Bondi Beach on Australia Day

Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th of January. This year, was extra special for me and my family. We decided to celebrate it at Bondi Beach (that's about 35 minutes commute from Sydney's CBD). We have also decided to take part in the Havaianas Thongs Challenge and hopefully go in the books for a world record. Registration and collection of the giant inflatable thongs starts at 8:00a.m. so we packed early for our trip.

First in the agenda was to set up camp. We brought along our Aussie flag tent, just in case it gets really hot later in the day.

Then we collected our Havaianas. Of course they came in Aussie colours. In Australia, this is one day everybody gets into the spirit of  being patritotic and gets to show off their Aussie printed hats, shirts, towels, board shorts, bikinis, capes, esky, tent what have you.

  

We hit the water just as soon as we got our inflatables. The water was really cool. It was a nice respite from the three week heatwave we had in Sydney.

Oh Bondi is the best place to be in summer!

At noon, the Havaianas Thongs Challenge 2013 was on! Everybody who registered on time (some online, some on the day) hit the waves. The first group to brave the cool waters were the elite swimmers followed by the above average and then the average swimmers. It was such a nice picture. It's the highlight of the day. Imagine the thousands of thongs floating like some swarm of bees or school of fishes. The object of the challenge was for everybody to stay afloat and get connected to each other as the headcount begins. This was done in other parts of Australia and the beach with the most number of people gets the title.

Later, Havaianas announced that Bondi Beach had a record of 2070 participants and was defeated by Cottesloe Beach in the West Coast with 2093.  Well, if you are with me, let's do it in 2014 and beat Cottesloe's record.

The Auburn Botanical Gardens

It is a mere 20 minute drive from the Sydney's  CBD and is also accessible by train and bus. Right in the heart of Auburn (at the corner of Chisholm and Chiswick Roads) is this haven of flora and fauna. The gardens occupy 9.2 hectares of land. It is most famous for its Japanese Zen garden and a popular spot for family picnics and wedding receptions.

Entry fee is just $5 and is free to Auburn City Council residents and children 16 years and below.

Upon entry, you are transported to a traditional Japanese garden set up.  If you are lucky enough to visit during the month of August, you can catch the cherry blossom trees in full bloom as you walk through the Torii (Japanese Gate).

 

The Moon Gate awaits and lead you to the lake on the west side.

As you go around the lake, you will find different spots great for picture taking. There are stone hill structures, cherry blossom tree lined winding paths, shades of weeping willow and red bright bridges.

Further on is a Sunken Rose Garden, an amphitheatre and a Reflection Pool.  To the east is a pond with ducks and swans.

It is best to plan your trip to make the most of your visit. Always check weather conditions.

Sydney Insider Goes To Japan (Part 5)

I've been on the land of the rising sun for 5 days.  My hosts have decided I can go on my own now.  Well, the truth is, they've decided days before I arrived that I can manage to go to Tokyo Disneyland by myself on this day as everybody has to go either to work or school.

So, I start my journey with a train ride from Oppama to Yokohama station.  That was a breeze as there was a ticket vending machine.  Nothing a Sydneysider can't handle.  (We also have that in Sydney, you know)  Now, at Yokohama, that's a different story.  I've gone to three ticket windows to purchase ticket for my next ride and nobody talks in English.  Last window, the guy scribbled on a piece of paper, the bus station where I was supposed to get my ticket.  Ok, so there's another ticket vending machine.  Then I got on the shuttle that goes to Tokyo Disney Resort.  The whole trip, I realized was as long as my trip from Narita airport. It was long, but I was excited to see Cinderella's castle and her prince (haha!) to even think about it.  Besides, I got to take a nap along the way (see, I told you it was a long trip).

Tokyo  Disney Resort has the DisneySea and the Disneyland.  First stop of the bus was at DisneySea but how was I to know.  My Japanese national seatmate even asked me if that was her stop.  Even the driver does not speak any English, at all .  At least he was able to say DisneySea and I just assumed there is another stop.  Good thinking... there was.  Yehey! Welcome to Disneyland.

I was so excited.  It's just me and my Canon.  But before anything else,  my sister told me to ask where I should get my ride back to Yokohama before going on my sightseeing tour.  First attempt... second attempt.. no luck, everybody was talking in Nihonggo!  Panic? No, not for me.  I'll take care of that later.

