I had a better nights sleep, but still had a couple of wake-ups, before getting up at 7.30.  A shower made me a bit more functional, and breakfast sealed the deal.

Kaoru and I got our bags packed, and Mio drove us to the station at 9.00.  It was a beautiful, clear day, on its way to 31 degrees.  It took us 3 trains to get to Tokyo station, but each change was at the same platform (well, across the platform) so very convenient.  We got there earlier than we had planned, so got some nibbles (rather than a lunch) and waited in line for the train to open up.  From our experience going to Kobe in March, we learnt that getting on at Tokyo, and being there early enough, means we don’t have to pay for a reserved seat for Kaoru (just a normal ticket).

We got on the Shinkansen, where I caught up on a few more things, and we ate our nibbles.  One was a meat pie made with Kobe beef (delicious!), and the other were banana-filled cakes (kind of like a twinkie with banana cream inside).  It was then time to enjoy the countryside, and get a little bit of sleep.

We arrived at shinosaka just after 1, and found somewhere to have some lunch. It’s great being on holiday time! After lunch we caught the train to Namba station and were able to check in to our hotel once we managed to find it (about 215). Mikusan had suggested this hotel – Swissotel Nankai Osaka. It was very nice.

Once we were ready we made our way downstairs and awaited Mikusan.  She was a little bit late (about 3.40), but we had nothing else to do.  I introduced her and Kaoru, and we grabbed a cold drink and chatted for a while.  She speaks confident English when she knows what she is saying, but as soon as she had any trouble she would get Kaoru to translate.  That Japanese mindset of not wanting to look silly in front of somebody else.  We found out that she lives in the mountains between Osaka and Kobe, and that it takes her 90 minutes to get to Osaka.  So we were very lucky to have her come all this way!

Matsuyama-san arrived about an hour or so later.  He had a meeting but finished it early to come and see us.  So we demonstrated Datascore to them, with me driving, and Kaoru translating it all; and doing an excellent job of it, considering she doesn’t really know the indoor sports business.  She has learnt parts of it from hearing me talk about it, but has no real hands on experience.  Matsuyama-san has already spoken about it to some of his contacts!  It could be a long, slow road, but it will hopefully move faster than Konami has over the last 5 years!

Once finished we went to dinner.  Matsuyama-san had booked a restaurant that he knows.  Miku-san had bought a couple of bottles of wine; the restaurant wasn’t BYO but as Matsuyama-san knows the owners we were able to drink it.  We gave Matsuyama-san a bottle of Shiraz that we had brought from Australia, and Miku-san a container of T2 Tea.  We then enjoyed a delicious meal and great conversation.  We got to know them both better.

After dinner we went for a walk around Osaka.  The night life was beautiful.  We didn’t go for any drinks, but just strolled around Dotonbori.  We passed a shop which sold puffer fish. There were some live ones in a tank in the window and then the frame of a couple of dead ones all blown up. Osaka is apparently a better place to eat it than tokyo.

Matsuyama-san explained how people jump off the bridge in to the river when Osaka baseball team wins a game!  Kaoru spoke to him a lot (as he doesn’t speak a lot of English) and I spoke to Miku-san, so she could practice her English without somebody else hearing.  We ended up back at our hotel about 9.30 but as Miku-san had a long trip home we didn’t suggest going for another drink.

Once they were out of sight, Kaoru and I went back out, thinking a drink would be nice.  But we couldn’t find a pub to drink at so we bought some take away drinks and some sweets and went back to our hotel room.  The view out our window (23rd floor) was beautiful at night – it was a pity we couldn’t sit on the balcony.  So we enjoyed a drink and snack, and went to bed.

I didn’t have the best nights sleep.  The couple of craft beers I tried (with the sushi) last night probably didn’t help.  That, and knowing I had to test everything in preparation for my demo today at Konami…

I woke about 7.30 local time and went downstairs to say Hello.  Yoichi and Arisa had already gone to work and school.  I had a shower which woke me up a bit, and then some breakfast.  It was then a busy morning of testing Datascore on Kaoru’s computer, and dealing with issues from yesterday (mostly Fitgenes).

Mio drove us to the train station which was great.  It was raining, and muggy.  Although the traffic was bad, and it looked like we may be late.  At the station I caught the train to Shinagawa and Kaoru went to Shibuya (opposite direction).  At Shinagawa I went across the road to Goos hotel and met Mikiko in the lobby.  I gave her a bottle of wine as a present which she took to her room, and we went for an early lunch (it was 11.00 :)) at TGI Fridays.  Once I saw Taco rice I didn’t have to look any further on the menu!

We caught up and chatted about our plan for the day, and then caught a taxi to Konami headquarters.  The presentation was just to Oishii-san, which was disappointing.  But he was certainly happy with it and will put forward the idea to management.  They also had just tried moving to Sportskeep 3 (finally) and their original database had become corrupt.  So I had to try to fix that (but without my laptop, and other issues in that they couldn’t get the database off the computer).  We left about 2.00.

Back at Shinagawa we had a drink in the lobby, and then Kaoru called as she was on her way.  I met her at the station, and we caught a train to Akihabara.  I needed a new battery for my laptop and Kenichi suggested a store I may be able to get it from.  Unfortunately they didn’t have anything.  So we left empty handed.  We went to a Mr Donut for a donut and drink, and decide what to do for the rest of the day.

I had received a new version of the database from Oishii-san while we were there, so I logged on to my computer back in Oz and managed to repair it, and get it back to him (via Mikiko with an explanation).  We then went for a massage.  Kaoru managed to find a place that charged ~3,000 yen for 60 minutes (~AU$35).  So we went there, and were both surprised at how good a massage we received!  But we then had to move and get to the station, and back to Shinagawa.

We met Mikiko at the station at 6.30 (just on time) and went to Korean BBQ restaurant around the corner.  This was the restaurant that Kaoru and I went to on our first dinner date, that night 5 years ago, when I met Ochi-san as well.  We were at a different table, but had an awesome dinner.  Apart from the beef guts…..I won’t order them again :).

Back at Shinagawa station, Kaoru and I got our Shinkansen tickets for tomorrow, and then made our way back to Mio’s.  Luckily it wasn’t raining any more for the walk from the station, but it was still pretty warm and humid.  Kenichi was in the lounge, so i sat down and had a beer.  Mio was in the bath but came down after a bit.  Arisa was still awake as well.  I had a shower to freshen up (and wash the sweat off!) and went to bed.

Here we go again. ..

I have spoilt myself this trip. I paid for business class flights. The last one was just no good when i got home as i didn’t get any sleep.

Kaoru left a week ago. I caught the uber at 6 and had a quick check in. Once in the lounge i had some breakfast and a shower to freshen up, and passed the time until departure.

Immigration was very busy. It took me about 40 minutes to get through. It was like that the first few times i came but the last few have been quite quick. So i didn’t make the 730 bus unfortunately; by the time i had my ticket it was just before 8 and i was on the 835 bus. To pass the time i went downstairs to the train station and got my jr pass sorted. There wasn’t much of a line at all, luckily.

It was quite hot and humid. I’ll be looking forward to shorts for the next few weeks!  I got a beer and cheese hot dog to keep me going and then caught the bus to Futako Tamagawa station. I was able to get a little bit of sleep on the bus. I can’t have a late night tonight as tomorrow will be busy. Of course once i arrive at Mio’s bar, anything goes!

I was a little bit rough when I woke up this morning (to be expected).  But had to make a move as there was a busy day ahead.  I started by going for my last (usual) breakfast, and then got my bags packed (which was quite an exercise – next time I’ll just bring bubble wrap and a larger suitcase!).  I checked out at 10.00, put my suitcase in storage at the hotel, and then met up with Mikiko-san.

We went across to Shinagawa Prince food court as she wanted a hot dog.  I had a hot chocolate to join her, and we had a chat.  At 11.00 we went back to the hotel as she had to meet up with Mark and co, so I said goodbye to them all.  I had been thinking a bit more about Enplug and Datascore and mentioned my thoughts to Mark and Nanxi, as something to ponder.  I was then on my own for the day.

I went to the train station and caught a train to Roppongi Hills.  I had had some earlier emails with Neil – a contact Gary had put me on to for possibly bringing Inflatable World to Japan – and was going to meet up with him for Lunch.  So I thought I’d get there early and make sure I found the way OK.  I went to the Hilton and grabbed a seat – I was about half an hour early so just caught up on a few things.  Then Neil and I went for a sushi lunch in Roppongi Hills and I presented Inflatable World, as well as Datascore and my other ventures.  He is not the guy to make it happen, but he runs a local newspaper for expats in Japan (the last one ran by non-Japanese people) and is very well connected.  So the seed was planted.

After lunch Neil went back to work, and I wondered around Roppongi Hills.  It’s one hell of a shopping centre.  There was a bit of a Marvel Comics exhibition on, so wax figures were all over the shopping centre.  It was a very nice place, and I’m sure very expensive.

Once I was done there I was at a bit of a loss on what to do.  It was going to be another day of feeling like a gaijin.  I walked around the Roppongi area for a while and just looked around.  My bag was pretty heavy (as it had my laptop in it) so it was hard work, but nice to be outside.

I then thought it was time to head back to the hotel and get myself organised to leave.  But on the train I changed my mind (it really was toto early) and got off at Daimon (I had to change trains there anyway), and went to Zojoji temple.  I had a wonder around there – it was really nice with Tokyo Tower in the background.  Not sure if I had been there before or not.

I was then going to start going back to the hotel but decided I had enough time to walk to Tokyo Tower.  For no reason other than to walk there and hopefully get a better photo as the sun was

in the way for my earlier photos to work out.  And what should I see?  Well, we had been talking about these Mario Kart go kart’s you can drive around the city over the last couple of days.  I managed to see a couple driving around the corner of Tokyo Tower!  So it was definitely a worthwhile detour as I now know that we *have* to do it the next time we come (with Michael and Leila in September).

Now it really was time to get moving, so I made my way back to the nearest station to get me back to Shinagawa.  I was making good time, and I hadn’t had a Mos Burger yet, and I walked right past one.  So maybe there was time to squeeze that in too.  So I downed the burger quickly, and made my way back to the station, and to Shinagawa.

Kaoru had sent me a message earlier about getting her a tri-colour pen, so I went to the shop she suggested in Shinagawa and managed to get that.  And then I approached the downfall in my “cutting it fine” timing – I went to buy my ticket for the Narita Express and the line at the ticket counter was long.  Oh shit.

It took me about 20 minutes before I was able to get my ticket, for the train that leaves in 15 minutes time.  I wish I could do this from a machine!  Anyway I grabbed my ticket, and jogged across the road back to the Keikyu Hotel to grab my suitcase, and then rushed back to the train station.  I worked out where the Narita Express leaves from and rushed to the platform – I was getting quite sweaty.  But luckily I made it with a couple of minutes to spare.

I had a couple of beers (Suntory Premium, of course) in my bag which weren’t nice and cold anymore, but they were wet and beer, so I had one on the way to the airport, and addressed a couple of issues that required my laptop.  Once at the airport I checked in for my flight (very quick), returned my wifi router, had my last beer, used up my remaining credit talking to Kaoru, and boarded the plane for my flight home.

This was a very different trip, not having Kaoru there.  It was very enjoyable, and I have renewed hope that I may have business in Japan in the future.  Fingers crossed.

Until next trip…..

Today was thankfully a late start. I had breakfast at the usual place after a shower and then got in to some work. I went to the stand up sushi restaurant in the station for some lunch about 1145. I knew you had to pay to go in the station even if you were just shopping, but i thought i could just go in and it would work it out on the way out, and charge my Suica. However i got the red gates that closed on me so i had to go through the manual gates. I later found that Mikiko has had the same problem in the past so it’s not even well written for Japanese people.

We all met at 12.30 and walked to the train station. It took two trains and about an hour travel time to get to Mukuhari Messe, for the Interop exhibition. We were there with Enplug so had exhibitors passes. I got to have a good look around though which was interesting. Some amazing things in digital signage. I had a beer break in the middle though to relax a bit.  At 5.00 we went to see Nanxi’s presentation on Enplug, which finally gave me a chance to see what it was all about.

After the presentation we all got in a bus which Teru had organized-and when i say all, i mean all the people he had arranged for the Enplug

stand and i think investors and people in his other business’s. So it was a full bus. That took us to a reception room where Teru spoke for a bit and then Nanxi gave her presentation again. We then got to eat and drink and be merry.

I met one of the original Konami people from when Sportskeep was initially installed in Japan.  He is no longer with Konami but still knows people in the industry so I’m hoping that turns in to a business lead.  He doesn’t speak English (just a few words) but he has a friend / colleague who is an English teacher, so hopefully she will be able to assist with making things happen.

Once we had finished we were all given some Sake in a gift box, which Mikiko later told me was very good quality sake.  Unfortunately because I brought just a small suitcase, I couldn’t fit it in to bring it back home.  I ended up giving it to Mikiko to give to a friend of hers who she thinks would appreciate it.  We then went back to the hotel and had a few drinks in the lounge at reception.  It was then time to call it a night.

I had a bit of a chat to Nathan (Mark’s son) about how Enplug could integrate with Datascore.  Something to think about…

We didn’t have to leave until 930 again so i woke up, had breakfast and then did some more work in my room. I joined the others at the cafe on the second floor, where i said “tanjoobi omedetto” to Mikiko. I already knew Mark and Jack. So was introduced to Teru who is a businessman they are here to see for another venture-Enplug. Then i met Nanxi who is the ceo of enplug in the us, and Harry (one of the workers) and Nathan (Marks son who is also involved in Enplug).

Mark, Jack, Mikiko and i went to Konami for their annual meeting. There was a much different vibe in the room. I just did a bit of work while Mark whinged at them about numbers. It certainly didn’t look like a good business relationship.

The stadium managers all came in to the room after that, and the intention was for me to do some training with them. Mark and Jack went off to an enplug press release.  However after showing them a couple of the new features i stepped back and they had a good session together where the managers discussed how they use Sportskeep and address various issues. They came across some translation issues which i rectified or took a note of. The department manager came in and all the stadium managers introduced themselves to him. Amazingly they had never done anything like this before, and it was such good value to them all. He told them that action sports is going to be their focus moving forward so all looked promising. I got about a minute with him to show some of Datascore and he enjoyed seeing the animations. There may be hope yet!

We went to a convenience store for lunch-it was a short break as the ceo was coming in. He spent about 10 minutes talking to the managers. Mark has never met him before so it all looked great. Mikiko and i introduced ourselves to the ceo but didn’t get more than a minute. We resumed for a little longer and the managers got to ask a couple of questions, but then it was time to leave. So we caught a taxi back to the hotel and dropped our things in our room.

Our next mission-i had brought a hat i had to post to ottosan. He liked my hat last time i was there so we had bought him one. Mikiko and i went to the post office and it was easy to send, however good having her there as they asked if it had to go express or courier or normal mail, and i may not have been able to answer that and would have been overcharged. We then went back to the hotel, and to TGIF again for happy hour and birthday drinks. We also ordered some salad to keep us going.

We got a message from Mark saying dinner was booked for the ninja restaurant in Asakusa. Kaoru and i had been there before, and most of the guys had on a previous trip. But we weren’t leaving until 930 so ordered a bit more food and drinks. We called Jack and invited him to join us as Mark had said he was back at the hotel. He eventually came along, but then Mark, Angie and Teru came and grabbed him for a meeting.

Mikiko and i went back to our rooms and i got some work done (and had another beer to keep me going). Finally it was time to meet for dinner. 3 taxis took us to the restaurant where we were taken through the secret passages to our table.

The meal was nice and of course the drinks were flowing. I had a chat to Angie as i hadn’t seen her for a few years. I was back at my seat for the ninja magic which was enjoyable and very impressive. Jack, Mikiko and i shared our meals so we got some variety which was good as it was hard to pick just one dish! After dinner we caught taxis back to the hotel and called it a night.

The business side begins.

I had an alarm set for this morning.  But my watch was on Melbourne time, and I had forgotten about this when I set it last night.  So the alarm went off an hour early.  I realised this pretty quickly after it went off, so I re-set it for another hours time.  I had breakfast at Segafredo (surprise) and got some work done.  Mikiko knocked on my door a bit before 9.30, so we went downstairs, and caught a taxi to Konami.

It was a completely different experience to my last time at Konami.  We were in a room (instead of on a table out in the reception area) and the 7 new computers were all set up and ready for me to start with (including Internet access!).  After the formalities were complete, I installed Sportskeep and updated the databases on all 7 computer.  In general it was very smooth.  There was an issue getting data off the USB stick they had (most likely due to the local protection policy), but Oishi-san was able to email the databases to me.  I had arranged the customer.rec’s yesterday (despite being pretty tired) so was well prepared, and the database updates were very smooth.

We went for lunch at the Hummer Cafe (across the road) which was good for a laugh.  The “garage door” (which was just behind me) opened halfway through, which Mikiko saw and smiled at.  After a nice meal we went back and I showed Oishi-san and Takanawa-san the new version of Sportskeep.  They had arranged for a couple of people from the web team to come in and see how results.sportskeepglobal.com works (the things we wanted to demonstrate to them 5.5 years ago, on my first trip here, but it didn’t work).  So in general, everything was going really well, with very positive vibes from them.  It seemed like the same situation we have seen in New Zealand – the people love Brett and I, because we make things happen and provide support, but hate dealing with Mark (Cini in New Zealand, and Davis in Japan) because they hinder things.  Really difficult when you can see how the Japanese make things so hard to achieve things, but also how the person “selling” the product does a crap job because they really don’t understand the business.

We left on a very good note, and Mikiko and I caught a taxi back to the hotel.  We went to TGIF and had a drink.  By complete coincidence we were there for happy hour – 50% off.  Can’t complain with that.  We went back to our rooms and I caught up with emails and had a chat with Kaoru, while Mikiko got ready.  We then went out.

