Ueno - Ameyayokocho

Ueno was a big surprise.

Ueno is a part of the metropolis that is Tokyo and we had stopped there a night on our way from Asahikawa to Nara.

As the journey was from the centre of Hokkaido to the southern part of Honshu (or south-central), it would have been too stressful to try to make the whole trip continuously. So, we broke up our journey into Asahikawa to Hakodate, Hakodate to Tokyo (Ueno), and Tokyo (Ueno) to Nara. Over two nights (one night in Hakodate, and one in Ueno).

We did not know what to expect in Ueno. More of the same from Tokyo, or Shinjuku I guess.

Then we discovered the Ameyoko. Or more correctly, Ameyayokocho (the full name. Ameyoko is the local short form, just as Akhihabara is shortened by locals to just "Akhiba".)

The street market runs under the railway tracks (up ahead). This was a quiet stretch.

Ameyoko is crowded, messy, chaotic, lively street scene of shops, street food, vendors, and shoppers, both local and tourists. The shops were also an eclectic mix and is one of the most cosmopolitan places in Japan that I have seen. I see blacks (not sure if they are from Africa or the US) touting their goods in Japanese.

I bought a doner kebab (stuffed into a pita bread unlike in SG where it is wrapped in a thin flat bread - like a soft tortilla), from a... Turk? some middle eastern guy. We saw shops selling Chinese goods and Chinese food (and were quite sure they were Chinese. Or Taiwanese).

And I am quite sure there are other nationalities there too. Chinese and Korean are not visible minorities. The kebab fella was quite amused/surprised that I was not Japanese. They could all speak Japanese of course, to do business there.

After I had grabbed a doner as a stop-gap for my hunger, wife decided to try a Taiyaki (fish-shaped "waffle" with sweet bean paste filling - "asuki"?).

Then we decided we would have street food for dinner.

So we started looking around in earnest.

And settled on a street corner stall selling okonomiyaki, kushiyaki, and other food. We had edamame, shishito (sweet green peppers) on a skewer, unagi, maguro (grilled. I think I prefer sashimi), cheese, chicken with shiso leaves, and chicken with onions (all on skewers too).

The okonomiyaki was not Osaka-style. It was more of an omelette with some vegetables.

But it was fun. We like the shishito, it was sweet and spicy.

It wasn't the best food we had, but it was good. It was unpretentious street food. We would like to return.

Here are two blogs I found on Ameyoko, with lots of pictures.

http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/1514/Ameyoko.html

http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/25776/Ameyoko.html

Musings of Restless Mind (MORM) on a Shinkansen.

On Shinkansen (and other express long-distance trains), the notice in front of the seats (over the tray table) goes, "be mindful that the noise (of your keyboard) may annoy other passengers" (or something to that effect).

On the Shinkansen from Shinagawa (Tokyo) to Kyoto, we sat beside a "Salaryman" (in a business suit) who was working on his laptop. (Placed on the tray table).

I glanced over to see what he was doing, and just saw some Windows icons.

The next thing I know, he had shut down his laptop and stowed it away, and listened to his ipod for the rest of the trip (he got off at Maibara).

I wondered, did my casual glance over to see what he was doing caused him to interpret that as "annoyance" at his keyboarding? Thus moving him to shut down his work?

Was he working at some sensitive stuff and so he was disinclined to continue with an inquisitive busybody siting next to him?

Why did he get off at Maibara at about 1 pm on a working day? Did he have business there? Was he sent by his office in Tokyo? Have they not heard of the telephone? Or conference calls? If it were a business trip, presumably the company should pay for the train ticket, but would it cover the costs of an ekiben (did not see him eating one). Or does he live in Maibara and commute to Tokyo for work? Why is he getting off work so early, then?

Or is he visiting his mistress in Maibara? Was he sending an email to her on the train: "On my way. Wear the cat costume I bought you. We'll save the Witch costume for Halloween." (The train trip was on Oct 30).

I wish I could have followed him off that train.

Musings of Restless Mind on a Shinkansen.

Pupuru mobile wifi (MIFI)

This time around I chose the NTT DOCOMO service instead of the EMobile because NTT had wider coverage and I was going to Omoshiroyama and Yamadera where EMobile had no coverage.

The trade off was that the connection speed was slower. 

Another thing I noticed this time was that the battery seem to drain very fast. Not sure if it is a battery problem. Previously, I could turn on the unit several times a day without any problems. This time around, the battery would start to get distressingly low after about 3 hours. Or so it seemed.

Fortunately, this time around most of the hotels had free WIFI, so that took some burden off the MIFI.

I thought the device performed much better on the previous trip. This time around, it seemed a little less reliable. Could be coincidence.

The main reason I wanted it was for coverage at Omoshiroyama, but there was no coverage, and I didn't really need it. I may switch back to Emobile.

Omoshiroyama-kogen Pictorial

As you begin your hike/trek down to Omoshiroyama, this is the view

This is the first waterfall. You get this view even if you turn back now.

