Taking Steps To Enjoy Yourself

A semi-sunny, well polluted day gave us the opportunity to see two very interesting sights.

The Kotoden local private rail service took us from Takamatsu to Kotohira. We were energetic enough to climb the 785 steps to the main sanctuary of the Kotohira gu shrine. However, after about the same effort again, we turned around to start the decent back to town - hunger always wins plus, there were a total of 1368 steps to get to the Inner Shrine at the top of the mountain.

After a delicious lunch we caught the JR train to Sanukishioya and walked to Nakazu Bansho-en. This is one of the best sea-side gardens in Japan. The garden was built for Takatoyo Kyogoku who was the second lord of the Marugame clan. Marugame is the 'main' town nearby. We recharged batteries with ices while walking back to the station where we boarded the JR train to Takamatsu.

I'll not comment further on the behaviour of the little kids and school kids on the train other than to say that you'd never see such displayed by our Oz and UK animals - I just don't understand why ...

Back at Takamatsu we stopped for coffee and then raided the supermarket. That's a 9-to-4 outing ... who needs a gym?

Shhhhinkansen to Takamatsu

The Hikari shinkansen took us from Tokyo to Okayama on time and at speed. As expected the train was clean and quiet - no mobile phone jabbering or raucous conversations. Even the coffee from the trolly was good. Where do we Ozers and Ukers go wrong? It's beyond my understanding ...

The Mariner Express completed the journey from Okayama to Takamatsu as planned - again no mobile phone jabber and quiet.

We were given excellent tourist information at the JR station by a delightful woman who said she only spoke a little English - she was totally fluent and couldn't have been more helpful. The Toyoko Inn Takamatsu hotel is excellent and the staff very helpful and they have a great sense of humour ... always a big plus when most of the conversation is more a mime.

As per, we located an excellent supermarket and stocked up on goodies for dinner, supper and any nibble-times that seem to occur frequently.

That's a good day's travel ....

Modern Art, Musical Instruments and Korean Food

A second visit to the Tokyo Met to see an exhibition called 'Best Selection 2012' was well worth the 300 yen ... half price for wrinklies. Some really excellent painting and sculpture - an inspiration to a jaded art palette.

Ueno was buzzing with packs of school kids who all behaved in a civilized way, unlike the feral offspring we usually see around Oz and UK cities. We were reduced to a visit to Starbucks for a coffee and cake simply because they had tables in the sunshine so that we could people-watch while we rested our aged limbs.

A delicious lunch in the market area opposite the JR station recharged energy banks. On to the Yamanote line and to Shinokubo where we, eventually, found a music instrument store which must be the largest we've ever seen. Nothing was bought ... this time. The Shinokubo area seems to be the Korean restaurant and shopping area.

Back on the Yamanote to Ueno and the hotel via the supermarket ended today's exercise.

Six Foot Hours In The Sun

The day was blessed with glorious sunshine. We decided to brave the hoards and visit the Sky Tree. The engineering is brilliant and the retail outlets gob smacking ... if it can be marketed and it's cute they have it! We will have to book a ticket to go up the 30 odd floors for later this year ... it's booked out until late June.

Asakusa was a hive of visitors but, we found a locals' cafe that was quiet so that we had an excellent lunch. A visit to the Sensoji temple rounded out the morning.


A walk through Ueno park took us to the Metropolitan Art Museum. The Citizens Exhibition was boggling ... room after room of paintings and some excellent sculpture and ceramics. Some of the painting were great but, as with all huge exhibitions, some were "not to my taste", (cough, cough).

That got us to five and a-half foot hours so we beat a retreat to the supermarket for more sashimi and other goodies.

Six Foot Hours ... enough for one day ...

Rain And Tiredness Needs Coffee

Rain soaked Tokyo and a desire to sleep sort of compliment a visit to a Doutor cafe. Not that we ever need an excuse to visit a cafe.

Wandering around the old shopping streets in Ueno only increased our desire to roam despite the rain. The Japanese marketing designs are compelling and the fact that you can read any of the print only serves to emphasize the colours and designs. The influence of Manga and traditional folk lore images adds to the visual feast.

