29th December 2014, Monday
Today, we are going to a Japanese cultural theme park in Nikko called
Nikko Edomura (Edo Wonderland). We are going there to see samurais and ninja during Edo period....hohoho....We got up around 6 plus and left the hotel to take the train to Nikko. We had to take the metro to Tokyo station and take a train down to Nikko and our JR pass are activated today (so our train rides on any JR lines are free).....We went to the JR office in Tokyo station and booked seats reservation for our ride today. We also booked the same time trains for tomorrow (as we are going back to Nikko again), the staff looked at us puzzled when we asked him to book the same route for us tomorrow. We had to do a transfer train at Utsunomiya station and take the Nikko line. Finding the train platform is also very challenging there, because first you need to know what type of trains you are taking and then go into the gate, only then you can see your train platform number (they don't print it on the train tickets). Another way, is just ask the train staff...they will tell you which platform is your train going to arrive. Most of the long distance trains are by shinkansen, so we were following the direction to get to shinkansen ticket gate and on our way to the gate, we bought a box of brum cakes and a cold bento to eat on the train. The bento that were selling at the station to eat on the train are basically all cold....and they are not cheap too....lol...And after buying the food, we went in to the gate and before entering, we checked with the train staff on whether we were on the right place and which platform we need to go up....It was still early when we went in, we bought a chocolate drink from the vending machine and it was hot...somehow the bottle was warm when it was dispensed out...amazing....
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| Mount and Striaght Baumkuchen Cakes |
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| Cold Bento |
Then we went up to our platform and waited for our train to arrive. When the train arrived, the train cleaning team went in and do cleaning and even turned the seats around for the opposite direction. We noticed some teams had completed cleaning but were waiting for the rest of the teams in other cars to complete. And after some time, the whole team stood outside of each car and bowed to the passengers and greeted before letting the passengers to aboard (very got process). And so, we boarded the train, we were so impressed with the train (we got the green class pass). The seats were very spacious and the train clean too and we got very big leg space too. We were wowing when we boarded...like mountain turtles...hahaha...but it was really very enjoyable...After the train left Tokyo, we started to eat the food we bought for breakfast...and enjoyed looking at the views from the window....It was about 45 mins to reach Utsunomiya station and after we alighted the station, we had to walk down the station and enter to another gate for Nikko line. As both are under the same train company, we can use our JR pass to take the Nikko line. Our train was always at the platform waiting, it was set to leave at 10.10 am. There are 6 stations, including Nikko station and the whole journey will take about 45 mins too. We got on the train, which was like a metro train and sat on the seats to wait for the train to leave. There were many people on board too, and the heater was super powerful...basically we were so hotz inside with our jackets on. We had to tahan until we reached Nikko station. All the people alighted at Nikko station, so the station was kind of packed when we alighted and we had to show our JR pass to get out of the ticket gates.
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| Nikko, World Heritage site |
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| Mountains with Snow |
We were trying to find the bus stop where the free shuttle to Edo Wonderland was. Almost waited at the wrong bus stop, there was a sign with Edo Wonderland picture at the bus stop and there was 3 bus timings for it. We had missed the first bus time and so we had to wait until 11.20 am for the next bus. There were snow mountains surrounding Nikko and the clouds were floating around the mountains, it was very cold today too. There were pigeons sleeping on the tree branches too...There was even a stone outside the station with Nikko crystal water flowing for passers-by to drink...very refreshing and clean...heheee....There were many people taking the public places to go the shrines, there were only 3 groups (including us) going to Edo Wonderland. So we were just jumping around while waiting for the shuttle bus to come. Finally the bus came and we boarded. It was about half an hour ride to the theme park, and we went to get our tickets when we arrived. There was a long road to walk before we were greeted by some villagers from Edo period at the village entrance. And there were old old houses used during the Edo period, the first house we saw was a taxi-service house. There were also samurais standing around in the village, there was a shrine called O-Edo Tenmangu Shrine. There were also shows performing at certain times and games to play. The village was big too and everything displayed were during Edo period.
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| Comedy Stage Play |
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| Ninja Show |
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| Hell Temple |
There was a play going on when we reached the main square, and of course the dialog was in Japanese. But because there was a lot of expressions and actions from the actors and actresses, we can roughly guess what was happening. It was kind of a comedy with some fighting actions and they ended by singing a song with all the good guys and bad guys. After the play, we went to the theater nearby and went for a ninja action play, which last about 15 mins. This play was more on ninja and samurai fighting, without almost no dialog but they had good effects and lighting (Photographs and videos are not allowed). And while you are queuing, the ninja will pass you a transparent paper but they didn't tell you what is it for. Until when the narrator inside the theater explained, actually the paper is for you to wrap your rubbish and then to throw onto the stage before you leave...hahahaa....After the show, we came out and took a photo with 2 ninjas....After that, we went to a Hell Temple beside it....kekeke...My friend kept on scaring me by making scary sounds...Inside the temple, there was hell king and some other scary stuffs, pretty much like the Chinese Hell too. Behind was a father and son, i think the son also got scared by my friend...hahaha....After we came out from the Hell Temple, we went into an archery game house...W bought a voucher to play archery. It costs $600 yen for 5 arrows..and the bow was made of wood and it was those ancient type. We each took turns to try to shoot..hahaa..all missed, can't get 1 arrow to hit and we got a postcard as a consolation prize.
