Back to Land of The Rising Sun

As some of you may know, these days 24 hours feels like 4hours. Time is just flying by! I’m not sure if it’s good that I’m making full use of every single second of my youth or if it’s bad that I’m depleting so fast I’ll look back and think what the hell happened… how did I get so wrinkly and wise so fast! I feel that I’m at that mid-way point…. too old to feel like I can get away with anything and too young to stop my adventures.

Anyways a couple of my friends requested I post up more Japan picture soon cause they are heading there in 2 mths time! Remember to buy me some yummies! I’m kinda bummed I couldn’t join their trip cause I’ll have to save my leave for a Cambodia Expedition I’m joining in July. I’ll be teaching English and Maths at the local village… while we try build a school for them.

Japan such a beautiful country I wish I could go back there soon. The next time however, I wanna make it a backpacking trip following the old trading routes of the Edo Period starting from Kyoto. I love visiting old castles and temples as much as I love their natural scenery and hot springs!

I edited one of the photos of Asakusa Temple to Sepia. And I’m amazed that nothing much has changed in centuries other than the outfits of the people. I can totally imagine being at that same spot 100 years ago having that same moment of cultural awe. Just that the crowd would be dressed in Kimonos and other traditional outfits.

I’ve been to Japan several times and the best way to see it is still by foot. Let your feet take you off the beaten track. The country is relatively safe and that makes it easier to simply explore and talk to the locals.

Some of the best food I have had was found in little street side store with their own regular patrons. The owners treat me as if I was an old family friend coming around for a home cooked dinner.

One of the perks of visiting a country or a city that you have visited previously is that you no longer feel obliged to go to all the recommended places of interests that they recommend to tourists. You can just re-visit the places that held your person interest and then spend the rest of the holiday wandering to local haunts and experiencing the culture in the eyes of the everyday man.

Finding places which beauty has been taken for granted by the people that lives in that areas but gain a fresh new take in my eyes… one of a foreigner not accustom to such natural splendor esp in urbanite Singapore.

I even caught some early blooming Sakuras when I was there… even though it was very early spring then and the golden week doesn’t start till April. If you’ve been a regular reader at my blog… you’ve seen that I love cherry blossoms…. so it was such a pleasant surprise to catch these rare blooms when I expected not to see any since I couldn’t arrange to be in Japan during their Golden Week.

Shopping in small towns also means I get to buy stuff at cheaper prices then in the heart of Tokyo city!

I’ll finish up on my Japan trip in my next post!