Then you see the first "stairs" and the first bridge, across a dam "waterfall. The bridge is about 1 m wide and with no handrails. Do you turn back?

If you do, you miss this view of the waterfall from the other side.

And this view of the way ahead.

Up ahead, you see the 2nd and 3rd bridges. They look sturdy. And even have handrails!
That's not too bad now is it?

If you don't look too closely at the worn wooden planks...
And those gapingly HUGE holes (okay, they are NOT that huge).
Pull yourself together!

Just in time to see this: Yes. You're going to have to walk through that. Yes, it is a waterfall.
Yes, it's washing through the path you have to take. Do you turn back now?

Of course not! You walk right through it! Barefoot if necessary!
(to keep your shoes dry.)

And then you wonder why you bother, because the path just "dissolves" into the river,
and you now have to walk through the water, anyway.
It's as if whoever was marking out the path, just suddenly gave up and said,
"OK that's it. I give up. Just walk in the water."

And when you get through the water to the other side, you find a bridge.
It's a sort of suspension bridge. It sways as you cross.
And the gaps between the planks seems yawningly WIDE.
(But it's not. It's safe. I made it, remember?)

Then you look up and is rewarded with one of the many spectacular views of Omoshiroyama in Autumn.

Then you look down, and see this narrow trail you will have to walk. With the just a rope handhold to keep you from plunging into the icy cold river (yes, it's icy cold. I stepped into it remember?) You notice rather worriedly, that one of the pitons has come off the rock. Did someone cling desperately to the rope as he (or she) dangled perilously over the water?
Or is your over-active imagination painting things more dramatically than it is?

Before you can answer that, you are faced with a fast flowing - practically a small waterfall, really
- stream washing across your path. Yes, we have to cross this too.

And cross it you do!

The occasional manmade object are the only reminders
that you are not lost in the woods.

Then another waterfall. It is seen only by those who care to venture into the valley, as you have.
It is nature revealing her secret, her intimate self to you. And you feel a little privileged to share this... "intimacy".

The 5th bridge has a warning. "Danger" it says. But you can't read the rest of the Japanese script. So what do you do? You've been trekking for almost an hour. Or more. Do you go back? Of course not! We're not wimps!

So onwards we go...

You descend what seem like temporary stairs that lead
into the water,  apparently.

When you look back to see how far you have come, you see this:

As in life, you can't always see how far you have come. If you have fallen far, you may see where you had started. If you have climbed high, you might see what depths you had wallowed in. But often, all you can see is where you have most recently been. And things in the distant past, remain a distant memory.

Ahead, you see the final (6th) bridge), and one more waterfall to reward your trek.

The last bridge you cross is another suspension-type bridge. It sways.

A series of stairs take you up along the side of the waterfall, up to the road.

At the top of the stairs, you find a road. You turn right to walk down toward Yamadera. About 4.7km.
If you turn left, you walk towards Omoshiroyama-kogen station. About 2 km.
If you look to the hills across the valley you just climbed out of, you will see, if it is the right time of the year, the colours of autumn in the wooded hills.

As you trek down towards Yamadera, the road is narrow and almost apologetic, as it winds,
as unobtrusively as possible, between the trees. The trees seem to part generously to accommodate
the intruding road.

The accompanying blog post to this pictorial is here.

Itinerary by Hotel 0ct 2013

This will also be the short review of Hotels.

20 Oct, Sendai (to 23 Oct)
Hotel Monte Hermana Sendai,
Matsushima, Japan

+ Free Wifi! Works without hassle!

+ near to Sendai Station. Once you know the way, easy to get there. Use the overhead pedestrian bridge/walkway. 

+ Lots of toiletries! Leave your toiletry bag at home!

+ Shopping nearby. There is a pedestrian mall similar to Sapporo's Tanuki-koji nearby. Lots of budget and Hyaku-yen shops. And restaurants!

+ one positive for me is the hot/cold water mixer for the shower & bath. Separate control for temperature, with a safety switch for VERY hot water, and a separate control for shower or bath water flow. No worries about getting temperature right.

= room small. Japanese standard.

Dinner at Toritetsu Yakitori restaurant, and "Fisherman" (in Japanese/Chinese characters: Fish "Yu", Citizen "Min").
From here we took day trips to Omoshiroyama and Matsushima by train.
When we left we Tak-Q-Bin our luggage to Hotel Crescent, Asahikawa.



23 Oct, Hakodate (to 25 Oct)
Hotel Ekimae, Hakodate, Japan

This is a return trip. Been here before and loved the convenience (200 m from Train Station), and the service/atmosphere.

+ Free wifi! This is new. Don't recall having it the last time we were here. Connects easily without fussing with password. Wifi provided by floor, so less chance of slow connection because of other users' bandwidth demand. Was even able to connect to the Hotel's wifi from the train!!! More than 150 m away! Posted a Facebook update or two from the train!
+ Room not big but seemed more spacious than the room in Sendai.

