Church on a hill....

Welcome Ninja fans!

Sunday the 27th saw Karate and I embarking on an adventure to Kamakura. The day also happened to be one of the 'warm' ones too (apologies to those fans in Perth, Karratha etc that are currently copping it! Needless to say it was shorts and t-shirt weather woohoo!

The city is located about 40min (in an express train) from Shinagawa and is just south of Yokohama. The town itself is very spaced out and doesn't have the same population density that most of the cities have and seems to be the equivalent of a bunbury/mandurah in WA terms.

Kamakura was actually the capital of Japan way way way back around 1180 during the Kamakura Shogunate but its real claim to fame appears to be the number of temples and shrines around the place. The first 50m from the train station took about 40min as there were 3 shrines/temples that close -- it was looking to be a long day!.

Tenchu, anyone?

Given the distance we still had to cover Kate and I decided to keep the days viewing to just the 'must see' locations to 3-4.

In addition to some of the amazing buildings we were also pretty lucky to see some cherry blossoms starting to emerge. Not quite in the colours or numbers that we expect in the next month or 2, but still very pretty. It also game me a chance to start tinkering with macro photo's!

Unfortunately I wont be uploading many of the photo's as there are just too many! (and I find that trying to get the layout right in blogpsot quite frustrating at times).

For more of the photo's head to Kate's facebook page..... If you are not friends with her and cannot see them, well you should be!

Steve didn't quite get he was a fish

The second 'must see' temple we went to, was once again reached after climbing a 'few' steps (it was a common theme for the day -- fantastic training for the ski trip next weekend!) and after reaching the summit we decided that a spot of lunch was in order.

It seemed fortuitous that there were some vendors nearby selling a variety of foods. The one that smelt the best looked to be a sesame/garlic chicken on a bed of cabbage. The first piece was a bit Kate got was nothing but skin, the first piece I got was skin.......This didnt bode well at all, turns out we bought a heap of chicken skin..... oh well! (and no we didnt eat it!)

We next headed to a big buddha. I'd like to say we thought that we would kill the second bird with the one stone and finish the rest of our ski training whilst catching the last shrine. I'd like to say that, but I would be telling big porky's.

Turns out there was quite a lot of the pic to the left. Lots of up and down, left and right, up and down. We weren't quite as hardcore as the locales who seemed to be running the circuit..... for fun.......madness!

Still for the unprepared it was a sod and we were both sweaty smelly and generally over it by the time we got to the statue.

Kate, less than impressed when I suggested she
might also get lucky if she rubbed my belly
instead of Buddha's

Once again, please see Kate's facebook page for more pics of the shrine at the end of the cross country course.

After the relative serenity of the shrines we thought we would go to the beach, another thing that Kamakura is popular for. I will try not to be a WA snob when it comes to beaches....... who am I kidding. I will acknowledge it is winter and the wind was howling but I was less than impressed with both the beach and the surf. I was impressed with how keen some locals were to go surfing.........(I shudder to think what happens when it catches a crosswind!).


Needless to say we enjoyed a relaxing train ride home and enjoyed an early night as a result of the days adventure!

There have been some requests for pics of some more of the interesting vending machines. I will see what I can do from now on, though I would have to say the coolest one I have seen so far (excluding the beer ones) vended Lego figurines.

In any case stay tuned!

Social Butterflies!

Welcome back Ninja fans, today is Monday  which equals the obligatory blog day. I do try and blog more during the week, but lets be fair, I have a very very busy schedule and often don't have the time!

The previous week seems to have flown past -- perhaps because we were having fun, perhaps related to the consumption of beer and wine...... I think a little from column A, a little from column B.

Either way we caught up with a few peeps from Perth who had just finished ski trips in Niseko and met some locals (who I might add are essential for the best drinking holes!).

First up was Phil and Ryan who had just completed a 2 week boarding trip. Kate thought we should meet in Roppongi as it appeared to be quite a nice area during the day. At this point a distinction needs to be made between Roppongi and Roppongi Hills. The latter being the quite nice area and the former being the the Tokyo red light district. Lots of big African men asking if we would like to see a 'show', they were pretty happy to invite Kate too -- at least they didn't discriminate! Dinner was a nice curry followed by a beer at a nearby Irish pub. The pub was a rookie mistake as the pints were about $12 a pop so we just had the one and headed home.

