The end of the journey

It was back on the Shinkansen at Nagano for a fast trip to Tokyo, then a change to the Narita Airport Express, then a taxi to the Crowne Plaza, then a free bus to Narita Station and a walk through Narita town, by this time it was getting dark, but not too dark to visit the 700 year old temple and walk up the steps to view the real temple where no  photographs are allowed. shame it was too dark to view the gardens.

 Its all down hill to view the temple and then its a steep walk back up the hill, but finding another rabbit was a reminder how nice rabbits are, especially the chinese astrology ones.

 We hadn't eaten and all the Japanese places were vegetarian unfriendly, so what better than a Mexican place, that wasn't something we had eaten for a while and it was good enough.  We were still looking for more strawberry cake so took the free Hilton bus (only for Hilton Hotel guests the sign in the bus said, but no one checks) from Narita Station to the Aeon shopping mall, but still missed out on the strawberry cake we wanted, it was late so we got a taxi back to the Crowne.

 

 Next morning it was a quick but good breakfast and in the hotel, then the bus to the Airport, a bit of duty free shopping and then clear views of all the snow which had been falling in Japan from the window of our flight to Hong Kong.

 Then it was onto our flight by Air Pacific back to Nadi, we had an evening meal which was passable but breakfast for all the vegetarians in economy was a cold bread roll, butter  4 small chunks of fruit and a small water, Alex calls them Air Pathetic, and Chris said even the prisoners in the gaol would get a better breakast, what made us laugh was that the breakfast menu had been chosen by a group of priority customers.  On landing we headed off to the Hilton for a better breakfast, the food was OK but the flies were terrible and none of the food was covered, so we had to watch what we were choosing.    Then taking turns on the drive back to Suva  to unpack, get used to the hot weather again and realise what a great time we had.

The Fire Festival

 After our dinner it was a short walk through the snow to the site of the fire festival, held every year on 15 Jan to ensure the gods look kindly on Nozawa Onsen.  Everything was ready when we arrived and most of the good viewing spots were taken, the snow had turned to smooth ice from all the footprints and it was quite hard to stand, but that made the scene more exciting,  The fireworks went off, the drums were beating,   a fire was lit to provide a lighter for all the bundles of twigs, the 42 year old men sitting on the platform were in full voice, the 25 year old men were waiting for the battle to commence and we found a safer spot to stand just near the police tent, as none of us wanted to end up with broken bones from the slippery ice.

 

the photo above is one of the two poles, with decorations made by the 60 year old women in the village and wishes for every boy child born in the last year.  Usually they only have one but this year they needed two, must have been a boom year for births.

 We couldn't survive the cold to stay till the end, and it was 10 oclock and the boys need to be in bed, the end was shown on the TV in our rooms and is spectacular, the men had left the platform as soon as the logs are alight, so they were safe and next year they help defend the 42 year old men in the battle. The last thing to be burnt is the poles with the wishes for the boy babies.

 next morning it was back to view the site and all the people gathered to see the embers, cooking their breakfast and getting something for a good luck piece for the year.  We had a taxi to catch to get to the station for our train to Narita.

and this is what we were leaving.  I could get to like living in snow country.

more snow and the monkeys

 every day we woke to fresh snow and it snowed most of the day, great for the skiers, and good for me rugged up walking around the village, drinking coffee and eating some of the specialties from the bake house, We had eaten some tapas food one night when we couldn't get into a restaurant and Chris found there was a restaurant upstairs and they would serve us a 10 course vegetarian feast, well worth the price just to see the beautiful look of the food on the plate,  and this photo only shows the appetizers.

on the last day we were busy, the boys went back skiing and Chris and I took another walk through the village, and visited the site for the fire festival with the men busy at work in the snow, the previous day the men had dragged the tall trees to the site, the trees had been cut the previous September, this photo shows the ledge where the men sit while waiting for the other group of men to try to set fire to the logs. its much taller when finished.

