We did our normal city trick in KL. Namely, begin with an outline plan, start walking, change plans a couple of times and by the end of the day we have covered a lot of ground and seen most of what we wanted to see. Of course finding street side snacks and cafes en route is par for the course. We decided not to join the hordes in going up the Petronas Towers, once the tallest building in the world but rather the Menara KL Tower, the 5th largest communications tower in the world, figuring that at least we'd have something impressive to look at from 300m up in the sky. It gave us a good idea of the layout of the city too. At the bottom of the tower they have set up a zip line (about 30 m up and 70 m long) which Becca wanted to go on, so she did...not once but twice! She was very brave and loved it. After the tower the hunt was on for coffee to have with our doughnuts we'd bought from a street vendor. Moving into the business district that wasn't too hard to find. We then headed off to Chinatown with a little, well more than little, detour into Little India as we got a bit lost for a while. In Chinatown we also walked through the Central Market which was nicely done even for us non-shoppers. We then wasted some time trying to find a bus to the Butterfly Park. The public transport system in KL is very disjointed with bits belonging to different companies and no real co-ordination at all. Needless to say, we gave up and just walked there. It was a toss up between the limestone caves on the outskirts of the city or the butterflies in the Lake Gardens precinct: the butterflies prevailed.
Another longish walk back to catch the monorail back to Bukit Bintang where we were staying. We ended up in the Pavilion, a massive shopping centre that makes Hyde Park and Sandton shopping centres look a bit "provincial", on the hunt for supper. Its food court was extensive and we were spoilt for choice. All types of Asian and western cuisines were catered for.
The next morning we again bought our joghurt and juices from Carrefours to supplement the fruit and toast provided by our guesthouse. Packed our bags and started our long homeward trek. This consisted of: monorail to KL Sentral, catch airport bus to KLIA, fly to Hong Kong, transfer to HK departures and then wait 6 hrs for our late night flight to JNB.
Our flights both arrived at their destinations early so we landed at OR Tambo just after 6 o clock yesterday morning. By the time we'd fetched bags, cleared immigration and customs and had a nice cup of coffee, our friend Jane had arrived through the chilly morning mist to pick us up. Hooray!
Now it is just the jet lag to deal with and re-acclimatising to winter...brrrrrr!
Oh yes ...and also hopefully start planning another trip! Who knows when and who knows where to? But what we do know is that there is loads more to see and experience in this beautiful world of ours.
For now, the bushcats rest!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Pulau Perhentian
Can't believe it's the 5th July already! Two more sleeps in Malaysia, one on the plane and we are home.
To business: The Perhentian islands were magic. We caught our Air Asia flights, first to KL and then on to Kota Bahru, just south of the Thai border in a pretty strongly Muslim area of Malaysia. We spent the night at Crystal Lodge, nothing much to write home about, and got some food around the corner. We tried murtabak, a griddle bread, from a street vendor which was quite tasty. While we were eating teriyaki chicken and chips elsewhere, the heavens opened and there was an almighty storm. Luckily we didn't get too soaked running back to the hotel. Next morning we caught a taxi (yep, splashing out as the public transport to our next port of call is a bit convoluted) to Kuala Besut where we were to catch the 10 am ferry to Bubbles Dive Resort on Perhentian Besar. A 35 min or so ride in a motorboat found us deposited on the beach in front of Bubbles, our home for the next 3 nights. It was great, a real desert island getaway. The snorkelling off the beach in front was good. We saw a couple of black tipped reef sharks and lots of colourful fish and many clams. They run a turtle conservation NGO (ecoteer) from Bubbles so we went to talks by the resident marine biologist on coral and turtles. We met some of the "turtle girls", volunteers who do turtle watch during the night, research and beach clean-ups. Nice! Rebecca was also able to do some crafty stuff with Lucy (the house keeping supervisor from England) and some of the other staff members. She painted, modelled clay turtles and they made a board game. While she was occupied doing that we got some snorkelling in. We also did a half day snorkelling tour around the island where we got to swim with turtles and snorkel the Coral Garden which was beautiful. We also snorkelled at Shark Point where Kaz and BW saw a shark which was apt! Weather was mostly overcast (but hot) which saved us from getting too baked by the sun while snorkelling. Bubbles was also home to flying lemurs (Cynocephelus variegates) which we watched from the dining area at night. It flies from tree to tree with a batman-like cape. Quite amazing.
We retraced our steps this morning and arrived in KL at about 4:30 pm. We caught the Skybus to KL Sentral and then the monorail to Birkut Bintang where our guest house is. We walked around the corner to a road lined with Chinese foodstalls where we had a delicious meal of satay, sesame honey chicken, kai lan (greens in garlic) and pork. Tomorrow a day exploring KL.
