Retrospectively speaking

While in Niseko, this was the kind of video we aspired to, but had too much fun enjoying the powder, and not enough know how, to make. Revel in your envy! And mine too, since I’m about eight months away from even seeing snow again!

Memoirs of a tourist

I haven’t actually read the book which inspired the title of this post, but I have seen a geisha in real life! Fleeting though the moment was, as we accelerated out of Kyoto station via shinkansen, it nonetheless marked a fitting end to a whirlwind visit.

I thought three days would have given me plenty of time to gawp like a tourist at these intimately cultural ambassadors of Japan, however luck was not on my side as I wasted several opportunities being unbelievably incompetent at looking where directed. And given the dense population of recommended shrines and temples to see, three days turned out to be wholly insufficient for our sightseeing endeavours.

Snapshot of Tokyo

A little collection of what we saw while wandering around Tokyo. Turns out there aren’t many good photos because mostly we too much in awe of the awesome new things we were seeing, to remember to pull the camera out.

But here’s a small taster that should give you an idea of how vibrant Tokyo is as a city.

Click the image to see the rest of the photos.

Farewell Tokyo!

To say Tokyo will be missed would be, I think, a gross understatement with no worthy rival. Day 5 of being home, and I’m still trying to figure out which part I will miss the most. Those of you who know me know that food will invariably be somewhere close to the top of that list. But I have pictures to salivate over in those moments I crave izakaya, or okonomiyaki, or even plain old udon and tempura; and if worse comes to worse, there are more than a few Japanese eateries in London town I’m sure I could give a go.

What was not so easy to capture with the click of a camera, was the vibrant atmosphere that exudes from the very soul of such an eclectic city, alive with the sounds of bad karaoke, skyscraper tall heels hitting the sidewalk, thousands of workers bustling to and from work, restaurant and shop staff shouting ‘irrashimase’ to any and everyone who passes by the front door of their establishment. Shibuya Crossing at most times of the day, on any given day, is an impossible energy to get on film – you have to be there, among the weaving and shoving of all the people in a hurry to get places, to really feel the vibe. It’s possibly the one place in the whole world nobody…

Bright lights, big city…

…skyscrapers and traffic, who knew one could miss the usual menaces so much? Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, as we discovered, upon our much anticipated arrival in ‘real’ Japan.

The flight from Sapporo was unnecessarily early and little sleep was had as a result. However, despite this, we managed to save ourselves more than a pretty penny for the convenience of ditching our stupidly difficult to transport, snowboard bags. Having originally decided to pay whatever was necessary for baggage storage for just over two weeks of travel around Tokyo, we then stumbled upon baggage delivery. Instead of coughing up 32,000yen total, we parted with only 3,380yen in order for our bags to be delivered to the hotel we would be spending the last week or so of March at. I’m pretty sure all people in all places would deem this a bargain.

Next challenge, negotiating Tokyo transport and finding our way to Tachikawa, where…