Japan Visit 2010

Well the snow cleared overnight and we got sun today, albeit cold. So much so that we both have a bit of sunburn!! My nose currently looks like Rudolph's!!

Today we did most of the Lonely Planet's Southern Higashiyama walking tour - it says to get a bus to the start but we decided to walk to it as it was only a couple of kilometers from hotel. First up was the Otani Mausoleum which is on the hill up to Kiyomizu-dera. There we met a nice man called Howie who was also planning on doing the same walk as us. We gave him the blog address so if you're reading this "konnichiwa"!!

Next was the steep climb up to Kiyomizu-dera past a huge cemetry. We finally arrived at the temple but decided not to go in. We're a bit templed out plus it would seem that every tourist in Kyoto was here. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw someone with a Celtic top on! I mean, you expect that in the Costa del Sol but not at a temple in Kyoto!! Just goes to show you!

I lost my title as chief navigator as I took as the wrong way in our tour which meant walking back up a rather steep hill. Still it was worth it because as we headed down Sannen-kaza, which is wee street lined with wood houses and traditional shops, we saw a Geisha, then another 2 then another one!! If I'd not taken us on the detour we would have probably missed them.

Next up was Maruyama-koen which is a bit park with lots of cherry trees, including Kyoto's most famous one. I thought it would only be the foreign tourists that get excited by the blossoms but the Japanese do too. We stopped for some sushi in the park and took in the atmosphere.

We wandered through the park and came to the Gion district. The walking tour suggesting another wee bit but by this time our legs were a bit tried and Neil's shins were sore. We took a wander through Gion and took the subway back to the hotel.

I left Neil and headed to Shosei-en which is the garden we were going to go to yesterday. I'm so glad I went as it was so beautiful especially with all the blossoms. And to top it off I saw another Geisha. That took the total for the day to 5. I was just hoping to see one!

Dinner tonight was in a Nepalese restaurant called Yak & Yeti. It was recommended by Lonely Planet and it was the best curry we've had in a long long time. We both ordered set meals and each came with a naan bread the size of your head. Needless to say the gutsy Logan's finished everything!! We met a lovely couple there who are also touring round and stayed in the same hotel as us in Tokyo and here in Kyoto!

Tomorrow we are on the bullet train back up to Tokyo. We have changed out hotel and are now staying in the Hilton in Shinjuku.

Right I'm off to moisturise my nose in the hope that it doesn't start peeling!!!

Yup that's right it's snowing here in Kyoto!

I got up early this morning and headed to the Peace Museum before we took the bullet train from Hiroshima to Kyoto. As I suspected, the museum was quite harrowing and I couldn't bring myself to go to the free exhibition of photos taken in the aftermath. Neil took the sensible decision and had a long lie!

The bullet ride was great again - we had a brief change over in Osaka. We are staying in the Hotel Granvia in Kyoto and the checkin staff have been the best yet. Their English is pretty much perfect and as the know we're on our honeymoon we are getting our photo taken and they will make up a commemerative frame!! The room is on the top floor and is great and we have access to a special lounge. Our view is of Kyoto Tower - looks really cool at night.

The weather here has been changeable to say the least, but we decided to head to the Nishi Hongwanji temple while it was dry - we can actually see it from our hotel room. On our way to Shosei-en the rain came on really hard so we headed back to the hotel - we'll try and take this in tomorrow. As we were sitting admiring the view the snow came on - big fluffy flakes! Thankfully the ground has been too wet for it to lie.

We ventured back to the restaurant we found on our day visit for dinner - we had thought about going to the Tepinyaki at the hotel but they were wanting £140 per person!!! Our meal was great - the specialise in Katsu and I had the 5 prawns - I've never seen prawns this big! Much better value at just over £10!

We then took a wander in the snow down Shijo Dori and ended up at Pontocho which is a good place to see Geisha - sadly we didn't see any, maybe tomorrow! It's a more traditional street with lots of lanterns - looks amazing. It was very busy with fellow Geisha spotters!!!

