Hakuba, Japanese Alps, January 2005

Hakuba - December 2004 / January 2005

Christmas was very enjoyably spent in Japan with friends and neighbours. We went to see “The Nutcracker” on Boxing Day which was performed by a Japanese ballet company and executed with their characteristic enthusiasm and precision.  It was very enjoyable but quite unlike anything we had experienced before. The multiple encores finally resulted in an extra set of Christmas Carols and I thought we were never going to get home! Edward was muttering about people clapping too much as the cast just kept coming back. Eventually the curtain came down and we were allowed to leave.

The next day we set off for our now annual trip to Nagano for some winter sports.  A sudden deluge of snow made some great powdery conditions.  All this in a six hour drive from Kobe.

"Toe-turn" Verity                                                                                                         "Powder Bashing" Edward

Edward and Verity had the usual great instruction from Evergreen Outdoors and perfected their style, speed and stamina. Dad is still limping for the exertion.

Intermediate Snow boarding certificates from Evergreen Outdoors                                   Fashion on the slopes

Clair is continuing her skiing lessons and now looks very poised on the slope, although she remains the only person in history to get lost skiing on a single track road.  She also thoroughly enjoyed an arduous snow shoe hike with a friend, organised by  Evergreen.

(Photos below are not mine but borrowed from a friend)

Snow Shoe Trek

View of Hakuba

Log Cabin from Green Valley Cabins, booked by Ski Japan Holidays

This time we rented an excellent "log" cabin which gave us more space.  It had all the comforts of home except, as is typical in Japan, no arm chairs or sofas.  It did have a special room with a tatami floor; although after the agony of adopting a squatting snow board position for most of the day and pummeling my knees against moguls, I did not feel inclined to spend the evening kneeling. The Japanese New Year was seen in fast asleep as we were so exhausted from the snow sports but we saw the UK New Year in with cups of tea and Big Ben at 9.00am, courtesy of (commercial free)  BBC radio, live on the Web.

Hakuba

Mount Fuji from my Tokyo Hotel Room - February 2005                                                                         Sapporro

Clair                                                     Tokyo                                                                                                                              Me

Sledding on Mount Rokko 13/2/05

Nara

March - Todai-ji temple in Nara has a festival said to be initiated in 752 (the year the Great Buddha statue was completed) by a priest called Jitchu to pray for auspicious weather, abundant harvests, good health and peace.  Actually it made a pleasant late afternoon / early evening jaunt to Nara to see the free deer roaming the parks, eat a Japanese tea outside and watch  the priests' assistants set fire to five metre long torches made of bamboo and cedar needles.  They then run around the balcony of the Nigatsu-do, showering a surprisingly large crowd with sparks.   Apparently catching a spark will bring good health rather than the expected burn.

Feeding the Deer at Nara                                                                                                                                                                              Fire Festival

Japanese Food

Japanese food is truly excellent - easily one of my favourite styles from around the world.  Even if you don't like the style it would be difficult to argue that the quality is not good.  Much of the food is seasonal and only appears at certain times of year.  It is all extremely fresh and often individually packed.  In how many countries could you find carefully selected and individually packaged potatoes?  Raw fish is very common, but it is of such high quality and so fresh it really does not need cooking.  Raw cuttlefish is a local favourite and a traditional Japanese restaurant in Hakuba served us a local delicacy of raw horse meat.  The presentation of the food is much like other aspects of Japanese life - precise with a fine attention to detail.   Kobe is famous for Kobe beef, which is ferociously expensive but beautifully marbled with fat, which gives it a soft melt-in-the-mouth feel.  Kobe cows are lovingly cosseted on a daily basis by their owners; hand fed with bottles of beer, then carefully massaged and played gentle music.  Apparently a relaxed cow makes tender beef.  Another local delicacy is bits of octopus cooked in a batter similar to Yorkshire Pudding.  There are hundreds of local styles of food here and exploring them all would take a life-time.  The children particularly enjoy the styles where you cook your own food at the table - there are various styles of do-it-yourself stew, grills and deep fried dishes.  I enjoy the local rice wine or Sake (the Japanese call it Nihon-shu) which is drunk either hot or cold. 

The traditional style of eating is still very popular i.e. sat on the tatami floor armed only with chop sticks, whilst kimono clad waitresses pad around and kneel every so often to serve you.  I have noticed that despite the  kneeling position being traditional here the local Japanese complain just as much as the foreigners about numb legs.  Removing footwear is compulsory whenever there is a tatami floor, so clean socks in an essential requirement before dining out.

