Japan tour 2016 – BLOGPASTOR

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JAPAN JAUNT 2016 – DAY 3: NARAI AND SHIOJIRI

27 November 2016 blogpastor Leave a comment

The original plan was for an hour and a half hike but this was cancelled. This turned out to be a providential decision as Tan was walking with pain in his leg, and the whole day was wet, wet, wet. If we had hiked, it could have been a showery muddy trudge. This was a sign of God’s care.

A wet day at Narai, an old Edo era town with one street a kilometre long — A wet day at Narai, an Edo era town with a kilometre long street. (Credits: Judith)

Happier friends who were served more quickly and had a good lunch.(Credits: Judith)

From Hanaya inn we rode cabs to Nagiso Station where they rushed back and forth to see a 200 years old bridge while I had coffee in a souvenir shop opposite the station. Then we took a train to Narai, an Edo period post town in Shiojiri city, Nagano Prefecture. We had an hour or so to explore this old town that was about one kilometer of old houses and temples on both sides of a street. Most shops were selling food or lacquer souvenirs. It drizzled intermittently and I had to use a raincoat. This was where we missed a meal in order not to miss the train. Six of us found a restaurant and ordered our food but unknown to us there were many patrons waiting for their orders ahead of us. When we realized we would be late if we had waited any longer, we cancelled our order and rushed off. Good thing the restaurant allowed it. It was at Shiojiri train station that we finally had our belated lunch.

These luscious grapes in the greenhouse are to die for.

The grapes outside are for plucking but not to die for.

Street smart Singaporean women plucked shrewdly. Many green grapes were seen, but few were chosen. That’s why they are still smiling. Ha ha.

The next activity was to go to a vineyard and pluck grapes for a fee. Right in the city! Took a cab there. There was a store next to a greenhouse. The grapes we sampled were superbly large, round and sweet. And expensive. I thought this was what we came to pluck but it was not to be. They brought the women out to where they plucked grapes that were small, green, ripened, and not as sweet nor as crunchy as the samples we had tried. Was this a bait and switch strategy? I don’t know. Anyway the women came back with few branches of grapes. Smart girls. We bought some apples, grabbed a cab to the train station and went to Matsumoto, where we would be re-united with our luggage at Ace Inn. It was an eventful day but one I would rather laugh away or forget. For me a hearty dinner and a good sleep helped me forget the day’s misadventures.

Our forwarded luggage was waiting for us at Ace Inn Hotel in Matsumoto. Nice to have all our stuff again. — Our forwarded luggage was waiting for us at Ace Inn Hotel in Matsumoto. Nice to have all our stuff back.

Nothing like a great dinner at reasonable prices to get everyone smiling again.(Credits: Helen)

JAPAN JAUNT 2016 – DAY 1: NAGOYA

14 November 2016 blogpastor Leave a comment

It was a vacation I looked forward to with some anticipation. I had enjoyed my first Japan trip to Kyushu island two years ago. This one was on the main island of Honshu. This was a tour from Nagoya through the famous Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine route to Toyama and Kanazawa and back. Most of us were from the hiking group.

Arrived at Nagoya airport in the early morning

It was a night flight, and for me this meant a sleepless flight, a movie night. I admire those (like my wife) who could sleep despite cramped and upright space. I caught a Korean movie titled, Canola, a grandmother- grandchild story about the transforming power of unconditional love. And surprise, surprise: I did sleep.

Roger, Simon, Tan and me: the men in the group waiting for the bus to the city

When was I going to feel more relaxed, more like I was on vacation? Close to the date of departure, there was the rush to get work done. There was the anxiety of packing right for this mixed hiking and sightseeing jaunt. Even after landing in Nagoya in the early morning, I had to remind myself, I am in Japan. I am on vacation. I had to tell my soul: You are in Nagoya.

Group photos: this group loved group photos. Group photos at airports, at every new place we went, every grand scenery and memorable building. Click, click. 1, 2, 3. Click, click. Good thing I brought my tough and handy Olympus TG3 camera. Bright LCD screen, unlike phone camera screens that darken under the sun. The ladies wore colourful jackets, blouses, shoes and they enlivened the photos. The men were unremarkable. The ladies knew how to pose in a variety of ways; the men stood like they would for the class photograph. Click, click. 1,2,3. Click, click.

The hotel we stayed in was Sanco Inn, a ten minute walk from where the airport bus dropped us off. We could not check in until 3 p.m. so we left our luggage there (this would be standard procedure) and went out to look for lunch. There was a nearby eatery and straightaway we faced our first fun challenge of getting our orders and requests across. Separate bills please. They could not grasp it. They brought beer! Separate receipts. They got it finally. Receipto. Receipto. But the idea of separate receipto for each couple is foreign to them. So we adapted, we adjusted, we learned. The food was oishii. The yen was stronger than two years ago so the prices we paid were similar to what you would pay for Japanese food in Singapore. However, you felt satisfied, you felt better parting with your yen because of the freshness and the quality and authentic taste of what you had.

Surveying the shopping area near the hotel

Tan and Kenny practising patience outside the 100 yen shop

What did you have for dinner? Japanese. Oishii.

We spent several hours walking around their shopping area in cool temperatures and under a grey sky that threatened to drizzle. Nothing much in this area near the hotel. Except the 100 yen shop. Where the ladies spent considerable time surveying and bought few things. Singaporeans are experienced strategic shoppers. They did not want to lug around all the things they bought. They would buy later, near the end of the jaunt.

That night we packed for two days of hiking. We had to pack for an overnight stay in the mountain. Stuffed what we needed in the backpack. The rest of the luggage would be sent over by takkyubin to Ace Inn Hotel in Matsumoto.