Walking Osaka History - May14

Osaka Castle

We have seen some posters about Osaka Castle in Osaka and just like Castles in Europe, I usually tried to visit one if I knew there was one in the city we travelled.  The Fukuoka Castle was rather small and under restoration, and we went to Osaka Castle with "slight" reluctance.  The ride to the Castle was smooth, passing by an suburban train station with "daiso"equivalent and the favourable Jap Cake and Sweet shop we liked at Vivo. We saw a couple carrying a huge luggage. They have difficulty depositing it in lockers at the station and they went to the station master for assistance. Not sure if they could leave it there or not. 

The walk to Osaka Castle was serene. We passed by a park and decided to munch our cheese cake. Well, this fabio brand cheese cake appeared to be very famous and  I queued blindly to buy. My dear said the cake was as big as her face and we finished it before going to the Castle. 

It was an interesting castle. It talked about a great conqueror in Osaka. A sad thing was the empire didn't survive after his death and there were warlords attacking his descendants and subjects all over. A painting illustrated the different points of attack and it was there that I spent more time understanding the history. My dear said it was the first time that I spent more time than her in a castle. 

http://www.osakacastle.net/english/history/index.html

We stayed quite near Shinsaibashi - a very long stretch of shopping streets. There was a Daimaru which attracted my dear flocking there. When she spent her time in Daimaru, I would walk around the streets. I saw one Sushi shop - a quite traditional looking one - and wanted to try. First day, we were too late as it closed. On the second day, we purposely visited it and tried. 

本福寿司 

Wow, the feel of Tokyo Sushi Market and the Hokkaido Sushi Market came back. It was juicy again. One thing very different was the "cake-like" sushis. I found it very innovative and nice. We were served by two taiwanese students and they were pursuing studies in Osaka. If I rem correctly, one of them wanted to open bakery once graduated. This cute little sushi shop is very easy to spot and quite near Daimairu.  

http://w3.shinsaibashi.or.jp/tenpodb/profile_e.php?tenpono=48

有点感动。

Coming to Osaka means to see the big "Glico" guy. I have seen it many times on lonely planet and posters. Gotta find it. 

Initially, we walked by the river side trying to trace the road to Dotonbori. There were crossings here and there with long stretches of shopping streets. Very colourful and noisy. We were distracted by the octopus balls - many of them and decided to join one queue to try. "So So" only. Becos of the queue, we have unintentionally detoured and ended up back to the other end of our Shinsaibashi shopping street. Well, my wife went back to Daimaru. For me, I went to find a camera shop to complete a mission. Then, I decided to try my luck to go find the "Glico" guy. It was actually a short 10 minutes walk from Daimaru and I knew I have reached when  I caught a glimpse of the "loud" and "large" lights.  As I wanted to share the surprise moment with my wife, I decided to bring her and watched the "Glico" guy with her. Wanted to surprise her so she just followed blur blur with me.

At last, the "Glico" guy. In a way, it ended our trip in Osaka - like a finishing line and we have just reached the line - this leg of journey. We decided not to rush for early flight tomorrow so we checked out to Airport Hotel to rest. It was a smart move and it was our first tactical move. 

Walking Osaka History - May 14

Okonomiyaki

Osaka - To me, it seems to be another modern city like Tokyo. Tall buildings, busy and crowded trains. Noisy too. Besides the Octopus balls, my dear introduced to me another Osaka delicacy - a pancake called "Okonomiyaki".  Just read that "okonomi" means "to one's liking", and there are two types of Okonomiyaki - Kansai (Osaka) one and Hiroshima one. Hmm, wonder what's the difference. The chef will cook in front of you and you will carry on to slice the pancake for sharing. Quite nice and yummy. Sticky, heaty pancakes. I wonder how did my wife know about this? She seemed to be "well-prepared" for Osaka.

Where did we get to eat this Okonomiyaki?  On an underground food alley.  We actually chanced upon an underground "gem" - it was a food alley. Not too crowded but it was frequented by locals. My wife likes to "mingle" in local stalls. This way, it felt that we could taste the real daily lives of local Osaka people. We met an old man - a soldier we thought - who kept talking to my wife. His English was limited. He called our country in old Japanese term which we weren't quite pleased. He was also travelling and asked us where we were heading and putting up. Well, it was a standing restaurant and quite difficult not to talk to the ones besides you especially if there were the friendly type.

A small episode that we have with this food alley. We passed by this food alley on our night outing to see the "flyer". It was 9 plus and the shops were closed so we wanted to try our luck to locate it again. Well, we lost our way. A bit of pinpointing fault too, haha. Well well, lucky we still found it and thanks to my wife. I have to admit it that she was good in remembering the location though I claimed that both of us were "right" about the way to this food alley. Come to think about it, she remembers places that she wants to visit well.  Other places, she count on her "GPS" who gets lost at times. 

