Here's Kah Ling queuing for the bus...before we decided to take the next bus instead!
Himeji Port....I think they have a standard feature for the port because it looks exactly like Fukuda Port ^^
HimejiJo from the maids' quarter compound...its beautiful, right?!
After searching around for non-crowded shop, we settled on this little shop...I had anago gohan (2/3 piece of unagi with coloured rice) while my sis had tamago gohan....and a WARM cup of japanese tea....^^ and what do you know...the tea tasted better hahahaha......
The unique replica in front of the port station...hmmmm....I wonder what it represent...????
We went straight to our hotel...here's the entrance and the lobby area...the lobby is basically at level 1....and there is a big internet cafe at the ground area......with a massage chair....XD
We went straight to our hotel...here's the entrance and the lobby area...the lobby is basically at level 1....and there is a big internet cafe at the ground area......with a massage chair....XD
We went out early the next morning to avoid the crowd...and what do you know...we were not the only ones..the crowd is trying to avoid the bigger crowd...hahahaha ^^ 
Here's a few pictures of HimejiJo.....
We decided to follow the path that we took in 2007 and it seems we made the right choice.... yokatta.... and this was only known afterward, of course.... here's the main gate!
The maid quarters....it was a long pathway..... wonder how do the maids go about doing their jobs or bringing their lords with drinks and such.....it was a loooong way from the main tower......and you have to walk in small steps as you would be wearing kimono....can you just imagine it...if it was me...I probably went up...pester the lords to give list of things he wants...so that I can bring everything at one go....hahahaha ^^
Sen Hime with her companion's replicas.....it looks very lifelike!
Sen Hime with her companion's replicas.....it looks very lifelike!
HimejiJo from the maids' quarter compound...its beautiful, right?!
The not so nice thing about Himeji this time around was the crowd...there's too many people...when we reached the main tower's area...there was already long queue of people wanting to go up the main tower.....Has and me decided to sit the main tower out..and waited for the rest at the main gate......while waiting, we met this nice Japanese family...a dad, a mom, a daughter and a son.....and they speak good Bahasa Malaysia (BM)....after introducing themselves...in which the daughter introduce herself in BM in a japanese rhyme ^^(by the way her name is Sara, she's 8 years old and her birthday is on 30/8).....the mom told us that they have been living in Kuala Lumpur for nearly 6 years and they were at Himeji because the family "balik kampung"....hahahaha so cute...she actually said that!!
After about an hour, the others came back with not so happy faces...my sis told me that it was overly crowded up there....:( so they did not enjoy it much......
After about an hour, the others came back with not so happy faces...my sis told me that it was overly crowded up there....:( so they did not enjoy it much......
It was cold and everybody were hungry and its started dizzling....so we decided to go out from there...and look for warm place with food ^^..........HimejiJo OUT!
After searching around for non-crowded shop, we settled on this little shop...I had anago gohan (2/3 piece of unagi with coloured rice) while my sis had tamago gohan....and a WARM cup of japanese tea....^^ and what do you know...the tea tasted better hahahaha......
Once we had our fill, we decided to go for the next spot...the Kokoen....it located right next to HimejiJo...but with different entrance gate....while walking toward the Kokoen's gate...we saw this signboard...actually we saw one at Himeji Train Station....its basically telling tourist how long you have to wait to enter HimejiJo due to the large crowd..X(
The cold wind was blowing....but luckily the drizzle has stopped.....we slowly made our way to KoKoen...a picture of me and all my hime sama ^^
The gate heading to the main garden....there was a long wood pathway...leading to somesort like a teahouse...I guess this was where Sen Hime had her teas and her little gossips ^^ but it way to big and luxurious for one princess.....in my honest opinion :)
The small stream going through the wood pathway leading to the small pond....don't know why but just a feeling that everything was man made, including the little waterfall in this picture..
The teahouse and a small stone bridge crossing the fish pond.....
The teahouse and a small stone bridge crossing the fish pond.....
Capturing my sis trying to capture the sakura spirit....hahahaha...^^ and here's the picture that she took.....
Picture of yours truly...with a stone pathway and a portion of the teahouse at the background....
Picture of yours truly...with a stone pathway and a portion of the teahouse at the background....
The main garden is connected to other smaller gardens by these stonewall....I remember seeing a taiga drama where the ninja jump from the other side of a stonewall just like these ones...^^ too much drama...i know, i know....
Here's some of the smaller gardens' pictures...
Here's some of the smaller gardens' pictures...
The smaller gardens all have their own unique names...but I forgot to take pictures of each signboard....Here's picture of site map of Himeji Kokoen...
The cute Himeji Tourist Bus...^^ afterward we decided to go for souvenir hunting (me and my sis personnally) while two of my hime sama wanted to go shopping at Uniglo, next to our hotel...so we splitted up....me, my sis and one hime went to scout through souvenirs shops lining the street while the two hime goes on shopping spree at Uniglo.....
Some of the items we saw at the souvenirs shops..
On the way back to our hotel....we saw this kimono shop....it was the expensive type, so all we can afford to do was snapped a picture hahahaha....
And we stopped by the shopping arcade...by this time we already split from our hime...as she need to change her shoes...
The cute Himeji Tourist Bus...^^ afterward we decided to go for souvenir hunting (me and my sis personnally) while two of my hime sama wanted to go shopping at Uniglo, next to our hotel...so we splitted up....me, my sis and one hime went to scout through souvenirs shops lining the street while the two hime goes on shopping spree at Uniglo.....
Some of the items we saw at the souvenirs shops..
On the way back to our hotel....we saw this kimono shop....it was the expensive type, so all we can afford to do was snapped a picture hahahaha....
And we stopped by the shopping arcade...by this time we already split from our hime...as she need to change her shoes...
We bought socks....a few other trinkets as souvenirs...at that time it was around 5.30 to 6.00, not so many people around and lots of shops were already closing....hmmm...i wonder where do they get the impression that the Japanese are a workholics (probably just the office workers because since I was in Japan...most of the shops open from 8.30 am onwards and closed at 5 or 5.30 pm....and they closed on time)......
Picture of the arcade and a cute hello kitty cafe ^^
Picture of the arcade and a cute hello kitty cafe ^^
We did go out to the 100 Yen shop later that evening...but overall that all for our Himeji's trip...I had fun except for the crowds.....I enjoyed it better when we were there in Autumn 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment