Last Few days in Tokyo

View of Tokyo (Lost in Translation hotel on left)

Our last few days in Tokyo were spent doing things we hadn't had chance to do the first time round. We visited the hotel where Lost in Translation was filmed and got a lift up the tower next to it for awesome views over Tokyo for free! We even saw Mount Fuji, which I was really happy about as I had wanted to go on a day trip there but we didn't have time. It was such a clear day, we say almost all of Tokyo, Mount Fuji and the surrounding mountains. The night before, we had paid to go up a different tower, but there was a typhoon and the visibility was very poor. We had walked for miles to find it and were starving by the time we got there. It was torrential rain (a typhoon) and we wanted to find a MOS burger, but in the end we were so hungry we ended up having a McDonald's. We calculated that during our time in Japan, ½ of all our meals have been burger-based. That is to say, we stayed in Japan 3 weeks, and ate 10 burger meals in that time (Maccas, Burger King or MOS burger).

Looks like NYC, but no, its Tokyo

On our second to last day, we intended to get up early to experience Tokyo fish market but we got there too late and all we saw was them closing down the stalls. So we decided instead to set out to find Joyopolis – a games world that Jemma had read about. It took us quite a while to get there, but we got to ride the monorail and saw a completely different side to Tokyo by the sea, which was nice. We eventually found Joyopolis, but it was closed, however, there was lots of other stuff to keep us entertained in the same area.

I love Japan

On our second to last night in Tokyo, we had a lovely leaving party with our friends, who treated us to a meal at a Japanese restaurant where they had traditional dancing and entertainment. It was absolutely the best night of my whole trip and I could not believe how lucky we were to have met such kind and welcoming people. They ordered so many different dishes for us to try, including chicken gizzard! They also ordered these big chickens that the waiter had to cut up with garden scissors and they bought us drinks all night. When the bill came at the end they insisted on paying. The entertainment was excellent, and everybody did a kind of conga dance around the restaurant. Words can't describe it so I have added in the video at the bottom of this page (more videos on my youtube channel). 

It was the best cultural experience ever and everyone was so lovely. At the end, one of our friends won the prize for best dancer and we all had to go up with her for a photo, at which point they told the whole restaurant about who we were (Yoshie's English friends she met in New Zealand). I have never experienced hospitality like it in my life. At the end of the meal, we were really sad to leave them, and they gave us a goodbye present (our own set of posh chopsticks). It was so cute. It really left us with such an amazing lasting impression of Japan.

More photos can be found here: Tokyo 2


But for now, one last photo of my favourite part of Tokyo, Shibuya crossing

Yokohama/ Tokyo – Japanese house parties and drunken karaoke

Japanese house party

We have just had probably the best 48 hours of our whole trip and to round it off I am typing this sat in my little capsule in our wonderful capsule hostel in Tokyo.

The fun started on Saturday night, when, after a long day travelling back to Tokyo from the Alps, we were met at the train station by our lovely friend Yoshie whom we met in New Zealand. She came to collect us to take us back to her sister's flat in Yokohama (just outside of Tokyo), where we were to spend the night. We got to the flat and were met at the door by a group of young, welcoming Japanese people (Yoshie's friends and family) who were all smiling and eager to meet us. As we walked through the door and took our shoes off, they were all taking photos of us and each one shook our hand in turn and said hello in English. Most of don't speak English, so practising with us that night was a big deal for them. We went into the lounge, where they had prepared a feast for us, with a low table and mats on the floor to sit on. It was really cute. Everything we had told Yoshie in NZ, she had remembered and they had tailored the meal exactly to our tastes. They had made pasta bake with two little flags in it (Japan and UK), a ginger pork dish, a cold pasta dish, and sushi (with no raw fish, because Yoshie had remembered that we weren't keen on 'law fish').  

Pasta bake

It was overwhelming. They kept the alcohol flowing all night (champagne, wine and beer) and they were the friendliest people I have ever met. We brought them a little present (as we were advised this is the custom in Japan). We gave them some cherry blossom sweets from Kyoto and they gave me a box of chocolates (Yoshie had remembered that I am chocolate mad) and they gave Jemma (or German, as they thought her name was) a Japanese fan. They were all so friendly and eager to practise their English. We felt really at ease because everybody was so laid back and friendly. I think Jemma had built it up a little in her head and was worried she might commit some cultural faux pas, but they were all so young and easy going, we really had nothing to worry about. We chatted and laughed the whole night, with new dishes and drinks being brought out all the time and at one point, they even brought out the ingredients for making sushi and let us have a go at making our own. It was a really brilliant night and we were stuffed by the end of it. At the end of the night, Yoshie's sister ran me an onsen, and I committed the only cultural error of the night (as far as we know), by having a bath in it and washing my hair, when it was actually meant to be shared by the whole house. We all laughed about it in the end, but I can just remember starting to wash my hair with shampoo in the bath and then remembering something I had read in the lonely planet about Japanese families having onsens and that you should never pull the plug. What I should have done was had a shower first and then got in the onsen, and then everyone else would have done the same. I think this is the biggest cultural difference between the UK and Japan! Jemma and I slept with Yoshie in the spare room on a traditional Tatami Japanese floor and some of the other friends also stayed the night.