We caught the train to Kawasaki (the same train for Fujisawa) and met Ochi-san at the station.  I hadn’t seen him for 4 years, so it was awesome to have a night out with him.  He had since been married (she didn’t come along unfortunately) and looked really good.  There was another person (forgotten their name) who Mikiko went to Uni with, but is also a writer who has done a lot with the blind soccer in Japan so Ochi knew him already.  In fact Ochi made the comment that “he always gets lost”, while we were making our way to the restaurant.  He had us wait for a minute while he went for a walk and tried to work out where we were going.  I told Ochi that “you’re right – he’s lost!” which had us all laugh.  At the same time Ochi told me the name of the restaurant, I typed it in to Google Maps, and told them all where to go.  I ended up leading the way!

Dinner was the usual enjoyable affair.  Although Ochi didn’t have his harem of girls with him.  He was on a non-drinking time, but “special occasion” so we got in to it.  I was able to practice my Japanese while he practiced his English.  During the meal Mark called Mikiko to say they had arrived, and apparently was quite rude to her.  So when he called again 20 minutes later I answered the phone as I didn’t want her to be upset and stressed out.  We had a great meal, and great drinks, and all too soon it was time to leave.

We walked back to the train station and watched Ochi-san go downstairs to his train.  It’s so scary because he does stairs so quickly – you just hear this “tap tap tap” of his stick. Mikiko, her friend and i went back to Shinagawa and had a drink before calling it a night. We contemplated going to gonpacchi and joining the others but it was already about 11 so decided against it.

Yep. ..that was hard. Not quite feeling 100% this morning. I woke around 730 and was able to get back to sleep. By 10.00 i was hungry so had a shower and made my way to segafredo. It was really warm -a combination of the weather, being hung over, and probably getting some sun yesterday. So i didn’t stay too long.

I skyped Kaoru when i got back, and then laid down for a bit – being vertical was too hard! I popped in to see Mikiko and then packed for the days outing. I caught the train to Shibuya and then had to change to go to Yoga. Kenichi phoned me soon after and i hopped in his car with Minami.

It was about a 20 minute drive to his friends house.  As expected, they treated me well.  I was given the seat at the head of table, and the lady of the house kept putting food on my plate.  The difference between it, and Mio’s bar, was just that I didn’t have 3 full glasses of different drinks in front of me.  But in reality I was still hungover so that was probably a good thing!  Some really lovely people though.  They had a 4 and a 7 year old, and the other friends who were there also had a 4 and a 7 year old.  The kids had all been learning English so they were made to introduce themselves to me, which is always fun.

Several beers later (so my hangover had turned in to drunkenness again :)) the other friends had left, and it was time for Kenichi and I to leave as he had to take Minami to a dance class.  So he dropped me off at a train station, and we exchanged gifts that our wives had given us to pass on to each other (big responsibility for us guys!).  I caught the next train to Shibuya, and went to Bic Camera (this time with my passport!) and picked my duty free alcohol to bring back to Australia (plus a 6-pack of the large Suntory Premium cans to keep me going for the rest of the week).  I picked a bottle that I thought Kaoru might like, plus a couple of whiskies (a given!).  Then I felt an obligation to go back to the craft brewery I had been at yesterday as I had received feedback from both Damon and Michael, about what beers to try.  So the fight between being tired, drunk and hungry was on.  Hungry won, and I found a chinese restaurant to eat dinner at, where I was able to order a set (predefined selection) of rolls, being a steamed but, plus 3 of those small ones I can never remember the name of but taste awesome, plus some salad and dessert, plus a beer of course.

I left the restaurant and had a bit of a walk around Shibuya.  But my backpack was heavy and walking was hard.  So whilst the alleys looked like they would be fun to stop in for a drink, I swallowed my pride and headed back to Shinagawa.  Back at the hotel I had a bath (because that’s what you do in Japan) and called it a (very enjoyable) day.

I woke up quite early… i could have easily gotten up at 730 (which is really 830 body clock time) but thought i should sleep a bit more as it was a late,  long day yesterday and today was going to be a long one.

So i got up around 9, had a shower and went for breakfast. For the true nostalgic experience i went to segafredo for breakfast. There was somebody already having a beer! As tempting as it was to join him i decided against starting this early.

After doing my teeth i came up with a basic plan. Is hard to know what to do when you’ve already done so much! I started by trying to buy a Suica. After waiting in line for 20 minutes and only moving halfway i gave up on that idea and just bought a ticket to Harajuku. There they had the black ticket machines which all Suica cards so that job was complete in about 90 second.

A slow walk down takeshita street to take in the sites, and also see if i could buy a cheap hat as i had left mine back in Melbourne. A south African tried to tell me his hats were cheap so i told him “takai desune” and walked off. After a couple of deep fried cheese sticks i went to togu shrine and saw people getting married in the room we were married in. So that was a bit of a treat.

After praying there i made the customary trip to meiji shrine. There was still a lot of work going on but i prayed there as well. I then thought it would be fun to look at Shibuya and decided to walk there. I had to go through yogi stadium grounds where there were food stalls (i had some takoyaki) and lots of other tents with various things. They seemed to be green energy related. Eventually i reached an area that looked familiar but i was quite warm. ..beer oclock!

It took a while to find somewhere to drink because i was looking for something a little different. And finally i found a craft brewery with 20 taps! And to make things even better they had a tasting paddle so i didn’t have to pick just one. The ocha pale ale was my favorite. I called Kaoru and had a chat for a bit. I was close to leaving when a girl came in and i overheard her ask the girl behind the bar what she recommends (osusume). so i told her juuichi ban wa oishi desu – which she then ordered so I must have said the right thing! I’m enjoying being able to communicate, even if it is just a little.

Just after i left Mikiko called. She had just arrived and wanted to say thank you for the flowers we put in her room. We arranged to meet up at 4. So i made my way back to Shinagawa. I arrived about 3 and was a little hungry so i went to a stand up sushi restaurant in the station. After a few various eats i went back to the room.

Mikiko came about 4 and we went downstairs for a drink and a catch up. She had to leave about 5 to meet her friend and i wanted to leave about then too so we walked to the station and went opposite directions on the yamanote line. I made my way to omote-sando and looked for a good spot to stop for a drink. I managed to find a place called Commune 246 which was a selection of beer stands. I thought it looked a good place to meet up so i sent Gary an email letting him know where i was. I ordered a beer and found a seat next to a couple of Americans who live here so enjoyed hearing their stories (and a couple more drinks) until Gary and his girlfriend Rikuko arrived.

I had never met Gary before in person. He attends Igarashi sensei’s class and i thought he seemed like a fun guy. So i managed to get in touch with him and here we were. I finished my beer and they took me to the first place-a bar called 2 Rooms. It had a beautiful view of Tokyo,  especially with the sun setting, and a nice breeze blowing.

After a nice beer we made our way to a restaurant Gary had booked. It is one they go to regularly and there were some great dishes. I also learnt (but have since forgotten the phrase-just the concept remains) about asking for the sake the venue recommends. So we enjoyed beer, sake and food, and got to know each other.

Rikuko was doing a hike in the mountains tomorrow so she had to go home and get some sleep. Gary and i stayed a bit longer for another drink and then hit town. We caught a train and then taxi to Roppongi Hills, where Gary took me to a bar he regularly drinks at. There was a friend of his there so we said g’day and then proceeded to drink and chat.

We went to a few bars. The black people were constantly trying to take us to their places but we weren’t up for that. The interesting one was Coyote Ugly which was actually quite dead but a good laugh. Something to tick off the bucket list. I lost count of places we visited, as well as time, and by the time i got a taxi home and in bed it was 4.00. Tomorrow was going to be a hard morning. …..

Footnote: for fun, post things like this on Facebook!  Great responses from Aunty Lynette and Andrea who look and immediately think strip club / pole dancing venue, as opposed to what it really is :).  Kaoru just laughed when I told her about it!

I woke up in time to say goodbye and thank you to Yoichi, before he went off to work.  Mio took Arisa to school.  Once we were all ready, Kaoru, Mio and I went to the shopping centre.  It didn’t open until 10, but Mio wanted the good parking spot so we had to get there early.  We went inside and straight downstairs to the food area.  Each stand had a staff member standing next to it, and as we walked past they all bowed and welcomed us.  I guess during the day they are always busy, but this was “the calm before the storm” so they had to greet us all.

We then went upstairs to buy some coffee capsules for Okasan and Ottosan – Kaoru had drank a bit when we were there.  We also made a few other purchases of some food to bring back.  Hope our baggage isn’t over weight!  We showed Kaoru the wine tasting as that was still going from yesterday (but we didn’t sample anything) and then we went in to the “VIP Lounge” which Mio has access to.  We had a tea there, and then Kaoru and I went off for lunch while Mio relaxed before picking up Arisa.

For lunch we went to the sushi train that we had missed yesterday.  Even at 11.15 we had to wait 5 minutes to get a table!  Now this was a different style of sushi train.  The conveyerbelt was going round, but only the ads for what you can get were on it.  You had to place your order through an iPad.

Not sure if I like it this way.  You can view how much you’ve had which is useful, and a running total, but sometimes you want to see the food go past and pick one of them.  With this interface you have to navigate menus to find the food, as there isn’t even a large, laminated picture of their selection.  But we enjoyed some sushi and sake for our last lunch in Japan.

We went to the bus stop to see if we could pre-purchase our ticket to the airport.  It was too late to book it by phone, and you have to sign up to do it online, so we thought this would be easier.  But unfortunately we couldn’t – we just need to be there early enough.  We also found a Lego City display.  Must be a school holiday activity.  So I had a bit of a look at that, and then Kaoru and I caught the train 2 stops, and walked back to Mio’s.

We finished our packing and weighed our suitcases – 60kg, give or take.  Fingers crossed we won’t have any problems at check in.  Kaoru tried to book a taxi to take us to the bus stop but there weren’t going to be any available – and this was for in 1 hours time!  Mio, Yoichi and Arisa were going out to see Yukari and Minami’s dance concert, but Mio thought she would have time to run us down there – it just would have been easier if she didn’t have to.  So we waited around the house for a little longer, until Yoichi came home (I passed the time with a last taste of the Ichiro!) as he rushed off to see us before we left.  But basically as he walked in the door, we said Hello, and then put our bags in the car and left.

The traffic was quite bad.  We have plenty of time, but hopefully Mio gets back in time to get ready for their plans tonight.  We waited for the bus and had no problem getting on.  Traffic was slow getting to the airport but we were in no rush so we had a bit of a sleep and passed the time.  Once at the airport we went to the Business Class check in counter, which had no queue.  Unfortunately the plane is fully booked so I don’t have an upgrade for either of us.  However the girl there still checked us in, which was great, and as we were talking I didn’t see her look at the weight of the suitcases combined, so we took it as a win.  It’s possible we get an upgrade at the gate (if somebody doesn’t show) but not likely.

We were a bit hungry, and I found a great place, called “Beer and Takoyaki”.  By coincidence, I wanted a beer, and we hadn’t had takoyaki yet on this trip, so perfect!  We enjoyed some food and a sit down, and then decided to go through customs and do our last bit of shopping –  we still had a few gifts to get for people.  Once that was done we walked to our gate, stopping at a lounge area for a hot chocolate.

We walked to the gate after a last toilet stop, and heard them make a last call.  We never heard a first call!  The plane was already over half full and it was only just after the scheduled boarding time!  We got on (weren’t the last people) and did the flight to Brisbane for Nanna’s 90th.  But that’s a new adventure…

An early alarm (530) to start an exciting trip. My first trip to Japan where i won’t see Kaoru.

I drove to the airport and had a fantastic run in. Checked in, bought a pair of sunglasses and passed the time before boarding. We were late out of melbourne but eventually took off. I watched a few movies on the flight and finally made it to Narita.

I organized a portable wifi and recharged my Japanese mobile. And then caught the bus to the hotel. I had wanted to buy a Nex/Suica card but they don’t do them as a package anymore. And the bus dropped me at the hotel rather than having to walk from the station so a bit more convenient.

I had some food while waiting for the bus and a beer on the trip. I spoke to Kaoru on Skype for a while. It was quite humid. But eventually we arrived and I checked in.

After a long day i needed to go out for a drink. I decide to cross the train tracks at Shinagawa and see what i could find. I ended up at an izakaya and ordered a beer (Suntory premium, of course! ) and some sashima. I also had a “cover” (some vegetables to eat while drinking) and then they bought me some free food (wedges and sauce). So can’t complain.

So i was happy, well fed and had enjoyed some great beer when i decided to go to the hotel and call it a day. However i decided to take a scenic route back to the hotel, via Shinagawa prince. And i couldn’t help but stop in at the 7-11 (which was as busy as ever) to buy a beer for the room to finish the night off.

How do I make this appear in the right order?

I woke up in time to say goodbye and thank you to Yoichi, before he went off to work.  Mio took Arisa to school.  Once we were all ready, Kaoru, Mio and I went to the shopping centre.  It didn’t open until 10, but Mio wanted the good parking spot so we had to get there early.  We went inside and straight downstairs to the food area.  Each stand had a staff member standing next to it, and as we walked past they all bowed and welcomed us.  I guess during the day they are always busy, but this was “the calm before the storm” so they had to greet us all.

We then went upstairs to buy some coffee capsules for Okasan and Ottosan – Kaoru had drank a bit when we were there.  We also made a few other purchases of some food to bring back.  Hope our baggage isn’t over weight!  We showed Kaoru the wine tasting as that was still going from yesterday (but we didn’t sample anything) and then we went in to the “VIP Lounge” which Mio has access to.  We had a tea there, and then Kaoru and I went off for lunch while Mio relaxed before picking up Arisa.

For lunch we went to the sushi train that we had missed yesterday.  Even at 11.15 we had to wait 5 minutes to get a table!  Now this was a different style of sushi train.  The conveyerbelt was going round, but only the ads for what you can get were on it.  You had to place your order through an iPad.

Not sure if I like it this way.  You can view how much you’ve had which is useful, and a running total, but sometimes you want to see the food go past and pick one of them.  With this interface you have to navigate menus to find the food, as there isn’t even a large, laminated picture of their selection.  But we enjoyed some sushi and sake for our last lunch in Japan.

We went to the bus stop to see if we could pre-purchase our ticket to the airport.  It was too late to book it by phone, and you have to sign up to do it online, so we thought this would be easier.  But unfortunately we couldn’t – we just need to be there early enough.  We also found a Lego City display.  Must be a school holiday activity.  So I had a bit of a look at that, and then Kaoru and I caught the train 2 stops, and walked back to Mio’s.

We finished our packing and weighed our suitcases – 60kg, give or take.  Fingers crossed we won’t have any problems at check in.  Kaoru tried to book a taxi to take us to the bus stop but there weren’t going to be any available – and this was for in 1 hours time!  Mio, Yoichi and Arisa were going out to see Yukari and Minami’s dance concert, but Mio thought she would have time to run us down there – it just would have been easier if she didn’t have to.  So we waited around the house for a little longer, until Yoichi came home (I passed the time with a last taste of the Ichiro!), as he rushed off from work as soon as he could to say goodbye before we left.  But basically as he walked in the door, we said Hello, and then put our bags in the car and left.

The traffic was quite bad.  We have plenty of time, but hopefully Mio gets back in time to get ready for their plans tonight.  We waited for the bus and had no problem getting on.  Traffic was slow getting to the airport but we were in no rush so we had a bit of a sleep and passed the time.  Once at the airport we went to the Business Class check in counter, which had no queue.  Unfortunately the plane is fully booked so I don’t have an upgrade for either of us.  However the girl there still checked us in, which was great, and as we were talking I didn’t see her look at the weight of the suitcases combined, so we took it as a win.  It’s possible we get an upgrade at the gate (if somebody doesn’t show) but not likely.

We were a bit hungry, and I found a great place, called “Beer and Takoyaki”.  By coincidence, I wanted a beer, and we hadn’t had takoyaki yet on this trip, so perfect!  We enjoyed some food and a sit down, and then decided to go through customs and do our last bit of shopping –  we still had a few gifts to get for people.  Once that was done we walked to our gate, stopping at a lounge area for a hot chocolate.

We walked to the gate after a last toilet stop, and heard them make a last call.  We never heard a first call!  The plane was already over half full and it was only just after the scheduled boarding time!  We got on (weren’t the last people) and did the flight to Brisbane for Nanna’s 90th.

A few final photos from the trip:

Kaoru had to leave this morning to get her hair cut.  Arisa was at school so Mio and I had the morning together.  We had to leave the house around 9.30 as the cleaner was around and she wanted to stay out of the way, so we decided to start the day off with a relaxing massage.  We went to the shopping centre and found a place, and got changed into the “trendy” outfits we had to wear.

Our next destination was wine tasting.  The same place that Mio had purchased the whisky from the other day was doing a wine show at the moment.  Mio couldn’t taste any as she was driving, so it was up to me.  Most of the wines were french and Italian, but they also had some “New world” ones, which included New Zealand, South Africa and a number of other countries.  Some were good, some not so.  We also tasted some cheeses.  So it was a nice way to kill another hour or so.

Once she had me “liquored up”, Mio told me my next mission for the day – I had to pick Arisa up from Juku.  Which meant introducing myself as her Uncle (in Japanese).  Surprisingly, it worked!  The 3 of us then went upstairs to the bookshop, where I found a server-down issue back home which I had to take care of.  Not long after, Kaoru arrived from the hair dressers.

I realised I had not yet had a sushi-train this trip, so we went to the one at the shopping centre.  There was quite a long wait for it, so we sat down.  While we were waiting, Arisa started playing up, and eventually we had to leave as punishment.  So we drove her back home and left her there, and Mio, Kaoru and I went to a sushi store for some more delicious food.

