Our Travel Blog

From Tokyo back to Perth

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:22:49 +0900

Our last day in Japan began with a trip to the top of Tokyo Tower. This striking Eiffel Tower lookalike was less than 500 m from our hotel and had been beckoning us all holidays. Today was the first day that the peak of the tower had not been surrounded by clouds, so we paid our 800 yen and joined the queue.

The elevator ride to the top was quick and smooth and, before we knew it, we were at the summit of the Tokyo skyline. The view was spectacular --- You could even make out Mt Fuji in the hazy distance!

The tower includes radio and TV antennae and a Shinto shrine at the very top. A dizzying ‘skywalk’ section included a glass floor where you could look down at the ant-like people 150 m below. We were more than happy to have our feet back on solid ground after this!

After this, we made a last trip to Tokyo’s shopping district, Ginza, in the hope of finding a few last presents for the family back home. Miraculously, we found ourselves in front of the Ginza Apple Store, a five-storey shrine to all things Macintosh. Despite the temptation (Paul, not Anneleis) to sit in the theaterette all day and watch software demonstrations in Japanese, we had a plane to catch. So, we made our way back to the train station to take one last bullet train to the airport.

Our trip to Japan was amazing --- an eye-opening cultural experience. We have seen so many incredible things. But, at the same time, it has reminded us of how much we really love our home. It will be wonderful to be back in Perth with our family and friends, enjoying the Australian sunshine.

Roll on Australia Day!

Tokyo Disneyland!

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:24:20 +0900

Today was one of the absolute highlights of our holiday: a visit to the Magic Kingdom --- Tokyo Disneyland. They call this the happiest place on Earth and, based on our day there, they might be right.

The morning started off grey and drizzly and we thought that this might keep the crowds away. How wrong we were! While this may have been a ‘quiet’ day for the park, there must have been at least 20,000 people pass through the gates during the day. However, in typical Disney style, the cast members (read: employees) kept the crowds moving smoothly and even the sun made a special appearance above Cinderella’s castle within an hour of us entering. Another Disney miracle included the huge number of birds -- including robins, pigeons and ducks ---- which had been conspicuously absent from smog-filled Tokyo.

While the rides at Disneyland were a little on the tame side, they were still a load of fun. You cannot visit this place and leave without a smile on your face. We rode racing cars, went on a Star Wars tour of the universe and zapped aliens on behalf of Buzz Lightyear. We explored the globe in miniature at “It’s a Small World” (and gained a new appreciation for the ‘Duff Gardens’ episode of the Simpsons). We rode an indoor rollercoaster through pitch-blackness at Space Mountain (now, that was scary!) and laughed ourselves silly while riding the crazy spinning cars through Roger Rabbit’s Toontown.

But the most amazing part of the day was the free entertainment. We watched two stage shows that, by themselves, would have been worth the price of admission. One of the shows (‘Dreams Within’) is held in front of the castle at sunset. This show is so popular that they hold a lottery to allocate tickets. Guess what? We won a spot! --- We truly are two of the luckiest people around.

The park holds two parades every day (one in the day and one at evening) and they are truly spectacular. The night parade apparently includes over one million twinkling lights.

What an amazing day! I think I took more photos today than I have in the rest of the holiday combined. We went home tired but happy, excited in the knowledge that in less than 36 hours we will be see our families again. Despite all the amazing things that we have seen, home is still the place that we like best.

A quiet day in Tokyo

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:53:24 +0900

We awoke this morning to the clamour of sirens. We quickly rushed to our hotel window to find dozens of firefighters lined up with hoses in front of the next door shrine. We had a few nervous moments as the firefighters extended their ladders and began dousing the shrine with water. However, we soon realised that this was nothing more than an elaborate fire drill designed to protect this ancient wooden building. In hindsight, this should have been obvious --- it was pouring with rain at the time!
 From this rude awakening, we had to decide what to do with our day. It was certainly not a very nice day to be outside and Paul seemed to be coming down with a touch of the flu. However, there was a city to be seen so we wrapped ourselves up in warm clothes and ventured out to on the subway. We have finally got the hang of how to purchase subway tickets (We previously had quite a few embarrassing moments when the ticketing gates had slammed shut on us because we hadn’t paid full fare) and were soon travelling around the subway like locals.

We first visted Shinjuku, home to some massive skyscrapers including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices. These offices include a free observatory on the 45th floor where, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, today was anything but a clear day so all we could see were the clouds that surrounded the top of the building!