Walking Nozaki History - May 14

Our visit to Japan coincided with the Golden Week. We were a bit cautious and wondered if we would be trapped in crowd or couldn't find tickets on trains or accommodation. Truly, the accommodation was a challenge in city area i.e. Osaka as many people flock to Osaka too. Not sure about the rest. However, being in the Golden Week also allowed us to participate in local festivals - one of which was the Nozaki festival.

We read about the festival especially on the "300" stalls along the stretch leading to the famous temple Jigenji Temple in Nozaki. What amuses us was really the stalls - however, we were worried if the tourist's pamphlets were just "advertisements". There was a blog by a European couple saying that they could only find a couple of stalls when they visited the place during Christmas. Seasonal?

When we took the local train to Nozaki, my wife said there seemed to be many people heading towards the same direction. Well, one of the stops was a University and so the train was pretty crowded Xp. The moment we stepped on Nozaki station, we knew it that it would be "exciting". Families all walking towards the exit. 

Gosh, we were early and the pathway was crowded already. Many colourful stalls lined up all the way uphill to the temple. Japanese traditional music in the air, coupled with laughters of children and shoutings by some stall owners. We appeared to be the only foreigners. Hee.

Some stalls were really colourful. Things they sold were also quite traditional and hardly seen at cities' shopping centres. A variety of stalls and some games for children. It seemed that the stall owners were doing charity work too as they encouraged children to play games to win "fish", and even "chicks".

We saw a young boy who was very gd in catching the goldfish. Using a paper net, he skilfully caught and threw the fish in the bowl. 

 

My favourite stall was the chick stall. I loved to keep chicks at home. I find them very adorable and I rem it was 50cents per chick during my childhood days. My mum, however, disallowed as she asked who would be taking care of the roosters or hens when they grew up. So, we didn't keep any - except once when we were doing school project and each pupil took turn to keep the chicks we bought together using class fund. My eyes beamed for a while watching the kids catching or hooking the chick up, and we stayed there a while.

My wife, however was more interested in another stall - the "surprise" gift bag shop. Red-coloured bags for the girls and blue ones for the boys. Kids would choose the bag by paying a token of money. My wife was standing there with her sweet corn observing how a group of girls choosing and opening their bags. Some were excited and some were not. Haha. The person manning the stall was a young chap. Maybe that also explained why only girls flocked to the stall, haha. 

We "meandered" our way up to the temple, passing by some makan stalls. Steep stairs ahead and up we climbed. The temple was also crowded. 

Besides the temple, there were a singing performance and we were absorbed in the nice song and music, totally "feel" the atmosphere of the festival. I guessed my wife was touched by the strong atmosphere. 感动！ 

Up at the temple, there was also a magic performance but the magicians' music box appeared to be having some technical glitches. So, no performance yet. I was afraid to be arrowed to help so asked my wife to see the stalls nearby. That's when we saw spider and the macaron coin purse. Too bad we didn't take a picture of the purse (my wife lost it in SGP).  The stall was manned by a group of old japanese aunties who could manage to speak a bit of English. They were surprised that we were foreigners - guessed they didn't expect to see foreigners coming to squeeze in this festival? We bought a macaron from them and my wife loved it. 

We saw two uncles sitting up a slope enjoying forest side chat. Japanese were well known for long lives, and they must have gone through tough war times and lots of experiences to share. Getting away from the crowd and climbing up the slope to see the wide angle view of the city of Nozaki. What a way to relax for the folks of Nozaki.

So fun to catch the festival with my wife. It's an unforgettable experience. Truly Japanese style on 3 May 14. My wife even carried her "Made In Japan" Hello Kitty bag when she went to this festival. With her long dress, and my "Japanese" look, no wonder we could blend in nicely without people thinking that we weren't locals. 

Walking Kyoto History - May 14

Kinkaku

Kyoto - To me, it used to mean a lot of UNESCO temples and sites. I have tried to use the tourist map to catch as many temples as I could during my last solo trip to Kyoto. I ended up visiting some key ones - just like trying to see all the exhibits in European museums. This time, we decided to see a few UNESCO temples and try our luck to meet any Geisha. 

The first temple was the "Golden" Kinkaku. During my last trip, it was under restoration. I told my dear this was one of the temples I liked. The reflection and the surrounding. Of cos, as we were in the start of the Golden Week, we didn't have lots of space. Bumped into a Russian couple and a Russian guide who helped take a few of our photos with the Kinkaku in the background. One of the photos became our iMAC wallpaper.

With the Kinkaku, we moved off to the silver Ginkaku. 

Ginkaku

This Ginkaku, a bit "moody" as compared to Kinkaku. It still worths a visit. We climbed up the slope to get a panoramic view of the temple in the forest. Wondering how it will look like in the flowering season - Autumn. Wow.

It was drizzling the day and we managed to cover the outdoor sites before heading down to the Old Streets. It should be interesting like the old streets in old japanese shows/movies with Samurais walking around and Geishas moving quickly for appointments.  

