まずは奈良から大阪までバスに乗って家族に会いに行った。四十五分ぐらいかかったけど、たくさんのこと考えた。どこの駅で降りるとか次の電車は何時に来るとか誰も言ってくれない、これからは。。
Things You Don't See, You Feel
Wednesday 21 December 2016
一人旅
Osaka-Dotonbori
Probably the first thing I came across after coming out from Namba station. 道頓堀 "Dotonburi" is the spot in Namba where you'll always see mainstream picture, especially Glico Man, the face of the confectionery company (you know, the marathon guy raising both his hands) It is also the must-go-place to eat should you decided to stop by Osaka
It is normally much more livelier at night due to the incredible lighting display that time.
However, it is still no less livevier at daytime due to its wide range of shops and restaurant. There were several landmarks which are main spots for tourists
How to get there?
Probably no explanation is needed as it's probably spot able the moment you exit Namba station. This is just the simple map displaying the distance of Dotonbori from Namba station. As you can see it's pretty near and you just need to cross the road once or twice depending on which exit you used
The famous landmarks
Kani Doraku Crab
A stall with a huge crab hanging in front of the building selling roast and steam crab meat (obviously)
Kuidaore Taro
The mechanical drummer Kuidaore Taro, a symbol of Osaka, has returned to the city's Dotonbori area, ending its one-year odyssey following the closure of the restaurant where it once stood guard. Kuidaore Taro was placed in front of the restaurant in 1950 and became a local landmark. Osaka is known as the city of "kuidaore", meaning "to ruin oneself by eating and drinking to excess"
Dotonbori Kukuru
Being famous for Takoyaki, Dotonburi Kukuru holds many stall selling these octopus ball. One of the most well known would be Dotonbori Kukuru which is also a landmark due to its humongous octopus on the front of the building which makes it an easy to spot place for tourist. (I personally haven't try the food there due to its long line)
Dotonbori Bridge
Another trademark of Dotonbori would the Dotonbori bridge where there is a tourist boat bringing them around the water canal across Nipponbashi. This bridge is crucial to connect both Nipponbashi and Dotonboribashi The bridge is also known as Ebisubashi due to its initial purpose as a pathway which lead to Ebisu Shrine.
The first cross section junction you will spot on your first exit
たこ焼き十八番 Takoyaki Juhachiban
Probably my first takoyaki here in Osaka, 十八番たこ焼き is locate. I didn't have much time to try other takoyaki around here so I dare not compare at this moment but their prices are reasonable so I would recommend this stall to those dropping by Namba someday.
Monday 26 September 2016
What time did to Japan
It's no surprise that despite the advanced medical care they posses, it doesn't change the fact that Japan is well known for their low birth rate and high population or elderly. But it wasn't always like that. In 1930, the birth rate was a solid 4.7 per one adult female. That number just hit rock bottom to a mere 1.3 coming into the 21st century. Not to mention the total fertility rate (TFR) - the number of children a women bear in her lifetime is far below the replacement rate. This aging community and sexless couples was a huge factor in the decreasing population up until this point. Many would argue on why this drastic change occurred with some claiming it was due to the number of independent women who chose career over childbirth while some of the single men refuse to leave their parent's house.
(Quick trivia : despite being known for the low fertility rate, Japan has never made it to the "top 10" countries with the lowest fertility rate)
Among 100 Japanese student, 97 students made it into high school and 50 of them made them into university. It was enough for them to earn them a spot in the top 5 country with the most college graduation rate. That is the current Japan we know today... Going back 50 years ago, the number of people who made it to school, 60...and only a mere 10 person was able to graduate from university. Like most places, it was consider a luxury back then to successfully pass a university entrance exam compared to the current state we live in.
However, there exist a trend now where students are choosing to work without pursuing higher education (beginning at the age of 16-18). As for the pros and cons, I'll leave it for some other day (feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section)
Currently, statistics shows that the average Japanese now consumes 92 gram of fish compared to the previous 86 grams per day in 1970. Being an island itself, Japan is not unfamiliar with seafood and aquatic vegetation. However, consumption of meat saw a huge rise instead, going from 36 gram per day to 77 gram per day. We can thank the revolution of agriculture for this. The poultry section on the other hand, saw a huge increase as well as people consume dairy product (milk, cheese, yogurt) more in the 21st century (253 gram/day) compare to 1930's Japan (173 gram/day)
However, not known to many, Japan are heavily reliant on imported meat due to their low self sufficiency rate. Japan's food self sufficiency rate on a calorie basis is the lowest among 12 developed countries cited in an international comparison released by the farm ministry in 2003. Expert cite many factors that have contributed to the decline. One common explanation is the radical change in the eating habits of Japanese and in the food industry after World War II
On the bright side Japan's self sufficiency rate for rice, eggs, whale meat and mandarin oranges exceeds 90 percent. However the rate for essential ingredients for Japanese cuisine, including soy beans is a mere 5 percent, and is just 13 percent for daily necessities like cooking oil.
My first month storage |
Sunday 18 September 2016
Interesting places to visit (Kobe)
This time I'm just sharing about the time I went Kobe. This was more of a gathering for me and my friends who are studying in the Kansai region. This trip was also made during the Golden Week since it's one of the few rare ocassion where everyone has a holiday at the same time.