We continued exploring for a few more hours until eventually the cold and wet got too much for us. We stocked up on what western food we could find (margarine comes in a tube here!) and headed back to our hotel room. We are going to try and get some R & R since tomorrow is a big day --- Tokyo Disneyland!

Tokyo via Himeji

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:14:11 +0900

Today was our last major train ride of our holiday --- from Hiroshima back to Tokyo, However, we decided to break up the long journey with a visit to Japan’s most celebrated castle town: Himeji.

Despite seeing the castle in endless photos, nothing prepares you for the scale of Himeji. The castle itself is six storeys tall and appears even more imposing as a result of the enormous hill upon which it is situated. This provided the lords of the castle a commanding view of the surrounding countryside and an almost impenetrable defence against invaders. Indeed, much of modern Himeji is situated inside what was once a system of moats and walls protecting the castle town.

We began our tour by visiting the West Bailey, a walled palace built for Princess Sen in the 1600s. Before entering, we were asked to remove our shoes and carry them with us in a plastic bag (Indeed, one of my lasting memories of the tour was the care with which the staff carefully cleaned and folded these hundreds of plastic bags for re-use by the next day’s visitors). This building was remarkable enough in itself, consisting of countless rooms, armaments and protective stone walls. However, it appeared little more than a servants quarters when compared to the grandeur of the main tower.

The journey to the top of the tower was fascinating. The walls of every level were lined with armament racks that would originally have been filled with swords (and later guns) to protect the castle. The windows were specially designed to allow the inhabitants of the castle to throw spears, pour boiling oil and even empty chamber pots on the heads of an attacking army. Finally, there were hidden rooms from which defenders could spring in the unlikely event that all other defences were breached.

Put simply, this castle was the ultimate home ground advantage.

Upon returning to the train station, we had around an hour before our shinkansen (bullet train) was due to depart. So we headed into the nearby underground market which sold everything imaginable, from 10,000 yen ($170) rockmelons to CDs from the latest Japanese boy band (‘Queen of the Pirates’, a bunch of young male Japanese singers dressed up with eyepatches and peg legs. Only in Japan!).

While at the market, Paul was quite taken with this noodle bowl that he found outside a restaurant. Clearly, a still photo cannot do the scene justice, so here is a video.

Kyoto to Hiroshima

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:41:04 +0900

We headed out early this morning to explore Kyoto’s national museum which was just across the road from our hotel. The museum was housing an exhibition of artefacts from the Kyoto Gosyo (Kyoto’s imperial palace). Here we saw swords, kimonos, scrolls and screen paintings that had once belonged to the Emperors of Japan. Some of these were up to 800 years old! Our only regret was that we were unable to read any of the kanji (Japanese writing) in the exhibition. It really gave us an appreciation of how much we take our literacy for granted.

Next, we grabbed some lunch and hopped on the Shinkansen (or bullet train). I made a video of the train as it pulled in. And then broke the handle of my suitcase because I was rushing to get on :(

We arrived at Hiroshima, checked into our hotel and then headed down the main street towards the Peace Memorial Park. The amazing thing about this city is that there is as much going on underneath the streets as there is on top. There is a whole network of underground arcades and passageways filled with pedestrians shopping and staying out of the cold.

We arrived at the A-Bomb dome and it was a sobering site. The building was undergoing maintenance as the city has committed to preserving the site in it’s half-collapsed state forever. As you can imagine, this is no mean feat.

The Park was beautiful and peaceful, with a busker quietly playing his guitar as the river flowed gently by. Many of the monuments were adorned with paper cranes in memory of Sadako, a young Japanese girl who died of radiation sickness following the bombing. The feeling was one of serenity, mixed with a determination never to forget what had happened.

We then proceeded into the Peace Memorial Museum. This was a highly emotional experience and one that can really only be felt not described.

Perhaps the most poignant reminder of the need for this memorial were the hundreds of telegrams sent by successive mayors of Hiroshima protesting every time that a nation tests another nuclear weapon. The memorial includes an eternal flame that will burn continually until every last nuclear weapon in the world is destroyed. Unfortunately, the flame seems likely to burn a little longer yet. Some lessons are not easily learned.

We left the Peace Park and walked silently back to our hotel. The silence was broken only by Paul’s tears of joy when he spotted a Subway Restaurant in the distance. After nothing but Japanese food for a week, the prospect of a custom-made sandwich seemed too good to be true.

Tomorrow, we head back to Tokyo and hope to stop off at Himeji Castle. It should be an exciting day.

