Then on to Hommachi, a shopping area. I found a Starbucks, how sad I am that I can get excited over sitting down with a coffee and a cookie!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Last day
Then on to Hommachi, a shopping area. I found a Starbucks, how sad I am that I can get excited over sitting down with a coffee and a cookie!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Kyoto
I got a map, a bus guide and asked them to arrange a ticket for me for the Geisha Theatre. I got a ticket for 14.00 with a Tea Ceremony beforehand, so I had to be at the theatre by 13.20. All the tourists in Kyoto seemed to be waiting for the same bus, we were packed like sardines. In Kyoto you get on the bus in the middle and buy your ticket as you get off at the front. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to get off with the masses, fortunately most people were heading to the same tourist sites so I managed to get off where I wanted and started the Higashiyama walk. It was well worth suffering the packed bus, the shrines are stunning and the cherry blossom is an added bonus.
My getting lost also helped me to see another massive temple, then on to the theatre. I was there early and had time to visit the gardens.
The Tea Ceremony was a bit contrived, but they were serving hundreds. I expected to be kneeling on the floor but it was stools, we had a cup of green tea and a little cake and got to keep the plate as a souvenir. My seat for the show was on the front row, not sure if the front row was entirely good, especially as some of the action was around the sides but the show was colourful and the screen changes were very pretty and clever. I expect I would have got more out of it if I had understood but now I've seen Geishas.
I tried to do the rest of the Higashiyama walk afterwards, I did most, it was through really lovely parkland, then headed for home. The buses were absolutely packed but finally I got in one and got a seat. I've forgotten to eat again, so to-night I'm going to an Indian Restaurant next to the hotel. Tomorrow Kyoto again.
Day 2: today I managed to get to Higashi Homganji, the temple I was trying to get to yesterday, but it seems to have been turned into a Conference Centre. There were a lot of security people as well so maybe someone important was arriving. On to the Imperial Park, with so many beautiful outdoor spaces in Kyoto this one was big but not impressive. On to the Temple trail. Kyoto has some beautiful buildings, beautiful outdoor places and beautiful gardens, the weather has been super too. It is getting hot now, I would love to be able to wear a T-shirt but my left arm is still a mess.
Me in the garden at Kinkuki-ji, I was not overly impressed with the temple but the gardens were superb.
The famous stone, Zen garden at Ryoan-ji. I was short on imagination but could have seen myself sitting here to meditate if it hadn't been surrounded by Japanese school childrenThe Bamboo grove, generally I found this too crowded to be impressive, though the photo does not give that impression.I got lost going to the station from here, I saw the sign but thought it applied to a private railway so I carried on walking, I walked for miles, then had to walk back :(
Monday, April 11, 2011
Hiroshima and Miyajima
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Japan contd
My room had large windows overlooking a river, this was a surprise as, when I booked, I was told I would have a small indoor room with a small window, it shows trade is not flourishing at the moment though I am seeing more westerners. I had time for a wander before dinner, including a visit to a museum about Nikko.
Nikko is a town north of Tokyo that I had wanted to visit but cancelled, for obvious reasons. It would definitely be worth a visit, the temples and shrines there look spectacular.
Then I returned for my dinner, this consisted of 11 individual small dishes plus the sauces to go with them, about half consisting of pickled vegetables. Unfortunately I don't like pickles, I don't like any kind of vinegar so the meal was somewhat wasted on me. It was washed down with green tea! After dinner I tried the hotel computer, unfortunately these Japanese keyboards have double or even treble the amount of letters to contend with and a very small space bar so every time I forget and go for the end of the space bar I hit the key that changes to a Japanese script. I can't find the one that changes it back! The hotel owner didn't know either, he said it was his son's domain. I may find out here. So, with no blog I went for my first experience of a Japanese bath. There's no way I'm going to experience the full blown Onsen as this is a public experience. I had this one to myself, first a shower to get clean then a soak in the biggest, fullest, hottest bath tub I've ever been in, and so to bed.
Sunday 10th April
Breakfast was very similar to dinner, the 'piece de resistance' as it were, was a large leaf with some brown stuff on it, which was cooking over a table barbecue. The brown stuff was curry, to eat with the rice. There was a bit of omelette, some sea food with potatoes and beans, several plates of pickled vegetables and something in a packet, which I assumes to be some kind of hand towel until I opened it, and discovered 5 thin green sheets which I now believe to be dry sea weed.
I spent the morning wondering around Takayama again, it's a lovely old Japanese town.
I saw several of the table top Barbecues for sale, I'd love to be able to buy one.
For lunch I went to a Japanese Restaurant that had the menu in English, with pictures, and had Ramen, a bowl of noodles in broth with pork and half an egg on top. It seemed like a good idea until I was faced with eating noodles with chopsticks! Any suggestions Ling? I understand it's OK to slurp noodles in Japan, so I slurped. Then I went for an ice-cream, the flavours were all written in Japanese, so I chose the green one, thinking it would be pistachio, but, guess what, it was green tea. As regards coping with Japanese - I have mastered 7 phrases: yes; no; hello; goodbye; good morning; excuse me; please and thank you. The most useful I think, is Arrigato (Thank you) used in conjunction with a bow, or several bows. I'm very glad I speak English as the big stations and some sites and museums have directions in English. Ticket machines in subways have an english button, and all stations have the name written in roman letters. Some trains and subways have spoken directions in English as well, it's just country stations that don't. The main problem is not knowing what's in all the strange packets of food. I have breakfast included at this hotel as well but I've opted for the Western option!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Japan
I, inadvertently, disconnected the internet last night so lost half my blog! It's hard enough to find a computer without doing that.