The next day, we got up, had some hot chocolate/ tea and then they took us out to see Yokohama and to have sushi for brunch. They took us to the best sushi bar I have ever been to – it was so cheap and the conveyor belt was huge! I tried all kinds of sushi, including raw squid, which nearly made me sick, but I eventually managed to swallow it. Jemma was not so successful. 

Yokohama harbour

At the sushi restaurant

After brunch, we took a sightseeing boat across Yokohama harbour and Yoshie's brother-in-law kindly paid. We walked all around the harbour, looking at the big cruise ships that were docked there and watching the entertainment. It was like a much bigger version of Cardiff bay! We then stopped at a little park for coffee and took the train back to Yoshie's sister's flat, where we said our farewells, before heading back to Tokyo to meet our friends from Kyoto for a night out.

It took us about an hour to get across Tokyo to the hostel that we had booked on hostelworld. We booked it because it was surprisingly cheap for Tokyo, and I can now confirm, that you definitely get what you paid for. As soon as we saw it, I was doubtful. Not only was it a hefty train ride from the centre of Tokyo, but it also looked like a little shack from the outside. We were in such a rush to dump our bags and check-in before meeting our friends Emily and Sandra, that luckily I didn't have time to take it all in properly. The bedroom was the biggest disgrace of a bedroom I have ever seen in my life. It has to be seen to be believed! I would not put my dog in there! Luckily we had only booked for one night and I had visions of us coming in, numbed enough by alcohol not to be bothered by it, but my god, it was not fit for human living. I am sure there must be a law against squashing that many people into such a small space. The bunks were pushed so close together, you had to turn sideways to walk between them. There was no space for bags, and if you were unlucky enough to be on the 3^rd tier, you had to climb over 2 peoples heads (no ladders to get in). It was pure squalor and I am horrified that it has such high ratings on hostelworld. I think the owner must have dodgy dealings going on somewhere because there is not one single bad review on hostelworld! Suspiciously, it is also not listed on Trip advisor, which should cause some alarm bells to ring, but as we were literally just dropping our bags then racing out to see our friends, I didn't have time to think too much about it.

Worst hostel ever

We dropped our bags in the 'luggage room' (cupboard) and raced out to meet Emily and Sandra at an agreed place. The four of us then went to the best restaurant I have ever been to! An all you-can-drink Izakaya! The deal is, you sit at the table, and have a little computer screen, where you can order an unlimited number of drinks (any drink you want – alcohol, soft drink, milk shakes... you name it). You have the table for 3 hours and during this time, everyone also has to order and least two items of food off the menu. For this, you pay about £20! Incredible value! If this existed in the UK, it would go out of business on opening night, but as the Japanese can't drink much, these fantastic establishments exist all over Tokyo. We ordered a load of dishes to share: pizza, chips. Yakitori (chicken on skewers) etc. And we drank till we were merry. As Jemma put it, she drank a whiskey drink, she drank a lager drink, she drank a cider drink, she drank a vodka drink. I think she also drank every other drink on the menu, including to tropical Japanese varieties. I just stuck to wine and cocktails. 

At the Izakaya

By the end, we were very merry, and left the restaurant to go into the games arcade next door, where we played on Table Flip. A computer game, where the only aim is to flip a table in a restaurant so that the drinks go all over everybody! We then played some drumming games, and had our photos taken in one of those booths that Japanese girls love where you can add fake eyelashes and glasses etc to yourself. It was the most amazing fun ever. By this point, Jemma and Emily were very drunk and were keen on catching the last train back to the student area where Emily and Sandra live, to spend a couple more hours in a karaoke booth, and then we could crash for a few hours at theirs before catching an early train back to our hostel to check out. We found the karaoke booth, and again, it was pay a sum (~£22) and drink all you like for 2 hours whilst singing karaoke in the booth. It was one of the best nights out I have ever had in my life and I am so glad we got to experience a real Japanese karaoke booth. It really is a fun way to spend a night. After two hours of singing (or squawking), I wanted to carry on, but they were all tired, so we stumbled back to the student halls, where I slept on a mat on Sandra's floor and Jemma slept on Emily's floor. It was about 3am by the time we went to sleep. 

