A very friendly but gloomy Glasgow

Sauchiehall street

The thunder storm which has been bothering Glasgow for the last few hours has finally moved away. Luckily this morning the weather was lovely, sunny and fairly warm. I walked up to sauchiehall street to get some fresh air. i haven't been to Sauchiehall street in over 10 years when I stayed with friends who had a flat above Nice and Sleazy a bar that is still up and running. Sauchiehall street doesn't seem to have changed at all.

I had some lovely haggis this morning for breakfast and some potato scones too. So I am more than happy with my Glasgow experience so far!

From Belfast to Glasgow

Before leaving Belfast I did manage to visit the new Victoria Square shopping centre which opened only a couple of weeks ago. Just about everyone I had spoken to in Belfast had mentioned it to me. The taxi drivers in particular were keen to tell me about House of Fraser where apparently handbags can be purchased for thousands of £!

I have to say the new shopping centre is very swish indeed - it seemed very accessible with multi choice floor connections, either stairs, or ramps or lifts or escalators the choices were endless and I tried them all. I did go to the top where there is the dome where a view of Belfast can be had. It was all very futuristic but then I thought in 20 years time will everyone just say how noughties it is!

The dome

The shopping centre

After a short hop across the Irish Sea to Glasgow I was at my hotel and having dinner by 6:30pm. I hope tomorrow to visit some familiar places in Glasgow and maybe have a pint of deuchars.

beautiful Belfast

Well here I am in Northern Ireland, in Belfast and enjoying a pint of Guinness in the Crown Bar. After discovering that everything apart from Tesco and Pizza Hut were shut earlier and the hotel room does not have proper Internet access I was a little dispondent. Now however I am chuffed to have found a fine example of a Victorian gin palace in the shape of the Crown Bar.

The Crown is one of Belfast's most famous pubs, it has snugs, wooden booths containing seats which face the bar, a wonderful mozaic tiled floor, stained glass windows and the craziest ceiling I have ever seen in a pub. The Guinness was indeed the finest I have ever tasted but it was my first pint in Northern Ireland and I have yet to visit Southern Ireland so who knows if it will one day be beaten... I don't think any pub could beat the Crown for friendliness, colourfulness and sheer craziness (for decor at least!)

Katsu Kare birthday tea

Jason decided that for his birthday he wanted to make a Japanese Katsu Curry (or Katsu Kare.) So Jase went to the newly expanded Japan Centre in Piccadilly. The ingredients he bought are pictured below.

I was not needed to help with the cooking as Jase wanted to just get on with it. The result is pictured below and was really delicious. The breadcrumbs were really crispy and the pork superb. (Waitrose organic no less)So we may not have any cherry blossom, vending machines nor a birthday earthquake but we can have a Japanese themed birthday dinner with Jase's special Katsu Kare.

From China to Morocco

Last night I met up with David and Francesco who have just got back from a 3 and a half week holiday in China and Bali. They had some wonderful tales to tell of soup like pollution, snow on the Great Wall, opera, peach blossom, exercising in the park, some delicious food and some frankly awful food and the general horizon broadening and perception stretching qualities of traveling to somewhere so different. They went with Kuoni and the holidays do look fabulous.
It was very interesting to hear about what they saw on Chinese TV about the Olympic torch relay, which was that apparently, one lone protester caused some trouble in London.... So just for David and Francesco who missed out on all the fun in London click here

We enjoyed some lovely wine as we swapped our holiday experiences (although Francesco and I lamented the lack of Rose D"Anjou available in Britain.) After wine we went to Tagine a fabulous restaurant in Clapham. It has an opulent feel to it, check out the 360 degree tour!

The bathrooms were very luxurious - very important in my opinion. The food was lovely I had the spicy lamb sausages with couscous, definitely would recommend them. I am always very happy to find nice restaurants.

memory lane

After a shaky start to the week; work worries, disrupted sleep and feeling flat after returning home from Japan, I am feeling a little more cheerful. I visited the Japanese super markets on Brewer Street for some ice green tea. I also just visited my old work place the RNIB to pick up a daylight light for Jase to use when he is working on his electronic projects.

