shinkansen!

I left Tokyo on Tuesday morning on a Shinkansen bound for Nagoya, I then got on a train that had extra big windows so that you could look at the scenery as you went up the into the mountains. I forgot how much fun riding the Shinkansen is it is really the best way to travel long distances so much more comfortable then a bus of aeroplane and it takes from the centre of one city to the centre of another no need to trek in from the periphery like an aeroplane (although granted no where near as fast as a aeroplane). I sat back listened to music, ate my food and watched the world wiz by the window. After a short change over in Nagoya it was off to Takayama, a slower trip but with very nice views as the train followed the river for the last half of the trip. 

I dropped my bag of at my hostel and then walked to the preserved area of the town where there are still old houses and shops. I then went and sat under a willow tree by the river, to do some painting. While I was painting I had two people come up to me to say hello. The first was a Japanese lady that had come up on a bus trip for the day to go sightseeing. Her English was not very good and my Japanese doesn't go beyond, hello, I'm from Australia, it is hot today, are you sightseeing... So  we spent quite some time smiling and nodding as we tried to make each other understood. The second person was a local man who was pushing his mountain bike home, he tolled me that as he was retired his hobby now was to go bike riding in the country side. He had very good English and even said goodbye by saying cherio! He was very lovely to talk with and I really liked getting to talk to two Japanese people it is not something that happens as much in big cites like Tokyo even Saporro it doesn't happen. 

I went to the supermarket to pick up some tofu (it was the worst I have had so far in Japan) and went back to the hostel to make miso. The other guests in the hostel were nice to talk to and the couple that own the hostel are very lovely. They have a little boy who is eighteen months old who was particularly taken with on of the guests who was from Canada. The hostel was very nice it was most things a hostel should be: lade back, clean and comfortable. 

On wednesday morning I slept in until 8am and had a slow breakfast. I then packed up my day pack and set off for a walk up to the grounds of the ruined castle and around the temple district. I had a nice walk, although it was very hot (but not too humid which was a relief) and spent time writing the blog post for Tokyo and stopped to draw a little shrine that was sitting out on a little pond. On the way back to the centre of the city I found the local library and went in a sat looking at children's books for a while. It was afternoon by this time and a set off on a little mission to find a tofu shop and a vegetable shop that had been recommended to me as apart from a italian restaurant there was no restaurants that didn't serve Hida beef. I found the tofu shop without much difficulty but the vegetable store's location eluded me. Instead I found a small supermarket and bought only vegetables that were purple ( an eggplant, red cabbage and red grape) and some noodles. It was only when I was putting them in my bag that I realised that all the fruit and veggies were all purple. I then walked along the river to another part of the town that had been preserved. There was an old building that was owned by a wealthy sake brewer and money lender that I paid to go into. The beam and column structure of the roof is just beautiful, I don't think the photos capture it well. The house was nicely designed the rooms were all pleasing and connected together in clever ways. The lady that sells the tickets had a great seance of humour and was telling me about the history of the building. After a very long and hot day I headed back to the hostel to sit on the couch and talk to the owner and her little boy. 

A little later I started to make dinner as most of the people in the hostel had gone out for dinner including the owners it was just me and the young lady that is working at the hostel for two months. I fried up the eggplant, cooked the noodles and miked it with the cabbage and served the tofu just by itself (it already had sesemee seeds in it). It was a real feast! As I was finishing dinner the owners and one of the guests who they had taken out for dinner came back and we sate around drinking sake.

 

Studio Ghibli and legoland.

On Sunday we went out the Mitaka to the Studio Ghibli museum. Although I went last time I was in Tokyo it was still fun to go again. My favourite part is where they have walls covered with water colour sketches of the different films. After spending the morning at the museum we took the Studio Ghibli 'cat bus' back to Mitaka and found some plain wooded chopstick! Something that was difficult to find as most of the big shops only sold ornate chopsticks.  We also found a jazz cafe on the second floor of a building. So we sat down to drink ice coffee eat piazza and listen to jazz recordings. We stayed there for an hour or so, it was such a nice place hang out it, and was the perfect haven form the hot weather outdoors. 

When we got back to Tokyo we took the train to the Tokyo Skytree, the large TV tower built onto of a large shopping complex. As it was close to dinner time went to the food court and ate ramen, to was ok but it had some strange gluteus porig looking substance added to it which made it think and the texture was unpleasant to eat. The que to take the lift to the viewing platform, let along the even longer que to purchase the tickets deterred us from going up to the viewing platform. Instead we walked back towards the river and sat in a bar drinking Asahi super dry. 

