Trains in Japan

Most people have heard of the Japanese bullet train, which is actually called the Shinkansen.  Normally trains in Japan run like clockwork, for the most part.  In our 4 1/2 weeks here we have had four trains late.  One was actually cancelled and another one was 15 minutes late. They did an announcement about the late one, saying it was delayed by 15 minutes due to a crossing issue.  The third train, the “Thunderbird Express”, from Kanazawa to Kyoto, stopped on the tracks and there was an announcement “the train has stopped due to a strange noise”.  We waited a bit and then we carried on and went to a station where we waited a bit more.  We left but stopped again on the tracks to do a “test”.  The explanations in Japanese were a lot longer than “crossing issue” or “test”.  

Our train from Kanazawa to Kyoto

Now I’m all for safety, especially when I’m on any form of public transit.  The thought of doing “track tests” when the train cars were full of passengers was a bit strange.  You realize, that when you’re in a train, or plane for that matter, you don’t really know a lot of what’s going on. The train picked up speed again and we seemed to moving along, although there were a few more unscheduled stops.  I wondered what further tests they were doing.  It made me consider how the train track scheduling was going to work with so many trains going in all directions, now that this one was behind schedule.

A tight connection in Kyoto…

While safety was a concern, I was also a bit worried about the pending connection in Kyoto onward for Hiroshima.  When we booked the trains, we gave ourselves 37 minutes to change trains in Kyoto. It’s a large station and there is usually some “confusion” for newbies finding where things are.  We also thought we would get lunch at a bento store.  37 minutes is not a ton of time, but who wants to wait around in a train station? Well, don’t we wish we had booked a later train now!  The delays cost us time and we arrived at Kyoto 23 minutes late.  Hmmmm – that leaves 14 minutes to sort out Kyoto station, run through the station, find a train platform et al. Sounds like an episode of the Amazing Race!  We knew we had to “boot it”.  

We exited the train and we were greeted by about 25 steps up with no elevators/escalator in sight.  I took both my suitcase and Meg’s and hauled them up the stairs. Meg is and has been amazing carrying her own bag, however with the time crunch, I knew this is time where I could help.  Besides, a workout when travelling is a good thing right?  

We found the Shinkansen entrance but we hadn’t left the Thunderbird Express section. Oh drats! We found a JR Rail “helper” person and they took our tickets for both trains and started asking some questions. Ummmm didn’t they know we were going to miss our train if we continued to chat?  When they were satisfied we were all good, they processed the tickets but then when Meg went through the gate some alarm went off. This was not the time to pull a Hugh Grant, in Bridget Jones, The Edge of Resaon, and leave her there to figure it out for herself…not if I want another 35 years of marriage. Things got sorted out, of course the clock was still ticking. Once we were clear to go, we headed into Shinkansen land, found the platform for our train and then our car.  The train was not there and we had eight minutes to spare. 

The train ride to Hiroshima started out fine, we had our reserved seats and stored our luggage in the special seats we had booked.  The weather was brilliant sunshine and we were looking at the country side. About an hour into the train ride, it became really dark outside (no it was not a tunnel).  Then we heard hail hitting the roof of the train, at which point the Conductor came on and said we were now five minutes late due to high winds. Of course, the train runs on electricity, which does not really react well to water or hail. I guess they worked it out, because we arrived in Hiroshima, late, but safe.

In the end, everything was OK, because if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.  I first heard this phrase when watching the movie ‘The Exotic Marigold Hotel’ (2011). The movie is set in various cities in India including Jaipur, where we’ll be in about six weeks.  I recall that phrase and I wrote it down at the time as it struck something within me.  It’s funny how some phrases, when you hear them, resonate immediately.  Had we missed our train in Kyoto, we would have simply taken another one. We may have missed the hail storm, who knows? Everything would have been OK.

I only wish I could put that phrase into use all the time and not worry as much.  There’s always room for growth.

We normally eat three times a day with “munching” taking place regularly during the day.  One of the reasons we like cruising so much is there is never a decision of where to eat.  You go to the dining room and chose what you want from the menu.  If you don’t like it, you ask for another meal.  If you’re really hungry, you ask for two meals. Seems pretty simple.  In Japan, we’re on our own and that’s fine. We know what we like and there are sites that provide ratings of restaurants so you know where to increase your odds of a good meal.

