Travel Blog - Anne Tate Photo Gallery

Ps.

15/4/2018

Rereading the blog after a month at home is interesting. We packed a lot into this trip & yet there were many things that we missed as we didn’t have either the time or energy. I guess it's good to leave things for another time.
Something I didn't mention was the old restored section of Tokyo Station. The original station dome was bombed in the war. They have done a lovely job and the Maranouchi (west) and Yaeso (east) domes are pictured below.

Tit bits... in no particular order:

Japan has more kitkat flavours than you can shake a stick at: banana, rock melon, strawberry, green tea (ok); wasabi (not bad); sake (brilliant & my favourite, I wish I bought more than 1 little bag for Kim).
Onsen: Japan's gift to the world. IMHO
Warm toilets: Japan's second best gift to the world
Japanese trump Brits as the staunchest rule followers in the world.
Water from the tap is scalding hot. No risk of Legionnaires in Japan.
The train system - utterly fantastic, very easy to get around.
Aside from the trains, Japan literally runs on convenience stores and vending machines.
Sashimi, cold scrambled eggs, rice and miso. I did not take to Japanese breakfasts.
Miso - very polarising you either love it or not. Not.
Green tea ice cream, looks evil - tastes better than it looks.
Pork rectum is a legit item on a legit menu. Not brave enough for that one.
Eating ice cream while it's snowing is fun.
Sugar does not improve seaweed tea.
Cold sake - good. Hot sake - even better.
Futons are awesome for dodgy backs.
Water in the culverts/drains at Nagano is boiling hot.
We saw an American photog who had a huge 2.5 foot lens mounted on a rifle trigger so that he looked like he was literally shooting the birds rather than photographing them. His camera & lens were also accessorised in camouflage to match his own outfit. Seriously.
The outfit that everyone wears to go to the onsen is called a yukata. While they share basically the same shape as a kimono, yukatas were traditionally worn after a bath and/or to bed. Kimonos are much more formal and are not worn directly on bare skin, nor just with underwear.
Future travelers to Tokyo be warned: the tax refund office at Haneda airport is cunningly hidden between security and emigration - with no signs. Once you are through emigration it's too late. I would have been extremely cross if I'd bought camera gear!