To business: The Perhentian islands were magic. We caught our Air Asia flights, first to KL and then on to Kota Bahru, just south of the Thai border in a pretty strongly Muslim area of Malaysia. We spent the night at Crystal Lodge, nothing much to write home about, and got some food around the corner. We tried murtabak, a griddle bread, from a street vendor which was quite tasty. While we were eating teriyaki chicken and chips elsewhere, the heavens opened and there was an almighty storm. Luckily we didn't get too soaked running back to the hotel. Next morning we caught a taxi (yep, splashing out as the public transport to our next port of call is a bit convoluted) to Kuala Besut where we were to catch the 10 am ferry to Bubbles Dive Resort on Perhentian Besar. A 35 min or so ride in a motorboat found us deposited on the beach in front of Bubbles, our home for the next 3 nights. It was great, a real desert island getaway. The snorkelling off the beach in front was good. We saw a couple of black tipped reef sharks and lots of colourful fish and many clams. They run a turtle conservation NGO (ecoteer) from Bubbles so we went to talks by the resident marine biologist on coral and turtles. We met some of the "turtle girls", volunteers who do turtle watch during the night, research and beach clean-ups. Nice! Rebecca was also able to do some crafty stuff with Lucy (the house keeping supervisor from England) and some of the other staff members. She painted, modelled clay turtles and they made a board game. While she was occupied doing that we got some snorkelling in. We also did a half day snorkelling tour around the island where we got to swim with turtles and snorkel the Coral Garden which was beautiful. We also snorkelled at Shark Point where Kaz and BW saw a shark which was apt! Weather was mostly overcast (but hot) which saved us from getting too baked by the sun while snorkelling. Bubbles was also home to flying lemurs (Cynocephelus variegates) which we watched from the dining area at night. It flies from tree to tree with a batman-like cape. Quite amazing.
We retraced our steps this morning and arrived in KL at about 4:30 pm. We caught the Skybus to KL Sentral and then the monorail to Birkut Bintang where our guest house is. We walked around the corner to a road lined with Chinese foodstalls where we had a delicious meal of satay, sesame honey chicken, kai lan (greens in garlic) and pork. Tomorrow a day exploring KL.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Borneo and Birthday
Firstly, thanks to everyone who has commented on blog and sent birthday greetings! I really appreciate it. Sorry I won't have time to reply to blog comments individually (actually, I don't know how!)
Anyway let's talk Malaysia.
Well, Kansai Airport, the nearest one to Kyoto and Osaka, is amazing. Recipe for a new airport: Take one island, flatten all the mountains on it, build an incredibly long bridge for cars and trains, and start building. Mix and stir for 20 years and keep adding billions of dollars. Our Malaysian Airline flight was uneventful albeit a bit bumpy, and on arrival in KL we caught a bus to the LCC terminal (domestic one) where we were leaving from early the next morning. Of course I knew where we were staying (Tune Hotel - 500 m from the terminal) but hadn't booked it. Sod's law: they were full! Anyway there is always a plan B and we found a less convenient place about a 20 min taxi ride away on the other side of the Sepang F1 circuit. Booked a 5:30am taxi, had dinner and crashed. Nice to eat fruit again after Japan where 1 apple costs R15 and a peach about R20. They were huge export quality but still.
Our Air Asia flights to Sandakan, east Sabah were fine for a low cost airline. We shared a taxi with some Kiwis to Uncle Tan's and then waited for our trip to the river. It is really hot and humid here. We had a tasty lunch and then off in a minibus to the Kinabatangan river, about an hour in the bus and the same again by boat to Uncle Tan's jungle retreat. We are with a nice bunch of people and the staff here are something else. They are a 24 hr cabaret act. There is always someone singing or playing the guitar. (Mike Hall would love it!!) Place is basic with huts sleeping up to 6 on mattresses with overhanging mozzie nets. Yep, them bitey things are here too but supposedly not malarial.
Even though we did see the detrimental affect of commercial plantations, for the most part the riverine areas look great. We saw loads of animals and birds in the 3 days we were there. I think a separate birding trip somewhere in Borneo would be fantastic looking at their bird books.
For my birthday, at dinner time they had organised a cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" (the English and Malay versions) accompanied by the "Uncle Tan's singers" complete with guitar and tambourine. Quite amazing to spend my 50th out in deepest darkest Borneo. Even though it was my birthday and "they" should have known, it was only on our last morning that the elusive orangutans showed themselves. They are solitary and we were lucky enough to see two of these "Men of the Forest" sitting in trees eating. That was the treat to top all others.
We are now back at Uncle Tan's ops base in Sepilok, outside Sandakan. We visited the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary this afternoon and are back on a plane (2 actually) tomorrow. First back to KL and then on to Kota Bahru where we will spend the night en route for the Perhentian Islands (Perhentian Besar to be precise: check them out on Google Earth - if they are only half as good as they look...!). Hopefully we find somewhere to stay!!
Anyway let's talk Malaysia.
Well, Kansai Airport, the nearest one to Kyoto and Osaka, is amazing. Recipe for a new airport: Take one island, flatten all the mountains on it, build an incredibly long bridge for cars and trains, and start building. Mix and stir for 20 years and keep adding billions of dollars. Our Malaysian Airline flight was uneventful albeit a bit bumpy, and on arrival in KL we caught a bus to the LCC terminal (domestic one) where we were leaving from early the next morning. Of course I knew where we were staying (Tune Hotel - 500 m from the terminal) but hadn't booked it. Sod's law: they were full! Anyway there is always a plan B and we found a less convenient place about a 20 min taxi ride away on the other side of the Sepang F1 circuit. Booked a 5:30am taxi, had dinner and crashed. Nice to eat fruit again after Japan where 1 apple costs R15 and a peach about R20. They were huge export quality but still.