We saw quite a few ladies in kimono but they were not Geishas of cos. Walking through the old streets, we chanced upon a theatre where we could pay to see a performance by a real Geisha! Without much hesitation, we queued and used up our fund (No visas/masters allowed for payment). Gosh, lucky we were not very hungry then. The queue was relatively long with a lot of tourists from tour group. I can't rem the amount per person but the theatre looked like the one in Hanoi showing water puppets. Free seating and we took the second row.  Dunno why I just dun like to be in the first row, be in exam or performance. 

There were a series of shows including "imperial" dance, performance by a young geisha. Initially, we thought the focus was on the geisha's performance. However, the last show involved a very skilful puppet master who played his puppets skilfully. This one really attracted my dear who had put 100% attention. 

I didn't realise she was enjoying the "art" so much. For me, my attention span was dropping as hunger was kicking in slowly. When she told me it was superb, I decided to do some imitation of the moves to entertain her - obviously she wasn't impressed. 

Though some "arts" may have lost their attractiveness, we understand that the Geisha's lifestyle is still being pursued. They are a mysterious group who would only show up by appointments and it isn't easy to secure an appointment unless you have some acquaintances. Hmm. This makes them mysterious. The Geishas' training is not easy too as shown in the documentary in the queuing area. Tough work. I told myself maybe next Kyoto trip, we can try to see if we could have an appointment to understand more about the Geisha's life. 

We wanted to dine along the river with the backdrop of old japanese streets.  However, many of the "shops" were in Japanese and seem to be fully "booked". We ended up eating grilled food in a small restaurant before catching our bus and train back to Osaka. 

Beppu has onsen, Kyoto has geishas and temples. Maybe that's why we like to travel to Japan with its richness and uniqueness.

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Nagasaki

We went for a day excursion to Nagasaki to understand the atomic bomb history. We were following the footsteps of our friends and followed them to visit the museum, one-pillar shrine etc. However, it was raining very heavily and we have to skip some outdoor places of interest. 

Seafood @ Nagasaki Port 

We were on the epic centre of the atomic bombing at Nagasaki - the place was near to the museum. Statues of peace and posters and tiles by school children asking for peace and no bombing could be seen near the steps up towards the museum.  The aftermaths of war affected many.  The museum showed footages of bombing and also pictures of the bombing. I was worried that my wife would be scared of the images and I have warned her before the journey to be prepared.  One of things that strike me was the clock and watch that "stopped" at the time of the bombing. The time basically froze at 11am. I told my wife the date of the bombing was 9 Aug. 

There were also pictures of "shadows" cast by the trees during the bombing. We could imagine how hot it could be to leave the "shadows" markings on the walls. Scary.

As it was still raining, we took the tram and tried to find our way to the one-pillar shrine. Along the way, we "bento" from a local shop and ate our lunch hiding from rain at a garage. Cold and wet day. Of cos, I threw some tantrums due to the disruptions by bad weather. My wife was quick to spot the sign leading to the one-pillar.  If not for her, we were likely be stranded searching for it. I really gave her a big thumb up for that. Of cos, didn't want to admit it that I actually didn't see the sign, haha. Good work, my wife =).

Next, I decided to go straight to the Nagasaki Port to see the "Tall Ships" festivals. There supposed to be many tall ships.  Unfortunately, the bad weather dampened the festivals and many stalls could not open. We decided to have a hot grill seafood at one of the restaurants there. They served big portions of shells and seafood. Imitating the chef in Hokkaido, I did the grilling like a master chef with gloves. My wife was so fascinated by my skill that she took a video of how I managed to dig out the sea creature from shell. Frankly, I still not sure what we ate. With the backdrop of drizzling sound and cold weather, the meal sort of warming us.

Decided that the rain would not stop any moment, we went back to train station. It was there that we saw many local delicacies again. We were given some samples of the pork buns and they were yummy. So, we bought one to eat on train back to Hakata. 

I have wanted to visit one famous sponge cake shop in Nagasaki. Though we didn't manage to go there, there was an outlet near the train station. Without hesitation, we started to order boxes by boxes - but they have limited shelf life so we could not buy too many. A pity. I rem my wife sharing with me that the Japanese dun put preservatives in their local delicacies, thats why we dun have extended expiry dates. Well, I am a strong believer in expiry dates. 

Famous Sponge Cake of Fukusaya 福砂屋 

The sponge cake originated from Portugal. It was really to my liking. I especially like the top. It is one of the must-try in Nagasaki, I think. I wonder how it would taste if we visited the actual shop in Nagasaki. Would they taste the best while they were baked and served hot? Haha, my wife and I shared a cute story in HK as we travelled all the way to visit the original shop to buy wife biscuits. I was under the impression that the biscuits would be very different. Well, similar to those that I can buy in Sogo. The journey was really far. 

