Firstly, I shall explain the title of the blog. The bicycles bit is pretty self explanatory - everybody rides bicycles in Kyoto. There are bicycle lanes everywhere, and there are thousands of spots where you can park your bicycle. Good to see that the city is somewhat environmentally conscious, although it is Kyoto, made famous due to the Kyoto Protocol - an agreement signed by various nations around the world to lower greenhouse gas emissions and help prevent climate change. So if it is anyone's responsibility to be green, it is Kyoto's.
The bins - When we were in Tokyo, Nagano, Yudanaka and Takayama, finding a bin is like trying to find Wally (Waldo) in a barbershop pole museum. - They're pretty much non existent. Hell, in our brief transit in Nagano, I actually had to ask the tourist information counter where the closest bin was! But, in Kyoto, it is a different story. Bins are everywhere. Every time you round a corner, there is a bin, with separate sections for rubbish, bottles, cans and newspapers.
The ding dongs - everything in Kyoto goes "ding dong" when you pass through it. The convenience stores do, the toilets do, the subways do, the lifts do! I wouldn't be surprised if some of the temples go "ding dong" when you walk through their gates. Our local subway station even went "ding dong" without walking through any doors! Every five seconds or so, it would loudly announce to the world an alert that, the entrance to the subway (an open passage) was still in fact open, through the means of a loud "DING DONG!" I feel very sorry for the Seven and I-Holdings employees right next door, as they have the double whammy of the subway and every time their shop door opened. And, being next to a subway entrance, this was quite a lot.
Anyways, on with the blog. Today we did another temples run. This time, we headed to eastern Kyoto to check out Nazen-ji and the path of philosophy that runs north of it.
After getting off the subway, I had a quick look through the lonely planet guide to see where we were. While I was doing this, Emma was busy being accosted by an old Japanese lady. Emma was literally being shaken by this lady, as she yelled at Emma, "beuutitul! beuutitul! you are beuutitul!" Emma just smiled and laughed, and posed for photos with the lovely old lady. I feel kind of bad though, as I didn't actually realise what was going on, until I saw Emma rapidly swaying in and out of my peripheral vision.
Nanzen-ji, and it's accompanying temple grounds are truly a sight to behold. A mix of tall, evergreen hardwood trees and cherryblossoms line a large pathway up to the massive Sanmon gate. And when I say massive, I really do mean massive! It was about 30 metres tall, and about 50 metres wide. Definitely much larger than any other gate that I'd seen before. One thing that puzzled me though was that this gate wasn't exactly joined to any walls of any sorts - and as such, any form of gigantic foe that they were trying to regulate the passage of could easily walk *around* the gate. I guess it must be one of those spiritual things.
Anyhow, after Sanmon, there was the temple and the zen garden it held within. The zen garden was particularly amazing. It had meticulously raked stones flowing around the other large boulders and islands in the garden. I pondered, somewhat philisophically to myself: "I wonder if the monks who reside in this temple ever want to just jump into the garden and make Zen-angels in the stones?" Naturally, I decided neither to voice this thought, or act upon my thought, as I'm sure my cultural uncouth-ness would have caused offence beyond any feeble language boundaries. Also, Emma would have probably hit me.
After spending a good hour or so wandering aimlessly through the temple grounds, we headed north along the "tourist track" to the "Tetsugaku-no-michi", or "Path of Philosophy". At the start of the path, there was a small vegetarian restaurant, so we decided to stop for lunch.
I had the (ironically enough) beef curry, whereas Emma had the curry tofu and noodle soup. My meal was nothing special, but at least it was fragrant. Emma's, on the other hand was warm, thick and there was very little difference in texture, consistency or taste between the noodles, soup or tofu. Essentially, Emma had a bowl of curry-flavoured snot for lunch. I decided to tell her about my thoughts on her meal *after* she had eaten it.
The Path of Philosophy itself was quite nice. A stroll next to an old canal, lined end to end with cherryblossoms. Very peaceful (even with hordes of tourists around us also walking the path), and it did offer a few opportunities here and there to ponder on quiet thoughts. Along the path, there was a delightful lady who was painting postcards. She had considerable skill, so Emma and I bought some. The lady was delighted. Now, there's no real polite way to say this, but this lady's voice was super high. It was like a chipmunk had inhaled its own body weight in helium, recorded itself speaking, and then played it back in fast forward. I only made out "thankyou very much!", but she was very cute.
Then, we caught a bus back to Kyoto station, and we made our way to our hotel. At the hotel, we managed to hook up a Skype session between Emma's parents and us. Good times were had, as we filled each other in on our trip and what had been happening down under.
Then, we headed out for some dinner. We found lots of restaurants that seemed to share a lot with Phuket's "jack of all trades, master of none" ethos - the food looked to be alright, but nothing spectacular. In the end, we settled on an Udon Noodle place. It was a great decision, as they hand-made their noodles, and the food was good quality. Upon seeing us enter, they handed us an English menu, too, which was a nice touch. The restaurant worked on a semi-buffet system, where they gave you your desired noodles and soup, and then you put whatever extras you wanted with it on your plate, and you were charged accordingly. It made for a great customisable meal. I wish I knew the name of the restaurant, as I would post a glowing review about it online!
Then, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for tomorrow and our next destination in Japan: Nara!
Next: Nara, Japan's ancient capital. Now it's full of DEER!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
01/04/2011 - 04/04/2011 Takayama and Kyoto
Ok, wow, so a few days went by without me really noticing. Time for a quick fill-in on what happened over these days.
Our first day in Takayama was spent looking around the centre of the "old town", through the various stores selling local handicrafts. These were primarily wood-carving based, but there was also plenty of pottery and other types of crafts. Emma bought quite a large variety of souvenirs, but the only one I can remember at the moment is a ceramic owl, wearing a cloak made out of an eggplant. It's very cute.
The next day we checked out the historically preserved village of Hida No Sato, which, while itself isn't an authentic village from centuries long ago, it is made up of various houses from other villages that have been moved to this "safe" location, and have been historically preserved. It was a picture-perfect look at old Japanese village life. Everywhere you looked, there was an interesting hut, full of preserved tools and other mementos from the village lifestyle. I especially liked the really steep roofs on the buildings, designed to withstand the heavy snowfall that the Hida/Takayama region receives during winter.
When looking around this village, Emma and I were lucky enough to visit on a day when there was a parade being held. Before this parade, they were making a traditional rice-based dessert, which is essentially rice pounded into a paste, and then dusted in sesame seed powder or green tea powder. During the rice pounding process, Emma, being the only foreign woman there, was picked to help pound the rice. Many embarassing photos were taken.
Then, the parade took place. It was an interesting mix of traditional attires. The large parade made their way around the village. There were kimono-clad women, demon mask-wearing men, and men who dressed similar to priests, playing instruments that could only be described as sounding like someone playing a kazoo through their nose. Not pleasant to the ear, but I'm sure they were culturally relevant somehow.
After the parade ended, Emma and I then went and fed the Koi carp at the lake for a good 30 minutes. They had breadsticks for 30 yen. We couldn't resist. It was definitely funny when you broke off a piece of bread so big that none of the fish could swallow it whole. They would chase it around the whole lake until one fat one finally managed to inhale it. That, or the solitary swan that was on the lake came along and swallowed the bread whole. It was an angry swan.
Later that night, Emma and I tried out one of our Hotel's traditional Onsens. It was quite relaxing, but boy was the water temperature hot! It felt like we were being boiled alive every time we moved in the water. Never did I think that I would sweat in Takayama's freezing cold weather. Still, after a good soak I definitely did feel refreshed.
Also, a side note, each night in Takayama we were treated to a diverse range of Japanese cuisine, using local ingredients. The food was tasty, but I'd be lying if I said I knew what I was eating for 70% of the time. Still, the highlight of each meal for me was the beef. Apparently it came from local cows in Hida, about a 20 minute drive away. It tasted amazing, and was probably the best beef I've ever eaten.
Yesterday (3rd of April) was a day spent primarily travelling between Takayama and Kyoto. It involved a 150 minute train ride through the mountains to Nagoya (during which I spent most of my time playing Ouendan on my DS), and then a Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto. The Shinkansen was great fun once again. Looking out the window, it's as if you're driving along a highway, except everything is in fast forward by about 300%.
After checking in at our hotel (which has the smallest toilet/bathroom ever - it's like a port-a-loo!), we tried to find somewhere to eat for that night. Unfortunately, having all the knowledge of Kyoto that a tea leaf does of the history of the East India Company (thanks for that one, Douglas), this was a difficult task. It appeared that everywhere we looked lacked an English menu, and from the pictures on the outside, everything appeared to be swimming in pork or beef - both of which Emma can't stomach.
Sadly, in the end, we had McDonalds. It wasn't particularly nice, but at least Emma's Teriyaki Chicken burger was something different.
Today (April 4th), Emma and I first headed to the International Manga Museum (Japanese Comic Museum). It was fascinating, with the museum containing over 300,000 different manga volumes. Unfortunately for us, most of them were in Japanese. We still did have a good browse through the English section. I read the manga version of the video game "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask", and Emma read... something... with a weird title. Something like "Solanum"... I think.
They also had a fascinating section on the history of Manga and its various influences across the world. Furthermore, they explained how money from a sale of a Manga book is divided up, and pretty much summed up how much it sucks to be a Manga artist, as you get paid very little money for your craft. Still, recent estimates have valued the Japanese Manga industry worth over 3 Trillion yen, so there must be some money in there somewhere...
Then, we headed west to a the Arayashima district. This area was very beautiful, with the streets lined with cherryblossom trees, most of which were in bloom. The area was also very touristy - probably the most touristy area we had encountered so far in our Japan travels! Still, the reason we were heading here was to see Tenryuji Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. Moreover, we were going to visit the garden at the temple, and it certainly did not disappoint. After rounding the corner of the main hall, Emma and I were presented with the most beautiful Japanese garden we had ever seen. Everywhere you looked, every angle, there was a perfect photo opportunity. Moreover, the garden was dripping in cherryblossoms, and it made the garden exponentially more beautiful. Lots of photos were taken.
Then, we headed north of the gardens to the equally impressive bamboo grove. Essentially it was just a path through some bamboo, but when you're actually walking through it, it's so much more. You are surrounded by a virtual forest of bamboo, which sways gently in the wind. This bamboo stretches far above you, to form a canopy of green. It is a very surreal experience - gone are the memories of the bustling streets of any major Japanese city, and instead you are filled with a sense of calm. To anybody who goes to Japan, you *have* to walk down this path. It is amazing. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't really capture the awesomeness of the grove, but hopefully I can fix the colour levels in Photoshop later...
After some more wandering through the backstreets of Arayashima, we were on a train (in peak hour fun) back to Kyoto city. We had a look around Kyoto station to find somewhere to eat for dinner. Once again, we encountered much of the same troubles we did the previous night - no english menus and most meals seemed to have only red meat in them. Thankfully though, after a while we did find a nice place to eat. We had torikatsu - crumbed meat (in this case shrimp) deep fried served with vegetables. It was a nice way to end a very fun day.
Tomorrow: More Kyoto temple stuff, and some observations on the city of Kyoto.