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| Sweet Corn |
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| BBQ Skewers |
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| Pinwheel Darts Game |
After playing, we went out to the streets and saw a house with heavy smoke coming out. So i went over to have a peek, it was selling bbq skewers and there was a long queue of people buying. I went to queue to buy too..hehhee...while my friend went further down the streets to look for her corn (she saw got people eating corns). The BBQ skewers each costs $500 yen, we got 1 chicken and 1 pork. It was yummy, and the corn was sweet too. While we were queuing, we saw a group of kids chasing a 'thief' around the village and there was a samurai telling the kids how to catch the thief. The kids were all having so much fun chasing and eventually, they caught the thief successfully. After buying the skewers, we stood outside a house (where you can cook your own rice crackers) and ate our bbq skewers. After that, we went to other houses to see what do they have. We went into a game house where we played pinwheel darts and gun shooting games. Each costs $600 yen. There was a Japanese couple playing before us and the guy was trying very hard to get a hit on the dart board. He had bought 2 times to play and finally he did hit once in the board after some time. The staff even tried showed them how to shoot, and we were super impressed with her when she threw the dart lightly and it really hit on the board!! It seems like to her, it was so easy. Then we gave it a try, it wasn't that easy. Cos the darts were very light (wasn't much weight) and there were no feathers to support it. Of course, we didn't hit it on the board....hahaaa...but at least it did touched the board and fell...Then later the couple went over to play the gun shooting and the lady was expert on this. She hit a few times while her boyfriend didn't hit once, so the guy went to buy the vouchers to try to hit it (seems like they were having challenge). Hohoho....they were having so much fun and we also had fun looking at them. We too tried out luck in the shooting game, we didn't even hit once...so lousy....hahahaha
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| Cooked Rice Cracker |
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| Nice View with Clear Water |
After the fun, we went to the house to cook rice crackers. It was interesting, we used charcoal to cook it. It costs $150 yen for one rice crackers. We put the sweet sauce onto the cracker once it had turned golden brown. The staff gave us an english instructions on how to cook the rice crackers but the 2 staffs were also helping everyone to check whether the crackers were ok to put the sauce over. It took us about 5 to 10 mins to have the rice crackers to be done. After cooking the crackers, we went walk exploring the rest of the village. We went into a house where there were statues exhibit on the Edo Period history. After that, we went outside taking stroll and saw fishes swimming along the side drains....Then we went inside an empty to take a peek too, we had to take our shoes and it was very cold. After that, we walked back to the main street and there was a parade which was about to end. So we only got to see the ending and after the parade, we noticed people were starting to leave the village. Then we went back to the bbq house to buy the skewers again and we got the rice balls too. After eating, we also started to make our way back to the entrance. When we reached near the guard house, i saw a samurai sitting there from far. My friend was walking ahead of me and she walked quite near to the guard house. And ahhhh....the samurai jumped at her and gave her a fright...hahahaa...so funny...We both had a great laugh on it....Later we went back to take a photo with the samurai. The samurai even gave his best pose for us...kekeke
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| Foot Onsen |
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| Late Dinner |
Then we went off and bought a super big pork bao on the way out too. We went to the bus stop and waited for the public bus, since the last free shuttle bus to JR Nikko station had already left. We had to take the public bus and go up to Kinugawa-onsen Station. And from there, we had to take train (with a transfer at Shimo-Maichi station) to Tobu-Nikko station, where we can walk back to JR station. As we had missed the train and had to wait for the next available train, we went walk around nearby Kinugawa-onsen station. There was even a foot onsen outside the station for people to relax their feet. We walked to the shops to pass time, and after that, we went to take the train back to JR Nikko station, where we had to take the Nikko line back to Utsunomiya station and take the JR line back to Tokyo station. By the time we reached Tokyo, it was about 9 pm. But we still took the JR Yamanote line to Shinjuku station. It was a very long route, cos this line was stopping many stations. We were quite tired when we reached Shinjuku, so we decided to just eat dinner and then go back to the hotel. Went in a bento restaurant to eat dinner but my friend wasn't having much appetite, so i ate my bento and then we took the train back to our hotel to rest. Notice there was a carriage for women only during peak hours time..hohohoho....
Hotel Stayed:
APA Hotel - Hanzomon Hirakawacho