Our Air Asia flights to Sandakan, east Sabah were fine for a low cost airline. We shared a taxi with some Kiwis to Uncle Tan's and then waited for our trip to the river. It is really hot and humid here. We had a tasty lunch and then off in a minibus to the Kinabatangan river, about an hour in the bus and the same again by boat to Uncle Tan's jungle retreat. We are with a nice bunch of people and the staff here are something else. They are a 24 hr cabaret act. There is always someone singing or playing the guitar. (Mike Hall would love it!!) Place is basic with huts sleeping up to 6 on mattresses with overhanging mozzie nets. Yep, them bitey things are here too but supposedly not malarial.
Even though we did see the detrimental affect of commercial plantations, for the most part the riverine areas look great. We saw loads of animals and birds in the 3 days we were there. I think a separate birding trip somewhere in Borneo would be fantastic looking at their bird books.
For my birthday, at dinner time they had organised a cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" (the English and Malay versions) accompanied by the "Uncle Tan's singers" complete with guitar and tambourine. Quite amazing to spend my 50th out in deepest darkest Borneo. Even though it was my birthday and "they" should have known, it was only on our last morning that the elusive orangutans showed themselves. They are solitary and we were lucky enough to see two of these "Men of the Forest" sitting in trees eating. That was the treat to top all others.
We are now back at Uncle Tan's ops base in Sepilok, outside Sandakan. We visited the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary this afternoon and are back on a plane (2 actually) tomorrow. First back to KL and then on to Kota Bahru where we will spend the night en route for the Perhentian Islands (Perhentian Besar to be precise: check them out on Google Earth - if they are only half as good as they look...!). Hopefully we find somewhere to stay!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Japan - The End
My last blog from Japan. Amazing how time flies. No more free internet at the moment so chasing the clock too. From Hakone we caught a Tozan bus all the way to Odawara for us to pick up the shinkansen once again. This time Odawara - Shin-Osaka (50 min stop) - Hiroshima. The train's top speed on this leg was 285 km/h so definitely not pedestrian. We had time once we got to Hiroshima to walk to the A-Dome site as well as the Peace Park Memorial, very well done and very sobering too. It is quite incredible to see the devastation caused by the bomb. An area of 2 km around the epicentre was absolutely flattened. Interestingly we saw no visible signs of Starbucks nor McDonald's on our walks around the city? Found 7-Eleven though where we stocked up on our breakfast stuff.
The next day we were back on a train bound for Miyajima-guchi, the stepping off point for Miyajima Island. The JR rail passes working overtime for us luckily. By pure chance the tide was still high enough for us to enjoy the classic sight of the floating tori rising out of the sea. Very impressive and unusual too. We walked through the Itsukishima shrine and then on towards the Daisho-in Temple which was set away from the ferry terminal higher up the hill... it was such a peaceful spot we could have stayed wandering around there for hours. Mindful of the fact that we had a train to catch we headed back to catch the ferry. One of the so-called "wild" deer took a shine to us and tried to eat my shirt, Rebecca's ice-cream and drink Kaz's coffee! Anyway, back to Hiroshima where we had sushi for lunch at K's guest house and then wiled away the time reading until we set off to catch the Shinkansen Rail Star to Kyoto, this time a 5 min stop at Shin-Osaka to change trains. Using trains that hit 285 km/h is certainly the way to travel. We are staying at Tour Club in Kyoto, a bit of a disappointment after our K's experiences. It is looking a bit tired and very busy. Anyway we have hardly spent any time here as we have been out and about. There are around 1600 temples in Kyoto so you have to be quite choosy or have a lot of time! We hit some of the more famous one's and also some that have impressive zen gardens so we have seen a nice mix. I am not going to bore you with all the details here (anyway my clock ticks on!)
We also managed to see a geisha or meiko on our way through the Gion district which was quite special. There aren't too many of them still knocking about. We also went to the famous Nishiki Market especially to see the food and the kitchen utensil section but at 6pm they were practically all closing which was a pain.
Today we went to Nara, a 40 min train ride away, which was the capital for about 74 years. On the way, we first stopped at Inari station to visit the Fushimi Shrine. This one was brilliant. It has avenues of thousands of the red toris (gates) winding up and down the mountainside. This is definitely a must-see! In Nara we visited Toda-ji Temple. It is the largest wooden building in the world and houses the largest budha in the world too. It is a world heritage sight as well I think. It is not too surprising that in a country with 120 million people, the majority of the tourists are locals. We came across this in China too. So everywhere is pretty busy.
Anyway, hope all is well and will try to blog again from Borneo!!
