Ueno Park

If this picture was taken at this time of the year, the shades of green you see would've been shades of pink. It was taken 5 months ago in Ueno Park, the most popular public park in Japan,  famous for its Sakura trees. It is also home to many cultural facilities and major museums. During my travel planning stage, I made sure to include Japan's national museums in my itinerary, I set aside a full day in Ueno Park. Little did I know that a day would not be enough.

The park is easily accessible, only a five-minute walk from Ueno station and since it's a major tourist destination, you won't have to worry about getting lost. There are signages everywhere to guide you, plus, most of the people are headed there. Feeling like a cultured person, I intended to visit 3 musems - the Tokyo National Museum, National Museum of Nature and Science, and the National Museum of Western Art. There was a slight change of plans though.

Naturally, I am against the captivity of wild animals for recreational purposes, that includes zoos and marine parks. Ueno Zoo came up many times when I researched Ueno Park, but I always ignore it. I was firm to keep it out from my itinerary, but... some things are really easier said than done. The temptation and curiosity to see a Panda in person was just too much for me. There were images of Panda all over Ueno, it's like the official mascot of the park. It also didn't help to pass through the zoo on my way to the museums. A war went through my head. I wanted to see a Panda in the wild, but there's not a chance that I'd be going to China anytime soon, and who knows, maybe never. I am still human, flawed and a slave to my desires. I thought of every possible excuse - I could use this experience for future research, and whatever I observe, I could use to educate people. Eventually I gave in, guilt ridden and remorseful, I bought a ticket to the zoo and made my way in.

The Ueno Zoological Gardens opened in 1882, making it Japan's oldest zoo. It covers approximately 14 hectares and houses 3000 animals of 500 different species, but the most popular, without a doubt, the superstar of park, are the two giant Panda from China, Lili and Shinshin.

I can't say I'm horrified by the sight of the animals behind the glass, I don't exactly sense inhumane treatment here. In fact, they seem to be in great shape but I still find it unfair to be taken from your natural home. I was uncomfortable throughout the zoo visit.

The saddest sight I saw  was the lone Polar bear. Its holding area is nothing close to the Arctic habitat. The water may be ice cold, but those white mass are concrete not ice. I looked around for a while but it didn't take long for the guilt to consume me. I didn't stay long to check out all the animals. I ate my lunch and headed to my next destination.

The Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館 Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan?), or TNM, established in 1872, is the oldest Japanese national museum, and the largest art museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure holdings and 610 Important Cultural Property holdings (as of July 2005). The museum also conducts research and organizes educational events related to its collection (from Wikipedia).

I didn't get a full access to the museum, special exhibits will cost me more, the regular admission covers the highlights of Japanese history and culture while exploring the chronological development of Japanese art. It pretty much has anything you'd expect in a national museum - paintings, scrolls, pottery, traditional clothes, military uniforms, weapons, and any historical artifacts you can think of.

can you find Kidd?

the Tale of Genji manuscript, dated 13th-16th century

Edo Era Fashion

Okubo-san!

Bust of a Japanese Lady (I suppose the pun was intended)

    

  

My favorite section is the gallery of national treasures. The Japanese government designates artworks and other precious objects as Important Cultural Property in order to protect them. Those of superior quality and cultural value are designated as National Treasure. Unsurprisingly, the exhibits in this gallery cannot be photographed. This should give you an idea:

I was actually hoping to see the three Imperial Regalia - the scared sword, mirror and jewel (Yuyu Hakusho reference here hehe). Now I realize how stupid I was to hope, after all, these are the most sacred and supposedly most ancient artifacts in Japanese history. In fact, they are kept under close guard in the strictest of secrecy, hidden in shrines far away from each other in diverse parts of Japan and are only brought together for the enthronement ceremonies of a new Emperor. In fact, they are kept in such strict and reverent isolation that, at various times, some people have wondered if they actually even exist.

I wish I have a creative way of giving a blow by blow account of what I saw here, but all I can say is, everything is super impressive. I always find it humbling to be in a room full of ancient artifacts. If you're a Japanophile, you definitely have to include this in your bucket list.

