Day -1: Tokyo, Japan
The story pretty much begins where my Japan posts left off. My flight was in the morning and for my last meal in Japan, I had bought a 200g slab tuna toro (Toro = Belly, the Best part!) for about $12 AUD in a supermarket the night before and had it for breakfast. I left S, and caught the train to the airport with mixed feelings. It was sad to leave S, I knew I wouldn't be seeing her for at least 4 months, and although Japan had been an absolute sauna whilst I was there, I had a great time, with Shirakawago and My Fuji major highlights of this trip. On the other hand, I was off to see my cousins London who I hadn't seen in 6 years (since my last round the world trip) and then off to my African adventure.
The Narita Express is seamless and I arrive without incident at Narita airport. Check-in is a breeze and I am already missing my Gold Frequent Flyer status which would have given me access to the lounge. Life is tough. I board my BA flight to London and for the first time, my back hurts several hours into the 12 hour flight, it must be the BA seats or something. A few movies (I can't remember what I watched) and a nap later, I arrive in London in the afternoon.
Day 0: London
My cousin Thomas is there to pick me up, and I meet his girlfriend for the first time. We pick up Cynthia and Monica from their works and meet up with Aunty for dinner at an Italian place. The meal "feels" cheap, because we are paying in pounds and mains are like 10 pounds. The food is average to be honest, I order a steak for my main, which was forgettable.
I really like my family from my mother's side, every time I see them I feel really welcome, even though it has been many years between visits. At some point during my childhood they have all come to visit me, I guess when they were all my age and I remember really looking up to them, especially Thomas. They seemed so cool, travelling around the world, buying cool stuff and just generally living a lifestyle that I could only envy.
Its funny how things turn out because this time, they were the ones impressed and jealous of how much travel I had done over the years. I had been to South America, Europe, Japan, China, SE Asia, and now Africa. In some small way, I had been inspired to be like them, to be grown up and use my money to travel the world, and enjoy life and now they looked at me and the roles were reversed.. I'm sure that's just how tings work, one day i'll look at some kid and be really impressed by what they've achieved and probably be a bit disappointed that they have done more than I have.
Unfortunately, I'm not able to catch Bec or Logan, but will see them when I get there next year so not a big deal. By the time dinner is over, I'm wasted and have a great nights sleep, waking up about 9am - Notice how I don't get Jetlag? I think its to do with the fact that I can sleep anywhere, anytime, even if I've just woken up. I don't remember the last time I struggled to fall asleep under any circumstances...
I have an afternoon flight so Aunty makes me lunch and I take the tube to the Heathrow where my Turkish airlines flight to Kampala is slightly delayed. While I wander the airport, I end up buying "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and a baskin robbins choc fudge ice cream from a vending machine, purely because it was at the gate and I've never had baskin robbins from a vending machine before..
Funny thing at the gate : some Turkish guys trying to bring 2 massive duffel bags each on as hang luggage. They are pulled aside and after some heated discussions, they begin putting on as many clothes from the bag as they can to the point where the guy is wearing a t shirt, a 2 jumpers, a vest a coat and a overcoat at the same time, but the airline rep still doesn't seem to be satisfied that the bags are light enough, I'm not quite sure what happens to them.
I arrive at Istanbul at some ungodly hour, like 3am and have a 1.5hr stopover before I get on the plane to Kampala. I get on without incident and arrive at Kampala Airport at about 7:30am.
Day 0: Kampala, Uganda
Kampala Airport is fairly basic. We get off the plane via stairs, and the arrivals area is basically a warehouse. At this hour the airport is fairly empty and I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't nervous. You generally don't hear good things about Africa do you? You heard of war, of poverty, of disease of foreign aid being sent over. I guess it wouldn't be unfair to say that I pretty much expected to get robbed at some point over the next 2 months. When I'm trying to fill out my arrivals form, the PWC pen that I have brought with me decides to run out of ink and of course, there are no pens in the whole arrivals room - Welcome to Africa. I have to borrow a pen of an African guy who is just standing around there, I'm not even sure he even works for the airport. When I borrow the pen, he asks if I need a taxi, because if I do he can call his friend - this is great, i've been in the continent 30 seconds and I'm already being hustled - This is Africa. I politely decline, pretending that I've been here before and that my friend will meet me, I'm still in paranoid mode and want to make it seem like I'm the experienced traveller, not the uncertain asian guy who has no idea what he's gotten himself into.
Clearing immigration is a breeze, you give them 50 USD and they let you in. I change some money at the office 2200 Ugandan Shillings = 1 USD and look for a cab. There are a few guys out the front and I have a vague idea of how much a cab to my hostel (Red Chilli's Hideway) should cost - It was about 30km away. Of course they don't have metered taxi's here so you negotiate price in advance. The first guy approaches with a price about 20% higher than what I'm told to pay so I counter with the correct amount which he accepts -it was probably still too high.
I walk over to his car, and it wasn't your typical first world cab. It was an old Toyota I think, and the first thing I notice is that the windscreen has a large crack through it. The second thing I notice is that it is quite dirty and third thing I notice is that it smells funny. We set off, and I try to act relaxed, when in reality I have no idea where I'm going. We drive out of the airport and the immediate surroundings are quite rural the roads are dirt, and there seems to be farms on the side of the road. There is constant overtaking as there are trucks and buses that are simply slow and we cross to the otherside of the road to do that. Having said that he wasn't a dangerous driver or anything. The first thing you notice is the lack of infrastructure.
Even as we got closer to the Kampala, which is the capital city of Uganda, the roads did not improve. The only difference was that instead of houses made out of mud bricks on the side of the road, you get houses made out of concrete. And traffic started getting bad. At one point when we were crossing through the city, we were in a legitimate traffic jam. Kampala was dirty, smelly and poor, which pretty much sums up most of the country. There is garbage on the side of the road in the form of plastic bottles, cans, wrapping, newspapers etc. I dont think there was a garbage collection system and I think people actually burn their garbage to get rid of it. I drove past a few markets where there were people selling raw meat (covered in flies), lots of bananas, clothing, and various other necessities.
Its hard to put into words my first impressions of Kampala, it just hit me that this place was literally a world apart from the cleanliness, Shinkansens and skyscrapers of Tokyo. How could two places in the same planet be so different? It wasn't even the dirtiness of London, this was the dirtiness of poverty, of a people that are so behind in terms of living conditions to what I know that it was hard to comprehend. Unlike rural China, it was unclear to me whether or not these people were actually progressing, the farmers didn't even use the old crappy tractors they had in China, they were still farming completely by hand, and the fields were covered in weeds and the banana were not planted in straight rows - even agricultural techniques here were behind.
About an hour and a half later we arrive at Red Chilli Hideaway, which is out of the city centre. The gate is locked with a security guard behind, the fact that they need security to guard the camp is ... interesting.
To be continued...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Africa - The Retrospective Diary: An Introduction
Over the next few weeks/months I will be attempting to retrospectively blog about my 65 day overland in Africa with Tucan Travel. As a disclaimer, all that I will write is MY version of the truth and MY view of situations as I see it. I apologise in advance to anyone this may offend on any secrets I may reveal.
