Sep 14 - Oct 11, 2000
Short Version
- Hong Kong is amazing. Everyone rushes. Even old ladies bump past you to board the elevator first! It's architecture makes Toronto's Robocop buildings (Metro Hall) look like cardboard boxes. There must be literally 1000 skyscrapers. Prices (except accommodation) are very reasonable & there's a wide range of things to do.
- Japan is expensive (we couldn't keep to a $100/day budget even with free accommodation and cheap meals). When people state there is very little English, they're being generous! Even when we said a Japanese word properly people didn't understand us. The mere prospect of us being English speakers scared people enough that a streetcar driver couldn't show us where we were on a streetcar map etc. Which flows naturally to the fact that the best thing about Japan is it's truly unique culture. . .
Long Version (you were warned)
The Flight
Day -1/0 (Sep 14/15): You know you're flying Cathay Pacific when you arrive at the departure lounge 1/2 hour early & everyone has already boarded!! The flight left early & the 18 hours flew by. The food was excellent & we watched 3 movies on our personal tv's.
Hong Kong
Day 1 (Sep 16): Our arrival in Hong Kong was greated with a lovely sunrise over what has to be the best organized airport in the world. We found our way to our friends apartment and a shower, nap & quick cleaning of his filthy 400 square foot apartment saw us on our way to tackle the big city. We had a fascinating tram ride downtown, bought the Korea travel guide (in English) that we couldn't find in Canada, then rode to the top of Victoria Peak for breathtaking views of the city!
Day 2: We arise easily at 7am (1st time that's ever happened), have donuts for breakfast (not the 1st time that's happened) and head off to Stanley Market. Louise buys the Puffin beanie baby she's been looking for since our Maritime trip. We scoop up a handpainted Van Gogh knockoff & a beautiful original for $20 each. Next is a sampan tour of Aberdeen floating fish market. The contrast between the quaint old lady driving us & the roar of the vietnam helicopter engine on her boat is overwhelming. Our travel is by double decker buses that clear the rock faced roadsides (& oncoming double decker buses) by only inches. We crash (not the buses) at 6pm for the nite.
Day 3: Off to the "New Territories" for a visit to an old walled village. It takes us 1/2 hour to find the nearby bus stand to the Bamboo Forest monestary. Next we; tour the bird market, space walk & hangglide at the Space Museum, see the worlds best mensroom view from atop the cities ritziest hotel, walk thru a lively nite market & struggle home via the Star ferry for breathtaking views of the Harbour.
Japan - Tokyo
Day 4: One hour to the airport, arriving 1.5 hours early just to be safe, a 6 hour flight to Tokyo, 45 minutes to make a transit plan & learn how to work the phones, then 2 hours getting to the city from the airport. We're greeted with a ride from the subway (see Day 5, pt 1) to a huge house with a giant guest bedroom well stocked with entertainment (books, internet access & 2 kids!).
Day 5: Tokyo (a city with few sites but lotsa culture) is:
- 12,000,000 people & no street names (everyone uses maps with landmarks on them)
- No garbage cans since no one eats/drinks while they walk.
- 30 people lined up for the standing side of the escalator 'cause they wouldn't think of standing on the walking side.
- Noodle stands, pop (& beer!) vending machines & trendy teenagers everywhere (blonde japanese cowgirls are the latest trend)
- Bean flavoured donuts & icecream.
- Car elevators
- Everyone learning English but no one speaking it.
- Cash only (so far no site, restaurant, not even $450 worth of train tickets can be put on credit card)!
Day 6: Day trip to Kamakura; a peaceful oasis one hour from Tokyo brimming with Buddhist Temples, Zen Gardens and hoards of Japanese tourists with cameras (yes, even in Japan).
Day 7: Arise at 4:20am for the Tsukiji Fish Market, where auctioneers jump up & down as they rhyme out the price they want for their tuna (about $10,000 per). Then a search for a nap (since nothing else is open at 7am). Sadly we learn that Tokyo's biggest park (Ueno, the size of Central Park) has 0% green space. It's all dirt, trees, concrete & homeless tarp cities. I crash on a tiny weeded section, while Louise reads on a bench. We tour 3 museums & still have energy enough to see the Ginza district before heading home.
Day 8: Is it noon already! Go down to the annual neighbourhood fair to get some 1/2 price cupcakes & free bbq fish (it was raining). Get to the Imperial gardens at 4:00:05 (last entrance at 4:00:00 so we had 0% chance of getting in), walk around the Imperial Palace Grounds (you're not actually allowed in) & take in a beautiful park (except that it's still raining). On the way home we discover Hokka Hokka Tei; Japans answer to Mcdonalds. I opt for a tempura on rice, Louise has the curry. Total bill about $9!
Day 9: The lovely Hama Rykyu gardens, a cruise up to the Asakusa neighbourhood. View their Temple and the 100's of vendors that surround it. A walk thru the young peoples party area (Roppongi), consider seeing a Beatles clone band at $88 for the two of us (cover, 1 drink & 22% service charge!). Back to the Ginza (not quite as many bright lights as I had imagined), then the mega-party district of Shinjuku.
Day 10/11: A lovely journey by train/tram/funicular/cable car/pirate ship & bus around a Banff like region near Tokyo (Hakone). The highlight was an outdoor Museum with Rodin etc. sculptures backdropped by the mountains. That nite we got to stay in a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese Inn). You wear slippers, sleep on a mattress on the tatami-mat floor & have a japanese style shared hot tub!