The next day we were back on a train bound for Miyajima-guchi, the stepping off point for Miyajima Island. The JR rail passes working overtime for us luckily. By pure chance the tide was still high enough for us to enjoy the classic sight of the floating tori rising out of the sea. Very impressive and unusual too. We walked through the Itsukishima shrine and then on towards the Daisho-in Temple which was set away from the ferry terminal higher up the hill... it was such a peaceful spot we could have stayed wandering around there for hours. Mindful of the fact that we had a train to catch we headed back to catch the ferry. One of the so-called "wild" deer took a shine to us and tried to eat my shirt, Rebecca's ice-cream and drink Kaz's coffee! Anyway, back to Hiroshima where we had sushi for lunch at K's guest house and then wiled away the time reading until we set off to catch the Shinkansen Rail Star to Kyoto, this time a 5 min stop at Shin-Osaka to change trains. Using trains that hit 285 km/h is certainly the way to travel. We are staying at Tour Club in Kyoto, a bit of a disappointment after our K's experiences. It is looking a bit tired and very busy. Anyway we have hardly spent any time here as we have been out and about. There are around 1600 temples in Kyoto so you have to be quite choosy or have a lot of time! We hit some of the more famous one's and also some that have impressive zen gardens so we have seen a nice mix. I am not going to bore you with all the details here (anyway my clock ticks on!)
We also managed to see a geisha or meiko on our way through the Gion district which was quite special. There aren't too many of them still knocking about. We also went to the famous Nishiki Market especially to see the food and the kitchen utensil section but at 6pm they were practically all closing which was a pain.
Today we went to Nara, a 40 min train ride away, which was the capital for about 74 years. On the way, we first stopped at Inari station to visit the Fushimi Shrine. This one was brilliant. It has avenues of thousands of the red toris (gates) winding up and down the mountainside. This is definitely a must-see! In Nara we visited Toda-ji Temple. It is the largest wooden building in the world and houses the largest budha in the world too. It is a world heritage sight as well I think. It is not too surprising that in a country with 120 million people, the majority of the tourists are locals. We came across this in China too. So everywhere is pretty busy.
Anyway, hope all is well and will try to blog again from Borneo!!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hakone - day two
Well, the next day couldn't have been more different. After our dip in the inside onsen we caught a bus back towards Gora. First to check out the Open-air museum as recommended by David and Lolly (good plan as not only was it an excellent venue to see top notch sculptures - they also did good coffee, the best so far). After a good 3 hours at the museum, BW also got to play on some amazing exhibits, we retraced our steps of the previous day, train, cable car, ropeway etc. The weather was very kind, no low lying cloud, just great views of Mt. Fuji again. As a friendly Japanese man said to us on the ropeway: " You very rucky, not normal to see this time of year!" After the ropeway we headed back to retrieve our bags and catch the ship to cross Lake Ashinoko down to our next guest house, Moto-Hakone GH, sister to Fuji-Hakone GH. We had a brilliant crossing, weather and visibility perfect. No sooner had we dropped our bags off and headed back to the lake shore to find supper, the mist had rolled in and we couldn't see a thing. Talk about divine timing! We walked part of the Old Tokkaido Highway (parts still in the shade of old Cedar trees planted to shade travellers of old) and then caught a bus back to our digs where we headed for bed.
Fuji-san shows himself
We left K's Tokyo Oasis hoping that all our future accommodation would be as good. We had to go, we had an appointment with the Shinkansen, the bullet train! We first took the Tskuba Express to Akihabara, the electronics district, where, as we had a couple of minutes to spare, we had a quick look around. Luckily most of the shops weren't open yet - it being only 9am - so the temptation to check out all the new electronic stuff shop to shop was quelled and we moved on to Tokyo station pronto. Got there on the JR Yamonote line which gave us our first chance to flash our Japan Rail Passes, yippee!
The shinkansen was unlike any train we'd ever seen, sleek, streamlined and the front looked flying swan-like. I suppose what was more amazing was how the train was treated by its staff... with respect. The cleaning staff moved through the cabins before we boarded, taking real care in what they did. The white-gloved station staff went through the motions of checking doors, checking the time and waving their flags with a diligence we are just not used to. The conductor and the "trolley-dolly"on board the train would bow as they entered and exited each carriage. Can you imagine if the Blue Train staff took even half as much interest/care in the way they carried out their respective roles? Wow!
The trip to Odara - gateway to the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park - was a short 35 minute hop on the bullet. The Hakone area is the closest resort to Tokyo and certainly gets its fair share of domestic tourists - it was busy. Luckily on the way there we had the most amazing views of Mt Fuji from the train. It just popped its head out above the clouds, it looked fantastic. Just like on all the calendars. We decided to head directly to the Fuji-Hakone Guest House, dump our bags and then sight-see after that. Of course to do that we first had to catch the switchback Hakone Tozan train to Gora via a change at Hakone- Yumote, then catch the Tozan cable car to Sounzan (more like a funicular tram than our cable cars), then the Tozan Ropeway (like our cable cars) to Togendai and then a boring old Tozan bus to Senkyoro-Mae where we were staying. The weather had closed in as we caught the last ropeway and as such the view of Mt Fuji was non-existent. (So lucky that we'd already glimpsed the peak from the train). Our guest house was great. It had two onsen (hot spring baths), one inside and one outside. We walked around the vicinity of the guest house and chanced upon a beautiful shrine stretching up the mountainside. Full of mossy stone statues and a gorgeous pond full of massive koi and budha statues. It was beautiful and deserted. As the cloud was right down it looked so peaceful and mystical. Luckily it wasn't mentioned in any guide book otherwise it would probably be overrun. Found a tiny place to eat before going back to enjoy our half an hour private slot in the outside onsen...pure bliss and the end of a magic day.