If the weather is dry tomorrow we are going to head to Gion and Southern Higashiyama - these are the areas the guide book says you should take in if you only have a short time in Kyoto as they allow you to see several important sites and neighbourhoods.

With our hangovers away but our colds taking over we headed to Miyajima today which is a short train and ferry ride from Hiroshima.

There was no risk of us getting lost today as there were hundreds of people heading in the same direction!

On the island there lots of deer that wander around and are quite happy for people to touch and feed them - quite bizarre really. Last encounter we had with a deer was on the round up to Aberdeen at 70mph!!

We visited a couple of the temples and headed to the cable car that takes you close to the summit of Misen. The blossoms are out in bloom now and are beautiful. We then made our way to the summit of Misen passing various bits of interest. People of all shapes and sizes were following the same route and some were even in stiletto heels! We were just about coping at some points in our trail shoes! On the descent back to the cable car I nearly took us on a Strachan detour but it was avoided before it was a disaster! While on Misen we had rain, sleet and sunshine - just as well we can prepared!

Lunch today was interesting - we had a Miyajima Beef Bun which is pretty much their equivalent of a beef pie - it was really tasty.

On our return to Hiroshima, I headed to the hotel to have a wee rest and watch the Sumo while Neil headed to the castle. I used the trams for the first time and I'm glad to say it all went without a hitch :) The only confusing thing is the transport map you get with the really helpful Get Hiroshima leaflet uses the same colours as the tram lines but they don't correspond! Thankfully I had my head screwed on and paid attention! On a positive note our Sumo Baruto won 14 of his 15 fights so he should get promoted. The current Yokozuna won all 15 fights and got presented with a heap of trophies today - some of which were huge and the wee man presenting them could hardly lift them. Needless to the say the Sumo had no problem!!!

Dinner tonight was at a great Thai restaurant called Sawadee - we are hoping the heat will help get rid of our colds.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and get up early and head to the Peace Memorial Museam before we head off to the get the bullet back to Kyoto. Although given how harrowing the memorial hall was I'm not sure whether I can cope with it!

We can't believe we are in to the last week of out trip - this time next week we'll be enjoying our last night in Japan.

Seyonara!

Well we had dinner last night and as much booze as we could drink for 2 hours.  That was more than long enough for us both to regret it this morning.  Unfortunately Jill’s struggling a bit with the cold so that didn’t help her either.

Still after a long lie we headed out for a nice walk round the Peace Park.  Thankfully the weather has picked up again today so we were able to enjoy a walk in the spring sunshine. 

The park itself is a memorial park to remember those that died during the atomic bomb attack of 1945.  A special exhibition is currently on which has first hand testimony of the aftermath of bomb.  The stories were harrowing in the extreme and really brought home the horror of atomic weapons.  Let’s all hope we never see their use again.

Following that we strolled through Hiroshima and went to visit McDonalds for some proper hangover recovery food.  A Big Mac and large fries later we had recovered enough to visit the local art gallery which had some wonderful pieces.  My favourite though had to be a piece by Salvadore Dali titled Dreams of Venus.

The art gallery has some amazing traditional Japanese gardens and we spent some time their enjoying the afternoon.  Tomorrow is our last day in Hiroshima before we make a quick stop in Kyoto before returning to Tokyo to finish off the holiday. 

Let’s hope the weather stays nice… and I stay off the booze.  A hangover in a foreign country is just a disaster!

We've arrived safe and sound at the hotel in Hiroshima - no thanks to our taxi driver who forgot mid way through which hotel we were staying at!

Our room wasn't quite ready so we decided to head to the Peace Memorial Park for a wander round - it is freezing here today. Hat and gloves were the order of the day and we even had a bit of sleet! Still the sun is shining so we're not going to complain!

The A Dome really brings home what happened in Hiroshima. We are going to head back there tomorrow to the museum - think that will be a bit harrowing.

Our favourite Sumo Baruto is only one fight away from getting promoted to Ozeki - we are keeping our fingers crossed for him!

Dinner tonight is going to be in the restaurant - decided it was about time we splashed out and ate in one of the restaurants. Plus we can't be bothered trailing around trying to find somewhere to eat tonight.