We hope we can come back to Nagasaki another time. We didn't really explore the place much. 

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Yatai Experience

Yatai, Fukuoka

One local thing that we wanted to try is to visit the Yatai, the mobile food stall. Actually, I didn't know such Yatai exists and my wife read to discover it. My job is to search for the congregation of Yatai and feast on some local delicacies. My wife has been talking about 明太子, so we definitely would have to try it. We found a few of Yatai along the river en route to Canal City.  Not sure why we didn't a whole group of Yatai but there were still some with queues.  As usual, my wife walked up and down to recce which stalls have the most customers and which stalls at least have things that I could eat. 

I already knew that I would feast on Ramen. No doubt about it, so no matter which Yatai, I would order Ramen. I am a "mee" person actually. My wife has no problem guessing what I like to eat for breakfast. Back to Yatai, these mobile food stalls made me recall those stalls at Chinatown. My parents brought us to some stalls with wooden tables for dinner. The concept was the same but the atmosphere was different.

We queued at one very popular Yatai among the rest and waited for our turn. The Yatai was typically small and like "western bar" concept. We got our seats next to another Jap couple - actually we were surrounded by locals, not much tourists.  The Jap couple besides us ordered Ramen and so did we. My wife spotted the couple drinking the soup in the bowl after they finished the noodles, and she followed suit. The soup was nice. We also ordered chicken satay (grilled chicken yakitori) besides the 明太子.  The yakitori tasted a bit different, a bit fatty and I just ate without thinking.  Later, my wife told me they were chicken skin! At least not chicken buttocks or chicken feet.  

The "lead actor" came - the 明太子 and it was made up of many many fish eggs. "Mentaiko" looked too "egg" for me. However, since the locals like it and we have ordered, have to go for it. My wife asked me she didn't know why many like to eat Mentaiko.  To me, it tasted a bit saltish. Fukuoka shops have different cans and packages for Mentaiko souvenirs as gifts.  Want some Mentaiko?

Yatai experiences were fun. It was a place where locals ate and drank. It felt like a open-air pub.  The bill was not cheap though, and I could sense from my wife that she preferred to dine elsewhere since the cost was similar to that in restaurant. 

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Beppu to Hakata

Waking up early to go to a very old traditional onsen in the neighbourhood near Beppu Guest House was one thing we did. We didn't bath in the GH (a small episode that I was locked insides the toilet, trying very very hard to unlock myself). There seems to be a "warning notice" about the lock in the shared toilet - all in Japanese words and I was without phone. Prayed and finally got out after a while. Thank God.

We googled our way to the onsen. It was really very traditional and locals went to onsen before they went to work. I bought a towel (not sure why they issued me a pink towel) and off we went in. The public bathroom usually hangs a blue cloth for gents and pink cloth for ladies. It was very hot and I saw a group of very old tanned uncles soaking in the bath. It looked very hot. For the moment, I looked fair compared to most of them - they were red due to the steamy bath. The pool was really small, like the baby pool in the swimming pool. Without delay, I went on my routine of public bath, bathing and soaking and bathing. HOT. Ouch. After about 20 mins plus, went out to look for my wife. We stayed for a while to cool down with tea. This is really a very traditional bathhouse. 

We had our cute chicken pie for breakfast and got on with our journey to the Beppu Train Station to Hakata. Beppu Town is the typical old town - peaceful and quiet and a place for relaxation. I like old quiet town.  

It was interesting that the trains arriving at Beppu sounding a very cute lullaby "Beppu Beppu Beppu....". For a while, I imitated the lullaby and gonna miss Beppu while anticipating what's would be in store for us in Hakata. 

Hakata - It took us about 2 hours+ to reach Hakata from Beppu, can't rem exactly. We checked in at our favourite Route Inn hotel and as they have specific check-in time, we went around Hakata shopping centre. There, my wife, started to measure her buy in terms of handkerchiefs. Yup, each handkerchief cost 500YEN. It is interesting how she likes japanese handkerchief. She can spend most of the time on them. Of cos, we dun forget the japanese umbrellas. I can't rem when she started collecting the handkerchiefs. At times, I wonder why we need so many handkerchiefs haha. 

We went for evening walk by taking the 100YEN bus. Hakata operates a 100YEN bus which brings u to places within city area. It's economical and saves walking time. We planned to go "Canal City" and we wanted to try local Yatai. Our first stop was a temple - looked quite old as well. There was a very gigantic display and my wife helped to pose in the photo to show the contrast.  I noticed that my wife got very interested in looking at the wishes the locals put on string. We saw them a few times and she was interested. I believe it is knowing and trying to understand the culture of the people in the country that we visit. 

We saw people (likely they knocked off from work) streaming slowly into the temple for prayers. One thing that I rem from visiting japanese temple is the sand that they put on the temple ground. Something different from the grounds when you visit other temples. 

