Author: kymdt

What not to do while in transit

Posted on by kymdt

Maglev Evidence, originally uploaded by kdt.

We could not help ourselves, or to be precise I couldn’t. In Shanghai international transit passengers need to collect all bags and then go through customs and immigration. Which of-course with a dual entry visa means we were free to roam the streets of Shanghai for an hour or two.

I had done my research and new that there was a very convenient baggage deposit service. We dumped our bags and headed towards the worlds highest viewing platform and the 100th floor of the World Financial Centre in Shanghai.

We didn’t have too much time so we caught the fastest land transport in the world, the Maglev Demonstration Project and as the picture shows, we got up to the 431 km/h… But it still left for a very tight schedule. Helen in her full librarian voice demanded of the customer service officers to let us bypass the “experience” and go straight to the top. After some consultation with their leaders through their two way communication system we were quickly ushered to the lift.

The views through the murky stuff were still pretty impressive. I’ve uploaded a few photos to Flickr.

For most of the holiday the heart racing for fear of missing a connection was mostly absent. But this little journey did create a little race. You’re meant to be at checkin 2 hours before hand. We got there just after 1:30 hours before hand. It was sort of a blessing because there was no line! But it also meant that the bag checkers were bored. So our bag of goodies was subject to examination.

Helen had to explain the Mr Brush, the balded headed plastic icon with a brush mohawk for cleaning keyboards. I had to explain a few special bike bells and my super groovy new lightweight bike locks… I can see how those items looked suspicious on the x-ray machine. But we were let go after amusing the inspection man for a few minutes. By this time were moving towards the departure gate. Helen must have looked suspicious because her handbag was searched and she created much amusement with the staff by showing the lomo digitial camera!!

Ahhh… to think we could have just had a rest!

Japanese Beauty

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Japanese Beauty, originally uploaded by kdt.

The mobile phone does capture Japanese beauty as well as my EOS400D, so I thought I would post another photo from today’s kimono fashion parade. It was a complete surprise to turn up a the Nishijin Textile Centre to be treated to a fashion parade. There were a lot of snappy happy Japanese photographers there.

Kyoto Best by Bike

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Kyoto Best by Bike, originally uploaded by kdt.

There is absolutely no doubt, Kyoto is best seen by bike. Yesterday we met up with volunteers from the Kyoto University Good Samaritans Club. They showed us their Kyoto. We hired bikes ate lunch at the University and enjoyed giant servings of green tea sweets! For good measure we saw a shrine or two! But the best bit was cycling around parts of Kyoto that are well off the tourist path! For good measure we hired bikes again this morning and did some of the most rewarding cycling. Their tiny streets and interesting buildings make it a great joy. As soon as you arrive in Kyoto you should hire a bike from the Kyoto Cycling Tour Project. The things we happened upon were interesting real world shops, good coffee, a small shrine and kimono parade!

Hokkaido Road Trip

Posted on by kymdt

For those of you wondering where exactly we drove in Hokkaido, I have prepared a google map which shows fairly well where we went. I’ve embedded it below.


Sapporo is a really friendly town. A kind man, a volunteer guide at the Clock Tower, showed us around and explained some of Sapporo’s history. He lived in Adelaide for a while to practice English. We had lunch in a local “cafeteria” which had amazingly good and cheap food. He provided us with some tips. We really appreciated his generosity.

We were hoping to take the overnight train from Tokyo to Sapporo. But unfortunately it was impossible to book a berth. Apparently it is very popular for Obon. Instead we flew with JAL, it was very very easy to book over the internet and it offers J Class for a small premium. J Class is excellent it is like business class and has made it very difficult for me to fly in economy class. There is actually space for my legs and the seats are comfortable. It convinces me that economy class is a conspiracy to create the “value” proposition for premium economy and business class. Anyway, my only bit of conspiracy theory for the trip.

We picked up our car in Sapporo it was a Toyota bB. You’ve seen photos already. Its a mini wagon and super practical. It survived with its 1.3 litre engine and automatic gearbox quite well in the hills and on the expressways. It demonstrates that most Australian cars are well over-specced and as a result over priced. We rented through the Toyota Rent-a-Car service and in particular the English website of Toyota Sapporo. The site is very good and the service was perfect.

We drove along the expressway to Asahikawa. The expressway (maximum speed 100, which no one follows) is much faster than the main roads (maximum speed 60 even in the country). It is also much more expensive. It cost us more than $30 for a trip of around 100km. But the pain soon wore off as we woofed down our Ramen, we went through the fields and town of Biei. To arrive at Furano for our first night. Natalux is a hotel that has been refurbished by a fashionable Tokyo designer. Pretty schmick for Furano and a bit more expensive. But enitirely enjoyable.