It was always my intention to write a diary/blog of my experiences during my 3 month break. I was able to do it Japan, but this was not possible in Africa for several reasons:
1. Access to Internet was intermittent
2. When we did get access to the internet it was always slow, making writing a long blog almost impossible
3. Even when I did have reasonable connection we were limited in the amount of time that we had to spend on the internet
I realised quite early on that a blog would be impossible so I took to writing a diary (with like a pen, and like a notepad - amazing I know!). Using the diary, and my now foggy memories, I'll attempt to recreate all 65 days on this blog and promise not to pull any punches. Guys on the tour can relax, I'll be using pseudonyms to protect the innocent, and the not so innocent.
For an overview of the tour, I would have linked you to the Tucan Website, but it looks like my tour doesn't exist anymore, Tucan have completely revamped their website. In terms of the route that we took:
Kampala, Uganda -> Rwanda -> Uganda -> Kenya -> Tanzania -> Zanzibar -> Malawi -> Zambia -> Botswana -> Zambia -> Cape Town, South Africa
The closest thing to my tour would now be:
http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/classic-africa/fca
It was always my intention to write a diary/blog of my experiences during my 3 month break. I was able to do it Japan, but this was not possible in Africa for several reasons:
1. Access to Internet was intermittent
2. When we did get access to the internet it was always slow, making writing a long blog almost impossible
3. Even when I did have reasonable connection we were limited in the amount of time that we had to spend on the internet
I realised quite early on that a blog would be impossible so I took to writing a diary (with like a pen, and like a notepad - amazing I know!). Using the diary, and my now foggy memories, I'll attempt to recreate all 65 days on this blog and promise not to pull any punches. Guys on the tour can relax, I'll be using pseudonyms to protect the innocent, and the not so innocent.
For an overview of the tour, I would have linked you to the Tucan Website, but it looks like my tour doesn't exist anymore, Tucan have completely revamped their website. In terms of the route that we took:
Kampala, Uganda -> Rwanda -> Uganda -> Kenya -> Tanzania -> Zanzibar -> Malawi -> Zambia -> Botswana -> Zambia -> Cape Town, South Africa
The closest thing to my tour would now be:
http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/classic-africa/fca
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Japan - Day 17-19
It's hard to believe that I've been in Japan for 19 days, just short of 3 weeks. It's gone by really quickly. When I actually think back to what I've done this time around, its actually been quite a lot:
Hakone, Kamakura, Takayama, Shirakawago, Osaka, Nara, Fuji as well as many different places in Tokyo itself: Yokohama, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Akihabara and all the other typical Tokyo attractions.
I'm happy that I've kept myself pretty busy, but have still managed to spend time with S and relax in my last few days here. In these last few days, I've completed my Japan burger review with a Maccas Benchmark (5/10) for those keeping score: Definitely the worst burger of the lot, but remarkably consistent in flavour, texture size etc to an Australian Big Mac, which I guess is the whole point of Maccas - the consistency no matter where you are in the world.
S and I caught up with the Chinese Heiress and her best friend on Friday night for dinner where we had Izakaya in Shinjuku - which was a little overpriced but whatever. The meal was a bit average, with the highlight being tofu with garlic chilli paste, a vego dish which tells you how average it really was..
Saturday night was spent with some of S's old hiking club friends where one of the guys bought a bunch of fireworks and we had dinner, got on a couple of subways to a random riverside and proceeded to combine alcohol and fireworks, always an intelligent combination..This led to antics such as:
I'm pretty sure this is an advertisement of what NOT to do with fireworks. But all in all a really fun night with some chilled out guys and a very polite Japanese girl - sorry boys, shes taken.
Today S and I went to our one and only summer festival. We hadn't been to any others mostly because of the inevitable crowds that they attract and the current temperature in Tokyo (35c + humid) does not lend itself to wanting to rub my sweaty body against other people for several hours. It was the Azabu Juban Nouryo Festival which is famous for its food stalls.
As expected, the whole block was packed and hot as hell. It was compounded by the fact that all the food stalls emitted their own heat, with the worst being the roast fish stalls which literally had bonfire going...
It was a good experience however, with many girls dressed up in Yukata and whilst the food was not cheap, it was pretty good in general. The locals here must be used to the heat, because they were chowing down on baked/fried potatoes (slathered in mayonaise and butter), takoyaki, okonomiyaki, ramen burgers etc, as well as a variety of cold desserts and iced drinks.Unlike Australia where the selling of alcohol is restricted to those with a license, every 5th stall here was selling alcohol of some sort, there was beer, spirts, sangria, cocktails, basically any alcohol you could want was available. If this was australia, I could see this quickly deteriorating into a drunken riot (see bulldogs games).
This was my last event here in Tokyo, and tomorrow I head to London for an overnight before I fly to Uganda. If I am able I'll continue to post pictures on facebook and write this blog whenever I can..
Until then, leave me some comments!
Miles
Friday, August 20, 2010
Day 14-15: Mt Fuji
I was apprehensive about climbing Fuji. The last hike I did was Tiger Leaping Gorge in China almost 2 years ago when I thought I was about 6 kgs lighter and actually fitter, and i felt it was tough. I never actually worked out what the vertical climb on that hike was, but after a 6 hr climb I was absolutely wrecked. The descent to the gorge the next day was painful too and I arrived about 2-3 hrs after Paul, and he only hiked about 3 hours that day...
Fuji is a much more well known hike so I know for a fact that it is close enough to a 1400m vertical ascent, which to me sounded like a lot. The trip up was supposed to take 4-6 hours and the descent anywhere from 2-4 hours. I wanted to climb in time to summit for sunrise (my guess was about 4:30am) so I knew I had to start before 10 at the latest.
Due to the way things were scheduled on Wednesday I ended up at the bus station at 4:30, and the next bus to Mt Fuji was at 4:50pm so I decided to just hop onto that. Its a 2 hr bus ride to the 5th station, which is already 2.4km above sea level. I had checked the weather report which stated a chance of rain - I was not looking forward to hiking in the rain, and sure enough on the way to the 5th station, we drove through TORRENTIAL rain, with a lightning strike right next to the bus leaving the awake passengers gasping.
Fortunately when we got to the 5th station it was only very lightly raining, still not ideal but a much improved situation than I feared. I dawdled at the 5th station stop till about 7:45, not wanting to set off too early in fears of arriving at the summit at like 1am to wait in the cold (4C) for 4 hours waiting for the sunrise. But me being me, I got impatient and had to set off, i just couldn't stand sitting around any longer, I was bored.
This was the map at the start of the trail - I think my headlamp hides it a bit, but you get the idea. There were quite a large variety of people on the hike, which I got to observe at the 5th station. There are couple of German guys, a northern European looking couple, some Americans, some honkies, and quite a few Japanese with my bus having about 1/3 foreigners.
About 30 mins into the hike I came across the Americans, J and D who turn out to the siblings and not a "honeymooning couple" which most people assume they are (which disgusts the both of them immensely). They graciously allow me to tag along with them, which means I don't spend the next 12 hours with my own thoughts for company.
They are really nice, interesting people, evidence of this being how fast time passed as we chatted all the way up the summit. The other advantage for me of tagging along with these guys was that they allowed me to pace myself. In almost every hike I've ever done, I've always gone too hard too early and tired myself out. By going at their pace, I was able to conserve energy at the start so that I would make it to the top.
