Guess who I found!

Like Ninen-zaka isn't tempting enough as it is!

Yay!

The Fureaikan was open! And they had a kumihimo lobster!

Fabric heaven

Made it to the Nishijin Textile Center in the middle of their kimono fashion show!

Fruity?

A fruit and veg low calorie Kit-Kat in the 100 yen shop. No, I wasn't tempted.

Dessert Uji style

Uji is famed for its green tea, here made into a chiffon cake. I also got some insanely good green tea chocolate at the same shop I got some tea for Dad, and although I only got 3 pieces because it was so expensive I would have got more if I'd tasted it then...

Lunch in Kyoto

Today was a dead loss in terms of sightseeing, but a win in other ways. I was taken along to my homestay family's granddaughter's primary school gymnastics show, then had lunch with my homestay mom, went shopping with her for dinner (managed to pick up some amazing origami paper in the 100 yen shop in the supermarket) then did a bit of planning before dinner with the whole family.

Today was a bank holiday, so many museums that are normally closed on a Monday will have opened today and be closed tomorrow, my last day in Kyoto. I probably won't get to see the Fureaikan Museum of Traditional Arts, which was top of my list.

But never mind. Tomorrow is my oyster. And my wash day.

Next!

Taken from the platform as I waited for the bullet train from Nagoya to Kyoto. Not enough time!

Had a fantastic meal and chat with a teacher from my Japanese school and a far too short catch up with Dawn and Simon. Now arriving in Kyoto to stay with the Mizutanis!

And healthier than most economies too

Thursday, Friday, happy days

Thursday got off to a late start due to an enjoyable breakfast with my host's husband after he came back from dropping their sons off at the creche, and spending some time on the computer planning routes. I really wish this phone had data for that and maps.

I exchanged my voucher for the JR Rail Pass at Shibuya, then went to book my seats for travelling to Nagoya the next day, plus my crazy overnight route back from Nagasaki to Narita. By the time all that was done there wasn't much time before I was due at an agency for lunch, so I parked myself in a cafe and did some emailing, managing to trash the phone battery in the process. I got badly lost in Shiro-Kanedai, and the battery died as I was explaining to the agency that I'd be late - a great show all round. I finally got there and they loved the chocolates and double-sided business cards, and I ended up having a very nice lunch and chat with the boss.

I had had some vague intention of going on the Big O hubless and spokeless ferris wheel and the Thunder Dolphin rollercoaster at Tokyo Dome, or else looking for craft kits in Shibuya or Shinjuku, but once again there wasn't time before heading out to Chiba for 6pm.

In Chiba I met up with a translator I'd been working with for the last two weeks on a particularly large project. We ate at an Indian restaurant which was quite nice but the state of the waiter's jacket might have made you leave before you found that out - it looked like he had rolled in curry. I headed back at 8pm and got off at Suidobashi just after 9pm, hurrying across the road to Tokyo Dome as the guidebook said it was open until 10, but unfortunately that was the area and not the rides. Foiled! I made my way back to Meguro for my last night in Tokyo.

I was far enough over my jet lag that I slept through my host leaving the the next morning, so we resorted to saying goodbye over email. After breakfast with her husband I went back to the station with my cases and headed towards Yokohama to get to Kamakura, where I had a fantastic lunch and stroll up to Hachiman-Jingu with my friend and her little girl. I was sorely tempted to just keep on going to the giant buddha and Enoshima, but Nagoya beckoned.

The bullet train was on time as always, and I transferred to the Chuo Line to get to the Iidas' for the evening. We had a wonderful meal and great chat, and I was sorry I had to leave the next morning. But the whole trip has been and I think will be like that. There's only so much you can pack into 2.5 weeks.

You might want to rethink that name

Cake!

Very yummy sakura and mattcha rolls and coffee! Wish I lived nearer...

Vive le dimanche!

Yes, I know it's Friday. But I've just had this amazing ham and poached egg sandwich at Cafe Vivement Dimanche in Kamakura! Coffee and sakura roll to follow!

