le tour de burt

I don’t really know where to start with Tokyo – it’s a complex place. It’s like mini cities within the city, the urban sprawl personified…..

Neil and I had 3 full days to explore with the use of the JR Yamanote line (free on the rail pass), that runs in a circle around the city (its a full hour to make the complete circuit).

We eased into Tokyo gently, heading into the Imperial Palace Gardens for a stroll, playing with the technology on display at the Sony Building in Ginza (think 5th Avenue NYC) and heading out to Roppongi to look at the Roppongi Hills complex. It had this huge statue spider outside of it and I thought it looked rather funky – and it offered a good view over towards to the Tokyo Tower, which is just a replica Eiffel Tower with a few extra centiremetres thrown on the top for good measure!!

On day 2 our first stop was Shinjuku (entertainment and sky scraper district) to make use of the free observation floor in the Met Government Building. Sadly the morning we ventured up was dull and overcast so Mt Fuji couldn’t be seen in the distance, but it did give us the chance to appreciate the density of the city, block after block of buildings, railway tracks going this way and that, expressways heading out of the city and the odd splash of greenery in the form of parks or gardens.  Now we hadn’t planned to stop at the Meiji Jinga shrine – but after getting a little lost we stumbled across it and a traditional wedding, which was lovely to see! In contrast to the kimono clad bride and pristine dressed relatives we then visited the “costume play gang” – teens dressed up in all bizarre outfits, offering free hugs and generally drawing attention to themselves. They are indeed an attraction in themselves – they even have an association!!

It was then a stroll around the shops in Harajuku – heading in the direction of Shibuya and to my mind one of the most recognisable Tokyo sights – hundreds of people at the scramble intersection, a surge of humanity as the lights change to green on the crossings! I had gotten a picture which in my mind summed this up – but sadly our memory card decided to format itself and the pictures are lost….so for those of you who are not familiar with this sight – watch Lost In Translation!

Now for someone who isn’t a lover of fish I seem to have a bit of an obsession with fish markets, and as Tokyo has one of the largest in the world it was only a matter of time before we visited. So that was the start to Monday, followed by a trip to the arcades and an afternoon out across Tokyo Bay (queue replica Statue of Liberty)….and then it hit us, the following day was our last day – and it had to be special.

Now Sumo might not be everyone’s cup of tea – I appreciate overweight men in nappies isn’t easy on the eye, but its so much more than just the fight. Neil and I really enjoyed the whole experience, and it was followed by one of the most peculiar moments we had the whole trip – a visit to a Maid Cafe. It is what it says it is, a cafe, run by maids, (basically young women dressed in maid outfits) and generally frequented by Japanese men wanting to look but not touch! But it was the quirky and bizarre that made this trip – and sumo maid Tokyo (thanks Neil for the clever use of words!!)

Pagoda at Koya-San

The amazing thing about the JR network is that you can get from one place to the other in next to no time – unless that is you want to get to see Mt Fuji close up……

Our first stop of the week was Nara, to see the largest wooden building in Japan, housing the largest Buddha. The temple was very grand, and Buddha very impressive, however I managed to injure myself trying to fit through the gap in a very large post which is supposed to be the same size as one of the Buddhas nostrils. It is said that if you can fit through you will have enlightenment….hmm, well I miss out hey?

Osaka was our first jaunt out from Nara, it was an interesting city, with some funky neon night scapes and lots of shopping arcardes, pachinko parlours and octopus ball stands….no, I have not ventured there, my stomach is not that brave!!!

Koyo-san was a picture perfect snowy day trip….involving numerous trains, and one of our longest journeys to date, but well worth it. The area is a sacred Buddhist complex of temples and a beautiful cemetery called Okunoin. Neil and I have never been so cold in our lives, but we managed to get some awesome pictures!!!

And then things got complicated, getting to Kawaguchiko to see the National Embelem – Mt Fuji. Leaving Nara we started our journey of 6 train trips, I kid you not, 6 changes to make – but for most of the trip we could see Mt Fuji it was such a perfect blue sky, Neil taking numerous pictures just incase the cloud came in. Which it didn’t and we made it up to the observation station – and spent a few hours chilling out in the sunshine, taking in the view and eating hot dogs from a self service vending machine…the other items on offer were chips, dim sum and  noodles. Fantastic!

It was then off to Tokyo again, via a stop in Yokohama, where we watched the sunset over the harbour before ducking into Chinatown for our tea…We also found the best supermarket here, with proper bread – and other recognisable goodies. Oh how I can’t wait to have some fruit and veg – the land of convenience is doing nothing for my waistline!!

I think we had done a tally prior to getting back to Tokyo and we had taken something like 30 odd trains, yes I admit not helped by me getting us lost or staying on a train past our stop – but never the less it’s a lot of trains. What a shame I’m not a train spotter!!

Snow Monkey

So I left off with Neil’s promise to head out to the outdoor onsen in Yudanaka, I can confirm that on a very cold, snowy winters evening we headed out from the warmth of the ryokan to our private outdoor onsen (hot spring bath). It was beautiful as the sun slipped away and all the lights of the local towns lit up in the valley below us, surprisingly we were very warm outdoors – the water was scorching hot, and the indoor sauna, well, I can’t imagine hell even gets that warm!!!

It did round off a perfect day though – we had spent the afternoon in the snow monkey park, perfect powder, snow falling and monkeys lazing around in their own onsen – it was magical…..

We left the snow and hit the culture vulture city of Kyoto, with its beautiful temples, shrines and oh my god, real life geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha) – they were fabulous, waddling down the Ponto-cho alley in full kimono….I was in awe!!!

What came as the big surprise of the week though was Hiroshima, with its beautiful Peace Memorial Gardens, the sombre atmosphere at the A-Bomb Dome and the hectic nightlife around the Okiyinama eateries (sort of a pizza/pancake/noodle combo). Neil and I even ventured into the karaoke booths, were I, oh yes I, tone deaf burton sang her little heart out to the likes of “Iris” (well it had to be done) and if I dare to admit it, “I’m a barbie girl”…..Oh yes, I also learnt origami, and made paper cranes and a butterfly at the hostel we were staying at – lets just say Neil had to be very patient with me!!

We day tripped to Mayijima from Hiroshima, this island houses the floating shrine and tori gate that is one of the most photographed views in all of Japan….it didn’t let us down, perfect views out to the floating gate, the deer wandering around and lovely little maple leaf shaped cakes filled with chocolate and cream for us to munch on (lots of shops give away tasters….yummy).

From Hiroshima we head to Nara – will keep you posted of our travels!

Traditional Japanese New Years Breakfast

So neil and i made it to the land of the rising sun, jet lagged and with motion sickness (that was me), we arrived in Tokyo…this was just a brief stop before heading to Hakuba for our New Year on the piste.

As we arrived in Echoland, the white stuff was falling and made for a perfect day on the piste the following day. Sadly the conditions deteriorated, but I did learn some new things, getting big air (about an inch off the ground) and how to ollie……

Anyway, so far Japan has been a real eye opener in a good way – heated loo seats, polite and helpful people and interesting food items. Neil and I are still not sure what we ate for our traditional Japanese breakfast on New Years day – and I dont think either of us are in a rush to know either…….

Today we leave Hakuba and head to Yudanaka, to hopefully see the snow monkeys, and maybe if we are brave enough an open air onsen (bath). Neil tells me he is brave enough to go, even if I dont – will keep you posted on that one!!