 We had a quick hot steam bun lunch and then it was off  to visit the snow monkeys in the afternoon, a 50 minute bus ride, a 1.6 km walk uphill and along a path through the snow to get to the viewing spot, I nearly decided not to go but with Chris helping me over the icy spots on the paths and steps we stepped into a different world, worth the effort of the walk.

the monkeys frolic in the snow and then jump into the onsen.  a notice with the rules for visiting says they are not in our family tree

a great way to keep warm. We got warm on the trudge back to the bus, enjoying the snow scenes as we drove back to another Italian meal, I had ordered the day before, they were fully booked but when I said we would come early and only eat pasta and pizza they agreed.  The food was so good be ordered more and then had sweets to finish off and give us the energy for the fire festival soon to start

on the rail again

we  left Kyoto on the Shinkansen to Nagoya,  what better to eat on the train than Melty Kiss Whips,   I discovered the green tea whips in Tokyo and didn't get the strawberry ones, luckily I found them in Kyoto and lots of other varieties.

 We changed trains to head to Nagano, I did plenty of knitting and took some countryside snaps,  the boys were lucky enough to see some monkeys from the front of the train and came back to get Chris but no more. At Nagano it was lunch time and we had 50 minutes to wait for our bus, hot toast and a coffee went down well.. I am amazed that most of the toast in Japan is 2.5 cm thick and soft white bread. We had been getting glimpses of heavy snow but our bus ride to Nozara Onsen was all snow.

Nozara Onsen had been the winter Olympics site in 1998 and its easy to see why.  We left the bus and had to drag our luggage down the streets to our Ryokan,  we were not that happy with our room and a long talk between Chris and the manager saw us changed to a room with a view the next morning.  We went for a quick walk around the streets, tried to find some vegetarian but the tofu is all cooked with fish sauce,  found Pasta di pasta due, not the greatest pasta but an interesting take on pasta with mushrooms and nori. It was early to bed as Chris and the boys were to head to the ski school early the next morning.  We had a delicious Japanese breakfast sitting on the floor cushions, lots of Australians at the hotel with us and we all were pretty uncomfortable sitting Japanese style. After they had left,  I had a relax, looked at the computer, did some knitting and then headed uphill to the moving pathway to join the others for lunch.  They were delayed, so I ordered a caffe latte at a machine in a shop and then took the ticket to get my coffee. Saves translation issues. Everyone had had a good lesson and Oskar was excited to show me his new skill.  We had some noodles, Chris had found a waiter who understood our need for vegetarian. They went back to their lesson.

 and I went to explore the town. There is snow everywhere and lots of running water from the hot springs, which sure makes a contrast..  There are 15 public onsen in the town and some for just foot baths,  but our ryokan has their own private onsen so we didn't need to venture nude in public.   

 Walking round the town I tried the panorama feature on my new camera.  I had an apple steam bun, we wanted to try them last night but they were all sold out so I didn't want to miss out again.  The apples in Japan are gigantic and very tasty, I have never seen so much snow in one place and the sky gave the indication that there was more to come

We didn't realise until too late that it is necessary to book for dinner, the restaurants are very tiny and quickly fill up with hungry skiers after 6, we were lucky enough  to find another  place called Billiken.  they sure know how to make pizza in Japan.  For meat eaters you could even have horse meat.

more Kyoto

It was time for the family to get on their bikes, C&A had battery powered bikes courtesy of the hotel,  the bike hire shop was just nearby. Oskar loved his battery powered one, but Carlo only had pedal power. We headed for the Nijo-jo castle built 1653, I walked and that made it easier to take photos on the way as there are so many little streets with so much to see.  The cyclamens are totally amazing  as per the photo below as are the phalanoepsis orchids, counted 5 flowering stalks on the one orchid and the flowers are extra large, must have some good Japanese food.

