Ground Plaques & Manholes Mania

Why are manholes circular in shape? Do you know why?

Bet it did not occur to you to ask these questions :)) Among 3 Wiki reasons ;

- Round manholes are harder to fall through its circular opening.

- Easier to be rolled than compared with other shapes.

- Round shapes are more difficult to be raised by suction, hence can be made lighter.

The Japanese have manholes that tell something about the place or town. 

These shots captured some of the essence.

Squid manhole

Hakodate, Hokkaido : Squids or "ika" featured heavily inHakodate cuisine. It's their signature item. Nearly all restaurants at its morning market had squid on their menu. We had Ikameshi or stuffed squid as an add-on to our delicious ramen :)))

Ikameshi with Hakodate Ramen

The Ikameshi was something new but the taste was rather mild. The squid was overcooked perhaps and  a tad chewy. The ramen on the other hand was excellent.

Japanese Alpine Range

Toyama, Western Japan. It is the hop-off town to the Japaneses Alps. We did the Ice Wall circuit on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Does this manhole resembled the mountain range below???

The only to compare height of ice wall

Walk through the valley of .....

Roof of Japan, stark, steep and beautiful mountain range. Was on the ice wall and it began to snow. The vertical ice wall was about 10 m high in May 2010. It was cold then.

Don't believe, look at these guys on the right.~~~~~>>>>>>>>>

Embedded caption

Osaka, Kansai : Back to civilization. This one was on the underground shopping of Namba in Osaka. It was a peaceful walk here. On street level, you would be bombarded with neon lights and mechanized signages. Lookout for giant crab and octopus on the wall!

Welcoming with all 8 tentacles at Osaka Namba

The claws could move1 at Osaka

Beware monster squid at an octopus balls or takoyaki outlet. A must try in Japan.

The claws of this mechanized decapod crustacean moved back and forth, beckoning visitors to enter.  

Floor plaque in Furano

Furano, Hokkaido : Known for its picturesque rural landscape. Not too sure what this manhole was trying to say. Maybe just a happy tourist letting out yahoos after being overwhelmed by the beauty of the place.

Of course grapes have to be included

Furano grapes destined for grape juice factory & winery near Furano town.

Kushiro manhole

Our hosts waving us on

MOO Seafood Reataurant

Kushiro, Eastern Hokkaido. No prize for guessing, fishing,  a major industry here. Locals and tourists came out in full force at night to enjoy seafood at the MOO Fisherman's Wharf. Happy customers equal happy vendors :)))

/

Salmon

Different pose

There are metallic fish embedded on the streets of Kushiro! Different pose too.

Pavement tile in Kushiro

These next three plaques were found along the Kushiro Fisherman's Wharf MOO.

Kushiro public transport then

It was within the vicinity of Nusamai Bridge.

No idea what was written on it

Scenes of Japanese life and history?

Its between Hosooka and Toya

Kushiro to Abashiri by rail

No. 1 on the left map was our station stop. The exact station signage.

Marshland owls

This manhole was found near Hosooka Viewpoint in the Kushiro Marshland. Local natives were owls and the Japanese Cranes but we did not see any. Probably we were too noisy and scared them away.

Japanese Crane bottom left, captured from moving train

On the plus side, I did capture an image of a Japanese crane in flight while travelling on the train. Only realized that when I was looking through the photos in the computer.

Strong Chinese presence in Yokohama

Chinese themed gateways aplenty in Yokohama

Port of Yokohama, home to the largest Chinese community in Japan. You can navigate Yokohama easily if you have a good command of Mandarin.

Night view of Yokohama from the harbour.

Great night view of Yokohama

Wandering 13 Days Japan for RM$6K ( USD$2.7K )

This trip was in two loops mainly

We travelled nearly 6,000 km for 13 days when we were moving around Japan in early spring. Spent less than RM$6,000 per person.

Flight by Airasia cost us RM$814.00 per person return.
The reasons it was cheap ;
- We booked months ahead.
- No checked in luggage en-route, only 20 kg on the return leg.
- No meals, it was a night flight to Osaka and we slept.
En-route home we had early dinner below at Sukiya chain of restaurants  inside Kansai Airport before we boarded the evening flight.

Our last meal in Japan before boarding

A typical Sukiya restaurant

The 14-Day JR Pass was more expensive at $1,850 vs $1,601 on the previous trip.
The internal flight by Jetstar was on promotion and we got it at  $198 per pax.

Day 1 was all about travel.
- Flew into Kansai International Airport, Osaka in the morning,
- Took Japan Rail ( JR ) and arrived afternoon at Narita Airport in Tokyo then
- Took Jetstar from Tokyo to Sapporo, arrived at night. Had ramen for dinner which was great.

Late dinner at this outlet

It was fantastic!

Our senior citizen cook doing her thing

This trip was in two loops mainly ;

(1) Eastern Hokkaido, which was more remote, covering cities like ;

- Sapporo as hub and down memory lane
- Asahikawa to see their famous zoo and ramen village
- Biei to see Panorama Road and Shikisai Hills
- Furano to see Farm Tomita.
- Obihiro to eat butadon butahage a super duper pork dish.
- Kushiro to see the Pacific Ocean, marshland and eat seafood at MOO.
- Abishari to see ice floes in the museum! Actual floes can only be seen around March.
- Revisited Otaru to catch the romanticism of this town and its seafood of course.

Ice floes

(2) Second loop encompassed parts of Honshu and Kyushu.
We flew from Sapporo to Tokyo and put up a night at the airport hotel.
The cities covered on this loop were ;



- Nikko to see temples & shrines, Kegon Waterfall and Lake Chuzenji
- Yokohama to see Japan's largest Chinatown plus sampling its gyoza
- Dashed to Kobe for the beef and went to Arima for a little bit of gold and silver onsen bath. This time around, was much more confident in the nude!
- Took shinkansen to Fukuoka just to touch base at Kyushu Island
- Hopped to Miyajima for day trip to see its large Torii in the sea
- Diverted to Hiroshima to feel the pain of war, no matter who was at fault
- Back to Osaka for flight out.

