Given that we only had a limited amount of time in Kyoto, we got a Shinkansen at 9:30... well that was the plan, but because of stuffing around, by the time we got to Tokyo station, the tickets had already been booked to the point that there was not 4 seats together. So we had to wait until 10:30 to get one. The train trip down started in sunshine, went to rain, snow, then back to sunshine when we got to Kyoto. But it was chilly. Kyoto is a windy city, but it also is like Melbourne, in the way it can change quite quickly.
After searching around for lockers big enough to hold our bags, we got lunch (okonomiyaki) then got on a bus to Shijo where the Nishiki markets are. We pottered around for ages, with all the smells of the market (good and bad) wafting on the breeze... or wind, because as soon as you got near a cross roads, the temperature dropped by a couple of degrees as the wind cuts through. By 4:30, we were in need of cake, so we pulled off into a side street and went to a place we had been with Conrad a few years before. Cake was had, but we were getting tired, so we got the subway back to the station, got our bags and headed to Mukomachi where our accommodation was.
For this trip, we had been using AirBNB. It was ok on the first night, as it wasn't really doing much other than being a place to catch some sleep, But at least it was clean and cheap. The place in Sapporo was underwhelming. The pictures made it look all bright, new and modern, but on getting inside it was old and dated. It was still comfortable, but a bit of a let down. This would be our third place, and we weren't holding out high hopes. We got to Mukomachi station, then grabbed a taxi. This driver looked like he had been driving since Toyota made looms, and his sight wasn't the best. We gave him Mum's phone with the address, and even after changing glasses, he still couldn't read it. He took it over to his friend in the next cab (He didn't have a strap, so we had to take 2 taxis), but the second taxi knew where to go, so old man cabbie followed him. As we winded through the tiny streets, we had our reservations about our cabbie. Yes the streets were small, but we were hoping our cabbie wouldn't hit the walls. We eventually arrived at the place and made our way toward a set of stairs. Toshi, the host came down to meet us, and helped bring the bags up. He gave us a quick walkthrough then left. The pictures on Airbnb undersold this place. Yes, it wasn't the Ritz, but it was clean and spacious. I bagsed the room with the fridge and microwave, but got vetoed by Whitney and Amber. There was a nice view from the balcony and being away from all the hustle and bustle, it was heaps quiet. After unpacking a few things, Mum and I decided to go for a walk down to the convenience store on the map the host left. It wasn't there. I think he needs to update his map. He also said that there a was a supermarket near the station, so after walking about 1km, we found the building the supermarket was in, but it looked closed. We walked a little more, before I spotted a 7-11, so we went there and grabbed supplies for dinner and breakfast. The plan was just to have some fruit for dinner, then grab a bento for breakfast, to save having to get everyone up at a bad time.
With a couple of bags, mum and I jumped a cab back to "Fespa" the name of the units. It seems they're a share house setup, but we didn't hear any noisy students or anything. After some strawberries and cheese and crackers, we all turned in. I stayed up a little longer and watched some TV shows, before finding out the charger for the netbook has gone bust, so I can't charge it.
The next morning, I woke up early and went for a walk. Right next to the block of flats was a car park. It was cool in the fact that it was filled with drift cars. Heaps of C35 Laurels, a few skylines, S12 silvia (gazelle), AE86, and a few other bits and pieces. then I wandered through the bamboo forest and took pictures and stuff. It was really quiet, and pretty, but damn that wind was cold. On making it back to the sharehouse, Whitney and Amber had only just gotten up, so it took a little more time before we were all fed and ready to go. The destination for the morning was the Arashiyama Monkey park. We grabbed the Hankyu subway train to the nearest station the wandered around before my camera decided it didn't want to play ball. The walk up the mountain was tiring. These monkeys better be worth my knees being shot... The monkey were ok. They still wild, so it's not like you can go pat them, plus scenes from Outbreak came to my head, so I didn't even feel like buying a bag of apples to feed them with. We stayed for a while, then made our way down. Fortunately, it was a bit quicker, but Whitney's legs were now jelly. We walked back to the station then got a train towards Kawaramachi/Shijo. After grabbing some lunch at Takashimaya (Whitney was getting low), we started walking toward the Disney store. On the way we found a couple of sisters and a brother doing public witnessing, so we stopped briefly, said hello then kept going. While Whitney and Amber pottered around the Disney store, Mum and I tried to find somewhere to sit. Then we headed to Gion.
For those who haven't been paying attention, Gion is the districts famed for the geishas. No, they're not prossies, they're entertainers, who perform dances and tea ceremonies. We walked through for a bit, taking pictures of the old streets and buildings. We'd seen it before, but wanted to show Amber. Lots of people dress up when they come to Kyoto. Girls in Kimonos, Guys in the traditional Japanese robe, but if you don't have them, you can always hire them, as quite a few places advertised. We walked around a bit, but we decided to taxi it back to Nishiki Markets, as it was a good 3km walk. When we got back to Nishiki, I found the nearest camera shop to see if they could help me with my camera (a Ricoh KR-5 film SLR), but they said it was stuffed, and they would have to send it back to Ricoh to repair. So I walked out a little despondent. After finding the girls, we walked back to Takashimaya and grabbed some cake. Mine was a lemon cheese cake. We jumped a subway back to our nearest station (Higashi-Mukomachi) and grabbed some dinner. The previous night, I had seen a gyoza chain, so I pointed us in that direction. I got a kimchi and pork and beer for the princely sum of 880Y. I think all of us were fed for about 3200Y, so that was nice. We stopped at the 7-11 for some breakfast supplies, then caught a taxi back to the unit. All up we walked over 25000 steps, but that didn't take into account the stairs at the monkey mountain. The next day we were heading to Himeji, so we turned in about 9pm.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
A post more interesting than the day
We had planned to get the 8:30 train, but due to the train being full we had to wait until 9:30. Not ideal, but it gave us time to get a coffee and sit. We set off as per schedule, but compared to the Super Hokuto from Shin-Hakodate to Sapporo a couple of days before, this one seemed to be super bumpy, so we were all feeling slightly nauseous by the time we reached Shin-Hakodate to change to the bullet train. Also, it's hella long. Fairly scenic as you pass by mountains, the coastline and other bits, but nearly 4 hours on a train is annoying when it's noisy, and bumpy.
