Along the river side

 River cruise

Our new car

Fishing boat on beach front at Niigata

 Memorial park tulip display

Tulip festival

Senami Onsen

Things to do in Niigata

Last weekend we went on the Shinano River Cruise so see Niigata city.  We were able to see more cherry blossoms along the riverside as well as tulips.  Everyone got off at the last stop of the cruise so we thought maybe there might be something to see – despite it being about 12 degrees – so we followed the crowd over a hill to find a million people (approx.) looking at tulips and an indoor food marketplace. See photos.

We also visited the Former Ozawa Family Residence – an ornate house and garden donated to the city by the wealthy family owners.  See photos of Eddie jumping on the garden stepping stones.

For yummy baked goods and designer clothes we went to the Mitsukoshi department store near Niigata Station. We actually only went in to use the baby change room facilities, which were great too.

We got our new car delivered to our house on Friday. Toyota Wish.  The GPS is great but all in Japanese. Jim figured out how to enter the phone number of our destination into the GPS and then the map takes us there. Great when we can’t read and write Kanji, so good bye Mr Bus driver J The used car salesman brought it to our house after preparing the two weeks’ worth of paperwork required to register the car J

Jim showed us around the Uni campus last week and we braved the midday lunch rush.  Basically let the crowd move you onto a coloured line on the cafeteria floor and hope it ends up at some food you would like to eat. There are three cafeterias on our campus plus a bakery and half a dozen cafes/convenience stores.

27/4/14 – 3/5/14

This weekend we drove North to Senami to stay in an onsen ryokan called Taikanso on the Japan sea.  The sun sets on the ocean so it’s very popular to soak your feet in the natural hot springs while watching the sun go down. The dinner was really good. They had a large Moses basket on stilts for Charlie to sit in while I ate dinner.  The women’s public bath in the hotel was awesome. Rows of dimly lit dressing tables and an indoor and outdoor thermal spring hot pools.  We had yakuta (light cotton dressing gowns) to wear while in the hotel travelling between hot spring baths, dinner and our room. Check out Eddie in the photos.

On the way to the Onsen we went to see the Tainai Tulip Festival. So many beautiful tulips.  Eddie was covered in yellow pollen after a spill in the rape seed field (which reads Happy Wedding from the air).  You could dig your favourite tulips up too and take them home. They had some good food stalls too.  Open 

We also stopped in a memorial park where Eddie played in the shallow pools with tulip floats… and got drenched!

Yesterday we had a look at the Wakabayashi house where the family of Samurai lived. We also saw the Murakami History Museum which keeps the some of the historic floats for the Murakami festival, samurai swords & armour.   On the way home we spotted a dinosaur in a park that turned out to be a slippery dip.

Today we went to Triple Kids Café in Niigata which is next to the aquarium and has indoor slides, trampoline and toys for little kids while you eat lunch.  Kids get in free if they eat there too or it’s 150 yen per half hour – about $1.50!

We then took the kids to the Niigata Aquarium for a look at the dolphins, sea lions, tropical salt water fish etc. Well worth the visit, plus it had a kiddie soft play area and slide before you go home. Eddie and Charlie both slept on the way home in the car J

CHERRY BLOSSOMS …I don’t use this word very often but the cherry blossoms in Hakusan (near the Niigata music hall)were spectacular! See the photos.  They only bloom for about 10 days of the year so everyone was there during this time to have a picnic under the trees. There were hot food stalls in the park too on the day we visited.  Eddie got to play with some of the local children at the temple too where they had the best collection of cherry blossom trees.