I am now in the Skinners Arms enjoying a pint of IPA. The skinners is one of those authentic London Boozers. Behind Camden Town Hall, opposite the RNIB and not too far from Kings Cross station it has a pretty down to earth clientele. Blues music is quiet in the background and sunlight seeps through smoke obscured stained glass windows I've not been in here for years. I'm waiting for Rory...

Picture of the Skinners Arms

Well Rory got there in the end and we had a steak each which was actually really nicely cooked. I moved on to the Bombardier which was much tastier than the Green Kind IPA which tasted a bit dish watery to me!

vending machine withdrawl

The jet lag finally seems to be relenting. I didn't expect the jet lag to be bad coming home but maybe going into work just made it worse! Today whilst walking towards Oxford Circus tube station I really wished I was back in Japan, and not just because I had had a lousy day at work. I miss the self containedness (if that is such a word) of the Japanese people. This means that when you are walking through the crowds in Tokyo the Japanese people some how don't seem to invade each others space. In London however everyone seems to want to invade my space. I really do often wonder if I am invisible as I walk about London. The number of people who push and jostle me as if I am not there.

I also miss the vending machines which are everywhere in Japan. You are never more than a few yards from a vending machine and so a choice of cold, hot, soft and in some cases alcoholic drinks. I found a picture of one on a website, which is below.
Ah just the sight of the vending machine makes me feel better.

Jet lag

I am trying to fight the jet lag but since about 2:00 PM today I have wanted to just curl up and go to sleep.

In a bid to stay awake I thought I would add some final photos of Japan which Jase took on our last day.

Below is a picture of a strange building Jase took from the coach that was taking us to the airport outside Tokyo.

Below are some pictures of our final hotel room which was in the "Executive House Zen" at the New Otani Hotel. It was fabulously luxurious.

View from the bath

The bathroom

Me wearing my Hello Kitty sweatshirt standing near the kitchen area of our room

The bedroom

The living area

Welcomed home by a new kitchen!

Well we got home last night safe and fairly sound. The flight was good, no real delays and Terminal 5 was like a ghost town. Our bags were first off the belt again and although we were disappointed that the arrivals lounge was shut all in all Terminal 5 treated us well. I am not sure I like all the escalators at T5, particularly at 5B. They were fun on the way out when we were excited about the flight but when we got back after a 12 hour flight and had to then go up and up on numerous slow and short escalators I felt sick and very tired.

It was nice to come home though. Even the cold drizzly rain which greeted us when we emerged from Wimbledon tube station was refreshing, and that wet tarmac and exhaust fume smell you get in London when it rains after a period of dryness was strangely comforting. Over the weekend I shall post some more about Japan and what I will miss and what I won't, but one thing going away anywhere for longer than a week always makes me feel, is very pleased to be back in London.

We got home to our new kitchen which Jase's Dad fitted for us while we were away. He has done a fantastic job and I have posted some pictures below. We were delighted particularly as James had time to tile and paint as well, something we thought we might have had to do ourselves. Jase's parents only left on Sunday so the flat didn't have that horrible empty atmosphere you usually feel when your home has been shut up for a couple of weeks.

So I am enjoying my new kitchen and my day off to get over the jet lag, but it is back to work tomorrow.

Kyoto - Old and New

Yesterday was a day of two halves. In the morning we headed to the Gion district of Kyoto. Gion is just over the river and as a result many of the old buildings have been spared the fires which have swept through the main part of Kyoto. Gion is now one of the 4 Geisha districts and apparently is the hang out of politicians, company presidents and as we found turtles and cats!

we were lucky enough to pass some Maiko (Geisha in training - you can tell by their embroidered collars, which will be swapped for plain white when they become full Geisha.) It looks like the Maiko were planning to take some photos for themselves, maybe of the hoards of tourists. We were wandering around Gion in the morning and so missed the worst of the crowds.

The park in Gion was full of tourists and locals who were grabbing the best spots for cherry blossom viewing. Jase then spotted by a fountain, a group of eager blossom spotters of the turtle variety.

