Osaka

After leaving Nagoya, we hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train)and made our way down to Osaka, where I lived during my time in High School. It was very strange to come back there...

Anyway, we found our hotel very easily and settled to then hit the town. It was Monday night and for some reason, we seemed to be the only people who had decided to hit the town on that night, which was a bit lame. We walked around a lot through the shopping centres and over the bridges and just explored a bit. Everything had changed so much since I lived there, it was very difficult for me to know where we were and what the good places to go to would be. Anyway, it was interesting to just look at the shops.

Osaka and Tokyo are so different from each other... Osaka is so busy and very business oriented with lots of shopping and trading going on everywhere, but in Tokyo, it feels more cosmopolitan. I can't really describe it, but it feels completely different.

Got hungry so went into a Ramen shop (noodles) which was GREAT!! The menu is very limited - you can salty ramen, happiness ramen and lots of happiness ramen! I had the happiness and Phil chose lots of happiness! What a feast - lots of noodles and egg and veg and lovely slow cooked pork. Phil was in heaven - his bowl had twice the amount of meat in it than mine had. No wonder it is called lots of happiness heheheh!

I found a drunk man on the side of the ramen shop, very funny, he was sleeping and in a suit looking respectable and quite senior but obviously completely pished clutching a 5000 yen note in his hand about to drop it. We woke him up and he was very grateful - that's how we found the noodle shop in hte first place.

Hit an internet cafe as there was not that much going on and then left on the last tube full and satisfied!

The next day, we had a pretty full schedule and Phil blames me for not getting up on time, but obviously it wasn't my fault at all, it was Phil's :o)

We went to the Floating Garden Observatory, which is a two tower high rise building connected at the top with an observation platform. You are pretty high up above the city and it's very nice. The views were OK, but it was all a bit hazy, so we couldn't see that much. It was exciting though to take the escalators, as you feel like you are riding it through the air, sort of like a stairway to heaven. V cool.

Got ready to meet up with my other cousins and their kids and headed out to their house. Felt bad for Phil because none of them speak English, but he got on just fine and my cousins little boy was so excited about having another boy in the house. He loved Phil and wanted him to play with him the whole time. So cute. He drew him a picture as well with lots of cartoon stamps and got very excited when he juggled with a few balls. The girls were a bit more hesitant but then ran around screaming in a game of tag that involved the entire ground floor of the house. Oh dear... I think we left them with three hyper excited kids and a wrecked home... oops.

Met up in town again with Akiko in front of Big Man (yes, Big Man) - a big video screen in the central station - and went for a explore of Osaka castle. It was beautifully lit up and Phil spent ages trying to get the best picture. After we went on the Hep5, which is a giant ferris wheel on top of a department store so you're pretty high up and get great views. It was a bit scary to be up so high because Phil kept moving about and jiggling the booth - Akiko was so scared every time he did it, she had to hold on to the railing as if it would help when we plummet down to earth... so funny, we did have a giggle about that.

Later on, we went to HRC in Osaka. That's where I used to go after school with my mates and it was a pretty big deal then, because you couldn't really get a lot of 'non japanese' food. We had a massive burger each and a couple of drinks and went for more exploring around the town which was a bit more livelier tonite!

All in all, a good time was had in Osaka and we're off to see my grandma tomorrow - yay. Wonder what she'll make of Phil? All good, I'm sure!

Nagoya / Kyoto

Nagoya was cool - we used it as a great base to travel from and stayed with my former teacher from uni. They let us have a flat to ourselves which was really cool and we did our exploring from there.

After settling in on Wednesday, we got ready to do some serious exploring of Kyoto on Thursday and Friday. We went to loads of famous shrines and temples and saw old buildings in Kyoto. Kyoto was one of the few cities that weren't bombed to shreds during WWII and has therefore got a lot of original structures and houses left. They are really interesting to see and almost all wooden.