Knowing that we had a lot of time up our sleeves, we stopped for 30mins or so at each station, to rest and kill time at warmer temperatures, aware that it would get colder as we got to the top.
Aside: There were theses walking sticks sold at the 5th station, which I briefly flirted with the tea of getting but decided not to, but it turns out that at each station, you can get your stick branded, making it a pretty damn cool souvenir! Dennis had one - I was jealous!
As we slowly made our way to the top, I noticed that at each station, the Japanese hikers would all be taking naps, even if it they were only stopping for 15 minutes. (At this point, I would like to also note that some of these guys looked ultra prepared - hiking boots, really professional looking pants and jacket, gators, walking poles, those silver reflective blankets you see on TV when they rescue people lost in the mountains. ) I can sleep on trains with the best of them, but sweaty and slightly cold on a mountain? Respect.
We actually made great time between stations, easily beating the recommended times, but because we took our time at each station, we noticed the trail getting more and more crowded and looking back down the mountain we could see a trail of headlamps, like an army of glowing ants, snaking towards their nest... We decided to keep ahead of these main groups and by the time we reached the top at about 3am where once again, the people who got their before us were sleeping..
It was supposedly on 4C up at the top but it felt cold. I wore every piece of clothing I brought with me and I was barely enough, I think Jand D had less but I guess im just weak...
We had prime positions in the 2nd row for the sunrise and at this point words would not be able to do what we saw justice. All I will say is that we were extremely fortunate to get perfect conditions for the sunrise.
Pre-Dawn
Getting Lighter:
Sea of Clouds
The Sun Appears!
Simply Stunning.
The descent was tricky - it was very steep and ranged from dirt to medium sized gravel. There were dozens of times when I almost fell and I witnessed many people fall down, however we made good time, getting back to 5th station at 8am - where my legs were shaking even when I was just standing up. I had been warned about the damage to my knees, but even my dodgy broken knee seemed to hold up OK.
The attempt to get a bus ticket back to Tokyo was by far the biggest debacle of the very efficient and organised Japanese transport system I have seen. For some obscure reason, you are unable to buy a return ticket at Shinjuku, which means we had to get a ticket at the 5th station in the morning to return. Not surprisingly, quite a few people were in the same boat, and with the first bus arriving at 10am, and the ticket office only opening at 9:45am, there were people lining up outside the office by 9am. When the office did open, the lady seemed confused, which confused me, because all she did was sell tickets to either kawaguchi station or Shinjuku, and when someone says Shinjuku, 3 people - it should not be something that she hasn't heard before considering the number of people (every day in July and August) that would be trying to get back to Tokyo after watching the sunrise.
The 'line' to the ticket office soon degenerated into a Chinese style line (i.e a crowd trying to shove money under the window shouting numbers of people and destinations). There was a lot of confusion about the availability of seats for the 10am bus, I was told by the lady that there was only 1 seat on the 10am bus, so I asked for the 11am, but when she finally got me the tickets (after much faffing around) it was for 10am... I'm not complaining, I was just confused. One poor guy in front of me was trying to get 7 tickets, which he was told several times was not possible and then ignored. The thing is this - I bought 3, there were people behind me that bought another 3, and there were 4 empty seats on the bus. Those poor guys I think ended up on the 11am, but I am sure that there were 7 seats for them on our bus at the time that they asked...
Anyway we hop on the bus and I promptly fall into a much needed sleep. I met up with PF for Lunch where he took me to a tonkotsu restaurants - perfect after not eating for the past 18 hours. No blog entry of mine would be complete with a food picture right?
Fuji is a much more well known hike so I know for a fact that it is close enough to a 1400m vertical ascent, which to me sounded like a lot. The trip up was supposed to take 4-6 hours and the descent anywhere from 2-4 hours. I wanted to climb in time to summit for sunrise (my guess was about 4:30am) so I knew I had to start before 10 at the latest.
Due to the way things were scheduled on Wednesday I ended up at the bus station at 4:30, and the next bus to Mt Fuji was at 4:50pm so I decided to just hop onto that. Its a 2 hr bus ride to the 5th station, which is already 2.4km above sea level. I had checked the weather report which stated a chance of rain - I was not looking forward to hiking in the rain, and sure enough on the way to the 5th station, we drove through TORRENTIAL rain, with a lightning strike right next to the bus leaving the awake passengers gasping.
Fortunately when we got to the 5th station it was only very lightly raining, still not ideal but a much improved situation than I feared. I dawdled at the 5th station stop till about 7:45, not wanting to set off too early in fears of arriving at the summit at like 1am to wait in the cold (4C) for 4 hours waiting for the sunrise. But me being me, I got impatient and had to set off, i just couldn't stand sitting around any longer, I was bored.
This was the map at the start of the trail - I think my headlamp hides it a bit, but you get the idea. There were quite a large variety of people on the hike, which I got to observe at the 5th station. There are couple of German guys, a northern European looking couple, some Americans, some honkies, and quite a few Japanese with my bus having about 1/3 foreigners.
About 30 mins into the hike I came across the Americans, J and D who turn out to the siblings and not a "honeymooning couple" which most people assume they are (which disgusts the both of them immensely). They graciously allow me to tag along with them, which means I don't spend the next 12 hours with my own thoughts for company.
They are really nice, interesting people, evidence of this being how fast time passed as we chatted all the way up the summit. The other advantage for me of tagging along with these guys was that they allowed me to pace myself. In almost every hike I've ever done, I've always gone too hard too early and tired myself out. By going at their pace, I was able to conserve energy at the start so that I would make it to the top.
Knowing that we had a lot of time up our sleeves, we stopped for 30mins or so at each station, to rest and kill time at warmer temperatures, aware that it would get colder as we got to the top.Aside: There were theses walking sticks sold at the 5th station, which I briefly flirted with the tea of getting but decided not to, but it turns out that at each station, you can get your stick branded, making it a pretty damn cool souvenir! Dennis had one - I was jealous!
As we slowly made our way to the top, I noticed that at each station, the Japanese hikers would all be taking naps, even if it they were only stopping for 15 minutes. (At this point, I would like to also note that some of these guys looked ultra prepared - hiking boots, really professional looking pants and jacket, gators, walking poles, those silver reflective blankets you see on TV when they rescue people lost in the mountains. ) I can sleep on trains with the best of them, but sweaty and slightly cold on a mountain? Respect.
We actually made great time between stations, easily beating the recommended times, but because we took our time at each station, we noticed the trail getting more and more crowded and looking back down the mountain we could see a trail of headlamps, like an army of glowing ants, snaking towards their nest... We decided to keep ahead of these main groups and by the time we reached the top at about 3am where once again, the people who got their before us were sleeping..It was supposedly on 4C up at the top but it felt cold. I wore every piece of clothing I brought with me and I was barely enough, I think Jand D had less but I guess im just weak...
We had prime positions in the 2nd row for the sunrise and at this point words would not be able to do what we saw justice. All I will say is that we were extremely fortunate to get perfect conditions for the sunrise.
Pre-Dawn
Getting Lighter:
Sea of Clouds
The Sun Appears!
Simply Stunning.
