Day 3- Kanazawa

Ohayou Gozaimasu minnasan :)

After breakfast we are going to Kanazawa, visit one of the best park in Japan. Kanazawa Kenrokuen (kanazawa Garden), beside there's Mito'sKairakuen and Okayama Kenrakuen. The spacious garden used to be the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle. Constructed by the rulling Maeda Family over a period of nearly two centuries, it was not opened to the public until 1871. The name of Kenrokuen literally means " Garden of the six Sublimities" referring to spaciousness ( luasnya sekitar 11 hektar), seclucion, artificiality, antiquity, abundant water and broad views, which according to Chinese landscape theory are the six essential attributes that make up a perfect garden ( source: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4200.html).
In this Garden there are various ponds, streams, waterfall, bridges, teahouses, trees, stones and flowers. I wished when i came in there cherry blossom would be blossom. But, unlucky me Sakura ( cherry blossom) didn't make it today. So this Garden not so special for me... Btw, the water for the many streams and rivers of the park is diverted from a distant river by a sophisticated water system constructed in 1632

the fountain in this left was the oldest fountain in Japan with height 3,5 M.
you can see the trees behind me it supposed to be Cherry blossom trees :'(
when they blossom, this garden would be so perfect!!!
after spent 1 and half hour walked in this Garden, it's time to back to our Bus.
In my way to parking lot, i met this two sweet Japanese girls and asked one of them to took picture together :)

watashi wa futari nihonjin to shashin o totta (^^)v

Then we were heading to our next destination, The Samurai Residence in Nagamachi... Nagamachi was a samurai district located at the foot of the former Kanazawa Castle, where samurai and their families used to reside. The area preserves a historic atmosphere with its remaining samurai residences, earthen walls, private entrance gates, narrow lanes and water canal.

inside the living room of the samurai residence

Inside the residence was so pretty. I loved to be there. Tatami was soft and warm, the sliding door so beautiful with hand printing ( please look at my picture below). And their Garden, with Zen
system...
Rasanyaaa damai banget!!! So peace and calm, we can hear the water drops, the sing of wind, and saw the green of trees and i found bonsai in here.
a plum tree bonsai!
uniknya lagi, pohon plum itu sedang berbunga, dan bunganya sepintas mirip sakura.






Perjalanan selanjutnya menuju tempat permbuatan gold foil. Kertas emas yang di produksi Hakuza store ini sangat bagus kualitasnya, ada sebuah ruangan contoh dimana seluruh dindingnya dilapisi oleh emas. Mereka menjual berbagai macam aksesoris berlapiskan emas dan produk kecantikan seperti Hand body lotion made from Gold, face oil paper from gold and face gold paper. penggunaannya cukup mudah, setelah wajah dibersihkan, diberi pelembab seperti biasa kemudian, gold foil tersebut di tempelkan dan secara perlahan di pijat dengan lembut hingga emas tersebut meresap ke dalam kulit. God foil ini dapat membuat wajah berkilau dan bersinar. Tertarik untuk mecoba, saya membeli 1 set yang terdiri dari 20 sheet of paper.

Dari Hakuza store of gold foil kami menuju ke Hagashi chaya, yang dulunya merupakan house of tea. Chaya is a traditional place of feast and entertainment, where geisha ( traditional female japanese entertainers) have been entertaining people by performing dances and playing music instruments since Edo period. These Chaya houses were mived into four district distant from central part in 1820. And the largest one of the Chaya districts in Kanazawa is the Higashi Chaya district.
When i came to Chaya, just a few bunch people outside my group tour which came in here. there are so many tea houses, souvenir shops and cake shop. I found a Baukumchen cake shop but i didn't buy it.
Along the way to see the cultural assets i found some happines inside me... just stood up in the alley and feel the spring breeze. well, I am fall in love with Japan since i was a kid and it's grows faster now :D

in front of one of tea house

HIgazhi chaya at night

Enjoy today, and love today!