Once we changed trains, I got a bento and a whiskey and soda, and booked our night's accommodation before I decided to fall asleep, as its really hard to photograph things when they're whizzing by at 300km/h or so. I only slept for about an hour though, so it was around Mori when I woke up. Then I typed up the previous 5 days post, That was it until we got to Tokyo.
We weren't quite hungry yet, but decided to hang around Yaesu mall. Whitney and Amber headed to Lush, while Mum and I headed to Liquors Hasegawa. I couldn't get any wifi signal (Whit had the pocket wifi) so I couldn't see what I previously tried. Plus I just wasn't feeling it. I tried a rather lacklustre Bunnahabhain, before we ran out of time. We decided to walk back to Bubby's. It's a little expensive, but I do love their apple pie. and their cherry pie... We got some dinner before ordering dessert though, and soon I was starting to get tired because of food digesting.
We meandered our way back to the Marunouchi side of Tokyo, and caught the subways to Jimbocho. I could walk this in my sleep, as this would be the 5th or 6th time we've stayed at the Sakura. Clean, comfortable, and accessible. We got our room (Room 304 again, I'd recognise that iron burn mark on the carpet anywhere.) . We showered, repacked bags, then crashed out for the night.
Once we changed trains, I got a bento and a whiskey and soda, and booked our night's accommodation before I decided to fall asleep, as its really hard to photograph things when they're whizzing by at 300km/h or so. I only slept for about an hour though, so it was around Mori when I woke up. Then I typed up the previous 5 days post, That was it until we got to Tokyo.
We weren't quite hungry yet, but decided to hang around Yaesu mall. Whitney and Amber headed to Lush, while Mum and I headed to Liquors Hasegawa. I couldn't get any wifi signal (Whit had the pocket wifi) so I couldn't see what I previously tried. Plus I just wasn't feeling it. I tried a rather lacklustre Bunnahabhain, before we ran out of time. We decided to walk back to Bubby's. It's a little expensive, but I do love their apple pie. and their cherry pie... We got some dinner before ordering dessert though, and soon I was starting to get tired because of food digesting.
We meandered our way back to the Marunouchi side of Tokyo, and caught the subways to Jimbocho. I could walk this in my sleep, as this would be the 5th or 6th time we've stayed at the Sakura. Clean, comfortable, and accessible. We got our room (Room 304 again, I'd recognise that iron burn mark on the carpet anywhere.) . We showered, repacked bags, then crashed out for the night.
Monday, March 6, 2017
5 day catch up
So I had hoped to do a post a day, but it's easier just to do a big post.
Ok, so on Wednesday morning, we woke up, packed up our futons at the Airbnb we stayed at, and went to Tokyo station. Breakfast was Tullys before grabbing an Ekiben (train bento) for the shinkansen and ride up to Sapporo. It was a long train ride. The mainland part is ok, because although it's 3 hours, the shinkansen trains are comfortable and go at a quick rate. The Super Hokuto train from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto to Sapporo was a lot slower. It was close to 4 hours, but as it was gettin dark, all of us fell asleep for some of the journey before arriving around 18:40 in Sapporo.
Whitney and I made quick trip to Yodobashi Camera to see if they had some sim card adapters for her Nanosim, as her phone had died. Whitney, Amber and I piled into a taxi to take all the bags to the next accommodation before meeting Mum back at the station. We walked a little, before deciding on a place that looked ok. I got steak and garlic toast, Mum and Whitney got something or other, but Amber ordered the pasta. Which would have been fine, if the waitress hadn't forgotten to put it on the order! We waited for nearly an hour and a half before Amber finally got her meal which is pretty poor form. After that we were all knackered so we headed back to the apartment and crashed.
The next day I had a simple plan. Get to the station, then hop on a bus to go snowboarding. Which I did. I went to Sapporo Teine ski-jo, which is about 45 mins out from Sapporo. After getting dropped off at the Highland area, I got my hire board, and got changed. To say I was a little nervous would be an understatement. It's been 2 years since I've been snowboarding, and the last time it ended with a knee op. This time, I was in an unfamiliar terrain, didn't have my besty there to snowboard with me and my knee was already a little sore from lugging bags up and down stairs. So I took it easy. No off-piste and nothing too fast. I explored all over the mountain, had lunch then went and got my camera out. I'm still learning the basics of photography, so I thought I should just take pictures and see how I go. I'm sure there will be plenty of over-exposed shots, but I won't know until I get the film developed and processed. I snowboarded until 4pm, before packing up and going downstairs to wait for the bus. I arrived back at 5:30, found my way back to the apartment and crashed for a while. Dinner consisted of Yoshinoya, then we walked to Donki. It was about 10 blocks, but when we got there, I couldn't think of what I wanted (beanie, gloves) so we left and walked back to the room via a covered arcade.
Friday saw the girls wanting to go to the Music Box museum in Otaru, about 40 mins away. Although I love miniatures and things, the tinkling of the music boxes would have driven me insane, so I jumped on a train 25 minutes further out and went to the Nikka Whiskey distillery in Yoichi. I stayed about 2 hours, checking out the various bits and the Whiskey Museum before having a sample. Then I caught the train back to Otaru where I met up with the others. For the afternoon, we hired a kei car (Honda N-One), then drove north. Our destination was Sounkyo Onsen, where there is a ice fall festival with ice sculptures and lighting and things. It was about 200km, but I took it easy. The sun was setting just as we were headed up the mountain, then things got spastic! On getting to Sounkyo, the weather in the mountains had changed and there was a flipping blizzard making it hard to see, let alone drive. We stopped at the 7-11, as I needed a beanie and gloves still, and everyone changed into their snow gear. This took ages (the Honda is pretty small, so hard to change in), then we drove toward where the Ice festival was. I dropped off the girls near the gate, while I went to look for a car park. In the meantime, the wind was blowing sideways and you could barely see. I parked the car, met up with the girls, til there was a unanimous "Oh hell no". Mum had left her wallet in the car, so didn't have the money for the entry (only 300Y), but the conditions were unpleasant enough to make everyone say that it was a very bad idea.
