Japan 2010 - Yashima Plateau, Takamatsu

After branch (breakfast + lunch) at Uehara...we continued to Yashima by taking the local train...its small (just one car, if I'm not mistaken) and very old fashion...but a nice ride..^^

The signboard and the station

We need to take the bus and the bus stop is right in front of the station....unfortunately when we arrived we just missed the bus and had to wait for the next one...it was cold and windy...and we decided to stay inside the small train station....so if you are ever going to Yashima...its better to time yourself well so you can save yourself the 'waiting' period....hehehe ^^

When we reached there, we were greeted by the sightseeing volunteers...and one uncle (a very kind one), volunteered to take us around...arigatou gozaimashita....

This is the icon of Takamatsu...the badgers... the gate into the shrine..there's a few souvenirs shops lining the path going to the viewpoint area...here's a few snaps....

I bought one box of olive chocolate and a "yarn" souvenir item...something similar like the picture but a bit more bigger......^^

We reached the view point and the sceneries are awesome!!! It is amazing...you can see the whole Takamatsu port area....a few islands....words are not enough to describe...so here's the pictures.....

According to the our guide uncle....you are supposed to toss down a clay plate item down the ravine for good fortune....and the nice lady at the souvenir shop actually give some (FOC) to us...we threw a couple down...I think only Has and Kah Ling managed to make the clay plate sailed down like a flying saucer while the rest was like throwing stones.....down with a "bump"...hahahaha ^^

We with the guide uncle ( I really need to sent these picture to him...probably do it this weekend ^^)...and here's me doing picture post while Has listened attentively to the guide uncle's explanation about the sakura tree....

On the way down back to the bus area...we strolled pass the aquarium...since everybody is tired and cold...we decided not visit the aquarium....here's a picture of me between the Heike and Genji seals.....

I skipped the Shikoku Mura after taking consideration of the Hime-sama in my group....a bit dissapointing as the timing for both Ritsurin and Yashima goes according to my planning....:(....but looking at the positive side....I had fun with the places that we went..and the weather was great too..^^

Two of my hime sama falled asleep in the train from Yashima....^^

Ritsurin and Yashima plateau are a must see places for those making a trip to Takamatsu!!

Japan 2010 - Ritsurin Park, Takamatsu

My personal entry on my recent trip to Japan.....places that we went to:

(1) Takamatsu

(2) Shodo Island

(3) Himeji

(4) Kyoto

(5) Takayama

(6) Matsumoto

(7) Kawaguchiko

(8) Tokyo

Personnally this was not one of my best trips :( a bit dissapointing in fact...well what to do...different people got different interest...if only they told me upfront I would have made different plan for the trip....

The first destination was very stressful on me...one was complaining about her foot and bag...(and that one after I make all the arrangement to courier our big bags. ..hmmmm. ..disheartening right)...while one was complaining the lack of high class shopping mall...if only I knew..then I would have made the appropriate arrangement.....

But what to do...have to proceed with the initial plan as all the bookings have been made and committed to....tried to boost myself...by looking forward to the places that I wanted to go....luckily everything falls into places (have to turn blind eyes and deaf ear to the complaining tho!).....but I still need to skip a few of the places that were in the inital plan...zannen desu ga demo shoganain da.

The first place that was skipped was Okayama.

Takamatsu is a very nice town...the weather is too cold for my liking but still a very nice place...had a bit of delayed to get to Okayama due to some sort of train accident...but finally make it to Takamatsu around 4.30 pm....when straight to the hotel....which is located not far from the shopping streets of Takamatsu..^^ here's the street leading to the shopping streets and signboard of our hotel...

The first thing the next morning, the first destination is Ritsurin Park...as the hotel is not far away from Ritsurin Park, we decided to walk...it was early morning....Friday morning, not a lot of traffic....it was a nice walk....

We reached Ritsurin quite early...there's a few joggers...the workers just clock-in for work...and we had the garden all to ourselves^^

Here's few snap of Ritsurin Park...my personnal observation was....different from the garden in Kanazawa...while in Kanazawa, you look at the garden and instantly you know that it cater for the elite group...the one in Takamatsu is more spacious...with lots of open space areas... lots of benches for you to sit down and enjoy the scenery...there's a small waterfall at one area of the garden...landscaped with the mountains and hills as the background...a different kind of beautiful than Kanazawa's. Words just could not describe it adequately ....so here's a few pictures....

The entrance signboard.....









The steep route from the viewing point....................
And this is what you see from the top...









You can see the hill/mountain reflected in the lake.......it is beautiful!! Luckily it was a nice weather that day....

The famous bridge...look exactly like the one in the internet....:)

The bridge from close views....and the teahouse next to the fish pond.............the fishes are big and very colourful...see....happily swimming and playing...hehehe.....a very relaxing view indeed......

The various pathway....very different from each other and very unique..kirei desyo!

The different flora and fauna that you can find in the garden....

The camelia....magnolia....cherry blossom (although they are not in full bloom yet)

The open space area....and a snap of the garden's workers going about their daily job.

Getting ready for cherry blossom matsuri....the red and white lantern are already up....^^

The resting area and our own unique post...hehehe ^^

You see this tree....that's why smoking is bad for your health...hahaha

While we were there, we were approached by one of the garden official...asked a few questions about us and our trip plan....and asked permission to snap our picture to be posted in the Ritsurin Koen website....hehehe...can't wait to see it ^^

Finished with the garden...we asked the counter staff on the best udon shops around town...and we were recommended with Uehara....the best udon I have ever tasted...and the sweetest pumpkin tempura I have ever eaten (see shabericorner blogspot for the review). Overall, the garden and the udon raised my spirit slightly...^^