Yasawa Islands, Fiji

Denarau port

Back to the Fiji posts, which I have not finished. This is the second last post. The above picture is of Denarau port, where we started our South Sea Islands cruise to the Yasawa Islands. All or nearly all of the island(s) cruises start from this port, so you will see loads of tourists, all patiently waiting for sandy beaches and blue-green waters.



We took the South sea cruises (company name) to the Yasawa Islands - a day tour. It is not cheap but it was our only day off and we have not seen the famous islands of Fiji. So it was worth every penny.



We passed by the Mamanuca Islands before reaching Yasawa Islands. The Mamanuca islands consist of the Castaway Island, Treasure Island, Mana, Bounty and Malolo Islands. I have no idea which island/resort the picture above represents but it was just a small island surrounded by the beautiful coral reefs.



These islands are very popular among the young tourists. We saw loads of them and I think most of them were Australians. And yeah, one of the islands here was the location for Castaway.



Finally we reached the Yasawa Islands. They are volcanic in origin and have beautiful hills and mountainous areas. It is not as developed as the Mamanuca Islands, which is good, but I fear, as tourism increases, this might change.



This one reminds me of New Zealand somewhat. Don't ask me why, especially since I have not BEEN to New Zealand. Oh yeah, one of the islands here, Turtle Island or Nanuya Levu was used as a location for the filming of The Blue Lagoon. Below are more pictures of Yasawa Islands:











Next up: Botaira Beach Resort and the trip back

The end of "Alias", "That 70s show" and "West Wing"

What I remembered most about Alias were the colourful wigs and Michael Vartan. I watched it faithfully during the first season and sporadically later on, thus missing out Lena Olin's portrayal of Sydney Bristow's mother, Irina (Damn-I like her). I confessed that I had to look up Alias in Wikipedia and TWOP in order to understand what the hell was going on after I parted ways with the show since I had planned on watching the 5th and current season of the show because it is the last. I have to say that reading the recap about the show on TWOP is actually more fun than actually watching the actual episode. Hah.

So while you guys were busy drooling over spychick Jenny Garner, my eyes were on Vartan, Sarks (that sexy British accent) and weirdly enough Spydaddy (christened by Alias fans) Jack Bristow. Not that I found the latter handsome or anything, just that he had charisma or something that made him stand out to me. And Marshall! Marshall! How can I forget about Marshall? Anyway, while the first and second season were fun, the whole Rambaldi prophecy and mystery in the later seasons made the show somewhat er, dull for me. Remember X-Flies? And, apparently, the series finale will not provide much answers to the whole Rambaldi storyline either. Remember, this series is created by J.J. Abrams, who is currently famed for Lost, another hit mystery-mythological drama series, that provides more questions than answers. Note to self: Do not watch Lost. So while I will miss Vartan (hey, give me a break, while you guys have Garner, who I will have to admit, does have a rock solid body, I had to search for someone to root for!), I don't think I will miss Alias much. It was just a summer fling.

Another series to hit retirement this year is That 70s show. Now, I think that Laura Prepon is one cool babe. Love her hair-did not like it when she turned blond, love her height! Topher Grace looked like a small boy standing next to her. I watched it regularly in the earlier seasons but seemed to have lost touch with it for reasons I myself do not know. Probably because I did not have Astro back home at that time. And during my absence, Donna and Eric had gotten together, broken up, gotten engaged and then broken up; Jackie had been with everyone except Eric; Hyde is still a stoner; Kelso is still, well, Kelso and we still do not know Fez's full name and country of origin (even in the series finale!). And now, the series is finally coming to an end, inevitable in my opinion since stars Grace and Kutcher had left the show. A happy ending of sorts apparently in the finale with said former stars guest starring- I have yet to see it.

The West Wing was also another series to have bitten the dust. Now this was a series that I was a true fan of for the first two seasons and I was not the only one. If Bartlet was running for presidency in real life, he might have won. And then, like the first two series above, I stopped watching it for reasons unknown. So I missed the introduction of Jimmy Smits as Matt Santos, the departure of Sam Seaborn and the death of Leo McGarry. The death of Leo McGarry touched a chord as the late actor John Spencer had died of a heart attack before the series ended and the death was written into the show. I will miss the earlier eppies of West Wings.

Now, looking back, I realised that I seemed to have these flings with television series but I have to say that right now, I am in a serious relationship with CSI and had been having a long term affair behind its back with Monk and a dilly dally with Veronica Mars. And God forbid, if these series were to end, I had better start shopping for a new spouse - soon!

Strawberry fields forever

I have not been to a strawberry farm yet but I will! Heard of a farm where you can eat-all-you-can for a price. Sounds good!

Anyone hungry?

I am hungry right now which is why I am drawn to posting something about food. Mos burger, though delicious, is certainly not enough for me! A few weeks earlier, Wai Yee and I went to this restaurant in Hankyu building to eat; in a way it was like a celebration for us. Hahaha..



There were many restaurants there and I think all of them offered buffet style dinner and lunches. We choose an Italian restaurant whereby the salad bar was free. Pasta was nice; the sauce was tasty but it lack ingredients. But I was perfectly satisfied with the salad bar which was nice. And they have endless supply of bread and butter! YUMMY!



All of a sudden, I have this feeling that I might have posted about this particular topic before? If yes, sorry, bear with me because I am too lazy to check the archives....am so sleepy now and hungry. This was from Lipton Teahouse. The cakes on display always make me water. I had forgotten what this cake was called. Was it printemps?



And the orange chococake. Which one would you choose?

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Japan

Kobe end

This is the longest suspension bridge in the world and the bridge's two towers are also the world's highest. Trust me, I saw the Guinness World record certificates displayed in the bridge's museum. It links Maiko in Kobe and Iwaya in Awaji Island. The bridge opened in 1998. The bridge type is a 3 span 2 hinged truss-stiffened suspension bridge.