The descent was tricky - it was very steep and ranged from dirt to medium sized gravel. There were dozens of times when I almost fell and I witnessed many people fall down, however we made good time, getting back to 5th station at 8am - where my legs were shaking even when I was just standing up. I had been warned about the damage to my knees, but even my dodgy broken knee seemed to hold up OK.
The attempt to get a bus ticket back to Tokyo was by far the biggest debacle of the very efficient and organised Japanese transport system I have seen. For some obscure reason, you are unable to buy a return ticket at Shinjuku, which means we had to get a ticket at the 5th station in the morning to return. Not surprisingly, quite a few people were in the same boat, and with the first bus arriving at 10am, and the ticket office only opening at 9:45am, there were people lining up outside the office by 9am. When the office did open, the lady seemed confused, which confused me, because all she did was sell tickets to either kawaguchi station or Shinjuku, and when someone says Shinjuku, 3 people - it should not be something that she hasn't heard before considering the number of people (every day in July and August) that would be trying to get back to Tokyo after watching the sunrise.
The 'line' to the ticket office soon degenerated into a Chinese style line (i.e a crowd trying to shove money under the window shouting numbers of people and destinations). There was a lot of confusion about the availability of seats for the 10am bus, I was told by the lady that there was only 1 seat on the 10am bus, so I asked for the 11am, but when she finally got me the tickets (after much faffing around) it was for 10am... I'm not complaining, I was just confused. One poor guy in front of me was trying to get 7 tickets, which he was told several times was not possible and then ignored. The thing is this - I bought 3, there were people behind me that bought another 3, and there were 4 empty seats on the bus. Those poor guys I think ended up on the 11am, but I am sure that there were 7 seats for them on our bus at the time that they asked...
Anyway we hop on the bus and I promptly fall into a much needed sleep. I met up with PF for Lunch where he took me to a tonkotsu restaurants - perfect after not eating for the past 18 hours. No blog entry of mine would be complete with a food picture right?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Day 12-13: Osaka and Nara
There were several reasons I decided to go to Osaka:
1. I have never been before
2. I wanted to ensure I got my money's worth on my JR pass
3. S had to go back to work so I would have nothing to do anyway
So I set off on the Shinkansen to Osaka,, the bilingual and accurate timetables making this process quite easy. My companion today was a Tonkotsu Sando and "Straight Tea".
3 hours later, the train pulls into Shin-Osaka, on schedule. I'm headed to a Capsule hotel in Amemura, the "American" district in Osaka. I've written down the instructions to get there on a notepad (no printer) and whilst the directions get me into Amemura, I am unable to find the exact hotel. 30 minutes of wandering later, and after some helpful instructions from a Jigga shop owner, I walk into the hotel, only to be told that checkin is not till 3pm. It was 2pm.
I want to mention now that it was about 36C outside and pretty humid so it wasn't really pleasant walking around in general, never mind walking witha 7kg pack. But off I set to explore (again) Amemura. It's like a Harajuku of Tokyo, with lots of 'American' items. The Japanese, in their fashion have adopted a bastardised version of American culture, with baggy jeans, timberlands and baseball caps, whilst adding their own twist.
I have takoyaki for lunch, sitting in an open area under a tree (Osaka is famous for its Takoyaki)... it is pretty much the same as the Takoyaki in Tokyo to be honest, I don't really taste the difference.
I check out some shoe stores, but unfortunately due to exchange rate, the prices are pretty comparable to Sydney so I don't pick anything up (they do have a better selection).
By this time my shirt is drenched and my hand towel (best purchase of the trip so far) is wet so I head back to the hotel to drop off my pack and check in. This helps a little but once I walk out, I start sweating once more.
I decide to go to Osaka castle whilst the sun is still up and take a subway to Osaka Business Park, which seems to bea bit of a white elephant, there is NOONE at the station. Osaka Castle is very pretty, and probably in better condition than Himeji, but it is green where Himeji is Blue and white.
Inside, I am suprised to see it has been completely modernised with lifts and is a full 7 story museum with audio guides (which i use) inside. Himeji by contrast was just the original interiors. I prefer Himeji I think. It's cool to see how it would have looked all those years ago.
One of the cool things about Osaka Castle is they have figurines which replicate one of the screen paintings. The have reproduced each of the 150+ characters in the painting right down to facial features and pose.
I head back downtown and this time walk around Dotonburi and the associated shopping arcades. Instead of having shopping centres, they have covered streets which house long lines of shops ranging from high end fashion to one-offs and pachinko. It's busy, its hot and i'm sweating hard, having to take breaks in stores just to get a blast of ice cold air con.
I've been on my feet since 1pm, and its now 7pm - time for dinner and I find a likely okonomiyaki place in a side alley. It's monday night and its packed so it must be a good sign. The food is good, and the waitress was nice, drawing me mickey mouse in mayo...
After more wandering I head back to the Capsule hotel where I once again get naked in front of other men and soak in the bath. This time, the also have a cold pool which i hope into every few minutes after soaking in the hot bath. I like this.
After I am clean, I chill a bit reading and head to the capsule. It's not as as small as i thought, when you sit up, my head doesnt even come close to hitting the roof. There is a small TV, its well lit so you can read if you want and it looks pretty clean. The only problem is that you can hear the tv from the other capsules and you can also hear loud snorers, because you only have a thin read screen between you and the outside. Despite this, I like capsule hotels and wouldnt hesitate to do it again and at $35 AUD per night, its cheap.
The next day I get up late (10am) and walk out of the hotel.. to an empty street. Nothing is open, except... Freshness Burger! I decided it is now time to try this famous franchise and order the cheeseburger with onion rings. Now here is the thing. It's good. Not Mind blowing, but good.
The burger is better than the mosburger I had, but its more expensive. The sasebo burger TASTED better, but was more messy. I think i Have to rejig the scores.
Mosburger - 7/10, Freshness 7.5/10, Sasebo 7.5/10 (I may have been too harsh on the messiness department, but it still counts - this could have been an 8), Beat Diner 8/10.
Full of burger, I walk down to Nipponbashi, Osaka's anwser to Akihabara. It is HOT. Once again I am ducking into stores to cool down. At 12pm I call it quits and decide to head for Nara, which is kinda on the way back - not really, but only 50 mins away.
Nara is famous for its temples and wild deer roaming around the city. And so it was true. There are deer roaming around, and u can easily get close enough to touch them... in fact if u have food they come up to you..
They Also have a big park full of temples and a five story pagoda - like in Final Fantasy..
All deered out - I had back to the station and on the way I come across a barber and I hope to have more success with this one. I do and end up with a crew cut - (hey the guy didnt speak English at all give me a break) which S hates. But at least I have one less thing to worry about in Africa..
I've had some complaints that this blog has too much food, so here are some non food shots..
and..
and finally..
Im off to climb Fuji tonight - wish me luck..
1. I have never been before
2. I wanted to ensure I got my money's worth on my JR pass
3. S had to go back to work so I would have nothing to do anyway
So I set off on the Shinkansen to Osaka,, the bilingual and accurate timetables making this process quite easy. My companion today was a Tonkotsu Sando and "Straight Tea".
3 hours later, the train pulls into Shin-Osaka, on schedule. I'm headed to a Capsule hotel in Amemura, the "American" district in Osaka. I've written down the instructions to get there on a notepad (no printer) and whilst the directions get me into Amemura, I am unable to find the exact hotel. 30 minutes of wandering later, and after some helpful instructions from a Jigga shop owner, I walk into the hotel, only to be told that checkin is not till 3pm. It was 2pm.