Turtles

Stone paved Gion street

On our way out of Gion and back over the river we came across a small temple where there was bell ringing. There was also a very friendly temple cat.

Bell ringing

Temple neko (neko = cat)

After spending the morning in Gion we got the subway to Kyoto station, primarily so Jase could visit one of his favourite electronic shops, Bic Camera. What we hadn't realised was just how amazing Kyoto train station is! We traveled up many escalators and walked up many stairs to get to the top of the station where there is a picnic area and terrace. There is also a skywalk which gave great views of Kyoto and Kyoto tower.

Kyoto station

Kyoto tower viewed from the station

Kyoto station roof and skywalk

View from Kyoto station roof

We leave Kyoto on Monday and fly back to London on Tuesday after one last night in Tokyo.

Kyoto: Nijo-jo (castle)

Greetings from Kyoto! We got here on Thursday to rain and quieter streets than those we have been used to.On Friday we decided to visit Kyoto's famous Shogun's castle. Those of you who may have seen the BBC2 TV programme about the first Shogun a couple of weeks ago, will know all about the first Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. As well as being the first Shogun, and building the castle, Ieyasu is famous for firing on the very army he wanted to support him at a big battle. his rather novel tatics did the trick though and he won the battle.

The entrance to Nijo Castle

Panorama of the castle

We were not able to take pictures inside the castle, in fact there was a sign which warned us to not sketch anything we saw within the castle its self! The castle was very popular particularly with school parties. The children particularly enjoyed making the "nightingale" floors squeak. The wooden floors are specially designed to creek when anyone walks on them, as an early warning system for intruders. I am not sure if the squeaking floorboards could be described as sounding like nightingales, they sounded more like a cage full of canaries.

Nijo Castle gardens

More cherry blossom, the castle held a special cherry blossom tea party on Wednesday

Wind on the line

Northern Japan has experienced some bad storms over the last couple of days (luckily not near us) and a major story in the local paper this morning was that high winds had delayed the bullet train by 10 minutes yesterday. Yes that's right a whole 10 minutes delay, and it is news worthy!

Miyajima (Shrine Island)

Today (Wednesday) we went to Miyajima or the Island of Shrines. The island is sacred and is covered by forest which is untouched and undeveloped. The island is one of the three main world heritage sites in Japan. There are no births or deaths allowed on the island. (we did go past a garage full of ambulances ready to whisk away any woman about to go into labour or anyone looking a little ill!)

Mount Misen is the highest peak on the island and we took a cable car to the top. (500 m or about 1500ft)

Forest stream

cable car

At the summit of Mount Misen is a sanctuary for monkeys. I had to lock my handbag in a locker at the cable car station because the monkeys are rather keen on handbags (something the monkeys have in common with Victoria Beckham and the other accessory loving celebs.) Luckily they are not interested in cameras other than posing for pictures of course (something else they have in common with Posh Spice!)

At the sea front on the island is a very large shrine which is built out on stilts over the sea.

In the background behind the shrine you'll also see the 5 story pagoda.

In front of the shrine is the world famous floating Tori (gate.) There is a picture below of me with the Tori in the background.
monkeys are not the only inhabitants of the island. Wild deer are allowed a free run of the island and the younger ones seem to make the most of this by wandering around the shops and the ferry terminal. There was an interesting sign at the ferry terminal warning about recent deer and tourist related accidents. I will add a photo of the sign when we get home when I will dedicate a whole post to the unique signs of Japan!

Hiroshima

We arrived in Hiroshima on Monday afternoon after a lovely journey on the Shinkansen (bullet train.) The journey in miles was similar to traveling from London to Avignon which on Eurostar takes around 5-6 hours, on the bullet train, Tokyo to Hiroshima took just under 4 hours.

Our hotel is about 5 minutes walk from the peace park which means our hotel is well within the zone that was totally destroyed by the atomic bomb. The before and after pictures at the museum in the peace park were a stark illustration of the destruction. The exhibits at the museum were frightening and deeply saddening. The peace park its self was tranquil when we walked through it but later became bustling with tourists. I rang the peace bell and left an offering at the peace flame. The flame will not be extinguished until all nuclear weapons are removed from the earth.

