Near Mt Fuji 靠近富士山

On April 17, we bid farewell to Osaka and heading towards Hakone near Mt. Fuji.

The Shinkansen took 2.5 hrs to cover the journey of 450 kms, arriving at Odowara station, Hakone.

Then another 45 minutes of bus ride on uphill winding road to reach Hanabi guest house at a small town call Sengokuhara.

One of our members in the group has a younger sister married to a Japanese in Mishima, which is about 45 minutes drive from our guest house. She and husband brought us to nearby seaport Numazu to have a seafood lunch. It was fresh and cheap. Great Sashimi!

(Hanabi guest house)

(See pictures in Facebook)

四月十七日，我们离开大阪，前往靠近富士山的箱根。

新干线飞快的大我们带到四百五十公里外的小田野站，只需两个半小时。

抵达小田原站后，我们继续乘搭巴士车，在弯曲的上山道路上，经过45分钟，抵达了我们的一间日本民宿。

方秀花，我们的其中一位队友，有一位妹妹嫁给一位日本人，就住在离民宿四十五分钟的三岛市。

这对夫妇很慷慨的接待我们，并带来我们到附近的一个海港享用美味的日本刺身午餐，便宜有新鲜，绝对美味。

 ( 日本民宿)

（更多照片 Facebook ）

Nara & Osaka 奈良与大阪

Back to Osaka, on 15-4-2015, we visited Osaka Castle and had picnic under the Cherry Blossom trees at the park outside the castle.

In the evening, we went to Osaka Mint compound to view the most beautiful Sakura of them all.

About 300 trees were planted in Osaka Mint compound with about 100 varieties. Every year, the Mint will open its door for 7  days to allow outsiders to enter for Sakura viewing. We were fortunate to make it on the last day. It was really beautiful.

(See pictures in Facebook)

Visitors to Osaka would definitely make a trip to Nara, a small ancient town about 30 kms away. It is famous for ancient shrines and free roaming deers.

On the last day in Osaka, we made the trip to Nara and visited 2 shrines - the most famous Todaji Temple and Kasuga Taisha Shrine, both are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

(Nara - See Pictures in Facebook)

我们回到了大阪。

15-4-2015， 我们到大阪城参观，并在外面公园的樱花树下野餐，一偿我们的心愿。

傍晚时候，我们到大阪制币厂参观樱花。

这里种有大约三百颗、一百品种的樱花树，美轮美奂。每一年的樱花季节，造币厂会开放门户七天，让公众人士进入赏樱。我们很幸运的在最后一天赶上。这是我们看到最美丽的樱花。

( 更多照片Facebook )

在大阪的最后一天，我们到距离30公里外的奈良游玩。

奈良是一个小镇，以古庙宇及鹿著名，到大阪的旅客都会到此一游。

(参阅照片奈良Facebook)

Hiroshima 广岛

April 13, we left Kyoto for Osaka.

There are 2 main train stations in Osaka. One is Osaka station, hub for local subway and bus lines, the other is ShinOsaka (new Osaka) Station, specially for Japan Rail Shinkansen trains.

For the next 3 days, we would be boarding Shinkansen train at Shinosaka station quite number of times.

It was raining in Osaka for the next day. So we decided to go south to Hirishima city to visit the Atomic Bomb Memorial.

The Shinkansen took about 1.5 hrs to cover a distance of 350 kms.

( See pictures Facebook)

四月十三日，我们离开京都，前往大阪。

大阪有两个主要的火车站 - 大阪中央火车站，是市内的地铁及巴士枢纽，另一个是新大阪站，只供日本铁道局新干线使用。

往后的三天，我们将多次到新大阪站，乘搭新干线火车。

大阪的天气预测，两天都会下雨，所以我们隔天决定南下，到天气晴朗的广岛，参观原子弹爆炸纪念馆。

新干线火车只需一个半小时，就把我们送到距离350公里外的目的地。

（照片Facebook ）

Kyoto 4 京都

 There are about 17 temples and shrines in Kyota are listed as World Heritage Sites.

Kyoto is an old imperial city with many cultural, religions and imperial heritage.

On the last day in Kyoto, we visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Thins Shinto shrine is famous for its red and orange torii gates.

After the visit, we continue our journey by visiting the Yasuka shrine in downtown Kyota area. Nothing much to see ..

We continue to explore the nearby famous Gion area by walking.

