Finally the real thing!
:)) all 6 are there. Take-off 22nd Oct from Amsterdam 11hrs flight in a huge 747-400. Great service from the staff with wake-up call every 10 min (in case you wanted to sleep a bit or watch a movie...). Finally we land, tired, happy and excited.
Akiko leaves us on our own for 24hrs: ah, the real feeling of being in Japan. Shit we can't talk, read, find toilets... help! lots of fun :)
First day We spent the day in Narita city. We did not really know where our "Narita Airport Hostel" was; it took us a couple of hours and much help from the super friendly locals to figure that one out, hehe. Great city, loved it and would recommend anyone for a first stop.
(fancy a sweet beans cake hot from the shop!)
(Narita temple writings on the gate... 1000 years of history. Can't really read any of it though ;-)
Second day
Izumi house. We were treated to a a family trip and dinner to a local Bath house and we owe Kazuo san (Mr Izumi) so much for the great treat. Soaking in 40 degrees water with sauna, outdoor bath and a cold pool. Finish with a good scrub and a superb dinner. What a way to connect to Japan. That did great for our bodies and minds after a long flight and a first night on the (fairly hard) futon beds at the hostel.
Izumi house. We were treated to a a family trip and dinner to a local Bath house and we owe Kazuo san (Mr Izumi) so much for the great treat. Soaking in 40 degrees water with sauna, outdoor bath and a cold pool. Finish with a good scrub and a superb dinner. What a way to connect to Japan. That did great for our bodies and minds after a long flight and a first night on the (fairly hard) futon beds at the hostel.
Third day
Increasing our debt to our hosts, Kazuko san (Mrs Izumi) drove us down to Tsukiji fish market at 3AM local time (indeed!).
The car was a bit short so Akiko and Thierry had to sit in the trunk and pretend to be dead meat when we saw police forces. With the early hour and lack of sleep that was not too difficult.
Increasing our debt to our hosts, Kazuko san (Mrs Izumi) drove us down to Tsukiji fish market at 3AM local time (indeed!).
The car was a bit short so Akiko and Thierry had to sit in the trunk and pretend to be dead meat when we saw police forces. With the early hour and lack of sleep that was not too difficult.
We managed to join the last tour at 4.30AM to see the Tuna auction. We were the last ones admitted that day (no more than 140 visitors in two rounds of 70)Some waiting time for visitors was included in the package, hehe.
<= up to 250 kilos of tuna for each beast... The stock was sold out in 30min tops
The third day was extremely long and packed, and totally fitting for a Tokyo experience:4h30AM queuing at the Tuna Auction
6h30AM breakfast with all sorts of fish (Kaisendon, here on the left),
7.30AM shopping at the fish market,
9.30AM first coffee of the day and much appreciated... Haaahhh coffee.
10.30 AM traveling to Asukasa to visit a great temple complex,
<= Asakusa temple alley: Joop and Magnus trying hard not to stand out among locals. Good job guys :)
Meeting up with friends of Akiko (Sae and Ikuko) at Akihabara: a lot of Electronics, sounds, lights and funny girls...
Piece-meal in Akihabara Electric city:
A rice burger at Moss Burger
Spending 1000 Yen in 2 minutes of smoke and outrageously loud noise at a random Patchinko. Boy, we are so good !!!
Playing kiddies dinner at a Maid Cafe (already lost a sense of time). Akiko found the link to our hang-out: http://maidreamin.com/en_index.html
And we thought we had seen it all about embarrassment...
...17h30 uh? How did that happen...
Moving on to Tokyo tower, having a nice look at Tokyo by night! 19h00 (I guess)
Tokyo tower by night. We'll show you inside only hehe.
The full group that day!
Thierry - Ikuko - Olaf - Marlies - Magnus
Akiko - Hunk Joop - Sae
Ouch, forgot it's Halloween...
Nevermind: Tokyo tower provides!
The same group again. Plus, who's that dude in the middle ? Well that's Halloween after all
Time to go home at last.
Traveling back to Izumi house: rush hour, 1,5 hours in the metro, falling asleep every 5 min on the neighbourg's shoulder, not my fault she looked very comfy.
