Monico Family Travels

Category: Japan

• Farewell Japan

  Posted at 11:32 pm by Charlotte, on April 21, 2019

  Japan is a country with such a strong and unique culture we wondered how we would fare in our quest to get under its skin.  Not speaking the language (despite James’s best efforts, he only mastered half of the simplest of the 3 alphabets which in total comprise 2100 characters) rendered us less able to communicate with locals than we managed in S America.  However, we experienced such ubiquitous kindness, generosity and warmth that we learned in many circumstances that common language is not necessary for connection or effectiveness. We also experienced a culture where less structured religion opens the door for a more free yet intense sense of spirituality, and how a focus on respect creates an all encompassing atmosphere of calm and patience, (even in the crazy labyrinth of Tokyo station!).

  We also learned that Japan is a country where process is king, and woe betide any breach, or suggested variation.  We christened the crossed-arms push-back expression ‘chop chop’, and were on the receiving end probably more often than we should have been.  I’m a process girl at heart, but struggled to uphold various predetermined sequences of events when unforeseen circumstances indicated that a logical change to process should prevail.

  

  Inadvertently capturing the ‘chop chop’ whilst receiving the ‘chop chop’ for taking photos where we shouldn’t – oops!

  On a mostly more frivolous note, here are some of the things that we will sorely miss, and some that have found their way to our Japan 101.

  LOVE LOVE LOVE

  • Charlotte: Auto opening taxi doors (even the cars are polite!).
  • Everyone: Everything is even more on time than Switzerland.
  • James, Emily and Charlotte: Cleanliness  – there is no rubbish ANYWHERE, spills are cleaned immediately, everything is immaculate.  This attention to detail is a way of life. 
    

    This lady is doing a daily sweep of the road outside her house

  • Charlotte and James: Bowing: we felt self conscious initially, but learned weirdly to love it as a way of showing respect and gratitude, although sometimes the stoop was quite a long way down for us giants.
  • James and Charlotte: No tipping (everyone does a great job because its expected of them and they expect it of themselves).
  • Bella: being the same height as most of the adults (fair do’s – especially when your younger sister has a few inches on you….)
  • James, Bella, Emily:Dog dresses.  Nuff said?

  

  An outfit for every occasion!

  • James: The toilets – if you haven’t experienced them, ask James to give you a run-through of the various douching, drying, oscillation, and singing options offered.  They provided him an excuse to spend EVEN MORE time in there – who knew that was even possible!
  • Charlotte: The baths……now we are talking.  You set the temperature, and then they self fill (to the top – infinity style), sing you a song to indicate readiness, and then self-autofill to keep you brimming at your optimum temperature.  The best ones are made of aromatic cedar wood, or filled with fresh Onsen spring water full of healing minerals. I could go on……
  • Bella: Onigiri triangles (especially Bella who would grab these fellas for breakfast when we were on the road).  They beat a mayonnaisy M&S sandwich any day.

  

  Onigiri!

  • Emily: Everyone being so quiet and polite and respectful
  • Bella: cool house designs with all the triangle roofs
  • Emily: Everyone dresses neatly, there is no scruffiness
  • Everyone: Plastic food outside every restaurant (except the most high end Kaiseki!)

  

  

  

  • Charlotte: the trees.  It was a treat to enjoy all the silver birch forests of Hokkaido, and the cedar forests off Keihoku
  • Charlotte: Queueing at the tube: the Japanese put the even the Brits to shame when it comes to queueing, and unbelievably no elbows appear or shovings ensue even when rush hour hits and the crowds are commensurate or worse than London.  For the overground trains there are even queueing ‘lanes’ painted on the platform that fit the configuration of the various train types and are entirely adhered to.

  

  • Bella and Emily: Daisu and Adzuki.  Millie and Bella miss them a LOT, and I suspect they might miss Millie and Bella and all their cuddles too!

  

  Adzuki and Daisu taking B&E out for an afternoon walk

  SEE YA LATER:

  • Everyone: Pillows with beaded bases that feel like sleeping on a bed of raw chickpeas

  

  • Everyone (especially Emily): Everything being even more on time than Switzerland….when we are running late!!!
  • James and Charlotte: Low tables, wash basins, kitchen surfaces, shop counters etc etc (back breakers…)
  • James and Charlotte: Sitting on the floor to eat at traditional restaurants.  However atmospheric it may be, our appreciation only lasts about 10 minutes until the aching from inflexible hips fights the desire to be seated in cross-legged zenness.

  

  Happy memories of our first authentic Japanese Ramen!

  • Emily: All the tiny alleyways (she found them crowded rather than charming)
  • Bella: buying what you think is a chocolate croissant, and finding that its stuffed with sweetened mashed black beans (this happened more times than her sense of humour made allowance for).
  • Charlotte: Tokyo Station.  I marvel at it. But it made me cry.  Twice. And I’ll never go back until they make GPS work underground.   
  • Everyone: individually packaged EVERYTHING.  The packaging in Japan was beautiful, and incredibly effective, but an environmental disaster.
  • Bella and Emily: all the smelly fish (to be fair most of it wasn’t smelly, with the possible exception of the breakfast kipper-esk offerings)

  

  • Charlotte: the fact that there is zero flexibility in anything EVER!  Now I’m not one to mess much with my food order or expect special favours, but we (mostly I) got the ‘chop chop’ a lot, and for things that I by and large thought were very reasonable requests, but which fell foul of preset policy or process, and where hierarchical obedience precluded the prevailing of common sense.  An example: James and I walked into a cafe with about 20 tables in it. 2 of them were occupied. The tables were very small, and our wish was to have a coffee and work on our laptops for a while. We were not allowed to take 2 separate tables next to each other, despite the pervasive lack of existing customers, even though we offered to double up should there be a sudden rush of new clientele.  It didn’t help when I suggested James and I walk out and walk in again separately, sit at separate tables, order separately and and pay separate bills….. WHAT?!?!? Rant over (and I won’t get started on women’s empowerment). I still LOVE Japan, but suspect I couldn’t live there for any significant time period.

