Well that was that! Japan is behind and will be heading next to Brazil with my friend Petra.
Details and such will be coming with time so meanwhile I thank you for folowing my previous trip and wish have you as reader on the next trip as well.
Thanks.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Day 11, home
Woke up at 6 a.m.
I took a shover and packed my stuff and then we left. He acompanied me to Tokyo station and then we said our goodbyes and I took the N'EX from there to Narita terminal 1. The departure terminal was far more larger than the ariving terminal so I was a bit intimidated at first, wondering where my flight would leave from. But finaly I found the gate and went through the checks and was on my way to Zürich where I was to make a 4 hour stop before continuing to Helsinki. Didn't sleep again on the 12 hour flight from Narita to Zürich. When I arived at the airport in Switzerland, I immediatly called my friend Henri who was coming home on the same day and about the same time as I. When he came I had allready ate at Burger king's because he was coming a bit later that I had expected. But then we went and looked around in the dutyfree shops and I bought some swiss pasterys that Henri had once before introduced me to and they ar delicious delectables.
We went to have a beer to celebrate our boths succesed trips. Then when Henris flight (which departed an hour before mine) was boarding passangers we said our goodbye's and separated for now.
The beer made me really drowsy and had a hard time keeping awake (hadn't slept in 21 hours). Then I had to get my boarding pass from the gate counter
and the staff came just an half hour before the plane was leaving so I got a bit nervous if I was going to make it. Well I got even more anxious when the gentleman inforn of me took his damn good time at the counter and it was 20 min before the flight was leaving when I finaly got to speak with the staff. Well then they had trouble finding my ticket or something at first so after 5 minutes of waiting the plane started boarding passanger and I started to fret and panic. Finally 10 minutes before the departure they gave me my pass and I got in the plane. The lift off was delayed by 10 min because of some minor difficaulties. When it finaly left I fell a sleep for a while and under the whole flight jumpt in and out of conciousness because of the sleapyness and beer combined :) Well ariving at Helsinki-Vantaa airport on time and then from there to claim my bagagge. Took a firggin loong time before mine came and then my brother came to pick me up. So a bit "messy" end for my trip but no worries, the good allways outweighs the bad (definetly in my case). This trip was super succesfull and will definetly go to Japan again.
I took a shover and packed my stuff and then we left. He acompanied me to Tokyo station and then we said our goodbyes and I took the N'EX from there to Narita terminal 1. The departure terminal was far more larger than the ariving terminal so I was a bit intimidated at first, wondering where my flight would leave from. But finaly I found the gate and went through the checks and was on my way to Zürich where I was to make a 4 hour stop before continuing to Helsinki. Didn't sleep again on the 12 hour flight from Narita to Zürich. When I arived at the airport in Switzerland, I immediatly called my friend Henri who was coming home on the same day and about the same time as I. When he came I had allready ate at Burger king's because he was coming a bit later that I had expected. But then we went and looked around in the dutyfree shops and I bought some swiss pasterys that Henri had once before introduced me to and they ar delicious delectables.
We went to have a beer to celebrate our boths succesed trips. Then when Henris flight (which departed an hour before mine) was boarding passangers we said our goodbye's and separated for now.The beer made me really drowsy and had a hard time keeping awake (hadn't slept in 21 hours). Then I had to get my boarding pass from the gate counter
and the staff came just an half hour before the plane was leaving so I got a bit nervous if I was going to make it. Well I got even more anxious when the gentleman inforn of me took his damn good time at the counter and it was 20 min before the flight was leaving when I finaly got to speak with the staff. Well then they had trouble finding my ticket or something at first so after 5 minutes of waiting the plane started boarding passanger and I started to fret and panic. Finally 10 minutes before the departure they gave me my pass and I got in the plane. The lift off was delayed by 10 min because of some minor difficaulties. When it finaly left I fell a sleep for a while and under the whole flight jumpt in and out of conciousness because of the sleapyness and beer combined :) Well ariving at Helsinki-Vantaa airport on time and then from there to claim my bagagge. Took a firggin loong time before mine came and then my brother came to pick me up. So a bit "messy" end for my trip but no worries, the good allways outweighs the bad (definetly in my case). This trip was super succesfull and will definetly go to Japan again.
day 10
Hi guys sorry for the slow update, been really busy but here it is
day 10.
