Last post til we're back in the UK

Right, we've got a few minutes left until the internet runs out so just a quick one and then that's almost definitely it unless we find a wifi hotspot somewhere!

Had a lovely lie-in this morning and then headed for Akibahara which is where all the nerds hang out. Full of electronics shops, manga shops and a few maid cafes. There was so much computer gear and little toys and comics and little manga style characters. It was really good fun and we had a great time looking around - Thom would love it there in amongst all the geeks!

Craig wanted to go to RC Champ - a shop that sells radio controlled car bits but rather annoyingly it turns out that it's closed on Monday's so we're going to head back there later in the week.

Pretty much got the rest of our stay here sorted, going to head to Asakusa where there is a big temple and the Asahi Tower which is the headquarters of Asahi and apparently the building is clad to look like a glass of Asahi - golden all the way up with a white top like a head! We've been told that we can go up to the top to an observation deck to a bar and have an Asahi whilst looking out over Tokyo!

Also on our list of places to go is the Imperial Gardens which we can actually see part of from our hotel window!

We'll do an update of our last few days when we get home and post lots more pics.

Gill, Craig has managed to get reception on his phone so if you need to get hold of us for any reason then send him a text - he's not receiving calls.

Back in Tokyo

So we're back in tokyo in another swanky hotel, the Grand Prince Akasaka. Its pretty nice, had some people carry our bags. Room is on 35th floor with a bit of a view but nothing compared to the last two hotels.

Only thing is this could be our last blog post before we go home as the internet is ridiculously three times the price of the other two hotels! its just mental!!!! So one night so we can plan the week and thats it!! Bit miffed actually as the rest of the place is so nice.

Had a quick trip round the castle again this morning, fighting our way through the hordes of j-pop fan girls wearing all sorts of mad outfits, and annoying pushy Chinese tourists.

We then got the bullet train and jumped off at Nagoya to meet an old friend of Caz's called JP, for an hour or two. JP is over here, again, teaching english. Shame we couldn't contact him earlier but it was good to see him anyway and sit off under the blossom trees of his local park. Had some octopus dumplings which were alright.

Just made a bunch of calls to family and now looking to plan the next couple of days. Annoyingly some of the places we want to go aren't on JR lines so we'll have to pay to use the Tokyo Metro.

Looking forward though to going to Asakusa to get some plastic food they have in the all the restaurants.

Anyway here are some pics from today and Kyoto. Gonna have lots to work on when we get back...

Don Quixote in Shinjuku...




Kyoto



Bullet train view


Caz and JP in Nagoya

LAZY SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Well after a hard day yesterday we got up late and decided to have a quiet one as we both have sore legs. Not to bad as its been raining all day!

Went to the doctors as Caz has some weird thing going on with her hand after an insect bite, all red, itchy and bumpy. Doc, in very broken english, said it was something like allergic dermatitis and gave her some cream to use everyday. Hopefully it will go down as when mum had something similar she ended up in hospital..

Next up was a mission to find an ATM we could actually get cash out of. Found one in the post office which annoyingly gave us a 10,000yen note when we asked for that amount!

Then we headed off to the shopping part of town on the underground as I wanted to go check out a camera store. Ace shop crammed with used kit but couldn't quite decided what to do about the cams i was looking at so left it :( Did get a mate a cheapo cam out of the broken bin though which seems fine except for the meter! Something not right there though considering i've not bought myself anything!

Had a little wander round on the covered street they had there which was good as it was peeing down. Had lunch at Lotteria burger which we've been calling lottery burger!!!! had to try it really with a name like that.

Back to hotel for rest as yesterday was catchin Caz and we've just been out for a nice meal at a place over the road. I had Chicken Katsu Curry, Caz had some beef thing with barely cooked meat, just how she likes it.

No pics today really and not done anything with yesterdays!!!

Back to Tokyo tomorrow, will try harder to get some pics sorted!

Kyoto - We came, we saw, we collapsed!

Got up fairly early this morning and headed straight for Kyoto for a day of culture. As we don't read any Japanese we can a little unstuck at the station when trying to decide which train to get on, we got on the one that was terminating at Kyoto but was the local train so stopped absolutely everywhere - at least we knew we were going to end up in Kyoto though!

First stop in Kyoto was the Toji Temple which is a five storied pagoda, the highest in Japan, measuring 187 feet (and a national treasure). Whilst there was also saw statues of the Yakushi Triad and Twelve Heavenly Generals, and a set of twenty one Buddhist statues.

From there we headed for Sanjusangen-do (another national treasure) which has 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity, Kannon, and 28 guardian dieties - also the first place we've had to take our shoes off for! It was amazing but I think Craig was more impressed with the fluorescent orange paint along the outside wall - there will be pictures of that to follow.