   

  Now time for the next cultural cartwheel!  I am drafting this on the plane to Kuala Lumpa where we touch town for a night, and then head to Medan in the north of Sumatra.  From Medan we fly to the small island of Simeulu where we have signed up to volunteer with the community there for a few weeks. If things go well, we will head to the even more remote (in fact uninhabited) island of Bangkaru for a week in the middle to be on turtle patrol.  Wish us luck, and don’t be alarmed if we don’t respond to any messages until mid-late May as WiFi will be patchy at best, and non-existent for some of this part of the trip.

   

   

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 7 Comments

• Shes 9!!!

  Posted at 11:35 pm by Millie, on April 19, 2019

  

  Bright lights of Osaka: Japan’s third largest city after Tokyo and Yokohama

  I woke up with my best friend Catrin, her sister Alexa and Bella in Osaka on my 9th birthday and we all jumped for joy on the bed!

  

  

  The view from our bedroom window

  As soon as I was up and dressed I raced to Mummy and Daddy.  First I opened a small lovely present that was some washing tape with cats on.  Then we all bundled down to breakfast. I had toast with lots of nutella on it. The breakfast table was covered with glitter and ‘happy birthday’ confetti, and a big 9 balloon.  

  

  As soon as I finished eating I opened all of my presents except for one that I saved for later.  One of my favourites was this gorgeous charm bracelet from Catrin.  Mummy and Daddy gave me a card with dancing kittens on it that sang Happy Birthday out of tune!

  

  

  

  First I went shopping in Gap with my birthday money.  Catrin was a really kind friend at helping me choose things and letting me know what suited me and not.  

  Then we went for a crepe lunch, and an ice cream for dessert in a big crazy shopping centre with a big green bear outside.  

  

  After lunch I went to a shop to get some new glasses which I put in cool case which Mummy and Daddy had given me at breakfast time.

  

  

  After that we went to an arcade place and me and my best friend went in a funky photo booth where you take photos and can then play with images adding stickers and other cool  things. 

  

  In the arcade we also played mario cart which was a crazy driving game.

  

  When we got back to the hotel we had a cake that was a pile of giant chocolate chip cookies with candles in it.  Then we (just the children!) ordered room service and watched 2 movies and had a midnight feast.

  

  

  

  

  Happy Birthday Emily!

  But it didn’t end there!!!!

  We moved to a different hotel the day after my birthday.  I woke up and I was so excited to look out of the window and see rollercoasters whizzing round and Hogwarts in the distance.  

  

  

  When we arrived at the park I could see the spinning globe which meant we were at Universal Studios AT LAST for my birthday treat!

  

  The first world that I went to was Harry Potter world.  As we walked in we saw Stone Henge from England.  We walked down a long path until we eventually saw Hogwarts.  We walked past all the shops in Diagon Alley and went into Ollivanders Wand store. We also saw Honeydukes, and that crazy plant shop (Noltie’s Botanical Novelties), and the toilet had Moaning Myrtle roaming around it.  The first ride we went on was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and you basically went on a 4 seater and zoomed round the Quidditch pitch, and there were dementors, and spiders and Aragog spitting at you with actual water, and the dragons from The Goblet of Fire breathed hot air/fire at us.  After that we wandered around, posed by the flag of our favourite house, and then went for lunch at the Hogs Head. We had a goblet of butter beer each. It tasted like apple juice with cream at the top. Next we went on the Harry Potter Flight of the Hippogriff rollercoaster. We got the very front carriage which was epic.  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Dad dragged us to Water World, and we watched a crazy show with lots of fire, shooting, jetskis and old boats.  This part of Universal Studios I didn’t particularly like.

  

  There were tonnes of crazy rollercoasters everywhere, including an upside down one (that Bella and Daddy liked) and a backwards one.

  

  

  When we went past a model of Jaws, Mummy and Daddy posed in its jaws.  

  

  We walked past Minion fountain and a dog petshop before getting to a ride called Minion Mayhem.  The car moved around and it was trying to transform us into a Minion ourselves. It was a 4D experience and it made Mummy feel sick but the rest of us really liked it.

  We all walked by a shop that was selling Snoopy ears and decided to buy a pair seeing as me and Bel had recently fallen love with Snoopy (who is Rachel’s (Catrin’s mummy’s) favourite).  

  

  

  

  Overall it was exciting to spend a Birthday in Japan and go to Harry Potter world in Universal Studios which I had been wanting to all my life.  It was especially good because the Lewis Banks family could be there on my actual birthday.

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 10 Comments

• The Japan bits we missed!

  Posted at 5:01 pm by James, on April 17, 2019

  Nestled amongst the Cat, Owl, Otter and Mameshiba cafes is arguably the cutest cafe of all … the HEDGEHOG CAFE. Simon took Bella and Millie out on for an adorable afternoon of feeding worms to these little guys. Awwwwww…..

  

  

  

  

  Once you are in so deep with the animal cafes, where you you go from here? Fortunately we tracked down a pack of Pugs at a rare cafe on the outskirts of Kyoto. Due to the love of their owner, a striking Japanese lady who the dogs mob the moment she enters the room, the cafe is only open a few days a month so we made a special trip back to Kyoto for this Pugtastic experience.

  

  Spot the pug!

  To ring the changes I took the girls out for an afternoon of daddy-daycare. As with most things in Japan, bikes here have a gadget in them; in this case a tidy little electric motor that launches your sit-up-and-beg granny bike to 25 km/h in the blink of an eye. After collecting our bikes we wizzed along the pavements (hold your horses … this is not breaking the rules!), and onto the bank of the river. The place in the picture below is where the Kamo River that runs through Kyoto splits in two. In a splash of Japanese creativity there are concrete blocks shaped as turtles spanning the river, and you can just see Bella and Millie on the far side having jumped on the opportunity.

  

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 0 Comments

• An unforgettable combo of art, otters, cherry blossom and sleepovers

  Posted at 12:21 am by charlottemonico, on April 15, 2019

  Prepping for a 2 night stay-over on the ‘Art’ Island of Naoshima, we decided to pack light overnight backpacks instead of slugging our rollers onto the boat.  Turns out we travelled even lighter than intended, (but not in the furry friends department):

  

  Our first night was spent in one of these rather gorgeous looking yurts on the beach.  

