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We stayed in two cities in Japan. Accommodation in each city were poles apart.

Tokyo (Shinjuku)

Hotels in Tokyo were quite expensive, so we went for AirBnB. I have used AirBnB a few times now, both in Manila and New York. I’ve always had a good experience using AirBnB so I was confident booking this apartment in Shinjuku – which actually turned out to be Kabukichō.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/16094596

Kabukichō is the adult entertainment and red light district of Shinjuku, Had we’d known that, we probably wouldn’t have booked it.

But walking through the area was safe enough and no one bothered us. The neighbourhood was OK, but more than a 10 minute walk to Shinjuku station as described.

The apartment was VERY small. The photos on the AirBnB site are accurate, but do make the place look bigger than it really was. The bathroom was like a capsule. It had about a 15 cm step into it so we had to climb in and out.

There was no place just to sit and relax. Granted the photos on the site showed no couch nor sitting area. There was no place for me to write my blog, other than sitting on the bed. The bar stools and small table looked like they were going to collapse any minute, so I was not game to try that. There were two double beds, which I guess allowed the place to be advertised as sleeping 2 to 4 people. I can’t image 4 people living there.

The best thing about the apartment was the pocket WiFi. This was a wireless mobile hotspot that we were able to take out with us. This proved to be invaluable. We could get directions, search for restaurants and communicate with the teenagers back home. It only had a battery life of about 6 hours, so we had to manage its use carefully.

Having said all that, it was only $64/night, it did meet our purpose and we enjoyed our Tokyo experience.

 

Kyoto

We decided to book a proper hotel for our Kyoto leg. The Hotel Monterey Kyoto.

This was like luxury compared to the Tokyo AirBnB. It was very small, as is the norm in Japan, but it was well appointed and comfortable.

The bathroom was a welcome sight. A “squirty bum” toilet and a big bathtub and nice shower. Jane and I took a long shower that night, as felt so luxurious. It had a desk and chair, so at last I could write my blog in comfort.

The building itself had a very “English” feel to it. It even had its own Christian Chapel. One of the restaurants was called the “Library“.

The location was great. Just a short walk to Karasuma-Oike Station. We caught a taxi for 1000 Yen ($11) from Kyoto station when we arrived to save ourselves some time and effort lugging our heavy bags up stairs.

On check-out we requested a late check-out. They obliged with an addition cost of 1200 Yen per hour. We took up the offer and extended by 3 hours (total $42).

The hotel didn’t provide a portable hotspot, but they did provide a Smart(ish) phone that we could take out with us. This proved a little harder to use, and it didn’t really help that much. It was much easier to find a Starbucks and use their free WiFi (although we did have to buy a $5 weak milky coffee).

At $112/night the Hotel Monterey was quite good value, and we enjoyed our stay there.

 

 

Day 8 – Home time.

Time to go home. But there’s still an adventure getting there to be had.

First we have to get to Kyoto Station – Catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo – Catch a train to Shinigawa – train to Haneda Airport – Fly to KL – change airports from KLIA to KLIA2 – fly to Perth – Taxi to home. All this takes 31 hours.

On the Shinkansen to Tokyo, we had our fingers crossed the weather would be clear and we’d get a good view of Mt Fuji. The weather gods were cruel to us before, but they we’re kind to us today – we had a  spectacular view of Fuji-san as we passed.

We made it to Haneda at 7.30 – four and a half hours before our flight. We checked in and now I’m sitting in the ANA lounge writing this.

What a fantastic vacation this was. We’ll definitely come back to this amazing country. The scenery is spectacular, the people are so nice and polite, everything is so efficient.

There’s so much more to see and do.

Day 7 – Osaka in a day

Today we caught the JR Rapid Transit train to Osaka. 30 minutes later we were in Osaka. The trains here are brilliant.

We only had the day here so we just picked a couple of activities.

The Umeda Sky Building was close to Osaka station so we went there first. Its a 40 story modern building that looks like its been made from spare parts of other buildings. It has twin towers that connect at the top with an observation deck. It also has a escalator that connects the two towers.

We took the escalator but is wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.

