Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
A diary from the last few days......
4th Jan- Tokyo
Today was another dazzling day in Tokyo- we started with a soba noodle set lunch which set us up- a bento box with nice cold soba noodles with a yummy dipping sauce, grilled fish, miso soup and prawn tempura- it sounds a lot but it's actually just a a little bit of yummy everything. we managed to choose from the 4 dishes available in English compared to an 8 page Japanese menu so goodness knows what we were missing out on- it didn't feel like we were though. We then headed to the station and negotiated our way to Akihabara on the train- we are getting quite expert at it now! Akihabara began it's evolution post World War 2 when the area around the station became known as a black market for radio parts. Now it has morphed into the centre of the otaku (geek!) universe. It has hundreds of shops selling the latest electronics, uniquely Japanese tat, comic books, models, computer games and also maid cafes- the streets are full of Japanese girls (some looking scarily young) dressed up in maid outfits giving out flyers for their establishments. We had a great day wondering in and out of the shops goggle eyed at everything on offer. Highlights included Charles spending 45 minutes in a 4 floor model car shop and me playing old school super mario on a massive tv screen in front of a shop with the sound on full gathering quite an audience who shouted 'ha' everytime I made a move! We did a lot of looking but no buying- the prices prohibited that- I picked up a really cool sushi keyrng but then had to put it back when we realised it cost 10 pounds! However saying that we spent that in a an hour on the internet trying to sort out accomodation later in the day. Our fun filled afternoon ended with dinner in a conveyor belt sushi restaurant- far more authentic feeling than anywhere in the UK and the quality certainly emphasises where you are. The chef behind the carousel was making new plates constantly and it was absolutely yummy. Some of the men either side of us (and it was all men- what does that say about the area we were in?!) had huge piles of plates stacking up in front of them (you pay per plate on the way out) but we managed to restrict ourselves to just eleven. hat's not as greedy as it sounds- there are only 2 pieces of sushi per plate! Tomorrow we head to Kyoto which is really exciting- we love Japan! On another note as I write this, hilariously Charles has just got out his fake Omega Seamaster which he HADto buy in Siem Reap and it has stopped- noone ever likes to hear i told you so!
5th Jan- Tokyo-Kyoto- 7 months since we left home!
This morning we packed our bags and headed to Tokyo station where we would get the train to Kyoto later in the day. We left our baggage in the lockers and went to ge some lunch. We had a delicious meal of Katsu (shrimp for me, pork for Charles) which is yummy breaded cutlets. It came with free rice, salad and miso soup as well as dipping sauces so we had a good time! After filling up we headed off to walk around the imperial palace where the emperor lives. You can't go in (except for 2 days of the yar which we sadly just missed last Saturday) but you can walk around the gardens. They were a bit spare it being winter at the moment but the guards houses and glimpses of the palace were beautiful particularly the huge shaped trees that all looked like massive bonsai. At 4pm a voice came out of the trees in Japanese which was then translated as "you have to leave immediately" as it was closing. We walked back to the train station and bought a ticket for the bullet train to Kyoto. it set us back an eye watering 200quid for both of us but the normal train takes 8 hours with 4 changes and this one just over 2 direct. The fact is if we had bought a ticket for the same distance in the UK it would be the smae price and probably delayed, slow, late and not have any seats. After buying our ticket with 40minutes to spare we went to locate the baggage lockers where we had dumped our stuff. At this point we realised quite how big Tokyo station actually is and that we had no idea where our things were! We were running round and round the three floored huge area sure that we were going to miss the train and getting increasingly stressed- it was a nightmare! We finally located the locker with 4 minutes to spare, grapped our belongings and ran as fast as our legs would carry us up to the platform which was mercifully not the other end of the station- the problem was we knew our train would be leaving bang on time! We got there and sure enough there it was waiting- the sleek white spotless streamlined shinkansen that would sweep us to our destination with everyone already on board and the very smartly uniformed attendants standing in the doorways. We made it to our seat as it pulled out of the station and settled back for a superfast ride with the sun setting over mount Fuji outside the window. We arrived in Kyoto at 7pm and decided to walk to our hotel as the map we had printed out showed it as 2 roads away. 45 minutes later without getting lost we finally arrived a little angry at the ridiculously unscaled map that had missed out about a hundred roads inbetween each one on the diagram! Still we had made it so the relief was brilliant- especially for our shoulders! Our room is tiny- about 3 metres wide with a bathroom that would not look out of place in a caravan or ferry but it still has a toilet with lots of buttons- hooray! After dinner in a Japanese fast food place where we were served super speedily and were in and out in 15 minutes I am writing this as we sit in bed and play Monopoly!
