Today was a casual start to the day.  After a shower, we went to a cafe outside the train station for some breakfast.  Then we filled my camelback with water and ice, and were met at 10.20 to start our *guided* tour for the day.  This was in English, and our trip had 30 people on it – about 23 Poms, a few Aussies and a couple from Switzerland.  Kaoru was the only Japanese person on it (other than the guide, and bus driver).

Our first destination was Miyajima – ranked as one of the three best views in Japan.  After a scenic 20 minute bus ride, we arrived at the port, where we caught the 15 minute ferry ride over.  Unfortunately the Torri Gate, floating in the high tide, got damaged in the storms early April.  So it was surrounded with scaffolding preventing us from seeing it.  Once off the boat, we were walked around the shopping strip of the island, and had the “recommended places to eat at” pointed out.  Having already had Okonomiyaki, I didn’t pay much attention.  Kaoru and I thought we’d find somewhere nice later anyway.

Our tour continued through the Shrine.  The tide was out, and as mentioned, the Torri gate was covered in scaffolding, but other than that, it was a great tour.  At its conclusion, we were given a couple of hours of “free time” to explore the island.  Naturally, I did something a little different.  Kaoru and I walked up a “back street”, and ended up finding another small shrine, a bit of a hike up the mountain.  From here we had some amazing views back out at the island, and the bay.  Once we came back down, we went through the main Shrine again, so we could stop and pray.  This is a very spiritual place for the Japanese, so I couldn’t deprive Kaoru the opportunity to pray here.  As we walked through, we came across a wedding party – a Japanese lady and a French man.  We walked past them, prayed at the Shrine, and started walking back to the meeting place, looking for some lunch on the way.  We found what would have to be the smallest carpark I’ve ever seen!

We found lunch at a nice little stall – I had a fish stick with bacon and cheese (and a beer), and Kaoru had one with Shrimp.  We were still hungry, so split a 3rd with Oyster – the other famous food in the area.  We then continued our walk back to the ferry.  Along the way, we stopped in a Soy Sauce shop.  I had never seen so many different flavour soy sauces!  I thought it was just a single flavour, but these all had a slightly different flavour to them.  I tried an orangey one – it was quite nice!

We left the shop and looked at the time – we were now running a couple of minutes late, so hurried through the rest of the markets and re-joined the group to catch the ferry back to the main land.  Our bus was waiting for us there, and took us back to Hiroshima, so we could see the Peace Park / Memorials / etc.

We started at the A-Bomb Dome.  This is the ruins of the only building still standing from the a-bomb.  It is between the target (a bridge) and the point the bomb detonated at, and gives you an appreciation of the destructive power of the bomb.  From there, we walked around the Peace Park – to the monuments that have been erected, the Peace Flame (which will not go out until there are no more nuclear weapons), and other key sites.  Then we went in to the museum, which showed us some before and after shots, and a Diaorama depecting the impact of the explosion.  There was a wall that had a copy of all the protest letters written by the mayor of Hiroshima prior to all nuclear arms tests that have been made.  There was a copy of the order given that the bomb would be dropped.  Memories of my trip to Pearl Harbour started to come back.

After 90 minutes of our own time in the museum, we were returned to our hotel after a very emotional and enjoyable day.  We had a juice, and went up to our room to decide what to do for the evening.  We caught a street car to the underground shopping centre, and after a wander around there, bought noodels for dinner.  We then went to “Southern Cross” – an Australian / Kiwi bar, which was very enjoyable.  The publician was a Kiwi who didn’t speak much Japanese (so he claimed – but I’m sure he spoke more than he let on, given he had been in the Country for 9+ years), and most of the customers were ex-pats.  There were only a couple of Japanese girls in there (and Kaoru, of course).  So we had a couple of drinks and a chat with the publician, and then caught the street car (tram) back home.

We woke up fairly early this morning, as we had a bit to do before leaving the house, and hadn’t packed.  Kaoru still had no idea where we were going, other than we were taking the Shinkansen (bullet train).

