Home sweet home

For Friday 28 October

We’re finally home.  How nice it is to be back in our dear little cottage!

The cat was a bit wary of us at first, but she soon snuggled up with John on the sofa so it seems that we’re forgiven.

The lawn had a great time growing over the last six weeks, so John has his work cut out for him for a while!

 Crank up the mower, honey!

It’s been a wonderful six weeks.  We met some great people, saw some amazing sights and had some terrific experiences.  Now it’s back to the real world until our Vietnam adventure in March 2012.

Thanks to everyone who came along via the blog on our trip.  It was nice to know that family and friends were following our story.

The last day of our adventure

For Thursday 27 October

We checked out of the hotel this morning, but left our luggage there so we could go on our last sightseeing expedition unencumbered.

More of that bamboo scaffolding - good grief!!

Our journey today was by bus as we wanted to go to Aberdeen Harbour which is not serviced by the subway.

Situated on the south-western side of Hong Kong Island, Aberdeen is home to hundreds of people living on fishing junks.  We had a stroll around and watched the little motorised sampans buzzing around the harbour.  We were accosted a couple of times by people wanting us to take rides on their sampans, but we were happy just to stroll along the promenade.

Aberdeen - many boats, many buildings

The old and the new

Interesting items available at this business in Aberdeen!

We still had plenty of day left, so we decided to take another bus to visit the Stanley Markets.  Stanley is on the southern side of the island and was temporarily the admistrative centre following the British annexation of Hong Kong in 1842.  We had a stroll through one part of the markets and then along the promenade, stopping for lunch along the way.

Stanley Markets

We walked over to have a look at the Blake Pier which has recently been relocated to Stanley from Kowloon.

A view of Stanley (and John) from the pier

After a brief stroll along the beach we went back to the bus stop via the part of the market that we’d missed on the first run through.

A lovely bride in Stanley

We then made our way back to the hotel to collect our bags and say goodbye to the friendly Salvos.

Dead ducks

 I couldn't live here!

Another view of Nathan Road

We caught the next Airport Bus and took in the last views of Hong Kong on the way to the airport.  It was very interesting to see Hong Kong, but I won’t be too upset if I don’t go there again any time soon.

We had plenty of time to kill at the airport as we’d decided that if we were going to hang around anywhere it may as well be there.  We checked our bags in and then had a lovely dinner in one of the many airport restaurants,  followed by a bit of shopping for souvenirs.

Our flight didn’t leave until 11.35 pm so we were getting a bit tired by the time we got on the plane.  We were a bit concerned about the crying baby as we were boarding, but she slept (like a baby, of course) all the way to Adelaide.  Which is more than I can say for myself!

Seeing the sights in Hong Kong

For Wednesday 26 October

We started today with a nice ‘included in the price’ breakfast which, much to John's delight, included toast and cereal.  We then headed off by subway to the Golden Arcade, where innumerable electronic gadgetry and computer stuff is sold [** yawn **].  John found a drive to back up our computer at a reasonable price – and then it was my turn.  We went down the nearby market street where I managed to find two handbags.

Let me see - shall I have a handbag or one

 of those refurbished electric drills?

This is how scaffolding is done in Hong Kong.

Tied-together bamboo is used even on the very tall buildings

We were pretty hot and bothered by then, so we went back to the hotel to cool off and have a rest.

Our next adventure was an evening visit to the Happy Valley Racecourse.  What an amazing place!! 

The stands at the Happy Valley Racecourse

They look like apartment blocks!

As we had a lot to fit in, we only stayed to watch one race and then we got a taxi to the Star Ferry Terminal and travelled back to the Kowloon side of the harbour to watch the laser light show. 

The light show photographed from the Kowloon side of the harbour

Back on the ferry again, we returned to the island side and took a taxi out to the Peak Tram terminal to catch the tram up to the top of Victoria Peak.  That was really weird!  Often, trams that go up a steep slope have angled seats, but this one doesn’t so the buildings all look like they’re standing at a very odd angle.

Once we reached the top, we stopped in to the café for dinner (very nice Chinese food) and then we went up to the viewing deck to gaze for a while at the awesome view.

View from Victoria Peak

John at Sky Terrace 428

A view of Hong Kong from 428 metres above sea level

We then went by subway back to the hotel.  It was a bit of a rushed evening, but we managed to squeeze in the things that we had most wanted to do.  We’ve still got tomorrow to fill in the gaps before we’re off to the airport again.

Arriving in Hong Kong

For Tuesday 25^th October

We were up bright and early this morning to get ourselves organised to take the shuttle bus to the airport.  We felt like we were about to take off in the bus – the driver was doing 130 km/h over the causeway to the airport!

We had a leisurely breakfast at the airport and boarded the plane.  I felt sad to be leaving Japan.  We had a great time and felt the culture shock far less this time.  The flight was very smooth and went very quickly.

Arriving in Hong Kong really was a culture shock!  After spending so many weeks at the receiving end of Japan’s excellent, friendly and helpful customer service, we soon found out that it’s not done like that in Hong Kong.

