James’ Blog

Massive levels of cool, had my reservations but feeling very optimistic for this now!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/

So yeah… Fuji-San didn’t happen but it’s ok as that’s something for next time!

First stop today - Harajuku! We strolled down Takeshita Street, stopping in a few shops along the way including a funky 100yen shop, Closet Child and Pet Paradise - a dog clothes shop (i’m sorry Pickles) at the bottom of the street we turned right and went towards LaForet where many of Em’s fave brands have stores.

Carrying on down towards Omtesando we stopped in Kiddyland! still a great store but I didn’t buy as much as last year - think i’m saving myself for Gunpla!

Stopped off at Wolfgang Pucks on Takeshita Street for a yummy lunch.

Next stop, Akiba! finally got to try out a Gundam Pod! so so cool.

It costs 300yen for your Pilot Card - this holds all your data and gets reprinted with new info including team logo every time you insert it into a pilot terminal. Games cost 500yen and consist of 2 250second battles. I’ve joined the federation and am piloting an RGM-79.

The 2 stick controls act very much like a tank, both forward movs you forward, left down right up goes left etc. Pedals do boost and jump respectively and joystick buttons are shoot on right trigger, lockon right top button, secondary weapon to top left button(beam saber usually) and use secondary weapon on left trigger. Mashing both triggers fires your support weapon, headcannon for me. Came 1st both games though so not off to a bad start!!!

Suitably hyped from Gundam fun, we headed to Yodobashi where I invested in the MG Unicorn and some supplies, he looks so shiny can’t wait to build him!

After this we headed back to Shinjuku to explore our local area. Stopped off in Donki Kingdom - not quite as good as the Osaka store but still fun. Looked round a few more shops whilst heading back in the general direction of the hotel and happened upon this place - the Dubliners Irish Pub. We couldn’t resist going in for a drink and it was really fun - authentically grimey!

These posts seem to be getting a bit shorter now we’re in Tokyo, we’re still having an amazing time but obviously as this is our second time here and we’re not doing much touristy stuff there’s not the most to write!

Was our last morning in Kyoto today, but we still packed alot in and it was a lovely sunny day which was amazing!

I want to mention that we used buses as our transport today - due to the slightly sparse rail network in Kyoto. The pass we bought was 500yen and entitled us to a days unlimited travel - not bad at all. All buses have 2 sets of doors, one set at the back, and the normal front doors we’re used to on UK buses. You get on through the back and get off through the front which means there are no traffic jams! Another interesting thing is you pay as you pass the driver and leave via an automated machine. Again an example of great efficency that puts us to shame.

Ok, first we headed over to the golden pavillion, very shiny! Nice gardens too.

Next was Kamigamo shrine in the north of Kyoto - somewhere we’d seen in wedding brochures and wanted to see for ourselves. It was pretty nice, needed a lick of paint certainly but it had some lovely little bridges and a stream running outside it. As we were leaving we did actually see a wedding procession heading in!

Finally we bussed down to Nijo Castle - which is opposite our hotel and was left till last… oops. Fantastic place though, the inside of the castle is curently being restored but we were still allowed to walk around inside, really love the classic architecture style, makes me want to get on with the attic room! The grounds here were amazing too with some really nice little landscape gardens and huge moats.

So with that massive morning out the way we collected our bags from the hotel and headed to Kyoto station to catch a Shinkansen to Tokyo. Arrived in Shinjuku about 6pm, that station will never cease to confuse me and i got us a little lost. Some directions from a Koban set us right though and it turned out we are actually very well placed, with Shinkjuku Southern Terrace and Takashimaya Times Square just moments away.

Another really nice hotel!

We quickly freshened up and headed out to enjoy some Tokyo! Emma wanted to go to O1O1 to check out clothes and afterwards I dragged her to Akiba for a play in some arcades and a stroll around Yodobashi Camera.

So yey, we’re here! We were comtemplating a trip to Fuji-San tomorrow but looking at the travel information it’s pretty far away so we’ll see.

Today we went to Nara, a town and hour or so South of Kyoto known for it’s massive park and impressive temples.

Upon arrival at Nara station we decided hiring bikes would be fun! Turned out it was only 500yen each for an entire day too! You could also hire electric assisted bikes for 1500yen for 4 hours but that just seemed lazy

With our flash sets of wheels we headed down Sanjo-Dori(a busy shopping steet) towards Nara Koen.

Deer everywhere! they’re so tame and cheeky too. We bought some ‘deer cookies’ for 150yen which they go totally mad for. They nip you slightly at your sides sometimes - looking for pockets the clever things!

Next on our list was Todai-Ji Temple to the North of the park so we hopped back on the bikes and headed up there.

On the way we came across a small section of park by itself with nobody in but lots of deer, so this seemed like a great opportunity for some pictures!

