Day 1.

Helen and Enzo generously gave up their Sunday morning lie in to take us to the airport. The flight was far from full and we were both able to spread out. I started to watch a movie and gave up, but did watch the bird’s eye camera display for a while, which Rosemary did too, though she didn’t bother with a movie at all. Lunch was at 11am Sydney time, accompanied by, in my case two Asahi Dry beers and a miniature bottle of red – I snoozed in the afternoon. We landed a little early (super good landing) and I unbuckled, stood up and as I moved to unload our gear from the overhead lockers immediately noticed something odd about my left shoe. I looked down to find that the back half of my heel had broken off! Certainly made it difficult to walk quickly… We were quickly through customs and baggage collection and caught the 19.05 limousine bus to the hotel which we reached about 20.30. Got lost in the hotel due to a misunderstanding about which lift to take but were rescued by a young woman from the Annexe Reception desk who escorted us to our room. The room is fine. Big enough once we discovered that we could store our cases under the beds!

Day 2. (Note Y1 is about 1c, so Y100 is about $1)

Ota san was a little late due to a delay on JR (shock, horror!) but we were on our way by 10 am. It was great having him with us as it made everything so much easier, and we were able to accomplish much more than if we’d been left to our own devices. We bought 2 Suica cards (2 by Y2,000) – rechargeable travel cards – and took a JR train to Akihabara where we went straight to Yodobashi Cameras, a 9 storey store with an extraordinarily wide range of all manner of electrical goods, from vacuum cleaners, through refrigerators, coffee makers, TVs etc to cameras and computers. A very impressive display of diversity. We bought a Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65 hybrid camera for Y48,000 and a mini travel iron for Y1,260. Y126 less than this in fact as Ota san used his Points Card and gave us the monetary equivalent of his 10% bonus. After looking around every floor from 8^th floor to 2^nd floor we stopped for a cup of coffee, then spent quite some time admiring the latest lightweight laptops. Then lunch in a pasta restaurant – one of many different small restaurants on the 9^th floor. Very good. Rosemary and I shared a shrimp and rucata spaghetti, green salad and a cup of coffee for Y1,500. Then off to Shinjuku by subway. We started with a tour of the food hall in the basement of a department store. This was absolutely huge! And pretty pricey. At the extreme we saw steak for Y4,000 for 100g, (Yes, unbelievably, $400 a kilo!). An one melon in a presentation box for Y13,600. Then, mostly underground on a moving footway, we went to Tokyo Municipal Office which has a free public viewing area on the 45^th floor. Impressive all round view of Tokyo as the weather was very pleasant and the atmosphere clean after some rain yesterday. Reportedly, on a clear day, early in the morning, it is possible to see Mt Fuji. No sign of it today but we could just see Yokohama bridge.

Then a moving footway back to Shinjuku Station and a JR train to Shinagawa. Ota san took us to a supermarket, nowhere near as large as the food hall, but still big. Here we bought 3 huge carrots for Y250, one grapefruit for Y100 some low fat milk, some soy milk and half a cabbage!

We said “Sayonara” to Ota san at Shinagawa station and found our way back to the hotel by about 17.15.

Day 3.

We explored the area around the hotel and found a 7-11, another smallish supermarket closer to the station, and a pretty large one just inside the station entrance, which was the only one of the three to have a reasonable range of fruit. Using the trusty measure of the cost of a can of Asahi Dry, the prices were cheaper the further from the station. The Asahi Dry price in the 7-11 was Y270, compared the price in the hotel convenience store of Y450!

We set off in good time to catch the train to Fujisawa and arrived there without any difficulty. Then we were in trouble, couldn’t find our way out of the station. I asked one of the station attendants who put us straight, and Yoko san rescued us just as we were debating whether or not these were the stairs that led to the outside world.

Then off by walking and train to chez Saito where we ate a delightful light lunch accompanied by Champagne and cold green tea, and finishing with miso soup. Salty for me, and sweet for Rosemary.

Then to Kamakura by train along the coast, close by the beach with a good view of Enoshima, then a walk through the town to Daibutsu, the giant bronze Buddha, built in 1252AD. We were able to climb up the inside of the Buddha, but only half way.

We continued on our way, with a diversion to find an ice cream parlour where we could sit down and eat our soft Green Tea flavoured ice cream (Sweet Potato flavoured for Yoko san) in comfort.

Then a quick visit to H? shrine, with a familiar wall of sake barrels! Rosemary declined the offer to climb an impressive set of step to the shrine proper as her knee was starting to complain, so we left the shrine precincts and walked through a shopping district on the way to the station. I was taken by the number of birds flying more or less above us that seemed to be birds of prey – hawks, Saito san suggested – and I tried to photograph them. All I managed was a distant silhouette.

Then on the train again to the Rin-Tei family run pasta restaurant (been there, got the T-shirt!) for a large, very delicious, evening meal. A couple of fish based dishes – fish caught the father of the family off the coast the same day, a shell fish dish, and then 2 pasta based dishes. We’d done quite a bit of walking so had worked up quite an appetite but we were really struggling by the time we reached to final dish. Saito san and I had a couple of drinks. Asahi Dry followed by chilled, dry, sake. Rosemary had a couple of sips of the sake and quite liked it.

Saito san and Yoko san took us back to Fujisawa station where we had difficulty with our Suica cards. This was speedily resolved – we’d inadvertently done the ‘wrong thing’ while trying to find the way out of Fujisawa station when we arrived – and we got back to Shinagawa Station without a problem. Once there, some confusion exiting this station, had to ask twice…

Back to the hotel, and so to bed.