First Update

Ok 39 days after we started our tip around Asia and who knows where else we go to, I decide to start writing something. Not sure what and for sure not as detailed as Silvia but I am writing something.  Plus we might be in Europe by the time I finish writing this. (no we are in China).

So let’s see, I will summarize our trip of Vancouver, Maui and Japan. We started our trip April 4 from Playa del Carmen straight to Vancouver BC were we stayed with my mother. Saw a few friends and the hoards of kids that they have; you know who you are (the world is Not under populated).  Vancouver what can I say rain rain rain, great to see all of you guys.

Let’s move on to Maui.....Surf.....sun.....that’s it... ok no we.... saw Carole and she showed us how to paddle surf (you get on a long surf board with a paddle and you paddle while riding the waves) they say it is the next sport to be accepted in the Olympics ahaaaa; lots of fun.

A nice drive to do is the Paia too Hana drive, about 3 hours (1 way) with a few stops.  The best stop for me was a lava tube.
The volcano is worth the drive in a sunny day (early in the morning not like we did at 11am clouds start to move in).  Hotels are expensive but we named our own price using priceline.com and stayed at a 500 dollar a night for 134 dollars.  Viva Priceline.  We did also spend 1 night in Waikiki, were I had the best ribs ever at the Cheese Factory Restaurant.  Could not believe how good it was and we saw the best sunset so far.

Ok lets get to the real stuff I wanted to write about.

Japan like nothing I imagined, it was amazing.  Fast trains, great food, all the women were miniskirts; what else can I say about Japan o yes hotels were expensive, everyone I mean everyone had the ability to fall asleep on the spot anywhere i.e. in the subway, MacDonald or any restaurant after eating, while they ate, at Starbucks after a coffee, standing up its amazing.  It’s also amazing that no one will help you if you are in distress i.e. girls is running towards the subway in high heels ( for starters you should not be running if you have high heels like every woman in Japan has ) she is almost in the train but her right foot slips and flies face first towards the other door of the subway ( I am watching everything ) she land face first on the feet of a man that was standing, do you think he moved an inch to see if she needed any help NO NOT 1 FCKN INCH unbelievable, maybe they think it’s better to ignore the whole situation so the girl does not feel stupid, who knows. 
Towards us foreigners they were very helpful twice we were far away from our hotel and they were kind enough to take us to it, having said that some times when we asked for direction they would run away as if we had some sort of desises.  There was only one thing that really annoyed me, that is the bicycles, let me explain: Tokyo is a highly populated metropolitan area and smug is almost not existent between the electric cars, mopeds and bicycles there is almost no pollution, other countries could learn from them, however for a population that is so advanced in every respect they are a pain in the ass (and for all I care they could shove the bicycles up their a.s.s.)   They ride them on the side walk they don't have a special lane like in Canada, you are constantly playing chicken with them maybe they do it to have fun with us foreigners. 

Before going to Japan we looked up a lot of web sites, read guides etc. They all make you fear going to Japan i.e. no one speaks English, it’s too expensive, you will get lost, food is strange and expensive, transportation is difficult and expensive etc etc.

Well the first point is true no one speaks English, so what none of us speak Japanese.  Food is awesome and great for my waist line (lost 5 kilos in the first 18 days, Silvia lost a few also, however she has a lot less to loss than I do) and the food is cheap.  We could eat for 6 to 10 dollars for both of us.  Silvia was a sport about eating sushi since she does not like raw fish but she sure ate it when we went to the sushi bars, (usually spent between 10 to 15 dollars for both of us) however once we went in to a sushi bar and got taken to the cleaners, trust me I will not even tell you how much we spent but it was great.

