Archive for the 'Tokyo and around' Category

The island of Hachijojima is officially a part of Tokyo. All cars have Shinagawa plates. Strange sight in a place that looks more like the Caribbean or South Africa than down town Tokyo. Got a car to get around the place. Spent two days to see all the major sites but still have to come back if I want the full experience. Didn’t do any surfing this time. Eventually found the place on the island where they surf, sort of hidden away.

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I just came back from a couple of days of skiing. Japan has a lot to offer in this area. Skiing can be done all over the place in Japan, this time I went to Hokkaido, the large northern island. Flying for only an hour with a 747 from Tokyo took me to Chitose airport in Sapporo City. From there it’s a three hour bus ride to the very snowy slopes of Niseko. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: skiing, Hokkaido, Chitose, Sapporo, snowy, slopes, Niseko

Some things in Japan are well known like the Tokyo tower or the temples in Kyoto. There are also many famous bridges in the world. Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn bridge in New York or the bridge over the river Kwai to name a few. Now, the worlds largest suspension bridge is right here in Japan. If you are in the Kobe area it is definitively worth a visit.
Akashi Kaikyo bridge from the Maiko side. 1991 metres center span and 3911 metres total. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Tokyo, tower, temples, Kyoto, famous, bridges, worlds, largest, suspension, bridge, Akashi, Kaikyo, bridge

The first customer arrived at 1:30 in the morning. He was in for a long wait until the store opened at 10 am. A bit disturbed by all the attention he just grabbed his vouchers and took off. Apparently he didn’t even buy anything that day. Guess he didn’t expect a marching band and all. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the way for those of you who want to be first at the new IKEA store in Japan. Opens at 10 tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: IKEA

Tatado beach in Shimoda on the Izu-peninsula is a good place to practice surfing. The waves are short and not very big. “Beach break” in surfese. This way you get to catch many small waves, a good thing when you are learning “the pop”. That is, to stand up on the board. Read the rest of this entry »

The claim: “Japanese service is good, but too automated. It’s all “irrashaimase” and no listening to the customer. Service workers are afraid to break the rules if you ask them for something out of their routine”. Buying a used scooter I found this to be wrong.
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Technorati Tags: Japanese, Buying, used, scooter