Today I woke up at 7.30. to do my final packing because I'm going to TOKYO today :) Feeling really excited!
I took a quick shower and went to the internet café to check up a persons phone numer. I was going to couch surf my last day at a dude called Shoichi. Well after that I went to get my ticets thinking that I still had time for breakfeast but oh no I didn't. The train was about to leave and I had to rush and I still didn't make it, so the next train it was. But the good part was that it came only after 20 minutes and in that time I had gone to buy myself something to drink and a boxed bento for my train ride. Oh and allso a special Kyoto cake for Shoichi as an thank you. I had in plans to give Mizuki and Miho a gift from Finland, a box of famous Fazer chocolates, but I had no space for them and had to leave them at home. So yeah fail. But instead I bought them something in Japan as an gift. Well my train arived and I was on my way. I was really glad that there was free seats available on the "no reserved seats" car of the train, because on my way from Isawa onsen to Kyoto I had to wait quite a while for a place to sit. But yeah the train ride went great with the help of a coffeinated beverage and my delicious chicken hamburger patty bento. And the train ride was so much fun, the scenes were amazing as allways, I even saw Mt.Fuji (largest mountain of Japan, an old volcano, UNESCO site) for my second time, from afar but still beutifull. My first time was at Isawa onsen when we were going to the market place with Mizukis father. We saw it then from the car because the wether conditions were so good.
It was allso awsome to see that the train went through a few different "climate zones" during the ride. For those who did not know, Japan has actually 6 different "climate zones" because of it's stringbean form reaching from north to south, this I know because I have studied Japans geography as a project in school (got a 10 from it btw). I went through a kind of septeber'ish scenery and then it changed to a full on winter storm outside with lots and lots of snow and then back to a kind of september'ish scene again.
I arrived at Tokyo station at 2 p.m. and had to wait for a hour for Shoichi who was runing a bit late. When he finaly arived and we had done our formal gratings, I went to put my stuff to a coin locker for safekeeping and frome there we went to eat ramen with him. This time I had the salt ramen which was cocked in just salty water and with meat juices. It was NAM NAM. From there we took the subway/metro and went to the Asakusa wich is a very famous shrine in Tokyo. It was filled with people and vendors. We looked around for a while and then we tooked the subway/metro to Akihabara (the electric city as it is allso called or Denki-cho in Japanese). It's a part of the city where they sell a lot of electronic equipment but is allso known for it's Otaku (Otaku= a kind of a nerd) shops and maid cafés. Well we had a litle looksie around there and I ended up buying a ceramic knife and a bento box (the container it self, not the ones with food inside of them) and a scarf allso. I must admit that I went to a maid cafe just for the experience (they are usually for the litle perverted and a litle nerdy persons). Its was a bit embaracing to go there and I laughed a lot because they are dressed up as maids and they call you master and have all these mimics and gimics like that they act like cats by ending every sentance with the word ~nyan (for example " thank you~nyan") and then we had to put our hands in a paw like fashion and say nyan nyan, if we had something to say to the "maids", like an order or such. It was at the point of embaracing that it allmost was humiliating. But hey, "when in rome..." right? So from there on we still strolled the streets for a while and then went lastly to the famous Tokyo tower (or as I like to call it "the japanese eiffel tower"). It was enormous!!! and beutifull.
We bought the ticets to get inside and to go up to the very top and from there the view was breath taking. The nightlife of Tokyo laid beneath us and it was just a perfect ending for a perfect last day. From there we went back to Tokyo station to get my stuff and then we went to Shoichis house. On our way he stoped to the conviniance store and bought some ingrediants for tonight. We ate at Shoichis and a while after went to sleep. He had school the next day so we had to wake up early, 6 a.m., so that we had time to prepeare us.
day 10.
Today I woke up at 7.30. to do my final packing because I'm going to TOKYO today :) Feeling really excited!
