Nikko 27/6/15 - 28/6/15

After a two hour train ride, Nikko! 

And this if the first selfie of many to come, right outside the station 

This girl insisted on bringing her transparent umbrella, showing off her ability to sightsee even with an umbrella above her head. 

Deposited our bag at the guest house, the hosts asked our country and we said Singapore and he asked which town... We were like what? Then he started naming Ang Mo Kio, Orchard etc etc! So they stayed in Singapore for 4 years and stayed in Simei! 

Took the Heritage bus with our All Nikko Pass to the Shinkyo, aka 神桥, and as you can see, it's raining! But water is still clear... Nice bridge, but cost 500Yen to cross. What a cheapskate deity

Then it's lunch time! At a very nice and atas place our host recommended 

Even comes with a customized menu for the various course that's coming up 

This is a random photo of the ultimate tourist accessory. Haha. No, we didn't eat this, but I realize all the food photos are in the camera shown here, so wait out for it to be posted somewhere! 

Rain subsided and we carried on with the heritage trail! And at this point, probably from too much sitting, my lower back near my tail bone started to ache... And it ached real baddddd

Still, this girl didn't care and went on ahead!!! 

Neh I'm just kidding, she wanted to stop, but I just garang-ed my way through... Here's a photo of the girl that kept me going! Literally and figuratively haha

And here we are at a five storey pagoda beside the famous Toshogu Shrine 

More intrigued by the sidewalk decorations. Similar deco I saw in Kamakura had small statues in them; these were empty though

The phone camera started the selfie mode when I wanted to take a photo (cos I forgot to change it back) and we were not amused, or maybe kinda amused 

Weird angle cos we didn't climb up the stairs to actually see it HAHA 

Back here to change a bus; check out the girls in Kimono waiting to cross the bridge! And also, rain subsided! 

Wandered into a cemetery after walking around the small lanes. I really like the peacefulness of a cemetery. And also the mysterious-feel; this is the closest we can get physically to the dead/underworld/unknown... 

And then we reached the park! Spotted a curious tourist haha. Looks kinda lost... 妹妹要去哪里啊？叔叔带你去 XD

And it is at this point that I thought about what happened the previous time my back ached: Jingcheng cracked it for me and it miraculously worked! So I got Ms Blur to try it again... And miracles do happen twice! Felt like a dragon again...

And then a 30minute bus ride up to the mountain via a winding road. Lucky my back was "cured" before this arduous ride 

And then we arrived at this place. Looks the same? 

It's a lake! Lake Chuzenji to be exact. 

Went to eat a super nice restaurant that only opens from 5-6pm, also courtesy of our host, and it was oishi-neh! Exploited our pass fully and headed back down as the sun began to set and the wind turned chilly...

Came back to our lovely room, settled down, then went out to get some food to chill in the tatami room 

And this is us eating at the lobby before going up to our room for drinks! Then that's about it for Day 1 Nikko

Woke up pretty early the next morning cos the sky started to brighten up after 430am! Got some snacks for breakfast then took the same winding bus again up to a further point: Yomato Onsen! 

Daybreak at 430! 

Snacking at the bus stop. Even random places like this also got feel 

At the final stop of the bus. Our smiles are pretty fake cos it was super cold!!! And when the wind blows, it's almost unbearable, we even contemplated taking the bus back down. But of course, we pressed on!!! 

And though it's a stop for the Onsen, we didn't actually came for it; we came to trek! And the routes we chose were the relatively nicer/easier ones with views of waterfalls, marshland, and plateau of nice flowers blooming in season! 

But the main theme of the hike is this: 小桥流水! (Though this one in the photo is a relatively large one haha) 

And towards the end, a wide plateau with the mountains as a back drop. 

Twisted the "untwistable" along the way though :( (picture here shows my new room in Tokyo which I'll update in another post!) 

Finished the trekking at around noon, took the hour-long ride down, packed our bags, got directions to nice lunch place, and we're ready to go! 

