What’s Up Tiger Lilly?

I promised my friend years ago that I would travel to Japan with her. 

This year she finally called my bluff, so it was out with the wallet and onto a plane and then onto a boat.

I travelled with my friends May, Coen and Karen.

We spent four days in Tokyo before embarking on a 12-day cruise around Japan including a day in Busan in South Korea.

The trip wasn’t without its trials, tribulations and frustrations, but overall, it was a great experience.

Japan itself was wonderful. I loved the at times bonkers culture, the food and probably most of all how neat and tidy and orderly and well run everything was, and yes, everyone was unfailingly polite - it never ceased to amaze me how everyone dutifully queued at pedestrian crossings even when there were no cars, something that would never happen here in NZ. 

For the most part there were a lot less cars and indeed people than I was expecting but by the same token a lot more bicycles. The lack of traffic I put down to a fantastic public transport system and the fact that most people live in tiny apartments and there simply isn’t the space or necessity to own a car. 

Talking of public transport, the train stations were often huge and always busy and consequently could be confusing until you got used to them - if in doubt, the trick was to ask the nearest Japanese teenager who generally spoke pretty good English and were always happy to help.

The above does sound like a bit of a cliche, which indeed it is, but that is the way I found it. I put this down to how socially cohesive their society is which is something we in the West have lost as we continue down the disinformation and polarisation rabbit hole.

Given that it was a joint trip and I was keen to accompany my friends I reined myself in somewhat. This meant that I didn’t do as much sightseeing as I normally would but have found over the years that taking one’s time and seeing things properly is preferable to cramming as much in as possible. I was also conscious of the fact that Neena and I intend to visit Japan in the next few years and will then be able to experience the country in our own inimitable style.

After four days in Tokyo it was cruise time. We sailed with Celebrity X on the Celebrity Millennium. 

The cruise itself was less successful, but that was always going to be the case as they aren’t totally my thing. The boat itself was fine, the food decent and the entertainment and facilities great, so no complaining on that front.

When we weren’t ashore, food seemed to be the preoccupation of most, including me, with overindulgence the order of the day - given the amount of weight I and I suspect a lot of other people put on, I half expected the boat to give up the unequal fight and sink without a trace!

My typical day consisted of breakfast - reading and YouTubing - lunch - a snooze followed by more reading and YouTubing - dinner - a show - quiz night - elevenses - yet more reading and YouTubing - bed.

Overall, the cruise was enjoyable but I must admit that I was counting down the days towards the end.

We stayed in Tokyo in a Ryokan run by the mysterious Kenichi, who, mystery aside, was a nice guy and super helpful. The accomodation was very traditional with paper walls, a super low table with floor cushions and a roll mat to sleep on. This was all well and fine if not terribly practical and I could have killed for a chair by the end of our stay.

Our Ryokan

My first day in Tokyo was relatively low key with just some local sightseeing followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. The journey from Narita airport to the Ryokan the previous day had been a tad stressful so a gentle introduction to Japan was just what the Shogun ordered.

Typical street scene near our Ryokan

The next morning we went to a Japanese tea ceremony. This involved dressing up in Kimono’s and, funnily enough, much ceremony. The experience was surprisingly enjoyable although the Matcha tea they used looked and tasted like dried ground up grass. If only they had PG Tips.

After the Matcha madness I did my own thing for the rest of the day. 

This consisted of a long walk to the Sky Tree which is a stunningly photogenic 634m tower and an equally long and hot walk back to the Ryokan. The walk itself was very enjoyable and most definitely my kind of thing.  The views from the top of the tower were a little disappointing due to the hazy sky but I would still recommend doing it.

I got back from the tower just as May and Coen were going out to dinner so ended up joining them. We went to a sort of Japanese tapas bar run by a distractingly beautiful girl and were treated to some wonderful food and friendly locals.

