riza sukses: Oktober 2015

Sabtu, 31 Oktober 2015

Japan - Kyoto : Nishiki market + Pontocho area

Japan : Kyoto - May 2015

Continue from : Japan - Kyoto : Arashiyama area

Second part of day 2, we took JR train to Shijo station to cover 2 places: Nishiki Market and Pontocho.

Sources: Japan guide

Nishiki Market 錦市場

Nishiki market is a five block long narrow shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants.This is definitely a place where you can stuff yourself with fresh cheap food.

omg~ look at these prices!

lol fresh from fruits itself

Then we saw this warabi mochi which we have been searching since we first tried at Isetan Japanese food fare years ago!

We went back to buy a few packets thinking to bring back to Singapore. We finished it within two days. =x

look at the gigantic omurice lol

super cute donuts from Floresta

After dinner, we strolled to Pontocho area which was just a few streets away.

Pontocho area 先斗町

In front of us was a long stretch of small restaurants offering a wide range of dining options from inexpensive yakitori to expensive traditional and modern Kyoto cuisine. We did not have a chance to try one of the restaurants because they all looked very expensive.

So we took a stroll to experience the atmosphere. *cheapskate*

Pretty view at dusk when the lighting was on.

Minggu, 18 Oktober 2015

NY Jewish Week profiles me & my Jewish heritage work

Me in Hostice, CZ, in front of the long-abandoned synagogue

Writing in the New York Jewish Week, travel writer Hilary Danailova profiles me and my Jewish heritage and Jewish heritage travel work, including the Jewish Heritage Europe web site.

Heritage Tourism In Europe

10/13/15

Hilary Danailova

From Poland to Portugal, nobody knows Jewish Europe like Ruth Ellen Gruber.
On a given week, the Philadelphia-born journalist might be checking out a newly opened museum, inspecting the restoration of a prewar synagogue, or picking her way through forest brambles in search of long-lost tombstones. That explains how Gruber found herself recently in the wilderness south of Prague, where she stumbled onto an 18th-century Jewish cemetery in a clearing near a faded sign marking “Synagogue Street.”
“Here’s this place in the middle of nowhere, and actually, there used to be a synagogue here,” recalled Gruber, who was sleuthing with the aid of locals. “It gave me that sense of discovery that I used to find everywhere. When I find a place that thrills me or makes me feel that sense of wonder again … I loved it.”
The thrill of discovery is something Gruber shares with a growing number of enthusiasts through the website she oversees, Jewish Heritage Europe. A project of the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, JHE is a comprehensive web portal for all things Jewish overseas: festivals, institutions, scholarship, synagogues and cemeteries.
Under Gruber’s direction, JHE has evolved into an essential travel resource. With an engaging redesign and the recent launch of “Have Your Say,” a feature that invites interactive commentary, JHE makes Jewish Europe more accessible — and more communal — than ever.
Gruber has long occupied a front-row seat for the show that is modern Europe. Since the 1970s, she has reported from abroad for many major news outlets in North America; currently JTA’s senior European correspondent, next summer she will lead her first European Jewish heritage tour for The New York Times. [...]

Read the entire article on the Jewish Week web site

Senin, 12 Oktober 2015

Japan : Kyoto - Arashiyama area

Kyoto - May 2015

This trip definitely came no easy. From the day we decided to go Japan and the actual day was only 1 month apart so we need to make fast decision. I felt thankful for this particular friend to make this trip finally came true but also felt very apologetic that she did not join due to many reasons. She was like an angel from the sky lol~

This was my ever first trip to Japan so it was frustrating and miserable when planning the itinerary. There were so many places and things we wanted to go and do. We almost broke down when we saw how complicated Tokyo's train lines were. Thankfully, we found this website Hyperdia which made our lives so so much easier. It shows you all the timetable and route search in Japan with alternative routes. Another angel for this trip.

Our third angel is this Japan tourist website: Japan-Guide.com. It has all the recommendations, routes and nearby tourist spots in one website.

We only finalised our itinerary just three days before the actual day.

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Finally, this day has came and we touched down in Narita Airport in the afternoon. We quickly gotten our JR 7 days pass and pocket wifi in the airport before we headed to Kyoto via Shinkansen. The total duration was around 2 hr 30 min. Bf and I were so tired from the flight that we both dozed off in shinkansen with our bags hanging on the walls unattended. That was so unusual for us as we normally would take turn to sleep to look after our belongings. Other than in Singapore, we never felt this safe in this country that security totally slipped out of our minds.

It was already near night time when we reached Kyoto and settled down in our airbnb apartment near Kyoto station. We headed off to nearby shopping mall which was only 2 min walk from our airbnb apartment for dinner.

Mushroom omurice

Cheesy sausages omurice

After dinner, we went back to our airbnb apartment to rest. 13 days in Japan has started~ ~

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Day 2

Good morning Kyoto~

Our 7 days JR pass was indeed very useful and cost efficient as we planned our routes all via JR. We were super impressed that their trains are very punctual according to Hyperdia timetables. We arrived at JR Saga Arashiyama station where we have three places to cover here: Tenryuji Temple, Bamboo Groves, Sagano scene

sources: japan guide

Tenryuji Temple 天龍寺

It was ranked first among the city's five great Zen temples and is now registered as a world heritage site.

Purification fountain where you can wash your hands as an act to cleanse yourself before entering temple or shrine.

Tenryuji Temple 天龍寺

Opening hours 8:30 to 17:30 (until 17:00 from late October to late March)

Entrance fees 500 yen (an extra 100 yen for entrance into the temple buildings)

Arashiyama Bamboo Groves

There is a side door towards bamboo groves from Tenryuji temple near the purification fountain.

It gave out a mysterious quiet feel while walking the path that cut through the bamboo groves.

Sagano Scenic Railway 嵯峨野観光鉄道

Through the bamboo groves, we slowly strolled towards the scenic railway where we could take the sightseeing train line that runs along the Hozugawa River with a pleasant view of the scenery from Arashiyama through the forested ravine and into rural Kameoka.

We had some time to spare before the next train so we wandered around and found this beautiful small plot of field filled with flowers.

The miniature version of the train station

Here we go~

This place is amazing beautiful during autumn or spring where it fills with autumn foliage or cherry blossom.

Hozugawa river

Hozugawa river cruises

I wanted to take this sightseeing boat ride down the Hozugawa River which is piloted by boatmen who guide the craft with oars and bamboo poles. However, the whole journey will take 2 hours and it is not very time and cost efficient (4100 yen).

Then we saw this inflatable raft - maybe cheaper alternative lol

Sagano Scenic Railway

Opening hour : 9:00 to 16:00 (until 17:00 on busy days)

Closed on Wednesdays (except for national holidays, during the spring and summer vacation periods and the autumn foliage season), December 30 to the end of February

Fees 620 yen one way between Torokko Saga and Torokko Kameoka Stations