Here are the Noodles in Narita
Japan
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The photo that Kym couldn’t take – oh the technology.
Biggest decision of the morning… what type of cereal. Of course when presented with a range of options the only solution is a bit of everything, topped with yoghurt and fresh fruit.
Last night in Japan…
Okonomiyaki, originally uploaded by Helen K.
The last night of our holiday was spent having dinner at our favourite Okonomiyaki place in Osaka. We discovered it last year, when we were in search of somewhere to eat. At the time we saw a long queue of Japanese people outside, we thought it must be good, so we joined the end. We ended up going back the next night, as the food was so good.
This year, when planning the flights we had to fly back via China, and thought leaving from Osaka was the ideal opportunity for us to re-visit.
We managed to locate the place without too much trouble. As it was our last night we went for the set of five different okonomiyaki’s. Each one is made up of different ingredients and held together by egg. The picture is just one of the five we ate – and just as good as we remembered.
Sendai Mediatheque photo slideshow
In case you didn’t see all the photos taken at the library, here is a slideshow for your convenience.
Homeward bound
Currently sitting in the Osaka airport, as the free wireless isn’t working. (editor’s note it is working now), Keyboard is proving to be a challenge as the letters Keyboard is proving to be a challenge as the letters keep changing to Japanese.
Will send another post when we get to Shanghai airport before coming home.
We have loved being in Japan.
Here is a picture of the traveling trio.
Japanese Beauty
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
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!
Spending time at Sendai Mediatheque
Sendai Media Tech, originally uploaded by Helen K.
Believe it or not we accidently came across the Sendai Mediatheque (aka a Public Library), and a modern slick one at that. We had been up to see the remains of the Sendai Castle, which has a lovely view over the city. We were on the Loople (yes that is the corect term), which was at crush capcity, to get back to the city. I had managed to get a seat and was nodding off (yes being a tourist is hard work), when Kym said lets get off. He had spotted the name of the Library from the map, and it reminded him what the French call their public libraries.
What a fantastic buidling. It is seven floors of light and activity – and on a Sunday too! The ground floor was featuring a number of young musicians, and people selling knitted and wooven items, a shop and a cafe. Yes we did have a drink and cake at the end of looking around.
While the building is square there are several large light wells from the top of the building that carries light down. The front of each floor has ceiling to floor glass ( not all clear) for the space to be well lit.
The second floor is for computer access and general quiet reading space in front of the windows, AV area (yes they still had video tapes, but not many), and a kids area. The kids area was defined by silver curtains. The thir floor was fiction and non fiction materials, magazines, and lots of study space on seats against the walls or tables. There was a third mezzanine floor, which had a queue of 20-30 people waiting for information assistance, and reference material. The floors above were dedicated art space, movie space, and a meeting space and performance space. Wow.. what a fantastic building. There wasn’t suppose to be any taking of photos, but I ignored the sign – as I could see a few other people were too. My photos don’t do the space justice. If you are ever in Sendai, I highly recommend you check it out!
kimono fashion show
kimono fashion show, originally uploaded by Helen K.
just taken by kym
Hokkaido Road Trip
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.)
