Don't you hate it when you wake up with a sinking feeling? That's what Saturday was like, as it was to be our last day in Japan. I was up early, but the rest of the family decided to have a sleep in. This gave me time to watch some Saturday morning television with some crazy cartoons on TV Tokyo. I was watching a show called Penguin no Mondai or Penguin's trouble. This show has a penguin called Beckham (I'm not sure if he's robotic or not) but everytime he gets bonked on the head, he changes shape. They were playing a soccer game and this squirrel kept dropping his nuts which hit the penguin on the head, then he changed shape... Very confusing, especially if you didn't understand what they were saying.
Also saw a show called Rescue Force, which had a group of 5 people (3 guys, 2 girls) who are part of the police/fire/ambo's and they fight robotic monsters. Sort of like power rangers style, but it is meant for little kids. I didn't really care about the plot line (I couldn't understand it anyway), but the chick in the red suit was cute. Also, this show must have been sponsored by Nissan or something as the robot CG sequences show both a 350z and an X-trail getting encapsulated into the giant mecha taskforce robot..
About this time, everyone started to awake from their comatic sleep, and we got up and went to Johnathan's for breakfast. Johnathan's is similar to Denny's. Its a 24hr restaurant that serves food.... and beer. I only had a BLT, an OJ and a coffee. Food quality was good, nothing over the top fancy, but tasty and hit the spot.
We then headed towards Takashimaya - a swanky department store about 2 blocks from our hotel. They have doorman waiting to hail taxis for customers outside, De Beers jewellery and other boutique brands on the 1st floor and take up their own city block, as well as a seperate carpark, which in Tokyo means you've either been there for a long time, or you are ritzy and expensive. A little bit of A and B in this case. Having said that, unlike David Jones in Australia, Takashimaya have stuff that you would actually want to buy or give as gifts to people, not just expensive "educational" toys that kids wouldn't touch with in a pink fit.
We spent a little bit of time there before heading towards Tokyo station/Yaesu mall (again). Even though we've walked through this place numerous times on the way home or to the station, we kept find new things we hadn't seen. Also, we wanted to check out the price of Wii remotes. If the exchange rate was higher, they would have been a bargain (3640Y) but when the exchange rate is on the fritz, it ended up being the same price as we get them in Australia for.
Also checked out Daimaru department store, before deciding that we better pick up our stuff from the hotel and head towards the airport. Fortunately this time we had left ourselves with plenty of time to get there and look around, so after the 50min train ride to the Airport, we checked our baggage in (we must have been one of the first for our flight I reckon) and looked around upstairs. They have a wide range of shops at Narita terminal 2. I've never been to Terminal 1 (mostly for european/west bound airlines), but there is enough to look at and eat, at terminal 2 to keep you occupied for a few hours.
We eventually ate some japanese food, followed by a crepe.... gotta love the smell of crepes, chocolate sauce, strawberries and stuff. Did some more shopping then went through customs effortlessly.... Gotta also love jap efficiency.
We still had about an hour and a half til boarding, so we looked around at Duty-free shops. Had some good range, but didn't buy anything as it still requires you to spend money you probably don't have. Got on the flight tired but nearly teary-eyed, and said farewell. I hope its not too long before we go again. Japan is an awesome country and although I do feel a bit like an outsider when I'm there, I think that speaking the language would help that. Otherwise the convenience stores, car places, vending machines, abundance of beer/sake/alcohol and the snow make me want to spend a lot of time there.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Time flies when your having fun..
Just looked and I haven't posted since Thursdays events.
Well after running around Harajuku on Thursday, we decided that Dean and I needed to do something less emasculating than looking for clothes.
On Friday, we went looking at cars again. This time we headed for the Nissan Gallery in Ginza, and this time when we got out of the subway we didn't see any closed signs.... We saw a most beautiful specimen of the automotive kind... the new GT-R.. In bright red.... like the blood of your opponents after you slaughter them mercilessly.... I got to sit in it, and Dean took my picture, just for proof. They also had the new Fuga there. This thing is something we don't get in Australia, but would be nice if we did... A family size sedan with either a 3.5L V6 or a 4.5L V8 in RWD goodness. We walked around the corner and down the street to the Gallery Headquarters (the one we started at is like an annex) and we got to see the new Cube (I prefer the old one better), another awesomely hot GT-R and the new 370Z Fairlady. This car definately looks like a smaller package than the 350Z. The wheel base is smaller, the over hangs are less, and looks like a much better little package. Also saw a President, which is worth 9800000Y (about 150K in Australian monopoly money). Very stately, but still would rather buy 3 370Z's (they are 3600000Y) for the same amount.... or 1 GT-R and 2000000Y of mods...
After lolligagging around there for a few minutes, our next venture was Up Garage - A chain of used performance parts stores. Possibly not the closest one, but the easiest to get to was in Machida, in what you'd say was the Southwestern suburbs of Tokyo.. this thing is so southwest, that it nearly straddles the border of Yokohama in Kanagawa. We thought we better get some food for this expedition, so when we stopped at Shibuya to change trains, we headed to the department store (Tokyu) that sits atop our next intended train line. Like in previous posts, most department stores in Tokyo have a B1 and quite often a B2 floor dedicated to food. With the trains/subways being a major part of everyday life in Tokyo, it makes sense to have places situated on top of the train lines, where people can pick up the evening meal.
After walking around a little bit, we decided on a fried chicken and chips set for about 700Y. It was a very good feed, although it was a little cold by the time we ate on the train. One of the good things about heading to places that are off the beaten track for most tourists, is that you get to see a different side to the cities you visit. The metropolis of Tokyo keeps sprawling, although as you get further out, the homes get larger than the bedsit apartments that are often portrayed in the media.
While we were on the train it started snowing. This gave a change from the rain we had been experiencing for the last 4 days, but it was only brief, with the snow stopping/rain starting again before we arrived at our intended station - Minami-machida. Unfortunately, I hadn't written down where the shop was from the station, but knew it was near by. After walking around the Grandberry Plaza that sits next to the station, we got the girl at the information desk to find the directions and we were off. It was only about 5 minutes walk from the station, before we saw the yellow signs. We came around the corner and saw the cars inhabiting the car park. A few modified euro's, some jap cars... all with their own little flavour added.
We bound up our umbrellas and headed inside and where gobsmacked with the range. Starting at one end and working our way to the other, there were walls lined with coil overs, springs, exhausts, electronic things like DVD screens, sat navs, double din CD/MD players and the like. Then aftermarket ecus, boost controllers, pod filter setups etc. If I lived in Tokyo or Japan, with both this place and Autobacs, I'd be permanently broke, buying things for my car....
We spent around 1hr just perusing the items. I ended up buying a suspension spanner for my car, before heading out. After asking the guys at the counter we found the directions to Bee-Racing, who some might know for their Bright yellow R324 (R32 with a 34 front end) that Tezuka drives in the D1 series. It took us about 10-15mins walk before we found the place... They were dyno testing a Nissan Serena van with an exhaust on it. I suppose if you have to drive a family car, you can at least make it your own. There must be a few in this situation because on the back of the Serena it had a sticker for an Serena owners club, while there was another done-up van in the car park. We got to take a few up close pics of the D1 car, and there were a few other nice cars lying about.
Next door to Bee-Racing is a little known place called Monster Performance. For those of you that have ever played Gran Turismo 2-5, you would know the Pike's Peak Escudo... this is the guy that owns it, operating a tuning/mechanics shop out of a Suzuki Dealership. Unfortunately we didn't see the bunny car, but I would have lost it otherwise. We walked back to the station, and caught the train back to Shibuya, and after walking around a few places headed for Tokyo central.
We had a look in some of the buildings surrounding Tokyo station, stealing their air. Some of these shops were swanky boutiques, where you can get tailor made suits, stupidly expensive shoes and bags (What self-respecting male would spend $600 on a pair of shoes???) and other assorted items. The view at dusk was good, with all the other buildings having their lights on, and the rain hitting the windows made for a nice vibe, but now Dean and I were getting hungry, so we headed for the Gyouza shop in Yaesu mall.
We headed back to the hotel and after watching some wierd TV, fell asleep.
Well after running around Harajuku on Thursday, we decided that Dean and I needed to do something less emasculating than looking for clothes.
On Friday, we went looking at cars again. This time we headed for the Nissan Gallery in Ginza, and this time when we got out of the subway we didn't see any closed signs.... We saw a most beautiful specimen of the automotive kind... the new GT-R.. In bright red.... like the blood of your opponents after you slaughter them mercilessly.... I got to sit in it, and Dean took my picture, just for proof. They also had the new Fuga there. This thing is something we don't get in Australia, but would be nice if we did... A family size sedan with either a 3.5L V6 or a 4.5L V8 in RWD goodness. We walked around the corner and down the street to the Gallery Headquarters (the one we started at is like an annex) and we got to see the new Cube (I prefer the old one better), another awesomely hot GT-R and the new 370Z Fairlady. This car definately looks like a smaller package than the 350Z. The wheel base is smaller, the over hangs are less, and looks like a much better little package. Also saw a President, which is worth 9800000Y (about 150K in Australian monopoly money). Very stately, but still would rather buy 3 370Z's (they are 3600000Y) for the same amount.... or 1 GT-R and 2000000Y of mods...
After lolligagging around there for a few minutes, our next venture was Up Garage - A chain of used performance parts stores. Possibly not the closest one, but the easiest to get to was in Machida, in what you'd say was the Southwestern suburbs of Tokyo.. this thing is so southwest, that it nearly straddles the border of Yokohama in Kanagawa. We thought we better get some food for this expedition, so when we stopped at Shibuya to change trains, we headed to the department store (Tokyu) that sits atop our next intended train line. Like in previous posts, most department stores in Tokyo have a B1 and quite often a B2 floor dedicated to food. With the trains/subways being a major part of everyday life in Tokyo, it makes sense to have places situated on top of the train lines, where people can pick up the evening meal.
After walking around a little bit, we decided on a fried chicken and chips set for about 700Y. It was a very good feed, although it was a little cold by the time we ate on the train. One of the good things about heading to places that are off the beaten track for most tourists, is that you get to see a different side to the cities you visit. The metropolis of Tokyo keeps sprawling, although as you get further out, the homes get larger than the bedsit apartments that are often portrayed in the media.
While we were on the train it started snowing. This gave a change from the rain we had been experiencing for the last 4 days, but it was only brief, with the snow stopping/rain starting again before we arrived at our intended station - Minami-machida. Unfortunately, I hadn't written down where the shop was from the station, but knew it was near by. After walking around the Grandberry Plaza that sits next to the station, we got the girl at the information desk to find the directions and we were off. It was only about 5 minutes walk from the station, before we saw the yellow signs. We came around the corner and saw the cars inhabiting the car park. A few modified euro's, some jap cars... all with their own little flavour added.
We bound up our umbrellas and headed inside and where gobsmacked with the range. Starting at one end and working our way to the other, there were walls lined with coil overs, springs, exhausts, electronic things like DVD screens, sat navs, double din CD/MD players and the like. Then aftermarket ecus, boost controllers, pod filter setups etc. If I lived in Tokyo or Japan, with both this place and Autobacs, I'd be permanently broke, buying things for my car....
We spent around 1hr just perusing the items. I ended up buying a suspension spanner for my car, before heading out. After asking the guys at the counter we found the directions to Bee-Racing, who some might know for their Bright yellow R324 (R32 with a 34 front end) that Tezuka drives in the D1 series. It took us about 10-15mins walk before we found the place... They were dyno testing a Nissan Serena van with an exhaust on it. I suppose if you have to drive a family car, you can at least make it your own. There must be a few in this situation because on the back of the Serena it had a sticker for an Serena owners club, while there was another done-up van in the car park. We got to take a few up close pics of the D1 car, and there were a few other nice cars lying about.
Next door to Bee-Racing is a little known place called Monster Performance. For those of you that have ever played Gran Turismo 2-5, you would know the Pike's Peak Escudo... this is the guy that owns it, operating a tuning/mechanics shop out of a Suzuki Dealership. Unfortunately we didn't see the bunny car, but I would have lost it otherwise. We walked back to the station, and caught the train back to Shibuya, and after walking around a few places headed for Tokyo central.
We had a look in some of the buildings surrounding Tokyo station, stealing their air. Some of these shops were swanky boutiques, where you can get tailor made suits, stupidly expensive shoes and bags (What self-respecting male would spend $600 on a pair of shoes???) and other assorted items. The view at dusk was good, with all the other buildings having their lights on, and the rain hitting the windows made for a nice vibe, but now Dean and I were getting hungry, so we headed for the Gyouza shop in Yaesu mall.
We headed back to the hotel and after watching some wierd TV, fell asleep.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Those Harajuku girls, damn they have some wicked style
We decided yesterday that we'd venture to Harajuku again to go clothes shopping. Because mum and Whitney were with us, this meant it would be an all day thing.... My feet and tendons at the back of my knees were already sore.
I woke up early to get some much needed washing done at the nearest laundromat. It was 6.30 and I was running around the banking/financial district of Tokyo during the coldest month of the year (2*C yesterday morning) in a pair of boardshorts, T-shirt and light jacket. And people think I'm the sane one.