We had lunch in the basement of the building. As usual there was lots of restaurants to choose from.

Then we caught the train to the Dotonbori district. Here were lots of restaurants, shops and PEOPLE. Most of the people seemed intent on getting a selfie with Glico. I’d never heard of Glico, but apparently its a famous billboard of the Glico running man. I was amazed so many people were talking photos.

While we were in a chemist buying hand cream, it started snowing. The young girl assisting us saw it and just about wet herself with glee. It was like the first time she had ever seen snow. Pfft we were already soooo over the snow.

Osaka was fun. I’d love to come back and explore more of her.

We caught the train back to Kyoto, exhausted as usual.

Home tomorrow 😦

Day 5 – Easy day

We spent today taking it easy. We slept in after such a busy day yesterday.

After a fantastic Ramen Breakfast/Lunch at Zundou-ya we made our way to Tokyo Station to find out all about the Bullet train we’re taking to Kyoto tomorrow. The friendly boy at the ticket office explained everything to us and we bought the tickets on the spot.

We walked around the lovely old building of Tokyo Station.

We went back to Shibuya and Harajuku to buy some souvenirs and somethings for the folks back home.

 

Day 6 – Off to to Kyoto

Today is an exciting day for me. Another bucket list item crossed off. We’re taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. We were lucky enough to get the Nozomi, the fastest train.

We caught a taxi to our Hotel, Monterey Kyoto.

After checking in and unpacking we ventured out to explore the area. We came across the Nishiki Market. After a while we had to come back to the hotel, it was just so cold.

We rugged up and went out to find a quick bite for dinner. Then home for a nice shower – the first decent shower for a few days. I’ll talk about our Tokyo AirBnB in another post.

Tomorrow we have a Kyoto tour planned,

Day 2 – Tokyo city tour

After the exhausting day yesterday, we had to get up early and get to the Shinjuku Prince Hotel to start our Tokyo City Grand Tour at 8 am. We woke and got ready later than we wanted to and had a quick breakfast at McDonald’s – yuk… not a great introduction to Japanese cuisine. But served its purpose I suppose.

The tour took in highlights of the city, including the Tokyo Tower, Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace Gardens, Hama-Rikyu Garden, Sumida River cruise and Asakusa Kannon Temple & Nakamise Shopping Street.

We got a good feel for the place.

The bus dropped us back at Shinjuku at about 8pm.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the thousands of little restaurants in Shinjuku. We had sushi and Asahi.

Again we we’re exhausted and had an early night.

 

Day 3 – Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya

We woke up late and decided to take things easy today.

We’ll explore on our own and test out our navigation skills. We purchased a Suica card for the trains.

First stop Harajuku. I’d heard this area is famous for young people dressed in cosplay and outrageous fashion. Sadly, we didn’t really see much of that. We went down Takeshita street which was teeming with people. It was a great atmosphere and Jane enjoyed the shopping.

Next stop was Shibuya, which is famous for its street crossing. Rumoured to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, with 45,000 people crossing every 30 minutes. We had a coffee in Starbucks and watched the people crossing the road. It seems silly to say that – but it was truly mesmerising.

Shibuya also has the monument dedicated to Hachikō.

We then took the train to Ginza. The tour guide said this was the main shopping area in Tokyo. We found out that it is, but only for the rich and famous. All very high end.

We went back to Shinjuku for dinner and bed.

Day 1 – Planes, trains and automobiles

You know in movies, when the characters are always late for their flight and you see them running in the terminal calling “hold that plane”? I always comment on that… “so unrealistic”, “that never happens”, “stupid people should be more organised”. Well today, sad to say, we were those characters.

Automobile

We caught a taxi to the airport at 4.30am. Bloody Australian taxi fares… that’s a rant for another day.

Plane

AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur. We had a fairly tight connection  to our ANA Tokyo flight, so it was important that the AirAsia flight was on time. It was. Phew. We landed in KL (KLIA2) on time, which left us 1 hour 50 mins to go through immigration, collect our bags and transfer to KLIA to check into our Tokyo flight. Piece of cake.