- bath & sink mixer is the "manual" type where you hv to mix hot & cold water to your preference with separate taps/faucet. Hate fiddling with those.
= Wife wanted to see old gentleman at the reception (that looks like a Japanese version of Col Sanders of KFC).  I think she has crush on him.  But (fortunately) he wasn't there the two days we stayed there.

From here we visited Goryokaku, and Onumakoen (by train).


25 Oct, Asahikawa (to 28 Oct)
Hotel Crescent, Asahikawa
+ Big room by Japanese standard. 

+ Bath mixer faucet is the one with separate and fine control

+ Near to Heiwa Dori shopping mall

- Not enough hooks for clothes, in bathroom.

- Insufficient power points for charging devices!!! BIG NO NO!

- Wife unhappy there is no odour eliminator (spray bottle) for clothes. The other two hotels provided.

- No wifi in room, but available in Lobby... But did not actually get to connect.

Reconnected with our main luggage. Coin Laundry on ground floor. Laundry detergent from reception (70 Yen). Convenient. Laundered our past days clothes, change to fresh ones, repacked our small bags. And Tak-Q-Bin our main luggage to the last hotel (Hotel Sunroute Plaza, Shinjuku). The hotel staff was careful to let us know that the Tak-Q-Bin will take 2 days, and so we should not expect it before the 30th Oct. I confirmed that we would only be there on 1 Nov, which is more than enough time for the luggage to get there.

28 Oct, Hakodate (29 Oct)
Loisir Hotel, Hakodate

+ Provided two pillows per person. One soft, one firm. 

+ Even closer to train station than Hotel Ekimae

+ Close to Daimon Yokacho food street

+ Close to Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse/Dock shopping area
+ WIFI in room

- In-room fridge not very cold. 

= room small. Japanese standard. Good use of space makes it quite usable.
= Complimentary bottled mineral water (from some spring). Not necessary, but appreciated.

I have good feelings about the Loisir chain of Hotels. I dunno why. We wandered around the Kanemori/Red Brick Warehouse which used to be the dock warehouse for shipping. Now its a shopping mall. With restaurants.


29 Oct, Tokyo (30 Oct)
Hotel Sardonyx Ueno, Ueno, Tokyo
+ Microwave at floors with vending machines (5, 8, & 11)

+ Close to train stations.

+ Wifi in room. Connected easily with password.

+ Close to Amayayokocho street market. A lively, "organic" night  market with street food.
- Lobby smelled of stale cigarette smoke. (Fortunately, room was fine).

- Manual hot/cold water faucet/mixer

= Room about Japanese standard - i.e. Small.

Dinner was street food. I bought a kebab in a pita bread (sold by a middle-eastern/mediterranean guy who spoke Japanese), PL got a fish waffle - Taiyaki - with Azuki bean paste. Then we ate okonomiyaki with kushiyaki at a street stall - shishito (sweet peppers), unagi, edamame, chicken with shiso leaf (?) and grilled maguro (prefer it raw). Had fun!

30 Oct, Nara (1 Nov)
Nara Washington Hotel Plaza, Nara
+ Close to train station (5 min walk)

+ Along Sanjo-Dori - main shopping street to Nara Park.

+ room seems spacious despite small size.

+ extra pillows in room

+ Abt 15-20 mins walk to Nara Park

+ Easy access to restaurants. 

- No wifi. (In room or Lobby).

- No ice machine - none I could find.

= Could do with more power points for charging devices. Barely adequate.

= Toiletries on request. Reception asked if we needed toothbrush on check in.

Breakfast at Kohi-Kan.

Lunch at Wild Boar Man Restaurant in Nara Park. Had Oden, Yakitori, and Onigiri.

Dinner at Okonomiyaki place without English name. (Something "Family" restaurant, as in run by some family, not that it is family-friendly.

1 Nov, Shinjuku (2 Nov)
Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, Tokyo

+ short walk from train station.

+ near to lively night life area. Kabukicho within walking distance.

+ Lots of food and shopping in area. And Nightlife. Wish wife wasn't with me! Could try out the "Soapland" (tip for single guys... or married guys who has escaped!) :-)
+ Chose this hotel to be closer to the Airport limousine Bus Service pick-up point. Then learned from the hotel reception that the front of the hotel is a pick-up point! That's really convenient! Cost seems higher though. If you go to the central. pick-up point, the tickets are only 2000 yen per person. From the hotel, it is 3000. I guess you pay for the convenience, and I think it was worth it, not having to drag the luggage to the bus station. (about 600 m away.)

+ Wifi in room and lobby. No trouble connecting.
+ Reception Staff spoke excellent English.
+ Extra pillows in room.
+ Was offered free membership and late checkout (1 pm).

- No prominent signs or landmarks to locate hotel. Was a bit of luck finding the hotel. Also some Google map search and location photos research ahead of time. But in general, roads in Japan tend to be confusing, and in Tokyo, it is especially confusing.
- Room small and cramped. No space for luggage.
= Barely adequate powerpoints for charging devices.

Reconnected with luggage.