We went back to the house and Kaoru and I did our packing (well, mostly Kaoru – I was there for moral support).  I confirmed that our baggage allowance was 30 kg – otherwise we were going to be in trouble!  We then had a drink downstairs, and decided we should go for dinner.  Yoichi wouldn’t be home until late so we weren’t waiting for him.  As it was starting to drizzle Mio wanted to drive instead of walk.  We went to a Texas Steak House, where I had a mixed grill.  Another fantastic meal!

Back at the house, I had a glass of Ichiro, and then Mio decided she wanted one of the other “almost empty” bottles to be completed.  I had had a good crack at it on Saturday night.  So I did my job and finished that off while Mio and Yoicho enjoyed the Ichiro; I then joined them in a couple more before calling it a night.

A couple of photos:

These prices were for tastings. This bottle can be bought for $450 in Australia.

Mio had received *another* delivery today.

I woke early this morning – we had a travel day ahead of us so no time for resting :).  After a shower we walked for about 20 minutes to a place Kaoru wanted to go to for breakfast, which was a bakery so had a collection of pastries, and also dining in.  We grabbed a few and enjoyed our breakfast, but it was only “ordinary” – not as good as Kaoru was expecting.

On the walk back we passed a place, the name of which pretty much describes its purpose…

Back at the room we did our teeth, and packed our bags.  We checked out around 10.30, and made our way to the train station.  From there we got a “super rapid express” service to Shin Osaka.  We decided against the gamble of getting unreserved seats, so booked reserved seats for the Shinkansen back to Tokyo (Shinagawa).  It was free for me anyway with my JR pass, so we just had to buy Kaoru’s.

It was early, but we needed to get some lunch.  Our aim was to get Osaka-style Okonomiyaki in Osaka.  But we still wanted to get back to Tokyo before peak hour.  So we found a restaurant and placed our order.  Because it was lunch time, we didn’t get to cook it ourselves at the table like most places.  But it meant it didn’t get messed up when I attempted to flip it, so there was a good side!  I managed to see the chef’s cooking it.  Amazing seeing how many they were managing at once.

After lunch we browsed around the Shin-Osaka, having a look outside to say we had at least *been* to Osaka (it doesn’t count if you don’t leave the airport / train station).  Then we caught the Shinkansen back to “the big smoke”.   It was about a 2.5 hour ride, so a good chance to catch up on things.

We got off the train at Shinigawa and changed to Shibuya, and then to Sukara Shinmachi. Mio had to pick Arisa up from Juku and it was timed well for her to take us home as well, which saved us having to walk.  Once back at the house we sat down and had a drink and a chat, while we waited for Yoichi to come home.  Mio presented me with a new beer taste.  I never thought I’d find something to equal the Premium Malts, but there it was!

Mio had also done some shopping for us.  There is a whisky brewery called Ichiro’s Malt, which has a very limited number of releases each year.  Kaoru has looked for it in the past and been unable to find it.  Mio found it at her local department store – they only had 12 that they could sell, and only one to each person at a time.  So she went back a few times to get a few.  She also got carried away and bought some other whisky’s, including a bottle of Hibiki.  We had already purchased our duty free allowance (less one bottle), so basically we now have stock for our next couple of trips!

Once Yoichi came home we went out to dinner.  Now when we got to the door and I realised that’s where we were going, I must admit I was a little reluctant at first.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.  I had the salmon and Kaoru had hamburg steak.  Both were delicious.  They also had “make your own taco rice” at the all you can eat salad bar!  Dessert consisted of profiteroles, jelly and ice cream.  And for once I managed to get in first and pay!

We walked home and decided we needed to sample the Ichiro’s Malt, so cracked one of the bottles open.  Yoichi normally drinks brandy (Henessey) but he actually really enjoyed this and came back for more!  However I was quite tired and struggling to stay awake – still on the tail end of this cold so not the best nights sleep, plus the travelling for the day – so I excused myself and had an early night.  I later found that Mio and Yoichi enjoyed a couple more glasses!

A few more photos from the day:

I woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday.  A bit blocked up but I hadn’t spend the night with my nose running, and after all the sleep yesterday, I was feeling rested.  Having said that, it was about 10.00 when I got up!  No point over-doing it.  Kobe is a very nice place and I will come here again to see the things I didn’t get to this time.

The first place we went to was the Ikuta Shrine.  It was a simple 5 minute walk from our hotel.  We prayed, and walked around the beautiful gardens there.  Some of the trees were massive!

After a good walk around, we made our way through town, and found a sweet spot to stop and have some morning tea.  We then walked through Kobe Motomachi, passing the first we saw of a particular chain of Kobe beef shops featuring Spiderman on the outside.  I’m not sure what the relationship is, but he made numerous appearances throughout the day, and always at the same chain.  We then made our way in to Chinatown, because no visit to a place is complete without a walk through Chinatown!

It was extremely crowded, but given it was 1.00 – lunch time – it’s no surprise.  Peking duck ranged from 150 yen to 500 yen.  The only thing we could see different between the two shops is the 150 yen ones used prawn crackers to make them look bigger.  YUCK!  (we guessed – we didn’t buy one).  And the 150 yen places had lines 5 metres long, and the 500 yen places didn’t have any lines.

We completed our walk through, and found a place to eat that we thought might be interesting – they were serving a “Kobe Special” – lobster grilled cheese.  Unfortunately after ordering we found out that it is a chain shop based out of Main    e, USA, and even the lobster was from Maine and not from Kobe bay!  What a waste.  Oh well.

On our way back to the hotel we managed to find the underground section which Ryu had told us about.  At first all the shops were closed – apparently that’s what happens on a Wednesday.  but as we got further in, we found all the open shops (food places) and it was amazing just how much was there!  Kaoru ordered some bokkakeyakisoba – fried noodle with konjac and meat.  For eat in, it was served like okonomiyaki, but we got it for take away and ate it back in our room.

We then had a bit of a sleep – I was feeling a bit tired and didn’t want to get sick again.  We passed the afternoon until dinner time.  Then showered and went out to meet one of my teachers, who actually told me what was good about Kobe in the first place – the reason we came here.  On the way we passed a “cat cafe” – basically a cafe for crazy cat ladies.  That’s right, for 650 yen (AU$7) you can spend 30 minutes surrounded by cats.  WTF???

We went to a sukiyaki restaurant for dinner that Shiomi-sensie knew of, and had, once again, an amazing meal.  The chef on Monday had told us that sukiyaki kobe beef is different to normal sukiyaki, because of the oil.  And you could really taste it!  The meat just melted in our mouth.

After an enjoyable meal we walked Shiomi-sensei to the train station, as she had about a 15 minute train trip home, and then came back home for a bath and bed.

Some photos from the day:

A crazy-looking intersection. Crossing every which way!

Not good.

I was up with the sweats a lot during the night so didn’t get a lot of sleep.  Kaoru went out and got breakfast so we ate in the room when she got back – a selection of breads.  I slept in a bit longer.

After a shower I really needed some fresh air.  So we went for a walk to a “church” which Kaoru had found, which served a nice selection of morning tea’s, as well as lunches later in the day.  We couldn’t believe it as we walked, and we got back to Shin-Kobe.  It was so close to where we were staying.  Still a bit far with a suitcase, but for getting around, no problem at all.  We passed a place that was obviously an Aussies location.

We got the last table and ordered a sandwich and drink.  By the time we left there was a massive line outside.  The food wasn’t of *that* good a quality, so it must just be a location place.  We went to the 7-11 and bought some Vitamin C drink for me, as well as some tissues, and then got on the “hop on hop off” bus.  It’s “approx a 63 minute trip” all the way around – and we were only 3 stops from our hotel in the other direction, so thought that should kill and hour, and we get to see the city.  We were lucky we got on when we did, as during our travel the bus just got fuller and fuller, and was standing room only.

We got off at the stop nearest our hotel and I had a lay down for a bit, followed by some lunch, which was a Kobe Beef sandwich, and a Kobe Beef “pork bun”.  I then continued to rest / sleep for the rest of the day.

By dinner time I was feeling like I needed some fresh air and a walk.  So tossed up about eating in or taking away, and Ryu had told us about Akashiyaki being a local version of Takoyaki, so I wanted to try that.  So Kaoru found a place that was about a 15 minute casual walk away, and we made our way.  It was cool, but not too cold.  We found the restaurant and were surprised to see it almost empty (one other couple and a single lady).  We ordered our food.

Neither of us knew what to expect, but we weren’t disappointed!  Luckily there were instructions on how to eat it at the table too!  We were told that they are very slippery and I was asked if I wanted a fork, but I made do.  They were similar to Takoyaki, but eggy-er, making them softer and slipperyer.  So you pick it up, put it in the broth, break it open, and then eat it from the broth.  As the broth was hot it seemed like the perfect meal for me, and they tasted great too boot!  They were also very light, so it was easy to eat all 10, and then drink the left-over broth.

After dinner we went for a walk, passing the Kobe clock (which runs on solar power) and then went up to the viewing platform on level 24 of the Town Hall (which is also powered by solar).  There we were treated with amazing views of port and the city.  We spent a good 30 minutes walking around and checking out all the different angles.  We even saw the dinner cruise ship come in!

We had a casual stroll back to our hotel, and stopped off at the convenience store on the way for a matcha profitterole and a hot yuzu lemon drink for me, and some sushi rolls for Kaoru.

I had a shower, and went to bed.

Some more photos from the day:

The lights in the background are an anchor, the towns logo, and “Kobe 150” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Port of Kobe.

I’m not used to seeing roads this empty in Japan!

I was up early (just before 7) – naturally Kaoru and Mio were already up, and Yoichi had already left for work.  After breakfast Mio took Arisa to school, while Kaoru and I organised things for our next trip – to Kobe.  We were fine with just the little suit case again, and in fact thought we must be missing things as it was so much emptier than when we went to Nasu.  The difference as I didn’t need my thick jacket, or waterproof boots packed in.

When Mio got back from dropping Arisa off, she took us to the station.  It was raining – just like our wedding day (a light sprinkle – not a lot, but enough to be annoying).  We caught the train to Shibuya and then went to get Kaoru’s Shinkansen ticket (I was covered already with my JR Pass).  The next train that we could catch (that went to Shin-Kobe, and not a super-super fast one as the JR Pass isn’t valid on them) was an 11.10 from Shinagawa (it was currently 10.00).  I suggested we may as well get it from Tokyo as going there would pass the time, and also increase our chances of getting seats next to each other if it was crowded (it starts from Tokyo, and Shinagawa is the second station).  So we went with that option.

After the 22 minute trip to Tokyo, we bought a bento box to eat on the train, and then went to stand in line.  They were all fairly short, but there were 8-10 people lined up for each door – and we were still 15 minutes before departure time.  By the time the train was cleaned and we boarded, the line was considerably longer, and not everybody could get a seat!  So our plan to get on here rather than Shinagawa paid off.  We’ll definitely book a reserved seat for our trip back to Tokyo.

I got a bit of work done on the trip, and we also investigated what to do in Kobe and Osaka.  We ate lunch, and enjoyed the scenery, as well as got a little bit of shut-eye.  The weather was clearing up, and it was quite warm in the train so I had taken all long sleeves off.  I’m sure it will still be cool in Kobe, but may as well enjoy it while we can!

We arrived in Kobe a bit after 2, and put the suitcase in a coin locker.  We then walked about 10 minutes to the Herb Garden ropeway and caught the cable car to the top.  There were amazing views of the city and the port on the way up, and once up the top.  Kobe is a very narrow town – there is not a lot of space between the mountains and the city.  The airport is on an island out in the harbour!  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see a plane land, but I understand it is a very beautiful airport to land at, with the lights of the city, and the mountain in the background.

After a walk around, and a drink, we caught the cable car back down to the halfway station, and we walked the rest of the of the way down.  It was a beautiful trail around the dam which provides Kobe its water supply, and past a number of water falls.  Unfortunately on the way down I must have passed my limit – I could feel a cold coming on.  Whilst I still had plenty of energy on the walk, my nose was running and throat was starting to get a bit sore.  Hope I can shake this.

It took us about an hour to get down to the bottom, but it was a beautiful hike and lovely scenery.  We got our suitcase and decided to catch a taxi rather than train to the hotel.  We checked in and went up to our room.  Wow!  King sized bed!  And decent sized bathroom!  When we checked in we were also given a coupon giving us access to the lounge – for “Premium rooms” (top two floors).  So we went down to check that out.  It’s open from 2pm to 6pm every day, so limited time.  It was tea / coffee / hot chocolate, and also an assortment of cakes on a tray!  We enjoyed them to keep us going.

Back in the room I decided to have a sleep and try to start shaking this cold.  After an hour or so it was time for dinner.  We were originally going to do a bay cruise but I hadn’t received any reply from my email to them.  And given I wasn’t 100%, we didn’t really want to spend the money it would cost.  So we walked around Kobe looking for somewhere to get some Kobe beef.  The town seemed quite small – we were surprised at how quickly we got to the station, based on the distance it looked on the map.  It looked like a very vibrant town and a fun one to go out in.  We eventually decided on a place that had a Kobe Beef Teppanyaki meal.

We went inside and it was the quietest teppanyaki restaurant I had ever been in!  This was the real thing though – not the Holleywood style you get around the world.  We had a number of delicious courses, which included Roast Kobe Beef in the entree, but most of the rest was cooked in front of us on the teppan.  Kaoru taught me to say “shashin o totemo ii desuka” (ask if I can take a photo of the chef).

I don’t normally do “meal” photos, but decided to make an exception:

After dinner we came back to the hotel, and I had a bath to try to sweat this cold out, and then went to bed.

Some photos from the day:

The island furthest in the distance is the airport.

I slept in a little bit, but was still up by 8.30.  My throat was sore – I later found out that I had been snoring during the night.  Which would explain why I felt very tired too.  Breakfast was leftover lobster with pasta and a tomato sauce.  Delicious!

We organised a few things, and then Kaoru and I had to leave.  It was raining today, and Yoichi drove us to the station rather than us walk, which was great.  Kaoru went to the convenience store to make payment for her Amazon order, and we went to the supermarket to buy some beer.  Then it was on the train to Yokohama for our customary visit with Ryu and Naoko.

Ryu met us at the train station and walked us to the house.  I had forgotten there were no steps to get to their new place – it was just up a hill.  He has been relocated to Kobe for work, so doesn’t spend a lot of time at home these days.  We gave Haruka a stuffed sting ray as her customary gift from Australia.  Naoko cooked some delicious prawns, and salad for lunch, and we drank a few beers and some sake, while we caught up.  We opened the cake we had brought for dessert which was delicious too.

We left a bit after 4.00, and it was nearly 6 by the time we got back to Mio’s.  We went to a sukiyaki / shaboo shaboo restaurant for dinner, where Mio gave us a Happy Anniversary card for tomorrow.  The shaboo shaboo sesame sauce had a bit of a nutty effect on me so I lost my appetite pretty quickly unfortunately, but soldiered through and managed to eat quite a bit.  We were all pretty stuffed by the time we left.

Once back home, I pretty much went straight to bed!

I had a bit of a sleep in this morning – I didn’t get up until after 8.00!  I went downstairs for breakfast and had no idea what it was on the counter defrosting… Mio had told me yesterday that there was a surprise for dinner, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.  This was it.  It’s apparently the legs of a type of crab – Tarabagani.  It’s apparently very expencive and delicious – I’ll find out later tonight!

After breakfast I just did a bit of work.  Kaoru went to the dentist, so I took the opportunity to catch up on a number of things.  Arisa went to school not long after she got back, and then Mio, Kaoru and I went for lunch.  It was about a 15 minute walk, which was great for stretching the legs.  Once we found a restaurant which had taco rice, I was sold.  Delicious!

We walked back home and I had a beer, as we passed the afternoon.  Yoichi got home from work about 3.  I was feeling sleepy so went for a “half hour power nap”.  Next thing I knew it was nearly 6.00!  I guess these early mornings had caught up with me.

Not long after I went downstairs, another course arrived…

Kenichi, Kozue, Yukari and Minami arrived shortly after that.  Minami had grown so much in the last 18 months!  We sat down and ate another delicious meal.  After an hour or so we had to clear some room from the table as some large sushi plates had arrived, and they needed to fit on too.

Yoichi arrived home with Arisa a bit after 8.  And Mio’s friend Tomako(??) turned up.  I had met her on a previous visit.  The kids played upstairs for the night, as we all caught up, and did the usual things that happen at “Mio’s Bar”.  Everybody left around midnight, full and content.  Too full, in fact, if you look closely at this picture and see what was left at the end of the night!

I woke this morning at 6.45. Everybody else was up except Arisa. She is on school holidays so got to sleep in until 7.15. After a shower i felt much more refreshed, and then brekkie had me ready to go!

I got some work done and we left the house at 9.00 for Kaoru to get results of her medical checkup. Then we walked to the station and caught the train to Shibuya, where I picked up the JR Pass which i had pre purchased in oz before coming. Based on our plans for this trip, activating it today is the best value for money.

We did some price checks for alcohol to take home, and then went for a hot chocolate/macha latte at the famous Starbucks in Shibuya. I caught up on a few work issues while we were seated, and then was approached about doing a survey. It took 15 minutes or so and the questions were quite difficult to answer as I’m not the usual tourist (things like rating what you want to do, including partying with Japanese people, and asking your budget for the experience). At the end i was given a thank you gift -from Diaso!

It was then time to head off for the day. We seemed to lose a lot of time but weren’t on much of a schedule so it wasn’t a problem. We went to Uniqlo as i wanted a second heat-tec jacket. We looked at another place for alcohol. We did some shopping at Tokyu Hands, including buying a takoyaki top for our single burner butane stove. We had lunch at mos burger as i hadn’t been there yet this trip.

Then we caught the train to Harijuku for the customary walk down Takeshita street, and went to Togo shrine (where we got married) to pray. From there we walked up to Meiji-Jingu shrine as that is another special place of ours and prayed there.

We completed our walk back to the station and caught the next train to Kita-Kamakura, and walked to Kamakura from there. It’s another one of the areas familiar to us. We stopped en-route at a cake place and bought something for Ryu and Naoko as we are seeing them on Sunday.

