cinta

Tuhan
ajarkanlah aku untuk melihat
biarlah cinta itu kudapat
bukalah pikiranku
izinkan aku menyelami kebenaran-Mu

dalam sebuah kenikmatan abadi
yang bergulir bagai ekstasi
biarkan aku sekali lagi
melihat, mendengar dan menyentuh kebenaran ini

hanya dengan izin-Mu
aku ada
maka cahaya-Mu
kini ku pinta

big bowl of Ice-cream

The world is like a big bowl of Ice cream. You think you know what you are ordering, which is probably based on the beautiful pictures of that Ice cream bowl you saw on the menu. But when the bowl came, you know that its too small, even if the taste is just as good as you have imagined, or probably even better than what you expected, but the portion is not what you want. That's how everything in this world works, the world is filled up with  built up images of grandeur things, when in reality things are just small, and probably simple.

After the first order, when you finished your bowl of Ice cream only one question remains, if you ever come back to that restaurant, would you ever want to order that same bowl of Ice cream? You probably promise yourself you will not make the same mistake again, but you know that there will always be next time, because although that bowl was a lie, but that lie was good, and it was worth it.

Sapporo

Red street, a photo by asihsimanis on Flickr.

I said in my earlier Post, that the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri is not worth the fuzz of travelling, but dont get me wrong, Sapporo itself I think is worth travelling to.

The Japanese people are very cold people, meaning that they dont likely express their feelings of joy and warmth in the way that other nations might do, so it has been difficult for me to fit in, simply beacause my nation, Indonesia, is the complete opposite of that, we are warm and very open.

Sapporo people are somewhat just as cold, but they are very welcome and Hokkaido is famous for its northern hospitality, so where else to best experience it other than in the biggest city of Hokkaido, Sapporo?

Another thing about Sapporo is that unlike other places in Japan, you can see a lot of old western influences, like old western buildings, but you can still see the typicall Japanese buildings, and the food in Hokkaido is amazing.

If you are a seafood lover, then this is the place to be. everything is very fresh, which makes it a thousand times more delicious.

I think that Sappro, unlike Kyoto which is a super Japan tourist destination, and Tokyo the big metropolitan, if you were to come to Sapporo with a significant other, you might actually be able to enjoy it. its lovely really. and the peak season of going to Hokkaido would be in the summer, because they say the flowers there are nice. In February they have those Snow festivals which might be interesting to visit. so why not plan your date to Sapporo? hehe.

Sapporo Yuki Matsuri

the infamous Sapporo Yuki Matsuri, a photo by asihsimanis on Flickr.

Its world famous. It is huge. It has amazing sculptures. Attracts probably thousands of people from within Japan and from outside of Japan to come each year, but well that's it.

I remember thinking when I received my scholarship to Japan, that while I am there for a year I have to go to Hokkaidos infamous Snow Festival, I have heard from it for so much and I have built this perfect scene in my head on how it must be. So when the opportunity came to go, I wasn't going to say no to it.

We went using a ship, and there were 12 of us, the ship ride was 18 hours from Niigata, and we would only be in Hokkaido for one night, so we were probably spending 50% of the whole trip on the ship, but it was the cheapest way to go, I could never have been able to afford it if we didn't take the ship.

My Sensei was worried sick of me when I told him I was taking the ship to Hokkaido, because he is from Hokkaido and he said to me that the waves are particularly bigger in Winter, and we were going in the peak of winter. So yeah, I was scared. I prepared a lot of traditional Indonesian Medicine called Tolak Angin, which is supposed to keep your body warm and therefor will help you not get sea sick. So I drank that thing and I did not get sick, a lot of my friends did however, the waves were huge!

Hokkaido was not as cold as we all have expected, probably because everyone kept saying it was so freaking cold, so we had this really big expectation for it, but it wasn't really, we could survive.

The Sapporo Yuki Matsuri was however not as pretty as I have expected, it was really big and beautiful and everything , but I just didn't get the goosebumps when I was there.

Sapporo however had succeded in becoming my second most liked city in Japan after Tokyo, it just has that really nice vibe to it. I really like that northern hospitality everyone keeps talking about.