1:1 scale replica of a Blue Whale

My next destination was the super awesome National Museum of Nature of Science. The museum has two buildings to separate two main galleries. The Global Gallery features exhibit on the evolution of Earth and its inhabitants, along with the history of the intelligent thought in humans. The Japan Gallery features nature and history of Japanese Islands and contributions of Japanese in science and technology.

    

    

I didn't get to see the famous Hachiko statue in Shibuya, but I did see the real and taxidermed Hachiko

Karakuri, the early foundation of Japanese robotics

The vast exhibit of everything about science and nature here was overwhelming. I should have assigned a separate day for this one, it was impossible for me to enjoy everything with the little time I had left. I was there until closing time but still I missed some galleries. I was supposed to participate in the star gazing activity, I've always wanted to experience watching the celestial scenery using huge telescopes, but the sky was unkind that night. The museum had to cancel it because of poor visibility.

My favorite experience was the Theater 360. If planetarium screenings amaze you, this one will blow your mind! The name is self explanatory, a movie theater in sperical 3D,  a movie experience in which the viewer is surrounded on all sides by a seamless sphere of video and sound. It's definitely so much better than watching Imax 3D. The only thing is, you have to watch standing in bridge platform. Each movie lasts 10 minutes, they show 2 films for every admission. At the time, they showed "The Marine Food Chain",  which explains the flow of energy from the sun to the Blue Fin Tuna, and  "Deep Quest into the Inside of the Earth", basically explores the Earth's amazing interior.

The only thing that disappointed me-- it was narrated in Japanese WITHOUT English subtitle. The visuals will pretty much give you an idea what it's all about but it would still be better to get into details. The whole museum, in fact, seems to target Japanese visitors. The exhibit's descriptions has no English translation. I hope it's something they could improve on to attract non-Japanese speaking foreigners.

When I left the museum, I couldn't help feeling sad. The Philippine's lack of public facilities to foster interest in scientific studies among the youth is just one of the many frustrations I have as hopeful patriot. The Mind Musem is too expensive and while it boasts to be a "world class science museum", it is nothing compared Japan's Museum of Nature and Science.

The three destinations I mentioned above have an admission fee of Y600, foreign tourists can enjoy Y120 discount, but if you're super tight on budget, Ueno Park is still a great destination for cultural exploration. Aside from the amazing architecture of facilities surrounding the park, there are shrines, gardens, street music performance and possibly more. These things you can enjoy for free.

Hanazono Inari Jinja

All in all, Ueno Park was a great experience, definitely worth a second visit. Next time, I'll come in spring to enjoy the spectacular Hanami.

Updates, updates...

Wow, I can't believe it'll be Christmas soon, where did 2012 go? December proved to be a hectic month. Too many events and celebrations popping left and right, birthdays, weddings, Christenings, and not to mention Christmas parties. I wish I could make myself available for every happening, but here are the ones I've been to.

December kicked off with my friend's (Chris) birthday and the advance screening of Rurouni Kenshin live action film. My friends and I were lucky enough to get passes for the premier, from what I understand, there was also a cosplay competition prior to the screening,  it was nice to see RK cosplayers again. My friends urged me to put on my Seta costume, but I was not into that kind of stuff anymore, there's just no inspiration to drive me to do it. There were also people from Hero TV. Inside the cinema, a funny thing happened to me and my friends. Before the film started, a man approached us and asked if we could give our seats to Myrtle of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Teens and her company. He suggested that we take the Hero seats at the left most part of the theater. I hated that spot, there's no way I'm taking that seat, but it sounded like we SHOULD give way, Myrtle seems to be some kind of a VIP, all I could say was "whut?". Good thing my friend Nagi was quick to respond in a reasonable manner, she said "I don't think so, these seats are not tagged as reserved, maybe Myrtle can take the Hero seats instead", and with that, the man went away. Whew. At the time, I didn't know who this Myrtle kid is, I thought she was a cosplayer with a status like Alodia's. But she turned out to be a local celebrity. I was wondering though, why ask us? It's not like we have the best spot, we're almost near at the far left side of the balcony. Do we look like some kids who'd suck up to a PBB star? Sorry man, I'm not trying to be rude here, but we're just old timers wanting to enjoy a favorite classic anime.