Todai-Ji temple was amazing - beyond massive and the giant Buddha inside was bigger than anything i’d imagined! Was thinking the size of a car maybe not a house!

We lit some candles and made a little prayer, no telling what it was though

The column has a hole in the bottom of it the exact size of Buddhas nostril and if you’re able to fit through you’re guaranteed enlightenment. We saw a guy in his 30’s squeezing through, it took him forever and everyone clapped, sadly i wan’t quick enough with camera to catch his proud moment.

Done with Todai-Ji we header back to the bikes…

But picked up a tail along the way…

This deer was the cheekiest of all, he stopped at nothing to get deer cookie!

Finally escaping(without any deer cookie) we rode back down through the park, onto Sanjo Dori again toward the staion, stopping to buy a deer plushie on the way.

It was around 3pm now so we decided to head over to Osaka again as opposed to going back to Kyoto where we’d seen just about eveything we wanted to.

After a slightly longer journey than necessary(didn’t check my connections) we arrived in Osaka and took a subway down to Namba so we could visit Dotonbori district - famous for it’s massive neon signs and giant crab animatronics!

Happened upon a Donki Kingdom! Best random shop ever and spent ages in here buying things including… F CUP COOKIE!

Afterwards we stopped for a beer at this cute little place by the waterside, enjoying the crazy bright view around us. Kyoto is nothing like this, in fact the local government have passed laws which prevent large neon signs or billboards being placed to preserve the citys traditional feel.

We looked around a bit more, walking through the Dotobori shopping arcades and stopped for a Japanese take on Italian food - pretty interesting!

Now refuelled we walked around a bit more, bought a few bits in a 105yen shop and decided to head back to the station as getting home to Kyoto would probably take a good hour.

Walking down Dotonbori I noticed a lady on the door of a building with a cute little dog in her coat, we went over to have a look and it said “dog gallery” so we decided to go in expecting a gallery of cute pictures of dogs, what we got was DOG CAFE!!!

Basically you go in, order food and play with doggies! Must be great for people with homes too small to accomadate pets and it was great for us a we’re missing Pickles a bit. We stayed in here for a good hour and the finally did head back to Osaka station.

Packing now to leave Kyoto tomorrow, little sad as i’ve really got used to the place but Tokyo awaits!

Today we’ve been to Arashiyama, it’s a fantastic rural area tucked in between some mountains with a large river running through. We chose to take part in this survey Kyoto tourist board are doing today which involves us taking a mobile terminal(its a phone) equipped with gps so they know where we go and a camera. In return any pictures we take they will print and send to us in an album - nice!

When we arrived, the plan was to take the train, the so called romantic train no less - up through the mountains. That plan quickly went out the window when we found out the hourly trains were all sold out of seats until 16.50 - this was at 10.45 in the morning! That worked out fine though, we bought the tickets and headed off to check out the town in the meantime.

Walking down through Arashiyama was full of interesting spots, a massive bamboo grove for one and a large shrine area seemingly in the middle of nowhere down a small lane. We headed through the local park down to the river which was full of rowboats and walked along the bank to the main bridge. Across the bridge our first destination - Iwatayama Monkey park!

The park was actually a good few hundred metres above ground in the mountains, and the ascent was a killer - on a hot day i’d never manage it! At the top monkeys roam free amongst you. However you can only feed them from within a hut with them sticking their arms through the chicken wire - an interesting role reversal! We were just in time for their daily feeding which was an insane free for all and one of the keepers made one sit for a photo with us! great fun! This park also offers incredible views of the surrounding area and on a clear day like we had Kyoto tower is easily visible!

With my legs suitably dead from walking up and down a mountain we decided I may as well even myself out and hired a rowboat for an hour! This was actually really nice and relaxing and we even went in a straight line sometimes!

Afterwards we strolled along the bank some more, picking up some snacks along the way, and sat down for some beers and ice cream. There were tons of dogs here too, they all had some kind of clothing whether it was a jumper or t shirt to hairclips on their ears… Emma seems intent of subjecting Pickles to a similar torment, nooo poor P!

Now it was finally time for our train ride! this was lots of fun and the views were amazing. On the way up we were in an open carraige which was great but a little chilly! It got dark just as we reached the top so the way down was all illuminated, very nice and relaxing, almost fell asleep!

We caught a train home after, getting off at Nijo so not to have to waste money on subways. Saw some other English people - so loud and annoying - give us tourists a bad name! Walking back through the Nijo area we dropped by a 7-11 for some goodies and also happened upon a strange chapel which looked like it belonged in Las Vegas!

Totally worn out again so finished off today with a short trip Downtown - had a yummy teriaki crepe for dinner, and had a stroll down Pontocho street - a narrow fantastically atmospheric street which still has an old town feel even though its 2 streets away from the madness of downtown. After this we hopped on a train home, thinking maybe Nara tomorrow!