We were all a bit bummed out, as it was one of the things we really wanted to do on Hokkaido, but it would have been madness to continue. We drove the 60km back to Asahikawa where we had booked a hotel for the night. We checked in, got ourselves sorted then went looking for food. After walking about 200m we found a yakiniku places, and as the smell was rather tempting, we went in. Much meat was had, before heading back to the hotel via a combini for pudding.
Saturday, we had a slowish start. We had a buffet breakfast, so ate rather well, before hitting the road for Furano. Furano was the town we had stayed in 9 years ago on our first trip to Japan, so it holds a lot of good memories. We got there around 10:45, but Ningle Terrace (an artists village near the New Furano Prince Hotel) didn't open until 12, so we pottered around the hotel souvenir shop for a while,, grabbing some trinkets. When it finally opened, we had a look at all the little art things. Some of them are really cool, however, with them being made of wood, we can't take them back to Australia. We did stop at the silversmiths cottage where Mum got another snowflake necklace. She got one on our first trip, but lost it last year and was rather miffed. So when the opportunity to get another one arose, She jumped at the chance. Amber and Whitney also bought some candles, before we headed off about 1pm for the cheese factory. This place has got great pizzas, so that was our lunch. A quick trip back to the Prince hotel for a couple more souvenirs before we started heading back to Sapporo, as I had to return the car by 6pm. The route we took was rather scenic. There were mountains, valleys, plains and towns. We got back at a good time, so I dropped the girls off and returned the hire car. Dinner was straight downstairs from the apartment. An old lady making curry soup. It was delectable, and we were the only ones in the shop. We were all knackered again, so we went back upstairs, ate the cake I had bought on the way back from dropping the car off then headed for bed.
Sunday's plan had us heading to Rusutsu. I wanted to go snowboarding, Whitney and Amber wanted to go horse riding, and mum came along just because. The bus left Sapporo at 8am, so we rushed to the bus stop, got some breakfast from Lawson's, then got on the bus. The actual distance to Rusutsu is only about 60km, but took nearly 2 hours once we made it past the city traffic, and up mountain roads. I quickly lost the others when I went to get changed, so got my lift ticket, ran the rabbit warren and got my hire board. I started on the West Mountain as that's where the nearest lift was. The problem with western mountains is that they get the morning sun, so they get a crust on the snow. It's not hard to ride, but not that good either, so after 1 run, I caught the gondola to East Mt and Mt Isola. These were much better, with more shadow leaving the snow softer. I was still a bit apprehensive, as some shocks still made my knee hurt, but before too long, I was skirting around trees and heading off-piste. I said I wouldn't but I must have been a dog in a previous life, as I love playing in the trees. I spent the next 4 hours or so on that side. There was one time where I started running low on energy and had a couple of bails before I went to Steamboat Cafe and fuelled up with Miso Ramen and beer. I only about an hour until my pass ran our (I got a 4hour pass), so I did as many runs as I could. The pass ran out at 2:28, so when I found myself at the bottom near the lifts at 2:25, I pushed my luck and grabbed another. I should have got a better lift, as the single chair lift took me to the top of a green run. It was probably for the best anyway, as by this time, it had started snowing heavily, and it was hard to make out the contours of the run. I made it down the bottom, before catching the gondola back across to the hotel.
It was still a couple of hours before the bus left, and although I had planned to have an onsen, it didn't happen and the time seemed to vanish anyway. The bus trip back wasn't as long, but with all of us tired, we slept quite a bit of the way. Once back in Sapporo, we caught a taxi to the Sapporo Beer Garden, as there was a Jingisukan place (lamb BBQ). It was quite pretty, and we ate a stack of meat (perfect for rebuilding muscle) and came out with our clothes smelling like smokey lamb. As we were planning on catching the 8:30 train the next morning, we packed up a lot of our stuff, and then hit the mattress.
Ok, so on Wednesday morning, we woke up, packed up our futons at the Airbnb we stayed at, and went to Tokyo station. Breakfast was Tullys before grabbing an Ekiben (train bento) for the shinkansen and ride up to Sapporo. It was a long train ride. The mainland part is ok, because although it's 3 hours, the shinkansen trains are comfortable and go at a quick rate. The Super Hokuto train from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto to Sapporo was a lot slower. It was close to 4 hours, but as it was gettin dark, all of us fell asleep for some of the journey before arriving around 18:40 in Sapporo.
Whitney and I made quick trip to Yodobashi Camera to see if they had some sim card adapters for her Nanosim, as her phone had died. Whitney, Amber and I piled into a taxi to take all the bags to the next accommodation before meeting Mum back at the station. We walked a little, before deciding on a place that looked ok. I got steak and garlic toast, Mum and Whitney got something or other, but Amber ordered the pasta. Which would have been fine, if the waitress hadn't forgotten to put it on the order! We waited for nearly an hour and a half before Amber finally got her meal which is pretty poor form. After that we were all knackered so we headed back to the apartment and crashed.
The next day I had a simple plan. Get to the station, then hop on a bus to go snowboarding. Which I did. I went to Sapporo Teine ski-jo, which is about 45 mins out from Sapporo. After getting dropped off at the Highland area, I got my hire board, and got changed. To say I was a little nervous would be an understatement. It's been 2 years since I've been snowboarding, and the last time it ended with a knee op. This time, I was in an unfamiliar terrain, didn't have my besty there to snowboard with me and my knee was already a little sore from lugging bags up and down stairs. So I took it easy. No off-piste and nothing too fast. I explored all over the mountain, had lunch then went and got my camera out. I'm still learning the basics of photography, so I thought I should just take pictures and see how I go. I'm sure there will be plenty of over-exposed shots, but I won't know until I get the film developed and processed. I snowboarded until 4pm, before packing up and going downstairs to wait for the bus. I arrived back at 5:30, found my way back to the apartment and crashed for a while. Dinner consisted of Yoshinoya, then we walked to Donki. It was about 10 blocks, but when we got there, I couldn't think of what I wanted (beanie, gloves) so we left and walked back to the room via a covered arcade.
