7am - Rise and shine
Woke up just 30min later than planned. Achievement!
Ok, I'm officially sick. Sore throat and runny nose. Can I still enjoy the holiday?
Check out our breakfast today! Udon for a change. Ramen with cheese, exotic!
Today, we have trains to catch. Chiong ah!
First speed bump of the day right outside our hotel room door. The lift was down for maintenance. Great. They didn't highlight it to us. And they couldn't turn it on for a minute for me. There was no way we could wait for the service to resume, so brother piggy-backed me down. The most unhappy incident with the hotel.
Took the Metro to Tennoji, then Tennoji to Kamo(Kyoto) via the JR Yamatoji Line. Late for the Tennoji to Kamo leg!
10.05am - Kamo(Kyoto) 加茂(京都)
I was delighted that there's a lift at this station in the middle of nothingness.
We quickly crossed the road to the be with the only civilization around. But they just looked like shops that were not open.
Perhaps the time would be better spent on lunch, so that we wouldn't need to spend time on lunch later at the Ninja Museum. Enter the restaurant ahead...
It was a family-style restaurant run by a middle-aged couple. There was just one other customer at the counter seat. Their specialty was don. Not the seafood kind, but the more commoner kind with chicken, beef, pork. My spell of rice-eating carried on.
The boss served us iced-water as per standard practice, but I was so cold that I couldn't stomach another mouthful of cold water, especially when I could just ask for non-cold water. It turned out to be harder than imagined, as the bosses didn't understand "no ice". Finally, I pointed to each of the ice cubes in my cup and gestured "no". They got it.
We placed our orders and waited. I felt they were taking too long. We had less than 1hr. If we didn't make it, we would have 1hr more to spend here, which would be dreadful with the lack of life here (we didn't see people or even as much as a cat) and of course upset of a very delicate schedule. Hurry up~ Please don't tell me you still needed to cook the rice~
I heard the microwave. I do hope it's not instant food. Just let it be delicious please. Don't taste like Yoshinoya.
The news on the tv was reporting on the hottest current affair - The collision of Japan's sea patrol boat and China's fishing boat at Diaoyu Island and the subsequent arrest of the Chinese captain.
Gasp! Stop speaking Mandarin now! Speak English, speak English! We are NOT from China! Don't give us dagger stares or poison our food please ~_~
Food's served, steamy hot!
Upper left: Brother's 牛丼 gyudon ぎゅうどん. Beef as you may already tell.
Bottom: Sister's 豚丼 butadon I think.
The juices from the meat infused with the rice, flavoring it. Due to the breakfast, I had no choice but to leave half the rice behind. And I made sure I left only the rice behind :D
While we were eating, the other customer was done and lit up, to our horror. It didn't take long for the cigarette smoke to diffuse 2m to our airspace. My brother was done, so he went out for fresh air. Poor sister and I had no choice but to tahan. We would really love to dine al-fresco now :(
The male boss came to chat with us. First question was of course regarding our origin. Couldn't recall his exact guesses, but I think it was Malaysia or what. I was just relieved that China was not one of it. We told him the answer and I wasn't expecting him to know, but surprisingly, he did! The land with the water-spouting Merlion! Wow impressive! I mean, STB has done an impressive job! *clap clap*
A fabulous and affordable lunch, only marred by carcinogenic smoke.
11am - Train to Iga Ueno 伊賀上野
When we were inquiring the platform to board at, the station staff very kindly offered to walk us there. When we approached the train, there was another staff waiting with a ramp. He was too fast for us, already setting it up before we could decline. Bo bian, just use it lah ^_^;;
The train stopped at the station long enough for it to be fully-seated. I guessed that's how low-frequency trains work. Only 1 train per hour! Miss it and happy waiting.
On the JR Kansai Line, towards the home of Ninjas!
11.42am - Iga Ueno Station 伊賀上野駅
After a 36min scenic ride along a mountain and through the countryside, we have arrived at Iga Ueno, located in the Mie Prefecture 三重県. The place is called Ueno, but had to be prefixed with Iga to avoid confusion with her more well-known namesake in Tokyo. So Ueno is a primary reference to the one in Tokyo. Poor Iga.
The station's exit was at the opposite side of the platform. No lift in sight, so it's a piggyback across. No more caterpillar! It would be perfect if Sister would walk faster and have the wheelchair ready before I reach the bottom...
The train station. Another simple station.
Temperature warming, maybe about 20°C now. Sunlight was stronger than before.
Now to take a cab to our destination, but this station was even more ulu than Kamo. No human spotted beyond the station! No vehicle, not to mention cabs!
Waited...
Should we call?
...
