Visit Japan, Travel Japan, Discover Japan: 03/2011

3/29/2011

Photo Collection 17: Mt. Aso - Yufuin in the Fall & Winter

Spring or fall is the best to visit Kyusyu, if you don't like the sticky summer weather or coldness of the winter. But the weather in Kyusyu isn't super severe. It hardly annoys you whenever you travel over there. Only the rainy season between the mid-June through the mid-July is probably best avoided to pay a visit.

Nihon-no Ashitaba
(http://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/index2.html)

Nihon-no Ashitaba in the winter
(http://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/index2.html)

Mt. Aso
(http://www.japanwelcomesyou.com/cssweb/display.cfm?sid=1254)

Nihon-no Ashitaba
(http://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/index2.html)

3/24/2011

Photo Collection 16: Yufuin - Hot Spring Resort

Yufuin (http://www.yufuin.gr.jp) in Oita Prefecture is one of the most famous and popular onsen (hot spring) resorts in Japan. It’s quite close to Mt. Aso. You should not miss both of them when in central Kyusyu.

My wife usually stays at Nihon-no Ashitaba (or two bundles of reed. http://www.2hon-no-ashitaba.co.jp/index2.html), when she visits Yufuin. It's probably the most magnificent hotel in the area with the gorgeous bathing facility and great hospitality.

Nihon-no Ashitaba

An open-air hot spring bath.
No worries, the view is blocked from the outside.
Only some birds might be watching you from the trees above.

A Japanese style room.
They have several types of guest rooms.

The lady next to my wife is the owner of this hotel

3/18/2011

Photo Collection 15: Mt. Aso Tour in Kyusyu

Mt. Aso (http://www.japanwelcomesyou.com/cssweb/display.cfm?sid=1254) is located almost in the middle of Kyusyu Island and famous for the largest caldera it forms in the world. It’s also famous as the largest active volcano in the country and, more importantly, famous for its scenic landscape. There are a lot of onsen spots around the mountain as well

The guy on this pic is not me.

Volcano crater of Mt. Aso

Aso cattle

3/15/2011

Pray for the people who have suffered from the quake disaster.

Thank you all for giving us your warm words regarding the earthquake disaster of Japan. Fortunately all of my family and friends are alright.

Actually there wasn't a lot of damage in the Tokyo area. But the northern part of Japan was horribly damaged because of the tsunami attacks and there are still tons of missing people and evacuees.

All we can do is just pray for them.

I experienced the huge quake which hit the city of Kobe 16 years ago. I was there when it happened. I totally understand how the people feel in that damaged region. Wish everything get back to normal as soon as possible.

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The Japanese government has asked the food and beverage companies to supply their products as emergency provisions for the people in damaged areas. The logistic system in the country isn’t stable and it causes some trouble to supply the daily essentials.

The shelves of a supermarket in our neighborhood are almost empty.

No bottled water.

No meat

NO bread

The sign says "the supply of bottled water
isn't stable due to the quake disaster"

3/09/2011

Photo Collection 14: Mangrove Discovery Tour on Bintan Island, Indonesia

Bintan Island (http://www.welcometobintan.com/about.asp) is just about 1 hour away from Singapore by a ferry ride. It seems like the island belongs to Singapore and doesn’t reflect the typical Indonesia culture. But it can be a good destination to escape from the hustle and bustle of the neighbor island country.

We took Mangrove Discovery Tour. It was quote interesting to us, because that kind of activity is almost impossible to have in Japan nor in Singapore (might be possible though, but I believe it’s better in Bintan). Totally unexperienced thing to us.

We took a morning tour starting at 7:00. It was awesome with little heat wave and much breeze. Their night tours are good as well. They told us you can see tons of lightning beetles shining in the grove. They are like natural Christmas trees on the tropical island. You should not miss this tour.

3/02/2011

Photo Collection 13: More vibrant photos of Singapore

We took more photos of Singapore, such as Dempsey Rd, Holland Village, Little India, Marina Bay, ah,,, what else??? Anyway a lot, but we forgot where we stored those on our PC. Will post them as soon as they come upon to us.