North to Nikko

Friday saw us head 150km north to the beautiful  traditional town of Nikko where Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples exist side by side and have done so for some 1200 years.   The shrine area celebrates the Tokogawa shogunate – and is a particularly pretty town and a very popular tourist attraction.  The shrine, which consists of several buildings, is magnificent, ornately decorated and beautifully maintained and the autumn colours are just starting to show in the surrounding trees.  A long climb to the top of the mountain where the Shogun is buried certainly tested our fitness and we felt the effects on our calves and quads for quite some time afterwards.  A magnificent lunch in one of the local restaurants was another highlight.  The lunch consisted of a duck and noodle hot-pot, tempura vegetables and prawn, with pickled and fresh vegetables and mountain ferns with a bowl of rice and pots of green tea.

 On the return journey to Tokyo we visited the Meiji Emperor’s summer palace where the fantastic  gardens are just starting to show the autumn colours and we loved the walk around the gardens as well as our tour through the palace which is a huge timber house of many rooms – very simple and very beautiful.  There is little ornamentation and no furniture or pictures, the beauty lies in the simplicity and proportions of the rooms.  The inner court-yards which help to keep the house cool in the summer, are accessed by sliding screens and windows and create picture- like views of the gardens – a quite stunning experience.

North to Nikko & Summer Palace

Day 4 in Tokyo

We’re flying blind here friends, because, for some reason, Blogger has changed the settings on my dashboard for the blog and all the commands are in Japanese.  So, we’ll persevere and hope that all will be well when this stuff is posted.  Unfortunately I can’t caption the photos until I can read the edit settings. 

Tokyo – an amazing city – a mix of 21^st century and 17^th century, when the Edo period was in full swing with the Emperor Meiji who ruled the area.  This is a city of 12 million people which swells to 15 million on weekdays with commuters working in the city.  We really didn’t experience the full impact until trying to access the subway at 9.30 yesterday morning when the “pushers” were at work helping to cram the last few poor souls into the doors.  Standing room only has never been quite as meaningful – that’s not a gun in your pocket, is it?

We have covered a huge amount of territory, mostly in and around the central city where everybody is polite and pleasant and respectful.  The people are all well dressed and well-mannered, the streets are spotless and nobody drops rubbish.  Even on the streets there are designated smoking areas, no talking on mobile phones on the train, although they are constantly texting and we haven’t heard one angry voice. 

We’ve visited shrines, markets, parks and shopping areas and are constantly greeted with a welcome.  The amount of green space has been a revelation and parks which were hunting grounds for the shoguns and Emperors are still reserved for the people and are quite spectacular and beautifully maintained.  There are many small shrines dotted throughout the city and each has its own grounds, with lovely lawns, trees and ornamental lakes.

The train system is amazing.  I guess it has to be to move so many people each day, but there are a dozen or so train lines, mostly underground, and all the trains and stations are spotless, although crowded.  It is amazingly efficient and many of the underground stations have their own food mall where people can buy take-away or they can eat in lovely restaurants.  Once we got a handle on the system, we were able to move around the city quite easily – much quicker than trying to get around above ground.  There are often 2 or more stations only 100 metres apart, but at different levels and on different rail lines, so it takes a bit of working out. 

Food!!!!!!!

We have been blown away by the variety and quality of the food we’ve encountered.  This morning (Thursday), we caught an early train and went to the wholesale market, where every day, there is an auction of the fresh fish caught yesterday.  The auction starts at 5.30am and is for dealers only (plus a few lucky observers) although we weren’t there that early.  We had a recommendation from a restaurateur from last night’s dinner, to go to a sushi place for breakfast and it was incredible – straight out of the market onto our (banana leaf) plate – amazing.  And the rest of the market was incredible – salmon and tuna, flounder and deep sea fish, trevally and squid, all fresh each day.  On the other side of the market is the fruit and vegetable area, many of these coming straight from the boats from the US and other areas.

Last night we ate at a tiny restaurant just a hundred metres or so from the hotel, which we’d read about on Trip Advisor and it was great – the food was so-so, but the owner and other patrons gave us a night to remember with their inclusiveness and warmth.  The night before we ate at another tiny local restaurant where the chef and his wife ran the place and they have a son who is currently in Melbourne on a cultural exchange for 2 months – he’s actually Junior Surfing Champion of Japan.  So again we were made extremely welcome and the food was fantastic.  He deep-fried in panco crumbs, the most amazing pork loin chops, succulent and delicious, sliced with shredded cabbage and rice.  An amazing meal. 