  

  Looks however can be deceptive when it comes to experience!  Due to a huge rainstorm, sleeping in said yurt was rather too reminiscent of overnighting in a tin bunker during a tsunami.  Not even my industrial earplugs could keep the battering on our roof at bay.  It got so cold that we could see our breath, so we bunked up together, and shivered our way through till dawn.

  As morning broke, we couldn’t work out if our headaches were caused by the extreme temperature, the craft beer from the previous night, or gas poisoning from the kerosene heater.  

  

  

  Nothing could keep our spirits down for long though as the Lewis Banks family arrived that morning!  

  Here we all are by the archetypal yellow pumpkin (one of many on the island by Yaoi Kusama): Rachel, Joe, Catrin, Bella, Alexa, me, Millie and James.  Happy days to have such wonderful friends join us for a week, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled to see them after a much anticipated build up.

  

  Our first afternoon together comprised much frantic gassing, alongside a lovely wander around some of the outdoor exhibits.  The younger contingent were somewhat skeptical of the validity of some of this particular ‘rock art’, and they may be on to something as Naoshima was curated as a bespoke tourist attraction rather than whatever else would constitute a more authentic site (??).  Yet it has garnered a reputation as a prime Japanese destination (both locally and internationally) for art devotees, and it seems that ever increasing numbers of trendy artsy types continue to make the pilgrimage. 

  

  

  

  We visited the Chichu museum next.  Its building is an indisputable artwork in itself, whether you love or hate proliferation of concrete angles!  It is built directly into a southern portion of the island, mostly underground to avoid affecting the beautiful natural scenery of the Seto Inland sea.  Despite being primarily subterranean, the museum lets in an abundance of natural light that changes the appearance of the artworks and the ambience of each of the spaces, by season, time of day and weather.  It is home to 5 of Monet’s Waterlilies, and 4 other modern and interactive exhibits.  Chichu provoked a good amount of discussion in our broader group around ‘what is art’, and how tastes can vary.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Walking home, we passed this giant rubbish bin, which raised the question from the tween skeptics: art rubbish or rubbish art?

  

  No one could dispute the beauty of these gardens which were inspired by the Monet collection:

  

  

  

  …. or the fun of the red pumpkin which you can pop out of like a worm!

  

  A cute elephant is always a winner….

  

  …and the charm of the famous yellow pumpkin really grew on me.  There is something so out of place, and yet so familiar and peaceful about it.

  

  The 4 girls had a lovely few hours playing fantasy games on the beach while the grown ups lingered in the Chichu and discovered (bonus!) the cafe served Sancerre in the sun.  

  

  

  

  

  We walked back to our hotel via this fabulous cove, and proceeded to enjoy an evening of slurping ramen in a very local and steamy cafe, followed by the first of many sleepovers.

  

  The other ‘unmissable’ museum on Naoshima is the Benesse which houses as far as we could tell some very fun and thought provoking modern art masterpieces both from Japan and around the world.  We took a new strategy with the girls letting them explore as a 4some, free of our tiresome leading questions and educational comments, with the one proviso that they were able to articulate afterwards something that they liked (and why), or the opposite.  There was a lot of fodder for figuring out what was what and what might have been in the mind of the artist.

  Eg this “World Flag Ant Farm”, a series of 49 flags made of coloured sand, connected by tunnels that allowed colonies of ants to tunnel and make their nests through the frames, thereby altering the images of the flags.  We came up with all sorts of political statements that it could be making!  The meaning and value of borders between nations and the effects of migration?

  

  And then there were these guys who just went ‘chatter chatter chatter’ through their constantly moving jaws except when they occasionally burst into song.  The girls found them quite annoying….

  

  And then there was this one that flashed up a lot of swearwords in different patterns which obviously triggered much consternation!

  

  All in all we were impressed with how much the girls took in, and how they formed somewhat individual perspectives on what they had seen and what it might mean, or might mean to them. 

  We moved on next to the town of Himeji, where we dined at a very local (read brave) tempura restaurant.. No one was brave enough to have the tongue tempura, but we ate deep-fried-just-about-everything-else, and went to bed feeling slightly greasy.  

  The destination attraction in Himeji is Japan’s largest castle, surrounded by this majestic moat:

  

  The castle exudes delicate ornate splendour, and at this time of year it appears to float above a bed of cherry blossom.

  

  Hoards of schoolchildren were visiting too, and we were somewhat in awe of their orderliness and neatness, although this should by now not come as such a surprise!

  

  If only we could have got the girls into some dresses today (still gorgeous, all 4 of them, but better if you can block out the ‘Gap’ branding on our two!)

  

  

  

  Our next destination took us back to Kyoto, for another stroll down the Philosphers Walk, and we were blessed with a gloriously sunny morning for it.  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Blossom floated dreamily down the river.

   

  A fine selection of dogs were out and about in their finest:

  

  

  

  And there were water-side performers, this one with a mesmerising performance:

  After a quick temple stop……

  

  

  

  

  …..we hit the otter cafe.  Rachel is a lifelong lover of these furry creatures and we are now all fully converted.  They were so gentle and playful, picking up snacks delicately with their hands and throwing back their heads to snap their jaws to chew before swallowing.  They rolled around on the floor and stopped to have their stomach’s tickled. Amazing experience to interact with these cheeky creatures, and for anyone worried about animal welfare, they were are taken to the owners home at night to get some peace and quiet and enjoy more space.

  

  

  

  

  

  And the next excitement was to meet Emi, Nanae and Kana, in the middle of Nishiki market (intentionally although also fortuitously given what a zoo it is in there).  We picked at some tasty morsels before heading out for a real meal.

  

  Caption: Tonights sleepover took a 3 way slant!

  

  Daddy daycare on tour took the girls rock climbing next morning while the mums split for more templage, or in my case some coffee and e-mail.

  

  They managed some impressive bouldering.

  Kana, Rachel and Joe took the girls on an unfortunately long bus journey (where the girls apparently impressed other tourist travellers with their knowledge of the Geisha scene (U-version))….

  

  ….. to see the fabulous Golden Temple (which James and I had already visited with Simon).  

  

  Pre-dinner, the Monico contingent embarked on one of James’s crazy schemes, this one to travel (tired and after a long day of sightseeing) to a highly salubrious suburb of Kyoto, in the miserable drizzle, to buy wellies for Sumatra.  I’m sure we’ll thank him later!

