Bullet train certainly went like the clappers but sooo efficient - all trains leave on the dot here - we did actually set our watches by them! Finished off the rice crackers watching Mt. Fuji sail by :)
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Bullet Train to Nagoya
Well an early start - up at 6:00am to catch the 7:33 bullet train to Nagoya and then on from there to Magome by local train and bus to start our 3 day hike along the Nagasendo Trail.
Bullet train certainly went like the clappers but sooo efficient - all trains leave on the dot here - we did actually set our watches by them! Finished off the rice crackers watching Mt. Fuji sail by :)
Bullet train certainly went like the clappers but sooo efficient - all trains leave on the dot here - we did actually set our watches by them! Finished off the rice crackers watching Mt. Fuji sail by :)
Time for a fag and some thoughts
Ok at the risk of blogging the quite mundane have to note some things done differently here:
So basically there are all these vending machines on the streets selling bottled and canned drinks and cigarettes and right near them are special cordoned off areas where people just stand around smoking and drinking their purchases before moving on. You can smoke in restaurants though, but you can't cross the road without a green light and we think the people with the masks on are the people who have the colds rather than the ones who are paranoid of catching one.
Takes some getting used to all this!
So basically there are all these vending machines on the streets selling bottled and canned drinks and cigarettes and right near them are special cordoned off areas where people just stand around smoking and drinking their purchases before moving on. You can smoke in restaurants though, but you can't cross the road without a green light and we think the people with the masks on are the people who have the colds rather than the ones who are paranoid of catching one.
Takes some getting used to all this!
Muji Snacks
Popped into the Muji store - a much bigger affair than at home - as big as a Habitat, a cycle shop, a Banana Republic and Selfridges Food hall in one store. Picked up some black pepper rice crackers, pumpkin sponge roll and a couple of bottles of Taiwanese Dong Ding Oolong tea for later. I love this place!
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Dinner
So we thought we'd try to get some food. Ok, here comes a challenge. Took a while to find somewhere reasonably priced so then we headed back towards the station and found this little gem. Well we thought with plastic models of the food outside and pictures inside we could not go wrong: well we ordered some dumplings, what we thought was probably a duck and bean sprout stir fry and a kind of veg sweet and sour turned out to be liver with squid and lotus stem - not what we went in for but actually not too bad really. The dumplings were delicious though!
Expensive!!
Well found a kind of department store for a mooch around. Boy it's pricey: £200 for a wallet and over £100 for a top! Might give the shopping spree a miss thanks! Everyone else here seems to be in a festive mood though as I guess they are snapping up little nick knacks for New Year which is an important time for family.
Arrived in Tokyo!
Well it's certainly a different world in Japan - struggled with finding our bearings a bit with not much to go on language wise! Managed to get our rail passes and got the Express train into Tokyo. Hotel right in main shopping district so took a walk around to acquaint ourselves with the area. This is fun!
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
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