Friday saw the girls wanting to go to the Music Box museum in Otaru, about 40 mins away. Although I love miniatures and things, the tinkling of the music boxes would have driven me insane, so I jumped on a train 25 minutes further out and went to the Nikka Whiskey distillery in Yoichi. I stayed about 2 hours, checking out the various bits and the Whiskey Museum before having a sample. Then I caught the train back to Otaru where I met up with the others. For the afternoon, we hired a kei car (Honda N-One), then drove north. Our destination was Sounkyo Onsen, where there is a ice fall festival with ice sculptures and lighting and things. It was about 200km, but I took it easy. The sun was setting just as we were headed up the mountain, then things got spastic! On getting to Sounkyo, the weather in the mountains had changed and there was a flipping blizzard making it hard to see, let alone drive. We stopped at the 7-11, as I needed a beanie and gloves still, and everyone changed into their snow gear. This took ages (the Honda is pretty small, so hard to change in), then we drove toward where the Ice festival was. I dropped off the girls near the gate, while I went to look for a car park. In the meantime, the wind was blowing sideways and you could barely see. I parked the car, met up with the girls, til there was a unanimous "Oh hell no". Mum had left her wallet in the car, so didn't have the money for the entry (only 300Y), but the conditions were unpleasant enough to make everyone say that it was a very bad idea.
We were all a bit bummed out, as it was one of the things we really wanted to do on Hokkaido, but it would have been madness to continue. We drove the 60km back to Asahikawa where we had booked a hotel for the night. We checked in, got ourselves sorted then went looking for food. After walking about 200m we found a yakiniku places, and as the smell was rather tempting, we went in. Much meat was had, before heading back to the hotel via a combini for pudding.
Saturday, we had a slowish start. We had a buffet breakfast, so ate rather well, before hitting the road for Furano. Furano was the town we had stayed in 9 years ago on our first trip to Japan, so it holds a lot of good memories. We got there around 10:45, but Ningle Terrace (an artists village near the New Furano Prince Hotel) didn't open until 12, so we pottered around the hotel souvenir shop for a while,, grabbing some trinkets. When it finally opened, we had a look at all the little art things. Some of them are really cool, however, with them being made of wood, we can't take them back to Australia. We did stop at the silversmiths cottage where Mum got another snowflake necklace. She got one on our first trip, but lost it last year and was rather miffed. So when the opportunity to get another one arose, She jumped at the chance. Amber and Whitney also bought some candles, before we headed off about 1pm for the cheese factory. This place has got great pizzas, so that was our lunch. A quick trip back to the Prince hotel for a couple more souvenirs before we started heading back to Sapporo, as I had to return the car by 6pm. The route we took was rather scenic. There were mountains, valleys, plains and towns. We got back at a good time, so I dropped the girls off and returned the hire car. Dinner was straight downstairs from the apartment. An old lady making curry soup. It was delectable, and we were the only ones in the shop. We were all knackered again, so we went back upstairs, ate the cake I had bought on the way back from dropping the car off then headed for bed.
Sunday's plan had us heading to Rusutsu. I wanted to go snowboarding, Whitney and Amber wanted to go horse riding, and mum came along just because. The bus left Sapporo at 8am, so we rushed to the bus stop, got some breakfast from Lawson's, then got on the bus. The actual distance to Rusutsu is only about 60km, but took nearly 2 hours once we made it past the city traffic, and up mountain roads. I quickly lost the others when I went to get changed, so got my lift ticket, ran the rabbit warren and got my hire board. I started on the West Mountain as that's where the nearest lift was. The problem with western mountains is that they get the morning sun, so they get a crust on the snow. It's not hard to ride, but not that good either, so after 1 run, I caught the gondola to East Mt and Mt Isola. These were much better, with more shadow leaving the snow softer. I was still a bit apprehensive, as some shocks still made my knee hurt, but before too long, I was skirting around trees and heading off-piste. I said I wouldn't but I must have been a dog in a previous life, as I love playing in the trees. I spent the next 4 hours or so on that side. There was one time where I started running low on energy and had a couple of bails before I went to Steamboat Cafe and fuelled up with Miso Ramen and beer. I only about an hour until my pass ran our (I got a 4hour pass), so I did as many runs as I could. The pass ran out at 2:28, so when I found myself at the bottom near the lifts at 2:25, I pushed my luck and grabbed another. I should have got a better lift, as the single chair lift took me to the top of a green run. It was probably for the best anyway, as by this time, it had started snowing heavily, and it was hard to make out the contours of the run. I made it down the bottom, before catching the gondola back across to the hotel.
It was still a couple of hours before the bus left, and although I had planned to have an onsen, it didn't happen and the time seemed to vanish anyway. The bus trip back wasn't as long, but with all of us tired, we slept quite a bit of the way. Once back in Sapporo, we caught a taxi to the Sapporo Beer Garden, as there was a Jingisukan place (lamb BBQ). It was quite pretty, and we ate a stack of meat (perfect for rebuilding muscle) and came out with our clothes smelling like smokey lamb. As we were planning on catching the 8:30 train the next morning, we packed up a lot of our stuff, and then hit the mattress.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Just a wee bit rusty
Forgive me blogger, it's been 4 years since my last post...
Another year, another trip to Japan. It's a curse. I'm doomed to come back here....
After 6 trips using Jetstar, we got annoyed with it, so we decided to go Qantas. I tell you, for the extra $100 it was worth it (I've previously paid up to $680 after you add baggage. You get into Narita at 6pm, you get fed, and the service is better.