Neil will upload the photos later.

Keeping our fingers crossed for a dry day tomorrow!

Well we decided to head to Kyoto for the day as we were fed up on Osaka - and the rain!

Yet again I managed to get us to Kyoto by train - really getting the hang of the public transport here.

The rain had followed us to Kyoto but we had decided to go to the Manga Museum so at least we were dry!

Next up was Nishiki market where we saw lots of amazing yet strange foods. I hate to think what some of them were!

We found a great place for lunch before it was time to head back to Osaka.

Slight detour on the way back as the train we jumped on didn't go to the station we needed! Still I didn't panic and we got back safe and sound.

For our last night we went back to El Pancho for dinner - it really is a great restaurant and there was a guy on guitar singing away.

Bullet train to Hiroshima tomorrow.

We got the train out to Osaka Castle today.  The castle itself is quite spectacular  and almost as impressive as the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.  However it would seem the weather has taken a wee turn for the worse here and it’s struggled to get above 9 degrees Celsius all day.  Worse still it’s poured with rain too and that probably took the shine off our visit to castle.

Tomorrow we’re gonna head to Kyoto for a wee day visit as we feel we’ve seen everything we’re interested in seeing in Osaka.  I think we’re gonna do as many of the indoor things as we can (like the Manga Museum!) so that when we actually stay in Kyoto we can spend our time Geisha spotting.

Forgive my rather ill placed film quote their but we managed to fine a terrific little Mexican restaurant in Osaka last night.  “El Pancho” is just off the main shopping street in Osaka, is wonderfully dark and dingy and served up probably the best Mexican food I’ve ever had.  Just what was required after a long day at the Sumo! :-)

After a slightly tense wait we managed to get hold of 2 tickets for the Sumo yesterday.  The seats we had cost around £70 but they were great seats.  The whole event is everything I hoped it would be.  Full of tradition but very welcoming too.

When you arrive at the stadium you hand over your tickets and then someone walks you to your seat so you don’t get lost – very handy for us! You also get handed a basic guide to sumo explaining the rules and history and you also get a match listing for the day.

There are fights on all day but the last 30 or so are the ones you really want to witness as they are reserved for the top 2 divisions.  Jill and I followed the example set by the people around us and proceeded to help ourselves to some Asahi and cheer on the fighters from the East side including our new favourite Baruto. 

We spent around 4 hours watching the sumo and I’ve got to say if you ever come to Japan make sure you can take in a tournament.  It was absolutely fantastic.

We found a great wee coffee shop for breakfast just next to the hotel - and they spoke English!!!

We decided to have an easyish day to find our bearings and soak in the atmosphere. It's certainly a lot busier thatn Tokyo, but then it is the weekend and the Spring holiday. I think everyone that lives in Osaka was out shopping as the crowds of people were unbelievable - even in the side alleys!! We passed an H&M store that was having it's grand opening and people were queuing round the block to get in and they had employed the police to manage the queues!!

We walked up the main street and it's full of designer shops - it's certainly trying to be more like a European city.

Neil finally got his wish and we had pizza for lunch - it nearly didn't happen as the waitress said they didn't have an English menu. We were heading out the door and one of the waiters came running after us with a menu we could read. The pizza was great!

We had another wander around and came across the Organic Building - it is covered in plant pots! Very random.

By 14:30 our legs were tired and we'd had enough of the crowds so we headed back to the hotel and watched the Sumo on TV - we're hopefully heading there tomorrow to see it in person.

We were dreading trying to find somewhere for dinner but Neil found a website that listed restaurants in Osaka with English menus - the power of the web!!

We found a great Indian called Guatamo and the owner guessed that we were on our honeymoon - no freebies though!

Next on the trip is Osaka and at 12:03 on the dot the bullet train pulled out of Tokyo headed for Shin Osaka station. The staff are so polite and perform a little ceremony every time they enter and leave the carriage - can you imagine this happening back home??

Then right on schedule we pulled in to Shin Osaka at 15:03. The punctuality of the trains really is amazing - wish it was like this with Scotrail! The speed the train gets up to is amazing - we reckon at full speed we were doing 200mph. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we didn't get to see Mount Fuji - maybe on the way back up.