In the peace park we came across a collection of stones from Ben Nevis brought over in the 1970s as a symbol of peace from Scotland.

The peace park

The phoenix trees found growing just over 1km from the center of the blast and transplanted to the peace park in the 1970s

The A-bomb dome

After visiting the peace park and the museum we walked to Hiroshima castle (a replica of the original)

Some family history...

On Sunday we spent the morning shopping. We went to a big toy shop which made Hamleys seem like a sedate tea party! We then had a picnic in Yoyogi park enjoying the cherry blossom and the open spaces. last weekend the park would have been jam packed full of cherry blossom watchers who would sit down on bright blue plastic sheets on the ground and wait for the first cherry blossom petals to fall. Of course there is some drinking, eating and singing involved during the wait. But as the official cherry blossom celebration has been last week, we found the park quiet and peaceful.
The Meiji shrine is in the centre of Yoyogi park, surrounded by a sacred wood. Whilst walking through the sacred and very peaceful wood there are regular loud speaker announcements, that shatter the peace. The announcements remind you that you are in a sacred wood and you may not wander off the path, play sports, remove fruits or remove animals (?) The Meiji Shrine is Japan's national shrine to the Meiji Emperor and is incredibly popular.

Gate to Meiji shrine
Shrine blossom

Within Yoyogi park there is also a pond which is surrounded by some beautiful blossom trees and some very big fish.

Coi carp

Outside the Meiji shrine we came across a display of wine casks and a sign which explained that the Meiji emperor struck a friendship with the French rulers during the 19th Century and gained a liking for wine. The caskets displayed are of Bourgogne wine (one of the emperor's favourites) which has been gifted to the emperor and now his shrine every year. Jase and I were interested to read this because the name Bourgoigne is found in my Granny's family. (The family story is that the Bourgoignes in our family were Hugenots escaping to the east of London from persecution in France in the 17 or 18th century.)

Bourgogne wine casks

karaoke

On Saturday night, Jase's friend Will and his wife Sumi took us out for Karaoke. The Karaoke bar was based on the 4th floor of a hotel. We chose an Arabian themed room. There was a huge choice of songs and we spent about 2 and a half hours, eating sushi, and singing. I was then surprised when one of the waiters brought me some birthday deserts and message written in chocolate! The deserts had cherry blossom petals in them and were delicious. It was a lovely evening the highlight being all of us dancing and singing Love Shack by the B52s.

The bullet train

Just to let everyone know that we are off to Hiroshima on the bullet train today so I will update the blog when we get there and add more pictures from Yoyogi Park yesterday.

We had another tiny earth quake last night whist we were watching a film on TV within 2 minutes of the earth quake, notification of the quake, where it happened when and it's magnitude appeared on the TV screen. So efficient!

Kamakura

Cherry tree procession

On Saturday we visited Kamakura during the day. Kamakura is about an hours train ride outside of Tokyo and is on the coast. It was a beautiful day; hot enough to get sun burnt. Kamakura was Japan's capital during medieval times and as a legacy it has loads of shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist.) The picture above is a cherry tree path which leads up to one of the Shrines where a wedding was taking place, pictured below.

At the shrine there was a particularly interesting looking character, maybe every shrine has one

After visiting the shrine and making a Shinto prayer, which involves hand clapping and bowing we decided to head to the beach. Whilst on the beach Jase took some pictures of some birds of prey that were hovering above us. When we tried to identify the birds later they appear to be Japanese Golden Eagles that are very rare.

Me on Kamakura beach
Jason's picture of what we think is a Golden Eagle

After the beach I nearly got us lost in the Kamakura hills, we'd still be there if Jase hadn't insisted that we turn back, we went to see the Great Buddha. The Great Buddha is truly great in size and beauty and the cherry blossom (sakura) just topped it all.

Daibutsu, The Great Buddha