Back to Tokyo!!!

Today we're back in Tokyo and once again we're back online after yet another 2 days without internet. We spent the last few days in Osaka, Toba and Hakone. Osaka turned out to be really nice, it's a bit like a mini-Tokyo... the guide books don't have much praise for it so originally we weren't planning to go there but the trip from the south of Japan up to Tokyo was long so we decided to break it up with a stop-over in Osaka which is somewhat half-way. In the end we wished we had dedicated more time to it. The city is full of life and we really enjoyed just walking around the streets taking in the atmosphere and watching everyone rush past us. In the evening we came across a sushi place tucked away in a side-street and the place looked very authentic so we decided to give it a try. We were right, this was a real Japanese sushi and sashimi place where the raw fish is all laid out in glass shelves in the counter and the chef prepares your supper in front of your eyes and hands it over to you onto the (impeccably clean) counter. The menu was obviously only available in Japanese so we somehow managed to explain that we wanted a mix and they offered us 3 different options based simply on price. In other words - we had no idea what we were ordering! Ivan, being so greedy chose the most expensive and I chose the middle one. The chef immediately got to work preparing the rice bases and chopping the raw fish and within a few minutes he was placing all the bits and pieces of sushi and sashimi in front of us. Suddenly we froze, one of Ivan's portions of sushi was still alive and wriggling its tail on the counter!!! It was something like a prawn but whitish with brown specks. I thought I'd feel sick, my appetite just disappeared within seconds and I thought I might run out but I was feeling really self conscious as the chef and shop owner were looking at us expectantly and I didn't want to offend them. Ivan also panicked and his face became all red!! Needless to say, they immediately realised what had happened and the shop owner came over and started saying "culture shock!!". Then he asked us where we are from and luckily provided a good distraction until the "thing" finally stopped wriggling, following which Ivan promptly ate it!!! He's incredible, his stomach can take anything! Well I also admit that after he ate it I quickly regained my appetite and could finish off my sushi. It was quite an experience though!! Ivan had seen someone eating something similar in Kyoto but we never thought we'd end up ordering it by mistake!
The next morning we set off for Toba, famous for the pearl island where Kokichi Mikimoto first developed the method for creating cultured pearls in 1893. Strangely the guide books hardly mention Toba and in the 2-line description the Lonely Planet Guide even describes it as a tourist circus which should be skipped! In fact at first we hadn't planned to go to Toba, but my grandparents had been to Japan back in 1972 and when talking about Japan they always used to mention visiting a place where they had seen the process of how cultured pearls were created and it seems it had always remained impressed in their memory. So we decided to ignore the guide books and booked a 1-night stay in Toba. As soon as we got there we realised that this was an ideal place to relax. Toba is full of tiny bays and islands and everywhere is really green and since the place is all hills you can get excellent views onto the sea. We arrived in the early afternoon and headed straight for Mikimoto Pearl Island. The main sights on the island are a museum where the process from the creation to the production of pearls is described in every detail, and a memorial hall describing the life of Kokichi Mikimoto. There is also a place on the island where you can watch 'ama' (women divers) dive for oysters using the technique of many years ago. Nowadays they use a different system whereby they don't need to dive deep into freezing waters! They just do it for silly tourists like us once every hour! :-) Overall I really enjoyed it and i'm glad we went as it was really interesting. It was also a nice break from all the temples and shrines we've seen recently.
Yesterday morning we left Toba and after 3 train rides we finally arrived in Hakone - close to Tokyo - where Ivan had booked a very nice ryokan called Hakone Ginyu where we could relax for a day before returning to Tokyo. Apparently the place is really in demand and in fact Ivan couldn't find availability at first and ended up shifting our travel itinerary to be able to go there on the only day when they had a room available. I had no idea the place was so nice and on the way I was complaining a bit as we had already been to Hakone so I wasn't so keen on three train rides with all the luggage - which seems to be getting heavier by the day. But the effort turned out to be worthwhile as the hotel was the best we ever stayed in. Our room was fantastic with a big terrace and hot bath overlooking a valley and hills full of trees... really beautiful. The service too was exceptional and in the evening we were served the best Japanese dinner we had so far. In fact the hotel was so nice that we only went out for about 2 hours and then spent the rest of our time enjoying the views from our terrace. Check out the photos on Flickr.
Unfortunately this morning we had to leave Hakone Ginyu to come to Tokyo for our last two days... we plan to do some last minute shopping and spend some time in our favourite places in Tokyo. It felt strange to be back, it seems like we were here ages ago, not just 3 weeks ago. It's incredible how quickly it went by though at the same time it seems like ages. On the one hand we are sorry to leave but on the other hand it will be nice to go home and settle into a routine again.... and also get our clothes washed properly!!! Ivan has run out of nearly everything and had to buy t-shirts and socks today!!!
More from us tomorrow... ciao!!!!