Photobooth fun

Karaoke

At 8am, we had to leave to catch a number of different trains back to our hostel. This was not the easiest of tasks on a hangover, in fact, if you knew what the Tokyo subway was like, you would probably find it like something out of a comedy sketch. 2 hours later(!) we finally got to the horrible hostel, where we scooped up our bags from where we had left them, used the toilet facilities, and then made a sharp exit. Another 2 hours later, we were at our new hostel, where we were told that check-in was not until 4pm. So we went to Burger king and then slept in the lounge, before checking into our cosy little, clean capsule dorm (same company as the excellent hostel we stayed in in Kyoto). What a fantastic 48 hours.  

New cool capsule hostel in Tokyo

Photos: Best 48 hours ever

The Japanese Alps – snow monkeys and naked baths

We planned a visit to the Japanese Alps into our itinerary after Jemma's brother told us we had to see them. Our first stop was Nagano, which was a little out of the way, and took us a while to get to from Kyoto. We arrived at Nagano station in the pouring rain and walked for about half an hour without finding the hostel. In the end, I waited in a bank with the rucksacks whilst Jemma went off to try and find it. When she came back 40 minutes later, soaking wet, she still had not found it but had a good idea of where it might be. Before we set off on a trek to find it, we saw a MOSBurger (now my favourite fast food chain ever) and went there for tea. I had a curry sauce burger. We eventually found the hostel, 1166, tucked away down a little side street and the owner let us in. It was basically someone's house. The young girl (32) had set the house up as a hostel and she had great reviews on hostelworld because of how helpful she is with planning your travels. I t was a typical Japanese style house, with one western toilet and one shower. It also had a Japanese toilet. The dorms had bunks but the mattresses, were paper thin (standard in Japan) and the pillow was terrible. Needless to say I didn't get the best night's sleep that night and I was freezing. When I needed the toilet, I had to creep down the narrow staircase to the western toilet next to the kitchen. The good thing about the hostel was that she cooked us a typical Japanese dinner for £5 (hot pot) and we sat round the table with the other guests from Belgium, Singapore, Germany and Japan and learnt about Japanese culture from the owner and her friend. They showed us a funny clip on youtube about how to eat sushi (clip) and answered all of our questions. We got along quite well with the other guests and the owner even gave us free alcohol (sake and wine). Jemma and the German boy went out to buy some suntory whisky (as featured in Lost in Translation) and they ended up drinking the whole bottle between them. As there was only one shower, I had to wait about 45 mins for our Japanese room mate (who looked about 8!) to finish in the shower before I could go in.

We went to bed at midnight, and set our alarm for 6am, ready to get up for a trip to see the snow monkeys the next day.

Hot pot night at the hostel in Nagano

The next day we got up at 6am and caught a train to the mountains and then a bus. By 10am, after having walked up a snowy mountainside and taken in the lovely views, we eventually made it to the monkey park, which is basically a clearing in the forest with a hot spring in it where the monkeys bathe! It is amazing to see the monkeys running around in their natural habitat. I had never heard of monkeys that live in the snow before. There are hundreds of them and they can get quite lively, fighting with each other and chasing each other about. There were babies and adults and lots of monkeys in the onsen (hot spring) taking a bath. I was quite scared at some points as we were warned not to look them in the eyes otherwise they might attack. We didn't witness any attacks whilst we were there but the Belgian girl told us that one had leapt out of the water to go for her when she was there.

One of the baby monkeys

After a couple of hours looking at the monkeys and taking pictures, we headed back down the mountain to do something we had been told we must do whilst in Japan: take an onsen.

An onsen is a hot spring where Japanese people bathe naked: (click for description of onsen)

We were first told about this by a British girl in Fiji who raved over it and reckoned it was no problem getting naked once you were there because the Japanese didn't bat an eyelid. The same thoughts were echoed by the Belgian couple in our hostel the night before. I however, was not so sure. Europeans don't seem to understand the British fear of getting naked, in fact they laughed at me when I told them what a big thing it was for me to do. Even typing this now, I am cringing thinking back to it. But hey, if Lonely Planet says you've got to do it, you've got to do it.