I want to mention now that it was about 36C outside and pretty humid so it wasn't really pleasant walking around in general, never mind walking witha 7kg pack. But off I set to explore (again) Amemura. It's like a Harajuku of Tokyo, with lots of 'American' items. The Japanese, in their fashion have adopted a bastardised version of American culture, with baggy jeans, timberlands and baseball caps, whilst adding their own twist.
I have takoyaki for lunch, sitting in an open area under a tree (Osaka is famous for its Takoyaki)... it is pretty much the same as the Takoyaki in Tokyo to be honest, I don't really taste the difference.
I check out some shoe stores, but unfortunately due to exchange rate, the prices are pretty comparable to Sydney so I don't pick anything up (they do have a better selection).
By this time my shirt is drenched and my hand towel (best purchase of the trip so far) is wet so I head back to the hotel to drop off my pack and check in. This helps a little but once I walk out, I start sweating once more.
I decide to go to Osaka castle whilst the sun is still up and take a subway to Osaka Business Park, which seems to bea bit of a white elephant, there is NOONE at the station. Osaka Castle is very pretty, and probably in better condition than Himeji, but it is green where Himeji is Blue and white.
Inside, I am suprised to see it has been completely modernised with lifts and is a full 7 story museum with audio guides (which i use) inside. Himeji by contrast was just the original interiors. I prefer Himeji I think. It's cool to see how it would have looked all those years ago.
One of the cool things about Osaka Castle is they have figurines which replicate one of the screen paintings. The have reproduced each of the 150+ characters in the painting right down to facial features and pose.
I head back downtown and this time walk around Dotonburi and the associated shopping arcades. Instead of having shopping centres, they have covered streets which house long lines of shops ranging from high end fashion to one-offs and pachinko. It's busy, its hot and i'm sweating hard, having to take breaks in stores just to get a blast of ice cold air con.
I've been on my feet since 1pm, and its now 7pm - time for dinner and I find a likely okonomiyaki place in a side alley. It's monday night and its packed so it must be a good sign. The food is good, and the waitress was nice, drawing me mickey mouse in mayo...
After more wandering I head back to the Capsule hotel where I once again get naked in front of other men and soak in the bath. This time, the also have a cold pool which i hope into every few minutes after soaking in the hot bath. I like this.
After I am clean, I chill a bit reading and head to the capsule. It's not as as small as i thought, when you sit up, my head doesnt even come close to hitting the roof. There is a small TV, its well lit so you can read if you want and it looks pretty clean. The only problem is that you can hear the tv from the other capsules and you can also hear loud snorers, because you only have a thin read screen between you and the outside. Despite this, I like capsule hotels and wouldnt hesitate to do it again and at $35 AUD per night, its cheap.
The next day I get up late (10am) and walk out of the hotel.. to an empty street. Nothing is open, except... Freshness Burger! I decided it is now time to try this famous franchise and order the cheeseburger with onion rings. Now here is the thing. It's good. Not Mind blowing, but good.
The burger is better than the mosburger I had, but its more expensive. The sasebo burger TASTED better, but was more messy. I think i Have to rejig the scores.
Mosburger - 7/10, Freshness 7.5/10, Sasebo 7.5/10 (I may have been too harsh on the messiness department, but it still counts - this could have been an 8), Beat Diner 8/10.
Full of burger, I walk down to Nipponbashi, Osaka's anwser to Akihabara. It is HOT. Once again I am ducking into stores to cool down. At 12pm I call it quits and decide to head for Nara, which is kinda on the way back - not really, but only 50 mins away.
Nara is famous for its temples and wild deer roaming around the city. And so it was true. There are deer roaming around, and u can easily get close enough to touch them... in fact if u have food they come up to you..
They Also have a big park full of temples and a five story pagoda - like in Final Fantasy..
All deered out - I had back to the station and on the way I come across a barber and I hope to have more success with this one. I do and end up with a crew cut - (hey the guy didnt speak English at all give me a break) which S hates. But at least I have one less thing to worry about in Africa..
I've had some complaints that this blog has too much food, so here are some non food shots..
and..
and finally..
Im off to climb Fuji tonight - wish me luck..
Monday, August 16, 2010
Day 11: Tokyo
Today was a rest day as S and I recovered from our trip to Shirakawago. On this day I experienced the extremes of the Japanese service culture.
I wanted to get a haircut before I went to Africa, and in Tsurumi there is a hairdresser that is significantly cheaper than the rest. I went into the store (which reeked of smoke) the barber was already shaving the head of a man covered in tattooes, and when I expressed my desire for a haircut, he rudely said, "yaranai" (I won't do it) and pointed at the door. On the other extreme, when I was grocery shopping I managed to drop my eggs onto the ground whilst packing them into the bag. When the cashier saw this she rushed over the help me with the eggs and went to get me a new pack of eggs, even though I had already paid for the ones I broke.
Nearly all Japanese people appear to have a layer of extreme politeness but when this layer is removed, the true nature of some people are not as nice as their politeness would lead you to believe. Some Japanese people react quite badly when they realise that someone isn't Japanese. They react with nervousness, rudeness and even a bit of fear. The core of the problem may be the very insular Japanese culture which leads to a xenophobic society overlaid with the requisite Japanese politeness. This is the concept of tatemae, which is one of the precepts of Japanese culture. Japanese society demands a certain behavoiur and those that do not conform are judged to be inadequate or inferior.
This is not to say that there are not many genuinely friendly and kindhearted people in Japan but to believe that all Japanese are as polite as they seem would be incorrect.
In addition to this, while i'm ranting babout Japanese people, I find it interesting and upsetting that Japanese people are not encouraged to have their own opinions and ask any questions has meant that generations of Japanese are unable to think for themselves or explore any concepts and ideas which have not been taught to them. For a culture that is considered advanced and sophisticated, it is strange to see how it is rotting from the inside.
On to more important matters. Today I also went to Zats Burger which makes Sasebo burger. This burger has all the makings of a potentially awesome burger: cheese, bacon, runny egg, mustard, mayo, tomato sauce, cold vegetables (lettuce, tomato, onion) and a grilled beef patty.
However. It seems that the amount of ingredients in this burger is its downfall. In the burger that I had, it was hard to hold, and the large amount of sauces/egg yolk made it a very messy proprosition.
I admit, the burger tasted great, but even with the paper wrapping I managed to get the juices onto my hand. Not only this, but the fact that there were so many flavours meant that the relatively thin beef patty was hard to taste amonst the rainbow of condiments. Score 7/10. Although it tasted better than Mos Burger, it loses marks for the mess.
Tonight, I met up with PF and his fiance and went to a yakitori place in Shinjuku. He told me his proposal story and his fiance exposed his greatest fear and how she would use it to prevent him from having a bucks night. Lets just say it involves black guys.
We talked about many things including Japan's farce of a banking system where credit cards are not accepted in a lot of shops and yet banks charge you for accessing ATMS after 5pm and on weekends. How does a cash-based society penalise their users for trying to access their cash? Also, we discussed how very few Japanese earn more than 100 000 000yen per year. Considering that things in Japan are not particularly cheap (eg. our trip to Shirakawago cost us $500AUD in transport alone per person) how do Japanese people afford to live? As Japanese companies do not pay dividends and their salaries are so low, where does the money go?