Off we went off and walking through a long stretch of shopping arcades. Made me remember the ones in Hokkaido. I like to hold my wife's hand while we strolled down the arcades. She recently said we have been holding hands even after x years of marriage. 

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Beppu Town

Yes, we are back in Japan again. This time we went to Fukuoka region - the far west of Japan - inspired by the trip of Zhengjia and Jenny. Something I like about this journey - it is shorter flight time to Fukuoka, not the 9 hours or longer flight time. 

My wife loves the donut in Japan - Mister Donut. And without fail, we saw it and munched it haha. I still rem the green coloured taste of the drink too, and it was our first snack in Japan Fukuoka.  We were heading to Beppu town - a town of steamy hot springs and onsens. I read that there were steam coming out from holes underground, and this made me wary not to step on any manholes or drains ~ in case they gave way ~ haha. I read about eating onsen eggs and watch TV shows on them before with my mum. So, we would feast on them. 

We didn't manage to check in our luggage at the hostel though. They only man the reception at certain hours and though the door was opened, I felt uneasy putting our stuff there. Not very friendly leh. As usual, my resourceful wife suggested to use the lockers at Beppu Station. Hmm.. no doubt, she was smart. And lucky we didn't have BIG bags.  After storing the bags in the lockers (Opp is public toilets), we went to makan our first official meal in Beppu and then off to Jigoku (Hell Valley).  There were many "Hells" in Beppu Town with most of the famous ones in Kannawa.  And we were going to have a private onsen this time too at the Hyotan Hot Spring. (I have asked the hostel to book for me, so they are quite customer-friendly on this request).  This "Hyotan Hot Spring" has been awarded 3-star michelin - wow - though they mentioned in their website they were uncertain how they were assessed! 

I told my wife we would be focusing on a few Jigoku only.  One blue one and one white one.  It was interesting but touristy for Jigokus.  We saw the boiling eggs from onsen and off we bought 5 eggs (they came in a pack so can't choose 1 or 2 eggs). They have a small makan place for you to eat the eggs - too bad they didn't provide soy sauce or pepper. The egg yokes were quite tender and nice but after stuffing 4 of them in our tummies. We kept one to feast elsewhere. 

The foot onsens are quite popular here at Beppu. Almost in the two Jigokus and places of interest you can see the foot onsens - they are FOC too! We did our foot onsen-ing at the two Jigokus and they were hot. My feet looked suntan and red after each foot onsen-ing. On our way to Hyotan Hot Spring, we passed by another public foot onsen - a circular resting shed and of cos, we foot onsen-ing again haha.  I guess my feet have never enjoyed such luxury before in one day. 


We didn't try the onsen steaming cooking though as we thought it was not very special. Haha, we did however drink the saltish onsen water. It tasted like swimming pool water of lower concentration of minerals though. 

I wonder where did my wife take this interesting guide on onsen. Frankly, she thinks that I am quite an onsen expert already. For every trip, I would go to public bath without fail. This onsen habit has been part of me whenever I am in Japan. She is shy of cos, and she didn't like public bathing.  

I told her I would teach her how to onsen during our private onsen in Hyotan. It would be like the "Japan Hour" type of onsen-ing with privacy. Looking forward to it, and with milk that my wife would buy.  We were early at Hyotan after getting lost trying to find the place - somehow we planned to go early so that we won't miss the booking time if we were lost haha. While waiting, my wife's eyes sparkled when she saw the vending machine - milk! She told me she would buy to drink after our onsen.  For me, my eyes sparked at the restaurant and we would makan there after onsen. Sometimes, I wonder whether it is the milk or onsen meals that pull us to onsen or the other way round. 

We "so like" onsen. 

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - 巴黎漫游徒步

真的很难找 － 莎士比亚书局。 我们兜了几圈才找到， 一次在夜晚，一次在白天。书局很古色古香。As inspired by my previous trip and the TVB show, this is another place that I wanted to bring my wife. We spent quite some time here, walking up the steps to the 2nd floor, sitting on the wooden bench reading. It was quite crowded and I was quite obedient not to take photos insides - following the notices. I learnt quite a few books that I should have read before - one of which is "The Little Prince". Didn't know about it so I got one for my nephew too. We got a few other books and got also the signature stamp of Shakespeare and Company. I feel this is a place that my wife would like and yes, I think she likes it a lot. At least from the books she bought :P.

We also have some "small" disagreement while searching for the bookstore at night. We chanced upon a chinese restaurant and we feasted there two times. Not sure why but we have serious craving for chinese food in european countries. I have earlier wanted to go to Chinatown for more authentic recommendations but my wife actually made a good decision for us to eat there. We saw one traveller, I think so, eating there on two days we patronised the shop. To me, it's like going back home with familiar food and smell. I have wanted to try the mee though but didn't do so. 