  

  

  We dined that night at the top of a tower which had these illuminated steps from the 12th to the 8th floor.  Fun times skipping along them despite the persistent rain!

  

  Snoopy became a ever more omnipresent theme of our lovely time with the Lewis Banks’s – what better little character to join with Monicofamilytravels!

  

  

  

  

  

  Leaving Kyoto represented a farewell to the Sakura.  We really were blessed to see so much of this stunning natural phenomenon, as the timing for bloom is precarious and you’d have to be very lucky to time a 2 week trip and get it spot on.

  

  The best part of all though was sharing it with our friends!

   

   

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 7 Comments

• Living, breathing, and cycling the Shimanami Kaido

  Posted at 12:17 am by Charlotte, on April 6, 2019

  Forgive me for the cheesy overture, but there have been a few moments on this trip where we have felt inordinately blessed to be experiencing something incredibly special that we would likely not have fitted in to a regular holiday.  Cycling the Shimanami Kaido is high, if not top of that list.

  

  Shimanami Kaido is a 79 KM expressway, designed with cyclists in mind.   The majority of the route offers bespoke bike paths: super safe and swathed in clean sea air.  

  

  

  

  

  

  It was in fact SO safe that Bella decreed hands to be entirely superfluous!

  

  Look no hands!

  This spectacular road-and-bridge network connects Japan’s main island of Honshu with Shikoku (4th largest) and along the way you pass over 6 of the smaller islands scattered across the Seto inland sea.  

  

  The vistas were sublime, and there were seemingly unlimited opportunities to stop or detour along the way to investigate lighthouses, shrines or natural wonders.  

  

  Such blue seas

  

  Incredible foliage

  Fun times were had investigating interesting roadside diversions:

  

  

  

  Cookie and Honey enjoyed their VIP seats!

  

  Well marked trails made navigation (and the countdown!) remarkably easy

  Even better, our timing allowed us to enjoy Sakura (flowering of the cherry blossoms) all along the way.  A few ecstatic moments freewheeling down spiralling paths from the high bridges through showers of petals was hard to beat as a sensation of joy, beauty and freedom.  

  

  

  Incredible blossoms are everywhere – not just the famous promenades of Tokyo and Kyoto

  As you breeze across the magnificent bridges (seven of them), a labyrinth of islands unfolds below.  A procession of trawlers, tugs and speedboats glides in and out of the channels. The islands are an appealing mix of natural beauty and industrial might.  We passed dozens of shipyards building or repairing vessels on a vast scale.  

  

  

  

  

  And it was great to cruise past the daily life, homes and shrines of the local people:

  

  

  

  

  As for the bridges, their exquisite state of the art forms make them an attraction in their own right.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Tatara is one of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges — its elegant 220-meter-high steel towers represent the folded wings of a crane.

  

  At 4,045 meters long, Kurushima Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world. 

  Overall we experienced smooth cycling, except for Bella’s puncture on day 2 (saved by the most efficient and polite rescue service EVER) and Milly’s accident on day 4 (bike spun out from under her resulting in a  bash on the road followed by double elbow/wrist x-ray action – thankfully no fractures).

  

  

  The bikes weren’t the best…. When we were testing out what was available for hire, the only bike which had a frame remotely big enough for James to ride wasn’t quite set up for success.  There was a hilarious moment when we saw him using Google translate to explain that “this bike has a seat that sticks upwards and it hurts my testicles” and the 3 of us girls got uncontrollable giggles.

  

  There were plenty of eclectic and fun drinks stops

  

  Eccentric dog eyebrows an unexpected bonus!

  On the accommodation front, we stayed in ryokans all the way, each both special and challenging in their own right.  Frankly the bedding for me is tough regardless:  prolapsed disks and sleeping on glorified rollmats is not a great combo. What IS lovely though is the family ‘camping’ style arrangement of us all sharing a room, with easy access hugathons.  

  

  

  

  My favourite ryokan had a cederwood bath with locally grown lemons floating in it – lush!

  

  And they all had pumps and spanners for pre-ride tune ups

  Gastronomy was taken to a whole new level.  Dinners followed a pattern, all very fancy, with some adding uber-elaborate features involving such delicacies as fish heads or raw whelks. Basic dinner consists of a tray of various pickles, followed by delicious sashimi, followed by a cooked fish course, followed by some kind of meat course, followed by a rice dish, followed by miso soup, followed by desert (usually (thankfully by this time!) a tiny portion of tasty fruit).  

  

  

  

  

  Kids meals came cutely presented, disguising some of their very own scary fishy fare

  And we did it all over again at breakfast…..

  

  

  

  

  when even I reached fish saturation point……

  

  And in spite of all my eating principles, we tended to stop off at 7/11 for ‘second breakfast’ which involved some combo of pastry and chocolate!

  Luckily we also discovered Hawaiian Blue Shaved Ice which took the edge off our pescatarian overload:

  

  

  

  Ikuchijima Setoda island was famous for growing lemons and offered lots of lemony fun for all:

  

  Sour lemons

  

  Sweet lemons!

  

  

  

  

  The girls were a bit ‘templed out’ by the time we arrived at Ikuchijima island, and I had managed to load up their Kindles with such unputdownable pony stories that when James and I went out exploring, they stayed behind at the Ryokan enjoying a read in their sun-warmed bedroom balcony/conservatory.  We fortuitously stumbled across the Kosanji Temple which was a relief since it turned out to be one of the most stunning temples we’ve yet explored. Built in 1936 by Buddhist priest Koso Kosanji in memory of his mother, this wonderland of temples, pagodas and natural beauty took more than 30 years to complete.  Each building is modelled on famous temple buildings in Kyoto, Nikko and elsewhere, so visiting is like taking a stroll through Japanese history.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Crowning the crest of the hill above Kosanji Temple was the ‘Hill of Hope’ sculptural garden. Designed and created over a period of 16 years by Itto Kuetani (a sculptor who is active in Italy), its filled with marble monuments that represent “Familial Ties” and is dedicated to  a peaceful world that is filled with hope for the future. This felt like the perfect place to give thanks for the blessings of our trip, and make a few wishes for our own future.

