Tokyo DisneySea

So we missed one very important post... We went to Tokyo DisneySea!!!! It's next-door to DisneyLand and it's unique to Japan which is why we decided to go there. Mickey still hangs out there, but so does the Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Indiana Jones.


It was overcast all day but we were really thankful for that as I'd got seriously sunburnt the day before while walking around Harajuku. Anyway it was raining when we arrived hence the millions of Japanese people with umbrellas. Nate and I didn't bother. It wasn't even cold at all and you dried in about 5 minutes. Not to worry though... they had staff squeegeeing the footpaths!


This place is completely amazing. There's an exact replica of the waterfront in Portofino, Italy.


And, this is us in Venice...

This is me in the Agrabah Marketplace...


The show during the day was also amazing. No expense spared! There was at least 10 Different Boats, various jetskis and heaps of dancers etc.

And i guess it's cool just to go and hear Mickey Mouse speaking Japanese:)

Birds catching fish for people

Well it's our first day in Kyoto (wow those four nights in Tokyo just flew by didn't they?) and we took a train out to a little town called Arashiyama. Here's a few photos, it's a beautiful little place, and they do some cormorant fishing at night, just for the tourists.

Tour boats on the Hozu River


Togetsu-kyo Bridge


This might be Hozu or Katsura River, I'm not sure, it changes
its name as it goes through Arashiyama


Cormorant Fishing

P.S: Before I left, Dad forwarded me a newspaper column that was complaining about how expensive Japan is for food. Well, the photo below is of my dinner tonight: Ramen, pork belly, rice and pickles for..... wait for it.... 1000 Yen! That is, roughly, AU$10. The food here really is a highlight; cheap and delicious.

Just a couple of pictures

Yes, it's an umbrella for your dog. No, I don't know why.



This is the alcopop Laura mentioned in her post.

General Observations - Tokyo

Ok, so Nate has been doing all the writing so far, but here's my take on Japan so far...

Here's some point form observations:
- cleanest place ever - not a bin in sight (where do they put the rubbish?)
- 1/4 of people on the train are texting, but you're not allowed to talk on your phone (and no one does!)
- another 1/4 of people on the train are applying make-up, including several people curling their eyelashes!
- The Japanese kids are the cutest thing ever
- Alcohol is dirt cheap. Screw the RTD taxes in australia, we just bought the equivalent of a UDL for 148 yen! That's roughly $1.50. And yep, that makes it about the same price as coca-cola:)

Ok, that's it for now. Nate's turn...

L
xxx

Tokyo Day 2

So today we went to the Ghibli museum, which was pretty cool, but the highlight of the day would have to be Inokashira Park in Kichijoji. It is just a big, beautiful park along a canal in Western Tokyo, and at weekends there is an arts and crafts fair.

Inokashira Park Shrine

Inokashira Park Performing Arts

Inokashira Park

Oh and I had a bacon and egg McGriddle for breakfast: it's like a bacon and egg McMuffin, but instead of muffin, it's pancakes. AWESOME.

Tokyo Day 1

Well the flight wasn't as painful as I'd feared. We didn't end up having a very long lay-over in Singaore, not even enough time for shopping, but all our flights were on time and we arrived safely, so no big deal.

We arrived at 6.30 this morning, but couldn't go to sleep in our room till 3.00, so we wandered around Asakusa, visited a shrine (as you can see above) and looked at a helluva lot of souvenir stands on the street leading to the temple.

Tokyo is pretty cool, it's not nearly as busy as I thought it would be, it actually seems fairly relaxed from the little bit I've seen so far. The food here is awesome too, I'm going to be eating lots I can tell.

That's all for now, Ghibli useum tomorrow! Hooray!

Moving out is much less than awesome

Well, we have finally vacated our little house. Next time I swear I'm going to pay someone to do everything for me; it was sooo much effort. I console myself with the fact that
we only have two more nights in Australia.