The shinkansen was unlike any train we'd ever seen, sleek, streamlined and the front looked flying swan-like. I suppose what was more amazing was how the train was treated by its staff... with respect. The cleaning staff moved through the cabins before we boarded, taking real care in what they did. The white-gloved station staff went through the motions of checking doors, checking the time and waving their flags with a diligence we are just not used to. The conductor and the "trolley-dolly"on board the train would bow as they entered and exited each carriage. Can you imagine if the Blue Train staff took even half as much interest/care in the way they carried out their respective roles? Wow!
The trip to Odara - gateway to the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park - was a short 35 minute hop on the bullet. The Hakone area is the closest resort to Tokyo and certainly gets its fair share of domestic tourists - it was busy. Luckily on the way there we had the most amazing views of Mt Fuji from the train. It just popped its head out above the clouds, it looked fantastic. Just like on all the calendars. We decided to head directly to the Fuji-Hakone Guest House, dump our bags and then sight-see after that. Of course to do that we first had to catch the switchback Hakone Tozan train to Gora via a change at Hakone- Yumote, then catch the Tozan cable car to Sounzan (more like a funicular tram than our cable cars), then the Tozan Ropeway (like our cable cars) to Togendai and then a boring old Tozan bus to Senkyoro-Mae where we were staying. The weather had closed in as we caught the last ropeway and as such the view of Mt Fuji was non-existent. (So lucky that we'd already glimpsed the peak from the train). Our guest house was great. It had two onsen (hot spring baths), one inside and one outside. We walked around the vicinity of the guest house and chanced upon a beautiful shrine stretching up the mountainside. Full of mossy stone statues and a gorgeous pond full of massive koi and budha statues. It was beautiful and deserted. As the cloud was right down it looked so peaceful and mystical. Luckily it wasn't mentioned in any guide book otherwise it would probably be overrun. Found a tiny place to eat before going back to enjoy our half an hour private slot in the outside onsen...pure bliss and the end of a magic day.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A dream realised
We caught an early train for Yokohama, the second biggest city in Japan. We wanted to attend a church service in Christ Church on the Bluff. More by luck than design we caught two express trains and were at Yokohama Station in no time at all. We then changed to the Yokohama subway and travelled a couple of stops to Motomachi. A short uphill walk from the station and the America-Yama Park, past the Yokohama Foreign Cemetery and we were there, at least 15 minutes before the service was to begin. I recognised the church from a card my mum had kept all these years. It was 43 years ago that my eldest brother Chris, an officer with Safmarine had taken ill and died in these waters. It was in this church 43 years ago they had conducted a memorial service for him and it was here that we too were to attend a service. I know that my mum would have loved to come herself but that wasn't to be. As it is Father's Day I can indulge myself and say how immensely grateful I am that I have a family that is so supportive to allow me to realise my dream of coming here too.
Sushi time
Packed both brollies this morning and so we've enjoyed two rain free days. Hope it keeps working that way!
We were up pretty early again on Saturday: destination - The Tsukiji Fish Market.
We didn't bother to do the early, early shift to watch the auction but rather the more leisurely 8 o'clock shift to still get a feel for the bustle of a wholesale market and of course to have sushi for breakfast knowing that fish any fresher (than what we're eating) is still swimming in the sea. The market itself was unbelievable. There are little motorised carts with massive steering wheels zooting all over the place so you need eyes in the back of your head. The range of fish and sea life for sale is staggering and saddening at the same time. I can't believe that there is anything left in our overfished oceans when you see the array of squid, crabs, scallops, sea urchins, massive tunas, fresh and frozen, soles, you name it, that passes through this market.
Even BW with her sensitive nose didn't complain about the fishy smell, because actually there isn't one. We watched them slicing, cutting, filleting, washing fish and even passing massive ice blocks through a machine that chops them into ice blocks for packing fish!
Anyway off to find sushi. The places with the long queues outside had no English but luckily we chanced upon Tsukiji Sushi YAMAZAKI, a tiny place with about 12 seats and a local/foreign clientele as well as a menu that let you choose individual pieces instead of the usual exhorbitantly priced (well, to us budget travellers anyway) platters. We stuck to our comfort zones and skipped the clams, urchins, fish roe and eggcake in favour of tuna and salmon, nigiri and maki style. It was delicious. It was served with miso soup and green tea so for breakfast it was a feast.
From the market we headed for Shinjuku station, pretty busy during the week with about 2 million people passing through daily. I think they were there on Saturday too. It was busy!
We stopped outside the station for elevenses: coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts.
In the station, we exchanged our Japan Rail Pass vouchers for the actual tickets and also reserved our seats on the various bullet trains up until we get to Hiroshima on 23/6. From the station we headed into the skyscraper district where we took the lift in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings to the 45 th floor where they have a free observatory. (Free, so we went up both the north and south towers!) It is only when you are 200 metres up that you get any idea of the size of this city. Even if you spent an entire 10 day trip just in Tokyo you would battle to do more than scratch the surface. We then plotted a course for the Meiji Jingu, a shinto shrine and gardens. It looked pretty close from the observatory but instead it took quite a while to get to on foot. The forest surrounding the shrine was a cool and welcome relief after pounding the streets. There was an amazing bonsai exhibition and a couple of wedding parties. The brides and some of the guests were wearing traditional dress. Even the taxi's roof opened to accommodate one of the brides intricate headgear while she was sitting down. Amazing!
