Monday, March 15, 2010
Inaugural asian Tour Pt.3
Tuesday morning we caught the 10am Shinkansen to Hakata on the southern island of Kyushu, you can actually catch a ferry here to Pusan in South Korea. We had basically done the 3 hour trip to see the countryside and visit Hiroshima. Well we did not see as much scenery as we thought we would, southern Japan is very mountainous and the high speed train was in and out of tunnels every couple of minutes.
In Hakata we had an hour till the return train so we looked at the map, picked canal city as a likely destination and headed in that direction. It was a 20 minute walk and surprisingly we found a nice shrine there.
Back at the station we grabbed some box lunches for the journey to Hiroshima. Every station kiosk sells them and they are excellent value for money, a mix of sushi and noodles from Y700 to Y1200. Yeah it’s a real expensive place alright.
At Hiroshima the A bomb memorial and museum were clearly sign posted via a tram which took about 10/12 minutes. It’s an eerie feeling riding through a city that was totally demolished less that sixty years ago and is now completely rebuilt.
The Atomic Bomb & Peace Memorial Park which is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, is a deeply moving emotional place that makes you examine your conscience. The dome building at the north end of the park was the only structure left standing afterwards, as the bomb had detonated directly overhead, instantly cremating everything in a one kilometer radius. When a lady who was saying prayers , spotted us, she insisted on bestowing upon each of us a blessing!
It was a quiet reflective train ride back to Osaka.
That evening we went looking for another ex pat bar we saw on the map, The Covent Garden, which turned out to be a really nice Canadian bar in a quiet neighborhood of small restaurants and boutiques . It was about a ten minute walk west of the Pig n Whistle. After a few Asahi’s we headed back towards the Pig n Whistle area which is where all the neon and brashness starts.
Getting hungry, I was all for going back to the same place as last night, there were a lot of other items on the menu to taste but the others were into trying something different and different was what Steve got. It wasn’t late, around 9:30 but we noticed a lot of restaurants were starting to close up so they opted for a very garish looking place with some 4 floors, the food getting more elaborate and expensive the higher you went. I know this because there was a large showcase outside with plastic samples & prices per floor. We opted for the ground floor plastic tables and chairs and the food was quite good, but the fun was watching Steve eat his while the bowl of broth had a fire underneath of petroleum jelly, that you could not put out, Niagara falls was coming off his forehead while he tried to slurp his way through it. Thank god Murphy’s was only around the corner when he finally finished it. He said it was great and I’m sure it was, just very difficult to eat.
Next morning we caught the 10am Shinkansen to Tokyo which is a nice relaxing 3 hour run with limited stops. Upon arrival in Tokyo it felt like home, familiar surroundings, we just hopped on the Chuo line and were in Shinjuku in 20 minutes. After throwing the bags in the hotel we decided to go see the shrine where Steve had his Chelsea prayer said.
Harajuku is just 2 local stops down the line going towards Shibuya, what a great street scene, it was the St. Marks place of Tokyo, except better. As we walked towards the shrine I got stopped by two young reporters and asked if I would do a quick interview for Radio Tokyo, for which I was only to happy to oblige. They asked questions like where I had been in Japan, what I thought of the country/food/culture and what had inspired me to come. Well when I told them I had come from New York for the Formula 1 they thought it was fantastic and I told them we adored their country. All the time I did not know I was under the watchful eye of a giant David Beckham billboard, brilliant.
I wonder if it was ever broadcast?
The shrine was very nice and Steve checked to make sure some wayward Chelsea fan had not disturbed his prayer plaque, it was intact and as of writing this in early November they have been beaten twice and drawn once but not in the Premier League, still he has a chance this weekend when they play his beloved Manchester United.
Back out in Harajuku we spotted a football shop and of course had to have a look, England and Premier League club shirts were over a $100 each, knock offs in Shinjuku were $10 each. United had been in Japan on their pre-season tour so, Steve and Dave were able to pick-up lots of little souvenirs.
Back on the street we followed the crowd and found ourselves walking down what is known as Fashion Alley, WOW. The girls fashion here is out of this world and this is 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, apparently Sunday is the day to be here when they all really dress-up outrageously, well we will just have to go back.
We adjourned back to The Hub in Shinjuku for happy hour and to grab a quick shower at the hotel. It was our last night in Tokyo and we did not want to waste any of it.