Getting from Nara to Kobe was not really that hard but it took longer that expected. But situated in the middle of where all of our schools are, just the right spot for our gathering. All of us met up at JR Kobe Station and for a train station, it was huuuuge, enough to be a mall itself. Apparently it's called Umie and it's one of the main shopping complex around here. Needless to say, all of us took our time shopping there and gather back again in GODIVA
GODIVA, chocolate paradise |
You don't see many roads, nor car in Nara |
Something you don't see everyday |
Iconic watchtower |
After taking some pictures all around the all famous harbour, we took a trip to the much more packed street they called Kobe Nankanmachi AKA Kobe Chinatown. Well, technically I'm a Chinese but seeing my people's culture spread like butter even here, just makes me glad to be one (that feeling doesn't come often). And it is also here where we had our try on the famous Kobe beef eeeeeveryone has been talking about. The hype bout it makes it the wait in line more bearable. We had it in the form of burger since we just had our lunch there but that 1000 yen burger was worth the money. I'm not a big fan of beef myself but even I could tell that meat was definitely one of a kind.
rush hour? |
even spiderman can't help it |
Best place for ramen, Ichiran Ramen |
Thursday 15 September 2016
Mid Autumn Festival
Full moon |
Long ago, people believed that there were ten sun that rose above and cause disaster to the people. However a hero named Hou Yi, armed with his bow and arrow shot down nine of them, leaving one for sunlight to provide heat and light for the people. He was then presented with the elixir of immortality. However he decided not to consume it, choosing to stay by his wife Chang'e and left the elixir in her safekeeping. Knowing this, his apprentice, tried to steal the elixir. Yi's wife, trying to prevent this, consume the elixir herself and became immortal which caused her to fly all the way up. She chose moon as her new home, wanting to stay near to his lover. Hearing this, Hou Yi wa saddened and gave offerings in the form of fruits and cake to her since that day. The people who soon learned about this sympathized with Hou Yi chose to participate in the sacrifice to Chang.
This year would be the first time I spend this festive season away from home. However, like how the glass is always half full, this is the opportunity for me to finally play my role in introducing this tradition to foreigner (Japanese in case you're new here). And also, I have friends whom I can enjoy celebrating this annual festival with me (in case you guys are reading) so no regrets here at all :)
A trip by the river |
Thursday 8 September 2016
3 ways to NOT learn a new language
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela
Rio 2016 has made headlines all over the world for the past few weeks and after a splendid introduction of Tokyo 2020, people are already excited about it 4 years before its opening. The rise in the number of tourist during that year is something to look forward to, not to mention the increase in the number of the people who will begin attending Japanese class in preparation for that. Here are some head-start tips for you guys out there:-
some of them are rather good at it |
- Don't believe everything you hear By that I mean, don't expect yourself to improve on the language you are trying to learn just by listening to their "top tracks". Much like the well know meme, where anime otakus can memorize soundtracks of every anime they have watched but DON'T think for a second that they can strike a conversation with a Japanese just because of that. Song lyrics in normal conversation isn't as cool as it sounds. So as a reminder, stop lying to yourself and treat the songs as entertainment and not as an educational tool.
- Drop the fancy word One thing I've noticed is that, it's not uncommon to someone to trying improve his/her language by buying a book filled with idioms an proverbs.... and expect to use it in an exam or an interview. I'll be honest, just like some of them, I've used to carry the same habit when writing essays in exam. It only became clear to me when after friend of mine mimic my learning habit did I realize how ridiculous that sounds. I mean, yea sure you might impress a guy or two but please....out of respect for the language and everyone using it, "study your tools well before buying them". Like you don't just strike a simple "hello" to anyone and just spit a "every cloud has a silver lining" in the middle of the conversation. Don't get me wrong, of course I'm not blaming them for doing so. I understand, I've been there and done that but that's why I know how ridiculous that sounds, and it would be a sin not to point that out to them.
- Literal translation spoils the fun This is a no brainer but still people often made that mistake. What do I mean by that is :- not everything in English (or any other language as far as anyone is concern) can be literally translate to Japanese on its own and vice versa. Sure you can search a dictionary to find the meaning of a Japanese word but know that, culture and social norm affects language more than people realise. There are terms in Japanese that no matter how, can never be translate correctly into other language simply because of social difference. For example :- people say otsukaresama desu to their colleague after a hard day of work which helps display gratitude. Now try to put that into English term...it's alright, I know you can't (or prove me wrong and comment your answers)
Friday 2 September 2016
Interesting place to visit (Nara)
Probably the first spot I visited would be Nara itself. It's a good thing my Japanese teacher was willing to be our tour guide for the day. It was during the Golden Week when this happened. We gathered at Nara eki (train station) in the morning, around 9 am plus and meet up with our sensei over there.
First we took a trip to a temple (Btw, there are like a LOT of shrines and temples here) called Koufuku-ji. One of the main attraction would probably the pagoda (cone like building). Didn't expect to find one here though. Another trivia about it, is that the place is under the UNESCO World Heritage List. The details about the place such as history and architecture, I'll leave it to Mr. Google for those of you
who are interested in those sorts of details (sorry, I wasn't paying much attention during the tour). Entrance is not really cheap to be honest, at least not for me.
Next, we head to probably, the main attraction in Nara, Nara Park itself. Herd of deers inhabiting the area, it's truly a sight to behold you can't find anywhere else in Japan, or even the world. There are a few stalls selling senbei (rice crackers) to be fed to the deers for the price of 150 yen. You'll be surprised how many deers will coming dashing towards you the moment you hold this in front of them. And just like rumors said, they DO bow down to you in request of the rice crackers you might have on your hand
To be continued....(sorry guys for stopping here don't feel like writing everything in one post, strains my eyes but hope you enjoy my story up to this point)