We continued down to the Shibuyu fashion district where we stopped for coffee in Starbucks which has a birds-eye view of the busiest intersection in Tokyo: Shibuyu Crossing. A mass of humanity crosses the road with every change of the lights, the ebb and flow is absolutely relentless. We then caught the subway back to our neighbourhood, Asakusa, and had teriyaki burgers for supper. I'm sure they count as Japanese food. Anyway, Rebecca loves them so they do count! Walked back to K's through Senso-ji to see it all lit up at night. Kaz got on with some washing, BW and I went supermarket shopping and back to watch the football in bed. A full day indeed.
We were up pretty early again on Saturday: destination - The Tsukiji Fish Market.
We didn't bother to do the early, early shift to watch the auction but rather the more leisurely 8 o'clock shift to still get a feel for the bustle of a wholesale market and of course to have sushi for breakfast knowing that fish any fresher (than what we're eating) is still swimming in the sea. The market itself was unbelievable. There are little motorised carts with massive steering wheels zooting all over the place so you need eyes in the back of your head. The range of fish and sea life for sale is staggering and saddening at the same time. I can't believe that there is anything left in our overfished oceans when you see the array of squid, crabs, scallops, sea urchins, massive tunas, fresh and frozen, soles, you name it, that passes through this market.
Even BW with her sensitive nose didn't complain about the fishy smell, because actually there isn't one. We watched them slicing, cutting, filleting, washing fish and even passing massive ice blocks through a machine that chops them into ice blocks for packing fish!
Anyway off to find sushi. The places with the long queues outside had no English but luckily we chanced upon Tsukiji Sushi YAMAZAKI, a tiny place with about 12 seats and a local/foreign clientele as well as a menu that let you choose individual pieces instead of the usual exhorbitantly priced (well, to us budget travellers anyway) platters. We stuck to our comfort zones and skipped the clams, urchins, fish roe and eggcake in favour of tuna and salmon, nigiri and maki style. It was delicious. It was served with miso soup and green tea so for breakfast it was a feast.
From the market we headed for Shinjuku station, pretty busy during the week with about 2 million people passing through daily. I think they were there on Saturday too. It was busy!
We stopped outside the station for elevenses: coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts.
In the station, we exchanged our Japan Rail Pass vouchers for the actual tickets and also reserved our seats on the various bullet trains up until we get to Hiroshima on 23/6. From the station we headed into the skyscraper district where we took the lift in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings to the 45 th floor where they have a free observatory. (Free, so we went up both the north and south towers!) It is only when you are 200 metres up that you get any idea of the size of this city. Even if you spent an entire 10 day trip just in Tokyo you would battle to do more than scratch the surface. We then plotted a course for the Meiji Jingu, a shinto shrine and gardens. It looked pretty close from the observatory but instead it took quite a while to get to on foot. The forest surrounding the shrine was a cool and welcome relief after pounding the streets. There was an amazing bonsai exhibition and a couple of wedding parties. The brides and some of the guests were wearing traditional dress. Even the taxi's roof opened to accommodate one of the brides intricate headgear while she was sitting down. Amazing!
We continued down to the Shibuyu fashion district where we stopped for coffee in Starbucks which has a birds-eye view of the busiest intersection in Tokyo: Shibuyu Crossing. A mass of humanity crosses the road with every change of the lights, the ebb and flow is absolutely relentless. We then caught the subway back to our neighbourhood, Asakusa, and had teriyaki burgers for supper. I'm sure they count as Japanese food. Anyway, Rebecca loves them so they do count! Walked back to K's through Senso-ji to see it all lit up at night. Kaz got on with some washing, BW and I went supermarket shopping and back to watch the football in bed. A full day indeed.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tokyo Time
Well, we're here!
Arrived yesterday afternoon after a long day of planes, trains and buses. We left Lee Gardens in the wee hours of the morning and caught the A21 airport bus from the Chatham rd bus stop at 5:50am. We could relax! The airport was a good hour away from Kowloon so we didn't want to leave anything to chance. We checked in and then went through to wait for our 9:30 flight to Narita airport. I found the duty free shops pretty disappointing unless one is into high fashion; there weren't even any decent electronic shops to browse around. We had pancakes and coffee for breakfast and we played cards and read until time to board. It took ages to get to our boarding gate, it was a 25 min walk and train ride away. Our flight was great, caught up on some movies and with a 125 km/h tail wind we landed about 20 mins early. The trick was now figuring out how to get to Asakusa! We eventually found our way to the Keisei limited express train line and headed into town. We changed trains at Aoto station for the Asakusa line subway, alighted at Asakusa station, shouldered our backpacks and 20 minutes later - at about 5:30 pm- arrived at K's House - Tokyo Oasis and oasis it is!. New, clean and very comfortable. Staff great.
