Easy Peezy Japan-eezy!

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Hey folks....well me made it through Asia in one piece and what and epic journey it has been and Japan was the icing on the cake. This place is magnificent. I love it here!!! Anyone says to me they are coming to Japan I am coming with you! But yeh Asia is done...no more language barrier issues but no more good food...what am i to do! ohh boo hoo you fat bloater!

So lets start from the beggining. Arriving from China, this place is a Godsend. Hallelujah! Its clean, efficient, smart, elegant, classy, well I wont bang on too much, but you get the picture, its just fantastic. Worlds apart!

So we got our plane from China to Tokyo, and headed straight out of there to Hiroshima. The journey was flawless and this was our first experience with Japanese efficiency. The trains are on time, and I mean to the second. Your never late for a train, just early for the next one. We were both so impressed. I mean coming from the UK, well lets just say I dont need to say anything about the trains there (and yes Equity, all my train excuses were "Le-Jit"!!!...ok well most of them!!!). The trains are clean, and nice, and the stations themselves, well lets say they are like mini cities. They are huge and have everything from shopping centres to supermarkets to restaurants. Most cities are built around the JR Rail stations, thats how much the Japanese loves their trains. The reason I love this place so much is because it is so me and organising anything out here is so easy! Everything runs on time, people want to be on time, manners are impecible, supermarkets are just massive food courts and the people are amazingly happy and helpful every moment of the day. There is no waking up on the wrong side of the bed here, no they are all taking happy pills! Did anyone hear OCD in that sentence about 40 times?

So we arrived in in Hiroshima, pretty dead to the world Jit not the best use of words considering what this city's history it!, so we bummed. The next day we hit again choice of words! all that Hiroshima has to offer, which was the A-bomb museum and dome. It was all pretty depressing, but very well done. Pretty hardcore if you ask me. The video did not hold back with regards to the burns, disfigurement and mutilation. Imagine central London ceasing to exist with a gapping big hole in it...seriously wrong in my opinion!

For the next few days, we would make a few day trips with Hiroshima being our base. The thing with Japan, the JR (Japan Rail) pass (which costs a bomb but is well worth it) allows unlimited travel on the bullet trains, so places which look way too far on the map are usually only an hour or two away, and with things running like clock-work its so easy to plan your day! Planning! OCD!!! We hit Miyajima which is the place of one of the most famous Tori gates in Japan...the one in the water, you will know what I'm talking about when you check out the pics (the big red thing in the water). There not stupid Jit! You'd be surprised my dear! This little island was great, with loads of wild deer walking around. This little buggars aren't the Bambie type creatures you'd imagine, the things are the devil's children, trying to eat everything in sight. I'm talking our food, our maps, our clothes, I mean come on, somebody call animal control! I must admit i was a little weary at the massive herds of Bambies...I actually gave them my map to get them away from me. The whole time we had to walk around with our hands above our heads as if we had been arrested. The Bambies responded to this body position as it was body language for 'No Food!' What a pansy...scared of a deer! We did stumble onto a quintessential Big words Jit, one is impressed! - One needs to shut the F&*%!u(MISSING)p! Japanese garden which was great. We also hit Himeji, to check out Japans most grand and impressive castle. And this thing didn't cease to impress, its something out of a movie set. It looks so "Japanese"...I know that sound retarded I was just about to say that! but somethings you just don't expect to fulfil your childhood images with real places, but the castle definitely did, all you needed was a damsle in distress up in the tower!!! Hang on, I let down my hair and you certainly did not arrive on a stead (or donkey) in your gold armour to rescue me! I said Damsel in distress not a Dragon! Oh Whatever!

We moved on to Kyoto next. Kyoto was great fun, loads of shrines and temples to see. I wont go into too much details, as we are all templed out South East Asia does this too you and only really went to see some of them because people recommended them to us, but one which stood out was the Golden Pavillion, you would mention this one! It was great, and yes it did have a little something to do with the fact that "i loveee gold'. But seriously it was really nice and the gardens which surrounded it was equally as amazing. We took a few day trips out to see Nara, which houses the world's biggest bronze and gold Buddha inside the world's biggest wooden building, and DAMMM they aint lying. Seeing a lot of the 'world's biggest this and the world's oldest that...but hey at least this one wasn't in China...come on Japan! The building was huge, and when I say huge, its ridiculous big and the Buddha itself it equally as big. Jit was even trying to have a conversation with me as to how he might be able to get his hands on some of this gold...obviously what he wears on his wrist is not enough! There is also a tradition which says if a person can squeeze through a hole in one of the pillars inside the building, they will be "enlightened"...well me being all wide had no chance some may say big boned!, but Kay thought she'd have a go, which I found hilarious and the locals agreed. She got down to squeeze through this hole the size of an A3 piece of paper that was the length of what i had to go through not the width! and after much wiggling she managed to pop her head our the other side there was no wiggling actually, with her entire body still inside this collosal trunk head out one side and the feet out the other, classy! With the help from yours truely she managed to get through and since then, Ive noticed a slight change in her, maybe she has be Enlightened...!!! 1. I could of got through without your help and 2. yes there has been a change...bow to me! No you couldnt, your ass was well and truely STUCK!