Automobile

The AirAsia pilot parked the plane at the furthest bay at KLIA2, that gave us about a 30 minute walk to Immigration. There was a fairly big queue at Immigration, but we got through with over one hour left.  Our bags didn’t take too long to appear. We set about trying to find the shuttle bus to KLIA. That proved to be tricky. The signs, or lack thereof, were confusing. It took too long to find the bus stop and even then, which bus to catch. When the bus came we asked the driver if its that right bus., he said yes, but we should catch the other bus because that will be quicker. We caught that other bus which cost us 2 Ringgit each. Sitting on the bus with 45 minutes before our flight, we we’re starting to get nervous (actually Jane had been nervous for 30 minutes already!). We got to KLIA with about 30 minutes to take off, only to find the ANA check-in was closed. Shit!

Plane

There were some ANA staff at the check-in counter, so we pleaded with them to check us in. They did, but they had to open up the system again. They said our bags can go in the “oversize” area, but they weren’t guaranteeing they would make it on the flight. One of the ANA staff then escorted us to the gate. When we saw the long queue in immigration our hearts sank. We’re not going to make it. But our friendly ANA staff member escorted us through the VIP area – excellent!

Train

Then we had to catch the train to the other terminal – typical! She said when we get off the train we need to run to gate before it closes. Then we transformed into those movie characters. Jane and I felt like Jennifer Anniston and George Clooney, but in reality we probably looked more like Melissa McCarthy and Chevy Chase!

Plane

We made it! Big thank you to the ANA staff. It would have been easy for them to say “check is closed – too bad – so sad”. But they went the extra mile and ensure when made the flight. We can’t thank them enough.

The rest of the flight was a joy. We were in business class after all.

We ate the Japanese menu and it was all very delicious. We even had sake. Business class was full of business men (Jane was the sole female), and we were the only tourists. Mami Fukui, The flight attendant looking after us took an interest in our plans and actually offered to meet us after in Tokyo. We got her Facebook details, but couldn’t find a suitable day to meet. Perhaps she was just being ultra polite.

We arrived in Haneda, Tokyo early at 9.30 pm.

After going through immigration, we had our fingers crossed our bags had come with us. With great relief they were already on the carousel waiting for pick up – phew!

Train

Now began the interesting job of navigating Tokyo’s railway system to get to Shinjuku, the closest station to our AirBnB unit. I already had some instructions so it wasn’t too hard. We had to change trains at Shinagawa.

We arrived at Shinjuku and quickly realised why it had a reputation of the busiest train station in the world – there were people everywhere. They say the 3.7 million people travel though the station every day! I think we met all of them and they all seemed to be going in the opposite direction to us. We were lugging two big suitcases, my camera bag, Janes laptop bag and her handbag. It was tough going. I used google maps to navigate to the unit. It seemed to take forever.

We arrived at the apartment about 12 midnight.

We were exhausted! We were ready for bed. I switch on the light… what I thought was a light switch was in fact a fire alarm – which duly sounded. Eeek how do I turn it off? Apparently the switch is a timer that’s supposed to shut itself off after a while – our was stuck on. Strangely no one else came out of their apartment to see what all the fuss was about – also the fire brigade didn’t come. Lucky it wasn’t a real fire. Anyway the building supervisor came and sorted it out. Through his limited English I got “don’t do that again!”

What a day!

I hadn’t been to Rottnest for about twenty years. “Why not?” I hear you ask. “Its only 30 minutes away from Perth.” “Its got beautiful scenery, great beaches for swimming and snorkelling.” “Its got a great ‘vibe’ with lots to see and do (and eat (and drink))”. “Not to mention it’s lack of erupting volcanoes.” Yes, yes shut up – I don’t know – alright!?

Rottnest is a 19 sq km island situated 18 km of the coast of Perth, Western Australia.  Rottnest is an A-class reserve and the natural landscape, coastline and wildlife.have been very well protected. There are few vehicles permitted on the island and no high rise hotels or cheesy attractions.

Jane and her girls had never been to Rottnest before, so we decided to take a weekender with our friends, Gordon and Cristy and Mark and Jacquie.

