Fun in the snow in Japan...

Heading up to Hokkaido...

The amazing bullet trains...

We took an overnight train all the way from Osaka to Sapporo. This again was covered by our rail passes, which have been a godsend. The distance is something like 650 miles and would have cost us between £200 and £300 each way to fly, but we had our rail passes meaning it was all covered, Fantastic. We had three different trains and about 14 hours before we arrived early into Sapporo. 

View of Mount Fuji from the train...

Arriving up north...

Pre-booking your hotels in Japan is highly recommended and most hotels also have a strict check in policy. We turned up to our ‘Swanky Hotel’ at 7am looking to check in before 3pm to catch up on a bit of sleep. Simple answer was no. So instead we dumped our bags and headed out to find some coffee and to explore a little before we could go back and relax. The Swanky hotel is what is called a ‘business hotel’ they’re hotels for actual businessmen and woman and not of the red light variety, they are a good way to get cheap accommodation in Japan at $40/night for a double en-suite room.

Sapporo is a really nice city that at the time of our arrival was covered in snow. It is well known for the annual snow festival, Sapporo Beer, Ramen noodles and surprisingly chocolate. We arrived a couple of weeks before the start of the festival so wouldn’t get to see it finished but we could see the construction of the huge sculptures being built. Sapporo is a huge city but in the centre where we where it seemed to have a quite local feel to it. It has some huge shopping malls, loads of Pachinko halls and a lots and lots of Ramen type eateries. To save a bit of cash prior to hitting the slopes we opted for the local ‘Dawsons’ (Lawsons) for one of their famed microwave meals that we could heat up in the hotel and we washed it down with a 500 Yen bottle of wine.

Fragile Rock construction workers at the snow festival...

After a day or so in Sapporo it was time to make our way to Niseko. It was a pretty easy journey and again covered by our rail pass all the way to Niseko. All we had to do was hop on a local bus from the station that took us within walking distance of our Pension (Japanese version of a B&B). Our Pension was called Cotton Farm and was literally 2 minutes walk to the Annipuri gondola lift. We soon realised why not many westerners stay here as the Family who own it barely speak any English. A few hand gestures later we had the key to our room and where heading out for some food. Annipuri is a sleepy little ski village with not much happening. It only has a few restaurants and one bar other than the ones in the hotels. Luckily for us one of the restaurants was next door and the bar was next door to that. We stopped in at ‘Lucky fingers for a drink before heading to the restaurant. Considering this was a ski resort we where surprised by the prices of both the food and the drink. We had a 3-course meal and a coffee for about £10 and a glass of wine each at just under £3. We got back to our Pension that night in time for them to organise our lift passes and equipment hire. The pension owners were even kind enough to run us down to the nearest ATM, 7km away in the 7/11.

The Annipuri Ski resort

Annipuri is part of the Grand Hirafu mountain range, which has 4 resorts. We were staying in Annipuri for 7 nights so opted for a 2-day Annipuri pass and then a 4 day all mountain pass. Again the price surprised us, for hire of all equipment including hats, gloves, goggle the lot and the two lots of passes we only paid about £280 each. Compared to Europe it is a bargain.

For the first few days it was an absolute blizzard outside but it wasn’t going to stop us, especially after coming all this way. We eased ourselves in gently doing a few green runs, Lee got us lost a few times meaning we ended up waste deep in powder but overall our confidence was building enough to try some of the side-piste and even a little bit of one of the infamous back country gates. As it turned out our choice to only get the local Annipuri pass paid off as the top lifts to get across the mountain where closed for the first few days due to high winds. This was fine with us as we really enjoyed the Annipuri area.

Ski lift fun...

After our superb powder exploits over the first few days we decided to take a day off the slopes and walk over to the Grand Hirafu resort. It was a 10km easy walk according to Google maps so we donned our hiking boots, wrapped up warm and headed out into the cold. What Google maps don’t tell you is how deep the snow is on the roads and how hilly the route would be. It took us about 2 ½ hours and by the time we got there we were completely exhausted, so much for a day off. Grand Hirafu was nice though, it is quite a big resort and much more lively than Annipuri. As we walked around we noticed a huge increase in the amount of Australian accents in the air. We overheard someone calling it Bali on Ice which made us laugh. We had a good wander around and found a nice place to have lunch and a couple of drinks and before we called it a day and headed back.

heading into the hobbit bar through a fridge door...

