Hohoho~ long time no see blog! been busy but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! It's the year of the Ox =D Went to take shoot fireworks... as in take photos of the fireworks. 
Camped out under our tripods for 6 hours near the merlion on NYE. Luckily Melvin jom place otherwise we probably wont be able to get the shots that we did. I was the noob one there with my kit lens. Melvin and Edmund had some really good lenses T____T Luckily I managed to borrow a tripod beforehand otherwise I wouldnt have been able to shoot anything at all. 
My first shot =D a wide angle would have done wonders T_________T 
rambutan! 
this is how hell looks like *nods head* 
I'm only putting up the acceptable ones so not many here 
this is my pride and joy!!! looks like fairies doesnt it!!! It's my clearest, smoke-less shot  edmund, melvin and I celebrating our first fireworks shoot. Edmund is using his wireless remote. 
The hellish journey back home. This is Cityhall MRT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wanted to finish off the Japan trip =D after all these months I left it sitting under "drafts" 
alice got bullied  yeah! matching pyjamas!! hello kitty on top of that. 
it's getting more and more comfy now =D wish i bought more. 
ACBC !!  awww miss you aliceee!!!
next day... woke up early to go to Kyoto. The day I've been waiting for!!! But my goodness I got a shock at the Shinkansen prices. Seriously.... few hundred ringgit to Kyoto one way. Burnt a hole right through my pockets.  In the shinkansen 
where all of us ended up snoring away. so tired!!! 
dana and chryseis   This is gonna be a long picture post. 
outside the shinkansen. desperately trying to open my eyes. Chryseis and Dana are smart.... wear sunnies 
Not sure if we were veryyyy hungry or too unsure of where to have our lunch. So we just went into the first decent looking restaurant we went to (while still in the station). 
The food was average la 
  Tempura udon? 
And we took pics with this statue of a Geisha!! Just in case we don't get to see any in Gion  Kyoto!!! Less city-like than Tokyo. I love it!!!  in the cab on the way to our first destination: Fushimi Inari Shrine I chose the destinations we were to visit in Kyoto My choices were:- 1) Fushimi Inari Shrine - Because it looked sooooooo gorgeous in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. The rows and rows of torii. Red and glowing 2) Gion - I secretly harboured hopes of nabbing a geisha to take a photo with. Or even better dress up as one and take photo, like tiong, iming and chekkie did! Looked so fun! 3) Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) - Another scenic location. Beautiful... 
me in the front.... for the purpose of paying the taxi driver each time T_______T is that all I'm there for huh huhhh???  we're hereeeee 
in front of the entrance of the shrine  There are some basic manners that we need to observe while at shrines. First, we need to bow deeply and make ourselves presentable in front of the Torii, which is the gateway to the shrine.
Second, we need to wash our hands and mouth at the Chozuya to purify ourselves. 
i forgot what we had to do here....hold the scoop with your right hand , pour water into the other hand, and drink/rinse mouth with water before placing it back 
Attempting to follow instructions  Not sure how well we followed instructions haahhahah 
perhaps we should have watched how the others did it first!!! 
I love all things japanese =DD 
Handling the big camera is always tricky.... I need more tips 
our "4 princesses" picture HAHAHAHAHHA *shudder* 
I loveeeeeeee Kyoto!!! 
Dana is so aware of the camera When we pray, we need to throw a coin in offering box. After throwing a coin we need to ring the bell, and bow two times, clap two times and pray. After praying we need to bow again. I think we were deciding on the coin to drop into the box. Apparently a certain coin is better. Forgot already. This is what happens when you leave something too long and come back and try to blog about it. 
See those ribbons at the back?  You pull on them to ring the bell. So cool!!! 
 I think this is where ppl write their wishes on paper and then tie them here.  took lots of pictures while looking for the spot that I wanted =DDD  love this photo of dana and chryseis  sigh~ don't you think it's so pretty!!! 
finally! almost reached the area  THIS!!! people.... THIS!!! is why I chose fushimi inari shrine. it's because of all this red glowing passage 
the path split into two but we weren't keen on walking the whole way 
I think it's absolutely magical 
The... year ? I don't knowwww!!!  Have you ever watched Memoirs of a Geisha before?  This is the place where Chiyo-chan runs through at the very end of the movie. Sooooooo beautiful. Of course, it looked much bigger in the movie than it did in real life, cuz it was a child running through it after all how could I forget T____T 
i'm gonna come back here some day when my camera skills are better!!! 
but.... so many mosquitoes... i got bitten T____T  exiting the place. Next stop! We hopped onto a cab to Gion! I think it's quite obvious why I chose the place.... I harboured a secret agenda to see a geisha up close. To be entertained by one is way out of budget  Entrance to some... i honestly have no idea haha 
Traditional houses, entrances, name plates I was intrigued by everything. 
