http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/wavey/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from wavey en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:41:03 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:41:03 +0000 Keeping the kids happy in Tokyo part 2 There is lots and lots to do with the kids in Tokyo many of them free or if not very cheap the entrance fees for most of the museums is around the 600 to 700 Yen mark for adults 3.50 and half that for kids. We have made use of the Grutt pass which you can get for 2000Yen and will get you in mostover 60 of the museums art galleries and zoos in Tokyo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-296974.html So now we are settled in Tokyo for the next couple of months and the kids are at school nearby our rented apartment. So we promised the kids some fun days as a reward for trying hard to cope with school.Tokyo Disney.So we tried to avoid it for as long as possible but the kids had a day off school during the week because of having their school sports day on saturday great fun and very well orga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-296311.html North Shore we decided to do a guided tour of the north shore as we did not know the best beaches etc so booked a japanese guy doing tours of around 8 people. We went from Waikiki through Honolulu and past Pearl Harbour where all the americans were headed for and up through the middle of the island to our first stop the Dole plantation Pineapple farm lots of pineapples of all shapes and s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Oahu/blog-293758.html The long awaited much talked abouttrip to Hawaii. Part 1.I have to say the plane flight of 8 hrs from Tokyo was a surprise you forget how far away from everywhere these islands are But the descent over Oahu was awesome big volcanoes and beautiful coast with sandy beaches and clear water what else can I say The trip through airport security was 'tight' and obviously a British guy with 2 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Oahu/Honolulu/blog-285327.html After having the lovely food and onsen spa at Tsuwano we moved along the coast to Matsue a large city the prefectural capital which is sat between 2 large lakes. We stayed in a large hotel still japanese style room which was very business like but suited the city we were in the hotel was very close to the castle at Matsue which is the largest of the 12 remaining original castle towers in Ja http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-279253.html After departing the beautiful island of Miyajima we headed to the north coast of Western Honshu to the seaside town of Hagi. Hagi is a well known pottery producer and also paid an important part in the restoration of the Emperor to power Meiji restoration in 1867. There are many old samurai residences still intact and the Horiuchi area which retains its original samurai days layout of houses http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-277672.html Hi All sorry for the interruption to blog entries have been busy would you believe anyway all settled down now and I'll do an update every few days or so so sit back and enjoy the trip. We did After visiting Kurashiki and wandering around the Bikan area of old preserved houses alongside the central canal area very nice but very geared for the tourist and the Ohara Art museum well wor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-273827.html Tour of Southern Japan by Train using the Foreign rail pass of course.starting from Tokyo taking the bullet shinkansen train to Kyoto overnight stay visiting relatives then onto Kurashiki 2 nights via Himeji and Okayama. As usual the shinkansen are amazingly punctual and fast and include a buffet service in the style of jumbo jets via a trolley service selling everything from obento boxes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-263614.html Hi all after getting used to being back in Tokyo and catching up with the family and readjusting to the food drink seating language toilets we have got settled.So we made our way to the Izu peninsular just 3 hrs drive to the south west of Tokyo an area very popular with Tokyoites with many many holiday flats here including a lot of company owned holiday apartments. This area is very http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-261897.html I'll add the photos for the previous text I'ts my first posting so bear with me guys http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-261899.html