He’s My Japanese Boy!

Hello Readers.Welcome back to our blog. We Cassons (well, Bec and I) currently find ourselves holidaying in Japan. For two weeks. It’s a ten hour flight from Melbourne so very doeable for a holiday.The Japanese are an amazingly polite, considerate and technology obsessed nation; and it’s awesome. If you’ve ever thought about adding technology to an everyday item, they’ve already done it. For example, at home my toilet has just two buttons to flush it: one for a long flush and one for a short flush. In Japan it’s not that simple. Firstly, you have a heated seat. Just like in your car. Once you’ve embraced this, and you’ve done your business you then have to choose your flush type (normal, light, oscilate); but before you make that choice you have to choose how you want your personal parts washed. Wonderfully bizarre! So even going to the toilet in Japan is an art form thanks to technology.Technology is just awesome.

TokyoSo today the weather in Tokyo was mild but wet. Actually, very wet. This meant that traditional sightseeing wasn’t on the agenda. So we decided to go to a district in Tokyo called Akhibara, an area renowned for it’s electronics. After a few short train rides (the trains are fantastic and unnaturally punctual) Bec and I were in Akihabara. As we dodged the rain drops the shops came in to view with their doors consuming the techno hungry Japanese public like whales consuming plankton. Happy to be at the mercy of consumerism, Bec and I donned our plankton onesies and merrily entered the mouth of the beast.Upon first viewing the shop was like a massive supershop teaming with all the phones, tablets, games machines, fans, TVs, fridges, toys, models, laptops and gadgets you could think of. Some shops were spread over six floors, with staff at every turn. It was chaos, but worked. However, what we didn’t realise was that the shops in shopping centres in Japan don’t have walls to seperate themselves from one another. The shops just occupy a space in a building. Hence the feeling of being in a super sized shop because all you can see is row after row after row of products. It was like the duty free areas in airports where you just meander through all the goods because there aren’t any walls to get in your way, but on a much bigger scale. Like, much bigger.Suffice to say I was in my element. There were a ton of things I had no need for, but all the same still needed them. Bec and I walked (I probably skipped) through a plethora of zones offering to trade our money for pure electronic magic and wizardry. I never realised I needed so many new phones, and neither did my gorgeous wife. She knew right away I didn’t need so many new phones.After much oohing and arring in the wondrous money draining electronic spectacle that was Akihabara, it was time to embrace the rain, and head back by train to our hotel to find a restaurant for dinner.Just a quick note about the trains in Japan. They are amazing and used by much of the population to move around. The stations are choc full of people and just buzz with life. There isn’t an ounce of graffiti or litter anywhere. Information is everywhere, either electronically or in human form. The trains operate to a strict timetable and run every few minutes, even the bullet trains (we travel on them soon). Inside the trains information screens, once again, are everywhere. Letting you know what carriage you’re in, what your next stop is, how long your trip will be or if there are disruptions on other lines; all interspersed with movie trailers and adverts for cleaning products. In Japan, the railways are still king.

Bye for now.

More Tokyo

So over the past couple of days Bec and I have been stretching our tourist legs in conjunction with the trains to explore a bit more of Tokyo and it’s suburbs / districts. With a warm weather predicted for Sunday, we set off for the gardens that surrounded the Royal Palace. However, they’re not actually thee palace gardens but the public spaces that border the palace. This was great and gave us our first glimpse of some historical Japanese buildings with their enigmatic styling that western movies have popularised over the years. The walk was pleasant, the glimpses of the old buildings was thrilling, the weather was a balmy 30°C and our day was still young.

From the faux palace gardens Bec and I meandered into central Tokyo without an agenda. It was just walk until something caught our eye, and there’s a lot to catch your eye. Here’s some of what caught our, or more my, eye.

After a spot of lunch, and with time on our side, it was off to Tokyo’s Skytree. A stunning tower with viewing platforms some 450m in the air. Still, that distance was nothing compared to the length of the queues for tickets to ascend this monster of a structure. How I loathe queues 😠! Lucky for us though, their was a ticket area just for tourists and with a little bit of extra cash we avoided the anger inducing queues that the Japanese couldn’t. Huzzar! This is what we encountered:

Once back on terra firma it was time to head to Shibuya, one of the busiest and most densely populated places in Japan. Oh, and it has the world renowned Shibuya Crossing. Something I remember from the Resident Evil movies. Happy to report no zombie outbreak when we were there. By golly though, it was stuffed with people. I didn’t realise so many people actually existed in the world. Everything moved at a pleasant pace though, which was surprising. No bumping, stopping, stalling, swerving or cursing involved as Bec and I rounded off our day at one of Shibuya’s best vegan friendly restaurants (got to support the other half).

