Japan Day 3

Day 3 or #rjapantravelog.

That day, from Osaka we headed to Kyoto. We didn't spend any night in Kyoto due to fully booked accommodation. It's that full! .
Our friends from Tokyo also joined the trip today. With their fluent Japanese lang, I was sure that the day would be easy. The sky seemed agree with me.

First destination in Kyoto was Kiyomizudera. The red structure in this pic is Niomon.

Niōmon is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō (lit. Two Kings). | wiki

Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Realizing that the 3rd day of #rjapantravelog was the only day of that trip with nice weather, so let's skip that day, and move to the 4th day. Lol.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. | wiki

In the pic: the shrine's entrance, where behind it stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine's main building (Honden) and various auxiliary buildings.

We could easily find fox sculpture in this site.

Inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as Inari's messengers.

What is Inari? Inari Ōkami is the Japanese god of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success. / Wiki

The torii-gate (traditional Japanese gate, the orange one) covered hiking trail in this place, is started with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates").

The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. (yes, those small writings that most of you cant read)

The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.

The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters.

The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours. However, due to time constraint, we didn't go to the summit.

A Torii.

A torii (literally bird abode) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.

The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest way to identify Shinto shrines./wiki

As mentioned before, this shrine is the central location for some 40,000 Inari shrines throughout the entirety of Japan. .

Anyway, I'm wondering whether this is sakura or not?

From Fushimi Inari-Taisha, we headed to Arashiyama to view the beautiful Bamboo Grove.

Actually, there's a temple nearby but we didn't go there due to bad weather. (males euy ujan2an).

BTS of Arashiyama pic: drizzle and super crowded path, ... and electricity cables.

A couple of years ago the Ministry of Environment even put the Bamboo Forest on its list of “100 Soundscapes of Japan” – a list of everyday noises/sounds intended to encourage locals to stop and enjoy nature’s music./wiki

However, difficult to hear that nature's sound if it's this crowded 😅

From Arashiyama, then we went to Kobe, which is around 80 km away. Why? Because we could 😂. So, basically we had JR Pass Ticket that we could utilize, and we used it to the fullest.

The city light was pretty mesmerizing.

It's not that often that I could see tulip in Indonesia (atau emang gak ada? :p). But apparently this flower could be found in random places in Japan. Okay, not that random actually.

View at Kobe Bay -

Besides dinner, we actually had nothing to do in Kobe, so we enjoyed the view in a freezing cold weather (for me).

Btw, 99% photos in this #rjapantravelog are not taken using iPhone. Need to clarify this due to what I state in my IG profile :).

Japan Day 2

Day 2 of #rjapantravelog.

We spent the day in Osaka. It was still a cloudy day. Bet the view would be much better with blue sky.

Hanami on the riverside

Gokurakubashi Bridge - a bridge across the Inner Moat of Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks. It was built in 1583.

The basic plan was modeled after Azuchi Castle, the headquarters of Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Oda's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and gold leaf on the sides of the tower to impress visitors. |wiki

Sakura Rain - if you look closer.

And if you look at the previous photo, the trees were leafless/flowerless. Basically it's due to the strong wind that occurred in the past few days.

I don't know what this is for.. Is it for, ummmm, ablution?

@sitamanda said that this is for Shinto-style ablution.

Wiki: Water-filled basins, called chōzubachi, are used by worshippers for washing their left hands, right hands, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine or shaden.

Diorama/miniature inside Osaka Castle

The castle tower is now entirely modern on the inside and even features an elevator for easier accessibility. It houses an informative museum about the castle's history and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Who is Toyotomi Hideyoshi? He was a preeminent daimyo, warrior, general, samurai, and politician of the Sengoku period who is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier". | wiki

City view from the top of Osaka Castle.

Sorry for spamming you with the pics. Wanna finish posting pics with grey sky really soon, so I can move forward to next ones.

From the roof of Osaka Castle. Okay, it's like being inside a cage from this side of the roof. .

such a chic hole cover plate

Ferris wheel.
From Osaka Castle, we went to Osaka Aquarium? Why there's a ferris wheel? Idk. Anyway, it wasn't operating that time due to bad weather.

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and Tempozan Ferris Wheel.

You know what? The wheel has colored lights that provide a weather forecast for the next day. Orange lights indicate a sunny day, green lights a cloudy day and blue lights indicate rain.

Pretty cool, isn't it? *baru tau abis baca wiki*

Another fact:
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge has the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world! It's 600m longer than SF's Golden Gate Bridge.

Whale Shark in Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Wiki says that whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest known extant fish species.

The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is one of the largest public aquariums in the world. .
However, I'm not that impressed. I love the one in Singapore better.

Glico Man in Dotonbori - one of the most famous landmarks in the area. Originally installed in 1935, the sign depicting a giant athlete on a blue track, which is a symbol of Glico candy.

Dōtonbori is one of the principal tourist destinations in Osaka. Historically a theater district, it is now a popular nightlife and entertainment area characterized by its eccentric atmosphere and large illuminated signboards. |wiki

Until now, I don't know why this thing is so famous.

