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KAMAKURA

Most cities have a place that makes them special. For us that place would be our 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens, without a doubt, as it offers all the Asian facilities and services you could imagine.

However, if we were to travel a little further, we would come across another place famous for its temples, the city of Kamakura, in Japan, about 50 km from Tokyo.

Kotokuin Temple is one of the most popular ones because of its “Daibutsu”, an enormous Buddha Amitabha bronze statue. The statue is 13.35 metres tall, and is the second largest statue in Japan. It was initially located inside a large hall in the temple. However, the buildings were destroyed by the tsunami waves that happened at the end of the 15th Century, and ever since then the statue was left outdoors.

Engakuji is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan, also located in the religious area of the city. According to the ancient registers, when the work in the area commenced, an issue of the “Engaku-kyo” was found, a speech of the Buddha about perfect enlightment which the temple is named after.

There is also a wooden Buddha statue in one of the halls of the temple, and a2.5-metre tall “Ogune” bell which dates back to 1301, the biggest one in all Kamakura temples, declared a National Treasure.

Kenchoji Temple, is another temple built in Kamakura and one of the first ones built in this city in 1253, in the Kencho period. The temple is made from wood, and nowadays locals say that this temple is becoming smaller over time and that the weather is taking its toll on it, although it has managed to maintain its structure.

The third of the Zen temples is Tokeiji, which eventually was turned into a convent where married women who had abandoned their husbands were given shelter. Until the end of the 19th Century, every woman who stayed there for at least three years was considered divorced. In fact, that is what the temple is known as: “temple of the divorcees”.

In Kamakura there are also sanctuaries such as Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū which was moved in 1911 and refurbished according to instructions given by Feng Shui masters. They asked Hachiman, god of warriors, to stay there and watch over the government during his reign.

The Hase-dera Temple was built upon a legend. In the year 721, a monk found a camphor tree on the mountains near Hase, and two “Kannon” statues were made from the tree’s woods. One of the statues was worshipped in the Hase-dera temple, built for said purpose. However, the other sculpture was thrown in the Pacific Ocean and after 15 years being lost, it showed up again on the coast of Kamakura, and that is why it was on that spot where the current Hase-dera Temple was built to worship it.

The grandeur of the temples that we have seen, you shall also find at our 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens. Our resort is more than a temple. Come and visit our hotel.

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TORII ARCH, SACRED GATES

If there is something we pride ourselves on at our 5-star hotel Asia Gardens, is our large number of rooms with their corresponding doors which lead you to a space of the Asian peace and quiet surrounding our resort.

In Asia, gates and arches have an important meaning as they reflect moving on to a different state. In Asian cultures, doors normally lead to a sacred place and that is why they are generally placed at the entrance of sanctuaries and temples.

Torii Arch has a spiritual meaning as we have already mentioned. However, the word “torii” means “bird abode” as they are structures often found outdoors opposite religious buildings where birds normally sit.

An ancient legend says that Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, was extremely annoyed with one of her siblings and she hid in a cave causing and eclipse. When people saw this they got frightened as they could no longer see the sun, and that is why they decided to build a pole for all birds and roosters in the village to come and sit there. The cocks started to cluck and the birds started to cheep making much noise. The goddess could not resist, curiosity took over her and she had to come out to see what was going on. Once she was out, a group of men closed the cave and the sun came out again.

This is how Torii became a symbol of prosperity and good luck all over Japan. Currently, they are considered talismans which keep evil spirits away and bring about good luck.

Torii is usually a traditional Japanese arch which marks the borderline between the profane and the sacred.  It consists of two pillars holding two parallel rungs, normally a shade of red.

They can also have engraved wooden or stone boards, although this is currently changing and other more resistant materials are being used instead, like stainless steel, reinforced concrete and copper in order to resist harsh weather conditions.

The Mijayima Torii is one of the most famous images in Japan, as it is located above water. The sunset from this spot is magical and evoking, for this reason many people who visit it say they feel as if they had crossed over to a different world, a world they did not think existed outside their dreams.

These gates have been immortalized in cinema too. There is a very famous scene in “Memories of a Geisha”  when the leading actress runs through a path of toriies. Do you remember?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O37B5VvaLI

If you also want to enter the world of your dreams, book one of our luxury rooms at our Asia Gardens Hotel. You shall enjoy a magical experience which can only be offered to you at a luxury resort such as ours.

Our doors are always open for you. We look forward to seeing you!