Food prices are fairly equivalent to home, but we have managed to find “set menu” lunches, generally for $8 - $10 plus a $4 beer, so it’s quite economical, but delicious.  We’ve tried many different types of food from yakitori to udon noodles, to tempura and sushi and sashimi.  Yesterday’s breakfast consisted of udon noodles with a raw egg on top, a serve of salad and a green tea.  Very Healthy!  Well back to work – just finished our pre-dinner drinks and we’re off to find another tiny local restaurant where we might finish up with anything!  Each little place specialises in only one thing – be it chicken, fish, pork, yakitori or whatever and given that we can’t read the signs before we go in, we’re prepared for anything.

Off to Nikko tomorrow - looking forward to that.  Nikko is a beautiful town about 100km north of Tokyo and the site of one of the most amazing shrines I've ever seen, although my recollection is some 30 years old.

Touring Tokyo

Raining in Tokyo

Tuesday in Tokyo dawned with a fine mist of rain and gradually, throughout the day, morphed into a very steady and very wet evening.  In fact tomorrow, we’re expecting a typhoon off the coast, so much so that our planned trip to Mt. Fuji has been cancelled.  Still, we’ve not been idle in the rain, as Tokyo-ites seem to ignore it and just get on with it.  We finished up buying umbrellas today in the 100 yen shop – actually they were 210 yen, or about $2.30, each.  Today we enjoyed the company of our volunteer guide, Sumiko, who Jules found on the www. Just Google – free guides in Tokyo.  We started today with a visit to the local shrine – Sojo-ji temple – which is a quite spectacular garden and building.  From there we trained to Meguro and wandered the residential area and to the beautiful temple with spectacular gardens.  An early lunch in a quiet back-street basement was a highlight of the day – fine slices of pork, with rice and noodles, miso soup and a jelly-like dessert with tea for 800yen each – amazing value.

In the afternoon, we travelled by JR rail to Shibuya, which is famous as the busiest 4-way pedestrian crossing in the world – when the lights change, all traffic stops and the intersection is engulfed by a huge tide of pedestrians.  From there we walked to the Meiji Shrine – an incredibly calm and peaceful green oasis in the middle of Tokyo and a spectacular wooden shrine, dating back to 1920 and re-built after WW2.  A visit to the 40^th floor of the World Trade Centre gave us a hazy view of Tokyo as it was raining quite persistently by this time – it would be incredible on a clear day.  After this we crossed to Shibuya – the hub of Japan’s youth culture, where all those pretty young things buy all the bling, weird clothes and shoes they wear here.  Amazing!

When we arrived on Sunday night, we dropped our bags off at the hotel, Shiba Park, and set off to find somewhere to eat and get a beer.  Not far away, at Daimon, we found an izakaya (bar) on the corner and stopped in for a beer and stayed for an hour with noodles, yakitori (skewers) and a noisy time with the locals.  Monday morning we set off for an organised tour (1/2 day) to give us an overview of the city and its main sights.  A glorious day, temp around 24 deg and a visit to Tokyo tower gave us spectacular views over the city.  We also visited the Imperial Palace where we were fortunate enough to glimpse the Emperor and Empress leaving the grounds for an appointment.  The day was a public holiday for Sports Day commemorating the opening day of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  Our guide indicated that we were very lucky because she’d only seen the Royal couple twice in 8 years of guiding.  We then went to Asakusa, an old area whose main attraction is the temple Senso-ji, a spectacular temple with a traditional shopping street leading to it.  Very crowded but very colourful. 

In the afternoon we managed to navigate the metro and JR (above-ground) rail and we lunched in Kitchen Street,  in the basement of the main Tokyo Railway station.  The basement has been converted into a food mall, where almost every type of local food is available.  A visit to Shinjuku, a major shopping area,  and Odieba – a man-made island in Tokyo Bay followed, once we navigated the transition from the Metro to the Tokyo Monorail which takes you to the island.  Odieba has bizarre architecture, huge shopping malls, children’s entertainment and a petite replica Statue of Liberty.  Given that this was a holiday long weekend, it was very crowded (& quite crass in many ways).  We finished up in the Ginza which had been converted to a pedestrian mall for the holiday and watched as the sun set and the light came on – quite spectacular.