Yes we were on a mission.... to find a geisha and some museum or show which was closed or not running T___T I don't know what I felt back then.... like being transported into a Jap movie or back in time.  Now if only Alice were wearing a kimono
this is one weird shot. wonder who took it ~  hello obachan in kimono =DDD *stalk stalk Where there are more women donning traditional yukatas/kimonos, complete with the sash, tabi socks and slippers and paying respect to different houses, bowing dozens of times before leaving each place. 
We fulfilled our mission to take photos with a geiko/geisha (or at least people who are dressing up as them)  sighhhh~ they're costumes so pretty! and the accessories... and obi sash 
long obi sashes are for  
mmmm.... we caught a maiko!!! but i have a sneaky suspicion that she was just a girl dressing up as one 
but anyway! mission geisha targeting completed! albeit a little cheating was involved. 
Feast your eyes on the most magnificent puff ever!!!! this one is goma (black sesame) We found the store tucked away in some random corner while we were in Gion wandering about, lost. 
Alice and Chryseis's bag 
Sisterssss!  hello sweets =D  i forgot what flavour she took... green tea? 
Sitting at the front of the taxi.... to pay the cab fares T_________T SOB !!! WHY MEEEE~ Gion - geisha targeting accomplished. Next up. KENKAKUJI!!! *Golden pavilion* I somewhat remember going there when I was younger.  On the way to Kenkakuji ~ Kyoto is chock full of scenic buildings, shrines and history 
Dana and the ... admission ticket? 
alice with hers  omg this Chriseis had to stick it on her forehead... chinese vampire style  me and mine. yes i'm devoid of creativity.  This was where we paid 200 yen each to swing the log to hit the bell. And pray/make a wish. Received a postcard each =D  It was fun hehehe~ 
Leaving the gigantic bell to search for the main attraction... the gold temple itself. 
There's also a silver version named Ginkakuji... but they never got around to covering it with silver.  Gorgeous isn't it? 
 alice 
chryseissss  
This picture is one of my favs. me, alice and chryseis This was taken by Dana as you can see, since she's not in the picture  <3 I'm sooooo coming back here again  I love this pic toooo Taken by Alice  All of us. Wonder if we would have seen autumn leaves if we came in autumn instead?  here comes captionless pictures  
 
After we had our fill of the main structure, we trudged up the path behind it, along with the rest of the visitors. It led up to this hut selling fortunes and charms 
I think that moss covered place is where people used to wash themselves after using the toilet? (I DONT KNOW!!!! aliceee can you remember what you translated for me!!!???)  Chryseissss don't fall innnnn~   Bought one charm. I've forgotten what's it for though. Dana and I bought a pair for my parents too   Try your luck throwing coins into that little stone basin.... I swear you'll never get it in -_-" *grim*  this pic of chryseis is so cute =D  yeah we clambered all the way up. Slippers are the best!!! Esp during the summer when you need to walk a lot. Forget about sneakers!!! They're way too hot! 
I should have blogged about this immediately after the trip..... can't remember all the little details now. 
  hello bag =) come to momma ~ *gleam*  as you can see, the most pariah looking slipper is mine awwww i miss everyone 
Waiting for the shinkansen... which cost 13000 yen one way. Two way ticket goes up to 26000 yen. Which is 260 USD. For a two to three hour train ride each way. My pockets felt so.. soo.... empty as you can imagine =(   The rip-off shinkansen tickets  alice went wandering off while I got hold of the tickets. And she found a pastry shop! Look at all the creations!!!  Strawberries seem to be a predominant feature in Japanese foods.... along with melons and peaches  macaroonSSS on.... i'm not sure what type of fruit is that... is it a fruit?  More strawberries and whipped cream. Chocolate pocky-like sticks  Now this is interesting.... oranges? peaches? blackberry, cream... look at all thatttt *droooolll* so pretty!!!! We rushed back to Tokyo in time to collect Alice and Dana's blinged mirrors. Yes, they bought simple cheap mirrors, and took it to a "bling" shop where they stick on the diamantes for you, in the pattern of your choice. 
This is Dana's. ahahhaha  alice's... sorry, the lighting is terrible 
Oh I love me so much *preen*  Do this if you want to wrinkle up faster 
Forgot what this was T_____T 
Yummy!!  I love Japanese style spaghetti where they add half cooked eggs on top. and wafu cream sauce!!!  =D ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To be continued. I know this is a SUPER backdated post but oh well. No time la T__T and I'm rusty | 
