Ueno, at a Glance

Ueno (上野), being a famous dating spot has lots and lots of gardens.

This is Ueno Onshi Park's Shinobazunoike (上野恩賜公園、不忍池).

Anyway, didn't have the chance to explore around the park as we were rushing to the National Museum before its closing time.

A fountain near the National Museum.

Ueno is not only parks, parks and more parks. It's a bustling city as well...

... with "entertainment sites" like this...

... and this... (Sorry, my eyes just strayed away...)

Heck, it even has it's own Giza!

This is surely a weird looking building that defies the laws of physics!

Like the rest of Japan, it has lots of shrines too!

Huh? A megane (glasses) memorial? Beats me!

- 03 May 2006, Wednesday -

Ueno Zoological Gardens

First opened in 1882, these are Japan's most historic (sic) zoological gardens. The zoo has more than 400 species on exhibit from around the world, including giant pandas and aye ayes. Both the gorilla forest and the amphibian reptile house are must-see. ~Tokyo Handy Guide

*Huh? Aye ayes? It's either I didn't know what they were when I looked at them or I missed them... As for the pandas, it's singular, buddy. Or maybe, the other guy was having his holiday like the rest of us.

(Above:) Ueno densha station. (上野電車駅)

(Above:) Entrance to the zoo. The ticket cost a bomb - 600 yen.

(Above:) Yeah, there were lots of people. It was the Golden Week after all!

(Above:) Elephants having a council.

(Above:) The only panda we could see was showing us its back. Aww, it seemed to be so lonely and sulking...

(Above:) One of the two poor polar bears whose fur has lost its pure white colour.

(Above:) I love these kawaii (cute) little prairie dogs!

(Above:) An awkward-looking tapir staring at the curious crowd.

(Above:) Handsome king penguins!

(Above:) Crane.

(Above:) Remember Zazu from the Lion King Disney motion picture? This is a secretary bird.

(Above:) A lazy gorrila sun-bathing.

(Above:) A sagacious-looking but sleepy owl.

(Above:) "Argh! Argh! Irasshaimase! (Translation: Welcome!)

(Above:) Rhinos.

(Above:) Giraffe.

(Above:) Japanese giant salamander.

(Above:) A Galapagos tortoise which is more than 70 years old.

(Above:) "What're you staring at, mister? Haven't you seen someone standing on one leg before?"

(Above:) Well, that was the first time I saw people picnicking in a zoo! Anyway, the place is clean enough, I guess. It didn't stink at all, unlike the zoos in Malaysia!

(Above:) The monorail that connects the eastern and western sides of the park is the first monorail built in Japan.

(Above:) A 70-million-year-old coelacanths fossil.

(Above:) Another 70-million-year-old fossil, ichthyostega.

(Above:) This is the coolest of the three fossils - a 20-year-old fossil taking a picture with a 80-million-year-old achaeopteryx!

- 03, May 2006, Wednesday -

Golden Week

It has been a month since I arrived in Tokyo on April 4. So far, this is my first update on life in Japan. I'm sure you've already noticed that my blog is fast turning into a photo album instead. Well, what to do? Withouth a laptop, going online is so inconvenient. Whenever I'm in the library, I'm busy uploading photos; whenever I feel like babbling away, I don't have the chance to blog. Someone should propose that the library be open for use 24/7. Anyway, now that the holidays are over, the library is open for business as usual.

Last week was the Golden Week, so called because three of the major holidays fall in that week. April 29 is Green Day (緑の日), May 3 is Constitution Memorial Day (憲法の記念日), May 5 is Children's Day (子供の日). As for May 4, which is sandwiched between two holidays, it's declared as an official national holiday as well. For most companies (no, not our university, unfortunately), May 1 and 2 are also off days and voila! you have a whole week of holiday! This is the season when the Japanese come out of their nests and fling money like drinking water. And yes, that was what I did too; burning cash to fuel my new-found passion, sightseeing, that is.

This is a gist of what I've done during the Golden Week.

April 29: Went to a barbeque with TOFSIA at Koremasa (是政). TOFSIA is a group of Japanese students volunteered to help out international students.

April 30: Sightseeing in Takahatafudōson Temple (高幡不動尊金剛寺).

May 1 and 2: Lessons as usual, no holiday! Sigh!

May 3: Visited Ueno Zoological Park and Tokyo National Museum, both in Ueno (上野).

May 4: Went to Ōkunitama Jinja (大国魂神社) in Fuchū (府中) to see Kurayami Matsuri (暗闇祭り) float possession.

May 5: Stopped by at Heisei Jingu in Yoyogi (代々木) before going to Sendagaya (千駄ヶ谷) to cheer for the Malaysian team in the Thomas Cup semi-final match against Denmark. Thanks, Teik Chuan, for getting the subsidised tickets for us from the embassy!

May 6: Had dinner with a senior in Shinjuku (新宿). Thanks for the treat!

May 7: Rainy day. Stayed in the dorm to study. Thanks to my far-sightedness, I checked the weather forecast last week and anticipated the bad weather. So, I arranged to go out on the first four days even though I preferred to study first before enjoying myself.

Now that the Golden Week is over, life is back to the normal hectic pace. We'll be sitting for a mid-term exam on May 25, which is barely three weeks away!

Sorry, can't be lingering any longer! Somebody help me!

漢字 Versus 漢字

*Title reads: "kan ji versus hàn zi".

"Oh, so you know Chinese?"
"Yeah."
"Then, you know kanji
(Japanese Chinese characters)?"

I don't know why but people seem to have this common misperception that kanji writing is exactly the same as Chinese characters. Yes, it is derived from Chinese but they are nevertheless different.

Yeah, knowing Chinese may be an advantage to learning kanji. But at times it can prove to be a disadvantage as well. By thinking that learning kanji is like drinking water, I didn't take it seriously. And heck, I didn't do well in kanji quizzes. Besides, kanji and Chiese characters are so similar yet so different. Unless if you take extra precaution, a careless person like me is likely to make stupid mistakes.

Alright, let's play a spot-the-difference game and see it for yourself!

The characters on the left are Japanese kanji while those on the right are Chinese characters (traditional and simplified). See if you can spot the difference between those words underlined! Good luck!

黒い (kuroi) versus 黑色, 黑色
両方 (ryōhō) versus 兩方面, 两方面
単純な (tanjyunna) versus 單純, 单纯
反対 (hantai) versus 反對, 反对
大変な (taihenna) versus 改變, 改变
殺す (kurosu) versus 殺, 刹

See? The problem is, sometimes, the Japanese kanji is derived from traditional Chinese and sometimes, from simplified Chinese. Even so, most of the time, they're slightly modified.

Geez. It can be so confusing. The only way out is to study, of course...