Thursday morning I started my journey to Osaka, I sat on the station platform for a while (I couldn't find a station cafe that I could sit in and have breakfast, the Japanese seem to eat on the run). Everything is so well organised. The trains park neatly with the carriage entrances neatly placed next to the gap in the railing and the carriage number. Everyone gets off the train with their rubbish, recycling rubbish bins are everywhere, the cleaners rush on and clean, whilst passengers queue politely by their carriage door!
When I arrived in Osaka I decided to go straight to the hotel to get rid of my bag, I thought it wouldn't take long! Theoretically it wouldn't have but the subway station I arrived at had a kind of underground shopping mall and I didn't know which exit I had come out of, so I walked the wrong way first, then the hotel has it's entrance on a different road to both the address and the map, so it all took ages, when I arrived I was exhausted. I thought it was jet-lag but I think it was food and drink lag, I must discipline myself to stop. After I dropped off my bag I went straight for food, I was gagging for a beer. The first 'restaurant' I found had plastic models of the food outside, so I went in. It was incredible, cheaper than Nando's and quite weird, you had to start by selecting the number of your order on, what looked like, a vending machine you pay the machine and give the tickets it produces to a waitress. I got my beer but I needn't have bothered because iced tea was served with the meal, I'm sure it was a 2 litre jug, so I drank loads. The meal came on a tray, 6 dishes - the main course (mine was pork in ginger), rice, soup, gherkin and 2 sausages with raw veg. I started by wondering why there was no knife and fork, then I remembered, so I looked for the chopsticks, eventually I found them in a drawer under the condiments and Soy sauce. The rice was stodgy and tasteless for my taste, I discovered why when I tried to flavour some with the sauce! (The correct way to do this is to add the sauce to the rice but I added the rice to the sauce!) I defy anyone to eat rice, that's disintegrated in sauce, with chopsticks!
The produce was incredible, really fresh and good quality. All neatly packed for meals.
Friday,8th
I put the alarm on to get up early this morning as I wanted to go to Yoshino to see the Cherry Blossom. I had downloaded a list of trains that I needed, this was vital to start with as, once I left the subway, there was virtually no information in English. My list said to take a train from Oje to Takada then another from Takada to Yoshinoguchi. I got the train I wanted at Oje by the skin of my teeth and religiously got off at Takada, I only had a couple of minutes to get the next train and there was a train on another platform, so off I went only to discover that the train I wanted was the one I had just got off! I had to wait an hour and 20 minutes for the next train so I wandered about the little town, then returned to the station so I could sit down and eat some breakfast.
I hear there was an earthquake somewhere last night, I didn't feel a thing.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
On the way!
We sat on the plane, on the apron, in the heat for over an hour whilst the crew changed, the plane re-fuelled and we had a health check! (A ?doctor walked around the plane and flashed a gadget at us, I suppose it was a long distance thermometer, why don't hospitals have those??) He decided we were all OK. I refrained from scratching for a while as I was afraid he would not let me in!
My first view of Mt Fuji, taken from the air.
We then flew on to Tokyo, no-one offered us anything else to drink and by the time we got through customs and immigration it was well after 12. I had a coffee at the airport but I was anxiuos to get to my hotel, I had to take a train and a subway so it was a real test of my intiative.
The girl at the hotel was SO enthusiastic when she saw me, I felt quite guilty that I had cancelled one night. She insisted on taking our photos, I must point out that I had been travelling for a long time!
I went to the temple of Senso-ji, my first Japanese temple, but certainly not my last.
I also went to Nakamise Dori, as Lonely Planet recommends a visit and says that it is the place to buy kimonos.I intended to buy a kimono but was too tired and not ready to spend money straight away so I didn't. So there we are Day 1 or Day 1 and a half. I've had a shower, put all my dirty clothes in a plastic bag to be washed a.s.a.p (it had better be soon as I don't have many clothes with me!).
I was intrigued by the power cables in the streets, I assume it is because of the risk of earth-quakes that they hang around above ground!
Thursday 7th April 2011
I slept fairly well despite jet-lag and itching but I was up at 6 so I decided to start early. It is not recommended, for tourists, to use the subway during the rush hour (from 07.30 to 09.30) and I certainly didn't want to do it with my back pack. I found the subways easier than I expected though somehow I managed to miscalculate the cost of my ticket. The ticket Officer was very helpful, everyone is very helpful. (I feel a bit of a novelty, I was the only Western tourist I saw in Tokyo, I have seen a couple, ? from Oz, here in Osaka.) I got my Japan Rail Pass this morning so the next few days will be busy. I'm sorry I didn't see more of Tokyo but I feel that the few hours I had were well spent.