The evening before and morning after

Wednesday afternoon was spent with the handmade/craft shops guide I had bought before coming out. I got to Naka-Meguro, diverted to Book Off for a very successful search for issues of Tsubasa and XXX-Holic, and two Asian Kung-Fu Generation CDs as well. Those who know me know my amazing map-reading skills. As in amazingly bad. It didn't help that there was no mention of which exit to take at Daikanyama, or that most of the shops and some of the landmarks in Ebisu were (no longer?) there at all.

Call the Swiss!

Yo-yo macaroon? Looks like a Luxemburgerli to me...

To a certain person

I'm not trying to wind you up, honest!

Yokohama

I don't know if it's the jet lag, but Yokohama isn't appealing to me. Best thing so far has been the hit of sea air in this park. Maybe I've just been to all the wrong places. Onwards to Chinatown.

No prizes for guessing where I'm going

Batteries and mattcha latte acquired. Memory stick reformatted after several photos showed blue screen of death and "File Error". Hopefully now good for over 1,200 photos at 3M!

Plan B

This morning did not go to plan. I had switched the camera to 3M in case I ever want to print, but 22 photos were taking up 75% of my 2G card. The batteries died before I could get the photos off. The backup batteries were flat. I decided to trash (reformat)the card after getting new AAs.

Headed out at 9:00 and got lost in about 5mins. Got on a bus I thought was going to Naka-Meguro and ended up at Shibuya instead. Decided this was an omen and went straight to Yokohama instead of following one of my shopping guides around the area I'm staying in. Might do it tomorrow.

Even getting the train wasn't without its challenges. I kept asking the poor guard if I had the right ticket for the limited express on platform 3 while he tried to tell me it was on platform 2. Jet lag, I hope.

And JR are holding a contest to name the next bullet train! That's the poster for it outside Shibuya station.

Breakfast of champions

Can you tell I'm in a house with small children? This is my breakfast, left for me by Dad as he took the kids to creche.

Passengers are requested not to sleep on the floor

No joke - it`s in the SAS flight safety video. Makes you wonder what class of passenger they get...

The flight from Zurich to Copenhagen was fine, in a thin plane which had two seats each side of a very narrow aisle, apart from the man beside me who would alternately nearly smack me in the face with his elbow while tearing pages out of magazines and stuffing them down the front of his sweater, breathe out open-mouthed making a humming noise, and adjust his privates conspicously. I hoped he was not going to Tokyo.

Copenhagen airport is very nice, and has a Lego shop with Lego Star Wars t-shirts! I could only see kid sizes. I sat and read my guidebooks until it was time to board the Tokyo flight. It was packed solid and my neighbour couldn`t operate the in-flight entertainment, kept hitting the call bell by mistake and tried to take a used hot towel from the attendent collecting them. The meals were okay and seats pretty comfortable. I watched New Moon until the vampire came back in, at which point it got pretty boring and I listened to music and tried to doze through my neighbour getting changed and repacked in her seat.

Tokyo was an incredible 20 degrees when we landed, and I made my way through immigation and customs without problems. There were several adorable sniffer labradors on constant patrol, and I was asked if I lived in Japan for some reason (as the customs guy was flicking through my passport with the embarcation card stapled to it). I found the post office and got my phone, stopped for a drink, then on to the Keisei line to Ueno and then out by subway to Kami-Meguro where my friend lives.

We got back to hers and I told her about the Niagara Curry House featured in the English-language Asahi paper that weekend, and it turns out she brings her kids there all the time! We went and had what she tells me is an average curry, but it`s all good for me. Photos are here!

After we got back to her house we chatted until she went to pick her sons up from the creche about 5:00, and I went for a lie down. Woke up at 10:00 as the boys were being put to bed. Went back to sleep and woke up very early indeed - it`s now just gone 7:00am and people are moving. Time to get washed and dressed and hit Tokyo!