Now the movie part... I must be a shame to the RK fandom, I hate to say this, but I actually slept at the middle of the film! I wish this would not make me less of a fan. I've mentioned that I have very low expectations on the film, and it's not like the film sucks (I watched the film again during the regular showing). Let me explain okay. First of all, let me tell you the stuff I liked - it's visually pleasing, the action scenes are very impressive and very close to the anime, the cinematography, what can I say? WOWZA! I like how The actor who played Sanosuke is so in character, I just wish he's taller. I like how subliminal Chief Uramura's presence is. I have a neutral feeling on the storyline. It's understandable how hard it is to justify many arcs that are condensed into a two hour feature film. The producers mixed up the storyline of Takeda, Jin'eh, Saito, Sano and how Kenshin got into Kamiya dojo, I'd say it's not bad, but again, nothing fresh for me here. I'm actually rooting for a new storyline and new characters. The only new character introduced here was the guy whom I thought to be Hanya all along. But when his mask broke, he turned out to be someone I've never seen or is it just my rusty memory playing with me? But it's definitely not Hanya. I have mixed feelings on Takeru Sato playing Kenshin, I could tell he's a good actor. I love all of his fighting scenes. But Kenshin's character, how he transform from a harmless rurouni to a deadly hitokiri, I'm just not convinced. His oro? Nah, he needs to try harder. I don't like how Kaoru turned to be a cutesy betsy and modest, oh that scene where she stumbled upon a stray cat and cried "whoa neko-chan?", not Kaoru at all. Don't get me wrong, I like Kaoru, but I really felt her character was not justified in the film. Overall, I would still recommend the film to fans and non-fans alike.

Moving on to other stuff, my parents and I went to the Elton John concert last December 8. It was a real treat despite being in an older crowd, come on, it's Elton John. The tickets were quite pricey and we can only afford the general admission rate (P1000). I was worried that I may not enjoy that much, I know that being in the farthest  part of the dome has the least advantage visually and auditory speaking. I don't care much about visuals, I went to listen anyway. But being in the general admission crowd was not hindrance to enjoy Elton John's music. He still has this powerful voice even after 40 years of being active in the music scene. He was in his signature shiny blue coat, it had something written at the back, but given our spot, I couldn't read what it was, even with my binoculars on. The show was opened with The Two Cello, they were Croatian cello players. I've seen them perform on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and they were really great too. I noticed a lot of foreigners in the crowd too. I was not able to track the number of songs Elton performed, there were a lot of lesser known songs which kept the crowd a little silent. But whenever perform his classic hits, we'd all jumped up and join the singing. Some of my favorites were Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Candle in the Wind, Daniel and Nikita.

Elton John performing Nikita, sorry for the poor quality of my phone cam

After the last song, as usual, the audience cried for more. When he went out on the stage again, he signed autographs for the hungry fans before starting the encore. Oh those lucky VIP ticket holders! He first performed "Your Song" which got the couples dancing slow.  When he performed his last song "Circle of Life", I was surprised and amused to see my parents get up for a slow dance too. The lyrics of the song doesn't feel appropriate for a slow dance but Elton John's piano did set the mood. It was a wonder why some of his greatest hits were missing from the play list -Skyline Pigeon, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Sacrifice, We All Fall in Love Sometimes. Still, it was a perfect evening. I hope he goes back to Manila for another performance, next time though, I hope I'll have more funds for a better spot.

Doesn't look like it, but they were passing it off as a slow dance hehe

The next event I went to is an art exhibit opening. As part of centennial birthday celebration of Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Ayala Museum presented Botong Francisco: A Nation Imagined, an exhibit of some of unseen works of the muralist. I got an invitation to attend the opening because I signed up for membership for the museum. I've always wanted to check the museum because of its vast collection of prehistoric artifacts, but I always knew that a day is not enough a four-storey worth of exhibit, thus I opted to to get a membership which gives me an unlimited access all year round. I was right anyway, the first two visits I had were not enough to digest everything. I was after the perks too - of getting invited to exhibit openings, it's always better to get ahead of the public, and I'm after the cocktails too hehehe. There was a short film directed by Peque Gallaga to complement the exhibit and provide a cinematic  experience of Botong's works. I love how his paintings come to life, how it gives one a glimpse and even make one share how Botong imagined the Philippine history and culture. I highly recommend art lovers to see this rare exhibit. It runs until March 31, 2013.