Kani Doraku Crab - this six and a half meter crab, built in 1960, is on the front of the crab restaurant Kani Dōraku. It is mechanised, being able to move its arms and eyestalks. .
For this one, I also don't understand why it could be so famous. Perhaps because it's been there for decades? .

Japan Day 1

Welcome to Japan🙆

Let's begin this #rjapantravelog with this tree. Why? Since I don't know the name of the tree, but definitely it's a unique one. The same thing will happen in many photos in this travelog: I might not be able to provide proper caption, because I alread

From Kansai Airport, we went to the accommodation to put our bag, then headed to Nara.

That was my very first time seeing sakura, so I was pretty excited to see them. Although the sky wasn't clear, but the ambience was very nice.

Five-story pagoda of Kōfoku-ji.. Kōfuku-ji itself is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

According to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred due to a visit from Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, one of the four gods of Kasuga Shrine. Killing one of these sacred deer was a capital offense punishable by death up until 17th century. |wiki

Nandaimon, or The Great South Gate is the main gate of Tōdai-ji. It is the largest temple entrance gate in Japan, suitable in scale to the Great Buddha Hall.

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Its Great Buddha Hall, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha.

Unfortunately I came very late, and didn't get any picture of the Buddha statue nor the hall.

Still in Nara

Although it was a cloudy day, but a pretty sakura is still pretty.

Sumba, NTT Day 5

 Dashing thru the sky. Well, we're (still) in Day-5 of #rsumbatravelog 😅

On our way to Tanggedu waterfall, we had a short stop at Puru Kambera. Later we would be back here to enjoy the sunset.

Trip to Tanggedu perhaps was the most tiring and difficult one compared to trip to other locations that we visited.

It's like in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps we only encountered 1 car in every 15 minutes. Sometimes we went thru a road that's not sufficient to be called a road. Phone signal did not exist at all.

A sizzlin hot noon at 10:51, around 2 hours from Puru Kambera, we finally arrived a village where we could park our car.

For me, it's such a relieve that we could arrive at the destination. I mean, at times the driver seemed to take uncommon routes, and saw no other cars. Although he's pretty sure of that, but I wondered whether we got lost.

After almost an hour of trekking with difficult route, we finally arrived at this place. Well, we haven't reached the waterfall, though. But seeing this crystal clear river is definitely satisfying.

Alternative caption: this day is so freaking hot and there's no shelter around and we cant swim in the river and I'm hungry and I'm tired. .

Actually, I wanted to caption this vid with Tanggedu's facts that I thought I'd get it easily somewhere. But unfortunately I was wrong.

Since this waterfall is a unique one that I haven't seen anything like this in Indonesia. Many small streams here and there.

Well, can't say that I'm an avid waterfall visitor though, so there's a chance that quite many other waterfalls look like this.

If I drag the previous video a bit left, this'd be the view, the main waterfall. Actually, you could jump from the top into the plunge basin below.

The rock formation perhaps what's make it kinda unique, since usually what I see around a waterfall is black-ish river rock.

After having a nice lunch, plus immersing ourselves inside probably the most natural bath tub we'd ever been in, we went back to the parking lot. If only we could just snap our fingers and teleport ourselves. Hot day at its finest.

Could you see the waterfall?

As a matter or fact, I couldn't, and perhaps still can't (a bit), comprehend on how on earth we would find a waterfall in the midst of very dry yellow hills (see previous photos). I usually found it among green thick rainforest trees.

Even when we were already parked our car, prior trekking to the waterfall, I still wondered, "Are we on the right place?"

But yes, we could find the waterfall in the what it seems unlikely place like this. God is great.

From Tanggedu Waterfall, we went back to Purukambera. Too tired to swim, and we're (read: I was) hungry as well. So, we just sat and did nothing. Well, better if you bring your own hammock or mat, and have urself some snack and drink.

And just like other destinations in Sumba, it's almost only me, myself, and I in that place. No shops, no food stalls, but thankfully there's phone signal here. The beach was also safe for swimming.

Golden ray of light in the savannah. Actually, I longed to see herd of horses running on the field. Since I heard that's one of the main attractions of this spot.

But well, couldn't find them. What we got is their excrements lying everywhere. So, better watch your step.

Motionless, sort of. Even the clouds seemed to love being standstill. Timelapse mode didn't help much. .

No, I'm not in Sumba, and I'm running out of caption idea right now. And yes, I used filter prior uploading this photo. Well, I'm not good in editing photos.

Confession: we brought along with us a bubble gun, from Jakarta. Well, from Bandung actually. Nevertheless, it's not easy to use it to accessorize photo. We don't think we'll bring it again next time :p.

Our driver surprisingly picked us up when we strayed too far in the midst of savannah. Lucky us, since we didn't need to walk back to where we started. Sorry, it's 2018 and I'm still posting photos from Sumba :p.

Staying in traditional house of Sumba.

Day 5 of #rsumbatravelog, basically our last day in Sumba.

We spent our last night in Sumba not in a hotel. We found this place via #airbnb and wanted to give it a try due to its rave reviews.

We thought that it would give us unique experience that we couldn't get if live in hotel. and it's true! Definitely no regret and would like to spend another night here.