Really not much to write about. We jumped on a plane, after Amber was seen off by her family/relatives. Landed, got through customs, got the pocket wifi, got on a bus and got to Tokyo station. Took a taxi to the airbnb (it's straight across the street from a hotel, so I just told the taxi driver the hotel address) then dropped our bags and went for ramen. The only drama we had was not being able to get into the mailbox but that's because I was tired and misread the combination lock numbers. After dinner, we headed to Donki, but soon after getting there we were hit by tiredness, so we headed back and it the wheat sack..
Another year, another trip to Japan. It's a curse. I'm doomed to come back here....
After 6 trips using Jetstar, we got annoyed with it, so we decided to go Qantas. I tell you, for the extra $100 it was worth it (I've previously paid up to $680 after you add baggage. You get into Narita at 6pm, you get fed, and the service is better.
Really not much to write about. We jumped on a plane, after Amber was seen off by her family/relatives. Landed, got through customs, got the pocket wifi, got on a bus and got to Tokyo station. Took a taxi to the airbnb (it's straight across the street from a hotel, so I just told the taxi driver the hotel address) then dropped our bags and went for ramen. The only drama we had was not being able to get into the mailbox but that's because I was tired and misread the combination lock numbers. After dinner, we headed to Donki, but soon after getting there we were hit by tiredness, so we headed back and it the wheat sack..
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Seriously, what were you thinking??
It was the Monday we were due to fly out. So Dean and I did what any sane person would do... Hop on a early morning Shinkansen and go snowboarding for a few hours.
Typically, on the day we're due to fly out, the routine is:
1. Wake up.
2. Pack bags.
3. Go for breakfast
4. Go back to hotel
5. Check out, but leave bags at hotel
6. Mope around Yaesu for a few hours, shopping and eating, whilst wishing it wasn't our last day.
7. Get on train/bus back to airport.
I wasn't having it this time. I'd lost a few days snowboarding, due to Dean being sick and trying to teach the unmotivated, so on coming home from the Alice Cafe the night before, I stopped into the ticket office at JR Shinagawa and bought 2package tickets for Dean and I to go to Gala Yuzawa. This meant packing up the night before, and waking up early, sticking our bags in storage, and heading out at 6am to get the right train and Shinkansen. We arrived just as Gala Yuzawa was opening, but we were starving. None of the main eateries were open yet, so we grabbed some munchies from the conbini, and set up our boards.
It turned out to be awesome way to spend the day. The snow was falling lightly, and despite some of the lifts being shut/slowed because of wind, Dean and I were having a ball. Playing around in trees, skirting powder banks and such. I just wish we had more time, because I knew to get back in time for the airport bus, we needed to be at the train station at 1pm. Was it worth it, spending a couple of hundred dollars for a few hours sliding on snow? Hells yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. It sure beat sitting around waiting for the inevitable.
We packed up our boards at 12.30 and got ready for the trip back. As soon as the bullet train came into the station (on-time of course), we found our seats and relaxed. We had a couple of beers and chilled, knowing that this would be our last trip for some time. I suppose the fun help balance out the morose-ness of the day.
We made it back to Shinagawa in a decent enough time, and I immediately had to switch back in to task master mode, as everyone was dragging the chain, and to get to the airport with enough time to check in required us to be on the 3.30 bus. Once all the troops were coralled we booked our tickets and waited.
Secretly, I was hoping for a message from Jetstar saying our flight had been cancelled like last year, but it never came, so things went according to plan. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so after checking in, we made our way upstairs for a feed. We then went through customs, leaving ourselves enough time to check out the duty free shops. Dean and I were starting to feel the effects of the day (early start, lots of spent energy), so by the time we had got some magazines and water and stuff, we had a quick beer before settling on to the plane for a night of bad sleep and DVT.
Not much to tell after that. We arrived in Coolangatta on time, and after saying goodbye to Paul and Zoe, I went and got the rental car to take us home. Everyone else besides me never sleep very well on planes, so after driving for about 15 mins everyone was out like a light while we drove back to Brisbane.
We ended up getting stuck in traffic for a while, so by the time we were past it, everyone was feeling hungry. We stopped in Sunnybank to get some cheap food, before heading home where I crashed out for a few hours to catch up.
So where does this leave me? 5 months later, wanting to go again. I know I shouldn't, that I should save so I can make it to Europe somewhere in this lifetime, but like a siren luring me to financial ruin, the snow is calling me.
Typically, on the day we're due to fly out, the routine is:
1. Wake up.
2. Pack bags.
3. Go for breakfast
4. Go back to hotel
5. Check out, but leave bags at hotel
6. Mope around Yaesu for a few hours, shopping and eating, whilst wishing it wasn't our last day.
7. Get on train/bus back to airport.
I wasn't having it this time. I'd lost a few days snowboarding, due to Dean being sick and trying to teach the unmotivated, so on coming home from the Alice Cafe the night before, I stopped into the ticket office at JR Shinagawa and bought 2package tickets for Dean and I to go to Gala Yuzawa. This meant packing up the night before, and waking up early, sticking our bags in storage, and heading out at 6am to get the right train and Shinkansen. We arrived just as Gala Yuzawa was opening, but we were starving. None of the main eateries were open yet, so we grabbed some munchies from the conbini, and set up our boards.
It turned out to be awesome way to spend the day. The snow was falling lightly, and despite some of the lifts being shut/slowed because of wind, Dean and I were having a ball. Playing around in trees, skirting powder banks and such. I just wish we had more time, because I knew to get back in time for the airport bus, we needed to be at the train station at 1pm. Was it worth it, spending a couple of hundred dollars for a few hours sliding on snow? Hells yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. It sure beat sitting around waiting for the inevitable.
We packed up our boards at 12.30 and got ready for the trip back. As soon as the bullet train came into the station (on-time of course), we found our seats and relaxed. We had a couple of beers and chilled, knowing that this would be our last trip for some time. I suppose the fun help balance out the morose-ness of the day.
We made it back to Shinagawa in a decent enough time, and I immediately had to switch back in to task master mode, as everyone was dragging the chain, and to get to the airport with enough time to check in required us to be on the 3.30 bus. Once all the troops were coralled we booked our tickets and waited.
