Tamagotchi Explorers

Ok well its been a while since our last update. We last left you at the Iga Ueno ninjas which is in the Kansai region (near Kyoto and Osaka)

Well following that day we caught the Shinkasen (super fast bullet train) straight to Tokyo travelling at speeds of about 300kph!!

Tokyo has been a stark contrast compared to Kyoto. Where Kyoto was rich in old history, beautiful temples, and beautiful scenery - Tokyo is futuristic, neon coloured, sky scraper, madness.

Arriving to Tokyo station on the first day we were completely lost in the train system. We got too excited and caught the first train that appeared in front of us and it took us south towards Yokohoma. After we figured out the system a little better we ended up at our accomodation in Asakusa (also known as Old Tokyo).

Our first day we checked out our district and found a really nice market that runs down a street for about 500 meters and at the end of the street is a big temple. That night we cruised over to Shibuya and checked out the famous Shibuya crossing. It was pretty amazing. The sky was filled with skyscrapers and neon lights and plasma screen advertisements everywhere. After we had a coffee there at Starbucks which looks over the crossing we headed over to the Shinjuku district to check out the Tokyo night life. We found a nice Irish pub where we drowned in about half a dozen beers and then stumbled our way back to bed.

Our second day was a bit more exciting when a typhoon decided to rain down on Tokyo. Never-the-less we continued exploring. We went first to Akihabara (electric town) and checked out the crazy apartment stores, where about ten thousand different type of mobile phones, toasters, computers, and games were for sale. That night Brad and I decided we wanted KFC and we were going to catch a train to find it. Josh tagged along reluctently and then the most craziest thing happened.

Of the hundreds of trains that run through the subway in Tokyo each night we jumped on the one that was carrying a foreigners Halloween party enterourage. It was seriously insane. Our train carriage had about 100 people in it wearing the most outlandish costumes you have ever seen and drinking copious ammounts of alcohol. There were yellow power rangers, big green frog suits, dragonball z characters, men wearing thongs with bow ties, Guy Fawkes masks, Pokemon.... yeah it was pretty epic. Dont worry we took a lot of photos so youre not missing out.

Our third day fell on a Sunday. The Harajuku district on a Sunday is famous for the Cosplay that goes on there. For those unaware Cosplay is the act of dressing up as a famous character, icon, or fashion and playing or acting in that role. We found the place which just sits on a walk way bridge just behind the train station. It was pretty surprising what we found there. Lots of teenage girls, were sitting around in groups eating cake. They were dressed up in some pretty crazy costumes and posing for the cameras. Most of them were wearing Anime style goth type clothing. And in the middle of all the craziness was this guy who was singing U2 songs at the top of his voice with a backing track.

That night we went to do our laundry. While we waited for the washing machines we decided to find a diner or cafe to wait in. We stumbled into the nearest place and found it occupied by only 3 elderly Japanese locals. We sat down regardless and ordered a round of beers.... 1 hour later we were singing karaoke and having a merry time with the locals and calling out 'Kampai!' (Cheers!) everytime another round was ordered.

Today we woke early to head over to the Tsujuki Fish markets. The place was chaos. There was just action happening everywhere. People rushing around on electric carts, ice being tossed everywhere, giant tuna the size of a man, and plenty of tentacles. After the fish markets we jumped on the monorail and headed over to the Odabai district which is famous for hosting some pretty awesome buildings, a man mad beach, rainbow bridge, museums, and Pallette town. We went to the science museum which was pretty awesome because of the robot demonstrations. I got some cool footage to show you of some of the robots that were on display.

Well thats all folks.... Tomorrow we will be going to Disneyland so keep checking our blog for more updates.

Sayanora!

Well we just got back from a day with the Ninjas. We left early this morning as Iga-Ueno (ninja hangout) was a good 2hr trip and what seemed liked 45345 different trains. We were lucky enough to stumble across a pleasent japanese woman who guided as in the right direction, which i think was lucky because im pretty sure we were set to go in the opposite direction altogether.

A day at the ninjas consists of firstly a quick demostration of a ninja house which is what seems a typical farmers shanty but it has a billion hidey holes and places of advantage to launch a formible attack on your local milkman or possible rival ninja spy!