An excellent meal at one of the cafes in Asakusa shopping arcade followed by a visit to the Kiwaya ukulele shop and another of the local temples rounded out the afternoon. Shopping time ... food ... gave us another pleasant surprise. There is an even better supermarket just around the corner from the Weekly mansions ... and so to a dinner with some delicious sashimi.

Tokyo - On Time

We took off from Sydney on time and landed and embarked on time - JAL what need I say. The Skyliner got us to Ueno on time, We were at the supermarket, after registering at the Weekly Holiday Mansion Higashi-Ueno, in time. And had our dinner at the flat at about time for bed. An excellent travelling day!

It always come as a bit of a shock when we first arrive in Tokyo and wander the streets in Asakusa in the early evening - main shops are shut, traffic is moving and the is an air of peace and quiet which is hard to believe. That's what's pleasant about the place ...

Watch, Wallet, Spectacles and ... An Early Start

Four fifteen am is not on e of my usual times to be non-comatose. Shuttle to KSF and a croissant and coffee roused a few brain cells which enables us to be coherent enough to check-in. Passports and security passed though lead to the cafe - again - for more liquid and a slow full re-boot of the thinking equipment. No, I do not like very early starts to my day.

All good - so far - next stop Tokyo.

Mad Dash To The Starting Line

Time to pack all the goodies away, unplug the electronics and kick the cat out. It's always a series of ,"Oh my God have we ..." moments that make you realize it's time go go.

Apartment Secured

The last Panicable (it's a noun in this case) has been conquered! Not by any of my efforts but, by the pleasant and efficient offices of Abbeydale Hall. Again we have a 2BLK&B+P flat in Sheffield ... excellent! There is a build up of planned arty activities at the Millennium and Porterbrook Studios, and the prospect of further forages into Darkest Derbyshire and Ancient Lincolnshire only delights expectations.

All that remains is to pack ....

Countdown 2012

Here we are again at the frontier of exportation ready to retrace the steps of  our convict brothers and sisters but, in reverse and without the floggings that cured their ills. Are we packed, planned and panicking? That's a: yes, yes and sort-of.

Stand-by Transport by Mr Oates

Excitement mixed with trepidation. Will all the planning actually work? So far one hiccup ... flight cancelled and re-booked ... phew ... thank G we are not using pigeon post and square-rigger at present!

Apart from the unseen random events we should be able to actually pack the cases later this week. I prefer Friday, the day before we leave, so that the stuff we do pack doesn't get worn out while packing and re-packing. The re-packing syndrome is evidenced by a state of mind that is obsessed by the notion of "just in case"; just in case we've packed too much, too little, the wrong things and forgotten the cat ... we don't have a cat ... You get the general idea I'm sure.

Have we had our shots? Don't even start that ball rolling ...

THEY CANCELLED THE *@#!ing FLIGHT!!! (ad alta voce)

Oh dear what a catastrophe! Not really ... "If you keep your head when all about you are loosing theirs," as Uncle Rudyard always said. Dear Old BMIBaby has gone to the dogs so the flight from CDG to EMA is no more.

On to the Interwebnettydodah. Plastic on standby, fingers limbered, eyeballs set on max resolution and brain switched to turbo. Will it be a plane, train, boat or ... Shank's Pony? Well, worry not readers. Magic always comes in threes ...

We still hope be flying out of CDG (fingers and all else crossed) but, to Manchester instead of EMA.  FlyBe came to the rescue and First TransPennine Express takes us from Manchester to Sheffield for the tiny sum of  16 GBP. (If you've been watching "Five Days" you'll maybe have noticed that the train is one of theirs.)

Bower Power!

We've been watching the Bower Birds doing their thing for some time, but this week the craziest antic was a bird who took a fancy to half of a red, plastic bucket which I was using as a camera cover. The short film is here: http://youtu.be/c_BB94WcLl0.

Low Flying Surprise

While sitting on the veranda munching on breakfast we were surprised to see a White Breasted Sea Eagle zooming down the road. A flock of Cockatoos drew our attention to the eagle which, after landing a a tree, was mobbed by the local Magpie Mafia.

