Yes, I am pleased to say that next year I will be travelling back to England for Christmas!!!
We are going to see my family and friends, and to see my nan especially.
Maybe I will keep another blog??
:D
Monday, 31 December 2012
electric town
When i say electric town, I mean Akibara. But its known for its street of electric stores. We went there especially for a Ipod for Gerard. He got one, and he is now demonstrating everything for us. ;)
I also bought a few souveniers and a nice wall hanging for my room.
We are now back at Tim's place, and he has just told us that the countdown that we were planning to go to has been cancelled. The first time in 25 years. Typical my dad would say,
So we are trying to find another place before its too late.
:D
:D
:D
PLEASE COMMENT!!!
Feel free to ask questions too, So far I have only had three comments, although I have had 140 pageviews.
Thanks,
Love from Gen
I also bought a few souveniers and a nice wall hanging for my room.
We are now back at Tim's place, and he has just told us that the countdown that we were planning to go to has been cancelled. The first time in 25 years. Typical my dad would say,
So we are trying to find another place before its too late.
:D
:D
:D
PLEASE COMMENT!!!
Feel free to ask questions too, So far I have only had three comments, although I have had 140 pageviews.
Thanks,
Love from Gen
Biggest shopping Mall in Asia!! and Nikko
When I say the biggest Mall, I mean also the most exciting and cheap Mall in Asia.
Have you heard of forever 21? Its like Forever new, but better! And there was a sale on. I got a jumper, a necklace, an eyelash curler, ;) and a cardi
Then there was this shop called three coins. It was like a two dollar shop but all under 400\, which is about
$3.50. There were accessories, make-up, room decorations, it was epic
Then H+M, there was an ENORMOUS sale on. I got two dresses for $2, and a pair of leggings for $2.
There was also the biggest op shop ever! It had so many things that i have never seen in an op-shop before. Everyone found something they liked.
The day after we travelled to Nikko. We took another fast train, and then had breakfast at this dodgy restaraunt. In Japan, you are allowed to smoke in the cafes and diners! So you have to try and enjoy your meal in the midst of tobacco. Its vile
Anyway, Nikko is a heritage marked place, full of old temples and statues. It was also the first capital of Japan.
The story of Nikko starts with a high buddist priest called Shodo travelling across a bridge, carried by a giant serpent. He then set up many temples and the Shogun took a fancy to them.
Bye Bye!! <3
Have you heard of forever 21? Its like Forever new, but better! And there was a sale on. I got a jumper, a necklace, an eyelash curler, ;) and a cardi
Then there was this shop called three coins. It was like a two dollar shop but all under 400\, which is about
$3.50. There were accessories, make-up, room decorations, it was epic
Then H+M, there was an ENORMOUS sale on. I got two dresses for $2, and a pair of leggings for $2.
There was also the biggest op shop ever! It had so many things that i have never seen in an op-shop before. Everyone found something they liked.
The day after we travelled to Nikko. We took another fast train, and then had breakfast at this dodgy restaraunt. In Japan, you are allowed to smoke in the cafes and diners! So you have to try and enjoy your meal in the midst of tobacco. Its vile
Anyway, Nikko is a heritage marked place, full of old temples and statues. It was also the first capital of Japan.
The story of Nikko starts with a high buddist priest called Shodo travelling across a bridge, carried by a giant serpent. He then set up many temples and the Shogun took a fancy to them.
Bye Bye!! <3
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Skiing!!
Today we took a bullet train to Niigata snow resort.
This was my first time in the snow, and the first thing i did was fall over. Lol
We hired out some ski gear, yes flouro yellow, and of course, skiis!
We didn't have any lessons, so i was pretty proud that i was skiing down a hill on my first half a day in the snow. We took many videos of my attemps, so i will upload some of those for you.
My uncle tim also tried to teach mum how to snowboard. She did pretty well, but it was also funny to watch :)
We had a traditional little room at our hotel, we slept on the floor, which was made up of some sort of matting, and we had tea kneeling down too.
The hotel owners had many strange little rules. No shoes inside except for some little sandals which they provided, then no shoes in our rooms, and little red ones that said toilet on them for when you used the bathroom.
They also cooked so much food! The first night there we were given a tray with about ten plates of salads, fish, prawns, meat, rice, juice, tea, and this funny dessert which tasted like lemonade.
The next day we hired sleds! That was heaps of fun. We saw this great spot where no one was sledding so we decided to climb the hill to go down. It turns out there was a good reason. When we sat down in our sleds, we didn't do anything except sink into the unnaturally soft snow.
