winehands.com – lifestyle kaizen

At the airport again (surfing the internet at the free internet cafe) all checked in and waiting for our flight to Brisbane which leaves in 2 hrs.

Yesterday proved to be quite amusing. After a long day of sightseeing (we had been up since 3am), we decided to head back to the hotel for forty winks before heading out on the town (Roppongi – where all the hip young Japanese hang out apparently). However, heads hit the pillow and the strenuous day took its toll. Lights out till 9.30pm! Damn. Feeling very groggy we forced ourselves out of bed and had a long walk around the local area, before grabbing a quick bite and heading back to the room with a few cans of Asahi and a film. Not exactly rock and roll – but it set us up for another big day of sightseeing today.

First up we headed to Harajuku. This area is a kind of a mix between the Champs Elysee (a huge tree lined avenue lined with tons of designer shops and cafes) and Camden (lots of little alley ways full of funky and alternative shops). Spent a fair while in Kiddy Land – six floors of toy filled heaven (highlight – a remote control car that could drive on the ceiling!) before getting our culture on by heading to Harajuku park for a wander around and a look at a beautiful Shinto shrine there called Meiji-Jingu, followed by a stroll in the royal gardens.

Next up was Roppongi, albeit 18 hours later than planned, to a restaurant recommended by a friend which is famous for its Shabu-Shabu beef. This involves there being a gas cooker built into your table that they boil a huge brass pot over. They then give you a huge platter of the thinest slices of raw beef along with a platter of vegetables. The idea is to dip the items in to the boiling water with your chopsticks to cook it to your taste. You then have a choice of 3 delicious sauces – a ground sesame and garlic sauce, a citrus and soy sauce and finally a sesame oil and chilli sauce. It gets pretty messy so they tie a huge bib round your neck (I was worried that this was because they could see we were clueless westerners, but after taking a look around saw that even the locals had them on!) to avoid spillage. Add to the mix a couple of bottles of Kirin and we were in heaven! It was delicious and a unique experience to be highly recommended.

Not much else to report as got to the airport early. Perhaps just some random observations about Japan:
- the Japanese have a funny thing about toilets. Whilst we were not fortunate enough to see one where the seat cleans itself, we came across toilets that shoot water out of the bowl to clean your bum; heated toilet seats; toilets with buttons to press for “powerful deoderisers” and “flushing sound effects” and signs instructing the user to sit on the seat, not stand and crouch above it (will make more sense when you see the photo).
- phones. the Japanese love phones. And they are big. Like 1980`s brick big. In the home of future technologies – it was really weird to see everyone walking around with what looked to be an original prop from the movie Wall Street.
- Hotpants. All the girls love hotpants and mini-skirts. No complaints here, obviously.
- Bowing. A lot of bowing goes on. Sometimes it becomes like a bit of a moral battle as if the person who can bow lowest and more times is showing the most respect. Sarah managed a particularly superb salutation when she half bowed and half saluted one of the Imperial Guards. It was a special moment.

Konnichewa from Tokyo!
So we have been here in Japan for about 36 hours now. The whole time has been a bit of a whirlwind really. Its a bit of a cliche to say it has to be seen to be believed, but there is no doubt that Tokyo is a pretty unique place. After an exhausting flight which yielded barely 3 hours sleep, we arrived at the airport and were faced with our first challenge – getting to our hotel on public transport. The thing which we rapidly learned about Tokyo is that its incredibly hard to get around. Why? Well, the tube map is truly horrible – a spaghetti mess of intertangled lines. Rail lines, subway, metro, monorail and more all intersect at will, with different fare systems at each interchange. Secondly, nobody speaks English. Really nobody. Even the girl at the tourist information desk struggled to get a sentence out. But that`s cool – we like it that way. Makes it more exciting. Anyway, we made it to the hotel, which is really awesome. Incredible luxury – our bed could sleep 5 and the hotel boasts some 38 restaurants and a 400 year old ornamental garden with masses of koi carp. Oh, and our toilet sprays hot water up your bum to clean you after a number 2.
We hotfooted it sharpish to Shinjuku, home of all the towering skyscrapers that make Tokyo famous. King amongst all of these are the formidable twin towers of the Japanese government. Nice chaps that they are, they have even put an observation deck in each tower. The lift has two buttons – Ground Floor and 45th floor. A dizzying 30 seconds later and we were marvelling at a breathtaking panorama over Toyko. Having timed it just right, we hung around for half an hour to see the horizon descend into darkness and the city illuminated by millions of lights.
At this point, jet lag was starting to take it`s toll, so we headed back for the hotel for a rather earlier night than planned – 7pm! It`s all rock and roll here. Waking at 3am this morning, we were well primed for our visit to Tsujiki fish market. Arriving at about 7am, it is an incredible place. Huge, for a start. It just went on and on. Row after row of an diverse variety of fish and shellfish. The big daddy`s were the tuna – up to 3 metres long with delicious looking red meat. We didn`t waste much time in getting involved – round the edge of the market are lots of tiny little sushi bars. We choose one and got served a feast of fresh sushi – probably caught that morning. Yum.
Since then it has been a busy day of walking – the shopping district of Ginza (including the oh-so-cool Sony shop), the beautiful Imperial Palace gardens and now the busy district of Shibuya. I am sat in an internet cafe right next to the famous junction where every 2 minutes, the lights all go red and hundreds of people pile across the centre. The buzz and freneticism of the place is energising, and whilst I write this Sarah is recharging her batteries for tonight by having a snooze in the reclining chairs provided internet users. Nice.

Just got back from a two week trip to Malaysia and we fcuking loved it. One week in Borneo, one in Langkawi…. check the photos on our new Nikon D40X.

From Malaysia – Ju…

…is apparently not in madrid at the moment.

the winehands crew spent the weekend in the Spanish capital, and had a pretty, pretty good time.

some of the top things to do:

dance till 7am at Pasha

check out the Palacio Real, Spain’s answer to Buckingham Palace

head to the cauldron that is the Bernabau

team winehands

everyone likes to feel like they do something ‘different’ when they jet off on holiday. team winehands have come across this site, which has a comprehensive listing of the weirdest and funkiest hotels in the world.

our favourite? the Dog Bark Park Inn, Ohio. yes, you really do sleep inside…

team winehands