(Not so 夸张 lah, as you would have known us by now, we are impatient and probably only less than 5min had elapsed)
If we would wait a little longer, we could catch the next local train.
In the nick of time, a cab drove in. Yeah yeah flag!
So we were going to... *looked at Sister*.
"Ninja Museum!"
But our dear driver couldn't understand. He tried to help by asking if it was any of those attractions listed on the taxi stand post, but nope. O shit, was that place SO ulu? Do their locals go there at all??
In a park, near a castle? No? Did we have a Japanese name? No??
We started fumbling for the text or map to show him.
I forgot how, but in the end, the driver got it. So much for the organizer's organizing.
Into the tiny cab, with residual cigarette smoke. Urgh. They should ban smoking in cabs too like in Singapore! Wind down the window... We had all heard how deadly cab fares are in Japan. Hope the trip would be truly ¥1000 as estimated by the cab fare estimator. Just don't break the bank.
12.10pm - Ueno Park 上野公園
10min later, we arrived at the visitor's centre of Ueno Park, where the Iga Ueno Castle and Ninja Museum are located. Cab fare was not far off the estimation, if not the same, so 准!
I wonder if it's the side door or what... it's just a tiny booth with staff who still managed to remain cheerful. There was also a modern-looking washroom with barrier-free facilities (I didn't go in), how thoughtful!
A tour bus or two were parked there. Worrying... is this place popular with tourists?
As we entered the park, a few other visitors were also entering. Good good, still got some 人气.
Map at the entrance. Confirm our destination is indeed here.
Obstacle ahead! Gravel path again *groans*
A stretch of torii gates. Skip that, we would be seeing the real McCoy tomorrow!
12.15pm - Ninja Museum of Igaryo 伊賀流忍者博物館
I'm sure you have heard of ninjas. Igaryo is just one of the different schools, those of which I have heard of, all ended with -賀, such as 滋賀，甲賀.
The Ninja Museum was just a short walk from the park entrance.
Tickets, ¥700 each. Add ¥200 for the ninja show. How much of the museum accessible to me remained to be seen. Please let the money be well-spent.
A staff member was enthusiastically directing the visitors. She could speak some English, heng! Controlled entry. I hope it didn't mean that it would be a guided tour too. We didn't have to wait long for our turn.
First stop, the 伊賀流忍者屋敷. Visitors had to remove their shoes to enter the house and sit on the floor for a performance. Brother tried to wheel me in, but was stopped by the staff. O no... were they going to close the door?
The show started... in Japanese though. Couldn't understand! See actions only lor. A plump but nimble lady introduced the typical ninja house and its various defense mechanisms and traps for utilization in event of an attack. This was no lecture. Live demonstrations got the kids all excited!
Don't see her fat fat, she could disappear behind the ninja rotating door with well-lubricated hinges with ease. Now, a kid gave it a go.
Look up! See anybody? No? Lights on, now we do! Ninjas could observe their enemies unseen.
While the visitors were changing orientation to see the various demonstrations, the staff with us would tell us where to face. So, that's why she was with us. The visitors had not forgotten us who were watching from outside. Some would ask their children to sit down when they got too excited. *Touched*
Hidden stairs for quick escape.
Suddenly, the staff told us to follow her round the house... why?
Secret compartment for hiding.
Removable door tracks to reveal a trapdoor to the underground tunnel.
This wrapped up the demonstrations. The visitors were led to the 忍術体験館, an exhibition of the ninjas' weapons, gadgets and skills used to infiltrate a castle.
Downstairs? I can go or not?
Ah ha, despite the lok kokness look and ulu location, the museum had it all thought out. The staff led us to the lift. I appreciate her now *touched*. But she began following us round the exhibition... no need lah, we can handle it! Besides, she should have more important things to do.
Now I wonder how Japan reallocates their manpower when it seemed like SOP to follow every visitor with special needs.
After the lady was gone, the uncle in charge of the exhibition started following us. His England not so powerful, harder to get it across that we needed no help -_-;;
English captions available. Very, very touched. They really should do more to attract angmohs here after all the effort they had put in.
First trick in the bag, disguise. Only 7? How limited occupations were in ancient Japan. 3 types for priests alone!
Ok enough of side-tracking.
Gadget for walking across water.
Lock-picking. Still relevant in today's society.
Check out the spade-shaped saw. 太大了吧? How to bring out?
The ninja show was about to start soon at the 忍術体験広場. But we were not done with this yet! Since the next show would be 1hr later, the staff suggested that we go for the show first and return later. Good idea!