Finally we're there. And yes, we were expected :-)
Wrapping up a great day we were treated (again) with a lovely meal made by Kazuko san and a lovely and HUGE bottle of Sake from Kazuo san (2 litres of Sake, drunken in style in a traditional wooden measure hehe). Off to bed, well toured, well fed and well drunk at 11h30.
Wrapping up a great day we were treated (again) with a lovely meal made by Kazuko san and a lovely and HUGE bottle of Sake from Kazuo san (2 litres of Sake, drunken in style in a traditional wooden measure hehe). Off to bed, well toured, well fed and well drunk at 11h30.
Total sleep time since departure approximately 6 hours.
Enjoy the party!
Today we took some much needed rest and took some time to plan our trip ahead. Tonight we will leave for the Izu islands! Joehoe! Got to post this now, we leave in 20 min....!!! urgh -- is it 15 already? !!!
Merci Thierry pour tous ces details et pour les photos ! On s'y croirait... Il ne nous manque que les odeurs de poisson et le gout du sake !
ReplyDeleteBonne suite de voyage ! Et demande a Akiko de vous ecrire a chacun sur une feuille de papier, en japonais : "Je suis un touriste egare, je ne parle pas japonais et je voudrais aller a l'hotel "Trucmuche Machinchose San"... (ou "aux toilettes les plus proches") Ca peut toujours vous servir !
Amities a tous (tu traduiras...)
Mum
Hey Travellers!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story! Very interesting, and we are so jealous ;) We like your pictures, especially the ones with the cup with sake (?) too strong for you, Marlies? ;) haha.
Well, take care! Have fun!
Love & greatings, Irene, Anniek & Eef
Hej,
ReplyDeletethis is Kathi, Olaf´s sister.
Thanks for the interesting story and pictures, it looks like you are having a great time there! :o)
Enjoy Japan & please continue to feed us with more updates on your journey!
Viele Grüsse von Mama, Eric, Sandra und Marcus
Hello Magnus, Thierry and Akiko,
ReplyDeleteWe (Olaf, Marlies and I) are in Hiroshima now. We are staying in the J-Hoppers hostel.
Magnus,
We also made a reservation for you for tomorrow night. When you will arrive we will probably not be there. In the afternoon we will go to Miyajima. Will we see you there? if not, we will see you at the hostel before dinner. We are staying in room 305.
The hostel is normally closed between 11 and 15h, but no worries, there will be someone to open the door. We will also leave ａ message at the reception for you, just ask for it. In case there is nobody there, check your email for the passcode of the door :).
Akiko, Thierry; have a great day at the wedding tomorrow! see you in Osaka on Sunday!
Joop
Hej everybody,
ReplyDeleteJust a short update for the people at home. I don't know how to really post a message...
After a great time on Oshima island (we stayed one day longer during to mechanical problems with the boat and then they paid a luxuous hotel for us, with diner and breakfast and hot bath! Japanes service is unbelievable, really. We thought we'd had it all and then they refunded our tickets) the group split into different directions. Akiko and Thierry to the wedding in Tokyo, Magnus to a friend in Nagoya and Joop, Olaf and Marlies to Hiroshima, where Magnus will come tomorrow as well. We'll see the Peace Memorial Museum and hopefully an island called Miyajima (depending on the weather). Then on Sunday afternoon we all meet up again in Osaka. Here (Hiroshima) we have a very nice hostel and we ate okonomiyaki! So nice! It's a Pancake, with capital P: with vegatables, egg, bacon, cabbage, green onion, different toppings, and they prepare it on a hot plate (like teppanyaki) and bring it to your table where you also have such a plate in the middle). On top of a Japanese Western style toilet (we'll put a picture some day) they had a very advanced sink, that gives soap, water and dries when you put your hand before a sensor). I guess this sounds a bit complex if you haven't seen it...
Probably internet time is over really soon, so this is it for now. Take care everybody!
Hugs, Marlies :)
Thierry,
ReplyDeleteAsahi plaza shinsaibashi; this is a capsule hostel. Should be ok! Maybe you could make a reservation?
Joop