Japan. Part Two

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/richtam2/Japan

Well unfortunatley as I alluded to in my last post, our time in Japan has been marked by sickness. Today, our last full day in Japan, and indeed of our entire trip, has been the first day since we got to Japan that at least one of us hasn't been in bed with a fever.
It started the first day we were in Tokyo when after a full day of looking around I started the trend (everyone is deservedly blaming me) and ended up in bed. Since then we alternated between good and bad days with only Rhiannon not succombing to whatever it was that we have picked up. We have stil managed to see and do quite a lot however but are now very much looking forward to starting the trip home tomorrow.
In Tokyo we were staying in a hostel in an historical part of the city called Asakusa. There was a large Buddhist temple nearby and a lot of markets and shops so it was quite a nice place to base ouselves. We negotiated the tokyo subways quite well for country bumpkins although in reality it was quite easy since the efficiency and ease of use of the system was everything we had beeen led to believe. We travelled over to the opposite side of the city to see a huge shinto shrine which was set in a large forested park and a world away from the hustle of the shopping areas. I couldn't be so lucky to get away from Tokyo without some level of shopping however and the girls managed to find some of the weird teenage fashion areas as well as some of the more mainstream shopping areas. In truth however I did not mind the shopping areas too much as the people and fashions are something else to watch.
Day two was spent travelling to Hakuba via Nagano and the Shinkasen (Bullet train). Our lodge (the Penke Panke) is great and only a two minute walk from some of the lifts of the Happo One ski area. Since we have been in Hakuba, judging by the build up on roofs, I reckon there has been about a metre and a half of snow. It has been absolutely amazing. The snow is light and dry and as a result the skiing conditions have just been incredible. The pistes are groomed to perection every night but if you want to venture off them the powder is waist deep. There has been plenty of sunshine mixed in with the snow too and as you can see by the new photos I have posted on the photo site the place is packed (not). On the weekend there were a few people around but generally you virtually have the runs to yourself. I have not had to wait once for a ski lift. Rhiannon got to ski everyday but Ally and I missed a couple. Tammy even had a go and decided that she really isn't a skier any more. Happo One is where the downhill events of the Nagano winter Olympics were held and while we were here there was a world cup race for disabled skiers. For me, the most amazing disabled skiers we saw were the blind ones who were led down the hill by a caller at incredible speeds. Amazing courage and trust.
On Tuesday one of the highlights of the entire trip was a visit to the snow monkeys at the monkey hot springs. The location was stunning, requiring a half hour hike through a beautifull snow laden forest before you got to the hot springs set in the side of a hill beside a bubbling river. The monkeys didn't dissapoint with about two hundred or so in or around the hot springs. They are very photogenic and seem almost to pose for photos.
Well we are about to head off into the snow for mexican dinner (we can't find any Japanese food that the girls will eat). Tomorrow we travel back to Tokyo and depart for Sydney in the evening. I guess this will be my last post for the trip so I hope you have enjoyed reading it and that it hasn't been too boring or too long winded.

Japan

I realise that the posts have been a bit thin on the ground latley and the reason is that sickness has finaly caught up with us on this trip. Tammy and I picked up something the last couple of days in New York and brought it to Japan with us. I got pretty crook in Tokyo and then stupidly went out and boarded the first day here at Hakuba instead of resting. The result, two days in bed with a fever. Ally got the fever too and had to miss a day of skiing which absolutley killed her. Tammy very wisely rested when she got here and so has recovered O.K and is now doing a fantastic job looking after the rest of us. Rhiannon is the only one who has been unaffected and has been enjoying her ski lessons immensly. There has been over a metre of fresh snow at the top of the mountain over the last day and night and this morning the lifts have been on a wind hold. More photos have been posted.

New York

We've had a great time the last few days seeing plenty of the sights around New York but also enjoying relaxing at our B&B which has been the best find on the trip. I found it on a travel website and I can't believe how lucky we were. It is half the price of a New York hotel but has plenty of room, a full kitchen and is incredibly conveniently located. For anyone coming to New York I couldn't recomend Jack and Judys B&B on the upper westside more highly.
Last Wednesday was a bad day weather wise with heavy rain all day but we braved the elements and had a trip to Mid Town for the girls to check out shops and stay inside as much as we could. Tammy and I enjoyed some of the insanely large bookshops and the girls thought that the Toys R Us complete with interior ferris wheel couldn't be beaten.
Thursday was bitterly cold but sparklingly clear so we took the oppurtunity to do the ferry trip to Liberty island. The lines and security were worse than any airport or other attraction that we had been to on the entire trip. It was a nice view back towards Manhatten though even if the wind was coming straight from the arctic.
We walked back up through downtown past the world trade centre site which with its displays and murals around the perimiter is still quite an emotional place to visit even if it is now just another building site.
On Friday we went ice skating in central park. When we first got there it was relativly uncrowded and a lot of fun. By the time we left a couple of school groups had turned up and the place was bedlam. One of the school groups was from a deaf school and it was fascinating to see how deaf school teachers cope with a big group of deaf teenagers. Tammy and I felt particularly sorry for the teachers because deaf teenagers are of course just like teenagers with hearing but for the teachers instead of four people yelling at once "hey miss" to get their attention they had four kids tapping them on the shoulder. Kind of hard to ignore!
Today we had a trip up to the top of the Rockerfeller Centre which on a cristal clear day like today resulted in some fantastic views. I'm a sucker for views from high up and could have stayed up for hours. The girls however were non plussed and keener on lunch (ally and rhiannon) and coffee (tammy). The roles were reversed however at the next stop when the girls spent an inordinate amount ot time looking around Spandex World.
More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/richtam2/NewYork.