We walked through the temple where we saw the bride faint one trip, and through the main drag of Kamakutra, stopping for a pork bun to warm up, and macha gelato to cool back down, on the way.

At Kamakura we caught the electric train, which is slower but more scenic, to Fujisawa. We walked to Kaoru’s old apartment to have a look around, especially at the building which was being constructed next door when she was living there. We then went to the supermarket and found the best deal on alcohol so bought a few good bottles. It’s not duty free but the net price is better! Then it was time for dinner.

We were spending the day down this area because we wanted to go to “our restaurant” since we had such fond memories of it. We didn’t know if they would remember us as we hadn’t been there for 3 years (and 2 days!). I waked in and there was a different young girl at the desk. Then Kaoru came in and the owner looked up. Not only did he recognise us but i heard him say “Darryl Hunter”! Now that’s the reason we had come all the way here!

We were given the only table of 2 in the restaurant. This would be the table they always try to keep free for VIPs. We have had it once or twice before. During the night the lady who normally serves us turned up for her shift. I turned around to get and said “konichiwa”. She hesitated for a moment trying to work out why this gaigin was talking to her. She then recognized us and came to have a chat (to Kaoru, obviously). It made Kaoru and I feel justified in making the 2+ hour return trip, and we will certainly make the effort on future trips.

Dinner was, as always, fantastic. After the “welcome dish” we had sashimi, and then tuna in a miso sauce, which I have definitely had before (was it here?), both which came out very quickly. Add the menu was only in japanese and had no pictures (this place isn’t westerner friendly), Kaoru had to order everything and as always it was superb. The only dodgy part, and I’m still not sure if she was just taking the piss, was our last course… Fish testicles. I tried to keep an open mind, but they just didn’t do it for me.

After dinner we bought some flowers for Mio, to say thanks for all she does for us. And then we started the long trip home.

We walked in the door a bit after 10.00. According to my watch I had broken my step record, by reaching 23,500 steps. The most we had done on this trip, and a great day out together, even if we didn’t see anything “new”. Yoichi got back with Arisa from school about 2 minutes later. The 4 of us had a few drinks (ok, Yoichi and I had a few drinks and Kaoru and Mio sat with us and talked) for a while, and then I politely went upstairs for a bath, as they can’t go until I do. I struggled but managed to stay in the bath for nearly 8 minutes. I wanted to give Mio and Yoichi a chance to go to bed, especially as Yoichi has to work tomorrow.

I came downstairs and had another whisky while finalizing today’s blog entry, and was ready to call it a night about midnight.

Kaoru left for her morning bath at 6.15. We had a bit of a schedule to keep and no time to waste. I tried to get back to sleep but decided to take advantage of my last bath. So I got up and went downstairs.

I wasn’t in for long, and as I was drying myself, the alarm on my watch went off – 7.00. I had a look for Kaoru in the library downstairs, thinking she would be having a morning coffee. But she wasn’t there so she must have been having a long bath!

She returned to the room a bit later and we went for breakfast at 7.30. I was still lounging around in my yukata but Kaoru had gotten dressed. Breakfast was the same as yesterday.

Our plan for the day (version 3 from last night’s planning) was to catch a 9.07 bus from the hotel. We had finished eating by 8.10 and decided to rush back upstairs and catch the 8.37 bus instead. We made it there with 5 minutes to spare. It was lightly raining as we left the hotel which just made us laugh again. We were expecting nice weather based on the forecast! It didn’t last long though.

Our destination was just 5 minutes away – sazaedou. We got off the bus and knew we were at the right place just by looking at the stairs ahead of us. But to make things easier there was a travelator! We opted for the exercise though and took on the stairs.

Sazaedou is an old building designed as a one way circuit. So you never pass people coming down as you are going up. There was a great view from the top.

We then climbed some more steps and found the graves of 19 soldiers who took their own lives rather than be killed by the army who just won the battle. They were 16 and 17 years old.

We descended the stairs and caught the next bus back to our hotel. We were back by 9.40 and I took the opportunity to have a final bath and warm up. The baths weren’t meant to close for cleaning until 10.00 but the one i wanted already was closed! So i went to the other and had 5 minutes relaxation. Then it was back to the room to do a final pack.

We went downstairs to check out and topped up our water bottles, and then walked to the bus stop-this time fully loaded. We took the 10.31 bus which was longer to get to the station than the 10.36 (as it went a different way) but we hadn’t done a full loop yet.

At the station we bought our tickets to Tokyo, some lunch from the supermarket and then killed some time at mister donut. We then boarded our train for Koriyama. There was some beautiful scenery for the trip. A bit over an hour later we arrived and had 15 minutes to transfer for the Shinkansen. It was going to be crowded so we went straight to the platform to wait in line, hoping we could get a seat. While we were waiting we watched a Shinkansen go past without stopping. I had never seen that before. Wow it was fast!

We could see 2 empty rows of 3 seats on the train as it went past, and we were second in line. Luckily i managed to get the one in middle before the person coming from the other door got there! We ate our lunch and sped back to Tokyo. 275 was the fastest speed i recorded us doing.

Once in Tokyo we did some shopping, and caught the 3 trains back to Mio’s house.  We had an iced drink (Mio had given Kaoru some vouchers for) and then picked Arisa up from her school.  The three of us were going to walk back to the house but Mio was now free and came to pick us up.

Back at the house we unpacked and passed the time, until going out to dinner.  We walked to an Italian restaurant nearby, where they regularly go to.  Mio and I talked for a bit – her getting to practice English, and me practicing some Japanese when I could.  The 5 of us enjoyed a fantastic meal, and then walked back home for the night.

Arisa had a bath.  Kaoru, Yoichi and I sat downstairs and had a couple of drinks.  Mio had bought a few new whisky’s for me to try, so I didn’t want to offend.  Kaoru and Yoichi chatted while I did a bit of work.  I hope to be able to understand what they are saying one day!

Some photos from today:

This morning I had a little bit of a sleep in.  Kaoru got up early and had a bath, and a coffee.  She got back about 7.30, just as Okasan was phoning.

We opened the curtains and it was snowing outside.  Quite heavily.  The picture doesn’t really do it justice.  The view was quite interesting.  The building (hotel) across the river got damaged in an earthquake.  The local hotels have tried to help fund its restoration, as it’s an eyesore, but the owners haven’t done anything about it.  Our room had a note in it apologising for the bad view!

We went for breakfast about 8.15.  This was an assorted Japanese style buffet, with a couple of western foods too (Pain Au Chocolate, Crossiant, Fruit Salad, Yoghurt…).

Back in our room we packed our bags for the day.  My backpack was so light!  I’ve been carrying my laptop around in it lately so not needing that is fantastic!  I also left my jacket behind, just wearing my heat-tec jacket.

We walked to the bus stop (about 5 minutes) and then caught the 20 minute trip to the train station.  15 minutes later, our train arrived.  It wasn’t quite what we were expecting!  A single carriage, and painted!

The trip was very pleasant.  We laughed when the tiny carriage blew its horn, which was more of a toot of a whistle.

We passed the local tow truck on the way, which gave us a laugh too!

Our planned destination was Tounohetsuri; there are some cliffs there like the apostles on the Great Ocean Road.  We were then going to come back one stop to Ouchijuku for a bit, before returning to Aizu.  This is about an hour out of Aizu, and still included in the 2-day pass we had purchased yesterday.  On the way it started to snow and by the time we got to the station at Ouchijuku it was really coming down.  We had seen a number of stations that were just a small shelter – smaller than Yarraville or Seddon station.  So were worried that if we had to wait there for a while for the next train, it would be cold.  So we decided to skip Tounohestsuri and just get off at Ouchijuku (luckily the train was stopped there for 5 minutes or so, so we had time to come to this decision :)).

We rushed off the train and then started putting our layers of clothes back on inside the station.  While we were there another girl came in, asking the local person how to get to Ouchijuku.  We already knew we would have to catch a taxi to get there, so when she was told that, we invited her to join us.  She was on a working holiday from Taiwan, and spoke English fairly well, and Japanese to a level that Kaoru didn’t know she wasn’t a local.  Funny part was that as we had said we were on holiday from Australia, she assumed Kaoru wasn’t a local either, and commented on how good her Japanese was!  We both managed to keep a straight face at the time, and had a good laugh at it later in the day.

It was about 10 minutes in the taxi, and then we walked in to the village.  It is a town on the old trade route, so was built up many years ago.  They try to keep the town in its old style look, however there are also more modern houses off the main street where people live.  It’s not quite as authentic as Gokayama was (see April 28, 2015) but still a pretty place.  We climbed a hill (which was covered in snow and was quite slippery, so we had to be careful) and had a great view down the main street.

We then had some lunch.  The specialty here is soba noodles, but instead of using chopsticks, you use a spring onion.  Ok, I might not have had quite as much grace as Kaoru eating it!

After lunch we found a sake place, and tasted a few of the local sake’s.  There were all made in the Aizu region, and one from this village.  It is “cellared” in the snow, which was quite an interesting thought!

We caught a taxi back to the train station.  I fell asleep for half of the trip back so missed a lot of the scenery, which was disappointing as it was beautiful on the way out, but we were sitting on the wrong side of the train to see it all.  We got off the train at Nanukamachi, and walked about 10 minutes to a local sake brewery.  There were other places to try sake but this was the only brewery that did a tour.  We arrived with about 2 minutes to spare (not knowing the tour schedules) so we were really lucky.  There was a room upstairs that was dedicated to the Fukushima earthquake, and had photos of damage, the shelter, etc.  Afterwards we sampled a number of their sake’s.  We were wondering what to buy when we realised the time.  So we rushed off and just made it to the next bus.

Our next destination was Tsuruga-jo castle.  This castle has seen quite a bit of history, and the tour inside (discounted, with our passes!) detailed it all.  From the top of the castle there was a fantastic 360 degree view of the area.  We were in a valley, surrounded by mountains.  It’s hard to imagine just what it would have looked like without all of the houses / buildings around it but in a cold winter it would have been tough conditions.

We had a croquette to warm us up as it was getting quite cold, and then waited for our bus to arrive.  Back at the hotel we got changed and went to the onsen.  I went in the outside one this time, which was much cooler and easier to stay in.  As I left, I heard Kaoru leaving as well which was surprising as I thought she would be in for longer than me.  We went in to the lounge and I had a sho-chu, which was quite harsh after the sake I had been drinking.  Then it was off to dinner.

Second night dinner is different to first night.  Kaoru had worked that out last night, but I was oblivious to it as I was in a food coma.  The interesting part of tonights meal was the beef sushi.  It was oh-so-lightly seared, and served on a bed of rice, with wasabi and soy sauce.  You couldn’t taste the wasabi (even though I put quite a bit on).

We left quite full again, and returned to the room to plan tomorrow, and then had another bath.  It was going to be an early start so we tried to get an early night.

A few miscellaneous photos from the day:

I didn’t have a good nights sleep last night.  I think the air intake on the wood stove was partly blocked so the fire didn’t stay burning very well.  Whilst the room was warm enough, I didn’t want it to be cold when we woke up and I had to re-light it at 1 in the morning.  Luckily there was some small kindling in the entrance.

We woke up a bit before 7 and had breakfast; it was yam on rice with bonito.  It was delicious, despite Kaoru not being sure what I would think of the yam.  After breakfast we finished packing, and left home about 8.00.

On the way to the train station we stopped at a convenient store to get a train ticket we need for later.  This was a 2 day travel pass, which would start today, and continue through tomorrow, saving us quite a bit of money on the trains and buses.  Then we were dropped off at the station with about 15 minutes to spare.  We caught the train from Kuroiso (near Okasan and Ottosan’s) to Kooriyama station.  That was about 1 hour train trip, and at the end we had about an hour to kill.  We walked around the shopping centre and bought some food.  Then we caught the train to Aizu-Wakamatsu station – the main station in Aizu, where we were to spend the next few days.  Aizu is where the Akabeko – the red cow that shakes its head for good luck – originated.  That was another hour train trip, through some beautiful countryside where the snow was getting thicker in areas – it was certainly going to be colder than Nasu!  At the end we had about an hour to wait for our next train, so we went to the information centre, and then got a hot chocolate.

Our original plan was to take the suitcase to the hotel, but that would waste too much time; so we were going to take it with us for the day.  However at the Information Centre, there was a sign saying they would deliver suitcases free of charge, so that seemed perfect for us!  It was raining today, so we had planned to basically do a couple of hours on a train looking at the scenery, and then the couple of hours back.  However the lady at the information centre suggested getting off at Aizu-Yamaizu and spending a couple of hours there.  Before catching the train we grabbed some sushi from the supermarket for lunch.

We got off at a small station.  There was a heater inside, boiling a kettle of water.  We then walked towards the temple, finding the smallest Alfa Romeo I’ve ever seen along the way!  We went up some stairs to what we thought was the temple, however it was just a smaller one.  We followed a trail covered snow, through the rain, laughing the whole way.  Luckily I was wearing my waterproof boots so I would go first to find the solid snow (or just sink to the bottom) and Kaoru would walk in my footsteps.  We finally got to the main temple, our feet slightly damp, but we enjoyed our little adventure.

At the temple we found a statue that we were supposed to touch for good luck.   So we both gave him a stroke for some luck, before walking inside the temple for a bit.  It was amazing to see the sculptings in the woodwork.

We made our way back down to town and stopped in a bakery for some afternoon tea.  We then made our way back to the train station, the scenic way, crossing the red bridges in town.  The drizzle didn’t dampen our spirits – we were enjoying being away together as it had been a long time, and the town was very picturesque.

We made it back to the train station with about 15 minutes to spare.  Given the next train was 2 hours away, we didn’t want to miss it!  So we travelled the 1 hour back to Aizu, and then caught the “Hop on Hop off” bus (which was free, thanks to our travel card), which took about 30 minutes to get to near our hotel.  It was then a 5 minute walk and finally we had arrived.

After checking in, before we could go to our room we had to have a welcome drink.  As nice as a drink after a long days travelling is, it was 6.30 and we just wanted to go to our room.  Anyway we had a sake, and then were taken up to our room.  But had to rush downstairs to make our 6.30 dinner reservation.  It just didn’t stop!

Dinner was quite a feast.  And Kaoru had planned a couple of extra treats.  So as well as the set menu which included a glass of sake, and a variety of different local foods, there was also a sake tasting platter, which included 5 more sake’s.  Plus, halfway through the meal, they brought out horse sushi.  I had eaten horse once before but that was thinly sliced and with a salad.  This was just raw horse meat, with some soy sauce and mizu.  It was quite nice.

By the end of the meal we were both full to the brim, and it was a struggle to make it back up to our room!  But we got changed and went downstairs to the communal onsen for a bath (separate mens and womens).  It was nice to sit down and have a good wash, and then relax in the hot water for a while – although I couldn’t stay in there long, as it was just too hot.  I did sit on the reflexology machine (foot massager) for a little bit, which was nice too.

And so endith the first day of our adventures.

Another early-ish morning.  I haven’t been sleeping the best on this trip.  A combination of being on the floor, and either Kaoru or I getting up every hour or so to put more wood on the stove.  The room has certainly been warm as a result of it though!

Breakfast was a bit more western – we had pizza toast!  With rice and the usual trimmings on the side, of course!

The first job for the day was cleaning things up from last night.  Putting the table back under the house, etc.  Kaoru and I spent a bit of time planning our next few days travel, and then it was time to get back on to cutting up the wood pile, and roping it together.  That kept us going until lunch time.

Lunch today was Japanese Curry, with noodles.  Delicious, as expected!

I had a Fitgenes meeting from 12.30 until 2.30, during which time Kaoru booked our accommodation, and Okasan and Ottosan went to the garden to do some watering.  After the meetings we cut some more wood, brought wood up to the house for tonights fire, and stacked what we had cut the last couple of days into the shed.  It was good being outside and getting some exercise, although I’m going to feel it tomorrow!  We had a break for some afternoon tea in the middle.

Back inside it was time for some beer, and start packing.  Packing always is hard to do – it means it’s time to leave.  We watched some more sumo wrestling for some entertainment, and passed the time until dinner time.  This included catching up on my blog, and also some more thoughts about our travels in Japan.

Dinner tonight was fish.  Kimmedaie, steamed, and half each.  It was delicious, and served in a light sauce that just added to the flavour.  Ottosan had a bottle sake from the local area, which is considered rich because the emperor has a house in the area.  Another delicious sake, and it seemed a waste to leave any as nobody else would drink it, so being the person I am, I “took one for the team” and finished off the bottle.  It was a struggle, but we had a great night talking, and when Kaoru was on the phone I was able to easily ask Okasan who she was talking to.

It wasn’t easy finishing the night as we were enjoying it, but eventually we came in to finish packing our bags, and Ottosan cleaned the kitchen up.  We watched a bit of TV and called it a night.

I slept in a bit this morning.  It was nearly 8.00 by the time I got up.  I had to quickly get dressed because I knew everybody would be waiting for me before starting breakfast!

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, we showed Okasan and Ottosan some photos of what we have been doing since we last saw them.  It’s always fun looking at old photos and remembering what we were doing at the time.

Lunch was served on a plate today!  We didn’t have to pick what we wanted from a dozen bowls!  Yakisoba noodles, and they were delicious!

After lunch, Kaoru and I went for a walk.  It was quite cold when we went up the hill – it wasn’t quite snow, but not far off it.  A little bit of rain, which made things cooler.  Kaoru then took me to the camp ground nearby.  In all the trips we have made to Nasu, she had never taken me there before.  It was quite interesting seeing a japanese campground.  The sites were very clean and neat, and also mostly powered.  The tents were quite large too.  There was a vending machine which I’m sure served alcohol!