There are so many small temples in Kyoto, it would take weeks to see them all but when you pass one in the street its a good photo shot, loved the ancient shrine with a modern car parked right beside. Not quite visible in this photo

The boys were complaining that they didn't want to go the the Ninga castle but then they didn't want to leave. The interior  paintings on the walls are beautiful, and signs tell how the guards in a room beside the visitors chamber could keep watch on the shogun.  No photos allowed but I did buy some postcards of the art. The boards along the walkways creak, so no one could sneak in.

If you were trying to sneak in you would have had to climb the high stone walls and cross the moat, such workmanship in placing the rocks,

After walking around the gardens we were hungry, this time we headed to Diamaru market place, and had trouble choosing food from all the options available, we had inari, tempura, onigiri, crumbed potato skewers, sweet potato with a soy toffee and lemon sauce, this was Chris and my favourite, and doubled back for second helpings, when it was time to choose the sweet selection everyone had something different. Then it was time to take the bikes back and for me to walk back to the hotel.  I had a quick look at Noumo Tailor (fabric shop) and decided Chris and I must return, on the way I had a coffee, nothing great but a coffee to satisfy my flat white craving, and back to the hotel.  Then a short walk to Kyoto station to have another look at Big Camera, Alex loved some headphones, Chris found a Canon lens half the price of Australia,but both decided not to buy and the boys got a watch band to hold their iPod nano.  We then had to find somewhere to eat, and from all the choices guess what, more Italian. This is the view from the restaurant of the tower which is closed for renovation.   We had a great radicchio pizza, some pasta, and the usual mixed  lettuce salad, caprese  and of course tiramisu and chocolate cake.

After that it was a short walk back to the hotel ready for sleep and another adventure tomorrow.

Kyoto

Our first bullet train ride went smoothly, except they had no vegetarian food left, so potato crisps and scorched almonds made an acceptable meal.  we arrived at the Hotel Kanra,   it was so lovely it made us realise how stylish Japanese life is. The bed was massive and slept   CAOC, I had a futon on the floor, it was so comfortable and cosy. First night we went to try to find some vegetarian but the place we had been told was veg also had lots of fish and meat so off we went to a trusty Italian, by the river, the pizzas were great, the pasta good and the sweets made us order more. The hotel breakfast was delightful, never realised the Japanese eat so many vegetables for breakfast, and the vegetables here are full of flavour.

 A 15 minute train ride took us to the Bamboo forest, we got sidetracked looking at the interesting shops and buildings, including this tiny house, we could have spent more time exploring the streets but we were on a mission to see the Bamboo forest.

and it was hard to get the path photo without lots of others in the picture.  I was intrigued by the graffiti carved on the bamboo beside the path, but it meant nothing to me as it was all Japanese.  All that walking had made us hungry and we went through the old temple grounds where we knew there would be vegetarian food and was it special, there are more small bowls of food not in the photo.  the others sat on the floor but I had a little chair and table respecting my age

and here is a panorama view of the gardens, its hard to believe that these places have been here for hundreds of years. the gardens are immaculate, and now I know why, they are continually pruned to shape, I wonder just how many people are employed tree pruning, giving the fir trees a hair cut and putting order into the branches, still its a delight to the eye.  The pond was full of koi and the boys enjoyed trying to spot the biggest fish. 

We had lingered long with out sight-seeing and so by the time we got back to Kyoto station it was late, and Alex took the boys back to the hotel, a 10 minute walk. Chris and I found a craft shop that sold everything, so I bought some wool to make us a scarf  and some beads, Chris got some Japanese fabric, and when we got home the boys had a quick pizza, I had my dinner downstairs, grilled vegetables, I forgot my camera, but the plate looked incredible and the taste was the same, I ordered a persimmon tart for my sweets, and it was so good.  Chris and Alex wanted to go out and they found a vegan place but that was a disaster, but I think some good sake helped them get over their disappointment. My meal at the hotel was a much better deal.  We  love Kyoto.

