Category: Japan

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Tokyo photographs

We got there in the end! Here you go, a carefully chosen selection of our favourite pics from Japan – nearly a month after we left…

Early morning at Tsujiki fish market - the largest in the world...
Tokyo or Blade Runner.... building the Sky Tower
Our room at the Ryokan Sawanoya - a traditional Japanes Inn (was fab)
Kamakura temples - about an hour south of Tokyo
Alex and one of his many vending machine drink experiments
Kamakura - calligraphy on 'tori' - the gates into a shinto shrine
Imperial Palace parkland - central Tokyo
How to transport your charges to nursery school
The only corner you can see of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
The awesome massive hanging animated globe at the Museum of Design & Innovation
The plastic food shop - where restaurants buy the plastic food that advertises what they sell
Kamakura again
The childrens' buddha - Kamakura
Shinto wedding at Meji shrine, central Tokyo - a ridiculously hot day, she was dressed sitting next to a mobile air conditioning unit

 

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I’m melting…

Been here over a week now and still haven’t got used to the roughly 29 degree heat and pretty high humidity. Fortunately there is a lot of a/c and cold Asahi beer to help chill things down a little.

We’ve moved now to our second ryokan (Japanese style hotel), and my very favourite thing about our new place has to be the Japanese baths. You get washed under the shower (or by pouring buckets of luke warm water over your head – fabulous when you get in from a hectic day`s sightseeing), and then get into your very own infinity bath overlooking the zen garden – not kidding.

The bath is lovely and hot, soothes away all your aches and pains from walking everywhere (curse of hanging out with Alex, this walking everywhere thing, even in London), and then you cool down again by pouring cooler water over yourself once you`re out.

Not sure the Japanese go for that last bit, all a little Finnish, but hey let`s call it fusion bathing. Am going to go now and have a cold one, and maybe start doing some origami.

Seriously.

🙂

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Tokyo baby!!

Well we arrived a couple of days ago now, and I’m happy to report Tokyo is amaaaazing 🙂 currently updating this from the Apple store opposite all the very posh department stores in Ginza. Jet lag is sadly still with me, though I did manage to sleep until ooh 4.30 this morning – for those with small children, I feel your pain.

We’ve not been sat around you’ll be pleased to hear, so for me, for now, this is my top things I’ve learned in Toky0 – in no particular order (all written down in your book Rae 🙂 )

1. That I appear to be travelling with Tom Cruise according to a very nice but clearly visually challenged lady sat next to us at dinner last night.

2. That lamposts play music to you – it was an orchestral version of ‘Memories’ from Cats on our first night.

3. If you ask the fortune telling sticks at Senso-ji temple what the fates hold in store for you, don’t expect a jolly answer (!!). I’m comforted by the fact that Alex’s was just as bad as mine.

4. People are wonderfully friendly and the TOTAL language barrier just isn’t even an issue.

5. That dodgy looking restaurants serve fabulous noodles.

6. That there’s a statue of Edward Jenner in the grounds of the Tokyo National Museum (that one’s for you James, they’re pretty happy here with the whole smallpox vaccine thing).

7. That it is possible to sleep well on a 5cm thick futon on tatami mats with a rice filled pillow, and that the futons are long enough, hurray!!

Love it love it love it…

Cxx