Atami Adventure

We had a wonderful day at Atami - which is about 100km from Tokyo.  

We didn't really see any Gaijin at all in Atami, as it isn't your usual tourist destination - but we had a huge amount of fun.  It would have been lovely if it had been warmer & we could have had a swim in the ocean - but we loved sitting by the sea and looking at the view.  Sadly, the town was having a problem with its circulation system for the hot water from the underground geysers which meant that none of the public spas or onsens were available.  This was a huge shame, as the reason we had decided to go to Atami was to soak J's foot in an onsen, hoping it would help relieve some of her pain.

The local public onsen were closed, but this towel vending machine was still operating. Yes, vending machines in Japan really do sell everything.

We visited a small temple to pray

We got to try Green Tea Ice Cream from Haagen Dazs (it was actually really delicious).

We wandered around town - and found this Tofu maker.  In Australia it is made in big factories, but here in Japan it is made by your local Tofu making family.  We saw a lady buying some Tofu, so we ordered what she did (there was soooo much to chose from).

Straight out of the water bath

we also bought some aburaage (fried tofu skins)

and bought some soy sauce and chopsticks from a convenience store

and had a picnic!!  The tofu was DELICIOUS - it was soooo smooth and creamy, and so fresh, it was delicious.

Yes, another Coleman picnic - this time with freshly made tofu

The Ika (Squid) sings - perhaps he sings if you put money in the slot "please, don't eat me"

The deliveries from the local convenience store (7-11) come in this tiny car - very cute.

We didn't get lost once - although we weren't sure where we were a couple of times (the map wasn't very accurate, it was more of a mud map).

Catching up with Kawasumi

In 1987 Nikki was an exchange student with Rotary to Kofu West Senior High School for a year.  She had a wonderful time, but hasn't seen any of her school friends for 25 years.  Today she got to catch up with a wonderful friend, Kawasumi, who was in the Kyudo club with her (as captain). 

Kawasumi kindly came to visit us in Tokyo from his very busy life in Yokohama and Kofu.  He is married to a gorgeous lady and has a very handsome 14 year old son who loves tennis, mathematics and science.

Nikki seems to have shrunk & Kawasumi is a taller than when they were at school together.

Kawasumi's english is excellent, but we still needed the dictionary from time to time, with discussions ranging from how are families have been for the past 25 years (there was a lot to cover), to just war theory.

S made origami for Kawasumi's wife.

Kawasumi was incredibly kind to Nikki when she lived in Japan - making sure that no one taught her swear words, helping her learn Japanese (習うより慣れろ), teaching her Kyudo (Japanese Archery - Nikki was lucky enough to become a Shodan when she lived here) and being a good friend.  People like Kawasumi and all the other people in the Kyudo club made her time in Japan not just good, but wonderful.

Kawasumi joined us and our wonderful friends Erin, Aaron, Shannon & Quinton for dinner at the Ippodo Ramen restaurant.  We look forward to Kawasumi and his family coming to visit Australia one day.

Shinkansen Adventure!!!!

We tried to go and catch the Shinkansen on the 3rd of January, but when we got to Tokyo station the monitors were telling us that a fire near Yarakucho station had stopped all Shinkansen trains going south (including to Kyoto).

http://english.kyodonews.jp/photos/2014/01/264344.html 

We had to change our plans & decided instead of going to Kyoto, to go to Atami on the 4th of December.  Here is our Shinkansen day......

J has been excitedly planning for us to go on the Shinkansen ever since we first started talking about taking a trip to Japan.  Here she is getting ready to board the Shinkansen

We were AMAZED at how much room you have in the seats.  We had enough leg room to fully stretch out (First class is in the green car, and there is even more leg room there).  

The seats are very comfy - although we didn't really get to enjoy them for long - the trip from Tokyo to Atami takes 45 mins, covering the 100km distance, with the train getting up to 270km an hour.

Even though our trip was only 45 mins we wanted to have the whole Shinkansen experience, so before we boarded, we bought an "ekiben" for each of us.  It literally translates as train lunch box.  They were delicious!!!  This is J's ekiben

Nikki's crab meat ekiben

S's ekiben - delicious.  Each ekiben came in a wooden box, with a plastic lid, chopsticks and a disposable washer to wash your hands before you start eating.

The conductor was very friendly, and even posed for this photo :-)

All too quickly the trip was over, so we stayed on the platform for about 40 mins watching the Shinkansen speed by.  Atami only has Shinkansen stop 4 times an hour (twice in each direction), but has Shinkansen going north and south every 3 or 4 minutes.  It was soooooo much fun watching the trains speed past, and a few times we had trains going in both directions speed past us on the platform (the whole building shakes a little when this happens).  Here are some of our many photos of the shinkansen we saw - these are especially for our friend Martin :-)

As the train goes past at 200km an hour, the wind really picks up.  The station has barriers and gates that keep you (and your camera) a good distance from the train, so it is perfectly safe.