Back at the house it was time to start work.  So we got the chain saw out and made a start on cutting Ottosan’s wood pile up for in 3 years time.  A neighbour had had some trees cleaned from his yard so a lot of the wood came back to Ottosan’s house.  Most of it had been cut up, so the hard work had been done.  But they were larger cuts than what was desired.  So Kaoru and I worked our way through the pile.

Kaoru’s favourite cousin (who I had never met before) then turned up with his wife and 3 kids.  They had been skiing for the day not far away, so came round to say hello on their way home.  The kids knew a bit of English, and while they spoke clearly, they had trouble understanding when I asked them some questions.  Still a good experience for them though.  They ended up staying for dinner, which was Shabu Shabu.  They all enjoyed catching up, and it was nearly 8.00 by the time they left for the 2-3 hour drive back to Tokyo.

We cleaned up and called it a day.  This has been a really relaxing trip so far!

I woke up a bit before the 7.00 chimes this morning, but relaxed in bed for a bit.  A few problems on the Inflatable World server, fixed by a simple restart of the MySQL service, and it was time for breakfast.

We pottered around the house for a while.  I got the second UFO configured back in the old main house, so there was good coverage around both houses and the entire property.  Then we went to their garden field.  I had gone there last time I was here, with Kenichi, Kozue, Mio and the kids – that time we were just cutting the baby bamboo to eat.  This time Kaoru and I started by filling watering cans from the stream to water the vegies, and then we had to cut down the tall bamboo trees that were too bushy, and overgrown, which were preventing new ones from getting enough light to grow.  They were much easier to cut than I was expecting.  The saw we used went through them very easily.  We then had to trim the branches and cut them to length.  I’m not sure what was going to happen from there.

We cleaned up and went to lunch.  This was at a pancake place that Ottosan likes.  We had to wait about half an hour to get a table but they were worth the wait!  I had a Danish pancake, which was more like shoe pastry, with banana, cream, cinnamon sugar and lemon.  Kaoru had a cheese fondou dish, which had 2 layers of buttermilk pancakes, a layer of meatloaf (very thin though), and another pancake.  It was surrounded with salad, and a nice dressing.  The drive through the countryside to these places was beautiful.  The mountains were topped with snow, and the mountain that we hiked through a few trips ago was visible.

On the way home from lunch we went to a grocery store to buy some supplies.  The sushi platters were as amazing as always to look at!  We stocked up on sake as well as some more food.  Then it was back to the house for a siesta.  We slept for an hour or so.  I got the fire going as it was starting to cool down, and did a bit of studying while we watched sumo wrestling.  Dinner tonight was sukiyaki, with sake, and some more conversation.

Kaoru and I watched some TV while Okasan and Ottosan tidied up and had a bath.  Then we had a bath and crashed.  This mountain air is really making me tired!

My alarm went off at 7, just before the main clock started its chimes. The wood stove had all but gone out so it was quite cool. I got dressed and opened the outside shutters and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground.

Japanese style breakfast was a great start to the day and then i had to race off for a Fitgenes meeting. That took an hour or so.

We passed the day pretty relaxing. I got a few work things done and had a Japanese lesson at 2. We had a bit of a sleep too. Okasan and ottosan had to go out to their garden (which is a 10 minute drive away).

Kaoru cut up some sushi to have with dinner which mio had sent for us. That was accompanied with nabe and of course some sake! I practiced some more Japanese and reviewed a number of my previous lesson notes to try to pull things together.

After a bath we were ready to call it a night.

I woke up about 6.00 local time, which was quite impressive!  Kaoru, Mio and Arisa were awake (Arisa was getting ready for school).

To make things interesting, a few servers back home had crashed, so I emailed Sparky and had breakfast.  Afterwards I gave him a call and he was just getting them back up, so crisis averted, but it was an annoying start to the “holiday”.

We packed the small suitcase that I brought to Japan (I brought it empty, for Kaoru to be able to fill with any food she wanted to bring back).  It was much easier than carrying a bag so a good idea.  I still had my backpack for my computer, and a few other things had to go in there.  Once ready, Mio drove us to the train station.  It took us 3 trains, and about half an hour, to get to Tokyo station, where we purchased our Shinkansen ticket for Nasu.  We had just missed a train so had 45 minutes to kill.

It was about 11.20, but I was getting hungry so we had some lunch and relaxed for a bit, before doing some quick shopping for a treat, and then we caught the Shinkansen.  We hadn’t purchased reserved seats, thinking it would be quiet, but the platform was very busy!  We considered upgrading but decided against it.  Luckily we were able to find 2 seats next to each other.  I got a little bit of work done on the train, and we arrived at Nasu on time (no surprise there) after about 1 hour of travel.

At Nasu we changed to a local train – we had to wait 30 minutes so we must have just missed one.  But eventually we arrived at the local station, and Okasan and Ottosan were there waiting for us.  The first place they took us was the local shopping centre.  Ottosan had to pick up some new glasses.  It was nothing like a Tokyo shopping centre – more like a Melbourne Home Center!  I had a look around their equivalent of Bunnings and was tempted to buy a laser tape measure (~$50, reduced from $90!) but fought the urge.  We looked around the camping section, and it was quite interesting seeing what they had.  A lot of things that were Coleman brand, but different designs to what we have, for the Japanese market.  There was even a camp table with a burner in the middle!

Our next destination was a hotel.  Apparently in Nasu, that’s the place to buy bread.  So we purchased a few things to eat over the next couple of days.  Then it was off to the house.

Kaoru came here last September so she had seen the extension on the house, but I hadn’t seen it yet.  The second house now has a washroom, bedroom and kitchen.  Still with the same sort of design.  It was amazing.  I could also see piles of chopped wood all over the back yard.  So somebody’s already done the work I was expecting to be doing!  I guess it’ll just be sharpening the blades for me this time.

We went inside and I had a proper look around the extension.  After some tea and the treats we bought back in Tokyo I got a bit of work done while Kaoru caught up with her parents.  But first I had to fix the internet coverage in the house.  The phone line is now running in the second house, with a different box (not the old router) so the UFO’s I had installed weren’t communicating properly.  Pretty easy to fix up, which got all of my devices working immediately as they had previously been connected.  We also made some labels with the SSID and password so whenever visitors came, they could easily find the password to get them on the WIFI.

Dinner was the usual feast, which no matter how full you were, you just can’t stop eating.  Ottosan bought out a bottle of sake for us to enjoy with dinner.  So I had to get used to the custom of pouring his drink and him pouring mine.  I fumbled my way through a bit of communication, stringing nouns and verbs together, but not really making much sense.

After dinner there were a few more work things that needed to be finished.  Then a relax in the new bath, and off to bed.

It was an early start for the trip. The alarm went off at 6.00. I was awake between 4 and 4.30, and it had been a late night as it was boys night last night, and then finish packing… but i got up, dressed, and called an uber which arrived about 3 minutes later. Off to the airport.

It was a quick check in, aided by the fact i was using more points and flying business class again😆. Once through i went straight to the lounge for some breakfast.

We got called for the plane but a minute later they retracted the call. An issue the engineers were looking at and would need another 40 minutes. Take your time guys! I don’t want to leave if it’s not all 100%. Eventually we took off about an hour late – just after 10.30.

I watched a few movies and slept a little bit on the flight (and consumed a bevvie or two) and before i knew it we were landing. Immigration was painless and my bags were ready by the time i had walked from our gate to the main terminal building. So i bought my bus ticket and waited 45 minutes.

The bus ride was just under 2 hours. I did some work on the bus so it went pretty quick. At Futako tamagawa station i got in a taxi which took me the rest of the way to Mio’s house. Yoichi had just gotten home and Kaoru was there. Mio was picking Arisa up from school (it’s about 9.30 by now mind you). We had a few drinks and eventually went to bed.

We woke up this morning and had another breakfast that I didn’t stand a hope in hell of finishing.  Yet Kaoru’s Mum just kept bringing more and more out.  I wanted to eat it all, as it’s all so nice!

We went for a walk to the bank and to post some letters, and then stopped for a hot chocolate, and to reflect on the last couple of weeks.  What an adventure it has been!  We’ve had some really busy days, and done a lot, with lots of friends and family.  But now the holiday must come to an end, and I have to start earning money again to pay for it all!

Back at the house we re-packed our bags, to fit sponge bags in.  Both suitcases were about 26 kg, so we took some things out to put in our carry on bags (which luckily were pretty empty).  Fingers crossed we will be OK, as they are both just under 23, but on Cathay the limit is 20.  We had lunch and a chat, and passed the time before Kaoru’s Dad took us to the bus stop.

We woke up this morning half happy, half sad.  The holiday is rapidly coming to an end.  After a shower we went and had breakfast, packed our bags, and checked out of our room. We walked to the station and caught the next Shinkansen to Tokyo.  They run every 15 minutes so we weren’t waiting long!  We didn’t have reserved seats on this trip but managed to find a couple of seats next to each other.

I dozed off on the train, but Kaoru woke me up to see Mount Fuji.  I got a few shots of it on my camera, as we get quite close on the Shinkansen.  Then we had our real treat – as we pulled in to Yokohama, Dr Yellow was waiting on the platform!  It is considered very lucky to see Dr Yellow – it is a yellow Shinkansen that is responsible for inspecting the tracks and wires to ensure everything is running perfectly.  Kaoru has never seen it, and there it was, waiting at the platform!

We finally arrived in Tokyo, and caught the subway to Nishi-Kasai.  We had Mos Burger for lunch, and then walked to Kaoru’s parents house.  After some tea and a chat we went upstairs and I had some work to take care of, and Kaoru went to have some passport photos taken.  I also had about 500ml of wedding sake left over so had a crack at that.  We had dinner at home – the first meal I have eaten at this house!  We had gyoza, with rice and other vegetables.  We had a chat and I showed them photos of things we had done since we were last in Japan – some camping, photos of Kaoru driving the boat on the Tweed River, etc.  Then we rolled out our futon’s and went to bed.

We had a much needed sleep in today. Well, given how hard the mattress and pillow were, and all the noise outside our room, it wasn’t really sleep – but it was rest, nonetheless. We had breakfast at 9 and I went back to bed a bit longer.

We eventually got up and went to Toji shrine. It was beautiful with all the cherry blossoms and the 5 tier pegoda.  We had a good look around and grabandbed some lunch at a cafe, before going to mum and dad’s room about 115. Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen were already in there so we had a chat and then went downstairs to do our 140 tour of Nara.

It was about an 80 minute bus trip, on which the tour director (apparently) never stopped talking. Dad was the only one of us who didn’t sleep.  In Nara we were told that the deer are wild but friendly and that we can feed them if we want. We walked around the Todaiji Temple – the home of the largest Buddha in Japan. We walked around the grounds for a bit and then went to Kasuga shrine for more walking and sight seeing. Back on the bus we went to the souvenir shop for 15 minutes and then the bus brought us back to kyoto.

We arrived back just after 6, but dinner was booked for 8 as our eta was 730. So Kaoru and I went to mum and dad’s room for some sake and a chat.  We knocked on Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen’s door and got to the restaurant about 7.40 hoping they would seat us early.  They were very busy so we had to wait a bit, but were in before 8, nonetheless.

Tonights dinner was Kushiage – kind of like a shabu shabu (where you cook your self) but it was deep fried food.  So basically we went to a bar and picked a number of skewers, ranging from pork, to salmon to cheese, then dipped them in batter, covered them in breadcrumbs, and then cooked them in a deep frier in the middle of the table.  Delicious!  We took the drink package too, so for an extra 1000 yen we had unlimited drinks.  For dessert they had a chocolate fountain, with marshmallows, pefiterolls, ice cream….it was hard to know what to have next!

After dinner we said goodbye to Mum and Dad, and Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen, as we wouldn’t be seeing them again until back in Australia.  We walked back to our hotel in the cold, and turned the heating right up in our room when we got back to defrost!

We were woken by the alarm this morning. After breakfast and getting ready we walked to mum and dad’s hotel and met them in the lobby, to do our morning tour of kyoto. The day was very cold and my cold was at its peak, but I soldiered on through it. We went to a few temples and returned to the hotel about 130. We then went to a sushi train for lunch as we know Uncle Owen is fine with sushi.

Kaoru and I went back to our hotel and I had a much needed lay down. About 500 we went back to their hotel, via Aeon Plaza to buy a couple of scarves! We caught a couple of taxis to Kiyomizu dera for the night exhibition. The shrine was amazing lite up at night and we had some great views of kyoto too. We had some food from street vendors but not enough to keep us for the night. So we caught taxis back to the hotel and ended up at another sushi restaurant. I couldn’t eat all I had ordered, partially because of how bad I felt, and partially because of how much I had already eaten that night. Kaoru and I went back to our hotel and defrosted.

We went down for a cooked breakfast which was included in our room rate. There was a lot to choose from but I just stuck with noodles, soup and rice. Back in our room I had to do some more work and we left about 1000 to meet up with mum and dad, and Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen, who were catching the train in this morning.  We only had to wait about 5 minutes for them to arrive but it was too early for them to check in, so they put their bags in storage and off we went.

We walked through the train station to the bus terminal and hopped on a bus to the northern side of kyoto. We got off and walked a bit, stopping at a shop to buy Kaoru a wedding gift – she had previously talked about these combs that she liked, which keep your hair shiny, and given all she had done I thought she deserved a nice treat.

Finding lunch was tricky but eventually we found a place we could all eat at. We walked around the Yamato shrine grounds for a bit and then went to the kimono hire place. Kaoru and I walked around a bit more while the 4 oldies got dressed up in kimonos. We came back and picked them up, and found some cherry blossom trees to take photos under. Dad and I had a beer to keep us going. Then it was off to have a traditional tea ceremony.

Lots of people wanted to take photos of the 4 westerners in kimonos so it was slow going. But eventually we arrived and learnt about the ceremony and had some tea ourselves. Once that was over we had to walk back to have a pre-booked rickshaw ride. It was quite chilly and we appreciated the blanket the driver put over us! We had a very informative and enjoyable 20 minute ride through kyoto but then it was time to get back to the kimono hire place and change back to normal clothes.

We caught a bus back to the hotel and checked mum and dad and Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen in. Dad and I had some wedding sake – he was down to 500ml from the 2 litres he took about a week ago! Kaoru found a shabu shabu place for us to go to for dinner and made a booking, so off we went. It was a delicious feast. Then we said goodnight and Kaoru and I went back to our hotel.

Last night was sleeping on the futon on the floor.  But I woke up feeling quite gooind, so my back is getting used to it!  I went down for breakfast, which was rice, little sausages, soup, and sweet egg stuff (tamagoyaki).  After a shower, Kaoru and I walked to the train station  to go to Tokyo, and then got on the Shinkansen for Kyoto.

While waiting to board we started talking to a man and his daughter that were also waiting in line.  The man lives in Seoul, and his daughter in LA.  From what I could gather he was in shipping, and hass travelled a long way around the world, including Melbourne.  We were surprised to hear he was 95 years old!  I wouldn’t have picked him as over 80.  He was very friendly.

We found our seats, and I caught up on a few things – what else is there to do for 2 hours, while travelling at 300km/hr! We enjoyed some Strawberries and Cream Kit Kat’s that Aunty Lynette left behind with Kaoru, and some other sweets and drinks.

After a couple of hours we arrived in Kyoto and as we had some time before we could check in we had some lunch. Then we walked to the skydeck at the station building, which involved a single escalator from the 7th to the 11th floors. We had some nice views of the city but were tired from carrying heavy bags around. So we made our way to the hotel.

We got to the hotel just after 230 but check in wasn’t until 300 – so we had to wait in the lobby for a bit. Eventually we checked in and went to our room. It wasn’t as nice as our last hotel but better than the Washington. Although the mattress was very hard and the pillow not much better.

We relaxed for a bit and then decided to get a feel for the area.  We caught a train to the northern side of kyoto so Kaoru could buy some cards. We had a hot drink and relaxed for a bit and then started to walk back to our hotel, via the bank as the exchange rate was looking quite good! It took us over an hour to walk back, through lots of small streets and alleys, so we really got to enjoy the area.

We stopped at the supermarket to get some bento boxes for dinner, which we ate in our room. I had a bit of work to take care of so did that while we watched some tv.

Kaoru woke up early to see Julia, Andrew and Ella off – they were booked on a 650 bus. She then did a load of washing. I got up, had a shower and we went to breakfast at Excelsior.

On the way back I paid the bill while there was no line. Then we had to do that job we always hate – packing. It took us a while and at the end I reckon my bag would be about 30kg. Luckily this wasn’t our pack to go home. We put our bags with the bell Captain and went to the lounge to wait for our 1230 bus to Disneyland.  We got a few snacks for the trip, and boarded.  After having already gone to Disneyland, and been thoroughly annoyed at it, hearing the song playing for the entire bus trip was extremely annoying.  But after an hour or so we got there, and then caught a taxi to Kaoru’s parents house.  All up ~2000 yen, whereas a taxi from the hotel would have been > 6000 yen, and given the weight of our bags, we didn’t want to walk with them!

After a cup of tea and a catch up, we went for a walk to the bank, and to sort a few things out.  The 4 of us went to the usual sushi train place for dinner, and as always, it was hard to stop because it was soooo good!  Back at Kaoru’s parents, we packed our bags for Kyoto (as we only wanted to bring small bags and not our suitcases) and went to bed.

This was another casual starting day.  We woke up and got ready, and then Kaoru and I enjoyed a snack and tea in the lounge.  We went back to our room a bit after 11, and were joined by Julia, Andrew, Ella and James, for Ella’s 4th birthday party.  In our room, before our very eyes, James underwent the transformation to Akimbo.  I don’t think I have known a drag queen before!

We met up with Brett and Naomi, who were a little taken aback too!  Then made our way to the “Alice in Wonderland” restaurant for Ella’s birthday party.  Kozue (with Yukari and Minami) turned up not long after us, and so did a friend of Julia’s with her 4 year old.  The food wasn’t anything fantastic, but the themed restaurant was a bit of fun.