  

  

  

  Final ferry crossing to get back to the mainland

  

  The end of the line – literally!

  

  And a gorgeous sunset drink to celebrate the achievement

   

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 5 Comments

• A ‘filler weekend’ delivers dogs, blossom and karaoke

  Posted at 12:17 am by charlottemonico, on April 3, 2019

  With a weekend to ‘kill’ (what a luxury – even when you have a whole year away!), we visited the charming town of Kurashiki, which is sometimes referred to as ‘Little Kyoto’, and rarely makes it onto the itinerary of the 20-week tourist.

  Traveling by Shinkansen ‘bullet train;’  it took us about  12 minutes to cover the 20km to Kurashiki from Okayama where we staying overnight. While it would be hard to describe myself as any kind of locomotive freak, these trains really are something else.  As their streamlined ‘noses’ glide into stations they remind me of geese in flight, and you barely feel the acceleration as they power out and off at up to 320km/h.

  

  Kurashiki’s streets were narrow, mostly pedestrian, and sandwiched between a mix of traditional Japanese buildings and pockets of more modern architecture.

  

  

  

  

  The town centres around a short decorative canal….

  

  

  ….with pedestrian walks either side offering browsing fun.

  

  

  We popped into a Chinese medicine shop to muse over the crazy roots, herbs and pickled animal parts therein.

  

  

  It comes into its own during Sakura (blossom season)….

  

  

  

  …. and we admired this beautiful woman posing for a seasonal photoshoot in her stunning kimono.  

  

  In case it should occur to James and me to visit a temple, shrine or museum during the afternoon, the girls quickly diverted us into this Mame Shiba cafe.  These dogs are miniature versions of the national Shiba breed and are playful little pooches.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  So we had to do it at least once while in Japan.  Oh yes!  The Karoake booth had our name on it that night.  After negotiating an entry price that didn’t include all-you-can-drink beer and paintstripper whiskey for the girls (bring it on for the adults!), we locked ourself into our soundproof box (with double painstrippers to get us started), and tried to get over the stench of stale cigarettes.  As soon as James had managed to use the camera translation function on his phone to convert the instructions on the console to English we were away! I’ll save you from any video footage, but suffice to say we lost our inhibitions sufficiently to do the event justice, and suffered the effects of the Suntory binge the day after (rendering the experience was even more unforgettable!).

  

  

   

   

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 4 Comments

• Our home in Keihoku

  Posted at 5:07 am by Charlotte, on April 1, 2019

  ‘Satoyama’ is a broadly used Japanese term which can imply sustainable living in harmony with nature, artisan’s philosophy and skills when working with natural products, or more literally the border zone between mountain foothills and flat arable lands.  

  We discovered in abundance all aspects of Satoyama whilst staying at Tokuheiran in Keihoku, as well as the most incredibly warm, funny and nurturing homestay hosts Hideo and Yukako.

  

  Our traditional home for nearly 2 weeks

  Multi-talented Yukako (who formerly worked in a Michelin starred restaurant) had prepared a fabulous hotpot for us to enjoy on our first night which also served as a fond farewell dinner for Simon.  It was a ‘cook-your-own’ affair with oodles of fresh vegetables to add to rich stock, tasty meaty bits, eggs and udons.

  

  Sleeping was tatami style in our most traditional setting yet, with original hand-painted screens to separate sleeping areas, and family shrines located in corners of each room to watch over us.

  

  The resident dogs were a huge highlight of our stay.

  

  Adzuki (meaning red bean) is the golden retriever and Daizu (meaning soy bean) is the Bernese Mountain dog

  

  Adzuki was so keen she practically took herself on the walks

  

  She loved the river, and it was hard to get her out…..

  

  …..especially when she disappeared down the pipes!

  Daizu has a sad story with a happy ending.  All the major towns here in Japan have pet shops where dogs from puppy mills are sold (unless they grow too big unsold in which case they are culled).  These puppies (and kittens) are taken away from their mothers, packed in boxes, shipped to auction centers, then to pet stores. Daizu was rescued from a pet shop by Hideo and Yukako with various dislocations to his hips, so he has an awkward but cute ‘swinging’ gait.

  

  He is now cared for and loved like a prince…

  

  ….although occasionally he is a bit reluctant to walk, we think because he is in pain, but we encouraged him because its good to move!

  

  Not sure I can come up with a caption that adds anything to this cuteness!

  

  can’t forget little Gon (which means mischief) on the left here.  She is the matriarch of the pack.

  The girls were so great with the dogs, and showed such responsibility that when Yukako and Hideo had an early morning appointment, they entrusted the morning walk and feeding  to Bella and Emily who managed it perfectly.

  

  Not only that they hugely impressively made it out of bed for the 7:30 daily morning walk, even when we had a Spring snow overnight!

  Our first Sunday (while James and Simon were sleeping off whiskey hangovers on a boy’s jaunt to Osaka), Yukako, Bella, Milly and I took to the skies.  Literally! When Yukako suggested that we go paragliding with her we immediately said yes without really considering what we had signed up to!

  

  Carrying harness packs up to the launch site

  We had chilly waits for sleet storms to pass and the right (dry) updrafts to make our flights possible and safe.  

  Here we are sporting slightly nervous pre-flight smiles!

   

  

  

  

  Take off instructions were simple: keep running (until you are definitely in the air), and don’t look down.

  

  The launch site

  I found myself flying through the air before I had time to panic, and the girls bravely launched themselves like lemmings after me.

   

  

  Bella and Emily high above the hills.  Such beautiful muted colours.

  Selfie time!

   

  

  

  

  The post landing high lasted all afternoon

  Daily life at Keihoku took a lovely relaxed cadence.  While the girls did school in the mornings, James and I practiced yoga with Yukako, and took advantage of the quiet time to plan and book the final ‘trimester’ of our trip.

   

  

  

  

  

  Apart from when it was actually snowing (!), afternoons were spent exploring the glorious countryside around us by foot or by bike.  The topography consisted of long ridges of wooded hills segregated by stunning valleys hosting fast flowing rivers and bordered by paddy fields.

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Japan is so beautifully neat we even passed a lady cleaning the road outside her property.