  

Sunken Dreams

A few local boaties bought an old, wooden sailing boat; an ex-salt trader from Portugal ca. 1950. That was several year ago and, sadly, nothing was done by way of maintenance. Hence, the inevitable demise of what was an expensive hole-in-the-ocean. The only things left of their dream of operating a historic tourist sailing boat is the threat of diesel pollution and a massive bill for a heavy lift crane to pluck the corpse from it's watery grave.

Japan And Somewhere New - South Korea

Our good fortune takes us to Japan again; both going and coming. We decided to visit Shikoku which gives us another chance to experience Shinkansen travel again.

After deep deliberation, Zen style, I chose Takamatsu and Tokushima as our bases in Shikoku. Both places give easy access to splendid temples, parks and a further chance to use our JR passes.

On the way back to Ozerland we plan to fly to Seoul for a week of kimchi soaked kulture; QANTAS FF points making a JAL flight possible. If the information we have read so far is correct, wandering around Seoul will wear our soles down to the uppers ...

Bower Birds

We seem to have a few Satin Bower Birds (Ptilinorhynchus violaceus) in the garden. Hopefully one of them will build a bower ...

For a video of them doing their thing click here.

Decisions, Decisions ... Time To Pay ... Today

After much cud-chewing, hourly ear-bashing and finger-sore webbing, it's time to cough up the clams and choose an airline. I don't want you to think we're creatures of habit; mindless lemmings following a Disney migratory route to greener pastures where we engage in tribal ritual or mystic, predawn Masonic mumbo jumbo. No. No. No. Yes, we are choosing JAL - again ...

Korean Air came very close, but got the silver. After a great deal of Seoul searching we decided to to pay the extra small bucket of clams and continue to pander to our indulgent egos. So we're Tokyo bound in mid May - fingers crossed ...

English Summer Oz Style

What a strange summer - wet,windy and the odd sunny day. No. Not the UK. I'm talking about The Bay this year. Walking is a pleasant pastime in these temperate conditions - what a joy not to be fried to a crisp!

Our friends at The Bakehouse cafe are always a reliable source of coffee and cakes so that a brisk walk to town has both excellent estuarine views and the promise of tasty refreshment. The excuse is acceptable - it keeps us fit ...

Where? What? Who? When?

Those are good questions which the planning committee are trying to resolve. It's not really a question of dosh or  self-imposed time lines; cultural tastes seldom are.

Japan will be part of the jolly; Shikoku being the main area of interest to start with. A couple of nights in Tokyo and then the shinkansen down to Okayama followed by JR trains to Takamatsu and beyond. Swanning around the island for a week and then the reverse trip back to Tokyo and then, up-and-away on to Europe.

Europe probably means stopping in Paris for a few days and then taking a week or two to rail around Normandy, Picardy and Nord pas de Calais, taking a squiz at some of the many historic sites and galleries; cafes and patisseries are without number, so that we will have to exercise great constraint is we are to travel at all. The list of places, so far, includes: Caen and Bayeux, Rouen, Amiens, Laon or Lille; with day trips from Paris to the obvious Big V. Note: we will not be visiting any War Graves.

The Eurostar from Paris or Lille to London seems to be a good idea until you consider that the Olympics are in London this year. We may try to fly to a northern airport even if it means going to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris to fly to the UK and avoid London.

Sheffield seems to beckon again for all the good reasons of last and other years. That depends upon the availability of an apartment; that we will find out about a month before we leave ...

When to leave ... May?

Coming back? The reverse flights are the favoured option, but the there may be a desire to visit Korea on the way ...

Summer? Nah, It Must Be Autumn.

Just to let you know that the summer here in Oz is really a late Oz autumn replay. Cold, wind, rain and the odd day of sunshine al la a British summer. To be honest, I like it! The over-sold, blistering summer normally touted for these shores is only good for producing Lobsters; that's over cooked tourists who have the desire to sear their flesh to get that reptilian molt effect which is so flattering.

Long may it remain so ....