Kyoto, Day 2

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:38:19 +0900

Today we walked. And walked. And then walked some more.

We started the day by following the Lonely Planet guide’s recommended walking tour of Southern Higashiyama. We made our way through the narrow, cobble-stoned laneways of old Kyoto up streets with names like Chawan-Zaka (‘Teapot Lane’) until we eventually made it to one of the highest points in Kyoto: the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

At the temple, we paid 100 yen and took a journey into the tainai-meguri or ‘belly of the buddha’. We descended down the stairs into pitch blackness with only a hand rail to guide us. Eventually a shaft of light illuminated a smooth stone etched with sanskrit characters. Apparently, many pilgrims come here to make a wish in the dark. It was certainly a remarkable place.

We then walked into Gion, Kyoto’s entertainment district and home to most of Japan’s few remaining geishas. We were lucky enough to see two geishas walking by, although one of them confessed to us that she was simply a tourist who had got into the spirit of things by dressing up!

Despite being offered a ride in a rickshaw, we politely declined and continued to walk. We ended up in the Maruyama-koen park which is apparently the feature of Kyoto’s cherry blossom celebrations. Even in the middle of winter, the park was stunning. The trees had that ancient, gnarled beauty that comes from hundreds of years of patient attention.

Many of the trees had little pieces of paper tied to their branches. Apparently these are fortunes that are given out at the Shinto shrines. If a person receives a good fortune, he or she generally keeps it. However, if the person receives a bad fortune, the paper is tied to a cherry tree, freeing the person from the bad luck.

Next, we headed out to the Kyoto Handicrafts Centre, which was a good few kilometres from our hotel. It was a little disappointing, since many of the hands-on activities had finished for the day when we arrived. However, we did manage to pick up a few nice souvenirs for the family back home.

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant where the food was cooked in front of us on a large iron hotplate. Paul particularly appreciated this, since he could stop them straight away if it looked like the chef was adding anything suspicious. The net result was a delicious meal, perhaps the best we have had since we arrived in Japan.

Upon returning to the hotel, there was only one thing left to do.... the laundry! Some chores don’t go away even when you are on holidays :(

Hakuba to Kyoto

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:01:36 +0900

Today was a transit day. We made our way from Hakuba to Japan’s ancient capital Kyoto. This involved a car ride, a bus trip, two train journeys and a taxi ride. Phew!

While our journey took a long time (almost seven hours all up), we didn’t mind because we were constantly surprised by the ever-changing scenery. From the snowy peaks of Nagano to the built-up cityscape of Nagoya and the old-world charm of Kyoto, there was always something interesting to see out the window. Plus, we took some time to catch up on our reading and postcard-writing (We are aware that we will probably make it home before the postcards, but that is one of the joys of travelling).

Around 4 o’clock, we checked into our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, which is probably the best hotel I have ever stayed in my entire life. The service is impeccable with the staff practically falling over themselves to carry our bags. This was something of a contrast to the Wind Jacket Lodge, where items such as towels were considered an optional extra.

We then headed out in search of some dinner. Being vegetarian and not speaking the language, I am finding it a little difficult to find suitable meals (particularly since every meal, even breakfast, seems to include fish!). However we finally found a place with an English language menu and got a delicious meal for under 1000 yen.

Well, today was a long day. We are looking forward to getting our tomorrow and exploring the city properly.

Hakuba, Day 3

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:29:57 +0900

Today, we headed off on a great adventure... without even meaning to! Anneleis wasn’t feeling very well, so we headed off in search of some aspirin. What followed was a three hour odyssey where our two intrepid adventurers searched shop after shop finding a great amount of beer for sale but, strangely enough, no aspirin. Eventually, we tracked down a chemist that actually sold aspirin. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was in the aisle next to the beer.

While Anneleis rested, Paul headed back to the mountain and tackled his biggest challenge yet. The Sakka Kittaone Quad run. If this sounds scary, it most certainly was! Sure, there was a sign that said “beginner’s run” but don’t let that fool you. This was the highest, most terrifying ski run that Paul had ever faced in his entire three days of skiing.

After taking a deep breath, Paul headed off and was pleased to discover that while the mountain was very high, the slope was actually quite gentle. The only things to worry about were the sheer drop to a certain death on one side and the queue of people trying to overtake him on the other.

Paul somehow made it to the bottom with all of the bones in his body still intact. After enjoying the rush of exhilaration, he decided it was time to say goodbye to the mountain. We had come, we had seen, we had conquered.

Hakuba, Day 2

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:26:52 +0900

Well the time had come. No more fancy private lessons. It was time for us to tackle the mountain on our own.

