Hello Everyone
Here we are on our last day in Japan - we will be very sad to leave. We arrived 10 days ago, thinking things couldn`t get any better after the luxury of Hong Kong, but our apartment in Shinjuku, Tokyo was incredible. Good work expedia, again. It was about 60 pounds a night but pure luxury, and a good price considering you pay about the same to sleep in a box with a radio in it. It was a full on apartment - compact, but with everything you could ever need. It had a huge flat screen TV; Bose sound system with I-pod dock; DVD player; fridge freezer, washer dryer and fully equipped kitchen (including free munchies); fully automated lavatory which cleans and warms your bottom for you and plays sweet, sweet music. We were on the 11th floor of a 32 floor building with a cracking view of downtown Tokyo. On the 32nd floor, we had a "Sky Lounge" - again, incredible. Stylish bar for our use (cheap Asahi beer), complete with grand piano and views of the whole of Tokyo. In the basement, there was a full on gym, complete with Japanese bath and sauna. Anyway enough about the apartment....
West Shinjuku, where we stayed in Tokyo was the business district, and East Shinjuku is the throbbing heart of the shopping and entertainment district. It was crazy - skyscrapers, neon and people everywhere. Have to say we were a bit disappointed with night life in Shinjuku and Roppongi, which are supposed to be the places to go of an evening for drinking and clubbing. Roppongi was full of Westerners trying to find pints and ladies, and, bizarrely, there were loads of huge black bouncer dudes trying to entice you in to seedy clubs playing shit R&B and expensive beer. It was all a bit too in your face and seedy. Maybe we missed out on the good joints. It`s amazing to see all the skyscrapers and stuff lit up at night, though, and we ate some delicious food, some of the best yet.
By day, we just wandered around, taking it all in. Imperial palace (what you can see of it as not allowed in) was beautiful, especially the gardens. It was bloody freezing, though -we weren`t quite prepared for how cold it would be (Z was of course with gloves, hat and scarf), but it was great to go back to our pad at the end of the day, soak in a hot herbal bath and then snuggle in our comfy duvet. One of our favourite bits was our trip to Tsukiji fish market at the crack of dawn one morning to check out the catch. It was a huge market, with an abundance of seafood, fresh as you like, straight of the boat - beautiful. There were unidentifiable molluscs, as big as your head; men wrestling eels; massive tuna, with all the different cuts laid out, local restaurauters trying to get a good deal on swim bladders, and people whizzing around on mini-pick-ups, trying their best to knock you down. The best bit of the morning was the sushi we had from a cozy little sushi bar on the market grounds. This was the freshest stuff you`re ever likely to get, and it was indescribable. Perfectly prepared by a sushi master, who spoke really good english and explained sushi etiquette (to Z who was busily dunking rice into soy and offending all the locals)! We tried eel and sea urchin for the first time - tasty. Japanese drink beer for breakfast.
On our last day in Tokyo, we again braved a frosty January dawn to get tickets for the Sumo. It was well worth it. It was the last day of the January Sumo Basho (Grand tournament) so the queues were long. Who would have thought 2 fatties trying to push each other out of a ring could be such a spectacle. The tournament started at 10 am and went on until 7pm. The final round pitted the big daddy against a relative newcomer (a bulgarian dude who is now 2nd best in the country). The boss flipped him on his ass in seconds, much to the delight of the crowd who went crazy - you couldn`t script it. A fine end to our stay in Tokyo.
Next morning we got the Shinkansen (bullet train) which sped us at 300 miles an hour to our next destination, Kyoto. Another pleasant surprise with the accomodation. We stayed in a Japanese Ryokan (Guest house), with a traditional Japanese bedroom - minimalist, with paper screen doors, tatami mat floors, and futons to sleep on, which were surprisingly comfortable. We were based in downtown Kyoto, which was great - we loved it. Cool boutiques and trendy clothes shops, cozy retaurants, and a generally chilled out ambience. It was a lot more laid back and compact than Tokyo, with more traditional culture to experience. It was even more freezing here though, and we had to go buy long johns. It was bloody cold, but bright, and the hazy sunshine added to the serenity of the place, giving it all a surreal glow. There were numerous temples and lots of traditional Japanese architecture to take in. Every temple had exquisite gardens, meticulously manicured, but still looking completely natural.The zen gardens were also very impressive and very serene. They really understand the importance of aesthetics, and the design of their architecture is timeless.
We had the best food ever in Kyoto. On our first night we asked our hotel guy if he could recommend anywhere cheap to eat. We trundled along to the place he suggested, not expecting much. When we got inside we were ushered into a private room by a Kimono clad, immaculate japanese lady. We sat at a traditional table, on the floor, and were brought course after course of Japanese haute cuisine, beautifully and carefully presented, with flavours to match. Not sure what a lot of it was, but it was a taste sensation. A real treat. After that, we went for some sake on Ponto-cho, and spotted 3 geishas, which is pretty cool considering there are only about 100 left in whole of Japan.
Next stop was Nara, a sleepy little town about 45 mins from Kyoto, packed full of UNESCO world heritage sights - ancient temple complexes and beautiful gardens. There were also millions of deer - everywhere, on the streets and everything. But they weren't sweet little bambis; they were evil, with beady little eyes following you around, waiting to pounce at the first opportunity. Of course, Z was pounced upon by one litttle shit who took a piece of her bag, and her confidence.
Our final port of call was Osaka, where we stayed for 2 days. We stayed in a cool little hotel in Osaka's equivalent of the Bronx. This is where all the down and outs and lost its of Osaka live and we loved it. It was a real contrast to glitzy Tokyo, and we got to see some of the gritty, grimy reality of Japan. There were Pachinko parlours lined up like bookies on Kenny La, full of haggard old men and Japanese slappers in shell suits. Crazy. Pachinko, by the way, is the Japanese form of gambling (everything else is illegal), based on those rubbish games you get in the arcade where you put 2p in the slot and win 2p. These people are mental - they sit there for hours on end shoving little balls in, eyes glazed, winning little balls, and swapping them for teddies. Nutters.
Went to the aquarium in Osaka which was wicked, and well recommended. Have you ever seen a pair of octopi shagging - it's beautiful man. There was a tank as big as a big house containing all manner of crustacea, cephalopods, rays and fish. The boss was a huge whale shark, and she had a posse of little fish who followed her around. All this made us a little peckish so we went and munched on some octopus balls, local snack.
We totally fell in love with Japan (T again), and it is only as expensive as England to visit. Having said that, the people weren't as polite and friendly and accomodating as anticipated. In fact, sometimes they appeared to be positively panicked by our very prescence. Could have been the smell but not infrequently, they would move away from us on trains. A man started praying and gesticulating to the Gods to dispel evil spirits, before getting in to a public bath with T. Taking it a bit too far! Also remember feeling distinctly uncomfortable in Tokyo's National Museum. There was an exhibit on WWII, part of which was a film showing all the charred bodies of Hiroshima victims. No mention of their role in the proceedings, and lots of old men giving us filthy looks. They are not particularly open or receptive to foreign influence (plenty of bars prefer only Japanese clientele), but this is what makes Japan so unique and intriguing, and so Japanese.
They're also not as hygienic as everyone makes out (much to Z's disappointment). Some will wear face masks and gloves, but others will cough and splutter freely all over you in an enclosed space. Also, the toilets (plenty of them which is good) never had soap or towels/dryers. What's that all about?
One of the things we'll remember most (apart from the cold and beautiful temples and scenery) is the food, which usually came with lots of little courses, prepared with such care and devotion, and with such subtle flavours - it was incredible and we'll never forget it.