Monday was David's last day in Japan and he wanted to go to a big lego store, we thought the biggest one would be on Odaiba near the Legoland discovery centre. The trip out on the train over the rainbow bridge was fantastic, it almost felt like it was going to be a theme park ride. When. Got to Odaiba it looked as if the Lego store was closed for renovation so we decided to do to Lego Land instead. We were the oldest people that were not there with there children by 15 years or so. Still some of the centre was fun.  There was a ride that I thought was going to be like a haunted railway, and it was similar but you had these lego guns that you used to shoot big lego monsters that were coming to get you and you collected points (as a side note I got more points than David which i think is impressive as i don't play video games).  My favourite part was the lego models of some of the famous building in Tokyo. There was a litle model of the Nagasaki capsule tower and Yoyogi stadium. At the exit to lego land there was a lego shop although it was not very big, but was still got to look at some of the very impressive models they have, they have an architecture series where you can build Some of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings and the Star wars collection with its big star destroyers and the like are always impressive. 

After having lunch in Odaiba we were both tired and far too full. We got the train back across the bride spent some time looking for a particular graphic novel in bookshops and then gave up and went back to Asakusa. In Asakusa I found a second hand book store which we browsed around but then we raced back to the hostel as there was a big thunder storm in the way. Instead of staying at the hostel for an hour we quickly grabbed David's bags and walked quickly back to the train station. The thunder and lightning were quite spectacular and we were very fortunate that we got to the station before then rain started coming down. 

It was lucky that we got to the train station so early as we hot on the wrong train! It was going to Naita NOT Narita airport. Luckily it was in the right direction it just meant that it took us longer then expected to get to the airport and we had to change trains and wait for fifteen minutes. When we got to the airport there was a big que for the Australian flight and it took us fifty minutes to cheek in David's luggage this left us only fifteen minuets until David had to go through the security gate. We had enough time to go to the observation deck and look at the wonderful un set that you could see through the break in the clouds. It was then time to say goodbye and take a train back to Tokyo. On the train back to Tokyo a funny thing happened here is an exerp from an email that zi wrote to David about it: 

" I am sitting on the train  back to Tokyo writing about the last few days in Tokyo and I feel a funny movement on my leg, I absentmindedly brush my leg with my foot and the feeling goes away. After thinking about it I am curious as to what would make my foot itch so I look down and there is a very large green flying bug thing on my shoes! (I assume that this was the thing on my leg making it itch.) with out thinking I kicked the bug off my shoes and it started flying around the train carriage. The funny thing was watching everyone elses reactions to this big bug. Some were warding it off with books and newspapers while the bunch of school girls repelled from it and squealed. The man sitting next to the school girls piked it up in his hand and let it out at the next stop. "

This concludes the adventures in Tokyo. I will try and write about Gifu prefecture soon. Although I wont have internet tomorrow night because of the village I am staying in. 

A.B.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

After being at the Endo museum for an house we walked back to Asakusa and took two trains to get out to Sebu stadium. We had to find some seats which was hard as most of them had already been saved for others that came early or were saved as a place to keep ones bag. We found a nice standing spot and one seat so that we could take it in turns to sit down. Just before the game stated the man in the seat next to us moved his bags and allowed us to have two seats side by side. The game was very fun to watch, even though I didn't know all the rules and was a little confused by the scoring system (there we recording something that was not a home run but had something to do with the different bases players got to ).  Listening to the different chants the supporters had and watching them all do the same hand gestures at the same time was grand. The moment when the pitcher throws the ball and you are waiting to see if there is going to be a run made is an intense moment and when the ball is hit and people can run it is very exiting. The game started off quite slow with the first two or three innings with no home runs, but after the aposing team scored the first home run it became more exiting as the Sebu Lions tried to catchup. There was one innings where the Lions got three home runs, which was very exiting! At the beginning of the seventh innings all the Sebu Lions fans that had being blowing up balloons during the bottom of the sixth, let them all go at the same time, so there were balloons flying everywhere making whistling noises. We watched the seventh innings and then left to catch the train back to the Endo Museum. 

We spent another hour or so at the Endo museum and them went back to Asakusa to find dinner. We went to another little restaurant/bar and got to laugh at Japanese TV programs that were playing on a small television in the corner of the restaurant. 

A rather long post about Tokyo.

