Golden Week

It was truly a fun-packed Golden Week. Josh has finished his job in Thailand, so he came to visit me before embarking on his mini-tour of Asia and then returning to Blighty. And Fred also came to Japan to visit both Rieko and me. I went down to Tokyo to meet Josh at the airport. Before picking him up, I went for lunch with my friend Satoshi, whom I first met whilst traveling around Shikoku. In the evening I met Josh and we went with Fred, Rieko and chums to an Okinawan bar in Shinjuku. Here we sampled such delights as pig's ear and an Okinawan beer called Orion. It was two hours of all-you-can-drink, but unfortunately I'd booked Josh and myself into some kind of fascist hostel who locked the doors at 11 sharp, so we had to leave early. This resulted in quite a stressful evening involving drinking as much as we possibly could within an hour and then sprinting to the hostel before it closed.

The next day Josh and I got up bright and early for some hungover parasitology at the world-famous Parasite Museum in Meguro. We then checked out the observation deck in Roppongi Hills (a must-see in my book), ate monjayaki (a Tokyo delicacy) in Harajuku and crossed the world's busiest zebra crossing in Shibuya. We also had a quick look around Akihabara, where we met a sorcerer. In the evening we met up with Satoshi, who took us to a nice little nomiya that he knew near our hostel. It was nestled away in a back alley in a district known as 'the Kyoto of Tokyo' and had a lovely, relaxed atmosphere.

The next morning Josh, Fred and I took the bullet train to Kyoto. Upon arrival, we spent an alarmingly long time hanging around in the station, considering we would only be in Kyoto for about 30 hours. We finally got going and headed to Kinkaku-ji temple, famous for its golden pavilion. We then wandered through Kyoto for a while, stopping at various shrines and temples, before checking into our hostel.

Ah, the hostel. We thought the Tokyo hostel had been bad with its 11pm curfew, but this one was pretty much hell on earth. Terrifyingly camp owner, horrible rooms and decor, 10.30pm curfew, complete ban on alcohol on the premises, 10 to a room, lights out and a ban on socialising after 11pm, enforced 6.30am wakeup call, checkout by 8.30. And all for about £4 less than a business hotel would have cost. If you're ever thinking of staying at Higashiyama Youth Hostel - DON'T!

After checking into our hellhole we went to meet Kurumi for drinks in Gion. I'd met her a few times in London and she was good friends with Fred. We had some brief fun with her and her friend before heading back to the hostel in time for curfew. The crazy camp guy was locking the door as we got back and he considered for a good few seconds about whether to let us in or not. Unfortunately, he did.

The next day we saw some more temples, including Kiyomizu-dera, and in the evening we caught the shinkansen all the way up to Shiroishi. Fred and Rieko caught the night bus and joined us in Shiroishi horribly early the next morning. That was the day of Shiroishi's spring festival, where we saw all kinds of exciting Japanesey stuff. We watched Chantelle and Karen's taiko drumming group perform. In the evening we went to Ogawara, about 15 mins away, for bowling and then yakiniku at my favourite restaurant, Blusta. We ordered millions of plates of meat, rice, salads, chips, sushi, a few beers, etc. and it all came to under £10 a head! I love Blusta!

The next day we went to Matsushima, where we had a boat ride around the many islands for which the town is famous. Hundreds of seagulls followed the boat and brave Japanese people let them eat special seagull food right out of their hands. Could easily have lost a finger! We also saw some mysterious caves and a waxwork museum about Masamune Date. He's the local hero, but I'm not quite sure why. He seemed to be a mediocre fighter and bureaucratic apologist, but you can't fault his irrigation policies.

That night we stayed at Suzuki-ya, a hotel in Kamasaki onsen. We stayed in an amazing room, ate the best Japanese meal I've ever had, and of course the baths were great. It was Fred and Josh's first ever onsen experience, but once the initial embarrassment passed I think they had fun!

On Saturday we went to see Wako play a gig at Heartland, a dairy farm near Mount Zao. The day was unbelievably wholesome, with children everywhere, petting of goats and playing of catch. But we made up for it in the evening with the debauchery of Wako's birthday party!

The next day Fred and Rieko headed back to Tokyo and Josh flew back to Thailand, leaving me all alone and absolutely exhausted!

Right, time to start planning Amy's visit...