A holiday in Singapore: Nov. 12, 2017 (Off off Tokyo)

I spent a holiday in Singapore. 

We had a rain in the morning today, then the weather turned to fine.

There were many tourists as well as local people in the Marine Bay area. The most crowded place was, of course, around the Merlion. (See also the top photo)

The Marina Bay Sands stands across the bay.

The combination of the Merlion, the Marina bay Sands and the skyscrapers a typical Singapore scene. Tourists and yachts were included in the picture today. See also the 3rd photo from the top)

I saw many people enjoying their times in the parks. The mirror balls were impressive at the Asian Civilizations Museum green at the side of Singapore River. 

I met a group of guided tour in the Asian Civilizations Museum. The museum focuses on the connections among various cultures in Asia –- Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian etc. -- in the past.

The Peninsula Plaza building in the central city hosts “Little Myanmar.” 

There are hundreds of shops of Myanmar foods, travel agencies, tailors, clinics, law firms, restaurants, and many other offices and stores in the building.

Thousands of Myanmar people gathered in and around the building.

Many of them were sitting on the sidewalks, enjoying talks over lunch, and exchanging information.

The authority did not ban such gatherings, bus just asked the participants not to block the moves of other people.

Sir Thomas Ruffles’ statue is at the side of Singapore River. He stands silently on both holidays and weekdays.

Jakarta: Nov. 5-11, 2017 (Off off Tokyo)

I visited Jakarta for the first time in a year.

The city is rapidly changing. I found many things quite different from the situations a year ago.

The construction works of MRT (mass rapid transit) are speeding up. MRT plans to connect central Jakarta and southern suburb by 2019. It will have 13 stations in total 15.7 kilometers route. About 6 kilometers of total length will run underground and nearly 10 kilometers will move on the ground.

It will be the first MRT with subways in Jakarta.

The works of tunnels and viaducts (elevated bridges) are almost over. Now, rails are being installed. The construction works of the stations are accelerating.

The rails go into underground from over ground at Senayan.

Senayan is about six kilometers south from the city center’s Bundaran HI.

The Senayan station is being built at the side of business and shopping areas. (See the 2nd photo from the top)

There are many workers. They stay long in the sites. The works continue 24 hours.

Similar works are under the way at Bundaran HI.

Station Dukuh Atas will be built next to Bundaran HI in the southern direction. (See also the 4th photo from the top)  

The traffic jam between Bundaran HI and Senayan has been improved in a year. It was because of a new ring road built at the infamous Semanggi junction. The cost was covered by a local company of Mori Building, which has a development project in the area.

The third terminal has just opened at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. 

The design of the building is quite different from those of traditional terminal one and two. The functions are also quite different.

The traffic jam was temporally deteriorated in some parts (e.g. Jakarta – Bekasi, east of Jakarta) because of additional construction works on the roads. There are both good and bad changes on infrastructure.

The development of bike taxi was already famous a year ago. The services are rapidly evolving.

The leading (and young) company GoJek was outstanding last year. Now, Grab, Uber and other companies are expanding their services.

The delivery and shopping services have been added on bike taxi in their line ups. (See also the top photo)

The presence of China and Chinese seemed to be bigger than before. Oppo and Vivo occupied the largest spaces at the smart phone corners in the Thamrin City commercial complex.

I found more information about ASEAN than a year ago.

They also focused on the Asian Games to be held in 2018. (See also the 3d photo from the top)

1000 days before Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games: Oct 27, 2017

Tokyo will have the Olympic and Paralympic games in 1000 days.

The gamed will start on Friday, July 24, 2020. October 28, 2017 marks 1000 days before the event.

Flags of nearly 200 countries were displayed on the wall of a building near the Imperial Palace, central Tokyo.

Pedestrians were watching the display and taking the photos.

Various construction works are under way to prepare for the games. They are not only sport facilities but also hotels roads and other infrastructure investments.

Tokyo after typhoon: October 23, 2017

Japan was hit by a typhoon on October 22 and 23.

Tokyo’s railways, flights and other transports were affected.

The typhoon passed Tokyo area by the late morning. The sky became clean.

We could see Mt Fuji behind the skyscrapers. The green area this side is the Imperial Palace’s woods. (see also the top photo)

Equinoctial Week @ Temples in Setagaya：:Sept. 23, 2017

It is Autumnal Equinox Day today. We are in the Equinoctial Week, when many people visit their graves. 

