Hotel Kamakura Mori

... We spent the late afternoon making our way on the shinkansen back up north of Tokyo, to another temple town called Nikko. By the time we got there it was nearly dark so we checked in to our hostel then mooched around to find somewhere for dinner. We ended up in a tiny japanese restaurant where you cook your own pancakes on the table in front of you, which was interesting, and got very hot! The ...

... From the Kita Kamakura train station, started at Tokeiji, which is a 'divorce temple', or rather a place of refuge for abused wives back in the old days. If you can be a nun there for three years, then you're considered divorced from your husband. Of course, it's totally defunct now, what with quickie annulments and high priced attorneys, but it's still a serene half flower garden, half crypt in the trees. A relaxing stroll for the early morning, plus you can people watch. Many of ...

... visit with my mom, since I wanted to make best wishes for my world trip for this year. BUT there soooo many people at shrine, as even it is said all over the Japan there are more people then usual to visit shrine for new year wishes, since we have had very difficult time in economy. so we have to take a line for 2 hours to get to main inner room where we actually pray and make wishes to ...

... then went to "Daidai-ya" for dinner. We were not too happy about the slow service at the "dai dai ya" although we had a great night view of an iluminated ferris wheel of Yokohama Cosmo World.

Daidaiya
Asian fusion Minato-mirai 2-3, Queen's Square "At 2nd", 4/5F. Yokohama-city 045-228-5035 Open 11am-10:30pm (LO) daily.

... at 200mph+ and have a buffet car as well as drinks and snacks to purchase coming around every 30mins or so. The trains are amazingly efficient and quiet and the seats recline really well so you can get some sleep if you like. Set the alarm on your mobile phone to remind you when to wake up though! 11. Check the train timetables at the Japan Rail Timetable Page). They're downloadable as PDF files, unfortunately I didn't find a website which ...

... was borrowing money from Hideko and Subacko and it was bothering me so I lent him money myself. Its something people always tell you you shouldn't do, but in a year, I've voluntarily offered one other person money when Abbey National's overseas department broke down and wouldn't give any customers money, and she repaid it back. I would like someone else to do that for me, so I lent him a small sum that would see him by. He repaid it later, to ...

... dragons or birds. They are carved typically no deeper than 1/2-1" deep, but the detail they have is amazing. When we emerge from the shops, Kaoru points out that we are fairly close to a famous temple, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. We decided to head over that way. There are quite a few people milling about the grounds, and the gardens are nowhere near the beauty of the temple we just left- the trees look a bit stressed, the paths are too worn ...

Yesterday was my first full day in tokyo city and i spent most of it wandering around the main large city and skyskraper areas of Shibuya and Shinjuku. I was awake since about 5 im the morning so i was gettin pretty bored just lying in my bed. I left the hotel at around 7:30 and got the subway to Shibuya which seems to be one of the busiest and craziest places in tokyo. Thousands of people cross at the huge zebra crossings every minute and ...

-------------------- WEDNESDAY 06/09/2006 -------------------- Karaoke ... and then more bars!! Yay! Water in the apartment! No more public toilets. First thing - nice cold shower! Washed my hair. Then shopping in Shibuya with Mel. Tried to find a souvenirs shop but walked around and around but couldn't find one. Heaps of shops though! And we managed ...

Sorry for the delay in posting...the last few days have been very hectic, but very fun. Dinner on Friday night was quite possibly the best meal we have had on the trip. Sukiyaki is very similar to fondue and includes an assortment of beef, vegetables and tofu that is marinated in a "secret sauce" that likely includes soy sauce, sugar, sake and other ingredients. After the food is cooked, it is eaten over a bowl of rice with some people choosing to dip the ...