Our first day in Takayama was spent looking around the centre of the "old town", through the various stores selling local handicrafts. These were primarily wood-carving based, but there was also plenty of pottery and other types of crafts. Emma bought quite a large variety of souvenirs, but the only one I can remember at the moment is a ceramic owl, wearing a cloak made out of an eggplant. It's very cute.
The next day we checked out the historically preserved village of Hida No Sato, which, while itself isn't an authentic village from centuries long ago, it is made up of various houses from other villages that have been moved to this "safe" location, and have been historically preserved. It was a picture-perfect look at old Japanese village life. Everywhere you looked, there was an interesting hut, full of preserved tools and other mementos from the village lifestyle. I especially liked the really steep roofs on the buildings, designed to withstand the heavy snowfall that the Hida/Takayama region receives during winter.
When looking around this village, Emma and I were lucky enough to visit on a day when there was a parade being held. Before this parade, they were making a traditional rice-based dessert, which is essentially rice pounded into a paste, and then dusted in sesame seed powder or green tea powder. During the rice pounding process, Emma, being the only foreign woman there, was picked to help pound the rice. Many embarassing photos were taken.
Then, the parade took place. It was an interesting mix of traditional attires. The large parade made their way around the village. There were kimono-clad women, demon mask-wearing men, and men who dressed similar to priests, playing instruments that could only be described as sounding like someone playing a kazoo through their nose. Not pleasant to the ear, but I'm sure they were culturally relevant somehow.
After the parade ended, Emma and I then went and fed the Koi carp at the lake for a good 30 minutes. They had breadsticks for 30 yen. We couldn't resist. It was definitely funny when you broke off a piece of bread so big that none of the fish could swallow it whole. They would chase it around the whole lake until one fat one finally managed to inhale it. That, or the solitary swan that was on the lake came along and swallowed the bread whole. It was an angry swan.
Later that night, Emma and I tried out one of our Hotel's traditional Onsens. It was quite relaxing, but boy was the water temperature hot! It felt like we were being boiled alive every time we moved in the water. Never did I think that I would sweat in Takayama's freezing cold weather. Still, after a good soak I definitely did feel refreshed.
Also, a side note, each night in Takayama we were treated to a diverse range of Japanese cuisine, using local ingredients. The food was tasty, but I'd be lying if I said I knew what I was eating for 70% of the time. Still, the highlight of each meal for me was the beef. Apparently it came from local cows in Hida, about a 20 minute drive away. It tasted amazing, and was probably the best beef I've ever eaten.
Yesterday (3rd of April) was a day spent primarily travelling between Takayama and Kyoto. It involved a 150 minute train ride through the mountains to Nagoya (during which I spent most of my time playing Ouendan on my DS), and then a Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto. The Shinkansen was great fun once again. Looking out the window, it's as if you're driving along a highway, except everything is in fast forward by about 300%.
After checking in at our hotel (which has the smallest toilet/bathroom ever - it's like a port-a-loo!), we tried to find somewhere to eat for that night. Unfortunately, having all the knowledge of Kyoto that a tea leaf does of the history of the East India Company (thanks for that one, Douglas), this was a difficult task. It appeared that everywhere we looked lacked an English menu, and from the pictures on the outside, everything appeared to be swimming in pork or beef - both of which Emma can't stomach.
Sadly, in the end, we had McDonalds. It wasn't particularly nice, but at least Emma's Teriyaki Chicken burger was something different.
Today (April 4th), Emma and I first headed to the International Manga Museum (Japanese Comic Museum). It was fascinating, with the museum containing over 300,000 different manga volumes. Unfortunately for us, most of them were in Japanese. We still did have a good browse through the English section. I read the manga version of the video game "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask", and Emma read... something... with a weird title. Something like "Solanum"... I think.
They also had a fascinating section on the history of Manga and its various influences across the world. Furthermore, they explained how money from a sale of a Manga book is divided up, and pretty much summed up how much it sucks to be a Manga artist, as you get paid very little money for your craft. Still, recent estimates have valued the Japanese Manga industry worth over 3 Trillion yen, so there must be some money in there somewhere...
Then, we headed west to a the Arayashima district. This area was very beautiful, with the streets lined with cherryblossom trees, most of which were in bloom. The area was also very touristy - probably the most touristy area we had encountered so far in our Japan travels! Still, the reason we were heading here was to see Tenryuji Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. Moreover, we were going to visit the garden at the temple, and it certainly did not disappoint. After rounding the corner of the main hall, Emma and I were presented with the most beautiful Japanese garden we had ever seen. Everywhere you looked, every angle, there was a perfect photo opportunity. Moreover, the garden was dripping in cherryblossoms, and it made the garden exponentially more beautiful. Lots of photos were taken.
Then, we headed north of the gardens to the equally impressive bamboo grove. Essentially it was just a path through some bamboo, but when you're actually walking through it, it's so much more. You are surrounded by a virtual forest of bamboo, which sways gently in the wind. This bamboo stretches far above you, to form a canopy of green. It is a very surreal experience - gone are the memories of the bustling streets of any major Japanese city, and instead you are filled with a sense of calm. To anybody who goes to Japan, you *have* to walk down this path. It is amazing. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't really capture the awesomeness of the grove, but hopefully I can fix the colour levels in Photoshop later...
After some more wandering through the backstreets of Arayashima, we were on a train (in peak hour fun) back to Kyoto city. We had a look around Kyoto station to find somewhere to eat for dinner. Once again, we encountered much of the same troubles we did the previous night - no english menus and most meals seemed to have only red meat in them. Thankfully though, after a while we did find a nice place to eat. We had torikatsu - crumbed meat (in this case shrimp) deep fried served with vegetables. It was a nice way to end a very fun day.
Tomorrow: More Kyoto temple stuff, and some observations on the city of Kyoto.
Friday, April 1, 2011
31/03/11 - SNOW! TRAINS! MOUNTAINS!
So we woke up this morning bright and early at 7:30am. Breakfast was at 8:00am, and we had to robe-ificate for then. At bang on 8:00am, we were gestured into the dining room. Another feast awaited us. Once again, it was a mix of tasty delights, such as freshly cooked salmon fillets, omelettes, and other delicious treats, down to the strange stuff, such as four different types of mushrooms, and meats served cold and slimy that should be served hot, or not at all.I managed to eat most of it though.
Then, we went back to the room to get ready to have a stroll around our local district of Shibu Onsen. Magically, like how it materialised the night before, our bed had now disappeared. Then, I decided to open the blinds to see what the weather was like outside. Snow! It was snowing! Glorious, glorious snow! I called out to Emma, who came shuffling into the room, and was just as pleased as I was.
I dashed down the stairs, got my boots on as quick as I could, and went out to experience snowfall for the first time. It was just as awesome as the snow on the ground. We then took various pictures and strolled through the snowy backstreets. Emma and I even tried to make a snowman at one point, but didn't quite get the hang of it. Needless to say, I was super excited. Sadly though, my camera photos don't really do the beauty of fresh snowfall justice... I really need a better one!
After spending a good hour or so experiencing the snow, we headed back to our room, and made our preparations to leave Shibu Onsen. After chilling out (or in this case, heating up) around the table-heater in our room, we said our goodbyes to our wonderful host. As a memento, he gave us a pair of chopsticks with our birthyear on them, and a photo of us in the snow together. Even though we could barely communicate with him, he was a very nice and helpful gentleman.
What followed was a long walk to the train station. A long, cold, snowy walk, dragging our luggage behind us. Not the most pleasant walk, but I'd rather a freezing cold walk to a train station than a stinking hot one any day.
Then, we boarded our "Snow Monkey" train for Nagano. I had to go to the bathroom, so I had to get off the train and find where it was. In the process, I found a local Lawson, so I went inside and tried to find us some lunch for the train ride. I ended up finding quite a nice deep-fried chicken with rice... thing. Plus, my phrasebook came in handy! I asked the store clerk if the meat in this was chicken, to which she replied, yes. That alone made the phrasebook about 100 times more useful than my Thai one, as I couldn't even comprehend how to begin to pronounce a single word in Thai.
After the ride back to Nagano, we were confronted with a new problem - we had accumulated a lot of rubbish over the trip so far, and for the life of us, we could never find a garbage bin! For a country as staggeringly clean as Japan is, it is amazing that there are no rubbish bins - anywhere! After asking the tourist information centre where a bin was (which led me through quite a complicated path of various buildings and what have you), I eventually found one. Then, it was onto our train ride to Matsumoto.
This ride was quite pleasant - through many pastures, tunnels and foothills. Sadly, there was very little snow to be seen. About an hour later, we arrived at Matsumoto. Here, we needed to transfer to a bus to take us to Takayama, but we had an hour to kill between our train arriving and our bus departing.
Then we realised that we were booked in to have dinner at our hotel in Takayama, but due to the long bus ride, we would be significantly late. This meant that I needed to contact the hotel to let them know that we were arriving late.
I checked our hotel voucher, and it didn't have a phone number on it. Shit. Therefore, I needed to find a computer with internet access on it to email them. So, I asked at the tourist information centre (in japanese - thankyou phrasebook!) where I could find internet access. She gave me directions to what I can assume was a public library - that was where the fun began.
I had to make my way through several backstreets, and then go up to the second level at the public library. Then, I had to sign in on their sign in sheet, and attempt to use a japanese keyboard and internet browser. So it turns out that the spacebar key is really tiny, and on either side of it is a key that changes the language from english characters to either hiragana or katakana. Then, they don't have a clearly labelled button to turn it back to english letters. Unfortunately, I am used to a western keyboard, so I often changed the lettering from english to japanese mid-word. The only way of putting in english characters after switching to hiragana/katakana was by holding the shift key, and making the english letters capital. As such, this is an approximation of what my letter to our hotel looked like:
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is DAVId WILLiams. I HAVe a reserVATIOn at YOur HoTel tonight. DUE To a miscalculated BUs dEPARTURE tiME, We will be arriving to yoUR HOTel at about 8:00PM. I APOLogise for the exTremely LATE NOTICE.
YouRS SINCERELY,
DAvid WILLiams.
Then, I clicked on "send". It came up with an error message in Japanese. FFFFFFFFFFFFFfff- So I scrambled to find a phone number to contact them on. Success! Then, after a quick call on a payphone, I had cleared everything with the hotel. Sometimes it is easier to do things the old fashioned way.
On my way back to the bus station, I spied a gaming store. I went inside, and saw a copy of Ouendan for only 1800 yen. Bargain! I bought it. My first proper souvenir for myself.
Then, I went back to the bus station and waited with Emma for our bus. When it arrived, we put our luggage underneath, and sat down. After the doors closed, it became apparent that we were the only people on the bus! In fact, on the whole journey, only one other passenger got on. Still, the bus was quite comfortable, and you couldn't exactly complain about the scenery.
Let me put it this way: The reason why we had to catch a bus between Matsumoto and Takayama and not a train is that there is one gigantic mountain range between the two towns. And the bus trip took us over those mountains. It was amazing. The lakes were dark jade in colour, the trees the greenest green this side of greenland, and the snow was pristine and untouched. I felt like getting off of the bus every time it stopped! Although, if I did, I would have probably frozen to death.