6th January- Kyoto
Today we walked to the Higashiyama district of the town which runs alongside the base of the mountains of the same name. The area is full of beautiful cobbled streets lined with old wooden houses, traditional tea houses and little shops selling lovely things. We roamed the alleys for a good few hours looking at the charming things on sale and soaking up the atmosphere and purchased some chopsticks which they then engraved our names on. It was funny because we spent ages in the shop aonising over the hundreds of pairs on sale but eventually ended up choosing the cheapest which were those with our chinese zodiac animal signs on- the ever flattering pig for me and monkey for Charles. We also saw a number of beautiful temples including Kiyomizu- Dea- an ancient temple which was first built in 798AD but the present buildngs are reconstructions dating from 1633. By the time we reached this one the sun was setting in the sky which gave us beautiful views of the city in twilight. It has a stunning pink pagoda and also houses the waterfall Otawa-no-Taki where we got a metal cup on a stick to reach under the spout and drink the sacred waters believed to have therapeutic properties. By the time we looked around it was pitch dark and the shops were pulling their blinds down to close so we walked back so we walked back down the traditional streets that we had come on and were rewarded with being the only ones on them and also a stunning view at the end of the shrine gate of Heian Jingu lit with beautiful Japanese lanterns. On our walk back from there to the hotel we were lucky enough to see a Geisha moving quickly down the street to her next appointment and disappearing into a tea house- apparently it is quite rare to see one- there are only a 1000 in the whole of Japan and they only go outside to slip between the tea houses. She was beautiful in a red kimono with small birds and umbrellas decorating her hair and a painted white face and neck. their hair takes hours to do and they have to sleep very still to keep it all in place. We walked back and went to another "rolling" sushi place for dinner. They are not as nice as the a la carte restaurants but are much easier for us as we don't have to worry about ordering from a Japanese menu! they ae also considerably cheaper. This place was brilliant- you could pick what you wanted on a computer screen at your table and then it came to you on a mini bullet train- very exciting! On our return we passed a famous dessert place which like everywhere else hs plastic models outside displaying what they sell. One huge super sundae was a massive thing about 50cm high full of ice cream cones with a whole melon on top- the price? A cool 18,000Yen or 170quid!
7th January- Kyoto
Today we headed out to see Nishiki food market close to where we are staying. It was an amazing street full of little shops selling everything that has gone into the yummy dishes we have enjoyed eating so much (had you guessed that?!) The stallholders cry of Irasshaimase (welcome) draws you in to look at their dazzling array of pickles, fish, fruit or hundreds of different types of rice. the highlight was the handmade knife shop Aritsugu where we gawped at all the models on offer and fervantly wished for one- maybe we will be tempted later in the week! Overall in the market the presentation of stuff was just amazing and some things were jaw dropping- 3 plump strawberries for 1800Yen (12quid) anyone?! After satisfying our grumbling stomachs with a bowl of ramen we carried on walking to the International Manga museum- a shrine to the traditioal Jpanese comic. The 3 floored building was packed full if hundreds of editions and everywhere you looked people were avidly reading away. it was good but we probably would have been able to experience it better if we did speak Japanese a the majority of exhibits involved flickuing through the pages of a book. When we finally emerged it was dark and we started the walk back to Karasuma-dori where our hotel Unizo is. On our way we were distracted by going back through the now closing market and via the 100Yen (80p) shop where we have made a lot of purchases (it's the only place where we can afford to shop!) By the time we got back it was dinnertime and the search was on to find a restaurant that accepted cards- a rarity here. The problem is that it is impossible to find an ATM that works with international cards which is quite surprising for a country in the future. When we did locate one we were told that it shut at 18.30- as it was now 20.00 it was a little late for us! We did find somewhere to eat though and filled our bellies with Tempura and rice- another fun and food filled day on fantastic Japan!
8th January- Kyoto
Well today we succombed to temptation and bought a beautiful knife from Aritsuga- the shop on the market place. It is something that will last forever and I am sure we will treasure for years to come. We watched it being sharpened for us and then engraved (we chose to have Kyoto 2010) put on it and it was all very exciting. We have very little money left but we will deal with that at a later stage! After that we went to see Nijo castle which was completed during the reign of Tokugawa Lemitsu in 1626. The main attraction is the 3300 square meter Ninomaru Palace which consists of five connected separate buildings and is built almost entirely of Hinoki cypress. The decoration includes lavish quantities of gold leaf and elaborate wood carvings, intended to impress visitors with the power and wealth of the shoguns. The sliding doors and walls of each room are decorated with wall paintings by artists of the Kanō school and are truly stunning. The building houses several different reception chambers, offices and the living quarters of the shogun, where only female attendants were allowed. One of the most exciting features of the Ninomaru Palace are the "nightingale floors" (uguisubari) in the corridors. To protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them and they really do- Charles tried a number of times to get down the corridoor in silence but kept failing miserably! Some of the rooms in the castle also contained special doors where the shogun's bodyguard could come out and protect him. The castle area also has several gardens and groves of cherry and ume trees. The Ninomaru garden was designed by a famous landscape architect and tea master, Kobori Enshu and is located between the two main rings of fortifications, next to the palace. The garden has a large pond with three islands and features numerous carefully placed stones and topiary pine trees- all very Zen. It was a lovely place to walk around although it was freezing cold! When we left Charles was really excited to see a Samurai sword shop outside and stared through the window at all of the ones on display for a long time. Some of them cost up to 200,000 pounds- you'd definately want a sharp one for that sort of money! We walked back through the back streets admiring all the little houses and again, through our favourite food market where we picked up some things on sticks like shrimp and leek dumplings. Tonight is our last night in Kyoto and we will definately be sad to leave- it is a beautiful town which really respects it's stunning historic architecture and scenery and somewhere anyone who has even a passing interest in Japan should definately see in their lifetime.
- comments