The most interesting part might be the experience of taking a night train from Honshu to Hokkaido.
The cheap seat-only carts (like this one) were filled by mostly tourists, whereas the couchettes (bed carts) were occupied by locals. I had no problem sleeping on the reclined seat, but it got uncomfortably cold at night and I had to wrap myself in pants (didn’t bring a jacket).
It’s not exactly fun, but that’s the cheapest way to do it since it’s fully covered by the JR Pass. Plus I got to save money on a night of accommodation. Now that I have done it once, I might do it again.
Arriving Sapporo at 6 a.m. was harsh, but I will save that for the next post.
For the longest time, my website would show up as the first result if you search for kanidouraku in google. Not anymore. I need to go there more often.
The Railway Museum (鉄道博物館) was quite nice. I recommend spending a morning there, even if you are not a JR fan.
A lot of the shots were taken with my new wideangle lens. For more photos and videos, go to the Flickr set.
On the third day, Random Jon woke up and decided it would be a good day to visit Disneyland. I went unprepared, with only an uncharged battery in my point-and-shoot. The indicator was red and empty by noon.
Space Mountain was still the best ride. Well worth the wait compare to the other ones that I can’t even recall.
By using the “wait a few seconds and turn it on again” technique repeatedly, I was able to take a bunch of 1 or 2 seconds clip at night. By the end of the parade, my camera did not even have enough power to retract the lens.
One thing I noticed though, teenage Japanese girls are way more into Disney characters than others. During the parade(s), they screamed out Mickey’s name and flapped their arms, as if they saw Justin Timberlake or something. Oh, and the blue rat is huge in Japan.
I really should go to bed now, but this is too awesome not to share. Google Maps Street View now covers major cities in Japan. Here are some screen captures of my favourite restaurants. Click on the Google Map links to try it out. Continue Reading…
I was pretty disorganized during my trip and did not upload all the photos and videos. The complete albums for Day 1 and Day 2 are up now. For those who have been following my Flickr, there are not a lot of new photos but I added many videos.
I made an effort to take lots of videos during this trip, since most of you have seen too many of my repetitive Tokyo photos in the past. Editing videos takes time, but it is a good way to fight jetlags.