Like most backpackers places, very friendly and full of kindred spirits who live, eat and sleep travel. After a welcome cup or two of tea I headed out to buy some food for supper - easier said than done when nothing is marked in English. Anyway ended up, more by accident than design, with rice and chicken and salad for BW and after watching some football fell into bed. An entire day taken up travelling.
Friday 18th - Slept late, probably still shaking off some residual jet lag.
We planned to stay local today so walked around the neighbourhood getting our bearings. We visited the Senso-ji Temple, the oldest in Tokyo and the Asakusa-jinja Shrine - where we saw a man having a blessing ceremony for his new car and a family having their baby blessed. The grounds are dotted with little shrines and lots of people praying and clapping in front of them. We then walked towards the Sumida River where we took the water bus down river to Hama-rikyu Gardens. Such beautiful gardens, an absolutely stunning island surrounded by a sea of high-rise buildings. It started raining with a vengeance as we plotted a course on foot towards the Zojoji Temple. Of course I had only brought one umbrella so I was pretty damp by the time we got to Mos Burgers where we had authentic Japanese burgers and a pretty decent cup of coffee. (Note to self: put both umbrellas in the pack next time!) Zojoji Temple was magic. We sat for ages and watched a monk come out and conduct a sung service under one of the budhas off to one side. At about 5pm after the big drums sounded, a procession of 4 monks came out in to the centre of the temple and conducted a very peaceful service accompanied by bells, drums and gongs. The temple is in the shadow of the Tokyo tower - a 333m tall Eiffelesque type tower.
We then caught the subway back up to Asakusa and we zig-zagged our way through the narrow shopping arcades and streets back to the supermarket where we bought sushi and tempura for supper. BW is very keen on K's House. Any opportunity to go to our room to fetch stuff on her own is seized with glee. She feels really important and empowered to use the lift by herself. Unlike at Lee's in Hong Kong where the lift is one of those old ones with the single sliding door so we didn't let her. Japan for us so far - organised, polite, clean and calm - even the pedestrian alarm on traffic lights is gentle and far less frenetic than its Kong Kong counterpart. Lots of people travelling around on bicycles, on and off the pavements so you do have to keep a look out for them. We like it a lot!!
Arrived yesterday afternoon after a long day of planes, trains and buses. We left Lee Gardens in the wee hours of the morning and caught the A21 airport bus from the Chatham rd bus stop at 5:50am. We could relax! The airport was a good hour away from Kowloon so we didn't want to leave anything to chance. We checked in and then went through to wait for our 9:30 flight to Narita airport. I found the duty free shops pretty disappointing unless one is into high fashion; there weren't even any decent electronic shops to browse around. We had pancakes and coffee for breakfast and we played cards and read until time to board. It took ages to get to our boarding gate, it was a 25 min walk and train ride away. Our flight was great, caught up on some movies and with a 125 km/h tail wind we landed about 20 mins early. The trick was now figuring out how to get to Asakusa! We eventually found our way to the Keisei limited express train line and headed into town. We changed trains at Aoto station for the Asakusa line subway, alighted at Asakusa station, shouldered our backpacks and 20 minutes later - at about 5:30 pm- arrived at K's House - Tokyo Oasis and oasis it is!. New, clean and very comfortable. Staff great.
Like most backpackers places, very friendly and full of kindred spirits who live, eat and sleep travel. After a welcome cup or two of tea I headed out to buy some food for supper - easier said than done when nothing is marked in English. Anyway ended up, more by accident than design, with rice and chicken and salad for BW and after watching some football fell into bed. An entire day taken up travelling.
Friday 18th - Slept late, probably still shaking off some residual jet lag.
We planned to stay local today so walked around the neighbourhood getting our bearings. We visited the Senso-ji Temple, the oldest in Tokyo and the Asakusa-jinja Shrine - where we saw a man having a blessing ceremony for his new car and a family having their baby blessed. The grounds are dotted with little shrines and lots of people praying and clapping in front of them. We then walked towards the Sumida River where we took the water bus down river to Hama-rikyu Gardens. Such beautiful gardens, an absolutely stunning island surrounded by a sea of high-rise buildings. It started raining with a vengeance as we plotted a course on foot towards the Zojoji Temple. Of course I had only brought one umbrella so I was pretty damp by the time we got to Mos Burgers where we had authentic Japanese burgers and a pretty decent cup of coffee. (Note to self: put both umbrellas in the pack next time!) Zojoji Temple was magic. We sat for ages and watched a monk come out and conduct a sung service under one of the budhas off to one side. At about 5pm after the big drums sounded, a procession of 4 monks came out in to the centre of the temple and conducted a very peaceful service accompanied by bells, drums and gongs. The temple is in the shadow of the Tokyo tower - a 333m tall Eiffelesque type tower.
