Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts

7.06.2010

Spring 2010 ~ Korea ~

i know its summer.. but a recap of some adventures in korea.. 
a visit back in april with my sister.... we travelled for 1 week visiting:
Busan, Jinhae, Gyeongju & Seoul


the trip's highlight was the cherry blossoms at Jinhae, here it is:










Busan Fish Market:



Busan Mountain Trail / Ancient Wall






Gyeongju - famous temple/garden





More ancient sites in Gyeongju:


7.01.2009

Japan 2009 ~ Part 21 - Tokyo

Day 13 > Tokyo (Tsukiji Fish Market > Asakusa > Ginza > Tokyo Forum > .... toronto

we packed our bags early that morning and left it at Tokyo JR station.. from here.. we would grab the Narita express to the airport later that day... we locked our luggage here.. let me explain later how difficult this actually was.. 

but for now.. lets go for some of the best sushi/sashimi in the world!!!!..  this is the outskirts of the fish market:
those trolleys/carts are unique for shipping fish around in this market... they're small for easy maneuver around the tight spaces of this market... some other ingredients for sushi making.. fresh wasabi.. pickles.. pepper..:
and.. after walking for a while.. we decided to eat here:
some fresh fish.. still in the box:
our sushi chef:
yummy !!!

more big eye red fish:
we had to save the best meal for last... so we leave with a good impression... the fish was amazing.. absolutely delicious.. 

after that.. we would head to asakusa.. for the famous temple there.. a tourist must in tokyo.. keith wanted to see.. so...here we are:
not much there... as kyoto and nara has proven to be much more impressive... plus... there are too many tourists here.. and much too commodified.. we moved to Ginza... just to see what high end shopping is like:
crazy parking lots with no room for turning radius.. so there is turning mechanism and elevators to send cars up and down...
from Ginza.. we walked thru the Tokyo Forum.. to make our way back to Tokyo station to pick up our luggage:
this is a big conference center... the architecture is world renowned.. so i had to visit:







no more need to be said... and now back to the story about storing away our luggage... in a world where everything is so advanced... so are the lockers.. to live in tokyo ... one must have a 'Suica' card... which is like the octopus card in hk.. where u store money on it.. and it gives u credit to do anything.. from buying groceries.. to paying for bus fares.. in tokyo.. they've taken this system to everything.. including luggage lockers:
these were everywhere... it was all they had... almost.. because we were travelling on the JR pass.. we did not want/need to buy a suica for public transport... we had trouble finding a locker to lock up... after much running about.. we found these 'ancient' lockers:
yay... so.. now it was time to say good bye... fish our luggage out again.. and head on the narita express to the airport:

farewell japan... until next time!

Japan 2009 ~ Part 20 - Yokohama

Day 12 > Tokyo > Yokohama > Ikebukuro:

today was scheduled for visiting yokohama... it was about 1/2 hr away from tokyo... it is a port city.. and i wanted to visit here to see the new architecture and famous yokohama port terminal building... too bad.. it was raining .. again

coming out of the train station, this was the view:
the yokohama tower looks like it went up in smokes... 
the pedestrian path from the JR station leads towards the tower and skywalk... under the tower, you can get a better view towards the harbour/ferris wheel:
along the skywalk, it passes thru a chain of shopping centers all under the office towers... 

after passing thru all the shopping centers... you'll reach pathway along the harbour.. and this is view looking back towards the tower:
closer up ... right under the ferris wheel:
it was raining very hard when we reached the harbour... perhaps the wind contributed to the wet-ness, carrying the wind sideways under our umbrellas.. we made our way slowly to the port:
it was really wet... the beauty of this port is the public roof garden... not very pleasant in the rain:
beautiful photos still... for b&w... but i had to clean my lens a few times.. along with protecting the camera from rain.. while allowing myself to get wet instead
what do u see?.. railings?.. ha... .. try to look beyond... and imagine.. without the rain.. or the fog... 
in a good day.. the yokohama tower would be visible.. and this would have been the perfect photo spot:
more railings and roof deck:
these steps lead back downwards towards an entrance into the terminal... it steps this way so that this roof garden can be used like an amphitheater... 
overlooking the stage below:
another view:



this is a transition passage way from the roof garden into the terminal:
inside.. looking back out:
i love this photo... its inside the terminal.. (while we were there.. they were installing for an event)

after the visit to the port... we made our way back to the shopping centers earlier.. to find food...of course... there is always time to take a photo with snoopy:
ah... food time.. again.. the basement of shopping centers is a good place to look for restaurants and fast foods.... and luckily.. we found this place for tea-rice 'chazuke':
this is another traditional japanese dish/way of eating... you see the tea pot in the upper left.. it is for pouring over the bowl of rice... the dish you see on the lower right is the entree for the rice... mine was a sashimi fish with an egg...
below.. i think it was a pork dish.. both very good... rice and tea is all you can eat... 

traditionally.. this is a leftover type dish.. for a quick meal the next morning with the rice from the night before..  
then by mid afternoon.. we left yokohama to head back to ikebukuro... which is the district where our hotel was.. it was another tokyo hub.. so we wanted to take our time and do some more shopping there ... this was the JR ikebukuro station.. at 10pm!!! 
whats all this ppl doing still??? go home!!!.. haha.. we were just making our last purchase before heading back for our last evening in japan.. we wanted to try their cakes:
we bought these two from a bakery in one of the department stores.. there were sooo many... it was hard to chose one.. but we celebrated the last evening with the two pastries above.. and the sake on the upper right... tmr was our last day in japan.. we would be flying off the next evening