It's basically a public bath, where you go in, strip off (no towels allowed – we were told off in Japanese by an old woman when we tried to slip into the bathing area with our towels around us). Before you get in, you have to sit in a row with a load of naked Japanese women and wash yourself with the soap and shampoo provided. There is a bucket that you have to fill with hot water and then pour it over yourself. Then, you are allowed to get into the bath, which is usually outside, naked. It was quite a traumatic experience for me personally as I am very modest. A lot of people who do it (i.e. the Brits in Fiji) come out raving about it saying how great it is, but I'd rather just get in a jacuzzi with my batha on. Anyway, I've done it now, so nobody can say that I'm not embracing Japanese culture!

A bit like the onsen we went in

After the onsen, we got the train back to Nagano and had another MOSBurger. Then we went for our daily trip to Seven Eleven (I now, sadly, sing the theme tune as we walk in). We decided to be adventurous and bought some Tomato chocolate. Yes, that's right, tomato flavoured chocolate! How could I fail to like it when it combines my two favourite things?? Chocolate and tomoato sauce?? It was disgusting. But, I'm glad we tried it.

That night I was really tired so I stayed in next to the fire, whilst Jemma went our drinking with some Aussies from our dorm. Again, I had another terrible, freezing nights sleep on the cold, hard bed and woke up ready to get out and get to a new comfortable hostel.

Our next destination was Hakuba, which, according to Jemma's brother is 'the best place in the world and she would bring shame upon her family if she didn't go there'. You're meant to go there to ski and we did want to do this, however due to poor planning, we realised that a)we wouldn't have enough time to ski as we had only booked one night there and b) I wasn't actually insured for skiing.

Never mind, we still set off, on the 3 hour journey to get there and got there in the late evening, leaving us just enough time to chill out in the lovely, modern, hostel/chalet and do our washing. After I had pressed start on the washing machine, with all of our clothes in, except the t shirt and shorts we were wearing, I read a sign that said the dryer took 2 hours, so our plans to go out for dinner were scuppered. Luckily the hostel had a good stock of ready made curry meals in boxes so we made ourselves one of those and relaxed in the cosy lounge. We both said we would have loved to have stayed longer in Hakuba and actually go skiing as it is such a nice place, however, we had to leave the next morning as our friend Yoshie from New Zealand, had contacted us out of the blue and offered us a bed for the night. We were very keen on taking up her offer and are now currently on a train, making our way to Yoshie's sister's house in Yokohama (near Tokyo) where we will stay for a night and experience a typical Japanese family home!

For many more pictures of monkeys and snowy mountains, please click here: Japanese Alps

The Hunt for Kobe Beef...

When we left Hiroshima, we went back to Kyoto for one night as we intended to see the Golden Pavillion. We got back too late to see it however, and decided, on a whim (Jemma's idea), to go to Kobe to try and taste some Kobe beef. For anyone that doesn't know, Kobe beef is very famous for being the most delicious, expensive beef in the world. According to folk law, they massage the cows and feed them beer, which is why the beef tastes so delicious. According to Lonely Planet, once you have tasted Kobe beef, you will be spoilt for life, and normal beef will never taste the same again. Having read in the Lonely Planet guide book, that we could get hold of some of this world famous beef for the small price of £17, we set off at 6pm on a train to Kobe, giving ourselves just a few hours to find the restaurant, eat the beef and make it back to Kyoto on the last train at 10.00pm. We got to Kobe as planned, caught another train into the city centre, and then got completely lost trying to follow the Lonely Planet's directions. At one point, we were even asked by a group of Japanese men to join them in their footspa they were having in the middle of the city centre. We looked around for ages, asking for directions and being helped by random expats who spoke Japanese and English. We thought we would have to give up (time was running out and we would miss our last train if we ate any later), when I approached a florist and asked in my best Japanese if she knew where the restaurant was 'sumimasen.... doko deska.... <points at guide book>.'

Luckily, she knew and exclaimed 'ahhhh steakhouse!' 'Hai! Steakhouse!' We repeated merrily. I had been worried that the restaurant would be a bit too luxurious for two scruffy travellers, but a steakhouse sounded just up my street. I pictured myself having a nice cheap chunk of kobe beef with some chips on the side and maybe some peppercorn sauce. After all, the Lonely Planet had said that meals ranged from just 2000 yen ( around £17).