Next we jumped on the train to Nijo Castle whch was built at the begining of the 17th Century by the Shogun at the time. The most memorable part of it for me was that the floor boards creak really loudly as you walk down them, it was a security system to hear intruders! There were loads of grounds and gardens so spent a while wondering around them.

Lastly we headed for the Imperial Palace Gardens for a look around. You can only get into the Imperial Palace (former) if you book onto a tour in advance so we had a quick look around the gardens and the wall surrounding the palace.

By this time it was about 5:30 and we were both dead on our feet so we headed back to the station and came back to Osaka. Ready for bed now so photos to follow as and when.

Thurs 2nd, Castle, Ferris Wheel and Whales

First thing on our must see list in Osaka was the Castle and gardens so we headed back there first thing and went into the Castle building. It's slightly mis-named as the original castles over the years were destroyed during various wars so the one that stands today is a concrete replica. We got amazing views from the top that made the 8 flights of stairs worth while, although it was full of rather rude and pushy Chinese Tourists! The rest of the floors on the way down are a museum and full of artifacts and the history of the castle. Very interesting but again full of the same rude and pushy tourists who thought nothing of standing infront of us whilst we were reading information on the walls.

The largest stone used in the walls of the moat is the Tako-ishi or Octopus Stone (no idea why) and it's thought to be 130-tonne - see the pic below.

After a walk through the gardens and a visit to the shrine, we jumped on the train to the centre of Osaka for a wander around. We had a nice lunch and wander around and then headed back to the hotel for a rest - all this running about and traveling around on trains takes it's toll on me if we don't have a rest!

Headed back into the centre for a very yummy noodle soup tea and then went to the Hep Five (STI anyone?) shopping centre which is strange for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it has a ferris wheel on the top (eh?) and secondly it has a massive red and white plastic sperm whale and calf hanging from the ceiling next the all the escalators (again, eh?). No pictures of either of these so you'll have to take our word for it.

And speaking of pictures, we were a bit mean yesterday and posted a picture of what we said was the Castle, it's actually the Former Osaka City Museum and was originally built as Army Barracks sometime after the Second World War. Was mean of us but we just couldn't resist, it does look more like a Castle as we would imagine one than Osaka Castle does!

Osaka

We're now in Osaka.

We got the bullet train which really wasn't that exciting, fast, but there was no baggage storage!! so we had to use our ample leg room to squeeze the cases in!! was ok trip though, the 3 hours didnt drag to long.

The hotel is ace, the people are so friendly, they insisted on having a porter carry our bags. Got a nice large room with a great view of the castle. Decor is a bit 80's but its cool.

The park with the castle is literally over the road, so we went for a little stroll. We're gonna check it out properly tomorrow.

Hotel is a little out the city center and our mission to find food ended with a trip to the Spar equivalent to get some boxed stuff, had a nice mix of things including spicy squid/octopus which i thought was tasty but caz wasn't to impressed by.

Only a quick one tonight as we're both feeling lazy. Will try and catch up on the pics soon as!! Here are a couple of little ones from today that aint goin on flickr

Osaka Castle

hmm squid

Last full day in Shinjuku

Decided to have a quiet day in Shinjuku today, looking round the shops and generally having a bit of a mooch. Started off with the camera shops and then had a look around some department stores. After a quick bit of lunch we headed for one of the many 0101 stores where there is loads of gothic lolita stuff. We had a great look round and there was some really nice clothes but they're really expensive (like £200ish for a skirt).

We then went to an everything store that literally sells everything, with one of the strangest things being adult sized character suits, like a frog or a bear. They also sold everything from luggage to tights, lightbulbs to jewelery and dvd players to sex toys! Craig managed to get some sly pics so hopefully they'll be up later.

Sounds like it's been a quiet day but we've been doing loads of walking and people watching so rather tired now. Just waiting for things to quieten down a bit outside (not that it ever really does round here) then we'll be going out complete with tripod to do some more pics.

Not sure if we'll manage to get any pictures online tonight, if not we'll try and do them tomorrow.

Ahh Mr Bond, I've been expecting you!

Started this morning with a breakfast roll - sausage in a bun that's pre-packaged like that but strangely not chilled - and a jelly drink. The breakfast roll was surprisingly tasty, the jelly drink on the other hand was like broken up jelly in a slightly sparkly, sugary drink. Had to be tried once!

First stop today was at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which has a free viewing platform on the top floor. The building is described as looking like something out of Gotham City and they're not wrong. Unfortunately, Craig managed to delete all the pics he took so we might be swinging back that way tomorrow.

Next we headed back to Shinjuku Park which was even busier than it was on Friday when we first went. Craig managed to get some 360's done, will have to wait and see how they come out.

