Koyasan, Wakayama

This must be the least updated blog in Blogger. I've only written 3 entries in 2007 and only one this year. I'll create an entry today so Blogger does not delete my blog due to inactivity :)

I've worked in several countries in Asia and Japan has consistently stood out as a place that I want to visit regularly. Last November I spent 3 weeks travelling from Tokyo heading toward Hiroshima and then flew out of the country from Nagoya. The places that I covered were Tokyo, Nikko, Kyoto, Nara, Himeiji, Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Koyasan, Nagoya, and Ise. Of all, I found the most interesting or unique was my experience at Koyasan.

Mount Koya (Koyasan) is the center of Shingon Buddhism, a Buddhist sect which was introduced to Japan in 805 by Kobo Daishi (aka Kukai), one of the most significant personalities in Japan's religious history. Over one hundred temples stand in the small town on top of the wooded mountain (source: Japan Guide).



I travelled by train from Osaka and the journey was about 2 hours. The rural villages on hill tops were beautiful. A complete getaway from bustling Osaka.



The rail tracks ran along the edge of mountains and passing by several small wooden train stops.






The final ascend to Koyasan is by the funicular train. The main town (Koya town) is about 1000 meters above sea level.



And after about 5 minutes of train ride, Voila !



My main intention to visit Koyasan was to experience temple lodging. This is the temple that I stayed for two nights.




This is how my room looked like ...



The view through the room window ...



I arrived around 7pm so vegetarian dinner was served immediately, prepared by a monk ...





After dinner, I did not go out as the temple has a curfew time. The main gate will be closed at 10pm. Anyway it was very cold outside, around zero deg Celcius. So I decided to sleep as I was quite tired after travelling from Osaka. But wait ..... where is the bed? I didn't see any bed or mattress or futon or sarong. Then came a knock on the door, and the same monk who prepared my dinner showed up again with a smile. Oh I see ....



The following morning all the guests (five including me) were woken up by the monks at 6am and we joined them for rites and rituals (fire ceremony) and chantings. I didn't understand a word or meaning behind those rituals and the worst thing of all was I had to kneel for 2 hours during the entire process. After the ceremony, we went back to our own rooms for a vegetarian breakfast.



Being inspired by all the chantings and rituals, I decided that it might be time for my own enlightenment .....



After 2 minutes, I still did not float above the cushion and the next thing that happened .... I was suddenly holding this in my hand .....



Yahoo! Sightseeing time :) Slipped into my jeans and jacket and out I went ....

I spent 2 days and 2 nights at Koyasan and it was definitely a good getaway from the big cities. Click here to see the photos that I took at Koyasan.

Kota Kinabalu

This is the logo of one of the state universities in Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. I am studying for my Masters now but no, this is not my graduate school. Last July (yes, I am that lazy to blog about it until now), I was accompanying my niece for her first year undergraduate program registration at this university. When I stepped into the university, I was blown away! This is definitely the most beautiful university campus in whole of Malaysia. Click here to check out its sprawling seaside campus view. How I wish I can study here. Unfortunately, I almost flung my public university entry exam so I am not qualified to study in any state universities :(

So, what is there to blog about my niece's university in this travel blog? You see, for me, "accompanying" most of the times also means "holidays" :) What is exciting about the trip is not the university but the location of the university. It is in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state. For my non-Malaysian friends who are not familiar with Malaysia, Sabah is situated in Borneo island (refer to map below).

Many Malaysians have not actually visited Sabah (one of the two states of East Malaysia) due to its far distance from West Malaysia. The state is inhabited largely by indigeneous tribes known as the Kadazan and Dusun. It would feel like visiting another country eventhough it is Malaysia. At a dinner, I snapped a cultural dance by these indigeneous people and this picture shows how exotic this place can be .... (I mean the cultural dance and not "Tiger beer" and the delicious seafood available)

Kota Kinabalu is a coastal town with the Tunku Abdul Rahman national park (refer map above) just minutes away by speedboat. You can do island-hopping as there are a couple of small beautiful islands that are very near to each other. So while my niece was busy with her university enrolment matters, I sneaked out with my brother to enjoy ourselves ;) Ha, ha, ha, what an uncle :)

The type of boat used to island-hop.

The upper flag is the Malaysian flag and the lower one is the Sabah state flag.

One of the islands.

The jetty of the island.

Waiting for my boat to proceed to the next island.