Transportation in Japan is incredible, the trains and subway system is like no other in the world maybe the Swiss can compete with the Japanese but no one else.  It’s true, the trains are extremely expensive but they do go over 200 kilometers an hour and they are never late.  We did have a Japanese rail pass for 2 weeks ( you can only by these outside of Japan, need to be a foreigner with a tourist visa and they cost about 225 per week well worth it ) we spent 450 dollars on ours and after calculating our fares on the trains we took, we spent just over 850 dollars.  Directions for the transportation system is great, all the stations have the name of your current station, show you the name of the next and previous station, in our alphabet what else do you want, someone to walk you around holding your hand, where is your sense of adventure.

Let’s see what else was strange ......o yes the walking dolls what’s up with this some girls would dress up like dolls yes dolls I can’t even describe them so here is a picture do you understand what I am talking about.  It sure wasn't any of our designers that came up with that fashion, I personally prefer the high heels, and short skirt combination that 90% of the women used in Japan some would mix it up by putting some long socks.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa I almost forgot they do have a banking system that seems to be archaic, yes for a nation that is so advanced they could have ATMs that have a menu in English, it took us forever to find a machine that I could understand and not have fear that it would swallow my card because I pressed something that I shouldn't have.  Also when you go to the bank to change cash into yen you need not be in a rush bring passport and patience.   At all the banks you need to take a number by pressing 1 of 3 buttons in Japanese, assuming that all buttons are for a different line when in doubt take all 3.

Its true Japanese people are very educated and when they have a cold they were the white little masks on their face to avoid transmitting and receiving germs.  It’s strange at first but you get used to it.  One thing that I could not get used to is the slurping, chewing with your mouth open, sucking on the noodles, etc.  I tried doing it myself (when in Rome do as the Romans) but I simply could not muster enough sucking power as the Japanese.  It must take years of practice.

On a side note, cell phones don't work in Japan, at least not ours. They have their own little system.

Ok let’s move on to accommodations, we have been trying to stay at places that hostel world recommends because you can see availability, reviews etc.   All I really need is to have wireless, sleep next to my woman and if possible have my own craper.  I had no idea that hostels have changed so much, they are luxury compared to 15 years ago and I thought I would be old at 38 but not so.  I have seen a few grampas running around and what’s up with everyone and their dog having a laptop.

Anyways in Japan we stayed at a few Ryokans (guest homes, with typical Japanese customs). Not as cheap as I expected but great.  We also stayed at the smallest room I have ever stayed at in Tokyo but it had the fastest internet connection I have ever seen.  Did I mention that we always slept on the floor and that you always leave your shoes at the door.  (Follow me on this) Then you get flippers to go to your room and you leave them outside your door, then you put them on to go to the bathroom but take them off before entering the washroom and put on another pair to go in the washroom (give it a rest with this on off on off business; at the end you don't know what to do).

Overall impression of Japan was great.  I would go back to visit the north and the southern islands.  I would just plan better what time of the year to go.   I would definitely not go when we went again because it their GOLDEN WEEK (actually 2 weeks) they all go on holiday.  So everything is booked solid.  The weather was great.  So far a good start to the trip. 

Our itinerary in Japan

TOKYO 5 nights: 

SENSO-JI TEMPLE: if you first get to Tokyo this will give you a sense of what awaits you but in a small scale.

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET: yes its worth getting up at 5:30am to get the first subway so that you get there early.  Don't be discouraged by people trying to run you over with their bicycles, mopeds, and small 3 wheel cars with fish in the back and did I mention the looks (we are working get out of here look) push your way through all this and you will be able to get some great photos, just be sharp on your feet there is a lot of waltzing around (drink a few coffees). 

TOKYO TOWER: Great birds view of Tokyo from the top

GINZA AREA: can’t remember but I know we went there.

SHIBUYA: Great place to people watch from the second floor of the Starbucks on the corner of the street. You get here by taking subway Z or G to station 01.  Lots of places to walk to in the back streets and around.

HARAJUKU DISTRICT:  YOYOGI Park is here nice place to take a walk and on the other side of the street stars a high end shops for the high maintenance women (bubalo this is the street for you).

ROPPONGI: ok a friend told us we had to go to this shopping center and go to the bathrooms, yes the bathrooms.  The toilets have heated seats, they spray water and they are ultra high tech.  Never seen anything like it.