After lunch we managed to navigate the train system (with some help from a very nice man at Osaki Station) to get to Odaiba, which is built on re-claimed land. The reason for going was to see the rainbow bridge but before that lit up we had a walk along the beach/waterfront. Incidentally the station we got off at was called Tokyo Teleport, which seemed rather apt as we found ourselves coming across the Statue of Liberty - see the pics, I've not got sun stroke!

After some more food, we waited for it to get dark and for the lights to come on on the rainbow bridge. Didn't quite live up to it's name but still looked fairly stunning and again Craig got lots of pics.

And just in case you were wondering about the Bond reference, as you'll see below, Dr Kno has put his lottery win to good use....!!

Phil been moonlighting??

photo
Originally uploaded by carolinetheengineer

We didnt know Phil had a career making crispy snacks in japan!! :P

Aint nothin but a hound dog!

Ok so we reckon we are going out a bit to early to catch the crazy kids in their costumes and funky outfits..! We went out again today at about 11 to Shibuya and did a walk out of the guide book that was aimed at people watching. Despite it having supposedly the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, Shibuya was pretty dead with no funky kids in sight. We went into a department store caller 109 which was just madness and we had to leave before we both went crazy!

Seeing as the walk took us to Yoyogi park again we figured we'd head there and try our luck in Harajuku again. Sunday is supposed to be the day everyone comes out to play anyway.

Got to the park and was surprised how different this part was compared to the bit by Harajuku station. All open grass with blossom trees dotted around.

It was pretty crazy, every blossom tree had a bunch of people under, chilling out, drinking booze and generally having a laugh, looked like some kind of festival but i get the feeling its like that most weekends.

We had a mill round this bit amazed at the number of people there, one tree seemed to have nothing but people in suits under it, but we still didnt see any people in costume or funky garb.

So after a bit of chilling on the benches laughing at the difference in size of dog people have we went off towards the Harajuku entrance.

This is were it started to get interesting.

We saw a bunch of people with wooden katana doing choreographed fights the most interesting were 4 guys dressed in some sort of traditional dress, but with hats on!!

A street performer doing a few juggling acts, one of which involved large knives and an apple. He also burst a surgical glove he'd put over his head!!

Mental guy singing obviously his own songs, rather badly

Woman with 4 dogs all of the same breed, all wearing coats and sunglasses! with one being special and wearing a doggy wheelchair as it had no back legs awww!!

Three groups of rock-a-billys seemingly influenced by Grease as two were biker gang looking and one (which had women in!!) looked like they were outa the japanesse happydays, only they were all (except the women!!) middle aged.
We walked past them after we got lunch in the park and they were dancing away, the happy days bunch were in fact doing routines to music from Grease.

And of course goth kids, in seemingly cosplay, normal and gothloli varieties..
there weren't that many to be honest, one group was having their photo taken by some guy who i thought might of been the dude who did the Fruits books!!! middle aged and pretty normal looking!?!?!?! and some scattered around on a bridge by the park entrance.

I didnt ask any of the kids to pose, maybe should have but there were so many tourists snapping away at them without asking i figured they were harassed enough so just went with the tourist flow...

We then ventured off into Harajuku, partly to escape the hordes filling up the park and partly to go to a shop called Kiddy Land. Basically a toy store chain. It was rather impressive, about 6 floors dedicated to different genres like a Snoopy floor and a Disney floor etc. But no Hello Kitty floor...... because everyfloor seemed to have Hello Kitty on!!! Were some impressive toys, bought a nice cheap Gundam figure and a something for a certain someone!!!!

back at the hotel now after a relatively pleasent train journey. Off to try the jap take on a burger tonight i think!!! not from McD's!!!

Some Pics below, check the Flickr page for all of todays pick. Thinking I'm not taking enough snaps so will try and rectify that for you tomorrow.

Something i'm sure certain friends will appreciate >>

Sat 28th, Harajuku Madness

Well, where to start with today? Had a really long sleep and feel much better for it. We left the hotel this morning and headed for Harajuku as planned. Took the Tokyo subway which was like trying to get onto the London Underground at rush hour.
When we got to Harajuku we went straight down Takeshita Dori which is the main little shopping street (see pic). It's really narrow and just full of people, little shops and (rather randomly) crepe stands. It was insane and was like nothing we could have expected although Mr Magees description from yesterday comes close.
Next we headed up the road to a rather insane posh shopping centre. It was basically a spiral with shops on one side so you just kept walking anti-clockwise and ended up at the top!
By now it was lunch time and we both needed a sit down so we managed to order some snadwiches from a coffee shop using the pointing at the picture on the menu technique (something we're getting rather proficient at!) and took them to the park to eat.
Whilst in the park we visited the Meiji Shrine, which has the largest Tori Gate of it's style in the country, standing at about 11 or 12m high. Was like we expected but we had the added bonus of seeing a bride all done up in traditional dress.
After some more people watching and another scrum up Takeshita Dori we headed back to the hotel for a rest before undertaking another Sushi mission.
After Sushi Mr Magee wanted to look in some more camera shops (yawn) and then we went looking for the random rainbow building we can see from the hotel - it's about 8 floors tall and each one is lit in a different colour. Yes very random but we are in the middle of a neon city. On our way there we stumbled across the sleezy area, with all the strip clubs and what appeared to be gigolos working the streets! They all dress in tight black jeans with leather jackets and big hair. Can't say I was tempted although I did have a good laugh.
Found a random frozen delight, really small blob of ice-cream surrounded in a gelatinous paste. Strangely morish. Now sitting watching Japanese TV and drinking lemon beer (Kirin Chi-Hi) which is far too drinkable and dangerously comes as either 6% or 8%
Planning on going to Shibuya tomorrow to do some people watching and visit some mad shop where sex toys sit next to shoes apparently.