To get to Akashi Kaikro bridge, you can take the JR coastal train which stops at Maiko station. From there, it is a short walk to the bridge's park (Maiko Marine Promenade), where the museum and viewing avenue or observatory hallways are located. We bought the JR all-day pass for 2000¥ and therefore it was very cheap for us to travel to anywhere in Kobe. Without the day pass, the price for transportation will be over 2000¥.



There is a viewing avenue or observatory hallway for tourists but there is a certain fee you have to pay to enter; for adults it is 240¥ to 300¥. We took the guided bridge tour and paid 2100¥ per person. For that guided tour, you will have to book in advance as there are limited places available. The above picture was taken at the viewing avenue; clear glass panels lined a small portion of the walkway giving everyone the view of the straits's seawaters below, about 50m below.


Underneath the roadway


Underneath the roadway - setting sun

The advantages of the guided tour are: 1) we got to go underneath the bridge's platform or road way and walked for about 2 km to reach the first tower in order to take the elevator to the highest point of the tower. 2) we got to go up to the highest point of the tower - awesome view of the bridge, Kobe and Awaji Island, and not forgetting the straits. 3) explanations of various structures, constructions and building techniques etc, although the explanations were in Japanese.



The wind was so strong, even at the promenade. At the top of the tower it was not so bad, unless you put your head down (when you want to view the scene below). The safety helmet that we all had to wear was too big for my head (my head is too small - most hats don't even fit me!) and I had to keep holding it to keep it from flying off my head ( but there are safety buckles, so it won't fly off but will hang uncomfortably behind my neck). This makes taking pictures of the view below a bit difficult (I don't think the guide would have appreciated me taking off the helmet!), so at one point I had to ask Oyabu-san to hold my helmet while I took the pictures!


Awaji Island end

I tell you, I am humbled by the sheer size and magnitude of this bridge. Up there, on the tower, the view was magnificient. It helped that the weather was very good that day, giving us a perfect view of Kobe city, Awaji Island, the bridge and the Awaji straits below. The symmetry of the bridge is simply amazing.



And to see vehicles looking like little ants is like wow.


View of Kobe city shoreline

The Kobe earthquake happened in 1995, during the bridge's construction. The earthquake expanded the central span of the bridge one meter further to the current length of 1991m. The bridge is designed to withstand severe winds, harsh sea conditions and eartquakes measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale. The two towers stand at about 928ft tall. The total length is 3910m.


Close-up shot of the cars below

We saw the mini documentary about the making of the bridge before the guided tour begun. One of the best part of the construction was the laying of the gigantic steel cylinder (80m in diameter and 70m high) on the sea bed; it supports the two main towers. It had to be laid precisely; the strong sea currents at the straits made that task difficult. After that concrete was poured unto the steel cylinder. We could see it when we reach the first tower. Can you imagine what it would be like to see the construction of that particular structure? It took several ships to tow the cylinder structure to the appointed place. I would have so love to have been there when they were towing the structure: what a sight to see. Amazing!


Shadow of the tower we were on. See the horizontal bar right at the top of the tower? That was where we were at.

The bridge has illumination display at certain days of the year. The illumination display was designed to celebrate special occasions such as holidays, memorial days etc. It even displays light colours that reflect the birthstone colours of each month!



One thing I was a little disappointed with the tour was that we didn't get enough time to spend on top of the tower. I felt it was too short a time! Hahaha...



A better view of Kobe city.



And lastly, one of my favourite pictures of the day.

To Pear and Aaron: Congratulations!

"i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)"
-e.e. cummings-

Note: This is not Pear, I have no idea who she was. Happened to walk past a wedding ceremony in progress in a little chapel on the way to Akashi bridge. They, the bride and groom, reminded me of Pear and Aaron.

Freundlieb bakery and cafe, Kobe

On Saturday, we had a trip to Akashi bridge to join a guided tour of the bridge. Before heading to Akashi bridge (I will post about that tour in the next posting), we went to eat lunch at one of Kobe's famous bakery and cafe: Freundlieb bakery and cafe.



The most interesting aspect of Freundlieb is that is it housed in a church building. It was formerly known as the Kobe Union church until it was converted into a German bakery and cafe by a couple: Mr and Mrs Freundlieb.



This was the outside garden. It was a sunny day, not too hot, so it was just nice to sit outside. The bakery is on the ground floor and the cafe is on the first floor.





Inside the cafe. When we arrived, there was already a queue standing in line for lunch. Fortunately, we did not have to wait too long for our seats. You can see how popular this place is. The cafe serves sandwiches, salads and a variety of desserts.



We were served biscuits as appetizers, which was really good. I now wished I had bought a packet of them back home.



My sandwich: Double cheese BLT. It was nice, they weren't stingy with the stuffings. I love the bread, especially the crust! It was crusty (for lack of a better word) and delicious. We didn't know this until much later, when we saw a family in the next table, that we can choose which bread we wanted. Hmm...



Pepper ham sandwiches. The meal is not that cheap (for sandwiches) but you can expect quantity and quality for the money. The bread alone (I can't get my mind of the bread!) is worth trying.



Ceaser salad. It was served in this huge bowl and can be a meal in itself. It looks just yummy, doesn't it?

Next up: Akashi Bridge tour

Baby Blue Eyes

"Blue eyes laughing in the sun
Laughing in the rain
Baby’s got blue eyes
And I am home, and I am home again"



Flower: Nemophila menziesii
Common name: Baby blue eyes
Excerpt from 'Blue Eyes' by Elton John, lyrics by Gary Osbourne