Sunshine and small hills.

A little bit more about Friday. 

The country side around Biei is just beautiful, i had the most pleasant day. After riding back to the town centre and returning the bikes we went off to try and find a restaurant in which to find a nice cold beer.  We walked up and down the main street and it wasn't looking like we were going to find any where as most of the cafes were closed. After a while we found a small yellow painted building that looked somewhat like a cottage house, that was selling beer. Two chilled glasses of Sapporo Star were a perfect end to our time in Biei. 

The train from Biei to Asakikawa was a the Norokko, a scenic  train that was a little slower then the local train, had windows that you could open and seats that faced the window so that sightseers don't strain there backs turning to look out the window ( ok that is not the reason but the seats did face the windows). Traveling by train is so mu ch fun, it is nic e to b able to look out of the window and look at the towns we pass, and the tiny little JR ( Japanese Rail) huts that they have at each station. Some of theses buildings  are just little boxes with seats in them with a big green sign that says JR on them, but they are all slightly different looking and I enjoyed spotting them as we went through each station. 

Back in Asahikawa we went to the supermarket to but groceries for dinner. So far we have decided to cook our own food when posable to save the hassle of finding vegetarian food and ensuring that we are eating protein. Back at the hostel we cooked up a stir fry which was very tasty if I do say so myself, we have been very fortunate that all our self cooking has worked out well so far.  Although I found out last night that one of the sauces we out on the stir fry is meant for putting on BBQ meat and when I tried to use the same sauce on Saturday night, the two Japanese university students that were in the hostel keep giving telling me that it was not for stir fry and were politely persistent that I not use it in my stir fry. Over dinner Isao offered us saki and we sat around drinking saki, eating the rock mellon I had bought and  talking with him a the other guests until 11pm. It is so nice to try out my limited Japanese with our hosts and the Japanies guests, it is so great to have David here as I he has a better knowledge of Japanese then I do and so I can ask when I don't know or forget a word, or am worried about the pronunciation. 

Friday 28th.

Friday the 28th. 

Friday felt like our first true day as sightseers. After a sleep in that I have been looking forward for the last week or so and the purchase of a sunhat we went off to Biei, a small town surrounded by farming land. 

We rented bikes and road around the country side for the rest of the day. 

It was an extremely pleasant day, riding, eating  mystery baked goods ( I did well with a cheese role and a pumpkin role but David did not fair so well). I got to sit beneath birch trees and paint ( which always makes me happy) and having a travel companion is lots of fun - I can understand why The Doctor always finds a companion to travel with. Anyway I have tot go to eat dinner.

Lots of love,

Acushla. 

Thursday afternoon.

Thursday afternoon the  27th. 

A few remarks about our first afternoon in Asahikawa. Walking from the station to the hostel we got a little confused about where we were on the map and it took us a while to find the hostel (the streets were numbered 1to 8 West-East and 1-9 South - North, we had got our x and y coordinates incorrect and our starting point was not were we thought we were on the map). After that small misadventure we found our hostel which was described on a hostel website as 'devastatingly hip'. The couple that run the hostel Yukari and Isao are lovely and have been very nice to us - more on that later. After dropping off our bags it was time to find a late lunch. The task of trying to find vegetarian food in Japan is always a challenge but we were extremely lucky and found a restaurant called Chaos=Heaven. This restaurant plays  jazz and reggae music and has  picture of Bob Marly on the tree centrepiece which is made up of a number of tree branches that have been tied together. This cafe sells one soup with slight variations, one of these variations  is to have no meat!  The name of the vegetarian option was 'Vegetables for health' you could choose the amount of rice you wanted and David ordered more servings of egg so that we could try and have m ore protein. This soup was fantastic!! It was full of different vegetables cooked in different ways, for instance the pumpkin, eggplant, carrot and potato were roasted in the oven, the asparagus, tomato and cabbage were blanched and the okra and capsicum were uncooked. Um um!! (we are going back tonight to have some more as it is our last night in Asahikawa.) 

After lunch we walked over to the park, now I have heard of people going to parks and feeding birds but usually they are swans, ducks or pigeons, but not in Japan. We saw a lady throwing bread into the air to feed the eagles (washi).  She would through the bread up and the eagle would swoop down to snatch it out of the air. 

After going back to the hostel for an afternoon snooze we went out in search of dinner we certainly had less luck this time round in finding vegetarian food. We ended up going to Lawsons (a omnipresent  convenient store that  live up to its tittle and is very convenient). We bought tofu, miso, noodles and beer for dinner and eggs, bread, bananas, yogurt  for breakfast the next day. With rumbly tummies we went back to the hostel  and cooked up a little feast. In the tiny kitchen ( I will upload some photos of the hostel at some point so you can have a look).  With full tummies and a plan to go out to explore Beie the next day we went to bed

Day one and two.

26-27th June.

We are now on a train from New Chitose airport to Asahikawa.  So far it feels like we have spent most of our time in airports  but that not far from the truth.

- David says now that we are on a train he feels like we have finally escaped from the sinister clutches of the airport ( or something to that effect).  

The flight from Melbourne to Cains, Cains to Narita was pleasant enough and having company truly made the flight more enjoyable. I am still winning at Set (a patten recognition game that David and  I can play on my ipad) but I think by the end of this trip David could be giving me a run for my money. 

Arriving at Narita airport at 8pm last night, we managed to wind our way through immigration and customs find an ATM that would accept one of our debit cards ( a more confusing experience then I remember) and find a pay phone to call our hostel to come and pick us up. 

Yamamoto San was in charge of the hostel and he can to pick us and some other  guests up from the airport. He was very thoughtful and drove us all to a seven eleven to pick up things for dinner. With noodle salads and inari for dinner, and some yogurt and pancakes for breakfast the next day we went to the hostel for to eat and get to bed. 

The next day day (today the 27th) brought with it a pleasant surprise, a sunrise at 4:30 which meant that it was light outside when we got up at 5:30 so while it was still an early morning it was much easier to bear. Yamamoto San drove us back to the airport when David got to see how vending machine coffee was like ( so far it seams that it is drinkable and some what reminiscent of instant coffee). 

The blue sky has come out!! Until now it has been overcast and raining since we arrived in Japan, but now the blue sky has come out and looks beautiful against the green fields ( pictures provided). We are nearly at Asahikawa where  hope to find some lunch and  have our first recognisance of Japan. 

Japan: Round Two.

Well off I go to Japan again. 

This time I have a travel companion for the first two week and I am very exited to be traveling with someone. I it is not something that I have done for a while (last time was three weeks with Robert in Spain and France). David and I will be spending two weeks in Hokkaido and a few days in Tokyo and then I will be off to the Chubu region for a week. It is a short trip as I have to get back to prepare for second semester of uni but no less I expect to have a wonderful time. 

It has been a bit of a hassle getting everything organised as I have been needing to study for exams at the same time, but today I have finished packing and there is only a sketch pad and hair pins to buy tomorrow before my exam.  Only two exams and three sleeps are between me and a plane to Japan. 

Very very exited.

I'll let you know how it goes when we arrive in Japan.


Acushla