Our last night in Takayama, we chose to eat at a Spanish restaurant.  It had good reviews and the night before we were going to eat there, I went in to see if I could get a reservation.  The restaurant is on the second floor, so I went up the stairs, Meg didn’t follow, she had had enough stairs for the day.  As I opened the door, I fell in love with the place and knew I wanted to eat there.  I met the owner and had a table booked for 18:00 the next day.

Defective Wine Bottle

When we went for dinner, we were greeted with a big smile and shown the best table in the house.  We ordered a bottle of Italian wine, I know it was a Spanish restaurant, but the Italian wine did look better.  It did not disappoint.  We both secretly thought, can we take the other half of the bottle home because we never drink a full bottle at home.  We ordered two appetizers and two main courses and the food came in stages, there is only one cook, the owner. The last dish to come was a main and somehow that bottle of red wine was empty.  We both looked at each other and burst out laughing.  Did the owner sneak a glass for himself?  Did we spill some?  Was this bottle defective and leaking? We had to ‘fess-up, we were the culprits.  I think it was the fastest we have ever consumed an entire bottle of red wine and yet neither one of us seemed intoxicated.  If we are ever back in Takayama, we’ll head back to that restaurant.

Some of other meals in Takayama included a burger at a burger joint – Hida beef is a “thing” so we decide to try a burger. We had been three full weeks in Japan without a Canadian meal and didn’t feel we were “cheating”.  Besides, Takayama is in the centre of Japan so the fish is not a fresh as on the coast.  We also tried a Nepali restaurant.  There are a number of Nepali restaurants in Japan, most of which specialize in Japanese/Indian curry which has always been quite good.  This place, although well reviewed, was on the lower end of our Nepali restaurants in Japan.

We’ll keep updating on our adventures and travels.

Thanks for reading 🙂

We are now over half way through our time in Japan.  So far, our trip has been AMAZING (emphasis added). Our daily activities are listed in the blog portion of the site and there are some updates on Instagram.

When we reflect on what is and has been amazing in Japan, the answer is (drum roll please)…almost everything. You can see us with a Samurai warrior in Nikko – how cool is that? I loved the culture and food when I was here in 2021/22.  Meg has completely embraced it and loves it too.  Meg thinks she has eaten more sushi since arriving in Japan than she has in her entire life. Of course, shell fish sushi is off the table for her due to her allergies, however it is still easy to get none shell fish sushi. 

Travel has been fairly smooth

Japan, for those who know, is well serviced by trains. In some cases, buses provide necessary connections.  We’ve managed to book almost all of our trains, although that did come with some challenges.  One of the on-line sites would not accept the credit card we are using.  We have a no foreign exchange fee card but it seems to be blocked from certain on-line transactions.  When we could not book on-line, we went to a train station and booked from a ticket machine where the card worked without issues.

We have found not all trains can be booked at all machines, depending if it is JR Central, JR West, etc. Not to worry, at this time, the only reserved ticket we need is Kyoto to Japan.  I read that train runs every 10 minutes, and we’re 2 ½ weeks from needing it so we’re not stressing.

Accommodations

For the most part these have been good to very good with one exception.  Our place in Tokyo was a very noisy dump and we ended up buying our own sheets at Ikea.  Many of the hotels are small and often the bed is jammed up against a wall.  This means that one of us has to crawl over the other one to get in or out of bed.  Since we’re not spending a lot of time in our hotels, it is not too bad, but it is good to know if we want to come back that we’ll need to be careful if we want to stay somewhere longer term.

Onsens

For those who have not been to Japan, the Onsen is a wonderful experience.  It is a public bath where you get undressed, shower to get clean and then soak in various hot tubs. The water at different Onsens has different elements.  As Japan has geo-thermo water almost everywhere, these hot springs are tapped into and they fill up the hot tubs so you can soak. We’ve found a few that have outdoor sections and you can look at the moon or stars as you soak.  You come out completely relaxed and very clean.  So far two of our hotels have had onsens attached to the property so they were free, otherwise there is a fee.  Also remember to take your own towels, otherwise you have to buy/rent a towel.