We then caught the subway back up to Asakusa and we zig-zagged our way through the narrow shopping arcades and streets back to the supermarket where we bought sushi and tempura for supper. BW is very keen on K's House. Any opportunity to go to our room to fetch stuff on her own is seized with glee. She feels really important and empowered to use the lift by herself. Unlike at Lee's in Hong Kong where the lift is one of those old ones with the single sliding door so we didn't let her. Japan for us so far - organised, polite, clean and calm - even the pedestrian alarm on traffic lights is gentle and far less frenetic than its Kong Kong counterpart. Lots of people travelling around on bicycles, on and off the pavements so you do have to keep a look out for them. We like it a lot!!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hot Hong Kong
We have had 2 great days here. Weather hot and humid. It was a great place for a stopover to try to deal with jet lag.
Leaving on a 12:35 lunchtime flight from ORT was a novelty but arriving 12 hours later at 7 o clock in the morning kind of does your head in.
Landing at the new HKIA on Lantau Island has none of the white knuckle stuff that accompanied landing at Kai Tak Airport and getting from the airport on Lantau Island to our digs on Kowloon was a doddle. Talking of white knuckles, we spent today at Ocean Park, a huge amusement park near Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. We all did the Raging River (a log ride in water), only I went on the Mine Train, a long roller coaster, and Kaz and Rebecca went on the swings. We saw the dolphin show and loads of beautiful birds in aviaries. The highlight of the day though was seeing Giant Pandas and red Pandas too. Absolutely amazing!
We travelled in the park on foot, long escalators and cable cars. Of course it is quite ironic that one can plan a holiday so well and then not realise that today is a public holiday in HK and so we shared the park with loads of locals too.
Travelled to and from HK Island on the Star Ferry which is always a fun way to get around. Hovered around the Pier after we got back to Kowloon to watch the Symphony of Lights where they use lasers and light up some of the skyscrapers on the island and put it all to music. Well done and not drawn out.
Yesterday we found our way into Tsim Sha Tsui on the Airport Bus without a hitch and arrived at our guest house at 9 o clock. We checked into our room which was clean, comfortable and compact. We then dropped bags, had a quick change and hit the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. We took a leisurely stroll through the Kowloon Gardens (nice aviary there too) towards Mong Kok where we investigated the Ladies Market, the electronic goods street and then ventured further up towards Prince Edward where we chanced on the Flower Market street and the Bird Garden. These 2 were more like it, shops full of colourful orchids and in the latter people taking caged birds for walks. Interesting to see the bags of grasshoppers for sale, obviously bird food!
To save poor BW from totally overheating, we then caught the MTR subway back down to our neck of the woods. Had a Vietnamese supper and then straight to bed which is where I am heading too. We have a very early start as we need to catch the bus to the airport at about 6am.
Leaving on a 12:35 lunchtime flight from ORT was a novelty but arriving 12 hours later at 7 o clock in the morning kind of does your head in.
Landing at the new HKIA on Lantau Island has none of the white knuckle stuff that accompanied landing at Kai Tak Airport and getting from the airport on Lantau Island to our digs on Kowloon was a doddle. Talking of white knuckles, we spent today at Ocean Park, a huge amusement park near Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. We all did the Raging River (a log ride in water), only I went on the Mine Train, a long roller coaster, and Kaz and Rebecca went on the swings. We saw the dolphin show and loads of beautiful birds in aviaries. The highlight of the day though was seeing Giant Pandas and red Pandas too. Absolutely amazing!
We travelled in the park on foot, long escalators and cable cars. Of course it is quite ironic that one can plan a holiday so well and then not realise that today is a public holiday in HK and so we shared the park with loads of locals too.
Travelled to and from HK Island on the Star Ferry which is always a fun way to get around. Hovered around the Pier after we got back to Kowloon to watch the Symphony of Lights where they use lasers and light up some of the skyscrapers on the island and put it all to music. Well done and not drawn out.
Yesterday we found our way into Tsim Sha Tsui on the Airport Bus without a hitch and arrived at our guest house at 9 o clock. We checked into our room which was clean, comfortable and compact. We then dropped bags, had a quick change and hit the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. We took a leisurely stroll through the Kowloon Gardens (nice aviary there too) towards Mong Kok where we investigated the Ladies Market, the electronic goods street and then ventured further up towards Prince Edward where we chanced on the Flower Market street and the Bird Garden. These 2 were more like it, shops full of colourful orchids and in the latter people taking caged birds for walks. Interesting to see the bags of grasshoppers for sale, obviously bird food!
To save poor BW from totally overheating, we then caught the MTR subway back down to our neck of the woods. Had a Vietnamese supper and then straight to bed which is where I am heading too. We have a very early start as we need to catch the bus to the airport at about 6am.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
T minus 1
A test post to make sure that we can update the blog via email.
The Jameses are pretty organised for a change; bags are packed (Lenny the well-travelled leopard too), last beautiful run/cycle through Forest Town, Westcliff and Parkview under the belt, together with nice coffee and Doppio croissants with Suzette and Zachda thereafter.
The World Cup CD playing on the iPod and an early Father's Day Lunch with Heidi and Jon to look forward to.
Sayonara!
The Jameses are pretty organised for a change; bags are packed (Lenny the well-travelled leopard too), last beautiful run/cycle through Forest Town, Westcliff and Parkview under the belt, together with nice coffee and Doppio croissants with Suzette and Zachda thereafter.
The World Cup CD playing on the iPod and an early Father's Day Lunch with Heidi and Jon to look forward to.
Sayonara!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
