Kyoto

Kyoto is an old city, it was once the imperial capital of Japan. We found it to be a mixture of vibrant modern city and very old interesting history. It was tourist friendly and realitvely easy for us to find our way around in. There was a lot that can be seen and done on foot. We three highlights for our two nights in this city, but could quite easily return and have many more adventures.

Fushimi Shrine
With our Japanese Rail pass we did take the train out to Fushimi Shrine. This is dedicated to Inari, god of rice and saki. The draw card for us was the avenue of gates (Torii) that form a walk way up through forest to numerous shrines. We spent an enjoyable afternoon explorig the hillside and wolking through the avenue of gates.

Ruth makes her way up through the gates. They just went on and on up and around the heavily wooded hillside.

Here I am at the start of the avenue, we were impressed by the number of torii and the atmosphere created by the torii. We eventually found ourselves wlaking down a narrow lane with traditional Japanese home on either side. As we arrived at the bottom of the hill we found a local restaurant and enjoyed a tasty lunch of noodles.

Nijo Castle

We had read about Japanese Castles and had seen some photographs. Our hotel was less than a Km away from Nijo Castle so we figured we could walk to this castle and explore. It was a very interesting place to visit.

In terms of castles this one does not have strong fortifications and its Keep is no longer standing.

The Shogun living Quarters here are well preserved and provided us with a good introduction to Japanese Castle life. This view is from the site of the keep looking down on the Shogun Quarters. These were a series of rooms joined by passage ways, the walls had many intriguing paintings. The floors were fascinating, nightingale floors. They make squeaking bird like sounds when you walk. It would be impossible to sneak around inside this building.

The gardens within the castle were spectacular. We visited a number of Japanese gardens and this one was one of my favourites. It was immaculately groomed and is famous for its wealth and variety of rocks. These made an interesting landscape within the garden.

It was very hot this day but the garden offered lots of opportunity for shade and was relaxing to wander through.

The most of the Nijo Castle was one of its strong points.

Gion District

Gion is famous for its Geisha district, it was the setting for "Memoirs of a Geisha". We decided to take the opportunity to explore Gion one of the districts where Geiko and Maiko still ply their trade within the Teahouses. We took part in an evening guided walk to find out more about Gion and the Geiko.

Our guide was really good, he spoke fluent English and showed us many points of interest. He also explained about what being a Geiko was about. Apparently they are highly trained entertainers who spend five years training. They have many important traditions and skills to learn, more than performing the tea ceremony. They are not cheap and one can only get a Geiko by being introduced by someone who is already a customer.

We did see a number of Geiko pass by as we wandered through. This one is a fully trained Geiko, we can tell because her Obi is short at the back, a Maiko (Geiko in training) has a longer Obi. She is passing by a traditional Japanese Teahouse.

Here is a front view of the same lady as she rushes by, it must take a lot of work getting ready for work with the hairstyle and make up. Not to mention the uniform.

We covered a number of places of interest in the Gion district passing many teahouses, restaurants and hostels that were very old and of traditional architecture. We even visited the gates of the Geiko school. BY the time we completed out tour we were hungry and on our way home found ourselves in a restaurant beside the river in Pontocho Alley another well known Geiko district. The small lanes and alleys around Kyoto were very interesting and full of surprises.

Lessons Learned In Japan

Another Adventure!

We had a great two week journey through Japan during early June. We were expecting it to be a challenge with very little English. It was a challenge but it was not impossible. We expected it to be expensive. It was a little more expensive than other Asian countries we have visited recently but it was not as expensive as we expected. We expected it to be crowded and busy, there was a surprising mix of busy places and remote rugged mountain country. Certainly most of the flat land near the sea was heavily populated. Having said these things we really only travelled South of Tokyo on Honshu staying one night on Shikoku.

Sunday Baseball in Ueno Park.

