A lazy start, as we got up at 9, but didn't really get out of Keio Plaza 'til 10:30. After grabbing some breakky at the "Natural Lawson" down the road (not to be confused with the "Lawson Station" across the street from it), we headed for Akihabara. We wandered the street, again very much disturbed by the variety of "maids" handing out pamphlets for their maid cafes - especially scary were the ones with hair bleached pure blonde, a look that may be appealing to some, but looked quite terrifying to us. We wondered aimlessly for a while, stopping at a Taito arcade to play some Street Fighter 4 at one point.
We eventually ended up at the pork and noodles place we went to on the first day in Tokyo, which seems like ages ago now. The fatty pork was just as delicious as we remembered, and after draining our bowls, we left Akihabara, though I doubt for the last time.
The next place we headed for was Harajuku - I wanted to get some Ghibli toys for my nephew and nieces. After stopping by our hotel, we hopped on the Yamanote loop to Harajuku, and headed to Kiddyland - a five storey monstrosity of a toy store that we had been to previously. I ended up getting some plushies.
We eventually decided we should head to our hotel to relax for a bit before heading out again, both of us were still tired from our long journey. After a couple of hours chilling in our room, we set out to explore the area we were in - Shinjuku - a bit more. Heading west from the station, we ended up at a large stationary store, where Ali bought some Japanese paper for his folks. We again failed to find a restaurant reccomended in the Lonely Planet Tokyo book, due to it's incredibly vague maps and descriptions, so we decided to head to the Hobgoblin bar in Shibuya - owned by the small, British, Wychwood Brewery. For the third time this trip, we had a burger, this time accompanied by a pint Hobgoblin beer - which was very nice.
We proceeded to a club called Gaspanic in Shibuya, but after a beer we decided it wasn't our thing, and left for Shinjuku, ready to be up early for what was to be a busy day.
-Dan
The day began early again, and it had a promising start - there had been a great snowfall during the night, and it seemed like it was going to be a nice day for skiing. Unfortunately, the weather turned soon after our awakening, and the rain began to fall. After eating a quick breakfast, we headed to Happo One again. However after a few hours of skiing in the rain, we were too wet and cold to continue, and decided to call it a day and head to Tokyo.
After grabbing lunch at the local 711, we packed up and got a lift to Hakuba station, where we caught a bus and subsequent train to Tokyo, and then onto Shinjuku. We got to our hotel about 6pm - we were immediately surprised by the obsiquious nature of the staff, however the hotel was very nice. We settled in and showed, and then headed out for a bit - going to a nearby Nike store, and a Bic camera, looking for places to spend our Yens.
Eventually we grabbed some dinner, at a nearby restaurant, which was delicious after a long day without much food. Before heading back to the hotel, we grabbed some Sapporo Beer and Meiji chocolate, enjoying them in our room
-Dab
Late post because of the terrible internet here.. though we are in Japan, it is nice to know the Aussies can bring a bit of the shitty internet access from home here with them
Getting up at 7:30am was a struggle for us after a pretty exhausting day, even so, we struggled out of bed and got us some free continental breakfast. We then had to wait a while for the ski rental place to pick us up, fit us out, and send us back, by which time it was 10am, and we felt like our early start was somewhat wasted.
Regardless, we hit the slopes at about 10:30am, and tentatively eased back into skiing. It had been a year since both of us were in Megeve skiing, so we managed to get back into the swing of things fairly quickly. I ended up on my arse on three occasions - though in my defence, once was because I threw myself into the snow to prevent myself from falling off a cliff, thus I'm not sure if it counts... Ali however, managed to stay upright all day. The mountain we were on is called Happo One, and it was absolutely amazing - great runs from top to bottom, though they are not as well marked for difficulty, so we ended up on some tough runs before we had really found our feet.
Unfortunately, as the small Canon we had wasn't charged, and I wasn't willing to haul my camera around, we didn't get any shots of us or the amazing views.
We returned to the lodge for about 4:30 pm, after a long day of skiing. We relaxed for a bit, before heading off to the Echoland area again for dinner - failing to find anything that really ticked our fancy, we ended up (shamefully) at the same Mexican restaurant. It was just as delicious a second time.
Later on, we went to the local Onsen, just down the road from the lodge. This place was nowhere near as nice as the one at Shirakawa-go (so don't feel you missed out, Nik), it was however very relaxing after a reasonably hard day. After getting back to the lodge to find the internet was down yet again, we decided to wander around in the snow, back to the distant convience store, for some much needed snackage. After eating a bunch of Oreos, we turned in for another early morning start
-Dan
Sadly Nik has left us high and dry, so rather than enjoying his whimsical writings, faitful readers, you will have to deal with the ramblings of the mad and incompetant - Ali and I.
The day started early in our guesthouse, with the usual uphill battle to get Nik and Ali out of bed for breakfast. After 35 mins, they were up and dressed (sadly not showered, only baths were available, and only in the evening). Nik was slightly less dismayed with the breakfast offered by the gueshouse, but still - he was noticably displeased. As with last night, Ali and I enjoyed the experience immensely.
After a short walk around town, we were on the bus back to Takayama - it was much bigger and less crowded this time, which we were all thankful for, facing a hard day of travel. We all boarded the same train headed to Nagoya, and said our goodbyes to Nik at Mino-ota, a backwater town in the middle of nowhere. After saying goodbye, we caught two trains and a bus, then made a trek through the heavy snow to our lodgings.
