Kamakura - March 26-27 (James)

We met Paul in the lobby while Jodi slept in and ventured down to the local bakery and coffee shop for breakfast. Paul had flown in from working in Europe and we had a week's worth of dirty clothes, so we took advantage of the laundry facilities while we ate. Before too long breakfast and the washing was done, so we packed up, checked out and caught a couple of trains down to Ofuna.

Ofuna is about an hour south-west of Tokyo and our base for the next couple of days for exploring Kamakura. Heidi and I really enjoyed this little town last visit and we thought it would be nice to take Paul and Jodi there. Heidi found that accomodation in Ofuna was cheaper than Kamakura and only 10 or so minutes away on the train. After a few little power-naps amongst the travel party, we arrived in Ofuna to rather bleak and miserable conditions. The Japanese are rather strict on their nominated check-in times, so we rearranged bags, left them with the hotel and went back to the station's foodcourt for lunch. For once this was rather unsuccessful and the weather looked like it was holding off a little, so we threw caution to the wind and headed off to Kamakura.

At the station in Kamkura we were happy to find one of our favourite restuarants still operating and I was happy to introduce Paul to the "world's best" katsudon (fried pork and egg on rice). Yum! After a delicious lunch, we ventured out and started exploring. We were able to reorientate ourselves quickly and soon headed down one of the cute little back streets full of little boutiques on the way to some famous shrines. After a quick stop in a bottlo to pick up some local beers, we soon arrived at Hasedera- a temple to the 11-headed goddess 'Kannon'. It had a rather nice garden and a rather unique cave area.

It was only a short walk from here to the Diabutsu - a giant copper statue of Buddha and probaly the best-known tourist attraction in Kamakura.

After more photos, it was time to start making our way back. Heidi had read about the "Diabutsu Hiking Trail" which was a track linking North Kamakura station and the Diabutsu and somehow managed to convince us that this would be an energetic and rewarding trip back to the station. We started to have second thoughts at the first set of stairs and third thoughts at the muddy crossing, but we soildered on and hiked along the ridgeline.

It was an interesting walk, full of shrines and temples, the occasional view of the ocean and an unexpected sunset view of Fuji-san. We're all eagerly awaiting the (financial) returns on our side-trip to the Zeniarai-Benten Shrine (money-washing shrine).

A couple of hours later four weary tourists found themselves on the train back to Ofuna and looking for dinner. We headed to the back-streets and passed on some long queues to BBQ joints and gave a yakitori place a go. A beer and a plate of chicken was all we good stand of the smokers beside us and we moved on to a cheap, delicious and smoke-free tempura place on the way back to the hotel. I think we all slept very well that night.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, consisting of salad (?), scrambled egg, cold cuts and bread & jam. Paul & Jodi (P&J) quickly realised that coffee stops were mandatory on the way to the station and we were soon on the way to Kamakura again. Last trip we rented bicycles from the local convienence store and wevwere disappointed to find out they no longer offered this (cheap) service. We returned to the station, found the bike rental shop and were soon terrorising the locals on the footpaths and roads of Kamakura, along the ocean front and across the bridge to Enoshima, an island just off the coast. The ride included a stop at a beachside lookout that gave Paul & Jodi their first proper view of Fuji-san and our destination today - Enoshima Island. It was a beautiful moring with a nice blue sky and we all appreciated the view - it was the best we had all day.