Accomodation: We found Toyoko Inn a chain of business hotels, these cater well for tourists as well. They are cheap, we paid around 8000 Yen a night for our double rooms. These were small but adequate. Included was a Japanese style breakfast. Rice, pickles, Miso and usually bread rolls. They were all handy to a train station and very easy to locate. We stayed four nights at Ikebukuru, which is a busy Tokyo Station, but connects directly to Narita Airport by Express Shinkansen. Being on the Japan Rail Circle line it was a good base for sightseeing around Tokyo.
Transport: We had a Japanese Rail Pass valid for the whole two weeks. This was invaluable we used it every day. The trains are as good as they say. They run to time and are regular to most places. As you get further away from Tokyo the amount of English in the stations diminishes. There is a helpful Japan Rail information centre in most stations. The staff are very helpful. The rail pass is well worth the money. We had some interesting experiences using local buses in some places. Usually you board from the rear doors and pay at the driver on the way off. The drivers spoke very little English.

Five Arch Bridge

Food: We chose to eat local as much as possible which meant that our meals were a reasonable price. We frequented a range of Noodle House and Ramen style restaurants. These were adequate filling meals. Because we usually had breakfast to start we often had a snack during the day and a meal in the early evening. These meals didn’t exceed $30 including a drink. Some were cheaper. In Japan there are vending machines everywhere, we used these for drinks often during the day. Even in some of the restaurants you purchase a meal ticket from a vending machine give the ticket to the waitress and then she gets your meal. I enjoyed the Japanese curry meals, after Singapore these were not spicy.

Miyajima Deer

Places to go, sights to see: The list of places to go and sights could be endless. We chose some very interesting places. We probably could have spent the two weeks in Tokyo and been busy every day. But we were keen to get out of the bigger centres and experience rural Japan. Kyoto is an interesting place I would recommend. Myajima was an interesting day out I was fascinated by the sika deer that wander among the people on this sacred island. Although we were warm the heat wasn’t as humid as in Singapore.

Teahouse in Hama Detached Palace Garden

People: The Japanese are very polite. They do make a point of lining up at trains and buses. They do let passengers off before they board public transport. They were always helpful and willing to help western visitors who looked lost, even if they had limited English. The small local restaurants we had our meals in were always very friendly and helpful. The language barrier was usually overcome.

Five Storeyed Pagoda Myajima

As a travel destination, Japan has plenty of new and interesting experiences to offer. We only saw a small area, but we will plan to go back in the near future and then we will travel North of Tokyo.

Ruth on our first day out in Tokyo

Great Team, Great Race

On Monday 25 May MASC held the Great Race, Singapore. This is an annual event that has teams of employees racing around different parts of Singapore completing a treasure hunt. It is always loads of fun and has the spin off of allowing us to find out more about Singapore. Here are some photos from our day. We had the team, The KOs, The Knock Outs or The Kiwis of Orchard. Ruth and I could only manage to take part for the first half of the day because Lloyd and Anna were flying out late afternoon and we felt we had to see them off the Island.


Each team member designed their own Kiwi Icon in Orchard Road Tee Shirt, Above is Ruth's patch and below is Wayne's.

The teams met for a briefing at Vivo City and we headed off to Centosa for an interesting time chasing clues and completing a number of very interesting tasks. During this time our camera man Lloyd ended up taking a bit of an unplanned dip in a garden pond with the camera and cellphone. So we ended up with some foggy pix.

Get in Behind

Our Kiwi Mascot had a great time playing in lifts

and on escalators.

What a great team,

Wayne, Greg,Joan, Carolyn and Ruth.

Another Orchard Road Shot. Looking across the road to

Orchard Plaza, we are on the 5th floor

of the Wolverine Building.

Friends and visitors

Orchard Central, Due to open in June. This was a hole in the ground when we arrived here.

We are almost into the sixth month of 2009 already, April and May have been very busy months for us that we hardly even have had time to think about what has been happening in our lives. Work continues to have been keeping us busy and occupied for 5 days and nights of most weeks. We have now completed Teacher Appraisals, ISO Auditing and Open Week. Just to make it even more interesting Singapore Island reached an Orange Alert level as a result of the Swine Flu Pandemic. This meant that at work we were checking the temperature of every child as they arrived.