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| View of mt.fuji |
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| Ramen |
It was allso awsome to see that the train went through a few different "climate zones" during the ride. For those who did not know, Japan has actually 6 different "climate zones" because of it's stringbean form reaching from north to south, this I know because I have studied Japans geography as a project in school (got a 10 from it btw). I went through a kind of septeber'ish scenery and then it changed to a full on winter storm outside with lots and lots of snow and then back to a kind of september'ish scene again.
I arrived at Tokyo station at 2 p.m. and had to wait for a hour for Shoichi who was runing a bit late. When he finaly arived and we had done our formal gratings, I went to put my stuff to a coin locker for safekeeping and frome there we went to eat ramen with him. This time I had the salt ramen which was cocked in just salty water and with meat juices. It was NAM NAM. From there we took the subway/metro and went to the Asakusa wich is a very famous shrine in Tokyo. It was filled with people and vendors. We looked around for a while and then we tooked the subway/metro to Akihabara (the electric city as it is allso called or Denki-cho in Japanese). It's a part of the city where they sell a lot of electronic equipment but is allso known for it's Otaku (Otaku= a kind of a nerd) shops and maid cafés. Well we had a litle looksie around there and I ended up buying a ceramic knife and a bento box (the container it self, not the ones with food inside of them) and a scarf allso. I must admit that I went to a maid cafe just for the experience (they are usually for the litle perverted and a litle nerdy persons). Its was a bit embaracing to go there and I laughed a lot because they are dressed up as maids and they call you master and have all these mimics and gimics like that they act like cats by ending every sentance with the word ~nyan (for example " thank you~nyan") and then we had to put our hands in a paw like fashion and say nyan nyan, if we had something to say to the "maids", like an order or such. It was at the point of embaracing that it allmost was humiliating. But hey, "when in rome..." right? So from there on we still strolled the streets for a while and then went lastly to the famous Tokyo tower (or as I like to call it "the japanese eiffel tower"). It was enormous!!! and beutifull.
We bought the ticets to get inside and to go up to the very top and from there the view was breath taking. The nightlife of Tokyo laid beneath us and it was just a perfect ending for a perfect last day. From there we went back to Tokyo station to get my stuff and then we went to Shoichis house. On our way he stoped to the conviniance store and bought some ingrediants for tonight. We ate at Shoichis and a while after went to sleep. He had school the next day so we had to wake up early, 6 a.m., so that we had time to prepeare us.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Day 9
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| Uenokoji park |
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| The five story padoga |
Back to the story. From the shoping district I came backwards and poped in to a donut butique and bought a couple of donuts for later and then headed to the internet cafe to write this.Going later on straight to bed for a good nights sleep because tomorow it's Tokyo baby !
Reporting from Kyoto, bye!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Day 8
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| Osaka Jo |
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| Osaka |
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| My room at the ryokan |
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| A Pachinko arcade |
So then I tought for a while what to do next and decided to go to the AEON mall nearby. I spent a good while there. I went back to the internet cafe and wrote this and after this I'll propably go to my ryokan to sleep. |
| Crêpe truck |
Day 7
Today I woke upp again at about 9 a.m. because today I was going to my friends, Mihos, house for dinner and stuff. So took a quick shower and left for the station when I realized that I had no idea at what time I was suposed to come, she had texted me telling that I should take the 10 o'clock train but she had forgoten to say a.m. or p.m. so I tried to confirm that and when I got it sorted out (a.m. it was) it was too late for that train so I had to take a new one. This is the funny part, I asked from a ticket officer which train would take me to Ritto and they said the train leaving now from platform 2 and I took it. Well after a while the train stoped for about an half hour because of some problems caused by the strong winds. Well then we continued on and on till I got a bit suspicious and called Miho. Funny part: I had taken the wrong damn train!!!!! F*CK!
Well this is where I promote the greatness and sovereignity of the JR Pass, I just hoped to the next train and whent backwards and then took the correct train (this time as instructed by Miho).
If I hadn't had the JR Pass it would had been very expencive. Well finaly I arive at Ritto and Miho and her father and BF come and pick me up from the station. We ate Sukiyaki at her place (delicious btw) and chatted a bit with the family and her boyfriend and other friend. Well then came, to my great surprise, the time to leave to an illumination show at a park somwhere far away from Ritto. We drove for about 1 and a half hour by car and meanwhile me, Miho, her boyfriend,sister and her friend played UNO. Yes, UNO!