After having a shower and heading to Mos Burger for breakfast, we started towards Nihombashi to get the subway for Meiji-Tengumae. Oops we missed the train... doesn't matter there will be another one 3 minutes later.... Gotta love a country with the best mass transit system in the world when you are on holidays with no car. We got off the subway at the top end of Omote-Sando dori (Avenue) at about 9.30, but this being Japan, no shops were open except coffee shops (most retail opens at 10am closes at 7 or 8pm). We headed down the street towards Oriental Bazaar. This shop is a pretty traditional looking shop front selling traditional/cultural gifts. Only thing strange is that its nestled in between Dior & Chanel on one side, Chaumet on the other and Ralph Lauren on the opposite side of the street. Ritzy area, but cheap shop. Too bad, Thursday's they aren't open... bugger.
It was still before 10am, so we decided to head back up the street to Lavazza coffee shop. Its one gripe I have about Tokyo is it is hard to find places that do a good strong coffees like we're used to. Fortunately they also have hot can's of coffee in vending machines, and Wonda premium is nice and strong. This time I went for an Ice Chocolate, but it wasn't like the cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate milk we get in Australia... it was actually like a milky italian chocolate over ice.. not what I wanted, but still quite tasty.
After sitting in the coffee shop for a couple of minutes and relieving ourselves, we headed down the street to Kiddy Land. This place is 6 levels of toys... awesome. After a while you feel overwhelmed by the levels of cute in this place, with a level set aside for Hello Kitty/Sanrio characters, Miffy/Dick Bruna characters, and all the other characters that are created for no other purpose than to be cute. They also had some cool toys like little remote control helicopters. By now we started feeling over-kawaii-d so, we headed for the cloths shops.
The next 6 hours were a blur of looking in and out of clothing shops, punctuated by periods of people watching. While there were some freaks, its good to see the whole emo lip piercing thing hasn't really taken over here. There are some, but no where near as many as Chermside on a Thursday night. One thing any foreign person over here notices is the amount of girls running around in winter with short (really short) skirts and stockings. You realise that they must be used to it, because even their school uniforms are like that.
Once we were all notibly wrecked, we headed back towards the hotel. The nearest subway station to Tokyo rail station is Otemachi which sort of surrounds it. It also has the most amount of connecting lines. What this leaves is tunnels that you could easily get lost in. Fortunately there are signs, but it has a couple of corridors that go for nearly a kilometre each. When you are dead on your feet, endless corridors can be a scary prospect. Fortunately there are food places and drink machines the whole way, so you can get your packed lunch for the expedition. We finally made it towards the Yaesu mall and we could be bothered thinking so we went to the sushi place. Afterwards, Dean and I headed back to the hotel. Mum came back, with a bottle of Drambuie she got for cheap. Usually Drambuie goes for about AU$50 but she got it for about $33 at yesterdays exchange rate. Not bad..
Not much else to report... Watched TV and went to sleep.
I woke up early to get some much needed washing done at the nearest laundromat. It was 6.30 and I was running around the banking/financial district of Tokyo during the coldest month of the year (2*C yesterday morning) in a pair of boardshorts, T-shirt and light jacket. And people think I'm the sane one.
After having a shower and heading to Mos Burger for breakfast, we started towards Nihombashi to get the subway for Meiji-Tengumae. Oops we missed the train... doesn't matter there will be another one 3 minutes later.... Gotta love a country with the best mass transit system in the world when you are on holidays with no car. We got off the subway at the top end of Omote-Sando dori (Avenue) at about 9.30, but this being Japan, no shops were open except coffee shops (most retail opens at 10am closes at 7 or 8pm). We headed down the street towards Oriental Bazaar. This shop is a pretty traditional looking shop front selling traditional/cultural gifts. Only thing strange is that its nestled in between Dior & Chanel on one side, Chaumet on the other and Ralph Lauren on the opposite side of the street. Ritzy area, but cheap shop. Too bad, Thursday's they aren't open... bugger.
It was still before 10am, so we decided to head back up the street to Lavazza coffee shop. Its one gripe I have about Tokyo is it is hard to find places that do a good strong coffees like we're used to. Fortunately they also have hot can's of coffee in vending machines, and Wonda premium is nice and strong. This time I went for an Ice Chocolate, but it wasn't like the cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate milk we get in Australia... it was actually like a milky italian chocolate over ice.. not what I wanted, but still quite tasty.
After sitting in the coffee shop for a couple of minutes and relieving ourselves, we headed down the street to Kiddy Land. This place is 6 levels of toys... awesome. After a while you feel overwhelmed by the levels of cute in this place, with a level set aside for Hello Kitty/Sanrio characters, Miffy/Dick Bruna characters, and all the other characters that are created for no other purpose than to be cute. They also had some cool toys like little remote control helicopters. By now we started feeling over-kawaii-d so, we headed for the cloths shops.
The next 6 hours were a blur of looking in and out of clothing shops, punctuated by periods of people watching. While there were some freaks, its good to see the whole emo lip piercing thing hasn't really taken over here. There are some, but no where near as many as Chermside on a Thursday night. One thing any foreign person over here notices is the amount of girls running around in winter with short (really short) skirts and stockings. You realise that they must be used to it, because even their school uniforms are like that.
Once we were all notibly wrecked, we headed back towards the hotel. The nearest subway station to Tokyo rail station is Otemachi which sort of surrounds it. It also has the most amount of connecting lines. What this leaves is tunnels that you could easily get lost in. Fortunately there are signs, but it has a couple of corridors that go for nearly a kilometre each. When you are dead on your feet, endless corridors can be a scary prospect. Fortunately there are food places and drink machines the whole way, so you can get your packed lunch for the expedition. We finally made it towards the Yaesu mall and we could be bothered thinking so we went to the sushi place. Afterwards, Dean and I headed back to the hotel. Mum came back, with a bottle of Drambuie she got for cheap. Usually Drambuie goes for about AU$50 but she got it for about $33 at yesterdays exchange rate. Not bad..
Not much else to report... Watched TV and went to sleep.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
What's this (I may be paranoid, but I'm not an android)
Today, we decided to split off, with mum and Whitney doing girly things, while Dean and me started rooster fighting for alpha-male position... actually we wanted to check out some car things, including Up Garage (2nd parts store) and the Nissan Gallery in Ginza to get some nice up-close shots of the new GTR.... I think someone's conspiring against us.. the one day we want to do something that isn't girly, is the one day both things are closed.
We found out that all the Up Garage's in a 100km Radius are having stocktake today... great... So we decided to go to Ginza and check out the new GTR in the Nissan Gallery... after catching the subway over there (it was only 2 stops), we walk up out of the subway straight in front of the gallery.. with a sign saying it's closed on the 25th (Wednesday).... WTH???
Because we already knew that any Up Garage's were closed, we decided to head for the Super Autobacs near Odaiba. So we started walking from the Nissan Gallery... we walked about 3km past the Tsukiji fish market (which stinks from 300m away) and over a few bridges before stopping for a drink... Just to make sure, we asked at a courier business which way to the store, and he said in broken english, that 500m down the road (pointing) the road turns right, then 2 miles after that near the Wangan bridge.... (why he switched from metric to imperial, I don't know).. So we started walkin... and walking (over a couple of bridges).. and walking... it took us about 30 mins from that courier's office, but at least we were getting some exercise and seeing some off the beaten track places. We finally saw the billboards for the shop and getting closer, found that it was right next to bus terminus... guess what we'd be getting back..
Upon entering into the carpark the first thing you notice is that this place is huge.... it has about 25 places for cars to be serviced, worked on or tyres changed, and there are some cool looking cars in the carpark. We walked up the stairs and as we entered were hit with size of this place.... It's like a Supercheap Auto on Steroids.... except without all the dodgy no frills brands, and useless stuff (When is wheel barrow and garden hose part of a car?????). You want top end car audio? You got it. Need a HKS titanium exhaust for a new GT-R? Its hanging on the wall... It has electrical goodies, aftermarket air-filters, helmets, racing suits, gloves and boots, racing seats, coilovers, and a heap more.... Freakin unbelievable... We spent an hour and a half just looking at car bits. Dean and I would have bought some air filters for our cars, or numerous other goodies, but the rubbish exchange rate would have blown our budget. If the dollar was good, there would have been some good bargains to be had...
After looking around and taking some pictures of cars in the service bays etc, we walked back to the bus depot next door and caught the bus back to Tokyo central... It still took 40mins with the traffic and stopping, but was a whole lot easier on the legs...
We got off the bus about a block away from the station and went downstairs to the Yaesu mall. Time for some food, as it was now 3.30 and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. Went to a sushi place there, and had sushi for the first time since landing a week and a half ago. Was pretty good.. then got a cream puff from Whittamers in Daimaru... they only make 200 of these things a day and usually sell out before 5pm, after going on sale at 4pm.... It was chocolate covered pastry with chocolate cream interior.... omm nom nom nom...
Haven't decided what to have for dinner tonight, but we'll be going to Harajuku tomorrow.
We found out that all the Up Garage's in a 100km Radius are having stocktake today... great... So we decided to go to Ginza and check out the new GTR in the Nissan Gallery... after catching the subway over there (it was only 2 stops), we walk up out of the subway straight in front of the gallery.. with a sign saying it's closed on the 25th (Wednesday).... WTH???
Because we already knew that any Up Garage's were closed, we decided to head for the Super Autobacs near Odaiba. So we started walking from the Nissan Gallery... we walked about 3km past the Tsukiji fish market (which stinks from 300m away) and over a few bridges before stopping for a drink... Just to make sure, we asked at a courier business which way to the store, and he said in broken english, that 500m down the road (pointing) the road turns right, then 2 miles after that near the Wangan bridge.... (why he switched from metric to imperial, I don't know).. So we started walkin... and walking (over a couple of bridges).. and walking... it took us about 30 mins from that courier's office, but at least we were getting some exercise and seeing some off the beaten track places. We finally saw the billboards for the shop and getting closer, found that it was right next to bus terminus... guess what we'd be getting back..
Upon entering into the carpark the first thing you notice is that this place is huge.... it has about 25 places for cars to be serviced, worked on or tyres changed, and there are some cool looking cars in the carpark. We walked up the stairs and as we entered were hit with size of this place.... It's like a Supercheap Auto on Steroids.... except without all the dodgy no frills brands, and useless stuff (When is wheel barrow and garden hose part of a car?????). You want top end car audio? You got it. Need a HKS titanium exhaust for a new GT-R? Its hanging on the wall... It has electrical goodies, aftermarket air-filters, helmets, racing suits, gloves and boots, racing seats, coilovers, and a heap more.... Freakin unbelievable... We spent an hour and a half just looking at car bits. Dean and I would have bought some air filters for our cars, or numerous other goodies, but the rubbish exchange rate would have blown our budget. If the dollar was good, there would have been some good bargains to be had...
After looking around and taking some pictures of cars in the service bays etc, we walked back to the bus depot next door and caught the bus back to Tokyo central... It still took 40mins with the traffic and stopping, but was a whole lot easier on the legs...
We got off the bus about a block away from the station and went downstairs to the Yaesu mall. Time for some food, as it was now 3.30 and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. Went to a sushi place there, and had sushi for the first time since landing a week and a half ago. Was pretty good.. then got a cream puff from Whittamers in Daimaru... they only make 200 of these things a day and usually sell out before 5pm, after going on sale at 4pm.... It was chocolate covered pastry with chocolate cream interior.... omm nom nom nom...
Haven't decided what to have for dinner tonight, but we'll be going to Harajuku tomorrow.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo,
We were supposed to go to the zoo yesterday, but as it was raining, we decided to do it today (yesterday, Tuesday). Just as well, because the zoo isn't open Mondays.
To say this zoo is a good size is an understatement. Situated in Ueno Park, (which looks on a map to be the same size as Roma St Parklands), this is deceptive. It's bigger, much bigger, and has tons of animals.
After walking through the bottom end of Ueno Park (an area frequented by bums, hobii and the generally smelly) we got to the zoo. We were a little annoyed because Ling Ling their panda of 30years had died last April, but they have been unable to secure a replacement. The entrance for the Zoo is 600Y (about AUD10 in our monopoly money) so for what took us the next 7hrs to get around, that was money well spent.
After going through the gates, we stuck to the right, first seeing some cool looking pheasants and birds, before my camera batteries finally gave up the ghost. Fortunately Dean had his cameras there, with Whitney using his little point and shoot, and Dean with his SLR. We kept walking, and walking and walking.... Lion and Tigers and Bears, oh my.. Also, otters, predatorial birds, gibbons (a type of ape), lowland gorillas, Hokkaido brown bears, polar bears, penguins, sea lions, sun bears.. Oh damn we need a break... So we had a slight snack of chips...
We decided to look at the map and realised that we had only seen a section of the zoo.... We then headed towards the colobus monkies, Bison (this thing was massive), praire dogs etc.... finally we had finished.... the east section.