Also the Chinese embassy is in walking distance.  This embassy is much better than the one in Vancouver BC; you can get your Visa to China done in 24 hours without having to kill anyone or getting up at 5am to stand in line till 9am when it opens in Vancouver and then being told the numbers have finished no more visas today (sori).  I think you get my drift.

KAMAKURA day trip from Tokyo: HASE – DERA TEMPLE & GREAT BUDDHA

AINOKURA 1 night: Ainokura is a World Heritage place in the mountains.  3 of these villages have Gassho houses; you can only find them in this part of Japan.  Great experience to sleep in one of these houses.

OSAKA 5 nights - great base camp to go to the other cities near buy. Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji, Nara and Fushimiare all within 45 minutes by train.

HIMEJI day trip from Osaka - castle one of the best castles I saw in Japan

KOBE  same day as Himeji trip from Osaka -  best known for its cow meet, these cows get to drink beer all day and they get their ass massaged all day. Nice life, at least until they end up in your plate as a juicy burger.

KYOTO 2 day trip from Osaka – Its endless the amount of temples that exist in Kyoto below is a list of the ones that we were recommended by people that live in the area.

NIJO CASTLE; what can I say everyone goes to it so we did too.

KINKAKU-JI TEMPLE: the golden pavilion

RYOAN-JI TEMPLE: Zen garden all rocks, you could sit for hours trying to find the meaning to life or simply go to sleep.

NINNA-JI TEMPLE: five story pagoda

GION – HIGASHIYAMA DISTRICT: great walk through temples and shops well worth doing.

PHILOSOPHERS WALK: Yes the name says it all (once upon a time there was a philosopher that walked down the river) a great walk.

HIROSHIMA 2 nights - Peace museum a must see and the site of the A-Bomb Dome also.

MIYAJIMA day trip from Hiroshima – 2 great temples one that everyone goes to see (Itsukushima Shrine) on the water and the other one is (Daisho-in Temple) this second one is away from the crowds.

Make sure that you check the night before going the tide.  You don’t want to go on low tide.  We checked the night before with the owner of the Ryokan and she looked on the local paper and gave me the bad news that high tide would have been at 7:20am and again at 7:20pm.  Well pm would have been too late and dark so no other option than 7:20am, which meant getting up at 5:30am great thing was  that no one was there.

TOKYO 2 nights again (poor planning) but it gave us a chance to see Nikko that we missed on our first nights at Tokyo.
 

NIKKO day trip from Tokyo - about 2 hours from Tokyo well worth the ride with a train to see the TOSHO-GU SHRINE.  One of the most elaborate and colorful ones I saw in Japan.

NAGANO 1 night - came here only to see the monkeys in the hot springs well worth the trouble. It only took 3 trains, 1 taxi, 2 buses, and 50 minute walk and it was raining.  At least that night we went in an ONSEN (hot spring) you need to be nude and women in one side men in another separate hot springs.  Off course we had to break the rules.......

Did I mention that this was the site of the 1998 winter Olympics.

OSAKA 2 nights - stayed here the last 2 days before going to china

NARA day trip from Osaka - TODAI-JI TEMPLE big Buddha in the middle, huge structure and wild deer roaming freely everywhere.  By now they are used to humans so watch out for your pockets or backpack if you have food.  I am sure there is other stuff to see but by this time it was the end of the trip and we just wanted to see the main temples or shrines and this one is it.

FUSHIMI day trip from Osaka on the same day that we went to Nara – Fushimi shrine has nothing to do with a shrine it’s been donated by the business men that produce among other thinks sake.  So it’s not that old but it’s great to walk trough.  We went to Fushimi train station from Kyoto 15 minutes and then walked to the shrine (3 kilometers ) how ever when we got there their was another train station  (INARI Station) right in front.

maybe in a few weeks I will look at this and add to it.

Check out the videos and photos.