Rod and his work mates.

Thursday we had arranged to meet a friend of a friend who had been living in Japan for about 5 years, works in IT and loves basketball (sound familiar?). Rod actually works in Roppongi (it is more a business district during the day) so led us a too a hidden gem (emphasis on hidden!) which was very much an after work drinks venue.

Koji, bottom left, needed a power nap towards the end of dinner

The work crew he brought along were fantastic value and most of them had pretty good english. Dinner consisted of plate after plate of tapas and cheap pints (about $2.50 a pop). At the time we were advised of some dishes to always order if their were no English menu's. Unfortunately the cheap beer ensured we weren't going to remember those names any time soon. The beers also ensured both Kate and I would feel average the next day!

Saturday morning we caught up with Claire and Graydon who had just finished a ski trip at Niseko too. They promised to send some info about the town, good places to eat etc.......... *cough*. Breakfast was 2 toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for me -- I am not sure why but the cheese appeared to be placed outside the sandwich and melted on top. I didn't care as they were very tasty

Afterwards, I thought I should take Kate to Nissin as she had heard so much but still hadn't seen it. Well, I think she liked it (especially the top floor) and it was only our impending ski trip that kept the damage to a minimum. Astute readers will remember my glowing reference to this fine establishment in a previous post....... well the place is even better than first imagined. For the princely sum of $5 they will deliver your groceries -- Booyah!

In any case, that is enough for this post, Sunday gets its own entry as it was a day spent travelling around the countryside.

Pucker Up!

Saturday saw us venture into the unknown to watch an ice hockey game. I say unknown coz we were waaaaay off any map we have but still only took us 30 min to get to. The game itself was between the Nippon Paper Cranes and the Oji Eagles (1 v 2 as it turned out). We managed to get seats in the Eagles member area, and to be honest I felt dirty, probably a throw back from AFL, but I just cant bring myself to support any Eagles so I was rooting for the Cranes (on the inside).



The Mighty Cranes warming up



 Having seen an NHL game I was expecting a little bit of biff. I should have known better!



Kate, BEFORE her team started getting flogged



 

These Japanese people are to polite/friendly/honourable! The only aggro shown was by the Canadian/American expats but despite their best efforts none of the locals would rise to the challenge so we had to be content with some slams into the wall (incidently, this lack of aggression in a violent sport does not bode well for my potential basketball career over here!). 

Any Bump that lifts you a foot off the ground
is a good one!



My team (the Cranes) really gave it to the Eagles in the first 2 thirds scoring 3 goals to nil but seemed destined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after surrendering early goals in the last period.



A respectable shirtfront. Now if only they weren't
Wearing body armour!



The Cranes regained the lead 4-3 but with the ugly cologne of desperation permeating the arena, the Egirls subbed their goalie for an extra attacker…….……… the gambit failed and in the end they went down 5-3.



Group hug!



I must investigate the possibility that any team that goes by the moniker ‘Eagles’ will promise much but be woefully inadequate in front of goals and rely on their defence and midfield to keep them in games.



The Cranes were on top for most of the game



Sunday saw us check out Meiji-Jingu (shrine) which is in Yoyogi-koen (Yoyogi Park). This park is smarterthanyouraveragebear and makes for quite a nice stroll. It has a massive iris garden which given the season was more of a mud pit and 'fish pond' full of koi? The garden was a gift from Emperor Meiji to Empress Shoken back in the day (as you do!). 



Steve couldn't quite work out why the ibis
 kept going for him



The entry to the main complex



The Meji Shrine itself was actually destroyed during WW2 but was rebuilt in its original form using traditional methods and materials. All in all quite an impressive structure! We also saw a wedding occur which was pretty oldschool (and it turns out a highlight in the eyes of the Lonely Planet).



The Wedding procession



We then went to Akihabara to find Kate a new camera. After much grumbling and groaning on my behalf we managed to do many things; settle on an Olympus tough 8010 find a store that still had one and then Kate managed to get the guy to knock off another couple hundred Yen! High fives alround!

That’s it for now, apologies it took a while! 

This week I hope to go find a shop that has this website……..

http://www.japansword.co.jp/

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Ninja, teaparty over!!!

What could go wrong??!





Say what again, I dare you!

A little off the norm, but these 2 picks required a second look.........