From Fujisawa we caught a local train to Yokohama, then a local train to Shin-Yokohama, where we hopped on the fastest of the bullet trains.  This told Kaoru the direction we were going, so she thought it must be Kyoto we are going to.  The Shinkansen is very big and roomy – much more leg room than an aeroplane!  And a very wide walkway.  We had a sleep on the train, which we both needed.  As we pulled in to Kyoto, Kaoru started to get confused – she couldn’t imagine where else we could be going.  I did a bit more Hiragana reading on the train.

Eventually the train arrived at our destination – Hiroshima.  By the time we got out of the train station and found the hotel (which was next to the station – luckily), it was nearly 3.00 (check in time over here).  So we were able to go straight up to our room on the 18th floor, with a beautiful view of the city.

We had been sitting most of the day so needed some exercise.  So we grabbed a map from reception and started wandering.  We found Shukkeien – a beautiful Japanese garden to walk around.  We only had an hour before closing time, so we had to walk fast, but still took time to look and enjoy the scenery.

From there, we walked in to, and around, Hiroshima City.  On the way we found a wall full of vending machines, which I had to get a photo of.  We had eaten lunch at 12.30, so weren’t too hungry, but decided we should eat once it was 7.00.  We found an Okonomiyaki restaurant – the traditional food of Hiroshima.  I had eaten this once before – the first meal I had the first day Kaoru showed me around Tokyo, 6 months ago.  We were very full after eating it all, and the walk back to the hotel was good for working a bit of it off.

Kaoru’s Birthday.

Woke up to a beautiful, sunny day.  I cut back on work, but still had a bit to do.  We went for our usual morning walk.

After lunch, I walked Kaoru to the train station for her to go to work.  I then had to buy Shinkansen tickets for our surprise trip away for Kaoru’s birthday.  But for some reason, my AMEX was declined!  I tried my VISA – that was declined too!  I then tried my Datascore Visa (totally different account) – also declined!  OK, this is going to make things interesting, as last time I tried to withdraw cash, it rejected the transaction when I tried to get out too much.  Back at the Citybank ATM, I found that the limit was only on a single transaction, so by splitting it in to 2, I was able to withdraw enough cash and pay for our trip.

I had lost about 90 minutes with all the dicking around (walking home to check that I had money in the account, before going to the bank to get money out), so I felt behind all afternoon with work.  Kaoru rang from the train station, as she got in early, so I went in to meet her and take her out to dinner.

We went to our “usual” restaurant in Fujisawa.  They recognise us when we walk in now, which is great.  Kaoru reckons it’s because of me (we haven’t seen other Westerners in there).  They were very busy (we were lucky to get a table) but enjoyed another wonderful feast, and even skipped 100 yen donuts, we were so full!  On our way out, we were given a 1000 yen (~$12) coupon for our next visit, so that was nice of them.

It was raining today, so we missed our walk.

I had an interesting experience – trying to find a Birthday Card for Kaoru.  Finding card shops in a strange Country is not as easy as you’d think.  They were on the 5th floor of a store, so it took a lot of wandering, but I eventually got it all sorted.

Other than that, just work.

Back to boring Daz.  Worked today, with a walk break.

Mothers Day.

After sending an e-card to Mum, Kaoru and I left for Clematis no Oka.  This was our day planned to spend with Hiro and Yasuko.  I didn’t know where exactly it was, but I did notice that after quite a bit of travelling, we were considerably closer to Mount Fuji.  In fact, we passed one of the Shinkansen stops for going to the mountain!  There were some amazing views of it, but I hadn’t gotten my camera out yet, so thought I’d save that for the return trip.  To have the mountains on one side, and the water on the other, was just beautiful.

After an early lunch, we walked around the grounds to admire the lovely flowers, and interesting sculptures.

I’ve got to say, I’m pretty happy with the quality of the photos that come out of my camera.  A worthwhile investment indeed!

After a wander around the gardens, we were treated to a performance by a guitar and a harp.  I had never seen a harp played before, and it was quite interesting to see the technique.  The music was very relaxing, and the four of us had trouble staying awake.  I could see other people in the audience drifting off too!  Maybe I should get a CD for when I can’t get to sleep at night!

After the performance the weather had turned cloudy.  For the last week, the mornings have started with beautiful blue skies, and in the afternoon it has turned cloudy and cooled off a bit.  This is apparently quite uncommon for Japan in May.  So it meant the photos I had hoped to get of Mount Fuji on the way home weren’t to be :(.  This is the closest I’ve made it so far, and I won’t be back for a while, but oh well – shit happens.