We didn't know that there was this famous building - Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a very grand building and the entrance to the building closes early before 6pm I think. So, we missed it. We were told by our "Free Tour" guide that many of the decorations in the building remained unchanged to-date and descriptions in the book "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Hugo can still be appreciated if we visit the building. Wow. Interesting. Again, I have not read that book before. One thing I realise when I travel in Europe and also with my wife is that I dun really read a lot or widely. My wife reads and she also mentions that her brother reads a lot too. Difficult to catch up, especially on childhood books? 

We planned to walk to Eiffel Tower and then walked along Seine River to go to one Candle shop. It was drizzling and made the trip a bit uncomfortable. I was still hoping that the drizzle would become snow flakes? Eiffel Tower - still as beautiful as before - and it gave us some good memories during our honeymoon trip. This time, we didn't go up as the queue was still long. We took some pictures and videos and decided to stroll along Seine River instead of taking the river cruise - too dark to see and rainy too.

The walk was kinda romantic. Muddy but it was quite fun walking and chatting. This is the kind of quality time that I want to have. Family time is important and I think not everyone understand that. For me, I want to enrich my family life, not with cash but with quality. Quality of life - it means having time with my family and doing things together. It means exploring new things together and helping and supporting each other. 

We couldn't find the Candle shop. However, we did enjoy the walk though it was getting dark and darker. Dusk fell. In a way, it marked the ending of our Christmas holidays. I can't help but think that Paris is still very attractive place to visit. Sure, I think we will still come again. 

Happy New Year 2014, Paris.  We spent our new year celebrations in the blue skies of Paris though. 

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Loving Paris Again

We revisited Paris again. This time around, we stayed at Jules Joffrin area - a totally different feel from our previous stay near Gard Du Nord. It is very near Montmartre - the area that I wanted to bring my wife to see. At hill top, the view was fantastic, I think it is nicer than the view at Eiffel? The whole area gives us a feel of "latin" - very very different and we liked it a lot.

This leg of journey was in a way inspired by the TVB show we watched and the previous official trip I went. I wanted to do a few things this round with my wife but I dun want it to be mission-based, no longer the excel spreadsheet itinerary and the SOP-type journey though. Of cos, coming to Paris needs us to be street smart and it is important to cover each other carefully.

There was also christmas market at the Montmartre area but my dear said it was "different" - but they still sold german beer and also similar snacks leh. As I was a bit hungry after passing through the food stalls, I managed to persuade my wife to try an onion soup to replenish our energy a bit - though I felt she was a bit reluctant to do so. We walked around the area and spotted the Eiffel at one corner and it was something different from the usual backdrop we saw on the postcards. I could see that my wife loved the area though it was very crowded. Actually, we were trying "hard" to enjoy Paris after our previous bad experience in Paris. 
They have fenced up the field which travellers could sit and enjoy the view. Not sure why. Something that I wanted to do with my wife though. But overall, the Montmartre trip was still nice and cozy.  We went to another place that was inspired by the TVB show. We heard of it before but didn't really go there during the previous trip. It was a walk along the river to Pont Des Arts.  "Pont" means bridge. There are many bridges in Paris and it is not hard to find this "Pont" cos it will be packed with locks. I did some research to make sure I got the right "Pont". According to guide, there are two bridges - one is Pont Des Arts - the lock is for committed love and the other is Pont De I'Archeveche which is for lover =).  Very interesting and the "Free Europe Tour" guide said that the local authority has to cut away the locks as they are adding load onto the bridge. We have prepared our lock and marker so we need not buy from the stalls or people there. 

Hee Hee. There were so many locks and it was difficult to find a slot. My wife managed to spot one and we hooked our lock on it. Got another couple to take picture for us, and we helped other couples too. As a fun tradition or thing-to-do, we grabbed and held our key together and threw it into the river. Our committed love together.  I can't help but think that the Parisians were so romantic in things they do... It is not hard to understand why Paris is the most visited country. 

Next time we come to Paris, I will ask my wife to visit the bridge and see the lock again. 

在巴黎这个浪漫的都市，我们学习浪漫，锁住爱情，不知不觉也变得比较浪漫吧？

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 － Le Mont St Michel

I never knew there is such a place. Thanks to the reading by my wife and planning to visit this island during our 2nd leg of the white christmas trip in Paris. Booking of accommodation was challenging as many of the hotels were booked Full. My wife wanted to stay very close to the Abbey - and we really got a room high up near the Abbey. This meant we needed to take our heavy luggage up to the top on our way up?

It was raining when we were on our way there. Kind of irony as we wanted to have rain in cold weather and rain would equate to snow? My first impression of the Le Mont St Michel was "impressive" - on our small little shuttle bus across the swamp and sea - there lies the "fortress"-kind of building. Like fairy-tales. Initially, I was still trying to search on how we could walk over from main town - they really have this causeway for vehicles to move and for people to walk over. I think it would take about 15 mins? It is even amazing or scary when at high tides, this causeway may be submerged and cars being drifted away?