We took an elevator up to the restaurant on the 8^th floor and I realised straight away how very wrong

I was. A waiter approached us and took our jackets (i.e. fleece hoodies) and then led us to our seats, amongst the hoity toity clientèle. I was too embarrassed to look at anyone, as I sat down and wiped my hands with the hot towel he passed us. I let Jemma open the menu first and interpret the prices. She went pale and looked as though she would have a heart attack. The cheapest thing on the menu, which by the way, wasn't Kobe beef, was 14,000 yen (aka £100+)! The cheapest thing, a little starter, was over £100!! To have actual Kobe beef you were looking at around £150 for a small portion on its own, without sides! I looked at Jemma, wondering if she would go through with it and order something out of sheer politeness/ embarrassment. We both knew we could not justify wiping a week's worth of budget for South East Asia out on one decadent meal. We politely made our apologies, and scurried out of the restaurant, hanging our heads in shame as we waited for the lift to take us down. We made our way back to Kyoto and bought a pot noodle from the 7/11 for tea, with Jemma ranting along the way about how she would write a strongly worded letter to Lonely Planet for misleading her into thinking that she could actually afford Kobe beef!

Hiroshima

One of the only buildings left standing after the bomb

Memorial to the lost children

Hiroshima was a very different experience to anywhere else in Japan and it was really worth visiting. We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight out to the A-bomb dome, memorial park and peace museum. The first thing you see in the park is the shell of an old building that was one of the only things left standing when the Americans dropped the atomic bomb Enola Gay on Hiroshima on 6^th August 1945. The Japanese have conserved the bones of the building so you can still make out its structure. It is absolutely incredible that it stood up against the blast and the reason given for this is that the atomic bomb was dropped directly above the building which meant as the blast radiated outwards, it was able to withstand the pressure. The whole of the rest of the city was totally flattened and wiped out with the blast and radiation. As you walk around the park, the next thing you see is the memorial to the lost children with thousands of origami cranes hanging in a glass cabinet that have been sent in from all around the world. Further along, there is a statue with a flame inside it that represents the desire for the world to be free of nuclear weapons. The flame was lit by a survivor from the blast who found a flame in the remains of his uncle's house and carried the flame to where it stands today. On the memorial, it is written that the flame will remain lit until every last atomic weapon is gone from the world. 

A child's charred lunch box

After the park, we went to the peace museum, giving ourselves 2 hours to look around until it closed. We really underestimated the amount of time we would need. The museum was excellent, with so much detail on Hiroshima, before and after the bomb was dropped. Some of the exhibits inside included letters from Einstein to president Roosevelt, letters from the mayor of Hiroshima to Barak Obama asking him to stop testing nuclear weapons, models of what Hiroshima looked like before and after the blast, and a whole section on nuclear weapons today and the potential threats. The most harrowing part of the museum however, was the section on the victims, where you could read the stories of people who had been killed instantly in the blast and of those who had been killed many years later due to the effects of radiation. Exhibits included an old lunch box with charred food inside it, people's hair that had fallen out, and ceramic roof tiles that had melted in the extreme heat.  The most touching story of all, was of a 9 year old girl who had been 2 years old when the bomb was dropped. Seven years later she developed leukaemia and was taken into hospital. She had read that folding paper cranes brings good luck and she believed that if she could fold 1000 cranes she would survive. Sadly, she didn't get her wish and her death sparked a demand for a memorial for all of the children affected by the bomb to be built. In the museum you can see the cranes that she folded. They are absolutely minuscule and it is difficult to imagine how she folded them. Apparently she used a pin to fold them as they got smaller and smaller because she believed that the more intricate they were, the more chance she would have that her wish would come true. 

I left the museum quite depressed, and am still a little depressed typing this. However, it gave us some perspective on little things that we had been arguing about the day before and really brought it home to us just what a tragedy the dropping of the bomb over Hiroshima was. You can't appreciate until you see it, just how many lives it affected in so many ways; not just on the day it was dropped, but years later, with people living the rest of their lives in constant fear of what effects the radiation would have on them. I would say that if you visit Japan, you should definitely try to get down to Hiroshima and learn about this important part of modern history.

We didn't spend all of our time in Hirsohima visiting monuments related to the A-Bomb. Hiroshima is also famous for a shrine at Miraynma that stands in the ocean. It is one of the most famous views in Japan. We took a ferry over to go and see it, and once again there were hundreds of deer scattered about. Unfortunately, we got there at low tide so most of the shrine was not submerged in the sea but had tourists walking underneath it, pushing money into the cracks. Nevertheless, it was still a sight to behold and it was set amongst the stunning backdrop of mountains and sea. I said to Jemma that I thought the landscape was more impressive than similar landscapes that we had paid a lot of money to see in New Zealand. We didn't pay any money in Japan to see Miraynma.  