We then had to walk across a bridge (its a road overpass) and came to the area with more birds that live on the lake, a Kids zoo (petting and feeding etc), giraffes, hippos, pygmy hippos, black rhinos, and an ocapi. The ocapi were once considered to be a myth of the local people in the D.R of Congo, until they were actually found (very shy and retiring), then hunted to near-extinction, before breeding programs were instigated. One of the zoo's ocapi's were on loan to the Yokohama zoo for rogering, but the other one was here. This is a beautiful creature. With a form like a short necked giraffe, it has beautiful eyes and coat, with horizontal stripes on its back legs. We'll show you pictures.
We kept on walking and found small mammals, including some rodents, feline species (similar to ocelots etc) and nocturnal creatures. Also a maned wolf from South America as well as some funny looking things called kangaroos (don't call them that though, or they'll sit on their tails and rip your stomach out with a couple of kicks...). Also found a vivarium with reptiles, lizards, amphibians etc. How would you like to be 1m from a Salt water croc? Fortunately we were behind 1 inch plexi, but still... Also some cool frogs, turtles, tortoise and stuff...
We headed back about 4.30 towards the hotel. There was a clothes shop in Yaesu Mall that Mum and Whitney wanted to check out, as they had skirts and stuff for 980 and other stuff on special. This meant waiting for Dean and me, so we found somewhere to take the load off our feet and waited. It took them about 15mins to decide that they didn't want anything or couldn't find anything they liked in their sizes. It happens over here as well... All the popular sizes go, and all that's left is stuff for either anorexic midgets or behemoths. We decided to have a beer at a bar and cafe in the mall, as we all were wrecked. Did that, but then we started getting hungry again.. Fortunately the mall has multiple restaurants and eateries...
We had spotted a gyouza place the night before, and as Dean had a hankering for gyouza since we got here, we decided to acquiesce to his whim. What we found was a world medal winner.. they have one gold, silver and bronze for their gyouza at the world food fair. Dean and I ordered the 5 piece beef and pork gyouza, while mum got the bronze pork gyouza and Whitney a massive bowl of Ramen (noodle soup). They were soo good, but after 7 hours of walking, its going to take more than five dumplings and a pint of draught to fill us, so we ordered some of the gold ones... They were awesome, with specially grown beef used to stuff them. We were satiated, but Dean wanted some more, so he ordered the bronze medal pork gyouza as afters.
It was now about 7 pm, so it was definately time to head back to the hotel. All we felt like doing was relaxing and watching TV, which me and Dean did, but it wasn't long before the tiredness took over and we were out of it.
To say this zoo is a good size is an understatement. Situated in Ueno Park, (which looks on a map to be the same size as Roma St Parklands), this is deceptive. It's bigger, much bigger, and has tons of animals.
After walking through the bottom end of Ueno Park (an area frequented by bums, hobii and the generally smelly) we got to the zoo. We were a little annoyed because Ling Ling their panda of 30years had died last April, but they have been unable to secure a replacement. The entrance for the Zoo is 600Y (about AUD10 in our monopoly money) so for what took us the next 7hrs to get around, that was money well spent.
After going through the gates, we stuck to the right, first seeing some cool looking pheasants and birds, before my camera batteries finally gave up the ghost. Fortunately Dean had his cameras there, with Whitney using his little point and shoot, and Dean with his SLR. We kept walking, and walking and walking.... Lion and Tigers and Bears, oh my.. Also, otters, predatorial birds, gibbons (a type of ape), lowland gorillas, Hokkaido brown bears, polar bears, penguins, sea lions, sun bears.. Oh damn we need a break... So we had a slight snack of chips...
We decided to look at the map and realised that we had only seen a section of the zoo.... We then headed towards the colobus monkies, Bison (this thing was massive), praire dogs etc.... finally we had finished.... the east section.
We then had to walk across a bridge (its a road overpass) and came to the area with more birds that live on the lake, a Kids zoo (petting and feeding etc), giraffes, hippos, pygmy hippos, black rhinos, and an ocapi. The ocapi were once considered to be a myth of the local people in the D.R of Congo, until they were actually found (very shy and retiring), then hunted to near-extinction, before breeding programs were instigated. One of the zoo's ocapi's were on loan to the Yokohama zoo for rogering, but the other one was here. This is a beautiful creature. With a form like a short necked giraffe, it has beautiful eyes and coat, with horizontal stripes on its back legs. We'll show you pictures.
We kept on walking and found small mammals, including some rodents, feline species (similar to ocelots etc) and nocturnal creatures. Also a maned wolf from South America as well as some funny looking things called kangaroos (don't call them that though, or they'll sit on their tails and rip your stomach out with a couple of kicks...). Also found a vivarium with reptiles, lizards, amphibians etc. How would you like to be 1m from a Salt water croc? Fortunately we were behind 1 inch plexi, but still... Also some cool frogs, turtles, tortoise and stuff...
We headed back about 4.30 towards the hotel. There was a clothes shop in Yaesu Mall that Mum and Whitney wanted to check out, as they had skirts and stuff for 980 and other stuff on special. This meant waiting for Dean and me, so we found somewhere to take the load off our feet and waited. It took them about 15mins to decide that they didn't want anything or couldn't find anything they liked in their sizes. It happens over here as well... All the popular sizes go, and all that's left is stuff for either anorexic midgets or behemoths. We decided to have a beer at a bar and cafe in the mall, as we all were wrecked. Did that, but then we started getting hungry again.. Fortunately the mall has multiple restaurants and eateries...
We had spotted a gyouza place the night before, and as Dean had a hankering for gyouza since we got here, we decided to acquiesce to his whim. What we found was a world medal winner.. they have one gold, silver and bronze for their gyouza at the world food fair. Dean and I ordered the 5 piece beef and pork gyouza, while mum got the bronze pork gyouza and Whitney a massive bowl of Ramen (noodle soup). They were soo good, but after 7 hours of walking, its going to take more than five dumplings and a pint of draught to fill us, so we ordered some of the gold ones... They were awesome, with specially grown beef used to stuff them. We were satiated, but Dean wanted some more, so he ordered the bronze medal pork gyouza as afters.
It was now about 7 pm, so it was definately time to head back to the hotel. All we felt like doing was relaxing and watching TV, which me and Dean did, but it wasn't long before the tiredness took over and we were out of it.
Rain, Rain go away.... come again another week.
I've chosen to skip Sunday, as nothing very interesting happened besides me making a mad dash around Tokyo station trying to find a cheap shirt, pants and tie. I found the shirt and tie, but no pants. We went to the meeting then over Yoshi's house for dinner. The amount of walking we're doing over here is psycho.
Monday we woke up to rain... Fortunately our hotel had umbrellas to borrow because we needed them. We decided on MOS Burger for breakfast. I grabbed a pork and beef burger meal, with Mum and Dean grabbing a chilli cheeseburger, which were nice and spicy. We decided against going to the zoo today, as we didnt think the zoo in the rain would be very pleasant, so we went to Akihabara instead. Akihabara is full of electronics stores, including the 9 floor Yodobashi Camera (we spent a bit of time in there last year) as well as numerous other little stores. Only problem is that the exchange rate's up the pooper, so even if we can get stuff for cheaper Yen wise, when we convert the price into AUD, its not that cheap, and with the warranty and having to cart stuff home in already bursting bags, JB Hifi looks like a better option. We walked around Akihabara for about an hour and a half, before Dean was getting bored.
We decided to make our way to Shinjuku, another massive shopping area. To say that this train station and all its passageways is labyrinthian is an understatement. Tunnels to walk here and there come off the station left, right and centre. We had been walking for ages, when Whitney started feeling woozy from low BG, so we started looking for somewhere to eat. The japanese must be master illusionists, because we saw stacks of buildings around, but no shops to eat or look inside. We came back up to ground level (1F over here) before looking for a department store.
Over here, department stores are massive affairs, usually strapped to the side of a train station. Usually in the Basement floors, they have fresh food markets, where you can buy multitudes of cakes (loaded with delicious jap strawberries), fish, meat, pre-made meals, lunch box meals, wines and spirits from around the world etc. Then the next levels are fairly similar, with ground/1F taken up with cosmetics and perfumes, 2F with Ladies Accessories (they love their bags and shoes over here), 3 -5 dresses/ladies wear, 6 guys wear, 7, kids wear and toys, 8F restaurants then more floors above that... We chose Keio, who operate the Keio Plaza on the side of Shinjuku station, as well as the Keio train line/s. The information lady told us to go to 8F, which we did, but the prices weren't that cheap, and the food wasn't as good as it could have been for the price. It was only when we went down to B1F/B2F that we found the cheap food which we kicked ourselves for and made a mental note of for later.
We didn't have anywhere in particular to look at and for some reason, couldn't find an unsecured WiFi around. When we were at Yoshi's, he told us the reason why he doesn't lock his WiFi (and presumably others as well). They seem to have a different ADSL system over here, but suffice to say, they pay 2000Y (about USD20) for an unlimited connection..... spewww.
Whitney was nagging to go to Harajuku so we decided to head there. After getting on the correct subway line and switching stations, the train we got on was an express (we couldn't read the kanji) to Shibuya, another massive area that we had visited briefly last year. We went to Uniqlo, a store that has cheap basics, like jeans, shirts, undies etc. Dean and I had bought jeans here last year, but we didn't really need to this year, so we didn't spend that long here. We then walked up to this boot shop, which had some of the most crazy boots (mostly for girls) that you have ever seen. There were these gogo boots that had about 4inches of platform on them, with springs in them to keep that spring in your step...
We started walking up the street and kept walking, and eventually came to the back of Harajuku (not really intentional, just did). We went to UT (an offshoot of uniqlo) that sells shirts in a can. You look at the rack for the design that you like, then the tag tells you where to find it in the store. You go to that place, and find your size.. Dean loves this store as he loves the T-shirts here, so he bought a few. I only got one, because all the Large's in the styles that I liked had all gone (I must be similar body size :P).
We walked around for a bit more, but all of us were wrecked, after having walked the best part of 10km that day. We promised Whitney we'd come back another day and look proper (I like Jeans Mate in Takeshita-dori, cheap jeans and jumpers and stuff). We walked through some back streets and eventually (after asking a courier for directions) got back to the subway station, boarded a train then headed back to Tokyo central to get some dinner and a bed..
Monday we woke up to rain... Fortunately our hotel had umbrellas to borrow because we needed them. We decided on MOS Burger for breakfast. I grabbed a pork and beef burger meal, with Mum and Dean grabbing a chilli cheeseburger, which were nice and spicy. We decided against going to the zoo today, as we didnt think the zoo in the rain would be very pleasant, so we went to Akihabara instead. Akihabara is full of electronics stores, including the 9 floor Yodobashi Camera (we spent a bit of time in there last year) as well as numerous other little stores. Only problem is that the exchange rate's up the pooper, so even if we can get stuff for cheaper Yen wise, when we convert the price into AUD, its not that cheap, and with the warranty and having to cart stuff home in already bursting bags, JB Hifi looks like a better option. We walked around Akihabara for about an hour and a half, before Dean was getting bored.
We decided to make our way to Shinjuku, another massive shopping area. To say that this train station and all its passageways is labyrinthian is an understatement. Tunnels to walk here and there come off the station left, right and centre. We had been walking for ages, when Whitney started feeling woozy from low BG, so we started looking for somewhere to eat. The japanese must be master illusionists, because we saw stacks of buildings around, but no shops to eat or look inside. We came back up to ground level (1F over here) before looking for a department store.
Over here, department stores are massive affairs, usually strapped to the side of a train station. Usually in the Basement floors, they have fresh food markets, where you can buy multitudes of cakes (loaded with delicious jap strawberries), fish, meat, pre-made meals, lunch box meals, wines and spirits from around the world etc. Then the next levels are fairly similar, with ground/1F taken up with cosmetics and perfumes, 2F with Ladies Accessories (they love their bags and shoes over here), 3 -5 dresses/ladies wear, 6 guys wear, 7, kids wear and toys, 8F restaurants then more floors above that... We chose Keio, who operate the Keio Plaza on the side of Shinjuku station, as well as the Keio train line/s. The information lady told us to go to 8F, which we did, but the prices weren't that cheap, and the food wasn't as good as it could have been for the price. It was only when we went down to B1F/B2F that we found the cheap food which we kicked ourselves for and made a mental note of for later.
We didn't have anywhere in particular to look at and for some reason, couldn't find an unsecured WiFi around. When we were at Yoshi's, he told us the reason why he doesn't lock his WiFi (and presumably others as well). They seem to have a different ADSL system over here, but suffice to say, they pay 2000Y (about USD20) for an unlimited connection..... spewww.
Whitney was nagging to go to Harajuku so we decided to head there. After getting on the correct subway line and switching stations, the train we got on was an express (we couldn't read the kanji) to Shibuya, another massive area that we had visited briefly last year. We went to Uniqlo, a store that has cheap basics, like jeans, shirts, undies etc. Dean and I had bought jeans here last year, but we didn't really need to this year, so we didn't spend that long here. We then walked up to this boot shop, which had some of the most crazy boots (mostly for girls) that you have ever seen. There were these gogo boots that had about 4inches of platform on them, with springs in them to keep that spring in your step...
We started walking up the street and kept walking, and eventually came to the back of Harajuku (not really intentional, just did). We went to UT (an offshoot of uniqlo) that sells shirts in a can. You look at the rack for the design that you like, then the tag tells you where to find it in the store. You go to that place, and find your size.. Dean loves this store as he loves the T-shirts here, so he bought a few. I only got one, because all the Large's in the styles that I liked had all gone (I must be similar body size :P).