These are some of my favorites:

I'm grateful that they allowed to take pictures this time, when I went there for the Sharaku exhibit a few months ago, I had to risk getting kicked out of the museum when I got excited and broke the rules when I saw a Sharaku interpretation using music box knobs and a Takashi Murakami print. The security warned me, and now that I remembered, I thought I should share them here too.

      

On some personal event, a friend of mine got married last week. Lee and Nelson tied the knot in Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay. It's the first time I ever attended a civil wedding, the judge who officiated the ceremony was a female too, and I thought, great another first time, I get to see a woman do it too. She only discussed the responsibilities of husband and wife, and made sure that bride and the groom knows and consents what they were getting into. It was short and concise, it should be a good thing, but I realized the lack of spiritual proceedings somehow reduced the solemnity of the event. My friends will have a church wedding sometime in the future. For now, to many other couples of today's generation, civil wedding is a practical way to get hitched. My most profound congratulations to Lee and Nelson, I wish you nothing but the best of marriage life.

The next event is yet to come, sometime this month, but I thought I should mention it here to give me an excuse to post a photo of my soon to be godson, Chase. Here he is :)

Chase is Sherry and Lester's son, he's now on his 5th month, so he's still cute and kind hehe. He is very precious. His Christening is on December 29, another obligation that I'm happy to take. I hope we become friends too, I'm not good with kids. Man this wedding and Christening talks make me feel so old. I better get back to my Christmas shopping, ugh!

Karakuri

From Matthew Allard:

Japan has always been on the forefront of cutting edge robotics. Its roots can be traced back 200-300 years during the Edo period when skilled craftsmen created automata (self-operating machines). Using nothing more than pulleys and weights they were able to make the Karakuri (Japanese automata) perform amazing tasks.

Japans modern day robots can be traced back to the Karakuri. Today Hideki Higashino is one of the few remaining craftsmen who is determined to keep the history and tradition of Japanese Karakuri alive.

Shot and edited by Matthew Allard.

To say this is amazing is an understatement. There's just no words to describe it... I wanna own one of these!

Exploring Artsy Angono

Ahhh, look at the date, February is almost over. But I'm not letting it pass without talking about my trip to the Arts Capital of the Philippines -- Angono Rizal., after all, February is National Arts month.

Photo Courtesy of Backpackingpilipinas: Janet, Kidd and Cha inside the tunnel going towards the Angono Petroglyphs

The original plan was a visit to my hometown. Che, being the traveler that she is, was interested in going to Tanay. I agreed to show her around and some of my friends. In fact it had been a long uncrossed item on our 2012 (supposedly 2011) checklist. I, on the other hand had been meaning to go to Angono. I skipped my History of Arts educational field trip there because of my previous work and I thought, I'd just go on my own when I have the time. So the free time came (I actually just insisted to include it in the itinerary, I don't have the guts to go all alone), just in time for the Arts Month celebration!

By the way, I just want to make it clear that I rarely go out, so even though I'm a Rizaleño, I haven't really explore most of Rizal municipalities. I had a little bit of knowledge how to get there. I knew there are PUVs from Starmall and EDSA Central going to Binangonan, and that's the first option. But we met at Che's place and taking PUJ's from her place was a more convenient option (because the loading area was closer) so we took that. My problem with passenger jeeps though, is, first being exposed to the fresh (insert sarcasm here) air of Metro Manila. Second, drivers with attitude. I do not know if this thing is unique to jeepney drivers in Rizal, but really, they are the worst! I am not gonna list the details of my unpleasant experiences whenever I end up taking the jeep going to work because I missed the last passenger van (it deserve a separate post), but one thing I'd point out is their selfishness. They just decide to change route when they want to even if they have to bypass a drop point. I understand there are circumstances that led them to change route (like heavy traffic), however, they should consider passengers who needed to get down to the drop point they're bypassing. Anyway, the driver of the jeep we took did that. We were not affected, some passengers were, but the driver seemed to be in a big hurry that he forgot that I asked him to drop us in Angono. We were first timers, hello? He promised he would, but he ended up forgetting it. Thank goodness there were concerned citizens who warned us that we missed the drop point. In fairness to the driver, he felt sorry that he returned P8 for each person so we can take another jeep to take us to Angono. Which proved to be unnecessary, we were supposed to get down at the market and it was just a 5 minute walk from the point the driver dropped us.