Another thing I found amazing was the network of tunnels through these mountains. Some of them stretched off to the infinity point, so that you couldn't actually see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. When confronted with such amazing engineering marvels, I always think to myself "how on earth did they do that, and how did they get the time/money to do it?" then, I realised that being the world's third largest economy, you can afford to make things like that.
After another hour or so of twists and turns through the mountains, accompanied by suitable "ooohs" and "aaahs" from Emma and I, we descended down the mountainside into Takayama.
After arriving at the bus station, it was a 5 minute walk to our hotel, where we checked in and went to our room. The room is great, with it being a fusion between a traditional ryokan with tatami floors, and the amenities of a hotel (mini fridge, internet access, etc.). The only downside is that our room is a smoking room, but nothing that a bit of airing can't fix.
We then went to dinner, which was once again a traditional meal. Thankfully though, some of the staff spoke english, which meant we were instructed on how to enjoy the meal to its fullest. That being said though, one of the rice dishes we ate had tiny shrimp in it - whole shrimp, complete with shell and eyes. They were so small that you couldn't peel them, so you just had to chew on them. It felt like they were looking at you, pleading for you not to eat them. It wasn't unpleasant, but not something I'd eat again by choice.
The staff at the hotel are very kind. We even chatted to one of the waitresses about traditional Japanese life versus traditional Aussie life. All in all, a great evening, and an excellent introduction to our hotel.
Next: Takayama stuff!
Then, we went back to the room to get ready to have a stroll around our local district of Shibu Onsen. Magically, like how it materialised the night before, our bed had now disappeared. Then, I decided to open the blinds to see what the weather was like outside. Snow! It was snowing! Glorious, glorious snow! I called out to Emma, who came shuffling into the room, and was just as pleased as I was.
I dashed down the stairs, got my boots on as quick as I could, and went out to experience snowfall for the first time. It was just as awesome as the snow on the ground. We then took various pictures and strolled through the snowy backstreets. Emma and I even tried to make a snowman at one point, but didn't quite get the hang of it. Needless to say, I was super excited. Sadly though, my camera photos don't really do the beauty of fresh snowfall justice... I really need a better one!
After spending a good hour or so experiencing the snow, we headed back to our room, and made our preparations to leave Shibu Onsen. After chilling out (or in this case, heating up) around the table-heater in our room, we said our goodbyes to our wonderful host. As a memento, he gave us a pair of chopsticks with our birthyear on them, and a photo of us in the snow together. Even though we could barely communicate with him, he was a very nice and helpful gentleman.
What followed was a long walk to the train station. A long, cold, snowy walk, dragging our luggage behind us. Not the most pleasant walk, but I'd rather a freezing cold walk to a train station than a stinking hot one any day.
Then, we boarded our "Snow Monkey" train for Nagano. I had to go to the bathroom, so I had to get off the train and find where it was. In the process, I found a local Lawson, so I went inside and tried to find us some lunch for the train ride. I ended up finding quite a nice deep-fried chicken with rice... thing. Plus, my phrasebook came in handy! I asked the store clerk if the meat in this was chicken, to which she replied, yes. That alone made the phrasebook about 100 times more useful than my Thai one, as I couldn't even comprehend how to begin to pronounce a single word in Thai.
After the ride back to Nagano, we were confronted with a new problem - we had accumulated a lot of rubbish over the trip so far, and for the life of us, we could never find a garbage bin! For a country as staggeringly clean as Japan is, it is amazing that there are no rubbish bins - anywhere! After asking the tourist information centre where a bin was (which led me through quite a complicated path of various buildings and what have you), I eventually found one. Then, it was onto our train ride to Matsumoto.
This ride was quite pleasant - through many pastures, tunnels and foothills. Sadly, there was very little snow to be seen. About an hour later, we arrived at Matsumoto. Here, we needed to transfer to a bus to take us to Takayama, but we had an hour to kill between our train arriving and our bus departing.
Then we realised that we were booked in to have dinner at our hotel in Takayama, but due to the long bus ride, we would be significantly late. This meant that I needed to contact the hotel to let them know that we were arriving late.
I checked our hotel voucher, and it didn't have a phone number on it. Shit. Therefore, I needed to find a computer with internet access on it to email them. So, I asked at the tourist information centre (in japanese - thankyou phrasebook!) where I could find internet access. She gave me directions to what I can assume was a public library - that was where the fun began.
I had to make my way through several backstreets, and then go up to the second level at the public library. Then, I had to sign in on their sign in sheet, and attempt to use a japanese keyboard and internet browser. So it turns out that the spacebar key is really tiny, and on either side of it is a key that changes the language from english characters to either hiragana or katakana. Then, they don't have a clearly labelled button to turn it back to english letters. Unfortunately, I am used to a western keyboard, so I often changed the lettering from english to japanese mid-word. The only way of putting in english characters after switching to hiragana/katakana was by holding the shift key, and making the english letters capital. As such, this is an approximation of what my letter to our hotel looked like:
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is DAVId WILLiams. I HAVe a reserVATIOn at YOur HoTel tonight. DUE To a miscalculated BUs dEPARTURE tiME, We will be arriving to yoUR HOTel at about 8:00PM. I APOLogise for the exTremely LATE NOTICE.
YouRS SINCERELY,
DAvid WILLiams.
Then, I clicked on "send". It came up with an error message in Japanese. FFFFFFFFFFFFFfff- So I scrambled to find a phone number to contact them on. Success! Then, after a quick call on a payphone, I had cleared everything with the hotel. Sometimes it is easier to do things the old fashioned way.
On my way back to the bus station, I spied a gaming store. I went inside, and saw a copy of Ouendan for only 1800 yen. Bargain! I bought it. My first proper souvenir for myself.
Then, I went back to the bus station and waited with Emma for our bus. When it arrived, we put our luggage underneath, and sat down. After the doors closed, it became apparent that we were the only people on the bus! In fact, on the whole journey, only one other passenger got on. Still, the bus was quite comfortable, and you couldn't exactly complain about the scenery.
Let me put it this way: The reason why we had to catch a bus between Matsumoto and Takayama and not a train is that there is one gigantic mountain range between the two towns. And the bus trip took us over those mountains. It was amazing. The lakes were dark jade in colour, the trees the greenest green this side of greenland, and the snow was pristine and untouched. I felt like getting off of the bus every time it stopped! Although, if I did, I would have probably frozen to death.
Another thing I found amazing was the network of tunnels through these mountains. Some of them stretched off to the infinity point, so that you couldn't actually see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. When confronted with such amazing engineering marvels, I always think to myself "how on earth did they do that, and how did they get the time/money to do it?" then, I realised that being the world's third largest economy, you can afford to make things like that.
After another hour or so of twists and turns through the mountains, accompanied by suitable "ooohs" and "aaahs" from Emma and I, we descended down the mountainside into Takayama.
After arriving at the bus station, it was a 5 minute walk to our hotel, where we checked in and went to our room. The room is great, with it being a fusion between a traditional ryokan with tatami floors, and the amenities of a hotel (mini fridge, internet access, etc.). The only downside is that our room is a smoking room, but nothing that a bit of airing can't fix.
We then went to dinner, which was once again a traditional meal. Thankfully though, some of the staff spoke english, which meant we were instructed on how to enjoy the meal to its fullest. That being said though, one of the rice dishes we ate had tiny shrimp in it - whole shrimp, complete with shell and eyes. They were so small that you couldn't peel them, so you just had to chew on them. It felt like they were looking at you, pleading for you not to eat them. It wasn't unpleasant, but not something I'd eat again by choice.
The staff at the hotel are very kind. We even chatted to one of the waitresses about traditional Japanese life versus traditional Aussie life. All in all, a great evening, and an excellent introduction to our hotel.
Next: Takayama stuff!
30/03/2011 - New Japan vs. Old Japan
Wow, what a day!
Our day started in our hotel in Shinjuku, as we made preparations to leave Japan's capital. We cleaned up the room, panicked a few times as we lost and then found items which we needed to pack, and then filled out their customer service feedback form. Lots of smiley faces were written over their feedback form, as they were just that plain awesome.
Next, we took a train to Tokyo station, and then the Shinkansen Asama to Nagano. Shinkansens are freaking cool. You travel along at such a quick speed, seeing the whole world zoom by around you. Plus, they're such a smooth ride. Not once did I feel the train rock precariously from side to side, as pretty much every train I've ever been on in Australia tends to do. I also liked as we got closer to Nagano, we went through a series of tunnels. It seemed like after every time we came out of a tunnel, the environment around us completely changed. First it was urban, then it was forest, then it was thick, evergreen pine forest. Finally, and much to my delight, it was snowy forest. Yes, I finally got to see snow. This made me very happy, as along with "sunset over the water", another one of my "geographical features I must see before I die" has been ticked off.
After arriving at Nagano station, we had a mere 15 minutes to scramble between the Shinkansen station, and find and buy tickets for our ride to Yudanaka. Needless to say, it was stressful, but we got there in the end, with a few minutes to spare. The train we were on was called "Snow Monkey" - it was clear why most people visited Yudanaka!
After about another hour on this train, we arrived at Yudanaka. As I checked my holy grail folder on how to get to the hotel, I discovered that I didn't have a map. Crapshit. Thankfully, there was a very friendly station conductor who spoke very good english who put us on a bus that would take us very close to our hotel.
Now, I shouldn't really say "hotel". The place we stayed at was far from it. It is what the Japanese call a "Ryokan", which is a traditional Japanese homestay. This means everything is traditional, from the robes you wear around the premesis, to the room styling with it's tatami floor mats and it's low-set chairs and tables. It has a really nice feel to it.
We were taken through the various customs of a stay in a Ryokan. They seemed a little bit complicated, but were definitely quite entertaining for us Gaijins (foreigners), who had only the slightest clue as to what we were meant to be doing.
Also, being eight feet tall, I have discovered that traditional Japan doesn't fit me. I just don't fit. The doors are too low, the clothes are too small, and the shoes don't fit in the slightest. So much so, that when we were given our traditional japanese gowns to wear around the Ryokan, the lovely lady who was assiting us put them on called me "Totoro" (I think). Anybody who has seen the Miyazaki film "Tonari No Totoro" will know that Totoro is a gigantic rabbit-like creature. Apparently I require gowns fit for a Totoro.
Another note on the customs of Ryokans. They like their shoes. I won't go into detail, but you have shoes for outside (your regular shoes), shoes for outside over a short distance (wooden block-sandals), shoes for inside the Ryokan (but not inside your room - bare feet or socks only) and shoes for the toilet.
All, except for the shoes I came in, didn't fit me. That, combined with the small gown on my frame meant that I tend to waddle around in a traditional Japanese getup.
After spending a brief time in the Ryokan, Emma and I went for a trek to visit the Snow Monkeys. These monkeys are apparently the only monkeys in the whole world which have learned to sit in hot spring baths to keep warm. But, the trek to them is quite epic. All in all though, given the relatively cold temperature, and the divine surrounds which you walk through (pristine alpine forests, with a snow covered forest floor) make it a very nice walk.
And yes, snow. I finally got to see snow (close up). Touch snow. Eat snow. It's cold and white and awesome. You can't tell if you're going to sink into it when it's really deep, and I found that out the hard way. On several occasions I sunk in right up to my knees. Also, snow actually snowballs if you roll it down a hill, although it doesn't gain as much momentum as it does in the cartoons. Still, awesome nonetheless.