Traditional Japanese Food                                                                                                    Now we know what really happened to Nemo.....

I came across an amusing video which made me wonder if the locals bother with these customs except when foreigners are present!  Perhaps it is all a big joke. Click here and decide for yourself: 

Misunderstandings are common around the world.  When living in the Middle East we learned that the Arabs traditionally present the eye of a slaughtered animal for their guests to inspect before a meal.  Basically they are proving that the animal you about to eat is freshly killed by showing that the eye is still clear, rather than milky.  At some stage in history some foreigner thought they were being presented the eye to eat, and to avoid insulting his hosts promptly did so.  The Arab hosts then presumably thought eating eyes was some strange foreign custom!

Kyoto - March 2005

Nijo castle in Kyoto was created by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) to cement his power in the newly established Edo-based Shogunate.  The castle has "nightingale floors" which are deliberately designed to squeak when walked upon to detect intruders.  It has some impressive cherry tree paintings from the 17th Century on the sliding doors, but irritatingly the bossy proprietors don't let you take photographs (as you can see from the photo below).  Ornamental gardens are lovely and currently Kyoto is letting all people wearing Japanese traditional clothing into the tourist attractions for free, which explains why we saw so many kimonos.

Nijo Castle, Kyoto

Okazaki Shrine                                                                                                                                                                             Kyoto

Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum, Kobe

It's 10 minutes from our house with easy parking, it's free, takes 20 minutes to see the exhibits and you get a free shot of Sake at the end.

Piano Recital - March 2005

Edward practices for the school recital:    and then plays the recital:

Piano Practice                                          Performance                                                                                                       Kobe Rokkosan Pasture    

Oji Zoo, Kobe

Cherry Blossom 2005

Golden Week 2005 - Kyoto

We have a different set of visitors this year so we went to Kyoto and visited some temples and did the much enjoyed Geisha tea ceremony and Cherry Blossom Dance again (see also photos from last year).

Priest.    Click to hear the priest's chant:                                                                                                                                       Kyoto Geisha

 Miyako Odori (Cherry Blossom Dance)                                                                                                                          Click to hear the music:   

geisha [gâ'sha], a "refined person".  Japanese woman of exquisite beauty, grace and elegance who entertains gentlemen of considerable means.  She is versed in the arts of music, drama and conversation.

Golden Week 2005 - Nara

Todai-ji Temple, Nara

Golden week continued with a trip to Nara where we were fortunate to arrive during a major temple festival. Parades of dignitaries in spectacular fashions and traditional dancing on a stage built on a lake drew the crowds.  Rows of stalls selling the Japanese versions of fast food added to the spectacle as well as filling the air with delicious aromas.

Todai-ji Temple Festival, Nara

Golden Week 2005 - Amanohashidate

Amanohashidate - "Heavenly Bridge"                                                                                                                            

Children Play on the beach                                                                                                                                                                              Wistaria

Golden Week 2005 - Himeji

Himeji Castle - May 2005

Clair's Party - 21st May

D.J.                                                                                                                                                                                               Clair's Birthday Party

We opened our garden for the fist time this year to celebrate Clair's birthday.  She did her usual fabulous job on the catering and the garden was lit with coloured lights, flaming lanterns and candles.  The food, drink, music and dancing competed effectively with the F.A. Cup final and flowed enthusiastically through the night.  That is until the inevitable police car turned up at 1.00am and respectfully asked us to close down. 

Trip to Shiraisi Island via Kurashiki - June 2005

Okayama Prefectural Government have thoughtfully set up a number of International Villas as a non-profit service for foreign guests.  You can also make all the bookings in English.  These make an ideal weekend retreat for expats living in Japan.  One such villa is located on Shiraisi Island - a secluded and tranquil little island reached only by ferry off the south coast of Okayama Prefecture.  This is less than three hours from Kobe and the drive there takes you past the picturesque village of Kurashiki which is a perfect place for lunch.

Kurashiki

Kurashiki

As well as historic buildings and pleasant walks Kurashiki also has a theme park based on the famous Tivoli Park in Denmark.  This is an very worthwhile distraction  for the children and has a pretty reasonable rollercoaster and log flume.  The journey is then a further hour or so to Kasaoka where we (just) caught the last ferry to Shiraisi Island.  The International Villa is only a short walk from the ferry terminal, which was just as well as we had to carry all our baggage.