After paying the bill, Kaoru and I went to Meiji Shrine as it’s a special place to us (the first place Kaoru took me when we first met).  On the walk back home we decided a massage was in order, as we were, after all, on our honeymoon!  So Kaoru found a place near our hotel and we went there.

75 minutes later, I had had a relaxing sleep and had been tortured!  The pressure they were using was very firm, and the harder they pushed, the more tense I because.  So I don’t know if it was doing more good or bad, but it was time where we were alone together, and had nothing to think about.

Back at our room, James wasn’t there yet (I had given him my card as we didn’t know how long we would be, and his stuff was in there to get changed back to James for his flight home).  So Kaoru and I went up to the lounge for a couple of drinks and think about dinner.

We went back to our room about 6.00 and James arrived not long after.  He showered and transformed from Akimbo back to James, and the 3 of us had a couple of sake’s and a good chat.  Whilst we had spent the last week together, we hadn’t spent a lot of time with just the 3 of us, so it was good to get to know him a bit better.  I gave him a travel pack of sake, and we put him on the 7.50 bus to the airport.  I had received a message from Julia that they were having an early night, and would be at the hotel for a 6.50 bus tomorrow, so now Kaoru and I were going to spend our first night alone together!

So for our honeymoon dinner, we went to a restaurant on the 29th floor of a building across from our hotel.  We ate a caeser salad, a tofu course similar to one of those from our dinner with Kaoru’s and my parents, and….wait for it…..whale bacon!  It was quite interesting – very similar to a ham (funnily enough).  But we were both quite tired, especially as we were so relaxed from our massages, so we got some dessert from the convenience store in the hotel and retired.

Today was a late-ish start.  Kaoru and I had breakfast in our room and then went up to the lounge for a bit.  Around 11.30 we met Brett and Naomi, Julia, Andrew, Ella and Simon in the lobby to go out for sushi.  Simon was yet to experience real Japanese sushi, and as this was his last time, I had planned it for his lunch today.  All of us except Kaoru and Naomi went to the same place Michael, Leila, Kaoru and I had gone to on our first night in Shinjuku and had a feast.

Just after 12, we had to leave and get back to the lobby of the hotel, where we caught the 12.30 bus to Disneyland!  We were all excited about having a fun-filled day with some rides and shows.  I had previously booked us all on the bus, due to leave the park at 10.50 to come home.  So we were set for a long day.

It took about an hour to get there, and we got our passes out and in we went.  With a group of 9, there was no way we were going to all do what we wanted, so we split up in to two groups, and set a meeting point for 7.30, with the intention of watching the parade and fireworks together, and then going home.  So Brett, Naomi, Kaoru, Simon and I headed off together.  We didn’t have much of a plan, but wanted to start by orientating ourselves.  But we were in for a disapointment right from the first *real* line we saw – 230 minutes waiting time!  It took a while for that to process in our minds – nearly 4 hours!  It would pretty much be the only ride we would do for the day.

We skipped that and joined a 40-odd minute line to do the tea cup ride.  Simon came in with Kaoru and I and we (foolishly) let him steer.  So by the time we came off that, we were feeling pretty ill from all the spinning.  We went for something a little more sedate – “It’s a Small World”.  This also had a short line (~25 minutes).  As we walked around the park more, we were seeing these crazy long lines (210 minutes, 250 minutes, etc), and could not believe that people would join them.  Naomi made the call that it was definately NOT the happiest place on earth!

We had some food, and managed to pick up a ride or two, before watching the light parade.  A rope barrier went through the park making it impossible to get from one side to the other, while a convoy of lit up vehicles went through.  So we watched that, before going across and trying a few of the rides one more time to see if the lines were shorter.  We were able to do a couple, and Kaoru, Naomi and I got on the last run of the Merry-Go-Round before the park closed.  So we slowly made our way to the gate, knowing the bus wasn’t coming for a while.

At the start of the day it was very warm, and I was holding the park map up to keep the sun off my head.  By the end it was freezing cold, and luckily I had my Uniglo top that I had bought the night of the cruise to put on.

We caught our shuttle bus back to the hotel, and Julia and the gang went back to their place.  Brett, Naomi, Simon and I found a bar to have some farewell drinks at, while Kaoru had a bath and went to bed.  A lot of the bars were closed or closing, and those that were open were full of smokers.  But eventually we found a cocktail bar which was a bit more expensive, but quite nice, and we knocked back a few drinks there.  We walked back to the hotel, said goodbye to Simon (as he was off to Singapore tomorrow early morning) and went to bed.

It was raining today. But plans had been made and must be executed! Kaoru took Naomi shopping for the day so they left about 10.00. Brett, Simon, James and I left at a slightly more respectable 1030, and caught the train to Shibuya, so they could see the 5 way intersection. We went up to Starbucks and managed to get a seat to enjoy a drink. It was even crazier with all the umbrellas up!

But we had to leave and head off to the Suntory brewery! We met Kenichi at the station and caught a courtesy shuttle bus to the brewery.  We were taken for about a 45 minute tour of the brewery, none of which we understood, and then enjoyed a couple of glasses of beer.  The first was their premium, and the second was a more seasonal drink (which we didn’t like as much).  We got a few photos, and then caught the bus back to the train station, where Kenichi left to go home and spend the afternoon with his family.  And we went to Shinjuku to celebrate my bucks 🙂

We opted for a pub crawl.  Given the bars were all smokey, we needed some fresh air between each of them!  So we spent the next few hours in and out of bars, nibbling on food and drinking beer.  After a couple of hours of this, Kaoru called me to say she and Naomi were back.  So we decided to head back and get the girls and make plans for the rest of the night (dinner, etc).

The 6 of us went out for a drink first (Brett, Naomi, Simon, James, Kaoru and I), and then James went home for some rest.  It was about 8.00 by now, and Kaoru managed to make a booking for us at a Shabu Shabu restaurant – something none of the others had done before.  So we made our way through the underground tunnels of Shinjuku (to keep out of the rain) and enjoyed a 2 hour eating and drinking fest for ~$55 each!  Everybody enjoyed the food, and the experience, and we definately over-ate, but it was all included so we had to get our moneys worth!

On the way home we went to Brett and Simon’s favourite bar – Pronto – for a night cap.  It had been a long and enjoyable day, and we were happy to go to bed by the end!

This was a Kaoru guided tour day. Mum and Dad, and Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen left about 8am for the next part of their holiday. The rest of us (12) met in the lobby at 10 to do some Tokyo sightseeing.

First up was Tsukiji. We had a good look around but because it is a very busy place we were concerned with Ella. It’s more of a wholesalers market, not a pedestrian market.  Once out we caught a train to Asakusa and decided we needed an hour to look around separately. Simon came with us which gave him the chance for a more personal guide, and we ate a few different snacks. The time went really quickly though, and when we met up with everybody we heard they didn’t all make it to the end, unfortunately.  But when Julie, David and Aunty Lynette did it on the Tokyo tour they only had 20 minutes, so at least they got more of a look this time.

We then caught the train to Euno to see the Cherry Blossoms. It was amazing to see the difference from when we were there with Michael and Leila last week. The tree that was amazing for us last time was now green with leaves and the ones that were just buds now were in full bloom. And it felt like every person in Tokyo was there to look at it! After walking for a bit we had a beer (Brett found a place to buy them) and then I took Brett, Naomi and Simon to Akihabara. I wanted to take them to the maid Cafe that we went to with Michael and Leila but the 15 minute “sample” is only valid on weekdays. So we skipped that and went to a cafe for a beer. Back at the hotel Brett and I met up in the Luxe lounge for a drink and to get some work done. We met Aunty Lynette and Kaoru up in the lounge but then they left for dinner. Brett, Naomi, Simon and I went for dinner at a Ramen noodle shop. We left and had a drink, and then I went back to go to bed.

We woke to an alarm this morning. After breakfast we went downstairs and met up with everybody for an 8am departure. Dad had all the tickets so it was a day off for Kaoru. Michael and Liela left this morning for the rest of their holiday but the rest of us were keen for some sightseeing. Kaoru and I, Brett and Naomi, Mum and Dad, Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen, Simon, Tony Mak, Julia, Andrew and Ella, James, Aunty Lynette, Julie and David.

The first drive was about 90 minutes which took us to the Mount Fuji Visitors Centre. There was snow along the way and David got to throw his first (of many) snow ball. I slept for a lot of the trip there. Back on the bus we drove to the First Station of Mount Fuji, where we had about 20 minutes to look around – plenty of time to build a snowman! We took lots of photos and everybody was thoroughly enjoying themselves. Then we started the drive to Hakone.

En route we stopped for lunch, and talked about catching the Shinkansen back home. We would have to buy tickets but it would be Davids only time. Once I realized it was the same for Simon and Naomi I was convinced. But that wasn’t until later. We made a few stops along the way, mostly for views of Fuji. Once at Hakone we hopped on a boat on Lake Ashi. The Pirate ship Kaoru and I went on last time was there but not part of the trip. We then caught the rope way up a nearby mountain which had a shrine on top so Kaoru and I could pray. Aunty Lynette is scared of heights but bravely rode the ropeway with us. We had some amazing views of Fuji and the Pacific Ocean.

Back down the mountain we got back on the bus which took us to Odawara station where Kaoru and I, Brett and Naomi, Aunty Lynette, Julie and David, and Simon, got off and caught the Shinkansen back to Shinagawa and then local train to Shinjuku. Kaoru took us to a few places and then went back to the hotel to meet the others (who stayed on the bus and had made it back about 45 minutes later) and take James for a massage. I walked Julie and Aunty Lynette to the cheap alcohol shop so they could buy some to take home. While they browsed I took David back to his room and left him there to bathe.

For dinner, Kaoru and I went out with Julia, Andrew, Ella and James for Okonomiyaki. It wasn’t very good though and having to wait about 30 minutes (despite being told we wouldn’t be waiting long) didn’t help. Eventually we left and went to bed.

Wedding Day!

It was a drizzly day, so not the sunny, beautiful day we were hoping for.  But it wasn’t going to get us down.  Kaoru left for Harijuku a bit before 8.  I had a slightly later start and left a bit before 9.  The first train was too full so I had to wait for the second one to get me from Shinjuku to Harijuku.  When I arrived at the venue, Kaoru’s Mum and Aunts were just arriving in taxis.  So I said hello to them, and then went in.  I was taken to the brides room, where Kaoru was having make up done.  Here I got out of my clothes and in to a robe, at which point I was offered breakfast.  I had eaten in the room but still tried a bit of what was on offer.

Then it was time to get dressed.  It took about 5 minutes to get all the layers on me.  Kaoru was ready not long after, and the photographer came in to get a few snaps off.  Then it was off for more photos.  I was taught how to walk (chest out, hands clenched, and in front of Kaoru) and we went past the reception room (where guests were gathering).  A few people noticed us, and I could hear the “Oh wow – isn’t she lovely”, but we weren’t allowed to see them yet.  A few photos were taken, and we were then taken to the front of the temple for even more.  It was obvious we wouldn’t be using the gardens and having the walk we were hoping for.

Next we were taken to a room and informed that Kaoru’s father hadn’t arrived yet.  But not long after our families were brought in for the formal “introduction”.  Dad did this for our family, and Kaoru’s father did his family – except he forgot the names of his daughters and grandchildren!  This lightened the air in the room a lot as we were all laughing, and Kaoru’s Aunties stood up and introduced themselves!

More photos were taken, and then everybody left to go in to the shrine.  Finally it was our turn.  We were led in by some japanese music, and the banging of the big drum in the shrine.  It was a slow walk, but finally we were in the shrine and ready to start.  The ceremony proceeded normally – we drank the sake, although Kaoru was unable to lift the cup up high enough with the weight of her Kimono.  My throat was quite dry so I was thankful to get some fluids in there.  Then it was time for me to read the vows.  This was the real test, as I had left parts of it in Hiragana, but I did have to cheat and read my translation for a lot of it.  I knew I made a few mistakes along the way, but nobody minded (half the people wouldn’t have noticed!).

After turning the leaf, everybody clapped at the right time with us, which was impressive, as I had only briefed the “Westerners” on it the previous night!  The final drinking of sake occurred (with the parents as well) and we walked out of the shrine through the guests on my side, so they all got a close look at us both dressed up.  We had to go to the photographers room to get some more photos done (why they couldn’t have done these photos when we were in that room earlier, I’ll never know!).

Then it was off to the Brides room so Kaoru could change Kimonos, remove her wig, have her hair done, and make up touched up.  Finally she was ready and it was off to the reception.  We greeted everybody at the door as they came in and took their seats.  Then we went to our seats, and it was time to start the proceedings.  Kozue, as MC, got it underway, and I gave my first welcome address.  Because Kaoru was translating it, I followed my planned words very strictly.  Next was opening the sake barrel, so we had to walk up to the other end of the room, and I called all the kids down to help us.  Ella was a bit upset, but eventually was happy to go up with Kaoru.  I explained to everybody what we needed them to do, and it went great.

Back at our seat, the meal started being served.  Kaoru had trouble eating, but I enjoyed it all!  Various groups of people came up to us to have their photo taken, so there was lots of smiling happening all day.  It was a very formal affair – not so much a party but very regal.  We never got to walk around and greet all of our guests as it was too hard for Kaoru to get up.  I was so hot that at some stage I had to go outside for some fresh air.  There were a lot of layers on, and because I was still sick, it didn’t help.

Sadly the reception part of the day had to finish, and the farewell address was given by Dad, Kaoru’s Dad, and then me.  We said farewell and thank you to each of our guests, and it was off to the Brides room to get changed.  We were then brought some dinner – basically we received all the courses from the main meal *all over again*!  Kaoru hadn’t had much of a chance to eat during the day, but I tried to eat everything.  So while she enjoyed the opportunity to eat, I struggled to get much more in.  But enjoyed revisiting my favourite dishes.  We paid the bill (the really scary part!) and then caught a taxi back to the hotel.  We decided against walking as we had 8 litres of sake (from the barrel we broke), 2 large bunches of flowers from Mio, and our other stuff.

We managed to meet up with Michael and Leila and say goodbye to them (as they leave the next morning), and I gave them a bottle of sake to keep them going.  

We wanted to go to Meiji Jingu shrine but unfortunately they were closed by now.  So instead we went up to the lounge where Mum, Dad, Aunty Linda, Julie and David were.  After Aunty Linda left, I called Aunty Lynette and told her to come up as Naomi (as Brett and Naomi weren’t going to join us – they were out with Simon).  About 9.00 Aunty Lynette saw a glitter at the front desk.  James, Andrew and Ella had found us.  So we invited them in and said to make the most of it as we have to pay for visitors!

After a couple of drinks and some snacks we were kicked out for closing time.  So Andrew, James and Ella came back to our room for a quick sake. and then left.  Finally we were able to sit down alone and reflect on our wonderful wedding day.

The day before…

Everybody was here – no more hoping there would be no flight delays, or working out times to meet and greet people.  But that doesn’t mean there’s time for rest – too many things to see and do!

Kaoru took Julia, Ella and James shopping for the day, to get some things for Ella.  Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen went out with some friends of theirs.  Brett and Naomi had a “recovery” day.  I took Mum and Dad, Julia and David, Aunty Lynette, Michael and Leila and Andrew on a Sake Brewery tour.  It took us about an hour by multiple trains to get there, and I was still under the weather, but we got there OK.  From the train station I followed my maps on my phone to get to the location, which was about a 15 minute walk, and we made it with about 10 minutes to spare, so perfect timing!  The “PA to the GM” (I think) spoke English, so she took us on a tour, pretty much reading completely from notes.  There were some beautiful gardens and buildings, and we learnt a bit about the process too.  At the end we were given 3 sake’s to taste.

We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant on the premises.  They did a set course menu so we didn’t have to think about what everything was.  A few beers and sake with it made for another enjoyable meal.  It was then a 15 minute walk to the station, and hour or so train trip back to Shinjuku.

We all (except Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen) met in the lobby and caught taxis to Gonpachi for our feast there.  We had been eating so much over the last week that we didn’t eat a lot.  Just worked our way through the Appetisers, and ordered seconds of the ones we liked.  We caught taxis back to the hotel and called it a night.

Well, as I knew, today was not looking good from the start… 🙂

Kaoru got up, saw Julie off (who wasn’t very good either), and saw Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen arrive.  They went in to Mum and Dad’s room.  Then she had to go off for some wedding things.  I got up and had a shower, and gave Simon a call to arrange breakfast.  So he came to my hotel and I took him to the cafe we had been to previously.  We then walked in to Shinjuku station, and caught a train to Harijuku – I wanted to show Simon the walk he would be doing on Thursday, to the wedding place, as he has to get there early and will be by himself.

We continued the walk down Takeshita street, and then turned around, and went back to Shinjuku.  Kaoru was in the lobby waiting for James, as we knew he would be there soon.  I arranged to meet Simon again at 5.30, and went up to get some sleep.  Not long after, Kaoru brought James in to the room, so I met him.  He dropped his bags off and then he and Kaoru went out for a bit.  They returned to the room as James was tired, so he had a sleep on the couch and Kaoru enjoyed some peaceful time.

At 3.30 Kaoru and I made a booking at the Korean BBQ for us all, and then she went to meet Leila so they could get their nails done.  I came back to the hotel, and as James was still sleeping, went up to the lounge for some peaceful time and snacks!  I went back to the room about 5 and had a bit of a chat to James – started to get to know him.  Then went downstairs to meet Brett and Naomi at 5.45.  Simon also met me down there, so while Brett and Naomi got checked in and sorted, Simon and I went to my room, and had a Beer with James.  We then all met downstairs for Korean BBQ dinner (Brett, Naomi, Mum and Dad, Aunty Linda and Uncle Owen, Aunty Lynette, Simon and I).  No Kaoru, so I had to do the ordering / arranging of things.

Brett, Naomi, Simon and I went out for a couple of drinks, to show Naomi some of Shinjuku.  By complete coincidence, Kaoru walked past the pub we were in, saw us, and came in!  So we stayed for another round, but were then ready to call it a night.

