A Dusk in Saijo

Enjoy!

岩国 (Iwakuni)

Heeeeeyyy..

It's nearly a month since my last post. Last month was one hell-hectic month, so here I am, having my holiday now. And as u know, holiday often makes us lazy. Haha..

I finished my internship presentation at company X on September 10, so before having lots of things to do in the coming semester, I decided to go for a trip! YEAH! Because I had low budget, so I decided not to go to a place too far, so I decided to go tooo: IWAKUNI!!

Iwakuni is located in Yamaguchi Prefecture. As u can see in the map above, my current place, Saijo is marked with yellow circle, Hiroshima is marked with blue circle, and Iwakuni is marked with red circle. I went there on September 17, and it took 1,5 hour (and 1280 Yen) to go there from Saijo by local train.

When you search "Iwakuni" in the internet, you will find the famous Kintaikyo Bridge. So, after reached Iwakuni station, I checked the bus schedule from station to the bridge at the bus stop next to the station.Because I still got time until the next bus, so I decided to go sightseeing around the station.

Wall of Iwakuni post office

A rare western-style building in Japan in my opinion

Actually, before heading to Kintaikyo, I wanted to have my lunch in a restaurant recommended by Wikitravel. Too bad it was closed. So I decided to have lunch in some restaurant near the bridge.

And, the bus came. It was a special bus for carrying the tourists who want to go to Kintaikyo bridge. The body of the bus is made from wood, and also the interior. You can see the pic of interior of that bus below. Sorry I didnt take the pic of the bus from outside thou.

The interior of the bus that took me to Kintaikyo bridge.

Okaaaayy!! Then, here we are!! The great Kintaikyo Bridge!!! Here are some pics that I took:

food stalls on the riverbank, beside the bridge

Kintaikyo bridge

The river is very clear!!! WOW!

The great blue sky above the bridge

Nisshiki River

After crossing the bridge, there is a park named Kikko Park just 100 metres ahead, so I went there. The park was, as expected, so so. Hehe..

Here are some pics of the park:

Talking about Iwakuni, we have to include ICE CREAM!!! Yea, I scream for the ice creaaaamm!! Iwakuni is well known for its 100 flavors of Ice cream. There are many shops of ice cream in the area of Kintaikyo Bridge and Kikko Park. Here's the pic of one shop:

I know that its not up to a hundred, but still there are lots lots of flavors, no?

I really wanted to buy the ice cream, but since I had not had my lunch, I decided to have lunch first, then have the ice cream. So I went to a restaurant that is located just on the 2nd floor in the same building as the ice cream shop.

Tadaaaa... I was surprised because apparently, Iwakuni has its own kind of sushi. I dont know the name, thou. So I ordered a set that contains sushi, soup, tea, and pickles (it was 780 Yen if I'm not mistaken). Here's the picture of my my lunch:

The sushi was okay, but the soup was reeeaaaalllyy delicious!! It contains somekind of mushroom and is very different compared to misoshiru.

After finishing my lunch, then I went downstairs to buy the ice cream!

I asked the shop clerk for her recommendation, and she recommended me to have this yellow-color flavor (I dont know the name, but the raw material of this flavor should be from Japan/not a common flavor like orange, straberry, etc). How was it? The ice cream was reaaallyy soft, but I should have chosen "matcha" (green tea+milk) flavor. T_T

Oh, and it was 200 something Yen by the way.

Another thing that is famous in Iwakuni is this white snake. There is a museum of white snake inside complex of Kikko park. The admission fee is 100 Yen. Inside the museum, there were preserved and dried snake skins, preserved white snakes and snake's eggs, the history of white snakes in Iwakuni (why do they even explain the history for snakes?), and of course, live snakes.

Besides restaurants and white snakes museum, there is also, so typical Japan, shrine in the area of Kikko park. Here are the pics:

Yes, the water was green. Eeeeewwwww...

Besides Kintaikyo bridge and Kikko park, there is also Iwakuni castle, located on top of the mountain next to Kikko park. We can get there by cable car. Next to the cable car station in Kikko park, there is Iwakuni Museum of Art. But, because of the entrance fee was 800 Yen, I did not enter the museum, just took its picture from outside. Hehe..

Charcoal Engine Car parked outside the museum.

Then I went to cable car station and bought the round trip ticket. It was also very expensive, 800 Yen, but by buying that ticket I can enter the castle for free.

The castle was not located next to the cable car station on top of the mountain, but we need to take a walk around 10 minutes to get to the castle from the station. Here are the pics.

"Iwakuni Castle"

So, here we are!! Finally reached the castle. I was suddenly disappointed. The castle was waaaaayyy much smaller than Osaka castle. It's okay, I had to enter the castle because I had paid for the tickets anyway. Hehe.

I tell you that every castle in Japan is a museum. So is Iwakuni castle. Here are some pics of things inside the castle.