SNOW…We took the bullet train (200km/hour) for 50 mins from Niigata to Euchigo Yuzawa for a weekend at the snow & stayed in an Onsen (with a Grand Public Bath split into male and female with large indoor and outdoor heated pools). The ladies bathhouse was great. Super-hot water and afterwards there’s heated hair brushes and hair dryers and all sorts of face creams and peels and sunscreen to use. I tried it all.  We went to the Gala Ski Resort. Jim skied on Sunday and the babies and I played in the kiddie snow area.  We got there by a very long & high fully enclosed gondola. The snow was good and it’s an easily accessible ski field.  The locals had some downhill skiing time trials on which was good to watch.  There was no windy long drives up the mountain as the bullet train took us through the mountain J all food and drinks are selected and paid for via vending machines and then you take a ticket to the counter to collect your food.

SHOPPING…Niigata has some great big name shops Zara, H&M, Gap, Uni Glo as well as the great local version.  Nittori is similar to Ikea and great for the home.  Supermarkets here have everything as well as great pre prepared meals.  The seafood selection and quality is amazing here as we are near the ocean and Niigata has a large fish market.

INTERNET…haven’t had much access but we should get it connected at home soon.  I’ve occasionally used the free Wi-Fi from the Tourist info centre after showing them our passport and also at the 7 Eleven.

BEDROOMS …We’ve moved into our new home at the Niigata University Ikarashi Campus staff lodgings.  We have plenty of room and more space than I imagined.  The bedrooms are six tatami mats in size each which is large.  They each have built ins, but these are for futons.  We opted to buy western style mattresses though.

BATHROOM…The bathroom has a titled area for showering with a hand held shower head and a deep bath tub for soaking in afterwards, there is also a steam function on the bath which creates a sauna effect in the room.

KITCHEN…Our kitchen has two gas hot plates & a grill and a gas hot water tap.  But we tend to eat out a lot as the prices are roughly $15 - $20 for two mains and a beer so why waste time cooking?

GARBAGE…our block of flats has a shared cage in the parking lot where we all throw our rubbish into. We must sort the rubbish though into plastic, glass, cardboard, burnable waste etc. and place it in the cage on the correct day for collection.  Rubbish bags are purchased at the supermarket for non recyclable rubbish.  I heard some music playing something like the Mr Whippy ice cream van music the other day, only to see it was just the recycling truck L

CLOTHES LINE…we have a steel bar on the veranda for hanging washing. I had to look at the neighbours to see how it worked. Washing is put onto coat hangers before it is hung out.

PRESCHOOL…Eddie started class at the www.niigataenglishschool.com last Friday and really liked the people there. 

EARTHQUAKE…We had an earthquake last week on the 8^th April at 5am.  I was the only one awake to feel it. It shook our bed from side to side and rattled the house but only lasted 20 seconds. I decided to read the safety brochure the next day and packed our emergency back pack. Good tip from the brochure, open the doors when its starts in case they warp out of shape and can’t be opened later.

CAR HIRE…We tried to hire a car yesterday but couldn’t do so without our international driver’s license. Luckily we both got one from NRMA before we left, but we left them at home that dayL

LANGUAGE…I’ve got the “Learn Japanese” app on my iPhone which has been very helpful for random phrases. It says the phrase out loud for you and shows the Japanese spelling too.  I used the phrase koko wa nani ga oishiidesuka in a restaurant the other night, (What’s good here?) and the waitress made a good selection for us.  When we enter restaurants here all the kitchen and wait staff shout out welcome, and then later goodbye. This also happens in the supermarkets & shops.

BABIES…Travelling with the babies has been no problem.  The change rooms in the supermarkets and shopping centres are great.  Heated toilet seats and high chairs in the ladies cubicles in case you’re carrying a baby in the Bjorn J Some shops like giving Eddie treats as we leave, even the bus driver J

BUS…The bus here has been good too, so long as you know what number bus you need.  You board the bus from the back doors and take a number ticket. Your ticket number appears on a light board near the driver and tells you your fare to pay when you get off. The driver says thank you and good bye to each passenger, as well as makes some narrative about each stop. The speed limit here is 40 so it’s a leisurely pace on the roads.

Chat soon

Hinkleys in Japan