Here is a video of me in the snow.
This was my first time in the snow, and the first thing i did was fall over. Lol
We hired out some ski gear, yes flouro yellow, and of course, skiis!
We didn't have any lessons, so i was pretty proud that i was skiing down a hill on my first half a day in the snow. We took many videos of my attemps, so i will upload some of those for you.
My uncle tim also tried to teach mum how to snowboard. She did pretty well, but it was also funny to watch :)
We had a traditional little room at our hotel, we slept on the floor, which was made up of some sort of matting, and we had tea kneeling down too.
The hotel owners had many strange little rules. No shoes inside except for some little sandals which they provided, then no shoes in our rooms, and little red ones that said toilet on them for when you used the bathroom.
They also cooked so much food! The first night there we were given a tray with about ten plates of salads, fish, prawns, meat, rice, juice, tea, and this funny dessert which tasted like lemonade.
The next day we hired sleds! That was heaps of fun. We saw this great spot where no one was sledding so we decided to climb the hill to go down. It turns out there was a good reason. When we sat down in our sleds, we didn't do anything except sink into the unnaturally soft snow.
Disney Land photos
 |
| This is the Arabic Temple where we went to see a show about Aladdin |
 |
| Takeo, Kazue, Gerard, me, Tim and Taka |
 |
| The volcano ride |
 |
| Mickey Mouse performing |
 |
| The line for toy story. (sorry about my glove in the way) |
DAY THREE!!!!
christmas day, and a special outing!!!
AND IT WAS * Drum roll please*
DISNEY LAND/SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got up early because the lines would take ages, but it was worth it. the monorail was cool, because there was no driver and all the windows were shaped as mickeyheads.
The first thing we went to was the new ride, Toy Story Mania. But the line was soooo long that it sold out in one hour!
So instead we had breakfast. The only breakfast-y sort of thing was sausage and tea. The sausage came on the sort of bone which was interesting...
Then we went to something called Talking with Turtles. It was a animation on Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo. It was pretty good but it was all in Japanese so when the audience laughed we sort of laughed with them, it was awkward.
Then we headed to the Disney shops and met up with Tim's friends Taka, Takeo and Kazue.
One thing i found out, They love taking photos. We had about fifty taken of us. One before every ride, one after, some in more famous places, it was crazy!
The first ride we went on with them was called 20000 leagues under the sea. We basically went on a submarine that had some sort of malfunction so that it went into some sort of fantasy world with fish, seaweed and giant squid that attacked us.
Then we went on a ride which the name of i didn't find out. We just sat in these boats as they spun around a water course. It was actually really funny.
Lunch was at a hotel in Disney Land. It was a massive buffet with heaps of amazing food and desserts. We also got christmas presents from Kazue. I got a little notebook, a stuffed toy and a furry pink thing that you are supposed to wrap around your neck.
Kazue had bought a special pass for us that enabled us to get drinks in a special lounge before our next ride. we also got boosted right to the front of the queue. The ride was called Storm rider. We were put in a room like a movie theatre but 4D. Storm rider was about a plane which flies into the eye of a hurricane with a bomb to diffuse the storm. But it has a problem mid-flight. It was a great experience because we got rocked around in our chairs and water sprayed on us.
after that was a show on the water with all the disney characters called fantasia.
and that was the end of christmas day!
christmas day, and a special outing!!!
AND IT WAS * Drum roll please*
DISNEY LAND/SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got up early because the lines would take ages, but it was worth it. the monorail was cool, because there was no driver and all the windows were shaped as mickeyheads.
The first thing we went to was the new ride, Toy Story Mania. But the line was soooo long that it sold out in one hour!
So instead we had breakfast. The only breakfast-y sort of thing was sausage and tea. The sausage came on the sort of bone which was interesting...
Then we went to something called Talking with Turtles. It was a animation on Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo. It was pretty good but it was all in Japanese so when the audience laughed we sort of laughed with them, it was awkward.
Then we headed to the Disney shops and met up with Tim's friends Taka, Takeo and Kazue.
One thing i found out, They love taking photos. We had about fifty taken of us. One before every ride, one after, some in more famous places, it was crazy!
The first ride we went on with them was called 20000 leagues under the sea. We basically went on a submarine that had some sort of malfunction so that it went into some sort of fantasy world with fish, seaweed and giant squid that attacked us.
Then we went on a ride which the name of i didn't find out. We just sat in these boats as they spun around a water course. It was actually really funny.