Driving in Japan

While we were in Nikko, we rented a car.  You need an international drivers licence, which I obtained prior to leaving. They drive on the “other” side of the road in Japan, so it took a bit of getting used to.  Also the cars are smaller, a lot smaller as shown in this picture.

Meg was an amazing navigator and always reminded me to be on the other side of the road – I think that was, in part, self-preservation. Parking is a challenge in Japan, you don’t simply park on the side of the road.  The parking lots are a bit different but we were able to figure them out.  Nikko, for us, was a good place to rent a car.  Our hotel was a bit out of town, we redeemed points for that one and we knew it was a hike.  Other guests were taking taxi’s to town where the bus system would take them around.  The car gave us freedom to come and go as we pleased.

Our second half of Japan

As we enter the second part of our Japanese tour, we’ll be heading to Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto and back to Tokyo.  I’ve been to Kyoto before and we were in Tokyo earlier on this trip, however Hiroshima and Osaka will be new.  We are also going to meet a friend in Kobe as a day trip from Osaka.  Based on a recommendation from someone we met travelling, we’ll pop over to Nara for a day while in Kyoto, where we’ll be for a week.

Thanks for reading, I’ll post more in a week or so.  Meg will keep updating the blogs so you can follow daily if you like.  We both post on Instagram.

It’s just a number but October 15, 2023 is a milestone to us.  Today marks our 35^th wedding anniversary.  It was on this day, in 1988, in Scarborough Ontario, in front of our family and friends, we tied the knot and were married.  We left the next morning for San Francisco and our honeymoon.  We traveled down the California coast to LA and visited Disney.  We visited Disney Tokyo this week, very fitting. 

What we’ve done along the way.

Along the journey, we have raised three awesome children.  We have had seven cross country moves.  We have travelled throughout the world, mostly as a family, more recently just ourselves.  As a family we’ve been to Disney more than once.  Maybe it’s a theme.  We’ve seen recessions, pandemics, inflation, deflation, good times and bad times.

We’ve laughed a lot and sometimes we’ve cried.  We’ve both had amazing jobs and contributed to society, not only by raising our children, who are making incredibly positive impacts in the world, but by making things better.  We have always given to our communities and helped others.  At times others have helped us.

Where do we go from here?

Thirty-five was part of the reason for this trip.  We are celebrating not only 35, but everything that came with it.  We are also looking forward to another 35 (OMG – I’ll be 95 then!).

We have been blessed with family, friends and each other.  Once in a while there were tears, there have been far more laughs and it is the laughter we remember.

Thank you for reading and being part of our journey.

Love to all.

Cam and Meg

Cam and Meg with the Tokyo Sky Tower in the background

On the weekend, we met up with some friends for brunch in Roppongi Hills.  Brookey is a member of the club and we shared some stories and had some laughs with his wife and daughter.  Brookey was kind enough to take a picture of Meg and I with the Tokyo Tower in the background from the 51st floor of the Roppongi Hills tower.

In the next photo, there is a building with what appears to be white lines up the length of the building.  That’s Google’s Japan head office.  

Mega projects and development

As far as you can see, there are buildings and expressways, which only end at the water. Cranes dot the landscape, with mega projects still being started.  Interest rates are still below zero percent in Japan, so large companies are being paid to borrow money to keep things going.  Japan does have an aging population and no one is sure how things will turn out.

Green space and parks

Despite it being such a large city, there are a number of parks and green spaces.  The most impressive, of course, is the Imperial Palace grounds. I’ll post more on that soon, as we plan to visit those grounds and hopefully get a tour inside. I’m sure when they figure out who I think I am, they will welcome inside me with open arms.

Over the next week, we’ll be exploring various neighbourhoods, each with it’s own specialty and vibe.

Have you been to Tokyo before?  If so, what was your favourite neighbourhood?

How large is Tokyo?

I think everyone knows Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world.  Population estimates are from 13 to 37 million, depending on the area considered.  Given that Tokyo is so large, there are additional things available that may not be found in smaller centres such as Vancouver.