Over the next couple of days we planned to visit a bit more of the mountain in particular skiing/riding in Hirafu. We had to get the shuttle bus over as the lifts where still closed but it was a pretty easy 45min bus ride. As expected it was a lot busier over this side but it had more runs and a big park with jumps and grinds and all manner of dangerous looking things. We had some really good runs with Lee trying a few off-piste runs then we even braved the park for a while. We watched as some amazing skiers and boarders went over the huge jumps pulling tricks before we went over the smallest one we could find. It was a good few days of powder and it didn’t stop snowing too.
At the end of our 5^th day of Skiing/Riding Susi had a little accident. We had finished for the day and were heading back to our resort. Whilst walking back down one of the hills Susi slipped on some ice in her ski boots and twisted her ankle…At the time we thought it was a little sprain but this was the end of her skiing experience. All bruised and swollen she laid in bed for the last day with ice packs, paracetemol and chick flick movies to keep her company whilst Lee went out for the last day. 

The lovely lady in the pension found us a local doctor who thought it was a sprain but suggested we should go to the hospital in Sapporo to get it checked out. The pension family really looked after us whilst we where staying with them, they gave us some free lunches, some good advice and helped us get around. They gave us a lift to the station too. We were getting a little concerned about the ankle as the bruising looked really bad and it was really painful too. When we got to Sapporo we headed straight to the Hospital for a check up. 



We sat around for hours, got an x-ray and were told in broken English she had a fractured Fibula, not what we were expecting. We had a choice either we go home and get it fixed or have an operation in Japan!!! We had time to sleep on it as we needed to report to a different hospital the next day. First things first we contacted the insurance company to make sure we would be covered.

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Over the next couple of days we had consultations and endless conversations with the insurance company before Susi decided to go ahead with the operation in Japan so that we could continue with our travels. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences and far from what we had planned but we got to see a different side of Japan. The medical care was excellent; Susi was in and out in a couple of days and up and walking with physiotherapy two days after with no cast, just an ankle brace. We can thank the titanium plate and 5 screws for that. The chief surgeon was amazing and spoke perfect English and the nurses had a translation app so we could get around any language barrier. The hospital food is just as bad as back home though…

With the accident behind us we had to change our plans for the rest of Japan. The doctors wanted us to stay in Sapporo for a week meaning Kyoto was out. We could still go to Tokyo though which was a bonus. Being in Sapporo wasn’t too bad as the insurance company covered all of our bills and it did mean we got to see the 65^th Annual Snow Festival after all. We hired a wheel chair for the week so Susi could get about easier in the snow and ice and headed over to the Festival. It was absolutely mind blowing, the huge sculptures and ice palaces were now all lit up with lights and projections and had music to accompany it all. It was quite difficult to get around even with the wheelchair as they hadn’t cleared any paths and the snow was quite deep. It didn’t stop us, we still had lots of laughs taking lots of breaks to warm up drinking some hot mulled wine and sake.

Our favourite, the indian themed entry...

Another mazing structure....

Winter olympics...

After a week in Sapporo swapping hotels left right and centre and various check-ups and physio appointments we were told we could leave Sapporo. Heading to Tokyo to meet up with Kate C and Kate A who came all the way to Japan to see us (and have a holiday too). Three bullet trains and seven hours later we arrived into Ueno (or Bueno as Susi says) which left us only a short walk to our hotel. The Oak Hotel was another business in a brilliant location for the metro and the convenience stores.  At the end of the street was a little Indian restaurant and of course we had to sample the food – Lee was in heaven.

Lee doing his impression of a packhorse...

The first thing we noticed about Tokyo was that it was extremely friendly, we had people offering help to Susi all the time and they spoke really good English. Most of menu’s had English translation, such a contrast to what we had been used to. The time for hand signals and gestures seemed to be over. The Kate’s were arriving from London the next day and we were super excited so it was an early night to be on top form. Before meeting up with them the next day we decided to check out the electronic town of Tokyo Akihabara (geek universe) famous for all gadgets, maid cafes and anime characters.  Considering we were in Japan the price of all technology products were amazingly cheap. We walked past the maid cafés but popped into an anime café for a café, it was very geeky to the point the food and drink was decorated and dressed like anime robots.