Phew! What a day.

Even More Tokyo

Crikey! Tokyo just doesn’t let up. It devours time like a sweet starved kid eating chocolate in a candy shop. The past two days have vanished in an instant. We have one day left in this stunning city before heading off to Osaka.

On Monday Bec and I headed off to Hakone, an area 70km out of Tokyo and just 28mins by Bullet Train. This place is made up of many smaller villages all in an area of natural wonder. It’s also one of the best places to see Mt. Fuji from if the weather is clear enough. No such luck for us though. However, that didn’t stop us from doing and seeing some great things.

So, our day went a tad like this.

Come on Bec. Noisy train station. Announcements. This way. Jingles and melodies. Announcements. Shooooowiiiiiish! Train arrives. All aboard!

Ooooh! Wow! Bloody hell this thing’s fast. Bec, Bec, look at that. Wow! Bloody hell this thing’s fast. Blank stare! Annoyed look. Wow! Ooooh! Bloody hell this thing’s fast. Stopping. Doors slide open. Jingles and melodies. Announcements. Woohoo! Another train ride. Mind the doors.

Toot, toot! Rattle, shake, rattle, bump, sharp turn, slippery seat, squashed wife, smile on my face not appreciated, rattle, rattle, shudder. Wow! So many hydrangeas.

Doors open. Footsteps. No melodies or jingles. Toot, toot! Quiet platform. Signs. Arrows. Traffic. Sigh! Shops, I think. Food.

Later. C’mon, c’mon. Museum. Picasso. No pictures. Whaaaaaaat? Ooooooooh! Amazing man. Wise words on walls. Humbling. C’mon, c’mon! Outside. Sunny, hot. Blues, greens, rich reds. So much smiling.

Time to eat. No I don’t want sushi. Errrr! Opinions shared. Pizza. Woohoo! Rush, rush. Get that bus. Hungry. Signs. Huh? No eating or drinking. OMG! Torture. Come on bus, come on bus. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Slooooooow journey. Hills. Bendy roads. Tight turns, slippery seat, squashed wife, smile on my face not appreciated. Braking. Swooooosh! Footsteps. Fresh air. Bus leaves. Waiting. Boxes opening, containers cracking. Hungry. Honk, honk! Swooooosh! Bus. Slooooooow journey! Sigh! Hungry. Ooooh! Great views. Final stop, everyone off. Smell of water. Hills. Pathway. Shoreline. Peace and quiet. Watery sounds. Boxes open, containers crackle, scrunching of foil. Food! Boat ride. Cool.

Another bus. Toot, toot. Doors closing. Traffic. Peak time. Rivers, bridges, Japanese architecture, people. BULLET TRAIN. Bloody hell this thing’s fast. No response. Crikey! Things to see. Windows are cool. Slowing down. Doors. People. Many, many people. Jingles and melodies. Walking. Walking. Walking. Hotel. Kon’nichiwa. Ding! Elevator noises. Ding! Lock whirs. Door closes. Rest.

Last Bits of Tokyo

So our time in Tokyo is over and we are now on Osaka. However, before I blog about the latter city I need to finish off chatting about the former (in a very brief manner). So here’s the other stuff Bec and I got up to:

The Teamlabs Borderless Art Museum was a lot of fun. Digital art that freely flows between rooms and spaces, some of which you can follow around and watch evolve. Very different and unlike any art space you’ve been to before. Museums and I have an unusual relationship, in that I don’t dawdle in them. I stop at what intrigues and interests me whilst bypassing material that doesn’t, no matter it’s creator or significance. However, this art installation held my imagination captive longer than any other art installation has done in the past. Go see it if you ever get the chance.

Another port of call in Tokyo was the Mipig Cafè which is a cafè that allows you to have beverages and vittles whilst micro pigs (piglets) freely roam about, and because you’re sitting low to the ground there’s the chance they might come and rest on your lap. Or legs. Or both. It was a lot of fun, and piglets are so cute.

And that was some of Tokyo, or rather the tiny amount we saw of it.