I got a photo of Hiro and Yasuko, and we started the long trip home.  The book we were given when we entered the grounds had a lot of Kanji in it, but it had Hiragana translations, so I spent much of the ride practicing my reading.  It certainly made the trip seem quicker for me – not sure about for Kaoru though, who spent the whole time correcting my (many) errors!

Back at the house I got on Skype to Dad.  It was just after 7.00 Melbourne Time, and Mum was busy with cleaning up after dinner, so I checked they would be available in the evening for me to Skype them.  Kaoru and I went out to dinner in Fujisawa, as we were hungry and didn’t want to worry about cooking after such a nice day out.  Once we got back, we were able to wish Mum a Happy Mothers Day and have a chat with them.

And once again, we are at the end of an enjoyable weekend.

My first reading!

Today I downloaded and read a book in Hiragana!  It was bloody hard, especially as I don’t know the words (although there were a few sounds that were familiar, and I was able to recognise them).  Kaoru had the idea of a childrens book, as that was about all I could get that is in just Hiragana (ie, no Katakana or Kanji).  I put myself in David’s shoes as he does his readers – although he at least knows the words!  Kaoru was very patient, correcting me as needed (which was quite frequent).  All in all, I think it was a great experience.  It allowed me to learn exceptions (such as “Ha” becoming “Wa” under some circumstances), and much more enjoyable than looking at single letters on number plates.

Other than that, we didn’t do much.  I worked, we went grocery shopping, went for a walk…

I slept in a bit today, as I was quite tired from yesterday.  Then it was catching up on a couple of days worth of work, broken by our usual morning walk.

We went for a drink in Fujisawa after dinner – I had been here for 4 weeks and still not hit a pub!  So had to rectify that.  Unfortunately, Kaoru had never been out in Fujisawa, so didn’t know where to take me!

I suggested “Pub Max” – I had seen the sign for it walking back from the station a few times.  However Kaoru explained that this was a “Girls Bar” – which is actually a “Boys Bar”, depending how you look at it.  So she wasn’t keen on that idea for some reason.

We ended up at a different place, which wasn’t really a pub as such, but somewhere we could get a drink.  This was the one thing that makes me miss Australia – people smoking inside.  When I saw somebody eating food while holding a cigarette, my stomache turned.  We stayed for a drink, and had a chat to a couple of “locals” there after work – curious as to why a foreigner was in there.  But we were both pretty tired, so didn’t stay for long before walking home (via the 100 yen donut shop, of course!!!).

Well, it took me until my 3rd trip to Japan, but I finally made it to….

Disneyland!

As a customer, you gotta love an empty car park at a theme park.

Well, it’s actually Disneysea, which is a part of the Disney Resort in Tokyo.  It took us about 90 minutes and 2 trains to get to the resort, and then a 3rd train to get to Disneysea.  Kaoru had purchased tickets in advance, saving ~1300 yen ($15), and being the week after Golden Week, we were expecting it to be fairly quiet.

And we were spot on!  The longest we had to wait for any ride was about 15 minutes!

We started by seeing the “Welcome to Springtime” show – an Italian-based show down on the water.  It was quite funny, how the dialogue was in Japanese, but the lyrics to their songs were in English.  So I could understand a part of the show, and Kaoru translated the story line for me.

The show started at 11.30, but we were there by 11, so had a bit of a wait.  We were getting hungry so ate 3 of the 4 sandwiches we brought along with us.  We figured we could buy more food if we needed it.

After the show, it was time to see some of the rides.  The first was a gentle boat ride.  Basically operating on magnets, and a very random pattern!  You could see the track below, but you didn’t know which turn off you would take, and everybody would be on a slightly different route.  The engineer came out in me, as I admired what went in to such an amusement.

Our next ride was the “Stormchaser”.  We were in a theatre, which shook during parts!  And as we got sucked in to a Tornado and our ship sprung a leak, a light mist of water got us.  It was a very enjoyable ride, and at times almost made you feel sea sick as you felt like you were flying – similar to an iMax theatre.  Apparently one young person on the ride did vomit!  Glad they weren’t next to me!!!

