Who wore it best...

Hi All,

So, in an earlier post I gave my opinions on European women and which country I thought to be most fashionable.

1. Madrid, Spain.
2. London, England.
3. Moscow, Russia.
4. Paris, France.
5. Rome, Italy

But after Japan I think and some reflection, I am making a few revisions and additions.

1. Kyoto, Japan (boot and shoes and hosiery galore)
2. Madrid, Spain
3. London, England
4. Tokyo, Japan (a little too wacky sometimes to make my top place)
5. Rome, Italy (this moved up a little because my last ranking based it too much on what the tourists were wearing and not the locals.)
6. Moscow, Russia (still a little trashy)
7. Paris, France (dowdy and frumpy based on my expectations)

Well that is it for now I will try and post pictures of some boots I saw and loved in Japan.

We saw Mt. Fuji!!!

So in my last post I said my one regret is we did not see Mt. Fuji, we guess what, we did. On the Shinkansen journey to the airport we flew past it and got to see it in its full splendor for a good 5 mins. My camera did not take any good pics given the speed we were moving at, but here is a link to a video that was captured at the same spot we saw it, looks the same to me, so I thought I would share it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/antimega/2397432981/

- Ryan

The Onsen Adventure

Hi All,

After much pestering from Ryan I am back to writing blogs again. Seeing that he kept you updated on Tokyo and our adventures around Kyoto, I'll fill you in on our onsen adventure. Two hours north west of Tokyo in by Shinkansen (bullet train) and a local train, is a small town up in the mountians where our onsen was located. Our onsen (Takaragawa Onsen) was outside, in the natural hot springs along the banks of Takaragawa river. The setting was very beautiful with four rock pools gently shaded by the bright colors of the fall maple leaves and the sound of the rushing river just along the edge. However this was also a little unnerving, for an onsen is a traditionnal Japanease bath, and bathing is always done in the nude. Now before pictures start popping up in your mind, let me save all of us the embarisment and let you in on a little secret. They give women a large towel to wrap in while bathing and men, while it is optional, most opt for a towel a little bigger than a hand towel. So after learning this secret Ryan and I were comfortable enough to test the waters.



Right after checking in, we put aside our western clothes and put on the traditional yukata and sandles (way too small for Ryan). We then proceeded to scrub our selves silly in the shower rooms before we hit the baths. We did not want to be the rude westerners that jumped into the bath dirty, thus ruining the experience for every one else. (there was only one other western couple there so we wanted to make a good impression). The out side air was cold, but we knew the water was hot, so we hurried to the water . The fist bath was a painful shock at the start. After a few minuites with our bodies aclimated we started to walk towards a seperate pool inside this pool where the source of the spring originated. As we waded closer to the source the water got even hotter and we could go no further. Ryan then decided that bath was for the professional "ninja" like bathers. We moved back to the shallows, while we gathered courage to try the other pools. Lucky for us the other pools were quite comfortable and we tried them all before dinner.



Dinner was a traditional Japanease meal, with a whole raw fish that we were to cook our selves on the grill provided at our table, some veggies, sushi, and rice. I love seafood, but the fish eyes were staring at me as I grilled it, so while I picked at the fish I could not bring myself to finish or enjoy eating "him." Now the sushi I loved and scrafed it down in no time. Ryan who was truamatized by the meal ate only the rice and veggies, and hurried back to the room to eat peanut butter which we had left over from China. After Ryan completed his "real" meal back at the room, we went to the baths again, so we could enjoy them under the moon and the stars. It was a little eiry with the steam rising off of the baths under the night sky with very few other bathers around but it was actually so peacefull and a true luxury. We then retired for the night to our room where we slept as the theme of the evening dictated - "Japanese" style, on tatami mats, and futon mattresses on the floor with buckwheat pillows. This was one of the best nights sleep we had and I would love to find a Japanese pillow when I return home.



When we woke we enjoyed the baths one last time, before our western (thank God) breakfast. We had a great time and I would recommend this experience and place to all. It was nice to experience traditional Japan far outside the major cities.

Bye for now,
D

P.S. I am sure Ryan would like you all to know that he was able on the last day endure the "ninja" bath.

Success at the Tsukiji fish market!

We got up at 4:30am and managed to find the Tuna auction in the Tsukiji fish market at 5am... it was cool indeed.