Kegon Waterfall at Nikko

For all of the above, our  average cost for 1 person was ;

Flight to Japan and one internal connection  RM$   814.00
13 Days Japan Rail Pass                             RM$1,850.00
12 Nights stay at Toyoko (member)            RM$1,338.00
Park fees, day passes &  meals                   RM$1,334.00
                                                                -----------------
Total                                                           RM$5,336.00

Details of this trip ....... later.

About Bucket List ... It Never Gets Filled

Route taken

                            

G Berlumut Recreational Forest

Once again, my mid-life crisis-hit buddies wanted a climbing challenge. Somehow, Gunung Berlumut (1,010m) came within my group leader's radar. Situated 2 1/2 hours drive from Seremban, we made our journey southwards towards Johor Bahru on the PLUS Highway. We usually climb Gunung Ledang aka Mt Ophir, a mountain rich in folklore. We exited the highway to Tangkak and headed towards our destination. At 6.45am, we were in Kluang, Johor. Our lead driver found the famous Kluang Rail Coffee without any hitches but it has yet to open its doors. We waited for another 15 minutes before we could savour its delicacies.

Kluang's icon

Rearing to order breakfast

Tools of trade, bought a pack of coffee.

Operating hours, we were early

Kluang Rail Coffee was located within the railway station's compound. Now a grand old lady with 75 years of history, its name well known around this side of the peninsular. A no-frill place to eat, the shop was about 20 feet x 80 feet in size. Fitted about 12 tables in all. The lower part of the wall was cement and the upper half was 2"x2" chicken coop wire mesh. It had an airy feel and we were the ravenous chickens inside!

My fellow climbers

We had nasi lemak, meehoon, kuih, eggs, toasted white & wholemeal bread with kaya and coffee :-)

Within this tiny place, we had excellent local coffee, roasted with imported butter giving it a high 'kao' factor. Choice of soft boiled eggs was either from the farm or free range, your call. The serving of rice in the Nasi lemak was kind of small with a dash of sambal, peanuts and anchovies. Guys probably need two packets to be satisfied but then again it cost only 70 sen ( USD$0.25 ) a bungkus/ pack.

As the nasi lemak packet looked kind of small, we ordered some extras. Before we realized it, we had ordered a set of kaya toast on white bread, another set on wholemeal, 2 eggs, sambal pulut and coffee. Our breakfast was heaavvvvy.

Group photo with fresh faces

Great foliage

The drive to G Berlumut Recreational Forest, 25km away took 30 minutes. We stopped at the nearby police station to hand them a list of names in our team on this climb. A good practice for all climbers. The last stretch to the park was heart breaking. Vast tracks of land has been cleared for oil palm planting. Somehow, there was a tiny stream that flowed through this devastation with relatively pristine waters. Imagined if the land was untouched!

Car park area at the gateway to G. Berlumut

Team leader (R) with guide Roslan

Loved the morning sunlight

Entrance to Jurassic Park?

The ascend was relatively uneventful. The suspension bridge looked as though we were entering Jurassic Park. The profile started with a gentle track for 45 minutes. The nest hour was on steeper gradient. After that, we walked through a couple of horse back ridges before the final ascend.

Use of all four limbs required at certain sections were narrow. Tree roots became our source of grip and support. Halfway through this, we rested at Batu Bergigi, a saw-tooth rock formation. Looked like a jaw bone of a dinosaur in need of a good orthodentist.

Batu Bergigi - saw tooth rock formation

The false peak took the wind out of our climb. This small clearing lets you have a glimpse of G Berlumut which was a distance away. We had to descend and ascend again to reach the peak. So near yet so far.... As the path was much narrower and overgrown, we had to clear small plants blocking our way by hand.

Thankfully, 2 factors we in our favour. The weather was distinctly cooler between these peaks and was not humid. After all we were at the montane part of the mountain and the mossy forest was beautiful. Currently, Gunung Irau in Cameroun Highlands holds the record as the most beautiful mossy forest in my books.

G Berlumut Summit

The last group reached the peak under 4 hours. The sun greeted us in full force but cool winds saved the day. Lunch was 'bak chang', Chinese glutinous rice stuffed with meat, beans, salted egg, mushroom. After that an apple and some chocolate to replenish energy. It was a complete meal.

A quick change to dry clothes to prevent unnecessary heat loss has been my regular practice these days. Being warm and comfortable made the difference during descend.







We climbed a rock to view the surrounding vistas. False peak was a distance away and a reminder that we had to backtrack to it on the return leg. We could see a reservoir in the distance but otherwise our views were obscured by overgrown bamboo plants. Swiftlets were flying around us as if to warn us of the impending rain. Apparently swiftlets drink water from rain drops while in flight. Must verify this.

Distinct rock on the summit

The vistas atop

A brightly-hued blue bug welcomed us atop of this rock. Size of a cockroach but much prettier. It hovered around as if inviting us to photograph it. We obliged. The ladies screamed with delight as usual.

Our guest

Close up of the bug

Please don't go ......

The descend was not good on my left knee. Felt the creak in the joint each step down the mountain. Used knee guard to prop up this suspension of mine. A walking stick was used to augment and distribute my body weight to the upper torso.

Knee guard and hiking stick have been a necessary encumbrance to extend the 'mileage' on my knees. It took 3 hours to reach the park office. Had our bath there, changed and went for dinner before heading home ... satisfied.