We went to Kiyoumizu-dera, which is a big temple perched on top of a cliff with verandahs that are supported by wooden beams. No nails were used in securing it and the whole place stands up supported by its own weight! Scary and amazing at the same time. It was such a hot day and so busy - it got a bit much after a while - but the view was lovely and as it was set in the hill side, the trees looked pretty and the forest was shady. There is a natural spring there and a waterfall, where people can stand under for some ritual cleansing or you may scoop some water from a three streams and drink it. One stream is for good health, the other is for good brains and the other was for good fortune. I heard some school kids debating which to go for and one was saying he would choose the fortune one but his mate said to go for the good brains instead, as they had exams coming up and was a safer choice. So funny. We didn't do it as the queue for that was very long and you had to pay extra for it - what a tourist trap - and I was also feeling quite content with life as it is, so decided to just be happy with what I have.

We also went on to a number of different temples and walked through the streets of Gion, the famous geisha district. It was funny, because we saw three doing a photoshoot by coincidence so Phil got excited and we went closer to look and maybe take a picture, too. What a sight! They were dressed beautifully and all done up but by God they were uuuuuuugly. Phil said they looked like men in drag! So funny. We kind of shuffled away quietly ...

The old streets and houses are packed with shops and are very cute. They all sell lots of tat and weirdness, but Phil picked up a nice bracelet for good luck and related to some buddhist meaning. He was born in the year of the horse and so it shows a picture of the deity that protects them and also a horse. Some have said though that the horse in the picture looks more like a goat... anyway, it's pretty with wooden beads made of sandal wood so it smells lovely.

We also went to the Heian Jingu and saw the gardens there - very pretty and overall walked for absolute miles. It got dark before we saw everything we had planned so we had to stop and went back to Nagoya for some rest.

The next day, back to Kyoto and round two of trying to see as much as possible. At first, we went to the Nanzen-ji (another temple) and then walked the Path of Philosophy to the Ginkaku-ji (another temple). We looked around some more and went on to another temple or shrine - to be honest, they start to blend together for me. Phil is really good and remembers the names and is genuinely interested in them. I'm a bit more of the 'hey that's pretty, great temple or is it a shrine?, let's go somewhere else as it looks the same to the other one we saw and I think I came here on a school trip before...' school. Some are genuinely impressive though.

The garden on the Ginkaku-ji is beautiful and has silver sands raked to represent the ocean and waves and a mound representing Mt Fuji. We went to a number of other places, and then rushed to try to make it to the Golden Pagoda but unfortunately it was shut by the time we got there. Then it got dark again and we had to come back. Shame to have missed that one, as I wanted Phil to see it as well as the famous rock garden but we might have to come back for that one another time.

The weekend was spent with the Ito's and we went to a temple near by the house on Saturday with their daughter Marie. It was a nice temple and there was a big festival going on where people brought their kids dressed in special outfits to pray at the temple to ward off evil. There were many priests and lots of chanting old ladies - presumably to ward off the evil bits - and I tell you, if I was evil, those old ladies' chanting would have put me off, too. Yowz!

On to Nagoya town and to some shopping centre with a glass roof covered in water! Great building!!! We went up to see the view and then went up the TV tower which was nice, especially the outside balcony. Apparently last xmas, some man went up and threw 5000 pounds from up there and got into a lot of trouble!

For dinner, we went for Yakiniku, which is a japanese bbq style restaurant where you cook your food at the table. It was great and very tasty. We had beef tongue and tripe - but it was surprisingly tasty. I like the tongue but not the tripe... the other meat was nice and of course the veg was lovely.

Sunday, we went to a concert, where this famous chinese artist was playing the chinese guitar. It's an amazing instrument! So varied and there was a japanese singer and a korean piano player. This was also to promote harmony between the nations due the current political climate and it was really nice. A mixture of chinese music and classical western music which was really good. Afterwards, there was a reception with lots of food and a bingo game.

Very funny! We played bingo and I won a stuffed penguin you can use in the bath. Apparently it contains negative ions which are good for your health. I gave it away. Maybe I'm missing out but I'm not carrying a negative ionic penguin around with me for a year...