Final meal in Nikko and it was so simple yet so good! 

And yep, the exterior looked the part as well, simply traditional 

Kamakura 26/6/15

Solo day-tripped out of Tokyo to this old capital. Though it started to drizzle then rain, the weather doesn't seem to dampen the tourist's mood, me included 

First thing, went to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine 

Wishing blocks, 祈合格

A very nice stairway leading to a secluded part of the temple devoid of tourists 

Rows of sake as offerings. On the bottom left we see some modern beer in that crates haha 

And this is the shrine! Oldest one in Kamakura (which have almost a 100 shrines and temples). Also, shrines are usually from the Shinto (not quite a religion, more of a way of life), and temples are for Buddhists; but in Japan, they are kinda infused into one another, just like how Confuscianism is infused into Taoism and Biddhism in China

Then went on to my next site: a grave! 

I was like, who is this person having so many people visit him yet with such a humble grave 

Then I saw this; so he is technically the founder of Kamakura. Also, realize we can easily read those description in Japanese cos important words are usually in Kanji (ie Chinese characters)

Wandered abit more and then found the bus to go back to the train station where I met up with the free walking tour guide. And guess what, I was the only one! So Yoriko, the guide, brought me to the Kotoku-in to see him:

The big Buddha! He's hollow on the inside and we can actually go in to see the inside of him haha

Kids made these for my Big Bro, but I still think they're kinda too small

Yoriko also taught me the proper way of cleansing myself before entering any shrine/temple! She was also the one who explained the origin of the distinction between the Shinto and Buddhism, which are essentially mixed, but separated during the Meiji Restoration 

Tour wasn't what it's like in Europe, but it was still informative enough. Yoriko ended by recommending me for a hiking course, and guess what, I obliged! 

And so here I go, in my Flyknits and my fancy tourist clothes; good thin I brought spare

And this is what I see after 100m. This is on a rainy day, mind you. 

And then halfway through I begin to doubt if I made the right decision...

It is obviously dangerous enough for them to need to put up barbed wires to deter animals from attacking us

But I persisted since I had nothing much to do (and I don't know how to get back to the train station at this point) 

I was rewarded with nice stuff like the pretty and talk trees and some pretty views, but it was this that made it worth it:

A mysterious temple that needs to be passed through through a rock cave...

Went through this series of nice gates

Saw this dubious name...

And found out that people are literally "money laundering" here! It's a bank note in the basket and they are using the water to wash it. Apparently it brings good fortune to you! As a non-corrupt government scholar, of course I didn't do it. Hahaha 

Look at how many people it attracted; seems like getting rich and making a fortune is international 

On the other hand, I got myself my favourite drink! Been looking forward to it since I saw it when I touched down haha 

Found this mini waterfall before I left and continued my hike! 

I was attracted to this board all thanks to my previous summer mod, specifically the bird watching experience in Cambodia

Wandered around and found this. He's the guy whose tomb I've visited earlier: Yoritomo, with a whole garden devoid of tourist (cause it's too ulu), just for him. 

Continued my hike into a small townish place; asked for directions with some basic Japanese and was met with a surprise response in English! This place is just so unpredictable haha. Saw a lot of young attractive men pulling trishaws also! Very different from what is expected (apparently they need a lot of stamina, which is true I guess) 

Walking parallel to the railway track reminds me of the time in Europe backpacking :') 

And then I reached this place: 3rd ranked Zen temple, Jufukuji. And it's so Zen I walked past it without noticing. Full of surprises right...

Really very surreal and surprisingly empty! 

Walked forward and this is the boundary, really nice; can feel the Zen-ness

Saw a Kinokuniya which was not what I expected (it's a supermarket); sent out my postcard; got amused by how they have an all-directional pedestrian crossing even at a very small junction; and saw a very oddly out of placed European styled clock near the train station exit. Still have a few more photos but guess I'll stop here with the spams. Kamakura is really a nice place that deserves more than a day trip here! I feel like there's definitely still more that I want to and should see...