JAPAN 2018 - PART 5

Day 7 - Wednesday 4th April, 2018

KANAZAWA - after returning from the Ryokan we checked into our hotel, this was our room, the beds were so comfortable and a good size. Our Hotel was a 2 minute walk to Kanazawa train station, so convenient and handy.

We then went to the Tourist information counter at Kanazawa station and spoke to English speaking ladies to find out about using our JR pass on the free loop bus for sightseeing around the city.  We caught the bus to the Higashi Chaya district to look at all the old tea houses and glorious Sakura blooms along the river. 

Me underneath a white Sakura tree..

                                                                Some of the tea houses

                                                         A very pretty Pink Sakura tree

                                    Look at these gorgeous trees along the bank of the river

                                 This is taken from the bridge on the opposite side of the river

I'm admiring the gorgeous blooms 

                            The bridge across the river is a walk bridge and a vehicle bridge

                                                             Some more tea houses

 
                                                      I just love the dark pink blooms

After our few hours of walking we caught the bus back to the train station and went to a lovely bakery and enjoyed a coffee and bun before going back to the hotel

Day 8 - Thursday 5th April, 2018

Day trip to TAKAYAMA - we caught 2 trains taking 2 hours in total, the scenery was so lovely as we headed up and up into the mountains.

A selfie of us on the train.

                                         A couple of photos of the streams along the way

As we headed up into the mountains we saw quite a bit of snow still on the mountains from winter.

                           A cemetery, these are dotted in small clumps like this everywhere

We found an amazing shop that sold Ice creams and filled crepes, there were so many to choose from                                                
                                             

                      We both had the caramel popcorn ice cream, it was really delicious.
           

I asked this young couple could I take their photo, they were having the crepes filled with delicious goodness, yummmmmm........

                          We came across this small temple on our walk around Takayama

                                                                A restaurant

An antique/second hand shop, inside was tiny and had lots of stuff, it was quite difficult to walk around in there 

                                                           Sake barrels outside a shop

                                       A museum, we weren't allowed to take photos inside

                                                                           A shop

                                                               Outside a restaurant

Little postal vans, all the cars are like this, they are so cute.  They need to be tiny, the streets are so narrow......

                          These two photos are of items inside the rail station at Takayama

                                                 A little boy having Maccas with his Dad

                   Our Maccas late lunch waiting for the train for our return trip to Kanazawa

Day 9 - Friday 6th April, 2018

KANAZAWA - Our hearty breakfast before our big day of sightseeing.

                                            Some Wedding photos at Kanazawa Castle

Kanazawa Castle is truly a glorious sight, you can only walk around the grounds and tale photos, you can't enter the castle.

                         Some ducks swimming in the moat amongst the fallen Sakura blooms

Leaving the Castle 

                                                           Japanese ladies in Kimonos

                                                         It was sprinkling a little

                                           Statues of Japanese Gentlemen at Kenrokuen

                                                 Walking through Omicho markets

                                                           Lots of oysters

Fish and oysters at Omicho

                                     

                                    This large structure is outside the Kanazawa train station

                                                        Outside the train station

                                                            Outside the train station

                                             The view outside our Hotel room at night

Both Sandra and I loved Kanazawa, it was a gorgeous city and runs at a nice slow pace.

Part 6 will take us over to Osaka

Cheers

Kaylee

JAPAN 2018 - PART 4

Day 5 - Monday 2nd April, 2018

We were met at our Hotel in Tokyo by an ex work colleague and walked a few blocks to see where Marubeni office used to be, I took a photo of the street sign, the second photo is better showing "you are here" and below to the right you will see "Marubeni Tokyo Head Office".  Marubeni is one of the BIG 5 trading companies in Japan.  They have the quintessential position overlooking the Imperial Palace Grounds,. However at this time I could only see construction as the building was pulled down last year and they constructing a new building however things are rather slow as the Olympics of 2020 is taking precedence.

Then we took the subway to their current location in another building in Tokyo.  It is high security, We had to get permission and a tag to enter the building, my ex work colleague is on the right at the reception desk.

This gorgeous display was in the foyer, just glorious with the beautiful Sakura tree blooms.