Poster of famous bridges in Japan. Of course Kintaikyo is included. ;D

Miniature of the bridge

Japanese armor

Riffles

Katanas (samurai's sword)

Another picture of miniature of the bridge

Japanese traditional music instrument

View of Iwakuni city from the top of the castle. Stunning.

After that, before going home, I want to buy souvenir from Iwakuni for myself and my mom. Look what I found:

Yup, Kitkat special edition, just sold in Chugoku and Shikoku area of Japan. Of course I bought that! Haha. It's good, but I prefer the old style Kitkat chocolate. :|

After buying souvenirs (and Kitkat), then I went back home to Saijo. But, because on the way home I still have to cross Kintaikyo bridge, I took pictures again and again of this great bridge. Anyway, we have to pay 300 Yen for two times crossing the bridge.

So, these are (another) pics of Kintaikyo bridge.

So, That's all about my trip to Iwakuni.

My recommendation: Iwakuni is a good place to see, but do not stay overnight there. You'll get bored. You can go there and spend the night in Hiroshima. Its just 45 minutes by train.

Anyway, it took time for me to edit all the photos, so I can only publish this post now.

Bye, then. See you in the next post. :D :D :D

Internship (Kure)

Hello world!

Sorry to say, but this time I will write this post in Bahasa Indonesia.

Selain lagi males, gw juga ngerasa kalo ekspresinya bakal lebih ‘dapet’ kalo nulis pake Bahasa Indonesia (tentu saja tidak dengan Bahasa yang baik dan benar. Hehe..)

Jadi, saudara pemirsa, ditengah-tengah liburan musim panas yang bener-bener panas ini (gw denger di beberapa daerah di Jepang bahkan sampe 36 derajat Celcius panasnya. busheet..), gw harus menjalani internship. Kebetulan internship ini adalah salah satu kegiatan wajib yang ada di program gw dan ada kredit (sks)nya.

Gw sekarang lagi ngejalanin internship di perusahaan yang ga gede-gede amat, kita sebut saja perusahaan X. Nah, X ini letaknya di Kure, sebuah kota di tepi pantai di Hiroshima prefecture. X adalah perusahaan yang ngebuat parts (onderdil) buat perusahaan-perusahaan otomotif di Jepang. Customer utamanya adalah Mazda, which is car producer yang paling besar di Hiroshima Prefecture. Buat yang pengen tahu Kure itu di mana, nih gw kasih petanya:

Si X ini baik banget dah ke gw. Selama gw di sini, semua akomodasi selain transport ditanggung perusahaan. Gw disediain apartemen (kamar mandi, toilet, dapur, TV, AC, bed: lengkap!!) dan makan 3 kali sehari. Baik banget yaaa.. T_T *terharu. Temen-temen gw yang internship di tempat lain ga semuanya dapet akomodasi kaya gw. Misalnya temen gw yang dari China yang internship ke pabrik packaging, dia ga dikasih penginapan sama sekali, padahal lokasi perusahaannya sekitar 1.5 jam naik kereta dari Saijo. Jadi dia tiap hari harus bolak-balik terus naik kereta. Berat diongkos. Gw paling2 cuman harus keluar duit pulang pergi seminggu sekali doang, karena setiap minggu hari Senin gw harus progress report ke dosen, jadi tiap Jumat sore gw pulang ke Saijo, terus Senin malem balik lagi ke Kure.

Nih tampak luar perusahaan tempat gw internship. Maap fotonya kurang bagus. Hehe.

Foto tampak luar dormitory perusahaan. Emang bangunannya tua dan kelihatan lusuh, cuman dalemnya lengkap!

Gw ngapain di sini? Hahaha.. Dari awal gw udah bertekad kalo internship gw kali ini ga boleh sampe seampas internship gw waktu S1 dulu di salah satu perusahaan produsen ban nasional. Ga usah gw certain deh detail keampasan internship gw waktu itu. Huahaha... Nah, di sini gw ditugasin sama dosen gw (enak ya, topiknya udah ditentuin sama dosen. Jadi ga usah nyari2 topik sendiri deh) buat improve inventory systemnya X. Mengenai apa itu inventory system ga usah gw jelasin di sini ya, ntar jadi bahan kuliah lagi. Hehe. Yaa.. untungnya topik ini ga gitu susah, cuman rada nguli sih ngolah datanya. Soalnya product type yang dibuat X lumayan banyak, terus si data itu harus diolah semua, baru deh dipilih mana yang mau dianalisis. Terus kebetulan pengetahuan gw agak2 kurang mendalam di topik ini, soalnya selain lab gw dulu beda, di ITB dulu gw ga ngambil kuliah pilihan sistem inventory. Jadinya harus baca2 lagi deh. Yah, senggaknya internship gw ini jadi jauh lebih berbobot dibanding yang dulu.

