Posts Tagged With: nature

白浜 Shirahama @和歌山 Wakayama, Japan

Posted on 27 September 2023 by lendeliz

Once we arrived at 白浜駅 Shirahama Station, we quickly made our way to 三段壁 Sandanbeki and 千畳敷 Senjojiki via bus.

三段壁 Sandanbeki is a cliff with rocks engraved with the works of nature. Ripple marks were created on the surface of the layers about 16 million years ago when waves and currents moved sand and mud from the seabed. At the bottom, there’s a legendary cave where Kumano naval force hid ships as long ago as the Heian Era, and one of Japan’s largest bronze statue Murodaibenzaiten is dedicated in the cave. One can pay to go down an elevator to the cave but we didn’t venture.

千畳敷 Senjojiki meaning “one thousand tatami mats” is a rocky coastal plateau in Wakayama known for unique geological formations. This is a vast, white, terraced rock plateau eroded by the Pacific Ocean, allowing for coastal hiking.

The weather was beautifully sunny—great for photos, but not so great for our sun-fried selves, LOL! Luckily, a refreshing strawberry-flavored shaved ice (¥150) from one of the souvenir shops revived us a little.

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Categories: Dinner, Food, Japan, Travel, Wakayama | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Short trip to 西湖 West Lake @杭州 Hangzhou, China

Posted on 3 January 2019 by lendeliz

img20190103161815We took a cab from 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple to Hangzhou Train Station, and the ride took us by 西湖 West Lake 白提 Bai Causeway and 断桥 Broken Bridge. During the ride, the driver told us that the best way to enjoy the views of West Lake was to see it from afar. He shared that the locals would just sit at a spot by the lake, and the views would be different depending on the season. He advised us to not attempt to “see” the entire lake over the next few days, but rather to take it easy and just enjoy the atmosphere. Wise words indeed 🙂

After purchasing our train tickets for the subsequent trips, we went to the bus interchange to take a bus back to 西湖 West Lake. I think there were 2 buses; route Y2 or route 7, and we took Y2 (¥3 per adult).
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Categories: China, Hangzhou, Travel | Tags: | 2 Comments

Half day trip to 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple and 飞来峰 Peak Flown in from Afar @杭州 Hangzhou, China

Posted on 3 January 2019 by lendeliz

img_0470We took the advice of the hotel staff and decided to cab instead of bus to 飞来峰 (loosely translated as Peak Flown in from Afar).

Tried out 滴滴出行 Didi Rider app and managed to get a ride quite easily at 7+ in the morning. We arrived around 8am, got our tickets (¥45 per adult), and made our way in. It was rather quiet with only one tour group, and we could take our own sweet time to admire the carvings.

We also spent quite a fair amount of time in 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple (¥30 per adult), just enjoying the stroll and chatting along the way. We also stopped for a bowl of 罗汉面 (¥18) at the restaurant 十方苑 within 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple to take a break from the cold and walking. In the midst of walking, we also found the 老酸奶 yoghurt drink that I was so fond of during our Beijing trip. In 2016, we paid about ¥5 per bottle, here it cost ¥15 😮 Because I missed it so much, I paid for it *no eyes to see*
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Categories: China, Hangzhou, Travel | Tags: | 2 Comments

Half day trip to 旗津 Cijin Island

Posted on 15 July 2018 by lendeliz

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Today we were hanging out within 高雄Kaohsiung, and we wanted to head out to 旗津 Cijin Island. The 10-minute ferry ride was more like drifting across the waters 😛

Once we got off the ferry, we rented a 4-seater electric bicycle (NT600 for 2 hours) to get around the island. A map was provided and all we had to do was to follow the trail and stop whenever we felt like it.

Though it was a really hot day, we could still feel the pleasant sea breeze. We took our time to stop and enjoy the scenery 🙂

Initially, it was Ms K who did the “driving”, and then halfway through, I got my chance to try, and there was no turning back, LOL! I thought it was so fun! With Ms K guiding me along, it was an easy ride. I even managed to “drive” through a particularly crowded street while trying to find our way back to the bicycle rental shop. Another cheap thrill for a non-driver 😛 Hubby might have almost fainted sitting at the back though 😛

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Categories: Taiwan, Travel | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Day trip to 屏東 Ping Tung

Posted on 14 July 2018 by lendeliz

IMG_6983We met up with our driver 王师傅 at our hotel 頭等艙飯店高雄‧站前館 Airline Inn – Kaoshiung Station for our day trip to 屏東 Ping Tung at 9am. He was the alternate driver whom 許大哥 (who took us from 高雄国际機場 Kaohsiung International Airport to 東港码头 Donggang Ferry Terminal) offered, as he had a last-minute assignment. We could not help but feel a little disappointed as we thought 許大哥 was really friendly and experienced. While 王师傅 seemed to be rather unfamiliar with this area (and we appeared to have done quite a bit of detours during the earlier part of the trip) he was a very safe and patient driver.