Tokyo 

David and I have spent the last three days in Tokyo it has been quite a mad time as the weather is hot and sticky Tokyo is such a big big city and there are so many possibilities of what can be done on any given day. I have enjoyed our time in Tokyo but am very much looking forward to taking a fast train out of here and getting back to smaller towns and a slower pace of living. I write most of this as I head back to Tokyo after seeing David of at Narita airport. Between the trip back to Tokyo and the long trip I have tomorrow I hope to get tell you all the things we have gotten up to in Tokyo. here is a start and if I don't finish it tonight I will add another post tomorrow. 

Friday the 5th July. 

On Friday we flew from Sapporo to Tokyo and arrived in tokyo in the afternoon. The interesting thing about the flight was that when we were checking in our luggage the lady that was serving us informed us that because of the weather in Tokyo we may be landing at in Nagoya! The flight was a little rough and we stated our descent about 40 minutes before we were meant to arrive in Narita airport. This meant that  we were not confident that we had arrived n Tokyo or not until we sore the sign on the top of the terminal building. The weather may have been quite bad as there we very few other aircraft at the airport. 

After dropping bags off out our hostel in Asakusa we went for a walk in surch of food and to have a wonder around the streets. We couldn't find many restaurants that were both open (it was 4:30 ish) and served anything that looked vegetarian, instead of a proper meal we opted for baked goods. We walked past the temple but it was so crowded that instead we tried some of the smaller streets. We walked past some tiny little restaurants that had lots of green vines that were shading them. After walking around for some time trying to find a particular restaurant that served ominomiarki, we were about to give up when we found the place. It was a nice little place were you sat around a BBQ plate that was part of the table top and you got ingredients so that you could cook your own ominomiarki. It must have looked like we wouldn't know how to cook the pancake as one of the waitresses took over the cooking of our dish. It was very nice food and I tried something called apple wine which was yummy. David was still peckish when we left the restaurant so we then went in surch of a  tempura restaurant. This one was much easier to find and the couple that owned the restaurant were very kind and allowed us to order off the lunch menu so that David could have the only vegetarian meal. They had covers of jazz albums on the wall and were playing jazz music, David commented on this and the owner tolled us that they had owned a tempura shop in New York for thirty years or so from the seventies to 2003. After our second dinner we went in surch of a Lawson's so that we could buy tickets to a Baseball match that was playing the next day. It was tricky trying to use the ticketing machines so we needed to ask for help from the store attendant but with there help we managed to purchase two tickets to the Sebu Lions Vs the Mariners at Sebu stadium. 

Saturday the 6th of July.

Saturday we did quite a bit of commuting to get to and from places. First we walked to the Endo Tokyo museum. We could only spend an hour looking around as we needed to get out to the baseball and it was about an hour and a half out of town by train. The museum was great, it shows the history of Tokyo it has both models and artefacts to present and explain the life and urban environment at different times in Endo's history.  There were lots of different models, models of houses and town streets and boats and of verying sizes from 1:1 (fullsize) to 1:10 and 1:20. The detail of these models is just fantastic, they had binoculars so that you cold have a closer look at the street skape. There were little model people doing all sorts of things including hanging up the washing and eating a slice of water mellon while leaning over the bridge. 

This is all I have time for tonight I will write more tomorrow while I am on the train to Takayama. 

With love,

Acushla. 

Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday.

On Tuesday we got up for breakfast at 7am had breakfast and then when back to sleep. After a long sleep in we settled in for a lazy morning of drinking coffee and uploading photos in the communal lounge room. Around midday we went out for a walk in the woods around the hostel. In the afternoon we up to our room to drink more tea and it started to poor down with rain. It pored and pored! I felt very sorry for the hikers that may be on the mountain and the people that we had met that were doing the overland hike ( a hike from Asahikdake to another mountain in the Dizetzuzan national park, it takes between five and eight to do). While it was still raining I went down to the outdoor onsen and got to sit in hot water while the cool rain fell down. It was a very pleasant experience indeed! 

Wednesday 

On wednesday morning we had to pack up and get the bus and then a train to Sapporo. After breakfast we went on another walk around the hostel until our bus arrived. After quite a bit of snoozing on trains and busses we arrived in Sapporo and hound our hostel. The wether was very overcast and rain was threatening even so we went out and spent the afternoon in the city in Odori park. The highlight of the day was going to a restaurant called the Iki Laboratory that as situated in the basement of a building. The food was terrific and the pis of reisitonce  was the mock meat that was made into Japanese dishes. Oh yum!! It was nice to sit down and drink saki and eat yummy food it felt very special. 

