mybigadventures.com

Today we bought ourselves metro passes from the BIC camera store. We decided to go for the 72 hour unlimited passes to prevent us having to mess about paying for individual tickets. The passes were 1500 yen each which isn't bad considering short journeys start at 170 yen each way. So with our newly bought passes in hand we set off to explore a little further afield starting with Shibuya which is about a 6 minute metro ride from the station. 

As you come out of the station at Shibuya, you immediately face a huge cross roads known as the Shibuya scramble. We went for a drink in the Starbucks which offers a prime view over the junction and spent some time watching as hundreds of people crossed the road at once. It wad racing a bit so everyone had umbrellas up and it was really quite a sight. Decided to come back later to see about some night shots before heading on to our next destination the Meiji Jingu shrine. On route we stopped off at Tokyo hands which is another huge store spanning 7 floors and selling a variety of home, craft and stationary items. It took a little walk up to the shrine entrance but the rain had given up and it had turned out nice.

As you enter the site of the shrine you pass under a huge wooden gate that towers above you. It's a pleasant walk round to the shrine but when we got there we were a little disappointed to find the gate house which is quite a focal point was under repair so totally clad in scaffolding. Had a wander nonetheless and watched as some prayers were under way with occasional gongs ringing out. On the way back out we stopped for a walk around d the gardens we which had a small entrance fee. They were very tranquil and whilst there encountered some very friendly birds that were landing on people passing through. We had some dinner in Shibuya before heading back to the hotel for a rest. Headed back out again later back to the busy junction for a few night shots.

Hope you like the pictures.

The summer holiday has arrived after another long year, and what better time for a few website upgrades! When I first put the website together back in 2007, I created a map with markers making the path of our intended journey around Europe and had it linkefrom the homepage. I think I made it using one of the early versions of the Google Maps API, and it didn't take long for things to move on and the old map to become redundant. It's been over 10 years, but I started haviing a look at putting some geo-tagging functionality in for mapping out the places we've visited.

After a bit of tinkering I've now added geo-tagging for the albums and may look at adding it to photos and blogs in the near future. I've tagged quite a few albums to try it out and everything seems to be working. You should now see a map on the homepage with markers for the places we've visited, and small maps in the sidebar for albums that have been tagged. If I get a chance, I'll tidy up the user-interface a bit and make it a little fancier with links to albums when you click the markers. Let me know if you find any bugs!   

As we had got in late yesterday, we had a slightly more leisurely morning. We did wake up quite early, but dozed for a while. I went down to Starbucks next door and got tea (I keep forgetting that you have to order ‘hot tea’ here, and you need to ask them to leave ‘room for milk’ as they don’t drink it like us Brits!) and chocolatines - they had even warmed up the chocolatines, so they were extra-tasty, chocolatey goodness! We had showers and then had a chat with Lorna, Audrey, and mum and dad via Skype, catching up and telling them about our activities.

We headed out, planning to withdraw some cash for the day. Started to use the cash machine, although found out that it would charge us a flat fee of $5, so changed our mind. Then changed it back again - instead, we decided to withdraw more, to make the fee more palatable. So, we nipped back to the hotel to leave the extra cash in our room safe.

Then, we headed out properly. We got the tram to the Ferry building and switched onto the F-line around Fisherman’s Wharf, getting off near the bike rental place we had seen before. Stopped to use the restroom on the way, only to end up waiting for 10 minutes as they had closed them for ‘cleaning’ and they were the only local loos! Some American bloke and his kid also tried pushing in, but an loquacious American woman started on him - quite a bit of excitement so early in the day!

Went to the bike shop and got hooked up with a tandem and snazzy helmets! The lady chatted on about some directions, but there were quite a few and, by the end, I couldn’t even remember which way we were supposed to leave the shop! Dani decided she would take the back seat, so I took the helm though I did find it quite difficult to get my leg over the bike frame - I blame the jeans - clearly, not biking gear! So, we set off on our ride - somewhat wobbly to begin with.

We cycled around towards the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping for photos a few times. We used the gorilla pod to take one of us and the bike, and a lady offered to take a photo when we got to a pier just before the bridge. Whilst at the pier, we had a little sit and a hot dog from ‘Let’s Be Frank’, a hot dog stand - it was very tasty. We then began the cycling part of the journey again.

There were some steep bits to get up to the bridge and, once there, there were lots of people in the bike lane, so Ben kept ringing the bell. A little further along, we got stopped by a bridge man, who told us that we were supposed to be cycling on the other side (pedestrians on one side, bikes on the other). I think the lady at the shop might have mentioned this - oops! So, once on the right side of the bridge, we got up some big speed. There were a few hairy moments, but we managed not to crash - result! It was a bit windy on the way across and, when we got to the other side, we decided to cycle back again, rather than waiting for the ferry. On the way back across, we stopped to take some pictures of a tall ship that was sailing under the bridge. We kept on zooming on, after a ‘Kodak moment’ and sped back down - it was distinctly warmer off the bridge!

We rode back towards Fisherman’s wharf, stopping at a Safeway (of all places!) on the way - Ben looked after the bike whilst I went in, getting some muffins, crisps and water - a mini crap run! Were planning to go across to the Golden Gate Park, but we realised that it was still a good distance away and it was already gone 5 PM. So we continued along, back to the bike shop - there were a few hairy moments when Ben zoomed downhill at super-speed, but I just closed my eyes! Returned the bike, suffering slightly from saddle bottom. It had cost $60 for the day.

Having dropped the bike, we decided it was beer o’clock - we went to Applebees for a drink, sitting on the balcony, under a heater - nice! After, we strolled to the F-line stop, having figured out where it goes now! Except the tram was packed when it came past! Managed to find a different stop by following the tracks to a different point. Made it back to Union Square. We looked around for somewhere to eat, but places seemed quite expensive. Decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory in Macy’s - but it was absolutely rammed! Totally rammed! As our feet were tired, we made it down a level, to Macy’s ‘Burger Bar’ and settled in. We had a pitcher of Budweiser and three mini-burgers each, with fries and onion rings - about $70, including tip. A little pricey, but we walked away - stumbled, might be more accurate - very stuffed! And so, to bed!