We walked around for a bit more, but all of us were wrecked, after having walked the best part of 10km that day. We promised Whitney we'd come back another day and look proper (I like Jeans Mate in Takeshita-dori, cheap jeans and jumpers and stuff). We walked through some back streets and eventually (after asking a courier for directions) got back to the subway station, boarded a train then headed back to Tokyo central to get some dinner and a bed..
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, in the park... ing lot in the snow
Saturday we woke up and were bummed out, to say the least... After the sloppy conditions yesterday morning, we awoke to see a good 50cms or so on the roof across from us.. and it was still falling!!!
We had a light breakfast, and used the rest of the money on our breakfast cards to buy gifts/souvenirs. We then went back upstairs to finish packing. I had to pack me and Dean's snow stuff in a vacuum bag (only way it fits) so we were without our heavy duty weather gear...
When we had finished, we took it all downstairs, as the manager had offered to take us up to the bus station (which we were thankful for).. He put our stuff in his Spacia/Townace, and we hopped in.... This guy should have had a WRX or and LanEvo, because he was a freakin rally driver. Weaving in around skiers crossing the road, buses, and other cars, we got to the bus stop in record time... We were talking with some of the other people that had stayed at our hotel and they said that he drove like that all the time..
We were standing out in the cold waiting for the bus to take us back to Nagano station (where we catch the bullet train to/from) for about 20mins. Only problem was, that the snow was still falling, and the temp was -9*c.. and occasional blasts of wind. Me and Dean were freezing, as we only had jeans, sneakers, and jackets on. The bus finally came and we made our slow decent from the beloved ski area..
After last Sunday's debacle with getting tickets for the Shinkansen, we decided to just take it easy and not rush to catch a train. Fortunately we didn't have to. I lined up and got the (correct) tickets and we went through the gate. There was a train leaving for Tokyo in about 15 mins, so we had enough time to get down the correct platform, and find a seat..
As this trip was mostly down hill, it felt like the train went a lot faster. It was still going to be an hour and a bit, so after looking out the window, getting some food and water, I fell asleep for about 1/2hr. Then a screaming child woke me up... Doesn't matter what country you in, Kids cry/scream in the same language... annoying...
We made it to Tokyo station, then came out on the correct side of the station. We were looking for our hotel so we decided to ask a bus zone attendant (they have attendants to wave the buses in and out as well as organise things.. He told us that we needed to get on a subway line for 2 stops. I already knew this, but as we were short on money, we didn't think this was an option. We then asked a policeman who sent us to the correct exit then we started walking. We had to go under the road as crossing the 4 or 5 lanes between us and the otherside would have been crazy hard with luggage. In the underpass there was a mall!! Shoe shops, clothing shops, food, coffee, books, all lining this mall.. and it seemed to go for ages. We eventually headed above ground and found that we had been walking for nearly 2 blocks under the road! Talk about a rabbit warren..
When we came up on the street, we looked a map on the walkway (I knew which direction to head, but not the specifics). This told us where our hotel was and we made quick work of finding it.
After checking in and dumping our stuff in our rooms, setting up the lappy, and generally getting some order of things, we decided that we needed to get some money from the nearest 7-11, then get some food... (mum and dean hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now about 4pm) We walked down the street and around the corner, got some cash out and started walking back (via a different route - exploring new places is half the fun). We found some nice smelling restaurants, with a Spanish restaurant, a curry place, and numerous soba/noodle bowl shops. We decided to go to the restaurant at our hotel (well not really in our hotel, sort of attached to it). Next came another challenge... the menu was predominately in Kanji. For those of you that don't know, Japan uses three writing systems: Hiragana - which is used for japanese words, katakana which is used for foreign words (borrowed english words for example) and Kanji - which they've adapted/simplified from chinese. I can read hiragana and katakana fine, but I only know about 120 of the 1900+ kanji used in Japan. So we had to point and ask...
We ended up getting a plate each of these chicken skewer things (one was crispy skin, another was fillet, which another one being guess which part of the chicken this is.. i think liver.... or giblet). Mum got some umeshu (plum wine) which she likes..
After that we headed up the road to Lawson Station... this is another convenience store chain. Over here, convenience stores are... convenient, with there usually being one or two within a blocks radius. I grabbed this little pot of ice cream for 167Y... it was brownie fudge... so delicious...
We ended up back in our rooms, watching crazy japanese TV before falling asleep around 8pmish.... Then I got a call at about 9.15 from a japanese brother we know, organising to meet us today (tomorrow then). Fell back asleep, before waking up early.
We had a light breakfast, and used the rest of the money on our breakfast cards to buy gifts/souvenirs. We then went back upstairs to finish packing. I had to pack me and Dean's snow stuff in a vacuum bag (only way it fits) so we were without our heavy duty weather gear...
When we had finished, we took it all downstairs, as the manager had offered to take us up to the bus station (which we were thankful for).. He put our stuff in his Spacia/Townace, and we hopped in.... This guy should have had a WRX or and LanEvo, because he was a freakin rally driver. Weaving in around skiers crossing the road, buses, and other cars, we got to the bus stop in record time... We were talking with some of the other people that had stayed at our hotel and they said that he drove like that all the time..
We were standing out in the cold waiting for the bus to take us back to Nagano station (where we catch the bullet train to/from) for about 20mins. Only problem was, that the snow was still falling, and the temp was -9*c.. and occasional blasts of wind. Me and Dean were freezing, as we only had jeans, sneakers, and jackets on. The bus finally came and we made our slow decent from the beloved ski area..
After last Sunday's debacle with getting tickets for the Shinkansen, we decided to just take it easy and not rush to catch a train. Fortunately we didn't have to. I lined up and got the (correct) tickets and we went through the gate. There was a train leaving for Tokyo in about 15 mins, so we had enough time to get down the correct platform, and find a seat..
As this trip was mostly down hill, it felt like the train went a lot faster. It was still going to be an hour and a bit, so after looking out the window, getting some food and water, I fell asleep for about 1/2hr. Then a screaming child woke me up... Doesn't matter what country you in, Kids cry/scream in the same language... annoying...
We made it to Tokyo station, then came out on the correct side of the station. We were looking for our hotel so we decided to ask a bus zone attendant (they have attendants to wave the buses in and out as well as organise things.. He told us that we needed to get on a subway line for 2 stops. I already knew this, but as we were short on money, we didn't think this was an option. We then asked a policeman who sent us to the correct exit then we started walking. We had to go under the road as crossing the 4 or 5 lanes between us and the otherside would have been crazy hard with luggage. In the underpass there was a mall!! Shoe shops, clothing shops, food, coffee, books, all lining this mall.. and it seemed to go for ages. We eventually headed above ground and found that we had been walking for nearly 2 blocks under the road! Talk about a rabbit warren..
When we came up on the street, we looked a map on the walkway (I knew which direction to head, but not the specifics). This told us where our hotel was and we made quick work of finding it.
After checking in and dumping our stuff in our rooms, setting up the lappy, and generally getting some order of things, we decided that we needed to get some money from the nearest 7-11, then get some food... (mum and dean hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now about 4pm) We walked down the street and around the corner, got some cash out and started walking back (via a different route - exploring new places is half the fun). We found some nice smelling restaurants, with a Spanish restaurant, a curry place, and numerous soba/noodle bowl shops. We decided to go to the restaurant at our hotel (well not really in our hotel, sort of attached to it). Next came another challenge... the menu was predominately in Kanji. For those of you that don't know, Japan uses three writing systems: Hiragana - which is used for japanese words, katakana which is used for foreign words (borrowed english words for example) and Kanji - which they've adapted/simplified from chinese. I can read hiragana and katakana fine, but I only know about 120 of the 1900+ kanji used in Japan. So we had to point and ask...
We ended up getting a plate each of these chicken skewer things (one was crispy skin, another was fillet, which another one being guess which part of the chicken this is.. i think liver.... or giblet). Mum got some umeshu (plum wine) which she likes..
After that we headed up the road to Lawson Station... this is another convenience store chain. Over here, convenience stores are... convenient, with there usually being one or two within a blocks radius. I grabbed this little pot of ice cream for 167Y... it was brownie fudge... so delicious...
We ended up back in our rooms, watching crazy japanese TV before falling asleep around 8pmish.... Then I got a call at about 9.15 from a japanese brother we know, organising to meet us today (tomorrow then). Fell back asleep, before waking up early.
Friday on my mind
After the awesome powder day we had on Thursday, Friday should be just as good right? Wrong....
Unfortunately, the wind that had picked up on Thursday night had blown a lot of the top coat of powder away, and what was left was hard packed. Dean and me were slow to start on Friday, after having such a full day on Thursday. We had to get the bus to Takamagahara as all the lifts in Ichinose Family were stopped, due to the wind. We did a couple of runs but the powder was so hard packed that we couldn't float on top of it, and we couldn't turn properly. It wasn't enjoyable, so Dean and me headed back for the hotel at 11, when it started raining :(.
Good thing we didn't take back our boards though, because after veging in the room for a while, we noticed this white stuff falling... We waited til about 2cm were on the roof, before deciding to strap up and head out again. And boy are we glad we did...
The lifts were running at Ichinose Family now, and the rain had actually softened up the hard packed powder, and made conditions better! Also, what started as harder snow falling, graduated towards powder, then a powder blizzard later on! We did a couple of runs, before catching the bus to Hasuike. I needed to get some money out from the post office (Post offices and 7-11's have international ATM's) for the bus and train the next day. When I'd finished that we made our first snow man.. Then we made another bigger (but not really big) snow man and put him on the post box... Not sure if thats an offence, but we'd have feigned ignorance anyway... Dean got photos.
We started looking around as to how to get back toward Hoppo, Higashi or somewhere.... We started walking up the road back towards Hoppo, before a Japanese guy in a Legnum told us there wasn't any entrance that way.. He told us to go around the back of a hotel (he pointed to which one) and said there's an entrance in the back. We followed his advice and after a quick toboggan on the boards, we were at the right side.... of Giant..... We strapped in and started down, but we stuck to the powder, because this run is psychotic..
After getting to the bottom of Giant, we went on a lift to the top of Hoppo, and did a couple of blistering runs down. On the second one, Dean and I were flying, but I hit a powder patch and it hit me for six... goggles and beanie were off, and I looked like a snow man... And that hurt.... I was fine though, but it was getting late again, so we head towards the Nishidate lift at the bottom of Hoppo. Thats one of the things I loved about this area. With the exception of 1 or 2 mountains, all the other mountains are accessible by runs and lifts/gondolas.
When we got to the top of Nishitate-yama, you could barely see, the snow was falling that heavily, with wind and fog to boot.. We hurtled down there and took a couple of runs back towards Ichinose Family.
It was now just after 3.30 and neither me or Dean had stopped for lunch... We were running out of energy and falling down more often. But were were determined to stay out as long as possible, as this was our last day... We did, staying til they closed the lifts down. Then we headed to the rental place to take our boards back... After a quick trip down the hill we were back at the hotel, tired but thoroughly enamoured with the local boarding.
After a shower, we headed out to dinner. We decided to give the Austrian style place up the road a try. Got some fried chicken, chips, cheese (havarti, brie and creme freche), with Whitney getting the spaghetti bolognaise. (funny, Japanese do a really good spaghetti). They also had a "chalet set" with was a pot each of the 4 local beers. After not eating since breakfast, they made quick work of making me and Dean sleepy, but the food helped to balance it out. Also the 2 japanese girls that ran it were cute.
We headed back and after watching some telly, conked out just after 8.30..
Unfortunately, the wind that had picked up on Thursday night had blown a lot of the top coat of powder away, and what was left was hard packed. Dean and me were slow to start on Friday, after having such a full day on Thursday. We had to get the bus to Takamagahara as all the lifts in Ichinose Family were stopped, due to the wind. We did a couple of runs but the powder was so hard packed that we couldn't float on top of it, and we couldn't turn properly. It wasn't enjoyable, so Dean and me headed back for the hotel at 11, when it started raining :(.
Good thing we didn't take back our boards though, because after veging in the room for a while, we noticed this white stuff falling... We waited til about 2cm were on the roof, before deciding to strap up and head out again. And boy are we glad we did...
The lifts were running at Ichinose Family now, and the rain had actually softened up the hard packed powder, and made conditions better! Also, what started as harder snow falling, graduated towards powder, then a powder blizzard later on! We did a couple of runs, before catching the bus to Hasuike. I needed to get some money out from the post office (Post offices and 7-11's have international ATM's) for the bus and train the next day. When I'd finished that we made our first snow man.. Then we made another bigger (but not really big) snow man and put him on the post box... Not sure if thats an offence, but we'd have feigned ignorance anyway... Dean got photos.
We started looking around as to how to get back toward Hoppo, Higashi or somewhere.... We started walking up the road back towards Hoppo, before a Japanese guy in a Legnum told us there wasn't any entrance that way.. He told us to go around the back of a hotel (he pointed to which one) and said there's an entrance in the back. We followed his advice and after a quick toboggan on the boards, we were at the right side.... of Giant..... We strapped in and started down, but we stuck to the powder, because this run is psychotic..