Museums and Snow

The last couple of days we have spent visiting two of the biggest museums in New York, the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both are only a short walk from our B&B and both are fantastic. We probably saw less than 25% of either one after a full day at both. Tammy wishes she had the Natural History Museum in Gunnedah to take science excursions to. The exhibits are so clear and kept Ally and Rhiannon interested and even commenting that science was pretty cool so that says something about how well written they were.
Today we went to the Met Art Museum which was slightly less entertaining for the girls but still we had fun looking at some of the ridiculous modern art and I think they appreciated the amount of famous and significant paintings that they saw. For both of them the "mad dude that cut off his own ear" was a favourite.
The weather was pretty grey when we went in to the museum and by the time we came out there had been quite a bit of snow. We had to walk back through central park to get home which was very pretty with the fresh snow. A novelty for all of us but especially exciting for the girls. We were quite glad to be walking as the traffic was in chaos with minor fender benders everywhere and gridlock and general chaos reigning.
One of the things we have been enjoying about New York so far is the food. For all the wonderful things we have been doing on our trip, apart from the Chilean BBQ there have been very few food highlights. Just around the corner from where we are staying there is a very famous deli called Zabars. It is a food wonderland with every sort of fresh and prepared food you can imagine and a cheese section that is intimidating.

Photos

More photos have been posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/richtam2 in the Disney and New York folders.

New York

Without a doubt the worst airport we have experienced on our Travels has been Miami and today they didn't dissapoint. We arrived in New York today without three of our bags. I somehow manged to get all of my gear through but none of the girls stuff arrived. There were about twenty other people on the same flight whose bags didn't turn up so Miami obviously just forgot to put a whole trolley of bags on the plane or something.
Anyway we are hoping (fervently) that they should turn up tonight and be delivered to our B&B. All the girls warm gear is in their bags so we will be stuck tomorrow if they don't turn up.
Apart the bags incident the first afternoon in NY has been great. We are very happy with our B&B which is in an exceptional location (half a block from the Natural History Museum in central park west) and much bigger than we expected. Rhiannon is enthalled with the squirrels in Central Park and to cap off the afternoon it started snowing about two hours ago (would be more enjoyable if the girls had jackets).

Kennedy Space Centre

We had allways intended to visit the space centre and after seeing the shuttle launch we were especially keen to do so. For Tammy and myself it was much better than Disney and I think the girls even enjoed it a little too. The space centre has a great visitors centre and from there you can take bus tours all over the complex. We took one of the longer tours which let us go right up to the shuttle launch pads and landing strips as well as the gigantic assembly building. It was a fascinating tour with a great guide who kept us riveted talking about all the activity at the centre. KSC has about 1 launch a month of one sort or another, mostly servicing the international space station. The place is a hive of action.
Yesterday we took a slow drive down the coast back to Miami. We stopped at a beautiful beach in a reserve between Jupiter Island and Palm Beach but unfortunately had to make a dash for the car as a violent storm came in from the ocean. Rhiannon was devistated because it was one of the best shell beaches we have ever been to. The strech of coast leading north from Palm beach was quite interesting because it was originally all owned by an individual who decided that he didn't want it to end up looking like Miami and stipulated in his will that large tracts of the coastline that he owned had to be retained for he environment. As a result there is much more variation in scenery compared to the monotonous high rise developments between Palm Beach and Miami.
The storm that drove us off the beach intensified once we started driving and got so bad that I had to stop driving before my hair all fell out. The first place I found to pull in off the road happened to be a Mall in Palm Beach Gardens which is one of the more affluent areas in Florida. It was full of Gucci, Armani etc and we looked distinctly out of place racing in out of the rain soaked to the skin.
Last night was at an Airport hotel and I had an interesting time returning the hire car that I think is a sign of the times in Miami. When I went to top up the fuel the service station attendent only spoke Spanish and couldn't understand that I wanted to fill the car up (I had to prepay). Finally the manager turned up and seemed quite surprised that I couldn't speak Spanish. Then when waiting for the hotel shuttle to take me back to the hotel, two shuttles from the same chain turned up at the same time. Again one of the drivers only spoke Spanish and we couldn't work out wether it was the right shuttle or not. Luckily the other driver sorted it out. It seemed odd that ofter a month in South America the biggest incident I had with language difficulties was in Miami!