Day 12: Day trip to Yokohama, a commuting suburb equivalent to Oakville. Some nice sites (including the worlds fastest elevator!). First blue sky since we've been in Japan.
Day 13: We further confirm that Tokyo's parks are a little lame when we tour the Imperial Garden. We do a little better at Toyota's new showplace/amusement park on a funky new island near downtown. Next is the party district of Shibuya, where we find an amazing 100 yen store (eg a Dollar store). What til you see all the stuff we bought . . .
- Kyoto
Day 14: We get our 1st earthquake just as we leave Tokyo (Louise was very excited). Our train leaves Tokyo at 11:00am. We arrive in Kyoto (514km away) at 1:14pm. Can you say 300kmh! Our Nozomi train is the fastest in the world, and is new even for Japan! Our hotel however is from the dark ages. But, it's a private room for $35/nite in a country where 2 bunks at a youth hostel would cost $80 so we're delighted.
Day 15: A walk along "the path of philosophy" leads to a variety of temples & a beautiful shrine where 3 schoolgirls practicing their English offer to give us a tour. At nite we see our first geisha (easily recognizable by the white facial makeup in addition to the kimono that other women sometimes wear) in a traditional section of town where non-Japanese aren't even allowed inside the establishments.
Day 16 (Oct 1): Daytrip to Nara for the most beautiful temple we've seen yet; Todaiji. It has a huge bronze buddha housed in the largest wooden building in the world. We arranged a free guide who drove us from site to site. We fed our leftover Nutrigrain bars to the deer that roam freely thru the park. The nite ends with another highlight; our 1st squirty toilet (heated seat of course). Definitely an improvement over the toilet paper method.
Day 17: We pass the rigid procedures that allow access to the Imperial Palace only to be given a tour of the outside of the buildings with a bunch of Americans. Our next site however (Nijo castle) was a beauty. It's interior sliding walls were painted in the 1600's. Next was a palace guilded with 5 layers of gold. The evening ends at an internet cafe typing this note.
Day 18: We opt for a lazy day and tour the nearby botanical gardens (finally some flowers!). Also nearby is an outdoor museum with ceramic copies of the great art pieces of the world. It was great (why doesn't Toronto have something like this)? Lastly is a relaxing train/bus journey to a new museum built right into a mountain. Lotsa great historical pieces. We spend the nite planning how to use a train pass that turns out to be available only from Osaka (we're 30 miles away in Kyoto)!
Day 19: Leave the house at 10:20. Tour an interesting craft museum, the city zoo & the "model japanese garden" (rocks, trees & water!). Spend the nite trying to find the pouch I forgot on another visit to the squirty bathroom (which is in a breathtaking new complex at the train station)!
Day 20: Daytrip to Osaka. Pass on the $14 sky building view but go for the almost as high ferris wheel. Tour Osaka castle, the lively Mirimachi area & end the nite at Amerika Mura (lots of kids in jeans!). Osaka's famous for it's food; we sampled frozen fast food meals, hot dogs & seaweed potato chips!
Day 21: Spend the morning trying to buy a Western rail pass (been to 6 offices so far . . ). Oops need our passport; we'll try again tomorrow (a video of Louise's face right now would speak volumes). Day trip to Kobe. Saw the earthquake museum, the Merikan port (a basterdization of American) & Chinatown. Did the usual signing of autographs for school kids ("where you from . . ."). End the day with a lovely ropeway (their scary name for a cable car) trip and a hike down thru a beautiful herb garden.
Day 22: Our second earthquake is 7.3 on the richter scale & centered not far from us (we didn't feel it). We run to the nearest internet cafe to let the folks know we're ok. Then we're off on Japans fastest train to their best castle (Himeji). It's beautiful, mostly original & you get to walk around the inside; excellent!. Louise nervously steals a tiny maple leaf from a tree in the castle's garden.
Day 23: We leave Kyoto heading for Fukuoka our departure point for Hong Kong. First is Okayama home to Japan's 3rd best garden! Next is the medieval city of Kurashiki with it's old merchant houses & willow lined canal. Last is Hiroshima where we search the party district for a "love hotel". Well used by business (& their secretaries?) during the day, business dies down at nite (only in Japan!). Normally they rent by the hour but by 9 or 10pm (in Japan) they rent overnite for a decent rate. Our room is well stocked . . .
Day 24: After a soak in our oburo tub and breakfast at Mcdonalds we head off to the Peace Park. The've left one building exactly as it was after the bomb. There's numerous memorials where kids from around the world leave origami cranes & a sobering museum with graphic pictures & rational explanations. Quite an impressive setup. Tonite we're off to Fukuoka on our last fast train ride.
Day 25: A brief walk takes us through Fukuoka's main sites; Japan's oldest Zen Buddhist monastary, their largest wooden Buddha & an underground mall that rivals Toronto. We see a surprising number of beautiful herons right in the middle of the city. Although we've become adept at avoiding bikes on the sidewalks (they never use the street) the cars on the sidewalks are beginning to annoy us.
Back to Hong Kong
Day 26: We head out early for the airport which is good since the line for security is over 100 people (for one x-ray machine). We stop at Taipei en route which means there isn't enough time for a movie (damn!). Our commute is a little more awkward since we recently bought 6 huge (& heavy) photo albums & 8 sets of inserts (saving about $180 off what we would have paid at Blacks). Louise wants Pizza Hut for dinner, so we hop on a ultra-thin double decker streetcar ($.40) & ride until we see one.