It was a short trip on the subway to get to the hotel and I managed to navigate to it without too much hassle. I think I am definitely the better navigator, although Neil will dispute this!

The hotel is not as nice as the one in Toyko and is a little dated. There's lots of gold paint and chandelier. Still the room is a good size, it's clean and really central so we're not going to moan! It's above a department store called Takashimya and we took a wander through it to try and get a late lunch. As it's the spring holiday the place was so busy and noisy with everyone shouting out the bargains on offer - obviously we didn't understand a word! We ended up in the food hall and picked up some sushi and headed back to the hotel.

After a snooze it was time to try and find somewhere for dinner. This in itself was a challenge and we nearly ended up in McDonalds!! Very few places have menus in English. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had picture menus - at least we could have pointed to things! This was a bit of a low and was beginning to regret leaving Tokyo! We finally found a wee Chinese restaurant and the food was lovely.

First impressions of Osaka is that it's not as "western" friendly as Tokyo but I'm sure it will all look better in the morning when we can find out way about in daylight!!

Well I think Toko should be renamed the windy city - on out last night there the winds were so strong the building was moving! I know they are designed to do this but it was still a little scary - Neil was laughing at me!! Being on the top floor certainly didn't help!

I eventually had to resort to sleeping with ear plugs - courtesy of Mr Branson and the Premium Economy pack.

Neil forgot to post about what we did on Friday so I'll fill you in!

First off we headed to Tokyo station to get our Japanese Rail passes. After a bit of difficulty finding the exchange booth - the map didn't help much, we got it done and have booked ourselves on all the bullet trains we need to take - apparantly it's getting quite busy.

We then hopped on the metro - our first experience of this - one stop along to Ginza for a visit to the Sony building. It's basically a showcase for all their latest products but the best bit was the demo of 3D TV - even a non gadget geek like me realised it was pretty amazing!

We had a wander round Ginza which, according to the guide book, is Tokyo's equivalent to New York's 5th Avenue.

It was then time for lunch and I persuaded Neil to be brave and we went to a wee restaurant beside Ginza station - glad we did as the food was great. Again we seem to be the only Westeners frequenting these places!

We then decided to walk to the Sporting Goods Area but it was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. I found a Mizuno shop and even there they don't stock my trainers!! Plus by this time we were pretty exhausted.

Another trip on the metro brought us back Ginza and we jumped on the JR line back to the hotel.

Dinner was another disaster and yup, you guessed it Neil picked the restaurant! He fancied a pizza so we found a place called Pronto. When the pizza arrived it was the smallest one I'd ever seen!! I had ordered a pasta dish which was a reasonable size.

To cheer Neil up we got some crisps, chocolate and cans of Asahi and headed back to the hotel!

After our visit to Ueno we stopped by Akihabara (aka Electric Town).  Electric Town is Tokyo’s mecca for gadget freaks like me.  There are shops devoted entirely to every type of gadget you can imagine from cables to mobile phones.   As it was Saturday the place was absolutely packed but that just added to manic atmosphere of Akihabara. 

Whilst perusing the shops we stopped by a video arcade and I played some video games.  However, the most amazing thing in the video arcade was the photo booths were young girls dress up and get their photos taken.  They dress up as Anime characters and the booths let them decorate their photos with little bits of clip art.  Personally I’ve never seen anything crazier but they seemed to enjoy it!

Oh nearly forgot, whilst in Akihabara we got some lunch – a doner kebab!  I know, you can take the boy out of Larkhall but you cannae take Larkhall out the boy!

Tomorrow we’re heading for Osaka on the bullet train so we might not post until Monday at which point we'll be 1/3 the way through our Japanese adventure!

Today we visited Ueno park and the magnificent Tokyo National Museum, where we were lucky enough to see the 400th Memorial Retrospective of the work of Hasegawa Tohaku.  When we arrived at the gates of the museum (and were try to figure out what ticket to buy!) and nice Japanese lady simply handed us two tickets (costing around £20)!  Then as quickly she appeared she vanished never to be seen again. 