I headed back from the bar a little early in order to call Neena. Instead, I bumped into Karen who suggested we head off to a nearby temple. I nearly declined the offer but ended up have a great time at said temple which was stunningly lit at night.

All in all a full on touristy day and all the better for it.

The little sweet on the white cloth was supposed to balance the bitterness of the Matcha. It didn't.

The kimono looked and felt pretty good, but takes ages to put on.

Behold the magic turnip.

On the way to the tower - it was much further than it looked and I had been walking for ages at this point.

A bit hazy, but impressive all the same (the tower was also super busy).

Only about 10 minutes walk from our Ryokan...

and pretty stunning at night

The next day I set off exploring and after walking for half an hour or so arrived at the rather pretty and extensive Euno gardens. I spent a fair bit of time there and would have stayed longer but it started getting rather hot so I took refuge in the nearby National Museum. I find most museums rather sterile and prefer to look forward rather than look back but particularly enjoyed the samurai swords and armour and the various other implements for inflicting grievous bodily harm. The air conditioning was pretty good too. 

The Tokyo Zoo was also close by, but my excitement turned to despair when I learn’t that the zoo had given their star attraction, a Panda, back to China in 2022.

On the way back I got horribly lost down a maze of narrow streets which was kind of the fun. Eventually I made it to the Ryokan although this was down to blind luck rather than any skill on my part.

This was originally going to be my Mt Fuji day but in the end I chickened out as it would have meant around 6 hours travel which in the end seemed too much for just a few snaps (I could have gone with Karen who was visiting this area but she wanted a 6am start!). In any case, it turned out the weather was mostly cloudy, so I would have struggled to get a glimpse anyway.

Part of Eunos Gardens

Looking towards the national Museum

Some rather fine sets of armour

The next morning we headed off to TeamLab Planets which is a sort of giant walk through art installation.

 

While we were queuing to get in I started to develop a headache. I recognised the signs of a bad one and immediately took some pain killers.

TeamLab Planets itself was a wonderfully immersive and unforgettable experience and comes highly recommend. Trouble was that there were a hell of a lot of flashing lights which turned a possible migraine into a full on one.

After TeamLab Planets we headed off to Tokyo Karts - basically you put on a stupid costume of your choice and drive road legal go-karts around Tokyo. I had been really looking forward to this but by this stage my migraine was pretty well unbearable and such was my desperation that I popped far more pain killers far earlier than I should have.

This had very little effect on my headache and it was all I could do to avoid throwing up so was forced to abandon the Karting and ended up taking a very expensive taxi back to the Ryokan and to hopeful oblivion. It is amazing what a few hours of sleep can do and I woke with my headache mostly gone.

In the evening I had dinner with May and Coen alfresco at a small shop selling very bad but delicious fried goodies which in my case were beef croquettes and chicken karake.

On the way back we stopped off for dessert. I had French toast with peanut butter mostly because I was intrigued at such a weird combination and indeed it was weird, although not in a good way. Also had was Hong Kong style milky tea which sounded great but was pretty nasty and only marginally better than the matcha the other day. Still, despite my mixed culinary experiences, tasting weird and wonderful things is all part of the fun.

The next three pictures were taken at TeamLab Planets. I took many photos most of which didn't come out that well due to the low light conditions in most of the experiences/rooms - my tip is to jump on a plane and experience it for yourself.

Croquette heaven

Cruise Day 1

After a somewhat torturous trip from Tokyo we arrived at the port of Yokohama and picked up our boat. 

Check-in should have been straightforward but it turned out that, depending on who you believe, our rooms had either been assigned to other people by mistake or were under repair or both. This turned out to be fantastic news as we were upgraded from cattle class on Level 2 to Aqua Class which meant swanky suites on Level 9, access to our own restaurant (Blu) and various other goodies. Aqua class certainly improved my experience on the boat but not by enough to justify the cost, which was over double what we paid. Anyway, we didn’t have to pay anything, so many thanks to Celebrity X.