So the drop point is the public market of Angono, which also borders Binangonan Rizal. We had breakfast at Chowking. I was in queue for order taking when I noticed the cashier machine labeled "Chowking Binangonan". I got confused (and worried) so I asked the cashier and she nicely explained the border thing. While eating, Janet asked around to get directions to the Angono Petroglyphs (the directions I got from the internet were rather vague). Ironically, some of the locals have no idea what we were asking. I mean, the Petroglyphs, the oldest known work of art in the Philippines, is the first thing that comes up when I googled Angono. But the people were very nice in giving ideas what to check like the galleries and the Blanco Family museum, one even muttered that if she had nowhere else to go she'd take us to the city hall. So anyway, our adventure in Angono began!

Our first stop was the city hall, the people we've asked recommended it. They said it has an art gallery and we won't have to pay anything to check it. Unfortunately, at the time of our visit, the building interior was being repainted, the paintings were temporarily stored in the municipal gym which was closed. Being an art capital though, artworks are all over the building. It's definitely a town of artsy people.

The Municipal Bulletin Board takes the shape of a palette

Angono is also the home of Higantes (giant dolls) festival. I've never been to one, but the city hall stores some higantes so I'm imagining it's a parade of these giant dummies. Higantes by the way are made of paper mache and are influenced by Mexican art.

Look! One of the higantes got caught up in mobile gaming trend! Ugh the "save a trees" and "hug a trees" print gave me a massive headache (OA lang)!

The next stop is the church. On our way there, we passed by a street with a line of mural relief sculptures on both sides of the road. The murals are based on the works of Angono's homegrown national artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco. It was amazing!

We were so enthralled by the line of murals, we got a little careless and experienced a minor mishap. Well, Cha specifically did. While walking, her right leg slip into a gap of sewer covers. Awww poor Cha. If you're planning on visiting this place, be careful y'all. Always watch your footsteps. What's heartwarming about it was, when her leg got stuck between the gap, the locals immediately came to help. Very nice people, God bless them.

There's something frustrating about the place though. This is the art capital and I imagine that people incorporate art in their everyday living, but I also imagine that they do not take it for granted. When I see a bike leaning or wet clothes hanging on some of the murals, I felt that the artworks are being taken for granted. I don't find them disrespectful, it's probably their way of showing that art is part of their lives, but show some care, the artists didn't make these murals overnight.

So anyway, we went to the church to rest a little and of course, pray. A stop at the church is always part of a trip.

St. Clement's Parish Church

Our next stop is the Blanco Family Museum. It's just a five minute walk from the church. The Blanco Family, headed by the late Jose "Pitok" Blanco is a family of artists. Everybody paints! The museum houses artworks of the whole family. The entrance fee for adults is P70, but Che haggled, stating that she's a travel blogger and that she advocates promotion of tourism and promised to promote the museum in her blog, which are all true, but I never thought that you can use that as an excuse to get a discount. The lady guide was very nice to grant the discount, we paid P50 each instead.

So anyway she guided us through the most part of the tour. She's really nice and she had immediate answers to our questions. I feel bad I didn't get her name. The amazing thing about this family is, even tough only Pitok Blanco had formal education on Fine Arts, everybody in the family ended up becoming full time artists. Even the grandchildren are practicing arts too. The family has one style, realism. Mostly depicts life and culture of Filipinos. It would be interesting to see any from the grand children deviate to another movement hehehe.

A family that paints together, stays together!

The obligatory group picture with the Master's most notable work, "Fiesta sa Angono", there are hundreds of people in this painting and all are actual residents of Angono

Some of the works of the family

We were also lucky to have met one Pitok's sons, Michael. He showed us around the garden and showed the current project he's working on. He's also teaching arts at the school across the museum. He's a really nice guy.