Tokyo

The flight from HK was good, and my sore throat gave no problem, I was worried when you had to walk past a sensor to check if you had an elevated temperature. I got through OK, but my advice to everyone is take a couple of panadol before you get on the plane, so your temperature is normal should you have a problem.  It took two taxi's to get us to the hotel from the airport, and not only the drivers wearing white gloves, but the seats have lace fabric protectors, must use a lot of lace curtain like fabric.  We settled into the hotel and then off to Ginza, for some more shopping and tempted by sweets and strawberry cake.  No photos as my camera said 'zoom error'. We had Indian for dinner and back to the hotel.  Next day we had to return to Ginza, I had left my mastectomy boob wash in Hong Kong, and after being 'lost in Translation' the concierge found me a shop to get a new bottle.  Everyone was pleased as there was a 3 story toy shop opposite. I got my wash and then had to go to Big Camera at the other end of the strip to get my new camera, the others were still busy at the toy shop. Lucky they had the model I wanted at a ridiculously cheap price, We enjoyed walking the little side streets and then had Italian for dinner, much easier than trying to find vegetarian that doesn't have fish sauce.  Back at the hotel I set up my camera, the guide book was all Japanese, but the internet copy is in English. Next day I was ready to go but would I take photos in magic, beauty, panorama, sport, sparkle, punk or drawing mode or just plain auto.  the camera became an instant favourite with the boys and I have to fight to get it back.
Our first stop was Skytree and walking to the ticket box, we found Nana's green tea, saw an acrobatic show, and had to line up to get a time to go to the top

It would be two hours before we could go to the top,  and not wanting to do more shopping we left

 and took a taxi to the Edo Museum, that was a great decision as the main exhibit is panorama's of the Edo era, and my camera came in handy taking close ups of the some of the interesting people in the displays, there was an amazing show of wooden toys that work only using  wood, and we watched a toy man move along a row of poles and a giesha girl moving to serve tea, by no mechanical means, and then Carlo's attention was caught by a clown show and he sat mesmerized while we took turns at looking at other things. Then it was back into a taxi to go back to Skytree and join the long queue to get our tickets, what we had got before was only a ticket to say what time we could get our real tickets,

 It had been a fairly sunny day but it was nearly sunset when we started our lift ride, 350 metres up and then we took the lift to the 450 m level, not so many people and there was Mt Fuji, if you look hard, the view over Tokyo was amazing, and I would show more but Blogger only lets 5 photos on at a time.

 We went and had more Italian food and then made a visit to Nanas Green Tea, and what treats, parfaits of red beans or green tea, too large to eat in one helping, black sesame ice cream delights, green tea ice cream, it was hard to choose. Then we got a couple of souvenirs and it was off to to Shibuya station, by fast metro, the trains are amazing, once you learn the routes.  It was Sunday night and Shibuya was a mass of people, we found Haticho, if you have seen the movie or read the book its a site to visit. The dog waited 11 years for his master to come home from work, he had died at work and of course wasn't on the train as usual. We had a quick walk around the area and Alex had to rush off to buy another suitcase.  We got a JR train home two stop and that was the end of our Tokyo adventure.

Next day we were on the Shinkansen to Kyoto

Hong Kong proper

Arriving at the Hotel, I had some hours to fill in before the room was ready.  With the Botanical gardens just across the road that was my first stop, there were some interesting trees I hadn't seen before and different bright coloured birds.  When I finished there I headed down hill to Central Hong Kong, and found that the shop I wanted was closed as were a lot of other shops as it was new year's day holiday. Even so there was plenty to see before I headed uphill to check in to the hotel and then head down hill again to meet the family after their day at Disney World.  The place we wanted to have dinner was also closed but we found great Egyptian food in a street close by, and as Oskar said, 'the food is amazing'.  Next day first up we went on the Peak tramway to the top, and of course there were 2013 signs everywhere and while it was not sunny the pollution was all to evident.

then it was down to Central again to do some shopping, I wanted a new camera, but they didn't have the one I wanted (turned out later that was a good omen). We went to a different San Francisco style veg cafe and this sign was just where we were sitting, I've made the don't worry idea my new years resolution.  Later we got the ferry across to Koowloon, more shopping and more shopping and fell exhausted into bed.

