Ferris Wheel. It is worth a ride and gives you a great overview of the Osaka Bay area.

Tempozan Ferris Wheel

Osaka Tower is located in an area called Shinsekai. It is in the older part of Osaka and known to be the seedier part of town. We avoided any possible risk by visiting in the day :)

Osaka Tower from Shinsekai

Osaka is also known as the kitchen of Japan. You never go hungry! Choices are abundant. You can have a meal for as little as 300 yen or 3,000 Yen. The choice is yours :) There are many small shops where you buy your meal at a vending machine, take a seat and your meal is delivered. Singapore can learn from this model given the current shortage of serving staff.

Buy your meals here

We stumbled on a little Italian restaurant in Nara which uses a wood-fired oven to bake pizza. Of course it had to be a Quattro Formaggi ..... Yummy!

Pizza!

We got around by train and I must say that I love the train system in Osaka. It is well organised and works! Is is comfortable and very affordable. A train ride from Kansai International Airport into the city (Nankai) costs about 1,300 Yen (about SGD13) and takes about 45 minutes. The trains are also very comfortable. The seats are bigger and have more leg room than theEconomy Class seat with a major airline :)

Nice train

The culture in Japan continues to fascinate me. The people are so polite, compared to the rest of Asia. Most Japanese speak some English, so getting around is never a problem. Even when they do not, they are very helpful. On our first day in Osaka, we asked an elderly gentleman for directions to the subway and he walked me all the way to the information counter instead of merely saying he does not speak English. I love Japan!

One Man's Legacy

On 23 March 2015, at 3:18 am, Singapore lost a great leader in Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In the days that followed, glowing tributes poured in from all segments of society and international leaders. The condolence messages from all over the world was amazing. I knew that he was a respected international figure but did not realise the extent. Tributes were paid in several parliaments around the world and India declared 29 March a day of national mourning.

I then realised that Singapore and Singaporeans stood on the shoulders of this giant.

To imagine that about 50 years ago, Singapore was a fledgling colonial back water with a bleak future. Mr Lee led a few good men who were determined to gain our independence from our colonial masters. We looked to Malaysia as our hinterland. The union was short lived due to a divergence of policies and politics. In 1965, we were became a sovereign country by accident. I was too young to appreciate this but recall my parents and grandparents constantly reminding me of the importance of studying hard because Singapore did not have any natural resources.

The pioneer generation left the governing of the country to the government as they worked on providing a better life for their families. Within a few decades, Singapore prospered, thanks to the leadership and hard work of the pioneer generation. There were several crises but the steady leadership steered the country through, like a captain navigating a ship through treacherous waters.

Because of the success achieved by the pioneer generation, the next generation became better educated, better travelled and more affluent. Not surprising, this followed calls to be heard. Some questioned the style of governing this country. My personal observation is once the basic needs are met, the human creature begins to seek higher order needs. Frankly, the line between "needs" and "wants" can become grey. I see this as a first world problem :)

Mr Lee was always clear about his priorities. At the National Day rally in 1986, he said:

“What are our priorities? First, the welfare, the survival of the people. Then, democratic norms and processes which from time to time we have to suspend.”

In order to provide for the welfare and survival of the people, we needed economic progress so that programmes can be funded. This is the pragmatism which we have been brought up with. The leadership team also decided very early on to share the success of the country with its people. One important policy was home ownership. Today, home ownership rates in Singapore are much higher than first world countries. I understand that Singapore's home ownership rate is 90.5%. The US and the UK are around 66%. In Asia, Hong Kong stands at about 51% and Japan stands at about 61%. This has given Singaporeans a stake in their own country.

Detractors argue that sacrifices were made along the way. That's life. Even in our personal lives, we have made sacrifices to pursue our priorities. It is always easy to stand on the sideline to heckle and provide a laundry list of ideas. It is quite a different matter to have to think of a way to turn ideas into feasible plans and operationalise the plans.

Regardless, nobody can argue that Singapore transformed from third world to first within a lifetime. Thank you, Mr Lee, for leading the team to improve our lives.

The tribute on Channel News Asia gave us a rare glimpse into his personal life. Dr Ng Eng Hen shared that on a long trip to Malaysia in 2009, he called home every evening so that he could speak to  Mrs Lee who was not able to respond due to her stroke. At Mrs Lee's funeral in 2010, Mr Lee bade is final farewell as he leaned over to touch her one last time, it was moving. This was the tender side of him we never knew.

As I reflect on the tributes and endless lines of people who queued at the Padang to pay their last respects to the founder of modern Singapore, I am reminded of a time when I was a young child and was told by my parents to stay indoors because of riots. I was too young to understand this fully but I remember that I was fearful that something may happen to us. Thankfully, this is history.

I have the following tribute to share about Mr Lee Kuan Yew:

Thank you for creating a safe and secure home for us when once there was none
Thank you for seeing a metropolis when once we did not
Thank you for seeing a country rich with resources when once we saw none
Thank you for giving us the confidence to believe in ourselves
Thank you for delivering on your promises
Most of all, thank you for believing in us
We will miss you at the SG50 celebration on National Day
Rest in Peace
You are now with Mrs Lee :)

These are some photographs I took in remembrance of Mr Lee.

Tribute at High Street Centre

Lying in State at Parliament House

Good samaritans distributing water to passers-by

Live telecast of Special Sitting at Parliament on 26 March

Farewell, Mr Lee

Marina Barrage

View from Marina Barrage

It has been a while since I last visited Marina Barrage and decided to soak in the view. I was greeted by a very light drizzle when I arrived but it soon blew over. As I entered the barrage, I was greeted by a majestic view of the Marina Bay Sands. The wet floor left by the drizzle gave the area a unique glow. There is no doubt in my mind that this has become the icon of Singapore. It is an awesome building.

As I made my way to the end of the barrage, I was saw an interesting view of the Singapore Flyer and the skyline around the Sheares Bridge.

Interesting reflection off the wet floor

Beautiful Skyline

There were three palm trees which were beautifully lit and looked awesome against Marina Bay Sands. The white signboard is such an eyesore.

The signboard spoilt this picture

I surveyed the area and just outside the Pump Room and was inspired by a vision of having the Marina Bay Sands being framed by the curvature of the walkway at the barrage. The photograph did not turn out as good as I had imagined. Maybe it is because I did not have a lens wider than 35 mm. I have been thinking about getting a nice wide angle lens :)

This did not turn out as I had imagined

I then made my way to the top of the Marina Barrage and caught a sight of the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay. It is a gorgeous view.

Such matching colours

The view from up there offered a different perspective. As I took this photograph, I was reminded of the hard work of the many unseen people in the background to make things possible for the rest of us to enjoy. The photograph below is far from a perfect shot in terms of visual balance, but I had to find a way to capture the contrast between the lighted and busy skyline in the background and the two workboats in the foreground. It was as if they (the boats) were resting after a hard day's work while there was a party in the background.

While some play, others need their rest

I was hoping to catch some photographs of the laser show but the photographs did not make the cut to be featured, despite my amateurish standards.....yes, that's now bad they were :) Nonetheless, I left happy and satisfied with the last photograph. Just as the boats need their rest, so does this "uncle" as it is way past bedtime. Good night.