At night, we went on a hunt for a restaurant that had been recommended in the guide book that Jemma desperately wanted to try. It served Hiroshima's speciality dish, Okonamia, Okonamia are similar to pancakes, and at the restaurant we went to, they make them infront of you on a hot plate. They fill them with beansprouts, noodles and fish and then crack an egg on top. For the final touch, they pour a generous helping of special sauce. 

 Unfortunately for me, I liked everything but the sauce and the green nori powder they sprinkle inside them, which meant I just had to pick out the noodles and Jemma had to eat the rest. It was still a great experience though to eat in such a traditional eatery and have the food made in front of you (even if the woman who made them did have a cold and kept wiping her nose with her hand!). 

Hiroshima photos

Kyoto!

(I apologise in advance if this blog is boring/ confusing. I should warn readers in advance that you may become templed-out by the second paragraph).

Day 1 - It took us a long time to find the hostel as all the signs were in Japanese and we came out of the wrong exit at the subway. We got to the hostel and it was the first one we've stayed in where we had to take our shoes off at the door and put on the slippers they provided to walk around in. I found this novel and cosy at first, but after a week of slipping my shoes on and off at the hostel and various temples I had broken the heel on my walking shoe (it held up for 6 months through Amazon and Inca treks and broke at a hostel in Japan). Now I have to slip a bit of cardboard down the back when I put my shoe on otherwise the plastic sticking out of the heel really hurts my foot. I had considered throwing them away and just continuing on for the rest of the trip in walking sandals (the rest of the countries are, after all all hot ones). However, I have been advised that I might need them for a trek in Changmai so I will have to hold onto them until then.

Computers in hostel

Back onto the subject of Kyoto...
We got to our hostel, slipped our shoes off and were told that we couldn't check in until 4pm. It was 3.30 so we just sat down on the computers in reception (or rather knelt down on the little cushions in front of them) and went online for a bit. We then checked into our room and were pleasantly surprised to hear that we had been upgraded to a twin for one night. We dumped our bags and went to explore the local area. The area where our hostel was, was a lively area with lots going on – lots of cafes, restaurants and shops. We looked around for something cheap to eat and ended up eating Octopus balls (Taki-yaki) by accident (Balls of soft potato with octopus inside them that are so piping hot they burn your throat). In the end, I had to have a subway to fill me up because I couldn't finish the Tako-yaki.

Tako-yaki

We went back to the cosy hostel and spent the night chatting to two English girls who are doing a ski season here.

Day 2 – The second day was the day we visited the Heian temple, gardens and Silver Pavillion (Ginkaku-ji) (as mentioned in my previous post). On our way back from the Silver Pavillion, we walked back through residential side streets, and came upon another temple tucked away which was free called (Shinnyo-do). It was a beatutiful temple, with nobody around which made it more appealing than the others. On the way home, we walked through Japanese grave yard, and then through a residential area. That night I cooked myself spaghetti for tea and Jemma had a pot noodle.

Crossing the pond at the Heian temple as Scarlett did in Lost in Translation

Day 3 – On the third day we visited Nijo-jo (Nijo castle) and went inside. Inside they had put models of the people who would have lived there e.g. Shoguns to make it easier to visualise how the castle would have functioned. The floors were squeaky but not because of loose floorboards – they purposely made them that way when it was built so that they could here intruders approaching. After the castle, we caught a free train using our JR railpasses and visited a 12^th century temple Tenryu-ji and walked through the gardens. There were lots of colourful carp in the ponds. We then went to the bamboo grove which we had seen in the Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet calls it 'a unique once in a life time experience'. It is certainly a unique experience as you walk through the forest surrounded by miles and miles of bamboo trees. Later in the afternoon, we walked down past the river and saw people on boats. We then walked three kilometres to a bamboo temple through residential area but it was closed.

Bamboo grove

Day 4 – On day 4 we took the Shinkansen (high speed bullet train) to Osaka. It took us a while to get out of Osaka station as it was so big. When we finally got out, we found Osaka to be a standard, unimpressive modern city so we decided not to linger too long in the city and went straight to the main attraction in Osaka – Osaka-jo castle. It was a nice day and we stayed there for a while taking photos and walking amongst the plum blossoms. At night we returned to Kyoto where we walked around for ages looking for something cheap to eat and were eventually enticed into a restaurant offering cheap meal prices. We went in, took our shoes off and were shown to a little cubicle with a curtain and a table and chairs inside. In the cubicle there was a computer screen where you pressed on what you wanted to order and then clicked send to order your meal. Even though it was all in Japanese, we managed to order a table of tasty dishes thanks to the pictures that were on the screen. At the end I got the bill by pointing to a phrase in the guide book.