  

  

  Morning runs by the river were a treat

  As the end of our first week coincided with the last day of term, we bid a sad farewell to Rob for the Easter holidays.

  

  It was a ‘family’ celebration sendoff with Yukako and Hideo joining us, fuelled by more delicious hotpot, and washed down with a sake tasting (Rob have you forgiven James for that yet?)

   

  

  

  To round out a fab night, Rob joined the girls for a midnight feast and a sleepover – coolest teacher in the world!

  

  I wouldn’t change a thing about our stay in Keihoku, including the ‘stink bugs’ because whilst they triggered some hysterical shrieking, they were equally hysterical in a humorous way.  So stink bugs stink, really stink.  They would show up in the most unexpected places at extremely odd times.  The way to avoid them releasing their odour was to trap them on some masking tape and seal it up (we added the ‘stamp-on-them’ step for reasons of humane stink bug extermination.

   

  

  

  

  

  Another highlight of our week was a rainy walk that Hideo guided us on to Takimata waterfall.

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Hideo shared so many fun details and facts with us like about this moss which is rather cutely called foxes tails….

  

  ……and how foresters would put ‘belts’ of chopsticks around the trees so they would grow with a decorative bumpy relief

  We passed by a cave where a Shogun’s nephew had lived in hiding for 2 years

  And we enjoyed a series of shrines and statues erected by a local landowner as a way give back to society and avoid passing his wealth to his children (the local tradition being for children to find their own path not inherit an easy life).

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Adzuki kindly shared much aroma-de-wet-dog with us in the car on the way home.

  

  Another rainy day outing took us to the very charming local thatched village…..

  

  …. and we stopped for a traditional meal on the way home.

   

  We also visited an indigo factory, design studio and museum which was interesting, but frankly also very smelly – who knew?

   

  

  

  

  

  Bella and Emily enjoyed a local craft house creating their own stained glass pennants.

   

  

  

  

   

  Sashimi night was a triumph.  Yukako showed us how to slice the freshest fish, to mix the perfect sushi rice, and how to create our own handrolls with the crispiest seaweed you could imagine.  I didn’t know it was possible to overeat so glutinously and gloriously on sushi, but we did that night!

   

  

  

  

  

  

  I never know that Othello is a Japanese game, but turns out it is, so it was fun to rediscover it with that local connection.

  

  On our last morning the shintu monk arrived to perform an annual blessing of the small shrine in our kitchen – thank goodness we’d done the washing up!

  

  Our farewells were very sad and very heartfelt:

   

  

  

  Thank you to Hideo and Yukako for sharing your home, your dogs, your food, your humour, your yoga, for pulling me and my car out of the ditch, and for sending on all the things we left behind.  You are amazing and we hope you will visit us in London one day.

  And a few last doggy tributes to see of this post:

   

  

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 6 Comments

• Kicking back in Kyoto

  Posted at 8:37 am by Charlotte, on March 22, 2019

  

  Kyoto is a dream of a city.  Its now entirely obvious why everyone raves about it.  Just walking the little streets provides constant fascination whether you are in the famous Gion district, or a regular residential area.  Culture is everywhere in the form of shrines, temples, art galleries, and simply our observations of the people around us.  The receptionists in our hotel (rare plug to The Gozan!) were hands down the most proactive thoughtful and friendly staff we could have hoped to come across which made for a lovely warm welcome.  And we did some GOOOOOD eating.

  We began by pondering the meaning of life on the 2km Philosopher’s Walk which is a pedestrian path that follows a meandering canal lined with cherry trees, maples and camellia from Nanzenji Temple to Ginkakuji.  The route is so-named because the influential 20th-century Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitaro is thought to have used it for daily meditation.

  

  

  

  

  We didn’t reach enlightenment (or even an essential alignment), but we did reach Ginkakuji, or the silver Temple, which gave us our first taste of the spectacular settings surrounding the spiritual treasures of Kyoto.  The ornate yet natural gardens successfully evoked the deep tranquility that they were designed for.

  

  

  

  

  

  In particular the lush moss carpet in the wooded hills behind the temple transported me to the kind of soft mental images conjured up by reading children’s storybooks.  I’m sure there is a pixie hiding there somewhere!

  

  Our next wood walk took us through the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.   It was fairly crowded with tourists, but looking up through the tall stems swishing in the breeze was still a serene experience.

  

  We took the long route home past more bamboos, a friendly heron, a busy bridge and some charming local boats.

  

  

  

  

  

  A phenomenon which we were starting to observe in all the prime locations of Kyoto is the local women (as well as a few tourists) dressing up in gorgeous kimonos, sporting fab hairdos, and strolling with their partner or groups of girlfriends, taking in the scenery, and posing for photographs by the budding cherry trees.

  

  

  

  As for us, we got around the place in our usual travlar garb, and hopped on busses, trams and trains with more ease than the lovely ladies in their tight fitting dresses and unforgiving wooden flip-flops.

  

  Walking around Gion, Kyoto’s most famous Geisha district, at 9pm was a slightly surreal experience as we found it totally deserted other than the occasional ‘heavy’ loitering on street corners.  Si went back to wander ‘latenight’ which was apparently a totally different experience, (one for another blog)!  No fully authenticated Geisha sightings to report, but some definite Maiko action, and we think we saw a ‘granny Geisha’ (but she looked a bit rough).

  

  Nijo Castle was a must on our list, as one of Kyoto’s most popular and impressive sights.  Though its walls witnessed the incredible power that that the Shoguns wielded over the Emperors throughout the Edo period, the audio tour totally failed to bring it to life.  It consisted of an entirely bland list of room descriptions, and at best a hint that ‘this is where the Shogun would address his subjects who sat on a lower level floor’.  We wanted to know that they talked about? Who else lived in the castle?  Where were the women?  How did they demonstrate their power to important visitors and defend the castle?  What did they do for entertainment?  How did they survive the perpetual cold of winter (our shoeless feet were entirely numb after an hour)?  We might have to watch The Last Samurai to fill in some gaps!

  

  

  

  

  

  Midweek munchies brought us skipping to Nishiki food market.  We walked in ravenous  and staggered out bursting having nibbled our way along 200m of delicious delicacies, terrifying crustaceans, exploding crackers, prodigious pickles, and tasty tempura.