we came back to our hotel. But in our hotel today there weren't Onsen. So all of member my tour were took a rest first.
Oyasumi ! * dim the light

Day 2

Ohayou Gozaimasu minna-san :)

My first day on my trip to Japan, i skipped it (because) it was not really important. I spent my night on a plane where tried to sleep well... (but didn't?)
Arriving at the Kansai airport outside of the city, Osaka, we headed to Nara. Nara is known as an ancient city in Japan & was the capital of Japan from 710-784 AD. This (incredible? impressive? by gone?) city holds eight temples, shires and ruins, specifically Todai-ji (which is the temple where we going to), Saidai-ji, Kofuku-ji, Kasuga shrine, Gango-ji, Toshodai-ji and the heijo palace.

We lunched (or ate lunch) in Nara from a set menu. Looking at it, it was very pretty ...but, actually i didn't like it as much (as the pictures) because (the food/ it) tasted so plain. Overall, it was a good and healthy menu for us.

my lunch set menu, sooo pretty

After we had lunch, we were off to Todaiji Temple which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1998. Tadaiji Temple is not only the worlds largest wooden building, as well as wooden temple, in the world. This fact is quite impressive but also equally as momentous, under it's roof, it also houses Japan's, and the world's largest bronze statue of Buddha. It is listed as as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara". Being one of the most famous Japanese Temples, it also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism.

According to our local guide, there is a unique belief that circulates in the temple. Largest Buddha statue placed in the middle of the nostrils have the same size in diameter with a hole in one of the pillars of the temple struts.  I wonder, if once we pass through the hole (???of course, that the pillars of the nostrils is not the Buddha???: P) we will be blessed creatures? When I found a hole in a pile, I found that I could not make it through the hole. Its size is very small, perhaps only a few children can skip through it and they would have to be anorexic. hahahaha Just kidding! If you don't believe what I saw about the hole, please check it for yourself...

People who queing to pass through that hole are KIDS!!! Some adults we see in this picture are parents or grandparents.

if someone can pass through, then they will be blessed

The deer and the master

Surrounding Todai-ji temple is a garden where deer roam freely. Temple visitors can feed them. They love the biscuits sold in the park area. The trays (beebentuk?) of biscuits are like thin crispy crepes, priced at 150 yen. Many visitors buy them then feed the deer. One of the things which made me laugh was watching the deer chase the tourists around for (these delicious?) biscuits! Some other guests followed more than a few meters away from the cookie sheet because they were still in the hands of the visitors.

After the Temple, we were on our way to Shinbaishi shopping mall in Osaka, passing by the famous Osaka Castle. I hoped we would stop, but due to time limits, we could only view it from a distance.

Arriving at the Shinbaishi shopping center in Osaka, (it was overwhelming?) we found this place full of branded goods. There are also stalls selling various kinds of cake and tea. I wanted to try it, but I was discouraged because we were to have dinner soon.


I did not find anything to purchase here except for some unique rose flavored candy which was in rose wrappers.


Following Shinbaishi, we went to our hotel in Hikone. We stayed at the Tokyu royal Nagayama hotel. in that hotel, there is an Onsen.  It was a hot water bath which differentiated between men and women. Baths here are intended to eliminate fatigue and weakness which can accumulate. Usually after a soak in the Onsen, the body is refreshed. However, I do not like the rules that should be without a single stitch (of clothing) when bathing. My intentions to try the Onsen bath were good but the results were my nerves of being in the buff, kept me from relaxing enough to receive optimal benefits. ;0)

Our dinner

me and few tourist wearing yukata :)

Setelah makan malam, kami pun beristirahat. Sebagian peserta lainnya mencoba onsen, dan menurut kabar yang saya dengar keesokan harinya mereka mengatakan bahwa berendam di onsen sangatlah enak dan seru... tak perlu malu dan risih karena orang Jepang tak akan memerhatikan satu sama lain saat berada dalam onsen.

OYASUMINASAI Zzzzzz

p.s : thx to my wonderful friend Jessica who helped me to fix my grammar ;)