But I'm home now, and things still look the same.
Yes, it was early on Sunday morning when we arrived back in Australia. I woke up when we were about over Fraser Island, so it was only another 30 mins or so til we landed. The captain was warning us to belt up etc, and that it would be showering when we landed. Well, after it felt like he dropped us out of the sky, we stepped out alive on to the Tarmac. And boy was it steamy. It had been a pleasant 12*C or so when we left Tokyo the night before, but it was 29*C and steamy when we landed at 6.30am. Urggh, I hate the heat.
So after we made our way from the plane, across the tarmac to the terminal, we waited in the Duty Free shop for Mum and Whitney who were further back in the plane than us. While we were waiting though, I took the opportunity to check the liquor, curious to see what was available as I still had about 1.5L of my duty free allowance available. I found a 1L bottle of the Glenlivet I had bought at Liquor Hasegawa for $52, so I was glad I had bought it back in Tokyo. There was not much else that grabbed my fancy, and with only a pocket full of yen, I didn't really have the money to buy anything.
We made our way to the Customs checkpoint, a slow torrid affair, before getting to baggage claim. The line up after claiming baggage was monsterous. It seemed like they had only 2 people from AQIS working or something, because we waited for ages in line, which I got chatting to another guy who had been up in Furano and Asahidake. Needless to say, it was also a long wait.
Neither me or Dean had anything to declare, so we got fast tracked a little. It still required us to get our bags scanned, but we were out into the main terminal area before everyone else so we waited. And waited, and waited and waited. Get the picture?
It ended up taking Mum, Conrad and Whitney over 1.5hrs to get through baggage/customs. A far cry from the 20mins it took to get from the plane to reserving our tickets in Narita. By this time it was past 8am, so we were caffeine deprived and hungry. Peter and Shaun were already there waiting for us when we got out, so after grabbing a burnt coffee, we finally left the terminal about 9am.
It had stopped raining before we had landed, so with 29*C, it had turned into a sauna. But just as we were getting to the cars with luggage in tow, it started raining again. Not heavy, but enough to send us scurrying.
Shaun was still sick, so although we were talking, I tried not to keep conversation going too long to save his throat, and also because I was tired. I had slept solidly on the plane, but plane sleep is about 1/3 the value of good bed rest.
We stopped at the BP Travel Centre in Coomera, as I was hanging for some Nando's. The lack of proper food since Tokyo lunchtime the previous day, had made me ravenous. A chicken steak meal was enough to fill the void. The kiwi lady that served us was pleasant and after I explained that I looked like death warmed up because I had just flown overnight from Japan, she understood. She had done that journey before as well, though under the influence of a lot of alcohol. So after getting some noms, it was back to the cars for the drive home.
As we were coming into the BP the rain had started getting heavier, and so by the time we left, it was bucketing down and lot of water on the road. Coming out of the sliplane onto the highway, Shaun's car started aquaplaning, something he had never experienced before. Fortunately, it didn't last too long, as being in a car with a driver who isn't used to it, can make aquaplaning scary for the occupants.
Other than that the drive home was uneventful. When we got home, the house was mostly clean, besides a layer of cat hair covering every surface possible. Fortunately, our room doors had been closed, because after bringing the bags in and saying goodbye to our chauffeurs, I crashed out for a couple of hours. Well 3 to be exact, before mum asked me to get her car out of the driveway because the grass was wet.
I was now fully awake again, so after spending an hour or so trying to get my thoughts together for Thursday's blog, I went and played soccer.
I could wait to play soccer again, as snowboarding for 9 days and walking all around Tokyo had built up my leg muscles that had gotten a little sloppy. After a quick stretch to warm up, I fired a few balls in at a cracking pace. It wasn't just right-footers either, as my usually weak left foot also had some new found power. We played a short field game with the 7 players we had, but after we had been playing and tiring ourselves out alittle, a group of Middle Easterners came over and asked it they could join in. It was to be an us vs them affair, with them having 5 players to our 7, and one of their mates reffing (probably because he didn't have boots/shoes on). We played til we were really tired out, but unfortunately during my stint as goalie, I had stretched and leaped for a couple of balls and retorn my stomach muscles. Now I was far less manouvreable. I still had a couple of good runs and was feeling good otherwise, but I had been a bit ambitious playing on the day I had come back.
After some beer and food, it was lights out about 10 o'clock for my dreaded first day back at work.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Departing is such sweet sorrow
Actually, there was nothing sweet about. I wasn't really looking forward to coming back, so when I woke on Saturday to the sound of rain and had to start packing, I was already in a gloomy frame of mind.
I had set my alarm for 6am, but after a late night before, the alarm got switched off before I slept til 8am. Then I awoke with a start to realise I had to do a bit of packing. Even though I didn't really buy much, and threw out a few things I had brought over, my backpack was full before I had got everything in there. Dean and I borrowed a vacuum and sucked our space bags flat, yet we still were stuffing the bags to bursting. It took us a while to get everything packed, including removing the packaging from a few things that we didn't mind if they weren't wrapped, so it was nearly 9.30 before we finished that. Conrad was taking his usual amount of time to do anything, so it was nearly checkout time before we actually were downstairs with our bags.
Fortunately for us, the Center Hotel doesn't mind you leaving your bags their after you check out, which gave us a chance to go get some breakfast and look around. As it was our last day in Japan, MOS Burger was our destination, and although we weren't served by the funny old lady that works there, she appeared before we left. We headed from there back to Yaesu Mall, via the hotel to grab a jacket as well as a little cake shop along the street. It was still raining on and off, so we didn't really get wet before we arrived there. I suggested going and checking out the shops underneath Tokyo Station, as we hadn't really had a chance to look there. One thing I wish there was more of in Tokyo in general, is seats. You can never find a bench to sit on when you need one, so you have to take note of where you do see them. I got tired of looking pretty quickly and wanted to eat my Coffee Cake that I had bought earlier, but I had to eat it standing up. Dean was fretting about dropping his Strawberry cake, so I pointed to some cubes I had seen the day before so he could sit down and eat.
We waited for a while, while Conrad, Mum and Whitney wiggled their way between various character shops before they too got tired of it. I wanted to have another crepe before we left, so we looked around for a crepe shop I had seen last year, but alas, it was no longer where I remember it being. It did lead us to some more confectionary/cake shops on the ground floor of the station, and we stopped there for a look.
By now it was 11.30 or so, and the lack of caffeine in our systems must have been taking its toll, so Dean pulled into Cafe Pronto that is near the ticket office. Unfortunately, they didn't have any split seating for smoking/non-smoking, and with our patience for tar suckers wearing thin, Dean and Conrad got their drinks to go. We headed around the corner and found a whole heap of restaurant that would have been good to us the night before, but I was getting hungry again, so we stopped in at bagel place that was no smoking. One thing we seem to find amusing, is the way the Japanese mash up their italian and french names for their cafe's. I can't remember the name of the bagel cafe off the top of my head, but I did order a BLAT and a cappucino. The BLAT was good, and had nice thick bacon rashes, something that's harder to find (they like thin cut bacon). It had a nice salad and some thick cut crisps as well, but the pumpkin bagel with good amounts of filling was doing its job, so I stopped after the salad.
Now we were fueled up again, we walked around some more, before meandering back towards Yaesu. Mum, Conrad and I wanted to head to our bottle-shop again, as the prices were nearly better than duty-free. I bought a bottle of Glenlivet 12yo single malt for 2380Y, Mum picked up another bottle of cognac, while Conrad picked up a few different bottles, all for a good price. We had taken our sweet time to decide, so Dean and Whitney had headed around the aisle to the gyoza place. We eventually met up with them there, before having a final plate of gyoza and beer. I will miss that place.
It was now getting on, so we headed for the hotel to claim our baggage. We stuck mum and Whitney in a cab again with all their baggage and Dean's and my backpacks, before Dean, Conrad and I rolled our bags to Tokyo station. We were stilling wearing our coats, so we were a little bit hot and sweaty by the time we got there and met up with them.
As is usually the way, I was designated spokesperson again, so everyone gave me their rail passes to book the tickets, but after going to the "wrong" booth (I think the young lady just couldn't understand english very well) we rolled around the corner to the other ticket booth and got the tickets for the Narita Express (N'EX) back to Narita Airport. It was now about 3.45, but our booked tickets weren't until 4.33pm, so we had plenty of time to find our way to the correct platform. We were waiting a while, so I went to the kiosk that was on the platform and bought a couple of beers for the trip (at 138Y, why not!). We waited some more, before the cool looking N700 arrived to take us to the airport.
By this stage I was a little morose, so I had a beer with the equally gloomy Dean on the train. As we watched the metropolis turn into suburbs turn into country side, it all seems a little familiar. The windmill in the middle of the rice patty, the little streams and bamboo crops. Life moves slower in the countryside, because a year had passed since I was in the same position, but the places seemed the same.
The train kept having to slow down, but it still managed to be about ontime. We got off and started making our way from the below ground train lines, to the ticket gates, then up to the 3rd Floor where we checked our luggage in. After waiting for what seem like ages, it was our turn at the counter. No wonder our bags felt heavier and were harder to fit stuff in. Conrad's board bag was 6kgs heavier, while mine and Dean's suit case was 7kgs. I blame too many Star Wars collectables, but we were flying with Jetstar, so it meant we either lose the excess weight, or we pay. Conrad actually took this one for the team, as Dean's card was nearly full by this stage. After paying the princely sum of 10800Y, we were on our way upstairs to get some food.
The next 1.5hrs seemed to blur, because although we got dinner pretty quickly, by the time we got through customs and scanning, it was time to board (final call actually!). Not that customs were slow, we just had a slowpoke on the team. What this meant was that we didn't even get time to do some planned Duty Free shopping. We had to board the plane straight away, and yet Conrad still stopped at a vending machine to buy some juice and cider!
We had some turbulence coming out of Tokyo, but for the most part, I don't remember the journey home, apart from Conrad breaking his chair as soon as he got on, and dodgy food being served at a weird hour. Me being my usual narcoleptic self fell asleep in no time, so it wasn't until we were near to landing that I woke up. Dean had even managed to catch a few zzz's on the plane, but it's never as good a sleep as in a bed.
But this is getting into Sunday, so I'll continue this another time.
I had set my alarm for 6am, but after a late night before, the alarm got switched off before I slept til 8am. Then I awoke with a start to realise I had to do a bit of packing. Even though I didn't really buy much, and threw out a few things I had brought over, my backpack was full before I had got everything in there. Dean and I borrowed a vacuum and sucked our space bags flat, yet we still were stuffing the bags to bursting. It took us a while to get everything packed, including removing the packaging from a few things that we didn't mind if they weren't wrapped, so it was nearly 9.30 before we finished that. Conrad was taking his usual amount of time to do anything, so it was nearly checkout time before we actually were downstairs with our bags.
Fortunately for us, the Center Hotel doesn't mind you leaving your bags their after you check out, which gave us a chance to go get some breakfast and look around. As it was our last day in Japan, MOS Burger was our destination, and although we weren't served by the funny old lady that works there, she appeared before we left. We headed from there back to Yaesu Mall, via the hotel to grab a jacket as well as a little cake shop along the street. It was still raining on and off, so we didn't really get wet before we arrived there. I suggested going and checking out the shops underneath Tokyo Station, as we hadn't really had a chance to look there. One thing I wish there was more of in Tokyo in general, is seats. You can never find a bench to sit on when you need one, so you have to take note of where you do see them. I got tired of looking pretty quickly and wanted to eat my Coffee Cake that I had bought earlier, but I had to eat it standing up. Dean was fretting about dropping his Strawberry cake, so I pointed to some cubes I had seen the day before so he could sit down and eat.
We waited for a while, while Conrad, Mum and Whitney wiggled their way between various character shops before they too got tired of it. I wanted to have another crepe before we left, so we looked around for a crepe shop I had seen last year, but alas, it was no longer where I remember it being. It did lead us to some more confectionary/cake shops on the ground floor of the station, and we stopped there for a look.
By now it was 11.30 or so, and the lack of caffeine in our systems must have been taking its toll, so Dean pulled into Cafe Pronto that is near the ticket office. Unfortunately, they didn't have any split seating for smoking/non-smoking, and with our patience for tar suckers wearing thin, Dean and Conrad got their drinks to go. We headed around the corner and found a whole heap of restaurant that would have been good to us the night before, but I was getting hungry again, so we stopped in at bagel place that was no smoking. One thing we seem to find amusing, is the way the Japanese mash up their italian and french names for their cafe's. I can't remember the name of the bagel cafe off the top of my head, but I did order a BLAT and a cappucino. The BLAT was good, and had nice thick bacon rashes, something that's harder to find (they like thin cut bacon). It had a nice salad and some thick cut crisps as well, but the pumpkin bagel with good amounts of filling was doing its job, so I stopped after the salad.
Now we were fueled up again, we walked around some more, before meandering back towards Yaesu. Mum, Conrad and I wanted to head to our bottle-shop again, as the prices were nearly better than duty-free. I bought a bottle of Glenlivet 12yo single malt for 2380Y, Mum picked up another bottle of cognac, while Conrad picked up a few different bottles, all for a good price. We had taken our sweet time to decide, so Dean and Whitney had headed around the aisle to the gyoza place. We eventually met up with them there, before having a final plate of gyoza and beer. I will miss that place.
It was now getting on, so we headed for the hotel to claim our baggage. We stuck mum and Whitney in a cab again with all their baggage and Dean's and my backpacks, before Dean, Conrad and I rolled our bags to Tokyo station. We were stilling wearing our coats, so we were a little bit hot and sweaty by the time we got there and met up with them.
As is usually the way, I was designated spokesperson again, so everyone gave me their rail passes to book the tickets, but after going to the "wrong" booth (I think the young lady just couldn't understand english very well) we rolled around the corner to the other ticket booth and got the tickets for the Narita Express (N'EX) back to Narita Airport. It was now about 3.45, but our booked tickets weren't until 4.33pm, so we had plenty of time to find our way to the correct platform. We were waiting a while, so I went to the kiosk that was on the platform and bought a couple of beers for the trip (at 138Y, why not!). We waited some more, before the cool looking N700 arrived to take us to the airport.
By this stage I was a little morose, so I had a beer with the equally gloomy Dean on the train. As we watched the metropolis turn into suburbs turn into country side, it all seems a little familiar. The windmill in the middle of the rice patty, the little streams and bamboo crops. Life moves slower in the countryside, because a year had passed since I was in the same position, but the places seemed the same.
The train kept having to slow down, but it still managed to be about ontime. We got off and started making our way from the below ground train lines, to the ticket gates, then up to the 3rd Floor where we checked our luggage in. After waiting for what seem like ages, it was our turn at the counter. No wonder our bags felt heavier and were harder to fit stuff in. Conrad's board bag was 6kgs heavier, while mine and Dean's suit case was 7kgs. I blame too many Star Wars collectables, but we were flying with Jetstar, so it meant we either lose the excess weight, or we pay. Conrad actually took this one for the team, as Dean's card was nearly full by this stage. After paying the princely sum of 10800Y, we were on our way upstairs to get some food.
The next 1.5hrs seemed to blur, because although we got dinner pretty quickly, by the time we got through customs and scanning, it was time to board (final call actually!). Not that customs were slow, we just had a slowpoke on the team. What this meant was that we didn't even get time to do some planned Duty Free shopping. We had to board the plane straight away, and yet Conrad still stopped at a vending machine to buy some juice and cider!
We had some turbulence coming out of Tokyo, but for the most part, I don't remember the journey home, apart from Conrad breaking his chair as soon as he got on, and dodgy food being served at a weird hour. Me being my usual narcoleptic self fell asleep in no time, so it wasn't until we were near to landing that I woke up. Dean had even managed to catch a few zzz's on the plane, but it's never as good a sleep as in a bed.
But this is getting into Sunday, so I'll continue this another time.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
I've got Friday on my mind
It's gonna happen in the city.......
Well if any city, it would be the metropolis of Tokyo.
Well after the tiresome day that was Thursday (What am I talking about, they are all tiring!), I slept in til 8am on Friday. I got up to have a shower, but upon coming out, Dean and Conrad had nicked off to get coffee... Didn't even let me know..... Well, I got dolled up and I went to mum and Whitney's room to watch TV with them while we waited. We ended up going downstairs and just as Mum was about to message them, they showed up, informing us not to go to Cafe Veloce.... (bad drip blend coffee)
Well, this day had been planned as going and seeing some stuff in the outer suburbs. I say outer, but they're no worse than going to Chermside from the city centre. We got some more coffee at Tully's (as well as a bacon sandwich thing) before heading to Nihombashi. We decided to get a Tokyo day tripper pass, which costs a little bit more than the Metro pass we had bought the previous day, but allows you to go on the JR train lines and Toei lines as well. We got onto a squishy peak hour train and made our way towards Ebisu via Ginza. I say squishy, but I've been on far more packed trains. I'm sure their are some peak hour trains where they have to push people into the train to get the doors to close, but in my 3 trips to Japan, I haven't seen it personally.
The destination in Ebisu was Monster Japan, a toy shop selling proper licensed toys and such. It was more for Dean (being a massive Star Wars fan), but when we got there, I jumped on an unsecured wifi to check our directions and found that it didn't open til 12pm! Dean wasn't that fussed though, so we got on the Yamanote line and headed for Shinjuku.