Together with Shai, our Israeli friend, we made a trip down to Kobe to try the world's most expensive steak, Kobe Beef. Another world's something...they just keep mounting! I was debating for ages whether to try it or not, but Kay pushed me didn't take much persuasion, and I mean its supposed to be the best beef in the world for this reason it did not take much persuasion, so how stupid would it be to try it elsewhere when I'm in Kobe! Well for those of you that don't know, Kobe beef is one of the most expensive steaks money can buy. Its so expensive as the cow leads a better life than most of us. A gourmet diet, hand fed, given beer and sake to flavour the meat, and it given daily massages....I mean whoa! Thats your life already! Thats a good life that bit of meat had before it gets the chop. For a decent bit of Kobe beef back home, your talking around 100 quid, so I thought I'll give it a go. This steak had to be the best bit of meat I have ever had in my life, and I'm a carnivore, I should know. WOW, Im actually dribbling at the thought of it while I type this. Here's a tissue love...calm down! It was that good. I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life and be happy....broke, but happy!

We moved on to the infamous Mount Fuji. So another long train journey (4 changes) as no direct trains run to the mountain's base. The journey again was flawless and the scenary on the way up was amazing. Folks it was like Switzerland! Stunning! We had read and had been told by many disappointed travellers that Mt. Fuji is incredibly shy and only shows its face to a lucky few especially in summer, so we didnt get our hopes up. Remember these words! We arrive on a cloudy day, so we thought there was no chance on us seeing it. We settled in and asked around to see if we had a chance, but got the same answer again and again....NO! A little bit gutted so we thought we check out the famous natural hot spring bath houses (Onsen). There was a really nice one just around the corner. These are amazing, but a little wierd at first. Men and women are seperated and you go in butt-naked. Yup, thats right. I even scared a little old Japanese man so much he left. People are not allowed in Onsen's in Japan with tattoo's as they signify the Yakusa (Japanese Mob). So little old guy is enjoying his hot spring water and in walks me, not looking like Japanese mob, but a brown tourist! He pee's himself and runs out bowing! I felt the power. It's not power hun, it's our colour!!! I scared a whole Japanese family out of the all of my onsen...had it to myself! Thats because of your uggggly face...hehe! I was done after 20 mins or so as I got bored, so I went to give Kay a shout next door and heard an over exicited girl on the other end. I will let her explain the rest. So i got bored like Jit did...nothing much to do when your sitting in water...no rubber ducks or boats. So anyway I thought i would finish off my onsen experience in the sauna. I plonked myself down on the wooden benches, got comfy and looked over my right shoulder...and there it was just hanging out with snow on top. It was perfect and a perfect moment! I had a little drama though as I realised I was jumping around butt naked in a window which if people outside looked up would have seen quite a sight! Then I turned blonde again and thought I need to take pictures of Fuji...will the camera melt in the sauna (please no comments needed, I know!) So I ran down at the same time Jit was screaming my name to ask if I was done in the onsen...errrr no, Mt. Fuji + sauna! Pictures were taken (and the camera did not melt) and we legged it to a place recommended by the onsen owners as a great place to see this perfectly shaped mountain...Pictures say it all!

I was in true amazement at the sheer size of the thing. We ran to the other side of the lake which was 20 minutes away to get the best view I have ever seen in my life. We have been away for 4 months now and I have seen some amazing things, but seeing a snow capped mountain which is perfectly conal has to top the list. It was amazing how close we were to it and we didn't even know it. And when I say it looks perfect, its like someone has painted a backdrop and stuck it there, trust Japan the perfect country to have the perfect mountain. It is like you draw in your pictures...a triangle with a zig-zagged line to show the snow...that was exactly how perfect it was. We were so lucky to get such a great view of it. We were so excited we even thought about climbing it, but were told due to bad weather near the top, we could only go so far and we didn't have the right footwear, so I guess we will save it for our return trip! For sure! We spent the rest of our time here taking some time out, taking advantage of the huge plasma and dvd's, which was nice as we had been on the go everyday since we got here. Da Vinci Code is a good film!

