Japan 2018:sushi & sake

It is very weird to wake up so close to the ground.   It is a long time since I   have slept on the floor and the last time I did, I had a much thicker mattress.   Despite that it was a very refreshing sleep. Breakfast After another soak in the onsen and a rinse, we went for breakfast.   This was another traditional meal with a dried fish which was delicious.   We also had   soup and a boiled soft egg to be eaten with some rice, and of course no meal is complete without pickles.   It was very delicious and certainly not something I would normally eat for breakfast.   We left our baggage at the Ryokan and slowly walked up the hill to our train station with the hope that when we got to Gora (the station for the cable car) that the cloud may have lifted.   Big drops of rain suggested it would not be so.   On the way up the path to the station, we came across a little Buddhist temple   next door to a lit...

It was not raining when we walked the hundred or so metres to our subway station on our way to Hakone.  We were hoping that this portended well for the next two days since rain was predicted.  As it turned out it was not to be so.     Our little station near the Ryokan I wanted to see how long it took for us to get from the apartment to the Shinkansen (Bullet train) so that we had some idea of the timing for the trip to Kyoto given we will have a very early start on Friday .   It all went quite smoothly.   The train came on time and we quickly found our way to the Chuo rapid line. The train quickly got us to Tokyo Station and about 45 minutes later we had found our entry to the Shinkansen.   Given we are heading off on Friday for Kyoto a bit after 5:30am that should give us some leeway in case of packed trains.   Our destination today was Odawara Station where we would disembark and then get a local train to the Hakone...

We were going to look around the grounds of the Imperial Palace and visit Akususa but heavy rain put paid to that idea.   It was in tropical proportions and was not fun to be in so we went to Tokyo Station to get tickets for the Shinkansen to Kyoto and for a train to Hakone.   All this on our JRpass.   I also found a fast train between Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station, which was great as it took about 15 minutes off the trip.   The most difficult part of using the transport system is navigating ones way from the Oeio Line to the JR station and then finding the right line and platform such is the scale of the rail system.   Then it was a 15 minute or so trip to Tokyo Station with same issue of finding where we were to go to get out tickets.   Such are the challenges of travelling in a new city. The crowds were something to behold.   The previous three days we thought were busy but with people back at work all the trains were c...

Zojo-ji Temple & Tokyo Tower It was a public holiday on Monday but commerce didn’t stop.   Bev had booked a tour of some temples and shrines, with a guide through AirBnB.   A peaceful place The tour started at a station called   Hamamatsucho which conveniently was on a JR line.   Navigating the Japanese public transport system is a nightmare.   There are several companies that run the public transport system.   Japan Railways is but one of the players with what seems to be mostly overground rail whereas there are other companies that run the metro/underground system.   Our JR pass is only good for the JR lines so we are using those as much as possible.   We have also had to get a Pasmo pass which allows us to use the other systems. The deities for little people- keeping their head warm After some wonderful tempura for lunch we met Torai, (a young law student from a country area), for our guided tour.   The f...

Cycleway just down the road from our place After the most delicious sleep I awoke refreshed and was ready to explore this new and different place.   A place where the language is almost foreign, the signs are mostly in an unreadable script and the place is clean, tidy and densely packed with houses and skyscrapers.   A truly new experience.   At one point I said to Bev that it seems to be largely a culture that has he wn its own place, that is modern without being western European.   It has   all the things we are familiar with - cars, iPhones, computers and so on, yet all done in a Japanese way. Parking: If you have a bike you have to park it.  It was very warm and quite humid.   Bev’s big idea was to go to the Shibuya crossing which is reputably the largest pedestrian crossing in the world.   We decided to walk there and to use Google maps as our guide.   It took us on a rather circuitous route and ended...

It was an early start this morning.   I did not have much sleep due, I suspect, to the anticipation of a new and exciting experience.   I wouldn’t normally talk about a taxi experience. However, a month or so ago I was directed to Zoomy (zoomy.co.nz ) which is a competitor to Uber.   They are a small start up operating in Wellington and Auckland but more like a ride share than the taxi company that Uber has become.   I didn’t expect to see one around at 5am in the morning but on checking the the app to see if there was one nearby I was surprised to see there was one down the road.   It was a quick ride to the airport and the cost was two thirds of that of a regular taxi  - even cheaper because I had a bonus for some reason. After a lovely morning in Wellington we arrived to cold drizzle in Auckland. After clearing immigration and a very grumpy customs officer we queued for the security screening along with a lot of other rather tired looking trave...

About five months ago I had a rush of blood to the head.   Why don’t we go to Japan instead of the islands for a week.   This was prompted by a special from Air New Zealand.   Getting the right dates was a bit of a challenge as the preferred dates coincided with the school holidays (and higher prices) whereas later dates conflicted with a wedding and a couple of organised bike rides.   Bev did all the research for a place to stay in Tokyo and what we should do while there. As a result we have a packed itinerary that involves a cycling tour, a walking tour and a night at a traditional inn.   On our penultimate day we are going to go to Kyoto to see the old capital which is meant to be very beautiful with many temples.   This will allow us to experience the bullet train.   We are staying in an AirBnB in Shibuya.   It will be interesting to see how tiny it is.   For the past couple of weeks I have been keeping an eye...