Our next destination was Nakano. I do love a good mass transit system, because we didn't have to wait more than 3 mins for the connecting train. I suppose it would be the same anywhere in the world, but I don't think you see the best parts of the city from a train window. As we headed for Nakano, I noticed that some of the buildings along the train line look a bit dilapidated. It was too be expected I suppose, as we weren't heading for a ritzy suburb, just a regular working class neighbourhood. Our destination this time was Broadway mall which joins an arcade that lies opposite the North Exit of Nakano station. We walked a bit through the arcade, but as it was 11am, some of the shops were only just opening. There were a few chemist type shops, a few ramen/soba holes in the wall, and the mandatory phone shops. They didn't really interest us that much, but I was hoping that Broadway Mall wouldn't be of the same ilk.
When we got there, we headed through along the ground level (1F in Japan), before the Con needed to take one of his patented 20min bathroom breaks. We noticed that a lot of the shops were closed, and some of the shops had 3pm - 8pm open times! We were hoping some of the shops we had come to see weren't them, so it was fortunate that while we were waiting for Con, we heard the rattle of rollerdoors being opened.
I should point out that Broadway Mall must be the most ill-conceive naming of this place that I can think of. Compared to the arcade that we took to get to it, it was small, and compared to some of the malls in Brisbane, it was positively claustrophobic.
But we headed for a store that was open called Pony. As I have mentioned in previous years, I would have hated growing up in Japan, simply for the fact that there is much too much stuff to collect. Even collecting stuff from the series I know of would be able to fill rooms, let alone all the smaller stuff that never makes it out of Japan in a hacked, horribly dubbed version by 4kids or whoever. In a small space in a small mall, this shop had done well to pack in a lot of merchandise from floor to ceiling. While milling through this shop, K's Wave opened across the way. It seemed to have a lot less covered, with some cartoon characters in mature looking poses. We didn't spend a lot of time there before we went around the aisle. Mandrake, a huge manga and collectibles store that we had come there to see, was now opening, and after perusing their wares and obtaining a couple little things we kept going. It was now close to 1pm, so we were starting to feel a bit peckish (or peko peko in Japanese) so we headed to the first place we could find. It was on the second floor and it was an Auto racing themed cafe (right down my alley). We walked in, and decided just to grab a drink and not eat. One thing I don't like about Japan is the smoking. You can still smoke in cafes, restaurants etc, and everyone does it socially. So after a beer, Mum wanted to go down to a material shop that she had read about (gotta love the interwebs for research) while Conrad wanted to head upstairs to a shop called Robot Robot. It hadn't opened when we were there earlier, but after heading upstairs, we were greeted with a major geek-fest. I think if you could have a microphone in Dean's head, he would have been going "OMG, OMG, OMG" over and over. They had stacks of Star Wars memorabilia. I had already got Dean a R2-D2 speaker in Mandrake, and Dean had bought himself a lightsabre USB key, but this was a whole other level.
They had one quarter of the store packed with Star Wars stuff, as well as knick-knacks on the front counter. We ended spending ages in there with Mum finishing material shopping (she said it was an awesome material shop and she could have spent a lot more time in there btw) but had come upstairs and found us. Dean walked out of there a few imperial credits lighter, but a few bags heavier. It was more that he had to remove himself from the shop before he bought a lot more.
With the shops that we had come to see done, it was time to head back towards Tokyo central. But which way? Well, although we have been a few times and don't find it anything special, we had to do the touristy thing and show Conrad Akihabara, which is nicknamed Electric Town for all the electronics shops there. In particular we wanted to show him Yodobashi Camera, which is 7 or 8 levels of electronics. Before that though we had to catch a 20min train ride from Nakano. Actually, compared to the trip over there, the trip to Akiba via Shinjuku was a lot more scenic. There were a few parks and things, but towards the end, the JR Chuo line parallels the Kanda River and with some nice little tree-lined areas which would have made for a good picture if we hadn't been speeding along at 90km/h.
We got to Akihabara and by now our stomachs were growling, so we settled into a cafe/restaurant called Chelsea Market, which although it had smoking, had a bit more room than the smoky auto cafe we'd been in earlier. They made a nice hamburger. It wasn't overly gourmet, but was on par with Grill'd or Burger Urge. And with a side of chips and a beer, hit the spot nicely. Once we were fed though, it was time to get a move on, with the more businessmen coming in and smoking while having some afternoon tea or beer.
I'll cut a long story short and say that we spent a bit of time in Yodobashi Camera. Conrad seemed to like it, because they had a whole floor dedicated to cameras and photography. He and Dean found a few cameras they wouldn't have minded buying, but by this stage Mum, Whitney and I were getting tired, so we sat down while Dean and Conrad walked around.
We eventually left there and got back on the Yamanote line to Tokyo station and while we had a very brief look in the shops underneath it, we were getting tired and just wanted to head back to the hotel via Daimaru and Takashimaya.
Once back at the hotel, it was pushing 7.30, and with all of us not feeling like Pizza or Chinese, we went through the usual routine of trying to decide what to have. I would have been happy with a trip to the gyoza place, but mum wasn't up for that and felt like bbq meat. I googled korean bbq's near where we were staying and found one near Takashimaya. Well, thought I found one anyway, because upon going down the street looking for it, we couldn't find it. We could have found a stack of little japanese style pubs, but with all of us over smoky little holes in the wall, we kept on going towards Yaesu Mall. It was now about 8.30, and as you can imagine in a big financial/business district on a Friday night, it was hard to find anywhere that wasn't full. There was another couple of Korean places I had found by looking at the mall directory pamphlets, but one was on the other side of Tokyo station and no one felt like walking over there. We went and checked out the one towards the southern end of Yaesu mall, but it was packed and after going from one restaurant to the other trying to find one that would accommodate 5 people, we found one called Midori or Minori or something like that. We should have kept walking though, because for a japanese restaurant, this place was woefully run. First and foremost, the food wasn't good, and the service was poor. They messed up our order, and left bits off, though I'm sure mum wasn't complaining. Mum, Whitney and I had ordered Karaage (fried chicked), and they brought Whitney's out first. Then mine about 10 mins later. What they should have called is Kartalage, because it tasted like they had fried up some chicken knuckles or something. So after "eating" there, we were done. We walked back to the hotel (damn it, our favourite bottle shop closed at 8 on a Friday night!) and while Mum and me sat around finishing off the rest of the Cognac, Dean and Conrad went to shoot some long exposure photos from the top of the expressway overpass. Dean ended up coming back early, as his camera battery was on the fritz. The night ended with Dean and Whitney mucking around dubbing a korean show on channel 11, while Conrad went back out to shoot some more photos by himself. I passed out around 11 so I don't remember what happened after that.
These holiday things really wear you out. I think I need a holiday from the holiday....
Well if any city, it would be the metropolis of Tokyo.
Well after the tiresome day that was Thursday (What am I talking about, they are all tiring!), I slept in til 8am on Friday. I got up to have a shower, but upon coming out, Dean and Conrad had nicked off to get coffee... Didn't even let me know..... Well, I got dolled up and I went to mum and Whitney's room to watch TV with them while we waited. We ended up going downstairs and just as Mum was about to message them, they showed up, informing us not to go to Cafe Veloce.... (bad drip blend coffee)
Well, this day had been planned as going and seeing some stuff in the outer suburbs. I say outer, but they're no worse than going to Chermside from the city centre. We got some more coffee at Tully's (as well as a bacon sandwich thing) before heading to Nihombashi. We decided to get a Tokyo day tripper pass, which costs a little bit more than the Metro pass we had bought the previous day, but allows you to go on the JR train lines and Toei lines as well. We got onto a squishy peak hour train and made our way towards Ebisu via Ginza. I say squishy, but I've been on far more packed trains. I'm sure their are some peak hour trains where they have to push people into the train to get the doors to close, but in my 3 trips to Japan, I haven't seen it personally.
The destination in Ebisu was Monster Japan, a toy shop selling proper licensed toys and such. It was more for Dean (being a massive Star Wars fan), but when we got there, I jumped on an unsecured wifi to check our directions and found that it didn't open til 12pm! Dean wasn't that fussed though, so we got on the Yamanote line and headed for Shinjuku.
Our next destination was Nakano. I do love a good mass transit system, because we didn't have to wait more than 3 mins for the connecting train. I suppose it would be the same anywhere in the world, but I don't think you see the best parts of the city from a train window. As we headed for Nakano, I noticed that some of the buildings along the train line look a bit dilapidated. It was too be expected I suppose, as we weren't heading for a ritzy suburb, just a regular working class neighbourhood. Our destination this time was Broadway mall which joins an arcade that lies opposite the North Exit of Nakano station. We walked a bit through the arcade, but as it was 11am, some of the shops were only just opening. There were a few chemist type shops, a few ramen/soba holes in the wall, and the mandatory phone shops. They didn't really interest us that much, but I was hoping that Broadway Mall wouldn't be of the same ilk.
When we got there, we headed through along the ground level (1F in Japan), before the Con needed to take one of his patented 20min bathroom breaks. We noticed that a lot of the shops were closed, and some of the shops had 3pm - 8pm open times! We were hoping some of the shops we had come to see weren't them, so it was fortunate that while we were waiting for Con, we heard the rattle of rollerdoors being opened.
I should point out that Broadway Mall must be the most ill-conceive naming of this place that I can think of. Compared to the arcade that we took to get to it, it was small, and compared to some of the malls in Brisbane, it was positively claustrophobic.
But we headed for a store that was open called Pony. As I have mentioned in previous years, I would have hated growing up in Japan, simply for the fact that there is much too much stuff to collect. Even collecting stuff from the series I know of would be able to fill rooms, let alone all the smaller stuff that never makes it out of Japan in a hacked, horribly dubbed version by 4kids or whoever. In a small space in a small mall, this shop had done well to pack in a lot of merchandise from floor to ceiling. While milling through this shop, K's Wave opened across the way. It seemed to have a lot less covered, with some cartoon characters in mature looking poses. We didn't spend a lot of time there before we went around the aisle. Mandrake, a huge manga and collectibles store that we had come there to see, was now opening, and after perusing their wares and obtaining a couple little things we kept going. It was now close to 1pm, so we were starting to feel a bit peckish (or peko peko in Japanese) so we headed to the first place we could find. It was on the second floor and it was an Auto racing themed cafe (right down my alley). We walked in, and decided just to grab a drink and not eat. One thing I don't like about Japan is the smoking. You can still smoke in cafes, restaurants etc, and everyone does it socially. So after a beer, Mum wanted to go down to a material shop that she had read about (gotta love the interwebs for research) while Conrad wanted to head upstairs to a shop called Robot Robot. It hadn't opened when we were there earlier, but after heading upstairs, we were greeted with a major geek-fest. I think if you could have a microphone in Dean's head, he would have been going "OMG, OMG, OMG" over and over. They had stacks of Star Wars memorabilia. I had already got Dean a R2-D2 speaker in Mandrake, and Dean had bought himself a lightsabre USB key, but this was a whole other level.
They had one quarter of the store packed with Star Wars stuff, as well as knick-knacks on the front counter. We ended spending ages in there with Mum finishing material shopping (she said it was an awesome material shop and she could have spent a lot more time in there btw) but had come upstairs and found us. Dean walked out of there a few imperial credits lighter, but a few bags heavier. It was more that he had to remove himself from the shop before he bought a lot more.
With the shops that we had come to see done, it was time to head back towards Tokyo central. But which way? Well, although we have been a few times and don't find it anything special, we had to do the touristy thing and show Conrad Akihabara, which is nicknamed Electric Town for all the electronics shops there. In particular we wanted to show him Yodobashi Camera, which is 7 or 8 levels of electronics. Before that though we had to catch a 20min train ride from Nakano. Actually, compared to the trip over there, the trip to Akiba via Shinjuku was a lot more scenic. There were a few parks and things, but towards the end, the JR Chuo line parallels the Kanda River and with some nice little tree-lined areas which would have made for a good picture if we hadn't been speeding along at 90km/h.
We got to Akihabara and by now our stomachs were growling, so we settled into a cafe/restaurant called Chelsea Market, which although it had smoking, had a bit more room than the smoky auto cafe we'd been in earlier. They made a nice hamburger. It wasn't overly gourmet, but was on par with Grill'd or Burger Urge. And with a side of chips and a beer, hit the spot nicely. Once we were fed though, it was time to get a move on, with the more businessmen coming in and smoking while having some afternoon tea or beer.
I'll cut a long story short and say that we spent a bit of time in Yodobashi Camera. Conrad seemed to like it, because they had a whole floor dedicated to cameras and photography. He and Dean found a few cameras they wouldn't have minded buying, but by this stage Mum, Whitney and I were getting tired, so we sat down while Dean and Conrad walked around.
We eventually left there and got back on the Yamanote line to Tokyo station and while we had a very brief look in the shops underneath it, we were getting tired and just wanted to head back to the hotel via Daimaru and Takashimaya.
Once back at the hotel, it was pushing 7.30, and with all of us not feeling like Pizza or Chinese, we went through the usual routine of trying to decide what to have. I would have been happy with a trip to the gyoza place, but mum wasn't up for that and felt like bbq meat. I googled korean bbq's near where we were staying and found one near Takashimaya. Well, thought I found one anyway, because upon going down the street looking for it, we couldn't find it. We could have found a stack of little japanese style pubs, but with all of us over smoky little holes in the wall, we kept on going towards Yaesu Mall. It was now about 8.30, and as you can imagine in a big financial/business district on a Friday night, it was hard to find anywhere that wasn't full. There was another couple of Korean places I had found by looking at the mall directory pamphlets, but one was on the other side of Tokyo station and no one felt like walking over there. We went and checked out the one towards the southern end of Yaesu mall, but it was packed and after going from one restaurant to the other trying to find one that would accommodate 5 people, we found one called Midori or Minori or something like that. We should have kept walking though, because for a japanese restaurant, this place was woefully run. First and foremost, the food wasn't good, and the service was poor. They messed up our order, and left bits off, though I'm sure mum wasn't complaining. Mum, Whitney and I had ordered Karaage (fried chicked), and they brought Whitney's out first. Then mine about 10 mins later. What they should have called is Kartalage, because it tasted like they had fried up some chicken knuckles or something. So after "eating" there, we were done. We walked back to the hotel (damn it, our favourite bottle shop closed at 8 on a Friday night!) and while Mum and me sat around finishing off the rest of the Cognac, Dean and Conrad went to shoot some long exposure photos from the top of the expressway overpass. Dean ended up coming back early, as his camera battery was on the fritz. The night ended with Dean and Whitney mucking around dubbing a korean show on channel 11, while Conrad went back out to shoot some more photos by himself. I passed out around 11 so I don't remember what happened after that.
These holiday things really wear you out. I think I need a holiday from the holiday....
Tardy or in need of the Tardis
(Arggh stupid faecesbook, I'm havin to retype this for the third time because of you)
Sorry for being so tardy. It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm only just getting around to Thursdays events.
After waking up early and doing some pre-study and blogging, we eventually got ready and went to Tully's for coffee and breakfast. Tully's is another of their coffee franchise chains, but they do a good cup. You know they will when the auto doors open up and the smell that greets you is akin to a proper cafe. They have an espresso machine too, so rather than a drip filter affair or a servo-style automated machine, you had people that actually knew how to make a coffee. Dean ordered a double-shot espresso, and rather than being watery or over-done and burnt, it was just right. I ordered a grande mocha and it was better than a Zaraffa's one because it was overly sweet. I also ordered chilli cheese hotdog. The Japanese seem to boil their sausages similar to the germans, so even though it had cheese on it, it wasn't a greasy affair. The chilli con carne on top was nice as well, though I am used to more beans. 3=
After filling up our caffeine supplies for the next couple of hours we headed back towards Nihombashi station. After getting an all-day ticket, we jumped on a subway to Shibuya. Shibuya is an interesting sort of area. If you've seen those pictures of huge TV screens towering over a crowded intersection, then you probably know where I'm talking about. It's not quite the whole story though, because with a mass of underground metro lines and a couple of above ground lines, underneath the road can be more interesting. After getting off, we did a couple of turns and ended up in the Tokyu buildings basement. Dean and I had been here last year to pick up a cheap feed on our way to go see car stuff, but it wasn't the food court we were interested in, just a refresh break.
We headed up to street level, and crossed over at the famous intersection with the Shibuya 109 building in view. We were heading to Uniqlo to pick up some cheap meeting shirts, but when we got around the back of the Parco building (its down a little alleyway) we found that it didn't open til 11am. That was ok, we were going to show Conrad a few of the places we have seen in our last 2 expeditions in Tokyo. We headed for the funky boot shop underneath Denny's just up the road, but alas they too weren't open. So up the street a bit more, and we decided to stop for a drink at Freshness burger. It's another one of their burger chains, and it was a pity I wasn't hungry after the hot dog, because I've never got the chance to try them yet. But after a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, we went for a wander down the side streets.
As with most big cities, you have you megalithic department stores and the fashion labels that have their own shops. But it's often times down the little side alleys that you fine the real boutique stuff, with lot's of one off designs, funky clothing and different shop fronts. We stopped at a hat shop, and after having a quick look around, we moved onto a couple of others. The shops had some very smart looking clothes, but a lot was way out of a travellers price range. We headed back towards the boot shop for quick look around, before heading down the road to Uniqlo.
I would personally love if Uniqlo came to Australia. I like a company that seems to prefer natural fibres and doesn't overcharge for them. All the business shirts I looked at were 100% cotton and Dean found a few pure wool blazers and stuff. The only thing I don't like about Uniqlo is the sizing... It's made for small japanese people (I'm actually slightly over average height here) and ones with no meat on them at that. I'll admit I'm a little porky around the midriff, but it was actually the shoulders and arms that didn't fit properly, so I had to got for an XL size. But I suppose it's just me being slightly vain, because I didn't like it when I had to go from an M to a L. I ended up getting 4 shirts though for the princely sum of 9880Y. 4 pure cotton business shirts for about $120 is pretty much unheard of in Aus. Dean and Conrad also bought stuff, but I'll leave it to them to explain their purchases.
