Leaving Tokyo

Our last day in Tokyo and we made our way to Nikko via a 2 hour train ride. Our bags were a lot heavier with the shopping we did over the last week.

Scattered among hilly woodlands , Nikko is one of Japan's major attactions for both locals and tourists which reflects the glories of the Edo period in the 1600's. It's a world hertiage listed site with historic temples, shrines. lanterns , bridges and towering cedars.

Our train tickets included 2 days of included local bus and train rides to the various attractions. Here's a picture of the local historic bridge we visited

We made our way back to town and again visited a make your own Okonomiyaki restaurant run by a couple of lovel local woman. By now we were highly skilled at the art of making the local Japanese pancake

We also tried one of the local snacks which was a rice floured ball heated over heat beads and then coated with a sauce

The hotel we stayed in was straight across from the train station and contained an Onsen so we spent some of the afternoon in them relaxing then it was back to the room to listen via the internet to the grand final between the mighty Queensland teams( Cowboys and Broncos) over a few vodies and wines then off to dinner at the hotel for a smorgasboard for our last dinner in Japan.

We set off on the Monday back to Tokyo and for our flight back home at 8pm from Narita.

I think that the sleeping pills worked after about 3 hours into the flight

 and as a last 50th birthday treat I was gifted all the duty free allowance( plus a couple I had in my luggage)- wrapped up a excellent birthday week for me in Japan

 

Saturday 3rd october

Today we headed off to the very popular tourist destination of Harajuku with all the crew

Harajuku is a retail fashion and dining destination in its own right, but still earns much of its wider reputation a gathering place for fans and aficionados of Japanese and associated subcultures. Jingu Bashi, the pedestrian bridge between Harajuku Station and the entrance to the Meiji Shrine used to act as a gathering place on Sundays to showcase some of the more theatrical styles.

As we exited our apartment we were meet with a very familiar sight of people taking their dogs for a walk.. strollers and associated pet gear is huge business in Japan.

 Below is the start to the very busy retail street with lots of interesting people and their many fashion statements

Here's an old guy in the 100 yen shop dressed up as a Harajuku girl and you could also see his fruit and veg... reckon he would go down well in the Valley late at night.

We headed off to the local park called Yoyogi Park ( this park was used to house the Olympian Village in 1964) and hired some bikes .. really nice day with lots of people enjoying themselves in the park either picnicking or exercising. Char and I hired a tandem whilst Jo and Dan opted for normal bikes.

We headed back to the main part of Shibuya for a very late afternoon lunch and Joey took us to a really cool sushi place for lunch that she read about before we left. You order everything via the touch screen and it comes delivered to you via a automated delivery tray from the kitchen to your seat number. This was probably the best and lest expensive sushi I've had- definetly coming back here a few times next trip

On the way back to the station we went past the statue of a famous dog called Hachiko .During his owner's life, Hachiko greeted him at the end of each day at the station.The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had passed away never returning to the train station where Hachiko was waiting. Each day for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days he waited here for his master to return.

This was our last night in Tokyo so we ventured out late to a local restaurant.

Retail Therapy Day - Friday 2nd October

Today was a bit of a rest day with a slow start by all with Jo , Char and myself venturing out to the local shops in Shinjuku. However I should give some context to the district  where we are staying - Shinjuku.

Shinjuku  is one of the 23 city wards of Tokyo , but the name commonly refers to just the large entertainment, business and shopping area around Shinjuku Station.

Shinjuku Station is the world's busiest railway station, handling more than 3.64m passengers per day. The station itself has 36 platform with 200 exits and a train leaving every 3 seconds.Another 17 platforms (51 total) can be accessed through hallways to 5 directly connected stations, without surfacing outside.Here's a documentary on the station

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12ww8o_worlds-busiest-train-station-shinjuku-full_travel

Besides the station it is home to numerous restaurants,skyscapers,red light district,major department and electronic stores.

Back to the shopping outing, first stop was to the fabric shop with 6 levels of all types of fabric for the carft and sewing community at a good price and quality compared to Australia .Jo brought some material to make another quilt like the one she made for her mum and Charlotte brought some for a pin up board in her office at home.

Next it was off to Gap and Uniqlo again for the sales and it was major chaos with lots of Chineses in the stores due to their national public holiday to celebrate Mao's birthday . Like a swarm of bees to a honey pot. Both the Japaneses and Chinese absolutely love their shopping. 

We eventually made it out alive with the clothes purchases and headed off to Isetan building to grab some lunch. This is one of the many department stores that have a terrific range of food which we have visited numerous times over the years. Eventually arrived home about 4 pm to relax and put our feet up and have a few drinks whilst Dan headed off to a rock climbing club about 30 mins away.

Tonight we opted to go to one of the many loacl restaurants and have their Okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi ,meaning "what you like" or "what you want" , and yaki meaning grilled or cooked.

The restaurant was a cook it your self however she did give us a littel bit of hand to get started

Dan did the best master chef out of all of us for the night . Next it was off to the shops again with Dan and Jo going to the climbing shop where Daniel purchased a climbing bag with Yen that Ross and Diane gave him for his birthday. Char and I opted to go to Loft and buy some travel security gear for both Europe and Africa. Dan and Jo were waiting for us outside the camping store when we returned

Next it was a brief stop to our favourite fruit stall for a stick of pineapple( you may be able to see the square water melon at the back between Jo and Dan that they grow here)

On the way home through the station tunnels we came across a large display.. the Japanese always do things over the top

Kamakura - Thursday 1st October

Today the tour leader took us to Kamakura which is about 1 hour outside Tokyo and is a small seaside village and a very popular tourist destination. Sometimes called the Kyoto of Eastern Japan, Kamakura offers numerous temples, shrines and other historical monuments. In addition, Kamakura's sand beaches attract large crowds during the summer months.

We started the day after a brief train delay which is very unusual for Japan by hiring bikes for the 3 of us. Charlotte opted to spend the day doing some Uni work ( Daniel had considered that himself for his upcoming grade 12 exams but took about 1 second to decide not too! ). We took the luxury option of electric bikes which was a very good idea.

We headed off towards the beach which is about 10 mins from the train station. Whilst overcast and threating to rain it was still quiet warm.

I came across one of my old friends near the beach

Cycas Revoluta is native to japan so you see a lot of them around the towns- here's a 3 metre triple headed female- if it wasn't for the butterfly in Brisbane now destroying all the new flushes I'd normally be over ripping off all the seeds.

Next it was on to The Great Buddha which was built in 1252.It used to be housed in a building at this site however the building was destroyed by storms and a tsunami in the 1300's and 1498 respectively. Since then the Buddha has stood in the open air. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed the base of which it sits upon as well but was repaired in 1925.

The statue is approximately 13.35 metres (43.8 ft) tall including the base and weighs approximately 93 tonnes. 

A stop for lunch for some local sashimi and rice and a couple of Sapporo's ( Joey knocked back the second largie as I think he thought she would come across an RBT on the ride so I looked after her second one as well) then we continued to ride around Kamakura till about 3 pm and returned the bikes to make the train journey back home. Dan ventured out shopping to find some more fireworks whilst Joey and Char went out looking at warm clothes for her trip to Eurpoe in December. I opted instead to stay home and have a few relaxing vodies .

Everybody returned home from their expeditions and then we headed off for dinner ( minus Dan) to a local Shinjuku sushi bar for dinner in between some light rain.

Post dinner we went back to Gap and Uniqlo to pick up Char's clothes they had picked out earlier in the day. She was very happy with her numerous puchases as was dad putting  it on his credit card