Japan Adventures - Day 10

The last day. There were only a couple of things on the agenda. Head to the local market and shrine, zip past Akihabara one last time to pick up a couple of things and get to the airport.

Looking out the window of our hotel in Tokyo, there were a couple of things that you could see. A little amusement park, a temple and pagoda, what appeared to be a covered market and a giant golden sperm. Yep, a giant golden sperm. I didn't bother trying to find out what it really was, it would likely only disappoint me. I'll let the photo speak for itself.

We headed out to the covered walkway that we expected to be the local market (as confirmed by some brief research) only to be massively disappointed. Most of the shops were closed and those that were open didn't hold out much hope for the final souvenirs that we were looking to pick up. 

Under limited protest from the kids (apparently they weren't happy to be going without food) we went to the shrine and pagoda instead. It quickly became apparent that if food wasn't found soon that there'd be a mutiny so we set of in search of sustenance before returning to the shrine. We were briefly way-laid in our pursuit by a small group of school kids and their teacher from Shiba to be asked where we were from and a couple of other simple questions. They were 12 years old and one of the young girls (the shortest of them) was devastated to find out that Emily was only 11 and about a foot taller than her! It was all very cute.

It proved to be a good move for two reasons. One, the food improved the mood markedly and two, we stumbled into the actual local market, full of little stalls selling all the little touristy knick-knacks that one could ask for. We trawled our way through the markets, finding even more stuff to jam into our luggage before heading back to the shrine. As we paused to take photos we were accosted by a group of about 10 Japanese teenage schoolgirls who asked if they could take a photo with us. I say us and it was us, (I stepped out to try and get a photo of them taking photos of the rest of the family but was quickly asked to get in the shot again) but clearly Michael was the one they wanted. It was quite hilarious to see a couple of the girls go weak at the knees as they continually sneaked smitten peaks at the tall, gangly blonde haired lad. I'm sure that there's going to be some serious cropping of some of those photos.

Sam attracted his fair share of looks as well, though I think that his number of looks was split between those who couldn't believe he was walking around in shorts (it was about 6C) - something he'd done for the entire trip when we weren't skiing and those who wanted to take him home to meet Mum.

There's clearly a lot of Tokyo that we didn't get to see (I think that could take a lifetime) notably missing out on a couple of attractions:

Seven stories of Karaoke? How did we not do that?

We left the shrine and made our final visit through Akihabara to purchase some last-minute essentials before heading to the airport. 

(It is totally essential to have your own Shinkansen!)

And the last weird drink for the trip? Warm Pikachu juice (chocolate milk?).

It wasn't even from the Pokemon Center.

The rest of the trip was sitting in airplanes and waiting. We're glad to be home and wondering when next we might be able to afford a new adventure. Maybe if we leave the kids home ...

Japan Adventures - Day 9

I bet you thought that now that we're home again you wouldn't get to hear about the last 2 days of our trip. You'd be wrong. I've just been too busy recovering to sit down and capture it.

Our final day in Kyoto was overcast though not quite as wet as the previous day. We packed everything back into our bags again before heading out to the Imperial Palace which was only a short walk from where we were staying. You can't actually get into the Imperial Palace itself (even though the imperial family hasn't lived there since about 1867) but you can walk around the gardens. The entire place is massive and we opted for a short walk around the walled palace rather than the entire garden (I think the circumference of the precinct was about 4kms from memory).

The gates were impressive and so we took the obligatory photos. Caroline thought it would be good to get a photo of Michael up against the wall, so he stepped over the 'moat' and put a hand against the wall. It was at that point that the alarms started to go off. It was a ringing bell reminiscent of a movie's fire station bell that was soon over-layed with a proclamation in Japanese. Michael had stepped back away from the wall even quicker than he'd gone to meet it and we wondered what the likely repercussions were going to be. No one around us seemed to be overly alarmed, but then there really weren't that many people there anyway. The Japanese message was soon replaced with an English announcement letting us all know that it was not permitted to approach the wall. Pity that they hadn't thought to put an English sign up to that effect!

We walked on and turned the corner to find one of the gates open and people standing around directing traffic. As we attempted to peer within the walls for a glimpse of something not usually seen, a fire appliance emerged. Three more followed it in the time we were nearby leading us to conclude that one of three things must be true:

The imperial Palace doubles as a fire station,

That the imperial cat had been stuck in a tree or

That Michael's setting off of the alarm had been taken more seriously than we'd thought.