We caught the last ferry on Friday night from Northport, Fremantle.  As always we were running late which gave Gordon a head start on the beers. The ferry ride over was fast and bumpy which gave the girls a …umm thrill. Mark met us at the Thomson Bay Jetty and escorted us to our new home for the weekend.

We stayed at the Winnit camp, courtesy of former president Mark. The Winnit club founded in the summer of 1930-31, its Rottnest Island’s longest-standing volunteer organisation. While founding members initially came together for annual sailing and camping trips to Rottnest Island, they soon decided they wanted to give something back to their favourite Island. Taken from their web site… more here.

The club house was fairly small but was well stocked and had all the amenities we needed. Mark and Jacquie arrived early to set the place up and prepare the food … there were Filipinos coming. Mark had the esky prep’d with beers … there were Aussies coming. I got stuck into the beers. I had some catching up to do. The ladies got stuck into the Baileys. A whole litre bottle was gone before you could blink.

We had dinner, drinks and lots of laughs before hitting the sack. The club has lots of mattresses and some beds. The kids slept inside while the adults slept outside. It wasn’t too cold and good night’s sleep was had by all. I had some ridiculous idea about getting up at 5 am to take some photos of the sunrise. I did stir at 5 am, but rolled over and mumbled something about “doing it tomorrow”.

We all got up pretty early (for us) though and had a bacon and eggs breakfast. Ready for the day.

Gordon and I went into the settlement for a coffee at The Lane. Gordon had his usual triple espresso. I had a normal coffee. The Lane is right across from the famous Rottnest Island Bakery. Well, we couldn’t resist getting a box of doughnuts to take back for the crew. Nutella filled for Bianca of course.

We caught the tourist bus from the main settlement and set off around the island. There was a strong south-westerly wind blowing which meant the southern bays were not great for swimming. Mark raved about Little Salmon Bay, but it was far too windy and choppy to visit that morning. The Northern bays were going to be much better suited to us. We alighted at Stark Bay. Jane thought the driver said “Shark Bay” and was hesitant to get off. Stark bay has a long beach with pristine white sand and crystal clear water. There was only two other people on the beach. Gordon immediately stripped down to his budgie smugglers and jumped right in the water. The water was freezing, but the girls also got it for a quick swim.

After Stark bay we decided to go back to the camp for lunch (and a nana-nap). We got off the bus at Geordie Bay and walked back to the camp via The Basin. The Basin looked very inviting so went there for a swim after lunch and nap.

After the Basin swim we headed back to the camp – it was beer-o’clock. After dinner we continued drinking and lots of laughs were had. The ladies went for a drunken walk into the settlement. We could hear their giggling all the way. When they came back they were still laughing about “what happens on the drunken Rottnest walk, stays on the drunken Rottnest walk”.

When we had out fill we hit the hay. What a great day!

At 5 am I stirred and failed to get up for the sunrise photoshoot – probably explains why I will never be professional photographer.

Up early again though and Jane and I decided to go for a walk to the Bathurst Lighthouse and Pinky Beach.

The back again to The Basin for more swimming and snorkelling.  After that we decided to go to the Hotel Rottnest for lunch. Pizzas and Fish and Chips were popular and surprisingly not that expensive.

After lunch we returned to the camp for the big cleanup and packing for the trip home. Watching the Aussies belt the Poms in the first test capped off a great weekend.

What a wonderful weekend. Many thanks to Mark for inviting us to his club room and also to Jacquie for preparing most of the food. Hope we can do it again soon.

Rottnest has been rediscovered!

 

 

 

As I mentioned in the Ubud post I got a tattoo on the most recent trip to Bali.

Sukma Purnawardi from Master Ink Studio was recommended a while ago from my good friend Gordon. Gordon, and subsequently other friends (including Jane) have had several tattoos from Sukma.

His Studio is situated down a laneway off Jn Sahadewa, Legian (locally known as Garlic Lane). Its very modern and clean. Sukma takes pride in his work and shows you the new needle out of its packet every time. Google street view here

If you’re thinking about getting inked, I thoroughly recommend Sukma. Only problem is you’ll have to spend some time in Bali… oh dear what a shame!

In 2014 I tested the waters with a simple Anchor on my back