After getting to the bottom of Giant, we went on a lift to the top of Hoppo, and did a couple of blistering runs down. On the second one, Dean and I were flying, but I hit a powder patch and it hit me for six... goggles and beanie were off, and I looked like a snow man... And that hurt.... I was fine though, but it was getting late again, so we head towards the Nishidate lift at the bottom of Hoppo. Thats one of the things I loved about this area. With the exception of 1 or 2 mountains, all the other mountains are accessible by runs and lifts/gondolas.
When we got to the top of Nishitate-yama, you could barely see, the snow was falling that heavily, with wind and fog to boot.. We hurtled down there and took a couple of runs back towards Ichinose Family.
It was now just after 3.30 and neither me or Dean had stopped for lunch... We were running out of energy and falling down more often. But were were determined to stay out as long as possible, as this was our last day... We did, staying til they closed the lifts down. Then we headed to the rental place to take our boards back... After a quick trip down the hill we were back at the hotel, tired but thoroughly enamoured with the local boarding.
After a shower, we headed out to dinner. We decided to give the Austrian style place up the road a try. Got some fried chicken, chips, cheese (havarti, brie and creme freche), with Whitney getting the spaghetti bolognaise. (funny, Japanese do a really good spaghetti). They also had a "chalet set" with was a pot each of the 4 local beers. After not eating since breakfast, they made quick work of making me and Dean sleepy, but the food helped to balance it out. Also the 2 japanese girls that ran it were cute.
We headed back and after watching some telly, conked out just after 8.30..
Feels like forever since I posted, so here's Thursday's retelling.
But it's only been since Wednesday.
Wednesday night, after having a junky dinner, we were up early. We were delighted to see about 20-30cm of new cover on the roof across from us. So Dean and I strapped up as soon as week could and headed out. What a wicked day!
We were going to start off down our usual red run on the left side of Ichinose Family area, but there was eleventy billion ski schoolers going to be going down the same area we were... So we decided to go down the black run, which nearly goes straight to the face of the slope. No problems.. Then we got to the main area and found this section had more powder than we anticipated. It was up to our knees! I took a decent size washout in the powder, and promptly got stuck. Having powder covering your chest, legs and board is suprisingly heavy, and made it hard to move. Dean had to drag me about a metre down, so that I could free my board and get back on my feet... I looked rather silly, as most of my body was covered in powder...
After that we started working our way across the mountain, because the usually lift that we take wasn't working/running. That meant going through a criss-cross of trees, a few different lifts that we hadn't tried and the eleventy billion ski schools! They were following us... Stop making me paranoid...
We decided to head towards Hoppo-Bundaira, and area we hadn't been yet. Only problem was, that me and Dean lost each other and were seperated for over an hour. This is not the ideal situation when snowboarding/skiing, because if one of you gets hurt, the other doesn't know about it. We eventually found each other again, with me getting the lift people to put out an announcement to tell Dean where to go. We decided after this that if we got seperated, we would go to the bottom of Takamagahara, and sit in the cafe there...
That afternoon, we did some runs down Hoppo and it was awesome. The powder has been evened out and we were carving really well. One section Dean flew down, and I couldn't catch the little bugger.
After that we went up the side of Giant, which is sort of an understatement.... this run is probably 35-45 degrees, and goes for about 500metres from the top of the hill. If you hit max speed (wouldn't take very long) you wouldn't have been able to stop til the bottom... We decided to give that one a miss for the time being as we were both still a bit sore. We took some runs around Maruike and Hasuike, which ran through tunnels, and another eleventy billion ski schoolers... ARghh
We did a couple of more runs before heading back towards Nishitate via the Ropeway. This thing is carriage that goes from one mountain to another, and the views were awesome. We took some cool shots. After getting that, we took a small chair lift and where back at Takamagahara. We went back up and did some more runs down Higashitate-yama, and Hoppo again. It was getting later, so we decided to make our way back to towards Takamagahara and Ichinose.
We were so amped about the awesome powder day we had, that we didn't want to go back in, so we kept catching the lift up until they shut it off. Got some air off the camel humps in at the bottom of the Ichinose red run, and both me and Dean did some slow speed, flat land 180's (weren't game to try doing them at speed just yet). Dean started getting the nose press to nollies down, but the lifts were shut and we were spent, so back to the hotel for us. Before we left though, we got pictures of the sunset over the mountains, with low flying cloud and everything... very beautiful.
We ended up going to the Nepalese restaurant again. This time we got the 2 person banquet for 2500Y for 2... That included 2 tandoori quarters, 2 chicken tikka breasts, 2 chicken Sheh Kebabs, 2 massive naan breads (best part of a cubit each), and 2 curries of your choice. We were packed to the gills.... So good... So for 6300Y including drinks we ate like there was no tomorrow... I highly recommend this place if you ever decide to go :P
By now the wind had started picking up, so we decided to make a dash for the hotel (probably about 750m between Restaurant and hotel). We were stuffed to the gills and stuffed from the days snowboarding, so it didn't take long before Mr Narcolepsy took over..
Next, Friday..
PS>I'll show you all the pictures of our week in the snow when we get back.. There are tons of them and they're too big to post all. Besides, they are so awesome and a 2 line caption wouldn't do justice.
Wednesday night, after having a junky dinner, we were up early. We were delighted to see about 20-30cm of new cover on the roof across from us. So Dean and I strapped up as soon as week could and headed out. What a wicked day!
We were going to start off down our usual red run on the left side of Ichinose Family area, but there was eleventy billion ski schoolers going to be going down the same area we were... So we decided to go down the black run, which nearly goes straight to the face of the slope. No problems.. Then we got to the main area and found this section had more powder than we anticipated. It was up to our knees! I took a decent size washout in the powder, and promptly got stuck. Having powder covering your chest, legs and board is suprisingly heavy, and made it hard to move. Dean had to drag me about a metre down, so that I could free my board and get back on my feet... I looked rather silly, as most of my body was covered in powder...
After that we started working our way across the mountain, because the usually lift that we take wasn't working/running. That meant going through a criss-cross of trees, a few different lifts that we hadn't tried and the eleventy billion ski schools! They were following us... Stop making me paranoid...
We decided to head towards Hoppo-Bundaira, and area we hadn't been yet. Only problem was, that me and Dean lost each other and were seperated for over an hour. This is not the ideal situation when snowboarding/skiing, because if one of you gets hurt, the other doesn't know about it. We eventually found each other again, with me getting the lift people to put out an announcement to tell Dean where to go. We decided after this that if we got seperated, we would go to the bottom of Takamagahara, and sit in the cafe there...
That afternoon, we did some runs down Hoppo and it was awesome. The powder has been evened out and we were carving really well. One section Dean flew down, and I couldn't catch the little bugger.
After that we went up the side of Giant, which is sort of an understatement.... this run is probably 35-45 degrees, and goes for about 500metres from the top of the hill. If you hit max speed (wouldn't take very long) you wouldn't have been able to stop til the bottom... We decided to give that one a miss for the time being as we were both still a bit sore. We took some runs around Maruike and Hasuike, which ran through tunnels, and another eleventy billion ski schoolers... ARghh
We did a couple of more runs before heading back towards Nishitate via the Ropeway. This thing is carriage that goes from one mountain to another, and the views were awesome. We took some cool shots. After getting that, we took a small chair lift and where back at Takamagahara. We went back up and did some more runs down Higashitate-yama, and Hoppo again. It was getting later, so we decided to make our way back to towards Takamagahara and Ichinose.
We were so amped about the awesome powder day we had, that we didn't want to go back in, so we kept catching the lift up until they shut it off. Got some air off the camel humps in at the bottom of the Ichinose red run, and both me and Dean did some slow speed, flat land 180's (weren't game to try doing them at speed just yet). Dean started getting the nose press to nollies down, but the lifts were shut and we were spent, so back to the hotel for us. Before we left though, we got pictures of the sunset over the mountains, with low flying cloud and everything... very beautiful.
We ended up going to the Nepalese restaurant again. This time we got the 2 person banquet for 2500Y for 2... That included 2 tandoori quarters, 2 chicken tikka breasts, 2 chicken Sheh Kebabs, 2 massive naan breads (best part of a cubit each), and 2 curries of your choice. We were packed to the gills.... So good... So for 6300Y including drinks we ate like there was no tomorrow... I highly recommend this place if you ever decide to go :P
By now the wind had started picking up, so we decided to make a dash for the hotel (probably about 750m between Restaurant and hotel). We were stuffed to the gills and stuffed from the days snowboarding, so it didn't take long before Mr Narcolepsy took over..
Next, Friday..
PS>I'll show you all the pictures of our week in the snow when we get back.. There are tons of them and they're too big to post all. Besides, they are so awesome and a 2 line caption wouldn't do justice.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Snow fo sho
Well, I haven't had the chance to get on the lobby computer til now, so I'll tell you about the past 2 days.
Yesterday after writing the post, we had some breakfast. Dean and me couldn't wait to hit the slopes. We had fresh pow and lots of it. After Monday's icy efforts, gliding down fresh, soft feathery powder was majik. We both had some really good runs. One run we did, I hurtled down, through a heap of hairpins, down a slope and around ski schoolers. So cool.. In the afternoon the snow started coming down lightly, just to top things up. We finished up down the bottom of Takamagahara at about 3.30pm sampling the local brew (Shiga Kogen Highlands Brewery Pale Ale on tap). After that we were wrecked as we had been shredding since 9 without much of a break. We went up about half way then through some trees back towards the area where our hotel was.
Because we ate a late lunch, none of us felt like much of a dinner (and we didn't feel like eating the dodgy food at the restaurant in our hotel). Dinner consisted of chocolate, ice cream and a brew. Only problem was, because we had one everyday, me and Dean were over beer (Is the even possible??) so we decided today to go dry.
This morning, both me and Dean were feeling wrecked, so we decided to take "half" the day off and go see the Japanese macaques in the Jigokudani Monkey park. For those not in the know, the monkeys are wild (actually they live all over these mountains) and have their own hot spring bath near a geyser/volcanic hot spring. To get there required us to get a bus to another section of the ski fields, then another bus from there to near the place. Then we had a 2km walk through the national park to get to the main area. We saw them before we'd even reached the end, but it was worth the walk. Hot springs, monkeys, the smell of volcanic sulfur in the air... all pretty good. Dean took about 200 pics with his SLR, while me and Whitney had our point and shoots. We have to wait til my laptops back up and running, but the monkeys were so cool.
At the moment it's about 8pm and it started snowing heavily outside. Should be another good powder day tomorrow, with Dean and me trying different runs.
Hope to write soon.
Yesterday after writing the post, we had some breakfast. Dean and me couldn't wait to hit the slopes. We had fresh pow and lots of it. After Monday's icy efforts, gliding down fresh, soft feathery powder was majik. We both had some really good runs. One run we did, I hurtled down, through a heap of hairpins, down a slope and around ski schoolers. So cool.. In the afternoon the snow started coming down lightly, just to top things up. We finished up down the bottom of Takamagahara at about 3.30pm sampling the local brew (Shiga Kogen Highlands Brewery Pale Ale on tap). After that we were wrecked as we had been shredding since 9 without much of a break. We went up about half way then through some trees back towards the area where our hotel was.
Because we ate a late lunch, none of us felt like much of a dinner (and we didn't feel like eating the dodgy food at the restaurant in our hotel). Dinner consisted of chocolate, ice cream and a brew. Only problem was, because we had one everyday, me and Dean were over beer (Is the even possible??) so we decided today to go dry.
This morning, both me and Dean were feeling wrecked, so we decided to take "half" the day off and go see the Japanese macaques in the Jigokudani Monkey park. For those not in the know, the monkeys are wild (actually they live all over these mountains) and have their own hot spring bath near a geyser/volcanic hot spring. To get there required us to get a bus to another section of the ski fields, then another bus from there to near the place. Then we had a 2km walk through the national park to get to the main area. We saw them before we'd even reached the end, but it was worth the walk. Hot springs, monkeys, the smell of volcanic sulfur in the air... all pretty good. Dean took about 200 pics with his SLR, while me and Whitney had our point and shoots. We have to wait til my laptops back up and running, but the monkeys were so cool.
At the moment it's about 8pm and it started snowing heavily outside. Should be another good powder day tomorrow, with Dean and me trying different runs.
Hope to write soon.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Yesterday, Today and Possibly Tomorrow.
So after a typical snow resort breakfast, it was time for Dean and I to venture into the great unknown.
We walked up the road, and found a place that hired board and bindings for 6300Yen. So I did that, and then Dean paid for the lift passes which were more expensive (but still cheaper than Aus)
Once we got ourselves all organised, it was time to hit the slopes... Damn icy.. There was quite a bit of rain on Saturday and it had caused an ice crust to be formed on the surface... not the nice powder we had hoped for. Anyway we strapped up with board and bindings and headed down a green run. BAM.. Straight back into it. I went down the whole run without a stack, while Dean hit a bit of ice on the edge of the run and fell over. We explored around a bit and found that most of the runs were in similar condition, and the areas where the groomers had been looked like corduroy with ice in the gaps.