Thursday (yesterday, gosh I am nearly up to date!! ) 

We took at train and a bus out Moerenuma park that was designed by the sculptor Isamu Naguchi.  It was a very strange park with large man made hills and large sculptures.  The park was a tip that the Sapporro local government had targeted to turn into a green space once it stopped being a landfill sit. We rented some bikes and road around, walked up strangely shaped hill, went into a big glass building, looked at the wacky play equipment (I climbed on the equipment, David just took photos of them so you can have a look). We also saw the water feature that went on every couple of house. The strange part was when the water feature stated filling  up with water that was sloshing about, creating an interference patten. It was a very interesting park. In the afternoon we went back to Odori park and joined all lots of other people that were enjoying the sunshine and the grass. We then went a drank beer under the Sapporo radio tower. For dinner we went to a small restaurant/bar near our hostel where we were told that we could get vegetarian food. It was reminiscent of an Izakaya restaurant were you sit at the bar and get served food that is cooked in front of you. David and ai had a real feast! And David got to tast shoco for the first time, fermented potato alcohol. 

Anyway we are now in Tokyo and about to go get some food. 

All the very best,

Acushla. 

Climb every mountain..... Or maybe just Asahidake

It has been quite a big week! we have been in Asakidake and Sapporo and I write this as we fly from Sappror to Tokyo. There is so much that we have done and I would like to write in detail about it but I an feeling wuite tired so we will see how far I get. 

I would like to start by telling you about the hike we did to the top of Asahhidake. On monday David and I packed our bags, strapped on our hiking boots and hiked to the top of Asahikidake - the tallest mountain in Hokkaido. It took us three hours to hike up and an hour and a half to two hours to hike down, and we spend half an hour at the top. 

We started the day by taking the ropeway up to a higher point from whick we could stat the walk. At this rope way station there was a seanic  walk that could be done that passed some of the small lakes or ponds and had lovely views of windflowers. We could also see the fumaroles and the discolouration of the snow from the sulphur. After ringing the bell  for good luck it was time to climb the mountain.  It was fairly steep climb which was made more difficult by me have hiking boots that I had not worn for a while which gave me some grief and getting a saw leg about half way up through the climb which meant that I couldn't raise my leg  very high making climbing difficult and slightly painful. There is a chance that we should have turned around but I really wanted to get to the top and while I am not  overly fit I am very determined. So with rest breaks and gritted teeth I made it up the mountain. The view all the way up and from the top were just amazing. We cold look up the path and see other hikers, sometimes a clouds would obscure the hikers and the top of the mountain. Wile we were high up for the first three quarters of the hike it was still very warm and sunny. Unfortunately for me I missed a spot when applying sunscreen and burnt my right shoulder in the most magnificent way. 

Making it to the top was such a great feeling and I am so glad that we didn't turn around. We had a big lunch of miso (with that fresh tofu that we got in Asahikawa), snow peas and avocado and crackers.  I got ot do a sketch of the view and just look out the view. 

The way down we quite tricky as the rocks on the trail would slip from beneath you and as we were walking on a ridge there were big drops on either side of us. Oh I forgot to mention that on the way up we sore people almost jogging down the mountain! It look very scary. We also sore lots of people with hiking polls which would have been extremely useful on the way down. I only managed to fall over twice on the way down which I thought for me was quite impressive. 

It was strange on the way down because you would look in front  to you and be amazed at how far we had walked and you would look up to the peaks and be surprised that we had really climbed that was an hour or two ago.  Back on the platue we had to walk through snow and a small stream to get to the cable car,  and back to the hostel. By the time we had walked to the hostel My leg was so saw and stiff that I couldn't climb up hostel entrance stairs and had to walk up the ramp instead! But we got to the pouch and purchased beer from the vending machine and just stat there from an hour before dinner drinking and resting. After dinner it was time for a long hot soak in the Onsen and an early night. 

An apology of sorts.

I have lots and lots of things that I would like to write about, but  have been so buys and I am just too tired to make coherent sentences.

I would like to tell you about hiking/climbing up Asahikidake and our amazing youth hostel in the mountain. I would like to tell you about bear bells and over-land hikers and our lucky escape from a Big rain storm. But as I said I am too tired to do it tonight and so I apologise and will try and do better tomorrow.


Acushla.