Dean was getting a little annoyed though, because he was out of money and had to get more out. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it seems whenever you actually need them, there is never a 7-11 or 7-11 ATM around. We found one eventually, but only after walking a bit.
Next, we were heading to the Lomography gallery and store. It was the only place really, that Conrad had specifically requested to see, so we had to make sure we went there. We got off at the right station, and then after finding an unsecured wifi, we checked our directions and were off. We found it without too much effort, but when you are with people that like specifics, saying "I'm pretty sure" or "I think we go this way" tends to put them on edge.
The Lomo gallery did give us a chance to sit down while Conrad pottered around, and Mum was cursing that she didn't wear her Apres boots. She was getting sore feet and with a lot of walking still to be done, the foot fatigue would only be getting worse.
We walked back towards the station, but rather than get on another subway, we kept going straight past it. This was because we were on Omote-Sando Dori (or Omote-Sando Ave). It leads from Omote-Sando Hills where there is a lot of high end fashion labels like Dior, Chanel, D&G etc, to Harajuku. Yep, we were heading back to our familiar stomping ground. We knew where a 7-11 was, so we headed there first.
It was now after 1, so we were getting a little ravenous. We stopped off at a pizza place in Takeshita dori, and after getting a wood-fired pizza (Whitney's and my salami pizzas were ok, Dean's and Conrad's teriyaki chicken could have done without the nori), we were fueled up again, though not necessarily rearing to go. Dean wanted to check out UT next, so we headed there, bought some more shirts in a can and headed back to Takeshita dori.
Whitney in particular loves Takeshita dori for the clothes. This was the street that started a lot of fashion trends including dekora, goth-loli and others, but with me being the conservative-dressing person that I am, couldn't wear half the stuff that's sold, let alone fit into it. We parted ways, with Mum and Whitney heading to the girls clothe shops, while Dean and I took Conrad to Jeans Mate, where we had been on our previous trips. They bought stuff, I didn't. But we were getting tired, so we headed into a cafe and got a beer while we waited for Mum and Whitney to finish looking. By about 6.30 we were spent, so we walked around the corner from Takeshita Dori to go take a subway. Then we stumbled on Uniqlo Shoes. Like I mentioned above, they seem to prefer natural goods, and a lot of the boots and shoes (mostly for women) are leather, and at a good price as well.
A few more minutes in there before I checked my phone app for the easiest way back to the hotel. Our feet were sore, and mum wanted to change shoes. The way that required the least amount of walking, involved going back down the cool looking Omote-Sando dori, past all the designer stores to Omote-Sando station. We could have gotten on at a closer station, but it was as close at the other end...
We headed back to our hotel, before we did the usual "What do you feel like eating?", "I dunno" routine. We ended up just walking down the street from the hotel before we stumbled upon a chinese restaurant. I'm not always the biggest fan of chinese food because often the kitchens are dirty and there is too much MSG, but Mum said the kitchen was clean, so that was half the fear allayed. Problem was the menu was in Chinese with japanese subtitles. Now I'm getting better at reading kanji after a couple of trips, but I couldn't make head nor tails of this menu and neither could Whitney. So we ordered a banquet for 2000Y per head. It was a pretty good feed with the food being good quality and fresh, but there were somethings you were best not asking what they were. But we were full and after a stop at the Lawson's Station next to it, we were back at the hotel for ice cream and cognac. That's about when I stopped caring.. We had a semi-late night, but I was already asleep in my mind.
Sorry for being so tardy. It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm only just getting around to Thursdays events.
After waking up early and doing some pre-study and blogging, we eventually got ready and went to Tully's for coffee and breakfast. Tully's is another of their coffee franchise chains, but they do a good cup. You know they will when the auto doors open up and the smell that greets you is akin to a proper cafe. They have an espresso machine too, so rather than a drip filter affair or a servo-style automated machine, you had people that actually knew how to make a coffee. Dean ordered a double-shot espresso, and rather than being watery or over-done and burnt, it was just right. I ordered a grande mocha and it was better than a Zaraffa's one because it was overly sweet. I also ordered chilli cheese hotdog. The Japanese seem to boil their sausages similar to the germans, so even though it had cheese on it, it wasn't a greasy affair. The chilli con carne on top was nice as well, though I am used to more beans. 3=
After filling up our caffeine supplies for the next couple of hours we headed back towards Nihombashi station. After getting an all-day ticket, we jumped on a subway to Shibuya. Shibuya is an interesting sort of area. If you've seen those pictures of huge TV screens towering over a crowded intersection, then you probably know where I'm talking about. It's not quite the whole story though, because with a mass of underground metro lines and a couple of above ground lines, underneath the road can be more interesting. After getting off, we did a couple of turns and ended up in the Tokyu buildings basement. Dean and I had been here last year to pick up a cheap feed on our way to go see car stuff, but it wasn't the food court we were interested in, just a refresh break.
We headed up to street level, and crossed over at the famous intersection with the Shibuya 109 building in view. We were heading to Uniqlo to pick up some cheap meeting shirts, but when we got around the back of the Parco building (its down a little alleyway) we found that it didn't open til 11am. That was ok, we were going to show Conrad a few of the places we have seen in our last 2 expeditions in Tokyo. We headed for the funky boot shop underneath Denny's just up the road, but alas they too weren't open. So up the street a bit more, and we decided to stop for a drink at Freshness burger. It's another one of their burger chains, and it was a pity I wasn't hungry after the hot dog, because I've never got the chance to try them yet. But after a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, we went for a wander down the side streets.
As with most big cities, you have you megalithic department stores and the fashion labels that have their own shops. But it's often times down the little side alleys that you fine the real boutique stuff, with lot's of one off designs, funky clothing and different shop fronts. We stopped at a hat shop, and after having a quick look around, we moved onto a couple of others. The shops had some very smart looking clothes, but a lot was way out of a travellers price range. We headed back towards the boot shop for quick look around, before heading down the road to Uniqlo.
I would personally love if Uniqlo came to Australia. I like a company that seems to prefer natural fibres and doesn't overcharge for them. All the business shirts I looked at were 100% cotton and Dean found a few pure wool blazers and stuff. The only thing I don't like about Uniqlo is the sizing... It's made for small japanese people (I'm actually slightly over average height here) and ones with no meat on them at that. I'll admit I'm a little porky around the midriff, but it was actually the shoulders and arms that didn't fit properly, so I had to got for an XL size. But I suppose it's just me being slightly vain, because I didn't like it when I had to go from an M to a L. I ended up getting 4 shirts though for the princely sum of 9880Y. 4 pure cotton business shirts for about $120 is pretty much unheard of in Aus. Dean and Conrad also bought stuff, but I'll leave it to them to explain their purchases.
Dean was getting a little annoyed though, because he was out of money and had to get more out. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but it seems whenever you actually need them, there is never a 7-11 or 7-11 ATM around. We found one eventually, but only after walking a bit.
Next, we were heading to the Lomography gallery and store. It was the only place really, that Conrad had specifically requested to see, so we had to make sure we went there. We got off at the right station, and then after finding an unsecured wifi, we checked our directions and were off. We found it without too much effort, but when you are with people that like specifics, saying "I'm pretty sure" or "I think we go this way" tends to put them on edge.
The Lomo gallery did give us a chance to sit down while Conrad pottered around, and Mum was cursing that she didn't wear her Apres boots. She was getting sore feet and with a lot of walking still to be done, the foot fatigue would only be getting worse.
We walked back towards the station, but rather than get on another subway, we kept going straight past it. This was because we were on Omote-Sando Dori (or Omote-Sando Ave). It leads from Omote-Sando Hills where there is a lot of high end fashion labels like Dior, Chanel, D&G etc, to Harajuku. Yep, we were heading back to our familiar stomping ground. We knew where a 7-11 was, so we headed there first.
It was now after 1, so we were getting a little ravenous. We stopped off at a pizza place in Takeshita dori, and after getting a wood-fired pizza (Whitney's and my salami pizzas were ok, Dean's and Conrad's teriyaki chicken could have done without the nori), we were fueled up again, though not necessarily rearing to go. Dean wanted to check out UT next, so we headed there, bought some more shirts in a can and headed back to Takeshita dori.
Whitney in particular loves Takeshita dori for the clothes. This was the street that started a lot of fashion trends including dekora, goth-loli and others, but with me being the conservative-dressing person that I am, couldn't wear half the stuff that's sold, let alone fit into it. We parted ways, with Mum and Whitney heading to the girls clothe shops, while Dean and I took Conrad to Jeans Mate, where we had been on our previous trips. They bought stuff, I didn't. But we were getting tired, so we headed into a cafe and got a beer while we waited for Mum and Whitney to finish looking. By about 6.30 we were spent, so we walked around the corner from Takeshita Dori to go take a subway. Then we stumbled on Uniqlo Shoes. Like I mentioned above, they seem to prefer natural goods, and a lot of the boots and shoes (mostly for women) are leather, and at a good price as well.
A few more minutes in there before I checked my phone app for the easiest way back to the hotel. Our feet were sore, and mum wanted to change shoes. The way that required the least amount of walking, involved going back down the cool looking Omote-Sando dori, past all the designer stores to Omote-Sando station. We could have gotten on at a closer station, but it was as close at the other end...
We headed back to our hotel, before we did the usual "What do you feel like eating?", "I dunno" routine. We ended up just walking down the street from the hotel before we stumbled upon a chinese restaurant. I'm not always the biggest fan of chinese food because often the kitchens are dirty and there is too much MSG, but Mum said the kitchen was clean, so that was half the fear allayed. Problem was the menu was in Chinese with japanese subtitles. Now I'm getting better at reading kanji after a couple of trips, but I couldn't make head nor tails of this menu and neither could Whitney. So we ordered a banquet for 2000Y per head. It was a pretty good feed with the food being good quality and fresh, but there were somethings you were best not asking what they were. But we were full and after a stop at the Lawson's Station next to it, we were back at the hotel for ice cream and cognac. That's about when I stopped caring.. We had a semi-late night, but I was already asleep in my mind.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
See Below...
Reporter: Hey Topper Harley, now that you've killed the bad guy and made the world safe for democracy, what are you going to do to cash in on your new found fame?
Topper Harley: I'm goin' to Disneyland.
Yes, today we went to the Magic Kingdom, or is that the Evil Empire... I'm a confused gen Xer.
After waking up at a reasonable hour (we are supposed to be on holidays remember!) we got ready and went to Jonathan's for breakfast. Jonathan's is a family restaurant chain akin to Denny's, so we knew we could get some more normal food. Me, Dean and Whitney got a toasted bacon sandwich,, while mum got the egg and bacon set, and Conrad got the scrambled egg set. Fortunatlely Jonathan's had a machine, because I think I've had just about as much watery drip filtered coffee as I can take. After munging down and paying we headed to Tokyo Station. I had read on the net that you could buy Disneyland tickets from the station office at Tokyo central, so I tried asking the guy. I didn't work because first he tried giving me directions to some restaurants down stairs, then to the platfrom we needed to take there. I got a little frustrated, and if I had wifi access I would have just used the translation app that I have, but with no free wifi around, I had to get Whitney to ask. She soon got to the heart of the matter, with the young guy telling us that it was actually cheaper to buy the tickets at the gate, and that we should just get the train tickets there. So after doing so, we then walked about 600m towards the right platform. Tokyo station is fairly big, with over 24 platforms on various subterranean levels. We walked to the Musashino line which took us to Maihama station, a short walk from the entry gate. 5800Y poorer and I was in.
Up until now, I had been trying to convince Dean that it wouldn't be that bad, but after getting it, I realised that Disneyland would be the same the world over. Targetted at idealistic under 5's, and girls who never grew up. It was good for doing a spot of people watching though, as there were stacks of people there. After a brief meander through the gift shops at the front of the park, we came to Tomorrowland. We went on a Star Tours "ride", but in reality it was 35mins waiting in line for a 4 min Star Wars based flight simulator. I was a bit ho-hum by this stage, and I didn't really get out of that all day.
Not much to report other than we spent the next 8 hours or so wandering between the various areas of the park. We waited for ages in line for the Gadget's Go-Coaster (Gadget from Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers), but after minute it was all over. Maybe I'm just "hard-core" because my car goes from 0-100km/h in 3secs and could probably pull 2G's in the corners, but a mini rollercoaster the does a couple of banked corners and doesn't go over 50km/h isn't really scary. That pretty much sums up the whole park. It was designed to impress 5 year olds. If I was 5 again, I would have loved it, but when you are quite a bit older it's not very interesting. Perhaps if I was taking a lady friend along, it would be a different story, but for the most part, there isn't a lot that would appeal to anyone that wasn't taking kids along.
We were there until nearly 7pm, when Whitney had enough. Now it was my time to be selfish. I wanted to go to Super Autobacs which was only a transfer and 2 stops away. Really, I was looking at parts for my car, and if I had planned it better I would have liked it more. But for the meantime, I'll just have to order stuff over the net, because they didn't have the brake pads that I wanted instock/available for shipping back to Australia.
It was now nearly 8 o'clock so after dragging ourselves back to Tokyo station, we headed for the Genki Sushi place at the end of Yaesu Mall. We had been here last year as well, and the quality of the sushi couldn't be faulted. We were all starving, having not eaten since about 12pm Disney time, so we gorged ourselves on seared Salmon, scallops, eel and anything else we felt like.
Our feet were tired so after they said last orders, we paid our bill and headed back to the hotel, via the Lawson's Station convenience store. We got some ice cream to go (their own brand rum n raisin is quite nice) and went back to our hotel room for a quick soiree. It didn't last very long though, because with all of us being on our feet all day, we needed sleep.... Dean's currently snoring like a diesel tractor, and Conrad has passed out for the evening. I'm about to do the same, so for now, it's zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
Topper Harley: I'm goin' to Disneyland.
Yes, today we went to the Magic Kingdom, or is that the Evil Empire... I'm a confused gen Xer.
After waking up at a reasonable hour (we are supposed to be on holidays remember!) we got ready and went to Jonathan's for breakfast. Jonathan's is a family restaurant chain akin to Denny's, so we knew we could get some more normal food. Me, Dean and Whitney got a toasted bacon sandwich,, while mum got the egg and bacon set, and Conrad got the scrambled egg set. Fortunatlely Jonathan's had a machine, because I think I've had just about as much watery drip filtered coffee as I can take. After munging down and paying we headed to Tokyo Station. I had read on the net that you could buy Disneyland tickets from the station office at Tokyo central, so I tried asking the guy. I didn't work because first he tried giving me directions to some restaurants down stairs, then to the platfrom we needed to take there. I got a little frustrated, and if I had wifi access I would have just used the translation app that I have, but with no free wifi around, I had to get Whitney to ask. She soon got to the heart of the matter, with the young guy telling us that it was actually cheaper to buy the tickets at the gate, and that we should just get the train tickets there. So after doing so, we then walked about 600m towards the right platform. Tokyo station is fairly big, with over 24 platforms on various subterranean levels. We walked to the Musashino line which took us to Maihama station, a short walk from the entry gate. 5800Y poorer and I was in.
Up until now, I had been trying to convince Dean that it wouldn't be that bad, but after getting it, I realised that Disneyland would be the same the world over. Targetted at idealistic under 5's, and girls who never grew up. It was good for doing a spot of people watching though, as there were stacks of people there. After a brief meander through the gift shops at the front of the park, we came to Tomorrowland. We went on a Star Tours "ride", but in reality it was 35mins waiting in line for a 4 min Star Wars based flight simulator. I was a bit ho-hum by this stage, and I didn't really get out of that all day.
Not much to report other than we spent the next 8 hours or so wandering between the various areas of the park. We waited for ages in line for the Gadget's Go-Coaster (Gadget from Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers), but after minute it was all over. Maybe I'm just "hard-core" because my car goes from 0-100km/h in 3secs and could probably pull 2G's in the corners, but a mini rollercoaster the does a couple of banked corners and doesn't go over 50km/h isn't really scary. That pretty much sums up the whole park. It was designed to impress 5 year olds. If I was 5 again, I would have loved it, but when you are quite a bit older it's not very interesting. Perhaps if I was taking a lady friend along, it would be a different story, but for the most part, there isn't a lot that would appeal to anyone that wasn't taking kids along.
We were there until nearly 7pm, when Whitney had enough. Now it was my time to be selfish. I wanted to go to Super Autobacs which was only a transfer and 2 stops away. Really, I was looking at parts for my car, and if I had planned it better I would have liked it more. But for the meantime, I'll just have to order stuff over the net, because they didn't have the brake pads that I wanted instock/available for shipping back to Australia.
It was now nearly 8 o'clock so after dragging ourselves back to Tokyo station, we headed for the Genki Sushi place at the end of Yaesu Mall. We had been here last year as well, and the quality of the sushi couldn't be faulted. We were all starving, having not eaten since about 12pm Disney time, so we gorged ourselves on seared Salmon, scallops, eel and anything else we felt like.
Our feet were tired so after they said last orders, we paid our bill and headed back to the hotel, via the Lawson's Station convenience store. We got some ice cream to go (their own brand rum n raisin is quite nice) and went back to our hotel room for a quick soiree. It didn't last very long though, because with all of us being on our feet all day, we needed sleep.... Dean's currently snoring like a diesel tractor, and Conrad has passed out for the evening. I'm about to do the same, so for now, it's zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday...... Still I'm going to miss you.
It was Tuesday, and after being woken up at some ungodly hour (6am) by Mum, it was time to www.get-this-show-on-the-road.com. I awoke, with Dean staying asleep til his alarm went off at 6.30 to start packing bits and pieces I hadn't done the night before. It always feels you've got more stuff than you came with, because my backpack was full to exploding, but I still had to fit in some washing I had left in the dryer the night before.