The first is self explanatory as to what it is, but I honestly don't know why you would take you cat for a walk, on your shoulders.

And a pink cardigan too. Shame!

The second picture is not so self explanatory......

This is the 300 tonne 'flame' that rests on top of the Asahi building (yes the beer company). I am not sure if the architect designed it as a joke, but even the locals call it the 'golden turd' (I believe thay call it something a little more vulgar, but this is a pg rated blog).

Thats not a heat sink..... (toys of the week)



I don't know anyone who has room for this monstrostity in their computer case

 This is a heat sink

And for all those beat'em up fans out there... tired of bashing the hell out of your keyboard, or want to relive the good old arcade days.... try this bad boy on. I wonder if it has legacy support for dos games

Golden Axe, Double Dragon, 1942 anyone?



The Search for E.T. (status)

Welcome back Ninjafans for the next exciting instalment of our time spent in Japan. It has been made known to me there are some fans who would prefer more regular updates. Unfortunately the literary genius you have decided to follow is not a tap that can be turned on and off. Therefore if you would prefer a more regular update, tough.

In any case the past week has seen us decide upon our permanent accommodation (actually it was you the avid followers of both our blogs that helped decide that. So, we will be staying in (drum roll please)…………….. Yokohama.



All 4 towers, we are in one of the far ones

The view, second bathroom, location of nearby shops, things to do nearby just seems the right fit. In addition if we do want to go to central Tokyo for whatever reason, we can jump on an express train and be there in about 15 min! (have I mentioned I think perth public transport could learn some valuable lessons from Japow?)

This week I also spent some time in Akihabara on my own. The place is quite an amazing warren of different shops full of bangs, pops whistles ……. And TOYS!!! Whilst I didn’t buy anything I did plan further purchases for after we move into the apartment (we have enough gear to be shuffling down there without adding to the pile just yet!). Please go to this week’s edition of ‘toy of the week’ for some more info and pictures.

The journey to Akihabara also saw me lose track of time on the trains for the first time (which is very easy to do!) but the damage was restricted to just one station – not to bad and it was also a pretty handy station to travel to for the next part of my trip.

One of Karate’s more refined work colleagues had also spent the week raving about the western mecca of Tokyo. The ray of light that strikes the building is reminiscent of the euphoria one experiences upon discovering a Macca’s/KFC after a night out on the turps…… except 10 times that! (admittedly it had been a little while since I have felt so rough after a night on the turps so perhaps maybe not so great).

This fine establishment is called Nissin World Delicatessen and has 3 floors of western goodness, ranging from juicy Aus/NZ steaks (yes they were ~$10 each but sooooooooooo worth it!) to an entire wall devoted to cheese and the top floor is devoted entirely to booze.

The down side to this holiest of holy’s is that it is not near a JR line and is only accessible from a local subway which is a little out of the way for us to get to from Shinagawa. The net result of the adventure was that my backpack was stuffed full for the journey home (no room for any electronic stuff ) but we ate very well that evening!

The rest of the week saw us register as aliens (it’s now official) and apply for our re-entry permits. I dare say Japan is fairly similar to Australia in that they want to know contact details for any foreigners – however they ramp up the bureaucracy by insisting that anyone who has a visa but leaves for whatever reason has to reapply from scratch unless they have a re-entry permit. This in itself wasn’t hard to do thanks to the reloJapan consultants, but I would have been pulling out my comb-over strand by strand if we had to try and work this stuff out by ourselves.

Kate then left us to go to work whilst our Kyoko-san (our guide) took me to get a mobile. Rest assured the chaps we went to see are just as if not more dodgy than Australian telco salesmen (one guy tried to sell me an iphone on the basis that I would use it when I was in Japan but once I left all I would have would be an Ipod).

I tried to get across through Kyoko-san that I had an unlocked Iphone and just needed the SIM with a basic plan…… The salesman refused to hand over the SIM on the basis that the iphone wouldn’t work unless it was a Softbank one *GRUMP* (and even though I don’t speak Japanese apparently my facial expressions can transcend linguistic boundaries! Who knew??)

As a result I had to sign up for a 2 year contract on a phone that can display about as much English as I can speak Japanese – needless to say I use it for calls between Kate and me and that’s about it. Oh and for reference even though I have message bank, please don’t leave me a message (sms only!) as the damn menus are in Japanese and I have no idea on how to access them! To my loyal fashion consultants out there (you know who you are) check out the phone and see how far I have come......

