Parrot fish

We treated ourselves to a late start on my last day in Japan and were pleasantly surprised to find that breakfast wasn't the usual bun fight it had been on our first visit to this hotel. All the tourists must have been up and out for an early trawl of the sights. As we'd been out of internet access in Hokkaido, we took the opportunity to check our emails after breakfast and the British weather came across as the main theme in our messages from home. Being as we'd just come from the snow barracks of northern Japan and were now enjoying a gorgeous sunny morning in Tokyo, we we're a little unsure of exactly what day it was or indeed, what our names were. How can one country cope so well with a bucket load ... read more

I was rudely awakened by an early alarm clock at 6.30am - far too early an alarm for a holiday don't you think? However, I could also hear what I hoped were fresh coffee beans being ground so with my hopes high, we went for breakfast. Not only did we get fresh coffee but also 6 kinds of homemade jam, some from native wild fruit. Of course, Mr Matsuo and I, then got into an in depth chat about 'stuff what I have grown and made into jam' which I guess delayed breakfast a little but certainly not to it's detriment. It appears I need to move on from jam and into liqueurs. We also got into an international conversation which I shall entitle 'I remember when this was all fields' which we could understand even ... read more

We made a fairly early start as we had seats on the 9.30am bullet train back to Tokyo so we grabbed a few edible supplies at the station (pringles, macadamia nuts with crunchy cheese, and some green beans that tasted like mushy peas) and hopped aboard). The journey was uneventful which is how I like them and Mark managed to grab some better pictures of Mt Fuji. The lack of events ended once we arrived at the airport however. The departure board displayed our flight to Kushiro in Hokkaido as 'check-in unavailable at this time' and several other flights on the board either delayed or subject to weather conditions. Tokyo was sunny but our flight was eventually cancelled due to the huge piles of snow at Kushiro airport.  We took the decision to transfer our flight ... read more

This country simply adores dogs and in particular, dachshunds. We've seen more in the last week than in a whole year at home. Only minatures ones though I'm afraid mother - they wouldn't fit in their handbags! Nipped into the Dog Bakery before we left yesterday and Mark managed somehow to prevent me from buying up most of the shop. Left with just some hand-baked donut biscuits for the woofer at home but only if he's behaved himself. The drive back to Tokyo was happily uneventful with Miss Japan GPS back on form - much fewer incidences of 'error zero ichi' being shouted at us which made for a much calmer journey. However, Just as we came to the outskirts of Tokyo, Mark turned to me with a puzzled look on his face. This not being a ... read more

Dear all Have been out of wifi since leaving Karuizawa despite our Kyoto hotel advertising free internet access! Currently sitting at Tokyo domestic airport having a nightmare as our 2.45pm flight to Hokkaido was cancelled due to snow. We transferred onto a flight to Sapporo but this was turned back halfway! We are giving it another go at 7.30pm so fingers crossed yet again please! Will most likely be out of contact now until the 8th but I am still writing so you can all bore yourselves silly on my return. However, if i get a chance to upload, I will. TTFN, Lisa x... read more