Anyway, after quite a long trek (made probably twice as long by my constant stopping and starting, looking at snow), we arrived at Jigokudani, the Snow Monkey park. The monkeys were great. You could get literally within 20 cm of them, and they didn't mind. Well, one of them did, but I'm guessing that he's the alpha male, and doesn't like being photographed. Emma did take lots of photos of the baby monkeys though, and they were really adorable. And yes, there were plenty of monkeys sitting in the hot springs, eating in the hot springs, and being general monkeys in the hot springs. All in all, definitely worth the trip out to the park, and I heartily recommend the experience to anybody who visits Japan.
Then, we headed back down the mountain to our Ryokan. Before long, it was dinner time, and we sure had an interesting, but delicious meal. Firstly, we were instructed by our hostess on how to eat the meal. Naturally, all of these instructions were in Japanese. I have confidence in about three phrases in Japanese, and thankfully one of them was "Gohan", which means rice. Because of that, I got at least one safe thing with our meal. Once again, as with the Tempura restaurant we visited in Tokyo, our food ranged from mind-blowingly delicious, to "what the hell am I eating". All in all though, the meal was rather filling, and I can't wait for my next Ryokan meal.
Unfortunately, the meal was a bit of a guessing game, as we weren't sure what you did with what. You had a little boiling vat of oil and other liquid to dip some food in. I worked out pretty quickly that you were meant to put your raw beef in there, but unfortunately Emma put a whole egg in hers, and it kind of warped it for her. Still, it did end up tasting alright, she tells me.
Afer our meal, we went for a walk around the street in our traditional robes and sandals. While it was cold, there was also remarkable beauty in these quaint Japanese backstreets, and it made me feel very lucky to experience such a remarkable part of the world.
We then headed back to our room, where magically our bed had appeared. The beds were super comfy, but the pillows were not. They feel as if they are filled with beans of some description, although after a while, they become slightly more comfortable. Still, if you go and stay at a Ryokan, don't expect a pillow made of swallow feathers or anything.
Emma and I then settled down to watch the Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbour the Yamadas", which in itself was very educational in regards to traditional Japanese household customs - if only we saw it before the trip! It was also a very sweet, funny film. If you get the opportunity, watch it! We then had a very well-deserved sleep.
Tomorrow: The epic journey to Takayama.
Our day started in our hotel in Shinjuku, as we made preparations to leave Japan's capital. We cleaned up the room, panicked a few times as we lost and then found items which we needed to pack, and then filled out their customer service feedback form. Lots of smiley faces were written over their feedback form, as they were just that plain awesome.
Next, we took a train to Tokyo station, and then the Shinkansen Asama to Nagano. Shinkansens are freaking cool. You travel along at such a quick speed, seeing the whole world zoom by around you. Plus, they're such a smooth ride. Not once did I feel the train rock precariously from side to side, as pretty much every train I've ever been on in Australia tends to do. I also liked as we got closer to Nagano, we went through a series of tunnels. It seemed like after every time we came out of a tunnel, the environment around us completely changed. First it was urban, then it was forest, then it was thick, evergreen pine forest. Finally, and much to my delight, it was snowy forest. Yes, I finally got to see snow. This made me very happy, as along with "sunset over the water", another one of my "geographical features I must see before I die" has been ticked off.
After arriving at Nagano station, we had a mere 15 minutes to scramble between the Shinkansen station, and find and buy tickets for our ride to Yudanaka. Needless to say, it was stressful, but we got there in the end, with a few minutes to spare. The train we were on was called "Snow Monkey" - it was clear why most people visited Yudanaka!
After about another hour on this train, we arrived at Yudanaka. As I checked my holy grail folder on how to get to the hotel, I discovered that I didn't have a map. Crapshit. Thankfully, there was a very friendly station conductor who spoke very good english who put us on a bus that would take us very close to our hotel.
Now, I shouldn't really say "hotel". The place we stayed at was far from it. It is what the Japanese call a "Ryokan", which is a traditional Japanese homestay. This means everything is traditional, from the robes you wear around the premesis, to the room styling with it's tatami floor mats and it's low-set chairs and tables. It has a really nice feel to it.
We were taken through the various customs of a stay in a Ryokan. They seemed a little bit complicated, but were definitely quite entertaining for us Gaijins (foreigners), who had only the slightest clue as to what we were meant to be doing.
Also, being eight feet tall, I have discovered that traditional Japan doesn't fit me. I just don't fit. The doors are too low, the clothes are too small, and the shoes don't fit in the slightest. So much so, that when we were given our traditional japanese gowns to wear around the Ryokan, the lovely lady who was assiting us put them on called me "Totoro" (I think). Anybody who has seen the Miyazaki film "Tonari No Totoro" will know that Totoro is a gigantic rabbit-like creature. Apparently I require gowns fit for a Totoro.
Another note on the customs of Ryokans. They like their shoes. I won't go into detail, but you have shoes for outside (your regular shoes), shoes for outside over a short distance (wooden block-sandals), shoes for inside the Ryokan (but not inside your room - bare feet or socks only) and shoes for the toilet.
All, except for the shoes I came in, didn't fit me. That, combined with the small gown on my frame meant that I tend to waddle around in a traditional Japanese getup.
After spending a brief time in the Ryokan, Emma and I went for a trek to visit the Snow Monkeys. These monkeys are apparently the only monkeys in the whole world which have learned to sit in hot spring baths to keep warm. But, the trek to them is quite epic. All in all though, given the relatively cold temperature, and the divine surrounds which you walk through (pristine alpine forests, with a snow covered forest floor) make it a very nice walk.
And yes, snow. I finally got to see snow (close up). Touch snow. Eat snow. It's cold and white and awesome. You can't tell if you're going to sink into it when it's really deep, and I found that out the hard way. On several occasions I sunk in right up to my knees. Also, snow actually snowballs if you roll it down a hill, although it doesn't gain as much momentum as it does in the cartoons. Still, awesome nonetheless.
Anyway, after quite a long trek (made probably twice as long by my constant stopping and starting, looking at snow), we arrived at Jigokudani, the Snow Monkey park. The monkeys were great. You could get literally within 20 cm of them, and they didn't mind. Well, one of them did, but I'm guessing that he's the alpha male, and doesn't like being photographed. Emma did take lots of photos of the baby monkeys though, and they were really adorable. And yes, there were plenty of monkeys sitting in the hot springs, eating in the hot springs, and being general monkeys in the hot springs. All in all, definitely worth the trip out to the park, and I heartily recommend the experience to anybody who visits Japan.
Then, we headed back down the mountain to our Ryokan. Before long, it was dinner time, and we sure had an interesting, but delicious meal. Firstly, we were instructed by our hostess on how to eat the meal. Naturally, all of these instructions were in Japanese. I have confidence in about three phrases in Japanese, and thankfully one of them was "Gohan", which means rice. Because of that, I got at least one safe thing with our meal. Once again, as with the Tempura restaurant we visited in Tokyo, our food ranged from mind-blowingly delicious, to "what the hell am I eating". All in all though, the meal was rather filling, and I can't wait for my next Ryokan meal.
Unfortunately, the meal was a bit of a guessing game, as we weren't sure what you did with what. You had a little boiling vat of oil and other liquid to dip some food in. I worked out pretty quickly that you were meant to put your raw beef in there, but unfortunately Emma put a whole egg in hers, and it kind of warped it for her. Still, it did end up tasting alright, she tells me.
Afer our meal, we went for a walk around the street in our traditional robes and sandals. While it was cold, there was also remarkable beauty in these quaint Japanese backstreets, and it made me feel very lucky to experience such a remarkable part of the world.
We then headed back to our room, where magically our bed had appeared. The beds were super comfy, but the pillows were not. They feel as if they are filled with beans of some description, although after a while, they become slightly more comfortable. Still, if you go and stay at a Ryokan, don't expect a pillow made of swallow feathers or anything.
Emma and I then settled down to watch the Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbour the Yamadas", which in itself was very educational in regards to traditional Japanese household customs - if only we saw it before the trip! It was also a very sweet, funny film. If you get the opportunity, watch it! We then had a very well-deserved sleep.
Tomorrow: The epic journey to Takayama.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
29/03/11 - HYPER STUDIO HELIOS: KING OF TANNING MASTER
Another engrish sign I saw today. I think a trend may be emerging.
You know what's strange? Japanese TV. Tonight, while I have been writing this, I've seen several different programs. The most interesting of which is was a TV show that was a semi-game show that involved people (who I assume are celebrities) guessing the outcomes of certain social situations in percentage form. For example: "How many celebrities have caviar in their fridge?" (33%), "How many attractive Japanese women have had eye-enlargement surgery?" (44%), and "How many groups of people pass comment on someone who farts when sharing an elevator with them?' (2% at tokyo tower, 58% in a more youth-oriented district). Fascinating stuff. In the background of the show, they also had women in glass cubicles repeating the same actions over and over again in quite a robotic manner. One woman pretends to load a gun and shoot herself, one is playing with a kid's toy, one is playing with a mini slot machine. Strange, but not really noticeable until you actually stop and look at them.
Anyways, today we visited three places. Firstly, we headed to the Imperial Palace east gardens. They were super pretty. Full of cherryblossom trees just on the precipice of blooming. I can't wait to see Osaka and Kyoto - it should be amazing. I really admire the Japanese for having so many natural areas within their bustling city. Yes, Central Park in Manhattan is one giant park, but it's pretty much their only green space for a very long while. Tokyo, while not boasting a single park as large as Central Park, has several other breathtaking nature areas scattered throughout the city.
Next up, we caught some lunch at a noodle bar in one of the train stations. The food ordering system was great - you chose your food from a vending machine, and you are issued a ticket. You then take that ticket to the counter, and they make your food on the spot. I had the tempura prawn and udon noodles. I'm not a very big fan of noodles, but I found this quite tasty and definitely good for an on the go lunch.
We then headed to Ueno park, to have a look through the Tokyo National Museum. The park itself was fantastic - definitely a more family-oriented park than a formal garden, but it had a great atmosphere nonetheless. Unfortunately though, by the time we had reached the museum, it was closing for the day in 30 minutes. As such, Emma decided that we shouldn't go in.
Instead, we went to have a look in an art museum also in the park. Upon reaching the entrance, it was apparent that it was undergoing rennovations and wouldn't be open until April. 2012. Fail.
We then went to look at the zoo. By this stage Emma and I weren't expecting it to be open, and I can safely say that the zoo lived up to our expectations. It was closed for the day. This was probably due to the earthquake or power saving measures. That being said though, I've already seen my fair share of zoo's. The only attraction to this one was the promise of baby Giant Pandas, which would have been brilliant to see.
So, Emma and I decided to just wander through the park, and take in what we could. Along the way, we were stopped by two young Japanese women. From what I could gather, they wanted us to take their photo together. I gathered wrong. They actually wanted a photo with us! Emma and I happily obliged, showing our best peace signs and giving them our best smiles. No idea why they wanted a photo with us - maybe because we were foreigners in a mainly foreigner-deserted city.