After winning it, I had to stand up in front of everyone and make a speech and introduce myself. God I was so embarrassed! On then to a japanese flower arranging show which was beautiful. Ito-san's wife Harumi had a display as well and they were all so striking. We also took part in a tea ceremony and got to eat cake and bow a lot. Phil was bowing lots too and it made me giggle. The cake was yum.

After that we went to a reproduction Italian village with a fake canal and gondolieries. Hilarious! There is also a faux church where you can get married and boat for cruising - not again! - and lots of Italians work there to give it an authentic feel. There is Italian music piped along the streets and shops sell imported items and olive oil and tomatoes for extortionate prices. I wasn't sure whether to like it or not...

This really was the end of the day as the next day, we will be making our way to Osaka!

Goodbye Sensei, goodbye Nagoya - see you again soon!

Kamakura

It's Sunday and today we are going to stay with my uncle in Kamakura. After last night it was a bit difficult to get up...

Got showered, checked out an hour late and then made our way. Needless to say, I had lost the directions to the place. Got some bad directions of the guy at the station and jumped on the train anyway.

Fortunately it was right! So we trundled along and after a couple more stops, we were well on our way. I thought we were there so we jumped off the train and yes, of course, we got out the wrong stop. I was so pissed off with myself it was actually quite funny.

My uncle was gonna meet us at the station and he explained which exit we had to take but of course he would think we got the exit wrong and he:d try to go to the other one and then back to the next and then back to the next... as trains are so punctual here, people are really anal about time　keeping which makes it difficult to be late...

Anyway, managed it finally and then met up with him and walked to his house. I think Phil was a bit nervous, but it was all ok! heheheh...

Their house is beautiful and after chilling out with my aunt and cousins - yay! hadn't seen them in years or spent time together with them ever! - we went for a walk to the beach and watched the surfers while waiting for the sunset. It was great - we saw Mt Fuji in the distance and it was all very beautiful.

The next day, we embarked on a bit of a trip to make it to Hakone, which is a place quite close to Mt Fuji. My cousin came with us which was cool and we set out early taking a number of trains and funiculars - is that how you spell it? - they were very slow! Also took a ropeway up a mountain and you had a backdrop of the Japanese Alps which was beautiful. Over a couple of gorges - scary! - and then stopped off at the 'Valley of Greater Boiling' which is where sulphuric springs gush out the mountain and it smells of eggy wind.

It's really interesting to wander among the geysirs - slight exaggeration - and the smell is quite powerful but after a while you get used to it. You climb up the hill and then you have a lovely view of the mountains and Mt Fuji. It was very pretty.

We then had some Black Eggs! They are eggs boiled in the sulphur hot springs and they turn black. We made Phil eat the first one to be safe! Heheheh but it tasted like normal egg - shame. So Akiko and I had one too. This nice guy told us to have them and he said that if you eat one, you live 7 years longer than your allocation. So I asked him if he ate one every day just to be safe. He said no.

Apparently the egg absorbs all these minerals in the process which is why it's good for you. We then went on to this lake which is meant to be very beautiful - it is! and we rode on a boat across the lake. The boat was a reproduction of a French sailing ship and had Napoleon and a pirate on it. There was another boat also which had the Union Jack painted on it. I felt like part of the Pirates of the Caribean set and was waiting for Johnny Depp but all I got was a bloody french boat!

The 'cruise' was quite funny because the tape was explaining the sites in Japanese and English but by the time we got to the English, we had passed the sites and you saw loads of confused tourists while the japanese were looking smug! Afterwards, we hired a row boat - by the way, the lake is massive! and went for a little row. Phil rowed at first and we got on very well. It was quite scary because you could row out as far as you wanted and you had all these other cruise boats passing you and making big waves and you were on a lake in the mountains that was about 70 metres deep, so if I were to fall in, my feet would not be able to touch the ground obviously. That made me a bit insecure...

Anyway, rowed on and all good, when Phil rocked the boat. Well, we got rocked, because the Mississippi cruise liner passed us by and then we decided to swap so I could have a row. Bad idea. Big lake - little boat - Tanja rowing... it will take you a long time to get back to shore... I row in zigzags... I enjoy it but directionally do find it very challenging.