The Kate’s had safely arrived in Tokyo so we arranged to meet them in Kamiya, a Japanese ‘old man’s’ pub on the corner of Asaukusa station. It was so lovely to see a friendly face from back home; at times it felt as if we were back home! As the snow outside started to lay we introduced the Kate’s to the Japanese beer, the weird ordering system and of course we had to sample the famous ginger brandy. After a few catch up drinks we headed out into the snow (with Kate C wearing inappropriate footwear!) to a nearby Izakaya. With the English translation it was great to sample a wider variety of Japanese cuisine.  We had some Spam lollypops, fresh mackerel and raw tuna avocado salad that we washed down with some hot sake. It was wonderful first evening.

Shinjuku shopping area...

The next day the Kate’s hit the shops to find some better footwear for the slushy snow and unfortunately for Kate C she had to make do with wellies made for the Japanese. We waited until the sun came out and the snow was safe enough for the crutches and headed over to Shinjuku to the 45^th floor of the Government Metropolitan building. 

trying to win a Ted...

Here you can check out the amazing vast skyline of Tokyo, the views are amazing and you can see every famous landmark of the Tokyo skyline, it would have been amazing had we seen it at night. 

The Government building...

We had a little wander around the Shinjuku area which is really nice and came across some more pachinko and amusement arcades and decided to try and win a Ted (from the Movie Ted) from one of the many many claw machines. Unfortunately no Ted though. We also had a wander around the Ginza area, which is famous for its high brand shopping boutiques.

Izakaya with the Kate's

The Karaoke Club...

It was Saturday night and we had planned to meet up with the Kate’s back at our hotel for a few drinks before we hit the Karaoke. After a few glasses of wine we headed out to Ueno station area for some food. We found another little Japanese Izakaya down one of the side streets that again was delicious. We found the Karaoke bar on the main street and headed in. The Japanese Karaoke involves getting a little sound proofed room with a table and seating around and a huge TV on the wall, it also has a phone on the wall so you can order your drinks. We opted for the all you can drink in 120 minutes option and headed down to our room. 

The spiced girls...

We ordered our mojito’s and Kate A wasted no time and grabbed the microphone. Next Suze was up with Lionel Richie’s All night long followed by the appropriate Titanium by David Guetta. As the night went on we sang all manner of cheesy songs and we even managed to get Kate C up to sing on her own. The batphone was well used and the two hours flew passed. We were having such a brilliant time that we extended for another hour. Long enough for the three girls to get up and sing the spice girls…. It’s a good job the room was soundproofed!!!

The end is nigh....

It was an absolutely amazing and funny night that got better and better as the night went on. It is easy to see why the Japanese love Karaoke so much. At the end of the night we headed back to our hotel very merry with hoarse throats and some awful songs in our heads.

The next day we had a well deserved lay in and relaxed in the hotel for a while. We headed back over to Ueno that evening for some food and to meet the Kate’s again for our last evening in Tokyo. We had a drink in the very expensive Irish bar near the station before we found another really good restaurant. We said our goodbyes to the Kates and had an early night. (We will see you in May, can’t wait to here all what we missed)

National Art Museum, Tokyo..

We had plenty of time to waste before our flight the next day so we went to see Tokyo Mid Town in Roppongi. It is an area of Tokyo famous for the amount of museums and art and design influences. It is also near the national art gallery and the Mori art museum. We had a good walk around the area so Lee could snap away and even found a few little things to buy from the really nice mid-town shopping center. Tokyo was another amazing city with so much to do and see but with only a few days there we didn’t get to see everything we wanted. That said it just means we will have to come back and see all the things that we missed. Our time in Japan did have its ups and downs but overall it was high up there on our favorite places that we have visited so far, we got to experience some amazing things there and it is definitely not as expensive as people make out.

Rucksacks repacked, time for the thongs and boardies to come out again. Time to visit Oz.

The first week in the whole new world of Japan...

After over 4 months of hot weather, sunshine and beaches of south east asia it was time for something completely different, Japan. The land of Sake, Sumo, Sushi, Snow and Skiing/Snowboarding. Our first stop in Japan was Osaka. We arrived at the airport and got off the plane to a very chilly breeze and glorious sunshine. It was a good job we wrapped up warm in preparation. We breezed through customs and found our way to the train station to head into the city centre. The 1^st thing we had to contend with was buying a train ticket. Being japan everything was written in Japanese characters. Luckily a nice Japanese man helped us decipher our route and directed us to he correct platform. The train journey from the airport to the city center took us through lots of residential areas. The first thing we noticed about Japan was how unbelievably clean it was. Not one bit of rubbish on the streets and all the gardens where immaculate and serious contenders for the Chelsea Flower Show.

