Himeji Jyou 姫路城

Himeji Castle or Himeji Jyou (姫路城) is situated in Himeji City, Hyogo prefecture. It is also known as the White Heron / Egret Castle (Shirasagijo), due to its shape and colour. It is perched on top of a small hill and stands out so magnificently that you can hardly miss it. In fact it was the first thing I saw when I was in the train. We were in Yanago city, Tottori-ken for a workshop and saw the awesome Mount Daisen (pictures will be posted later) with its snow capped peaks. On our way back to Kyoto, we stopped by Himeji.



I think that most of my friends here in Japan had already posted pictures and info on this castle. In Japan, most would agree that it is the best preserved example of Medieval Japanese castle architecture.



Apparently the shape of this castle appears to be like a bird poised for flight, hence the name White Egret/Heron.



When I was there, it was autumn, or was it close to winter? Hmmm, I had forgotten. If you go in Spring, the whole place will be filled with sakuras, a beautiful complement to the castle.



It was built in 1346 by Sadanori Akamatsu and then later was expanded and had its layout changed by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1580.



Later, when Hideyoshi died, civil wars errupted again, this time between Tokugawa and Toyotomi. Tokugawa won and the castle was given to Terumasa Ikeda, the husband of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa's daughter. Terumasa Ikeda then remodelled the castle to its current form.



This castle served as a living mansion and a storage warehouse for arms and provisions. During war times, it served as a command and observatory tower for military defense.



One of the unique aspect of this castle is the construction of the stone walls. It has a deep arc-shaped warp or a deep curve which is unique for Japanese castle architecture.



The point of having such a deep curve for the walls is to prevent the swelling of the stone walls by reducing the vertical pressure of the main castle tower and also at the same time to withstand earthquakes. Also, during rainy season, this will prevent the water from getting trapped in corners.



While it was first constructed for military purposes, it gradually transformed to be a "show piece".



In 1993, it was designated as a UNESCO world cultural and heritage site. It has kept its original form for 400 years, undamaged by the Second World War. All the information about this castle was taken from

http://www.himeji-castle.gr.jp/index/English/index.html
http://www.jgc.co.jp/waza/a5_himeji/
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/V3613/himeji/tpage.htm

The missing picture

I was looking through the pictures I had in Flickr.com and I realised I had forgotten to post this picture up together with the rest in the previous post "Constitution Memorial Day". I found it along the way to the Honen-in temple.

I got tagged

Arghhhh....! I wrote everything and then *poof!* it disappeared. So geram.

Anyway, I got tagged by Patrick to do this "If I could be..." thingie. Had to pass it on to three others...so the unfortunate three are my sister, Puay and Chan. :P

Aw hell, this sure beats working for now...

So it goes like this. Below is a list of different occupations. You must select at least five of them. You may add more if you like to your list before you pass it on (after you select five of the items as it was passed to you). Of the five you selected, you are to finish each phrase with what you would do as a member of that profession. Then pass it on to three other bloggers. Here's that list :

If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a backup dancer...
If I could be a llama-rider...
If I could be a bonnie pirate...
If I could be a midget stripper...
If I could be a proctologist...
If I could be a TV-Chat Show host...
If I could be an actor...
If I could be a judge...
If I could be a Jedi...
If I could be a mob boss...
If I could be a backup singer...
If I could be a CEO...
If I could be a movie reviewer...
If I could be a monkey's uncle...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a bible archaeologist...
If I could be an Ah Beng...
If I could be an Elvis impersonator...
If I could be an Ah Lian...
If I could be a sexologist...
If I could be a prostitute...
If I could be a world famous blogger...
If I could be a Pope....
If I could be a dominatrix...
If I could be Figwit (for those of you who don't know who Figwit is, google him! I tell you, I was laughing so hard!)...

I had coloured those that I had added to the list. So here is my take on the five choices:

If I could be a doctor, I would be a forensic pathologist. Too many working on the living, too little on the dead.