Secretly, I was hoping for a message from Jetstar saying our flight had been cancelled like last year, but it never came, so things went according to plan. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so after checking in, we made our way upstairs for a feed. We then went through customs, leaving ourselves enough time to check out the duty free shops. Dean and I were starting to feel the effects of the day (early start, lots of spent energy), so by the time we had got some magazines and water and stuff, we had a quick beer before settling on to the plane for a night of bad sleep and DVT.
Not much to tell after that. We arrived in Coolangatta on time, and after saying goodbye to Paul and Zoe, I went and got the rental car to take us home. Everyone else besides me never sleep very well on planes, so after driving for about 15 mins everyone was out like a light while we drove back to Brisbane.
We ended up getting stuck in traffic for a while, so by the time we were past it, everyone was feeling hungry. We stopped in Sunnybank to get some cheap food, before heading home where I crashed out for a few hours to catch up.
So where does this leave me? 5 months later, wanting to go again. I know I shouldn't, that I should save so I can make it to Europe somewhere in this lifetime, but like a siren luring me to financial ruin, the snow is calling me.
End of the tethers...
So it had gotten to the Sunday before we were going to leave. But we needed some space, after having been with other people for nearly 3 weeks.
Paul and Zoe weren't use to our pace and just wanted to sleep in/hotel bludge. We (my family and I) wanted to hit up Yaesu, as we hadn't really been, due to staying in another part of the city. I think that's one thing I'd do if I came again... stay closer to Tokyo station. I like knowing the area, the eateries and such. Over in Shinagawa, there isn't that much to eat for the traveller, unless you feel like staying at your hotel to eat. Anyway, we pottered around Yaesu, including our favourite bottle shop. We had intended on staying dry, but when time slipped away and we knew we wouldn't be getting back in time for the meeting, we decided to sample things. I ended up buying a 30 yo bottle of scotch, and 17yo cognac, to add to my already purchased 14yo Clynnelish.
By the time we were done shopping, it was getting on to 3pm, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, before heading out to dinner/dessert at the Alice Cafe. This also included another trip to Donki, as Zoe had some more stuff she wanted to get, and we had wanted to get some more things as well.
The Alice Cafe was a surreal place. It was a Japanese combination of the Disney 1960's version (with some of the songs playing of the stereo) and the Tim Burton version. The waitresses were dressed in blue alice dresses, while the menu had Alice themed drinks and desserts. There was a cover charge to go in, but the food and drinks weren't badly priced, and it was something different that we'd not done before. It's really hard to describe all the features (plus I'm writing this 5 months down the track..) but it was a pretty cool way to end our trip... Or was it...
Paul and Zoe weren't use to our pace and just wanted to sleep in/hotel bludge. We (my family and I) wanted to hit up Yaesu, as we hadn't really been, due to staying in another part of the city. I think that's one thing I'd do if I came again... stay closer to Tokyo station. I like knowing the area, the eateries and such. Over in Shinagawa, there isn't that much to eat for the traveller, unless you feel like staying at your hotel to eat. Anyway, we pottered around Yaesu, including our favourite bottle shop. We had intended on staying dry, but when time slipped away and we knew we wouldn't be getting back in time for the meeting, we decided to sample things. I ended up buying a 30 yo bottle of scotch, and 17yo cognac, to add to my already purchased 14yo Clynnelish.
By the time we were done shopping, it was getting on to 3pm, so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, before heading out to dinner/dessert at the Alice Cafe. This also included another trip to Donki, as Zoe had some more stuff she wanted to get, and we had wanted to get some more things as well.
The Alice Cafe was a surreal place. It was a Japanese combination of the Disney 1960's version (with some of the songs playing of the stereo) and the Tim Burton version. The waitresses were dressed in blue alice dresses, while the menu had Alice themed drinks and desserts. There was a cover charge to go in, but the food and drinks weren't badly priced, and it was something different that we'd not done before. It's really hard to describe all the features (plus I'm writing this 5 months down the track..) but it was a pretty cool way to end our trip... Or was it...
Spending too much money
After yesterday's failed attempt to get to UT, I jumped on the Uniqlo website and found they had opened a flagship store in Ginza, where UT stuff was now housed. This would work in well with our plans, as we had decided to go to the Alice Cafe (Alice in Wonderland themed cafe) and Donki on Saturday, as well as make our way back to Odaiba, seeing as we hadn't got to see it on Thursday.
After marshalling the troops and setting off, we walked through the New Takanawa to the road leading down to the station. The wind was up this morning, so we were doing our best to keep out of it. Whitney made the executive decision to take breakfast at Royal Host, a chain restaurant. Turns out it was a good choice with Eggs Benedict for 819Y inc drink. A few of us got this, only Dean went different with French Toast with maple syrup.
After we were suitably fueled, we marched on towards the station. We weren't going to make as many trips today, so we just grabbed some solo tickets and headed for Shimbashi. I had noted where Donki was, but had only semi-noted where the Uniqlo flagship store and the Alice Cafe were. I knew all three were not far from each other, but I probably should have got the specifics more than I usually do.
We started walking north along one of the streets. It was running in the right direction, but you could hardly expect a flagship store to be on a narrow back street. We took a punt and headed left, which took us towards Nishi-ginza, but at least it allowed us to find an area map. I had remembered from my searchings that they were more towards Chuo-dori, which was about 2 blocks to the east, so we found the nearest side street to go down. All of a sudden Zoe went sponge bob mode. There was a shoe store from one of her favourite designers, and she wanted to go look in, but it was "only" 10:30 on a Saturday morning, so not open yet.
After spotting the Uniqlo sign, we headed the half a block there, and it was definitely a very big store. 12 levels of well priced shirts, shorts, pants jeans and stuff. I ended up spending quite a bit of money, getting 2 pairs of jeans (really comfy denim) and about 7 shirts. I think I don't mind, because it all fits, it's all full cotton (I hate polyester) and I can walk down the street in Australia knowing that there is a very high likelihood that I won't see someone with the same shirt on.