Nah, kegiatan sehari2 gw di sini ngapain aja? Ini jadwal gw:

7.50 : gw harus udah duduk di meja gw

8.05 : Senam pagi (setiap pagi)

8.15 : Department meeting

8.20 : Kerja bakti ngebersihin kantor

9.00 : Mulai kerja

10.00 : Istirahat 10 menit (orang2 pada duduk2, ngopi dan ngerokok)

12.00 : Istirahat makan siang

12.50 : Kerja lagi

14.40 : istirahat lagi 10 menit

16.50 : Pulaaaaangg...

Hehe.. Perlu diketahui bahwa jadwal gw ini sama dengan jadwal pegawai X lainnya.

Selama gw internship di sini, lumayan banyak hal2 yang gw pelajari. Beberapa ada yang gw mau share. Yang pertama adalah soal kerja bakti ngebersihin kantor. Gw ga tau gimana keadaannya kalo di perusahaan gede, tapi di sini semua orang kerja bakti ngebersihin kantor SETIAP PAGI. Ada yang nyapu halaman, gunting tanaman, nyapu dan ngepel lantai, bersihin WC, ngelapin meja dan furniture lain, dll. Yang gw suka adalah manajer2nya ikut terjun langsung kerja bakti, ga cuman bisa nyuruh-nyuruh doang kaya manajer2 perusahaan di Indonesia. Hihihi.. Manajer department gw tiap hari nyapu halaman di depan pabrik, sampe tempat parkir juga disapu, sementara kerjaan gw adalah ngebersihin tangga depan kantor setiap harinya. *sigh. Mereka ga punya tuh yang namanya cleaning service staff (gw ga tau, mungkin kalo di perusahaan yg gede banget ada). Hal ini mungkin wajar, soalnya di Jepang orang sewajarnya ga punya pembantu, servant, satpam, baby sitter, atau apapun itu, sama sekali. Semua dikerjain sendiri. Hebat.

Yang kedua, gw ngerasa di sini tuh beda banget sama cerita-cerita mengenai kerja di Jepang yang gw denger dari orang atau baca di internet. Di cerita-cerita itu, dibilang kalo kerja di Jepang itu lo harus kerja keras banget, tiap hari lembur sampe larut malem, stress banget sampe mau bunuh diri, blah blah and blah. Well, di sini sama sekali ngga tuh. Orang rata-rata masuk kerja jam 7.50, jam 16.50 pada pulang, paling kalo ada yang lembur juga sampe jam 7. Mirip lah sama perusahaan di Indonesia. Cuman emang kualitas kerjanya beda, di sini pas jam kerja ya mereka pada kerja. Ga ada tuh yang namanya baca Koran, Smsan, atau browsing-browsing situs lain pas jam kerja. Tapi situasinya ga tegang dan serius sama sekali. Mereka juga suka bikin jokes buat ice breaking. Nyaman lah pokoknya. Tapi sekali lagi, gw ga tau, mungkin kalo di perusahaan-perusahaan super gede atau di kota besar kaya Tokyo, Nagoya dan Osaka, omongan2 itu ada benarnya juga. Gw jadi berpikir, sebenernya kalo orang Indonesia mau lebih serius pas bekerja, kayanya bukan ga mungkin buat kita untuk sampe ke level Jepang sekarang ini.

Naaahh... Yang terakhir, karena setelah lulus nanti gw harus kerja di sini dan X adalah salah satu dari 11 perusahaan yang ngebuat konsorsium buat ngebantu program gw (CDSA), I am seriously considering buat apply kerja di sini (itu juga kalo mereka mau nerima gw. Hahaha.. *tertawa miris). Walaupun perusahaan ini ga se-massive Toyota, Honda, Panasonic, atau Mazda sekalipun, tapi orang-orangnya ramah dan helpful, kerjanya juga ga ada pressure sama sekali (kayanya). Well, gw adalah orang yang cepet stress kalo ada masalah, jadi agak2 males kalo kerja di tempat yang pressurenya tinggi. Tapiiii, setelah gw pikir2 lagi, selama gw di sini gw kesepian banget eeeehhh... Habis pulang kerja, gw biasanya ngendon aja di apartment, nonton TV atau film yang udah didownload, atau kalo lagi rajin jalan2 sendiri ke pusat kota Kure. Ga ada temen buat diajak ngobrol. Apa emang kalo ntar gw kerja di manapun di Jepang bakal ngerasain hal yang sama ya?? Hiks, jadi sedih.. Gimana ntar gw cari jodoh eyy?? Doakan lah saya teman2, agar saya bisa segera mendapat teman sehati buat bisa saling ngobrol. You know what I mean. Kalo bisa yang imut dan cantik. Hahahahahah.. Mulai ngaco dah.

Oke, ini oleh2 gw dari Kure, yaitu foto2 di sana. Hehe. Enjoy!

Ga cuman di kota Kure doang, di seluruh Jepang kayanya banyak banget rumah2 yang letaknya di atas bukit. Mana jalannya sempit dan curam gitu. Kayanya kalo punya rumah di situ pasti jadi jago nyetir deh. Hehe.

Ok, that's all. Sampai jumpa pada postingan berikutnya!