My friend's friend came over to Osaka

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


*Yawns*, slept at 3 a.m yesterday and gotten to wake up 8 am in the morning so that we could go to Kyoto as my friend had to leave for Yokohama at 7 pm..... We took the train from Honmachi station to Nishi Umeda station (西梅田駅) and decided to have a light breakfast. Initially, we thought of eating Mos Burger, but the menus does not seems to be appealing and we went around searching for other shop until we sawed this one man cafe, or perhaps one woman ?

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


Special part of this shop is that seats are lined along the walls and it has a narrow walk path. Another thing was all the jobs, including receiving orders, making of the breakfast, washing was done by only one lady staff.

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


My breakfast set: Raisin Bread Toast, one hard boiled egg and a cup of coffee.

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


I don't think we can find this kind of cafe in Singapore... It is really one man show or one woman show..

Walking to Kiyomizudera

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


What a nice breakfast, now we are going to take the train to Kyoto, about 45 minutes ride.

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto

About Kyoto Tower

It is the tallest structure in Kyoto, with it observation deck at 100m (328 ft) and its spire at 131m (430 ft). This tower is directly opposite of Kyoto Station and you can see it after you exit from the station. The tower stands atop of a 9 storey building, which houses Kyoto Tower Hotel and some department stores.

Gotten take a bus to reach our destination - Kiyomizudera Station (清水寺駅). Still feeling tired due to lack of sleep, need a smoke... This is the Kyoto Tower (京都タワー), but thought of visiting later since we are coming back to the station again.

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


Took a bus to our destination, Kiyomizudera. There are riding cards selling on the vending machines, which enables you to take unlimited rides on that day for 500 yen (ard S$7.50).After reaching the bus stop, we still have to walk about 25-30 minutes before reaching the temple. This is when we spotted the following ladies - Geisha (芸者). This are just "imitations". There are shops in which provides make-up services as well as clothing for photo taking sessions. Heard that make up alone would take up to 2 hours.

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto

Once again I am in Kyoto

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto


Normally, one would only visit a tourist spot once or twice, definitely not more than than because it is a waste of money and nothing changes much as well. In my case, I have been in Kyoto almost every 3 months, this time round was because my Singaporean friend came over to Osaka for a short trip (just 2 days), so I decided to bring her around the famous Kiyomizudera (清水寺).

From 2009-05-09 Huizhi to Kyoto

Kiyomizudera (清水寺), also known as pure water temple is one of the most famous temple in Kyoto and part of UNESCO Heritage sites. The special feature of this temple is the wood structures that hold the whole area of the temple, without using a single nail !! Amazing ?



Apparently, everyone is trying to grab a chance to wash their hands and drink the holy water... The queue was too long that day, we gave it a pass. Anyway, I would give it a pass everytime I visit Kiyomizudera !



While we are on our way out of Kiyomizudera, we saw this group of cute "ducklings" with their yellow caps.

Japanese famous sportsman

Champion in 2008 Japanese national figure skating, Photo source: Lifeskate

Mao Asada (浅田 真央) - 2008 World Figure Skating Champion and also the 2007 and 2008 Japanese national figure skating champion.



Photo souce: Golf digest

Ryo Ishikawa (石川 遼) A 17-year old Japanese golfer prodigy

Standing in different sides on the escalator

Please kindly note that I will be dis-continuing post on this blog for the Japan side as I have shifted it over to my new blog at Osaka? A~ Souka!


 In Osaka, Photo credit: All Over Japan

You can see that Japanese are always systematic, even in taking escalators. They would not horde around the escalators like some other countries, but dividing it into two "lanes". One will be the normal lane which you can stand until you reach the top or bottom, while the other is an fast lane, especially for the salaryman.

In Tokyo, Photo credit: gutereise09

This general rule applied all over Japan but there is a difference between Osaka and Tokyo on the side on the escalators. Osaka normal lane is on the left while in Tokyo it is on the right.