I should take a minute here to talk about Japanese culture. Everyone here is so polite and friendly, its hard to get your head around at first. Everyone bows a million times when they say thank you, every store you go into your greeted with "ashira - shy - ma - zay". Every worker says it to you as you walk around, and it means Hello and welcome to our store, and if they don't say it they could be fired. But in general everyone and I mean everyone is willing to help. They don't have to speak a word of English, and be late for their mothers funeral, but they will stop and help you. Its a really humbling experience. Seriously this is what makes a country amazing. Yeh you get the sights, the food, the hotel...but the people are so giving that everyday is a happy day, you cannot be sad here! Then we have the food. Oh dear lord...whoever thought of putting rice, raw fish, soy sauce, wasabi (even this is a great discovery) and ginger together is a true genious! I love sushi and this place is fullll of it! Its not cheap though. I thought Japan=cheap sushi, but no, its one of the most expensive dishes they have. But none-the-less, both Kay and I have O-D'ed on it while we have been here. You got to! Even the supermaket stuff which the locals consider shite, is about 50 times better to that we get back home in a decent sushi place. Can't get enough of it! But there's noodles and there's tempura the breadcrumb which is what tempura means is in a league of it's own, everything is just great, and so good for you. We have decided that along with doing a Tesco shopping trip we are locating a Japanese and Chinese supermarket too! And then we move on to the best part, the WOMEN! PATEL!!!I mean wow! They are perfect too (just like Kay, but Japanese!). They are always tarted up and wear the tinest skirts and have the most amazing sets of pins....I think you get the picture, I'll stop now or I'll end up single as quick as you can say "Japanese women are fineeee!"!!! Mum and Dad do you see it now, always defended him and I have to deal with this...remember this moment!

So we moved onto Tokyo. We had three days left on our JR pass so we made a few day trips out to Kamakura which is a real nice sea side town which has another giant Buddha It was also a world's biggest buddha outside! What a surprise! ...it was a great place to check out but apart from temples there wasn't much going on. We went to Yokohama which is supposed to be a super trendy city and it was. The people here dress incredibly well and they all look like they are out of a fashion magazine! Even the grannies were kitted out, they put fashionable people at home to shame. And the grannies carry around these huge heavy suitcases...supergrannies! There wasn't much to do here either apart from check out the weekend street performances and wander around. It was nothing on Covent Garden! Come on London! China town was a harsh reminder of China all over again. The spitting started all over again...so nice after being in spick and span Japan! We walked through there quite quickly...but note must be made here the Dim Sum were massive!!! But it was nice to just wander and not have to worry about seeing this sight and that! That evening we stopped off in Kawazaki as they have a massive cinema complex, so we thought we'd catch a flick. Terminator 4 was the pick (can you tell that I picked that one)!!! It was nice having some normality, just being able to get some popcorn and do normal things. Sweet popcorn kicks the crap out of London popcorn...why are people not learning, share the love, share the ingredients!!! It was so good that the following day we came back to watch Transformers 2 in the IMAX (which we did book a week earlier)! A great 2 days of no sight seeing and just doing normal things. Normality is good don't knock us!Our last 4 days in Japan were all about Tokyo. I had been looking forward to this place for ages...and to some extent I was slightly disappointed. There were no Fast and Furious style cars buzzing around, super technology I expected...I guess the movie hype wasn't a reality....surprise surprise. The hairstyles were stop on though, these guys must spend seriously 3 hours doing their hair! We hit all the main spots, the Sony Building where all the future tech is presented, but I didnt really see anything that futuristic. Still want a Vaio...mum, dad our new laptop is going to be a Sony Vaio! Electric city on the other hand was something out of this world, a giant mega store with every gizmo you can imagine, it was HUGE and I was in HEAVEN! I have to admit, though my boyfriend is a super GEEK, this place was amazing for gadgets, I became geeky too! Laptops to fridges to games to pianos! Amazing stuff! These are a few reassuring words to Jit's dad..."Uncle, Jit did see the big 65" TV and said 'he wants it', he also saw keyless computers and he said 'he wants it', he also saw the world's flatest TV and said 'he wants it' and even saw the best massage chairs, hoovers, fridges, DJ decks, games etc and said 'he wants them all!' BUT he did not buy them so budget and money wise we are ok!

The next day we actually woke up at 5 in the morning to get to the Tsukuji Fish Market where the world famous tuna auction takes place. Mum and Dad you would have been so proud of me waking up at the this ridculous time, and the fish market was like 5 times as big as Billingsgate Market. We actually missed the auction but saw the giant tunas getting carved up...these bad boys are huge and go for up to 30 grand a pop! The fish market also provided us with the freshest sushi we will probably ever have I was so excited!...it was amazing, real melt in your mouth kind of stuff! Whilst being here we have tried the following sushi: Eel, Conger, Red Snapper, Engawa, Scallops, Crab, Shrimps, the most expensive Salmon and Tuna, Uncured Ham, Smoked Duck, Fish Eggs (mum i re-tried it and it still tastes nasty!), Octopus, Horse Mackerel, Mackerel... Sushilicious!

Well our time in Japan has come to an end and what a fantastic place it is. Agreed! I can't praise this country and it's people enough...if your planning your next trip, make sure Japan is one of the options (along with Vietnam!) and you tell us when you are going so we can save and come with you. So Asia is DONE! Woo hoo! Half way point has gone...we have had an amazing time, some really great times and some not so great, but its all part of the fun hey! We have loads of stories and memories of which some of them are priceless. Our eyes have seen some truly amazing things...we have just stratched the surface of a continent which holds so much.... so in the great words of Arnie...We Will Be Back!!!

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