Almost at Dhoby Gaut, looking back to Orchard Central

It was great to see Sue and Jane. Here we are wandering through Emerald Hill.

For Ruth and I this has been a really exciting time because we had a number of visitors. First of all Beth and Claudia flew out from NZ and spent a couple of weeks with us. They seemed to have a great time, we tried to spend time with them showing them some of our favourite places in Singapore. It was really good to see them and to spend the time catching up.

A weekend spent on Bintan was great for everyone.

The sunsets at the Calypso are magical.

I was very lucky to get to share my weekend at Bintan with these three Babes.

Ruth and Beth chill out at home, Beth wanted to know if it really is always this hot?

When they left we had a flying visit from Sue and her friend Jane, who are both working in KL. It was good to catch up with her for a few days. They spent most of their time during the day looking after themselves. We did enjoy catching up in the evenings and we had an interesting lunch on the day the left to go back to KL.

One of our favourite restaurants at Bintan. Kelong, it is built on stilts over the ocean.

Lloyd enjoys the sunset at The Calypso.

Good Company, Great drinks, And a beautiful sunset avery pleasant evening.

The boats on their way out to fish for the evening.

Yet another boat off to work for the evening.Meanwhile back in Singapore the boys continue swimming in the river.

Lloyd and Anna enjoy the pool at Nirwana Gardens.

And the Cocktails.

They even enjoyed getting up close and friendly with elephants.

A little celebration was called for. They do make a great couple.

Our next visit came just over a week later when Lloyd and Anna arrived to spend two weeks with us in Singapore. Besides being really good to see them again for a short while it was great to be able to share our little corner of the world with them. We sent them away to Kuching for a few days, where they enjoyed a great Kayak trip on one of the rivers. They also had a great time exploring Singapore and meeting up with us at various times to enjoy some of the many opportunities to eat out. We probably didn’t get the chance to do a lot of the things we would have liked to do with them, but we did enjoy chatting and listening to the little adventures they had while they were here. It was really great to see them.

Having had our run of visitors made us realise how much we do miss all our family and friends at home.

Wow! Cambodia!

Kids are kids no matter where they are in the world.

Wow! Cambodia!

This is a very interesting Asian destination. The country has suffered so much and it is hard to comprehend what the last 40 years must have been like for the Cambodian people. What is even more interesting is that it all took place during my lifetime!!
We flew into Siem Reap using a very cheap Jet star deal. We had four days in Siem Reap, our goal was to visit the Angkor Temples and get out to the floating villages of Tonle Sap. We arrived in time for breakfast on day 1, after this we found a tuk-tuk driver to take us out to the floating village. Their lives are lived floating on the water, the photos tell more than words can.

One of many shops that passed us on the water.

A pig pen even the animals live their lives floating

On the way down the river we passsed this school.

Ruth on the floating restaurant and fish farm.

Looking through the village Tonle Sap. See the garden?

Our next three days were spent visiting Temples. We had the same driver for the whole time. He picked us up at Moms, the guest house we stayed in and took us to some amazing temples each day. He was very good. We started off going out to see Angkor Wat at dawn, the sunrise was not your story book splashes of colour type. In fact it was a disappointing murky shade of grey sneaking up to daylight, followed by rain about an hour later! However this did not detract from the magnificence of Angkor Wat. It is the largest religious monument in the world. Nothing prepares you for the share magnitude of this place and seeing it appearing out of the dark for the first time is definitely an inspiring way to view Angkor Wat. Inside it there are many interesting carved walls that tell the history of the Khmer people. In the 12th century (between 1113-1150) this must have been an amazing city. The statues and gold have long gone, but what remains inspires images of grandeur. We visited many Temples during the next three days, in various states of decay. Some were enormous. The task of extracting the stone from Quarries, transporting the huge blocks to the temple sites, building these enormous temples and then completing the magnificently ornate carvings that cover them must have been colossal in the 12th century.
Wayne standing at one of the many Temple Gates

Ruth at Angkor Wat after the rain.

