https://www.stevedrice.net/ 2026-04-25T02:02:30+00:00 https://www.stevedrice.net/ https://www.stevedrice.net/_media/wiki/dokuwiki.svg text/html 2024-12-22T22:14:56+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/afterward Afterward It is more than 8 months since we visited Japan and reviewing this journal we seemed to be really busy but we in no way regret it. Despite not being the best time of year to visit - It being cold, wet and largely devoid of any cherry blossoms - We still had a great, though exhausting, time. text/html 2024-11-24T13:22:21+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day1 Saturday, March 16, 2024 Mel left work early today at just after 6 pm for the trip to Manchester Airport, about an hour north of where we live. Our car parking reservation is for 8 pm so we needed to make sure we had enough time to stop for something to eat at the motorway service station before arriving. The car park is a short distance away from the airport on a dark, bumpy dirt road just past a series of old glasshouses crammed with traveller’s cars. The weather was not great with pothole… text/html 2024-11-24T13:58:19+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day2 Sunday, March 17, 2024 Japan is a long way away from Manchester so we spent the day travelling. We only had a few hours of sleep before getting up at 4 am for a shower in the hotel, check out and then walk to the terminal. The walkway from the hotel to the terminal was even longer than I had remembered but we were definitely one of the first people to check in our bags, such are the advantages to an airport hotel. Even at just after 5 in the morning security was busy but they still managed t… text/html 2024-11-24T13:57:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day3 Monday, March 18, 2024 [Tokyo Hotel Room] It is quite a nice room, if a bit small “tastefully” decorated in browns and beiges. As you come in on your left is a small bathroom…I say bathroom but the bath itself is a typical Japanese affair, very narrow and deep so you would probably need to sit up rather than lay down in a bath. There is a shower with a curtain that pulls across. Yes, they have one of those fancy heated-seat, electric toilets with various…cleaning and drying…options that I h… text/html 2024-11-24T14:49:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day4 Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Well, we are still adjusting to the time change with both of us up at 7 am despite the alarm being set for 8:30 ahead of our 9:00 am breakfast slot. Breakfast was quite nice if a bit unexpected. They had an assortment of “cereals” consisting of what looks like crisped rice with various dried ingredients, yoghurts, frozen (?) fruit such as pineapple and grapes, packaged pastries and breads, juices, coffee and tea. The dining area was a bit crowded so we had to sit at… text/html 2024-11-24T15:23:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day5 Wednesday, March 20, 2024 I did not sleep terribly well last night with stomach problems so I was up fairly early this morning. Not sure what it was but something I ate or drank did not agree with me… It was a wonderful day today, not warm, but sunny with very few clouds so we walked a bit around the Ginza area surrounding the hotel. I wanted to show Mel the wonderful Kabuki-Za theatre which, of course, does daily Kabuki (singing and dancing performances a bit like a light opera). It is a l… text/html 2024-11-24T16:20:20+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day6 Thursday, March 21, 2024 At breakfast in the hotel this morning we had a bit of a surprise. Mel felt something then all of a sudden everyone’s phone flashed up with a yellow “Earthquake warning” message “Say calm and seek shelter nearby” accompanied by an alarming picture of a building bending dramatically to the left with pieces coming out of it! Alarms started going off in the building text/html 2024-12-01T15:10:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day7 Friday, March 22, 2024 Today was a big tour day as we visited Mount Fuji and the surrounding area. To get there you can either take the Shinkansen (bullet train) or the bus, we opted for the later as I think it is more interesting and, besides, we will be taking the bullet train quite a few times next week. It is quite a good distance so we were up at 5:45 to start to get ready, leaving the hotel at 6:30. The coach was to meet us outside the Mitsukoshi Ginza department store we visited the o… text/html 2024-12-03T20:30:31+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day8 Saturday, March 23, 2024 So, ever since we made our ramen the other day in Yokohama we have been struggling to figure out how we could eat it. The dining area in the hotel is quite small and there was nothing there to cook the noodles in. So, we decided what we could do is get some (ramen) bowls and use the kettle in the room to cook the noodles in those bowls. So, where could we get bowls? The local convenience store had lots of pre-packaged ramen soups in bowls but we did not really want … text/html 2024-12-03T21:06:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day9 Sunday, March 24, 2024 When we went for breakfast at 8:30 this morning it was quite busy which is odd on a Sunday. We were very much looking forward to our trip to the Kabuki theatre today. I have seen Kabuki in the UK in previous years but never seen it performed in Japan. text/html 2024-12-04T20:45:24+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day10 