Duck-hunting hole
Daffodils in January
An interesting juxtaposing of traditional garden and big offices...
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Odaiba; A themed mall, and big wheel and a trumpet-playing robot
It was no later than 11am and these guys were totally spazzed on the train, they did however manage to wake up at the stop for Disney land.
aka Satan's alley
This place was crazy, they had re created a strange mock up of an Italian street as a mall complete with a sky and 'authentic' shop fronts and cobbled streets. This was like an enlarged version of a restaurant in Chicago called the Italian Village, which is also worth a visit but for other reasons.
It was pretty weird when it wnet from day to night the first time.
Just next to the weird mall was a Toyota themed adventure place where you could test drive cars and stuff. With neither of us being in possession of an international license we were relegated to using this. The crappiest game ever.
The big wheel was pretty genius and gave great views of Tokyo, on the way to it May spotted what she called a 'wafty' looking cabin that looked a bit like the great glass elevator. We didn't go in it as we would have had to wait about 40 minutes so we had a killer yellow pod.
The rainbow bridge in the distance there.
The arcade next to the wheel had everything, including this geeky control a train set game, real edge of the seat stuff.
Have I ever told you about the time I rode a panda? It was my bitch for 100yen, best money ever spent. Fact.
Electronic table football I think its made for fat kids and people with duff wrists.
This game looked promising but turned out to be shit.
The phrase shooting fish in a barrel sprung to mind when we saw this. You could rent a weedy fishing rod and buy food so you could catch the goldfish inside the tank, I have never seen kids so bored in an arcade before.
A virtual roller coaster, Disney land is about 15 minutes from here....
A trumpet playing robot, he was a bit star stuck when we walked in so he just stood there.
Too fat and lazy to walk? Not a problem in Japan.
An interesting thing to find, a Delorian.
Whilst this looks like a ship its actually a museum that has been built to look like one. We got there too late to go inside which was a shame as it looked quite cool.
The rainbow bridge lit up a bit. May has failed to add a picture but just to the right there was a miniature Statue of Liberty.
Friday, 2 January 2009
FUJI!!
M: I think today was one of my favourite days so far. Jack and I met up with Dan, Alex and Claire at Shinjuku station and got a coach to Kawaguchiko which took about an hour and a half. Once we left the Tokyo sprawl we started to see tree-covered mountains and random shrines dotted along the hilltops. There was even a small theme park with rollercoasters with Mount Fuji in the background.
When we reached our destination, somewhere up in the hills, we weren't quite sure of which way to go to best see mother Fuji. We hopped on a local bus and hoped for the best.
The ice-cave was pretty unspectacular, and a wee bit claustrophobic at times. Claire hit her head at the start but was a trooper and carried on without complaint. From there we saw that there was a path that lead up the mountains opposite and decided to give it a go.
Dan insisted on changing into his 'hiking boots' before we started. I thought that it was pretty sensible to have brought a pair but in actual fact, his boots were a case of taking off his £5 plimsoles, putting on a pair of 100yen socks (approx 70p now) and squeezing back into his plimsoles - classic O'Leary!
There were remnants of snow about and these crazy ice crystals everywhere. There seemed to be layers of ice underneath the path too which sometimes crumbled under our feet which was strange
We carried on up for another hour or so until we reached a building which Jack says looked like something out of The Goonies. We went inside and it was a sort of cafe/gift shop, though it kind of looked half-abandoned somehow. They were welcoming there and we sat by the heater and they brought us tea and we ordered some soba noodles. The food was lovely and just what we needed - buckwheat noodles in a sort of stock with spring onions, mushrooms, bacon and a side of pickled chilllies, radishes and sour plums.
We carried up and along to another peak where we could see the surrounding lakes which were spectacular. There was a shine there that some guy was blessing by throwing salt and some people with horses. He gave us all some sake and one of the riders told us that they were having a special ceremony there. The sake certainly warmed our cockles and helped us on our way.
Once we got back to tarmac, we headed for the main road that we came in on. We walked along for a fair while to try and find a bus stop back - no such luck, so we stopped at the hotel and asked them to call for a taxi. They were very generous and ordered the taxi for us and invited us in and gave us hot green tea whilst we waited for the taxi. There was a traditional-style restaurant there with tatami mats and low tables, and we could see the chef making the soba noodles. The taxi arrived quickly and took us to the coach station, and it acutally cost us less than the bus there in the first place!