The metropolis of Tokyo, Japan: 12 million residents + 2 world travelers

After our stay in the mountains at the Takaragawa Onsen we headed to Tokyo, Japan's largest city and have been here 5 nights now. To say this is a city is an understatement, it truly is a metropolis and spreads out in all directions as far as the eye can see. There does not seem to be any one center, but rather the city is characterized by 23 city wards, each with its own flavor. We spent the first 4 nights at the Sakura Hostel in the Asakusa area. The hostel was great, like all our other budget accommodation in Japan, spotlessly clean, modern and friendly. Asakusa is one of the most popular spots in Tokyo so a great place to be based. It is home to Tokyo's entertainment district, so always a buzz with people. Also Asakusa's main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries.

We spent our days traveling by train and metro from ward to ward seeing the sites and mostly just soaking up the atmosphere. This is a great city to visit as there is lots to see and everything is free (food and transport excluded of course). One stop was the offices of AT&T Japan, and lunch with a colleague Miho. The meal was fantastic and in a beautiful setting. We really enjoyed our short time with Miho and I hope I will get to work with her in the future.

We traveled to Shinjuku to travel to the top of some of the cities tallest sky scrapers (all free) for a view of Tokyo and hopefully to see Mt. Fuji, unfortunately the sky was not clear and the later was not realized.

Another cool area is Harajuku. Traditionally people come here to visit the Meiji Shrine, home to the worlds largest wooden Torri and located in a beautiful park. This was an added bonus for us, but we mainly visited to see the Coz-play-zoku, basically teenagers that descend on the weekend to this area dressed in costume. There are some crazy outfits :-). This is also one of the main fashion areas for young Tokyoites and made for a cool walk, we even saw a famous Japanese Celeb.

Ginza is a must, it is the shopping district that Tokyo is known for, somewhat like Chicago's Magnificent Mile, but is spread over a much larger area with every brand you can think of. We visited the Sony Building, Nikon Gallery and other showrooms... and of course the 5 floor Apple Store! We also took in a Movie, get this you can get a blanket if you like and as they do in South Africa, seats are assigned.

Akihabara was a must see for me given it is the electronics district. Let me just say, block after block of 10 story electronics stores that put everything we have in the US to shame... they have everything under the sun, and its all on sale...

If you have ever watched a movie with scenes of Tokyo you will see Shibuya Crossing, the large intersection in front of the station (Hachiko Exit), which is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets crossed by amazingly large crowds of pedestrians each time the traffic light turns green. The area around Shibuya Station is one of the most popular shopping and entertainment districts in the city. You must visit after dusk to get the full effect. Danielle managed to find the statue of a dog, residents errected it to remember the dog who used to walk to meet its owner at the station every day, and continued to do so even after he had passed.

Being a tourist we also headed to the Imperial Palace and the East Gardens. This was a great way to spend the morning, and although you cannot enter the Palace (it is the home of the royal family) you can see it peaking over its fortifications in spots. The east gardens (free to visitors) is a beautiful walk. We also got to watch the Tokyo Womens Marathon as it was being run alongside the park.

This morning we checked into the Tokyo Conrad Hotel. Thanks to D's Gold Status and points with Hilton, this 5 star stay is 100% free. We explored the area alongside Tokyo Bay, took in the views from our amazing room, and swam laps in the 29th floor 25m pool overlooking the city. We finished the night with dinner provided by the Gorden Ramsey Restaurant in the Hotel.

Tomorrow morning we are waking up at 5am to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market and hopefully witness the famed Tuna Auction taking place, then a bullet train to Osaka and a plane to Hanoi, Vietnam.

We have loved Japan, my only regret is we did not fit a trip to Mt. Fuji into our trip, but we will save that for our next visit.

A relaxing break at the Conrad Hotel, Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan

Japan 1 week in, 1 to go....

This post is for "Mama van Wyk"....

