Chris' Birthday and other random bits

I still have photos from Japan that I want to add to the blog but also wanted to do a quick update on what has been going on back here in Hong Kong since I got back from Japan.


We celebrated Chris C's birthday last weekend.  A group of us went out for drinks and dinner, and it was really a typical Hong Kong night - one of the things I will miss most.  It was such nice weather to be out, and there were a million people at the bar we went to, spilling on to the street and up and down the escalator street.   And there are so many restaurants to choose from in our area.  We are spoilt for choice.





We took a trip out to Cheung Chau before school went back, as we hadn't been there for a while.  Such good harbour views from the ferry.

 
We wandered around the tiny shops before dinner, and thought these glasses were perfect on Chris...

 Another shot of our beautiful harbour.

Ok this is a bit random but someone found this in an overseas newspaper during the holidays and put it up in the staffroom.  I can't say I've ever seen an ad in Australia with wording quite like this.

I went out for lunch last weekend.  We were at the Police Club, which overlooks the water and has yummy dim sum!  Nice way to spend a few hours.

I'm about to cram in another adventure before my time here runs out - I'm off to Beijing tomorrow to finally see the Great Wall of China.  It's the last long weekend I have here :-(

Japan #4 continued

Itsukushima shrine and Torii gate, Hiroshima.  This is a famous shrine on an island with a big Torii gate that is partly under water at high tide.  Apparently years ago you were not allowed to step onto the island, so had to go to the shrine by boat, under the Torii gate and right up to the shrine decks.

Because it was low tide, we could walk out to the Torii gate.  The four "legs" were made from massive tree trunks, and between the barnacles were lots of coins people had put their for luck (or probably to extend their lives...).  The beach was full of seaweed and pippis that people were collecting, I guess for their dinner.  Eww.

And the deer on the island!  They were everywhere, being friendly and wanting food.  One cheeky deer stole my paper map and ate it :-(

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  This was the main event of Hiroshima.  The Museum was so interesting and awful and mind-blowing.  It is still incomprehensible to imagine what Hiroshima was like at the time of the bomb, even after seeing all the photos and written accounts from people that were there and lived through it.

What I did like was the paper crane memorial, inspired by/dedicated to Sadako.  I've read that book to kids so many times.  The glass cabinets full of paper cranes and origami creations were beautiful.

Sake brewery, Kobe.  This brewery was a museum and shop with sake tasting.  The museum was really well done, with life-size displays showing the process of how sake was made years ago.  I was surprised at how many different varieties of sake there are, some of it was quite nice!

Shinsaibashi Mall, Osaka.  This was the crazy Japanese shopping scene I had been expecting!  We weren't there long, but it was so much fun just to be there looking at everything!  I don't know how far the mall went because I ran out of time to go the whole length, but the shops were so interesting, and the people watching was just as interesting.  The fashion and hairstyles were great!

Hikone Castle.  This castle was one of our last tourist stops so we took a group photo.  They were a really nice bunch of people to travel with, and Naomi, our guide, was fantastic.  The funny thing about this photo is the beautiful blue sky.  10 minutes after this photo was taken it was snowing on us!  Nice!

Japan #4 - Touristy bits

The next installment of the Japan holiday is some of the sights of Japan, not including the Japanese castles - they will get a blog of their own.

Sumida River, Tokyo.  I think this was the main river running through Tokyo.  I bet it would have been really stunning a few days later when the blossoms were out.

Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo. To get to this temple we walked through a huge gate (called Thunder Gate) which was actually the entrance to the temple's shopping street.  It wasn't that long but there must have been about 60 million people with me in this little area.  Nice little markets with lots of Japanese trinkets.  Near the temple itself is a 5 story Pagoda which was pretty impressive, and the temple itself was quite beautiful.

Metropolitan Government Building, 45th floor, Tokyo.  What a view!

Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo.  We had a Chinese buffet for dinner at the Osiaba Mall which had a really beautiful view of the river, and in particular, the Rainbow Bridge.

 Hamarikyuu Gardens, Tokyo.  This was beautiful to wander around - so many interesting trees and gardens with skyscrapers in the background.  I might do a whole tree blog because they were just amazing.

Hakone Crafts and Art Centre.  I loved Hakone.  It was a really pretty little town on the way from Tokyo to Mt Fuji.  This craft centre made decorated wood furniture and bits and pieces.   Cameras weren't allowed so I couldn't get a photo of the gorgeous jewellery boxes, but I bought myself one!

Sulphar hills, Hakone area.  There is a tourist spot to go and look at the steamy hills, caused by sulphar.  The area is actually a volcano so is very famous for hot springs, and sulfurous fumes.  They sell boiled eggs there that are BLACK - they are boiled in the hot springs and are meant to extend your life by 7 years!  (Actually, most days Naomi (our guide) would be telling us about another Japanese tradition or belief that was meant to extend your life.) 

Nishijin Textile Centre - kimonos and silk, Kyoto.  Here we watched a kimono show, but better than that was the fantastic shop, museum and exhibitions we found upstairs.  I could have spent a fortune here, not just on beautiful silk fabric, but all sorts of souvenirs.  The exhibitions were interesting - the lady in the photo below was making crafty things out of the empty cocoons, and there was also a lady weaving silk.  This was the only place Naomi had trouble getting us out of on time.  Good shopping!

Golden Pavilion, Tokyo.  This temple's top half is completely covered with gold.  It looks a little yellow in the photo but was actually very shiny gold.  It is surrounded by ponds and islands and gardens - very pretty.  The photo of the little boy is just cute.  He had found a stone seat just the right size and was so happy there, smiling away at everyone around him.  We had a traditional tea ceremony here, more on that later.

Bullet train - Kyoto to Hiroshima.  Ok, this isn't an actual tourist attraction but it was funny how excited we all were to go on the bullet train!  It isn't the fastest train in the world anymore, but it used to be.  Very comfy and quick.

To be continued...

More blossoms

Osaka... the last stop of our tour.  Cherry blossoms galore!  Most of these are taken around Osaka Castle, with a couple of photos of the view from the top of the 7 story castle.