We travelled from Siem Reap to Phnom Pen on the Saturday by bus. The Roads in Cambodia are an experience. I am not sure that there are too many road rules. As far as I could make out if you are on anything that doesn’t have a motor you give way to anything bigger than you. If you ride a motorbike you do anything you please, but try to take the shortest possible route. Consequently motorbikes are adapted in many ways to do many jobs. If you drive a bus you are lord of the road, you drive on both sides of the road so you can avoid the potholes and you continuously sound your horn so everyone knows to get out of your way. It was a 6 hour journey which passes through many rural towns and villages. There were many interesting things to see.

Phnom Pen is a very large Asian City, which has its share of social issues. It is a place where you must be mindful of your personal safety especially after dark. We were interested in finding out more about Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. It was very moving for us, as we became aware of the magnitude of destruction that occurred systematically in Cambodia during this time. It was a few days before the trial of Duch, the leader of S-21 prison camp, was due to begin. Many Cambodians have waited 30 years for this to happen. We visited the secondary school in Phnom Pen that was converted into a containment area where many people were held and tortured. We found out that this included 1 New Zealander, Rob Hamil’s brother. The conditions were appalling and the tortures that went on there were horrific. A trip out to the Killing Fields was even more sobering. There is a monument in the fields that has the skulls of all of the people exhumed from the mass graves. These graves were shallow holes which can be still seen today. It was sickening to think that on one of the trees a loud speaker was hung, from this loud happy music was played while thousands of people were murdered. Another tree was used to tie children to while they were beaten to death. We came away with a new realisation of how every Cambodian must have suffered during this time. Phnom Pen was emptied during this time, people were ordered to leave the cities. It would have been a terrifying time and although we heard about in New Zealand, it was so far away from us that many have not really given much thought to how terrible it must have been for theCambodian people.

We now view this country differently, and now understand that the people who are living there today still have many scars to heal. We are so lucky to have been born in New Zealand. One must never lose sight of the importance of freedom and the responsibilities that go with this.

Ho Chi Min for the Weekend

We were very lucky to be able to spend one of Monday – Tuesday Weekends in Vietnam. It is only a short flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Min and the Jet star flights enable us to fly back on Wednesday and be back in time for work. So after a little planning we were off.
The last time we went to Ho Chi Min it was our first experience of an Asian city so, it was a bit of a shock for us. Actually the motor –bikes are still riding round and round nonstop. The streets are full of life and it really offers lots of different experiences. This time we stayed in a hotel called The Empress it was a great hotel to stay in. The price was reasonable and it was a short walk to most places. We wanted to get out and walk around, we did a lot of walking. By the end of the weekend we had become very good at negotiating the motorbikes as we crossed the chaotic roads.

Ruth Outside the Tunnels

First stop was the War Remnants Museum. This was a most sobering place to visit. I came away thinking about the terrible effects the bombing had on Vietnam. We were horrified by the ongoing cost to human life, with many documented stories of genetic defects and cancer diseases caused by the toxic poisoning from the war. Our next stop was a trip out to Cu Chi tunnels. We hired a car and driver to take us out and we paid our entrance fee once inside we were given a guide who took us around and was very informative. The Viet Com who lived here were very clever. They had live under the ground coming out at night to complete their work. Their many booby traps and methods for fighting were fascinating. We tried out the tunnels for size, the entrances would get me halfway in but they were not built to my size. There was the opportunity to go through some specially widened tunnels . I am afraid they are not my favourite place to hide out in. Maybe I am just the wrong size!!

We explored some interesting backstreets.