Today we had a day trip over to Osaka - and it was a surprisingly short journey! I was expecting upwards of an hour when in fact it took a mere 25. Our train was fantastically named Thunderbird 14 although it didn’t do anything special except go hella fast.

First stop in Osaka was Yodobashi Umeda - very hard to miss asyour train rumbles into Osaka station. It was launch day for the Nintendo DSi today but the queues weren’t massive as I was expecting - quite the opposite as they seem to just be selling the DSi on preorders not the horrific queues which look impressive but generally piss everyone off. I didn’t really buy anything today, behaved, saving that for Tokyo but there was so so much cool gunpla! :D:D:D.

Next we headed over to Shinsaibashi station where all the shops are! Em checked out BTTSB and bought a cute cup and saucer. By now I was starving and thank god there was a Freshness Burger across the street so I dragged Emma in for some food. Afterwards we header up towards Angelic Pretty & Metamorphose, stopping at a 315yen shop on the way where Em picked up some Disney bits.

All shopped out we decided some culture was in order and moseyed across to Osaka Castle. We spent a bit of time sitting in the park outside as it was such a pleasant place to be. There were dogs everywhere! made me miss Pickles a bit. The Castle itself was brilliant, we walked through some of the turrets, and climbed the Castle too, taking in the awesome view from the top.

On our way out Emma induldged in some Yakitori from a stand to give her an energy boost for the long walk back to the station, I was still running on the orange Qoo i’d drunk earlier - first place i’ve found it so far!

Back in Kyoto we had an evening walk around Gion, on of the oldest districts in the city, some of the restaurants around here were insanely priced! literally hundreds of pounds for a meal! Gion pretty much leads into downtown so we ended up here. We had some yummy crepes from a stand and played on some UFO machines - didn’t win anything though. We then walked back to the hotel (my stupid idea) todally booshed. Good day!

So today we did some exploring in Kyoto, mainly in the Southern Higashiyama area.

Firstly we headed to Shoren-In, a beautiful little temple which people generally miss so it was nice and quiet! we spent a good while here walking the temple rooms and fantastic landscape garden.

Next we headed down towards Maruyama-Koen - a large park which is always bustling. Beyond here the area started to build up a little, with loads of little shops on every street and the occasional Geisha walking around.

After a bit of exploring the shops and wimping out on trying a few foods(we did go back later and try them though!) we headed to Kiyomizu Dera, a massive temple complex, nested in the hills to the East. Amazing place with great views, we also made some friends here! a Japanese couple asked me in English to take a picture of them and afterwards asked for one with me and Emma! I think the guy was called Himori, he and his lady friend were on a day trip from Tokyo, really nice people!

Once we’d finished up here we headed back through the small shops, purchasing a few bits on the way. Cinnamon hard biscuits - apparently cinnamon is a very traditional Japanese flavour, woohoo!! After this we decided to head to Downtown Kyoto via Ishibei-koji - widely agreed to be Kyotos most atractive street.

We spent ages taking in the shops, covered arcades and department stores, even got a bit of time to head to a games arcade and play an old Gundam game!

Our evening ended with some drinks in the hotel bar, overlooking the random man made waterfall they’ve placed at the front windows!

Well we’re here! one hell of a tiring trip though - all in all over 24 hours of travel which consisted of:

-Train to Leeds

- Train - Leeds - Kings X

- Underground - Kings X - London Bridge

- Train - London Bridge - Sevenoaks

- Car - Sevenoaks - Heathrow

- Plane - Heathrow - Narita

- Train - Narita - Shinigawa

- Train - Shinigawa - Kyoto

- Subway - Kyoto Station - Karasuma Okie (Hotel)

Phew. Bit tiring. First day in pics below.

The drive to Heathrow, snow!

The glorious Terminal 5, all working now

Stopping off for some breakfast at Giraffe.

Our mighty air steed!

Zoom!

On board the narita express, jr rail passes are very flashy indeed!

First beer of the trip ^-^

Shinkansen!

Ah finally here, room is massive! Nicest hotel i’ve ever stayed in!

Much bigger than last year!

Out for some food,took the free bus to Kyoto station and discovered the Asty Road food court - great Engrish there!

Asty foods!

Did a bit more strolling about but ended up crashing quite early as we’re severely jetlagged!

Well sorta…

On a train to London now (train wifi - don’t we live in a glorious time!) this is the beginning of a looong journey which will Culminate in Kyoto on Thursay around 4pm local time! WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

In the continuing war on knife crime in the UK, metal detectors have been put in Leeds railway station and random checks are in place and I was one of the lucky customers! It’s a great idea and I hope they caught some scumbags with it, sods law I was in a massive hurry to catch my train that day, and probably looked dead suspicious because of it… guess i’m lucky I didn’t get the full treatment!