View from our International Villa, Shiraisi Island

A very pleasant deck with great view greeted us as we arrived at the villa which made us thankful we bothered to pack the portable barbeque.  The following morning we were able to rent a number of kayaks and paddle ourselves and a massive picnic to our own island for the day.  The children were completely absorbed with their new private little kingdom and played adventure games all day, taking particular pleasure in repeatedly attacking the shore SBS style from their canoes.  This distraction led to a truly wonderful, relaxing day for the adults. 

Our own secluded little picnic islet, near Shiraisi Island.

Another Gruelling Business trip to Hawaii - Maui June 2005

Mid-summer sunset in Maui - June 2005

The Ritz Carlton, Maui

- the mind numbing jet lag, the hours of tedious toil in windowless conference rooms, the stressful decision making, the relentless heat, the....  - OK it wasn't all bad...(and the girls were much slimmer than last time).

Japanese Alps - July 2005

Japanese Alps July 2005

Verity                                                    White Water Rafting - Japanese Alps July 2005                                                             Edward

The monsoon rains have finally arrived nearly a month late.  This soaked an otherwise enjoyable weekend we had planned in the Japanese Alps with some close friends.  The children had spent a week in a summer camp run by Evergreen where they mountain biked, sailed, kayaked, swam, hiked and camped to their hearts content.  Mum stayed at a nearby cabin and Dad joined them for some white water rafting and mountain biking at the weekend.

800 yr. old Temple of the Mountain - Nagano                        Wet Landscape                                                          Zuijinmon Gate - Nagano

Path to Okusha Shrine; not as quiet as you might imagine, due to the constant loud chirping of cicada, other insects and bird calls: 

Path to Okusha Shrine,  past ancient Cedar Trees  - Nagano

Okusha Shrine

The journey home to Kobe took us past Togakushi where we walked through ancient forests to reach historic Buddhist and Shinto temples.  The Temple of the Mountain claims to be one one the first Buddhist temples in Japan.

Koyasan - July 2005

Koyasan is the home of Japanese esoteric Shingon Buddhism and was founded at an idyllic mountain retreat in about 812AD.  This is a vast complex of over 100 temples which form concentric circles in the shape of a lotus blossom.  The site is surrounded by eight heavily forested peaks and permeated with clear running water.  A lantern trail winds through an ancient cemetery which has accumulated the remains of over 500,000 people hoping to be first in the queue when the future Buddha returns.  Where else in the world but Japan would you find corporate graveyards?  This is not for bankrupt companies but for the expired employees of Nissan, Toyota and other Japanese industrial giants.  Burial here must be the final company perk.

Kyosan temple complex winds through mature forests alongside clear running water.....

....a peaceful experience but with the potential to become a tourist trap.

Tokyo - August 2005

As our wives are on home leave we had a boys weekend in Tokyo - eating, drinking, fast cars and photography, champagne on top of Roppongi Hills, neon night clubs and real shopping in the excellent electronic stores.

Statue of Liberty, Odaiba, Tokyo                                                                                                                                                                    Shinjuku

Tokyo Bay

National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo                                                                                                     Fuji TV, Odaiba

Tokyo Tower, Roppongi                                 Mori Tower, Roppongi Hills                                                                                               Shinjuku

Shimbashi Station                                                                                                                                                The Controversial Yasukuni Shrine

London - August / September 2005

Home leave was mainly to take Edward to his new boarding school but we managed a tour of London.  The London Eye was surprisingly good, as was Westminster Abbey.  It is amazing how many famous people are buried here - from Henry V and Edward I to Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.  The weather was perfect, not too hot but sunny and clear with lightish crowds after the tube bombings.  As usual London was easy to find our way around with most of the sights in walking distance.  We managed to take the children to the Theatre to see We Will Rock You, a Queen musical, as well as Planet Hollywood for dinner and Smollensky's on The Strand for lunch.

The Houses of Parliament, Westminster

Thames River Cruise                                                                                                                                                                      Tower Bridge

View from The London Eye

London Eye

Traitors Gate and the Tower of London                                                                                                                 Institute of Contemporary Art

Trafalgar Square

Horse Guards From St. James' Park                                                                                                                                                              Cousins

Admiralty Arch

10 Downing Street                                             River Cruise                                                                                                             Westminster Clock

Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire

Brocket Hall

Auberge Du Lac Restaurant at Brocket Hall

Having dropped Edward at his new boarding school I tried to cheer Clair up by taking her to Brocket Hall for the night and booking the Auberge du Lac restaurant for some elegant dining and English country grandeur.  Swathed in beautiful Hertfordshire countryside it is just 22 miles from London.  The food was a fabulous 6 course taster menu cooked under the watchful eye of celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli, who chooses a different fine wine with each course.   Accommodation, dinner, wine and breakfast cost Ł299 for two between Tuesday and Thursday, but expect to pay more at the weekend. Brocket Hall was built in 1760 by Sir Mathew Lamb whose son was elevated to became the first Lord  Melbourne largely due to the efforts of his wife, who was mistress to the Prince Regent (later King George IV).  The second Lord Melbourne's wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, is better known for her very public and torrid affair with the poet Lord Byron.  So sticky goings on were routine in Brocket Hall. The current Lord Brocket was imprisoned on an insurance fraud in 1996.  He dismantled his excellent collection of very valuable vintage sports cars and hid them in his lake whist claiming hundreds of thousands of pounds in insurance.  He was caught and jailed and has subsequently leased Brocket hall to a golf and hotel company but is apparently prohibited from the premises.  Meanwhile, since his release, he has earned a reasonable living as a disgraced aristocratic celebrity.

Exploring The Tango Peninsula, Honshu, Japan - September 2005 

Japanese Fishing Village

We spent the weekend at the Kyotofu-Amanohashidate Youth Hostel with close family friends. On arriving we were relieved that the proprietors did not demand that we show proof of age and then have us unceremoniously thrown off the premises for being middle-aged and clearly not "youths".  Actually they were very friendly and were very forgiving for us not knowing the rules. They had misunderstood that we did not want to order breakfast, which they patiently kept laid out for us for two hours while we finished our sleep-ins, morning exercises and ablutions.  Having noticed that we failed to eat most of the rice and fish they had cooked, they provided what they would consider to be a western breakfast for us on the second day, which was very thoughtful.  We then failed to leave the premises by 10.00am, which we later discovered was customary, and got very confused about the correct footwear.  There were different slippers provided for toilets, showers and main sitting areas.  However we got our own private family room, with a tatami floor, futons and bunk beds.  In fact this was not much different to the generally austere Japanese hotels and considerably cheaper.  The main difference was sharing a bathroom and toilet with other guests.  It was beautifully situated in a bamboo forest near the sea and was clean and comfortably air-conditioned.  The cold beer machine in the sitting area was particularly welcome.  There was even a sofa.

Boat Trip, Tango Peninsula                                                                                                                                                                    Hill Shrine

A fish hawk showing off.                                                                                                                                                                  Bamboo Forest

Our friends had already done some reconnaissance work in the area and had found a fabulous beach, deserted except for a handful of surfers, which made an ideal site for a barbeque.  The car park attendant had some sort of beach tractor contraption with a trailer which he kindly used to ferry our barbeque, portable fridge, picnic, children etc. from beach to car.  As I've said many times before, the service in Japan is second to none.  On the way back to the Youth Hostel we stopped at a local Onsen where we were able to wash off the sand and salt and then sit stark naked in a communal hot water spring bath whilst admiring spectacular panoramic views of the Tango Peninsula.

Home and Office

Our Kobe Lounge                                                  Our Kobe Lounge                                                                                             My Osaka Office

Sailing the Mergui Archipelago, Burma - October 2005

Verity and Clair on the beach of one of 800 pristine deserted islands on the Mergui Archipelago

Edward finished his first half-term at boarding school and joined us for a sailing holiday in the Mergui Archipelago in Burma (now inexplicably called Myanmar).  We booked a skippered Charter on Ilala, a beautiful 65 foot cutter with our next door neighbours.  We flew to Thailand and drove to the Pak Chan River which defines the Thai - Burmese border.  There we hired a very noisy longboat for the 20 minute journey across a 3 mile wide stretch of river to meet Ilala which was moored in Kaw Thaung, Burma.

Longboat Water Taxis

Thai Immigration Hut                                                                                                                Our Skipper Outside  Burmese Immigration Hut

Kaw Thaung, Burma                                                                                       Long boat taxi river crossing to our yacht

After the formalities of immigration we immediately set sail on the Andaman Sea to the scenic and deserted Mergui Archipelago.  This is made up of some 800 pristine, totally uninhabited islands  - many large enough to have a number of freshwater rivers.  Perhaps one of the last remote areas of earth this area has been completely closed to tourism for 50 years.  We came across the occasional Burmese fisherman and Moken Sea Gypsies, but not another village, building or tourist in a whole week of sailing.  We were even out of cell phone range.

Choose one of 800 Pristine Deserted Islands.......

