Day Seventeen – Tokyo to Busan

A day of travelling.

Had a Japanese style breakfast (salmon, rice, miso) to start.

We had some time before our flight so looked around the market near our guesthouse for an hour.

Took us almost two hours to get to the airport so just as well we didn’t leave too late.

Raining when we arrived in Busan and had a long bus ride from the airport to our room in Haundae. In the end ok us almost nine hours to move from our room in Tokyo to our room in Busan.

Had sashimi fish (not sure what it is called – a local specialty) and squid straight from the tank to the table for dinner.

After dinner we went to Spa Land, a huge bathhouse complex. There are no photographs. Be thankful.

I have also updated yesterday’s post with pictures.

 

Day Sixteen – Kyoto to Tokyo

Back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen. A less hectic day. We are staying in a Japanese guesthouse, a ryokan, in Asakusa. Location is excellent – plenty of restaurants and a major temple, the Senso-Ji temple right next door. Although the kids are becoming a little tired of temples.

We treated ourselves to a big feed of sushi on our last night in Tokyo. And amused the sushi chefs by mistaking green tea for powdered wasabi and adding it to our soy sauce.

WordPress is misbehaving tonight and won’t allow me to upload pictures. I will try again tomorrow.

Day Fifteen – Kyoto

Another whirlwind city tour. This was our only full day in Kyoto (effectively our only day due to our late arrival yesterday) and we packed in a fair amount.

Turned out our hostel provided breakfast (very impressed with this place) although went looking for good coffee and that took up the first half hour of the day. Disconcerting that people can still smoke in cafes here.

First stop was Nijo-jo, a 17th century castle, and another palace in the same grounds, Ninomaru Goten. Spent a couple of hours wandering around the gardens. Highlight was having Japanese green tea (matcha) in the tea house, which I enjoyed. Sylvia found it too bitter. The green tea shaved ice was more to her liking.

Then over to the Ponto-cho area. Narrow streets near a canal. Not much happening during the day – apparently a nightlife hub. We found a place for lunch serving traditional Kyoto food.

Then another area featuring traditional houses – Gion. Sylvia hadn’t learnt her lesson and had matcha ice cream, which she also didn’t enjoy.

Nearby was Maruyama park where we saw the Yasaka Shrine, a Shinto shrine dating to 656, and Kodaiji Temple, a 17th century Buddhist temple. This turned out to be a smart choice as we were able to spend the afternoon in this area.

It lead on to the Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka restored neighbourhoods, where there were several smaller temples and shrines, and many souvenir shops. Ben bought himself a dried gourd. I don’t really know why.

The highlight though was Kiyumizu-dera, a Buddhist temple constructed in 1633, and featuring bright orange buildings and a beautiful aspect looking back over Kyoto.

Have to say I am very impressed with Kyoto, (and Japan generally). Relatively easy to get around once you understand the layout, and very attractive city. Plenty of good food, and prices are similar to Australia. Back to Tokyo tomorrow and then a final night in Busan on Wednesday.

Day Fourteen – Tokyo to Kyoto

Caught the Shinkansen or bullet train to Kyoto. Trip was uneventful. The train runs so smoothly that you don’t really sense the train is travelling at over 300 kph.
We arrived in Kyoto at 1:25 but didn’t leave the station for over an hour by the time we worked out where we needed to get to. I was given some dodgy directions by the tourist information centre, who advised me to catch a bus to our hostel. The bus was crowded and we had three big suitcases. Not a lot of fun. Subsequently found out there is a train station a short walk from the hostel.
Hostel itself is very new and clean. Everyone happy. It is in Sanjo which has a very large pedestrian mall, and interesting shops. We had planned some temple viewing this afternoon but by the time we were able to check in it was too late, so we stayed local and are having an early night, so we can spend tomorrow touring the sights.

Had onomakayaki for dinner. Very tasty.

Day Thirteen – Tokyo

Full day of Tokyo sightseeing. Most enjoyable after a day and a half of Disney. First real sense of what Tokyo is like as a city (Disney not representative, except for the crowds).
Train system confusing. There are several different providers, and you need different tickets for different lines. The stations themselves are well sign-posted, so relatively easy to get around, except for the ticketing.
First stop was Ginza, which is relatively upmarket and full of shoppers. It was not very interesting, unless you were a teenage fashionista after a Tiffany bracelet (Bronte). We found a small restaurant in a shopping centre underpass for lunch. There were no other customers. The food was good but the owners stood around watching us eat.

Then over to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. Spent a pleasant hour walking through the gardens looking at 17th century walls and reconstructed guardhouses from the Shogunate.

Moved on to the Meiji Shrine. We were fortunate to see a wedding in progress. Plenty of onlookers takings pictures so we joined in.

The shrine itself was worth a visit. A very popular destination, mostly by people wanting to pray, although quite a few tourists as well.

The barrels in the picture below are Saki barrels donated by different brewers.

Near the station we stumbled upon Takesita Street. Apparently this is quite iconic and a big draw card for Japanese counter-culture types. Crowds were overwhelming at first, as quite a narrow street, but a lot of fun to visit. Very colourful.

Then to Shibuya Crossing, the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. Neon everywhere. Japan as you imagine it (well, I do). We spent a while looking around and had. Dinner at a noodle house where you paid for your meal using a machine at the front of the shop, and gave the ticket to the kitchen to cook.

Day Twelve – Tokyo Disney theme parks

We did two things today.

Disneyland.

Disneyland Sea.

It rained all day. That did not stop the kids extracting every second of time from Disney. About twelve hours I reckon. Exhausted.

Day Eleven – Busan to Tokyo

Left Busan this morning – still raining – to fly to Tokyo. Uneventful day except that our hotel is magnificent, which was unexpected.

Communication is a little challenging as English is not widely spoken (same in Korea, except that Sylvia can speak the language). We lashed out on the hotel buffet for dinner. Sushi and tempura made to order.
Turned out that the Disneyland theme parks are open to 10 pm and there is a night time pass available at a discount after 6pm. Spent the night at the at Disney Sea World (after the buffet). Happy kids, especially Bronte. Although the queues for the popular rides were horrendous. The Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride involved standing in a tunnel for ninety minutes for a five minute ride.

Note

I am having some connection problems – have posted pictures and some notes for last couple of days. Off to Tokyo tomorrow. Will try to provide a bit more detail on pictures later in the week.

Day Ten

A rainy day in Busan. Sylvia’s birthday. The kids had some scones. We went out for pork and blood sausage soup. Afterwards it was a shopping morning. In the afternoon we went to Gamcheon Culture Village, an area where people still live in traditional homes

Day Nine

Spent the morning looking through the Jagalchi fish markets. Masses of seafood of every variety. Many small restaurants amongst the fish sellers along a 1km strip. We had some grilled mackerel. Then sashimi of a local shellfish which was a childhood favourite of Sylvia’s. After lunch we made our way to Haeundae beach, the main tourist beach in Busan. The White grubs in the pictures are silk worms. Apparently they are eaten. We didn’t eat any. We had fish cakes.

Then to the Centum Shinsegei shopping centre, apparently the biggest in the world under one roof. Sylvia bought a cake. I bought a couple of books about Korea. The kids had their dinner. We dropped them back at the hotel and went out for our dinner. Unfortunately I left my phone behind so there are no pictures, but we went back to the fish market for fresh eel and grilled pig skin. Delicious.