The answer may lie in one example provided by PF's fiance: for a sales team of 9 people they had 2million yen ($25 000AUD) in 'expenses' per month. This may include alcohol, food and hostesses. The amount spent on company perks may be where company profits are disappearing to. When hostesses can cost $500AUD an hour the $25 000 doesn't go very far.
Token food picture:
Tomorrow: 35C Osaka!
I wanted to get a haircut before I went to Africa, and in Tsurumi there is a hairdresser that is significantly cheaper than the rest. I went into the store (which reeked of smoke) the barber was already shaving the head of a man covered in tattooes, and when I expressed my desire for a haircut, he rudely said, "yaranai" (I won't do it) and pointed at the door. On the other extreme, when I was grocery shopping I managed to drop my eggs onto the ground whilst packing them into the bag. When the cashier saw this she rushed over the help me with the eggs and went to get me a new pack of eggs, even though I had already paid for the ones I broke.
Nearly all Japanese people appear to have a layer of extreme politeness but when this layer is removed, the true nature of some people are not as nice as their politeness would lead you to believe. Some Japanese people react quite badly when they realise that someone isn't Japanese. They react with nervousness, rudeness and even a bit of fear. The core of the problem may be the very insular Japanese culture which leads to a xenophobic society overlaid with the requisite Japanese politeness. This is the concept of tatemae, which is one of the precepts of Japanese culture. Japanese society demands a certain behavoiur and those that do not conform are judged to be inadequate or inferior.
This is not to say that there are not many genuinely friendly and kindhearted people in Japan but to believe that all Japanese are as polite as they seem would be incorrect.
In addition to this, while i'm ranting babout Japanese people, I find it interesting and upsetting that Japanese people are not encouraged to have their own opinions and ask any questions has meant that generations of Japanese are unable to think for themselves or explore any concepts and ideas which have not been taught to them. For a culture that is considered advanced and sophisticated, it is strange to see how it is rotting from the inside.
On to more important matters. Today I also went to Zats Burger which makes Sasebo burger. This burger has all the makings of a potentially awesome burger: cheese, bacon, runny egg, mustard, mayo, tomato sauce, cold vegetables (lettuce, tomato, onion) and a grilled beef patty.
However. It seems that the amount of ingredients in this burger is its downfall. In the burger that I had, it was hard to hold, and the large amount of sauces/egg yolk made it a very messy proprosition.
I admit, the burger tasted great, but even with the paper wrapping I managed to get the juices onto my hand. Not only this, but the fact that there were so many flavours meant that the relatively thin beef patty was hard to taste amonst the rainbow of condiments. Score 7/10. Although it tasted better than Mos Burger, it loses marks for the mess.Tonight, I met up with PF and his fiance and went to a yakitori place in Shinjuku. He told me his proposal story and his fiance exposed his greatest fear and how she would use it to prevent him from having a bucks night. Lets just say it involves black guys.
We talked about many things including Japan's farce of a banking system where credit cards are not accepted in a lot of shops and yet banks charge you for accessing ATMS after 5pm and on weekends. How does a cash-based society penalise their users for trying to access their cash? Also, we discussed how very few Japanese earn more than 100 000 000yen per year. Considering that things in Japan are not particularly cheap (eg. our trip to Shirakawago cost us $500AUD in transport alone per person) how do Japanese people afford to live? As Japanese companies do not pay dividends and their salaries are so low, where does the money go?
The answer may lie in one example provided by PF's fiance: for a sales team of 9 people they had 2million yen ($25 000AUD) in 'expenses' per month. This may include alcohol, food and hostesses. The amount spent on company perks may be where company profits are disappearing to. When hostesses can cost $500AUD an hour the $25 000 doesn't go very far.
Token food picture:
Tomorrow: 35C Osaka!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 8-10: Takayama and Shirakawago
One of the big highlights of this trip to Japan was going to visit Shirakawago, a heritage listed village in the mountains of Japan near Takayama. It was heritage listed because it had been perfectly preserved since it was created with the villagers still working together to re-roof the houses with straw/branches.
To get there, we had to go through Nagoya and Takayama, which is another tourist destination due to the fact that there are several sections of the 'old town' that have been preserved and maintain the look from earlier times. We would stay the night in Takayama and then take a bus to Shirakawago to stay in one of the 'minshoku' or guesthouses.
Takayama is famous for a few things - a Spring festival which consists of several floats that parade across the town, and a doll called a Sarubobo which according to S is for protection of evil sprits. Wiki disagrees.
The other thing it is famous for is "mountain food" which consists of hida-beef, homebrew sake and mountain vegetables. The town is quite touristy with the 'old town' consisting primarily of souvenir shops (omiyage) and food (beef croquettes, various pickled vegetables, beef on a stick, buns, senbei - rice crackers, dango - grilled mochi being the most common). We wandered the old town before it started raining and was lucky enough to come across 'the best minced beef in Japan!'. This minced beef, crumbed and deep fried - much better than the other croquettes they were selling around the place.
We then went to our hostel - J Hoppers in Takayama - which was very clean with reasonables sized rooms. After a quick nap, we went out for dinner, which was in the rain. After wandering the streets for a bit, we ended up at 'Sakana' which means fish. This was a semi bar/restaurant and we proceeded to eat our way through the entire menu. We had some amazing Sashimi, Hida Beef...
Hoba Miso (a sweet miso paste, cooked over a hoba leaf with vegetables and beef)
stir fried eggplant and prawn with a chinese style sauce, an interesting pizza made of puff pastry and seafood and for dessert, incredibly sweet and juicy slices of local peach. The meal was Amazing, but lets just say, we could have fine dined in Sydney for the price of the meal. Having said that, the food was potentially of fine dining quality and we were paying for the experience also.
The next morning, we went to the morning markets where people sold fruits and vegetables as well as various other souvenirs and local products. S bought some pickled cucumber and nozawana (a pickled mountain vegetable). We then caught a bus to Shirakawago, where at the bus stop, we saw a guy collapse and get taken away by an ambulance...
Don't be mistaken, Shirakawago is a tourist hot spot with tens of buses full of tourists arriving every day. However, the fact that they have been able to maintain the guesthouses and original buildings in a state that is close to the original is impressive. From a lookout point, you can see the entire village as it might have looked hundreds of years ago.
We booked a nights stay at Magoemon, one of the guesthouses/original farmhouses.
These are run by families who rent out the ground level to tourists and live on the second floor. They cook local style meals using a firepit inside the house. They provide kaiseki style meals with many courses in a communal living area.
Highlights of the meal include: grilled tofu with sweet miso paste
and salted fish cooked over coals
As we were having dinner, the host family secretly set out our bedding, so that when we opened the door to our room (which was right behind where we sat to eat) this is what we saw after dinner!
The next morning, we were treated to breakfast, which was surprisingly good, even though it was vegetarian.
As it was raining heavily that day, we headed back to Tokyo.
