There is no doubt what time of the year it is in Orchard Road as since mid November the 2.2 km stretch is decorated in Christmas lights that has made it become one of the 10 most popular Christmas decorations spots to visit in the world according to travel guides.
The colour theme this year is red and gold and they are totally new decorations from last year which were blue. Each of the major shopping centres that line Orchard Rd also compete in a competition to be awarded for the best decorations outside their complexes.
This year the whole stretch has been broken up into different zones and the decorations change slightly for each zone. The themes for the different zones are : Tree for Joy, Heart for Love and Dove for Peace.
Also new this year are various pop up shops selling decorations that carry the theme of this years lights. Nightly performances by street performers and also the Salvation Army singing carols also add to the atmosphere.
Archway across an intersection in Orchard Rd
The decorations across Orchard Rd
Pop- up gift shop
The train does a loop
The front of Tangs department store
Tree outside the ION Shopping centre
Inside the tree at the ION Shopping centre
Tree outside Plaza Singapura
Decorations in the trees
Another walkthrough tree
Decorations outside Orchard Central Shopping centre
Street sculptures have had lights added to them
Tree of Joy decoration
Dove for Peace decoration
Heart for Love decoration
Santa's Workshop outside Centrepoint shopping centre
Santa's Workshop outside Centrepoint shopping centre
Autumn is a lovely time to be in Tokyo as the weather is much cooler and the days are generally sunny. The street trees and the many parks and gardens have wonderful autumn foliage from the brightest reds of the Japanese maples to the rich yellows of the Ginkgo trees (maidenhair trees).
Tokyo was also gearing up for Christmas with the main street in Ginza having Spruce trees planted in order to be decorated. The high-end stores had elaborate Christmas lighting on the exterior of the stores like their counterparts in Fifth Avenue New York. It was quite interesting to be in department stores where little English is spoken to have Christmas carols sung in English being played.
On the outskirts of Tokyo is Mt Takao which is a very popular spot as it is regarded as a sacred mountain and also a great place to see the rich autumn foliage . Concierge of the hotel suggested not to visit on the weekend due to the crowds and taking their advise a midweek visit was planned.
It was easy to get to on a express train from Tokyo and then it was just a matter of following the crowds of people also visiting mid week. The crowds of people included families, school groups, people with dogs and retired Japanese with walking poles. Mt Takao has about 8 different trails you can walk on and a fernicular and chairlift to take you halfway up the mountain.
As the queues for both the chairlift and funicular were horrendous and would have involved an 2 hours wait the best option was to make the climb up to the top of Mt Takao which takes about 2 hours. The climbing was strenuous at times and I don't think I have had to say 'Konnichiwa' as many times as I did passing the hikers coming down the mountain. During a quiet spot on the trail a large tap - tap sound could be heard and it was coming from a woodpecker building its nest in the tree.
The summit of Mt Takao was extremely busy with picnickers and the eating establishments were doing a very swift trade.
There were about 6 different options for the descend down the mountain and one of the trails passes the Yakuoin shrine where people pray to the mountain gods for good fortune.
Christmas decorations in Ginza
Christmas decorations in Ginza
Christmas window in Ginza
View of Mt Fuji from hotel room
Blue poinsettias (White ones painted with food dye )
We recently spent a long weekend in Osaka and made a day trip down to Kyoto which is about half an hour on the train from Osaka
Osaka and Kyoto were bathed in autumn colours that were intense reds and yellows and as we had not seen autumn for 2 years it was lovely to experience. Osaka does not have a huge range of tourist attractions but enough to fill in a weekend. Osaka has a large castle which is impressive and is lit up at night. Osaka's vibrant restaurant and entertainment district is situated in the Dotonbaci district. Many of the restaurants serve crab which is very popular in Osaka. Another popular food in Osaka is Takoyaki which are octopus dumplings that are cooked on a special hot plate. Umeda Skygarden is a great way to see the city as the the observation deck from the 37th floor offers 360 degrees views of Osaka. The observation deck is reached from suspended escalators from about the 30th floor.
Kyoto was very interesting and we wish we could have spent more time there but the weather was not the best. Kyoto has many historical areas and is one of the a main districts where you can spot a Geisha. We managed to spot 2 which was very interesting to see amongst people going about there Sunday shopping etc. We were also lucky to observe a traditional Japanese wedding taking place in a temple. After the ceremony the couple and guests walked through the park to the reception. Beside the river there is an area that has traditional buildings which contained many restaurants and bars along a narrow cobbled alleyway. Some of these bars could only hold half a dozen people at a time as they were so small.
