Roger – Our travels

By Roger on Japan, trains, Travel - Leave a comment

WL Japan Train Experience 2020

Late January and early February I was in Japan. Here are the trains I took.

1st Night:

Narita Airport to Tokyo station (Narita Express)
Tokyo station to Kanda station (Chuo line)
Kanda station to Asakusa station (Ginza line) (and reverse)

2nd Day

Kanda station to Tokyo station (Keihin-Tohoku line)
Yurakucho station to Tokyo station (Yamanote line)
Tokyo station to Oyama station (Shinkansen)
Oyama station to Sano station (Ryomo line)

4th day

Sano station to Oyama (Ryomo line)
Oyama station to Tokyo station (Shinkansen)
Tokyo station to Kanda station (Chuo line)
Kanda station to Shinagawa station (Yamanote line)
Shinagawa station to Yokohama station (Ueno-Tokyo line)
Yokohama station to Bandobashi station (Blue line)

Bandobashi station to Shin Yokohama (Blue line)
Shin Yokohama to Shinagawa station (Shinkansen)
Shinagawa station to Ikebukuro station (Yamanote line)
Ikebukuro station to Kawagoe station (Tobu Tojo line)
Kawagoe station to Musashi Takahagi station (Kawagoe line)
*reverse Musashi Takahagi to Shin Yokohama station.
Shin Yokohama station to Higashi Kanagawa station (Yokohama line)
Higashi Kanagawa station to Yokohama station (Keihin Tohoku line)
Yokohama station to Bandobashi station (Blue line)

Bandobashi to Shin Yokohama station (Blue line)
Shin Yokohama station to Nagoya station (Shinkansen)
Nagoya station to Marunochi station (Sakuradori line)
Marunouchi station to Shondaidori station (Tsurumai line)
Nagoya station to Tajimi station (Chuo line)
Tajimi station to Nagoya station (Shinano)

Nagoya to Shin Osaka station (Shinkansen)
Shin Osaka station to Namba station (Midosuji line) and reverse
Shin Osaka station to Kyoto station (Shinkansen)
Kyoto station to Saga Arashiyama station (San In line) and reverse
Kyoto station to Shin Osaka station (Shinkansen)
Shin Osaka station to Namba station (Midosuji line)

Namba station to Shin Osaka station (Midosuji line)
Shin Osaka to Okayama station (Shinkansen)
Okayama station to Takamatsu station ( Seto-Ohashi Line Rapid Rapid Marine Liner )
Reverse
Okayama station to Hakata station (Shinkansen)

Hakata station to Ohori Park (Kuko line)
Ropponmatsu station to Hakata station (Nanakuma line)

Hakata station to Minami Fukuoka station (Kagoshima line) (reverse)
Hakata station to Fukko Daime station (Kagoshima line) (reverse)
Hakata station to Chikuzen Maebaru station (Kuko line)
Chikuzen Maebaru station to Shikaka station (Chikuhi line)

Sasebo station to Hakata station (Midori Express)
Hakata station to Kyoto station (Shinkansen)
Kyoto station to Tokyo station (Shinkansen)
Tokyo station to Shinjuku station (Chuo line)
Shinjuku station to Nakano station (Chuo rapid line) (reverse)
Shinjuku station to Narita Airport (Narita Express)

By Roger on Japan tagged edo culture center, kanda shrine- Leave a comment

Visit to Edo Culture Complex and Kanda Shrine 2020

An few blocks away from Akihabara is the Kanda Shrine and Edo Culture Complex. Beautiful design and like many of these sacred grounds, additional things to see and do.

Kanda Shrine is a Shinto shrine and has enshrined these kami: Daikokuten, Ebisu (part of the 7 gods) and Taira No Masakado (a samurai who fought Heian government).

The Edo Culture Center had some cool items for sale (which is everywhere in Japan). But understanding some of the Edo Period’s history is always cool.

By Roger on Uncategorized tagged ginza district, godzilla square, kokyogaien national gardens- Leave a comment

Walking Around Ginza area

I had time to explore the Ginza area before heading to Tochigi. I walked around looking at building Saturday morning. As I was walking to Nissan Crossing, I couldn’t help but look up and love the buildings.

I started to walk further west and came upon Godzilla at Hibiya Square!

As I was exploring when I came near the Kokyogaien National Gardens. I only stayed in the lower part and headed back to the trains shortly after.

As I was heading to the train station and going through an underpass, I couldn’t help but enjoy these spots that set up underneath.

2 Jul

By Roger on Japan tagged hozomon gate, japan, senso ji, temple, tokyo- Leave a comment

Senso-Ji (Asakusa Kannon) Temple and Hozomon Gate at night 2020

Even though I arrived late into Tokyo, I still wanted to see something. Typically many places in Japan have beautiful night displays and I couldn’t pass the chance of going to Senso-Ji Temple. Going at night is less crowds, but also less access (depending on the area).

I check in the hostel I am staying at and even though it was late, I decided to check out Hozomon Gate and Senso-Ji temple right off Asakusa station.

After getting off at Asakusa station, the exit had some pretty cool stuff!

As I started walking towards the Temple area and it was gorgeous! It’s actually pretty calm at night. I was taking pictures of the structures, signs, figures, art, and building designs as many looked old world vs modern.

The Temple area was surreal. I loved it. It was actually a chill evening.

The history of this temple is for the Goddess of Mercy.

Official website.

http://www.senso-ji.jp/

By Roger on Bay area tagged art, Hayward, niles canyon railway, niles canyon station- Leave a comment

Niles Canyon Station sculpture

I first came upon this by random and thought it was pretty cool. I don’t know much about Niles Canyon, but it was a railway (still operates today too) from years ago.

The sculpture is next to the main road and located near housing. I was there the other day when I decided to take pictures of it.

By Roger on Canada tagged toy traders, toys- Leave a comment

Toy Traders in Langley BC

I heard about Toy Traders from my friend Victor W. He took pictures when he visited and since I had some time on my hands, I decided to go check it out.

Got my wife and kids, and my nephew to go check it out.

Now I’ve seen Japanese toy stores similar to this display wise.. but the Toy Traders is unique!

As a toy person, it was awesome. As a nostalgic toy person, it was awesome. As someone into “toy art” freaking blown away!!!

Above and on all sides of the store were some toy art.. like epic battle scenes… It was pretty intense.

I’ll let the pictures don the talking.

By Roger on Bay area tagged kalayaan, kalayaansf- Leave a comment

Kalayaan SF 2019

Kalayaan SF celebrates Philippine Independence every June. This event was held in downtown San Francisco’s shopping district at Union Square. This is a very busy spot on all levels (parking, people and traffic).

I had some spare time, so I decided to go check it out and was impressed. I love culture in general and to see Filipino culture displayed proudly, is inspiring. I saw good artwork, clothing, food and talent.

Kalayaan SF website

By Roger on Bay area, museum tagged de young, museum- Leave a comment

de Young Museum

I would check out local museums when they had “free admission”. Many museums double as a “night club” in the evenings.

I was glad to see that de Young was gonna do this with the event of a drag queen runway show. LOL.

I didn’t even know until I arrived. I tried to get some free soda.

After a few minutes, I went straight to the exhibitions as I had a couple hours to do so. I couldn’t go into the special or exclusive exhibits, but I did check out the regular collections and I definitely enjoyed it.

I took many pictures, my phone died…