One thing I do have to mention is the toilets at Uniqlo. I've gotten quite used to the shower toilets and wish I had one at home, but this thing had extras. Not the games found in the urinals at Odaiba, but this one had sensors and everything. When you walked in, the lid automatically opened (closing when you flushed and walked away). It had more shower and bidet modes than I've seen, and had large, small and eco flush, which would be great if your water rates bill was too high. Ok, so it doesn't sound that impressive on screen/paper, but I'm sure this one would have shot up a water and lights show if you programmed it.
After we were suitably fueled, we marched on towards the station. We weren't going to make as many trips today, so we just grabbed some solo tickets and headed for Shimbashi. I had noted where Donki was, but had only semi-noted where the Uniqlo flagship store and the Alice Cafe were. I knew all three were not far from each other, but I probably should have got the specifics more than I usually do.
We started walking north along one of the streets. It was running in the right direction, but you could hardly expect a flagship store to be on a narrow back street. We took a punt and headed left, which took us towards Nishi-ginza, but at least it allowed us to find an area map. I had remembered from my searchings that they were more towards Chuo-dori, which was about 2 blocks to the east, so we found the nearest side street to go down. All of a sudden Zoe went sponge bob mode. There was a shoe store from one of her favourite designers, and she wanted to go look in, but it was "only" 10:30 on a Saturday morning, so not open yet.
After spotting the Uniqlo sign, we headed the half a block there, and it was definitely a very big store. 12 levels of well priced shirts, shorts, pants jeans and stuff. I ended up spending quite a bit of money, getting 2 pairs of jeans (really comfy denim) and about 7 shirts. I think I don't mind, because it all fits, it's all full cotton (I hate polyester) and I can walk down the street in Australia knowing that there is a very high likelihood that I won't see someone with the same shirt on.
One thing I do have to mention is the toilets at Uniqlo. I've gotten quite used to the shower toilets and wish I had one at home, but this thing had extras. Not the games found in the urinals at Odaiba, but this one had sensors and everything. When you walked in, the lid automatically opened (closing when you flushed and walked away). It had more shower and bidet modes than I've seen, and had large, small and eco flush, which would be great if your water rates bill was too high. Ok, so it doesn't sound that impressive on screen/paper, but I'm sure this one would have shot up a water and lights show if you programmed it.
After looking around for a while and buying what I wanted, I went outside. It seems, even though it's a main thoroughfare, on Saturdays during the day, they shut down the street and put seats in the middle of the road, which is heaven sent if your a guy and your girl is being a bumble bee shopper. Paul and I were out there for a while waiting for the others, when Zoe popped out next. I told them to go visit the shoe shop while we were waiting and I'd bring the others down to meet them. In the meantime, I asked one of the helpful sales staff at Uniqlo if she knew where the Alice Cafe was, as it's quite popular. She didn't know, but went inside and grabbed her tablet and looked it up for me. Turns out, it was 2 blocks in the direction that we needed to go to head back to Donki.
We walked back towards the corner of our block and met up with Paul and Zoe, who had finished looking at the shoe shop. I half expected to see a bag under Zoe's arm, but still wouldn't be able to fathom, who in their right mind, would pay massive amounts of money for a pair of shoes. We walked a couple of blocks down before I spotted the sign. Fortunately I can read hiragana and katakana quite easily (and some kanji), because if you weren't able to, you would miss this place entirely. We got the lift up to the 5th Floor, but it was closed. We checked out the opening times on a flyer out the front, but it said they didn't open until 5pm, so we decided to come back later.
After walking to the end of the block, we found another big toy store. One thing I've wanted to do, but never have while in Japan is get some fireworks/crackers. They are legal and available in Japan, but I never seem to see them. We walked around the toy store for a while. There were some cool toys, but not that much I hadn't seen the day before at KiddyLand, when Mum told me she found the fireworks. I immediately went looking for them, but didn't find them. I don't know what it is about mothers. Ever since I was young, she's been constantly thwarting my efforts to set things alight, set things off or generally be a pyromaniac. It started with confiscating any lighters and matches I found when young and has progressed to not telling me exactly where the fireworks are. It's probably for the best though, as although I know you can let off fireworks, I'm not entirely sure where or when I'm allowed to do it. And I wouldn't want to be escorted out of the country for offending.
After departing from the toy shop, we headed for Donki. Now that I had my bearings, it was easy to find. We spent some time in there, with Mum, Dean and Zoe all buying suitcases, and the rest of us things to fill them with. We spent quite a while in there, but Dean was getting stroppy because of being hungry, so after finishing out purchases and bunging them in side the suitcases, we headed back to the Yurikamome train station and headed for Odaiba once again.
The train trip was different during the day. You could see a lot more detail and there were some cool things that would have been missed under the cover of darkness, but we got to see them during the day. We got the train to the Aomi stop, which was the closest one to the historic garage. It was getting on to about 2pm, so we were all getting hungry by this stage. After looking around Venus Fort quickly, we stopped at an Italian style place, with various pastas, pizzas and other stuff on offer, it would have been easy to fill up. However, we had planned on going back to the Alice Cafe later, so I didn't eat a heap.
Mum and Whitney weren't as interested about going to the Historic Garage as we were, so we left them in Venus Fort and headed towards the Toyota Megaweb, a massive car showroom. On the way though we stopped at the fountain. In Venus fort, the roof is closed in, and the "sky" changes with clouds, day and night, but over the fountain was something else. They had plenty of little chandeliers and LED drop lights, and it went through a 5-min sequence with music, showing stars twinkling, a meteorite/shooting star shower and stuff. It was really cool, but I didn't get any video of it (Dean and Zoe did though). We then walked out into the wind and went across to the Megaweb. It was cool for a showroom. It had nearly all the models there (most dealerships here only sell two or three specific models), a slow track you could test drive cars on, and a theatre and design studio. After looking around, it seems that the Historic Garage wasn't in the Megaweb, but actually under Venus Fort, so we headed back that way to find it. In the 1F outer section of Venus Fort, there is a ton of shops selling stuff to pamper your pooch. There were people with some nice looking collies, some ridiculous looking small dogs in prams and general insanity that comes with owning a canine.