Both Phil and Akiko had to shout directions at me and after rowing straight for a few strokes, we would go in a circle. Then straighten out and then go again in a cirle. There's a video of me rowing. Will try to put it on the blog. Phil pissed himself laughing the whole time. Poor Akiko was just scared I think.

On Tuesday, we went around Kamakura which is so lovely! Really recommend it. It's a bit Hawaiian and surfer scene and has a small town feel about it. Very nice! We went to the very famous big buddha statue and around a number of other temples which were great. The big buddha is hollow and you can climb inside. It's very hot in there! The weather was great and we had a good walk around whilst taking some cool pics.

In the evening, we went to a traditional Kushiyaki where everything is grilled and served on a skewer. So yummy! We ate loads! Phil was very happy and ate lots. We had fish, mushrooms, onion, yam cake, ginko seeds, hanpen, chicken and lots more. It was all delicious and they cook it in front of you - will try to upload the picture soon - and it was great fun!

Wednesday morning we took it easy and did laundry and then got ready to leave for Nagoya, where we are going to stay with my former teacher from university. Should be good fun - have never been to Nagoya.

We had such a great time at my uncle's house and it was so nice to spend time with both my cousins! We had a laugh together and Miki the little dog got lots of extra cuddles from Phil and me.

Miki and Helena

AAARRGGHH! Had just written up so much of our day and then pressed the wrong button and it all disappeared... so annoyed!

We spent Saturday with Miki and Helena who had just flown in from London and was knackered, poor thing!

We went round Tokyo in Miki's car - thank you Miki - and saw the view from the Park Hyatt Hotel where they filmed Lost in Translation. We crashed a japanese wedding or should I say weddings and went up Tokyo Tower. It was good fun! Had the best sushi at the fish market - so yum! and Phil tried sea urchin eggs I think - gross and YUK!

He didn:t enjoy them which is great, because if I had to make them I would gag! We ate loads and it was all so good though and so fresh.

Then went on to a gig with some NY style poetry reading - some of it was good - other bits were just disenchanted youth stuff - boring - but some of the bands were good. Bit of funk, some weird techno and naked dancing... hmmm

On to some late night noodles, some drinks and then to the 24hr Leisure complex to hit some baseballs and play video games. Didn:t get home until quite late but had a great day and lots of fun seeing a different side of Tokyo.

By the way, stepped on some glass and had to dig splinter out of my heel while Miki was driving through Roppongi at like 2am - v surreal...

and that was that!

Shibuya

We left Jimbocho Thursday morning and headed down to the southwest of Tokyo to a place called Shibuya with the bright lights and busy streets. Our hotel is pretty amazing, we have our own little studio flat and it's great to have the privacy.

After checking in, we went up to the Asakusa temple, which is in the old part of town. The temple itself is pretty amazing and there is a row of shops leading up to it, selling all kind of tat. This temple is one of the biggest in Japan and it has a massive gate called the Kaminari mon, which means Thunder Gate. It has a very very big lantern hanging from it, which is what makes it famous. The temple itself has been on this site for more than a millenium.

After having a good nosey around, we picked up some dinner and relaxed in our lovely flat with a beer!

Friday was spent exploring around there and we walked for miles!

Had a look around the different parks and temples in the area and then home again as we'd have a bit of a day tomorrow with Miki and Helena.

First couple of days

Right, this is it - the blog. Getting used to it all and just set it up on a japanese computer, so not quite sure on what my password was... bit confused, never mind.

Wow, it's all been a bit crazy... first of all thank you so much for coming to the airport to see us off - loved it - got sad, got happy, got sad, got happy, got sad - hey do you see a pattern emerging here? Totally appreciate also the huge effort it must have taken little Bean to haul herself across London to the airport, it's not easy travelling on such little feet...

The flight itself was cool - nothing major and I thought it went by really quickly. Kept having to pinch myself to make sure it was really happening now! Wow!