We then headed down to a nearby lake boardwalk area. I had my first cup of Grape Fanta. For some reason heaps of people were telling me that this drink is the best thing since forever. To me, it tasted just like the generic grape candy flavour, just slightly less sweet. By no means awful, but I doubt I'd get it again in a hurry. Manao Soda is far better. I also tried a "Crunky" ice cream, which was far better than I expected. Similar to a Gaytime, yet also quite different.
When walking along the boardwalk, we noticed many types of birdlife, including tiny little sparrows that would eat bread from your hand. We also noticed that this whole boardwalk was once again lined with cherryblossom trees. Even though they weren't in bloom, I took plenty of photos anyway. Who knows, I may be able to photoshop some cherryblossoms in to them!
Emma and I then took the Tokyo Metro Subway to the Shibuya district. It's a famous area to anybody who has seen the film "Baraka". It contains Shibuya crossing, which as our lonely planet guide describes as a place that demonstrates a "Surge of humanity" every two and a half minutes. According to wikipedia, it is the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. And boy does it show. Every two minutes, literally thousands of people accumulated at each of the four corners of the intersections. And, when little man turns green, all hell breaks loose. Well, to be fair, this hell is quite organised actually, as most people stick to the zebra crossing paths. May god help those who don't though, as you'll either get trampled, or you have to stop and start to avoid people so many times that you'll still be in the middle of the crossing by the time the little man goes red.
We then had a look around the various shops in the area, including an eerily Japanese-themed Disney store. It definitely had that Walt-Disney feel to it, but it wasn't quite right with most of the merchandise having a definite Japanese influence that is missing in their US stores.
Emma and I then headed back to Shinjuku. Unfortunately, we didn't have the energy or the perseverance to try and find a decent English-friendly Japanese restaurant tonight, so we had KFC. My stomach now regrets it, but I suppose we were bound to try it some time during the trip.
Now, a note. Tonight was our last night in Tokyo. Tomorrow, we head for Shibu Onsen, a small town near Yudanaka. Our reasons for travelling here are to see the Snow Monkeys in hot onsens. As this is a fairly remote part of the world, I may not be able to access the internet for several days, and as such may not be able to update this blog. When I can update this, I will, but don't expect daily updates for a while.
Up Next: Shinkansen! Snow Monkeys! David possibly seeing snow!
You know what's strange? Japanese TV. Tonight, while I have been writing this, I've seen several different programs. The most interesting of which is was a TV show that was a semi-game show that involved people (who I assume are celebrities) guessing the outcomes of certain social situations in percentage form. For example: "How many celebrities have caviar in their fridge?" (33%), "How many attractive Japanese women have had eye-enlargement surgery?" (44%), and "How many groups of people pass comment on someone who farts when sharing an elevator with them?' (2% at tokyo tower, 58% in a more youth-oriented district). Fascinating stuff. In the background of the show, they also had women in glass cubicles repeating the same actions over and over again in quite a robotic manner. One woman pretends to load a gun and shoot herself, one is playing with a kid's toy, one is playing with a mini slot machine. Strange, but not really noticeable until you actually stop and look at them.
Anyways, today we visited three places. Firstly, we headed to the Imperial Palace east gardens. They were super pretty. Full of cherryblossom trees just on the precipice of blooming. I can't wait to see Osaka and Kyoto - it should be amazing. I really admire the Japanese for having so many natural areas within their bustling city. Yes, Central Park in Manhattan is one giant park, but it's pretty much their only green space for a very long while. Tokyo, while not boasting a single park as large as Central Park, has several other breathtaking nature areas scattered throughout the city.
Next up, we caught some lunch at a noodle bar in one of the train stations. The food ordering system was great - you chose your food from a vending machine, and you are issued a ticket. You then take that ticket to the counter, and they make your food on the spot. I had the tempura prawn and udon noodles. I'm not a very big fan of noodles, but I found this quite tasty and definitely good for an on the go lunch.
We then headed to Ueno park, to have a look through the Tokyo National Museum. The park itself was fantastic - definitely a more family-oriented park than a formal garden, but it had a great atmosphere nonetheless. Unfortunately though, by the time we had reached the museum, it was closing for the day in 30 minutes. As such, Emma decided that we shouldn't go in.
Instead, we went to have a look in an art museum also in the park. Upon reaching the entrance, it was apparent that it was undergoing rennovations and wouldn't be open until April. 2012. Fail.
We then went to look at the zoo. By this stage Emma and I weren't expecting it to be open, and I can safely say that the zoo lived up to our expectations. It was closed for the day. This was probably due to the earthquake or power saving measures. That being said though, I've already seen my fair share of zoo's. The only attraction to this one was the promise of baby Giant Pandas, which would have been brilliant to see.
So, Emma and I decided to just wander through the park, and take in what we could. Along the way, we were stopped by two young Japanese women. From what I could gather, they wanted us to take their photo together. I gathered wrong. They actually wanted a photo with us! Emma and I happily obliged, showing our best peace signs and giving them our best smiles. No idea why they wanted a photo with us - maybe because we were foreigners in a mainly foreigner-deserted city.
We then headed down to a nearby lake boardwalk area. I had my first cup of Grape Fanta. For some reason heaps of people were telling me that this drink is the best thing since forever. To me, it tasted just like the generic grape candy flavour, just slightly less sweet. By no means awful, but I doubt I'd get it again in a hurry. Manao Soda is far better. I also tried a "Crunky" ice cream, which was far better than I expected. Similar to a Gaytime, yet also quite different.
When walking along the boardwalk, we noticed many types of birdlife, including tiny little sparrows that would eat bread from your hand. We also noticed that this whole boardwalk was once again lined with cherryblossom trees. Even though they weren't in bloom, I took plenty of photos anyway. Who knows, I may be able to photoshop some cherryblossoms in to them!
Emma and I then took the Tokyo Metro Subway to the Shibuya district. It's a famous area to anybody who has seen the film "Baraka". It contains Shibuya crossing, which as our lonely planet guide describes as a place that demonstrates a "Surge of humanity" every two and a half minutes. According to wikipedia, it is the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. And boy does it show. Every two minutes, literally thousands of people accumulated at each of the four corners of the intersections. And, when little man turns green, all hell breaks loose. Well, to be fair, this hell is quite organised actually, as most people stick to the zebra crossing paths. May god help those who don't though, as you'll either get trampled, or you have to stop and start to avoid people so many times that you'll still be in the middle of the crossing by the time the little man goes red.
We then had a look around the various shops in the area, including an eerily Japanese-themed Disney store. It definitely had that Walt-Disney feel to it, but it wasn't quite right with most of the merchandise having a definite Japanese influence that is missing in their US stores.
Emma and I then headed back to Shinjuku. Unfortunately, we didn't have the energy or the perseverance to try and find a decent English-friendly Japanese restaurant tonight, so we had KFC. My stomach now regrets it, but I suppose we were bound to try it some time during the trip.
Now, a note. Tonight was our last night in Tokyo. Tomorrow, we head for Shibu Onsen, a small town near Yudanaka. Our reasons for travelling here are to see the Snow Monkeys in hot onsens. As this is a fairly remote part of the world, I may not be able to access the internet for several days, and as such may not be able to update this blog. When I can update this, I will, but don't expect daily updates for a while.
Up Next: Shinkansen! Snow Monkeys! David possibly seeing snow!
Monday, March 28, 2011
28/03/11 - BRUSH UP! A woman is weathercock. the next chapter My favourite collection
The title of this blog I saw on a t-shirt today. My first genuine sighting of engrish!
Anyways, today we decided to check out some of Japan's popular shopping districts.
Our day started with us grabbing a quick bite at the local McDonalds. We both had a potato and bacon pie, which was interesting to say the least. It looked like a typical McDonalds apple pie on the outside, but was filled with creamed potato and chunks of bacon. On the whole, not bad, but not exactly worth salivating over. I suppose you can't expect too much for 120 yen.
First on our list of shopping locations was the humorously named "Takeshita" (Tak-Eh-Shit-Ah) street in the Harajuku district. This street is popular with the young adult demographic of Japan and it was certainly an experience.
Firstly, the street was jam packed. You had to walk with the flow, and any deviation from your current track could lead to a rather severe trampling, or at the very least, having approximately over nine thousand people bump into you, and all you have to offer is your pathetic english apologies to the people who can't understand you. Thankfully though, Emma suggested an excellent system as to how to survive this: If you're going slow, make sure that you're in contact with a wall at all times. That way, you're definitely out of the way more, and you can travel at a more leisurely pace.
The range of shops on offer were mainly clothing stores, with the occasional souvenir/random stuff store. Also, there was a lot of dessert stalls, which sold crepes filled with ice cream and other delicious looking fillings. Unfortunately, as it was just after breakfast, I didn't try one, although the lengthy queues leading back from them showed that they were popular, regardless of what time of day it is.
Emma looked through several of the clothing stores in Takeshita street. Unfortunately, she nearly always ran into the same two problems: the clothes were far too small for her and/or were a cream tone that matched the exact colour of her skin. Both were obviously problems that couldn't be helped, as the Japanese seem to be on the whole significantly shorter, and the cream colour of the clothes compliments their slightly different skin tone much better than it does Emma's. She did strike jackpot at a souvenir store, buying many a crazy Japanese-themed odds and ends, including a stanley knife shaped like a fish.
I took a break from the madness of Takeshita street by taking a detour into a 7-Eleve- Wait, SEVEN AND I-NET HOLDINGS. Yes, that's right, the 7-Elevens in Japan are called Seven and I-Net Holdings - talk about a mouthful!
Inside, I found quite an interesting mix of convenience foods. Including sandwiches with fruit in them! Upon seeing these, I freaked out a little bit, as such a simple idea had ***never*** even thought of crossing my mind! I suppose it makes sense when you think of strawberry jam and what have you, but I truly found this discovery eye opening!
I ended up purchasing some creme-caramel flavoured Kit Kats and a Croissant filled with the cream you get in jam and cream donuts. On the whole, both items were very tasty, and definitely agreed with my western palette.
We then went for a stroll through a foodcourt on the top level of one of the buildings along Takeshita street. It was a strange experience... Lots of shops all selling fast food that I had never seen before. Also, we got a lot more stares in there than usual, as it clearly was not a western-oriented food court. Thankfully most of the stares were accompanied with smiles, which was nice, as we didn't feel shunned - just slightly out of place.
We then headed back to Shinjuku to our hotel for a quick recharge. After our brief intermission, we were off to the Hamamatsucho district to visit the world-famous Pokemon centre store.
Unfortunately, after the 30 minute train ride, we discovered that it was closed for rennovations until March 31st. We're leaving Tokyo on March 30th. Rage. Thankfully though, a quick google whilst I write this has confirmed that there is one in Osaka as well, which is apparently the world's largest. Hopefully I'll get a second chance to satiate my need for random Pokemon merchandise.
Thankfully, our trip to Hamamatsucho wasn't wasted, as across the road from the Pokemon Centre was a simply divine public park. Admission was Y150 and was worth every single yen. Inside, there were rolling hills, a massive koi-carp filled lake and plenty of cherryblossom trees, just days away from blooming. I could only imagine what the park would look like in a week's time, but we'll get our opportunities for cherryblossom viewing further along in the trip. The upside to the cherryblossoms not being in bloom is that the park was virtually deserted. This was fantastic, as it gave the park a feeling of serene beauty in an otherwise hectic city.
