Preparation for Japan…
Our blog is currently undergoing a transformation, for our next holiday in a few days to Japan.
Stay tuned… more posts soon!
2008 – Japan and Korea
Itinerary and Flyover
Below is a badly formatted list of our itinerary. For those who are more visual, have broadband and Google Earth you can see itinerary as a “Flyover” by clicking here. Thanks to Tim for the extensive set of virtual sights in Osaka and nearby places.
Sunday, 23 March 2008 Tokyo
Monday, 24 March 2008 Tokyo
Tuesday, 25 March 2008 Tokyo
Wednesday, 26 March 2008 Tokyo
Thursday, 27 March 2008 Tokyo
Friday, 28 March 2008 Tokyo
Saturday, 29 March 2008 Hakone
Sunday, 30 March 2008 Hakone
Monday, 31 March 2008 Kyoto
Tuesday, 1 April 2008 Kyoto
Wednesday, 2 April 2008 Kyoto
Thursday, 3 April 2008 Kyoto
Friday, 4 April 2008 Kyoto
Saturday, 5 April 2008 Osaka
Sunday, 6 April 2008 Osaka
Monday, 7 April 2008 Himeji
Tuesday, 8 April 2008 Hiroshima
Wednesday, 9 April 2008 Hiroshima
Thursday, 10 April 2008 Fukuoka
Friday, 11 April 2008 Seoul
Saturday, 12 April 2008 Seoul
Sunday, 13 April 2008 Seoul
Monday, 14 April 2008 Seoul
Tuesday, 15 April 2008 Tokyo
Wednesday, 16 April 2008 Qantas
Cherry Blossoms to Bloom This Weekend in Tokyo
Good luck or good planning? It doesn’t really matter. Cherry blossoms will burst to herald our arrival in Tokyo and by the time we are Kyoto they should be at their peak!
That’s great news. Check out the cherry blossom forecast here.
Direct Posting from Dell Axim
In a first for our holiday blogging, we will be posting to our blog directly from a Dell Axim x50V which we picked up from e-bay. The main reason we have this Windows misery is because it is one of the few PDAs that can read both Compact Flash (SLR) and SecureDigital (SD) (IXUS) cards.
It has been teamed up with a tiny Apple Wireless (bluetooth) keyboard.
To post we send e-mails either to Flickr (with photos) or direct to Blogger (no photos).
All we need to find is a free wireless access point.
This post is to make sure it works before we fly out on Sunday!
Itinerary is printed and complete…
After a couple hours of adding details of which libraries to visit in Japan sitting in the afternoon sunshine… the itinerary is now complete and printed. Hooray!
Only time left to panic regarding clothing. The weather in Japan and South Korea varies from 10 degrees to 20. Although the links from our blog tells me that currently it feels more like 9.
At least the shops are open tomorrow if I get desperate.
Commenting….
Okay, you have made it to the blog… so far I must admit that it probably isn’t interesting, given we haven’t gone anywhere yet. Unless of course you want to read about India :)
You can either leave a comment on any of the posts, or leave a message which will get to us via the “Contact us form”, or you can leave a message on the “free chat widget”. So many options!
We hope to hear from you while we are on the road.
Travelling at Easter
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If you are ever thinking of travelling on a plane around Easter – make sure you do on Easter Sunday. Okay so the time of the flight wasn’t the best..6am. But the plane itself was practically empty. We were moved to the seats over the wing, extra leg room is always appreciated.
As you can see by the picture everyone on board received a Lindt gold bunny along with the standard issue food. I must also admit to getting an extra one that I spotted on the floor of the plane while we were waiting to get off in Sydney. Then we also got another one on the flight to Tokyo.
The rest of the food on the flight from Sydney to Tokyo was pretty good too – obviously a sign of things to come.
Whoever told me that the flight shouldn’t have much turbulence because it was straight up was wrong. Nothing major… Nothing that involved the warning light going on, but it was enough. Thankfully I was kept occupied with a range of movies, comedy shows, and long games of Tetris.
Typed by Helen
Imperial Palace
liveblog,east,gardens
Ueno
Liveblog. Cherryblossom
After visiting the Imperial Palace Gardens… we went to Ueno. There is the International Childrens Library {apologies forthe bad grammer and lack of punctuation – I cant work out how to use the Japanese keyboard!!!!)…. however before we went there there was a very long walk around a park full of trees with Cherry Blossoms…. it was absolutely beautiful. Ive never seen so many people… there were businessmen sitting down on plastic mats eating sushi, and families with their snacks, all below the Cherry Blossoms. The above photo was taken with the phone we hired. Youll have to wait for us to upload the rest.
Coffee in a can…
When I first heard about coffee in a can from Belinda and Tim, I’ll admit that part of me was skeptical. Iced coffee in a can.. Yes I can accept.. But hot coffee…. Doesn’t seem logical really.
However, I am pleased to say that I am no longer skeptical. Once we cleared customs, collected our bag, picked up the mobile telephone, train tickets, and used the ATM, we came across our first vending machine while waiting for the train to Tokyo. 120yen later coffee in a can was purchased. The moment I touched the can it was hot – and it tasted great!
Okay I know it doesn’t replace my regular mocha… But as they say “when in Tokyo…”. We are only at the end of our first full day in Tokyo, and so far I’ve had two of these cans… How many can I make it before the end of the trip…? :)
– Helen