Captain Tsubasa at Larkin Stadium

Johorean and their football team. Berpisah tiada.

Am not a football lover, heard of those few football team, both local and international but yeah… I only know the game as few men chasing one ball all over he field. And followed by ‘Goaaaaalllll’, or yellow/red card, and perhaps few ‘booooos’. That’s about it.

As for our local team, I head a few and I guess everyone have heard JDT team. One of the most passionate and dedicated team (and supporter) of the lot (well, maybe there are a few other clubs as well, but one that stick on my mind would be JDT lah). I guess I was a little smitten upon arriving ‘their’ stadium in Larkin, for those ignorant as I am, it is the Tan Sri Dato' Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium, also simply known as Larkin Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in Larkin, Johor Bahru. It was rather overwhelming despite I was stadium outside the stadium, we its Johor blue and red emblozone across the wall…. Dwarfed by their spirit I must say.

The southern tigers have a lot to thank for, their fans for one, their spirit and passion, their support from the Crown Prince of Johor and of course friends and families, all play a role to get to where they are now. One that I would like to highlight would be the football gallery funded by Japan Football Association (JFA), interested ain’t it.

I bet one will wonder why JFA is funding the JDT Football Gallery?

To understand and relate to this initiative, one has to go back to 1998. Simply put, Larkin Stadium is considered as ‘keramat’ or sacred to the Japanese as it the place that marked their eligibility to participate in FIFA World Cup.

Koichi Hiroi; JJFA founder is the key person in creating and ensuring the gallery dream materialized, he also carries out football coaching clinics conducted by Jo Shoji, the person who scored the memorable goal which took Japan to France in 1998.

The gallery also displayed Captain Tsubasa from a football manga character original artwork as well as his Tsubasa 10 souvenirs are being sold at the gallery. A remarkable midfielder football player dreaming of winning the FIFA World Cup for Japan. He is known for his football jersey #10.

I guess the Japanese too are proud with Johor’s Larkin Stadium. Another reason for us Malaysian to be proud of huh!

Jom, Johor Fam Trip is in collaboration with Johor Tourism and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel as media coordinator.

 

Arashiyama : The “NEW” Old (Bamboo Groove Illumination & Kimono Forest)

Having been to Arashiyama few years back didn’t quite prepare me for this trip. There were a few “NEW” old places that I rediscovered in this trip, namely the Bamboo Groove and Kimono Forest.

Truthfully I am rather impress with what the Kansai Tourism embarked in ensuring the return and growth of local and domestic tourist. An act I hope that our Tourism Malaysia will consider and perhaps consider to implement in Malaysia, I am sure it will be greatly welcomed by us Malaysian and tourist alike.

Bamboo Groove Illumination / Arashiyama Hanatoro 2015

Arashiyama celebrates Hanatoro every December for a duration of 10 days whereby lanterns and spotlights were placed at the Bamboo Groove pathway and lit up at dusk. During this period, the visiting hours are extended to greet the tourists. It created a magical and whimsical feel thus became a crowd puller every December.

I like the idea of how Tourism Kansai regenerates crowd interest by creating a new feel of an existing attraction. It increases the demand for the shops and restaurants to open till late hours that translate into business growth and high profit.

Kimono Forest

Located at Randen Tram Station on Kyoto’s Keifuku Arashiyama line, Kimono Forest stood beautifully still. It is a collection of kimono textile selected by Yasumichi Morita, places in a lit up cylinder-shaped pillars. It is best viewed from dusk till dark.

The objective is to create awareness on Japanese kimono art, giving the train station a new and unique ambience and feel, plus generating interest among the younger generation to appreciate Japan greatest icon, identity and heritage; Kimono.

As you can guess, we can do the same in Malaysia with our batik print, batik canting, pua kumbu print etc. Perhaps around KLCC or Masjid Jamek.

Interesting right? I will share more on activities in Arashiyama in my next post.

Teaser | When Kansai is more than Osaka and Kyoto!

In general, when one says he or she will be visiting Kansai or Kansai region it usually means the 2 famous and popular cities; Osaka and Kyoto. Of course then there's Nara, Arashiyama and etc, but how many have venture out of the places mentioned, such as Kinosaki - a town famous for its onsen and crab (Yes! Crab!!!) or Kannebe Highland - to trek in a volcanic crater. How many visited Kobe and tried Kobe beef? And how many of us know that Kobe is famous for shoes? Or perhaps experience riding Kobe's night cruise?

Here, I would like to share some of the pictures I capture during my trip, will be penning my experiences next week. In sha Allah. Enjoy the pics!

Stay tune for more stories.

Love at the First Sight. #ILoveOkinawa, Japan

You can say it as love at the first sight for me.
(The video explains everything)

Portraying the greatness of both world; the subtropical weather and an ancient culture, Okinawa have everything to offer, from water sports to longevity diet to friendly islanders, what is not to like here.

It has always been my dream to visit Okinawa and this increases after I passed by diving license last year, including the earlier 2 visits to Japan. Enchanted by their history, culture and custom, I set to search for other interesting places in #Japan narrowing it down to flower power Sapporo and obviously the beautiful island of Okinawa. Boasting the title of having the most centenarians is a street, island and country, I embark on a knowledge cruise to seek their fountain of youth (read: Okinawan diet formula).


Okinawa Food

Critical to their famous healthy diet, Okinawans practices 'Hara Hachi Bu' or 'stop when you are 80% full' which resulted in eating lesser calories. Aside from this, their main intake is vegetable, low-meat diet, rice, tofu, bamboo shoots, seaweed, pickles etc pair with Japanese green tea.

Every prefecture in Japan have their famous food for the soul and made from 100 percent wheat flour, Okinawa soba is the clear winner for Okinawa prefecture. Being told that it is usually homemade and serve with love, travelers can visit the 'soba-kaido' area where more than 60 soba shops can easily be found.


Longevity Formula

Do you know that Okinawans are more likely to reach above 100 years old? It is believe diet, exercise and lifestyle that blessed the Okinawans to have life longevity. How I wish to experience their lifestyle, and one do not even need to drink water from the fountain of youth, adopting their lifestyle might do the trick and you'll live to be a centenarian.

Coupled with having an Okinawa gene and a healthy life style are two of the contributing factors for longevity. Family upbringing, daily activity, weather etc plays an important role in their living life quest.


Lifestyle

Grow old gracefully is widely practiced here, fortunate to live in a non-stressful surrounding and having a positive attitude, great social support group and Japanese strong spiritual beliefs help keeping their youth intact. As an islander, the Okinawans are accorded with the typical fresh island air and sunshine year round thus making exercise easy.

For you traveler out there, you might just go ‪#‎iloveokinawa‬ like me after learning their culture and visiting this beautiful island. There are a contest running where the prizes are unique and brought to you all the way from Okinawa. Visit https://beokinawa.net/my today to participate.



Step by step

‘Like’ Visit Okinawa MY -> Select 3 photos out of the 20 -> Click 'like' on the 3 selected photos -> Winner will be picked and announced through email at the end of the contest