Lunch was at a hotel in Disney Land. It was a massive buffet with heaps of amazing food and desserts. We also got christmas presents from Kazue. I got a little notebook, a stuffed toy and a furry pink thing that you are supposed to wrap around your neck.
and that was the end of christmas day!
Friday, 28 December 2012
Hello again!!
On our second day in Japan, we went to Sensoji Market. It was packed with shops and people! There were food stalls, clothes, toys, souveneirs, and even swords. As we made our way through, we tasted many different Japanese sweets including some sort of pancake with sweet bean paste in the middle.
At the end of the street, was the biggest Temple in Tokyo. The Sensoji Temple. As we made our way through the crowd, there were many groups of people huddled around different highlights of the temple courtyard. First there was a shrine with incense in it, and you are supposed to wave the smoke on to any part of you that needs healing.
We then paid to find out our fortune. We shook a tin until a bamboo stick came out and there was a number on it. We then open a drawer with our number and that has our fortune. This is what mine said:
No.27 Regular Fortune
You can make and get your fortune after so many difficulties, like to pass over the motonious (!) hard-zone. Then you can meet the delightful face with a smile like colourful flowers. You can meet good change, like to see the bright moon in the clear sky, the clouds have gone. You may feel relived, rejecting hard difficulty, never be absent-minded, always keep awake and careful.
Your request will be granted- The patient get well but be more careful- The lost article will be found- The person you wait for will come- Building a new house and removal are well- To start a journey is very good- Marriage and employment are both fine.
Some of the things above have come true so far, I am moving houses next year, so thats good, I found a backpack that my uncle lost on the train, not sure about the marriage and employment bit though..
Anywho, after that we went to a waterfountain which you are supposed to wash you hands in, and it purifies you or something like that. Further up the street was the temple gates. On both sides there were statues of evil looking men and women, who are the guardians against evil spirits. To describe the temple, it is a traditional Japanese temple, red and black with tiles and dragon carvings. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo. Past the gates are the stairs to the Temple. In the massive foyer there are people throwing money into a railed hole and praying. We threw in some money, but we didn't know what to pray about. Behind a wire fence was a traditional buddist ceremony. I don't know how they concentrate with all the noise!
Did i mention that it was minus 1 degrees?? Yeah, so much for a scorching Aussie christmas.
We then headed back to the hotel to have a "nanna nap" before we went to the christmas lights.
They were basically a street full of trees with lights with a Japanese twist. I think there is a photo in a previous blog.
Right at the end there was a big triangle in which was a touch screen. Couples are supposed to walk in and touch the screen, and it lights up the triangle to show what the future holds for the relationship.
My brother went in by himself and got Courage, so I went in and it went purple ( my favorite color and my school house color,) which means Intelligence. ???
Dinner was Indian, Yum.
Bye!
On our second day in Japan, we went to Sensoji Market. It was packed with shops and people! There were food stalls, clothes, toys, souveneirs, and even swords. As we made our way through, we tasted many different Japanese sweets including some sort of pancake with sweet bean paste in the middle.
At the end of the street, was the biggest Temple in Tokyo. The Sensoji Temple. As we made our way through the crowd, there were many groups of people huddled around different highlights of the temple courtyard. First there was a shrine with incense in it, and you are supposed to wave the smoke on to any part of you that needs healing.
We then paid to find out our fortune. We shook a tin until a bamboo stick came out and there was a number on it. We then open a drawer with our number and that has our fortune. This is what mine said:
No.27 Regular Fortune
You can make and get your fortune after so many difficulties, like to pass over the motonious (!) hard-zone. Then you can meet the delightful face with a smile like colourful flowers. You can meet good change, like to see the bright moon in the clear sky, the clouds have gone. You may feel relived, rejecting hard difficulty, never be absent-minded, always keep awake and careful.
Your request will be granted- The patient get well but be more careful- The lost article will be found- The person you wait for will come- Building a new house and removal are well- To start a journey is very good- Marriage and employment are both fine.
Some of the things above have come true so far, I am moving houses next year, so thats good, I found a backpack that my uncle lost on the train, not sure about the marriage and employment bit though..
Anywho, after that we went to a waterfountain which you are supposed to wash you hands in, and it purifies you or something like that. Further up the street was the temple gates. On both sides there were statues of evil looking men and women, who are the guardians against evil spirits. To describe the temple, it is a traditional Japanese temple, red and black with tiles and dragon carvings. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo. Past the gates are the stairs to the Temple. In the massive foyer there are people throwing money into a railed hole and praying. We threw in some money, but we didn't know what to pray about. Behind a wire fence was a traditional buddist ceremony. I don't know how they concentrate with all the noise!