Osaka Kita ward at night...

The hotel we had pre-booked was Il Grande Umeda hotel not far from Minamimorimachi subway and a 15-20 minute walk to Osaka Central station. It was actually quite centrally located for all of the walking we had planned and all of the day trips we were going to do. We had a bit of a wander after checking in to get our first taste of Japanese food and culture. We found our way to a shopping street that was all lit up with bright lights and signs. Finding your way around takes some getting used to as pretty much all the signs are in Japanese making it easy to get lost!

Where do we go now?...

One of the many many
many vending machines...

May your wishes come true...

There are vending machines everywhere; pretty much every street corner we passed had something for sale. There appears to be an obsession with something called Pachinko, we must have passed a dozen of these arcade type places just on one street. We will need to find out a bit more about this Pachinko? Whilst wandering we found a traditional Japanese shrine. Apparently people who are recently married go there to be 'blessed' and then have their fortune read. They then get to write a little note on a wooden heart and hang it on a tree. Susi got her fortune told and in true Japanese fashion then tied it to the tree. Tired from all the travelling that day we made our way back to the hotel and stopped in for Kare-ya (Japanese curry) Delicious…

beautiful little breakfast stop...

Lovely little bridge shot...

The next day we planned to have a wander around Osaka and see Osaka Castle and then the famous shopping street Dōtonbori. On the way to the castle we stopped in at the local Lawson’s supermarket (Or Dawson’s as Susi likes to call it) to get a coffee and some breakfast. We headed down to the river and found a little park on an island in the river to sit and eat our sandwiches. It was a lovely morning too, very chilly but glorious sunshine. Just before we got to the castle we walked along the river where the famous cherry blossom trees line the riverbanks. 

Some cherry blossom on its way...

Unfortunately for us we where a little bit early for this as it is usually March by the time the blossom is out, it was a really nice walk nonetheless. We stumbled across some Japanese homeless people who where unbelievably tidy, everything they owned including their bedding was folded and piled up neatly on a bench. Cleanliness and tidiness seem to be important!!!

Queen of the castle...

Osaka castle is a huge 3-tiered structure, the walls that surrounded by a huge moat and set in some beautiful gardens. The main castle is a typical traditional Japanese style building with pointy roofs. On the top tier near the castle there are some touristy shops that sell some weird and wonderful things. 

Samurai Umbrella... 

Susi leaping for no reason...

Strangest of all was an umbrella that was like a samurai sword. Lee had to try it out!!! It took a good couple of hours to walk around the castle and enjoy the gardens before we headed down to Dōtonbori. 

We walked for another hour or so before we finally got to the shopping street after walking down some dodgy back streets we knew we had found it because of the giant crab stuck to the side of the building…

Giant crabs...

Shin Sia Bashi-Suji Shopping Street, Endless...

The main arcade-shopping street is about a mile long and is covered. The photo we took doesn’t do it justice but it seems endless and was absolutely heaving. Susi tracked how far we walked using her iPod and we walked 17km that day. The fitness regime starts in Japan. We got back near to our hotel and headed out to try another type of Japanese restaurant. This time it was Yakitori-ya, a restaurant where pretty much everything is cooked on skewers over charcoal directly in front of you. Again, not a word of English was spoken so it was pointing time again. The chicken skewers where delicious and had the hottest mustard dipping sauce we have ever tasted.

The Shikansen, careful all you train freaks...

Bullet train ride no.1...

As previously mentioned we had a few day trips planned from Osaka, the first of which was to Hiroshima. It was our first trip using the Japanese Rail Pass and we were really excited about riding on the infamous bullet trains the Shikansen. 
We arrived in Hiroshima and decided to walk to the park. We asked at the information centre for some directions and the woman looked puzzled that we wanted to walk for 40 minutes when there was a free shuttle to the park!

Hiroshima Dome...

Japanese Sculptural Exploration...
+50 geek points for the Designer (Architect)...

For those that don’t know anything about history Hiroshima was the place that the first nuclear bomb was dropped. It completely destroyed everything within the 1 mile. Blast zone. The first thing you come across as you enter the peace park is the Dome, this was one of the few buildings left standing in the central blast zone and only stayed standing as the bomb exploded directly above, its quite an eerie site as its been preserved completely from the day the bomb exploded. The park itself has some lovely gardens, buildings and sculptures dedicated to the memory of all those people who where killed. 

