We really feel like we had seen everything in Tokyo itself that we wanted to see and on reading the guidebook that we brought with, it seems we really had seen all the major districts. I had a recommendation that we should go to Kamakura if we had time and so yesterday that is where we headed. It is about an hour south of where we are staying (including a walk to the train station -...
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We left our house at 10:15am yesterday. B went for a run before we left and also kindly went to buy some coffees for us. We went to meet some of B's family in downtown Tokyo for brunch. They suggested meeting at the Imperial Hotel. We had a dispute with the younger members of our foursome about the quickest route there and so we agreed to separate. Of course experience always trumps age - if only...
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Yesterday was the big game day for us as it was the SA v NZ game at the Yokohama International Stadium. We decided to leave mid-morning and go to the Kirin Beer factory on route to the stadium. We had read it was one of the main attractions in the area and so thought it was worth the visit. It took us about an hour to get there (15 minute walk to station; 30 minute train;...
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I have always wanted to visit Japan and the World Cup rugby seemed to be a good excuse to do that. We (M and I from our family, D - my nephew and B - my friend) left on Thursday to travel to Tokyo. D came from the US and the rest of us via Singapore from Cape Town. It was a 13 hour flight to Singapore, a 3 hour layover in Singapore airport and then...
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We planned to leave Burlington slightly earlier yesterday so that we could give ourselves enough time to find a nicer place for accommodation for the next 2 nights. We were concerned that given today is 4 July (Independence Day) we may struggle to find accommodation. We headed to NE Vermont which is described as the 'Northeast Kingdom' (named by Governor George Aiken in 1940s because he just loved the area and its people and he was...
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The quote of the day yesterday went to C. When she walked in for breakfast at the motel she said "Do we order the breakfast" after looking around. The breakfast was actually laid out but it was so sparse she really didn't notice. Basically you could have a bagel, bread (or toast), yogurt and either oats (in a packet) or bran flakes. That was it. And everything was disposable - plastic knives, spoons, plates & bowls,...
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No we have not flown back to the UK - we are now in Manchester, Vermont. Yesterday morning we had to pick up our van from Budget Car Rental. Every time I said to people we are picking up a car in central NY they looked at me as if I was crazy to attempt driving in central Manhattan but it actually wasn't that difficult. S came with me to collect the car and then helped...
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We had breakfast on route to attending Church yesterday at another coffee shop recommended by my nephew. We (excluding heathens S & K) headed for one of the Redeemer Church sites (they have 4 around the city). Redeemer was planted by Tim Keller and a few years ago they split the Church into 4 smaller churches spread across Manhattan. We decided to attended Redeemer Lincoln Park because it suited us both in terms of location and...
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It seems everyone had a decent night sleep and the jetlag woes are gone for all of us. Yesterday we all walked a lot again and so I doubt anyone wouldn't have slept well again last night. We had our first decent coffee since arriving in the US yesterday morning at breakfast. My nephew recommended a place (Gotan) which we also had breakfast at before heading out. M & O decided to stay near the hotel...
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We left yesterday at 9:48am from Nashville to New York. That was the precise time on our boarding pass and that was the precise time we departed. Incredible for a US flight that we left exactly on time especially since the incoming flight arrived over an hour late. The flight was uneventful and we landed in NY just before 1pm, collected our luggage and went to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. LaGuardia...
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