Enoshima Island and Fuij-san

Enoshima was a lovey little island and something Heidi and I missed on our last visit. We toured the local shops, shrines and gardens, including about a million steps up the mountain and bought some fresh senbei (rice crackers). Whilst at the top of the mountain we took time out to watch a young magician entertain an appreciative crowd - he was quite the showman! Back down in the village we had some tasty food from a street vendor for lunch, including a particularly tasty dark beer from Kamakura Brewing. By this time the wind had picked up and the ride back to Kamakura was a bit fresh on the bike. We returned our cycles and took P&J along the main street in the tree-lined walking track - we all wished that the cherry blossoms were out now instead of just buds. We walked another flight of steps to the main temple and returned to the station via the "shopping district" full of local shops of arts, crafts and senbei. Based on the previous night's dinner experience, we decided to host our own and back in Ofuna we stocked up on dinner supplies at the local supermarket. With plates of sashimi, yakitori, tempura, edamame, salad, ebi (prawns), gyoza, tonkatsu and more... plus plum wine sodas for the girls and more Kamakura and Enoshima beers for the boys. We had the last two rooms in our corridor so we dragged our chairs outside and feasted in the corridor - which attracted at least one strange look from a guest. But seriously, when you're wandering the corridors dressed in your dressing gown who are you to judge? We rolled our furniture and ourselves back into the rooms after and hit the hay on another big day. Our hotel was right beside the train tracks but we didn't hear a thing all night - amazing insulation!

Hello Tokyo! March 22-25 (Heidi)

After a quick squizz at Maya and Taro's wedding photos (which are beautiful!!) we hit the hay fairly early and slept oh, so soundly. It's amazing how much better you sleep with a real pillow instead of the bag of rice they give you at a ryokan. We all had a bit of a sleep in before Taro and Maya made us a very tasty breakfast of toasted sandwiches and we were so full by the time we were done that there was no way I was going to be able to eat the yogurt that was then offered.

Okasan (host mum) had also made her way towards Tokyo the previous night and she and Otosan (host dad) were coming to pick us up... They were somewhat delayed though so it was about 1030 by the time we left the house. Thankfully Otosan has a boxy little car that has some extra seats in the back so we managed to squish the six of us in without too much discomfort for anyone. First stop was a local garden to check out the plum blossoms. Yep, plum. The cherry blossoms aren't quite out yet, but the plum blossoms bloom a little earlier and are also very pretty. To the unknowing tourist it would be easy to confuse the two. The garden was up on a hill and we were all rather puffed by the time we had made it up what felt like a 45 degree slope. The garden was very worth it though! And I can imagine that in a few weeks when the cherry blossoms are out it will be even more stunning. Unfortunately it was a drizzly, overcast day so we weren't able to get the view that you would have on a nice clear day, but it was beautiful all the same.

While we were at the garden Taro had a phone call asking him to go to a job interview that afternoon. Taro is an English teacher but had to quit his job to move to Tokyo when he married Maya (he had been a bit further north and they only saw each other every few weekends) and so far hadn't had any luck getting anything more than part-time work. Everyone was very excited about the interview but unfortunately it was that afternoon which meant we had to get him home and he wouldn't be able to join us for the rest of the day's activities. We grabbed a quick lunch at the garden's restaurant (would you like soba or soba? haha) and gave some fellow diners an english lesson when they discovered a 'big' frog in the garden outside the window. (Quite a small frog by our standards.) Once we were done we made the trek back down the hill - much easier going down- and a quick stop at the local 100 yen shop. I love these shops. You can buy anything there - I could furnish my entire kitchen! I bought a very cool little gadget for folding gyoza, much to Maya's amusement. Over here you just buy them ready made and the thought of making them yourself was quite foreign to her. She was suitably impressed that we would go to that much effort. It was only a quick stop though as Otosan was quite concerned about ensuring Taro wasn't late to his interview so we were soon on our way back to the house. Taro had a quick costume change and we dropped him at the station before making our way to the Suntory beer factory nearby to do a tour. Unfortunately the language used was well and truly over my head so I didn't understand much of what went on but it was still very interesting. We even got to eat some malt! The tour had a particular emphasis on their new beer - The Premium Malts - and at the end we had 15 minutes in which we could have up to three free beers. There's no way I could drink that much beer in that short a time, but I did manage two and it was quite nice.

Afterwards we had planned to go to an onsen, but due to the rather bad weather we decided against it and instead went grocery shopping for a dinner feast (it's always a feast when the Suzukis are involved!). While we were at the shop Maya had a call from Taro to say he got the job! It's only a one year contract position, but it's a job all the same and everyone was very excited. This, of course, called for an extra special feast including an amazing sakura tira-misu cake.