Stopped at about 12.30 for lunch, loaded up with some Gyuudon (beef on rice) and kept going. Explored some other areas of the resort and found a really fun green run with lots of hairpins, some sweeping turns and fences. I think I fell over once in this whole time but nothing major. We headed back across the valley to Ichinose Diamond area and did some smaller runs, but the icy conditions made it harder to enjoy. Dean also fell down hard on his knees, so he was in a little bit of discomfort.
We headed back over towards Family and Takamagahara because it was less icy and kept going for another couple of hours before stopping for a beer at about 3.30. We did this because carbs are good when doing a lot of exercise, and because the weather outside had started getting heavier. The wind picked up and the snow started falling. First sporatically, then heavier, until the visibility made things hard to see. We decided to head back up so we could get across to the area our hotel is. This proved a tad difficult as the only way we could do this was by heading across the bottom of a mogul run... Looks like bubble wrap, but is almost impossible for snowboarders to get down or across in. It took us a little time but after being toe side our calves were burning. We finally made it back to Ichinose Family a little tired. After unstrapping, we walked down to our hotel and packed up for the afternoon.
After the poor previous nights effort, we decided to skip dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. Dean was complaining of stomach pains, but we journeyed out into the snow and headed up the hill. We found a place called "Ethnic Beer Curry House" so decided that looked a goa (pun intended). Actually it turned out that it was a nepalese curry house and they had their own tandoor oven, and made the own naan bread. All of us at well and for only 5300Yen. Mum and I got the tandoori chicken for 700Y each. It was basically half a chicken each and we also ordered some naan bread. Dean and Whitney got the 2 curry set, which had 2 curry's of your choice, a gigantic naan and some salad for 1000Y each.
Getting back proved a tad chilly with the conditions getting a lot more snowy. We decided to skip the road as it was getting icy and headed across the bottom end of Ichinose family (all hotels are virtually ski in ski out). The snow had started to do its job, because although I had my snow pants on, I was only wearing my Etnies with a pair of anklet socks. They were fine, until the snow decided to be higher than my shoe and got around the back.. Nippy to say the least.
Went back to the room, had a bath then crashed out. Snowboarding tires you something fierce.
Woke up this morning and looked out the window. Looks to be about 10cm of new snow overnight (nothing on the roof yesterday, a great block of snow now). Should make for a better days snowboarding.
Well, I'll update again either this afternoon, or tomorrow morning, but I'll put pictures up when I'm not using the computer in the lobby.
We walked up the road, and found a place that hired board and bindings for 6300Yen. So I did that, and then Dean paid for the lift passes which were more expensive (but still cheaper than Aus)
Once we got ourselves all organised, it was time to hit the slopes... Damn icy.. There was quite a bit of rain on Saturday and it had caused an ice crust to be formed on the surface... not the nice powder we had hoped for. Anyway we strapped up with board and bindings and headed down a green run. BAM.. Straight back into it. I went down the whole run without a stack, while Dean hit a bit of ice on the edge of the run and fell over. We explored around a bit and found that most of the runs were in similar condition, and the areas where the groomers had been looked like corduroy with ice in the gaps.
Stopped at about 12.30 for lunch, loaded up with some Gyuudon (beef on rice) and kept going. Explored some other areas of the resort and found a really fun green run with lots of hairpins, some sweeping turns and fences. I think I fell over once in this whole time but nothing major. We headed back across the valley to Ichinose Diamond area and did some smaller runs, but the icy conditions made it harder to enjoy. Dean also fell down hard on his knees, so he was in a little bit of discomfort.
We headed back over towards Family and Takamagahara because it was less icy and kept going for another couple of hours before stopping for a beer at about 3.30. We did this because carbs are good when doing a lot of exercise, and because the weather outside had started getting heavier. The wind picked up and the snow started falling. First sporatically, then heavier, until the visibility made things hard to see. We decided to head back up so we could get across to the area our hotel is. This proved a tad difficult as the only way we could do this was by heading across the bottom of a mogul run... Looks like bubble wrap, but is almost impossible for snowboarders to get down or across in. It took us a little time but after being toe side our calves were burning. We finally made it back to Ichinose Family a little tired. After unstrapping, we walked down to our hotel and packed up for the afternoon.
After the poor previous nights effort, we decided to skip dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. Dean was complaining of stomach pains, but we journeyed out into the snow and headed up the hill. We found a place called "Ethnic Beer Curry House" so decided that looked a goa (pun intended). Actually it turned out that it was a nepalese curry house and they had their own tandoor oven, and made the own naan bread. All of us at well and for only 5300Yen. Mum and I got the tandoori chicken for 700Y each. It was basically half a chicken each and we also ordered some naan bread. Dean and Whitney got the 2 curry set, which had 2 curry's of your choice, a gigantic naan and some salad for 1000Y each.
Getting back proved a tad chilly with the conditions getting a lot more snowy. We decided to skip the road as it was getting icy and headed across the bottom end of Ichinose family (all hotels are virtually ski in ski out). The snow had started to do its job, because although I had my snow pants on, I was only wearing my Etnies with a pair of anklet socks. They were fine, until the snow decided to be higher than my shoe and got around the back.. Nippy to say the least.
Went back to the room, had a bath then crashed out. Snowboarding tires you something fierce.
Woke up this morning and looked out the window. Looks to be about 10cm of new snow overnight (nothing on the roof yesterday, a great block of snow now). Should make for a better days snowboarding.
Well, I'll update again either this afternoon, or tomorrow morning, but I'll put pictures up when I'm not using the computer in the lobby.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Crazｙ ｔｉｍｅｓ
Ｓｏｒｒｙ ｆｏｒ ｎｏｔ ｐｏｓｔｉｎｇ ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａｙ， ｂｕｔ ｉｔ ｗａｓ ｍａｄｎｅｓｓ．
Ｗｅ ａｌｌ ｗｏｋｅ ｕｐ ｅａｒｌｙ ｏｎ Ｓｕｎｄａｙ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ａｆｔｅｒ ａ ｈｏｒｒｉｄ ｎｉｇｈｔｓ ｓｌｅｅｐ． Ｔｈｅ ｒｏｏｍ ｗｅ ｓｔａｙｅｄ ｉｎ ｗａｓ ｄｕｓｔｙ ａｎｄ ｓｔｕｎｋ ｏｆ ｃｉｇａｒｅｔｔｅ ｓｍｏｋｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｌｅｄ ｔｏ ｍｅ， Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ｓｎｏｒｉｎｇ ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ ｏｕｒ ｎｏｓｅｓ ｗｅ’ｒｅ ｂｌｏｃｋｅｄ． Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｇｏｔ ｕｐ ａｎｄ ｗｅｎｔ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗａｌｋ． Ｉｆ ｙｏｕ ｋｎｏｗ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ａｂｏｕｔ Ｔｏｋｙｏ／Ｊａｐａｎ， ｉｔｓ ｔｈａｔ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｓｈｏｐｓ ａｎｄ ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ ｄｏｎ’ｔ ｏｐｅｎ ｔｉｌ ｌａｔｅｒ （１０．３０－１１ａｍ）． Ａｌｓｏ， ｃｏｍｐａｒｅｄ ｔｏ ｏｔｈｅｒ ａｒｅａｓ ｏｆ Ｔｏｋｙｏ， Ｕｅｎｏ ｉｓ ｃｏｍｐａｒｉｔｉｖｅ ｔｏ Ｆｏｒｔｉｔｕｄｅ Ｖａｌｌｅｙ． Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ｈｏｂｏｓ， ｇｉｒｌｙ ｍｏｖｉｅ ｐｌａｃｅｓ， ａｎｄ ｐａｃｈｉｎｋｏ ｐａｒｌｏｕｒｓ ｇａｌｏｕｒ． Ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗａｌｋ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｒｅｅｔ ａｎｄ ｓｔｕｍｂｌｅｄ ｕｐ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｏｒｅ Ｄｏｎｋｉ／Ｄｏｎ Ｑｕｉｘｏｔｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｓｈｏｐ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｂｅ ａ ｂｏｏｚｅ ｈｏｕｎｄｓ ｄｒｅａｍ． Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｆｒｏｍ ｆｕｌｌｓｉｚｅ Ｈｅｌｌｏ Ｋｉｔｔｙ， Ｐｏｏｈ ａｎｄ Ｐｉｋａｃｈｕ ｏｕｔｆｉｔｓ （ｆｏｒ ２９９０￥） ｔｏ ｓｕｉｔｓ， ｓｕｉｔｃａｓｅ， ｂｉｃｙｃｌｅｓ， ｇａｍｅｓ ｅｔｃ． ａｎｄ ｉｔｓ ｏｐｅｎ ｅｉｔｈｅｒ ２４ｈｒｓ ｏｒ ｆｒｏｍ １０ａｍ ｔｉｌ ６ａｍ． Ａｆｔｅｒ ａ ｑｕｉｃｋ ｌｏｏｋ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｉｎ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｈｅａｄ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏｗａｒｄｓ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ．