I took my Canon out of the bag and click! Uh oh, shutter just closed by itself.  I must admit, my camera goes on a tantrum once in a while.  It says "change batteries" even if you put on new fully charged batteries.  It's done that a number of times, but I still love it.  I just hope it wasn't one of those days.  But, it was.  Time to hit the shop for a camera.  So I got myself a new camera.  One made in Japan.  A disposable one!  No choice.  Poor me (I don't have much money but boy, if I did ..I'd buy a Nikon D3200..lalalala).

So I got myself a brochure with the map...it was loaded with characters! I can only recognize the Disney characters... go figure (see photo) ... the others, could be Hiragana or Kanji... I really wouldn't know the difference. So map has to stay in my backpack (like Dora's map).

I love the spirit inside Disneyland. As they say, it is the happiest place on earth! And I could've been the happiest person on earth if only Canon didn't conk out. Well, I'll have to do with my Japanese camera, my new bestfriend for the day.  First shot.

Beyond this main entrance, is the World Bazaar.  I've decided to put on the shopping afterwards as I've wanted to see Cinderella's Castle first. Just walk straight through the shops and there's the majestic castle.  Here are some photos I took from different angles at different times of the day.

Photo (A) Front view (B)Right side view (C) Back view (D)side view from the landscape (E) right side landscape

The Disney Princesses were just outside the castle for the greet and meet. In the photo below are Cinderella and Prince Charming, Belle, Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip, and is that the Evil Queen (?) sitting on the throne (in her Nike shoes) mwahahaha...

Now, for some more excitement, I walked down to Adventureland.  There were long queues in all attractions but the Swiss Family Tree House and The Enchanted Tiki Room : Stitch presents Aloha E Komo Mai. 

Onwards, I went to Westernland. I managed to get front seat at the Country Bear Theater.  It was entertaining alright, but the ambience just made me sleepy.  Outside there's a mob but inside the theatre there's comfy seats and airconditioning...it was just so relaxing. So, if you plan on coming over and then you feel the urge to rest from all the walking, this is the place to be.

Then it was time to hit the saloon.  Well, I was still in Westernland and so decided to feast on their special chicken package with a bun, corn, mashed potato and a soda.  How I wish it was Kenny Roger's.  My meal was nothing like Ka Roger's or Mang Andok's.

Well, since I've started to spend on my meal, I thought I'd start on buying stuff to bring back home to Sydney. I noticed a lot of the revellers either had a Disney character hat or a hoodie to protect their heads from the sun. So, I got one of each. The chipmunk hat is my favorite.

And if you want to know how much things cost inside the theme park, here are the receipts from my purchases...again, go figure hahaha.

Photo (A) was for the chicken meal, (B) for the towel hoodie and (C) for the Chipmunk hat.

There's so much more to see and there's so little time when you're having fun.   So, before I get you bored with too much talk and too little photos, let me bring you my last set of photos...Here is  the very colourful Easter Parade.

Now, it's time to look for that ride back home.  Till then, goodbye  Disneyland.

.

Just a note, some photos were still taken with my Canon camera (like the last three photos from the parade and this last one). It's just that everytime I take a shot, it just shuts down by itself.

Sydney Insider Goes to Japan (Part 4)

Now let's go see some shrines. It's about time, right? But before anything else, I just want to make it clear that you won't get a lesson about Japanese culture in this blog. I just want to share with you some photos of the places I've been to while having a holiday in Japan.

First stop, the Asakusa Kaminarimon which is the first of two large entrance gates before reaching the Sensouji (temple). This leads to the Nakamise or shopping street (about 200 metres) where you can see all kinds of Japanese souvenir items like the kimono, kabuki wigs and ninja weapons.

Upon reaching the second gate which is called the  Hozomon, there is a pagoda and  two  stations  where visitors purify themselves before proceeding to the temple. One, called the chozuya has dragons with flowing water and people scoop some water and clean their mouth or hands while the other has burning incense and people fan themselves with the smoke coming out of something like a big cauldron.

It is not allowed to take photos inside the shrine. However, I managed to take photos of some of its parts and around it.  Here is a photo of the buddha, the straw slippers of the buddha hanging from a wall, the golden door knock and the lantern which adorns the hall of the shrine.

Here are photos of the surrounding gardens and smaller shrines.

Next stop is Kamakura which is about a one-hour trip from Tokyo if taking the Japan Rail's Yokosuka Line.  Upon reaching Kamakura, there is a sign that says "Welcome to Kamakura, the Home of the Samurai".  The first shrine is the Hachimangu, the most popular and important shrine in Kamakura. 