If I could be Figwit, god, I am laughing so hard..........

If I could be a dominatix, I would be...*censored*

If I could be a monkey's uncle, I would be....hell, who the *toot* wants to be a monkey's uncle???

If I could be a jedi, I would personally lightsaber George Lucas for that poor excuse of a movie, Attack of the Clones. Guy had watched too many Bollywood love movies. Leave it to the pros, please!

Take me out to the ballgame...Go Hanshin Tigers!

On Saturday, my labmates and I went to Koshien stadium in Nishinomiya to watch the game between Hanshin Tigers and Rakuten. Koshien stadium is home to the Hanshin Tigers, so naturally, the whole stadium was filled with HT fans, all dressed up in various memorabilias. Apparently, Babe Ruth played there once in 1934! We were seating at the outfield reserves, with tickets priced at 1700¥. The game started at 4 and ended around 7. I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere there, the fans were so enthusiatic, cheering everytime a HT player comes to bat, chanting his name, banging the hollowed plastic bats we all brought along (we bought ours at Hanshin Departmental store), all to the beat of the drums and conductors stationed all around the outfield reserves. I had never watched a baseball game live and was not sure of the game's rules and had no idea what to do as a Hanshin Tigers' fan but nonetheless I got caught up with all the excitement generated by the fans. Especially when the players hit home runs. Poor Rakuten, they only had like a few, perhaps around 30 fans in the whole stadium? Besides the US, Japan seems to be the only other country where baseball is so huge. Bear in mind that we were sitting in the outfield, so for the close-up pictures of the players, I had to use the optical and digital zoom, so the pictures will not be sharp.



The outfield reserves where we were sitting. See if you can spot a small patch of red situated near the middle of the picture. Those are Rakuten fans, the rest..Hanshin Tigers!



Those were the plastic hollowed bats we bought to help cheer the team on. The right picture is of a HT fan with a very quirky baseball cap. Click on the pictures to get a clearer view.



Rakuten fans in red surrounded by a sea of yellow and white and black, the colours of Hanshin Tigers.



Stadium officials spraying water onto the infield before the game.



A true Hanshin Tigers' fan. She was the pom-pom girl for the game. One of the drummers, keeping the crowd in the right beat as we sang and chant. Click on the pictures to get a better view.



The Hanshin Tigers at their box watching the game.



Player 35 hit the ball and off he goes to first base as the other player at first base races to reach second base before he gets tagged out.



The first baseman (Rakuten in red) and the HT player getting ready.



I had to put this picture in a bigger size. Just look at his expression! He was one of the conductors guiding us while we were cheering our team along. He was just 4 meters away from me. If you look closely you can see the brown patch of infield behind him.



The HT fans, cheering on their team! Katobase! Katobase! That is Japanese for encouraging the player to hit a home run. We were also singing the team's song, Rokko Oroshi.



Player no 6, Kanemoto. I wanted to buy HT's pins and I bought his number. I gathered that he is very popular as many fans were wearing his number and that of no 53, Akahoshi.



Rakuten players huddling together dicussing strategy. They were losing. The picture is blur but somehow I like it.



Fans holding their balloons, ready to let go at the signal from the conductors. It is a tradition to let the balloons go at the 6th inning and when the team has won. As you can see, EVERYONE had a balloon.



The outfielder. Rakuten team.



The pitcher (Rakuten), the batter at the batter's box, the catcher and the umpire judge at the home plate.



Close-up of the Rakuten pitcher, getting ready to pitch.



Close-up of the Hanshin Tigers' pitcher, in the act of pitching.



The day was getting darker, the spotlights were switched on.



We stood up, I think we were singing or cheering, getting ready to let go of our balloons at the 6th inning. This was towards the end of the game when it was clear that the Tigers were going to win.



And up, up, up they go!



And down down down they came. The balloons were not tied at the end, so as the air inside ran out, it was raining balloons.