Over to the “Indiana Jones” area, we found a line and waited in that.  We were told it was about a 20 minute wait.  Looking ahead, we could see people getting photos with Mickey.  I was quite impressed with that – something to break up the wait.  After 5 minutes, we hadn’t moved very far at all.  Looking around, there were people of all ages, however we were starting to question the line we were in.  So Kaoru asked a member of staff, and we found out this was just a line to have a photo with Mickey!  Bloody Hell!  If it wasn’t for the fact that there were groups of teenagers (and no young children amongst them) I wouldn’t have joined the line in the first place, but they made it look like we were in the right place!  So we got out of that line, and joined a 10 minute one, to get in a jeep with some Indiana Jones style driving.  I wasn’t going to pay 1300 yen for the photo, but copied everybody else and just took a photo of the photo :).  For 400 yen, yes, I would have – and they just don’t realise how many more they would sell if they charged less.  It never ceases to amaze me.

Then it was time for the roller coaster.  Now, I’m not much of a roller-coasterer.  But thought I should give it a go.  It wasn’t until I was committed to the idea that I saw the following sign…

There was a bit of a wait (maybe 15 minutes), but it was worth it!  Managed to get the adrenaline going!

In Alladin’s Cove, we had a tamer ride – the magic carpet ride.  This was basically a merry-go-round but 4 people were on a “carpet” – and you had a control to go up and down.  From the top (and at the right point) you could get a pretty good view of the park.

Walking through Alladin’s Cove, we got to the theatre for a show just as it started to rain.  Luckily it didn’t take too long for us to get in.  I was given an English subtitle machine, so I could keep up with the story.  It started with a 3 minute introductory narrative, during which we could hear the thunder outside quite loudly, and we were thankful to be indoors.  We then moved in to the main auditorium and got our seats, but instead of starting the show, they told us the storm was bad outside, and we had to stay seated.  My subtitle machine didn’t get the memo though, so I had a “sneak preview” of the story.  Which I thought would be useful, as I could watch the stage and have an idea of what was happening.  After about 10 minutes, they opened the doors, said the main part of the storm has passed, and we have to leave.  WTF?!?!?!?  So we went outside, with our umbrellas up (which we threw in at the last minute), being told that everything was closing indefinately because of the rain.

It didn’t look too bad, so we went to Mermaid Beach – the childrens area, but at least it was under cover, and not too crowded (surprisingly).  Rides were going in there, so we had a go of the “Jelly Fish” ride.  We then thought we see if the rain had stopped.

It was still going, so we got some food, and then found the “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” ride (which was also going).  This was quite fun.  The “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth” was closed and they were giving tours, but didn’t have an English speaking tour guide, so we gave that a miss.

After walking across the park, a ride on the electric railway took us to the American Harbour.  We wanted to catch a performance of the Big Bass Band – a musical performance that sounded enjoyable.  But as we had 45 minutes to kill, we stopped in at the “Tower of Terror”.  This was a great ride, which was basically in a sit-dwon elevator that went up and down.  OK, sounds boring, but when it got to the top, with the window open, we were given a wonderful view of the park!  Only problem was it was so dark inside, that it took a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the light, in order to take it in.  And by then, it was off back down in the elevator!  Again, some clever marketing (such as pictures from 2 rides at a special price) may have had us buy one.  But out with the camera again to take a photo of the photo!

The performance by the “Big Bass Band” was a fantastic Jazz performance – all in English!  We found that Mickey can play the drums, as well as do a bit of tap dancing!  There was a cast of about 30 people, and we were thoroughly entertained for about 30 minutes.

Hotel in the background, in the park.

Volcano in the background

The next show wasn’t until 8.00, so we had about 90 minutes to kill.  We had done pretty much all the rides we wanted to, so it was time for some doubling up!  We started with another go of the Tower of Terror (as that was closest), and then went across the park back to Alladin’s Cove to see the show we missed out on last time.  That was quite enjoyable.  After doing the roller coaster again (which was great in the dark – especially the view over the park from the top!) and the Indiana Jones jeep ride, we thought we’d better get back to the entrance for the next number.

This was a magical show in the middle of the water.  Music, lights, and the occasional fireworks going off made for a very enjoyable 20 minutes.