I am drafting this post as we sit comfortably in airline seats with ample legroom (more than any plane I have flown on) zooming along on the Shinkansen Hikari 408 from Kyoto to Tokyo. This bullet train like all the trains in Japan pulls up to the platform exactly on time, the door opens next to the marked spot on the platform, you step on and off you go. So far my impression of Japan is it is a first world nation that should serve as the model for other 1st world western nations. It has everything we have, but it is just done better, cleaner and faster. Everything is incredibly easy to understand, navigating the incredible public transportation network is a breeze (high speed trains, local trains, subway, tram and bus), this place is spotless, I mean not a cigarette butt in sight (and they smoke a lot here). We have actually seen people walking a distance just to drop the ash into an ash tray. How do they do it, well they clean, and never stop cleaning, also the culture just seems to support not littering, it is fantastic. Both the hostel we stayed in in Osaka and the guest house in Kyoto were clean as a whistle (the 2 best places we have stayed so far, except for the 5 star Marriott in Hong Kong). Another thing is the people are incredibly friendly and always ready to help. If you are lost, and get out your map, next thing someone will stop and ask if they can help you. And if they don't know they run off and find someone who does know. We have had this happen a number of times and even people who speak virtually no English help you out.

Now how did we spend the first half of our visit to Japan? Well after a brief stay in Osaka (we did come back 2 evenings as it is just 25 mins on the train from Kyoto) we headed to our 1st base, Kyoto. This city has more history in it than you could possibly take in over a month or more, but we did our best and with the help of the guest house visited some truly lovely spots around the city. Also 2 of the nights at the guest house we watched DVDs, 1 was the Last Samurai and the other, Memoirs of a Geisha, both these movies where filmed in and around Kyoto and we saw many of the locations used. I will let the pictures of the gardens speak for themselves, but as you can see, fall is a beautiful time to visit Japan. All the temples had beautiful gardens, but our 3 favorites were; To Ji, Ginkaku-Ji (Silver Pavilion), and Eikan-do (which we visited at night since it was illuminated). Other favorites were; the Fushimi-Inari Taisha (Inari Strine) which is known for its 4km passage of hundreds of red Torii up the mountain, Kinkaku-Ji (golden pavilion) and Nazen-Ji for the Hojo with Leaping Tiger Zen Garden. Other cool spots worth a visit are; Higashi Hongan-Ji, Kyoto Station itself an awesome building and mall, Kiyomizu-Dera, Heian-Jingu (see the pic of the huge Torri that straddles the street) and Tofuku-Ji for its Zen Garden and Bridge to Heaven. We would skip the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park (Forest Park in St. Louis kicks its butt).

A really cool thing to do in the evening is visit the Gion area of Kyoto. If you get there between 6-8pm you will likely see one of the Geisha's walking to or coming from an appointment. We were lucky enough to have 3 walk by us while strolling around, unfortunately I only got 1 photo off and it was from behind because they walk very quickly and pop in and out of various tea houses along the streets. If you don't see any no worries, the area itself, with traditional tea houses and other houses/ restaurants makes for a really cool evening stroll.

Given Kyoto's location it is also very easy to visit both Nara and Himeji by train and we did. Nara was amazing, its like Kyoto but much smaller so you can walk most of the city in a day. We just visited the Tourist Information Center in the station and the women mapped out our day for us, which took us past some incredible temples, shrines and trough a forest of stone lanterns (I have decided, I love stone lanterns and want one in my garden some day). Another cool thing is the deer that are all throughout the park and temple areas and are very friendly (looking for snacks :-)). We visited; Todai-Ji, home to the worlds largest wooden building and two fierce looking Nio Guardians, the finest wooden statues in Japan, if not the world; Kofuku-Ji, famous for its 2 pagodas; Nigatsu-do and Sangatsu-do; Kasuga Tausha and the forest of lanterns and beautiful ponds. We also made the trip to Himeji for an afternoon to see Himeji-jo, which is the most magnificent Japanese Castle, still in its original (non-concrete) form. It is a beautiful structure and quite an interesting walk around if you have the time. Also it sits on top of the hill in the middle of the city, so once on the top floor of the main tower you can see all of the city below.

Ok, my fingers are getting tired, so I will wrap this up. We are on our way to Takargawa Onsen, 2 hours outside of Tokyo for some relaxation in what is considered the most beautiful Baths in Japan.

Japan... I can't wait!

Ok, planning of our visit to Japan is frankly kind of intimidating. So many cool things to see and do, but not the most intuitive country to find your way around. But finally we have done the leg work, and its going to be awesome... can you say bullet trains! And we are going to visit on Onsen... check this place out

http://www.takaragawa.com/english.html

How awesome is that?