We took the lift up and were told to go round the building to the sidedoor of the show stage. Uh... the door was locked. A cast member in thick makeup came along and let us in. We were the first! Grab our preferred seats! Yup, we didn't have to settle for the seats in front coz there's a ramp that led up!
The theatre fill up soon filled up and the show started. All in Japanese, see action only.
Showing off the super-sharp sword.
The female ninja was blowing her flute when she was set upon! But she whipped out a dagger concealed in her flute and managed to wrestle her assailant to the ground. With a stroke, her assailant's fortune turned.
Long flute?
Shuriken throwing. Haa....ya!
Demonstrating a pair of weapons looped over the wrist, which could be easily swung into your hands or just whipped around like the 双节棍.
Some other weapons later, it's the finale... all weapons and skills come together for this treat!
Girl minding her own business when she was suddenly set upon. Smoke bomb!
The background music with pre-recorded fighting sound-effects (those HaaaR! *Bish* *Cheng* *Swoosh* UrghhHH!)were perfectly choreographed with this action sequence. No NG, no de-sync, impressive!
O no, 2 vs 1 now!
And she fought them off. Forgot how haha. Should have taken a video. We were caught by surprise! It turned out to be very enjoyable. Happy to have caught it.
They didn't tear our ninja show ticket... can come again yeah!
The exit was where we entered from. The purpose was to lead the visitors to the shuriken-throwing area.
As you might have already guessed, those who gave it a go were the kids.
And my sister of course, at the adult course. Her result.
We returned to the 忍術体験館 downstairs to finish up the rest of the exhibition.
Next and last stop, the 忍者伝承館 which reveals the science and technology employed by ninjas for their covert work.
Bottom: Shurikens of various shapes and their throwing-methods.
Glued to a video of the ninja's sparring techniques.
Bottom left: We BADLY need to know if it would rain during our Disney day, but I'm sure we wouldn't be able to see stars in Tokyo, much less twinkles.
Bottom right: How about using Mt Fuji as a gauge?
Lastly, the Ninja 坊, which was really a souvenir shop. Lots of figurines and swords that we couldn't bring home. No thanks~
A child-friendly museum. I didn't recall any F&B at the Ninja Museum, except for popcorn. So glad that we were late and ate during transit!
We left the museum and walked the same way out. We stopped by a souvenir shop in the park for toilet break and took a 2min spin in the shop. Boring~
We retraced our steps to the visitor's centre. Ok... how to get out of here when there was no signs of vehicles, much less cabs? This is not the kind of place like Singapore Zoo where you have taxis queuing up despite the ulu location. As already revealed in the morning, we didn't know how to get ourselves out of this situation, so we went to the visitor's centre for help. Now, the staff obviously remembered us, as she immediately rendered the most appropriate help - call a cab for us. How grateful I was. For a moment, I was afraid that she was going to tell us to stand by the roadside for 1hr.
This time, our driver was better in English. We chatted a bit and the most memorable thing he said,
"Sunday, we sleep." *Made a sleeping gesture*
Gee, that explained.
2.45pm - Iga Ueno Station 伊賀上野駅
The 2.31pm train had already left without us. We had an hour's wait ahead of us, so we went for a stroll in the vicinity, hoping to find something like we did in Kamo.
OMG where was everybody... The cabbie was right. People were literally sleeping.
You know in the movies, when there's something wrong with a town, it would be dead peaceful, as if all the inhabitants were wiped out from a zombie rampage 1yr ago.
Maybe a zombie was lying in ambush in one of the shops, waiting to pounce on us juicy tourists...
O wait wait, here's a moving human and truck!
And so we were done with the stroll in what, 6min?! Windy and boring, back to the train station.
We checked out 2 shelves displaying the local products, but curiously, no shops to sell them. Only a vending machines selling ice-cream was there to occupy us.
Stoned...
An idlytic town. So idle that we could die if we stayed a minute longer. So glad to go to the platforms to expect the train!
15min later, we were on our way back to the city!
3.31pm - Train to Kamo
Country-side scenery again. The air was cool and fresh. No air-conditioning needed at all.
River winding round, backdrop of mountains and red leaves.
A park, the only area with trees in their best red. There must have been some manipulation.
Lallang?
Mini-dam.
The controls.
Beautiful house in traditional design spotted.
Then I fell dead asleep. Brother already was. The transit at Kamo was relatively shorter this time, probably for around 15min. No more 1hr wait!
6pm - Shinsaibashi Station 心斎橋駅
Back to glitzy Osaka! So late again. It was supposed to be a shopping late afternoon, but looked like we wouldn't be able to achieve much again.
Walk in a random direction again~ First stop, Daimaru's basement. Japan's department stores' basements are famed for their wide array of food, in terms of variety and price range.
