Enoshima and Ikebukuro - Japan New Year 2010
Enoshima and Ikebukuro
Sunday 10th January 2010
Spent the afternoon on the island of Enoshima near Tokyo, including a visit to the spa there. In the evening met up with Chie's friend Miyuki-san and headed over to Ikebukuro for the usual dinner at Rohlan followed by a wee dram or two at Quercus.
Japan New Year 2010
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| 12:56:49 Lunch at J.S. Burger in Shinjuku. | 12:56:55 Was pleased to seee they still have a "vegetable burger" on the menu, but it was a bit overpriced for what it was. For some reason it came with lotus root chips. | 13:31:11 On the train to Enoshima. Here's the control panel of the train. |
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| 14:57:47 On Enoshima now - the steps leading up to the main shrine. | 14:58:40 Again, as seen from the side. | 15:00:38 One of the shrine buildings and a flag. |
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| 15:11:12 A less busy shrine a bit further up the hill. | 15:28:01 ...going back down the stairs again. | 15:28:06 |
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| 15:32:25 Looking out across the bay from Enoshima. | 15:32:33 | 15:32:46 |
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| 15:34:41 Something appealed to me about this house. | 15:37:23 Enoshima spa, where we spent the next couple of hours. | 17:23:30 Whilst in the spa we were treated to spectacular views of Mt. Fuji. By the time I got out it was just about light enough still to get a photo of it... Although it didn't come out in this shot as I didn't use the right camera settings... |
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| 17:23:48 ....but I think you can see Fuji-san pretty clearly here! | 17:24:51 That wispy line of clous is a bit of a shame, but this is still unmistakeably Mt. Fuji. | 17:25:32 I think this one is probably the best of the bunch. |
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| 17:26:25 | 17:31:49 A quick stroll around Enoshima by night by myself whilst waiting for Chie. | 17:32:00 |
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| 17:32:45 | 17:32:51 | 17:33:30 |
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| 17:42:41 Enoshima beer. | 20:28:17 Later on, dinner at the ever excellent Rohlan in Ikebukuro, where we were joined a friend of Chie's she'd met in the UK: Miyuki-san. It was particularly fantastic this evening. | 20:28:27 Me and the unbelievably good vegetarian tonkatsu. |
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| 20:37:00 Some more excellent dishes, including vegetarian chicken with ginko nuts, a very nice tofu dish (the details of which escape me), and tempura mushrooms with vegetables in black bean sauce. | 21:21:56 The owl statue in Ikebukuro - a popular meeting spot in the station. One (probably incorrect) derivation of the meaning of Ikebukuro (池袋) is "owl pond" - fukuro (or bukuro) being the Japanese for owl. | 23:05:26 The three of us in Quercus. |
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| 23:05:54 Watanabe-san and one of his newer members of staff Tim behind the bar. | 23:06:24 Really like this shot of the four of us in Quercus taken by Miyuki-san. |