We had not been to the Roppongi area yet but it is notorious for strip clubs and there were enough of them where we were, so we decided to head for Shibuya and a pub called The Aldgate. We actually found it very easily and they had a decent selection of beers except most of them were British, but there were a couple of local micro brews, which were pretty good.
There was a young single girl sitting next to me drinking a pint of Guinness and naturally I had to ask her how she acquired a taste for it, a friend had turned her on to it some years ago and she thought this place served one of the best pints. She visited a few times a week for the black nectar and the music. The bar had one of the best music collections I have ever seen, over 6,000 vinyl/CD albums, in between pulling pints they play any requests.
Well we could not leave Tokyo without a revisit to our new favorite pubs, Hazelburn and Mother’s, so back to Shinjuku we headed and made it to Hazelburn by midnight running the gauntlet of the African pimps.. After a few pints of Speckled Hen, some Haggis Bruchette and a few single malts, we went in search of Mother’s. In the labyrinth of small lanes none of could remember where it was. So after half an hour and finding ourselves standing out side our hotel, I gave up and retired for the night. Steve and Dave pressed on but Dave gave up ten minutes later and of course you know it, Steve found it around the next corner.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel at eleven and had three hours to kill until the train to the plane (Narita Express). First we went to visit the Takashimaya Department store which has an open roof garden and great views of the Tokyo skyline. Then it was off to find the little lunch place we had found the first day. After another successful meal we retired to the station and just sat outside on the plaza for a while which is something we should have been doing everyday, the people watching was incredible.
Now in all our travels up and down Japan on every kind of transport we had never once heard anyone talking on their cell phone. Everybody had them in their hands with their thumbs twitching away but no talking. Well we are on the Narita Express from Shinjuku and at Tokyo station a big guy gets on and I said to Dave “ spot the yank” and sure enough he sat down behind Steve, pulled out his cell and started talking to a friend, REALLY LOUD. Everyone in the car were putting their fingers to their lips but he took no notice and American’s wonder why nobody likes them when they travel!
At Narita we went our separate ways, Steve with his AA Platinum card was eager to try all the One World first class lounges. He had researched them on flyertalk.com and each one had different strengths, Cathy Pacific obviously for its food, I think British Airways for the drinks and I’m not sure if American had any, I might be wrong.
Dave and I were on a different concourse for Northwest, on a business class ticket i had access to their lounge and I tried to get Dave in, but too no avail.
In Hakata we had an hour till the return train so we looked at the map, picked canal city as a likely destination and headed in that direction. It was a 20 minute walk and surprisingly we found a nice shrine there.
Back at the station we grabbed some box lunches for the journey to Hiroshima. Every station kiosk sells them and they are excellent value for money, a mix of sushi and noodles from Y700 to Y1200. Yeah it’s a real expensive place alright.
At Hiroshima the A bomb memorial and museum were clearly sign posted via a tram which took about 10/12 minutes. It’s an eerie feeling riding through a city that was totally demolished less that sixty years ago and is now completely rebuilt.
The Atomic Bomb & Peace Memorial Park which is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, is a deeply moving emotional place that makes you examine your conscience. The dome building at the north end of the park was the only structure left standing afterwards, as the bomb had detonated directly overhead, instantly cremating everything in a one kilometer radius. When a lady who was saying prayers , spotted us, she insisted on bestowing upon each of us a blessing!
It was a quiet reflective train ride back to Osaka.
That evening we went looking for another ex pat bar we saw on the map, The Covent Garden, which turned out to be a really nice Canadian bar in a quiet neighborhood of small restaurants and boutiques . It was about a ten minute walk west of the Pig n Whistle. After a few Asahi’s we headed back towards the Pig n Whistle area which is where all the neon and brashness starts.
Getting hungry, I was all for going back to the same place as last night, there were a lot of other items on the menu to taste but the others were into trying something different and different was what Steve got. It wasn’t late, around 9:30 but we noticed a lot of restaurants were starting to close up so they opted for a very garish looking place with some 4 floors, the food getting more elaborate and expensive the higher you went. I know this because there was a large showcase outside with plastic samples & prices per floor. We opted for the ground floor plastic tables and chairs and the food was quite good, but the fun was watching Steve eat his while the bowl of broth had a fire underneath of petroleum jelly, that you could not put out, Niagara falls was coming off his forehead while he tried to slurp his way through it. Thank god Murphy’s was only around the corner when he finally finished it. He said it was great and I’m sure it was, just very difficult to eat.