Did i mention that it was minus 1 degrees?? Yeah, so much for a scorching Aussie christmas.
We then headed back to the hotel to have a "nanna nap" before we went to the christmas lights.
They were basically a street full of trees with lights with a Japanese twist. I think there is a photo in a previous blog.
Right at the end there was a big triangle in which was a touch screen. Couples are supposed to walk in and touch the screen, and it lights up the triangle to show what the future holds for the relationship.
My brother went in by himself and got Courage, so I went in and it went purple ( my favorite color and my school house color,) which means Intelligence. ???
Dinner was Indian, Yum.
Bye!
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Hey everyone!!!Merry Christmas, hope you all had a great day, i know i did, but more on that laterrr...
i am in Japan safe and sound!!!i apologise for not blogging sooner, but we had no internet at our poky little hotel.
this is how our first three days have been
day 1- The night before we left, my uncle rohan held a christmas dinner at his house. since he trained as a chef you can imagine the spread! There were salad, meat, potatoes, garlic bread, seafood, vegies.... I could go on. ( btw, Happy birthday D! Hope you had a nice day)
Then we drove to a hotel about five minutes away from the airport for the night. we got there at about 10 at night, and we got a wake-up call at three. -.-
we got a shuttle bus to the airport and waited for ages at the check-in and security.
Then we were on the plane finally... but they didn't get us breakfast so we had cheese toasties for breakfast (lol Amy)
our first stopoff was at cairns and it was sooo hot and humid. we checked through our bags again, and went to security.
That was the interesting part...
apparently, the security guards randomly test people for drugs but they didn't tell us that when they took me off for testing. They told me to take off my shoes and to stand in this sort of capsule with my legs apart and my hands over my head. then they closed the door and i got scanned by a big moving bar. Then i got out, i felt awful because i thought that they chose me for the scanning because they saw me do something i shouldn't have, and they checked the results. it was all good, but i was still really confused. They let me out and i went back to scanning to find mum and Gerard being swabbed for explosives! It was all rather confusing.
We then headed to the food court and had lunch. It was really expensive! my pie and mums sushi and gerard sausage roll were each $12.50! after that we went to the bookshop and i read some of mockingjay- it was amazing, and i bought about by my favorite author Phillipa Gregory called "Lady of the River"
just after that we were called to gate 6 for boarding. Take-off was fine, and soon after they brought round ipads for hire. for some reason, there were no tv's in the backs of the chairs, so mum hired an ipad. she and gerard slept most of the way, ( I can't sleep on planes..) so i got the ipad for most of the trip. I watched downton abbey, Glee and madagascar.
We had chicken and rice for a second lunch ;) with free drinks! yum
We finally arrived and went through immigration then through to the arrival lounge to Tim!!
Thennnn we had a hour train ride back to our hotels. remeber that i hadn't slept for about 20 hours and i was sitting on a plane for 12 hours of it? yeah, not good.
But the trains ARE good. they have a system like our Mykis, but they actually work. They are called Pasmo's, and even if they are 10 centimetres away they beep and let you in. The trains are heated, and have tv's on them.
There are a lot of rumours going round about Japan, and I am going to say if they are true or not
- THE TOILETS ARE HIGH-TECH- this is very true!!! There are a million buttons on them including music, flashing lights, an option to get your bum cleaned and others. There was a sign about how to use the buttons and one said"This button has the equipment to cleansing the buttocks with warm water" LOL
- THERE ARE VENDING MACHINES FOR EVERYTHING- This is also true, you can get gum, drinks hot and cold and i have even heard about used underwear venders... o.O
back to my experiences, when we got off the train i noticed that all the Japanese people are really fashion fanatics, even the guys! There are so many crazy shoes and hairstyles. The sad thing is that lots of them have bleached their hair. Don't do that Annie, I love your hair.
We had a five (五)minutes walk to our hotel, which is called the Sakura which means cherry blossom. 桜帆手l
I will put on a few pictures now and start a new post in a minute.
Please comment and feel free to ask questions.
Bye for a few minutes!
Gen
i am in Japan safe and sound!!!i apologise for not blogging sooner, but we had no internet at our poky little hotel.
this is how our first three days have been
day 1- The night before we left, my uncle rohan held a christmas dinner at his house. since he trained as a chef you can imagine the spread! There were salad, meat, potatoes, garlic bread, seafood, vegies.... I could go on. ( btw, Happy birthday D! Hope you had a nice day)
Then we drove to a hotel about five minutes away from the airport for the night. we got there at about 10 at night, and we got a wake-up call at three. -.-
we got a shuttle bus to the airport and waited for ages at the check-in and security.
