Nara

After Hakone, we moved on to Kyoto. Nara is our first destination from Kyoto.

Impressions

The main attractions of Nara is a park with a few hundred tame deers. This park used to be an industrial wasteland, but about 50 years ago (or something like that) trees were planted and the area was transformed into the beautiful park we see now.

Everywhere in Japan, I can see the benefit long term planning from 30-50 years ago that's reaping benefits now. Such foresight is sorely lacking in Australia, which would be our loss.

Food

Not very interesting food unfortunately, ate the normal Japanese fair (which is very nice) but no food highlights

Highlights

• There's Japanese tourist everywhere, taking lots of pictures, makes me feel like I'm back at the Sydney opera house
• Beautiful Cherry Blossoms (again!!)
• Many Many Deers
• Beautiful view at the top the mountain.
  
  

Hakone

Impressions

From the bright lights of Tokyo, we traveled to the hot springs of Hakone. The
scenery is beautiful and the peaceful surrounding contrasts that of Tokyo.

For those of you who follow the anime series called InitalD, you'll be interested to know that the roads of Hakone are exactly like those of shown in the cartoon series. The roads would be quite fun to drive on in the middle of the night with no cars about. There's also a large amount of modified sports cars in the area, so maybe they do meet up at night to race up and down the mountain???

Food

• The black eggs of Owakudani - Taste like normal eggs, but black on the outside.
• Kaiseki style dinner and breakfast at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) - Kaiseki style focuses heavily on the presentation. There was about 40 different dishes each presented beautifully on the plate. The food was yummy, but the best part was the fact that everything was presented beautifully.

Highlights

• Staying at the Ryokan. The place we stayed at was awesome, you catch a private cable car down into the valley, you are treated like royalty. Everything is looked after. The dinner is served by a maid (her name is Yoko) as well as breakfast. The best part was the hot spring. Taking a bath outdoors, in the hot springs while looking at the stars is simply one of the best experiences you can have.
• It started snowing the first day we were there, and made the scenery that much prettier.
• Seeing Mount Fuji at Lake Ashi and Hakone detached palace.
• General Scenic views of the mountain

Tokyo

General Impressions

Tokyo is crowded, busy, bustling but never chaotic. Even during peak hour, there's a certain order, everything seem to be dictated by etiquette. For example

• Slow people keeps to the left so people in a rush can speed by on the right.
• When boarding the train, people actually move towards to center of the carriage.
• Form orderly lines when boarding the trains, taking pictures at tourist spots, etc.
• More understanding and patient.

Another thing I noticed what the fact that everyone looks very similar on weekdays. Guys wear white shirts with a dark tie and a dark suit. There's more variety in business wear in Australia. On weekends, it's casual clothes, the people scene is much more varied and interesting.

One of the more interesting aspect of Tokyo is that photography is banned. We can't take pictures at the airport, or at department stores, or at shopping centres. Maybe that's why Japanese tourist takes so many damn pictures.

Food

The choice of food available is staggering, at any one time, I can always find something nice to eat. We went to the basement of department stores in Tokyo where there's a lot of free samples and try all different types of food. Too many to list them all in this blog, but the general impression is that the Japanese have a sweet tooth.

Most of their meals have a certain sweetness to it. Most of their pickles are designed to add to the sweetness of the vegetable. Mochi coated in a sweet soy sauce. Sweet egg omelets, Bread usually have additions such as sugar or sweet beans. Dazzling array of sweets. Various sweet mochi desserts.

In Tokyo, we mostly stocked up on junk food such as Porky (See CC's blog for details). I also tried out the various types of instant noodles they have that I can never seem to find in Australia.

I have decided that Tokyo is the fast food capital of the world. If you want something to eat on the go, Tokyo is the place to be. Beside the normal American fast food chains such as Maccas and KFC, they got Crepe places, octopus balls, bento boxes, stand up noodle bars and conveient stores that sells anything from fish balls to curries.

Highlights

• Crossing the street at Sibuya crossing (The 'Lost in Translation' crossing).
• The night streetscape of Ginza. It's very bright and dazzling
• Ameyoko Shopping Street, Street stalls and the best 'melon buns' in town
• Fresh Sushi at the Fish Market
• Cherry Blossoms at Ueno Park
• Cheap Japan Soccer Jersey at Harajuku (Yes, I brought a Japanese Soccer Jersey, I may even wear it when the Socceroo plays Japan in the second group game of the world cup)
• (Opps, forgot...hehehe) There's was a stand up noodle bar we went to, the noodle were good, but the experience was better.