Arashiyama

There are a lot of beautiful and historical places in Kyoto,I have written several times about some of them.
Kinkakuji temple and Gion might be well-known places for tourists but for Kansai people,Arashiyama is a much more popular place because there are many things to do and see there.
Most of schools in Kansai take their students to Arashiyama for school trips and its also popular as a dating spot for couples of any age.

The symbol of Arashiyama is "Togetsu-kyo" which is a very old long bridge.

My favourite place in Arashiyama is the monkey park which is located on hill top.There are over 100 wild monkeys,and of course they are dangerous!!!

I went there a few days ago,the mountain path is very calm and has a nice breeze also it was good exercise for me.

But I was so scared,because on the way up the hill,some monkeys sat on the path and blocked my progress.

 If we stare at them,they will get angry and jump around attacking people .I had to walk carefully past them,avoiding eye contact but I managed to slip past without incident.
On the top  of the mountain,there is a hut where monkeys know they can get apples and peanuts,so they hanging on to the gauze and stretch their arms out to be fed.I fed some  of them and found it interesting ,especially the baby monkeys.

After the monkey park,my friends and I went walking along the side of the road which is well-known for its beauty and is sometimes used as a location for TV CM,dramas and movies .
Also you can see rickshaws which might take you back in time to Japans romantic past.

Butaman

Everyone who live in Osaka knows "551".
These are Butaman(Chinese pork bun),the real name is "Horai" where is selling them.But everyone calls it "551".

The shop logo "551" after the logo,which is word play 55(ko-ko in Japanese) means here,and 1(ichi) so it's means "here is No.1"!!!

Of course this is my favorite,so sometimes I buy them for dinner or snacks.
This is obviously true,there Chinese pork buns are best selling souvenirs from Osaka.
I've loved them since I was born.

Taiyaki

Taiyuan is very popular snack for Japanese people especially in winter when it's cold.
Recently it's getting cooler in Japan as October is just around the corner,now.

Yesterday evening,on the way back home,I passed in front of a Taiyaki shop and as I was quite hungry as soon as I saw those yummy my fish,I felt like they were calling me..."Eat me,eat me".

Anyway Taiyaki looks a little bit like waffles,crispy and a little bit sweet.When people bake them ,we use moulds in the shape of a sea bream,so people call it Tai (sea bream) yaki (bake).

These are a bunch of flavours depending on the shop,the most typical and common is red azuki beans but sweet potato,chocolate and custard cream are popular with ladies and kids.I bought red azuki beans and sweet potato.

Gunkanjima

My biggest reason for going to Nagasaki was to see "Gunkanjima",my grandfather was a coal mine design engineer after the 2nd world war.
He didn't work at Gunkanjima but Gunkanjima has been featured on TV recently,and this reminded me that he had worked on Nagasaki island.Actually he had told me about his work when I was very young,but I was too young to appreciate what he said .
Gunkan (battle ship) jima (island) has been deserted since 1974.The official name is "Hashima" but it's shaped like a battle ship ,so people keep calling it Gunkanjima instead of Hashima.The nickname has stuck,so that many people name forgotten the original name.
The island is  63,000 square meters,from north to south only 480 meters and from east to west 160 meters,but over 5,000 people lived there. It was packed!!!

Anyway,I taught a trip to Gunkanjima would be a good chance to follow up on my grandfather's history.

swimming pool

According to the guide,Gunkanjima was set up with everything,supermarkets,a movie theater,a hospital,a school and shrines etc.They only lucked two things,graves and crematory so when someone passed away,the bodies were taken to the next island,where they could be cremated and buried.

Gunkanjima is a legacy of the Japanese coal mining industry which has declined enormously.But in the golden age of coal mining,there were 900 mines all over Japan because the growth of industry was so dependent upon coal.

Nagasaki prefecture is keen to register Gunkanjima as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Nagasaki

Nagasaki is located on Kyusyu island which is the southern most of Japans main islands.
Nagasaki's landscapes coastline is very long and broken as the prefecture is made up of 971 islands of varying size.

When you ask Japanese people "what do you know about Nagasaki ?" most of them will say "Champong","Sara-udon","Castela","the A-bomb" and "Megane-bashi".


Sara-udon



Champong

Castela

"Champong" and "Sara-udon" which says come from China and "Castela" which came from Portugal,give evidence of Nagasaki's importance as a trace base for the Portuguese in the 16th century followed by the British and Dutch in the 17th century.

Anyway,I love them so much ,I bought a lot from souvenir shops for myself.

"Megane-bashi" is a land mark in Nagasaki its a bridge made from stone,in the shape of a pair of spectacles,when reflected in the water below it, the bridge has two arches which looks like  "megane" (glasses),when seen together with its reflection.
It was first built in Edo period but a big flood damaged in 1982,after which was repaired.

Megane-bashi