Unfortunately Okasan had to work the next day so we dropped her at the train station so she could head back to Hamamatsu on the shinkansen. We're hoping to be able to go see her and Ojisan (host grandad) in Hamamatsu on our way back from Kyoto next week.

Taro arrived soon after we got home and the job news was so exciting that it even warranted a hug from Maya. The Japanese really aren't into public displays of affection. It was quite amusing. Dinner truly was a feast and there was much practicing of the beer pouring technique that had been demonstrated at the brewery, using Suntory The Premium Malts, of course. James had also picked up a few craft beers from the supermarket and then there was sake as well - what a feast! Maya and I tried to sneakily light the candles on Taro's congratulatory cake, but unfortunately he spotted us and we had to shoo him out. I'm sure it was still a surprise anyway.

The previous night we had given Taro and Maya a bottle of Bundaberg Rum Liquer (only available from the Bond Store in Bundy - thank you Mum and Dad!!) and after dinner it was brought out for a try. We had bought ginger ale and cream specially to make Whales Tails and oh they went down a treat. Otosan didn't want one, but relented and had a taste and agreed it was very good once the others started raving about how good there were. Taro liked it so much that he went back for seconds, much to Maya's disdain. "There's only one bottle! We have to make it last!". I told them they had best come to Australia and buy some more!

It was about this time that we discovered we were going on a bus tour of Tokyo the next morning and had to leave at 7am so we decided we'd best pack and hit the hay.

The next morning we were ready and out the door spot on 7am. According to the TV news the weather was going to be fine and it would reach 16 degrees - a record high for that date. I thought we were catching the train, but at the last minute it was decided that Otosan would drive us to our hotel in Asakusabashi so we didn't have to lug our bags on the train. Unfortunately we got stuck behind an accident on the 'expressway' which meant were weren't there as early as we had hoped, but we still made it in plenty of time to drop our bags at the hotel and grab some breakfast at the little bakery we discovered the first morning before heading to Tokyo station. We soon found the bus station and after a mad dash to find a toilet for me before we got on the bus, made it back up to the stop with a good 30 seconds to spare.

First stop on the bus tour was Tokyo Tower, which is a similar shape to the Eifle Tower, but, as they proudly tell you, taller and lighter. That's about the only ways it is better than Eifle though...

Despite the forecast of it being fine, it was quite overcast, rather like when we went to the Eifle Tower, meaning that we couldn't really see very far. We had fun playing with the slideshow of pictures showing the view at different times on a very clear day though and laughed at how terrified some people were of the windows in the floor looking down to the ground.

After a bit of a wander through the shops we caught the elevator back down to the ground floor to get back on the bus.

We took a bit of a tour of some of Tokyo's famous suburbs like Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza on our way to the next destination - the fish markets. This place is insane. Tiny little alleys crammed full of shops and hundreds and hundreds of people. Being a fish market the challenge was to find something that I could eat. First up we bought some beef skewers from a little street stall and then, after a lot of searching and not very much luck, we ended up back at the entrance where we had seen some gyudon (beef on rice). The line up was crazy, though not the worst we saw, but the food was quite nice. We still had a bit more time so we headed back in to the markets to look around a bit more.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for the day was way out as it was still quite cold and, as we started to wander some more, it started to rain. We were all freezing and only had three umbrellas between the four of us, so figured we'd just head back to the bus and get out of the cold and the rain. Unfortunately the bus hadn't parked there though - it had gone elsewhere - so when we arrived at the designated point we simply had to join the rest of our wet, shivering travelmates standing in the cold, hoping it would appear any second. It took about 10 minutes.

Next stop on the tour was the Imperial Palace but it was still freezing and it was still raining and all you can really see is part of the garden - it's only open to go inside at certain times.. We all followed the guide over, stood and had a look, had a photo and then got straight back on the bus.

From the palace we made a beeline for Asakusa - a very large and popular shrine smack in the middle of a busy Tokyo suburb not far from the hotel we were staying at. James and I had been here on our last trip so knew the general lay of the land. After a quick look around and wander through all the stalls we decided that warming up in a coffee shop sounded good so found one not too far away in a little alley. The coffee was less than great but the warmth was lovely!

