The Holiday, summed up in a huge post, with a large group of pictures and some text.

Well, this one’s a bit late in coming…but I’m still more punctual than Dave…

Always splendid to have guests, especially old friends. Our flat was tested to breaking point, carrying no less than four sweaty, smelly bodies over a fortnight, but to be fair to everyone, summer over here is nonsensical.

Plenty of memorable moments, such as what I thought was the biggest cockroach I have ever seen…which actually turned out to be two cockroaches having sex…which is just as bad.

Those of you who’ve been following this blog for a year or more will be aware that we have a selection of places within the locality that we take people to see…and what could be a better place to start than my most frequently visited spot; Kamakura, where the first Shogun established his capital.


…doesn’t it look lovely? And don’t Sam & Hayley look ladylike?


Pictured is Sam & Dave performing the closing stages of a fortune ritual at Zeniarai-Benten - a shrine built into a very exciting cave which has a small stream running through it. The story goes that if you wash your money in the stream, then dry it with the smoke from one of the massive incense burners they have lying around, then good fortune will come your way…possibly of a financial nature, but I doubt that - I’ve visited Kamakura and done all that six or seven times since I’ve been here, and I am still hilariously skint.

Another favorite shrine is Sasuke Inari, Inari being the rice God, having a fox as a messenger. Unfortunately, the nature of the shrine (up a hill, surrounded by trees, mostly dark green, not much space) makes it a bugger to photograph, which is a shame, but I doubt many photos could adequately portray the atmosphere up there…so instead, here’s a picture of a stone fox with something in its’ mouth (probably a rice-ball).


Even the brief tour of Kamakura that we offer is a full day out, and it’s not even scratching the surface of all the various Temples & the like…and the giant Buddha…I left everybody at that point in order to be on hand at the flat to receive Daves luggage, lost somewhere in Europe…fortunate for me that I did, for on the pilgrimage to the Big Buddha, Hayley, Sam and Dave fell foul of treacherous paths rendered muddy by recent rain, and ravenous mosquitoes, which, as if I had to point out, really suck.

Home for a quick, cheap, and above all, tasty (as it’s cooked by me) lunch…


…and then off to my favorite place in the whole of Tokyo…


Asakusa! Yes, even more pictures of Sensoji!


There’s Hayley tying a Temple Fortune (O-Mikuji) onto something that the priests will notice…don’t know what it’s called, but that’s a charm which seems to work - she drew the Highest Possible Good Fortune from a random drawer of seventy-odd, and is now on her way to getting a full working visa - woo-hoo!

…and Dave bought a silly hat…we all got drunk and tried it on…





Unfortunately, Hayley was momentarily sucked into her job, so Dave, Sam & I went off to the Nihon Minka En - a museum of old Japanese houses from a variety of periods.



Then, off to Nikko, where I took almost exactly the same pictures as last time.




Sam described Nikko as one of the most amazing places she’s ever seen. Result. It’s an exhausting day out, so the next day was something of a write-off…but we did manage to go to Shinjuku…


…and squeeze in a bit of karaoke, accompanied as we were by the dulcet tones of Brian…


…and Dave - look at him - he loves it!


Such is the insidious pull of this national past-time. When Matt came last year, we went to Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan. We saw a Temple covered in Gold. We ate a Japanese banquet on tatami boards over a river. We climbed a mountain and had an onsen at the top. We fed monkeys by hand on top of another mountain…but his favorite bit was the karaoke…certainly, after hearing his rendition of “Don’t stop me now”, it’s probably also mine…

Quick trip to Harajuku in order to see some cosplay; alas, a quiet day for one of Tokyos most notorious sights…but as compensation, following a tip from our benevolent landlord, we hot-footed it over to Roppongi, for the Bonodori dance, featuring that stalwart of childrens TV, Doraemon...


…complete with a special Doraemon dance for the kids…let me assure you, it was disgustingly cute.

And finally, away to the dizzying heights of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, thus…



Lordy Lord that was fun…and another visit is wrapped up in a spectacular manner…cheers for coming Sam & Dave - utterly spiffing to see you…next up, my sister, who has just started a blog of her own. Go and taste her brain.