Asia-Gardens

FLOWER AND WATER TIBETAN RITUAL

This season, at the luxury hotel resort Asia Gardens, we have started a small ritual at reception. Our caring personnel have created, with great affection, offerings for all customers upon arrival.

With this ritual, we would like to transmit peace and calm to our customers so they can fully enjoy the services we offer at the Asia Gardens Hotel, as well as help them find pleasure in the simple things to bring them closer to the environment.

Flower and Water Tibetan Ritual

This is a Tibetan natural harmony technique which works in the physical and spiritual plane. To carry out this ritual, we use Tibetan bowls filled with spring water and decorated with typically Asian flowers which are kept in our premises.

The flowers we generally use to decorate are called “Kiku”, considered the most beautiful flowers, especially for the Japanese, due to their shape and colouring. Here, these flowers are known as chrysanthemum.

The Japanese quince or “Chaenomeles Speciosa” is the most fragrant one, usually bright red and used to decorate.

In addition, the “Erythronium dens canis” or Dog’s Tooth, is also a typical small and yellow flower which grown simply and in abundance.

The peculiar mix of these colourful flowers, together with their scent enhanced by water, result in a special fragrance characteristic of our luxury resort which pleases our customers, making their Asian experience at the Asia Gardens more fulfilling.

Our intention is to help our customers reduce the negatives aspects in their life, and increase the positive qualities found in each person; respect, devotion, pleasure and a generous mind.

The sound of the water inside the Tibetan bowl, the decorated flowers and the different colours and scents, will make your experience at our 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens a multisensory experience.

It will be just as if you were in Asia, come and enjoy every minute.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Tibetan Bowl

DIWALI: INDIAN NEW YEAR

From 5 Star Luxury Hotel Asia Gardens we would like to tell you about another important festival in India, one of the most significant ones in the country: the Diwali or Festival of Lights. Depending on the area where it is celebrated it can have different names: Divali, Deepavali or Deepawali and it is also the Indian New Year.

The Diwali is a religious festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jainists all around the country. Diwali means “row of lamps”, the locals place “diyas” (clay lamps) on their windows and leave them lit all night. According to this tradition, men are set free from darkness and moved towards the truth, also known as “dharma”.

As opposed to western cultures, in India they do not celebrate the 31st of December. The New Year is celebrated on 18th October and 26th November, depending on the lunar calendar, it varies every year.

Like almost all other festivals in India, this one also pays tribute to several gods, more specifically goddess Lakshmi and god Ganesha. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped because she brings prosperity and wealth. Hindus must have an altar in a special place in their homes with a picture of Lakshmi where flowers, coins and incense are placed as an offering.

Arrangements for this festival start days before the festival commences. Locals spring clean their homes as a symbol of renewal and also for a better start of the New Year. They paint and decorate their houses, buy silver coins and start using a new ledger. In doing so, they leave all negative things behind and set off to achieve their new resolutions.

As well as wearing new clothes, exchanging gifts and eating sweets, there is also a traditional folk dance called “dandiya”: People wear colourful outfits, skirts and turbans with plenty of ornaments. The choreography of the dance is complicated and consists of energetic twirls with feet and arms up in the air using sticks and instruments for a percussion beat.

As you can see, the Asian continent has always some hidden treasures that we are delighted to bring to you every week. At the Asia Gardens we enjoy showing you new things. We await you with open arms.

Asia-Gardens

WASABI, THE MOST POPULAR ASIAN ROOT

Today, at the 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens we would like to tell you about Wasabi, one of the main ingredients in Japanese food with endless medicinal properties.

Wasabi (Wasabia japonica) is a plant, member of the Brassicaceae family which grows naturally only in Japan and the Sakhalin Island.

It is sold either fresh in root form or as powder, to be mixed with water before its use. It results in a bright green paste only suitable for those who love spicy food.

Wasabi has plenty of health benefits, it has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiseptic properties. In Japan, it used to be used to wrap raw fish for better preservation.

The most popular use of wasabi nowadays is as a side dish when eating sushi. Due to its strong and intense flavour, it is better to take it in small quantities and mixed with soya sauce.

In Japanese cuisine, wasabi is also used to decorate dishes and as a condiment to sashimi and donburi. Those who dare may use this popular Asian spice as a salad dressing.

If you feel like trying it, come to the Asia Gardens where it is available in all our restaurants. But do remember that… LESS is MORE. We await your visit!

ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER LI

Today, at Asia Gardens Hotel Luxury 5 Star we would like to approach the shores of one of the largest rivers of Asia, the Li River in China, also known as Lijiang River, a major tributary of the Pearl River.