It was soon time to head back to the bus, but Maya and Taro were a little unsure of where exactly we were. Thankfully James was in his element and soon had us back in plenty of time for our departure.

Last stop was Odaiba - the home of Fuji TV, a mini Lady Liberty statue and a whole heap of shopping malls. Oh, and it's all 'reclaimed' land - they made it themselves in the harbour.

Funilly it had somehow cleared up in the 45 minutes it took us to drive there so after a few quick shots of the mini Liberty, we made out way up to the observation deck at the top of Fuji TV. It's quite a view! On a clear day apparently you can see Fuji-san, but not that day.

In the same building we came across a very moving display of pictures from last March's tsunami and spent quite a bit of time browsing through it. March was quite the month for Maya. The tsunami hit, her grandmother died and she got married all in less than 14 days.

After James decided he could resist the mini doughnuts outside we made a quick detour through the souveneir shops before making our way back to the bus to return to Tokyo station.

From Tokyo station we made a beeline to Ryogoku and a craft beer pub called Popeye's that James was dying to try. Unfortunately it was a very busy place and all the tables were well and truly full by the time we arrived... So we joined the queue of about 20 people waiting for tables around tiny little standing-room-only tables out the front. The weather hadn't warmed up though and it was freezing. We finished our beers and were about to leave when we were moved to a slightly bigger waiting table that actually had some chairs. It was still a drinks only table though and, upon realising just how many people were waiting and just how crowded it was, we decided it wasn't worth sitting around in the cold hoping for hours on end. They did have some very nice beers though - my favourite being a coconut one - yum!

Not far from Popeye's we found a little place that specialised in Okinawan food and decided to give it a go. Maya and Taro did the ordering and wow - those Okinawans sure know how to cook! We had a taco rice dish which was lovely and the most amazing pork belly I've tasted in a long time. It was about this time that it was decided it would be a good idea to sample the selection of Awamori on offer.

Here's some of what Wikipedia tells us about Awamori:

Awamori is an alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from rice, and is not a direct product of brewing (like sake) but of distillation (like shōchū). Awamori is typically 60–86 proof (30–43% alcohol).... Some brands (notably hanazake) are 120 proof (60%) and will catch fire. Awamori is aged to improve its flavor and mellowness. The most popular way to drink awamori is with water and ice.

Though it may essentially be rocket-fuel, Awamori is a little too easy to drink... With the addition of alcohol, James, Maya and Taro were all coming out of their shells and we were all having a grand time so we just kept drinking it. Truth be told, at the time, I didn't even feel that drunk. Suddenly we realised that it was after 10pm and we had to be up at 5 to make it to the airport to pick Paul and Jodi up the next morning so, with much sadness, we jumped on the train to head back to our hotel. Thankfully we only had one stop, but Maya and Taro had about an hour trip to get home. We waved goodbye with much sadness... I think we all wished it didn't have to finish that early.

Back at the hotel a very, very drunk James kept telling me he couldn't remember getting from the station to the hotel before he flopped into bed and passed out. I still didn't feel that drunk and could definitely remember the walk. My tummy wasn't overly impressed with me but I was soon asleep. Sadly it didn't last very long. I haven't been drunk enough to be sick in a long time and that served as an excellent reminder as to why. Thankfully James slept through the whole thing but I was probably actually the lucky one... Having successfully expelled most of it from my stomach, though tired, I didn't feel to bad when our alarm went off at 5 the next morning. James, on the other hand was rather seedy and wiped out and had a Coke for breakfast on the train to the airport. He says it took him a full 24 hours to recover. For once I was grateful for my pathetic excuse for a stomach.

We made it to Narita and found Paul and Jodi without too much difficulty and soon we were on our way back to the hotel. This time round we avoided our earlier mistakes and managed to not end up on a subway line that we didn't have a map for. Not bad for a couple of hungover gaijin!