The Hiroshima peace park overlooking
the dome and flame of peace... 

There are museums contain some very graphic and detailed exhibits and artefacts. This place is not for the faint of heart but we were both glad that we had seen it. To lighten the mood a little we decided to walk a bit further and see the contemporary art museum in Hiroshima. This is situated on the top of a famous hill where many of the post bombing pictures paintings and views have been taken. Lee was in his element here looking at the architecture and sculptures. We had a bit of fun walking around the museum and then headed back to Osaka. That evening we braved another style of Japanese establishment an Izakaya. Basically a Japanese version of a pub with Japanese pub grub. (noodles grilled things and yakitori-ya style..)  It was a great evening and even got handed free hot sake to welcome us.  It is lovely!

Unexpected beach at Naoshima...

Ferry crossing...

Traditional Japanese Arch on Naoshima

The next place on our daytrip list was Naoshima also known as the art island. It is a small island off the coast Okayama and not too far from Osaka. It is known for the number of art museums and installations in such a small area and also the beautiful scenery in which they are set. 

The Benesse Museum, Naoshima...

To get there we hopped on another bullet train to Okayama and then took a ferry over to the island. Unfortunately for us we decided to go the day before all of the museums reopened after refurbishment so everything was closed. We walked around the whole island in glorious sunshine and stumbled across some amazing beaches and ports and architecture. We thought we had left the beaches back in South East Asia! The architecture and installations around the island are fantastic and we had a lovely day navigating our way around the island trying to find them. It was like a treasure hunt only for design geeks!

20 geek points for the designer (Architect)...

For victims of the Earthquake...

The last day trip from Osaka was to visit Kobe. For obvious reasons we intended treat ourselves to find a nice juicy, tender Kobe Beef Steak (slightly expensive). Especially to treat Susi as she had to put up with all the arty farty stuff Lee wanted to do. We set off on the afternoon after we had done our chores (more clothes washing) It only takes 20-30 minutes direct from Osaka and it was yet another lovely day out. We accidently found a new design museum. It is in an old cotton mill that was in the process of being converted but was open with some installations.  Our favourite was the history of Muji.  What we didn’t realise about Kobe is that it was the site of a huge earthquake that destroyed a large part of the port and city. There are lots of monuments and large park in the port that are built as a reminder of what happened. 

The sun setting over Kobe port...

The Japanese wedding...

Whilst we where at the port we happened to stumble across a traditional Japanese wedding and got some amazing photo’s of the couple in their traditional wedding dress. As the sun was setting our stomachs where eager to try the Kobe beef so we headed back to the station to find a restaurant. 
We found a place unsurprisingly called ‘the Steakhouse’ and headed up stairs. The restaurant was set out Tepan style where you sit a bar and everything is cooked in front of you. You get given a menu of the different steaks and cuts you want to choose from that go up in price depending on the cut and fattiness of the meat. After doing some research prior to going in we decided upon the sirloin rather than the tenderloin, this is somewhere in the middle of the price range. 

The magician of a chef...

You get a soup and salad to start then the meat is brought out to you and presented like a bottle of wine for you to approve. Your personal chef then magically appears in front of you and starts to prepare all of food. The fat is taken off the steak and put to the side, the meat is cut up in to cubes and given to you in courses with various vegetables, shitake mushrooms and garlic chips that Susi thought where cornflakes. The fat that was cut off earlier is then cut up into tiny pieces and cooked with bean a shoots that is a nice finish to the meal. We really enjoyed this experience and the steak was as beautiful and tender as we had heard. Would definitely go again given the chance.

China town in Kobe is pretty red...

Yes, a 100 Yen shop...

Our first week in Japan made us realise that it is definitely not as expensive as we thought it was going to be. You can definitely eat and drink on the cheap and even accommodation isn’t that expensive. There are 7/11’s and Lawsons on pretty much every corner and if all else fails you can always find a 100 Yen (Japanese pound shop). Admittedly beer is expensive especially in comparison to what we have been paying but to Susi’s delight you can get a bottle of wine for 500¥ (just under £3) from most convenience stores.

After 5 days exploring Osaka and the surrounding areas it was time to head up to Niseko, Hokkaido for our Japanese Ski and Snowboard experience and a little bit of sightseeing too.