This river has sparked the imagination of both artists and writers as well as tourists who currently visit it. They say of it  that its views and surrounding nature are spectacular, creating on every person who visits it  an idyllic memories of natural beauty.

Along all its way down, Li river homes small villages that multiply visitor’s interest adding the cultural studding to the stunning natural landscape.

One of those is Daxu, one of the main antique trade markets that takes you to another time.

The boat ride is usually the most common way to travel this crystalline and nice river, which shows several aspects of Chinese life and culture. The most common tourist cruises, perform a Li River cruise of 83 km between the cities of Guilin and Yangshuo.

Some of the offered type of cruises includes the visit to the Grotto of the Reed Flute; and amazing/impressive cave with a large number of stalactites and stalagmites, as well as the magic rock curtains for which river Li waters flows out.

On this journey down the river we find also one of the world’s oldest canals, the Lingqu Canal.  Visitor will be caught by the surprise of discover some mansion houses that stand out among the traditional landscape and vast natural setting.

Another feature of this tour is the mountains surrounding the river, with their unique shapes and assembled in different combinations between the meandering curves of the river.

The best way to enjoy completely the mountains  that surround the Li River, is to take a getaway and walk one of the routes by foot to observe the grandeur and extension of the way, and enjoy the mountain Yaoshan to which it is possible to climb also chairlift .

From this peak, the view is one of the most beautiful views of the whole journey and no one doubt:  it is one of the “must” visits.  The calm and peace that is breathed up there, with the silence only hampered by natural noises, make it one of the most beautiful experiences to be found in Asia.

All this peace and beauty that brings the Li River, is what we wanted to move to our natural areas and pools in Asia Gardens. The mix between tradition and modernity coexists among the different areas of the hotel, so you also could take a unique and idyllic experience. Come to Hotel Asia Gardens and live your own Asian cruise through our pools; we are looking forward to see you/we are waiting you.

PERFUME PAGODA

At the 5-star hotel Asia Gardens we enjoy sharing all we know about Asia with you. In today’s post, we would like to tell you about the Perfume Pagoda, a magical place in Vietnam.

The Perfume Pagoda is located 70km from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. This place consists of Buddhist pagodas and temples at the top of Perfume Mountain from where you can delight yourself with some of the most unique and amazing views. Additionally, Perfume Pagoda is one of the most popular spiritual spots in Vietnam.

The Pagoda is located inside a cave on top of Perfume Mountain, and it can only be accessed by going up steps for 4km, or by cable car. In order to get there, you first need to get to the jetty of Lake Yen Vi, where small and quaint red boats sail for almost an hour to get to the mountain. Once there, the visit of the temples begins.

The first temples of Perfume Pagoda date back to the 17th Century and were built by a Buddhist monk who was trying to reach spiritual enlightment. In time, more and more temples were added, and there are now more than a thousand temples in the same area. After the Indochina war against the French, most temples were destroyed and there are just a few left that can now be visited.

When entering the Den Trinh Sanctuary, there is a tradition to do with the literal translation of its name: Presentation shrine, which requires incense to be burnt (we have already mentioned its history and origin in a previous blog) in order to warn the gods of our presence and be blessed for the rest of the way.

Perfume Pagoda in itself is inside the Huong Tich cave or perfume cave. You must walk down 120 stone steps in order to reach the incredible altar with Buddha statues and a more than 1-metre tall bronze bell. It is said that this walk symbolises the descent to hell to then find the way to heaven.

It is interesting to know that on the rock there is an engraved inscription which says “the most beautiful cave under the southeast sky”.

The cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites of all shapes that have been named by the locals, rice plants, children and trees can be found. Also, couples who still do not have any offspring go to this Pagoda to pray, as told by popular belief.

We look forward to seeing you at the Asia Gardens where you will find the best of Asian culture without leaving Spain. See you next week.

 

BHUTAN, THE KINGDOM OF HAPPINESS

Today, from our 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens, we would like to visit Bhutan, a small country in Southeast Asia, between India and China.

This small kingdom in the Himalaya barely has 700,000 inhabitants.  The locals call it Druk Yul “The land of the dragon and thunder” and also “Mountain Land”, in Sanskrit Bhutan means “High lands”.

Currently, Bhutan is known for its National Happiness Index. This concept was created in the 70’s by the monarch Jigme Senge Wangchuk.

Ever since then, the government in Bhutan, through the National Happiness Commission, makes sure everything the government does is focused on increasing happiness.