Then we were on the plane finally... but they didn't get us breakfast so we had cheese toasties for breakfast (lol Amy)
our first stopoff was at cairns and it was sooo hot and humid. we checked through our bags again, and went to security.
That was the interesting part...
apparently, the security guards randomly test people for drugs but they didn't tell us that when they took me off for testing. They told me to take off my shoes and to stand in this sort of capsule with my legs apart and my hands over my head. then they closed the door and i got scanned by a big moving bar. Then i got out, i felt awful because i thought that they chose me for the scanning because they saw me do something i shouldn't have, and they checked the results. it was all good, but i was still really confused. They let me out and i went back to scanning to find mum and Gerard being swabbed for explosives! It was all rather confusing.
We then headed to the food court and had lunch. It was really expensive! my pie and mums sushi and gerard sausage roll were each $12.50! after that we went to the bookshop and i read some of mockingjay- it was amazing, and i bought about by my favorite author Phillipa Gregory called "Lady of the River"
just after that we were called to gate 6 for boarding. Take-off was fine, and soon after they brought round ipads for hire. for some reason, there were no tv's in the backs of the chairs, so mum hired an ipad. she and gerard slept most of the way, ( I can't sleep on planes..) so i got the ipad for most of the trip. I watched downton abbey, Glee and madagascar.
We had chicken and rice for a second lunch ;) with free drinks! yum
We finally arrived and went through immigration then through to the arrival lounge to Tim!!
Thennnn we had a hour train ride back to our hotels. remeber that i hadn't slept for about 20 hours and i was sitting on a plane for 12 hours of it? yeah, not good.
But the trains ARE good. they have a system like our Mykis, but they actually work. They are called Pasmo's, and even if they are 10 centimetres away they beep and let you in. The trains are heated, and have tv's on them.
There are a lot of rumours going round about Japan, and I am going to say if they are true or not
- THE TOILETS ARE HIGH-TECH- this is very true!!! There are a million buttons on them including music, flashing lights, an option to get your bum cleaned and others. There was a sign about how to use the buttons and one said"This button has the equipment to cleansing the buttocks with warm water" LOL
- THERE ARE VENDING MACHINES FOR EVERYTHING- This is also true, you can get gum, drinks hot and cold and i have even heard about used underwear venders... o.O
back to my experiences, when we got off the train i noticed that all the Japanese people are really fashion fanatics, even the guys! There are so many crazy shoes and hairstyles. The sad thing is that lots of them have bleached their hair. Don't do that Annie, I love your hair.
We had a five (五)minutes walk to our hotel, which is called the Sakura which means cherry blossom. 桜帆手l
I will put on a few pictures now and start a new post in a minute.
Please comment and feel free to ask questions.
Bye for a few minutes!
Gen
hey again everyone. this was an old blog which i thought had gotten deleted accidentaly, but it didn`t so i am posting it now.
Its nearly time to leave, and we just got our final details for the flight.
We leave at 6 in the morning so we have to be there at 4 so we have to wake up at 3! -.-
But our uncle has sent us a calendar of everything we are going to do there so I can show you some of the stuff we are going to do!!!
23rd - arrive!
24th- Christmas lights in shinjuku!
25th- Christmas day!!!! A suprise outing.... o.O
26th- nothing yet
27th- we are taking a bullet train to a skiing resort!!!! Me on skiis?? haha should be interesting, i'll take a video and upload it for your entertainment...
28th- more skiing!
29th- a trip to Nikko- a beautiful japanese garden display
30th- Nothing yet
31st- The shinagawa aquarium and a new years eve event. ( apparently all the japanese people run off the KFC for new years...
Its nearly time to leave, and we just got our final details for the flight.
We leave at 6 in the morning so we have to be there at 4 so we have to wake up at 3! -.-
But our uncle has sent us a calendar of everything we are going to do there so I can show you some of the stuff we are going to do!!!
23rd - arrive!
25th- Christmas day!!!! A suprise outing.... o.O
26th- nothing yet
27th- we are taking a bullet train to a skiing resort!!!! Me on skiis?? haha should be interesting, i'll take a video and upload it for your entertainment...
28th- more skiing!
29th- a trip to Nikko- a beautiful japanese garden display
30th- Nothing yet
31st- The shinagawa aquarium and a new years eve event. ( apparently all the japanese people run off the KFC for new years...
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