We found the shortest chairlift we could see and hopped on. The ride seemed to take forever, but eventually we got to the top and prepared to dismount. As we left the chairlift, both of us fell over immediately, causing something of a traffic jam. Not a good start.

We stood at the top of the mountain for what felt like an eternity, looking for that perfect moment when there were no other skiers to collide with. Finally, with a cry of ‘no guts, no glory’, Paul pushed off and started hurtling down the mountain. Realising that beginners weren’t really supposed to go this fast, Paul stopped in the most efficient way possible --- by falling flat on his face. Luckily, the snow was soft and powdery and no serious damage was done. However, Paul’s method of stopping proved to be one that both he and Anneleis relied on quite a bit during the day.

By afternoon the fall tally seemed even, with Paul trying hard to out-do Anneleis. However, the falls were becoming less frequent and there were an increasing number of occasions where we made it from the top of the run to the bottom while remaining upright.

Eventually, Anneleis decided that the lure of a warm fire and a good book was irresitable. Paul, however, persisted with skiing and eventually became quite proficient at turning, stopping and screaming ‘get out of my way if you don’t want to die!’.

As evening fell, we decided that a quiet night was in order (Our bank balance certainly suggested this). We settled in for a hot bowl of instant noodles (Aussie snowboarders live on these, apparently) and watched a soppy movie on the laptop. We fell into bed, tired and sore and missing our families terribly. Nonetheless, we plan to wake up fresh tomorrow ready for the adventures that are still to come.

Hakuba, Day 1

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:53:48 +0900

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland of snow and ice. We are in the town of Hakuba which is part of the Nagano Prefecture, home of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The mountains around here are absolutely huge. They really put the Australian ‘Alps’ to shame.

We are staying in the ‘Wind Jacket Lodge’ which is ---- how shall we put it? ---- cosy and compact. It is very much a backpacker-style lodge with friendly people, beer in the vending machines and not much else. The main attraction at Hakuba is, of course, the snow and today there was plenty of it to go around.

The first thing we did was go for a ride to the top of the mountain on the highest chairlift we could find. Obviously, this is not common practice because the man at the top started shouting at us in Japanese when he saw that we weren’t wearing skis! He then sent us back down to the bottom (which was what we wanted all along).

After arranging our equipment, we decided that it was time to learn how to ski. All of the group lessons were in Japanese so we dug deep into our wallets (17,000 yen. Ouch!) and arranged a private lesson with a charming Korean instructor called Kirk. Kirk quickly got us moving, although getting us to stop was a bit more difficult!

After a few tumbles (Anneleis 4, Paul 0) we started to get the hang of things. We are now feeling a bit more confident and are hoping to hit the chairlifts tomorrow. Only this time, we’ll be wearing our skis!

Eight hours in Tokyo

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:52:25 +0900

After a nine hour flight from Perth, we arrived at Narita (Tokyo) Airport this morning at around 9 am. After the heat wave that we’ve had back home, it was a real shock to discover that the maximum temperature was a rather brisk five degrees!

The bus to the ski fields wasn’t leaving until late in the evening, so we decided to hop on the train for a quick day trip to Tokyo. The train wasn’t cheap (approximately $100 for both of us) but it sure beat being stuck in an airport all day!

The first thing that we did was explore the gardens of the Imperial Palace. This is where Japan’s emperor lives and it is truly a remarkable place. In contrast to the rest of Japan (which is incredibly crowded) the gardens are enormous and mostly empty. The Palace itself is surrounded by a giant moat and high high stone walls, a relic from the days when the Emperor’s position wasn’t quite so secure.

We passed through the beautiful Hibiya Park, which (unlike the Imperial Palace) was filled with people. There were people jogging, playing soccer and practising their baseball pitching --- all during their lunch hour!

We then headed across to the Ginza area, Tokyo’s shopping district. This has every big brand name that you can imagine --- from Tiffany’s to Louis Vitton to Sony --- although somehow Paul managed to miss the Apple Store. That will be rectified later in the trip.

You could purchase almost anything in Ginza... for a price. Japan is certainly living up to its reputation as an expensive country; although, to be fair, the airport, shopping districts and the ski fields aren’t exactly the places to go looking for a bargain!

We then took a bus to the Hakuba ski fields. We arrived at 2 am and were greeted with the news that almost 60cm of fresh powder had just been dumped on the town. We went to bed extremely tired but excited to finally be in the snow. Tomorrow is going to be exciting!