I met with some ex work colleagues that I work with in Brisbane office and some I was meeting for the first time in person although had talked to them on the phoned and emailed them constantly regarding work.  The ladies were thrilled with their gifts I made for them.

Then one of my ex Brisbane Managing Directors took us to lunch with 3 other ex Brisbane Coal guys as well.  We went to a gorgeous famous expensive restaurant in Ginza only a few blocks away from the office.  I was totally spoilt on this trip. They all kept telling me how lucky we were to be able to have planned the trip so far in advance and to see the Sakura trees in full bloom.

Our delicious lunch, oishii, ishii

                                          Lovely cold Asahi beer as it was quite a hot day.

After lunch we headed back to the Hotel for a rest as we were then collected from the Hotel again at 5.30pm by another ex Manager from 20 years ago, we caught a cab to look at the Night time viewing of the Sakura flowers, it's a huge event, there were hundreds of people there.

                                         This photo is of Sandra, myself and Mr. Nakao

                                   I took many photos of the Sakura blooms, here are a few.

         The tiny boats as couples row them up and down the moat around the Imperial Palace.

                                            

Then we caught another cab to Akasaka and were taken to dinner to a famous little Teppanyaki Restaurant where Mr. Nakao is quite famous, apparently he's been going into that area for around 40 years or more.
                                                The young Chef cooking our dinner

We had a bottle of this absolutely delicious Shiraz from Australia, I took a photo as I would like to try and locate it here, so far no luck though.

   We had our photo taken with the owner/chef of the restaurant

 Then afterwards we were taken to a tiny coffee house, down a tiny alley, down a tiny set of steps.

                                   
Phew, what a day, we were treated like royalty, it was a day and night I will remember for a very long time.


Day 6 - Tuesday 3rd April, 2018

We were up early as we were catching a Shinkansen over to Kanazawa.  After breakfast I walked down a couple of blocks to a Post Office to purchase some stamps and post some postcards home to Australia.  Then we caught a cab to the Tokyo train station and waited an hour for our train to arrive.

Lovely clean luxurious Green car (executive class) carriage. So comfortable, the seats tilt back and they also have a foot rest.  As soon as the train is under way a young lady comes around dressed in a very smart uniform handing out hand towels.

                                                     Arriving at Kanazawa station

                  This is a photo outside of the station and some of the cabs waiting for a fare

                                                  A photo of one of the Shinkansen's

We were waiting to be collected in a mini bus as we were heading into the mountains about 30 mins drive away to a Ryokan for one night.  We were greeted with a hot towel, some sweets and a bowl of warm Matcha.

After we checked in we were shown to our room, we were in the Kotyo room on the 4th floor, it was a tiny place with 12 rooms in total.

                After we had our Onsen we relaxed with a couple of drinks and some nibbles.

                           We went outside and enjoyed the lovely view as the sun was setting

We then went to dinner which was a small room where we sat on the floor which was comfortable as we had somewhere for our legs and a back rest as well.

                                           A few photos of some of the dinner courses

We met a couple of lovely ladies, the younger one next to me is Fumi and her Mama (in Western clothes), Fumi spoke quite good English and we all had dinner together and also Breakfast the next morning,.  I'm so glad meeting with Fumi as the staff didn't speak any English.  She advised the staff we would like a Western style breakfast the next morning which I didn't know was available as I though it was all traditional Japanese food.  Fumi and I are now friends on FB.

Upon arriving back to our room after dinner we found our beds made up on the Tatami mats which had a table and chairs there prior going to dinner. They were surprisingly comfortable.

This was the room before we went to dinner

Our Western breakfast the following morning, uncooked omelette, the Japanese tend to eat a lot of uncooked eggs, not my style at all, I had a little bit but couldn't finish it.  I did however eat the bread rolls.

                                           I ate the Pumpkin Soup, sausages and bacon

                      I ate this delicious pot set yogurt which apparently they make on site

This was our Ryokan, I said before it had 4 floors however it only had 3 floors with 4 rooms on which floor,  In Japan what we called ground floor they call 1F (first floor)

This was a really wonderful experience and we only did it for one night as it's very expensive.
Even though we stayed in the same room, the rate is "per person".

So till the next part. Bye for now.

                                                                           Cheers
                                                                           Kaylee