Japan

One thing you notice about the airport in Japan is that it is full of gift stores, the majority selling food items such as chocolates, biscuits and cakes - all packaged and wrapped to perfection (the Japanese are very meticulous with presentation and you have to be impressed with the way that literally anything you buy comes in boxes and is superbly wrapped!). A common practice in Japan is the giving of gifts whenever one visits family or friends, locally or internationally. So everywhere you turn at the airport, you see people queuing up to purchase boxes of gifts before they board the next flight. We certainly got into the spirit, purchasing quiet a few gifts for family and friends.

Our trip included a visit to the North Island, Hokkaido, where there were two major highlights. The first was a visit to the lavender fields. You can only catch the Lavender fields in July-August of every year and trying to describe it in words does it no justice. You have to see it to believe it but if you use your imagination, it's like a real-life scene from the "Wizard of Oz." Fields of purple lavender stretching for miles with colours of red, yellow, and orange flower beds surrounding. And you won't just be amazed at the sight of the fields, but also the products they make with lavender. Apart from the traditional dried flowers, there is lavender soap, lavender pillows, lavender sweets, lavender perfume, and even lavender ice cream. That's right - and the ice cream tasted mighty fine too!

The other highlight of the trip up north was a visit to the Hot Springs near the foot of volcanoes. At the foot of non-active volcanoes, hotels have been built to take advantage of the surrounding heat of the rocks. These rocks are used to heat up spa pools located within the hotel, and the theory goes that the heated water provides a cure for certain skin irritations. Used over a long period it is said to actually get rid of skin diseases. Anyway, the hot spa pools are split into different levels (one for men and one for women as anyone that enters these spa pools must remove all their clothing!) There are a number of spa pools within each area and as you enter, you can feel the heat in the rising steam which fills the room. And boy was it HOT! It took me a good 10 minutes to submerse my whole body in the boiling water. It felt very soothing but after about 10 minutes it was just too much to handle. You literally feel exhausted, but your pores feel thoroughly cleansed and relaxed. And you also feel quite hungry afterwards, so off we went for a bowl of traditional Japanese Ramen in the hotel!

Back down south and it was off to the theme parks. We had a difficult choice to make as there are actually two Disney theme parks in Tokyo. There is the traditional Disneyland which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year and then there is the newly constructed Disney Sea next door. Since we only had one day allocated for the theme parks it was one or the other, and in the end after much advice, thought, and deliberation, it was Disneyland that won. So what's the difference? Disneyland is more of a ride-based theme park, whereas Disney Sea is a water-based theme park with fewer rides but more live shows and man-made attractions to see. Either park would have been fine, but since we had not been to Disneyland and since it is celebrating its 20th anniversary, we went there.

Disneyland is quite large, split up into eight themed parks. Though I had a fear of heights, I got over it and tried out the Big Thunder Mountain ride - a water rapids ride where you just plunge down the mountain and get drenched in water. Just my luck that I sat in the front seat and in the end my heart literally felt like jumping out! But I went on and also had a go on the Space Mountain ride. Not so much heights I had to deal with this time, but a fast ride going around in circles! Having survived that there were other more conservative rides (right up my alley) such as the tea cups and the merry-go-round! We pent the whole day trying to go on as many rides as possible, but time pressures restricted us as we had to organise time around watching the parades, fireworks, and having enough time at the end for shopping. As it is the 20th Anniversary, there were many souvenirs to buy and the last hour was spent just doing this.

I've only touched on some of the things that you can do in Japan. I guess it's time for you get on that plane and hop over to Japan to experience it for yourself.