Once we arrived in Tokyo though, we were pretty knackered, but managed to grab our bags pretty quick and made it through customs only to falter at the first hurdle out the door - do we go left or right? It was a bit confusing but after asking a couple of people we realised that we actually had to go downstairs - AAAHHHH!

So we did.

And found a Starbucks.

So we had a coffee.

By that time we were pretty tired and ready for bed but no such luck! We had to haul our butts and rucksacks to our hotel in a journey that involved a train, two tube changes and a walk. Phil's tube ticket got swallowed by the machine as we tried to get through the gate and I had to call a man via the intercom at the station to get it back out. I don' think he was very impressed... he was polite about it though...

So we made it to Hotel Sakura. It's a neat little place in Jimbocho, the old book district, and our room is on the 5th floor. It's a lovely little backpacker style place with a cafe and we share the showers and loos with others on our floor. Everyone is very friendly -

We went on a little wander on the Monday after a nap - we really didn:t want to get up - but then didn't regret it - as we found the Tokyo Dome on our doorstep. That's where major sporting events and concerts are held and they have a permanent theme park around it with lots of restaurants. Phil went on the Thunder Dolphin - a rollercoaster that kind of curves through the buildings and has a near vertical drop at the beginning.

Must confess that I didn't feel up to it ... so I watched him. We then saw a random light and water show which was pretty - it's basically water jets in time to music - bit like fireworks only wetter I guess. Then on to some dinner and back to the hostel to sleep.

Tuesday:

Went to a park in Ueno today - really pretty and hired a boat and went for a row. I'm obviously brilliant at rowing - heheheh - not. We ended up paddling in circles for a while until I realised that my right arm is stronger than the left and therefore would row in circle until eternity... or until my left arm caught up. We also went to the 'Electric Town' where there are lots of shops selling Games and DVDs and cameras etc. but we reckon we'll get a better bargain in Hong Kong, where we'll grab a little camera so we can start to add pics to this blog.

What else did we do? We walked around loads and saw a number of temples along the way and watched students do paintings of these. It's very near to Tokyo University which also has the Tokyo School of Art and Tokyo School of Music departments, so there is a very studenty feel to the area with people performing and drawing at almost every corner. It was really nice to have a look around.

At one of the main temples, Phil also drew his fortune - it works like a lottery thing - but his predictions weren't too good (one of them was he was going to meet the man of his dreams or something which I wasn't too keen on) so we tied them to the temple and prayed for good luck instead. :-)

Wednesday:

Today we went to Nikko, a town north of Tokyo, famous for it's shrines. It's set in the Nikko National Park and is a very beautiful area. A long time ago, there was a famous samurai warrior who set out to conquer and rule the whole of Japan and in the process killed his own wife and son (charming) because it made sense politically. I somehow can't see Tony Blair do that to Cherie... anyway, he didn't quite make it but his clan was still really powerful.

After he died, his grandson thought that his grave wasn't grand enough so he got all these people to build these massive shrines in his memory and had them gold leaf-ed and elaborately carved. It's really impressive with massive stone lanterns and a sacred horse, which was a gift from New Zealand.

Yes, a sacred horse. He's at the temple a couple of hours a day and then goes to another stable. His stable is the only unlacquered structure in the compound and is protected by carved monkeys. There are also warehouses with carved elephants - ie. elephants of the imagination - because they were carved from descriptions as there are no elephants in Japan usually...

And of course the carved sleeping cat - it's the most famous carving because it's meant to be so lifelike - it's tiny and very cute but not really life like... the other famous thing there is the roaring dragon temple - where a massive dragon is painted on the ceiling and one of the monks there bangs two sticks of wood together. The acoustics there mean that it sounds like the dragon is roaring. I think it sounded like a bell ringing. Phil thought it sounded like two stick of wood clapped together.

We then started our way back, as it was late. We weren't lucky with the weather - it was pouring the whole day ... and by the end of it we were so tired... we took the train back and got to Tokyo quite late in the evening. We had a beer in a tiny Japanese style pub and some food and then made our way back home for some rest.