The hotel was more than happy for Paul and Jodi to put their bags in our room and use our shower, so once we had all freshened up a bit, we went for a walk to the bakery to grab some breakfast before heading to Akihabara to introduce Paul and Jodi to the wonders of 'Electric Town'. It was a beautiful sunny day so we wandered up the main drag to a department store so we could show them the grocery section. I know that sounds odd, but it's nothing like Coles and I remember just how much it blew my mind the first time I saw one.

On our way back we stopped in at a cheap and cheerful restaurant chain for some gyoza and ramen for lunch. Yum! As we got back closer to the station we realised the street had been closed off to cars due to a performance going on in one of the buildings so we had free reign to wander down the middle of the street. That was quite cool. Once James was done looking in the crazy shops we jumped back on the train to head to Ueno and then changed to the subway to go to Asakusa. Thankfully the weather was considerably better this time but it was just as packed. We stumbled across a side alley where we were treated to some traditional performances including marionettes, singing and music. I'd never seen anything like it before so found it very enjoyable.

After a bit of a wander through the stalls we took the same subway line we accidentally took on our first night to head back to our hotel. I knew that would have to come in handy for something one day - I wouldn't have known about that line otherwise.

We checked Paul and Jodi in and had a bit of a freshen up before heading out again to meet my friend Naoko for dinner in Shibuya. On our bus tour of Tokyo we drove through Shibuya and our tour guide, who spoke a little English, had explained about a famous dog called 'Hachiko' which had lived in the area. He was so well-loved that there is a statue of him outside Shibuya station and it's a popular meeting place. So when Naoko suggested we meet at Hachiko, I was very pleased to say yes, sure, we know where that is! Once we finally found the right exit we made our way towards Hachiko, but our guide was right... It's a very popular meeting place and there was people everywhere.

Thankfully we found Naoko quite quickly and easily and were soon headed to a very cool little yakitori bar not far from the station. Unfortunately Japan, on the most part, still allows people to smoke in restaurants so it was a bit smokey, but the food and the company was all fabulous. Paul, Jodi and James all amused themselves with the man v robot sumo match on TV while Naoko and I babbled away in our own special blend of Japanese and English. Naoko and I met at the Shalom markets in Bundaberg one day a few years back just out of chance - she was working at a stall that my mum regularly buys fruit and veges from. We started chatting and got along so well that mum left me there while she finished her shopping. We found each other on Facebook and have kept in contact but this was actually only the second time we had met in person. We could have chatted away all night, but the rest of my party included a still-very-hungover James, a jetlagged Paul and a very-tired-from-working-too-late-all-last-week Jodi, so we said our goodbyes about 830 and made it back to the hotel for a relatively early night.

What a weekend!

Nagoya - 22nd March 2012 (James)

Thanks to the rapidly falling snow, the bus ride back to Minakami seemed a bit precarious, thankfully the driver attacked it with typical Japanese skill and patience and soon had us in the “heated” waiting room at the train station. We decided to utilise the couple of days between the onsen and our friends’ arrival in Japan to catch up with our Japanese “families.” First on the list was Tomoko, who now lives in Nagoya and a couple of shinkansen rides later we were navigating Nagoya’s subway line and checking into our hotel. Tomoko lived with Heidi’s family in Bundaberg when she went on exchange to Australia during high school. On our visit to Japan in 2008 we stayed with Tomoko’s mum Kazuko the couple of times we were in Tokyo. That wasn’t an option this trip as Kazuko was visiting Tomoko in Nagoya! Seemed like the perfect time for a visit.

Tomoko soon joined us at our hotel and we ventured out to a nearby department store for dinner. We settled on a miso pork restaurant “Yaba Flying” (which I’ve affectionately tagged as the “dancing pig”) and I tucked into a delicious tonkatsu (pork cutlet) while the girls talked away.

The next morning we caught the subway over to Tomoko’s apartment and met with Kazuko and Tomoko’s young son Hiroki. Tomoko works for JR (when she isn’t on maternity leave for 3 years!) and decided to take us all to the Shinkansen Museum for the day. I found it a very enjoyable and informative visit – they have preserved a variety of Shinkansens and explain the design evolution from the 1970s to todays speed record holders.

