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Published: July 19th 2012
Monet's Lily Pond
How can this be in Japan!I suppose you have all been wondering - where is Mike and Paula’s blog! Well I can tell you the hotel that I suggested said it had wifi but when you tried to connect you just could not do so. Not only that we had to get a taxi to it - the hotel Mike suggested was across the road from the train station and probably had wifi!
Does not stop there as we try booking in at the hotel reception and they have no booking for us - they can find a room but it was a smoking room and not a Japanese Room that we booked - Decided that keeping head down at this stage was a really good thing as anyone who has seen steam coming from Mike’s ears knows this was a good tactic.
Well can you remember Tuesday’s blog where we were going for something to eat in the museum? Well what a meal all 10 courses, starting off with sake. I can honestly say that the meal was superb. After a couple of course of Sashimi (sea bream, horse mackerel and octopus) I asked Mike if he enjoyed the
last two courses. Yes, he says they were really nice, to which I replied you know you have just eaten raw fish! I have a thought though, how are the Japanese ladies so small if they eat meals like this!!!!
Anyone who knows Mike knows he is quite conservative with his eating - this has gone out of the window as I have been just pointing at things to order - so most of the time we have no idea what we are eating - sometimes I bet this is a good thing.
We decided to celebrate my last working day and had a bottle of wine with the meal - Please note this is my first glass of wine since arriving in Japan - I can tell you it tasted like nectar! Unfortunately there was no Japanese wine on the menu so we had to get a Chardonnay, but hey ho, I was not complaining.
We also decided that getting into the spirit of things is becoming second nature as we ordered Japanese breakfast instead of a western one. Again, my thoughts jump back to how are they so slim!
Tokyo Train
Told you that you can face forward - Mike turning the seat before he started his step class! On Wednesday morning off we trot to the Benesse hotel bus to take us to the Chichu Art Museum. Not really knowing what to expect apart from their Monet collection so off we went in trepidation.
Wow, is all I can say. First off you go through a garden that is set up as Claude Monet’s lily pond - which totally blows your mind as you are not expecting it in Japan.
Then you go on to Chichu Art Museum and guess what most of it is underground it was designed by Tadao Ando and is mostly of glass, concrete, wood and steel it is an amazing building,if you like architecture I would urge you to look up his work - I know as soon as I have wifi access I will be.
I am now going to go into Paula mode so please bear with me for a few minutes while I rant on. So when we get inside the museum we go into the Monet room, however, prior to going in you have to take your shoes off and put these white slippers on. Only in
Takayama
This is what we travelled 4 1/2 hours to see! Japan, can they have a totally white room including floor to show off a piece of art at its best.
Well as soon as you go in you see the painting of the water lily pond and both parts of the painting measures 200 x 300 cm so you can imagine the enormity of the painting - it was surreal first seeing the garden outside and then coming inside and seeing the original slap bang in front of you. I must admit at this point I did not think it could get any better.
How wrong could I be, as James Turrell was the next artist. OMG is all I can say. You actually end up inside the art - you walk up some black steps and it appears there is a white wall in front of you. You keep walking into the white space and then you realise that it is a long wide box and you cannot make out when it stops, it is amazing. Then you turn round to where you walked in, it is illuminated and appears to be an orange space, which your brain tells you cannot be so as when you walked into the room at first it was white.
Not sure if this piece is on the intranet but if it is you need to have a look it is called Open Field. You are probably thinking this girl is now off her rocker but honestly it is amazing.
We then went into Walter De Maria’s room and he has placed a 2.2 m diameter sphere at the top of a flight of stairs with wooden sculptures which are covered in gold leaf around the room. The room has a glass panel to the sky which reflects down on to the sphere so it constantly changes with the weather, day and night skys.
Even Mike said that is the best Art Museum he has ever been in and to be honest it is one of the best I have ever been in. I have been in a few and it is right up there with MOMA in New York and if I am totally honest overtakes MOMA by a mile.
So back on our travels and a ferry and a few trains later we arrive in Takayama which is supposed to be a really old Japanese town - Mike is wondering why we are going there, to which I said it looked good in the guide book! After the hotel fiasco I am really hoping that the village is all it is cracked up to be in the guide book. As I can see I am going to get a bit of stick if it isn’t, which to be honest after traveling 4 1/2 hours I would be giving Mr F some serious stick.
Just to give you a bit of a laugh - On Wednesday Mike says my backpack is really heavy, have you been putting things in it, that used to be in yours. To which I replied - what me, course not and remember I am carrying the paperweight we just brought, hoping I had side stepped him - but canny old Mike brought the weight of his rucksack back up to which I had to confess well I have put a couple of things in your backpack - I didn’t think you would notice!
On the train journey to Takayama I went to the loo (yes you really wanted to know this but there is a reason I am telling you this!) and guess what I realised that this was an old bullet train. Shock horror, I had to put a toilet seat down by touching it. Normally you just wave your hand over the sensor and it does it for you. I am going to get you a photo of the Japanese loos as they are amazing. Even down to, if you don’t want anyone to hear you tinkle, you can play a flushing sound - how brill is that .
I also had a giggle on the train, do you know in Japanese trains you are never facing the wrong way, the chairs swivel on their axis - tell you Mr Branson you have a lot to learn.
The train we were on also had a step up to the seats and Mike took his first step class as the train shifted around, it was hilarious to watch! Who needs Jane Fonda “burn the fat” - thinking of getting Mike to do a Step DVD for Christmas - watch this space - orders being taken now!
Anyway Takayama is a beautiful little place and to be honest it was worth the 4 1/2 hours to get there but need to get to Tokyo for tonight as our rail passes run out and it costs an absolute fortune to buy a ticket on the day. So off we trot to the train station and thank goodness Mike was with me as the tickets we got said to change at Nagoya and get the next train to Okayama not Tokyo. Now if that was me I would not have noticed it but eagle eyed Mike noticed it so we changed our tickets - woo thank goodness there is one of us who is on the ball - not like dippy me where my view would have been,oh so we go to Okayama and then change to Tokyo - where Mr F says “do you know how long the journey would have taken us doing it your way? over 7 hours! Good thing he is on the ball, ha ha
I am getting a little sad now because we are coming to the end of our time in Japan and to be honest I have fallen in love with the country and the people. If anyone out there reading this blog comes into any money and you want to see a bit of the world Japan is the place to be. My only niggle is wifi is not common in Japan which seems odd to me as my perception was that they were streets ahead of us in this technology stuff - probably making it but not wifi!
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sylv
non-member comment
glad to hear your tales haha