We got breakfast at 7, and although I ate parts of it, I was getting full quickly. Not much different, but I am over soups (miso everyday when you aren't used to it is annoying). We settled the bill, which was dinner the night before and some coffees we had during the weak, but as they had been nice I gave them some keyring koalas I had given to people on our first trip over and had been kicking around in my jacket for 2 years. They seemed to like them, with Ganji saying that he had been to Australia a couple of times and had cuddled a (vicious, high on eucalypt) koala at a Koala park somewhere. The other manager clipped it to his shirt, with the young layabout putting it on his little side bag. We had already started bringing the baggage downstairs beforehand, so when one of the managers asked the young layabout to drive our baggage up the hill at 8.10, we breathed a sigh of relief. Just had to double check everything about 3 times and make sure we hadn't missed an errant sock or whatever. By the time that was all done we still had about 20mins before we had to start walking up the hill, so we sat around in the little lounge area while Mum used the computer and we did other stuff. If you get something free from the Japanese, they call it service, and one of the managers brought us out some (weak) coffees for free. Even though this hotel has hard beds and I'm not used to the food, I would stay here again, simply because they are nice, and the location is good.
So it was time to get a move on. After helping the young guy put our stuff in Ganji's Elgrand, we started slunking up the hill to the bus stop. Unlike most things here, the bus was 3 minutes late! Although usually I wouldn't worry about it (If a bus is 3 mins late in Bris, its on-time/early :P), we were hoping it wouldn't throw our schedule out too much. You see, the bus was meant to arrive at Nagano station at 9.55am, so we would have 13mins to get the baggage upstairs, buy our bullet-train tickets, then get downstairs to the platform and on the train. 3 minutes difference would have only given us 10mins to do this (oh noes!). We needn't have worried though. By the time we got to Nagano station we were 3 mins early, even though the bus driver has to do 40km/h down the mountain, and felt like he was driving like a granny on the highway. So with 16mins now, we had plenty of time. I headed upstairs with everyone's rail passbooks and bought the tickets in good time, from a cross-eyed young man with decent enough english. So we had comfortably made it, for a comfortable train.
It was a pretty uneventful journey back to Tokyo, we had gotten one of the super express trains, so it only stopped at about 3 or 4 stations between Nagano and Tokyo central. Just the usual lady coming passed with various items, drinking a beer while going backwards at 200km/h. Although we got to Tokyo bang on time, it felt a lot quicker because I was watching a 1.5hr show on my phone, but I didn't get to finish it. So after getting off and taking a quick break, we started our walk through the maze that is Tokyo central station. Not that it's hard to navigate, mind you, but with 25 platforms going subterranean you have to know where you want to go. We made it to the Yaesu side exit, and after sticking Mum and Whitney in a cab with their baggage. I trotted off through Yaesu Mall. I like having a photographic memory with built-in GPS. I remembered which exit of the mall goes to an escalator, so it saved me having to lug a 15kg bag upstairs. Actually, my backpack would have been of comparable weight....
I ended up meeting Dean and Conrad (who had set out a few minutes before me) coming down the overpass (I chose my route for flatness), then it was a short walk to the hotel. So we stayed outside the hotels entrance watching out for mum and Whitney. Had they been upducted by a taxi driver? Some 10 mins later they finally show up. I got accused of telling them the wrong street name. Me? Wrong??? Never..... So after they paid the cab driver we hauled our luggage into the lobby. I found out later that cab driver was a bit clueless and actually had to stop and ask for directions! I double checked the hotel's website and I indeed did have the correct street name. So ner :P
We couldn't actually check in til 3pm and it was only just after 12. So the lady threw a cargo net over our baggage and we went to MOS Burger. It was Conrad's first chance to sample this oddly named fast food chain, but he seemed to enjoy it. I think a couple of the girls recognised us from last year. Me, Dean and Mum munged out on a Spicy Cheezburga, while Conrad woosed out and got a normal one.
We had been sitting in the park eating them, when me and Dean had started feeling cold. We quickly headed back to the hotel to grab our coats, before we shuffled along to Takashimaya. As I mentioned last time, its a swanky department store, like David Jones, but with things that you would actually buy/wear. We particularly wanted to show Conrad the below ground food court, which is a foodies dream. I'll show you vids of it when we get back, but suffice to say we killed a couple of hours in there just looking.
We then headed to Yaesu Mall. Because they hadn't come this way before, Conrad hadn't seen the mall at all. It is pretty big for something that runs under the road. We did a figure 8 around the eastern end of the mall before it was time to head back to the hotel to check in. We stayed at this hotel last year when we came, so we weren't expecting any surprises. After lugging the luggage up to the rooms, we sat down on the bed for a few minutes.
When we eventually decided to go fetch dinner/go out again, we headed back to the mall. Mum and Whitney wanted to head to a cheap clothes shop they visited last year. Us Boyz!(TM) didn't feel like sticking around, so we went around the corner to Camera no Kitamura. They had second hand lenses and bodies which Dean wanted to show Conrad. I wouldn't have minded picking up another point-n-shoot. You see, I took a tumble when we visited the monkey park last week, and since then it's been making a grinding noise when it tries to the move the lense in and out. But it's still working (mostly) and being the good scotsman I am, I don't want ot pay for another one. Not just yet anyway, and when I do replace it, it will be better.
So after coming back and finding Whitney with a few more bags/Mum a few yen poorer, we took the Con to Daimaru which is sandwiched between Yaesu mall and the Tokyo Station. Again the food court levels is the place to be with plenty of fresh produce and cakes etc to be had. We bought a couple of cakes before we headed for our gyoza place. As you may have heard from my blog/constant talking, this gyoza place (Paou) has won awards at the World Food Fair for their gyoza. But now we were all hungry and Conrad hadn't been here before. We had a good feed with me and mum, and Conrad and Dean sharing a gyoza plate (10 small pork, 5 medium beef and 4 premium beef) between ourselves. Whitney munged out on a big bowl of ramen and gyoza. Dean and I were still hungry afterwards, so we ordered a another plate of pork gyoza each.
Last year, everyone was sick, and we had a bottle of Drambue, so we went back to a familiar bottle shop in the Yaesu Mall to see what they had (Mum had seen a bottle of Glayva last year and wouldn't have minded that). We looked around for a while. Even though it is only the floor space of Boost Juice in Germside, it is stacked to the ceiling with high quality stuff. One thing I love (I wish more places in Australia did this) was that you could buy 10ml samples for between 100-250Y. This is a fantastics idea, as it allows you to either try stuff before you buy, or sample stuff that you would never get a chance to try. Dean found some Blackadder 32yo Single Malt Scotch for sampling (250Y). It was a raw cask scotch, so it had bits floating in it, but boy was it good. It was smooth all the way down, but lit a fire in the belly that didn't go away for a while. I would gladly go back tomorrow and spend another 250Y for another nip. In the end, Mum decided to get some Courvoisier cognac. The bottle cost 2960Y (about $32) but when I looked it up on the interwebs, the same bottle in Australia costs $91 online!
We went back to the hotel and sampled that, as well as ate our deserts that we had bought at Daimaru, but it was getting late and we had been up and travelling since early. So with the first afternoon of Tokyo out of the way, we passed out.
We got breakfast at 7, and although I ate parts of it, I was getting full quickly. Not much different, but I am over soups (miso everyday when you aren't used to it is annoying). We settled the bill, which was dinner the night before and some coffees we had during the weak, but as they had been nice I gave them some keyring koalas I had given to people on our first trip over and had been kicking around in my jacket for 2 years. They seemed to like them, with Ganji saying that he had been to Australia a couple of times and had cuddled a (vicious, high on eucalypt) koala at a Koala park somewhere. The other manager clipped it to his shirt, with the young layabout putting it on his little side bag. We had already started bringing the baggage downstairs beforehand, so when one of the managers asked the young layabout to drive our baggage up the hill at 8.10, we breathed a sigh of relief. Just had to double check everything about 3 times and make sure we hadn't missed an errant sock or whatever. By the time that was all done we still had about 20mins before we had to start walking up the hill, so we sat around in the little lounge area while Mum used the computer and we did other stuff. If you get something free from the Japanese, they call it service, and one of the managers brought us out some (weak) coffees for free. Even though this hotel has hard beds and I'm not used to the food, I would stay here again, simply because they are nice, and the location is good.
So it was time to get a move on. After helping the young guy put our stuff in Ganji's Elgrand, we started slunking up the hill to the bus stop. Unlike most things here, the bus was 3 minutes late! Although usually I wouldn't worry about it (If a bus is 3 mins late in Bris, its on-time/early :P), we were hoping it wouldn't throw our schedule out too much. You see, the bus was meant to arrive at Nagano station at 9.55am, so we would have 13mins to get the baggage upstairs, buy our bullet-train tickets, then get downstairs to the platform and on the train. 3 minutes difference would have only given us 10mins to do this (oh noes!). We needn't have worried though. By the time we got to Nagano station we were 3 mins early, even though the bus driver has to do 40km/h down the mountain, and felt like he was driving like a granny on the highway. So with 16mins now, we had plenty of time. I headed upstairs with everyone's rail passbooks and bought the tickets in good time, from a cross-eyed young man with decent enough english. So we had comfortably made it, for a comfortable train.
It was a pretty uneventful journey back to Tokyo, we had gotten one of the super express trains, so it only stopped at about 3 or 4 stations between Nagano and Tokyo central. Just the usual lady coming passed with various items, drinking a beer while going backwards at 200km/h. Although we got to Tokyo bang on time, it felt a lot quicker because I was watching a 1.5hr show on my phone, but I didn't get to finish it. So after getting off and taking a quick break, we started our walk through the maze that is Tokyo central station. Not that it's hard to navigate, mind you, but with 25 platforms going subterranean you have to know where you want to go. We made it to the Yaesu side exit, and after sticking Mum and Whitney in a cab with their baggage. I trotted off through Yaesu Mall. I like having a photographic memory with built-in GPS. I remembered which exit of the mall goes to an escalator, so it saved me having to lug a 15kg bag upstairs. Actually, my backpack would have been of comparable weight....
I ended up meeting Dean and Conrad (who had set out a few minutes before me) coming down the overpass (I chose my route for flatness), then it was a short walk to the hotel. So we stayed outside the hotels entrance watching out for mum and Whitney. Had they been upducted by a taxi driver? Some 10 mins later they finally show up. I got accused of telling them the wrong street name. Me? Wrong??? Never..... So after they paid the cab driver we hauled our luggage into the lobby. I found out later that cab driver was a bit clueless and actually had to stop and ask for directions! I double checked the hotel's website and I indeed did have the correct street name. So ner :P
We couldn't actually check in til 3pm and it was only just after 12. So the lady threw a cargo net over our baggage and we went to MOS Burger. It was Conrad's first chance to sample this oddly named fast food chain, but he seemed to enjoy it. I think a couple of the girls recognised us from last year. Me, Dean and Mum munged out on a Spicy Cheezburga, while Conrad woosed out and got a normal one.
We had been sitting in the park eating them, when me and Dean had started feeling cold. We quickly headed back to the hotel to grab our coats, before we shuffled along to Takashimaya. As I mentioned last time, its a swanky department store, like David Jones, but with things that you would actually buy/wear. We particularly wanted to show Conrad the below ground food court, which is a foodies dream. I'll show you vids of it when we get back, but suffice to say we killed a couple of hours in there just looking.
We then headed to Yaesu Mall. Because they hadn't come this way before, Conrad hadn't seen the mall at all. It is pretty big for something that runs under the road. We did a figure 8 around the eastern end of the mall before it was time to head back to the hotel to check in. We stayed at this hotel last year when we came, so we weren't expecting any surprises. After lugging the luggage up to the rooms, we sat down on the bed for a few minutes.
When we eventually decided to go fetch dinner/go out again, we headed back to the mall. Mum and Whitney wanted to head to a cheap clothes shop they visited last year. Us Boyz!(TM) didn't feel like sticking around, so we went around the corner to Camera no Kitamura. They had second hand lenses and bodies which Dean wanted to show Conrad. I wouldn't have minded picking up another point-n-shoot. You see, I took a tumble when we visited the monkey park last week, and since then it's been making a grinding noise when it tries to the move the lense in and out. But it's still working (mostly) and being the good scotsman I am, I don't want ot pay for another one. Not just yet anyway, and when I do replace it, it will be better.
So after coming back and finding Whitney with a few more bags/Mum a few yen poorer, we took the Con to Daimaru which is sandwiched between Yaesu mall and the Tokyo Station. Again the food court levels is the place to be with plenty of fresh produce and cakes etc to be had. We bought a couple of cakes before we headed for our gyoza place. As you may have heard from my blog/constant talking, this gyoza place (Paou) has won awards at the World Food Fair for their gyoza. But now we were all hungry and Conrad hadn't been here before. We had a good feed with me and mum, and Conrad and Dean sharing a gyoza plate (10 small pork, 5 medium beef and 4 premium beef) between ourselves. Whitney munged out on a big bowl of ramen and gyoza. Dean and I were still hungry afterwards, so we ordered a another plate of pork gyoza each.
Last year, everyone was sick, and we had a bottle of Drambue, so we went back to a familiar bottle shop in the Yaesu Mall to see what they had (Mum had seen a bottle of Glayva last year and wouldn't have minded that). We looked around for a while. Even though it is only the floor space of Boost Juice in Germside, it is stacked to the ceiling with high quality stuff. One thing I love (I wish more places in Australia did this) was that you could buy 10ml samples for between 100-250Y. This is a fantastics idea, as it allows you to either try stuff before you buy, or sample stuff that you would never get a chance to try. Dean found some Blackadder 32yo Single Malt Scotch for sampling (250Y). It was a raw cask scotch, so it had bits floating in it, but boy was it good. It was smooth all the way down, but lit a fire in the belly that didn't go away for a while. I would gladly go back tomorrow and spend another 250Y for another nip. In the end, Mum decided to get some Courvoisier cognac. The bottle cost 2960Y (about $32) but when I looked it up on the interwebs, the same bottle in Australia costs $91 online!
We went back to the hotel and sampled that, as well as ate our deserts that we had bought at Daimaru, but it was getting late and we had been up and travelling since early. So with the first afternoon of Tokyo out of the way, we passed out.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Getsuyoubi, Moonday
So today was going to be our last day on the snow. We looked at the weather reports and there wasn't any snow predicted for tomorrow. So we might as well head back to Tokyo early. Because of this, we decided to make the most of our day. We headed straight up to Terakoya in the morning, and played around there. There were a few ski patrol guys out, but I still managed to have a play in the trees without getting my pass confiscated.
We did a couple of runs there before we headed over the top to Yakebitai via Ichinose. With not many ski schools venturing over that way, we had some good bare runs to ourselves. We got to the South wing of the Prince Hotel where the lift takes you up to the top of the terrain park. I would like to say I'm awesome and can rip it in the park, but I'm not. I chickened out of things a few times with Conrad there to catch my failures on his u-beaut camera. We decided to have a bite to eat as it was already pushing 11.30, but with the prices at Prince hotels a premium over usual ski food, we decided to head to their gift shop instead. Some nibbles and a drink later and we were semi refueled for another try at the terrain park. Both me and Dean made sure we stretched, but it didn't do much good. Bailing on hard-pack hurts, and with a few offs, I ended up hurting both my wrists and my stomach for the eleventy billionth time. We got a gondola up to the top and started heading back to Ichinose, but by the time we got there it was probably 2.45 before we got lunch at Rocky's.
I was feeling very unmotivated after a big, late lunch of ginger-pickled pork on rice, with a beer and cappucino. It didn't help that on the way back I had twisted my arm/shoulder but after a wait while Dean went and fetched his video camera, we went for another run from Ichinose/Terakoya/Higashidate/Ichinose with both Dean and Conrad holding their video cams on the runs. We were had it by this stage, but as it was our last day, Dean and I headed out for one last run (the lifts were closing soon anyway). We played around in some trees and such, with Dean filming still, but once we got to the bottom, with we knew it was over. In someways it's bitter-sweet, I love the snow and snowboarding, but I've wrecked myself worse this time than I did last time, so my body will be happy for a couple days respite in Tokyo.
We had decided last night to have dinner in the restaurant in our hotel. Ganji had asked us where we had been eating a couple of times and we felt bad that we had been eating out nearly every night since we got here. At traditional Japanese hotels (this one is run in a similar way), you eat whatever has been prepared. We weren't sure though because the cold breakfasts we'd been having made us wary. I had asked one of the managers the night before what would been on the menu, as well as letting him know that I can't eat cooked fish, but when he said that it would be Karaage (fried chicken), Japanese-style steak (thinly cut), some veges and salad and soup, we said ok. And all for the princely sum of 1200Y (about $15). It wasn't bad actually, with the steak being nicely marbled, and all the food being quite good. It was served early though, so it has allowed us time to pack and do some washing for the trip back to Tokyo tomorrow.
Sorry if this hasn't been as exciting as last years, but there is only so many times you can say "I had an awesome day snowboarding" or "I totally axed myself today" before it gets a little repetitive. Next couple of days will be from Tokyo though, so it should be more interesting.
Pics will be up later/sometime.
We did a couple of runs there before we headed over the top to Yakebitai via Ichinose. With not many ski schools venturing over that way, we had some good bare runs to ourselves. We got to the South wing of the Prince Hotel where the lift takes you up to the top of the terrain park. I would like to say I'm awesome and can rip it in the park, but I'm not. I chickened out of things a few times with Conrad there to catch my failures on his u-beaut camera. We decided to have a bite to eat as it was already pushing 11.30, but with the prices at Prince hotels a premium over usual ski food, we decided to head to their gift shop instead. Some nibbles and a drink later and we were semi refueled for another try at the terrain park. Both me and Dean made sure we stretched, but it didn't do much good. Bailing on hard-pack hurts, and with a few offs, I ended up hurting both my wrists and my stomach for the eleventy billionth time. We got a gondola up to the top and started heading back to Ichinose, but by the time we got there it was probably 2.45 before we got lunch at Rocky's.