And finally, the end came. The Tigers won and the fans let go of their balloons for the second time, into the night.

Lord of the Rings

I had recently watched the special extended version of the movie trilogy and was suddenly compelled to write something about it. This is one of those rare posts on this blogsite of mine without any pictures. And I predict, this is going to be a loooonngg post, so turn away now while you still can!

I was exposed to Tolkein’s world when I was in Form 6. Prior to that I had not heard nor read anything about Lord of the Rings or any other magical, fantasy books. So, LOTR was my first foray into the magical world and I had not turned back since. I finished all four books within the week. Should had been concentrating on my studies but really, between a LOTR book and a chemistry textbook, do you honestly think I would choose the latter? Though I love the books, I wouldn’t call myself a “true” Tolkein fan because I cannot remember names apart from the main characters, I can’t draw you the map of Middle Earth, no idea how many races there are in middle earth or their history and for the life of me, I cannot speak elvish! I have friends who had tried to read LOTR but gave up halfway to save their sanity and some others who didn’t even bother to try. Unless you have a soft spot for long winding magical and fantasy trilogy, where every page has paragraphs-long description about something, don’t pick up the book.

But now with the release of the movies, you don’t need the books to delve into the world of Middle Earth. When I first read that somebody was going to make movies out of the trilogy, I was like “Is he MAD?” Anyone who has read the books knows how nearly impossible it would be to bring it to life. Plus, I didn’t know who Peter Jackson was! I had heard of his movie, Heavenly Creatures but I didn’t know that it was his film. So when the movies were released, I was very impressed! Well, with the whole CGI technology booming at that time, it really did help Peter Jackson create Middle Earth right down to the smallest detail.

Now, onto the characters! I will start with Frodo, since he is the ring bearer and the whole story is basically about him getting to Mordor and throwing that ring into the fire. I have to say that I thought that the Frodo in the book wasn’t as weak as how Elijah portrayed him on screen but considering that Elijah was only 18 at the time of filming, he did a pretty good job as one of the leads. The most important point of Frodo being the Ring bearer was that as a hobbit, he had more resistance to the ring’s power (lesser beings like men would have succumbed to evil in a heartbeat) right to the end before he decided to be the Lord of the ring and Gollum bit his finger off. Next up is Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Frodo’s gardener though we never did actually see him gardening in the movies. Also thought by many to be Frodo’s gay lover due to the very affectionate, touchy feely relationship they had. I think he is bi cause he married Rosie at the end. But, truth to be told, the Ring would have never gotten to Mordor without Sam’s help every time Frodo falls down or grows weaker with the power of the Ring. Someone noted that despite the fact they were on an arduous trail with only bread as their food, Sam kept getting fatter! The two other hobbits are Merry and Pippin, Pippin being the more mischievous and mentally challenged of the two due to his age, he is the youngest after all and should be allowed some liberties as to his actions. Though ironically, Billy Boyd is the oldest of the lot and Elijah is the youngest. Gandalf the Grey who later became Gandalf the White (all he needed to do was to bleach his clothes instead of fighting the Balrog!) was played wonderfully well by Ian McKellen. There is only one gripe that I had about his performance that is in FOTR when he portrayed Gandalf as being a little bit maniacal or desperate when he asked Frodo where the ring was after returning from Minas Tirith.