Should you go to Sapporo Yuki Matsuri, maybe no, because I don't think it was worth it, but there are other festivals in Hokkaido which I think are just so much prettier than this one, I will show them to you later.

todaji, Nara

reflection, a photo by asihsimanis on Flickr.

For those outside Japan, who are not that interested in Japan, you might probably never heard of Nara. The cities people usually know is Tokyo, followed by Kyoto, all the other cities are a little bit blur in every ones mind, or so I think it is.

However here in Japan, Nara is a big hit, inside my Japanese Learning Books, this city is mentioned over and over again, so yes, the Japanese people love the place, and that's why, after a lot of people selling to me how beautiful it is, I finally decided to go to see for my self.

Nara is the old capital of Japan, it has been the capital of Japan before Kyoto, so historically -and this is simply speaking , so I wont bore you with my lack of knowledge-, this is the real real real and true feeling of Japan. because first there was Nara, then Kyoto and last Tokyo. In Nara, Japan was still very much secluded from the outside world, Kyoto has been touched by more of foreign influences, and Tokyo (Edo) is even more influenced. So they say that the architecture here in Nara will represent that. Sounds really interesting and amazing right?

This picture I included here is a shot of the Todaji temple, which is exquisite because it is the biggest wooden structure in the world. You thought you would now that right, but still people are more amazed by the Golden temple in Kyoto, I wonder why Gold interest people so much.

There are a lot of temples and shrines in Nara, but from all the ones I actually saw, I love this one the most.

I must say however that I wasn't really that impressed with Nara, yes it had some deers in it, who were very cute, yes there is a lot of history in Nara, yes there are a lot of architecturally important buildings there and it really does have everything I usually fall in love with, but I didn't.

For me the whole town was gloomy, there was no festivity at all happening there, just plain history and architecture, which I didn't really like. So if you are not that much of an Old -Japan freak, I think you can conveniently skip this place.

fushimi inari shrine

inari shrine, a photo by asihsimanis on Flickr.

it is located in the outskirt of Kyoto. I dont know whether it is famous or not, but I think that a lot of people wish to visit the place because it is very artistic, photographic and it was used in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.

This is what I think, I think the place is boring. Yes the trail of thousands of Inari gates -those orange gates you see, which were given by thousands of companies and individuals in hope that the Gods will reward them with good fortune -is beautiful artistic and superbly photographic, but that is basically all you willsee. The trails of these gates are neverending, you can see more info about the place here. But the scene is more or less the same.

I went to the place twice, the first time I went alone, and it was in the mid of december. I went there at probably 4 or 5 p.m, so it was getting dark. It wasnt a touristy season at that time, the place was empty, no one was there and it was raining. The shrines were located inside some woods, with trails of gates connecting each. I went up to the shrines, through the gates by myself and I was totally scared.

There was this mystique feeling in that place, it felt like there was magic in the air -and not good magic, scary magic-. I finally decided- after getting bored with the look of the gates from the inside,which for me looked the same - to get out of the gates trail as soon as possible, and try to get new angles from outside the trails -which I obviously failed at-. And the woods were even scarier. At last I hurried back as soon as I can, I just dont like the place.

The second time I went at the peek of the tourist season, while there was a ceremony being held at the shrine -sadly we were not allowed to take pictures, I did managed to take some actually, but felt rather weird posting them, since I had no permission to take them in the first place-, and all the scary mist there was before was not there, so I guess it was just bad timing before. However this shot I took here was taken on my first visit, which is why I managed to get a clean shot. If you were to come on the peek season, this shot is super difficult to get I think.

The question is should you or should you not come? If you love Red, love artistic things, love photography, then you might like it, however, I must add that there is a smaller version of this in Tokyo, located inside the Ueno Park. That version is smaller, friendlier, much easier accesible, and for me much nicer. The gates are not as big and as cool as the ones in Kyoto though. If you are interested in seeing other angles of the place here is the link of my album of the place on Flickr.

the dare of dares

I can wait for a week, but my thoughts might not.
I can wait for a month, but my feet might not.
I can wait for a year, but my heart might not.
No matter how long you need I might wait for you


you the unaware
deep within
shall compare
of what might have been
 
for in this dare of dares
I will win