Bad Hair Day

Bad hair day for the Tsuru... dunno what animal this is... looks like a cross between a porcupine and a monkey... he was just staying put in the tree when we passed him while going to the east side of the Ueno zoo... Haha~ very mild animal... we were all crowding around him and practically pushing the camera into his face... and still no reaction...Tsuru's hair looks like mine last time... shooting off in different directions... argh.... my hair has broken in many places... rebond too many times liao... think the last rebond using the korean product caused the hair to break... should have stuck with the japanese ones... this friday going to 'save' my hair... dunno what will happen.... Tooth pain some more... no time to see dentist... $*&#(#$Q&

Snow started.... at Kamikochi

Argh! 2 weeks after i visited Kamikochi.... now got snow! Arrggghhhh! It looks soooo pretty now... and it will become more scenic when the snowfall gets heavier... Compare the 2 photos that I took....

Sep 25...Oct 9.... So pretty.... i really want to see and touch snow..... must fufil my dream!

My Fave Animals in the Zoo

Had very cute encounters with 2 of the animals in the zoo - 1 is the gorilla and the other is the red panda.

1) Gorilla... think the animals very 'aware' of their surroundings... and they got their own character... not blur blur one... they are aware of pple looking at them and taking photos.... and hor... they will even stay still and pose for you... saw this behaviour with the gorilla... the deer also like this, and some of the monkeys... My fave is this gorilla here. At first he was just sitting there... looking at us through the glass panels... we were all excitedly pointing at him and taking photos... and he just looked at us coldly...Then he got fed up and turned ard... and showed us his butt!
I walked ard to the next panel and caught his face.... He's sulking... haha~
2) Next is the red panda... This red panda is famous... There is one by the name of "fuuta" who can stand on his hind legs... However, Fuuta-kun is at the Chiba zoo, so this red panda is the same kind but cannot stand up.... The whole enclosure as empty when i got there.... there was this sign stuck on the post asking us to look up into the trees.... for his fave resting spot....And there he was.... lying there.... and he laid there for a good 15mins without moving... i was standing there.... camera in hand... ready to take a shot of him....Then some Japanese teenagers started calling him name and asking him to look here.... and he did! just a split second look! I was one of the few who managed to take a shot of his face... Pic is a bit blur becos of the quick reaction to take him.... His face... Cute right?

Ueno Zoo

Yes~ I went to the zoo... haha~ Had a very strong urge to go to a zoo after watching a drama special on Asahiyama Zoo. So I specially made time to go to the Ueno Zoo. 15yrs since I last visited a zoo... And... I enjoyed it!!! Haha~ Cant believe it myself too.... hahahahah~... Now... I very gian about Hokkaido... And I got 2 tickets to Japan that I need to use before 31 Mar 2007... Think i will go the Asahiyama Zoo.... Yippee!!!

I reached Ueno Zoo at ard 1.30pm... After I went to book my train tickets and getting used to the sights and sounds in Ueno... Been 2yrs since I last came back.... I thought the animals were a lethargic lot... Most of them were sleeping when I went ard their cages...

Panda RinRin... Sleeping when I passed by her cage...
Gorilla taking a nap... The way she sleeps... so human like... haha~
2 Observations i made from the zoo....
1) Japanese pple are very orderly and very considerate... They lined up to see the animals and no one hogged the place... The minute they have seen enough, they will move off and let the back pple move to the front. No need to fight to get to the front... High quality of life...
2) Japanese kids know the animals very well... They know the long long scientific names of the animals and... the animals pet names! Like the panda is RinRin, one of the monkeys is Kei, etc... They can even differentiate 1 monkey from the next... amazing!

My Room~

This was my room for the 1st 5 nights~ It only takes 4 steps from the table to the door... Small but I had a lot of fun in it... I even fell asleep in the bath on the 1st night... too tired... when i woke up, the water was almost cold... haha~
Weather in Tokyo when I set out for my sightseeing on Sat afternoon... Good weather ne~...

Touching Down in Japan and Green Car!

Touched down at Narita Airport on 23rd Sept 7.3-am... Miracously, the typhoon was deflected off more east and it didnt come onto the land... All we had was some turbulence during the flight and the skies were cloudy... So we managed to reach Narita airport without any delay...

Customs clearance was slow... and there was a short episode with the customs officer who insisted on opening up my lugguage during the "interview".... #$&#*# But I was more amused than annoyed when he poked ard my lugguage and asked me questions about what I brought...Then went to change to the JR East pass... for unlimited travel on all JR trains in Eastern Japan... Since yen is cheap recently... we decided to splurge a bit and get the GREEN pass... business-class travel on the trains... heeehee~ Went to the 'midori no mado-guchi" to change the pass... Over the next few days, we became very accquainted to this sign as we went frequently to make changes to our train schedules... haha~ This is the green car train ticket... "green" haha~ first time taking green car... wonder what's its like... Heard that the green car carriage is more spacious and more stable... with better soundproof to the rumbling noise of the train...
This is the signboard to announce the arrival of the trains... used in most stations.... Mine is the 8.52am train...
This my train! Narita Express~ Can see the green car sign on the outside of the train...
The inside of the train~ Its really spacious and I can stick my legs right out straight... It's a far cry from the Ordinary Car where the seats are close to each other... Normally there are 4 seats in a row... But Green only has 3 seats! And the chairs are thicker and softer... Businesss-class is real different!Fell asleep soon after the train started and after eating my bento... "Taste of Autumn" haha~ practically starving after the night flight with insufficient food served... and i didnt had much dinner the night before....

I'm back~~~!!!

Just touched down.... Singapore so hot! Japan was 23 deg average... windy and sunny... so nice~~~

Very tired now... been travelling for the past 12 hrs... from hotel -> train -> plane -> home...

Got to unpack and catch up on some work... will update more later!