Casting Christopher Lee as Saruman was spot on as Christopher really did have this beautiful deep voice, the kind of voice that Saruman was described as having in the books. Gimli the dwarf was played by John Rhys Davies, a trilogy veteran, (for those who did not recognize him, he was Indiana Jones’s partner) was also another excellent casting choice. He had the looks of a dwarf though he is over 6 feet tall and had the voice to go with it. Another trilogy veteran was The Matrix’s Hugo Weaving as Elrond, father of Arwen. I liked him in the Matrix and I absolutely adored him in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He went from drag to cool sunglasses to drag again (well, sort of…what would you call his long flowing robes and effeminate hairstyle?) He wasn’t what I thought Elrond would look like though. When they picked Viggo Mortensen as Aragon, I was like huh? And I am still huh-ing even now. No doubt that Viggo worked hard for that role but I think he lacked the kingly presence he was supposed to have. Aragon was a ranger, traveling from places to places without ever revealing his true heritage but yet people still sensed that there is this presence about him. I didn’t sense anything of that kind coming out from Viggo, even with all that kingly armoury. He just looked like a man desperately in need a bath most of the time. Would someone please hand him a shower gel? There, I had just made myself an enemy of the “I love Viggo / Aragon” club. Another heartthrob of the films is Legolas aka Orlando Bloom. I have to concede that he does look pretty in that long flowing blond locks of his. And all that style while shooting the arrows into bloodthirsty orcs made me laughed. But, is it just I, or did anyone else noticed how Legolas always go around stating the obvious in the films? For example, in one scene, at the entrance of the Paths of the Dead, the men were quiet and the horses were restless, stomping about. And what does Legolas say? The men are quiet and the horses are restless. Hellooo! Oh oh, there I go again, making myself an enemy of the “I love Legolas/Orlando” club.

However there are two guys in the film that I did like and both ended up dying, one shot to death and the other hacked to death! Sean Bean with that deep sexy British voice of his played Boromir, the fallen son of Gondor. Now, to me, he had the kingly presence and would have been a good choice to play Aragon but then I am biased. The other is a lesser known role, Haldir, the captain of Lady Galadriel’s elven archers, sent to Helm’s Deep to help fight off the Uruk Hais. (No such thing was in the book I think). I don’t know why I like him except that I do like him. Does it make any sense? Also, Faramir was kind of cute too in way. Almost did not recognize him in Van Helsing as the monk. And the actor who played Eormer was in Chronicles of Riddick and The Bourne Supremacy.

Arwen, Galadriel and Eowyn represented the women in the films. All beautiful, all had long flowing gorgeous locks and all deadly. They greatly exaggerated the role of Arwen who only had a small part to play in the books. And I guess that is for the benefit of the male audiences who hope to gaze upon her fair face and pouty lips rather than Aragon’s badly-in-need-of-a-facial-wash face. I do have to say that both Liv and Cate made Elvish sound sexy. Hmm…I wonder what they used for shampoo?

And dear Smeagol/Gollum. Much credit had to be given to Andy Serkis who was the actor behind the CG version of Gollum and voice.

I told you this was going to be a long post and I am still not done yet! Onto the highlights of the film! In FOTR, I liked the part when Bilbo was consumed by the power of the ring and turned freakish. Scared the bejesus out of me! Also, when Gandalf had to confront the Balrog in the Mines of Moria and shouted, “Thou shall not pass!” Hard to imagine that when he was acting that particular scene, there was only a blue screen in front of him and he had no idea what he was up against. I couldn’t do it, but then, I am not a renowned stage actor. Any scene where the Ring Wraiths were in because they all look so creepy and I love the awful screech of theirs. And, of course, Boromir’s dying scene. The Two Towers’ best scene had to be the battle scene of course. The first real battle scene of the trilogy. The opening battle sequence in FOTR was just a teaser trailer. Despite the number of orcs and Uruk Hais that Saruman’s army had, they still failed to take over Helms Deep, held of by a couple of guys on horses. Logically, that would have been absurd. Don’t tell me that all of them there could not have shoot or hack down the horses and the men? Another cool performance was of Gollum and his split personalities having a conversation with each other. Finally the last installment which is The Return of the King. Again, the battle scene was the best part of the film. I love the part when Theoden said, “Muster the Rohirims!” Somehow, the word Rohirrims sounded cool. And the part when Billy Boyd/Pippin sang that sad song while Faramir went charging off to his doom (well, not doom really, since he didn’t die). Also, when the Riders of Rohan finally appeared at the battlefield of Gondor. I have to agree with Gimli when he told Aragon not to release the dead army. With the dead army, they could have taken down Sauron! If I was Aragon and I know that I had the power to command them, I would have used them to storm Mordor, creating a nice leisurely path for me to the very entrance of Mount Doom. But then, the story would have been so boring. And short. But think of the lives that would have been saved! And the Witch King dying at the hands of the shield maiden of Rohan, Eowyn was kind of cool too when she said “But I am no man” before plunging the sword into his face. Again, logically, the Witch King is neither living nor dead, a powerful creature, and just a plunge from Eowyn’s sword was enough to kill him?

