Osaka and home

Local train down to Osaka where we checked into another Airbnb house. Great location in the middle of where we needed to be hadn’t really planned to much ahead for Osaka so we made it up as we went along. First stop was Umeda station which is an enormous series of underground shops and pathways that connects a whole area under Osaka. Jun and Sara refer to it as Umeda Dungeon.  We went up the Umeda tower building for a look. Top of it has these cool escalators that from the ground give the impression of chopsticks in a bowl. After this is was off to the Lion temple which obviously has a proper name that I forgot.  Then wandered up through DenDen Town but got lost and found the shinsekai neighbourhood instead with its interesting version of the Eiffel Tower.  Got our north and south right and eventually found DenDen town via the big kitchen street area. It hit dinner time so we somehow managed to score a table along the canal in Dotobori to watch the spectacle of people there. Osaka is great, it’s got a different charm to the other major centres.

Next day we headed to Universal studios with Jun. Busy day of rides and queues. Had a lot of fun all up. The boys seemed prefer it to Disney. The rides are bigger and it’s themed a bit more grown up.

Off back to Tokyo for our last day before flying out. Stopped past Paul and Maki’s for lunch to say goodbye, we had a terrific stay there and the hospitality was really appreciated. The last afternoon we caught up with a friend of Sam’s and his family. Luckily for us where we were meeting there was an Oktoberfest going on.  Ryan and James decided to cross town on their own instead and check out Harajuku and Shibuya one last time. We found the boys and all headed back to the airport for an early flight the next day. We’ve had a great trip and it was wonderful to be travelling like this again.

Kyoto continues

Righto so after the sketchy bar we had a couple of big days walking where the phone tells me have walked over 22km a day. First day was off to Arashimya bamboo forest area. We wandered the forest and then through some of the parks and gardens above it before heading down to cross the river and climb up the mountain to where the monkey park is. It was a terrific view across Kyoto from there. We then headed off to Nijo-Jo castle for a look at one of the old Shoguns keep. For dinner it was back down to the Pontocho street to find a restaurant. Love this street, Paul told us that they had hidden all the powerlines, the street looks amazing as a result.

Next day was all about temples and shrines we went to Ginkakju, Nansen-ji, Kyomizo-dera and Fushi Inari. I’ll sum it all up by say they all look amazing. The best of the day was the Ginkakaju pavilions gardens then walking along the philosophers path an Kyomizu-dera with its wooden stilted balcony. The path is beautiful and peaceful, I’d imagine during the cherry blossoms season it is more beautiful but probably quite crowded. The old shopping street that leads up to Kyomizu-dera was incredibly crowded but it was a lot of fun. To end the day we found a Yakniku place near home and the boys cooked Fiona and I dinner.

Next morning the rain had set in so we headed back to the market streets around Kyoto and went exploring the streets around Gion. That about wraps up Kyoto for us before we now head to Osaka

Japan.. continued

The pace hasn’t slowed. Headed out to Naka-Meguro for a walk around the canals. Sara took us to the Starbucks Roastery for lunch. Despite a bit of trepidation from the coffee snob in me they had this whiskey barrel aged coffee bean made into a black ice coffee that was fantastic. Unfortunately that’s the only place you can buy it in Japan. After lunch there Paul took the boys off to Akihabara while Fiona and I went on our own adventure to Yamaha Ginza. There was a shop there that sold these terrific canvas tool bags I was after. The whole area was a really interesting market street filled vintage, handcraft and food shops. We then headed back to catch up with Paul and the boys.