We did find our way to the Historic Garage though, and although not quite the way I'd have an auto museum, it was pretty cool, and all for the princely sum of nothing. Yes, free entry, and they had a nice variety of cars, from classic japanese cars (including the gorgeous 2000GT) to the Toyota F1 car, old American cruisers and some quirky European cars, like a late 30's/early 40's Citroen. We walked around there for a while, before Mum and Whitney came up to meet us. Mum does like cars more than she lets on, so she didn't mind having a look around as well. We even got to take some pictures of us sitting in a 2-person Mescherschmitt (sp?) but it was good just to have a seat.
We walked around for a few more minutes before heading back towards the Gundam statue, which I had wanted to get some good pictures of, but by the time we meandered over there, it was dark, so the pictures didn't come out all that special. We got the nearest monorail thing back to Ginza to go to the Alice cafe, but upon arriving, we found it to be packed. Apparently it's so popular you need to book, so we booked for the following night, before setting off for somewhere to fill our stomachs. By this time, we were getting to the "can't think, too hungry" stage, so we stopped at Yoshinoya for a cheap feed before dragging our suitcases back to the hotel (yes we had been towing them all around Tokyo..).
More ice cream and an earlyish night, as we were all tired.
Sorry for taking 5 months to publish, but the doldrums set in after we came back. I'll get the Sunday up soon.
We walked back towards the corner of our block and met up with Paul and Zoe, who had finished looking at the shoe shop. I half expected to see a bag under Zoe's arm, but still wouldn't be able to fathom, who in their right mind, would pay massive amounts of money for a pair of shoes. We walked a couple of blocks down before I spotted the sign. Fortunately I can read hiragana and katakana quite easily (and some kanji), because if you weren't able to, you would miss this place entirely. We got the lift up to the 5th Floor, but it was closed. We checked out the opening times on a flyer out the front, but it said they didn't open until 5pm, so we decided to come back later.
After walking to the end of the block, we found another big toy store. One thing I've wanted to do, but never have while in Japan is get some fireworks/crackers. They are legal and available in Japan, but I never seem to see them. We walked around the toy store for a while. There were some cool toys, but not that much I hadn't seen the day before at KiddyLand, when Mum told me she found the fireworks. I immediately went looking for them, but didn't find them. I don't know what it is about mothers. Ever since I was young, she's been constantly thwarting my efforts to set things alight, set things off or generally be a pyromaniac. It started with confiscating any lighters and matches I found when young and has progressed to not telling me exactly where the fireworks are. It's probably for the best though, as although I know you can let off fireworks, I'm not entirely sure where or when I'm allowed to do it. And I wouldn't want to be escorted out of the country for offending.
After departing from the toy shop, we headed for Donki. Now that I had my bearings, it was easy to find. We spent some time in there, with Mum, Dean and Zoe all buying suitcases, and the rest of us things to fill them with. We spent quite a while in there, but Dean was getting stroppy because of being hungry, so after finishing out purchases and bunging them in side the suitcases, we headed back to the Yurikamome train station and headed for Odaiba once again.
The train trip was different during the day. You could see a lot more detail and there were some cool things that would have been missed under the cover of darkness, but we got to see them during the day. We got the train to the Aomi stop, which was the closest one to the historic garage. It was getting on to about 2pm, so we were all getting hungry by this stage. After looking around Venus Fort quickly, we stopped at an Italian style place, with various pastas, pizzas and other stuff on offer, it would have been easy to fill up. However, we had planned on going back to the Alice Cafe later, so I didn't eat a heap.
Mum and Whitney weren't as interested about going to the Historic Garage as we were, so we left them in Venus Fort and headed towards the Toyota Megaweb, a massive car showroom. On the way though we stopped at the fountain. In Venus fort, the roof is closed in, and the "sky" changes with clouds, day and night, but over the fountain was something else. They had plenty of little chandeliers and LED drop lights, and it went through a 5-min sequence with music, showing stars twinkling, a meteorite/shooting star shower and stuff. It was really cool, but I didn't get any video of it (Dean and Zoe did though). We then walked out into the wind and went across to the Megaweb. It was cool for a showroom. It had nearly all the models there (most dealerships here only sell two or three specific models), a slow track you could test drive cars on, and a theatre and design studio. After looking around, it seems that the Historic Garage wasn't in the Megaweb, but actually under Venus Fort, so we headed back that way to find it. In the 1F outer section of Venus Fort, there is a ton of shops selling stuff to pamper your pooch. There were people with some nice looking collies, some ridiculous looking small dogs in prams and general insanity that comes with owning a canine.
We did find our way to the Historic Garage though, and although not quite the way I'd have an auto museum, it was pretty cool, and all for the princely sum of nothing. Yes, free entry, and they had a nice variety of cars, from classic japanese cars (including the gorgeous 2000GT) to the Toyota F1 car, old American cruisers and some quirky European cars, like a late 30's/early 40's Citroen. We walked around there for a while, before Mum and Whitney came up to meet us. Mum does like cars more than she lets on, so she didn't mind having a look around as well. We even got to take some pictures of us sitting in a 2-person Mescherschmitt (sp?) but it was good just to have a seat.
We walked around for a few more minutes before heading back towards the Gundam statue, which I had wanted to get some good pictures of, but by the time we meandered over there, it was dark, so the pictures didn't come out all that special. We got the nearest monorail thing back to Ginza to go to the Alice cafe, but upon arriving, we found it to be packed. Apparently it's so popular you need to book, so we booked for the following night, before setting off for somewhere to fill our stomachs. By this time, we were getting to the "can't think, too hungry" stage, so we stopped at Yoshinoya for a cheap feed before dragging our suitcases back to the hotel (yes we had been towing them all around Tokyo..).
More ice cream and an earlyish night, as we were all tired.
Sorry for taking 5 months to publish, but the doldrums set in after we came back. I'll get the Sunday up soon.
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