  Our only disappointments were the octopus balls which were sadly soggy.  We barely missed a sample opportunity, but did manage to walk past the spit-roasted sparrows without tasting them (no regrets) and the whole red octopi stuffed with quails eggs which apparently look better than they taste apparently (some regrets).

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  And here is the Golden Temple which speaks for itself!

  

  I got lucky landing my coin in the Buddha’s bowl – can’t wait for that wish to come true!

  

  

  On our way out we stopped in the gorgeous sunshine to enjoy a frothy matcha tea and gold-leaf sweet treat in the temple cafe.  Our entry ticket was an art work in itself!

  

  

  Fushimi Inari, or the ‘Fox Shrine’ is famous for its thousands of vermilion Torii gates which straddle a network of trails behind the its main buildings.  These paths lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters high and belongs to the shrine grounds.  Inari is the Shinto god of rice, and foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the site.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  We started our 2 hour hike at sunset which resulted in some gorgeous light, and fewer tourists as we climbed higher, which allowed me (finally) to snap my one ‘glory’ shot of the gorgeous gates with no punters piling through them!

  

  We stopped at the highpoint to take in the view and the sunset (and a few Asahis/Appletisers)

  

  Our darkened descent was lit by beautiful golden lanterns, and a full moon:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  We nearly didn’t go into the National Museum of Modern art as it was entirely filled an expensive textile exhibition which we presumed was an overpriced bunch of old cloth. How  wrong we were……  3 floors of modern textiles that floored us with their striking beauty!  No photos allowed (except of the corner below), but if you are in town or the exhibition goes on tour then go – its a total winner!

  

  Every corner you turn in Kyoto there is a shrine and/or a graveyard.  These are all perfectly ordered (as is everything here), and very attractive with their Tohba (long narrow wooden slabs) set standing upright on or next to the graves.  The Tohba are usually inscribed with Sanskrit as well as Chinese Characters.  Fresh tablets are usually set at least once per year by family members.  The Japanese believe that their ancestors return to this world on certain occasions each year, and the Tohba help guide the spirits to the graves.

  

  

  Talking of Chinese characters we spent a focused but fun afternoon trying out calligraphy.  Our wonderful teacher Chifumi explained how the characters are unique, and build from common stems eg the symbol for ‘bird’ combined with the symbol for ‘mouth’ means ‘singing’.

  

  See the looks of abject horror when Chifumi explained that Japanese school children are required to learn 2000 characters (vs our 26).

  

  

  A basic calligraphy kit contains a solid ink block (you make your own ink by rubbing this in water), a small and a big brush, and a heavy weight to hold your paper still.  You have to hold the brush in the air to make the strokes (rather than resting your wrist or elbow) which requires a very steady hand!  You also have to make sure to draw on the correct side of the paper.

  

  Specialist brushes can be made of feathers or wolf hair.

  

  

  

  Here we are practicing for our final masterpieces.  Bella chose the symbol for ‘happiness’, Emily ‘beautiful’, and mine (rather clichedly) was ‘love’.

  

  

  Some final observations and highlights from our wonderful experience in Kyoto:

  Runs by the river afforded wonderful views of the ramshackle yet neat old wooden houses that back onto the banks.

  

  All the wiring in Kyoto is above ground (due to the frequent earthquakes) which results in messy photographs!

  

  Gion has some classy bars with mean whiskey menus.  Here is a very sharp barman who chiselled a meteorite of ice by hand before dousing it in the golden nectar.

  

  Cheers!  And cant’t wait to come back with the Lewis-Bank’s week after next – bring it on AGAIN!

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 5 Comments

• Chilling with Ryo and Tash

  Posted at 12:10 am by Charlotte, on March 15, 2019

  What a lovely relaxed vibe this weekend while we got to catch up with old friends Ryo and Tash, to meet their gorgeous children Skyla and Otto, to enjoy some great food, wonderful company, fabulous shrines, and bonus time to celebrate Tash’s birthday!

  We pretty much went everywhere by ‘mooch’ which felt incredibly refreshing after the heaving metros and hectic stations of Tokyo.  It felt properly ‘weekendy’!

  

  

  

  

  

  Milly adored baby Otto, and took every opportunity to have a lovely cuddle with him or to take charge of feeding and pushing.

  

  

  

  

  

  Ryo did an amazing job at introducing us to some as-yet untried Japanese food types.  Teppanaki was already a firm favourite, but it turns out even better when cooked by Bella!  We also made our own Okonomiyaki which are Japanese savoury pancakes (also known as Japanese pizza in the US).  They are made with flour, eggs, shredded cabbage, some kind of meat (or not!) and topped with whatever condiments the kids agree to.  Delicious!

  

  

  We visited several Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, some super local that we stumbled across, and in contrast, The Hase-dera Temple which was on an incredibly impressive scale.  It is home to the largest wooden statue in Japan (of Kannon the Goddess of mercy) and was carved from a single giant tree that, legend has it, was once growing in Nara around 721 CE.

  All were beautiful in their own way, immaculately cared for, and nestled within spectacular gardens.  Blossoms are just starting to come out!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Hase-dera has a special garden in dedication to dead or unborn children who are carried to heaven without passing through judgement.  It is full of statuettes know as mizuko jizo that represent these infants.  Here are Emily and Skyla pouring water over one’s head to quench its thirst:

  

  

  Over the course of the weekend, our girls revelled in some company of their own generation:

  

  

  To celebrate Tash’s birthday we enjoyed by far my favourite Onsen (Japanese baths) experience to date.  First Tash and I took care of Otto (plus coffee and cake!) while the boys went in, and then we handed over the snuggly baby, and took our turn in the womens side.  There were several different baths set in rocks each with different mineral properties and temperatures.  It was a very natural outdoor experience where the pools were sheltered within beautiful gardens, with naked nymphlike women draped around enjoying the serenity, or chatting with their friends and family.  Tash kindly filled in some gaps in my Onsen etiquette knowledge eg no towelling off – its better to leave the minerals on your skin to sink in.

  

  And James finally finished off Otto:

  

  Huge thanks to Ryo and Tash for hosting us, and for pitching the perfect places and pace for our sunny weekend together.