Kate also had similar language issues with her phone but after my experience in the shop I went out on a limb and whipped her work SIM into the unlocked iphone and voila Kate has predictive texting again! (and more importantly, Angry Birds).

On Friday we went to dinner in Ropongi. Not really having an idea/preference for dinner we settled on a German restaurant. The beer was nice but a word of advice is that a ‘hamburg steak’ in this joint is just a big mince patty which was tasty, but not quite what we were expecting.

This blog more or less continues in the next entry -- I didn't want to make it too big........

for a good time, call...........

CHARISMA MAN!!!!!

I am not sure if I should be worried, but credit must got to Karate who found this at the back of one of our tour maps

Swarley has competition!!!

Foundation Day

Our journey today started with a forecast of snow......... Karate and I couldn't agree on whether it was snow or rain (it CLEARLY wasn't snow!!) so we concluded it must be sleat. Hopefully you can see the stuff in the back ground.....

Our first stop was the Imperial palace. En route we saw some crazy individuals doing a fun run of sorts...... though I find the term a bit of an oxymoron, specially when it is around 1-2 degree celsius...........

Unfortunately due to the unseemly weather and some trivial guard posts we only glimpsed a little of the palace. Apparently full blown tours of the grounds are only available in late Dec/early Jan

More importantly we managed to find tech heaven..... the actual area is massive and deserves far more attention, however I was acutely aware that it is not everyones cup of tea *cough*Karate*cough* so we kept our exploration to the one 7 levelled building!!! Needless to say there is much potential in this building and district in general!

POWDAH!

Welcome back Ninjafans,

Today is a public holiday (Foundation Day) in Japowdah and to celebrate it is snowing......... I am sure if we stand outside long enough we might catch a flake before it melts :P

In any case we are hoping it gets a little colder so the snow quality improves, if for no other reason than I can take a photo of the durned stuff before it gets us soggy!!

We hope to hit up the electronics surburb today which should be good (toys toys toys!) and might stop by something called the imperial palace or some such.

With any luck we will have some photo's to show soon enough!

Toys of the Week

This ongoing post will be dedicated to the various nifty gadgets we discover during our journey.

An honourable mention must go to the loo in our temporary apartment which has a super warmed seat and 4 buttons that are impressive in their pressure and accuracy!

Toy #1

As basic as it is, there is no doubt as to the usefulness of a wireless router. Most apartments in Japan seem to have built in network ports to run the fibre optic interweb (Brilliant!!!)..... unfortunately when there is a limited number of ports and cables someone has to go without......... thankfully this little puppy for the sake of $40AUD lets Karate and me share it.

Rise of the Ninja

Welcome Ninjafans, to this shiny new blog.

We begin our journey at Perth airport comfortable in the knowledge that we are allowed a massive 64kgs each -- unfortunately if the appropriate fine print had been read by either Karatekate or myself we would have noted that is only for travel after June 2011.

With just over 50kgs each (who knew nunchucks were so heavy!!) we were gutted to be informed by the kindly Q#$%@S lady that we had a smidge under 30kgs of excess. At $35/kg my remaining kidney was all of a sudden feeling very very nervous.

I was not sure if it was some of the early mind tricks learnt online for ninja school or the threat of two adults bursting into tears, but the very nice checkin lady waived the charges after I removed one of the smaller suitcases and promised to take it as hand luggage.

The flight was quite enjoyable, the extra room (not just leg space) and superior culinary delights of business make life a lot easier! I also managed to squeeze in some late night calisthenics by changing into Q#$%@S complimentary pj's in the confines of one of the toilets. Good ninja training methinks.

After retrieving our luggage from the baggage carousel we managed to scamper *cough*collapse*cough* onto the express train that was to take us to out temporary accomodation. Unfortunately we discovered that carriages 1-6 were going to our stop and 7-12 not so much. So huffing and puffing we managed to lug the cases from carriage 9 to 6 where we were able to relax *cough*collapse*cough* for 20min.

All that was left for us to do was navigate from the train station to the apartments. Which was much easier once we determined the helpful 'YOU ARE HERE' maps are..........
Upside down Miss Jane, upside down!

Ninja Navigation 101 = HD