There was a queue of around 30 minutes to see the Hasegawa Tohaku exhibits but we felt the wait was worth  it given we were unlikely to ever get the chance again.  The works were beautiful but unfortunately the place was packed so it was difficult for us to see all works properly. 

Much better (from my perspective) was the Honkan (Japanese Gallery) which contained some magnificent Japanese works of art.  The Samurai swords and armoury were nothing short of spectacular and well worth a visit.  

We finished off our visit with a little souvenir shopping at the museum shop!

Our photos are available here:

Photos

Enjoy!

Well we're still adjusting to the time difference - awake from 3am this time, at least it's getting later! As a result we woke again at 10am and rushed down to breakfast.

Once that was done we headed to Shiodome Station - a 2 min walk from the hotel. Again we managed to use the ticket machines - this time we managed to work out how to get an all day ticket for the Yurikamone line. This is the equivalent of London's DLR.

We came off at Odaiba Kaihin-koen and headed to Decks Toyko Bay. This is a Hong Kong themed mall but the main attraction for Neil was the Sega amusement centre called Joypolis. We paid £25(!!!) to enter and went on most of the rides - by the end of it we were feeling pretty sick. We managed to win the bobsleigh race - sadly there were no prizes! There seemed to be lots of kids there so we're not sure if we are in the middle of the holidays - either that or they are skiving!!! We are also beginning to wonder where all the "western" tourists are - everywhere we go there only seems to be a handful!

After the amsuements we headed to Tokyo's Statue of Liberty. I did think it didn't look too much smaller than the one in New York. Clearly I was wrong as Neil laughed lots when I said this!! We then headed in to the Aqua Centre for a wander and to try and find somewhere to eat, where we ended up eating in Subway. Yes I know, but before you say anything it was 14:30 and we were really hungry and the other options didn't look too apetising!

Next we hopped back on the train and headed to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. This is a great museaum and we could have spent all day in here. Sadly we missed the demo from Asimo the robot by 30 mins :-(

We then hopped back on the train for one stop - we could have walked it but our legs were tired and we were making use of our all day ticket! - to Aomi station for the Toyota Mega Web and Toyota Universal Design Showcase. These were both free and worth a visit. I even got to pretend to be pregnant and try getting it and out of various cars - very random!!!

By this point we were exhausted so it was back to the hotel for a trip to the 7/11 for some crisps and chocolate - first of the holiday - and a quick nap.

It was Neil's turn to pick the restaurant for dinner tonight and it's safe to say he's not getting to pick again!! The restaurant got great reviews but we didn't think much of it. Thankfully it was just round the corner of the hotel as we had to take our shoes off and I had bare feet. Although the waiter was OK about it I decided to run back to the hotel and get a pair of socks.

We ordered chicken yakitori, among other things, and we got every bit of chicken apart from breast:
Leg;
Grizzle;
Skin;
Tail(!!!).

At least the beer was nice!

Tomorrow we are probably heading to Ginza.

Sayonara.

Well our bodies are still adjusting to the time difference – I was awake from 2am and Neil from 4am.  Mind you it’s not so bad when you are on the 34th floor of the hotel with a view over Tokyo – it’s amazing at night with all the lights.  The one thing we have noticed is how quiet it is – it’s one of the biggest cities in the world yet you would never know.  There are no sirens or honking of horns – a far cry from New York where that’s all you hear!!

We finally fell back asleep and got up about 9.  Breakfast in the hotel is included – a bonus as we didn’t think it was.  They cater for everyone and the range is bizarre to say the least.  There’s bacon, hot dogs, funny potato things, pasta, chicken dishes (??), fresh fruit, cereals and pastries.  Neil was super happy as he got Kellog’s cornflakes this morning!