I was feeling very unmotivated after a big, late lunch of ginger-pickled pork on rice, with a beer and cappucino. It didn't help that on the way back I had twisted my arm/shoulder but after a wait while Dean went and fetched his video camera, we went for another run from Ichinose/Terakoya/Higashidate/Ichinose with both Dean and Conrad holding their video cams on the runs. We were had it by this stage, but as it was our last day, Dean and I headed out for one last run (the lifts were closing soon anyway). We played around in some trees and such, with Dean filming still, but once we got to the bottom, with we knew it was over. In someways it's bitter-sweet, I love the snow and snowboarding, but I've wrecked myself worse this time than I did last time, so my body will be happy for a couple days respite in Tokyo.
We had decided last night to have dinner in the restaurant in our hotel. Ganji had asked us where we had been eating a couple of times and we felt bad that we had been eating out nearly every night since we got here. At traditional Japanese hotels (this one is run in a similar way), you eat whatever has been prepared. We weren't sure though because the cold breakfasts we'd been having made us wary. I had asked one of the managers the night before what would been on the menu, as well as letting him know that I can't eat cooked fish, but when he said that it would be Karaage (fried chicken), Japanese-style steak (thinly cut), some veges and salad and soup, we said ok. And all for the princely sum of 1200Y (about $15). It wasn't bad actually, with the steak being nicely marbled, and all the food being quite good. It was served early though, so it has allowed us time to pack and do some washing for the trip back to Tokyo tomorrow.
Sorry if this hasn't been as exciting as last years, but there is only so many times you can say "I had an awesome day snowboarding" or "I totally axed myself today" before it gets a little repetitive. Next couple of days will be from Tokyo though, so it should be more interesting.
Pics will be up later/sometime.
Sunday, oh what a fun day.
So it was Sunday already. We had been here a week, and it had flown. Dean was back on deck for some snowboarding after resting his stomach on Saturday. I hadn't taken a break, though I wish I had.
After eating what we could of breakfast, we headed out all suited up ready to go. Dean had his DSLR on him, and it was a bluebird day. We wandered down the hill and decided to hop on a bus to Yokote-yama, an area we had neglected to reach last year. Although it's not that far in actual distance, it took us an hour to get there with all the stops and such. When we went to get off, we had problems, I went through fine, but when the bus driver tried to scan Dean's RFID chip (used for lift passes) it wouldn't scan. Dean showed him the receipt and everything, to show it wasn't expired, but it still wouldn't scan through, so Dean had to pay for the bus fare. The bus company is seperate to the lifts, so I suppose that if it doesn't scan through, they don't get paid.
Anyway, after fluffing around with that, we started walking up to the first lift at the foot of Yokote. For some stupid reason Dean's chip was still on the fritz, so the lifty went and exchanged it for a new one. After that it didn't have a problem.
To get to the top, we had to take three lifts and we are sort of glad we did. At 2309m (80m higher than Kosciusko!) it is the highest ski-able peak in the Shiga Kogen area. There are a couple that look bigger, but they don't have lifts (heli-skiing would be sweet). As you can imagine with such a high elevation and 100% visibility, it was an awesome view. Dean and Conrad spent ages just taking photos, and by the time they finished, it was getting on to 11.30. Darn we had missed a couple hours of boarding. Oh well, we were feeling hungry, so we went to the bakery up top of Yokote (highest bakery in Japan). Mum and Whitney had warned us that there was no cake, but we decided to see what they had anyway. Dean and Conrad got a pizza bread thing, while I got some garlic bread. I also ordered a jumbo dog, thinking it would be a usual hot dog size. I was mistaken. This thing was 30cm long, and it wasn't a typical hotdog roll either. It was like someone had hacked a slice in a vienna loaf and stuffed a sausage, tomato sauce, mustard and onion in it. I finished it anyway, but it kept me full/bloaty for the next couple of hours.
We looked around the top some more, but it seems like most of the mountain is ski only. So we got the lift back down. It is kind of scary when you leave the lift building and you just watch the ground fall away at a great angle. We took some more pictures before having a quick run down. It was a little bit crusty, but otherwise we had seen what we came to see.
After waiting for a while we caught the bus back to Hasuike and took a ride on the Shiga Kogen Ropeway. It's a sky carriage that goes between Hasuike and Nishidate-yama. It has some pretty good views, but Dean caught quite a lot of it on his video camera.
We boarded back from the ropeway, and kept traversing the various mountains before we got over to Yakebitai-yama. We had a couple of good runs, but after spending so much time getting to and from Yokote, it was getting late with a few lifts shutting down. The pistes weren't in the best shape either, as Yakebitai gets all the morning sun, and with 2 days worth of weekend skiers on, it was getting a little crusty in parts. Not that you couldn't find powder at the sides of the runs, but it was a little slippery in parts. By the time we got back to Ichinose, it was getting on to 5pm. We were all wrecked.
I should have probably rested for one day, but being fool-hardy, I kept pushing on. Problem was when I started running out of energy, I fell over more and hurt my stomach muscles again, and again. Oh well, I'm here for a limited time, I'm making the most of it.
We had dinner at Victoria restaurant again. I needed some meat to repair the muscles anyway, but afterwards, I crashed out on bed.
I'll put pictures up when I get the chance.
After eating what we could of breakfast, we headed out all suited up ready to go. Dean had his DSLR on him, and it was a bluebird day. We wandered down the hill and decided to hop on a bus to Yokote-yama, an area we had neglected to reach last year. Although it's not that far in actual distance, it took us an hour to get there with all the stops and such. When we went to get off, we had problems, I went through fine, but when the bus driver tried to scan Dean's RFID chip (used for lift passes) it wouldn't scan. Dean showed him the receipt and everything, to show it wasn't expired, but it still wouldn't scan through, so Dean had to pay for the bus fare. The bus company is seperate to the lifts, so I suppose that if it doesn't scan through, they don't get paid.
Anyway, after fluffing around with that, we started walking up to the first lift at the foot of Yokote. For some stupid reason Dean's chip was still on the fritz, so the lifty went and exchanged it for a new one. After that it didn't have a problem.
To get to the top, we had to take three lifts and we are sort of glad we did. At 2309m (80m higher than Kosciusko!) it is the highest ski-able peak in the Shiga Kogen area. There are a couple that look bigger, but they don't have lifts (heli-skiing would be sweet). As you can imagine with such a high elevation and 100% visibility, it was an awesome view. Dean and Conrad spent ages just taking photos, and by the time they finished, it was getting on to 11.30. Darn we had missed a couple hours of boarding. Oh well, we were feeling hungry, so we went to the bakery up top of Yokote (highest bakery in Japan). Mum and Whitney had warned us that there was no cake, but we decided to see what they had anyway. Dean and Conrad got a pizza bread thing, while I got some garlic bread. I also ordered a jumbo dog, thinking it would be a usual hot dog size. I was mistaken. This thing was 30cm long, and it wasn't a typical hotdog roll either. It was like someone had hacked a slice in a vienna loaf and stuffed a sausage, tomato sauce, mustard and onion in it. I finished it anyway, but it kept me full/bloaty for the next couple of hours.
We looked around the top some more, but it seems like most of the mountain is ski only. So we got the lift back down. It is kind of scary when you leave the lift building and you just watch the ground fall away at a great angle. We took some more pictures before having a quick run down. It was a little bit crusty, but otherwise we had seen what we came to see.
After waiting for a while we caught the bus back to Hasuike and took a ride on the Shiga Kogen Ropeway. It's a sky carriage that goes between Hasuike and Nishidate-yama. It has some pretty good views, but Dean caught quite a lot of it on his video camera.
We boarded back from the ropeway, and kept traversing the various mountains before we got over to Yakebitai-yama. We had a couple of good runs, but after spending so much time getting to and from Yokote, it was getting late with a few lifts shutting down. The pistes weren't in the best shape either, as Yakebitai gets all the morning sun, and with 2 days worth of weekend skiers on, it was getting a little crusty in parts. Not that you couldn't find powder at the sides of the runs, but it was a little slippery in parts. By the time we got back to Ichinose, it was getting on to 5pm. We were all wrecked.
I should have probably rested for one day, but being fool-hardy, I kept pushing on. Problem was when I started running out of energy, I fell over more and hurt my stomach muscles again, and again. Oh well, I'm here for a limited time, I'm making the most of it.
We had dinner at Victoria restaurant again. I needed some meat to repair the muscles anyway, but afterwards, I crashed out on bed.
I'll put pictures up when I get the chance.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday in the park, think it was a bad idea.
Ok, after Friday with both me and Dean injuring our stomachs, it was slow getting up/out on Saturday. Conrad, Dean and I needed to get money out from the post office in Hasuike, but with Dean being a sook (:P), it was Whitney, Conrad and Me who caught the bus over there. It's only about 5km there, but when the bus driver drives slowly, and stops regularly, it took us nearly an hour to get there and back. But it was ok, because I was still a bit sore and was not sure if I really felt like going out. So after an early lunch at Rocky's Cafe, Conrad and I headed out to Yakebitai-yama. He had his camera on him and we were going to check out the terrain park we didn't get to the day before.
I would like to say that I was awesome at it, but the truth is much more dull. With a big steep slopes and jumps, the possibility of injuring myself quite badly and still nursing an injury that affects your movement, I chickened out on all but on jump, and even then I didn't really jump, just did 360 spin on the top of the funbox.
We decided we'd leave that and we did a few more runs before heading back to my favourite Terakoya/Higashidate run. It was a Saturday, so there wouldn't be any/many ski schoolers, so we started off really well. I got to where it starts getting twisty, and like Dean mentioned in his blog, it was well worn with the corners having concaved sections that made your board bite. I was going fairly well, til it did though, but as per yesterday, I fell and hurt my stomach a bit more. That was it, I couldn't take much more, and with my energy levels on the decline, I suggested we get the gondola back to the top of Higashi then head back to the hotel, via the green and red runs at Ichinose. We did that and it was just as well. I got to "Family St" where all the more expensive hotels (closer to the lifts) are and felt like falling in a heap. A quick walk back to the hotel, where I had a bath to soak my sore body.
Everyone didn't really feel like going out for dinner, so it was cup of noodles night (not for me). We sat around and watched some japanese TV for a while, before everyone piked about 8pm. That was fine by me, because my body was already ready to shut down.
I would like to say that I was awesome at it, but the truth is much more dull. With a big steep slopes and jumps, the possibility of injuring myself quite badly and still nursing an injury that affects your movement, I chickened out on all but on jump, and even then I didn't really jump, just did 360 spin on the top of the funbox.
We decided we'd leave that and we did a few more runs before heading back to my favourite Terakoya/Higashidate run. It was a Saturday, so there wouldn't be any/many ski schoolers, so we started off really well. I got to where it starts getting twisty, and like Dean mentioned in his blog, it was well worn with the corners having concaved sections that made your board bite. I was going fairly well, til it did though, but as per yesterday, I fell and hurt my stomach a bit more. That was it, I couldn't take much more, and with my energy levels on the decline, I suggested we get the gondola back to the top of Higashi then head back to the hotel, via the green and red runs at Ichinose. We did that and it was just as well. I got to "Family St" where all the more expensive hotels (closer to the lifts) are and felt like falling in a heap. A quick walk back to the hotel, where I had a bath to soak my sore body.
Everyone didn't really feel like going out for dinner, so it was cup of noodles night (not for me). We sat around and watched some japanese TV for a while, before everyone piked about 8pm. That was fine by me, because my body was already ready to shut down.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
(Insert witty title here)
So it had come to Friday. I wanted to get out as soon as possible after missing so much time yesterday, but my body wanted to sleep. So I pummelled it into submission. We went downstairs for breakfast, and although they had more eggs this time, they were cold. They also had gratin in a crabshell which looked interesting but I wasn't up for it.
So after fueling up, we got out, albeit rather slowly and went down the black run at the top of Ichinose. We wanted to avoid all the ski schoolers again, and as we got on, there were about 10 groups ready to pile on to the lift. Only problem was that the black run was a bit steep for Conrad's liking, so he slid down most of it on his bum.
We decided to head over to Yakebitai-yama, which Dean and I hadn't got to last year. We played around there for the morning, stopping for lunch at the Prince Hotel South Wing's restaurant. Food was overpriced compared to everywhere else around, so we decided to head over to Hoppo afterwards for a beer. Yakebitai-yama seems to burn your legs though, because although there are green and red runs, they're pretty much straight down (no corners or such).
It was good to get back to our favourite areas of Ichinose/Terakoya/Higashidate/Hoppo. We had a fairly good run down because all the ski schoolers had started heading home, but we were lacking energy. Dean caught an edge which caused him to stack, tearing his abs. Snowboarding works the abs and the legs like nothing else, so they were all tight already. But tensing your tight stomach muscles while falling is a good way to hurt yourself. Silly thing was that about 2 minutes later, I had a bail and did the same thing, although not as harshly as Dean. I've done it before though when we went to Perisher a couple of years back, so I know the pain he's in.
We stopped for a prolonged beer, before heading to Nishidate-yama. We hadn't really had a play here last year, but we were heading back towards Ichinose, so we didn't stick around. After flying down then getting across the bridge to Takamagahara, we caught another lift up. We headed back for Higashidate-yama, but at the end of the run it was no good. Dean was a broken man and I had run out of energy. After getting the gondola up, Dean headed back for the hotel, while I stayed with Conrad. We did a couple of runs before getting the last lift at 4pm. Just as well, because my body was calling time. We walked back to the hotel and rested/relaxed for the next couple of hours before heading to Kamoshka (nepalese place) for dinner. Conrad and I, and mum and Whitney share a tandoori bbq each which is quite filling. If the good amount of meat doesn't fill you up, the gigantic naan and curry will. Dean was grumbling again (understandable), so we head back to the hotel via the convenience store. A half an hour of crazy tv watching and we were ready for lights out.
Pics I took today are here (including some bruises on my arms)
So after fueling up, we got out, albeit rather slowly and went down the black run at the top of Ichinose. We wanted to avoid all the ski schoolers again, and as we got on, there were about 10 groups ready to pile on to the lift. Only problem was that the black run was a bit steep for Conrad's liking, so he slid down most of it on his bum.
We decided to head over to Yakebitai-yama, which Dean and I hadn't got to last year. We played around there for the morning, stopping for lunch at the Prince Hotel South Wing's restaurant. Food was overpriced compared to everywhere else around, so we decided to head over to Hoppo afterwards for a beer. Yakebitai-yama seems to burn your legs though, because although there are green and red runs, they're pretty much straight down (no corners or such).
It was good to get back to our favourite areas of Ichinose/Terakoya/Higashidate/Hoppo. We had a fairly good run down because all the ski schoolers had started heading home, but we were lacking energy. Dean caught an edge which caused him to stack, tearing his abs. Snowboarding works the abs and the legs like nothing else, so they were all tight already. But tensing your tight stomach muscles while falling is a good way to hurt yourself. Silly thing was that about 2 minutes later, I had a bail and did the same thing, although not as harshly as Dean. I've done it before though when we went to Perisher a couple of years back, so I know the pain he's in.
We stopped for a prolonged beer, before heading to Nishidate-yama. We hadn't really had a play here last year, but we were heading back towards Ichinose, so we didn't stick around. After flying down then getting across the bridge to Takamagahara, we caught another lift up. We headed back for Higashidate-yama, but at the end of the run it was no good. Dean was a broken man and I had run out of energy. After getting the gondola up, Dean headed back for the hotel, while I stayed with Conrad. We did a couple of runs before getting the last lift at 4pm. Just as well, because my body was calling time. We walked back to the hotel and rested/relaxed for the next couple of hours before heading to Kamoshka (nepalese place) for dinner. Conrad and I, and mum and Whitney share a tandoori bbq each which is quite filling. If the good amount of meat doesn't fill you up, the gigantic naan and curry will. Dean was grumbling again (understandable), so we head back to the hotel via the convenience store. A half an hour of crazy tv watching and we were ready for lights out.
Pics I took today are here (including some bruises on my arms)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Just stick to the plan, everyone wants to go to the party, no one wants to stay and clean up.
After a day of rest, we were all amped to get out on Thursday morning. We scoffed down breakfast (or the bits of it we felt like eating) and were strapping up at about 8.15am. We started off on Conrad's training run for a bit of warming up. Well, it would have been a warm up, if there wasn't eleventy billion ski-schoolers clogging up the run. They range in various degrees from, barely able to stand up, to criss-crossing the path and stacking. We made it down, although I think either Dean or Conrad might have caught one of them. We just wanted a bit of room, so we decided to head to Terakoya and wouldn't you know it, they seemed to be following us. We flew down the green run heading for Higashidate-yama, and there was still more of them!
We made it to the bottom, but we did have a few bails on the way trying to avoid wiping out half of the groups. It does make you get good at weaving and holding speed in a hurry though. We decided to go to Hoppo-Bundaira and grab a beer (carbs are good, when you are burning twice as many calories as normal). We did that before heading up towards the gondola at Higashidate for another crack at the green run back to Hoppo, without the school kids (I fell over getting on the left and caught my board see tomorrows pics for bruises). Things were going fine until Dean said he needed to shoot off and go to the loo. I would have thought he would have headed to Hoppo like we had planned, but alas, he didn't. So Conrad and I headed for Hoppo, and waited there for Dean. And waited, and waited. We waited so long, that we got hungry, so we grabbed an early lunch (surrounded by a ton of ski schoolers, were they multiplying?). We decided to head back to the gondola, and see if Dean was there, which he was. Now because he was waiting there for about an hour, he was hungry.
