Visitors - Part One

“COME ON!!!” Where was the bloody taxi? It was hot… very hot, and Liz and I were waiting in the car park of our apartment block - waiting for the taxi to take us to Nodagawa Station. He was supposed to come pick us up at FIVE!! But that was several minutes ago. We had a train to catch!! And MOST importantly, it was bloody HOT!! Liz squatted in a sliver of shade with the bags while I paced out on the road keeping an eye out for a lost-looking taxi.
Finally it arrived. It turns out that he had gone to the wrong apartment block. Not to worry, we still made it to the station on time and before we knew it we were on the limited express train to Kyoto: the first leg in our trip to Tokyo to meet Lee and Prad at the airport.

We had spent the afternoon in the immigration office at Maizuru (Kyoto prefecture’s port city) applying for an extension on our almost-expired visas. It was hot and busy in the immigration office, but all went well.

Once in Kyoto, we bought our bullet train tickets to Tokyo for the next morning, and picked up some “dinner” from a convenience store before checking into the hotel and calling it a night.

The next morning, we headed straight for Kyoto Station, where we picked up some fancy lunch packs and drinks for our two hour bullet train ride to Tokyo. We were on the new 700 series Nozomi super express bullet trains. Normally Kyoto to Tokyo takes about three hours, but this speedy new train had us there in two!! AWESOME!!!!!!

Our lunches were GREAT!... except for the fact that I accidentally managed to squish Liz’s sandwiches eeeever so slightly…

At Shinagawa Station (one of Tokyo’s hubs) we changed over to the Narita Airport express train and before we knew it, we were being inspected at the airport security gate….only this time we were PREPARED for it! Haha

We had arrived an hour or so before their flight was supposed to arrive, but when we got to the arrivals gate and looked on the board, it turned out that Lee and Prad had in fact already landed, and were taxiing on the runway!! WOW! Good thing we got there early!! Liz stood like a meerkat on lookout at the arrivals gate while Bryn went to the convenience store to get some “Welcome to Japan” beers for our guests.


It wasn’t long before Lee and Prad wandered out of those arrival gates and spotted us waving at them. It was really great to see them both. They looked surprisingly spritely given their LONG-HAUL flight here. We made a quick trip to the Japan Rail office to get their rail passes issued, and then we boarded the Narita Express Train back into Central Tokyo. When Bryn cranked out the beers on the train, Liz announced that it was Lee’s birthday!! So we had a “kampai” to Lee as well as a “kampai” to them arriving in Japan.

And so began the ten day whirlwind that was LEE and PRAD’s EXCELLENT ADVENTURE in JAPAN!!!

FIRST STOP: TOKYO!
We only had a one night stay in Tokyo, so we didn't waste any time. Once we checked into the hotel and freshened up, we headed out to Shibuya district for some dinner. We went to an izakaya restaurant there. It was really fun. Lee and Prad must have been exhausted from their flights, but they trooped on. After dinner we walked around Shibuya a little and then headed to Shinjuku district to see the skyscrapers and the hotel Liz and I stayed at when we first arrived in Japan all those years ago. It was fun for me and Liz to wander those streets again and recall those very first days...

It was while we were walking around Shinjuku that it hit us all that we were absolutely buggered, and so we headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved sleep.

The next morning we went to Asakusa district where Prad was accosted by two different rickshaw pullers who REALLY wanted to take him for a ride in their carts... Prad chatted away with them, which I think made their day!! haha

We went to Senso-ji (a famous old temple in Asakusa). The original building was burned down in the US firebombing of Tokyo in WW2, but the reconstruction looks old and authentic. The most famous part of the whole temple is the entrance gate, named the "Kaminari-mon" or "Thunder Gate", in which hangs a HUGE paper lantern. We took some photos there and walked down the souvenir shop-lined street to the temple. It was a fun walk. Liz had never been there, and I hadn't been there in about nine years, so it was interesting for us all. At the main temple, we all drew fortune tellings. Lee and I got good fortunes. We were basically told that everything we touched would turn to gold (slight exaggeration, but you get the picture)... Liz unfortunately didn't get such a great one. She had a not-so-good fortune telling. But she wasn't too bothered about her own when she saw how shockingly bad Prad's was!! Prad was basically told to pray for help! haha. So Liz tied his fortune slip up on the string provided so that his luck would improve.

After Asakusa, we went to Harajuku where we visited the famous Meiji-jingu Shrine. There was a lot of walking involved, and it was VERY hot. Along the way we decided to pay to walk around the gardens there. Unfortunately, nothing was flowering!! We found ourselves walking round saying things like "Man, I bet that would be really beautiful IF those plants were in bloom..."  haha.

There was a sign pointing to Kiyomasa's well. We decided to check it out. We walked all that way... only to find a hole in the ground with some water coming out of it. It was pretty disappointing. In hindsight, I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but it was still pretty crap. There was a sign there telling us how pure and high quality the water was, but immediately underneath it was another sign saying it wasn't fit to drink!! haha

After the shrine, we stopped for some icecream and cold drinks before heading to the station to catch the bullet train to Osaka.