Next morning we caught the 10am Shinkansen to Tokyo which is a nice relaxing 3 hour run with limited stops. Upon arrival in Tokyo it felt like home, familiar surroundings, we just hopped on the Chuo line and were in Shinjuku in 20 minutes. After throwing the bags in the hotel we decided to go see the shrine where Steve had his Chelsea prayer said.
Harajuku is just 2 local stops down the line going towards Shibuya, what a great street scene, it was the St. Marks place of Tokyo, except better. As we walked towards the shrine I got stopped by two young reporters and asked if I would do a quick interview for Radio Tokyo, for which I was only to happy to oblige. They asked questions like where I had been in Japan, what I thought of the country/food/culture and what had inspired me to come. Well when I told them I had come from New York for the Formula 1 they thought it was fantastic and I told them we adored their country. All the time I did not know I was under the watchful eye of a giant David Beckham billboard, brilliant.
I wonder if it was ever broadcast?
The shrine was very nice and Steve checked to make sure some wayward Chelsea fan had not disturbed his prayer plaque, it was intact and as of writing this in early November they have been beaten twice and drawn once but not in the Premier League, still he has a chance this weekend when they play his beloved Manchester United.
Back out in Harajuku we spotted a football shop and of course had to have a look, England and Premier League club shirts were over a $100 each, knock offs in Shinjuku were $10 each. United had been in Japan on their pre-season tour so, Steve and Dave were able to pick-up lots of little souvenirs.
Back on the street we followed the crowd and found ourselves walking down what is known as Fashion Alley, WOW. The girls fashion here is out of this world and this is 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, apparently Sunday is the day to be here when they all really dress-up outrageously, well we will just have to go back.
We adjourned back to The Hub in Shinjuku for happy hour and to grab a quick shower at the hotel. It was our last night in Tokyo and we did not want to waste any of it.
We had not been to the Roppongi area yet but it is notorious for strip clubs and there were enough of them where we were, so we decided to head for Shibuya and a pub called The Aldgate. We actually found it very easily and they had a decent selection of beers except most of them were British, but there were a couple of local micro brews, which were pretty good.
There was a young single girl sitting next to me drinking a pint of Guinness and naturally I had to ask her how she acquired a taste for it, a friend had turned her on to it some years ago and she thought this place served one of the best pints. She visited a few times a week for the black nectar and the music. The bar had one of the best music collections I have ever seen, over 6,000 vinyl/CD albums, in between pulling pints they play any requests.
Well we could not leave Tokyo without a revisit to our new favorite pubs, Hazelburn and Mother’s, so back to Shinjuku we headed and made it to Hazelburn by midnight running the gauntlet of the African pimps.. After a few pints of Speckled Hen, some Haggis Bruchette and a few single malts, we went in search of Mother’s. In the labyrinth of small lanes none of could remember where it was. So after half an hour and finding ourselves standing out side our hotel, I gave up and retired for the night. Steve and Dave pressed on but Dave gave up ten minutes later and of course you know it, Steve found it around the next corner.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel at eleven and had three hours to kill until the train to the plane (Narita Express). First we went to visit the Takashimaya Department store which has an open roof garden and great views of the Tokyo skyline. Then it was off to find the little lunch place we had found the first day. After another successful meal we retired to the station and just sat outside on the plaza for a while which is something we should have been doing everyday, the people watching was incredible.
Now in all our travels up and down Japan on every kind of transport we had never once heard anyone talking on their cell phone. Everybody had them in their hands with their thumbs twitching away but no talking. Well we are on the Narita Express from Shinjuku and at Tokyo station a big guy gets on and I said to Dave “ spot the yank” and sure enough he sat down behind Steve, pulled out his cell and started talking to a friend, REALLY LOUD. Everyone in the car were putting their fingers to their lips but he took no notice and American’s wonder why nobody likes them when they travel!
At Narita we went our separate ways, Steve with his AA Platinum card was eager to try all the One World first class lounges. He had researched them on flyertalk.com and each one had different strengths, Cathy Pacific obviously for its food, I think British Airways for the drinks and I’m not sure if American had any, I might be wrong.
Dave and I were on a different concourse for Northwest, on a business class ticket i had access to their lounge and I tried to get Dave in, but too no avail.
Labels: Asia