Next stop was Lake Shikotsu and the Lakeside Villa Suimekakui. I had a lot of hot baths that night and the next morning. The food was nothing short of outstanding and the trout from the lake will probably stay in my mind for the rest of my life. For a foreign tourist, particularly couples, the idea of separating and going to an onsen with the a large crowd isn’t to appealing. The Lakeside Villa Suimekakui has an in-room bath, plus access to two other fine baths on a private reservation basis. They were all great. If you want the best food, French and Japanese, and a great Onsen experience then this is place for you and in the scheme of things to costs is justifiable. I’d love to go back.

When I was booking, I tried to compensate for the fact that we spent a bit the night before by being a bit cheaper a Lake Toya. We had a basic 8 tatami mat (quite big) room in a hotel hidden behind the main hotels on lake front. It was cheap though and had a good Japanese breakfast. If you are thinking about choosing which lake to stay at Lake Shikotsu is the one it is beautiful, while Toya has ugly buildings upsetting the landscape. Lake Shikotsu is smaller and more focussed on good food. While Toya’s fireworks and volcanic eruption sites are good, I’d recommending visiting the sites on the way through.

From here we drove to Hakodate and following some guidance from Hokkaido website drove to Oshamabe for a bento that the area specalises in. The town is a practical fishing village, nothing really to see, but the crab based bento from the little restaurant across the road from the station and I assume also available is a bento from the station a rice dish with a crab topping is worth the diversion.

Hakodate is (after you get through the outer suburbs and the working port) a gorgeous small city with plenty of things to do. A great fish market, good restaurants and easy to get around city, by foot, car or public transport. I’d like more time there.

I’ve put together a slideshow for you. So far I’ve uploaded twenty or so. Hopefully in the next day or two, I will get a chance to upload the rest. Remember to press the big triangle to get it to play.
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649
(p.s. We’re sitting in a cafe in Kyoto after one of our best Japanese dinners yet. Included seeing our fish killed and eating almost everything including head and skeleton.)

Nameless Knight on the Town.

Posted on by kymdt

IMG_6145, originally uploaded by kdt.


Glimpsed in Hakodate at the Mt Hakodate observatory. He took a ride up the ropeway and was mobbed by an adoring crowd. Don’t forget to register your vote for his name.

Apparently the night lights of Hakodate from Mt Hakodate are one of the worlds great night views, alongside Hong Kong. It certainly was impressive.

From Asahikawa to Furano

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On the way to Furano, originally uploaded by kdt.

It is very pretty rolling countryside with lots of flowers. Sometimes it helps to get off the beaten track, because the beaten track is filled with coaches loaded up with tourists. Sometimes the tourists don’t even get out of the coach to enjoy the fresh air!! We got out of the car and it certainly was rural fresh. Perhaps that is why?

Lunch was at the Asahikawa Ramen Village, about 10 or so ramen bars all serving various forms of the famous Asahikawa ramen (they user thinner tasty noodles). All of them had line ups.

In Furano for dinner we had cheese fondue, this is a dairy area and their cheese and ice-cream is very good.

Matsuri

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We’ve had the chance to catch up with a couple of a festivals while in Tokyo and Sapporo.

The first was the 11th Hagoromo Nebuta Festival. To get here we caught a JR train (during peak time!!) and went for a 40 minute trip into the suburbs to the community of Hagoromocho, Tachikawa City. Of course when we got off we walked in the wrong direction. Lucky for us the street seller of Tako Yaki spoke good English and pointed us in the right direction.

According to Wikipedia “Nebuta refers to the float of a brave warrior-figure which is carried through the center of the city, while dancers wearing a unique type of costume called haneto prance around in time with the chant Rasser?. In the local dialect, participation in the festival is inquired using the adjective haneru (“Are you going to haneru today?”), which was derived from the Japanese spelling of the haneto costume and the adjective haneru (“bounce”).”

Well in my opinion that pretty much describes what goes on. This one is in Greater Tokyo apparently the bigger one is in Aomori.

The locals were very keen to share their street food, which I have to say was pretty good. The event is also popular with photographers with quite a lot of equipment there. I’ve include a slideshow of some photos I took. Press the play button to get them going.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

The second festival we visited, this time in Sapporo was the Hokkai Bon Odori. There were plenty of participants in yukata an kimono.

According to Wikipedia Bon Odori “originates from the story of Mokuren, a disciple of the Buddha, who used his supernatural powers to look upon his deceased mother. He discovered she had fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was suffering.Greatly disturbed, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this realm. Buddha instructed him to make offerings to the many Buddhist monks who had just completed their summer retreat, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The disciple did this and, thus, saw his mother’s release. He also began to see the true nature of her past unselfishness and the many sacrifices that she had made for him. The disciple, happy because of his mother’s release and grateful for his mother’s kindness, danced with joy. From this dance of joy comes Bon Odori or “Bon Dance”, a time in which ancestors and their sacrifices are remembered and appreciated.”

These days the Sapporo Bon Odori is run by the local broadcast company, since 1953. That could explain the tv looking personalties , the yellow stuffed toy like blob that was handing out goody bags to the kids.

I’ve also done a slideshow for this festival. Don’t forget to press play.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649