We had an hour and a half until our coach back was leaving and having worked up a good appetite with all the climbing, descending and fresh air, there was only one thing for it, a curry! Top day!
When we reached our destination, somewhere up in the hills, we weren't quite sure of which way to go to best see mother Fuji. We hopped on a local bus and hoped for the best.
We drove past this sign and decided to hope off and take a look...
The ice-cave was pretty unspectacular, and a wee bit claustrophobic at times. Claire hit her head at the start but was a trooper and carried on without complaint. From there we saw that there was a path that lead up the mountains opposite and decided to give it a go.The gang at the start of the walk...l-r; Claire, Dan, Alex and Jack
Dan insisted on changing into his 'hiking boots' before we started. I thought that it was pretty sensible to have brought a pair but in actual fact, his boots were a case of taking off his £5 plimsoles, putting on a pair of 100yen socks (approx 70p now) and squeezing back into his plimsoles - classic O'Leary!
There were remnants of snow about and these crazy ice crystals everywhere. There seemed to be layers of ice underneath the path too which sometimes crumbled under our feet which was strangeAfter walking for an hour, we got our first high-altitude view of Fuji, it was amazing...
Our hike was unbelievable steep at times - hats off to Claire, that managed the whole trek in a pair of ballet bumps and a sore head!
We carried on up for another hour or so until we reached a building which Jack says looked like something out of The Goonies. We went inside and it was a sort of cafe/gift shop, though it kind of looked half-abandoned somehow. They were welcoming there and we sat by the heater and they brought us tea and we ordered some soba noodles. The food was lovely and just what we needed - buckwheat noodles in a sort of stock with spring onions, mushrooms, bacon and a side of pickled chilllies, radishes and sour plums.
We carried up and along to another peak where we could see the surrounding lakes which were spectacular. There was a shine there that some guy was blessing by throwing salt and some people with horses. He gave us all some sake and one of the riders told us that they were having a special ceremony there. The sake certainly warmed our cockles and helped us on our way.
A viewing post at another peak further along...
The descent was fine when there were steps, but both Claire and I skidded onto our bums when the path had faded and there were lots of dry leaves...
Once we got back to tarmac, we headed for the main road that we came in on. We walked along for a fair while to try and find a bus stop back - no such luck, so we stopped at the hotel and asked them to call for a taxi. They were very generous and ordered the taxi for us and invited us in and gave us hot green tea whilst we waited for the taxi. There was a traditional-style restaurant there with tatami mats and low tables, and we could see the chef making the soba noodles. The taxi arrived quickly and took us to the coach station, and it acutally cost us less than the bus there in the first place!We had an hour and a half until our coach back was leaving and having worked up a good appetite with all the climbing, descending and fresh air, there was only one thing for it, a curry! Top day!
Recent bits & pieces
National Science Museum, Ueno
New Year's Eve
Sadly, due to my camera batteries running flat in record time, I don't have many pictures of New Year's Eve so here's what there is;
We went to a temple near Tokyo Tower for the countdown. It was unbelievably busy with hundreds of people outside the temple and surrounding area waiting for midnight to then be able to go into the temple and pray. There were paper lanterns lighting the paths and food stalls selling Japanese food. At 12 o'clock, people let go of balloons with wishes in them that floated up into the sky.
This museum had loads in it, including fetching models of early man...
Can you spot Jack?
Jack found a friend in this bizarre bubble...
Jack making friends with a badger...
Just in case you didn't know it was the Science Museum, there was a massive whale outside...
Variations on vending machines
Number 1: Cake in a tin
Number 2: Umbrella-vender
New Year's Eve
Sadly, due to my camera batteries running flat in record time, I don't have many pictures of New Year's Eve so here's what there is;
Jack is becoming a mixologist these days. This time it was Chu-Hi and Real Gold a.k.a Real Chu-Hi Gold...
Nicely rounded off with a beer!
We went to a temple near Tokyo Tower for the countdown. It was unbelievably busy with hundreds of people outside the temple and surrounding area waiting for midnight to then be able to go into the temple and pray. There were paper lanterns lighting the paths and food stalls selling Japanese food. At 12 o'clock, people let go of balloons with wishes in them that floated up into the sky.
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