Monday, March 25, 2024 One of our few days when we don’t have anything booked we managed to have a lot of fun without any time pressures. [Breakfast] After our normal light breakfast in the lobby (why are the grapes frozen?) we returned to our room to chat with mother over WhatsApp for about 45 minutes. She is very excited about our visit here as she loves the country so much and was anxious that Mel would love it as well (she does). text/html 2024-12-07T18:54:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day11 Tuesday, March 26, 2024 The new hotel is not quite as interesting as the one in Tokyo. No robots here but it is nice and very centrally located, only a few stops on the subway station from Kyoto station then, after a flight of steps, it is a walk of a few short blocks. This time I opted for a more western hotel, an “Ibis Styles”, for its central location which provides ease of access to transport and walking distance to many of the city attractions such as the Gion (geisha) district. text/html 2024-12-05T21:06:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day12 Wednesday, March 27, 2024 Sadly in our Kyoto home we are not provided with breakfast. It is available from an attached restaurant but it is woefully western so we decided to give it a miss instead opting for another Japanese chain restaurant we had passed yesterday that I knew was open and had breakfast options between 5 am and 11 am: Sukiya. Like Yoshinoya, this is another Japanese gyūdon (“beef bowl”) restaurant but we were here to give their breakfast a try. text/html 2024-12-05T22:04:56+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day13 Thursday, March 28, 2024 I may have mentioned it before but I am a big “Studio Ghibli” fan. They create the most beautiful animated films with amazing stories and characters. Examples of these films are “Spirited Away”, the classic “My Neighbour Totoro”, “Pom Poko”, and “Howl’s Moving Castle”. I have visited the “Ghibli Museum” in Tokyo several times but the online ticketing system they now use resulted in my being unable to acquire tickets. What is the system? For international visitors t… text/html 2024-12-07T16:28:43+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day14 Friday, March 29, 2024 What a difference a day makes. From the overcast, rainy day yesterday to a sunny day today with a high of 23 celsius! Perfect day to get out and explore a bit of Kyoto. We had not been too impressed with Sukiya’s breakfast the other day so today decided to see what the breakfast options from Yoshinoya would be like. We ended up with the “Ham & Egg Meal with Beef (small bowl)” (567 yen) which had two eggs, cabbage salad (with dressing), rice, (miso) soup, ham and an … text/html 2024-12-07T17:18:36+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day15 Saturday, March 30, 2024 To state the obvious, there is a LOT to see in Japan. When you ask someone about the country they will likely talk about Tokyo with its futuristic reputation. Thinking further they may mention Kyoto, Yokohama or even Osaka. One city that everyone always remembers is Hiroshima known for being the city that was destroyed by the first atomic bomb at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Not many, however, will have visited to see how the city that can never shake of… text/html 2024-12-07T19:05:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day16 Sunday, March 31, 2024 I have had difficulty in Japan finding breakfast ever since I first visited with my mother and we stayed in a ryokan (traditional inn) here in Kyoto, about half a mile north from the hotel Mel & I are now staying in, so, not terribly central. Breakfast was not included with our room so we had to find somewhere to eat in the morning and ended up in McDonalds as it was the only one actually open during breakfast hours and serving food. The only thing we could think to expl… text/html 2024-12-07T19:03:06+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/day17 Monday, April 1, 2024 It has been a long day…well, two. We are back at home now and the cat appears happy to see us but we are sad our holiday is over. We have really enjoyed our trip to Japan and I was so happy to see that Mel took to it so well as it is a country I have always loved and want to return to as many times as I can. text/html 2024-11-24T16:32:31+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/introduction Japan Journal 2024 [Silly Couple at Ghibli Park] I have always had a fascination with Japan that has only grown after my previous visits. My wife Mel has never visited so it has always been our plan that I would show her around at some point with the stars aligning that it would be this year so we pencilled in the dates and started booking. Mel has a busy dog grooming service with appointments booked up to a year in advance so this process had to start quite a long time ago with my first boo… text/html 2024-11-24T13:04:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.stevedrice.net/travel/asia/japan/journal3/sidebar * Japan Journal 2024 Tokyo * Saturday, March 16, 2024 * Sunday, March 17, 2024 * Monday, March 18, 2024 * Tuesday, March 19, 2024 * Wednesday, March 20, 2024 * Thursday, March 21, 2024 * Friday, March 22, 2024 * Saturday, March 23, 2024 * Sunday, March 24, 2024 * Monday, March 25, 2024 Kyoto * Tuesday, March 26, 2024 * Wednesday, March 27, 2024 * Thursday, March 28, 2024 * Friday, March 29, 2024 * Saturday, March 30, 2024 * Sunday, March 31, 2024 Return *…