They also explained quite a lot of the history of railway engineering and the future of high speed rail in Japan – MAGLEV. Our entry tickets won us two tickets in a lottery to operate a train driving simulator that saw me trying to drive a train with Japanese instructions. Don’t think I did too bad – the 56% percentile is pretty good for a gaijin right? Heidi gave her ticket away to a teenage girl who had missed out – you should have seen her excitement! She followed us around for a couple of hours thanking us!

We made our way back to Tomoko’s and Kazuko whipped us up a quick feed of okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) before Tomoko rushed us back to the station to catch our shinkansen back to Tokyo. Our other Japanese family took over duties then. Heidi stayed with the Suzuki’s when she lived in Japan and we had a lovely time with them in 2008. Host-sister Maya met us at Tokyo station and we boarded the subway for the trip to her apartment. We met her husband Taro there and after a quick bath and a night cap we were fast asleep.

Takaragawa brings the magic

Takaragawa really is the single best way to start a trip to Japan. We loved it so much last time that there was no way we weren't going again this time. On our last visit it was the middle of summer. Not exactly the most comfortable time of year to sit in hot baths but still very enjoyable. The surroundings were so beautiful, green and serene and the atmosphere so relaxing that by the time we left we felt we'd been away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for weeks.

This time it was quite different in that there was still lots of snow around and the trees were anything but green. The first afternoon we dropped out bags in our room and made a beeline for our favourite bath. The near-freezing temperature made for excellent bathing weather and made you forget about the cold, but we agreed that the stark, bare trees weren't nearly as beautiful as summer.

However, much to our delight, the next morning we woke to find it was snowing. We hurried ourselves off to breakfast and then made our way back down to the baths. Takaragawa in summer is beautiful. Takaragawa when it is snowing is magical. There's something very special about sitting in 42 degree water while you get snowed on. Every so often the breeze would come up a bit and blow some of the snow that had settled onto the trees off onto the bathers beneath. Nobody complained. It's an odd sensation to be sitting all but butt-naked in the snow and not think it is cold... We went for another three baths that day and did very little else... There's nothing else really to do.. That's part of the magic.

That night we met Youji. He stuck his head in to our dining room and said 'Bonjourno!' and got the shock of his life when I replied with 'konbanwa!'. He asked if we liked wine, to which I replied that I am allergic to wine (much to the amusement of the waitress who had just confirmed with me that I am allergic to fish). Undeterred, he asked if we liked sake and sent the waitress off to get him a bottle so that he could give us a glass each. It was a rather potent brew, but I drank it to get it out of the way so I could drink something that I liked. But then, of course, Youji came back and saw, with delight, that I had finished my glass of sake and insisted on pouring me some more! I learned my lesson and left the sake so that when he returned a while later, he was disappointed to discover that I did not need a top up.

After we finished our meal we thanked him for the drink and he asked if we would join him and his female companion for dinner the next night. I agreed out of politeness and thought that considering he was quite drunk surely he would forget by the next day and we would be off the hook. Ha.

Tuesday morning we bumped into Youji on our way back from our second bath for the day. He again asked if we would join him for dinner and invited us to his room for a drink. We were heading off to get some lunch but said we would drop by later and once again, out of politeness agreed to dinner. I knew we weren’t going to get away with not doing it now.

A while later we made our way up to Youji’s room but found nobody was there so figured we’d go have another bath (third for the day) and try again later. On our way back from the bath we bumped into Youji and Junko on their way to the baths. I explained we had tried to go visit and they apologised profusely and insisted again that we have dinner together.

