back from rinjani

wow!! Rinjani was a tough trek (we had to carry our own backpacks) and the terrain was steep..

overall very cool and awesome, unspoilt scenery and wonderful experience!!!

p/s see facebook for awesome photos!

LA VIE EN ROSE

LA VIE EN ROSE (English translation)

Eyes that gaze into mine,
A smile that is lost on his lips—
That is the unretouched portrait
Of the man to whom I belong.

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It's he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.

In endless nights of love,
A great delight that comes about,
The pains and bothers are banished,
Happy, happy to die of love.

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It's he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.

Mt Rinjani

The route of the trek

Trip to Japan Day 5 Ueno Zoo!

Finally reached a consensus to go to the Zoo, since there was no ninja musuem, it was raining and the entrance fee to other musuems here were almost twice the amount. Despite the rain and cold weather, it didn't stop other japanese to venture out here. This place was almost crowded with japanese primary school kids on an excursion, secondary school students who looked like they're here after school, who fell into puddles of rainwater and got so drenched! and many mothers who were bringing their little kids (around 3 years old) for an excursion! wow. we were the only non-japanese around there.. haha

Trip to Japan Day 5 Ueno park

wad a rainy day! we were unprepared for e rain!
There was a bonsai exhibition that day, and we went to admire them. really quaint.

all the bonsai were in this competition, and there were awards for them.. also, they were well taken care of by the workers here, who gave them water to drink and wiped the excess saliva etc.. they were really valued and respected! what an experience for the bonsai!




Hot Pork buns for sale! so tempted to buy something hot in this cold chilly wet weather but i hate pork haha


pork buns seem really popular there, and it was the only food stall
old man collecting drink cans - rare sight.

actually i had wanted to visit ueno park for the iga ninja musuem here (which i found on the web) but upon arrival, i realised that there's no ninja musuem here, and the musuem is in mie prefecture (who knows where that is?) and thus, we lingered around the bonsai exhibition (Which delighted mom abit, since she was upset with the rain and lack of umbrellas) my feet were totally wet from slippers and i wasn't complaining, was i?

Trip to Japan Day 4 - Decided to get near to Mt Fuji

WE decided to go to Kawaguchiko i.e. Lake Kawaguchi to take a closer look at one of the symbols of Japan - Mt Fuji. We set off late and thus, we could not make it onto the soil of Mt Fuji, but it wasn't too bad to take a good look at this majestic volcano. It wasn't the season to mount it anyways.. haha OFF WE GO!

Photos taken halfway through the journey..

We realised upon reaching Otsuki station that we had to change to this private line, where we had to pay extra money.. haha Lucky us, we got this Thomas and Friends train which was super cute and colorful!! YAY it was worth the 1500 yen we parted with for one way ticket to kawaguchiko.

big houses along the way, near to Kawaguchi ko

shelter with wooden seats and cushions, must be really cold out here alone on the train platform

planning for the trip

flower beds along the train tracks.. there's a gardener planting them and looking after them! =D

3rd last stop at this amusement park for kids. we were tempted to enter haha! the roller coaster rides looked high and dangerous!

Finally reached the terminal - Kawaguchiko station. Saw this volcano train!

Last glance and photos with our beloved Thomas!

Thomas and Friends bus!! We realised upon reaching Kawaguchiko that we could take a bus to sight-see around the place, but when we asked the tourist centre, we got this map and we reckoned we could walk the way to the lake ourselves. Off we went! and before long, we really enjoyed the houses along the street, the cool weather (17 degrees) and the music blaring at each traffic light. it was different from the one in tokyo, and the music was like olden japanese music that was off-tune (my sister said that) but personally i loved it. haha

fake train on display.. quite old i suppose

houses along the way

houses with a backdrop of mountains! wow! i wana live there hahah




see the elusive mount fuji behind e mist??



Goodbye Mt Fuji!
When we left, it was evening like 5.50pm, and after taking the long journey back again, we decided to drop by at Shinjuku at about 7.30-8pm thereabouts.. we saw many neon lights and big tall buildings, and it was very crowded. for the first time, we saw rubbish littered on the floor and beggars along the road.. there were many Pachinko parlors too! all full of cigarette smoke and it was so suffocating! we couldn't figure out the game they were playing haha and the guards at the entrance looked at us half surprised and amusement as he knew we wouldn't stay long, but why did we enter?

looking at it from his point of view didn't improve things, so we left after a brief stop. many motorcycles were parked outside, indicating its popularity that we just couldn't understand at that time. and we walked around aimlessly, looking at the crowds gathered there, smoking, chatting, laughing and most of them looking like they just got off work. we also ventured into lawsons to get some dinner (onigiri for me) and then left after we didn't know wad to do anymore..