Raining in Tokyo

-Yes, it's raining in Tokyo today.  Started out as a misty drizzle this morning and gradually became an annoyingly wet, heavy drizzle but it hasn't stopped us from doing anything.  Today was our day with our volunteer guide, Sumiko, who teaches English part-time at an International School.  We bought umbrellas at the 100 yen shop - actually they cost 210 yen, or about $2.30.  Today we covered a lot of territory, much of it off the beaten (tourist) track because that is one of the advantages of having a private guide.  We visited Zojo-ji Temple this morning which is only a few hundred metres from our hotel, then off to Meguro Gajo-en - an old mansion which has been rebuilt into a 21st century hotel - spectacular.  Lovely gardens and a major wedding celebration spot.  We stopped at another beautiful temple and then lunched at a fantastic little restaurant in the back streets of Meguro.  Whoever said that Tokyo was expensive (probably me) hasn't lived like a local.  Three fantastic meals for less than $20.

We then travelled on JR (above ground) and Metro (underground) rail to Meiji Shrine which is one of the most beautiful places in central Tokyo with spectacular gardens nestled in an oasis, quite close to Harajuku street where the pretty young things like to shop.  We then went to Shinjuku where the busiest intersection in the world allows several thousand people to cross the intersection at each change of lights - all traffic is stopped and the intersection is open to pedestrians.  An amazing sight.

Yesterday we did a half day tour of Tokyo including a visit to the observation level of Tokyo Tower and fortunately, the weather yesterday was spectacular - fine and sunny and 24 degrees.  We saw most of the major sites (very quickly) and it gave us a quick overview of the layout and what we wanted to re-visit.  In the afternoon, we validated our rail passes and caught the monorail to Obeida, a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, which is something of a pleasure palace with shopping malls, restaurants, a huge ferris wheel and amusements for kids and adults, including some quite spectacular buildings.  We finished up at dusk in Ginza which is as spectacular as all the stories tell us - the road had been closed during the day because yesterday was a public holiday (Sports Day) which commemorated the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Sports Day reminds me now of our experience at the Emporer's Palace Garden, which we visited with the 1/2 day tour - the main plaza was closed because the Emporer and Empress were on their way to a function and we were told to keep behind the barriers.  As it happened, we were waiting for the cars to pass so we could get into the plaza and the motorcade passed and we were within a few metres of the Emporer's car when the windows were down and the Royal couple waved to us from the car - actually to me specifically!  Quite an experience as the average Tokyo-ite may see them perhaps once or twice in a life-time.

Sunday night when we arrived here, after an hour's drive in from the airport, we managed to dump our bags and freshen up and, desperately in need of a drink and some sustenance, we found an Izakaya on the corner at the end of the street, we went in and thoroughly enjoyed a typical Tokyo experience - a simple meal of yakitori (bbq skewers of chicken, pork and seafood) with a bowl of noodles and several beers.  Fantastic!

Last night, after our busy day, we bought spirits in the 7/11 and enjoyed a couple of quiter ones in our room before heading out for dinner.  Being Sports Day, a public holiday, many of the regular places were closed and we finished up in a local restaurant where we had no idea what we were going to get.  No english spoken except a few fractured words but we eventually found that it was a chicken restaurant, so we were quite happy with that.  Then we realised that the degustation menu included 10 courses of the chicken from one end to the other - yakitori cooked on an enlarged hibashi.  We 'enjoyed' wings, thighs, gizzard, quail eggs, sashimi (seared outside - raw inside), breast, skin, liver and hip, along with yakitori vegetable and some fabulous salads

Here we go again

Well, here we are again – off on another adventure.  Drinks in the Malaysian Airlines Lounge at Melbourne Airport, sustaining ourselves for an overnight to Kuala Lumpur, a few hours in transit then a flight through to Tokyo, for 4 weeks on the ground in Japan.  It’s a long time since I’ve been there and the Princess is looking forward to her first experience in this beautiful place.

A lot of research on her part has ensured that we have an itinerary taking in most of the highlights that Honshu has to offer and in a number of places, Jules has organised “greeters”, or volunteer guides, to get us away from the main attractions and it will allow us to see the more unusual and out-of-the-way places, so that we can experience the local colour.

A week in Tokyo will be followed by 2 nights in Takayama in the mountains to the west, then another 2 nights in Kanazawa on the west coast.  If you’ve been following Adam Liaw, that’s where his wife’s family comes from and his show highlighted the town, just this week.  From there we go to Kyoto, Hiroshima and then Osaka and a few days in KL on the way home.

So follow along and we’ll try to paint the picture, in words and photos, of this most beautiful country.