We did decide we wanted to take the opportunity to shop in the markets. So we spent our two evenings and some spare time during the day in markets and walking around the streets looking for bargains. We did buy some clothes and some interesting Lacquer ware. The prices were good after some serious bartering. Ben Thanh Market is an experience every tourist should take on. My first experience in here freaked me out but this time I was ready to bargain hard. I was happy with my outcome. Outside the main market there is a night market which is a good experience, more bargains to be had. The food stalls here are an excellent place for evening eating. But the best bargain came from Ruth who went into a shop one afternoon off one of the side streets and ended up some nice clothes at a fraction of the price I had paid deep in the bowels of the market.

The things they move around on their motorbikes!

A place that we really enjoyed was the bar on the 23 floor of the Sheraton. It has a fantastic view of the city and we enjoyed two for one cocktails as we watched the sunset. I would encourage any traveller to visit this bar and sit on the balcony at least one evening. It gives a new perspective of the city.

Ready! Set!

Go!

It was such a good weekend and one that I would certainly consider completing again.

Ho Chi Min @ Sunset

Our Christmas in Ireland

Stone Cottage in Ireland, Cloonloo.

IT seems such a long time ago yet it was just two months ago. Ruth and I had really a special Christmas this last Christmas. We were spending December in the UK and had the opportunity to stay with Trevor and Collette at their lovely stone cottage in Cloonloo, Ireland. We had talked about this cottage while staying with Trev and Collette and could tell by the way their eyes lit up whenever it came up in conversation that this was a special place to them.

Our Christmas base, thanks Trevor & Collette.

This cottage and the land surrounding certainly has a special place in Collette’s heart because it has been in her family for generations. Collette kept us entertained with many stories that gave us an understanding of some of the joys and trials her family had faced here. Although she grew up living in Boyle, she often visited the cottage with her father who farmed the block of land.
We left London on the 21 of December, planning to spend a few days exploring Dublin before catching a train to meet up with Collette in Boyle. We enjoyed Dublin and did lots of exploring, with some tourist things included. We really enjoyed the train trip, for much of the train trip a canal runs beside the tracks. I found this fascinating. It was easy to see why Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, as the green paddocks just kept on getting greener.

Brother & sister out behind the cottage

Collette had gone to a lot of effort to make sure that the cottage was as she had planned it would be when we arrived. Trevor had the fires set, when we arrived and the cottage was very cosy. The weather was cool and although we were dreaming of a White Christmas it was looking more and more like it might not happen.
One of the highlights for us was meeting Collette’s family and spending Christmas Day with them. We felt like royalty as they would not let us do anything to help. Fine Food, Fine Wine and Great company it was a special day for us.

Lough Key, the castle on the island.

Surfing beach, Sligo.

We did get lots of opportunities to get out and see some of the sights. Having our own local tour guides made it so interesting. We enjoyed long walks in the country side with Trevor, and often felt that there were so many similarities to the NZ countryside. The weather was very kind to us. We went for a lovely drive out to Sligo and to the beach. It was a great place to wander, I did notice surfers going out with wetsuits, even though it was midwinter, hardy souls that they were. Another highlight for us was our walk around the park where Collette’s father used to work. It would have been a great childhood playground for Collette.

In the park at Lough Key, Ruth, Collette &Trevor

A lasting impression of Ireland.

Like all great holidays it came to an end far too quickly and all too soon we were catching the train back to Dublin and flying back to work in Singapore. We did get a good taste of the UK and I am sure we will be back for more sometime soon.

December UK Adventure

London Parliament Buildings

Finally I have got around to posting my thoughts about our UK trip. We spent almost the entire month of August in the UK. We were expecting the weather to be cold and miserable, we were pleasantly surprised. We only had a half day of rain and one morning where we passed the ducks walking on top of the pond behind Trevor’s house in Staines. The rest of the time it was cool but we got out and about and explored every day.

We spent almost two weeks in and around London where we stayed with Ruths brother, Trevor, and his wife, Collette. They were wonderful hosts,giving us the run of their house. While they went off to work, most days we stayed snuggled up in bed rising around 8:00 and heading off to to explore London on the train. We found it was cheaper for a day pass if we waited until after the morning rush. The day pass gave us access to the trains and tube. While there we soaked up the history and atmosphere of being in London. We did so many interesting things that it would be impossible and unfare to fit them all onto here. I have a load of photos on my Flickr page.