I would highly recommend a stay at one of the guesthouses in Shirakawago. Due to the remoteness of the village (in the mountains, so the temperature is more moderate) and the lack the tourists at night after the last bus, it is extremely peaceful and we slept to the sound of the river rushing beneath us. The food was of excellent quality and I thoroughly enjoyed the break from the pace of the city.
To get there, we had to go through Nagoya and Takayama, which is another tourist destination due to the fact that there are several sections of the 'old town' that have been preserved and maintain the look from earlier times. We would stay the night in Takayama and then take a bus to Shirakawago to stay in one of the 'minshoku' or guesthouses.
Takayama is famous for a few things - a Spring festival which consists of several floats that parade across the town, and a doll called a Sarubobo which according to S is for protection of evil sprits. Wiki disagrees.
The other thing it is famous for is "mountain food" which consists of hida-beef, homebrew sake and mountain vegetables. The town is quite touristy with the 'old town' consisting primarily of souvenir shops (omiyage) and food (beef croquettes, various pickled vegetables, beef on a stick, buns, senbei - rice crackers, dango - grilled mochi being the most common). We wandered the old town before it started raining and was lucky enough to come across 'the best minced beef in Japan!'. This minced beef, crumbed and deep fried - much better than the other croquettes they were selling around the place.
We then went to our hostel - J Hoppers in Takayama - which was very clean with reasonables sized rooms. After a quick nap, we went out for dinner, which was in the rain. After wandering the streets for a bit, we ended up at 'Sakana' which means fish. This was a semi bar/restaurant and we proceeded to eat our way through the entire menu. We had some amazing Sashimi, Hida Beef...
Hoba Miso (a sweet miso paste, cooked over a hoba leaf with vegetables and beef)
stir fried eggplant and prawn with a chinese style sauce, an interesting pizza made of puff pastry and seafood and for dessert, incredibly sweet and juicy slices of local peach. The meal was Amazing, but lets just say, we could have fine dined in Sydney for the price of the meal. Having said that, the food was potentially of fine dining quality and we were paying for the experience also.
The next morning, we went to the morning markets where people sold fruits and vegetables as well as various other souvenirs and local products. S bought some pickled cucumber and nozawana (a pickled mountain vegetable). We then caught a bus to Shirakawago, where at the bus stop, we saw a guy collapse and get taken away by an ambulance...
Don't be mistaken, Shirakawago is a tourist hot spot with tens of buses full of tourists arriving every day. However, the fact that they have been able to maintain the guesthouses and original buildings in a state that is close to the original is impressive. From a lookout point, you can see the entire village as it might have looked hundreds of years ago.
We booked a nights stay at Magoemon, one of the guesthouses/original farmhouses.
These are run by families who rent out the ground level to tourists and live on the second floor. They cook local style meals using a firepit inside the house. They provide kaiseki style meals with many courses in a communal living area.
Highlights of the meal include: grilled tofu with sweet miso paste
and salted fish cooked over coals
As we were having dinner, the host family secretly set out our bedding, so that when we opened the door to our room (which was right behind where we sat to eat) this is what we saw after dinner!
The next morning, we were treated to breakfast, which was surprisingly good, even though it was vegetarian.
As it was raining heavily that day, we headed back to Tokyo.I would highly recommend a stay at one of the guesthouses in Shirakawago. Due to the remoteness of the village (in the mountains, so the temperature is more moderate) and the lack the tourists at night after the last bus, it is extremely peaceful and we slept to the sound of the river rushing beneath us. The food was of excellent quality and I thoroughly enjoyed the break from the pace of the city.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 7 - Kamakura
So I got up this morning to go to Takayama and I had a thought, I remember vaguely booking accomodation for Shirakawago for Friday - which was why I thought it was a bit expensive.. this would mean that Takayama would be for Thursday.. and sure enough I found my booking confirmation and it WAS Thursday.. so... lucky we didn't go to Takayama!
Instead S and I decided to go to Kamakura which is an old capital of Japan, famous for its many Zen and Shinto Shrines/Temples and its beach.
When I go on holidays, a lot of the "must see" attractions are usually old, and religously based. In Europe, it was churches, and in Japan its Temples and shrines. I don't have a problem with Churches and Temples as attractions, but I do notice that after a few, they all seem the same. Often, I'll hear that people are "all churched out" or in Japan "all templed out". For some reason we seem to force ourselves to go to these shrines and churches, knowing that after the first 2 or 3, we will quickly lose interest and are mostly going through the motions. At least thats what I find. It's only the really special ones tha seem to pull me out of my stupor, and in Kamakura, there weren't that many amazing incidents.
Part of the problem today was the fact that it was really hot and humid and sweating my way through various temples did not add to my enjoyment. I won't try and name all the temples we went to, but we crossed about 7 of the 'top 10' temples in Kamakura off the list.
Highlights included a temple with a really nice garden:
and a temple with an amazing mural on the roof:
The most interesting "legend" of the day was a temple where supposedly if you wash your money in the waters of the spring there, when you spend the money, you will get the money returned to you more than double! S and I being the high rollers we are, washed about 300 Yen, and are eagerly awaiting our profits. We saw a guy wash about 10 10,000 Yen bills and was drying them above a bunch of burning incense - apparently you have to let the money dry naturally... its amazing what people will believe isn't it?
Kamakura is also famous for Purple Sweet Potato, and every second shop sold sweet potato croquets and sweet potato ice cream, as well as a yellow 'baked sweet potato' version. As I waited in line for my ice-cream I noticed that each one was perfectly shaped and sized. This is compared to Macccas soft serves where you will occasionally have the lopsided ones or differing sizes... (They are a bit wonky at the top cos we took a bite each before remembering to take the photo)
We then bumped into some of S's friends and ended up going to the 'beach'. It really makes you appreciate what we have in Sydney with our beaches when this is what they call a good beach here..
I think we would call it dirt and muddy water. The most amusing thing about this experience was the LONG line of japanese girls waiting to get access to 4 mirrors and blowdryers in a large pavillion. They want to go to the beach but they are willing to go to the efforts of reapplying make-up before they leave. Respect.
The food highlight of the day was buying a large box of sushi from the local supermarket to take home for dinner for 590 Yen, or $9 AUD (The big box below)
Tomorrow: Takayama and Shirakawago!
Instead S and I decided to go to Kamakura which is an old capital of Japan, famous for its many Zen and Shinto Shrines/Temples and its beach.
When I go on holidays, a lot of the "must see" attractions are usually old, and religously based. In Europe, it was churches, and in Japan its Temples and shrines. I don't have a problem with Churches and Temples as attractions, but I do notice that after a few, they all seem the same. Often, I'll hear that people are "all churched out" or in Japan "all templed out". For some reason we seem to force ourselves to go to these shrines and churches, knowing that after the first 2 or 3, we will quickly lose interest and are mostly going through the motions. At least thats what I find. It's only the really special ones tha seem to pull me out of my stupor, and in Kamakura, there weren't that many amazing incidents.
Part of the problem today was the fact that it was really hot and humid and sweating my way through various temples did not add to my enjoyment. I won't try and name all the temples we went to, but we crossed about 7 of the 'top 10' temples in Kamakura off the list.
