Japan Day 2

Day 2 of #rjapantravelog.

We spent the day in Osaka. It was still a cloudy day. Bet the view would be much better with blue sky.

Hanami on the riverside

Gokurakubashi Bridge - a bridge across the Inner Moat of Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks. It was built in 1583.

The basic plan was modeled after Azuchi Castle, the headquarters of Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Oda's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and gold leaf on the sides of the tower to impress visitors. |wiki

Sakura Rain - if you look closer.

And if you look at the previous photo, the trees were leafless/flowerless. Basically it's due to the strong wind that occurred in the past few days.

I don't know what this is for.. Is it for, ummmm, ablution?

@sitamanda said that this is for Shinto-style ablution.

Wiki: Water-filled basins, called chōzubachi, are used by worshippers for washing their left hands, right hands, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine or shaden.

Diorama/miniature inside Osaka Castle

The castle tower is now entirely modern on the inside and even features an elevator for easier accessibility. It houses an informative museum about the castle's history and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Who is Toyotomi Hideyoshi? He was a preeminent daimyo, warrior, general, samurai, and politician of the Sengoku period who is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier". | wiki

City view from the top of Osaka Castle.

Sorry for spamming you with the pics. Wanna finish posting pics with grey sky really soon, so I can move forward to next ones.

From the roof of Osaka Castle. Okay, it's like being inside a cage from this side of the roof. .

such a chic hole cover plate

Ferris wheel.
From Osaka Castle, we went to Osaka Aquarium? Why there's a ferris wheel? Idk. Anyway, it wasn't operating that time due to bad weather.

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and Tempozan Ferris Wheel.

You know what? The wheel has colored lights that provide a weather forecast for the next day. Orange lights indicate a sunny day, green lights a cloudy day and blue lights indicate rain.

Pretty cool, isn't it? *baru tau abis baca wiki*

Another fact:
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge has the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world! It's 600m longer than SF's Golden Gate Bridge.

Whale Shark in Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Wiki says that whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest known extant fish species.

The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is one of the largest public aquariums in the world. .
However, I'm not that impressed. I love the one in Singapore better.

Glico Man in Dotonbori - one of the most famous landmarks in the area. Originally installed in 1935, the sign depicting a giant athlete on a blue track, which is a symbol of Glico candy.

Dōtonbori is one of the principal tourist destinations in Osaka. Historically a theater district, it is now a popular nightlife and entertainment area characterized by its eccentric atmosphere and large illuminated signboards. |wiki

Until now, I don't know why this thing is so famous.

Kani Doraku Crab - this six and a half meter crab, built in 1960, is on the front of the crab restaurant Kani Dōraku. It is mechanised, being able to move its arms and eyestalks. .
For this one, I also don't understand why it could be so famous. Perhaps because it's been there for decades? .

Japan Day 1

Welcome to Japan🙆

Let's begin this #rjapantravelog with this tree. Why? Since I don't know the name of the tree, but definitely it's a unique one. The same thing will happen in many photos in this travelog: I might not be able to provide proper caption, because I alread

From Kansai Airport, we went to the accommodation to put our bag, then headed to Nara.

That was my very first time seeing sakura, so I was pretty excited to see them. Although the sky wasn't clear, but the ambience was very nice.

Five-story pagoda of Kōfoku-ji.. Kōfuku-ji itself is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

According to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred due to a visit from Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, one of the four gods of Kasuga Shrine. Killing one of these sacred deer was a capital offense punishable by death up until 17th century. |wiki

Nandaimon, or The Great South Gate is the main gate of Tōdai-ji. It is the largest temple entrance gate in Japan, suitable in scale to the Great Buddha Hall.

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Its Great Buddha Hall, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha.

Unfortunately I came very late, and didn't get any picture of the Buddha statue nor the hall.

Still in Nara

Although it was a cloudy day, but a pretty sakura is still pretty.

Sumba, NTT Day 5

 Dashing thru the sky. Well, we're (still) in Day-5 of #rsumbatravelog 😅

On our way to Tanggedu waterfall, we had a short stop at Puru Kambera. Later we would be back here to enjoy the sunset.

Trip to Tanggedu perhaps was the most tiring and difficult one compared to trip to other locations that we visited.

It's like in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps we only encountered 1 car in every 15 minutes. Sometimes we went thru a road that's not sufficient to be called a road. Phone signal did not exist at all.

A sizzlin hot noon at 10:51, around 2 hours from Puru Kambera, we finally arrived a village where we could park our car.

For me, it's such a relieve that we could arrive at the destination. I mean, at times the driver seemed to take uncommon routes, and saw no other cars. Although he's pretty sure of that, but I wondered whether we got lost.

After almost an hour of trekking with difficult route, we finally arrived at this place. Well, we haven't reached the waterfall, though. But seeing this crystal clear river is definitely satisfying.

Alternative caption: this day is so freaking hot and there's no shelter around and we cant swim in the river and I'm hungry and I'm tired. .