After breakfast we headed to Shimbashi station to hop on the train to Toyko station.  En route we saw an episode of the Power Rangers being filmed!!  We managed to use the ticket machines – think we’ve got the hang of it now.  Mind you they do have an option to have everything in English!  You just need to look at the route map to see what station you want and it tells you the price of the ticket.  They’re doing up Tokyo train station and it’s going to look amazing when it’s all done.  After a short walk from the station you reach the Imperial Palace.  Only a small bit of the gardens are open to the public – it was strange as lots of business people from the surrounding area come here for their lunch.  We saw some cherry blossoms today – can’t wait to see them in full bloom.  On entering the area of the gardens that’s open to the public there is a small museum with a display of gifts to the Emperor and his wife.

Next stop was the Science Museum – it’s clearly designed for kids and there’s no explanation in English so we didn’t understand anything but it was worth a visit!

We then headed to the Marunouchi building to grab a bite to eat.  Sat down to some sushi and a rice and pork dish in the food hall – it was simple and tasty.

Dinner tonight was in a tempura restaurant – out most expensive meal yet but worth it.  A small glass of beer was £5!!  I got in to trouble for not eating the prawn’s tail of my tempura – I then made sure I ate the legs!  They were actually quite tasty.  Wasn’t brave enough to try eel – maybe next time!

Small scare when we tried to get money out of the 7/11 ATM.  Neil’s card was refused but mine was OK.  After a 15 min call to Natwest it’s all sorted – apparantly his account was locked for fraud protection, even though he called beforehand.  Hopefully we won’t get this again – we can’t afford to keep calling back to the UK.  The woman in the fraud section said Natwest would refund but I’m not so sure!!

We decided we would have a drink after that but the hotel are looking for £10 for a glass of beer – we decided we didn’t need a drink after all!  No wonder the hotel bar is empty.

That’s all for today – tomorrow I think we’re going to head to Tokyo Bay.

We arrived this morning at Narita Airport at 11:00 (02:00 UK time) after a 2-hour delay at Heathrow.  Got to say I was very impressed with Virgin Atlantic.  First time I’ve flown with them and the service was excellent.  Still 12 hours on a plane isn’t easy but movies and episodes of Family Guy and Glee do help!

Customs was very easy to navigate and very efficient (would you expect anything different here in Japan?).  Once through it was on to the Keisei Skyliner into Nippori.  The ticket office is right in front of you when you come through customs!  The train journey takes just over an hour and you get to sit back and relax in clean and airy cabin – ScotRail please take note!  The train was waiting for us at the platform and was getting cleaned.  Just before the doors opened the seats all moved to face the direction of travel – very cool!  Also had our first experience of public toilets – spotless as you can imagine, and to top it off the seats are heated!!

Nippori Station was a little more difficult to negotiate but after a minutes thought it was easy to find the ticket office and make our way on to the train travelling to Shimbashi.  Amazingly most the signs on the trains and in the stations are in  English so it’s very easy to find your way about. 

From Shimbashi it was a 10 minute walk to the hotel through the ultra modern Sio-Site.  We got a little bit lost at this point but soon found our way.  The Park Hotel is located inside the Media Tower in Shiodome and we have a lovely room on the 34th floor with some amazing views over Tokyo. 

After arriving we were both very tired so a quick sleep was the order of the day.  After which we went down into Shiodome to a get something to eat.  Found a great wee restaurant that served curried noodles – they even give you a paper vest to put on, and boy did you need it.  It was also our first experience of the noises the Japanese make when they eat.  The louder you slurp the more you are enjoying your meal.  Neil decided to partake in this – I didn’t!  Maybe by the end of the 3 weeks I will.

So all in all a good first day.  We’ve arrived safe, our luggage arrived safe, the hotel is lovely and so far it’s seems that Tokyo is very tourist friendly. 

We are off to enjoy our complimentary half bottle of champagne and chocolates that we got as part of the honeymoon package.

Well the cases are packed and we’re all set to head off.  We’re both a little nervous about the trip but I’m sure that’ll all go away when we actually get there.  We fly Glasgow to Heathrow and then direct from Heathrow to Narita.  12 hour flight from Heathrow but hopefully we’ll both get some sleep. 

Japan here we come!

Well we've now got only 1 week to wait - we head off next Monday morning! This blog is intended to be a sort of online journal of our trip that we can share with our friends and family. We're going to try to post at least daily so you can all see what we're up to.