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 4 Comments

• Senor Jones drops in to the Land of the Rising Sun

  Posted at 1:18 am by Charlotte, on March 12, 2019

  After a heroic 5:30am landing, and successful navigation of the monorail, metro and labyrinth that is Tokyo central station, we were thrilled to welcome Simon to Japan (which involved flying leap-hugs from the girls).  After fuelling him with a few rounds of expresso while the girls finished school, we then hit our fave conveyor / Ipad sushi joint to get the foodfest rolling.  Si quickly navigated to pole position as ‘bravest eater’, staking his claim on day 1 with full consumption of this opening platter which raised the stakes with mini-critters (bottom right) and peaked with raw-‘cheval’ (middle left).

  

  We took Simon on an open top bus tour of the city during the early afternoon, which turned out to be not the best jetlag cure, despite extreme cold and the wind chill factor. Our circuit didn’t appear to take in many of the more impressive prestigious Tokyo tourist sites, but made a big deal when we took a slip road onto the inner-city highway (we struggled to see the appeal of the multi-lanes and traffic, especially given our direct exposure to the fumes!).  The audio overview was so tedious and overlaid by such soporific music that Simon eventually hit a wall and nodded off.

  

  

  

  So we took him to the Ninja Cafe!  Where he woke up.  Whilst unapologetically a themed restaurant, tonnes of locals go to the Ninja Cafe (as well as hordes of tourists) because the food is genuinely very good (as well as flamboyantly presented), and the experience manages to transcend its inherent naffness.  Getting to our ‘food cave’ involved a prolonged ninja walk over a hidden trap door, down darkened corridors and through secret entrances.  Sashimi arrived peaking through billowing dry ice, and soup was prepared at the table by dropping 300 degree stones into cold stock, and adding vegetables once it boiled.  The tricks continued after dinner when we were treated to a private Ninja magic show that genuinely blew all our minds (jet-lagged or not).  The only bummer (literally) was that it was a sit-on-the-floor job, and a few of us are generally too creaky to find that comfortable.

  

  

  

  

  Cool view snapped on the way home!

  On Wednesday morning we hit teamLab’s Borderless, which had been vociferously recommended to us by so many friends.  team-Lab is an art collective interdisciplinary group of ultra technologists whose collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, design and the natural world (and yes I did copy that off their website!). Various specialists such as artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians ands and architects delivered this experience which aims to explore a new relationship between humans and nature.  More below if you get off on the bollocks……

  

  …..otherwise just take a look at the amazing photos below that don’t even 5% give justice to what it was like to explore the cavernous rooms and corridors which made up the Borderless experience….

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Afterwards we stopped in at the Toyota exhibition to check out the future of motor vehicles – pretty spacey!

  

  

  Nighttime brought a trip to the 52nd floor of the Hyatt for cocktails, sunset and twinkling lights.  It didn’t disappoint!

  

  

  We went on a private tour of the fish market the following morning (who thought that was a good idea after a night on the cocktails?!?!).  There was an incredible array of dried fish, live fish, whole fish, sliced sashimi, sea urchin, oysters, uncountable grades of tuna, snappers, crabs legs and the essential pickles to serve them with.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  There were also various literally terrifying giant shell-fish each about the size of my head.  Go on – take a good look (if not a bite).

  

  

  

  

  We learned that the local children charge up on calcium by eating lots of tiny small whole dried fish (milk is not really a thing here).  However intrepid they have proved themselves to be, Bella and Emily proved unwilling to go THAT local……

  By lunch time, Yuki, our impeccable guide took us through several dark smelly alleys to this pristine gem of a sushi restaurant where we watched a master at work, and ate by far the best tuna that we are ever likely to get our chopsticks round.

  

  

  And then as we navigated our way out of the market, watched this dude hacking out the eye from a tuna head.

  

  The next morning progressed at an altogether more peaceful pace, starting with ‘stretch yoga’, and next an impromptu drop in to Akasaka Palace which we happened to pass by,  intriguingly hidden behind high walls.  It turned out to be beautiful, but on discovering its architectural style we slightly wondered what we were doing wandering round the ‘Versailles of Tokyo’ rather than exploring somewhere a bit more traditionally authentic!

  

  

  

  Taking advantage of a babysitting night, Si, James and I explored the tiny twisty alleys of  Shinjuku Omiode Yokocho and squeezed ourselves into a few of the slimline bars serving beer, whiskey, yakatori and other delicacies.

  

  

  

  

  Talking of delicacies, after a few beers, the fearless Simon tucked into some juicy gizzard, but drew the line at James’ rejected intestines.  Speaking as the member of the party that stuck to vegetables on my sticks, they were all tasty, and thankfully I kept my head despite devouring a few mashrooms! And in case you are wondering, no one got stuck into the womb.

  

  On our way to a few more late night drinkeries, we popped into this huge slot-machine metropolis.  The incessant din of hundreds of machines all screeching and clashing at top volume was literally unbearable.  I lasted long enough to be asked (via the universal Japanese arm-cross) not to take a photo, and I think Simon was back out the door before even me!  James obviously stayed for a game.  His head seems impervious to repetitive irritating noises (as illustrated by his calm execution of general fatherhood duties!).

  

  Our final afternoon in Tokyo was spent in a vast VR gaming studio, with more than 30 games to choose from.  For me the experience was far worse even than the day 1 Tokyo Thunder Dolphin  rollercoaster.  I barely lasted 2 minutes in the ‘flying-bicycle-castle-mission experience’ before I had to make it go away by closing my eyes and asking to have the headset removed from me. I then sat on the floor for nearly an hour (until the floor stopped moving…..).  The girls and James obviously loved it!  Below is evidence of them enjoying the white water rafting, the cycle-flying, and walking the plank (200M in the air!) to rescue a small kitten at the end of it.

  

  

  

  

  James took it up a level to do some kind of 18+ horror experience where he was strapped to a chair in a hospital surrounded by people decapitating themselves (and others), general guts flying around and avatars trying to disembowel him.  Apparently this falls into the category of fun!

  We then took the bullet train out of town to spend the weekend with Ryo (an old schoolfriend of James’s) and his lovely family Tash, Skyla, and Otto.

  Posted in Countries, Japan | 7 Comments

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