Ordering dinner

Day 5 – We went to Kiyomizu-dera shrine overlooking Kyoto and took in some amazing views of Kyoto. We then walked to Sanjusangen-do a shrine: a shrine with 1001 Buddhas and 28 guardian statues. It was a remarkable sight but cameras weren't allowed so I have posted a picture I found on google. We ended the day by walking to Fushin-inari taisha: thousands of red tori (orange gates). Basically, it is 4km of gates leading up a mountain but when we first set off we didn't realise how far it would go on. As neither of us wanted to give up, we ended up trekking 4km up a mountain on a whim just as the sun was setting. That night we treated ourselves to a Burger King for tea as a reward (not that fast food is a treat any more – we seem to eat it every other day. Yesterday we had a sausage donut, fried chicken fat on a stick and a McDonald's just because we have found ordering Japanese food to be so confusing. Although I have gotten quite into MOSBurger, which is the Japanese equivalent of McDonald's except they put a lovely spicy curry sauce on the burger. I feel healthy eating MOSBurger because it is Japanese.

1001 Buddhas 

Day 6 – We visited the Imperial Temple, ex-home of the Emperor. It was pouring with rain and we got absolutely drenched, however the tour was free and it was taken by an English speaking tour guide! Somewhat of a novelty in Japan! After the tour, we dried out in the hostel and went for dinner at an Italian round the corner with an Ozzie from our hostel called Steve. We had a carafe of wine each for about £2.50!

Templing in the rain

Day 7 – On our last day in Kyoto we went on a day trip to Nara, home of the giant golden Buddha statue. Again, it was heavy rain, but we didn't let this deter us. Instead, we squelched around the city and went to the temple where the giant Buddha was. We also saw lots of deer dotted about around the temple with their antlers cut off. I am not sure whether the tourist board has planted them there or if that is their natural habitat. Jemma was keen on stroking them and ended up dropping her glove in a muddy puddle of deer water. By the end of the day we were so cold and soaking wet. We went for a McDonald's and then tucked ourself up in the hostel living room.

Giant Buddha in Nara

By the end of Kyoto we were really sad to leave. The hostel we were in was definitely the best I have ever come across and Kyoto its self is 'what people think of when they think of Japan'. If anyone is thinking of visiting Japan, I would highly recommend basing yourself in Kyoto for the majority of your trip.

Kyoto

The Heian shrine

We have now left Kyoto after a week of temples, shrines, big Buddhas and origami. It was such a fantastic city. We stayed in the best hostel in the world (definitely the best hostel on this trip), Khaosan Kyoto. It was so cosy. It had bunk beds with little curtains for privacy, bed lamps, free internet and a lovely common room with bean bags, cushions and typical Tatami flooring. The best thing though was the people, who were so interesting to talk to and most had a lot of knowledge on Japan to share with us. 

Origami night at the hostel

One girl we got quite friendly with turned out to be the daughter of the British comedian Phil Jupitus. On our first day in Kyoto we went straight off to explore the Heian shrine which is one of the locations off lLost in translation. There were hardly any tourists there (probably because it was so cold) and the gardens were beautiful. We are right at the beginning of cherry blossom season which is a big deal in Japan. The Japanese flock to view these beautiful trees and have picnics underneath them. We think we saw a couple of cherry blossoms but were later told by a tour guide that they were probably plum blossoms. Either way, they looked very pretty and were a stunning backdrop to a lot of the temples. After this shrine, we walked along the Philosophers road, which is a typical Japanese street along the river, scattered with blossom trees and Japanese architecture. It was a gorgeous walk and we bumped into a Canadian man along the way who said its one of those things you don't find anywhere else in the world. For lunch I had chips on a stick which was a new and novel way of eating chips I thought. We then visited a temple called the Silver Pavillion which is one of Lonely Planet's must-sees. I wasn't as impressed as I was with the shrine because it was packed with tourists and you had to pay to get in. It did have some fantastic Zen gardens though, which were like 'Heaven on Earth'. I said this to Jemma and then we later read in the guide book that the gardens are designed to actually represent Heaven on Earth so they clearly got it right if this was what I felt when walking through them! That night we went back to the hostel and learnt how to make origami including crabs, cranes and stars. We got chatting to people in the hostel and ended up going to bed quite late.

The Zen garden

The rest of the week blurs into one big session of temples, food and socialising in the hostel and I can't remember day for day what we did so I will have to have a think offline and come back and write it later because we are off to the Hiroshima memorial museum now.

