Tokyo - Greedy pig paradise

Last leg of the PJWT and your favourite international men of mystery are letting it all hang out. One of the first meals we had when we got into Tokyu was ramen (which we`re told is actually chinese food...even though all the japanese manga characters eat it). Other things we`ve had include homemade/self-made sushi, sushi train sushi (but not the crap australian sushi train variety), authentic kyoto dinner, octopus balls or takoyaki, yakitori (or japanese kebab sticks), teppanyaki (basically food cooked in front of us but the guy didn't put on much of a show), udon noodle soup, very cool bento boxs full of stuff we couldn`t identify (but ate anyway), bits and pieces from the awesome department store foodhalls (apparently eating things in the department store as you walk around is considered "improper") and our favourite, thick chunks of extremely fatty kobe (kalbi) beef which we cooked ourselves. It really is true that each piece melts in your mouth like butter. The trick is to only sear the outside so that it retains that buttery goodness. =)

Apart from stuffing our faces with great food and being amazed by all the cool stuff (like vending machines), we took the bullet train to Kyoto. Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan so it contains a lot of the ancient buildings that people picture when they think of Japan. So we did the tourist thing again and went on a one day tour of Kyoto, taking in Heian Shrine, Sanjusangendo Hall, Kiyomizu Temple, Nijo Castle (the Kyoto home of the shoguns), the Golden Pavilion, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. These were probably the most popular tourist places and each was amazing in their own right but my personal favourite would be Sanjusangendo Hall. One of the oldest buddhist temples in Kyoto, it houses one thousand unique buddhist statues (each with a different face) surrounding a giant buddhist statue. Click here for a link to the photos of the hall as we weren`t allowed to take photos.

After spending a few days in Kyoto and feeling quite seedy from taking in a bit too much of the high quality (and some not so high quality) sake Kyoto is apparently renowned for we dragged ourselves back to Tokyo on the bullet train on Thursday. Its now Saturday and we`ve just been taking the last few days easy, eating more food and doing a bit of shopping. Its also officially the last day of the PJWT and tonight at 8pm we`ll be boarding a plane for a 10-11 hour flight back to Perth. After 60 days of living out of a backpack, sleeping in countless strange places and not to mention putting up with each other`s company (bad habits and at times bad personal hygiene), I think its appropriate to say that there really is no place like home.

So on behalf of your PJWT explorers, thank you for all your comments and for following us on this most excellent adventure!


Jas next to some vending machines...scattered all over the place in Japan but unfortunately we didn't happen to come across any "exotic" items


Packed subway...interestingly they have women only carriages to combat the problem of dirty old men groping school girls


A very good ramen place


A traditional japanese wedding at a popular shrine


Yummy food on display at the foodhall of a department store (usually located in the basement)


Udon noodle soup with a katsu pork don..very tasty!


Cool ordering machine found in most of the small restaurants...since we didn't read japanese it was often a case of matching up prices and some characters found on the display items at the entrance with those on the buttons in the machine...sometimes we didn't get what we thought we'ld get but it was all good anyway


FUGU!!!!!!!!...we weren't quite as brave as Homer Simpson so we decided to give this one a miss


Maiko dancing at a performance in the Gion area of Kyoto...Maiko are apprentice geisha who are typically between 16-20 years old...and those who have watched or read "Memoirs of a geisha" will be familar with the area of Gion


A tea ceremony lesson for dummies...its not as easy as it looks


Niji castle where shogun use to live


Golden Pavilion...apparently covered with 20kgs of gold


A 600 year old tree


Changing leaves of autumn


Flicking the coins into the metal bowl is a lot harder than you think...the ladies should really be wearing some sort of protective gear to guard against wayward shots from tourists


A Shinto temple


The tranquil gardens inside the Shinto temple


God of Commerce...you can be sure that we both paid our respects!


Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple)


One of the water fountains at Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple)...i can't remember if this was the one for health, wealth, love or wisdom...