There was internet on the boat, but it cost US$ 148, and that was a 50% off introductory offer! Breaking the habit of a lifetime, I somehow forked out the money as I couldn’t bear to be without my daily dose of fake news and dancing cats. Good move it turned out as the ships wifi was excellent and I used it a lot.

Regarding cost. The business model of most cruise companies is to offer the basic fare as almost a loss-leader and then sting you for excursions, wifi, alcohol, upgrades and the like. This is fair enough but does mean cruises can be superb value if you avoid most of these temptations.

Our boat

Cruise Day 2 - Shimizu

Shimizu is an industrial port, and views of Mt Fuji aside, from a touristic perspective doesn’t have much going for it. In best Japanese tradition, the town including its industrial areas were clean and tidy.

The weather was warm and very humid. With this humidity came cloud and rain and Mt Fuji remained illusive. I spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering about in the rain.

This building is a reconstruction of Suehiro, a sailors' lodge

Shimizu

Me spoiling the view

I found this nice little park quite close to the ship

Cruise Day 3 - All at sea.

Much book reading (Slow Boats to China by Gavin Young) and YouTubeing.

Cruise Day 4 - Osaka.

Travelled by train from Osaka port to Kyoto. I visited the (ever so popular) Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine and surrounding area including walking to the top of Mt Inari, which afforded some great views. 

This was all very nice but I was desperate to escape from the crowds so took a fairly rough track signposted to Fushimi Castle.

This was more like it as there were far fewer people around. After about 40 minutes I saw a sign to Mt Inari and decided to head that way. The track eventually joined the main tourist route which was actually much quieter than at the bottom as most people were put off by the slog, but not yours truly.

The evening’s entertainment was a fantastic Kaito drum group from Osaka.

The main shrine

On the way up

There were loads of these little shrines

At the top

There were hundreds if not thousands of these arches - the path looks dead quiet but it was a bugger to get shots without any people in them.

Looking over Kyoto

Cruise Day 5 - Osaka, then all at sea.

The ship sailed mid-afternoon so I kept things local, had a mooch around and then visited the Osaka Aquarium which was only 5-minutes walk away. The aquarium was huge and rather splendid and I spent a happy few hours there. Lots of highlights, but the whale sharks and dolphins were my favourites. It cost 2700 Yen to get in and 300 for a fridge magnet which made for a decently cheap day.

The one downside were the crowds which consisted mostly of screaming over-excited Japanese school kids. The kids, especially the small ones in their matching uniforms looked super cute, but in reality were absolute monsters - but that’s school kids the world over! Not that I am being curmudgeonly or anything.

The boat in Osaka harbour

The three photos below were, you guessed it, taken at the aquarium. The main tank is huge at 9m deep and 34m long and must be one of the largest in the world.

Cruise Day 6 - Hiroshima.

Accompanied by May and Coen, I took a shuttle bus to Hiroden-Itsuchaisi station and then the Miyajima tram line to the Genbaku-Dome Mae station which usefully was just over the road from the atomic bomb dome and the peace garden.

I dutifully took pictures including a few selfies of the dome, peace garden, peace bell and peace clock. It is what you do, but somehow felt a tad sacrilegious 

There were plenty of people around but the place was much quieter than I expected which was a nice surprise and nowhere near the insanity of the Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine.

An additional highlight was a kawaii group who were performing near the peace park. Kawaii is basically metal crossed with J-pop and usually performed by girls or ladies dressed as school girls - this sort of thing would probably get you arrested in the West but is very popular in Japan and Lyall Bay.

I was photo bombed by this guy while watching the Kawaii group (in the background)

Atomic bomb dome

Looking towards the city with the peace park on the right

Children's peace monument

Cruise Day 7 - all at sea.

More of the usual.

Cruise Day 8 - Busan (South Korea).