When we went to the bus stop to catch the bus to our hotel, we saw a laptop computer that someone had left behind in a trolley.  Being good citizens, John went over and told one of the nearby bus drivers.  He just looked at John and got on the bus.  We could see that he wasn’t going to be of any help, so John took the computer over to the ticket office.  There were some people working behind a window that was closed, so John tapped on the window to get their attention.  They just looked up and then looked away.  So he tapped again, a bit louder this time and they pointed at the sign that said “Back in 15 minutes”.  He finally got their attention for the last time, pointed at the computer, left it there and walked off.  He got back to the bus stop in time for us to get our bus.  If this had happened in Japan, we would have had three people rushing out to see what the problem was and falling over themselves to help.  Perhaps the Japanese should offer customer service courses to people who work in service jobs in Hong Kong.

The bus ride from the hotel was quite an experience.  Besides the fact that the bus driver was a bit of a maniac, we were bowled over by the sight of block after block of very tall apartment buildings.  I’m glad I’m only here for a couple of days – I’d go crazy if I had to live here.

We’re staying at Booth Lodge, a comfortable and inexpensive hotel run by the Salvation Army, just off Nathan Road.  The room is much more spacious than our dear old Toyoko Inns in Japan, but not as sparkling.  Its best feature is its wonderful airconditioner.  The comfy bed’s good too.

This is how Hong Kong folk dry their washing

 A view down Nathan Road

Once we’d settled in, we went for a walk, down Nathan Road.  I thought that after being in Osaka for a few days, I’d adjusted to crowds, but this was another level of chaos altogether.  So many shops!  So many people!  And every few steps, someone wanted to sell us a tailor-made suit, watches and bags, or a massage.  We made it to the end of the road, via a lap around the very grand Peninsula Hotel, and finished up at the Star Ferry Terminal.  We’ll be going over to the island tomorrow to go up to Victoria Peak, but we spent some time watching all the boats and checking out the view.  It was nice to have a little respite from the bustling crowds.

This building is constructed around a tree

The grand part of Nathan Road

Nice wedding shoes!!

Too hazy for photos of the buildings today,

 but I thought we should have one for the record

We visited the Tourist Information Office and got some information about the bus services, the Octopus Card (a smart-card for use on all of the public transport) and the races.  We’re thinking about visiting the Happy Valley Racecourse tomorrow night just for the fun of it. 

We spent the evening browsing through the Temple Street market, which has many stalls selling all manner of things.  Mostly junk of course, but I managed to find a couple of treasures.

We had dinner at a little street stall.  We enjoyed the change to Chinese food and it was really cheap.  After dinner we browsed for a bit longer before heading back to our welcoming pillows.

Last day in Japan (Boo Hoo Sniff Sniff)

For Monday 24 October

How much shopping can one shopping-hating woman do??  Too much, it seems.  As I sit here writing about our last day in Japan, my feet, knees, hips and back are really killing me!  Fortunately, John offered to go down to the laundry on the first floor to do the washing.  Otherwise, it wouldn’t have got done.

We discovered that we didn’t have to vacate our hotel room till midday today, so I vacated at about 10.00am to continue with the shopping list, while John stayed in the room sending emails and reading.  I always knew he was a smart man.

I was a bit nervous about venturing out without my trusty navigator, but I had a very clear map of the area, as well as the hotel’s phone number so I knew that I wouldn’t disappear in Osaka without trace.

My first stop was a book store to stock up on a few books to help me with my studies.  I could have stayed in there browsing all day, but I found what I was looking for and quit while I still had some money left for my other items.  Judging by the number of people in the book store, books are still very popular in Japan.  There were also many people using the library when we were in Fukuoka.

The morning went by very quickly, while I wandered in and out of various shops, ticking things off my list.  I was really worn out by then, and still had to walk back to the hotel.  I was very pleased to find that I was walking down a familiar street and made it back to the hotel two minutes before the time I told John I’d be back.  If I hadn’t had the map, I would have headed in the opposite direction when I came out of the Yodabashi Camera store.  My sense of direction is dreadful!

The Catholic Church next to our hotel

We then had to make our way to tonight’s hotel which, being near the Kansai Airport, is some distance from central Osaka.  We caught a subway to Osaka Station, a normal train to Shinimamiya Station, an Express train to Kishiwada and a local train to Iharanosato.  From there it was about a 10 minute walk to the hotel – with two backpacks and the two extra bags that we now have to fit all our goodies in!  We were very relieved to get to the hotel, but there seemed to be some confusion about our booking.  We did the booking through a booking website some months ago and I’m not sure that the booking made its way to the hotel.  After a bit of frowning and searching on the computer, we were finally given a key and made it to our room.

After a decent rest, we went to the nearby shopping mall where we had dinner and another browse around the shops.  I’d been looking for tabi socks (the ones with the split toes) during my morning shopping expedition and didn’t find any.  Tonight I bought a pair in one shop (380 yen) and then found that there were plenty in the discount shop for 105 yen a pair.  So I bought another four pairs.  They should last me until my next visit to Japan!

