Kobe

For our first adventure into Kobe we hopped off the train at Sannomiya and wandered around.

Tokyo Part 3!

The last post about our trip to Tokyo. On our last day we had arranged to meet Taeko, who I used to work with in London! She is Japanese and now living back in Tokyo - so it was great to be able to see her and have her show us around. Firstly, we went to Tokyo Skytree: the 'largest structure' in the world! Whatever that classification means...

Tokyo Part Two!

Today pretty much revolved around food. 

Tokyo!

Making the most of a three day weekend we took our first trip to Tokyo! We finished work, met at Shin-Osaka and took the shinkansen (bullet train) straight to Tokyo. It was a pretty surreal experience: travelling in our suits straight from work and arriving in Tokyo two and a half hours later. We arrived super late to our hotel (which was surprisingly super fancy), had a drink at the bar overlooking the metropolis at night and then to bed before our day of exploration...

Kinkaku-ji

One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Beware.. many gratuitous shots of the same building to come.

Osaka Museum of Housing and Living

I think this may be the best museum in Osaka purely because you can dress up in traditional clothing!

Yubu Island

The final post about our Okinawan Adventure! When we travelled to Iriomote Island the weather was so bad that we had to take a ferry to a different port. The next bus to take us to the other port - where the hotel staff would pick us up - was not for 2 and a half hours! Needless to say, we were pretty annoyed. But every cloud has a silver lining... Three young Japanese men in a car kindly stopped and said they could take us to Yubu Island - about half way between the two ports. It was a great opportunity for more sightseeing!

Taketomi Island

Four kilometres south of Ishigaki lies Taketomi Island. It is tiny and has a population of just 323 people! We took the 10 minute ferry over crazy huge waves to the small island, and spent the day exploring.

Iriomote Island

After Ishigaki, we headed to Iriomote Island. 90% of the island is jungle and swamps, and Iriomote is also home to the largest river in Okinawa. With terrible weather, again, we took a boat trip on Urauchi river and hiked through the jungle!

Climbing Mount Omoto

We casually decided to climb Okinawa's highest mountain: Mount Omoto.

Ishigaki Island

For our winter vacation we decided to travel to the southernmost islands of Japan - Okinawa. 

Christmas Day

What a Merry Christmas we had in Osaka!