Bhutan has many archaeological treasures, temples, dzongs and breath-taking landscapes. But today we would like to focus on the popular monastery Takshang or “Tiger’s Nest”, one of the most magical places in the country.

This monastery is located over a cliff on the beautiful Paro Valley, one of the most important sacred places in the region.

It started to be built in 1692, according to the legend the Guru Padmasambhava flew over from Tibet riding a tigress. It is believed that he meditated there for 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days and 3 hours in the 8th Century.

Padmasambhava is the founder of the Nyingma Buddhism Tibetan School. He is commonly known as Guru Rinpoche or Precious Master. In Tibet and Bhutan he is known as the second Buddha.

We hope you have enjoyed this fascinating country. We invite you to come and spend a few days at the Asia Gardens, our fantastic luxury hotel in Alicante, Spain In our hotel you shall be as happy as if you went to the wonderful kingdom of Bhutan.

VESAK

As you are aware of, at the 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens we enjoy telling you something new every week. Today, we are going to talk about one of the most important celebrations in the Buddhist religion, the Vesak, a key day for Buddhists which we are going to tell you about in detail.

Vesak is the most significant holy day in Buddhism. People commemorate the life of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), by making offerings to him inside the temples. It is said that Buddha was born, reached enlightment and died all in the one day, Vesak.

The exact day of Vesak varies according to the lunar calendar being used in each Asian country, and also according to the different traditions. But the word originates from the first month in the Hindu calendar. The name comes from Pali vesākha, the name of the lunar month between April and May.

In every country with a Buddhist influence, Vesak is the national holiday, and it is celebrated in all Buddhist countries. It wasn’t until 1950 that it was officially decided to celebrate Vesak worldwide. The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) decided at a conference that the holiday would be held in the month of May according to the Buddhist lunar calendar.

In 1999, this holiday was also recognised by the UN, being the first time that a holy day was commemorated in the UN headquarters, on 15th May 2000.

Everyone in all Buddhist countries dresses up to the nines to celebrate a religion that started more than 2500 years ago. Although this holiday doesn’t only consist of making offerings, placing flowers, burn incense and celebrate, Buddha wanted this day to be celebrated according to his teachings. He wanted all Buddhists to feel determined to lead a noble life on that day, and to develop their minds, be kind and work towards reaching peace and harmony.

From a Buddhist point of view, the goal in life is to end suffering and achieve real peace and happiness, which is exactly what we want to make you feel in our Asian luxury setting. We look forward to welcoming you at the Asia Gardens surrounded by peace and quiet.

GANESH

Today, from our 5-star luxury hotel Asia Gardens, we would like to celebrate with you yet another important festival from one of our favourite countries: the Ganesh Chaturthi in India.

The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is one of the most significant ones in India, especially in Maharashtra, in the mid-west. The festival lasts about 10 days and usually takes place between August 20th and September 15th. In the Hindu calendar, the month when the festival is held is called Bhaadrapada.

This festivity pays tribute to god Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati (whom we have mentioned in other posts before). Ganesha has a human body and an elephant head, something we will go into more detail later on. He is considered the patron of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Before starting up a new project, Hindus invoke god Ganesha as they believe his blessing to be essential.

The legend says that the way in which Ganesha ended up with a human body and an elephant head was rather curious, like pretty much everything that takes place in Asia. Shiva was at war fighting and his wife, Parvati decided to take a bath but there was no guard to protect her door. That is why she created a child to watch over her bedroom, preventing anyone from entering. She created him with the same sandalwood paste she used to bathe with and she placed him outside her door.

Shortly afterwards, Shiva came back home and tried to get into his wife’s bedroom with no luck because the “guardian child” was following orders not to let anyone in. Shiva got very angry and cut the child’s head off, which enraged Parvati who threatened him by saying she’d destroy the world. The only idea Shiva could come up with was to ask for the head of the first living being coming from the north to be brought to him (the north is associated to wisdom) which turned out to be an elephant. The elephant’s head was placed over the child’s body bringing him back to life, and they then proceeded to call him Ganesha.

The festival draws crowds of people who start preparing for it months before it takes place. There are cultural activities available, such as recitals, plays, and music performances in addition to fundraising for the needy as well as blood donation points. There are also flower and fruit offerings, mainly coconuts, and they then traditionally submerge the statue of the god in water.

People also make a sweet unique to this country, the modak, a paste made of rice and wheat flour and filled with coconut and a special type of sugar used in Asia. Hindu people bond even more during this type of festival and they show their most patriotic side.

We hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about India as much as we have. We look forward to seeing you at theAsia Gardens to help you experience Asian culturesd first hand.

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