Mickey on the top

After this show, we were treated with the usual “Closing Ceremony” fireworks.  Nothing too fantastic here, but by this time (8.30) we were getting hungry (as we hadn’t had dinner), tired, and had a long trip home.  So we made our way to the Disney Train to get back to the JR station.  We had some dinner there, and got home not long after 11.00.  The streets of Fujisawa were amazingly quiet on our way home.  I thought it would have been busier on a Thursday night.

We went to bed very tired, but very happy!

Today was all work and no play, apart from a walk before lunch.

Today was all work and no play, apart from our usual walk to get bread for lunch.

Back to work day.

We walked in to get fresh bread, which got me out in the fresh air, but other than that, it was a busy, boring day.

Kaoru still hasn’t cooked the same dinner twice!  Every meal has been amazing!

OK, today may seem a little confusing.  Yes, I am still in Japan.  And yes, it is May.  Nonetheless…

Here we are at Yokohama Oktoberfest!

There were beers…

… and beers…

… and beers…

… and music…

… and beers…

… and even some food!

It was a very warm and enjoyable day.  ~200 yen to get in ($2), but the beers were quite expencive (~$10 each), plus a deposit (~$10) on the glasses.  But that was at each stall, so the glass had to be returned to get your deposit back before you could get a beer from another stall!  Was all a bit of a pain, but oh well…

We were there for both the 2 o’clock and the 4 o’clock show, which were by a german group.  We had a chat to a mixed couple – a German guy and a Japanese girl!  Luckily they both spoke English so we enjoyed some time with them.  Then it started to rain, so we went to the shopping mall next door for a look around, during which it cleared up nicely!

We walked back to Yokohama station for a bit of sobering up.  We decided it was time for dinner, so after stopping for some scenic photos of the Cosmo Clock, we went to the 5th floor for a buffet dinner – all you can eat for 2 hours, for ~$25 a head!

After a very large meal, we caught the train back to Fujisawa.  The train was surprisingly empty, given it’s the last day of Golden Week.  It was the end of a very enjoyable, and much needed, weekend, after the long week of work I had!

Exercise Day…

I spent this morning doing some work.  Then after lunch, we caught the train to Kita-Kamakura.  After going in to one of the (many) temples there, we undertook a 2 hour hike to Kamakura.

Lots of steps, but some amazing views.  And they even served a beer at “Heaven” – the highest point on the hike!

Fuji is there in the background...

See?? There it is!!!

Another shot on the hike.

Which way???

On the way home we went to the supermarket to get some more seafood for tonights Sushi – Kaisendon.  It’s basically a bowl of sushi rice, with the raw fish (and vegetables) on top.  Miso soup on the side, and also a side plate of smoked salmon and onion.  Lovely!

Invoice Day!  Decided to make the week worthwhile, so I sent an invoice to FitGenes.

It was a sunny morning, so we had the door open for lots of fresh air.

After lunch, we decided to go for a walk and get some exercise.  We literally stepped outside, and it started spitting.  We ended up going to a coffee shop for some cake and a hot chocolate / lemon tea.  We then went to the supermarket, and managed to get home without getting too wet.

Within 15 minutes of getting home, the sky cleared up, and half an hour later there were blue skies.  Typical.

Tonites dinner – Maki Sushi!  YUMMM!  There is an art to rolling them, but it’s all good fun!

Kaoru had today off work (it’s a Thursday, so she would anyway, but this was a Golden Week holiday too).

It rained for most of the day, so we didn’t get an opportunity to go out, until after dinner when it had stopped.  So we went for a walk on the other side of the train station.  We ended up in an area of Fujisawa Kaoru hadn’t been to before (as there was no need).

More of the same, old, boring, work.  Looking forward to sending an invoice for this!  Ruining my time away…

Another day filled with lots of work.

We went for a walk before lunch, but it started to rain.  Given the rain water is radio active (despite Kaoru insisting it isn’t!!!), we went back home.

Kaoru had to go to work this afternoon, and I didn’t leave the flat other than our short walk.

First work day of Golden Week.

Golden Week is a week where Japanese have 3 days of holidays.  So Tuesday and Wednesday are the only work days.  Consequently, a lot of people will take those days off, and have a 9 day weekend.  Everything will be very crowded.

I spent the day working.