I visited some temples in Sitagaya ward during my weekend walks.

I found many visitors at Gotokuji Temple.

The chrysanthemum and other flowers were devoted to their graves (and to the spirits of their ancestors and other passed-family members).

The flowers were also devoted to jizo, guardian gods of the children. (See the second photo) 

The flowers of the cluster amaryllis were open in several places. (see the top photo) 

At the shops, they sold flowers for the visit.

The season is turning to autumn.

Shizuoka: Sept. 16-17, 2017 (off Tokyo)

I was in Shizuoka City, about 150 km west from Tokyo, to join a gathering and visited several places during my stay there.

Fugetsu is a garden which locates quite near from the JR Shizuoka station. (See also the top photo)

The last shogun used to live here about 150 years ago. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the 15^th shogun of the Edo government. He returned the power to the royal family (Meiji Emperor) in 1867, which ended the rule of the Tokugawa shogun government which had lasted 260 years.

Yoshinobu moved to Shizuoka after the Meiji Revolution and lived in Fugetsu about 20 years before he moved to another place in the city. Fugetsu is now uses as a restaurant.

I also visited an aquarium in Miho, Shimizu ward of the city. It is operated by Tokai University.

Fish and other marine creatures of the Suruga Bay, which lies in front of the city, are displayed. (See also the 3rd photo from the top)

Anemone fish attracted kids. (2nd photo from the top)

In addition to living lives, specimens are also displayed.

The experiments of tsunami were also carried out. A move in the sea floor makes a wave; it grows as it approaches the sea coast; then, the wave washes away the towns.

They also have a natural history museum in the area.

The typhoon was approaching the area, so they suspended the operation of the water buses.

Munich and Bayern (Bavaria): August 28-30, 2017 (Off off Tokyo)

I visited Munich and other places in Bayern (Bavaria).

The Marienplatz (square) locates in the center of the city. It is surround by the City Hall, middle age-style buildings and modern shops.

The square is always crowded. Local people as well as foreign tourists gather there.

Political activities are often organized in the square. A meeting organized by Pegida, an anti-Islam group, was held when I visited there.

Germany will have a general election on September 24. I saw election posters everywhere throughout the nation, The posters were on the walls, boards, and poles. The photo was taken at Bayer’s village Oberammergau.

About 13%, or one in eight, of total population are foreign-born in Germany in 2012, according to OECD data. There are also many second generation of Turkish "guest workers" after the 1960s. 

I saw many immigrants from the Middle East in Neuhouser Street, which goes west from the Marienplatz. I found some women wearing burqa.

I did not see refugees from Syria in the central part of Munich. Instead,  I found a refugee center managed by the local government.

Immigration along with European integration and economic policies is one of the major issues of the coming election. I wondered what result would be.

The memorial of Dachau Concentration Camp locates in the suburb of Munich. It was the first and one of several hundreds concentration camps – the most famous one is Auschwitz, needless to say – built by the Nazi before and during the World War 2.

Dachau camp opened in 1933. Political criminals were first sent into the center. Jews were added. Then, many non-Germans captives, such as Polish and Russians, were sent here.

They were forced to work in the factories, farms and other places in very bad conditions (like slaves). More than 200,000 prisoners were sent here and about a fourth died.

The concrete lines show the places where the captives' barracks were built.

Here is a monument to console the spirits of the victims. A phrase meaning “never again” is curved in five languages, Hebrew, French, English, German and Russia. (See the 2nd photo from the top)

Another must-visit place in Munich might be a beer hall. The city hosts the beer festival (October festival) every year and its beer is world-wide famous.

I enjoyed a glass of beer at famous Hofbrauhaus. The glass was one-letter large. As many as 3000 people can enter the hall. Revolutionist Lenin and other famous historical figures visited here.

Down to south, I visited the famous Neuschwanstein castle. It was built by Bayern King Ludwig 2 in the late 19^th century (when Bismarck was trying to unite Germany and to develop a new nation).
(See also the top photo)

The castle was gorgeous. 

I also visited Oberammergau, a small summer resort village near the Alps. 

The village's residents play a passion play of Jesus Christ regularly (every ten years) and attract millions of visitors from the world. The theater is excellent.

I have enjoyed and learned a lot in my visit to Bayern.