Set meals that looked o-so-delicious, but somehow, I didn't feel like I would want it for dinner that day.
Wow, looked REALLY good! But S$22 for a box of beef for dinner?
Look at these HUMONGOUS grapes! I want!
Dinner-scouting failed here. We took a spin around the shops area as my sister wanted to look for her boots, but quickly realized that the pricing of their goods were mostly out of our reach.
Out to the streets. 御堂筋清水町
We came to a covered shopping street. No fan or air-con seen, but nevertheless, still well-ventilated with the cold air entering. Wouldn't it be an oven in the summer? A Sunday, but I think Orchard Road could easily have more people than we see here.
Watch the chef at work!
We just kept walking, stopping for my sister to make a run into all the shops selling toiletries. Winter fashion didn't interest us.
Came across a shop selling what looked like crispy creampuff.
The seasonal and most expensive chestnut puff. Awesome!
We thought this was Kit Kat shop, but we spied greentea and other stuff inside.
8.07pm, the shops were closing and streets were starting to empty.
Samantha Thavasa having a kitty breakout - the Liberty and Hello Kitty collection.
Krispy Kreme! Doughnuts was another fad food.
Check out that long queue! Got security guard somemore! We watched the buns on the conveyor belt... that must be the speed they were flying off the shelves.
Dinner, where art thou? Japanese-western fusion was common, but I wished for something more Japanese. We had decided on a conveyor belt sushi restaurant whose prices seemed quite reasonable, but the indecisive us decided to walk further down to see what else was there. And we didn't go back there again.
A bunch of kids spotted at a soap store, blatantly playing with the soap. And the shop assistantS didn't stop them. Is this another example of exemplary service?
The gigantic, colorful, electricity-wasting billboards! *Gasp* The real McCoys!
The words read "DJ Hello Kitty". Ok...
Brother took a photo of the beer billboard, while I saw かに!!
We sensed a divine force leading us over the bridge, left turn, and into
8.54pm - Dinner: Kani Douraku かに道楽
The famous big crab restaurant! 举双手双脚赞成吃螃蟹当晚餐! It's pretty late now, so I asked the staff when the last order was. He didn't understand my question, but since he was going to let us in, we assumed it wasn't time yet.
Got lift again! Up we went.
Pseudo-kneeling seats. There's actually leg-space under the table. The cushion makes for easy transfer as demonstrated in Miyajima, so I sat inside, next to the window.
We flipped through the menu full of delectable pictures of food with prices serving as a deterrent. A waitress who could speak Mandarin came to serve us (good if it was a thoughtful arrangement by the restaurant, thanks if it was just coincidental). I thought she was from China, but when she only knew the Japanese name and not the Chinese name of some type of crabs, I thought Mandarin was probably her second language then.
And we did exactly what we did at Zuboraya. *Hides faces* Not so kiam siap this time lah, there was those flipping promotion stands on each table, and a crab sushi item caught my eye. Order!
Starters. How fast memory fades! Looks like pickled sashimi with mysterious vegee. The other is sweetened chestnut.
Coming up... the numerous ways crab can be eaten!
Cold Alaskan crab legs. I think the sauce was vinegar.
Close-up of the meat. Fresh!
Ooo my crab sushi.
Alaskan crab sashimi.
In place of the familiar chewy texture, it was softer and more sticky.
Grilled, Alaskan crab legs, served with lemon and salt.
Egged. 茶碗蒸し, mmm~
Our additional sushi. THIS is the true meaning of crabstick!
The mayo crab sushi was great too, but paled in comparison to the crabstick one. It's the mayo lah... cannot taste the crab.
Sweet, sweet clear soup.
Outstanding matcha ice-cream. The matcha was thick and bitter, complemented the ice-cream well!
10pm, any last order?
YES! YES! YESSSS!!!! (at a rate faster than an average woman would agree to a proposal upon seeing a 1 caret ring)
Another portion of grilled crab~ yum yum yum!.
I wished we could eat somemore, but alas, kitchen closed!
10.40pm - Finding Our Way Back
Another famous sign.
Since it was late and we have another early day tomorrow, we decided to take the train back. Not as easy for us. Shopping centres were closed long ago, increasing the difficulty of finding an entrance with a lift. No worries for fit people though, stairs were all over the place. So we were walking all over, wondering if we were in the correct direction, checking maps on the streets (it's really cool, they have maps everywhere), until we came to this pyramid-structure, which I think was where we got off from earlier in the evening? Ya, so we came back to the same place, found an entrance to an underpass and finally got inside the station.
We couldn't go to bed without supper.
We must have slept at 1am again. How to wake up tomorrow wor~
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