So at 6pm we made our way down to the dining room and were ushered in to Youji and Junko’s table. It turns out they are regulars and visit more than a few times a year. All the staff know them and they get special food not listed on the menu as extras. Ha. At Brisbane airport on our way out I had grabbed a little bottle of rum from duty free for no particular reason other than thinking it would probably make a good gift for someone along the way. Seeing as Youji was so fond of rocket-fuel like drinks, we figured the rum was just about perfect for him and he was over the moon when we handed it over. He drank it straight and thought it was great. I had heartburn just thinking about it. Youji offered to go and get some ‘awamori’ from his room (it’s a distilled sake – an Okinawan speciality) for James to try. James attempted to tell him ‘next time’, but accidentally said ‘tomorrow’ instead….. We didn’t finish up at dinner until about 830 and of course it was then insisted that we join them for breakfast. The night had actually turned out to be a lot of fun so we happily agreed before shivering our way down to the baths for another dip.

The next morning we woke to more snow and rushed down for one final dip at about 6am. Then, after some hurried packing, we made our way to the dining room for breakfast with Youji and Junko. As James had told him ‘tomorrow’ when he had offered awamori, of course he arrived to breakfast with his very fancy flask and we got to sample some awamori and aged Yamazaki whisky. Pretty sure that’s the earliest we’ve ever had a drink before!

After a further flurry of packing we trundled upstairs just in time for the bus to the train station and to wave goodbye to Youji and Junko who were also checking out. He was, or course, driving a very new left-hand-drive Mercedes convertible and as they were leaving I heard one of the staff say ‘see you next month!’. Ha. I wish I could go back next month…

Throughout the course of the evening and morning they asked us many, many times to go and visit them in Nikko before we leave. We’re unsure if we’ll have time yet, but if we do, we know we’re guaranteed of a good time!

Takaragawa + snow = perfect

This is our favourite bath at Takaragawa onsen. The water was apparently about 42 degrees yesterday. Sitting in that kind of temperature you don't really notice that it is only about 1 degree outside. In fact, you're glad it is. Last time we were here it was the middle of summer so very different. We loved it then for its beautiful leafy, green and lush serenity.. But the snow gives it a magical feeling which I will never forget. Winter or summer, this is heaven.

Yokoso Japan! (Heidi)

Somehow we didn't blog our last trip to Japan, but this year with the help of a Japanese sim that has unlimited data and a phone that can make posts direct to blogger, we plan on trying to make our updates more regular... We'll see, huh?

The flight over was fairly uneventful... except for the guy in front of us who had gas so bad that I thought he was going to asphyxiate us all before we made it halfway. Thankfully he wandered off to the toilet a little way in and we could breathe again.

This was my first time navigating out of Narita and in to Tokyo on my own... First time round we were not without someone from the exchange company until I arrived in Hamamatsu and second time Tomoko's mum Kazuko met us at the airport and ensured we made it back to her house safely. But this time Kazuko is in Nagoya with Tomoko and we were fending for ourselves. We had a plan for getting to the hotel, but unfortunately it came a little unstuck when I somehow managed to put us off the main line and onto the subway... Goodness knows how I managed that. Long story short, we saw a few too many tiny little stations and had to bug a lot of station staff, but we finally made it to Asakusabashi about 45 minutes later than I had originally anticipated. At least we now know what to do when we pick Paul and Jodi up from the airport next Sunday!

It's still quite cold here and Maya informs me that the sakura (cherry blossoms) may not be out in Tokyo before we leave! Fingers crossed for Kyoto!

Our hotel was comfortable and fairly average-sized for Tokyo (small, but you can move) and there's a Lawson convenience store in the lobby - very, very convenient! We bought dinner there last night and managed to get an entre, two mains, dessert and a beer for about $15. And it was quite nice! I love convenience stores here.

This morning we went for a brief wander to find some breakfast before packing up, checking out and making our way towards our accommodation for the next three nights - Takaragawa. We spent two nights at Takaragawa at the start of our last trip and fell in love. The hot springs are amazing. According to the man at the JR office last night it will probably still be snowing up there - should be amazing!

Right now we're sitting in Takasaki station waiting for the train to take us to Minakami station where the bus will pick us up (one minute after the train arrives! Got to love Japanese precision.) Thankfully today we have had far more luck with the trains and here's hoping we continue in this strain. James found a little bottle shop at Ueno station before we boarded the shinkansen and discovered some new beers to try so he's a very happy boy :)