It was a planned later start today so I got to spend the morning with my wife! We had breakfast in the room and after dealing with some work stuff I practiced saying my vows for the wedding. We went up to the lounge and had tea and some cake but only for about 15 minutes. We met Mum, Julie,  Aunty Lynette and David at the lobby at 11. Dad was out at golf.

Michael and Liela were waiting for us at the bakery and we got on a train for Yokohama. We walked through China town,  led by Kaoru with her flag, and got to a yum cha restaurant. We made good use of the “all you can eat”!  We then left and walked out of Chinatown and caught a bus to the cup noodle museum. This had a history of cup noodles and David got to design his own packet,  pick the contents and have it sealed.

We had to rush out at the end and made the bus with about 1 minute to spare. It took us to the station, and we comfortably made a train which took us all the way to Shimbashi.  We were there about 30 minutes early so we walked to the locomotive to show David.  Then it was off to dinner and for us all to meet Ken (Dad’s friend from Japan).  When Ken booked the table, he put us on a set menu so we didn’t have to think about food.  We were also on a drink menu, so it was unlimited drinks for 2 hours.  And did me make the most of that!!!

We caught a train back to the hotel and I went to see if Simon had arrived (staying in a different hotel).  He hadn’t checked in, so I left a message with my phone number and went to the 45th floor to meet up with Michael, Leila and Kaoru.  It was very smokey and drinks were very expencive so we gave it a miss and went to Mum and Dad’s room, where we continued drinking and making quite a bit of noise – I’m surprised we didn’t get a call from reception!  Simon arrived not long after and started working on catching up to us.

We left about midnight and I thought I should show Simon Shinjuku.  So Michael and Leila, Julie, Simon and I “hit the town”.  We went to a few small bars, getting a drink in each, and had a fantastic time.  Then we ended up in a bar with 2 hours free drinks (for a cover charge) and made the most of that.  We then walked home and got back quite late, knowing we weren’t going to be too good tomorrow!

This morning Kaoru woke up and took Dad to the train station to buy all their Shinkansen tickets, and also Suica tickets for everybody.  They were unable to get David’s as they need ID, since he is getting a childs one.

We then all met at 10.00 to start the days activities.  Michael was feeling better today so joined us.  Mum had brought an Australia flag and gave that to Kaoru – our Tour Director!  We started by getting David’s ticket, and then caught the train to Harijuku.  We walked down the main street, stopping at the Daiso on the way.  We then took everybody to the wedding place so they would be able to find it when they come on the wedding day.  Back to the main street, we continued to the end, stopping at several shops along the way.

Then it was off to Kiddy Land for David and Julie to do some playing and shopping.  Kaoru and I found a restaurant that we could all eat at which was just a meat restaurant, so we all had hamburg steaks.  After lunch I took David back to Kiddy Land for a bit more playing while everybody else finished up.  We walked through Ometosando, and caught a train to Ginza.  A bit of a walk through Ginza, and David was getting bored – and I had some things to do.  So the two of us went back to the hotel while Kaoru looked after the “mob” and took them to a few more places, and then came back themselves.

Everybody came to our room and we all had some champagne.  Then we dispersed and got ready for the night, Leila came over, and we all went to Mum and Dad’s room for some more champagne.  Then Mum and Dad, Michael and Leila and Kaoru and I went for dinner, while Julie, Aunty Lynette and David did their own thing.  This was a special dinner Kaoru had organised, where Mum and Dad get to meet Otosan (they had already met Okasan at our Australian wedding).  Michael and Leila had their own special dinner in a separate area.  It was a tofu restaurant, which had me (and Mum!) a bit worried.

We arrived at the restaurant and were taken to our rooms.  They were amazing!  The whole restaurant was very Japanesey – totami mats, low doors, the style of the walls, the music…it was beautiful!  And Mum and I had completely different thoughts of tofu when we left!  Everything was so delicious (except for one dish, which Kaoru didn’t touch and Mum only got through half).  The night went very well – Kaoru was busy translating all evening and did a fantastic job (as always).  Both sets of parents were able to see how much the other loves us both, and to express how thankful they were for the support from the other.

After saying goodbye (and picking Michael and Leila up from their room), I went to Mum and Dad’s room for a Lemoncello while Kaoru had a relaxing bath.  We wanted to go to the 45th floor bar but it closes at 11 so we were a bit late.

The mayhem begins…

Mum and Dad, Julie and David, and Aunty Lynette arrived this morning.  We didn’t know what time they would be getting in, but knew it was early, so I was waiting in the lobby at 7.00 while Kaoru got ready.  Then she came down and I went upstairs to shower and have breakfast.  Not long after Kaoru called and said they were here and on their way up.  Next thing I knew, the room had us all, plus suit cases – thank god we weren’t in the Washington Hotel!

We got towels so everybody could have a shower, and then we finally managed to hit town and go for some breakfast.  We went to the cafe across the road as Kaoru and I had enjoyed it previously.  Then Kaoru took Julie to a chemist to get a face mask as the smoke was bothering her, and I took everybody else up the Government Building for the scenic view of Tokyo.  Julie and Kaoru eventually joined us, and we left around 10.45.  We met Leila under the clock at First Kitchen, while Kaoru ran ahead to buy our tickets for the day.  Michael was feeling under the weather – he had a few flu symptoms yesterday – so decided to give it a miss.  Then we met up at the train station.  We had about 15 minutes before the train left, but we wanted to be early so we could sit together.  Finally we were on our way to Fujisawa.

We changed trains and caught one to Kamakura, where we walked around the streets (sampling food and beer along the way) and took the family to their first temple.  We then walked back to the train station.  With all the stops, this took us about 2 hours, so we were a little bit behind schedule, but it wasn’t a problem.  The train out was very crowded, and we didn’t even get on the first one as it was too full.  Kaoru made the call that we would have to skip the second stop because it would be too hard for us to get back on the train, so we went to Enoshima instead.  We walked across to the island, most of the way up the steps to the shrine, took photos, and then walked back.  We got on the train to Fujisawa, but a different line, which meant we were on the start instead of the middle.  This saved us having to try to squeeze on to an existing train.

At Fujisawa, Kaoru, Leila and Julie went to the chemist, while the rest of us waited.  Then it was off to “our restaurant” – the one we always go to in Fujisawa.  They were thrilled to have us there, and had made individual placemats for us with our names, and Congratulations on our Wedding.  The food was great, saki fantastic and company wonderful.  After dinner Kaoru, Julie and David went to the supermarket to buy some food while we took our time to leave and met them at the train station.  Then we got back to Shinjuku, checked everybody in, and went to bed.

OK, maybe I’m not invincible.  Kaoru woke up early this morning and did a load of washing, and then met Michael to buy their Shinkansen tickets for when they leave Tokyo.  She came back to the room, and I was still fast asleep.  She eventually asked if I was OK, and told me it was 8.45.  Not a big sleep in, but god knows I needed it!

I had a few work issues to deal with so took care of them.  Kaoru met Michael and Leila and took them to the Shinjuku government tower for a birds eye view of Tokyo.  I ended up back in the Luxe Lounge for some food and cold drinks (with my laptop).  Eventually I had things finished, and via Pindrop, the telephone and Skype, managed to find the guys in the shopping centre.

The rest of the morning was spend with the girls shopping and Michael and I twiddling our thumbs.  We then went to MOS burger for lunch – for those of you who have been there, you’ll know why we enjoyed that so much!

After lunch it was more shopping, and then off to Shibuya to see the busy intersection, and also the 109 building, for a quick tour.  We wanted to go to the Starbucks to watch the busy intersection, but couldn’t get a seat, so took photos and left.  We found a pub and had a beer.  Then it was off to Mio’s.

We caught a train and taxi to Mio’s house.  Kozue was already there with Yukari and Minami (because it was a public holiday), and once we had introduced Michael and Leila, it was straight to the food table.  Mio brought dish after dish to the table, and it was an extremely enjoyable evening.  Some time after 7.00, Kenichi arrived – he had been playing Tennis so couldn’t come earlier.  Mio’s bar was in full swing, and there was a point that Leila had a red wine, white wine, beer, saki and Mojito on the go at once!  So a very enjoyable evening.

We left about 10.00, after a great evening.  A taxi took us to the hotel, dropping Michael and Leila off on the way.  As early as it felt, it was good to finish early for a change!

Kaoru was awake around 5.00 this morning with wedding things on her mind.  So we were up quite early.  Michael and Leila were doing a Mt Fuji / Hakone tour today so we weren’t seeing them until this evening.  We went for breakfast at a cafe across the road and started getting our bearings.  Then Kaoru went to see whether she could use the washing machine at a nearby hotel (as our one doesn’t have washing facilities), and I went back to the room to practice writing my name in Katakana, and organise some other things.

We went to the Luxe Lounge on the 34th level of the hotel – this is something that comes with the room we are staying in, and has snacks, tea, etc.  So it was just working from a different environment.  Then at 11.00 we left and started the days activities.  We walked around Shinjuku and found a wedding book (for people to write their names and messages in), and then caught a train to Harajuku.  We went to the Daiso and bought an umbrella (as it was raining today), a clothes hanger and pegs, a couple of bowls and spoons (so we could have breakfast in the room).  Then we went for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

After lunch, it was off to the wedding venue for a 1.00 meeting.  The afternoon was spent seeing a number of people – the co-ordinater, photographer, florist, reception planner, room planner, music….with 5 minutes or so between each person.  So it took until after 5.00.  Kaoru told me that this was the same process that has happened each time she has been there.  They obviously want to spend lots of your time so it makes the cost more justified!  I’d rather just pay somebody and let them do what they do best!  At least I managed to work on my speach and other things while we were there, and Kaoru just translated relevant parts to me.  We also had to sign our vows, which meant I had to write my name in Katakana.  I had been practicing this for a while – it even had to be done with a brush pen!  Hopefully it came out OK.

We finally got back to the hotel and went to the Luxe Lounge for a drink and some food.  Michael and Leila were on their way home from Hakone, and came to the hotel once they were ready.  They came up to our room where we had a beer and admired the view, and they told us about their day.  Then it was out to Korean BBQ for dinner – something I always enjoy, so we had to share it with them.

There was a 45 minute wait so we left our name and number at the door, and went to the “Kirin Club” (a bar chain) for a drink.  They called us about 20 minutes later, so we finished up and went back to the restaurant and enjoyed another fantastic meal.  After paying we walked around Shinjuku for a while and then to a convenience store for dessert, and said good night.

I don’t know how I’m going to do this – the alarm went off at 2.45 this morning, and it’s now after 11.00 tonight.  We’ve had a few days worth of adventures today, so here goes…

After a quick shower, we met Michael and Leila downstairs at our hotel about 3.15, to get a quick breakfast at the Lawsons.  We then hopped in a taxi for the fish market.  We arrived there around 4.00, and it took us about 10 minutes to find the entrance we had to go to.  At one point we saw another couple running past us – we knew there were limited places, so we started running too!  It was turning in to the Amazing Race!  We found the entrance and were given our green bibs, indicating we were amongst the first 60 people to arrive.  The next 60 were given blue bibs, and the last was handed out before 4.30.  I’m sure there were more people outside who were rejected because it was full.  We then waited until 5.20, at which point we were taken through to the main floor to see the fish inspection and a few auctions.  We had no idea what was going on, but it was still an amazing experience!  We were on the floor for about 15 minutes and saw several fish go in that time.

We walked around the market for a bit, and found a sushi restaurant.  There was a long line out the front, so Kaoru went for a wander and found another one just around the corner (that was *sure* to be just as good, but with a shorter line), so we moved to it.  After about 20 minutes, we were finally eating breakfast number 2 – about 4.5 hours after waking up.

We walked around the markets a bit more, and then caught a train to the palace.  Kaoru and I had been there before, but not Michael and Leila.  So we took a few photos.  There was a section of the car park that was closed off (I should point out there was not a single car in the car park).  Kaoru asked the security guard why, and she was told “because it’s not 9.00 yet”!  Can’t argue with that logic!

Back to the train station, past the park which was full of homeless people.  They looked like felled trees, under the “bonsai pines” – pine trees that had been beautifully manicured.  We got on a train to Ueno (I’m sure we stopped for some morning tea somewhere around here), and walked around there.  We saw our first Cherry Blossom tree which was beautiful.  There were several that weren’t in bloom yet, but a couple were covered in pink buds.  We then went to a museum which had a full size model of a few houses from the Edo period.  We asked for the English guided tour, which had an elderly gentlemen walking us through the exhibits and explaining a bit about it, which was great (and gave Kaoru a good rest!).  On our way out, he gave us some oragami constructions – the girls got little boxes, and the boys got spinny toys on a toothpick.

Another train station (or two) and we arrived at Asakusa.  We opened up there with a Mr Donut (those who have read my previous blog entries would know about that place!).  Then we wandered around and saw the plastic food you can buy.  I was blown away by a double-double cheese burger, for over AU$700!  Michael and Kaoru looked at some knives but weren’t good enough value for money so no purchases were made.  We then managed to find our lunch spot for the day.

Kaoru and I had previously been to this lunch spot.  It was an Okonomeyaki restaurant where you cook your own.  It was a fantastic atmosphere, and we enjoyed our first beer for the day, despite being going for 9.5 hours!  It was great to sit down and enjoy (more) food in such a relaxed place.  We got a table as soon as we arrived, but within 15 minutes we could see a queue forming outside, so we just arrived in time!

After lunch, it was off to Akihabara.  We arrived at a different train station to what I’m used to (we were on Tokyo Metro, not JR) so I didn’t have my bearings at all.  Eventually we found the JR station, and then the main part of Electric City.  I had spent a bit of time on the internet, and taking several photos during the day, so my phone battery was down to ~30%.  Because it was ~1 year old, I wasn’t getting a good battery life, so I wanted to buy *something*.  I saw a solar powered pack, but ended up buying a 5200 maH pack for ~$35.  And as soon as we were out of the store and I plugged it in, it started charging my phone, so it came pre-charged, which was a bonus!  We then went to a “Maid Cafe”, because that’s what you do in Akihabara.  There was literally no line (2 people in front of us), but for some reason we were kept waiting for about 15 minutes.  Finally we were greeted with “Hello Master and Princess”, and taken to a table.  There are several different plans you can choose at these cafe’s, but we didn’t have a lot of time so took the most basic – which mean no cover charge, and we could only stay for 15 minutes.  We were taken to our table by a young girl dressed in….well, I don’t know how you could describe it, other than a Maid’s uniform!  We placed our orders and were amused by what was going on around us – single girls / guys / couples being entertained by these ladies.  Eventually our drinks arrived, but it wasn’t as easy as that to start them.  Leila’s was first (a coffee).  She wanted milk in it, but had to do a “cute” hand signal and make some squeaking sound when she wanted the maid to stop pouring milk!  Then Michael had an iced coffee, and had to pick what picture he wanted drawn in it.  He let the maid decide, and obviously her favourite is the cat face, as that’s what was drawn.  My hot caramel was the same, although I elected a dog face.  Kaoru’s hot chocolate was served as it was.

After paying, we went back to the streets of Akihabara, and Leila and Michael had a look for some more gadgets, while I had to do a little bit of work in a cafe.  Then we met up, and boarded a train for Shinagawa.  Being in such a familiar place again was good.  However I had hoped we would get to go back to the hotel before the evenings activity, and get a jacket, so I was feeling a little cold.  We stopped at the Uni glo and I bought a thermal skivvy to put under my shirt and jumper to help stay warm.  We then power walked to the pier, and boarded our boat for the dinner cruise Kaoru had organised.

This cruise was superb!  We were treated with (another) magnificent feast of sashimi, and Tempura, and all we could drink – and after such a long day, we could drink quite a bit!  After cruising up the river a bit, we anchored with a fantastic view of Tokyo Skytree and took some photos.  Then we cruised back and ate and drank some more, before finally pulling in to dock.  We walked to Shinagawa station, and boarded a train for Shinjuku station, where we said good night to Michael and Leila, and we then walked to the Washington Hotel to get our bags.  Then we had to take them to Keio Plaza Hotel, where we are staying for the rest of the Tokyo leg of the trip.  We were finally up in our room about 11.00, exhausted, and extremely happy after a very busy and enjoyable day.

Once again Kaoru was up with the sparrows and in the bath.  I got up about 7.00 and had a shower, and then decided a 5 minute soak wouldn’t go astray.  We met Michael and Leila for breakfast at 7.30, which was the usual feast.

We went to our room and packed up, and met again just before 9, to catch the free shuttle to Nikko town at 9.05.  In town we walked around the (open) shops for a bit, and then made our way down to the train station to catch a 9.40 train out of Nikko.  We had a 16 minute changeover en-route, and were then on our way back to Shinjuku. Had a call from Dave along the way – a problem with his DNS entries that I had changed on my way out the door on Friday to come to Japan.  So a lot of the trip was passed by me trying to fix that.

Once we arrived in Shinjuku we walked to Michael and Leila’s “house” for the next 10 (or so) days.  It was a nice little apartment in Shinjuku, and close to the station, as well as our hotel.  They got their bearings, and then we went for lunch.  Kaoru had found a “taco rice” place in Shinjuku, which was the other side of the Washington Hotel (where we were staying, and all our bags were, so gave Michael and Leila a good sense of direction).  Lunch was really nice – it was kind of like a taco, but with rice instead of a shell.  It looked large but went down very easily.

We walked back to the Washington Hotel, and Kaoru and I checked in, and got all our bags out of storage.  Michael and Leila then walked backto their house, and Kaoru and I went to our room.  I had some work to do (setting up email on a temporary computer for Brett, as his decided to shit itself), and the hour we had went very quickly.  We then had to leave to meet up with Michael and Leila for our next activity – massages!