Operation Sushi a success.

After having a quick search on google for a decent but not to expensive sushi place we found one called Kitazawa Club Ikkan which was right by Yodabashi Camera.

Little place but friendly staff, decent prices and lovely sushi.
Had a little bit of a walk round that area again and now back to hotel as Caz is feeling a bit funny still, think the jet-lag is getting to her a little and the beer aint helping.

Currently drinking Asahi Cool Draft beer that a scary dude advertises on the TV accompanied by the Rocky fight scene music!! Almost as good as the normal Asahi Super Dry which they advertise with Queen as the soundtrack.. its gotta be good if they advertise it using queen!!

No plans for tomorrow, maybe people watching in Harajuku. See if its how i expect it to be, like camden on crack and then multiplied by a factor of ten.

First day awake!!

So after managing to sleep properly last night we got up around 8am without any jet-lag it seems, lay in bed a bit and watched crazy Japanese morning television, devouring a box of Poky chocolate biscuit things.

Finally got up and sorted, and packed the bags up as the hotel were going to move us to a non-smoking room so would be moving the bags for us. Thankfully they managed to get one sorted and we're still on the 23rd floor just down the other other end of the hotel.

So today we've been out to Shinjuku Gyoen (pics at bottom! Maybe!) which is a big park down the road. Apparently it has something like 1500 cherry blossom trees, i think we're a bit early as most of them weren't in bloom, so the ones that where had small hordes of locals round them taking pics... Had to pay to get in, but was well worth it as the place was spotless with out a bit of dog shit in sight.

We then went to find japans take on the Empire State Building, which you can see in a couple of pics, which was next to Takashimaya Times Square, a shoping centre home on one side to seemingly japans answer to Ikea, only 300x better, and on the other side all the usual expensive designer brands like D&G

Stopped for lunch about half two and went to a pretty funky noodle place just down the road. Food was nice, but the waitress was a pretty unhelpful, and it didnt help that they had some mad lunchtime offer on that we didnt understand!

Next up was a trip to Yodabashi Camera.. holly crap irs insane, think Rapid Hardware but good, full of tech, and all in japanese! We walked into the multimedia shop first which is basically were they sell everything that isn't a camera, and got completely confused. Finally figured out were the camera shop bit was (across the road!) and had a good mooch in there. Some interesting stuff, and was good to be able to pick things up and tinker with them, not just look at them behind glass.

We then went to Map camera which is a used camera store a few blocks down, caz was fading at this point so made it a quick visit. Some interesting stuff in there that i've never seen in the flesh. Best bit was the Leica/Hasselblad/everything else medium format and rangefinder floor. Never before have i seen so much Leica kit, there was so much exotic stuff in there, that all looked in top condition. Fav has to be the gold plated leicas worth something like £7000 before you even buy a lens!!!!

Back in the hotel now and caz is having a bath and hopefully not drowning in it as its rather deep... Annoyingly the room has sod all clothing storage so we're gonna be living out of the cases for a few days, lovely room though apart from that.

Tea time approaching and the mission is to find a sushi place..

We're in Tokyo!

We made it! The flight was long and neither of us slept very much. It was really quick and easy to get out of the airport and onto the train which stopped at the station just near the hotel we're staying in in Shinjuku. We've been out for a walk and some lunch and then came back to the hotel where our room was ready. The plan was to have a rest and then maybe head out again but we both fell asleep! It's now 8:30pm, we've been up again for a couple of hours and are planning a really quiet night.

The room we're in tonight is on the 23rd floor and has an amazing view across Shinjuku and Tokyo. Unfortunately, it's a smoking room as they'd run out of non-smoking ones so we're moving tomorrow. Craig will probably be up half the night taking photos as we don't know what floor we'll be on tomorrow!

That's it for now, much sleep needed... XX

Nearly time to fly East

Just 2 1/2 days until we fly out to Japan. Due to arrive in Tokyo 9:30 local time on Thursday, so that's just after midnight for those of you in the UK! Keep tuned for regular updates.