Given that no-one approached or tried to arrest us, we concluded that 2 was the most viable answer. If nothing else it provided a little bit of excitement for us as we bid farewell to Kyoto. I have to say that I felt like we'd barely scratched the surface.

We travelled by train again from Kyoto to Toyko, enjoying the Shinkansen as we sped through the Japanese country-side. We passed Mount Fuji, which looked fabulous on the horizon and arrived late in the afternoon. 

After settling into the hotel we made a bee-line for one of the kids must-see locations, Akihabara. For the uninitiated, this is essentially the electronics shopping district of Tokyo. Thus began a trolling through store after store looking at phones, tablets and other assorted goods. Fortunately there was just enough to keep us from tearing each other's throats out. There were some tense moments around dinner when we'd had to repeated tell Michael that we hadn't gone all the way to Japan to eat Chinese food, but we eventually both ate and survived.

Wandering through Yodabashi, we found the ultimate souvenir - the 56,800 Yen toilet sea complete with a range of controls and functions! With so many to choose from though we didn't get around to bringing one home. 

That was possibly only topped by this little gem for facial fitness:

I really have no comment.

The next morning we headed out to Mitaka to check out the Ghiblis Anime museum. It was something that Caroline had gone to a bit of effort to line up before we'd left on the basis that the kids might enjoy it. It took a few trains to get us there and a bit of an uncertain walk (I think most people relied on the shuttle-bus but we couldn't even see a sign telling us where to catch it), but we did make it. 

Unfortunately, whilst there were some interesting displays, the notion of explanations in anything other than Japanese hasn't yet caught on at the Ghiblis and so the level of interest quickly waned. I think the kids would have much preferred it if they'd been able to drag us through the shops all over again. it was eminently apparent when that was exactly what they did that afternoon.

They didn't have it all their own way though as we dragged them through Kiddyland (yeah I know that sounds backwards) before they could take us to hell the Pokemon Centre.

Before we ventured that far we did stumble across Condomania (which I read as Condo-mania but really was actually meant as Condom-mania). I didn't venture in, but Caroline had a quick look. There were four floors, but with kids tagging along, she wasn't in there for long at all! That rated up there with the seven floor 'costume and fun' shop that we found later that day that again we didn't bother venturing into.

In a case of I'd rather be anywhere else, I suffered with enduring silence as the kids worked their way through a store dedicated entirely to Pokemon, trying to work out what they could take a away as a souvenir whilst leaving just a little something in the shop for someone else. 

From there it was back to Akihabara for something different - more shopping and a visit to one of Sam's must-see stores - Super Potato. Yeah, who would have thought? It turns out that Super Potato is a store dedicated to retro-gaming (they even had an Atari 2600 in there - though sadly they didn't have it set up to play).

The endless trek through the stores (and eventual decisions to buy at the last minute) meant that our meal times had been thrown out completely an we headed back to the hotel in search of something that was open that would meet the varied (and restrictive) needs of the family's dietary demands.

Michael was happy because we did find somewhere open just down from our hotel - a local Chinese place! At least the food was good. The only issue that came up was the great duck conundrum. Given that the menu consisted mostly of pictures and prices (as opposed to english descriptions of the food) I ordered this item:

When it was delivered, we received four prawn crackers with crispy duck-skin on it and four little pancakes with cucumber and radish and the sauce. That was ok, I expected that the duck was going to come out after that as a separate dish given it was the most expensive item we ordered. I was wrong. The duck didn't arrive. As we sat there discussing the merits of the great rip-off I grabbed the menu for a second look. That was when I noticed the second line of the price at 8,000 Yen (about $80). 

This was the conundrum. What had I ordered and what would I be happy with? Did I put up with the four little pancakes at 1800 Yen and view it as one of those funny little travel experiences, or did I hope for the whole duck to arrive, love it and view it as one of those really expensive little travel experiences. The duck and the money or the skin and the disappointment?

The duck never arrived and we walked out laughing about the whole ducking mess (even as I look at the picture now I see five serves and feel just a little bit miffed!)

We stumbled into bed aware that the next day was our last and would be the end of our Japan Adventure.