 The boys loved walking past the little stalls, just nearby was false boobs and bums, which caused some merriment, I developed a very sore throat, think it was the pollution and with lots of people wearing masks I had to be careful I didn't look too sick. Luckily a few packets of Strepsils and lots of water made a difference

 The last day Alex took the boys to Ocean World, more fast rides, while Chris and I went fabric shopping. That was an eyeopener with streets of shops with fabric swatches and all things related to clothing manufacture. We did find one shop which sold fabric by the yard and had to get our minds non-metric to see how much to buy.  We were getting worried our suitcases may be getting too full so had to exercise restraint. We decided we need to return to HK for a serious fabric buying trip.  Later we met up with the boys and went to the Nunnery in Kowloon by metro, such good trains and all the platforms fenced off with gates that open when the trains stop.  Everyone loved the beautiful rocks and gardens at the Nunnery, such a peaceful placed but overshadowed by high rise.  We had a magical dinner at the Nunnery, such good vego food. 

 and we then hurried back to pier 9 for a junk cruise of the harbour to see the light and sound show.  Our train trip back from the nunnery took longer than we thought  and we were sure we had missed the Junk, but luckily the man had not totally understood our accent and had told us the time to board at Kowloon, we arrived at the pier just as the junk was pulling in.  That was a great lesson for the boys to never give up. The end of a great day and our time in HK, and then it was packing for a 3 hour flight to Tokyo

A Side Visit - Lantau Island

 When I had the opportunity to take an extra holiday from Fiji, I grabbed the chance, and a 10 hour flight from Nadi landed us in Hong Kong, but first we decided to experience village life at Tai O.  It was dark and raining when we got out of the taxi for a 5 minute walk to the B&B, we went in the wrong direction and got soaking wet but a bad start means a good finish. A warm cup of tea,  a good sleep and next morning we were in a bus to go see Buddha.Its not an old Buddha but is the biggest outdoor Buddha in the world. Built just before the British left Hong Kong.  First stop was to buy a warm cap and gloves as it was cold and very windy, near freezing. Climbing the 280 steps tested my endurance, but the walk around inside was beautiful, no photos allowed. After a vegetarian lunch at the Monastry nearby we took the cable car, We had great views of the airport and surrounding mountains, I even saw a waterfall, and we were relieved when we hit ground and had our first shopping experience to get more warm clothes,  Later we heard that the service often has to stop because of the wind. Lucky Laurice had sent me my snow boots and warm coat I use in New York winters, even so I got a few extra warm things to supplement the supply I had bought at Save City in Fiji, which sells lots of winter clothes at cheap prices. When I left in Sept for Sunny Fiji I never thought I would need winter clothes.

 We saw some unusual sites in the fishing village, dried fish galore, from puffer fish to sharks.This plate of egg yolks drying in the sunshine didn't entice me to sample the finished product.

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 A few minutes before this photo was taken we had been sitting on the wooden balcony, just above those triangular sticks, eating the most amazing Tiramisu and other sweet delights and drinking very good coffee. I won't mention who went back for second helpings.  We took the boat ride to view the stilt houses, (the blog hasn't left me upload that photo) and also to try to see the pink dolphins in the harbour but none were about, we didn't mind, it was so different to Fiji

Lantau island has very steep hills, amazing winding roads, and this beautiful beach with massive rocks, a short bus ride from our village, It was New Years eve, and parties were about to commence, but we had an average meal and left,  We knew it had been NYE in Fiji 5 hours before, was near to NYE in Sydney and we were all tired, 2013 still arrived without any effort from us. On New Years day we were heading into Hong Kong proper and we didn't want to be tired.  The rest of the family were off to Disney Hong Kong and I had some hours to myself.