After that we got to view alot of ninja clothing / weapons and read up on the history. this was the calm before the storm however as soon enough we were watching a live ninja demostration with real weapons. We all left pretty impressed and josh and darren were so amped that they decided they would be wannabe ninjas if only for 5minutes and chuck some ninja stars around.

We finished off our ninja excursion by a quick visit to a castle. it was very impressive from the outside and made for pretty cool photos however the inside was abit of a letdown, pretty much consisting of nothing.

On the way down from the ninja mountains in the hunt for food we seemed to of stumbled upon a local market / parade. there was plenty of food and game stands and darren felt compelled to blow 500yen on a rigged shooting game, he did score a pitty prize from it though being a rather cool BB gun.

After eating some dodgey street vendor food and joining the local parade we waved through the 456423 trains back to Kyoto.

Tomorrow we leave for Tokyo on a first bullet train ride. Kyoto has been great and if things continue to improve its going to be pretty epic!

Well it has been a pretty cool few days. We have seen just about everything Kyoto has to offer and a few of the surrounding areas too.

At the moment Brad and Darren are at some dodgey italian rip-off place odering this posts namesake (spaghetti and cake). I settled for some fish flavoured rice balls after walking the streets while the guys did their washing as Darren was down to a single sock and a wife basher, which is not really appropriate attire for the streets of Japan.

So with the Giant Budda, Silver Pagoda, Gold Pagoda, Imperial palace, Deer park and 20 to 30 other sites done all that is left for us to do is the ninja village. We are planning how best to approach the ninja masters and ask for a crash course. Brad thinks we should disguise ourselves as pirates, Darren wants to make a sacrafice to the gods and my plan was to breach their inner sanctum with 200 bells attached to our clothes in order to prove our worth. But that all seems like too much hassle so we are just going to dish out 800 yen and go along with the rest of the gaijin visiting on the day.

Last night we went out to the party district in Gion (a local suburb), after getting knocked back from several places for not being japanese we opted for the local Pig and Whistle, had a pint then continued to attack the pavement in serach of a bar. We found one that had an hourly charge for all you can drink, so being good aussies we did our duty and finished the spirits placed in front of us then left before the karoke started.

Money running out! Photos coming soon i promise!

WOW

Well today was pretty awesome, we managed to squeeze in an Imperial procession, the path of philosophy (Brad contemplated society, Darren wrote some poems and I invented the interstellar messaging system - more info coming later), a large ensemble of temples, multiple shops and a few eateries.

Brad used chop sticks for the first time yesterday and is already shoveling in the food like a pro! Darren is regretting bringing a bad pair of shoes and my beard is going on strong.

The flight over was pretty good, I managed to get told off by a small child and she re-affirmed our holiday mantra
"ITS A GOOD HOLIDAY, ITS A HAPPY HOLIDAY". Brad got told off by an elderly lady about forgetting to pack a bomb and we are still waiting for Darren to be yelled at.

We are currently at the hostel with the other two having a snooze (possibly an extended nap since they turned offf the alarm and continued sleeping). It is very cramped and Darren has already managed to tear the bathroom door off in a feat of wild bear like strength.

With a large portion of Kyoto done we are planning a day trip tomorrow to check out a deer park and a few local temples at Nara. It is about 50mins away so after a hearty breakfast of miso soup and rice balls we will chant our holiday mantra for a while in the zen garden then make tracks for the day.

Pictures will be coming tomorrow and I will try to make an entry whenever the guys are taking naps

Well believe it or not people but 3 days from now we will be in Japan. In 2 days Brad, and myself (Darren) will be traveling to the Brisbane airport and meet up with Josh in Sydney. We're going to overnight at Josh's house and then we'll be catching the one way air express to Osaka Japan!

Hopefully we've all packed our bags and suitcases and haven't forgotten anything. Already we've exchanged 1,000 Dollars into Yen which works out roughly to be about 100,000 Yen. This should last us the first week before we have to visit a bank.

Well when we land we're going to head straight to our accommodation in Kyoto which is just a short train ride away from Osaka.

So keep checking the blog folks because we're going to take lots of photos and when we get a chance we'll post them up for all to see.