So the plan was to head towards Terakoya to the restaurant there. We hadn't been in it before, so we wanted to see what they were serving (as well as using their restroom). I get to the bottom near the restaurant first, with Dean following about 30secs later. I can't wait any longer for Conrad, so I hike it to the restaurant. About 5mins later I get out and go upstairs to the restaurant.... No Dean and Conrad. So I wander back outside to see if they're out there. Nope. Dean was still waiting were I left him. I get back down to Dean and Conrad still hasn't arrived. Where is he????
So we wait a bit longer, still no Conrad. We only left him up the top... It's not like he can't do it. He's done it twice before. Anyway, we head to the top of Higashi to swing back around to Ichinose to see if he's gone down his training run. Nope.... Where is he???? If he's gone back to the hotel, that's a pretty poor showing, not telling us. But what if he's injured... Worry, worry, worry.
We go back the hotel to see if he's there... nope. By now Dean is absolutely starving, so we stop for a second so he can fuel up. While we are sitting there we see a ski patrol snowmobile carrying a sled.... Oh I hope that's not him. So I head down to the patrol station, but it isn't Con. Just now the snow starts coming down and the temps dropping, so I see the lift area about him. They send virtually the whole snow patrol of Ichinose (2 snowmobiles, 5 guys on skis) then Dean comes down and says he'll go look for him on his snowboard. He goes over about 3 different mountain areas looking for him. 1.5hrs later and who do I see coming down the end of the green run but Mr Buffman himself. He's been galavanting all over the mountains "looking for us" and improving his skills. I felt like giving him a punch for making me and Dean worry about him, but at least he wasn't injured down the side of a mountain or anything. So I had waited over 3hrs missing out on some good action.
A couple more runs finished me off though and by the time we were heading back to the hotel, I could barely keep myself erect.
We went to a noodle bowl place just up from our hotel for dinner, and although the food was nice, I was just too hammered to notice. We got back to the hotel, with everyone piling into mine and Dean's room to watch some japanese tv and drink some whiskey and dry. I didn't need it though because not even 10mins later, I was out for the count.
Pics are here
We made it to the bottom, but we did have a few bails on the way trying to avoid wiping out half of the groups. It does make you get good at weaving and holding speed in a hurry though. We decided to go to Hoppo-Bundaira and grab a beer (carbs are good, when you are burning twice as many calories as normal). We did that before heading up towards the gondola at Higashidate for another crack at the green run back to Hoppo, without the school kids (I fell over getting on the left and caught my board see tomorrows pics for bruises). Things were going fine until Dean said he needed to shoot off and go to the loo. I would have thought he would have headed to Hoppo like we had planned, but alas, he didn't. So Conrad and I headed for Hoppo, and waited there for Dean. And waited, and waited. We waited so long, that we got hungry, so we grabbed an early lunch (surrounded by a ton of ski schoolers, were they multiplying?). We decided to head back to the gondola, and see if Dean was there, which he was. Now because he was waiting there for about an hour, he was hungry.
So the plan was to head towards Terakoya to the restaurant there. We hadn't been in it before, so we wanted to see what they were serving (as well as using their restroom). I get to the bottom near the restaurant first, with Dean following about 30secs later. I can't wait any longer for Conrad, so I hike it to the restaurant. About 5mins later I get out and go upstairs to the restaurant.... No Dean and Conrad. So I wander back outside to see if they're out there. Nope. Dean was still waiting were I left him. I get back down to Dean and Conrad still hasn't arrived. Where is he????
So we wait a bit longer, still no Conrad. We only left him up the top... It's not like he can't do it. He's done it twice before. Anyway, we head to the top of Higashi to swing back around to Ichinose to see if he's gone down his training run. Nope.... Where is he???? If he's gone back to the hotel, that's a pretty poor showing, not telling us. But what if he's injured... Worry, worry, worry.
We go back the hotel to see if he's there... nope. By now Dean is absolutely starving, so we stop for a second so he can fuel up. While we are sitting there we see a ski patrol snowmobile carrying a sled.... Oh I hope that's not him. So I head down to the patrol station, but it isn't Con. Just now the snow starts coming down and the temps dropping, so I see the lift area about him. They send virtually the whole snow patrol of Ichinose (2 snowmobiles, 5 guys on skis) then Dean comes down and says he'll go look for him on his snowboard. He goes over about 3 different mountain areas looking for him. 1.5hrs later and who do I see coming down the end of the green run but Mr Buffman himself. He's been galavanting all over the mountains "looking for us" and improving his skills. I felt like giving him a punch for making me and Dean worry about him, but at least he wasn't injured down the side of a mountain or anything. So I had waited over 3hrs missing out on some good action.
A couple more runs finished me off though and by the time we were heading back to the hotel, I could barely keep myself erect.
We went to a noodle bowl place just up from our hotel for dinner, and although the food was nice, I was just too hammered to notice. We got back to the hotel, with everyone piling into mine and Dean's room to watch some japanese tv and drink some whiskey and dry. I didn't need it though because not even 10mins later, I was out for the count.
Pics are here
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Buses, (brass) monkeys and I swear it wasn't me.
Today it was decided that we were going to have a "rest". If you could call bush walking a rest. Last year when we went to see the Japanese Macaques at the Jigokudani Monkey Park, we didn't get on the bus til about 10.30am so it was a late day getting back. This time though we were all ready and got on the 8.52am bus after another different breakfast. I wore a light coat, and boy did I make the wrong decision. It got down to double minus figures in many areas of Shiga Kogen today, and jeans, ankle socks and a light coat don't make for good insulation.
The monkey park is down the bottom of the mountains, and with the bus drivers not going over 40km/h, the 15km from Hasuike (we had to change buses) seems like an eternity. We got to the Kanbayashi Onsen bus stop around 9.45. There were a few yobbo aussies on the bus (started getting annoyed because a japanese passenger didn't know what "monkey" meant, although he wasn't even the driver!), so when we all got off and they headed for the Roman Museum, we beat a path for the monkeys to avoid them. Some people shouldn't travel...
The walk from the Roman Museum is probably 2.0km. with about 1.6km of that being inside the forest. The first part up is slippery, and although there were stairs this year, just after the stairs finished was ice, and both Conrad and I nearly went base over. So the next 45mins or so was the walk, with us stopping to take pictures of various things. Compared to last year, there was a stack more snow, and the path wasn't just dirt this time, but had a lot of ice/snow on it. I took a couple of pictures for comparison, which I'll link to later on. We stopped just before the onsen to get a drink. I know I've probably mentioned this a few times before, but I love this country's love of vending machines. Even in the middle of nowhere, you can find vending machines (there was 3) and it had hot coffee cans and cold beer in the same machine. I would have had a beer, but it was freezing, and my hands were getting puffy from the cold (I was wearing knit gloves), so hot coffee it was.
The monkey onsen is near a human onsen. Onsen are public baths and the ones here are volcanic hot springs. There is a geyser as well, so even before you get close to the monkeys, it reeks of sulphur or rotten eggs. This leads to the expected fart jokes, but it also makes it easy to shift the blame :P
We spent about an hour around the monkeys. I had a couple wrestling right at my feet at one point, but Dean had to 1-up me, and had one crawl up his leg. Cute little thing too. They're wild macaques, but because they are used to humans, I had one close enough to pet (I didn't). In the meantime, because we had stopped moving much, my hands were freezing, so I went back to the information hut and warmed myself next to the kerosene heater.
When everyone was finally finished filming/photographing, we started the trek back. Unfortunately the snow had started to turn to ice, and I took a tumble, just before the others had come around the bend. They saw me get up but it was too late. I had mud on my jacket, jeans and gloves. So now I was moist with a sub-zero wind blowing. I beat a quick path towards the Roman Museum where we were looking forward to getting a wood-fired pizza at the restaurant attached to it. Unfortunately after walking for 4kms and being cold, the restaurant wasn't serving lunch. So an espresso and cake it was. I love Japan, but one thing that blows is that you can't get a decent cup of coffee. Because of being infested by the american military after nuking the place, all they know is the weak, watery american style coffee. Crystal Terrace (the restaurant) at least had an espresso machine available (compared to the usual drip filter rubbish) but even then, it wasn't strong. At least the chocolate cake was nice, without being overly sweet.
It was nearly 2pm when we jumped on the bus back up the mountain. By this time though we were starving, so we decided to stop off in Takamagahara for lunch. Some pizza and a beer later, and we were ready to go again... or would have been. We watched as we went from being able to see the top of Takamagahara, to barely being able to see the cafe across the road. The flags showed that the wind was blowing strongly as well, so we just chilled out and let our food rest before we walked back to Ichinose (it's only about 600m).
We decided after the late lunch that we wouldn't worry about going out for dinner this evening, so we stopped off at one of the Yamazaki's to grab some noodles, dessert or whatever else we felt like. Back at the hotel, there was washing to be done (I've only got 2 pairs of pants over here and I'm not wearing muddy ones!) so that is being done as I type this.
We're going to have a cruisey night, with Conrad, Dean and I all ready and rearing to go for an early start and long day on the slopes. Good thing too because more new snow is forecast.
Pics are here
Feel free to comment....
The monkey park is down the bottom of the mountains, and with the bus drivers not going over 40km/h, the 15km from Hasuike (we had to change buses) seems like an eternity. We got to the Kanbayashi Onsen bus stop around 9.45. There were a few yobbo aussies on the bus (started getting annoyed because a japanese passenger didn't know what "monkey" meant, although he wasn't even the driver!), so when we all got off and they headed for the Roman Museum, we beat a path for the monkeys to avoid them. Some people shouldn't travel...
The walk from the Roman Museum is probably 2.0km. with about 1.6km of that being inside the forest. The first part up is slippery, and although there were stairs this year, just after the stairs finished was ice, and both Conrad and I nearly went base over. So the next 45mins or so was the walk, with us stopping to take pictures of various things. Compared to last year, there was a stack more snow, and the path wasn't just dirt this time, but had a lot of ice/snow on it. I took a couple of pictures for comparison, which I'll link to later on. We stopped just before the onsen to get a drink. I know I've probably mentioned this a few times before, but I love this country's love of vending machines. Even in the middle of nowhere, you can find vending machines (there was 3) and it had hot coffee cans and cold beer in the same machine. I would have had a beer, but it was freezing, and my hands were getting puffy from the cold (I was wearing knit gloves), so hot coffee it was.
The monkey onsen is near a human onsen. Onsen are public baths and the ones here are volcanic hot springs. There is a geyser as well, so even before you get close to the monkeys, it reeks of sulphur or rotten eggs. This leads to the expected fart jokes, but it also makes it easy to shift the blame :P
We spent about an hour around the monkeys. I had a couple wrestling right at my feet at one point, but Dean had to 1-up me, and had one crawl up his leg. Cute little thing too. They're wild macaques, but because they are used to humans, I had one close enough to pet (I didn't). In the meantime, because we had stopped moving much, my hands were freezing, so I went back to the information hut and warmed myself next to the kerosene heater.
When everyone was finally finished filming/photographing, we started the trek back. Unfortunately the snow had started to turn to ice, and I took a tumble, just before the others had come around the bend. They saw me get up but it was too late. I had mud on my jacket, jeans and gloves. So now I was moist with a sub-zero wind blowing. I beat a quick path towards the Roman Museum where we were looking forward to getting a wood-fired pizza at the restaurant attached to it. Unfortunately after walking for 4kms and being cold, the restaurant wasn't serving lunch. So an espresso and cake it was. I love Japan, but one thing that blows is that you can't get a decent cup of coffee. Because of being infested by the american military after nuking the place, all they know is the weak, watery american style coffee. Crystal Terrace (the restaurant) at least had an espresso machine available (compared to the usual drip filter rubbish) but even then, it wasn't strong. At least the chocolate cake was nice, without being overly sweet.
It was nearly 2pm when we jumped on the bus back up the mountain. By this time though we were starving, so we decided to stop off in Takamagahara for lunch. Some pizza and a beer later, and we were ready to go again... or would have been. We watched as we went from being able to see the top of Takamagahara, to barely being able to see the cafe across the road. The flags showed that the wind was blowing strongly as well, so we just chilled out and let our food rest before we walked back to Ichinose (it's only about 600m).
We decided after the late lunch that we wouldn't worry about going out for dinner this evening, so we stopped off at one of the Yamazaki's to grab some noodles, dessert or whatever else we felt like. Back at the hotel, there was washing to be done (I've only got 2 pairs of pants over here and I'm not wearing muddy ones!) so that is being done as I type this.
We're going to have a cruisey night, with Conrad, Dean and I all ready and rearing to go for an early start and long day on the slopes. Good thing too because more new snow is forecast.
Pics are here
Feel free to comment....
I'm beached as bro...
Yesterday, after an early start turned out to be a good day.
We had breakfast, which I can't really say much about, other than half cooked omelette is not my idea of fun. We had breakfast and Conrad said he wanted to take it easy, so Dean and I went ahead and got suited up and headed out and Conrad would meet up with us at the bottom of Ichinose Family. After a slippery first run, we went and did an easy red run before noticing Conrad headed towards the vending machines, but Dean and I were already on the lift so we got a third flying run in before we had to slow down.
After a solid first run by Conrad, we took him around the back to Terakoya, which neither Dean or me had done last year. It was a good area. Not too many people and wide green run for Conrad, allowed him to get a bit better at holding his speed and carving. We headed to the left of Terakoya where there is a run that links to the back of Higashidate-yama. With some flattish sections, it was imperative that Conrad hold his speed, and he actually was looking a lot more solid on the board, and although a tad slower than Dean and I, he was still keeping a good pace. After going around Higashidate, which Conrad did much better than the day before, we headed up the gondola and back down to Ichinose for Conrad's green run. This was good, as it was getting on to about 12.30, and we were all getting hungry and tired. Time for some Nepalese curry buffet. Only problem is (well, not really a problem) that after two lots of curry & rice, and some salad and naan, we were quite full and spent the next 10mins letting the food settle before heading out again.
A few more runs with some tree runs by me and some playing on the sides by me and Dean, and a good showing by Conrad had us getting down the green run in about 7 mins or so. It was about 3.30 by then and Conrad was getting wrecked, so he waited down the bottom while Dean and I had a game of follow my line. I followed Dean's up the top, where he circled around some trees at the edge of the run, then toward the bottom he followed me through the trees. Tree riding gets a bit difficult, as some of the gaps between the trees are small, and the powder is so thick that it makes control/turning in a hurry a little difficult, but we had bit of fun with no injuries. At the bottom, we met Conrad who decided to do one more green run before packing it in for the day. Poor boy isn't used to the strenuous exercise. :P Another red run saw us back down the mountain before getting the last lift of the day. A flying green run to finish it and by then we were shattered. I don't think the getting up at 4.15 helped this.
After some rest and a quick onsen (I got told off by one old Japanese fellow for wearing shorts in the onsen) we were trying to find somewhere to eat. After only 2 and a bit days riding, I was starving for some red meat, but I couldn't find anywhere that does steak. We headed for the "Canadian Restaurant - Victoria" at the Hotel Ichinose. It had a buffet going, so we thought we'd give it a shot. After initially being refused entry (there was a whole bus load of school kids in there) the front desk clerk allowed us in. 2100Y isn't bad for a buffet, and the food looked good. It was spread out over 4 or 5 different areas, with the first area having yakitori skewers, chips, lasagna, pork with tomato sauce and cheese, and some other things. I couldn't wait, loaded up my first plate on just that table alone. Then Mum tells me some wonderful news - They had steak!! Nice Tenderloin done medium, and I wasn't waiting. I finished my plate of skewers and such then headed over to the chef and asked him to cook some for me. A plate of thinly sliced tenderloin cooked nicely and I was a happy lad. A few more bits and pieces, and a couple of apple jellies later and we were done... stuffed to the gills. A trip to the gift shop saw us stocked up with ice cream, beer, umeshu, and other bits and pieces, then back to our room for some weird japanese TV comedy sketch show. Only thing was, that as soon as I sat down on the bed, I was nearly passing out. I barely finished my beer before everyone decided to call it a night by 8.30.
Pics are here. (I had my camera on me all day)
We had breakfast, which I can't really say much about, other than half cooked omelette is not my idea of fun. We had breakfast and Conrad said he wanted to take it easy, so Dean and I went ahead and got suited up and headed out and Conrad would meet up with us at the bottom of Ichinose Family. After a slippery first run, we went and did an easy red run before noticing Conrad headed towards the vending machines, but Dean and I were already on the lift so we got a third flying run in before we had to slow down.
After a solid first run by Conrad, we took him around the back to Terakoya, which neither Dean or me had done last year. It was a good area. Not too many people and wide green run for Conrad, allowed him to get a bit better at holding his speed and carving. We headed to the left of Terakoya where there is a run that links to the back of Higashidate-yama. With some flattish sections, it was imperative that Conrad hold his speed, and he actually was looking a lot more solid on the board, and although a tad slower than Dean and I, he was still keeping a good pace. After going around Higashidate, which Conrad did much better than the day before, we headed up the gondola and back down to Ichinose for Conrad's green run. This was good, as it was getting on to about 12.30, and we were all getting hungry and tired. Time for some Nepalese curry buffet. Only problem is (well, not really a problem) that after two lots of curry & rice, and some salad and naan, we were quite full and spent the next 10mins letting the food settle before heading out again.
