At last - my long awaited holiday to Japan is here! |'ve waited ooohh - 10 whole months for this. Scott and I decided on our way home from the 'Big Japan Trip' last year, that we would absolutely go back . . . I just don't think he meant within the year!
Never fear . . . I got my own way (as usual) which is why 10 months later, we find ourselves getting on a BA flight to Heathrow, then another flight to Narita. This time though, we were going straight down to Kyoto, which meant we would have to get the Shinkansen from Tokyo station - and also add an extra 4 hours to our already long journey!!
Anyway - the flight to Heathrow was uneventful (though thanks to Mam for dropping us off at Newcastle airport). Scott was a brave soldier again and ate the sausage, tomato and egg pannini which we were given got brekkie (Scott has veggies in his tummy!!).
We had a couple of hours to kill at Heathrow - which we did by having coffee and looking in a few shops. Again, I spent a good while watching everyone take photos of the BIG teddy outside of Harrods. The tourists LOVE him!!! The checked out the designer stores and sprayed a bit smellie!!!
The flight to Narita was . . . . well I guess we had blocked out the flight from last year (or we kidded ourselves that it wasn't too bad!!). It was l-o-n-g!!! This time though, the flight was full, so no extra seats for us - booo!! The in flight entertainment was great and I managed to fit in a couple of movies and some TV stuff (well we did have 11 hours to kill) . . .
- Twilight - Breaking Dawn (Part 1) (Do Love a bit of R-Patz)
- Contagion (not the wisest idea to watch a movie about spreading disease whilst on a plane!!)
- A Few Good Men (Yes I know it an oldie . . . but I love Tom and you 'can't handle the truth!')
- 3 Episodes of The Big Bang Theory (Scott laughed out loud at these - and woke the plane up!)
- a CSi (Miami)
- Then I put some music on to try and go to sleep . . . but that wasn't happening!
Scott managed to get some shut eye, but I just couldn't.
So, after a long 11hours and 30 minutes, we landed at Narita. We thought there was a trainee pilot on this flight as the landing was a little hairy . . . the sudden drops made a couple of Japanese women scream!!!!
However, we got on the ground safely and made our way through Customs. A lot more people this time and took a while to get through. We then made our way to the Japan Rail office to get our Train passes. We bought these in the UK and you exchange them in Japan for a pass you can use on all the trains - a great deal. However, a 'few' other people also had the same plan, so we had to wait almost an hour to get our passes.
Our lovely Rail Pass
We then wanted to book our seat for the N'ex (Narita Express) to get us into Tokyo, but there was bad weather. It was bloody windy outside . . . . at which point we apologised to the BA pilot as that's obviously that's why the landing was horrible (I almost lost my breakfast!!!). Anyway - cos it was windy a lot of the trains were off, so we had to get the Limited Express, which takes longer and doesn't go direct to Tokyo (bugger!).
We got to Nippori station, then hopped on another train to Tokyo station, then across the station to the Shinkansen (Bullet Train). We were dead lucky 'cos there was a Shinkansen at the station ready to go! Fantastic! Got on the train, dumped our suitcases and settled in for the 3 and bit hours journey.
So, now we've been on the go for hours and we were completely shattered. We got a Taxi from Kyoto station to the house. The owners gave us some Japanese directions for the taxi driver and he got us here straight away. We would NEVER have found this place on our own!! It's down an alley, but then down a very small alleyway!
This little guy was there to meet us . . .
It's a Raccoon Dog and is popular in Japanese folklore for being a shapeshifter and a jolly chap but most of all for having huge testicles - hey don't have a go at me - it's probably why they are jolly chaps . . . . but check it out - they are a real animal in Japan and are known for having big man bits (if you look a the picture very carefully, you can see his huge man bits - bless him)!!!!
Moving on . . . very quickly . .
The place is fab. It's a traditional wooden house called a Machiya. Very authentic, however all the door frames as small. We've been here two days and Scott has smashed his head on the kitchen door frame a million times!!!!
I can't take a piccie of the outside as it's in a very small alley and I can't get far enough back to get the house in . . . but that's the front door . . .
And inside . . . .
The bedroom - with tatami mats (and we are sleeping on futons)
Dressing Room
Reading area - next to the bedroom
The nightmare stairs!!!!
Living Room
The loo - with buttons and everything . . . whoo hoo!!!
The bath - not the sink (and this is a full size piccie!!)
This is the sink!!!
Kitchen - well a fridge, microwave and 2 ring stove!
The nightmare stairs (going up??!)
The alley way to the house(scary)
This is a 2 storey house, but the stairs are soooo steep and very narrow. We have decided the best (and safest) method is to use them as ladders and go downstairs backwards!!) Other than that - the house is magic!
So, by the time we got here, it was about 6 ish (about 10 in the morning for you lot) and we had been on the go for about 30 hours, with very little sleep! We dumped our stuff, did a quick trip to the shop for supplies (tea, coffee, milk etc), came back, unpacked, had a shower . . . then collapsed!!!
We have sorted out tomorrow's itinerary . . . . we are doing the Philosopher's Path. A nice walk through the Higashiyama district in the city with lots of shrines and temples along the way. Should loosen us up nicely after being cramped up all day yesterday!!!
Despite being shattered and achey . . . I am still more excited than the Duracell bunny and Scott is not far behind me!!!
Right . . . I'm off to sort out this jet lag!!!!
Love n hugs xxx
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