Akihabara is nuts. Way bigger and busier than I remembered. Loads of interesting characters wandering around. Paul left us there and we all took off to Shinjuku. We wandered around the Kabuki cho area and found a hotel with Godzillas head sticking out the top of it. We then headed across to the Tokyo Metropolitan tower to go to the observation level for a view across Tokyo. Then finally home after getting lost in Shinjuku station, which is more than a right of passage. Seems to be something I do every time I’m here even Google Maps says your on your own here fella

Next it was on the Shinkansen and off to Tokyo. Checked into what is a fairly traditional style family house and promptly bumped my head. Had a fairly quiet day wandering down Nishiki food market street. The boys headed back home to relax so Fiona and I headed to Pontocho which is a traditional and I guess ancient street in Kyoto. We found a great place for a beer called the beer bar. The sign outside promised it wasn’t sketchy . They lied, it was proper sketchy and we loved it. Headed home and took the boys out for Mos Burger which they had been looking forward too.

That’s enough for now

Busy start to our Japan

First couple of days have been a proper whirlwind since landing a couple of nights ago. First up was a visit to Paul’s office, then off to explore the Imperial gardens. Both quite incredible. Then headed over to Shibuya for some lunch a shop and to show the boys the shibuya scramble crossing. We got a bit of rain at that time so had to quickly scramble to find some 400 yen umbrellas which in typical Japanese fashion are ubiquitous and functional. That night we had tickets to the baseball through which the rain continued but the entertainment and enthusiasm from the crowd was as much fun as ever. Still one of the great sporting experiences you can go too.

Early start the next morning and off to TeamLabs which is a digital and interactive art exhibition. Next stop Ginza for some Ramen and what I thought would be window shopping before heading to Disneyland for the night then Disney Sea the next day. The places are incredible to see, boys had a great time and have forgiven me for going 10 years ago without them

the next day Sara and Jun showed us around Shibuya, Ometasando and Harajuku. We then finished up visiting the Meiji Shrine which sits in the middle of this amazing woodland right next to the busiest part of the city. The place is quite beautiful and peaceful. The day finished with a Terrific dinner at Paul and Maki’s, some sushi and balcony bbq’ing

that’s it for now, more to come later.

The Unveiling

Hi

Mum has been working very hard on this lately. Great result for all the hard work!

Christmas 2021

Hi All

Great day yesterday over at Dan and Dee’s house - Thanks a bunch for having us. If anyone has photos they want to add let me know

Mt Martha Easter

Some Easter shenanigans and March birthdays

Happy Easter

Hi All

We’ve made more than fours hours from home for a holiday. Bloody miracle between Covid and car breakdowns. Happy Easter all hope you have a lovely weekend

lots of love

Matt Fiona and the travelling McInerneys

Forrest Ride and Birthdays

Bernie, Patrick, James, Eddie Mitchel and I spent the weekend down at Forrest for a Mountain Bike race. 30 km through the Otway countryside in all. Lot of fun in all. Got some snaps of Patrick’s Birthday and James is back home today for his birthday

Couple of birthday boys

Christmas, New Years and Bright holidays and 50

Hi

Thought I’d share some photos from the last few weeks having Christmas and Monica and Andrews house, New Years at Pip and Ed’s, camping at Bright then Fiona and the boys took me out for dinner at Movida for my 50th

School Captain

The one on the left..

Check the smile

Holidays in Pandemica

It too easy to post blogs and photos when your somewhere fabulous. Show us your mundane, your bored and your frustrated. Pandemica is a big 4 caravan park in your mind

Happy Anniversary

Hi All

Had a small celebration at Mum and Dads place to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Here’s to them both! they are a wonderful inspirational loving pair

note the original bow tie, hat and flowers in the photos

Summer fun

So we are still celebrating birthdays herr

Cake Day!!

Loads of cakes and candles here yesterday as we celebrated the birthday collective. So happy birthday to James, Patrick, Paul, Ella and Emma!!

Melbourne Christmas

Hi all

It was great to have everyone over at our place yesterday. After the extreme weather the day before it was nice to be able to sit outside comfortably. The girls get a special mention for trying to train Murph for us, he seemed pretty exhausted at the end of the day.

Mum and Dad’s Christmas sendoff

Nothing great happens without enthusiasm and as usual Mum and Dad organised a great sendoff

Jury is still out on whether this ends in tears