There's a section in the museum that showcased other artworks outside the family and perhaps the grand children's works too. We just don't have the time to ask question for every painting we see.

After the museum, we set on our way to Angono Petroglyphs. This was probably the hardest part of the trip because it's located on top of the mountain, it's a challenge to get there when you do not have your own vehicle. The direction I saw on the internet is that you have to wait for a pick up truck to hitch on, but again, we don't have the time to wait (and I thought that sounds risky too). We had to haggle with the trike driver to take us there. We had to take 2 trikes and we paid 100/person. The way to get there was developed and is now a subdivision, you actually need a permission to pass by. Che, once again used being a "travel blogger" as an excuse to the security guard. The poor officer had no idea what a blogger is, but when I explained it, it sounded like we're some kind of journalists who are about to feature the Petroglyphs in an online newspaper. Sometimes, using jargons can make you get what you want hehehe.

A side trip from the past, I remember the road, a memory from my childhood. I'm pretty sure I've passed by this road and seen this view before.

Overlooking view of Metro Manila

We have relatives who used to live in Antipolo. My dad's younger brother, Tito Nick. At the time, his family was the closest relatives we know from my father's side, in location and relation. I remember being taken to the movies by Tito Nick and his wife Tita Ruby together with my cousin Aisa and my sister Pipay. We saw "Patched Adams" in Sta. Lucia mall, great movie. On our way home from Cainta, we passed by this road and I remember my uncle explaining that this is the highest peak in Rizal. I was so amazed with the lights of the city, they were just like the pictures in the magazine that I kept and dreamed of going to someday. It was really beautiful at night.

Going back to the Petroglyphs, so the tricycle dropped us at the entrance, which looked rather weird because nobody was there. The place looked deserted. But that was it, that's the farthest the trike can take us.

Photo courtesy of Maja Dera

We had to go through a tunnel then hike our way to the Petroglyphs. It's not much, just a little patience and every hardship is rewarded accordingly.

I was here!!!

The Angono Petroglyphs is the oldest known work of art in the Philippines. The carvings on the rockwall dating back to 3000 BC depicted human and animal figures. The tour guide explained that it was believed that people did not inhabit the area, there were no evidences to prove that. The experts' theory is that early people used the place to worship and offer sacrifices. I remember my professor in History of Arts, who organized taking the class to Angono (which I skipped), wanted to challenge us, if after seeing the carvings, we'd think if it's really the oldest work of art in the Philippines. I dare not defy the experts but I'm sure there are more (probably older) to discover.

The rockwall was declared as a national treasure in 1973. Hence, the area had been protected and spared from the urban development, thank God! The place is a great site for meditation or bird watching. We were lucky to spot a Philippine Eagle-Owl!

Photo courtesy of Cha, Oh hello cutie! In case you go here and you see one, remember to stay quiet and do not use flash when taking picture, it'll scare the poor creature

And now, another challenge is getting out. Because we were going to Tanay after, the trike drivers recommended taking the Antipolo exit. The problem is we have to walk. At first it didn't seem like a problem, the driver explained it in a way that made us believe that from the petroglyphs drop, it's just a few walk to the Antipolo exit. But it's a whole different story when we got there. This was happening high noon. I would like to think that the picture of four ladies on top of a mountain exposed to the intense glimmer of the sun is not right. But these inconveniences are all part of the adventure and I guess it makes everything more fun (in the Philippines, LOL). But here's the real fun part. In the end we had to follow the direction I saw from the net, to hitchhike on a pickup truck, the exit was just too far. I am in no way recommending to hitchhike as I believe that it's a risky measure, specially when you're alone. But I guess doing it in groups, is safe, specially in high noon.

Hitchhiking? More fun in the Philippines!

There are still many galleries and places of interest to check in Angono Rizal that we missed because we had to make time for Tanay (which I'll talk about in a separate post). But I really enjoyed this trip. If you want to spend a day for a historical and cultural exploration, I highly recommend it!

One last obligatory group pic -- Kidd, Janet, Cha and Che