Actually, I wanted to caption this vid with Tanggedu's facts that I thought I'd get it easily somewhere. But unfortunately I was wrong.

Since this waterfall is a unique one that I haven't seen anything like this in Indonesia. Many small streams here and there.

Well, can't say that I'm an avid waterfall visitor though, so there's a chance that quite many other waterfalls look like this.

If I drag the previous video a bit left, this'd be the view, the main waterfall. Actually, you could jump from the top into the plunge basin below.

The rock formation perhaps what's make it kinda unique, since usually what I see around a waterfall is black-ish river rock.

After having a nice lunch, plus immersing ourselves inside probably the most natural bath tub we'd ever been in, we went back to the parking lot. If only we could just snap our fingers and teleport ourselves. Hot day at its finest.

Could you see the waterfall?

As a matter or fact, I couldn't, and perhaps still can't (a bit), comprehend on how on earth we would find a waterfall in the midst of very dry yellow hills (see previous photos). I usually found it among green thick rainforest trees.

Even when we were already parked our car, prior trekking to the waterfall, I still wondered, "Are we on the right place?"

But yes, we could find the waterfall in the what it seems unlikely place like this. God is great.

From Tanggedu Waterfall, we went back to Purukambera. Too tired to swim, and we're (read: I was) hungry as well. So, we just sat and did nothing. Well, better if you bring your own hammock or mat, and have urself some snack and drink.

And just like other destinations in Sumba, it's almost only me, myself, and I in that place. No shops, no food stalls, but thankfully there's phone signal here. The beach was also safe for swimming.

Golden ray of light in the savannah. Actually, I longed to see herd of horses running on the field. Since I heard that's one of the main attractions of this spot.

But well, couldn't find them. What we got is their excrements lying everywhere. So, better watch your step.

Motionless, sort of. Even the clouds seemed to love being standstill. Timelapse mode didn't help much. .

No, I'm not in Sumba, and I'm running out of caption idea right now. And yes, I used filter prior uploading this photo. Well, I'm not good in editing photos.

Confession: we brought along with us a bubble gun, from Jakarta. Well, from Bandung actually. Nevertheless, it's not easy to use it to accessorize photo. We don't think we'll bring it again next time :p.

Our driver surprisingly picked us up when we strayed too far in the midst of savannah. Lucky us, since we didn't need to walk back to where we started. Sorry, it's 2018 and I'm still posting photos from Sumba :p.

Staying in traditional house of Sumba.

Day 5 of #rsumbatravelog, basically our last day in Sumba.

We spent our last night in Sumba not in a hotel. We found this place via #airbnb and wanted to give it a try due to its rave reviews.

We thought that it would give us unique experience that we couldn't get if live in hotel. and it's true! Definitely no regret and would like to spend another night here.

Sumba, NTT Day 4

Welcome to Sumba Day 4👋

Let's move to day-4 of #rsumbatravelog. Fortunately from our accommodation's backyard, we could see sunrise without hassle.

Perhaps for most people, observing clouds is uninteresting. For me, they're mesmerizing. .

Wailara Hill. Well, I couldn't even find the location of this place in Instagram.

We agreed that Wairinding had a better view. The scenery in Wailara was still amazing nevertheless, countless hills under the blue wide sky. Perhaps other previous spots had set the bar really high.

Heading to Tarimbang. Not every trip to Sumba put this in their itinerary, since it's located quite far in the south, and in some parts, the road condition was pretty bad.

Nevertheless, your eyes would be entertained with scenery like this. I guess this very spot even nameless.

Tarimbang Beach

There's no one else visiting this place that time. Felt like in our own private beach. Beautiful secluded beach.

Tarimbang's very own landmark: The Tree.

If you search for this place, most of them would have this leafless tree as their object. The tree that stands alone, between pureness of white and calmness of blue.

The waves gently kiss the shoreline. Water sprinkles and mixes with sand, gingerly stroking my toes and feet.

In this isolated beach, no internet connection is available. Even there's no phone signal at all. Perfect place to really connect with your surrounding, and yourself.

For me, road trip in Sumba offers compelling experience. Well, sometimes we should go thru long and bumpy roads to reach the destination.

Can't deny that it might be boring at times, but I tried to enjoy the panorama that perhaps very difficult to find in other places in Indonesia.

Waiting for sunset, or not.

Since sometimes, after he had had a good day, he held it with both hands and didn't wanna let it go. He wanted to keep the good things going.

Well, earth revolves, life goes on. Bad things, and also good things, are just ... things. Need to let them go, surrender them to the one who has them all.

Actually, I wanted to imitate, or recreate, the iconic dancing trees photo in Walakiri. But well, I guess the skill and the tool just weren't there 😅.

Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories ...

Actually, this tourism object is one of the most "civilized" spots that we visited during the trip. I mean, in the other locations, the chance of finding food seller is the same with locating water in the moon.

In here, we could view the sunset while enjoying our Indomie and soft drink below the coconut trees. Phone signal was strong as well.

Having said that, it doesn't mean this place is packed with tourists. Not at all.