A few more runs with some tree runs by me and some playing on the sides by me and Dean, and a good showing by Conrad had us getting down the green run in about 7 mins or so. It was about 3.30 by then and Conrad was getting wrecked, so he waited down the bottom while Dean and I had a game of follow my line. I followed Dean's up the top, where he circled around some trees at the edge of the run, then toward the bottom he followed me through the trees. Tree riding gets a bit difficult, as some of the gaps between the trees are small, and the powder is so thick that it makes control/turning in a hurry a little difficult, but we had bit of fun with no injuries. At the bottom, we met Conrad who decided to do one more green run before packing it in for the day. Poor boy isn't used to the strenuous exercise. :P Another red run saw us back down the mountain before getting the last lift of the day. A flying green run to finish it and by then we were shattered. I don't think the getting up at 4.15 helped this.
After some rest and a quick onsen (I got told off by one old Japanese fellow for wearing shorts in the onsen) we were trying to find somewhere to eat. After only 2 and a bit days riding, I was starving for some red meat, but I couldn't find anywhere that does steak. We headed for the "Canadian Restaurant - Victoria" at the Hotel Ichinose. It had a buffet going, so we thought we'd give it a shot. After initially being refused entry (there was a whole bus load of school kids in there) the front desk clerk allowed us in. 2100Y isn't bad for a buffet, and the food looked good. It was spread out over 4 or 5 different areas, with the first area having yakitori skewers, chips, lasagna, pork with tomato sauce and cheese, and some other things. I couldn't wait, loaded up my first plate on just that table alone. Then Mum tells me some wonderful news - They had steak!! Nice Tenderloin done medium, and I wasn't waiting. I finished my plate of skewers and such then headed over to the chef and asked him to cook some for me. A plate of thinly sliced tenderloin cooked nicely and I was a happy lad. A few more bits and pieces, and a couple of apple jellies later and we were done... stuffed to the gills. A trip to the gift shop saw us stocked up with ice cream, beer, umeshu, and other bits and pieces, then back to our room for some weird japanese TV comedy sketch show. Only thing was, that as soon as I sat down on the bed, I was nearly passing out. I barely finished my beer before everyone decided to call it a night by 8.30.
Pics are here. (I had my camera on me all day)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Why the hell aren't I asleep?
Hi all,
It's about 5am here on Tuesday morning. I've been up since about 4.20, which is just wrong. But I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some prestudy and blogging.
Yesterday saw me up early as well, but at a much more reasonable hour of 5. I had gone to bed at around 9.30pm, so it was enough sleep.
Yesterday, everyone just wanted to take it easy. I suppose dragging bags around and jumping on and off various modes of transport for the past 2 days had worn them out. But breakfast was being served at 7.30, so I woke them all up at 7am.
The place we are staying seems to be a more traditional Japanese type hotel. Although we have western beds with ensuites in our rooms, there are quite a few tatami matted rooms. Breakfast is what they serve you, rather than being a buffet style type thing that a lot of other hotels have going. In truth, I prefer to be able to choose what I want to eat, but the traditional food was quite filling anyway. It consisted of a piece of dried? salmon, some shredded pickled carrot and onion, a bit of egg omelette (looks like a yellow bar), a little plate of coleslaw type mix and tomato with a japanese dressing and some cold ham, a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of a thick potato, bacon and chicken soup. There was also a pot of rice that everyone could get a good bowl or 2 from and some thick cut toast with blackberry jam. So while I didn't eat the fish (I can't eat cooked fish, makes me ill), I filled up on everything else.
I headed back to the room first to ease nature, while Dean did some blogging, and Conrad did as well. By this stage all I wanted to do was hit the slopes. I suppose I'm just used to trying to get out as early as possible because of the limited time available, but we are here a few more days than normal, so I'll have to be a little more patient.
So while Dean and Conrad were tapping away, I decided to indulge myself with a little japanese children's TV. The first show that I just caught the end of show with a Samurai with a clockwork key on top of his head, and a sword with mochi balls on it. Then was a show we remember well from last year, "You've got a quintet", or Quintet for short. The theme song gets stuck in your head. It's got 4 muppet like characters that play violin, cello, trumpet and clarinet, while Akira plays the piano. It's a little silly, but it's a good way to liven up classical music, and have a song. I had to show Conrad, because up until now we haven't really had the chance to watch any japanese tv.
After that was on, I went downstairs to find Dean who was still tapping away furiously. Not that I mind him sharing his thoughts with the world, but I was getting antsy to be on the slopes. That was about 9am... We didn't even get suited up and out the door til 10....
I must mention too that it had started snowing. When I woke mum and whitney up at 7 it was just starting to fall, but very lightly and the roof outside our room was bare to start with. After breakfast it started getting heavier (bigger flakes, more of them) so by the time we got ready there was now about 2cm of snow on the roof. We got ready and headed out for the first run of the day, and decided to do the same run as the day before, because Conrad was still getting used to being on a board. We did one ore 2 runs of that, before heading across to Takamagahara. While neither me or Dean find the slope very interesting (straight down, with hard packed snow) Takamagahara has got a pizza shop so after getting down there we decided to stop for a bit of lunch at 11.30. Time for pizza and beer... I don't think Conrad had anticipated the amount of endurance needed for snowboarding, or the amount of food you feel like eating because of the energy consumption. Needless to say, he wolfed down the salami pizza and Shiga Kogen Porter ale he had, which for Conrad is a miracle, because he is a very slow eater.
After getting ourselves together, we caught the Takamagahara quad lift up to the top, then went for a green run towards Higashidate-yama. Personally I love this run as although it is a bit thin in areas, with trees either side, you can carry your speed well, and it leads to a few hairpins before you get to the bottom gondola. Dean had to race ahead while I stayed with Conrad, so we met up at the Gondola and had a hot coffee can. We then got in the gondola, and although me and Dean fit with our snowboards, there was simply no room for Conrad and his, so he caught the next one.
Up the top, we noticed that Conrad had a stupid amount of angle on his front foot. He reckons he set it at +15 deg, but it was closer to 30 now with the back being about -15. After fiddling around for a while we set the front foot back flatter to about +12 and the rear foot to -6 or so. This must have been a major source of trouble for Conrad because after being a little wobbly to start with, as he got used to the new settings, he found rocking from heelside to toeside much easier. We kept on going and after doing a run back towards Ichinose, then down Conrad's test run, he was stuffed, so me and Dean left him to have a drink and a rest then headed up for run by ourselves. You realise how much constantly stopping/slowing down and waiting for someone takes a toll on your calves, because me and Dean flew down the red run (a whole heap of ski schoolers were clogging up the green Conrad run) we didn't feel half as sore or tight as we do when teaching Conrad.
So far I haven't seen any english lessons (I know there are some) but the 1/2 on 1 teaching was probably better for Con because he was getting it much better than me and Dean did when we first started.
A few more runs and it was getting late, so we caught the last lift before it stopped and after a slow run down where Conrad fell over a bit (a sign of tiredness/lack of energy) we called it a day. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped at the Yamazaki mini convenience store across from the lifts, and Dean and Conrad trialled some new drinks, while I got some lip balm (Water in Lip!) then headed back to the hotel. By this stage we were all tight, so a quick soak in the onsen (its probably 50deg C water in there!) helped relieve some muscle tension.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but the Japanese seem strange to us at times. They aren't cool with public displays of affection, but think nothing of nuding it up in front of other males/females. Fortunately as was giving myself a wash before going in (you have to clean yourself before getting into the onsen) the 2 naked guys left so there was just Conrad, Dean and I in our swimmers enjoying a soak. You also have to wash afterwards as well, so a wash off with some cold water (I was looking like a lobster by now) and I was feeling refreshed. Conrad must have been feeling really refreshed, because if we hadn't got out, I think he would have fallen asleep in the onsen! He was still hammered though, so he went to his room for a rest, while Dean and I went downstairs for some more internet. It was now getting on, it was about 6.30 and time to start getting hungry. After getting ready/rugged up, we headed downhill to the Austrian bar at the Chalet Shiga. It's a little bar with a big screen showing winter sports, but as the winter olympics are on at the moment, everywhere seems to be playing that. Me and mum ordered a 40th Anniversary Ale (It was very fruity, but boy it packs a punch), while Dean and Conrad got the Chalet set which is a pot of each of the 4 tap beers for 1000Y. Instead of the Shiga Kogen brewery beers they had last time, they had a few different ones. They had the Takashi Stout (which Conrad liked), the 40th Anniversary ale, a Pale Ale and a Draft Pale Ale.
For dinner, Conrad and Whitney got the spaghetti bolognaise, Mum got the spaghetti carbonara, I got the Penne Arabiatta (which was nice and spicy) while Dean got the mixed sausages and some fried chicken. This bar isn't the cheapest place to eat, but not too expensive either and the food is good. After a walk uphill, we stopped at the other convenience shop just up from our hotel. Mum and Whitney had come here during the day and got a Creme Caramel, which was supposed to be very good, but unfortunately when we had got there, it had all sold out. So I got a Coffee jelly with whipped cream, while I got Dean a custard thing that looked like a creme caramel, but wasn't caramel-y. We ate these, but by this time we were all stuffed, so lights out at 9.
I took a couple of photos, but they were all at night. I'll get some more of the slopes/snow/village today.
It's about 5am here on Tuesday morning. I've been up since about 4.20, which is just wrong. But I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some prestudy and blogging.
Yesterday saw me up early as well, but at a much more reasonable hour of 5. I had gone to bed at around 9.30pm, so it was enough sleep.
Yesterday, everyone just wanted to take it easy. I suppose dragging bags around and jumping on and off various modes of transport for the past 2 days had worn them out. But breakfast was being served at 7.30, so I woke them all up at 7am.
The place we are staying seems to be a more traditional Japanese type hotel. Although we have western beds with ensuites in our rooms, there are quite a few tatami matted rooms. Breakfast is what they serve you, rather than being a buffet style type thing that a lot of other hotels have going. In truth, I prefer to be able to choose what I want to eat, but the traditional food was quite filling anyway. It consisted of a piece of dried? salmon, some shredded pickled carrot and onion, a bit of egg omelette (looks like a yellow bar), a little plate of coleslaw type mix and tomato with a japanese dressing and some cold ham, a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of a thick potato, bacon and chicken soup. There was also a pot of rice that everyone could get a good bowl or 2 from and some thick cut toast with blackberry jam. So while I didn't eat the fish (I can't eat cooked fish, makes me ill), I filled up on everything else.
I headed back to the room first to ease nature, while Dean did some blogging, and Conrad did as well. By this stage all I wanted to do was hit the slopes. I suppose I'm just used to trying to get out as early as possible because of the limited time available, but we are here a few more days than normal, so I'll have to be a little more patient.
So while Dean and Conrad were tapping away, I decided to indulge myself with a little japanese children's TV. The first show that I just caught the end of show with a Samurai with a clockwork key on top of his head, and a sword with mochi balls on it. Then was a show we remember well from last year, "You've got a quintet", or Quintet for short. The theme song gets stuck in your head. It's got 4 muppet like characters that play violin, cello, trumpet and clarinet, while Akira plays the piano. It's a little silly, but it's a good way to liven up classical music, and have a song. I had to show Conrad, because up until now we haven't really had the chance to watch any japanese tv.
After that was on, I went downstairs to find Dean who was still tapping away furiously. Not that I mind him sharing his thoughts with the world, but I was getting antsy to be on the slopes. That was about 9am... We didn't even get suited up and out the door til 10....
I must mention too that it had started snowing. When I woke mum and whitney up at 7 it was just starting to fall, but very lightly and the roof outside our room was bare to start with. After breakfast it started getting heavier (bigger flakes, more of them) so by the time we got ready there was now about 2cm of snow on the roof. We got ready and headed out for the first run of the day, and decided to do the same run as the day before, because Conrad was still getting used to being on a board. We did one ore 2 runs of that, before heading across to Takamagahara. While neither me or Dean find the slope very interesting (straight down, with hard packed snow) Takamagahara has got a pizza shop so after getting down there we decided to stop for a bit of lunch at 11.30. Time for pizza and beer... I don't think Conrad had anticipated the amount of endurance needed for snowboarding, or the amount of food you feel like eating because of the energy consumption. Needless to say, he wolfed down the salami pizza and Shiga Kogen Porter ale he had, which for Conrad is a miracle, because he is a very slow eater.
After getting ourselves together, we caught the Takamagahara quad lift up to the top, then went for a green run towards Higashidate-yama. Personally I love this run as although it is a bit thin in areas, with trees either side, you can carry your speed well, and it leads to a few hairpins before you get to the bottom gondola. Dean had to race ahead while I stayed with Conrad, so we met up at the Gondola and had a hot coffee can. We then got in the gondola, and although me and Dean fit with our snowboards, there was simply no room for Conrad and his, so he caught the next one.
Up the top, we noticed that Conrad had a stupid amount of angle on his front foot. He reckons he set it at +15 deg, but it was closer to 30 now with the back being about -15. After fiddling around for a while we set the front foot back flatter to about +12 and the rear foot to -6 or so. This must have been a major source of trouble for Conrad because after being a little wobbly to start with, as he got used to the new settings, he found rocking from heelside to toeside much easier. We kept on going and after doing a run back towards Ichinose, then down Conrad's test run, he was stuffed, so me and Dean left him to have a drink and a rest then headed up for run by ourselves. You realise how much constantly stopping/slowing down and waiting for someone takes a toll on your calves, because me and Dean flew down the red run (a whole heap of ski schoolers were clogging up the green Conrad run) we didn't feel half as sore or tight as we do when teaching Conrad.
So far I haven't seen any english lessons (I know there are some) but the 1/2 on 1 teaching was probably better for Con because he was getting it much better than me and Dean did when we first started.
A few more runs and it was getting late, so we caught the last lift before it stopped and after a slow run down where Conrad fell over a bit (a sign of tiredness/lack of energy) we called it a day. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped at the Yamazaki mini convenience store across from the lifts, and Dean and Conrad trialled some new drinks, while I got some lip balm (Water in Lip!) then headed back to the hotel. By this stage we were all tight, so a quick soak in the onsen (its probably 50deg C water in there!) helped relieve some muscle tension.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but the Japanese seem strange to us at times. They aren't cool with public displays of affection, but think nothing of nuding it up in front of other males/females. Fortunately as was giving myself a wash before going in (you have to clean yourself before getting into the onsen) the 2 naked guys left so there was just Conrad, Dean and I in our swimmers enjoying a soak. You also have to wash afterwards as well, so a wash off with some cold water (I was looking like a lobster by now) and I was feeling refreshed. Conrad must have been feeling really refreshed, because if we hadn't got out, I think he would have fallen asleep in the onsen! He was still hammered though, so he went to his room for a rest, while Dean and I went downstairs for some more internet. It was now getting on, it was about 6.30 and time to start getting hungry. After getting ready/rugged up, we headed downhill to the Austrian bar at the Chalet Shiga. It's a little bar with a big screen showing winter sports, but as the winter olympics are on at the moment, everywhere seems to be playing that. Me and mum ordered a 40th Anniversary Ale (It was very fruity, but boy it packs a punch), while Dean and Conrad got the Chalet set which is a pot of each of the 4 tap beers for 1000Y. Instead of the Shiga Kogen brewery beers they had last time, they had a few different ones. They had the Takashi Stout (which Conrad liked), the 40th Anniversary ale, a Pale Ale and a Draft Pale Ale.
For dinner, Conrad and Whitney got the spaghetti bolognaise, Mum got the spaghetti carbonara, I got the Penne Arabiatta (which was nice and spicy) while Dean got the mixed sausages and some fried chicken. This bar isn't the cheapest place to eat, but not too expensive either and the food is good. After a walk uphill, we stopped at the other convenience shop just up from our hotel. Mum and Whitney had come here during the day and got a Creme Caramel, which was supposed to be very good, but unfortunately when we had got there, it had all sold out. So I got a Coffee jelly with whipped cream, while I got Dean a custard thing that looked like a creme caramel, but wasn't caramel-y. We ate these, but by this time we were all stuffed, so lights out at 9.
I took a couple of photos, but they were all at night. I'll get some more of the slopes/snow/village today.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thrills, Frills and Sunday Spills
I know I only just posted the last one, but today was pretty good and I have a couple of minutes before we head out for dinner.
So after my waking up at 5am, I went back to the room at around 6 where Mum was awake. We decided to go for a walk and after heading toward Yasukuni-dori we walked down it a few hundred metres. Where our hotel was, was in Jinbocho which has a lot of used book stores. A couple of hundred metres down the road is Ogawamachi and the area between is stacked with snow shops. As we've been to the snow shops on the last 2 visits, it was familiar territory, but this being Japan, nothing was going to be open at 6.30ish on a Sunday morning. Hell, most of the shops don't open til 10 or 11. But walked there and decided to head to DonKi (an abbreviation of Don Quixote). It's hard to describe this shop. It has anything and everything that anyone could want at 3am in the morning. Clothes, electronics, bikes, novelty items etc are to be found. I had particularly come looking for a Pikachu suit (I was going to get a video of me shredding down the mountain in it) but at 3990Y (about $45) it was a bit much for a stupid bit of fun. I did get another face warmer and a couple of pairs of socks, and Mum got some stockings for her and Whitney. We looked at the time and it was getting on, so after catching the subway back to Ogawamachi and getting to the hotel, it was time to bail. We had a bullet train to catch!
As mentioned in the previous post, our tickets on the Shinkansen were booked for 9.04, so we had to get there before hand so we didn't miss it. After much walking from Otemachi back to Tokyo station (It's about 800m with stairs), we made it with about 15 mins to spare. None of us had any breakfast yet, so we grabbed a bento box from the fresh bento box station on the platform. Dean and Con got tonkatsu (crumbed pork cutlets) with rice and little sides, and I got a boring sandwich box. I also grabbed a hot coffee can (Wonda Morning blend) and we found our seats on the train and started eating. Even though its only about 2 hours on the train, there is a lady with a push cart that comes past with snacks, bento, drinks, beer, (I love this country!) and a pretty reasonable price.