For example – an accordion cultural club.  Yup, Tokyo has an accordion club.  Now most people have heard accordion music, and it is generally associated with raising beer steins during Octoberfest.  Ask yourself – when was the last time you actually saw an accordion?  For me, it has likely been 36 years, when I did a tour of Germany after university.

Now, to be clear, I did not go out looking for the accordion club.  Nope.  I was out for a walk in the neighborhood to see what I could see. How could you miss a sign like that?(by the way that’s me in the reflection)

So, if you would like to see an accordion, up close and personal, drop on by Tokyo and head on over to the Tokyo accordion cultural club.  I’m sure they’d love to see you.

Planning for India

With Japan sorted out and planned on paper, I started looking at India as that was where our third cruise would end, in the fabulous city of Mumbai.  Our passage from Japan to India was taken care of through cruises, however once we arrived in India, we would need to do something.  

Planning for Southern India

I looked at a number of tour operators and then reached out for some quotes.  The first one, from a reputable Canadian firm was 15k for three weeks for the two of us – land portion only.  I thought India was supposed to be a bit cheaper than that!  Hotels in Mumbai and other places were reasonably priced, so I started putting my own plan together.

After a short time I asked myself “what are you thinking?”.  I was not able to speak the language and there would be a huge culture shock.  I looked around and found an Indian-based tour company and told them roughly what I wanted to do and they put together a package, very similar to the 15k one for 5.5k (all values in CDN).  This tour was for us only, included trains, airfare in India, private guides and drivers, accommodation at upscale places. I did a ton of research on this tour company, read countless reviews, searched some more and then booked the tour.

Starting in Mumbai, will travel to Goa, then on Bangalore, Ooty, Bandipore, Mysore, Munnar, Kochi and a few other places.  A lot of travel but so much to see!

While we were thinking about India, we noticed another cruise that hit some AMAZING places.  The sort of places that immediately make you think exotic destinations, like “wow” these are bucket list places.  These ports of call included the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Madagascar and others.  

We booked that cruise – the start of which coincided with the end of our three-week Indian tour.  The only add on was that we needed to get to Qatar, but as flights are easy to book, we managed to solve that.

Planning for Northern India

From the planning lens, we now found ourselves in Mauritius near the end of January with no plan. We decided that we should head back to India to see the northern part, or more accurately the “Golden Triangle”. I looked at some tours and through reading countless travel blogs, decided we could do this ourselves.  The tours certainly offer convenience, and a level of comfort, however if you’re willing to do the leg work and book things yourself, you can save a lot of money. I don’t think we would have tried this on our own without having visited India for three weeks the previous month and we always have the option of booking a tour, although that is unlikely as we have booked all of our hotels.

On to Nepal

After our two weeks touring Delhi and the Golden Triangle, we thought where to next?  Nepal.  It is a fascinating place, from what I’ve read and of course Mt Everest is there (no I will not be climbing it, nor will I be going to base camp).  However, the history, culture, people and more are amazing.  It’s a $100 flight from Delhi to Kathmandu, and an extra $8 to select a seat.  We’re each sitting in a window seat on the port side of the aircraft, that’s what will give you the views of the Himalaya mountains as you fly into Kathmandu.  We’ll spend two weeks touring and then we were going to go to Bali, or so we thought.

Let’s add Malaysia!

As I was trying to book our flight from Kathmandu to Bali, I looked at Air Malaysia and they were running a promotion.  If you booked a through flight from one international destination to another, through Malaysia, in our case Nepal to Bali, you could get a stopover in Malaysia including airfare to another part of the country for free.  Having never been to Malaysia, I quickly read up on it and we decided why not spend a week in Penang.  Our airfare from Kuala Lumpur to and from Penang was free, so we added another stop.  While this shortened our time in Bali, we thought it was a great idea to see something else.

From Malaysia, we would be heading to Bali where we would end our trip.  Our activities in Bali have not been planned, however it is still five months out and that is the low season, so coming up with a plan should be doable. From Bali we will fly home.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.  It has taken a lot of planning and it continues to evolve.  We’ll update things as we tweak our plans. 

We are ROAMing, RELAXing and REPEATing.