Ruth with our hosts Collette and Trevor

Another day another train.

We had purchased an 8 day Britrail pass before we left Singapore so we decided to take a trip on the trains up through Wales and on through Scotland then back down through England. Eight days wasn’t really enough but it was a good taste. The first night on our trip we stopped in Cardiff. We enjoyed this stop. Like so many places we stayed, one night was not really enough. After exploring the central area around Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Arms Park we caried on to Swansea and then up through the valleys to on a long scenic trip. Next time we will stop over and explore some of the many beautiful little villages through this part of Wales. We spent the night in Shrewsbury. Here we stayed in a pub, The Cromwell, it was a Coach house in the 16th century. The doors were made for short people and even Ruth had to duck .

One of the Many Famous Places we had Dreamed of Visiting.

Castles and Knights in Armour featured throughout our holiday

The next day we journeyed on to Carlisle. Here we found Carlisle Castle fascinating. Mary Queen Of Scots was held in captivity in this castle. It was an interesting opportunity to explore the inside of a well maintained Keep. Our evening meal in Carlisle wastaken in a very pleasant Local offering two meals for the price of one. Although the meals were not cheap in comparison to Singapore prices, they were most satisfying. We did enjoy the cheap NZ wine available in the Bars. We would enjoy the cooked breakfast each morning and walk or travel throughout the day finding a good place for an evening meal usually a pub meal. We seldom had to worry about a meal in the middle of the day. Being winter we found we were often surprised at how early it got dark.

Not Quite Carlisle but Windsor is the Oldest Working Castle.

From Carlisle we took the train to Edinburgh in Scotland. Here we stayed for an extra night. We got a great deal on a room in a hotel across the road from the train station through Last minute.com in the station. We also bought a visitors pass which was great value for money because everything is so close in Edinburgh. This meant we spent our extra day exploring some of the interesting history here. We chose not to pay extra to visit the castle but we did walk around the carpark on the outside. Edinburgh has an old part and a new part. The new part is 300 years old? We were in awe of the old part with all of its narrow walk ways and alleys. We enjoyed exploring these and got feel for what it might have been like inside John Knox’s House. We also did a tour of the Vaults under the South Bridge. People once lived their working lives in these dark and dingy conditions.

Edinburgh Castle was Intimidating at Night.

We made the decision to head back down through England and from Edinburgh we took the train to York. In York we stayed in another old but recently renovated Hotel but walked down the road to The Guy Fawkes Hotel. This was the hotel where Guy Fawkes was born. We walked around the wall and enjoyed the views fron its many battlements. There were a number of medievel lanes in the Shambles area of town. We also found the Viking museum really interesting. It was set up to challenge all of our sense even reinventing the smells.
We carried on down to Stratford on Avon. To check out where Shakspeare was born. This was interesting, we did go through the house where Shakespeare was born. It was interesting to explore the town and soak up mor ancient history dating much further back than our own New Zealand history.

From here it was down to Portsmouth where we spent our most memorable night in a dingy hotel room. It happened to be our cheapest night, the pub had character but the people were a little strange. It was almost like we were an imposition. We were on the train early and went to Brighton to wander along the pier. Then on to Dover, we had considered staying in Dover but after a brief walk through town we decided we probably needed to head back to Trevors and do some last mintue shopping for Christmas before we headed to Ireland. So we travelled back to Staines to end our Britrail pass travel. Our lasting impression was that the North of England and Edinburgh were a lot friendlier to visit. We did not find the locals in Portsmouth, Brighton and Dover as freindly. We also realise we saw a lot in a short time and there was so much more to see. We just have to go back again some time.

Twickenham froim behind the Posts.

MOtivation For English Players in Their Changing Cubicles.