Our next stop was Akihibara Electric Town. Those of you who have travelled to Tokyo in the past will know that this name is synonymous with what Tokyo is famous for - crazy electronics, blazing neon signs and crowds of thousands of people. It certainly did live up to it's name. Unfortunately though, due to the earthquake, most of the neon signs were switched off to conserve electricity, but that didn't lessen the impact to a first time traveller in the slightest.
Inside of one of the many buildings that lined the street, the range of technology and other geeky paraphernalia was astounding. I saw shops full of cables, individual electronic parts (down to the capacitor level), PDA's, Laptops, Phones, iPods, Gaming Systems, TV's and other fantastic devices. I even saw a massive 40 inch 3D TV that didn't need glasses! Now that was impressive!
Heading up a level in the building, and the merchandise on offer switched from electronic devices to thousands of figurines (mostly of large-breasted anime women), collectable busts and other popular culture merchandise. In one of these stores, Emma and I stumbled upon the Studio Ghibli section. Seeing as we were unable to go to the museum, we splurged and bought several different souvenirs. I got a Totoro keychain, a plushie Totoro and a ceramic statue of Totoro. Did I mention I liked Totoro?
We then went and explored the upper levels of this building. There appeared to be a disturbing trend as the floor number increased - the higher level the store was on, the more depraved the items stocked were. The floor above our figurine shop was filled with trading cards and other geeky items, ranging from pokemon merchandise all the way through to once again, pictures of large breasted anime women. The next level was filled with creepy "dress up" anime dolls. The next level had an entire store devoted to the creepy "pillow girlfriend" thing that some Japanese men had going on. Not just a section of a store, AN ENTIRE STORE. And a lot of these pillow girlfriends were once again pictures of large breasted anime women.
What I found quite interesting was that all of these floors, regardless of perceived levels of depravity, were full of customers! So even if these things appeared quite disturbing to a foreigner, obviously it is quite a socially acceptable pastime. Well, at least in the confines of Akihabara. If it makes their customers happy, good for them! At least nobody is getting hurt in the process.
From what I glimpsed of the top level, it appeared to be a comic store. But, given the increasingly worrying trend we had observed, we decided to pass on looking inside.
After a quick browse through a games store, where I saw an unopened copy of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for ~$15, Emma and I headed off to dinner and our last destination for the night.
It is a place spoken in legends among travellers who have visited there - it's food is almost as good as the movie it is based off of. Yes, I speak of the legendary Bubba Gump's Shrimp.
Ok, to be honest, while the food was great, the long journey *to* the restaurant put a severe downer on it, as by the time we got there, we were starving. Still, the food was very tasty, and like in San Francisco, I had the firewall of shrimp - the dish with like four different types of shrimp on it. Delicious as always. We also had a delightful waitress who cottoned on pretty quickly that we didn't speak much Japanese. She instantly switched to fluent English, and was a great waitress throughout our meal.
At the end of our meal, I asked her, feeling somewhat embarassed, "How do you say 'excuse me' to somebody if you need to move past them in a crowd?". She replied with a smile, "Ohh, you just say 'suimasen'. It means halfway between 'sorry' and 'excuse me'. Here, I'll write it down for you!" Our waitress was really awesome!
We then caught the crazy-efficient Japanese railway system back to our hotel. I've noticed that their trains are absolutely spotless! Not a single scratch of grafitti to be seen anywhere. Not a mark on the floor, not a fingerprint on the windows. Very impressive stuff. They also seem to play strange sounds at train stations, such as bird calls and synthesized music-box sounding chime tunes when the doors are about to close. Obviously a very different way to do things, but it certainly gives their stations a unique ambience.
Speaking of music box tunes, when we got back to the hotel, we looked at our swag of Studio Ghibli loot that we bought from one of the shops in Akihabara. It turns out that my ceramic Totoro statue is also A MUSIC BOX! Appropriately, when cranked, it plays the Totoro theme. Thusly, this object is ranked as the fourth most awesome thing in the world, behind monkeys, jetpacks, and monkeys wearing jetpacks.
Tomorrow: Not entirely sure, but probably more exploration of Tokyo!
Anyways, today we decided to check out some of Japan's popular shopping districts.
Our day started with us grabbing a quick bite at the local McDonalds. We both had a potato and bacon pie, which was interesting to say the least. It looked like a typical McDonalds apple pie on the outside, but was filled with creamed potato and chunks of bacon. On the whole, not bad, but not exactly worth salivating over. I suppose you can't expect too much for 120 yen.
First on our list of shopping locations was the humorously named "Takeshita" (Tak-Eh-Shit-Ah) street in the Harajuku district. This street is popular with the young adult demographic of Japan and it was certainly an experience.
Firstly, the street was jam packed. You had to walk with the flow, and any deviation from your current track could lead to a rather severe trampling, or at the very least, having approximately over nine thousand people bump into you, and all you have to offer is your pathetic english apologies to the people who can't understand you. Thankfully though, Emma suggested an excellent system as to how to survive this: If you're going slow, make sure that you're in contact with a wall at all times. That way, you're definitely out of the way more, and you can travel at a more leisurely pace.
The range of shops on offer were mainly clothing stores, with the occasional souvenir/random stuff store. Also, there was a lot of dessert stalls, which sold crepes filled with ice cream and other delicious looking fillings. Unfortunately, as it was just after breakfast, I didn't try one, although the lengthy queues leading back from them showed that they were popular, regardless of what time of day it is.
Emma looked through several of the clothing stores in Takeshita street. Unfortunately, she nearly always ran into the same two problems: the clothes were far too small for her and/or were a cream tone that matched the exact colour of her skin. Both were obviously problems that couldn't be helped, as the Japanese seem to be on the whole significantly shorter, and the cream colour of the clothes compliments their slightly different skin tone much better than it does Emma's. She did strike jackpot at a souvenir store, buying many a crazy Japanese-themed odds and ends, including a stanley knife shaped like a fish.
I took a break from the madness of Takeshita street by taking a detour into a 7-Eleve- Wait, SEVEN AND I-NET HOLDINGS. Yes, that's right, the 7-Elevens in Japan are called Seven and I-Net Holdings - talk about a mouthful!
Inside, I found quite an interesting mix of convenience foods. Including sandwiches with fruit in them! Upon seeing these, I freaked out a little bit, as such a simple idea had ***never*** even thought of crossing my mind! I suppose it makes sense when you think of strawberry jam and what have you, but I truly found this discovery eye opening!
I ended up purchasing some creme-caramel flavoured Kit Kats and a Croissant filled with the cream you get in jam and cream donuts. On the whole, both items were very tasty, and definitely agreed with my western palette.
We then went for a stroll through a foodcourt on the top level of one of the buildings along Takeshita street. It was a strange experience... Lots of shops all selling fast food that I had never seen before. Also, we got a lot more stares in there than usual, as it clearly was not a western-oriented food court. Thankfully most of the stares were accompanied with smiles, which was nice, as we didn't feel shunned - just slightly out of place.
We then headed back to Shinjuku to our hotel for a quick recharge. After our brief intermission, we were off to the Hamamatsucho district to visit the world-famous Pokemon centre store.
Unfortunately, after the 30 minute train ride, we discovered that it was closed for rennovations until March 31st. We're leaving Tokyo on March 30th. Rage. Thankfully though, a quick google whilst I write this has confirmed that there is one in Osaka as well, which is apparently the world's largest. Hopefully I'll get a second chance to satiate my need for random Pokemon merchandise.
Thankfully, our trip to Hamamatsucho wasn't wasted, as across the road from the Pokemon Centre was a simply divine public park. Admission was Y150 and was worth every single yen. Inside, there were rolling hills, a massive koi-carp filled lake and plenty of cherryblossom trees, just days away from blooming. I could only imagine what the park would look like in a week's time, but we'll get our opportunities for cherryblossom viewing further along in the trip. The upside to the cherryblossoms not being in bloom is that the park was virtually deserted. This was fantastic, as it gave the park a feeling of serene beauty in an otherwise hectic city.
Our next stop was Akihibara Electric Town. Those of you who have travelled to Tokyo in the past will know that this name is synonymous with what Tokyo is famous for - crazy electronics, blazing neon signs and crowds of thousands of people. It certainly did live up to it's name. Unfortunately though, due to the earthquake, most of the neon signs were switched off to conserve electricity, but that didn't lessen the impact to a first time traveller in the slightest.
Inside of one of the many buildings that lined the street, the range of technology and other geeky paraphernalia was astounding. I saw shops full of cables, individual electronic parts (down to the capacitor level), PDA's, Laptops, Phones, iPods, Gaming Systems, TV's and other fantastic devices. I even saw a massive 40 inch 3D TV that didn't need glasses! Now that was impressive!
Heading up a level in the building, and the merchandise on offer switched from electronic devices to thousands of figurines (mostly of large-breasted anime women), collectable busts and other popular culture merchandise. In one of these stores, Emma and I stumbled upon the Studio Ghibli section. Seeing as we were unable to go to the museum, we splurged and bought several different souvenirs. I got a Totoro keychain, a plushie Totoro and a ceramic statue of Totoro. Did I mention I liked Totoro?
We then went and explored the upper levels of this building. There appeared to be a disturbing trend as the floor number increased - the higher level the store was on, the more depraved the items stocked were. The floor above our figurine shop was filled with trading cards and other geeky items, ranging from pokemon merchandise all the way through to once again, pictures of large breasted anime women. The next level was filled with creepy "dress up" anime dolls. The next level had an entire store devoted to the creepy "pillow girlfriend" thing that some Japanese men had going on. Not just a section of a store, AN ENTIRE STORE. And a lot of these pillow girlfriends were once again pictures of large breasted anime women.
What I found quite interesting was that all of these floors, regardless of perceived levels of depravity, were full of customers! So even if these things appeared quite disturbing to a foreigner, obviously it is quite a socially acceptable pastime. Well, at least in the confines of Akihabara. If it makes their customers happy, good for them! At least nobody is getting hurt in the process.
From what I glimpsed of the top level, it appeared to be a comic store. But, given the increasingly worrying trend we had observed, we decided to pass on looking inside.
After a quick browse through a games store, where I saw an unopened copy of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for ~$15, Emma and I headed off to dinner and our last destination for the night.
It is a place spoken in legends among travellers who have visited there - it's food is almost as good as the movie it is based off of. Yes, I speak of the legendary Bubba Gump's Shrimp.
Ok, to be honest, while the food was great, the long journey *to* the restaurant put a severe downer on it, as by the time we got there, we were starving. Still, the food was very tasty, and like in San Francisco, I had the firewall of shrimp - the dish with like four different types of shrimp on it. Delicious as always. We also had a delightful waitress who cottoned on pretty quickly that we didn't speak much Japanese. She instantly switched to fluent English, and was a great waitress throughout our meal.
At the end of our meal, I asked her, feeling somewhat embarassed, "How do you say 'excuse me' to somebody if you need to move past them in a crowd?". She replied with a smile, "Ohh, you just say 'suimasen'. It means halfway between 'sorry' and 'excuse me'. Here, I'll write it down for you!" Our waitress was really awesome!
