My views

Last week, My family and I went on a week long trip to Kanazawa with some of our family friends. Kanazawa is a city in Ishikawa prefecture which is located near the coast of Japan.  I was very excited for this trip as I had not gone for a vacation to a place outside of Tokyo for more than a year. Furthermore, I was very excited to be going there with my friends and family.  Day 1 I got up at 5:00 in the morning, and left our house at 6. For the trip, we had booked two Toyota HiAces, in order to fit in all 17 of us and our luggage. As we drove along the winding roads and majestic mountaintops, my friend and I settled down to watch a movie(We watched 5 in total by the end of the week!). Our first destination was Kurobe Dam which is Japan's tallest dam. Sadly however, we didn't get the opportunity to visit it as we could only reach the dam by taking a train and the last train had just stopped running 15 minutes earlier. Nevertheless, we continued our drive, exploring the be...

The sounds of the flora and fauna aroused me from my deep sleep as I woke up on the fourth and final day of my school residential trip to Moriumius , Oshika and Kinkasan .  Following an amazing starry night in a tent, we ran helter-skelter in packing our suit-cases, getting ready for the day, and happily munching on a mouth full of breakfast!! After we finally sorted ourselves, we boarded our bus and drove to our activities site in the Oshika area where I learnt that we were going to learn how to decipher maps and compasses!  Using the same groups that we were put into in day 3, we were first given a map with each team having a different trail(route) to follow. The map contained different symbols to represent the landmarks alongside the trail and it was our job to figure them out. Highly enthusiastic about our map skills, we started our walk, only to realise fifteen minutes later, that we had gone the wrong way!! Though we were exasperated with ourselves, a quick...

  In this blog, I am going to be writing on the third day of my school residential trip to Moriumius, Oshika and Kinkasan. After an amazing two days at Moriumius, we rose up early in the morning and bed a fond farewell to the Moriumius staff and thanked them for the wonderful time we had there. Half-dragging, half-lifting our suitcases behind us, we somehow managed to hop onto our buses and headed out to our next destination, Kinkasan !!. In our three hour drive from Moriumius to Kinkasan, we passed through many mountains situated right next to the sparkling coastline. These mountains contain a variety of flora and fauna. As I casually glanced out of the window, I gasped in awe as I saw a spotted deer with huge antlers running away from us. Though I was sad that the deer did not come any closer, little did I know that I was in for a treat later on in the day.  Kinkasan is a small mountainous island off the coast of Japan. In Japanese, Kinkasan means " The Gold...

Belinda the Goat The rooster crowed as I slowly stretched my way to wakefulness. It was five in the morning, and I was looking forward to my second day in my school residential trip to Moriumius, Oshika and Kinkasan after an amazing first one (Check out the link!!).  A chilly breeze blew alongside us as we commenced our first activity  for the day, cleaning . It was a wholehearted experience as we used brooms and mops to make the activities centre squeaky clean. Whilst cleaning, we spotted Belinda the goat , who was to my surprise, gigantic !! As she slowly made her way around chewing both grass and cud, we could see an expression of peace and contentment on her face, even allowing us to touch and pat her. After a hearty and sumptuous breakfast made by the Moriumius staff, we grabbed our jackets and towels and headed out to do kayaking in the sea!! I was  very excited as, though I had done kayaking before, this was the first time I was going to do...

The month of september was a very busy one for me. My sincere apologies for the delay in posting the blog. I had commenced my new school after a five month break; and in the space of four weeks, I have taken part in many activities, the highlight of them being my week long trip to  Moriumiu s , Oshika and Kinkasan . In this series of four blogs, I will be writing on my experience of my first residential trip in Japan. In my school, each residential trip has a unique theme. Each trip focuses on its theme but brings light to it in a fun way. This time the focus of my residential was giving back to the nature . Moriumius, Oshika and Kinkasan are all situ ated in Miyagi prefecture, which is high up in the north of Japan. These places are situated in the area where the 2011 Tohuku Tsunami unleashed its fury. As a class, we were to start our trip on Tuesday and reach back home on Friday. As I am a new student in my school, I did not know what to expect out of this jaunt a...

In my last post chronicling my trip to Japan, I am going to be blogging on my visit to Hakone. Hakone is a town less than 100 kilometres south from Tokyo. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan. Famous for it's hot springs and natural beauty, we(my father and I) decided to spend a day over there. We first headed to the Tokyo station and then took the Japanese Railways(JR) to Hakone. While nearing Hakone, we once again saw the magnificent Mount Fuji(To view my experience in visiting Mt.Fuji check  https://rithview.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-trip-to-land-of-rising-sun-part-2.html ). We then reached Hakone! I was awestruck by its beauty as much of its flora and fauna are not disturbed. We headed to a place which had hotsprings. After having over the years about Japan's hotsprings, I was enthralled and excited to actually take a bath in one!!😜 When I stepped inside the Onsen (hot spring), there was only one thing running on my mind, "aahhh!!!...

In my fourth post on my trip to Japan, I am going to be blogging on my visit to the city of Osaka, the Universal Studios Japan, the city of Nara and the Todai-Ji shrine. I was super excited on hearing that we were going to visit the second largest metropolitan area in Japan,  Osaka . But the fact that got me onto my feet was that we were going to travel in the world renowned  Shinkansen ; more commonly known as the Bullet train!! As the Shinkansen is part of the Japanese Railways, we had to travel to the Tokyo Station in order to board it. When I reached the Tokyo Station, I was blown away !!! I have been to most of the metro stations in Tokyo and this one is a level apart. Here are the reasons : 1. It is humongous! - Even now under extensive development, it's boundaries almost touch two districts in Tokyo! With a huge space both underground and above, it is the busiest station in Japan.  2. It is very commercial - The station has mini malls and departmental...

 After my previous two posts, I will be blogging on my visit to Kamakura's Kotoku-In shrine, the Hase Dera, the Hamarikyu gardens, the Asakusa shrine, the Yasukuni shrine and the island of Odaiba. Kamakura is a coastal city near the twin city of Tokyo, Yokohama. While travelling past Yokohama, I spotted the  Yokohama Landmark Tower , the second tallest building in Japan. We finally reached Kamakura. The city is full of Buddhist and Zen temples, but it didn't take us long to find the Kotoku-In. When we entered and walked a few hundered metres, we came facing to the massive outdoor statue of the  Daibutsu  or Great Buddha. Buddha is seated in a meditation pose. The air around the shrine is very tranquil and relaxing. After visiting the Kotoko-In shrine, we went to  Hase Dera , another Buddhist shrine. It is halfway on top of Mount Kamakura and overlooks the Yuigahama beach. The mountain is very beautiful with miniature statues and bonzai plants along the ...

In the second part in a series of five, I will be blogging on my visit to the Tokyo Disney Land, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise and the Fuji Safari Park. I was  animated  when I heard we were going to visit the acclaimed  Tokyo Disney Land , one among the only five in the world. The Tokyo Disney Land is ranked third in the world in the amusement/theme parks with the highest annual attendence! When I reached there, there was only one thing running through my mind, " WOW "!! Built on a cost of 180 Billion yen, it is simply a treat for the eyes. My favourite rides were: 1. Splash Mountain - This takes us inside a mountain like structure, where we are shown characters and songs from a Disney movie named Song Of The South. In the end, the boat plummets down the mountain cliff and we splash into the river flowing below. 2. Star Tours - The Adventures Continue - It is a 3D motion simulator where we have to enter a spaceship. Piloted by "C-3PO" and "R2-D2",...