The most notable thing about this place is that EVERYBODY is Australian - the place is packing with about 40 Aussie "blokes", and most of them seemed to be in the bar. Needless to say it was just like being at home - that is if we spent out lives at the OBH. However as much as we felt like fish out of water, everybody thus far has been perfectly nice, so no complaints there.
We strolled through bitter cold into the Echoland area for dinner, and wound up and a cosy Mexican restaurant of all places. The meal was exactly what we needed after a day of snow and trains.
Tomorrow morning we hit the slopes, so be sure to check back for a full acount of how badly we embarassed ourselves on the slopes and in the lodge.
-Dan
Today (the 18th, assuming this is posted then) is my last day in Japan. I’m writing this ahead of time, as I’m spending the day swapping between buses, trains and planes from 10am onwards. So, given that this is my last time with the laptop, I thought I’d take the opportunity to sign off properly. 
I’ve had a great time in Japan. Despite some concerns over the cuisine, I’ve really enjoyed every stage of the journey and the stuff that we’ve gotten up to. From the minor stuff (such as heated toilet seats) to bigger things (the view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, or seeing the Golden Pavilion for the first time), it’s been a blast. We’ve met some really interesting people, and done some really interesting things. It’s been an unforgettable experience. 
Dan and Ali have been great travelling companions, and I hope they have a great time during their remaining days in the country. I haven’t really done much travelling in this kind of group, and I didn’t really know what to expect from it. They’ve made it a great time, and I’m very grateful for it. I still retain editing privileges on this blog, so I might drop in to leave occasional witticisms and the like. But otherwise, I’m looking forward to getting back to Australia, seeing everyone and getting on with things.
Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog. I’m sure Dan and Ali will do a lot to keep it up to date until their final legs of the journey end. Otherwise, that’s it from me. See you back home.
-Nik
Takayama is a cold place. Much colder than we had anticipated. We learned our lesson well yesterday and dressed warmly, but there was something in the air that just could not be stopped by layers of clothing. Nonetheless, we pressed on, eager to see the “famous” morning markets of Takayama. To be honest, they weren’t great. That is all I have to say about that. Despite that initial setback, we made the most of the morning. We called in at a cafe for waffles for breakfast (I was roundly mocked for choosing a breakfast sandwich instead). Daniel even had an espresso, which he says was quite good. I was less adventurous, getting something called “Italian coffee” which is a lot like “normal coffee” but with some froth on top. We spent the next little while roaming the streets of old Takayama, perusing the handicrafts and sake breweries (or distilleries? I’m not really sure) until our bus to Shirakawa-go, a small country town famous for its rural atmosphere. 
After that, an American guy staying in the inn told us there was an onsen (hot spring) just down the road. We hadn’t had the opportunity to go to one yet, and the prospect of nuding up in public wasn’t incredibly appealing to some, but we went anyway. It was great. After the initial shock of being naked in a room full of other guys, it was really warm and really relaxing. Given that Zarah felt the need to find homosexual overtones in a snowball lob, I can’t imagine what she’d make of that, but I think it’s fair to say it was a worthwhile experience. Anyway, that’s all for today. Daniel and Ali take over from this point on. I’m looking forward to joining the ranks of the readers. See you soon!-Nik(This post has been submitted by me because Nik is currently on the plane home)
Osaka seemed like a really nice city. I say "seemed like" because, despite spending two nights in the place, we really didn't do anything there. We divided day one between Himeji and Kyoto, and day two was spent in Hiroshima. What we came to know about Osaka was learned by walking between a train station and our hostel, and by looking out of train windows. I feel like we didn't give the place a fair go, which is unfortunate.
So anyway, we left Osaka behind today, catching a train for Nagoya to catch another train bound for Takayama. We're now good friends with the Japan Railways Shinkansen HIKARI super express, to the point where it's almost reassuring to be sitting in one of it's immaculate cars. The train to Takayama was a bit more interesting once we left Nagoya behind, weaving in between mountains and alongside streams on our way to the smaller city of about 90,000 people.
Takayama is nice, but incredibly cold - far more so than we had initially anticipated. Nonetheless, we pressed on to our hotel, dropped our bags and then headed into the town to see what there was to see. In fact, there was not a lot. The town is quiet and pretty and there are some really cool, really interesting shops, especially in the old part of the town. But otherwise, it's not exactly a happening place. A good change of pace, though, after the frenetic pace of Kyoto and Osaka (plus Nara, Himeji and Hiroshima).
We ate dinner at a famous hamburger joint in town before heading to an izakaya (Japanese tavern) for some sake and sashimi (I did not partake, but Daniel and Ali inform me that it was delicious). And that's about it. We head to Shirakawa-go in the late morning after hanging around here for a little while.
Daniel has asked me to mention something that was omitted from the retrospective posts: on our last day in Sapporo, after we went to the beer museum, Daniel threw a snowball at Ali. To be fair, it was much more impressive than that description makes out: Ali was across the road, and he threw the snowball up in the air. A bus went by, and the snowball sailed right over the top and struck Ali cleanly. Many a nearby Japanese person LOLed. I feel I should mention as well that Daniel fell over on the footpath like 10 minutes later, thus being the only person who stacked it during our entire time there. That is all.
-Nik