We then caught the crazy-efficient Japanese railway system back to our hotel. I've noticed that their trains are absolutely spotless! Not a single scratch of grafitti to be seen anywhere. Not a mark on the floor, not a fingerprint on the windows. Very impressive stuff. They also seem to play strange sounds at train stations, such as bird calls and synthesized music-box sounding chime tunes when the doors are about to close. Obviously a very different way to do things, but it certainly gives their stations a unique ambience.
Speaking of music box tunes, when we got back to the hotel, we looked at our swag of Studio Ghibli loot that we bought from one of the shops in Akihabara. It turns out that my ceramic Totoro statue is also A MUSIC BOX! Appropriately, when cranked, it plays the Totoro theme. Thusly, this object is ranked as the fourth most awesome thing in the world, behind monkeys, jetpacks, and monkeys wearing jetpacks.
Tomorrow: Not entirely sure, but probably more exploration of Tokyo!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
26/03/11 - 27/03/11 JAAAAPAAAAAANUUUUUUUU
On December 4th, 2010, my girlfriend and I, as a present to each other on our 7 year anniversary, decided to book a holiday to Japan.
As you all will be aware of, everything in Japan was just peachy fine, until March 11th, 2011, when northern Honshu was devestated by an 9.0 Magnitude Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. Additionally, the Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant sustained major damage and is now teetering back and forth from "relatively stable" to "verging on meltdown" on a daily basis.
With our departure date approaching, this terrible situation weighed in on our hearts and minds as we decided whether or not to continue with our trip. After a long period of decision making, Emma and I decided to go forward with the trip, albeit spending less time in Tokyo, to lessen the risks associated with our travel shenanigans.
Let it be known that I will not be divulging our reasons or justifications of why we decided to go ahead with the trip. What's important is that we're here now, experiencing this amazing country, and helping their economy recover, too.
March 26th, 2011
The morning of our departure had arrived. Lucky for us, Emma's parents, Jen and Gerry were heading down to Melbourne for a few days, so we were able to catch a lift with them to the airport. Apparently they were flying Tiger Airways, equally famous for their low fares as they are their poor customer service and nigh-non existent schedule reliability. We, on the other hand were flying Singapore Airlines, a high quality international carrier. It turns out that while Jen and Gerry's flight *was* delayed, it was still more on time than our flights...
Emma and I have been quite nervous about mentioning the "J word" to anybody over the past few days, as it is generally accompanied by looks of bewilderment and shock as to why we'd want to travel to such a stricken place. However, passing through check-in and immigration was a relative breeze, with the check-in agent not really caring, and the immigration lady not even batting an eyelid. I did have a good chat to her about traffic levels and the A380 and such. She was nice.
Then, we had a browse through the duty free areas of Brisbane's international terminal. Well, by we, I mean Emma. All of the electronics in the terminal didn't really interest me as you'll generally find it all cheaper at a JB Hi Fi than at Duty Free these days. As such, I went and did my plane thing, looking at the various metal tubes with wings that would carry people to far flung places around the globe. Although, really this is a lie, because at Brisbane International Airport, you're pretty much either going to New Zealand or Singapore.
Speaking of Singapore, just before boarding our flight to Singapore, I got a phonecall from Singapore Airlines, telling us that our flight departure time had changed from 11:30pm to 3:30am the next day. Rage ensued.
Anyways, enough ranting about the airport, here's the arbitrary flight details:
Singapore Airlines flight SQ236 BNE-SIN
Airbus A330-300 9V-STJ
Seat: 48K
Pushback: 1428
Arrival: 2020
One of the plus sides to re-scheduling our flights to a few days later was that some exit row seats became available for our flight to Singapore. I jumped on this opportunity straight away, paid the extra $50 each and grabbed the exit row seats. Definitely money well spent. The extra space you get is worth every penny if you're a tall bastard like me.
The flight was pretty good actually, good food and good entertainment. The flight attendants were a little bit lacking in some areas (I had one flight attendant turn away to serve a meal to somebody else mid-sentence while I was asking her a question - a basic customer service no-no), but on the whole, the flight was great. What's more, with the exit row seating, the usually painful 7 and a half hour flight flew by (geddit), and Emma and I were soon sauntering around the impossibly large Changi Terminal 3. Our first stop was the butterfly garden, which seeing as it was around 9pm by this time, was significantly disappointing as all of the butterflies were pretty much asleep, or dead. I guess I'll have to pay them a more proper visit on my journey home.
Given that it was getting quite late in the day, and that we now had ample time to kill before our next flight, Emma and I tried to book a 6 hour room in one of the transit hotels. No such luck for us. We then staggered over to Terminal 1 to see if there were any available rooms there. Yes! There was, but there was also construction works right next to the hotel, so the chances of sleep were slim. On a side note, Terminal 1 is a real mess at the moment. A literal maze of shops, construction zones and various lounges. Difficult as hell to find anything in there except for confused passengers and eager salespersons.
We eventually found our way back to the transit hotel in Terminal 3, where we booked a "nap room". This was a bad move. We got talked into buying some "nap deal", wherein you get a three hour nap in a room, as well as lounge access and a shower and what have you. While this sounds great in theory, when you actually get into the nap room and try to sleep, it becomes quite clear that you've been swindled, unless you are a very heavy sleeper (which if this is the case, you probably caught a decent enough amount of shuteye on your flight *to* Singapore!)
The rooms are small, and have a single bed in them. The bed is quite hard, but this is no issue as most tired travellers by this stage don't care what the bed is like -- you just want to be horizontal. The problems arise when you realise that the walls are paper-thin, and they don't go all the way to the ceiling, so you can hear everybody else in this corridor coughing/snoring/answering their phone AT THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Then, every 20 minutes or so, you get one of the hotel assistants coming in to give somebody a wake-up call to let them know that their nap time is up, subsequently waking up everybody else in the process. To make matters worse, the floor is paper thin, too, so you can hear all of the boarding/page announcements from the many flights that leave Singapore at this time of night.
I have thought long and hard about this, and I have thought of the perfect litmus test to see if the "nap room experience" is right for you next time you visit Singapore Airport:
Firstly, go to your nearest large shopping centre. Find a Jay Jays or some other equally awful clothing store. Then try to SLEEP IN ONE OF THEIR CHANGING ROOMS. - you have all of the distractions of the shoppers around you trying on clothes/exuding other bodily functions, and then you have the shop assistant asking someone near you every two seconds if someone needs another size of the tank top they're trying on. If you can successfully sleep through that, then this facility may be right for you!
Needless to say, I didn't get a wink of sleep, and I found it to be one of the most frustrating three hour periods of my life.
One very good thing did come out of our trip to the transit lounge - we met a lovely American woman called Wendy, who lives in Japan. She was on the same flight as us, and turned out to be a great help at the other end of our flight to Japan.
Anyways, my already foul mood was made worse when I discovered that our aircraft had been changed from an Airbus A380 to a Boeing 777-300ER. Scandal! I hear you all shout. To be honest, this wasn't all that much of a drastic change, but my major gripe was that we were seated on the top deck of the A380, and as the 777-300ER doesn't have an upper deck, we weren't going to be sitting on it. Every time I've had the opportunity to sit on the upper deck, it seems to have been stopped by forces beyond my control. One of these days though, one of these days...
Singapore Airlines Flight SQ632 SIN - NRT
Boeing 777-300ER 9V-SWL
Pushback: 0332
Arrival: 1014
Seat: 35A
This flight was largely uneventful. Emma and I did our best to try and sleep, with little success. One of the other downsides to our equipment change was that we were now seated over the wing, and as such we had a brilliant view of everything *on* the wing, and nothing else. Still, as most frequent flyers will know, sitting over the wing generally means you will be buffeted the least by turbulence. As such, this was one of the smoothest flights I've ever had. Although Emma claims otherwise, because apparently I was asleep. Oh, also, the 777-300ER is one noisy bastard of a plane, but I guess that's because it has very large engines.
After de-planing, we made our way through the busy Narita airport. We then headed to immigration and customs, where there was very little of a line for foreigners, probably due to the current situation, and also that our flight was probably 90% japanese citizens heading home from Singapore.
Upon clearing customs, we met up with Wendy, who we had seen at the transit hotel in Singapore. She was kind enough to help us buy the correct train ticket into Tokyo. We exchanged details and I told her to have a read of my blog. If you're reading this, HI WENDY! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
We boarded the Keisei Skyliner, and I promptly smacked my head against a luggage rail that was clearly not designed for eight foot people. After a short time of sitting down, we had a japanese family ask us why we were sitting in their seat. So apparently the seats were reserved. We then looked at our tickets, and saw that our seats were aaaaaalll the way at the other end of the train. Embarrassment ensued.
After a short trip on the Skyliner, we were at Nippori station, where we managed to decipher the way to Shinjuku. We then struggled through Shinjuku station, the busiest station in the world, with our large suitcases and found our hotel.
So far, our hotel has done nothing but impress. The room is quite small, but it has everything you need, and the staff are brilliantly helpful, speaking fluent english, and going out of their way to make your trip easier.
We then went to locate the nearest "Lawson", a convenience store similar to 7/11. We needed to book tickets to the Studio Ghibli museum for the following day. After doing battle with the ticket booking machine about three times (carefully pressing buttons that we were guided to by a web printout), we came to the conclusion that no more tickets were available for that day. Also, seeing as the museum is closed on Tuesdays, and we left Tokyo on Wednesday, it looks like we aren't going to be able to go...
Emma and I then had a look through Lumine, a shopping centre attatched to Shinjuku station. We had a look through a store called "Tomorrowland". Given the promising name, I was expecting a land full of fancy electronic gadgets and other futuristic doodads. Instead, it was a clothing store. Fail. On the top level of Lumine, they had a series of eateries very similar to the one we experienced in Bangkok's MBK mall, "fifth". Unlike in Bangkok, we decided not to eat there tonight.
It was now getting very cold in Tokyo, around 5 degrees celsius. So, we decided to go back to the hotel, rug up and make plans for dinner.
We ended up on the eastern side of Shinjuku station, in a bustling shopping and restaurant district. We ate at a restaurant called "Tsunahachi", which was a highly regarded Tempura restaurant. The food which we had was interesting, to say the least. It ranged from delicious, such as the tempura prawns, to the strange, such as the tempura cuttlefish, to the "what the hell am I eating", such as the shot glass that was filled with vinegar, and something that had the taste and texture of snot. Needless to say, it was a gastronomic experience, and somehow I doubt it will be the last of the trip.
After dinner, we had a look around the shopping district, and went in to stores such as "Forever 21" (which I last saw in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York... I swear that store is following me!), Top Shop and "Mega Fun Time" (possibly not it's name), a bustling arcade full of skill testers, arcade games and strange colourful gambling machines. Emma found one of those "candy tipper" games, wherein she wasted a significant amount of Yen trying to get some Godovia chocolate and other tasty looking chocolates. Unfortunately, we walked away with nothing but a need to play "one more round" to get that tasty, tasty chocolate.