It was fun since I didn't imagine that
they'd know UNO aswell. Well any who we arived to an amusement park slash shopping outlet (combination) from where we bought our tickets to the illumination show and allso from where we took the bus towards the place (10 min ride). Arived there and was near to shit bricks when I saw what awaited us there. Seas of light and wonder! It was a big park and nearly everywhere was lights hanging in a fashionable maner, it was breath takingly beautiful. It was geting late so we took and ate and then continued on exploring this huge park. there was a tunnel of light, made by hangin lights in an arch in a continues maner creating thus a tunnel. Well we left about 8 p.m. and as I was a bit tired, I slept the whole drive back to Ritto and took the train back to Kyoto at about 11p.m. And I tell you, it was a bit cold.
From the station I walked to my ryokan and went straight to bed. I had to wake up early the next day.
Well this is where I promote the greatness and sovereignity of the JR Pass, I just hoped to the next train and whent backwards and then took the correct train (this time as instructed by Miho).
If I hadn't had the JR Pass it would had been very expencive. Well finaly I arive at Ritto and Miho and her father and BF come and pick me up from the station. We ate Sukiyaki at her place (delicious btw) and chatted a bit with the family and her boyfriend and other friend. Well then came, to my great surprise, the time to leave to an illumination show at a park somwhere far away from Ritto. We drove for about 1 and a half hour by car and meanwhile me, Miho, her boyfriend,sister and her friend played UNO. Yes, UNO!
It was fun since I didn't imagine thatthey'd know UNO aswell. Well any who we arived to an amusement park slash shopping outlet (combination) from where we bought our tickets to the illumination show and allso from where we took the bus towards the place (10 min ride). Arived there and was near to shit bricks when I saw what awaited us there. Seas of light and wonder! It was a big park and nearly everywhere was lights hanging in a fashionable maner, it was breath takingly beautiful. It was geting late so we took and ate and then continued on exploring this huge park. there was a tunnel of light, made by hangin lights in an arch in a continues maner creating thus a tunnel. Well we left about 8 p.m. and as I was a bit tired, I slept the whole drive back to Ritto and took the train back to Kyoto at about 11p.m. And I tell you, it was a bit cold.
From the station I walked to my ryokan and went straight to bed. I had to wake up early the next day.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Day 6
Yesturdays partying had It's toll on me and I woke up at 10.20~ish at the morning and went to the same french deli to have a filled bauguete and coffee (and lots of water) from there I went to tour the city by foot again. Went to again another temple (there are a lot and all, bit different so it doesn't matter if you've been to one allready). This temple had two great halls and was very high and beautiful. |
| Kyoto imperial palace (infront of) |
From there I went to a nearby Japanese restuarant where I ate"Katsudon" which is fried pork on rice, in a bowl. As always it was delicious but also a bit weird cause I suspect that they had aded miso soup to the eggmixture that was laid on top, and to be honest, the fish tasting miso soup is not reall my cup of tea. The meal costed about 600 yen and after paying I headed towards Kyoto sta. From there I took (for the first time ever in Japan) the subway/metro to a station near the Kyoto Imperial palace. So from the station I walked to the imperial gardens and it was breath takingly beautiful. Trees, ponds, small shrines, bridges, rocks the whole shebang! The imperial garden surrounds the imperial palace to where it's off limits. But I couldn't have cared less for the palace because the gardens were so beautifull. from there i walked all the way back towards my ryokan and went to the busy shoping arcade/street and spent a good while there. I ate there a bit of pasta carbonara and had coffee at an cafe (just as a by the way, there are a lot of starbucks and mcdonalds's here). From there I walked again to Gion and spent the rest of my evening exploring the surroundings and old buildings there. then I came back to my ryokand put my camera battery to load and then came to the computer to update my blogg. Still going to take a bath before retiering to bed. 
Day 5
So today I woke up at around 8 a.m. and went to a french style deli to eat my breakfeast that consisted of a croisant + cold cuts, a bit of yoghourt and coffee.