We got to Nagano Station around 10.50 so we had about 25 minutes til the bus to Shiga Kogen left. It allowed time for me and Dean to go across the road to the 7-11 to get some cash out. Even Nagano with a population of about 400k has multiple 7-11's in a near vicinity.
The bus ride was fairly uneventful. I ended up sitting next to a couple from Brisbane who were going to see the snow monkeys, so I gave them a couple of pointers, and there were a couple of US navy guys (stationed south of Yokohama) who decided to hop on a bus to the snow for a couple of days with no accommodation. Luckily there are plenty of hotels, but they got off at Hasuike. A couple of minutes later we were out our destination, Ichinose. Our hotel was right near the bus stop so after a few minutes we were checked in and up in our rooms.
It was now about 1pm, so we were all hungry again. A quick walk up the road and we found a place making mini pizzas. I got one with potato and bacon, while everyone else had a mixed pizza (Salami, crab, corn and bacon!?!). Time to setup up our new boards so it was back to hotel and off to the lifts for passes. Here came the interesting part..... teaching Mugget to snowboard. With only an hour and half til lifts closed, could we do it? Well we did one run that took forever. A lot of falling down on Conrad's part and and some wobbly feet as me and Dean regained our footing. We got on the last lift of the day, and it was a lot faster effort from Conrad, so tomorrow it will be better.
On the way down we kept stopping so we didn't lose Mugget, but one section I grabbed a handful of snow and through it at Dean who was sitting at the edge of the run. Needless to say I overbalanced myself and took one almighty tumble, which knocked the wind out of my sails (I thought I'd broken a rib originally). While I was getting my breath back snow patrol came down the mountain on a snowmobile saying the mountain was now closed and we needed to hurry it up. Me and Dean said we'd be right, but we got Conrad stuck on the back of the snowmobile. First day and he already gets to go fast! :P
Anyhow, we are now back in the hotel feeling a little sore, and I have to have a shower quickly before we head out to Kamoshika for some tandoori and naan :D. I'll see if I can get some photos up later tonight, but for the time being it's over and out.
I gave Mum my camera to take pictures with on the shinkansen, so they are what she saw. They're here
So after my waking up at 5am, I went back to the room at around 6 where Mum was awake. We decided to go for a walk and after heading toward Yasukuni-dori we walked down it a few hundred metres. Where our hotel was, was in Jinbocho which has a lot of used book stores. A couple of hundred metres down the road is Ogawamachi and the area between is stacked with snow shops. As we've been to the snow shops on the last 2 visits, it was familiar territory, but this being Japan, nothing was going to be open at 6.30ish on a Sunday morning. Hell, most of the shops don't open til 10 or 11. But walked there and decided to head to DonKi (an abbreviation of Don Quixote). It's hard to describe this shop. It has anything and everything that anyone could want at 3am in the morning. Clothes, electronics, bikes, novelty items etc are to be found. I had particularly come looking for a Pikachu suit (I was going to get a video of me shredding down the mountain in it) but at 3990Y (about $45) it was a bit much for a stupid bit of fun. I did get another face warmer and a couple of pairs of socks, and Mum got some stockings for her and Whitney. We looked at the time and it was getting on, so after catching the subway back to Ogawamachi and getting to the hotel, it was time to bail. We had a bullet train to catch!
As mentioned in the previous post, our tickets on the Shinkansen were booked for 9.04, so we had to get there before hand so we didn't miss it. After much walking from Otemachi back to Tokyo station (It's about 800m with stairs), we made it with about 15 mins to spare. None of us had any breakfast yet, so we grabbed a bento box from the fresh bento box station on the platform. Dean and Con got tonkatsu (crumbed pork cutlets) with rice and little sides, and I got a boring sandwich box. I also grabbed a hot coffee can (Wonda Morning blend) and we found our seats on the train and started eating. Even though its only about 2 hours on the train, there is a lady with a push cart that comes past with snacks, bento, drinks, beer, (I love this country!) and a pretty reasonable price.
We got to Nagano Station around 10.50 so we had about 25 minutes til the bus to Shiga Kogen left. It allowed time for me and Dean to go across the road to the 7-11 to get some cash out. Even Nagano with a population of about 400k has multiple 7-11's in a near vicinity.
The bus ride was fairly uneventful. I ended up sitting next to a couple from Brisbane who were going to see the snow monkeys, so I gave them a couple of pointers, and there were a couple of US navy guys (stationed south of Yokohama) who decided to hop on a bus to the snow for a couple of days with no accommodation. Luckily there are plenty of hotels, but they got off at Hasuike. A couple of minutes later we were out our destination, Ichinose. Our hotel was right near the bus stop so after a few minutes we were checked in and up in our rooms.
It was now about 1pm, so we were all hungry again. A quick walk up the road and we found a place making mini pizzas. I got one with potato and bacon, while everyone else had a mixed pizza (Salami, crab, corn and bacon!?!). Time to setup up our new boards so it was back to hotel and off to the lifts for passes. Here came the interesting part..... teaching Mugget to snowboard. With only an hour and half til lifts closed, could we do it? Well we did one run that took forever. A lot of falling down on Conrad's part and and some wobbly feet as me and Dean regained our footing. We got on the last lift of the day, and it was a lot faster effort from Conrad, so tomorrow it will be better.
On the way down we kept stopping so we didn't lose Mugget, but one section I grabbed a handful of snow and through it at Dean who was sitting at the edge of the run. Needless to say I overbalanced myself and took one almighty tumble, which knocked the wind out of my sails (I thought I'd broken a rib originally). While I was getting my breath back snow patrol came down the mountain on a snowmobile saying the mountain was now closed and we needed to hurry it up. Me and Dean said we'd be right, but we got Conrad stuck on the back of the snowmobile. First day and he already gets to go fast! :P
Anyhow, we are now back in the hotel feeling a little sore, and I have to have a shower quickly before we head out to Kamoshika for some tandoori and naan :D. I'll see if I can get some photos up later tonight, but for the time being it's over and out.
I gave Mum my camera to take pictures with on the shinkansen, so they are what she saw. They're here
And now its the Crack of Dawn, and I'm your host Dawn DuPonme
Its 5am on a Sunday and I'm up and awake. Stupid body clock. Still hasn't adjusted for the hour behind. Apart from the fact that it is just sick to be up at this time on a Sunday, it also means that its dark and no one else is up. So what else to do besides blog.
I think we are getting better at this travelling thing. We got down to Gold Coast without much hassle. After checking the big baggage in, we got a beer at the bar in the Gold Coat Airport. They must be doing a roaring trade. With only cruddy kids shows on the TV (What would a kid be doing in an Ale House anyway?) and expensive drinks ($7 for a Boags??). We were nearly the only ones in there, which was sort of ok as our backpacks were taking up floor spac anyway.
The flight was pretty uneventful with some turbulence over PNG and as we came down through the cloud layers on descent. Have to say though that I much prefer JAL over Jetstar. Smoother pilots, better food and more beer make getting there nicer (not to mention that I prefer cute air hostesses over a couple of dudes and a girl with a guy face).
We got in and after losing Conrad getting off the plane (he came through the rear passage) we were through the Immigration and Customs with the usual efficiency. We walked downstairs into the B1 floor where the train station is, but before we got going, we got a JR East 4 day flexi-pass. This is not a bad option for people who are going snowboarding somewhere in Honshu. For 20000Y (16000Y if you are 25 or under, Damn you Conrad!) it allows you 4 days travel within a month period. We used the first day to get from Narita to Tokyo. The Tokyo Internation airport is in Narita which is actually about 80kms away from Tokyo Central. All we did was tell them that we wanted to jump on the next train to Tokyo and they booked the tickets. It also allowed us to book our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets in advance. So we are already reserved for the 9.04 this morning. Means we should be at the snow by lunch time. :D
Anyhow, we got the train in, and although I was fine everyone else was starting to feel the cold. It was about 2*C when we landed. I suppose having a bit of extra padding is an advantage. :P We got into Tokyo then had to walk from Tokyo station to Otemachi subway station which kind of wraps around the north end of it, but it involved walking over 800m in the subterranean maze to get to the Hanzomon line. Normally this would be nothing, but with 12kg or so on my back and a 20kg 166cm Board bag trailing awkwardly behind me, as well as everyone else having the same amount of weight, it was a bit of a mission getting up and down stairs and escalators. We were running out of energy so we could get the the hotel soon enough. After checking in and dumping our bags into the small room stuffed with 5 beds, we headed out for noms.
Google Maps/Street view is a good thing, because it allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings before getting there. We headed up the little alleyway running up the side of the hotel and went to the closest 7eleven (there's about 3 in a 200m radius). Grabbed some cash out and headed for Friggo Est, a belgian bar another 200m or so down the street. Now I'm all for the pub scene, but when they had stopped serving food (It was past 10.30 I suppose) and they were trying to charge 1850Y for a 250ml glass of Leffe Blonde, my tolerance is very low. So before ordering we went again and headed back towards the hotel and stopped in at an unnamed ramen shop. At 680Y for a big bowl of pork ramen, it sure hit the spot. I couldn't even finish it there was that much, and considering all of us were looking out for low flying ducks before hand that's a good sized bowl. There was a weird conversation going on between one of the shop owners and a young patron. We didn't know this at the time, but apparently it was along the lines of "She's so cute", "Yes she is". "I wonder which one is her boyfriend" "You wouldn't have a chance old man" "Awww". Needless to say our little sister was getting a bit flushed, and it wasn't from the hot noodle soup she was slurping away at.
We headed back to 7-11 to grab some refreshments. Although we had briefly been there before to get some money out, this time it gave Conrad a chance to look around. He got to check out the fridge at the back, with various beers, chu-hi, cocktails in a can and such. Both him and Dean had decided on a Highball and a Chocolate beer. Dean is vowing to try as many weird and wonderful drinks/foods as he can this time, but the high ball wasn't too his liking and the chocolate beer was very stouty/porterish (You can check his blog for descriptions when he updates). Conrad being a fan of stout/Guiness liked it, but it was now about 12.30 (1.30am AEST) so that meant we had been up for 20hrs. Time for bed.
Pictures for the trip to GC Airport are here
http://picasaweb.google.com/sciclone/13210?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6q4ry6zcj4dg&feat=directlink
I think we are getting better at this travelling thing. We got down to Gold Coast without much hassle. After checking the big baggage in, we got a beer at the bar in the Gold Coat Airport. They must be doing a roaring trade. With only cruddy kids shows on the TV (What would a kid be doing in an Ale House anyway?) and expensive drinks ($7 for a Boags??). We were nearly the only ones in there, which was sort of ok as our backpacks were taking up floor spac anyway.
The flight was pretty uneventful with some turbulence over PNG and as we came down through the cloud layers on descent. Have to say though that I much prefer JAL over Jetstar. Smoother pilots, better food and more beer make getting there nicer (not to mention that I prefer cute air hostesses over a couple of dudes and a girl with a guy face).
We got in and after losing Conrad getting off the plane (he came through the rear passage) we were through the Immigration and Customs with the usual efficiency. We walked downstairs into the B1 floor where the train station is, but before we got going, we got a JR East 4 day flexi-pass. This is not a bad option for people who are going snowboarding somewhere in Honshu. For 20000Y (16000Y if you are 25 or under, Damn you Conrad!) it allows you 4 days travel within a month period. We used the first day to get from Narita to Tokyo. The Tokyo Internation airport is in Narita which is actually about 80kms away from Tokyo Central. All we did was tell them that we wanted to jump on the next train to Tokyo and they booked the tickets. It also allowed us to book our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets in advance. So we are already reserved for the 9.04 this morning. Means we should be at the snow by lunch time. :D
Anyhow, we got the train in, and although I was fine everyone else was starting to feel the cold. It was about 2*C when we landed. I suppose having a bit of extra padding is an advantage. :P We got into Tokyo then had to walk from Tokyo station to Otemachi subway station which kind of wraps around the north end of it, but it involved walking over 800m in the subterranean maze to get to the Hanzomon line. Normally this would be nothing, but with 12kg or so on my back and a 20kg 166cm Board bag trailing awkwardly behind me, as well as everyone else having the same amount of weight, it was a bit of a mission getting up and down stairs and escalators. We were running out of energy so we could get the the hotel soon enough. After checking in and dumping our bags into the small room stuffed with 5 beds, we headed out for noms.
Google Maps/Street view is a good thing, because it allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings before getting there. We headed up the little alleyway running up the side of the hotel and went to the closest 7eleven (there's about 3 in a 200m radius). Grabbed some cash out and headed for Friggo Est, a belgian bar another 200m or so down the street. Now I'm all for the pub scene, but when they had stopped serving food (It was past 10.30 I suppose) and they were trying to charge 1850Y for a 250ml glass of Leffe Blonde, my tolerance is very low. So before ordering we went again and headed back towards the hotel and stopped in at an unnamed ramen shop. At 680Y for a big bowl of pork ramen, it sure hit the spot. I couldn't even finish it there was that much, and considering all of us were looking out for low flying ducks before hand that's a good sized bowl. There was a weird conversation going on between one of the shop owners and a young patron. We didn't know this at the time, but apparently it was along the lines of "She's so cute", "Yes she is". "I wonder which one is her boyfriend" "You wouldn't have a chance old man" "Awww". Needless to say our little sister was getting a bit flushed, and it wasn't from the hot noodle soup she was slurping away at.
We headed back to 7-11 to grab some refreshments. Although we had briefly been there before to get some money out, this time it gave Conrad a chance to look around. He got to check out the fridge at the back, with various beers, chu-hi, cocktails in a can and such. Both him and Dean had decided on a Highball and a Chocolate beer. Dean is vowing to try as many weird and wonderful drinks/foods as he can this time, but the high ball wasn't too his liking and the chocolate beer was very stouty/porterish (You can check his blog for descriptions when he updates). Conrad being a fan of stout/Guiness liked it, but it was now about 12.30 (1.30am AEST) so that meant we had been up for 20hrs. Time for bed.
Pictures for the trip to GC Airport are here
http://picasaweb.google.com/sciclone/13210?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6q4ry6zcj4dg&feat=directlink
Sunday, February 7, 2010
No time to lose
It is only 6 days before we embark on our next trip, so I thought I would kick the travel blog back up.
Preparations started for this trip mid last year, when a possible trip to the snow in New Zealand didn't eventuate, so Dean and I decided we'd head to Japan again. We thought it might be an idea to see if another friend wanted to come, and a quick plan out of expenses had us another travelling companion in Conrad. The tickets were booked with Jetstar, meaning that we couldn't back out now. After getting the accommodation sorted we hit our first snag(?). Mum and Whitney couldn't bear the thought of us going to Japan without them, so a bit of discussion over some wine (as is usually the way) had them booking their tickets on Jetstar as well, and me sending an email to our snow accommodation asking them to book another room. Despite a very slight hiccup with language, I do have to recommend www.japanspecialists.com. This is the second time we've booked through them, and no matter who you are in contact with, they respond/act quickly and efficiently.
The next couple of months don't hold much interest, except both me and Dean bought our first snowboards and bindings. It also included a couple of trips to the local board shop to get Conrad fitted for boots and stuff. He bought his snowboard boots from there but his jacket and pants were bought online from Sierrasnowboards. Boots are something you don't want to get wrong as a badly fitted pair of boots will make even the best snow trip a nightmare. Conrad being the person he is decided that if he was going to go boarding he was going to do it right. The guy has never been to the snow before, but figured rather than spend $240 or so hiring a board and bindings, he'd spend more and actually buy a board and bindings (also care of Sierrasnowboard.com), that way if we go to the snow in Falls Creek this year, then the board will have paid for itself.
This morning, we are off again to the local board shop. We're getting the boards waxed/tuned before we go and will probably pick up a couple of extras like beanies and wax. So until next Saturday, it's over and out.
Preparations started for this trip mid last year, when a possible trip to the snow in New Zealand didn't eventuate, so Dean and I decided we'd head to Japan again. We thought it might be an idea to see if another friend wanted to come, and a quick plan out of expenses had us another travelling companion in Conrad. The tickets were booked with Jetstar, meaning that we couldn't back out now. After getting the accommodation sorted we hit our first snag(?). Mum and Whitney couldn't bear the thought of us going to Japan without them, so a bit of discussion over some wine (as is usually the way) had them booking their tickets on Jetstar as well, and me sending an email to our snow accommodation asking them to book another room. Despite a very slight hiccup with language, I do have to recommend www.japanspecialists.com. This is the second time we've booked through them, and no matter who you are in contact with, they respond/act quickly and efficiently.
The next couple of months don't hold much interest, except both me and Dean bought our first snowboards and bindings. It also included a couple of trips to the local board shop to get Conrad fitted for boots and stuff. He bought his snowboard boots from there but his jacket and pants were bought online from Sierrasnowboards. Boots are something you don't want to get wrong as a badly fitted pair of boots will make even the best snow trip a nightmare. Conrad being the person he is decided that if he was going to go boarding he was going to do it right. The guy has never been to the snow before, but figured rather than spend $240 or so hiring a board and bindings, he'd spend more and actually buy a board and bindings (also care of Sierrasnowboard.com), that way if we go to the snow in Falls Creek this year, then the board will have paid for itself.
This morning, we are off again to the local board shop. We're getting the boards waxed/tuned before we go and will probably pick up a couple of extras like beanies and wax. So until next Saturday, it's over and out.
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