It was very geeky, but we had a great time watching the trains go by - we look forward to the day that high speed trains are in Australia and they aren't a novelty.  If you want to know more about high speed trains in Australia, you can check out the Bullet Train for Australia Party (J is a member)

Here is one of the shinkansen drivers

Here is a video of the Shinkansen going through the station at 200km per hour!!!

We went on the shinkansen to Atami for J, but all had a great time.  Our return trip to Tokyo on the Shinkansen was a VERY different story.......

This time of the year is VERY busy in Japan, with everyone travelling to see their family or have a holiday.  Around the 3rd, 4th & 5th of January is the busiest time for plane and train travel, as everyone is trying to get home (a bit like the crush to head north out of Sydney on boxing day).  Because of the fire on the 3rd of January, there were even more people travelling on the 4th, meaning that the system was working at capacity - or even greater according to this news report on the Japan Times website.

We were unable to get reserved seats for the return trip to Tokyo, so bought unreserved seats - normally not a problem, as cars 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,13,14,15,16,17 are for unreserved seats.  We waited for about half an hour for our train (enjoying watching all the express shinkansen speed through the station at 200km an hour), however, we were unable to get on the train, even though we were at the front of the queue (apparently we aren't pushy enough - the people behind us managed to shove their way onto the train).

This is a stock photo (thank you google images) as we didn't get any photos, as we were running up and down the platform trying to get on the train, however it shows what it was like. The conductor  was pushing people onto the train, then prying their arms and legs into the door so that the door could close, and the train could leave.  The white gloves were a nice touch.  

We missed this train, but got on the next one, thanks to the station manager, who arranged for us to get on a reserved carriage through the wheelchair access door (J was on crutches) - we were lucky enough that we were able to get her a seat (every other carriage was standing room only). Apparently the trains were running at 160% capacity, which meant that for every 10 people sitting there were 6 people standing - which made it VERY crowded.  Nikki and S stood all the way to Tokyo, but we were just happy we were lucky to get on a train - many people missed out (the night before they had people sleeping in empty trains as hotels were full and trains were unable to take any more passengers). 

By the time we got to Tokyo (Shinagawa station) our train was 7 mins late (it was 9 minutes late leaving Atami).  There were bullet trains up to 10 mins late - this is quite common in Australia, but is virtually unheard of in Japan.

We loved our trip to Atami on the Shinkansen - if you get the chance, I'd recommend you go - just avoid early January, and days when the train system has been shut down due to fire :-)

Lucky Bags and master craftsmen at Mitsukoshi

Today we went back to the Mitukoshi department store to check out their food department again...

A beautiful display of sushi - at Australian Japanese restaurant prices (very expensive)

Because it is the New Year, many different stores have "lucky bags" (Fukubukuro) - most of the time you can't see what you are getting in the bag (hence the luck part), but in the Mitsukoshi food department there is a display showing you what is in each bag.  This bag is filled with dried fish.

Dried fish out of the bag....

A salmon stall - J was in fishy heaven.

A VERY expensive piece of meat - at $500 a kilo.

This is a Tea Lucky Bag - this gentleman was really helpful & spoke excellent english - then he told me he lived in Katoomba for four years!  He sent me on my way with a "see you later mate" in a very Aussie accent.

Lucky bags with rice crackers in them.

Checking out the wonderful pastries and bread.

The designs on the pastries were beautiful - a lot of the work here reminds us of the work we saw at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

You can buy everything here - including ready made meals and salads

A mountain of Kim Chi.

A lucky bag of bread - they smelt delicious.

Escargot

The strawberries have been reduced in price!!  They are only $12 a tray now!

We were surprised to see the cheese lucky bag had a wheel of processed "Happy Cow" cheese.

We've never seen so many different kinds of salt.

Horse buns for the New Year.

The prawns were enormous - but at $10 each, you'd want them to be big.

The octopus were still alive (the bag was moving).

When I saw this, I thought "do I really want to eat Fugu that has been reduced in price", but then we remembered that fresh food is heavily discounted after 6pm so that it will sell (the store is open until 8).

We bought this $80 set of sashimi for $30!  They even packaged it up for us with freezer bricks.

On the top floor of the Mitsukoshi store they have artists and crafts people demonstrating their work. Here is a wood carver.

A man making wells for calligraphy ink.

This gentleman was selling Inden from Yamanashi!!!

This man was making traditional dolls.

This man was making hammered metal tea pots and saucepans.

This man was hand painting ceramic bowls.

And this gentleman was handmaking brooms (there was a man a few stalls further down making brushes).