A closer look at the building shows how weather has also created an impact on it. A big massive "brown" building. Dear mentioned that there were only less than 300 people living at LMSM. And the tourists were actually more than the natives =). We went to our hotel to check-in and off to try our crepes and omelettes! The omelettes were supposed to be very special. We got our crepes but no eggs yet. There were warning signs/posters reminding us not to venture out into the swamps. This would be the time for extra caution really, and I actually felt good to stay "higher" despite the walk.

The "mud" or "swamp" created different nice patterns as the day went on. It was beautiful. At times, we did see people walking on the "mud" and I told my dear they were on guided tour. No way we would to try though - the always cautious and careful me. No doubt, the feeling of touching the mud on feet ought to be nice (something like our first Germany trip on mud play?). 

Just like it was Christmas seasons, we found out that many shops closed early and we decided to try the "touristy-looking" restaurant near the entrance of the LMSM. There were groups of japanese. I glanced at some europeans drinking some drinks on a big cups so I signaled to the waiters to have the same beverage - guess what? It was cider - dear said I liked to follow local customs. As LMSM was an island, we ordered mussels too and we have our omelettes. My first taste of the eggs - like they pumped air into the eggs and my verdict was OK. Haha. The mussels were however very fresh and yummy. With the cider, they made a good meal. 

Exploring the LMSM is challenging as it is not that small either. We decided to go for Abbey tour the next day early morning and have a good rest in our hotel. Night was starry and well, we stayed quite near the cemetery too. We have a big squarish balcony and the church "bell" was also quite nearby. Cold wind, stars and occasional vehicular lights from far on the causeway - that was the backdrop of our night. We however were woken up by the church bells at 0600hrs - there supposed to be a mass at the Abbey. Not sure and not adventurous to venture out at 0600hrs to walk up the Abbey - still as mysterious to us. 

The Abbey tour was hosted by a "half-nomandy and half-britanny" guide. She was very responsible and friendly - a perception that we always have when it comes to parisans not living in paris. Something that I rem from the tour was that the monks were supposed to eat at a dining place and they were not allowed to talk while eating. Of cos, there was this "小orange鸟" which was not afraid of us and kept following us, and my dear losing her gloves at the waiting area.  The overall tour of the Abbey was interesting. I saw a guy sitting at the small church near the coastline and I have wanted to go there take a look. However, we did not have enough time to venture as I wanted to have sufficient planning time to take bus and then in time for train to move back to Paris. One point to note was my dear was smart to remind me to put bulky luggage at our hotel in Paris so we dun need to carry them to LMSM. 

Afternote: There was a brand of cookies originated from LMSM - the cover of the butter cookies box shows the LMSM. Didn't know about it until my friend told me that he bought a tin in NTUC. This is one of the funny learning that I like during traveling.  

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Childhood Christmas

This got to earn a page in the blog. 


It is really amazing to pop by and stand in front of the windows display at Marienplatz. The display outsides what is known as the Galeria Kaufhof (Food and grocery chain, we think) is really cute and fun. About a few nights, we chanced by the display and the cute teddy bears, rabbits, monkeys - some opening doors, some doing farming, some teasing one another and some just playing with snow. Coupled with the nice German christmas songs, the series of display really made us transform into kids again.

It really touches us how meticulous the designers and even the locals are to decorate the windows display. Compared back home, we have seen some "recycled" display. 

We are trying hard to trace the title of the songs that we heard so far. It fitted so well to the movement of the soft toys in the display. Almost every night since we discovered the place, we would walk past and listen to the music and watch each display. One particular one that caught our attention was two cute rabbits - Big and small one playing with their noses in left to right movement. Cute! The other one was a monkey or bear that could open and close the door of a house. Cute! 

Actually, we first spotted such display was at the Residence Christmas Market.  Those display however were "traditional" and each with a story. I didn't however imagine that there could be more such display in Marienplatz.  Not sure about my wife but I have the magical feel and a childlike Christmas.  It has been a long time since I feel like a kid already. Like a kid, we watched with eagerness at every display, waiting eagerly for the start of the music. Like a child, we sang with the tune and my wife clapping with rhythm. We so loved the Munich Christmas.

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Munich Walking Tour

This is the third time that we joined "Free Walking Tour" - We liked to participate in the tour as it gave us a flavor of the sites and history in the eyes of a "local tour". Initially, we have difficulties logging in and registering our names to join the tour and luckily there was an iMac in the B&B which solved the problem. We chose on Christmas Eve and it was a huge group. As we have registered, we were allowed to have a group photo taken by the guide. 

Different guides have different personalties and stories to share and our Munich guide was one who liked to "beer" and share "beer stories". I rem him saying that he was a musician in Jazz and decided to quit to be a guide. Not a bad choice considering that he is fulfilling his dreams? The walking tour was about 3 hours and we should have taken some notes to jot down interesting things else could not rem all the interesting stuff.