For now, have a look at the two photo albumbs, they speak for themselves. Kyoto is a really beautiful, cultural, historical city.

Kyoto Photos:   Kyoto 1  Kyoto & Osaka

Japan - Tokyo!

Shinjuku, Tokyo

We have now been in Japan 5 days and I am still not over the culture shock. It is culturally the most different place I have ever been in my life. It is so different to anywhere else I can't even begin to make comparisons. Everything you see in the films and on TV, it's all true – that's what Japan is really like. Its everything I imagined and so much more. A few things that stand out:

Firstly, and obviously, the language. Nobody speaks English and there are barely any westerners here, which makes getting around quite tricky. Luckily Jemma is good at maps and we have some how muddled through on the subways.

Secondly, the people. They are so polite, bowing constantly and there are so many things you are not supposed to do (according to our guide book). For example, you shouldn't blow your nose in public and when someone hands you something, you should take it with both hands. This is only scratching the surface of beginning to describe the etiquette. Needless to say, it has left me feeling a bit on edge at times, worried that I might offend someone.

Another thing that is difficult for me, is the food. I really don't like Japanese food too much and I have tried to adapt to it (eating Octopus with what looks like crape paper on top) but I am constantly having to resist the urge to go to McDonalds. A few other things I have noted with interest: the people are very quiet – sometimes in the street you could hear a pin drop. A lot of people wear those face masks to protect themselves from germs (a lot of people = at least 20% of people), they allow smoking in public! This shocked me when I walked into McDonalds and could smell smoke and then saw there was a smoking and non-smoking section. They love their game arcades, which are very loud and also filled with smoke. They have a lot of girl bands with about 15 members in them who all look under 15 and the bulk of their fan base seems to be made up of middle aged men.... I could continue for ages with all the interesting things we have seen but hopefully my photos speak for themselves. I also forgot to mention the toilets, which often have buttons on them offering various functions from a flushing noise to cover up embarrassing noises, heated seats and little squirts of water that you can clean yourself with and then dry yourself with a little fan button afterwards. I haven't had the guts to try this yet but Jemma tells me it is fun.

Toilet functions

 In spite of this culture shock, I am absolutely loving being here and it is something I have dreamed of for a long time. I am really enjoying the foreignness of it after having spent 5 weeks in Australia, which is basically England but hot. The hostels are world class (literally: the one we are staying in was voted best in the world by hostelworld.com) and the scenery is beautiful. We have a JR rail pass which allows us to travel anywhere we want for 2 weeks and we are currently basing ourselves in Kyoto and hoping to explore the surrounding areas from here.

We started off in Tokyo which was mind boggling, as you can tell by looking at the subway map.

Tokyo subway

We had a really nice hostel and an American room mate who was Japan-mad and told us lots of useful things, such as how to say thank you and hello and how to avoid the infamous groping men on the subway!

We visited the electrical district where all the games arcades are and we saw a boy with the best hand-eye coordination I have ever seen before. We also visited Harijuku which is known for its crazy fashion sense (as referenced in the Gwen Stefani song What you waiting for). In addition to this we went to the busiest crossing in the world in Shibuya (which is where they filmed some of the scenes in Lost in Translation) and we ate at a couple of different noodle bars.

 I managed to find Japanese coco pops for breakfast and Jemma has been having pot noodles. We have been advised (by our crazy Japanese-mad American room mate) to avoid the 'radioactive' tap water and so far I have only eaten one McDonalds in the 4 days we've been here. Also in Tokyo, we walked through the red light district where they have love hotels that you can rent in blocks of three hours and they play seedy music in the street. In this area they also have lots of pet shops with various animals in little incubator like tanks such as kittens, monkeys and meercats. We have also come across a shop where you can go in to pet the cats for an hour (presumably for people who don't have enough room in their house for a pet?).

They also have lots of Manga shops, some of which cross the line into adult shops without too much warning. One of Jemma's favourite things about Japan is the way the trains play music like a toy piano (child-like music) when they arrive, as do garbage trucks (I noticed this today). Everything is colourful and smiley as though a child has thought it up. It really is like nothing else I have ever seen.

We are now in Kyoto which is the beautiful historical old capital and I will write a blog on what we have been up to here in the next few days.

(Internet has been free so far in all hostels!). We came here on the bullet train (Shinkansen) which is also featured in Lost in Translation (my favourite film). I will leave it for now as they are doing a little session upstairs on how to write your name in Japanese and play Japanese board games.

Photos here: Tokyo Photos