The original NT4000 10-hour (9am to 7pm) plan which included petrol, toll, parking and passenger insurance (excluding entrance fees) was:

酒店出發 > 霧台谷川大橋 > 霧台 > 原住民文化園區 > 山川琉璃大橋 > 涼山瀑布 > 佛陀紀念館或旗山老街 > 回高雄

We ended up extending by more than an hour and we topped up an additional NT500 on our own accord for his patience. Here was what we did:

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Categories: Taiwan, Travel | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Day trip to 指宿 Ibusuki

Posted on 10 September 2017 by lendeliz

IMG_3968.jpgOur main to-do list in 鹿児島 Kagoshima included taking the pretty train to 指宿 Ibusuki, and to check out the 砂むし sand bath over there!

There are 3 return trains for Limited Express 指宿のたまて箱 Ibusuki-no-Tamatebako per day, so making reservations is a must!

The interior of the train is very pretty and there are seats that are facing the windows, so that passengers can enjoy the coastal scenery in its full glory. Unfortunately, those seats are extremely popular, and we did not manage to reserve them.

It was OK though, for everyone was busy walking within the train and standing up to take pictures during the 50-minute train ride. There was also a staff who provided some props and helped everyone take pictures 🙂 This was the most lively train ride we had so far 😀

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Categories: Japan, Kagoshima, Travel | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Half day trip to 桜島 Sakurajima @Kagoshima, Japan

Posted on 8 September 2017 by lendeliz

IMG_3859From 高千穂 Takachiho, we took a bus to 延岡 Nobeoka, and then train to 宮崎 Miyazaki (to collect our luggage), and then continuing on to 鹿児島 Kagoshima. It was already close to 3pm by the time we reached our hotel to drop our luggage (and we started at 6am!).

Since the weather looked good, we thought we should cover 桜島 Sakurajima today, otherwise the whole day would seemed like it’s just taking different transport from Point A to Point B. 🙂

We had purchased the Kagoshima Welcome Cute Pass (¥1,500) (when we got off the train at 鹿児島中央駅 Kagoshima-Chuo Station), and so after checking-in and dropping our luggage, we rushed to take the tram (aka streetcar) from our hotel to Kagoshima Port. Through brisk walking, we made it in time to catch the 15:40 ferry to 桜島 Sakurajima, and arrived at the volcanic island a short 15 minutes later. 🙂

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Categories: Japan, Kagoshima, Travel | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Overnight stay at 高千穂 Takachiho, Japan

Posted on 7 September 2017 by lendeliz

IMG20170907133618IMG_3761.jpgOne of the main highlights of this trip was to visit the beautiful 高千穂峡 Takachiho Gorge!

We had a hard time deciding if we wanted to do this as a day trip (might be too rushed), or to do an overnight stay and watch the cultural show at night (which we might not understand at all). Eventually, we decided to take it easy and stay one night at the gorge, as we would be travelling long distances often during this trip.

It took us a while to find the B&B 浮き雲 Ukigumo, where we would be staying for the night. The friendly owner spoke English very well, and directed us to a shortcut to get to the 高千穂峡 Takachiho Gorge 🙂

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Categories: Japan, Miyazaki, Travel | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Day trip to 霧島神宮 Kirishima Jingu and 関之尾の滝 Sekinoo-no-taki

Posted on 6 September 2017 by lendeliz

IMG_3621.jpgWe were feeling very excited today, as we would be visiting 霧島神宮 Kirishima Shrine (aka Jingu), which worships 天孫瓊瓊杵尊 (Ninigi-no-mikoto), the grandson of 天照大神 (Amaterasu-omikami), the Sun Goddess.

According to Japanese mythology, Kirishima is the place where Ninigi-no-mikoto arrived in Japan, in accordance to Amaterasu-omikami’s orders to reign over the ancient Japan, and subsequently, his descendants were the Emperors of Japan, first being 神武天皇 Jinmu-tennō Emperor Jimmu.

We visited 鵜戸神宮 (Udo Jingu) Udo Shrine (2 days ago) which worships  鵜葺草葺不合命 Ugayafukiaezu-no-mikoto, the father of 神武天皇 Jinmu-tennō Emperor Jimmu and son of Ninigi-no-mikoto. Miyazaki is truly the land of Japanese Mythology, and there are many more shrines dedicated to these mythological deities.

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Categories: Japan, Miyazaki, Travel | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

Day trip to 鵜戸神宮 Udo Jingu & 青島 Aoshima @Miyazaki, Japan

Posted on 4 September 2017 by lendeliz

2017-09-04 08.08.59We woke up bright and early to catch the 8:19am bus to 鵜戸神宮 (Udo Jingu) Udo Shrine (dedicated to 鵜葺草葺不合命 Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto “Unfinished Cormorant-Feather Thatching” , the father of 神武天皇 Jinmu-tennō Emperor Jimmu, the mythical first emperor of Japan).

It was a super cloudy day, but rain was expected later in the afternoon, as well as whole of tomorrow (due to a nearby typhoon), so today was the best day to go 日南 Nichinan area for 鵜戸神宮 Udo Jingu & 青島 Aoshima, and we had to make sure that we get up the first bus!

It was a pleasant morning ride with little traffic. We first passed by little houses and saw some farmers doing a bit of burning (perhaps to fertilise the soil?).

After 50 mins, we passed by 青島 Aoshima (which we would come back to later), and began to see the beautiful coastal view 😀 en route to 鵜戸神宮 Udo Jingu (another 40 mins).

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Categories: Japan, Miyazaki, Travel | Tags: , | 4 Comments

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