We then headed back to the room, where we watched some Japanese TV. Yes, it definitely is as weird as people talk about. I had no idea what was going on on ANY of the programs. EVEN THE NEWS. Maybe I was just too tired to understand. I'll try again tomorrow.
And with that, we went to bed.
Thoughts on the Japan situation:
It appears as though (Central) Tokyo has been barely affected by the crisis at all. The streets are still bustling, and the lights are still mainly on. The only things we have observed are that most shops close a few hours earlier, and that supermarket shelves seem to be a bit empty. There also appears to not be very much bottled water in any of the vending machines, although our hotel has a vending machine on our floor that is fully stocked, so we will be fine.
Next up: MOAR TOKYO!
As you all will be aware of, everything in Japan was just peachy fine, until March 11th, 2011, when northern Honshu was devestated by an 9.0 Magnitude Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. Additionally, the Fukushima dai-ichi nuclear power plant sustained major damage and is now teetering back and forth from "relatively stable" to "verging on meltdown" on a daily basis.
With our departure date approaching, this terrible situation weighed in on our hearts and minds as we decided whether or not to continue with our trip. After a long period of decision making, Emma and I decided to go forward with the trip, albeit spending less time in Tokyo, to lessen the risks associated with our travel shenanigans.
Let it be known that I will not be divulging our reasons or justifications of why we decided to go ahead with the trip. What's important is that we're here now, experiencing this amazing country, and helping their economy recover, too.
March 26th, 2011
The morning of our departure had arrived. Lucky for us, Emma's parents, Jen and Gerry were heading down to Melbourne for a few days, so we were able to catch a lift with them to the airport. Apparently they were flying Tiger Airways, equally famous for their low fares as they are their poor customer service and nigh-non existent schedule reliability. We, on the other hand were flying Singapore Airlines, a high quality international carrier. It turns out that while Jen and Gerry's flight *was* delayed, it was still more on time than our flights...
Emma and I have been quite nervous about mentioning the "J word" to anybody over the past few days, as it is generally accompanied by looks of bewilderment and shock as to why we'd want to travel to such a stricken place. However, passing through check-in and immigration was a relative breeze, with the check-in agent not really caring, and the immigration lady not even batting an eyelid. I did have a good chat to her about traffic levels and the A380 and such. She was nice.
Then, we had a browse through the duty free areas of Brisbane's international terminal. Well, by we, I mean Emma. All of the electronics in the terminal didn't really interest me as you'll generally find it all cheaper at a JB Hi Fi than at Duty Free these days. As such, I went and did my plane thing, looking at the various metal tubes with wings that would carry people to far flung places around the globe. Although, really this is a lie, because at Brisbane International Airport, you're pretty much either going to New Zealand or Singapore.
Speaking of Singapore, just before boarding our flight to Singapore, I got a phonecall from Singapore Airlines, telling us that our flight departure time had changed from 11:30pm to 3:30am the next day. Rage ensued.
Anyways, enough ranting about the airport, here's the arbitrary flight details:
Singapore Airlines flight SQ236 BNE-SIN
Airbus A330-300 9V-STJ
Seat: 48K
Pushback: 1428
Arrival: 2020
One of the plus sides to re-scheduling our flights to a few days later was that some exit row seats became available for our flight to Singapore. I jumped on this opportunity straight away, paid the extra $50 each and grabbed the exit row seats. Definitely money well spent. The extra space you get is worth every penny if you're a tall bastard like me.
The flight was pretty good actually, good food and good entertainment. The flight attendants were a little bit lacking in some areas (I had one flight attendant turn away to serve a meal to somebody else mid-sentence while I was asking her a question - a basic customer service no-no), but on the whole, the flight was great. What's more, with the exit row seating, the usually painful 7 and a half hour flight flew by (geddit), and Emma and I were soon sauntering around the impossibly large Changi Terminal 3. Our first stop was the butterfly garden, which seeing as it was around 9pm by this time, was significantly disappointing as all of the butterflies were pretty much asleep, or dead. I guess I'll have to pay them a more proper visit on my journey home.
Given that it was getting quite late in the day, and that we now had ample time to kill before our next flight, Emma and I tried to book a 6 hour room in one of the transit hotels. No such luck for us. We then staggered over to Terminal 1 to see if there were any available rooms there. Yes! There was, but there was also construction works right next to the hotel, so the chances of sleep were slim. On a side note, Terminal 1 is a real mess at the moment. A literal maze of shops, construction zones and various lounges. Difficult as hell to find anything in there except for confused passengers and eager salespersons.
We eventually found our way back to the transit hotel in Terminal 3, where we booked a "nap room". This was a bad move. We got talked into buying some "nap deal", wherein you get a three hour nap in a room, as well as lounge access and a shower and what have you. While this sounds great in theory, when you actually get into the nap room and try to sleep, it becomes quite clear that you've been swindled, unless you are a very heavy sleeper (which if this is the case, you probably caught a decent enough amount of shuteye on your flight *to* Singapore!)
The rooms are small, and have a single bed in them. The bed is quite hard, but this is no issue as most tired travellers by this stage don't care what the bed is like -- you just want to be horizontal. The problems arise when you realise that the walls are paper-thin, and they don't go all the way to the ceiling, so you can hear everybody else in this corridor coughing/snoring/answering their phone AT THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Then, every 20 minutes or so, you get one of the hotel assistants coming in to give somebody a wake-up call to let them know that their nap time is up, subsequently waking up everybody else in the process. To make matters worse, the floor is paper thin, too, so you can hear all of the boarding/page announcements from the many flights that leave Singapore at this time of night.
I have thought long and hard about this, and I have thought of the perfect litmus test to see if the "nap room experience" is right for you next time you visit Singapore Airport:
Firstly, go to your nearest large shopping centre. Find a Jay Jays or some other equally awful clothing store. Then try to SLEEP IN ONE OF THEIR CHANGING ROOMS. - you have all of the distractions of the shoppers around you trying on clothes/exuding other bodily functions, and then you have the shop assistant asking someone near you every two seconds if someone needs another size of the tank top they're trying on. If you can successfully sleep through that, then this facility may be right for you!
Needless to say, I didn't get a wink of sleep, and I found it to be one of the most frustrating three hour periods of my life.
One very good thing did come out of our trip to the transit lounge - we met a lovely American woman called Wendy, who lives in Japan. She was on the same flight as us, and turned out to be a great help at the other end of our flight to Japan.
Anyways, my already foul mood was made worse when I discovered that our aircraft had been changed from an Airbus A380 to a Boeing 777-300ER. Scandal! I hear you all shout. To be honest, this wasn't all that much of a drastic change, but my major gripe was that we were seated on the top deck of the A380, and as the 777-300ER doesn't have an upper deck, we weren't going to be sitting on it. Every time I've had the opportunity to sit on the upper deck, it seems to have been stopped by forces beyond my control. One of these days though, one of these days...
Singapore Airlines Flight SQ632 SIN - NRT
Boeing 777-300ER 9V-SWL
Pushback: 0332
Arrival: 1014
Seat: 35A
This flight was largely uneventful. Emma and I did our best to try and sleep, with little success. One of the other downsides to our equipment change was that we were now seated over the wing, and as such we had a brilliant view of everything *on* the wing, and nothing else. Still, as most frequent flyers will know, sitting over the wing generally means you will be buffeted the least by turbulence. As such, this was one of the smoothest flights I've ever had. Although Emma claims otherwise, because apparently I was asleep. Oh, also, the 777-300ER is one noisy bastard of a plane, but I guess that's because it has very large engines.
After de-planing, we made our way through the busy Narita airport. We then headed to immigration and customs, where there was very little of a line for foreigners, probably due to the current situation, and also that our flight was probably 90% japanese citizens heading home from Singapore.
Upon clearing customs, we met up with Wendy, who we had seen at the transit hotel in Singapore. She was kind enough to help us buy the correct train ticket into Tokyo. We exchanged details and I told her to have a read of my blog. If you're reading this, HI WENDY! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
We boarded the Keisei Skyliner, and I promptly smacked my head against a luggage rail that was clearly not designed for eight foot people. After a short time of sitting down, we had a japanese family ask us why we were sitting in their seat. So apparently the seats were reserved. We then looked at our tickets, and saw that our seats were aaaaaalll the way at the other end of the train. Embarrassment ensued.
After a short trip on the Skyliner, we were at Nippori station, where we managed to decipher the way to Shinjuku. We then struggled through Shinjuku station, the busiest station in the world, with our large suitcases and found our hotel.
So far, our hotel has done nothing but impress. The room is quite small, but it has everything you need, and the staff are brilliantly helpful, speaking fluent english, and going out of their way to make your trip easier.
We then went to locate the nearest "Lawson", a convenience store similar to 7/11. We needed to book tickets to the Studio Ghibli museum for the following day. After doing battle with the ticket booking machine about three times (carefully pressing buttons that we were guided to by a web printout), we came to the conclusion that no more tickets were available for that day. Also, seeing as the museum is closed on Tuesdays, and we left Tokyo on Wednesday, it looks like we aren't going to be able to go...
Emma and I then had a look through Lumine, a shopping centre attatched to Shinjuku station. We had a look through a store called "Tomorrowland". Given the promising name, I was expecting a land full of fancy electronic gadgets and other futuristic doodads. Instead, it was a clothing store. Fail. On the top level of Lumine, they had a series of eateries very similar to the one we experienced in Bangkok's MBK mall, "fifth". Unlike in Bangkok, we decided not to eat there tonight.
It was now getting very cold in Tokyo, around 5 degrees celsius. So, we decided to go back to the hotel, rug up and make plans for dinner.
We ended up on the eastern side of Shinjuku station, in a bustling shopping and restaurant district. We ate at a restaurant called "Tsunahachi", which was a highly regarded Tempura restaurant. The food which we had was interesting, to say the least. It ranged from delicious, such as the tempura prawns, to the strange, such as the tempura cuttlefish, to the "what the hell am I eating", such as the shot glass that was filled with vinegar, and something that had the taste and texture of snot. Needless to say, it was a gastronomic experience, and somehow I doubt it will be the last of the trip.
After dinner, we had a look around the shopping district, and went in to stores such as "Forever 21" (which I last saw in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York... I swear that store is following me!), Top Shop and "Mega Fun Time" (possibly not it's name), a bustling arcade full of skill testers, arcade games and strange colourful gambling machines. Emma found one of those "candy tipper" games, wherein she wasted a significant amount of Yen trying to get some Godovia chocolate and other tasty looking chocolates. Unfortunately, we walked away with nothing but a need to play "one more round" to get that tasty, tasty chocolate.
We then headed back to the room, where we watched some Japanese TV. Yes, it definitely is as weird as people talk about. I had no idea what was going on on ANY of the programs. EVEN THE NEWS. Maybe I was just too tired to understand. I'll try again tomorrow.
And with that, we went to bed.
Thoughts on the Japan situation:
It appears as though (Central) Tokyo has been barely affected by the crisis at all. The streets are still bustling, and the lights are still mainly on. The only things we have observed are that most shops close a few hours earlier, and that supermarket shelves seem to be a bit empty. There also appears to not be very much bottled water in any of the vending machines, although our hotel has a vending machine on our floor that is fully stocked, so we will be fine.
Next up: MOAR TOKYO!
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