The people are allways so polite and it's such a refreshing change from the typical finish atmosphere. From there on i went to a temple just next to my ryokan. It was huge and very, very beautiful indeed. Large pillars and big halls with gold ornaments and beautiful carvings. Then I went to a mall and bought a bit of clothes and new shoes (they had a bargain sale going on and I got my adidas shoes for about 2900 yen (aprox. 29 euro) and from there I went to a grocery store and bought me a bit of bento and ate it at my ryokan.
From there I walked to the nearest "rent a cycle" that I could find ant rented a bike for the day for 800yen + 200 yen insurance and from there on I was of to venture the city. I got a map from the friendly owner. I went to see a couple of nearby temples (Japan is full of big and small tempels and shrines, in Kyoto alone there is over 200 (aprox.) ). I cycled to Gion ("Geisha" part of town, very cultural) and passed beutifull scenerys, cyckled to a shrine called "sanjusango", it is famous for its 1001 lifesize budha statues. Trully astounding plaze, it's a go to spot when in Kyoto. I continued to spin around untill i had to return the bike at 7 p.m. and from there i continued by foot to a mall and a busy shoping arcade/street. And because today was the 31.12.2011 (new years eve) I went to a new years carneval at a lokal shrine. IT RULED!!!!! There vere literally thousands of stands selling food,deserts, good luck charms, fortune tellings etc. I was flabbergasted ! The atmosphere was warm and lively and there you could really feel the pulse of the city. I bough my first "melon pan" that is a type of sweet bread (does not taste like melon, name only!). I allso bought myself one sesame ball, it tasted really good and sweet I really should had bought more but I was a bit skeptic so I dared only to buy one cause I hadn't tasted one before. At aprox. 10 p.m. i started to head towards an Irish bar I had seen on my way to the town and desided that I'd spend the rest of my new years eve there. And I tell you, it was the right choise for me to do so. They had live music and everybody was very friendly. There was other foreigners also but also many japanese. I got to know the performers (japanes also) and chated with them and had a really god time. I had one of those moments that you realize that you know a lot more of a language than you think. We talked only in japanese and it wil go down in the books as a golden memory for me. When the year changed from 2011 to 2012 they gave us complimentary noodles and shampagne (no cheap stuff eighter), we tosted and the eavning continued smoothly. Then I got back later on and went to sleap.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 !
Here are some pictures from this day, sorry for the layout.
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| My little sandwich bento |
From there I walked to the nearest "rent a cycle" that I could find ant rented a bike for the day for 800yen + 200 yen insurance and from there on I was of to venture the city. I got a map from the friendly owner. I went to see a couple of nearby temples (Japan is full of big and small tempels and shrines, in Kyoto alone there is over 200 (aprox.) ). I cycled to Gion ("Geisha" part of town, very cultural) and passed beutifull scenerys, cyckled to a shrine called "sanjusango", it is famous for its 1001 lifesize budha statues. Trully astounding plaze, it's a go to spot when in Kyoto. I continued to spin around untill i had to return the bike at 7 p.m. and from there i continued by foot to a mall and a busy shoping arcade/street. And because today was the 31.12.2011 (new years eve) I went to a new years carneval at a lokal shrine. IT RULED!!!!! There vere literally thousands of stands selling food,deserts, good luck charms, fortune tellings etc. I was flabbergasted ! The atmosphere was warm and lively and there you could really feel the pulse of the city. I bough my first "melon pan" that is a type of sweet bread (does not taste like melon, name only!). I allso bought myself one sesame ball, it tasted really good and sweet I really should had bought more but I was a bit skeptic so I dared only to buy one cause I hadn't tasted one before. At aprox. 10 p.m. i started to head towards an Irish bar I had seen on my way to the town and desided that I'd spend the rest of my new years eve there. And I tell you, it was the right choise for me to do so. They had live music and everybody was very friendly. There was other foreigners also but also many japanese. I got to know the performers (japanes also) and chated with them and had a really god time. I had one of those moments that you realize that you know a lot more of a language than you think. We talked only in japanese and it wil go down in the books as a golden memory for me. When the year changed from 2011 to 2012 they gave us complimentary noodles and shampagne (no cheap stuff eighter), we tosted and the eavning continued smoothly. Then I got back later on and went to sleap.HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 !
Here are some pictures from this day, sorry for the layout.
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