Articles from this Category
14 October 2015
New territory for me I thought we’d explore the French Concession around Huaihai Road today as it would be new to me. We took the metro there. On board, Kim noticed a lady with red expensive-looking shoes but wondered how they could stay on. It was only the toes that were slipped into the shoe. […]
13 October 2015
On board We took off late as a last-minute illness stopped one passenger from travelling and his/her luggage had to be offloaded. Seated near the front, the 787 wasn’t as quiet as my Scoot flight last month where I had been seated overwing. This felt on the quiet side of normal. After the supper service, […]
19 April 2015
Daisuke and I spent a couple of hours together at Aeon mall where we grabbed lunch from the supermarket and some groceries to take back to New Zealand. After lunch, it was time for him to rest before the night flight home. I wandered around Narita a little, taking shelter away from the rain in […]
18 April 2015
Above: Narita village with the fair in full swing. I had breakfast in town. I had done most of what I wanted in Narita so spent the morning in bed checking commercial flights back to Auckland and also attending to emails, admin and bills. There weren’t any real viable flight alternatives. I checked out just […]
17 April 2015
After a breakfast of pastries, I checked-out and left my bag at the hotel reception. I began my exploration of the Narita area by walking to Narita-san, the temple nearby. It was actually a very nice temple for something that was so accessible and un-promoted. I remember the alleyway from about 15 years ago where […]
16 April 2015
I woke early this morning without an alarm. The sun was out way before 0600 I reckon. It’s nice to wake naturally, with assistance from sunlight from the outside. This wasn’t the case in wet gloomy Tokyo with natural light further obscured by neighbouring buildings. I made the most of the onsen once more before […]
15 April 2015
Hakone area After a day of shopping and pounding the pavements of the city, I left Tokyo. It was another early start with the alarm for 0600 for a shower, breakfast and packing up after 5 nights at the Tsukiji Business Ban Hotel. I left at 0700 and got to Shinjuku Station rather quickly but […]
14 April 2015
Above: Escape sling from high-rise department store. Today was the day that had been allocated to rest and shopping. While I don’t normally have much brand loyalty, I do rather like some of the cheaper-end stuff Uniqlo (a Japanese value fashion brand). I had been told about GU, their budget brand just the day before, […]
13 April 2015
I had set the alarm for 0640. I downed a simple breakfast with canned coffee, warmed up in a bain marie of boiling water. I was tired but I tried hard not to waste too much time getting ready. I made my way to Asakusa station by metro, which required a walk to the train […]
12 April 2015
Cycling I woke to a lovely clear sunny day, in fact, the only nice day forecast for my entire stay in Japan. It was perfect for cycling around the Palace moat area, something that’s only possible on dry Sundays. I took the tube to Nijubashimae and found the place for borrowing free bicycles near exit […]