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Saturday, November 17, 2007

鎌倉

Did you all think that my trip to 東京 ended there? NO! Haha... my mum and sis joined my after the symposium so we kinda toured/shopped around for about 5 days...ok actually it was about 3 days..coz the first and last day didn't really count.
So what did we do during that 3-5 days? Well...first day, my mum and sis arrived at the hotel at about 4pm...so we didn't really go anywhere except around the area. Oh ya, I switched hotels though...The one at 高田馬場 (Takadanobaba) is too expensive...and coz we had to find a room for 3. So I shifted to a hotel in 池袋 (Ikebukuro) instead. So, on the first day, we kinda just shopped for essential things that we knew we wanted to get...for example my favourite Fancl...haha... and then just went for dinner.

The next day was a Saturday and our initial plan was to go to 鎌倉 (Kamakura), with Maureen, my sis's friend and also my 先輩. But! As always...somehow I seriously have a problem with the luck of nature...a typhoon passed by. So, we had to change our plans...and stuck around 池袋again instead and shopped some more. And finally, I went to eat my favourite 牛角! Yup, there is one in CHJIMES in Singapore. Super expensive, but super delicious. There are plenty of 焼肉(yakiniku) shops around Japan and I went to a few of them before. But this is the first time that I went to eat at 牛角 coz my sis always ask me to compare it with the Singapore one. And I have to say, it beats the one at CHJIMES hands down...and it is so much cheaper. Talking about 焼肉, I have to recommend anyone who goes to eat, to try the 牛タン(cow's tongue). おいしい!!I'm drooling already, just thinking about it. Maureen prefered pig's tongue though. But me and my sis both agreed that 牛タンis still the best. Eat it with squeezed lemon and if at 牛角、their sauce is good too. Try both, and decide which is better. It's a personal taste.
Ok, enough about food. Continuing with my trip, we went to 鎌倉 the next day (Sunday) instead. 鎌倉is a place where is famous for temples. We visited 3 of the more famous temples as we didn't really have enough time.

The first one was 鶴岡八幡宮 (Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine). This shrine is considered one of the most important shrine in 鎌倉. Founded by 源賴義 (Minamoto Yoriyoshi) in 1063, it was later enlarged and moved to its current location by 源頼朝 (Minamoto Yoritomo) in 1180, who was the founder and first shogun of the 鎌倉 shogunate (government). For those of you who know, yes 源頼朝 is the brother of 源義経 (Minamoto Yoshitsune), the famous warrior. And for those who are fans of 滝沢秀明 (Hideaki Takizawa), yes, he acted as 源義経 in the 大河ドラマ (Taiga drama which is a year long historical drama) on NHK in 2005.


Me, my mum and my sis infront of 鶴岡八幡宮.

A place where priests perform ceremonies, eg. weddings.




There was a wedding ceremony going on when I was there.



Those barrels of sake are to thank people/organizations that donated large sums of money to the temple, I think. This cyclist just stood right in the middle there dazing....


There was also some festival going on. I thought that it was the 七五三 (a traditional rite and festival day for three and seven year-old girls and three and five year-old boys). But it is supposed to be on November 15, so I am not sure. Nevertheless, the kids looked so cute dressed up that I was happily and sneekily snapping away.




かわいい!!



かわいい!The girls especially walk very slow because of the high traditional clogs that they have to wear.

The grave of 源頼朝 which is a short walk from the temple.


源頼朝 grave.Walking to another temple, we saw another wedding ceremony taking place at a hotel.


Next stop was 長谷寺 (Hase Temple), famous for its statue of 観音, the Goddess of Mercy.


Outside 長谷寺.

Rows of statues of 観音.

This is one of the statues at a height of about 2.8m. But the main highlight of the temple is the statue of 観音that is 9.18m tall. The large statue is actually carved from wood. Legend has it that in 721AD, a monk discovered a large camphor tree and ordered the carving of 2 statues of the eleven-headed 観音. One statue was enshrined in Hasedera near Nara, and the other (the larger of the 2), was thrown into the sea near Osaka with a prayer that it would reappear to save the people. 15 years later, this statue was washed ashore at Nagai Beach near 鎌倉. It was then brought to 鎌倉and長谷寺was built to honor it. But no photos allowed!


This is where people pray for harmony in the family.


Me and my sis.


Me, my sis and Maureen 先輩!


かわいいでしょう?

A cave where many statues of 弁財天 (Japanese Sea Goddess) are chiseled out of the rock walls.

Final stop for the day was 高徳院(Kōtoku-in Temple) to see the 大仏 (Great Buddha). It is 13.35m in height, and is the 2nd largest Buddha statue in Japan. This statue was cast in 1252 and was originally inside a large temple. However, the temple was washed away by a tsunami at the end of the 15th century and since then, the statue stands in open air.

As it was already about 5pm...the sun was setting (it is Autumn there), and it was difficult to take a good picture of the statue.

Another picture of the 大仏.

On the way back to the station, we passed by this 煎餅shop and went in to take a look. Yummy!

The 煎餅was huge!

Back in 池袋 after the long day at 鎌倉, we went to an 居酒屋for dinner. Another yummy dinner which filled my stomach...Hmm...satisfied.


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reflections @ 1:05 AM