You haven't really been to Sabah if you have not visited the Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia and Borneo island. You can wiki more about Mount KK here. Unfortunately my visit was not arranged to scale all the way to the top, so I did not get the chance to see the beautiful snapshots featured on the wiki page. Visitors like me who turn up at the last minute can only hike up until a certain point.

Look at the hiking map below. we were only allowed to hike from Timpohon to Ubah, a total of 2km.

The trail looked like these:

With a waterfall along the way ....

The first checkpoint - Kandis

The second checkpoint - Ubah

We started at 11am and finished around 2pm. After lunch, we drove about 1.5 hours to the Poring hotsprings park to experience the canopy walk, which is a suspension bridge about 45meters above the forest floor.

Entrance to the park.

The canopy walk.

After a tiring day, finally met up with my niece for dinner. And I told her, I'd like to "accompany" your father to your graduation ceremony next time. Ha, ha, ha, what an uncle :)

Colmar

Colmar is a town and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. Colmar was founded in the 9th century. This was the location where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years. The city was conquered by France under Louis XIV in 1697.

In 1679 (Treaty of Nimwegen) Colmar was ceded to France. With the rest of Alsace, Colmar was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. It returned to France after World War I, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945.

Its location is shown in the map below (the yellow dot).

You can wiki more information about Colmar here.

So isn't it wonderful if we could just take a less than 2 hours drive from K.L to get a feel of this historical and cultural French town? Yes, K.L means Kuala Lumpur. Shocked? Don't be as Asians are really good copycats.

I would jump on every opportunity to visit this place, especially if it's going to be free, including food :) And that was exactly what happened on the 14th August when I participated in an outing with Hospice patients. (Read about Hospice here and here). The trip was sponsored by the Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur.

For a start, let's look at how the real Colmar in France looks like:

The classic view along the Quai de la Poissonnerie (courtesy of James Martin)

And compare with:


The classic view at Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia.

See, I wasn't lying when I said that Asians are good copycats ;)

More photos of this "copied" town at the end of this post.

Back to my trip. The patients and volunteers gathered at the Hospice center in Cheras around 10am and then boarded a bus. The journey up to the hill took about one and a half hour.

It was almost lunch time when we reached there so we proceeded to the restaurant.

After lunch while having coffee and tea, there was a band performing at the alfresco dining area. So Irene, one of our volunteers, ushered all the patients outside to enjoy the performance. Immediately the Hospice gang became dominant after chasing away other people. The place was instantly turned into party ground !!!

And we even had a macho fella proposing to Madam Toh :)

And what a great way for Mr. Ng to celebrate his eighty-something birthday.

After having a great time singing and dancing, we went to the nearby rabbit farm.

The final event held before we left was an exciting acrobatic show by performers from mainland China.

Definitely a very well-spent afternoon.

For more pictures of the "copied" Colmar at Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia, click here.

Hiking on the Great Wall

Do you remember this gentleman? He is Mr. Yang Li Wei, the first Chinese astronaut to orbit the earth, back in 2003. When he was asked if he saw the Great Wall from space, he said he did not. Reported here.

I believe him. I can hardly see the wild trail and the ruined towers of the great wall while I was hiking on it !!! (shown below)

So, the Badaling and Mutianyu sections of the Great Wall are very, very different from reality. Those sections have been rebuilt using new stones/rocks for tourism purposes. See picture of Mutianyu below (taken a few years back).

The unprotected great wall sections are commonly known as the Wild Great Wall to the locals. I had the opportunity to join a hiking group during one weekend to the Pinggu district, which is located in the northeast of Beijing city.

Starting point of the hiking trail.

Along the trail, there were many abandoned traditional village huts. I can imagine that life has become very tough as farmers. Most of them went to the city to find jobs.

One of the huts.

Once on the wall, it didn't look good. Yes, this is the present condition of most sections of the great wall, with hikers like me contributing to its deterioration :)

Really, it's just not possible for Mr Astronaut Yang to see this from space.

Walking along the edge of the wall .....

There was splendid view on top of the hills .....

The most challenging part for me was when I have to climb more than 45degrees up to the ruined tower. I can imagine how fit the soldiers were when they have to run up and down the wall in ancient times. The greatwall is really a great engineering feat, spanning a few thousand kilometers and built not on flat land but on top of the rolling hills !!!

At the end of our hike, there was a scenic lake ....