Highlights included a temple with a really nice garden:
and a temple with an amazing mural on the roof:
The most interesting "legend" of the day was a temple where supposedly if you wash your money in the waters of the spring there, when you spend the money, you will get the money returned to you more than double! S and I being the high rollers we are, washed about 300 Yen, and are eagerly awaiting our profits. We saw a guy wash about 10 10,000 Yen bills and was drying them above a bunch of burning incense - apparently you have to let the money dry naturally... its amazing what people will believe isn't it?
Kamakura is also famous for Purple Sweet Potato, and every second shop sold sweet potato croquets and sweet potato ice cream, as well as a yellow 'baked sweet potato' version. As I waited in line for my ice-cream I noticed that each one was perfectly shaped and sized. This is compared to Macccas soft serves where you will occasionally have the lopsided ones or differing sizes... (They are a bit wonky at the top cos we took a bite each before remembering to take the photo)
We then bumped into some of S's friends and ended up going to the 'beach'. It really makes you appreciate what we have in Sydney with our beaches when this is what they call a good beach here..
I think we would call it dirt and muddy water. The most amusing thing about this experience was the LONG line of japanese girls waiting to get access to 4 mirrors and blowdryers in a large pavillion. They want to go to the beach but they are willing to go to the efforts of reapplying make-up before they leave. Respect.
The food highlight of the day was buying a large box of sushi from the local supermarket to take home for dinner for 590 Yen, or $9 AUD (The big box below)
Tomorrow: Takayama and Shirakawago!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Day 5-6: Hakone
On days 5 and 6 of my time in Japan, S and I went to Hakone. Hakone is a tourist town that is famous for a few things. Hot Springs, outdoor activities and natural beauty.
Unfortunately, the day was overcast and a bit rainy so this ruled a few of the things out. This was the view from Hakone station...
Despite this, we headed towards the Hakone checkpoint, which was rebuilt using the original plans which were found a few years back. Due to the fact that all the signs were in Japanese, and the audio explanationswere also in Japanese, this was not the most educational of sites
We then headed to Lake Ashi for a sightseeing cruise on a boat was that built to look like a pirate ship of some sort but was actually just a normal boat. We should have been able to see Mt Fuji from the cruise, but because of the overcast conditions and fog, we could not see a thing...
We powered on, heading towards Owakudani, or "Great Boiling Valley" which is where the famous life increasing black eggs are found. The eggs are supposedly made by boiling them in the volcanic waters in this valley. For some reason its OK to eat to 2 and a bit eggs, but not OK to eat 3... The eggs are simply black on the outside but when the shell is peeled look like real eggs.
The area was very foggy, and there is steam and pools of boiling water everywhere, and the smell of sulfur is strong. I believe that the water here is pumped into the surrounding onsens.
Taking the ropeway and cable car, we ended up at our Ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese hotel. Our hotel was named Yusaka and had private and gender specific onsens. This was my first time in an onsen, and whilst I was slightly apprehensive, I found that the guys in there generally mind their own business and sit quietly in the corner of the onsen by themselves. I'd imagine it might be slightly more awkward with people I knew.
The onsen was extremely relaxing and enjoyed it. You can't stay in the water for more than 15-20 minutes at a time, but you can get out, rinse with cold water and then hop back in.
After Onsen, we had a kaiseki dinner, which is a Japanses style degaustation. The food was delicious and light. There wasnt a lot of butter/oil/spices, the flavours are from the food itself and the presentation was excellent.
Highlights:
The Salmon in the white bowl was amazing, and whilst I couldn't tell you what anything else on the plate was besides the prawn (i suspect some kind of shellfish is on the leaf and the cube is some kind of pressed pork) this plate was a delicious, with a mix of flavours and textures.
We did not leave anything behind. My first and hopefully not my last kaiseki dinner at a Ryokan!
Breakfast was a simlar affair, with an dip in the onsen with my new naked friends, and then a hearty breakfast, once again with light but with excellent presentation and variety.
Yes - that is confessions of an economic hitman in the corner.. some light conspiracy reading for S.
Overall rating for these two meals and experience 9.5/10. Excellent Service, Excellent food, uniquely Japanese experience and naked men. Whats not to like?
We reluctantly bid goodbye to our ryokan and headed back to Tokyo where we ate a small lunch of Takoyaki from Gindako, one of the best Takoyaki places. It only serves Takoyaki, it had a line of 10 people at 2pm so its definitely popular! I'm continuing to cross the list of Japanese foods off the list...
Dinner was a home cooked meal by S of Nikujaga
I'm off to Takayama and Shirakawago for the next 3 days - See you when I get back!
Unfortunately, the day was overcast and a bit rainy so this ruled a few of the things out. This was the view from Hakone station...
Despite this, we headed towards the Hakone checkpoint, which was rebuilt using the original plans which were found a few years back. Due to the fact that all the signs were in Japanese, and the audio explanationswere also in Japanese, this was not the most educational of sitesWe then headed to Lake Ashi for a sightseeing cruise on a boat was that built to look like a pirate ship of some sort but was actually just a normal boat. We should have been able to see Mt Fuji from the cruise, but because of the overcast conditions and fog, we could not see a thing...
We powered on, heading towards Owakudani, or "Great Boiling Valley" which is where the famous life increasing black eggs are found. The eggs are supposedly made by boiling them in the volcanic waters in this valley. For some reason its OK to eat to 2 and a bit eggs, but not OK to eat 3... The eggs are simply black on the outside but when the shell is peeled look like real eggs.
The area was very foggy, and there is steam and pools of boiling water everywhere, and the smell of sulfur is strong. I believe that the water here is pumped into the surrounding onsens.
Taking the ropeway and cable car, we ended up at our Ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese hotel. Our hotel was named Yusaka and had private and gender specific onsens. This was my first time in an onsen, and whilst I was slightly apprehensive, I found that the guys in there generally mind their own business and sit quietly in the corner of the onsen by themselves. I'd imagine it might be slightly more awkward with people I knew.The onsen was extremely relaxing and enjoyed it. You can't stay in the water for more than 15-20 minutes at a time, but you can get out, rinse with cold water and then hop back in.
After Onsen, we had a kaiseki dinner, which is a Japanses style degaustation. The food was delicious and light. There wasnt a lot of butter/oil/spices, the flavours are from the food itself and the presentation was excellent.
Highlights:
The Salmon in the white bowl was amazing, and whilst I couldn't tell you what anything else on the plate was besides the prawn (i suspect some kind of shellfish is on the leaf and the cube is some kind of pressed pork) this plate was a delicious, with a mix of flavours and textures.
We did not leave anything behind. My first and hopefully not my last kaiseki dinner at a Ryokan!
Breakfast was a simlar affair, with an dip in the onsen with my new naked friends, and then a hearty breakfast, once again with light but with excellent presentation and variety.
Yes - that is confessions of an economic hitman in the corner.. some light conspiracy reading for S.Overall rating for these two meals and experience 9.5/10. Excellent Service, Excellent food, uniquely Japanese experience and naked men. Whats not to like?
We reluctantly bid goodbye to our ryokan and headed back to Tokyo where we ate a small lunch of Takoyaki from Gindako, one of the best Takoyaki places. It only serves Takoyaki, it had a line of 10 people at 2pm so its definitely popular! I'm continuing to cross the list of Japanese foods off the list...
Dinner was a home cooked meal by S of Nikujaga
I'm off to Takayama and Shirakawago for the next 3 days - See you when I get back!
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