Ｔｈｅｎ ｉｔ ｗａｓ ｔｉｍｅ ｆｏｒ ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ． Ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｔｈｅｒｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｑｕｉｔｅ ａ ｆｅｗ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ ｃｈａｉｎｓ ｎｅａｒｂｙ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ． Ｏｕｒ ｐｉｃｋ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ｗａｓ Ｆｉｒｓｔ Ｋｉｔｃｈｅｎ， ｗｈｅｒｅ Ｉ ｇｏｔ ａ ｂａｃｏｎ ＆ ｅｇｇ ｂｕｒｇｅｒ （ｓｍａｌｌ ｓｉｚｅ）， ｐｅｐｓｉ ａｎｄ ｈａｓｈ ｂｒｏｗｎ ｆｏｒ ４４０￥． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｆｉｎｉｓｈｉｎｇ ｔｈａｔ ｏｆｆ， ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｐａｃｋ ｕｐ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ ａｎｄ ｓｔｏｗ ｉｔ ｄｏｗｎｓｔａｉｒｓ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗｈｉｌｅ． Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｈａｔ ｗｅ ｈａｄ ｐｌｅｎｔｙ ｏｆ ｔｉｍｅ ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｗａｌｋ ｔｏ Ｋａｎｄａ／Ｏｔｅｍａｃｈｉ／Ｊｉｍｂｏｃｈｏ， ｗｈｅｒｅ ａ ｌｏｔ ｏｆ ｓｎｏｗ ｓｈｏｐｓ ａｒｅ （ｔｈｅｙ ｌｉｎｅ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｒｅｅｔ）． Ｍｕｍ ａｎｄ Ｗｈｉｔｎｅｙ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｔａｇ ａｌｏｎｇ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｍａｄｅ ｔｈｉｎｇｓ ｓｌｏｗｅｒ ｇｏｉｎｇ （ｔｈｅｉｒ ｌｅｇｓ ｄｏｎ’ｔ ｋｎｏｗ ｈｏｗ ｔｏ ｂｅ ａｓ ｌｏｎｇ ａｓ ｏｕｒｓ）， ｂｕｔ ｗｅ ｓｔｉｌｌ ｇｏｔ ｔｈｅｒｅ ａｂｏｕｔ １０ａｍ． Ｔｈｅ ｏｎｌｙ ｓｈｏｐ ｏｐｅｎ ａｔ ｔｈａｔ ｔｉｍｅ ｗａｓ Ｌｏｎｄｏｎ Ｃｈｅａｐ （Ｋａｎｄａ Ｓｐｏｒｔｓ） ｗｈｉｃｈ ｗａｓ ｇｏｏｄ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｗａｓ ｔｈｅ ｓｈｏｐ Ｉ ｗａｓ ｍｏｓｔｌｙ ａｉｍｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ， ａｎｄ ａｓ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｎａｍｅ ｓｕｇｇｅｓｔｓ， ｔｈｅｙ’ｒｅ ｃｈｅａｐ． Ｗｅ ｃｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｇｏｔｔｅｎ ａ ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ ｙｅａｒ ｍｏｄｅｌ ｂｏａｒｄ ａｎｄ ｂｉｎｄｉｎｇｓ ｆｒｏｍ Ｓａｌｏｍｏｎ ｏｒ Ｋ２ ｆｏｒ １３９９０ ｗｉｔｈ ｂｉｎｄｉｎｇｓ． Ｕｎｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ， ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔｓ ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ ｙｅａｒｓ ｓｔｏｃｋ， ｓｏｍｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｒｅ ｐｏｐｕｌａｒ ｓｉｚｅｓ （Ｉ’ｍ ａ １５２－１５４ ａｎｄ Ｄｅａｎ ｉｓ ａ １５４－１５６） ｗｅｒｅ ｇｏｎｅ． Ｂｕｍｍｅｒ．．． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ａ ｃｏｆｆｅｅ ａｎｄ ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ ｔｉｌ ｓｏｍｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｓｎｏｗ ｓｈｏｐｓ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｐｅｎ， ｗｅ ｌｏｏｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｂｕｔ ｃｏｕｌｄｎ’ｔ ｆｉｎｄ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ａｓ ｃｈｅａｐ ａｓ ｔｈａｔ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｗａｓ ｄｉｓａｐｐｏｉｎｔｉｎｇ ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｏ ｂｕｙ， ｂｕｔ ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｈｅａｄ ｕｐ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｓｎｏｗｆｉｅｌｄｓ ａｎｄ ｈｉｒｅ ｏｒ ｓｅｅ ｉｆ ｔｈｅｙ ｈａｄ ｃｈｅａｐ ｓｔｕｆｆ ｕｐ ｔｈｅｉｒ．
Ａｆｔｅｒ ｇｒａｂｂｉｎｇ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ， ｎｅｘｔ ｃａｍｅ ｔｈｅ ｄａｕｎｔｉｎｇ ｔａｓｋ ｏｆ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ Ｓｈｉｎｋａｎｓｅｎ （ｂｕｌｌｅｔ ｔｒａｉｎ）． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ｗｈａｔ Ｉ ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ ｗｅｒｅ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｇｈｔ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ， ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｉｎｆｏｒｍｅｄ ｉｎ ｖｅｒｙ ｂｒｏｋｅｎ ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ ｔｈａｔ ｗｅ ｎｅｅｄｅｄ ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ ｔｉｃｋｅｔ ａｓ ｗｅｌｌ． Ｕｎ／ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｔｈｅ ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ｔｒａｉｎ ｓｙｓｔｅｍｓ ａｒｅ ｅｆｆｉｃｉｅｎｔ ｓｏ ｅｖｅｎ ｔｈｏｕｇｈ ｗｅ ｈａｄ ｒｅｓｅｒｖｅｄ ｓｅａｔｓ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ １２．３０ ｔｒａｉｎ， ｗｉｔｈ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅ ｃｏｎｆｕｓｉｏｎ ｏｆ ｈａｖｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｗｒｏｎｇ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ， ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ａｎｄ Ｗｈｉｔｎｅｙ ｓｔｒｅｓｓｉｎｇ ｏｕｔ， ｗｅ ｍｉｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｒ ｔｒａｉｎ． Ｗｅ ｈｏｐｐｅｄ ｏｎ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｏｎｅ ａｔ １３．１０ ｂｕｔ ｗｅｒｅ ａ ｌｉｔｔｌｅ ｗｉｒｅｄ ａｆｔｅｒｗａｒｄｓ． Ａｔ ｌｅａｓｔ ｗｅ’ｌｌ ｋｎｏｗ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｔｒｉｐ ｂａｃｋ．
Ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｈｉｎｋａｎｓｅｎ ｆｏｒ ａｂｏｕｔ １ １／２ ｈｒｓ， ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ ｈａｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ａ ｂｕｓ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｓｎｏｗｆｉｅｌｄｓ． Ｗｅ ｊｕｓｔ ａｓｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ ｇｏｔ ｔｏｌｄ ｔｏ ｇｏ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｔａｉｒｓ ａｎｄ ｊｕｍｐ ｏｎ ａｔ ｓｔｏｐ ３． Ｅａｓｙ ａｓ．．． ｎｏ ｄｒａｍａｓ．． Ｔｈｅｎ ｗｅ ｓｐｅｎｔ ａｂｏｕｔ ７０ｍｉｎｓ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｂｕｓ ａｓ ｉｔ ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ ａ ｖｅｒｙ ｗｉｎｄｉｎｇ ｒｏａｄ ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｕｎｔａｉｎｓ． （Ｓｈａｎｅ， ｙｏｕ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｈｉｓ）． Ｗｅ ｇｏｔ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｏｐ ｔｈｅｎ ｈａｄ ｔｏ ｗａｌｋ ｄｏｗｎ ｈｉｌｌ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｈｏｔｅｌ． Ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｗｈｅｎ ｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ ｔｈｉｓ ａｌｌ， Ｉ ｈａｄ ｐｌａｎｎｅｄ ｉｔ ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｂｅ ｔｈｅｒｅ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｄａｒｋ， ａｓ ｌａｓｔ ｙｅａｒ， ｗｅ ｄｉｄｎ’ｔ ｇｅｔ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｈｏｔｅｌ ｕｎｔｉｌ ８ｐｍ ａｎｄ Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ｓｔｒｅｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｔ ａ ｂｉｔ． Ｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ ｉｓ ｔｈｅ ｋｅｙ ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅｓ ｐｅｏｐｌｅ．
Ｗｅ ｄｕｍｐｅｄ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ， ｈａｄ ｓｏｍｅ ｄｉｎｎｅｒ， ｔｈｅｎ ｐａｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｔ ａｆｔｅｒ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ ａ ｄｉｐ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｕｌｔｒａ－ｗａｒｍ ｊａｃｕｚｚｉ．． ｊｕｓｔ ｔｈｅ ｔｈｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｈｅｌｐ ｔｉｒｅｄ／ｓｏｒｅ ｍｕｓｃｌｅｓ ｔｈａｔ ｈａｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｃａｒｒｙｉｎｇ ａ ｕｎｃｏｍｆｏｒｔａｂｌｅ， ｈｅａｖｙ ｂａｃｋ ｐａｃｋ ａｌｌ ｄａｙ．
Ｓｏ ｔｈａｔ ｗａｓ ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａｙ’ｓ ｅｖｅｎｔｓ． Ｉ ｗｉｌｌ ｕｐｄａｔｅ ｙｏｕ ａｌｌ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｏｄａｙ’ｓ ｃｒａｓｈｅｓ ａｎｄ ｂａｉｌｓ ｌａｔｅｒ ｏｎ， ａｎｄ ｗｈｅｎ／ｉｆ Ｉ ｆｉｎｄ ａ ｃｏｎｖｅｒｔｅｒ ｐｌｕｇ ｆｏｒ ｍｙ ｌａｐｔｏｐ， Ｉ’ｌｌ ｕｐｄａｔｅ ｔｈｉｓ ｐｏｓｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｐｉｃｓ．
Ｂｙｅ ａｌｌ， ｔｉｍｅ ｔｏ ｆａｋｅ ｍｙ ｄｅａｔｈ ｉｎ ａｎ ａｖａｌａｎｃｈｅ， ｔｈｅｎ ｂｅｃｏｍｅ ａｎ ｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ ｍａｎ ｏｆ ｍｙｓｔｅｒｙ．
Ｗｅ ａｌｌ ｗｏｋｅ ｕｐ ｅａｒｌｙ ｏｎ Ｓｕｎｄａｙ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ａｆｔｅｒ ａ ｈｏｒｒｉｄ ｎｉｇｈｔｓ ｓｌｅｅｐ． Ｔｈｅ ｒｏｏｍ ｗｅ ｓｔａｙｅｄ ｉｎ ｗａｓ ｄｕｓｔｙ ａｎｄ ｓｔｕｎｋ ｏｆ ｃｉｇａｒｅｔｔｅ ｓｍｏｋｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｌｅｄ ｔｏ ｍｅ， Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ｓｎｏｒｉｎｇ ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ ｏｕｒ ｎｏｓｅｓ ｗｅ’ｒｅ ｂｌｏｃｋｅｄ． Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｇｏｔ ｕｐ ａｎｄ ｗｅｎｔ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗａｌｋ． Ｉｆ ｙｏｕ ｋｎｏｗ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ａｂｏｕｔ Ｔｏｋｙｏ／Ｊａｐａｎ， ｉｔｓ ｔｈａｔ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｓｈｏｐｓ ａｎｄ ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ ｄｏｎ’ｔ ｏｐｅｎ ｔｉｌ ｌａｔｅｒ （１０．３０－１１ａｍ）． Ａｌｓｏ， ｃｏｍｐａｒｅｄ ｔｏ ｏｔｈｅｒ ａｒｅａｓ ｏｆ Ｔｏｋｙｏ， Ｕｅｎｏ ｉｓ ｃｏｍｐａｒｉｔｉｖｅ ｔｏ Ｆｏｒｔｉｔｕｄｅ Ｖａｌｌｅｙ． Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ｈｏｂｏｓ， ｇｉｒｌｙ ｍｏｖｉｅ ｐｌａｃｅｓ， ａｎｄ ｐａｃｈｉｎｋｏ ｐａｒｌｏｕｒｓ ｇａｌｏｕｒ． Ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗａｌｋ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｒｅｅｔ ａｎｄ ｓｔｕｍｂｌｅｄ ｕｐ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｏｒｅ Ｄｏｎｋｉ／Ｄｏｎ Ｑｕｉｘｏｔｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｓｈｏｐ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｂｅ ａ ｂｏｏｚｅ ｈｏｕｎｄｓ ｄｒｅａｍ． Ｉｔ ｈａｓ ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｆｒｏｍ ｆｕｌｌｓｉｚｅ Ｈｅｌｌｏ Ｋｉｔｔｙ， Ｐｏｏｈ ａｎｄ Ｐｉｋａｃｈｕ ｏｕｔｆｉｔｓ （ｆｏｒ ２９９０￥） ｔｏ ｓｕｉｔｓ， ｓｕｉｔｃａｓｅ， ｂｉｃｙｃｌｅｓ， ｇａｍｅｓ ｅｔｃ． ａｎｄ ｉｔｓ ｏｐｅｎ ｅｉｔｈｅｒ ２４ｈｒｓ ｏｒ ｆｒｏｍ １０ａｍ ｔｉｌ ６ａｍ． Ａｆｔｅｒ ａ ｑｕｉｃｋ ｌｏｏｋ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｉｎ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｈｅａｄ ｂａｃｋ ｔｏｗａｒｄｓ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ．
Ｔｈｅｎ ｉｔ ｗａｓ ｔｉｍｅ ｆｏｒ ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ． Ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｔｈｅｒｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｑｕｉｔｅ ａ ｆｅｗ ｒｅｓｔａｕｒａｎｔ ｃｈａｉｎｓ ｎｅａｒｂｙ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ． Ｏｕｒ ｐｉｃｋ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ｗａｓ Ｆｉｒｓｔ Ｋｉｔｃｈｅｎ， ｗｈｅｒｅ Ｉ ｇｏｔ ａ ｂａｃｏｎ ＆ ｅｇｇ ｂｕｒｇｅｒ （ｓｍａｌｌ ｓｉｚｅ）， ｐｅｐｓｉ ａｎｄ ｈａｓｈ ｂｒｏｗｎ ｆｏｒ ４４０￥． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｆｉｎｉｓｈｉｎｇ ｔｈａｔ ｏｆｆ， ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｐａｃｋ ｕｐ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ ａｎｄ ｓｔｏｗ ｉｔ ｄｏｗｎｓｔａｉｒｓ ｆｏｒ ａ ｗｈｉｌｅ． Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｈａｔ ｗｅ ｈａｄ ｐｌｅｎｔｙ ｏｆ ｔｉｍｅ ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｗａｌｋ ｔｏ Ｋａｎｄａ／Ｏｔｅｍａｃｈｉ／Ｊｉｍｂｏｃｈｏ， ｗｈｅｒｅ ａ ｌｏｔ ｏｆ ｓｎｏｗ ｓｈｏｐｓ ａｒｅ （ｔｈｅｙ ｌｉｎｅ ｔｈｅ ｓｔｒｅｅｔ）． Ｍｕｍ ａｎｄ Ｗｈｉｔｎｅｙ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｔａｇ ａｌｏｎｇ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｍａｄｅ ｔｈｉｎｇｓ ｓｌｏｗｅｒ ｇｏｉｎｇ （ｔｈｅｉｒ ｌｅｇｓ ｄｏｎ’ｔ ｋｎｏｗ ｈｏｗ ｔｏ ｂｅ ａｓ ｌｏｎｇ ａｓ ｏｕｒｓ）， ｂｕｔ ｗｅ ｓｔｉｌｌ ｇｏｔ ｔｈｅｒｅ ａｂｏｕｔ １０ａｍ． Ｔｈｅ ｏｎｌｙ ｓｈｏｐ ｏｐｅｎ ａｔ ｔｈａｔ ｔｉｍｅ ｗａｓ Ｌｏｎｄｏｎ Ｃｈｅａｐ （Ｋａｎｄａ Ｓｐｏｒｔｓ） ｗｈｉｃｈ ｗａｓ ｇｏｏｄ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｗａｓ ｔｈｅ ｓｈｏｐ Ｉ ｗａｓ ｍｏｓｔｌｙ ａｉｍｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ， ａｎｄ ａｓ ｔｈｅｉｒ ｎａｍｅ ｓｕｇｇｅｓｔｓ， ｔｈｅｙ’ｒｅ ｃｈｅａｐ． Ｗｅ ｃｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｇｏｔｔｅｎ ａ ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ ｙｅａｒ ｍｏｄｅｌ ｂｏａｒｄ ａｎｄ ｂｉｎｄｉｎｇｓ ｆｒｏｍ Ｓａｌｏｍｏｎ ｏｒ Ｋ２ ｆｏｒ １３９９０ ｗｉｔｈ ｂｉｎｄｉｎｇｓ． Ｕｎｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ， ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔｓ ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓ ｙｅａｒｓ ｓｔｏｃｋ， ｓｏｍｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｒｅ ｐｏｐｕｌａｒ ｓｉｚｅｓ （Ｉ’ｍ ａ １５２－１５４ ａｎｄ Ｄｅａｎ ｉｓ ａ １５４－１５６） ｗｅｒｅ ｇｏｎｅ． Ｂｕｍｍｅｒ．．． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ａ ｃｏｆｆｅｅ ａｎｄ ｗａｉｔｉｎｇ ｔｉｌ ｓｏｍｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｓｎｏｗ ｓｈｏｐｓ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｐｅｎ， ｗｅ ｌｏｏｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｂｕｔ ｃｏｕｌｄｎ’ｔ ｆｉｎｄ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ａｓ ｃｈｅａｐ ａｓ ｔｈａｔ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｗａｓ ｄｉｓａｐｐｏｉｎｔｉｎｇ ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｏ ｂｕｙ， ｂｕｔ ｗｅ ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｈｅａｄ ｕｐ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｓｎｏｗｆｉｅｌｄｓ ａｎｄ ｈｉｒｅ ｏｒ ｓｅｅ ｉｆ ｔｈｅｙ ｈａｄ ｃｈｅａｐ ｓｔｕｆｆ ｕｐ ｔｈｅｉｒ．