Also, there is another thing that has been bugging me ever since I read the book. If Sauron’s fate were so intertwined with the ring and to destroy it would mean the downfall of Sauron (he didn’t actually die in the book), why on earth didn’t he sense the ring’s presence while it was in Mordor, his home ground? He is really stupid to put all his hope and life on that one ring. He would have won the war anyhow without the ring, the ring only brought about his downfall. Also, he can hardly be the Lord of the rings if he actually needs to see it in order to know it is there. I think that there is only one true Lord of the rings and that is the One Ring itself. See, you have been fooled!

Before I end this though I have to say that the line Sam said “I cannot carry the Ring for you but I can carry you” has got to be one of the most cheesiest line in movie history, right there next to “You jump, I jump”.

Constitution Memorial Day

Today marks the start of a three days holiday in Japan, which is given a special name - Golden Week. So called because many japanese take advantage of these three days to take the whole week off and go sightseeing, either domestically or internationally (¥ value is high, therefore Japs can go anywhere they want!). I didn't go 'internationally' just domestically and even so, just behind my house! The Philosophy Path is situated right behind my house (refer to previous post) and today was again a sunny spring day and so I walked along the whole stretch of the path. Along with everyone else! Even though the sakuras are all gone, this path is still very popular with the tourists.

FIRST TOPIC : JAPANESE DECORATIONS



These were displayed outside a Japanese decoration shop. It is made out of colourful strings / threads/ yarn and woven into a ball, tied to a string and you can hang in anywhere you want. Some have their own individual stands so that you can place it on the tables, shelves etc.



As you can see in this picture, small tiny paper dolls are placed inside the ball



Many colourful decoration balls placed outside on the wooden table. The afternoon sun casting pretty shadows onto the table surface



Flying in the wind



Japanese paper windmills

SECOND TOPIC : HONEN-IN TEMPLE



The minute you stepped into the temple grounds, you will see two sand mounds in front of you. On its' surface are patterns drawn with bamboo rakes. Entrance is free. This temple is situated nearby the more famous Ginkakuji but is more secluded. It has a quiet and peaceful atmosphere and a small pond with kois swimming. Honen-in was established to honour Honen, founder of the Jodo school.



Spring water flowing out from a stone bowl. Very ingenious usage of a leaf.



Now is the time for wisterias to bloom. This tree was partially hidden from sight as you walked towards the small stone bridge and then suddenly you see it. A wonderful surprise.



I liked the look of this fern leaf with the sun shining directly on it.



Can you spot the ant?

THIRD TOPIC : YOJIYA SHOP



Yojiya a famous kyoto cosmetic shop, well known for it's oil blotting facial tissues. One of it's branches is situated along the Philosophy Path and they had these huge red umbrellas to give their customers shade in their garden. There is also a small cafe selling sweets, tea and ice creams.

FOURTH TOPIC : PALM FLOWERS



The palm trees found along the philosophy path are also blooming.

Dragonfly

In keeping with the whole animal kingdom aspect, I decided to post this picture. This picture was taken last year at a small pond in the main campus of Kyoto University, just in front of Camphora cafe. It was standing so still and the contrast between the red and the green was nice that I had to take a picture of it.