Kaoru had found a place and booked us for a 4.00 massage, for an hour.  So we turned up and filled in the forms, and went with our masseuses.  I have had a few massages in Tokyo before but none quite like this!  There was a lot of manipulation, and moving me around throughout.  It wasn’t as relaxing as previous ones.  But after all the walking we had been doing the last couple of days, I was happy to see what it does.

After the massage Kaoru and Leila went to buy some items from the chemist.  I’m seeing things through new eyes having Michael and Leila there, as they are noticing things that used to surprise me – like how noisy the chemist is!  We then walked in to the Pachinko parlour “for the experience”.  As expected, it was extremely noisy, and smokey.  We walked around in awe for about 5 minutes, and then left.

It was only 5.45, but we started looking for an Izakaya for dinner.  We needed an early night as tomorrow will be an early start.  Eventually we found one, which had touch screen ordering from the tables.  The drinks were going down too well, and the food was nice and simple, in small serves.  So we stayed for a while, but eventually had to call it a night.

On the way home, we stopped at a convenience store and got dessert.  We said good night, and went our separate ways for the night.  Kaoru and I re-packed our bags, and called it a night about 9.30….with an alarm set for 2.45…

As tempting as a hot bath was this morning I decided to go with just a normal shower. Kaoru was naturally up early and in the bath by 6! We then met up for breakfast at 8 o’clock. This was a traditional Japanese breakfast with several plates of food, and took us nearly 45 minutes to finish. Back to our rooms to clean teeth and we were leaving for the days adventure about 9.

The person at the ryoken desk told Kaoru there was a free shuttle to town where we could get a discount all day bus ticket. So we rushed out to get the shuttle but after 5 minutes it hadn’t arrived. Another person from the ryoken then drove us in their own shuttle, which was great! When Kaoru got the ticket she paid 1000 yen instead of 2000 yen. She had to give our names and they were checked against a list… So an offer only available to people staying at certain places.

We caught the bus to the ropeway and had a hot drink to defrost. The view from the top was fantastic and I played around with some photospheres and panoramic shots. We could see the lake Kaoru and I stayed at last time we were here.

It was then back to the bus which took us to the lake. We went to the Kegon falls lookout and took more shots. Then it was time for some lunch. While walking we came across some monkies. They were quite cute too watch as they walked on the footpath. But when there were 8 or 9 of them following us it was a bit concerning… especially when they took a swipe at your leg!

We found a place for lunch and then caught a bus back to Nikko town. Our next destination was another shrine further up the mountain. We were wondering about the path a bit as it was covered in snow in places and had some fallen trees on it. But we went on and were rewarded with some great views. We found a shrine that was under renovation – however there was a hole in the covering attached to the scaffolding so people could still drop their money in to pray. So we did, and it was my first for this trip.

A bit more walking and we were back to town. After some photos of the red bridge we found a “pub”…I use the term loosely – it was more like a small shop that had food,  ice cream and beer. So after a wind down drink we waddled back to the Ryoken about 530, ready to relax for the night.

Kaoru and I had a bath and we all meet up foot dinner at 630. For a bit of fun we all wore our yukatas (kimonos) to dinner. Again we had an amazing feast of 10 or so different things. We were back to our rooms about 8, happy and tired after a long enjoyable day.

The 4 of us slept very toasty with the wood stove going all night. Kaoru was putting more wood in during the evening which kept it going. Kaoru had her usual early start to the day and Michael, Leila and I woke around 730 and made our way to the main house for breakfast. Okasan made her usual feast and it took about 45 minutes to get through it! Then it was time for Michael and I to get to work…Otosan had some wood that needed splitting and his knee has been bad. So we were obviously wrapped at being able to help out. So we brought the hydraulic splitter round the back where the wood was already cut to length, and got to work. Because of Michaels experience cutting wood with an axe, he was great at being able to finish the bits up. Then we came across some that were too long for the splitter. So I got the chain saw to do the first split of them and Michael did the other 2 cuts to make them thin enough.

After a shower, we said goodbye to Okasan, and Otosan drove the 4 of us to the train station. We grabbed some food and hopped on the 1200 train for Nikko. We had to change en-route and arrived about 145. We then caught a taxi to our accommodation. Our rooms were complete totami rooms! They looked awesome! But we didn’t  have long until things were closing so we had to make a move. We went to the Toshogu Shrine-a place Kaoru and I had been to before but it was still great to see again. We spent about 90 minutes there, looking at the 3 wise monkeys, being prayed for in the shrine and all the other things to do inside.

Back at our Ryoken, we all came in to our room and had some nibbles and drinks. Then it was time for Onsen! There are two large ones here -a men’s and a ladies. I found the water too hot so didn’t stay for too long. But then it was time for dinner…

This was an amazing feast! Photos possibly to follow if I remember… It was shabu shabu, with more extras than you could poke a stick at! I couldn’t finish everything but it was all delicious!

Walking up to our rooms Michael was talking about being ready for bed…I think we were all thinking the same thing. Then we saw it was only 830! We looked in the shop for a bit and said goodnight. Then Kaoru went for her bath as she didn’t to when I did before dinner.

We started today with the alarm at 730…well, that was the intention. People leaving their room at 600 meant we were woken up quite early. After a shower and packing our day packs, we headed downstairs to check out. After waiting over 5 minutes for the lift, I used the phone on the floor and called reception. They said there was a problem and to catch the staff lift.

Michael and Leila were already downstairs. We put our suit cases in the storage room and walked to Shinjuku station. We bought Suica for Michael and Leila, and got some breakfast, and then went to catch the 920 train to Nasu. After a short train change we arrived about 12, and got in a taxi. We met Kaoru’s parents at a restaurant for lunch. Then Otosan dropped us at the farm place where we walked around and had some food. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to their house, but at least we didn’t have any bags to carry!

We sat and talked for a bit and then all had baths before Okasan served a spectacular feast. Beer, saki and champagne accompanied chicken, sushi, potato stew and salad. We had some great laughs and Kaoru did a fantastic job of translating for us all. There was more food than we could possibly eat but we had a good crack at it. Then we went up to the other house to make our beds and unwind. Kaoru taught Leila how to assemble the oragami sakura balls. Michael and I thought we would be helping best by keeping out of the way.

It’s been a long time between posts…but this trip warrants a blog…

About 1230 in the morning, Michael, Leila and I boarded a plane for Hong Kong….we got a little bit of interrupted sleep on the way and landed on time. After a couple hours we boarded the plane to Tokyo. A movie and a couple drinks later we landed. We power walked to immigration to get ahead of as many people as possible. It was a good thing too, as it meant we only had to wait about 15 minutes. 5 minutes later the line behind us was over twice as long!

Once we had our bags we caught the airport limuousine to Shinjuku, where Kaoru was waiting for us at the Washington hotel. So we checked in and relaxed for 10 minutes, and then it was time for our first night out.

We were quite hungry and it was 545 so we went to a sushi train. As expected it was ab delicious and the 4 of us ate for <au$40, including a bottle ok saki! We walked around Shinjuku and had trouble dragging Leila out of Don Quiote… but then we were off to what Kaoru referred to as an “awkward” place – Robot Restaurant! It was an amazing show which included a bento box (not very nice).

After the show we walked back to our hotel. Leila and Kaoru both went to their rooms and Michael and I went for one last drink to wrap up a long and enjoyable day.

Kaoru woke me up this morning very worried.  She said it was 9.30 already, and we had to get up now to get breakfast.  I felt quite bad and found out the suffering of Mio’s bar.  I struggled to get out of bed, and then saw that it was only 7.30 in the morning!  Kaoru had read the clock from my laptop, which I left on Melbourne time to help with timings of meetings.  So it was straight back to bed for me.

I woke up a couple of hours later, still feeling very under the weather, but went downstairs to try to eat some breakfast.  Not a lot went in.  We went back to the room and Kaoru had to go to her parents house, and I had a bit of a look at getting this release of Pracware out, but my mind wasn’t focusing, so I went back to bed.

At lunch time, we found a place that did toasted sandwiches and salads – simple food.  So went there, as I was starting to feel a bit better, and needed some food.  Unfortunately the “no smoking indoors” concept hasn’t made it to Japan, and feeling crook already, where almost every table had a smoker on it, was not how I wanted to eat my food.  By the time I walked out I was feeling worse than when I got in, and I’m thankful I can’t remember what it was like when people could smoke indoors at restaurants in Australia – much less what it was like when you could smoke on an aeroplane!

Back at the room I got the Pracware release sorted out and was back in bed.  Jet lag and long days had really caught up with me and I was out to it for a few more hours.  Once I woke up, I was feeling human again, and ready to take on the world.  Kaoru got back not long after (she had spent the afternoon getting her hair done), and we found an Izakaya to go to for dinner.  I ate quite a bit and drank several glasses of (non alcoholic) drink, and felt back to 100%.

We had an early night, as the alarm was set for an early morning tomorrow, and a big weekend.

Another work day.  Kaoru went to her parents after breakfast and I was busy for the morning.  We went out for lunch, to an Italian restaurant nearby, which was quite nice, and I spent the afternoon working.

When I had finished for the day, we caught the train to Mio (Kaoru’s sister) and Yoitchi’s house.  They live a short walk from Harajuku – the area I first kissed Kaoru, so always looks very familiar, despite me never going to their place before.  They live in a beautiful apartment, and as well as having Arisa (who is 6), they also have a little toy poodle that was excited at seeing somebody new.  Eventually the dog annoyed Mio and she put it in its play pen.  That’s right – most people have a small play pen / cage for their children.  In Japan, they put their pet dog in it.  It has a water bottle and a bed, and a few toys in it.  Each to their own.

Mio had me opening bottles pretty much from when I walked in the door.  I was to learn what being a guest at “Mio’s Bar” was like, and I will be more prepared next time!  We started the evening with a bottle of French Champagne, and then commenced eating our first course while the main course (Sukiyaki) was cooking.  The bottle of champagne wasn’t finished before I had to select the red wine (French, and chilled, which is a different concept for me) to have with dinner.  While eating, I commented on the piano in the room and was told Arisa could play, so I told her I wanted to hear a song.  So once we finished eating, with a lot more coaxing (and the promise of me playing something) I got her to play something for me.  I couldn’t believe seeing a 6 year old with such talent – but that’s what the Japanese are like!

I then had to play something, so tried to teach Arisa the base line of “Heart and Soul”.  She wouldn’t do it though, so I had to play both parts of the duet by myself.  I did a couple of versus, and then the gloves were off.  She wanted to show off what she could do!  It’s funny watching the shy turn in to confidence!  Halfway through her playing, Kenitchi – Kaoru’s younger sister’s husband – arrived from work.  He was quite hungry so got straight in to eating, while I opened the next bottle of red wine.

Arisa then wanted to play “Connect 4”.  Kaoru and I had bought it for her when Kaoru was in Australia at Christmas, after she had seen David and Izzy play it.  After a few games, Kaoru and Arisa played (with me helping Arisa at times) while I spoke to Kenitchi.  He lived in Philadelphia for a few years some time ago, so spoke fair English.  He also is President of his own company (of 3) and is in IT, so we had a lot in common and were able to converse very well.  Meanwhile Mio had the bottle of Hennesey flowing, and Kaoru had to bath Arisa.

Yoitchi (Mio’s husband, the doctor, and Kaoru’s former boss) arrived home at some point, and it was on to the Saki.  I do remember a point in the evening when I had champagne, red wine, Hennesey and Saki in 4 separate glasses in front of me, while Kenitchi was telling me “Mio’s bar is open – it’s free but you pay for it the next day”.  It was somewhere around there that Kozue (his wife – Kaoru’s sister) called, and I don’t know whether the two were related or not!  I spoke to her briefly (for the first time).  She spoke a little bit of English, but not much, so it was mostly laughing.

At some stage in the night Kaoru said it was time to go home, so the 3 of us (Kaoru, Kenitchi and I) said goodbye to Mio (Yoitchi had snuck off to bed at some point) and we started walking out.  However I was then informed that we missed the last train home and had to catch a taxi.  This wasn’t what I expected in Japan at all, as it was only just after midnight.  It was just over 7,000 yen (AU$70) to get back to our hotel by cab.

I had to try to get the Pracware release out tonight, as some final work was being done during the day by the guys back in Australia.  I attempted the first part (the checkout), but had a timeout error that took more brain power than I had left for the evening.  So I put it in the “tomorrow” basket and crawled in to bed.

After we woke up, we went downstairs for breakfast.  This was included in the room cost, which was considerably cheaper than Shinagawa (where I normally stay).  OK, it’s not a buffet breakfast – there are some rolls, egg, potato salad, soup, juice, tea and coffee.  But it is enough to kick start the day.

But today had to be an “all systems go” day for me.  We’re intending to roll out Pracware today, but the team didn’t get enough done without me on the phone cracking the whip the last couple of days.  So I had to pull it all back in line to get the release across the line.  So most of the day was spent in the room.  Kaoru went to visit her parents in the morning (they are about a 20 minute walk away), and came back for lunch.  We went to get a Bento Box from a place across the road, and brought it back to the room to eat.

In the afternoon Kaoru had to go to see her Facial Massage teacher, to say goodbye.  So she caught a train out, and we planned a place to meet near Tokyo station.  On my previous trips I had my own Japanese phone (that Dai-san had given me to use).  But I had given that back to him, and Kaoru was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to follow her directions, so she called me through the afternoon and gave me a new meeting place (without the walking from the train station gate).  I made it there no worries, and after looking for a present, we caught the train to Yokohama to see Rou and Nauko (and Haruka) for dinner.  I still don’t know how they do the walk home each day from the train station to their house.  It’s an amazing view from up so high, but it’s quite a challenge!

We had Tako-yaki for dinner.  Now that Kaoru and I have our own Tako-yaki maker, we were paying more attention to the finer arts of Tako-yaki.  Haruka couldn’t work out if she was amazed by me, or scared of me, so would stare for a while, cry for a bit, then go back to staring again.  She’ll get used to it sooner or later.  Ryu explained that his job has changed, and he is not getting to use his English at all at work these days, so enjoyed the experience of using it again.  It’s very easy to talk with them.

It was a longer train ride back to the hotel than it used to be to Kaoru’s flat in Fujisawa.  Luckily we had a seat for it.  We got back to the hotel and called it a night.

I landed at Narita airport around 7.30am, after a light breakfast, and some very interrupted sleep along the way.  Immigration wasn’t any hassle, and once through, saw my suitcase in the “Priority Baggage” area.  So no waiting at the carrousel for my bag!  Yep, this is travelling!  Once through the doors, I saw Kaoru waiting for me.

We got a bus ticket to Kasai (where we would be staying), and boarded after about 15 minutes, so it was well timed.  The trip was about an hour.  We were at the hotel around 9.30, so way too early to check in, so I left my bag at the hotel and we went to get some food, and killed some time walking around.  This included a trip to the council offices to get Kaoru’s birth certificate (for any visa’s she will need in Australia), and also a trip to the Tokyo Sky Tree.  We didn’t go up it, but it was nice to see.

We got back to the hotel and checked in.  But first had to go to the supermarket next door, to buy a bottle of Wild Turkey to keep me going :).  This was a discount liquor shop, so I needed to see *just* how discounted it was.  OK, it was good.  How good?  How about $10 for a 700ml bottle of Jim Beam, *with* a bonus tumbler glass?  Or how about Wild Turkey Rare Breed for $35?  It wasn’t an easy decision!  But finally settled on a bottle of normal Wild Turkey, some Dry Ginger Ale, and some Cola.

Once in the room I was able to catch up on work stuff from the day.  A few things had happened, so I sent off a number of emails.  Then Kaoru and I went out to dinner with her parents, and her fathers sisters, whom I hadn’t met yet.  We went to an “up market Sushi Train”.  Oh god, how I missed proper sushi!  It all just melted in my mouth!  Then the waiter came to the table with a large bag full of water and a squid (still alive).  How could I say no?  So they cut its head off, sliced it up, and put it on my plate, still moving slightly!  Delicious!  I could never get sick of this place.

Kaoru’s father dropped us off back near the hotel and I was ready for bed – it had been a long couple of days with very little sleep.  But just to really make me feel welcome, a 15-20 second tremor hit, which had the hotel shaking for a bit.  Sometimes it feels like I never left!

Here we go again – in style this time!

It took me a while, but I’ve finally managed to reach Gold Frequent Flyer status with Singapore Airlines.  So this trip is for me to go to Japan and help Kaoru move back to Australia with me.

I left my car at Brett’s house, and he drove me to the airport.  Check in was quick, and I was also given a “Priority Pass” to use for immigration / security.  So getting through was very efficient.  Once through the formalities, it was off to the United Lounge (the Singapore one is undergoing major renovations at Melbourne airport, so was closed), and with about 15 minutes to spare, I was able to set up for a Fitgenes meeting.  I spent most of the time on the phone for the meeting, being able to get a bite to eat and a couple of drinks to keep me going.  It was then time to board the aircraft.

My seat was in the upper deck of the A380 – another new experience for me.  Not a lot of difference (it was still cattle class), although I didn’t have anybody next to me (and had the customary exit row seat), so it was very spacious.  We took off about 4.45pm – right on time, and after a couple of drinks and movies, I landed in Singapore.

The new thing I had found in Singapore – if you are transitting through, they give you “Changi Dollars”, to spend at the airport!  So I collected them, and once finding out that they last until March, I put them in my passport to spend on the flight home (as I could use them with the ones I will be getting on the return flight).  It was then over to the lounge at Changi airport, for a couple of drinks, catch up on some work, and a chat with Kaoru.

What I didn’t realise is that they wouldn’t be calling the flight in the lounge!  So before I realised what was happening, the flight was at the final stages of boarding, up the other end of the airport!  So it was a mad rush through to the boarding lounge, and straight on the airplane.  I was having fears of missing my flight and being stuck in Singapore overnight.  But luckily I made it, and was en route to Tokyo for an overnight flight.  Luckily I wasn’t last on the plane, so did not hear my name called over the PA system at the airport – would hate to be one of those people!