(see pictures in Facebook)

京都大约有17 间庙宇，被列入联合国教科文组织的世界遗产名单之内。

在京都的最后一天，我们去观看另一间名为伏見稲荷大社的名胜，它是名单中其中一间。

过后，我们去观看另一间在市区内的庙宇，名为八坂神社，没什么看头。。

从八坂神社，我们步行去观光著名的祗园商店区。

(观看照片Facebook)

Kyoto 3 京都

 In Kyoto, it is more convenient to travel by bus than subway to sight-seeing places because bus-stops are nearer to them.

A day trip ticket of 500 yens with unlimited rides is advisable because a single trip will cost you 210 Yens.

On the third day in Kyoto, it was cloudy but no rain with occasional sun shine.

We manged to visit 3 places :

1. Nijo Castle
2. Ryonji Temple
3. Kinkokuji Temple

All are listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.

It was a very long day and we walked more than 10 kms for the whole journey.

There were some Sakura still blooming, especially at Ryonji Temple.

(More pictures in Facebook)

在京都，观光景点最好乘搭巴士，它比坐地铁更方便，因为巴士站通常较靠近景点。

京都市巴士日票无限制乘搭收费五百日元，比较划算。普通乘搭巴士,不管距离,一程就需要210日元.

在京都的第三天是阴天，但没有下雨，偶尔还有阳光。

我们总共观光了三个景点：

1. 二条城古殿
2. 龙安寺
3. 金阁寺

三个都是在联合国教科文组织的世界遗产名单内。

这三个景点还能够欣赏到盛开的樱花，特别是龙安寺。

(更多照片 Facebook)

Kyoto Day 2 京都第二天

 The weather on the second day in Kyoto was bad. It rained almost the whole day.

We went to Ninjo temple to see the full bloomed Sakura. It was beautiful and we spent about 2 hours there.

It was wet and cold, so we decided to go indoor.

We went Nishinki Market, the kitchen of Kyoto city. It is a complex filled with stalls, shops selling all types of goods, including vegetables, meats and fish.

We bought some fish and vegetables for our dinner.

J-Hoppers, the hostel we stayed is a simple back-packers hostel but with a functional kitchen equipped with cutlery, crockery and seasoning materials. Coffee and tea are free.

(See pictures in Facebook)

在京都的第二天，整天下雨。

我们还是冒雨的一早就出门，到仁和宫去赏樱。这里的樱花盛开（满开），非常的漂亮。

因为天气冷，地面又潮湿，我们决定到户内活动。

我们来到京都闻名的锦市场，它被号称为京都的厨房。这里有着许多商店及摊档，售卖各式各样的物品，包括食物、海鲜、渔获、鸡肉及猪肉。我们买了一些材料，作为我们的晚餐。

我们住宿的J-Hoppers 宿舍，设备简单，但有着一间非常完备的厨房，饭煲、碗碟、酱油、调味品都有，而且咖啡茶都免费提供。

( 照片Facebook )

Sakura Sakura 櫻花櫻花

On 8/4/2015 (Wednesday) night, my wife and I, together with 2 couple-friends, we went for a Sakura holiday in Kyoto and Osaka.

It was a mid-night MAS flight but was delayed by 3 hours. The plane took off at about 3:00 am, reaching Osaka Kansai Airport at about 10:30 am local time. ( 5 1/2 hr flight time)

We arrived at Kyoto J-hoppers hostel at about 2 pm.

We were very tired by in order to catch more time for Sakura viewing, we left immediately for Heian-jingo shrine.

It is almost towards the end season of Sakura in Kyoto/Osaka area. We were fortunate to see some good flowers.

It was a long day and we were dead tired.

(See pictures in Facebook)

8/4/2015 星期三，我和太太及另兩對夫婦朋友，启程飞往日本京都及大阪，开始樱花之旅。

马航子夜的班级延误三个小时，在凌晨三点左右才起飞，抵达大阪关西机场，已经是当地时间早上10:30 am.

我们来到的时候，已经几乎是樱花的尾声期了。为了争取时间，我们抵达酒店后，马上就出发到和平神宫观看樱花。

算来还不错，有些盛开的樱花还在等着我们的到来。

用来晚餐，回到酒店，已经是晚上九点了，非常的疲倦，大家都提早休息。

(观看照片Facebook)

Real Bak Kut Teh 真正的肉骨茶

This morning, six of us went for a hearty Bak Kut Teh ( Pork meat+bone Soup) in Kuala Lumpur.

The last time I had this was about 3 years ago.

今早我们六位老友记，到吉隆坡享用了一顿丰富的肉骨茶。这是由丰厚的肉烹调的肉骨茶，没有很重的药材味，但清香的肉及汤。

上一次我们享用，该是三年前的事了。/

( More pictures 更多照片Facebok)

Happy Easter 复活节平安

Happy Easter 复活节快乐！