Ａｆｔｅｒ ｇｒａｂｂｉｎｇ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｈｏｔｅｌ， ｎｅｘｔ ｃａｍｅ ｔｈｅ ｄａｕｎｔｉｎｇ ｔａｓｋ ｏｆ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ Ｓｈｉｎｋａｎｓｅｎ （ｂｕｌｌｅｔ ｔｒａｉｎ）． Ａｆｔｅｒ ｂｕｙｉｎｇ ｗｈａｔ Ｉ ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ ｗｅｒｅ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｇｈｔ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ， ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｉｎｆｏｒｍｅｄ ｉｎ ｖｅｒｙ ｂｒｏｋｅｎ ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ ｔｈａｔ ｗｅ ｎｅｅｄｅｄ ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ ｔｉｃｋｅｔ ａｓ ｗｅｌｌ． Ｕｎ／ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｔｈｅ ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ ｔｒａｉｎ ｓｙｓｔｅｍｓ ａｒｅ ｅｆｆｉｃｉｅｎｔ ｓｏ ｅｖｅｎ ｔｈｏｕｇｈ ｗｅ ｈａｄ ｒｅｓｅｒｖｅｄ ｓｅａｔｓ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ １２．３０ ｔｒａｉｎ， ｗｉｔｈ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅ ｃｏｎｆｕｓｉｏｎ ｏｆ ｈａｖｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｗｒｏｎｇ ｔｉｃｋｅｔｓ， ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ａｎｄ Ｗｈｉｔｎｅｙ ｓｔｒｅｓｓｉｎｇ ｏｕｔ， ｗｅ ｍｉｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｒ ｔｒａｉｎ． Ｗｅ ｈｏｐｐｅｄ ｏｎ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｏｎｅ ａｔ １３．１０ ｂｕｔ ｗｅｒｅ ａ ｌｉｔｔｌｅ ｗｉｒｅｄ ａｆｔｅｒｗａｒｄｓ． Ａｔ ｌｅａｓｔ ｗｅ’ｌｌ ｋｎｏｗ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｔｒｉｐ ｂａｃｋ．
Ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｈｉｎｋａｎｓｅｎ ｆｏｒ ａｂｏｕｔ １ １／２ ｈｒｓ， ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ ｈａｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ａ ｂｕｓ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｓｎｏｗｆｉｅｌｄｓ． Ｗｅ ｊｕｓｔ ａｓｋｅｄ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ａｎｄ ｔｈｅｎ ｇｏｔ ｔｏｌｄ ｔｏ ｇｏ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｓｔａｉｒｓ ａｎｄ ｊｕｍｐ ｏｎ ａｔ ｓｔｏｐ ３． Ｅａｓｙ ａｓ．．． ｎｏ ｄｒａｍａｓ．． Ｔｈｅｎ ｗｅ ｓｐｅｎｔ ａｂｏｕｔ ７０ｍｉｎｓ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｂｕｓ ａｓ ｉｔ ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ ａ ｖｅｒｙ ｗｉｎｄｉｎｇ ｒｏａｄ ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ ｔｈｅ ｍｏｕｎｔａｉｎｓ． （Ｓｈａｎｅ， ｙｏｕ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｌｏｖｅｄ ｔｈｉｓ）． Ｗｅ ｇｏｔ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｏｐ ｔｈｅｎ ｈａｄ ｔｏ ｗａｌｋ ｄｏｗｎ ｈｉｌｌ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｈｏｔｅｌ． Ｆｏｒｔｕｎａｔｅｌｙ ｗｈｅｎ ｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ ｔｈｉｓ ａｌｌ， Ｉ ｈａｄ ｐｌａｎｎｅｄ ｉｔ ｓｏ ｗｅ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｂｅ ｔｈｅｒｅ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｄａｒｋ， ａｓ ｌａｓｔ ｙｅａｒ， ｗｅ ｄｉｄｎ’ｔ ｇｅｔ ｔｏ ｏｕｒ ｈｏｔｅｌ ｕｎｔｉｌ ８ｐｍ ａｎｄ Ｄｅａｎ ａｎｄ ｍｕｍ ｓｔｒｅｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｔ ａ ｂｉｔ． Ｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇ ｉｓ ｔｈｅ ｋｅｙ ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅｓ ｐｅｏｐｌｅ．
Ｗｅ ｄｕｍｐｅｄ ｏｕｒ ｓｔｕｆｆ， ｈａｄ ｓｏｍｅ ｄｉｎｎｅｒ， ｔｈｅｎ ｐａｓｓｅｄ ｏｕｔ ａｆｔｅｒ ｇｏｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ ａ ｄｉｐ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｕｌｔｒａ－ｗａｒｍ ｊａｃｕｚｚｉ．． ｊｕｓｔ ｔｈｅ ｔｈｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｈｅｌｐ ｔｉｒｅｄ／ｓｏｒｅ ｍｕｓｃｌｅｓ ｔｈａｔ ｈａｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｃａｒｒｙｉｎｇ ａ ｕｎｃｏｍｆｏｒｔａｂｌｅ， ｈｅａｖｙ ｂａｃｋ ｐａｃｋ ａｌｌ ｄａｙ．
Ｓｏ ｔｈａｔ ｗａｓ ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａｙ’ｓ ｅｖｅｎｔｓ． Ｉ ｗｉｌｌ ｕｐｄａｔｅ ｙｏｕ ａｌｌ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｏｄａｙ’ｓ ｃｒａｓｈｅｓ ａｎｄ ｂａｉｌｓ ｌａｔｅｒ ｏｎ， ａｎｄ ｗｈｅｎ／ｉｆ Ｉ ｆｉｎｄ ａ ｃｏｎｖｅｒｔｅｒ ｐｌｕｇ ｆｏｒ ｍｙ ｌａｐｔｏｐ， Ｉ’ｌｌ ｕｐｄａｔｅ ｔｈｉｓ ｐｏｓｔ ｗｉｔｈ ｐｉｃｓ．
Ｂｙｅ ａｌｌ， ｔｉｍｅ ｔｏ ｆａｋｅ ｍｙ ｄｅａｔｈ ｉｎ ａｎ ａｖａｌａｎｃｈｅ， ｔｈｅｎ ｂｅｃｏｍｅ ａｎ ｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ ｍａｎ ｏｆ ｍｙｓｔｅｒｙ．
Saturday, February 14, 2009
We're back live from Japan, its Saturday night...
Well, we made it....
After enduring an 8hr flight and 1hr train ride, we are in our hotel... One of the things I love about Japan is even craptastic little hotels like the one we are in tonight, has Wifi. Just turn on, chuck in the WEP key and its connected.
Anyway, for those that haven't been to overseas/Japan before, here are some pics to show you the way..
Brisbane Airport has a shop called Purely Merino that sells wool products... here's the statue out front. Its a sheep...
On the plane, the serve refreshments... We got the beer kind. But be careful.. At 5.5% and flying, it creeps up on you.
This is the other train that goes from Narita Airport to Tokyo.. Its a double decker Narita Express (N'EX).
Can't complain though. We got here, chucked our stuff in our room (after some language difficulties with the owners), then headed out onto the street for dinner.. Got a curry and a beer for 770Y.. Sorry, I don't have any pics of that..
One thing Japan is famous for is its convenience stores. We have one across the lane from us. All conbini in Japan sell booze. Here's their case of beers and pre-mixes..
And their wines and spirits
And here's some odd foods that they sell... No Mrs Mac's or Four n Twenty's here...
Lastly, here's my bro Dean... with the local brew in our room.
Will write more tomorrow, but now I'm stuffed, and I don't want to waste my battery any longer.
After enduring an 8hr flight and 1hr train ride, we are in our hotel... One of the things I love about Japan is even craptastic little hotels like the one we are in tonight, has Wifi. Just turn on, chuck in the WEP key and its connected.
Anyway, for those that haven't been to overseas/Japan before, here are some pics to show you the way..
Brisbane Airport has a shop called Purely Merino that sells wool products... here's the statue out front. Its a sheep...
On the plane, the serve refreshments... We got the beer kind. But be careful.. At 5.5% and flying, it creeps up on you.
This is the other train that goes from Narita Airport to Tokyo.. Its a double decker Narita Express (N'EX).
Can't complain though. We got here, chucked our stuff in our room (after some language difficulties with the owners), then headed out onto the street for dinner.. Got a curry and a beer for 770Y.. Sorry, I don't have any pics of that..
One thing Japan is famous for is its convenience stores. We have one across the lane from us. All conbini in Japan sell booze. Here's their case of beers and pre-mixes..
And their wines and spirits
And here's some odd foods that they sell... No Mrs Mac's or Four n Twenty's here...
Lastly, here's my bro Dean... with the local brew in our room.
Will write more tomorrow, but now I'm stuffed, and I don't want to waste my battery any longer.
Friday, February 13, 2009
7.50 Getting Ready, Better be Nifty
Step out, it's cloudy.
Currently its raining, so I'm reticent to get out of bed. The joys of having a laptop.
Fortunately, I don't have to go to work today, although I still have much work to do here. I'm a terrible procrastinator, so it was only last night that I started to pack my stuff. Snowboard boots, jackets and pants were all done by my brother, but it was all my regular clothes that don't make me look like the Michelin Man (that's a very hard task) as well as my unmentionables, socks and bits and pieces that got stuffed into a backpack for carry on luggage.
Note to any inexperienced travellers: Roll everything. By rolling all your clothes, they take up less air space than if you folded them. Sort of reversing the principles of heat sinks.
Today, after getting acupuncture done for the first time, I've got to head to the bank and deposit my schrapnel savings. I just cut a hole in a large plastic jar and have been whacking my loose change in there, along with money I've received for doing some graphic design work on the side. Its only been a couple of weeks, but 20c here, 50c there, and now I've got over $100! It's a good way if you are a terrible saver like me, and I will be continuing it when I get back.
Sorry folks, no pics today, promise there should be some tomorrow.... Its when we flight out and arrive in Narita, and train it to Ueno for the first night. Stay tuned.
Currently its raining, so I'm reticent to get out of bed. The joys of having a laptop.
Fortunately, I don't have to go to work today, although I still have much work to do here. I'm a terrible procrastinator, so it was only last night that I started to pack my stuff. Snowboard boots, jackets and pants were all done by my brother, but it was all my regular clothes that don't make me look like the Michelin Man (that's a very hard task) as well as my unmentionables, socks and bits and pieces that got stuffed into a backpack for carry on luggage.
Note to any inexperienced travellers: Roll everything. By rolling all your clothes, they take up less air space than if you folded them. Sort of reversing the principles of heat sinks.
Today, after getting acupuncture done for the first time, I've got to head to the bank and deposit my schrapnel savings. I just cut a hole in a large plastic jar and have been whacking my loose change in there, along with money I've received for doing some graphic design work on the side. Its only been a couple of weeks, but 20c here, 50c there, and now I've got over $100! It's a good way if you are a terrible saver like me, and I will be continuing it when I get back.
Sorry folks, no pics today, promise there should be some tomorrow.... Its when we flight out and arrive in Narita, and train it to Ueno for the first night. Stay tuned.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
2 Days to go..
I'm sitting at work now... Well in body only. My mind is elsewhere, thinking of the things I have to organise.
My family and I fly out to Japan in 2 days and I still haven't packed, let alone finished cleaning the place up before we go!
This will only be my 6th time flying, but I love the push back that you get from a jumbo jet. Must be the reason I love turbos..
Can't wait though. These last 2 weeks have dragged like a zombie pulling a wheelbarrow full of brains.
Stay tuned for more psuedo-interesting stuff... it will get better I promise..
My family and I fly out to Japan in 2 days and I still haven't packed, let alone finished cleaning the place up before we go!
This will only be my 6th time flying, but I love the push back that you get from a jumbo jet. Must be the reason I love turbos..
Can't wait though. These last 2 weeks have dragged like a zombie pulling a wheelbarrow full of brains.
Stay tuned for more psuedo-interesting stuff... it will get better I promise..
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