May, Coen and I teamed up with a Canadian couple and visited the market area and various other parts of the city including a large and smelly fish market. Funnily enough, the later had a huge amount and variety of sea species including some truly unsettling ones and even worse many of them were still alive and awaiting their fate. I know I am a hypocrite, but I felt so sorry for these poor creatures - it’s one thing to eat meat and fish, but it’s quite another looking dinner in the eye.

Busan was nice but didn’t seem to have the buzz of Tokyo or Kyoto, or the cleanliness of either, but then we were only there for one day so I am probably being a little unfair and I think a more extended visit to Korea is in order.

The pictures below are miscellaneous scenes taken in Busan.

Cruise Day 9 - all at sea.

Spending the day in Busan was very nice but necessitated a three day trip which seems an inefficient use of time to me. My theory is that it is a ruse by the cruise company to relieve us of yet more money (not that it worked with me). The two sea days meant two days less port fees and there were a number of art auctions going on with plenty of expensive paintings going under the hammer and I imagine plenty of extra booze sold as well. This however has to be balanced against a lot more diesel being burnt. A bit cynical maybe, but I bet not far from the truth.

On a more positive note, I finished reading Slow Boats to China by Gavin Young. In the 1980’s, Gavin, who was a journalist and war correspondent, attempts to travel from Greece to China exclusively by boat. Although hard work at times and very long, the book was full of interesting stories and anecdotes about the people Gavin meets and the dangers and discomforts he endures. Overall, I was well entertained, so a solid 7.5 from me.

Cruise Day 10 - Aomori.

The weather was rather chilly although this shouldn’t really have been a surprise given Aomori’s northerly location.

Because we had been to Korea the whole ship had to go through immigration and passport patrol, a process that took about 5 hours. Fortunately, Karen managed to pull a strings and we managed to sneak off the ship after an hour or so.

In best Japanese tradition, Aomori was clean, tidy and pleasant. I spent the day wandering around the town with the highlights being some monster carp at a local shrine and a splendidly designed triangular building close to the cruise terminal. 

The town is famous for its apple pies and festivals but otherwise isn't that exciting. This isn’t intended as a criticism as Aomori is very much a working town which little concession given to tourists and I liked the place regardless.

Miscellaneous scenes from Aomori:

Cruise Day 11 - Hakodate.

The weather was cool and cloudy with a little rain in the morning but nicer in the afternoon when the sun put in an appearance.

I did my own thing again and walked up Mt Hokadate. 

The mountain is famed for its views over the city, especially at night, and is a real tourist hotspot. There is a ropeway (cable car) up to the summit but also a walking track, which unsurprisingly the lift company doesn’t signpost or even mention. There were hoards of tourists at the bottom station and I was desperate for some exercise after two weeks of sloth and indulgence, so it was the walking track for me.

It took a little while to find the start of the track but it was well marked and graded when I did. Much of the track was through a nature reserve and was very pretty with the usual little shrines dotted along the way and also plenty of bird life, although this was mostly heard rather than seen.

It only took an hour or so to reach the top but it felt so good to stretch my legs and blow off (quite) a few cobwebs, which really lifted my mood. On the way up (and down) I saw only a few older Japanese hikers and absolutely no tourists, which was a real joy.

The summit was thronged with people and also cold and windy so I took the usual snaps and then headed into the top terminal in hope of some caffeine salvation. It wasn’t to be as the cafe there didn’t open for another half an hour and their prices were at least double those in Hakodate itself.

There was no way I was going to wait around for the cafe to open or pay their inflated prices so headed back down the track, at which point it started raining, but I didn’t mind one bit.

The walk was lovely as were the views from the top and this was one of my favourite days on the entire trip.

The pictures below were taken on my walk up to Mt Hakodate.

Cruise Day 12 - all at sea.

Seriously counting down time.

Cruise Day 13 - Back in Yokohama

We checked off the boat and then headed to Narita airport and back to reality.