Life & Relationships
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A Family That Volunteers Together…
They say a family that volunteers together stays together. Graeme and Luna apparently interpreted “volunteering” rather loosely. 😂
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Taking It Easy
Apparently, when runners say they’re taking it easy, they mean swapping the run for an 11.6 km hike.
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Day 1 in Tokyo: Interestingly Challenging, but Great!
We left our Tokyo hotel two hours early so we wouldn’t miss our Disneyland pickup. We still got lost, waited at the wrong FamilyMart, missed the tour, missed seven train changes and somehow ended up at the wrong hotel. At least I learned how to ride the train.
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The Chase Is Over!!!
My ski lesson was cancelled, Hakuba told us not to come expecting snow, and I spent a day chasing forecasts around Nagano. Then I spotted one magical word beside Togakushi Shrine: snow.
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An Evening at Zenkoji Temple
Zenkoji Temple was only a 30-minute walk from our accommodation, and by lucky timing we visited during its evening illumination. After several days of chasing plans around Japan, it was lovely just to walk, look and enjoy.
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Meeting the Snow Monkeys
The snow monkeys were adorable — especially the babies. Graeme spent most of the visit worried I might try to take one home. For the record, I behaved myself.
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Japanese Customs, Courtesies and Tradition
Our first night in a traditional Japanese ryokan involved slipper confusion, robes we couldn’t wear properly, a carefully timed chef told us he was only just bringing out the main course.
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Never Say Never!!!
The night before, Graeme and I had decided we didn’t particularly like the onsen, yukata or soba. By 5 am the next morning, two of the three had already won us over.
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Back to Tokyo
The bullet train took us from Nagano to Tokyo in 1 hour and 49 minutes. Finding our accommodation took considerably longer. But this time we didn’t miss our station, so I’m calling that progress.
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Tokyo Disneyland
We missed Disneyland on our first day in Tokyo because we got lost. On Day 8, we organised it ourselves, navigated the trains without asking anyone — and then I nearly lost Graeme inside Disneyland instead.
Stories Along the Way 