Lots and lots of 'stuff' for 105 yen

Gorgeous little boots and shoes!

We spent the rest of the evening watching silly shows on TV and sorting out our baggage for tomorrow.  We’re catching the 7.45 am shuttle bus to the airport to get there in plently of time for our 10.05 flight.

At this stage of our last trip we felt a bit ‘Japanned out’, but this time we’d both be happy to lose our passports for a while and stay on for some more of this.  Hopefully our couple of days in Hong Kong will help us to ease out of Japan mode.

Shopping in Osaka

For Sunday 23 October

We reluctantly said goodbye to Kyoto today and caught the train back to Osaka.  We had a wonderful time in Kyoto and could easily have spent another week or two exploring.

In Osaka, we dropped our backpacks at the hotel and hit the shops – our main planned activty for the next couple of days.  Not much to report here, just shopping, shopping and more shopping.

No John, you are NOT taking that on the plane!!

A band playing on the bridge

Looks what's coming to Osaka - The Sound of Music in Japanese!

We did have a couple of nice interludes along the way.  There was a jazz band playing across the other side of the river, so we stopped to have a listen.

This man was having a wonderful time dancing

by the river to the jazz music

Soon after, we were accosted by a nice young lady who was drumming up business for a restaurant.  The menu looked very appealing, so we went in for a late lunch.  The restaurant had a ‘construction site’ theme, with safety barriers, yellow warning tape, hard hats, a trowel stuck on a half-rendered wall and a chef wearing a hard hat.  The first thing they told us was that our first drink was ‘sabisu’ (free) so that was a pleasant start!  The menu had items from various areas of Japan.  I had some delicious yakisoba (fried noodles) and John had a pork dish.  We both agreed it was about the best food we’ve eaten in Japan.  When we’d finished, the young lady who had enticed us in came and presented us each with some ice cream from Okinawa, which was also ‘sabisu’.  So, with tummies a little more full than they needed to be, we set off for more shopping.

We finally plodded back to our hotel with really tired legs and rested for a while.  Before we knew it, it was time for dinner, so off we went again.

We went back to the place that we’d been to last week, the place of the ‘sabisu’ boiled eggs.  The man seemed very pleased to see us again. 

Our friendly cook

He gave us a ‘sabisu’ drink, two serves of ‘gyouza’ (fried dumplings) for the price of one and he upgraded John’s order of plain rice to a special fried rice.

Look at all this food!

So, once again, we ate more than necessary or comfortable and strolled back to the hotel.

With the journey coming to a rapid end, we did our web check-in for the Osaka to Hong Kong flight, then watched a bit of TV before flopping in to bed.

View from our hotel window

Tomorrow night we will be staying in a hotel very close to the airport, ready for an early start on Tuesday.

Gold and Fire in Kyoto

For Saturday 22 October

We started today with a Skype phone call to Mum King to wish her a happy birthday.  This is the third of our family birthdays that we missed while swanning around Japan.

We were a little disappointed this morning to hear that the first of the two festivals that we had planned to attend had been cancelled due to the forecast of rain.   We optimistically arranged to attend the Fire Festival tonight with Danae and Louise, a couple of American women that we met at the hostel.

As the first festival was cancelled we decided instead to pick up another Bus Pass and visit the Golden Pavillion at the Kinkakuji Temple.  This turned out to be a fantastic Plan B!  The pavillion is spectacular and set in beautiful gardens.

The Golden Pavillion

A little Japanese tourist

Moss covered roof

Bird (heron?) posing gracefully by the Pavillion

After our visit to the Golden Pavillion we returned to the hostel to freshen up and meet up with Danae and Louise.  We discovered that the Fire Festival goes ahead, rain or shine, so we made the journey by bus and train out to Kurama.

Despite the huge crowds and occasional rain, we had a wonderful experience.  The festival begins with people lighting small fires in front of their homes along the length of the street.  This is followed by children carrying small burning torches (under the watchful eye of adults).  They chant “Sairei ya, sairyo” which means something like “May this festival be the best”.

Cute torch-bearers

More cute torch-bearers!

Sairei ya, sairyo!!

The smell of burning wood was wonderful!

Then some medium-sized torches pass by and finally some gigantic torches, each carried by a few men in scanty attire!  As they carry the torches, calling out “Sairei ya, sairyo”, hot embers drop off the torch and run down the back of the man who has the misfortune to be at that end.  The lack of clothing is probably a good idea!

These torches are full of long sticks of wood and must be very heavy

The torches proceed to the space in front of the shrine and are then carried further up the street.  Unfortunately, due to the huge crowd and the narrow streets, we weren’t able to see what was going on up ahead, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We went by train and bus back to the vicinity of our hotel, had a Mos Burger to see us through till morning and flopped gratefully in to bed.

Our day out resulted in 177 photographs!  Hooray for digital cameras.