A long line of  Cherry blossom trees and a paved walk leads to the main torii. (Sadly though, it wasn't the right season when I went there.) From left to right: (1) The paved walk (2) from the end of the Cherry blosson trees and 100 metres away from the shrine (3) at the foot of the stairs to the main shrine. (Click on the photo for larger view)

Here are a few more photos taken at the top of the stairs: parts of the shrine, the wall of paper strips with fortunes written in them called the omikoji  and another wall with prayers written on wooden slabs.

Then, there's the Great Buddha of Kamakura called the daibutsu (which  is 13.35 meters).  It is made of bronze and is hollow on the inside. For a small amount, one can go inside and peep thru a window at the back of the buddha.  I chose to display here photos in black and white because it was a bit cloudy and the rain was about to fall when I took these shots.

Coming up, next...Tokyo Disneyland!

Sydney Insider Goes to Japan (Part 3)

After three days of waking up with a breath of fresh air, I am now ready to take a ride again (the trip from Sydney to Japan left me claustrophobic for a while) . That being a long train ride and yes, tunnels. Did I mention that Yokosuka has the most tunnels in the whole of Japan? Well, they do, I've been told. Here's a couple of photos to prove that.

This is one of the shorter tunnels that penetrates thru Mount Takatori.  It is a main thoroughfare from Yokosuka to Yokohama.

Here is one for pedestrians.  It's lovely, great for photography but somehow this photo does not give justice to my claim.  I wanted to go back and take more photos when not too many people are passing by (every 10 seconds or so) but due to time constraints, I wasn't able to do that. Maybe, next time.

So, after breakfast we took the train (not bullet) from Oppama station to the Oshiage station where the Tokyo Sky Tree Tower is.  It is now the main attraction in Tokyo after it was opened to the public in May 22 this year.  It holds the record for being the tallest tower in the world standing at a massive 634.0 metres (2,080 ft). It's got two enclosed decks located at heights of 350 and 450 meters respectively.  However, if you wish to see the view from the top you have to wait until July 11 when they start selling entrance tickets again.  Apparently,  pre-selling tickets until July 10 has been sold out.  But, a visit to the site and a view from a viewing deck across the street is still worth the trip.  My sister and I still managed to make the most of it.

Underneath the tower are shops galore. The ambience reminds one of  Malaysia's Petronas Towers. Souvenir shops and restaurants left and right.  I got some stationery items and a key chain in one of the shops.

 (Please click image for bigger picture). From left to right: (1) the 3d Skytree ballpen (2) the freebie 3d Skytree tower pick from the Takoyaki restaurant (3) notebook with the photo showing the Skytree and the city around it (4) a tincan of  M&M like coloured coated chocolate candies and (5) a keychain.  Item number (2) was a freebie from where we bought our lunch of Takoyaki, yummy!

Sydney Insider goes to Japan (Part 2)

I remember vividly the day before, I woke up and it was winter in Sydney. Now I am in Japan and it's summer! Anyway, I decided to put on a light long sleeved tee as I would be going to a whole day school event. The Undoukai or sportsfest. In Manila it's similar to  the Family Day cum Field Demo Day and in Sydney it's the Athletics School Carnival plus Cultural Day.

Rewind. I woke up to this view from the bedroom window.

                           

This is absolutely far from the view I get in Sydney. One, houses are not this close together in my suburb. There's more space and it follows that the gardens do not look so cramped as these. Two, the Japanese have a more passionate approach in taking good care of their gardens. There is definitely art involved. I simply adore them. See next pic.

My sister lives on a hill (or is it a mountain).  

If you go all the way down, you reach Oppama station. It's quite busy down there in comparison to the tranquility up the residential areas.

A few alleys and about a kilometer from the station is the Uragou Primary School. Here are some photos of the sportsfest.

Where is the Nikon DS3200 when you need one, huh?

Lunch is a nice shumai bento.  I love it!

                          

At 3:00 p.m. it's pack up time.  My sister and I stopped for a coffee and a slice of cake (yes, we shared one piece! sweet!) at Doutur Coffee shop. Then we headed for home. Finally, here is one Japanese technology that caught my attention and I want to share with you. 

It's the only one in this street, by the way.  I was told, in Japan you cannot buy a car unless you've got a space to park your car first and foremost.