See a video of a picnic spot on a deserted coral beach by a waterfall: 

All the islands are uninhabited with miles of deserted, pristine, coral beaches.  As well as exploring the islands there was plenty of opportunity for snorkelling, kayaking and fishing.  We were lucky enough to catch a dogtooth tuna on a fishing trip which provided eight of us with two meals on our trip.  I dived "Shark Cave" with our skipper, which was a fascinating underwater cave, but unfortunately, despite its name, we saw no sharks that day.

Dogtooth Tuna                                                                                                                                                                           Another Deserted Beach

Cooling Freshwater Waterfall by a Coral Sand Beach

The islands were stunning.  It is very rare in this day-and-age to find deserted islands with fresh running water.  The Mergui Archipelago has hundreds - many with freshwater waterfalls which are perfect sites for picnics and cooling off from the hot tropical sun.  There were many miles of pure, white, soft, coral sand beaches.  We saw monitor lizards, eagles, dolphins, flying fish and monkeys.  Not all the wild life was fun - I was nearly eaten alive by sand flies on a beach early one morning, the bites of which were still itching intensely a week later.

Edward and Verity on Ilala                                                                                                                                                           Burmese  Fisherman

Ilala Moored in a Quiet Bay, Clara Island, Mergui Archipelago, Burma

We planned a "Jungle Trek" expedition through prime Burmese rainforest in order to climb West Peak on the island of Clara.  This promised the chance to see a spectacular view of the island as well as experience unblemished tropical rainforest and hopefully see some wild animals.  This area has many wild boar, leopards, gibbons, snakes, squirrels and tropical birds.

Jungle Trek Start                                                                                                                                             Following a stream up to the summit....

...a seven hour uphill trek through prime Burmese Rainforest....

....dark, hot and humid with regular water breaks and leech checks....

This was an arduous seven hour climb and the only clear route was up a stream as the jungle itself was too thick to walk through.  This was very hot and humid work.  We stopped often to drink copious amounts of water and check each other's legs for the blood-sucking leeches which infest the mountain streams.  Most of us got a leech at some stage but if you find them quickly they easily pull off leaving only a small bleeding hole.  However if they are allowed to linger they bury their head under your skin and are harder to remove.  There were few mosquitoes but many horse flies which were also big enough to leave a small bleeding wound after feeding on us.  Some of the ascent involved climbing up steep slippery rocks of waterfalls which took some courage and teamwork.

...but the fabulous view at the top was worth it.  West Peak, Clara Island, Burma.

The view at the top was truly spectacular.  We could see Ilala quietly anchored in a bay below and a backdrop of picturesque tropical islands which emphasised the remoteness of the area.  In fact this island was relatively crowded by comparison, as we shared the bay with a few Burmese Fisherman and a Moken Sea Gypsy camp.  I had to climb a tree to get the photograph as the vegetation is still thick on the mountain peak.

View from West Peak (500metres)                       Near the end - muddy, bitten and Clair unknowingly harbouring a little passenger...

Sneaky Leech attached to Clair's Abdomen                                                                                                                          Edward Helming

On returning to the boat Clair discovered a sneaky little leech guzzling on her abdomen.  It had surreptitiously crawled under her tee-shirt to avoiding detection.  It came off with the aid of a cigarette lighter but was later seen energetically vaulting across the deck of the boat looking for another victim.  We finally got it over the side where it doubtless became food for some grateful fish.

Relaxing on board in hammocks                                                                                                                                                                   Me Helming

In between the jungle treks, fishing, snorkelling, diving, kayaking, swimming and exploring deserted islands we still found time to relax on deck, sail the boat or just laze around in hammocks. 

Superb Food                                                                                                                                                                                                      Wet Skipper

Ilala is hosted by a husband and wife team who put in a tremendous amount of work to make this trip enjoyable and memorable.  They have been sailing these waters for eight years and are expert sailors, divers and guides.  Paul has immense knowledge of everything from safe anchorages, navigation and weather to excellent dive sites, fishing and boat engines - he even has qualifications as a ship's medical officer should any of us get sick or injured in this remote part of the world.  His wife Debbie provided three excellent meals per day, plus afternoon tea and snacks as well as welcome cocktails as the sun set over the tropical seas.  We could do as little or as much as we wanted in running and sailing the boat.  Ilala has all modern conveniences and can be sailed single handed if required.  It was wonderful to return from a hard day's trekking or snorkelling, in one of the world's last great wildernesses, and be welcomed aboard with an ice cold gin and tonic, before sitting down and eating excellent home cooked and fresh cuisine complete with wine list!  There was even a DVD player with plenty of films should we get bored with our tropical paradise or too tired to play in it.

Moken Sea Gypsy Camp