We assembled very near to our B&B at Marienplatz and the guide told us to standby at 1100hrs to listen to the famous Glockenspiel.  Every day at a few designated time slots, people will stand still and listen to the 15 minutes music ~ the guide said we could go youtube to see the close-up. Not sure why but I liked it a lot and found it to be a cute historical toy. So, I also "video" it just like any other tourists. After the "show", we went down to the toy museum and passed by "juliet" statue. The guide jokingly said that many singles would buy flowers from the florist shop nearby and present them to "juliet" for improvement in their relationship. He said that many people would also touch the statue for blessing and he asked us to guess where most people would touch. 

After a short stop outsides the Toy Museum, first thing that I rem was the "canon ball" that was stuck in a church all. My wife didn't notice it or I have to take a photo to show it to her. I couldn't rem if it was deposited there due to WWII? As usual, my concentration span was limited and I wondered around to see if I could take interesting photos.   Next was a walk down to the Virtual Market that was selling a lot of grocery and it has a beer garden.  Guide said he would pop by the beer garden later and encouraged us to do so too. We went down to Hofbrauhaus - a very famous beer hall. According to the guide, you won't be able to catch the attention of the waiters or waitresses there as they would be too bz to entertain you. Got to try let?  The guide stopped here to share the history of how the toilets was designed and created in the beer hall. Spare the details but I was very curious about what the guide said that there was a special area in the toilet where it allowed people to vomit. So we did go back to check but I couldn't really find it. 

Along the way we were introduced to a very famous local beer and I asked my wife why wasn't it exported? She smartly told me that it was without preservatives just like the Abashiri beer so it couldn't be exported. Make sense.  And well, I found my HRC ~ a tee in each new city I visited and this time would not be an exception unless all shops closed during Christmas?  From here, we ventured into the street that housed lot of branded boutiques and the guide asked us to see the rich and famous around the streets.   

Then there was some history lessons about the Nazi regime and I could not remember the details as usual.  I only remembered that the locals were still buying christmas trees and rushing back to celebrate the Christmas and we were then wondering if all the shops were closed on the eve. Luckily, we already made reservation for Christmas eve dinner. We rushed back trying to catch our lunch but many shops were closed or closing. There was a Jap restaurant but my wife wasn't interested so we decided to try our luck at Virtual Market - Oops closed except the beer garden.  We ended up queuing at Starbucks near our B&B and have cake and coffee for lunch at our "balcony".  Very different in lifestyle ~ Back home, many shops would be opened for business during Christmas but in Munich, it is really a holiday season for all.  

圣诞前夕，本来想晚上去教堂，但没去，也没有倒数。我们静静地逛街，看看橱窗地摆设。街道比较少人，大家应该是在团圆吃火鸡吧？ 想想，平静地度过圣诞，也是很开心的事。难得能自由自在。

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 Munich Christmas Market Part III - Marienplatz

Perhaps the most interesting and colorful Christmas Market in Munich is still the Marienplatz market? It is  in the town hall and there is a very tall REAL Christmas Tree which was lighted up by many bulbs. For me, this market was the first one that we encountered when we took the Bahn and landed at early morning hours. It was also the one when we said "bye bye". 

We read and understand that each year a town could have to contribute a christmas tree to the town hall. I decided to stand underneath the hugh tree to enjoy the lights and view of branches of the tree. It was beautiful and my wife joked that many people followed us in enjoying the view after we moved off from the spot. I like the tree a lot and in fact I have been watching live webcam of Marienplatz and the tree before we travelled to Munich. I even wanted to ask my family to catch a glimpse of my wife and me walking at Marienplatz if possible though time difference was a real challenge ~ while we were playing at Marienplatz, they were probably sleeping at night. 
The morning Marienplatz market was filled with nice spicy smell of the red wine and also sausages and cookies. While my wife was busy looking for boots, I took some time out to watch what  people were buying at the stalls. I was a bit hesitant to buy any cookies as we had our hearty cheese and ham breakfast and too full to "chew". Also my wife said she loved my homemade cookies most so I have second thoughts buying other cookies nowadays =). 


The night time markets are equally interesting as the crowd built up. Against the backdrop of lights and toy angels hanging up at the stalls, we were easily immersed into the beautiful atmosphere of Christmas. Very tempted to buy some cute decoration from the stalls but they were not cheap.  Another reason was we usually dun like to "anyhow" buy things as we would have difficulty finding place to put them or store them. I rem buying the "russian girl" keychains and ended up forcing my wife's friends to take - compulsory haha. 

很喜欢圣诞市场，觉得它很特别，很有节日气氛，和看过的其他市场很不一样，我很佩服老婆的好介绍。以前的我，只以为外国的圣诞就只是白色的圣诞，只有下雪，玩雪人。圣诞市场其实已有多年的历史，也是当地不可少的圣诞文化。

圣诞快乐。


http://www.christmasmarketsgermany.com/munich.php