as promised, here are some (not all) pictures from the trip.
 |
| Japan |
and here are some videos
 |
| Japan vids |
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
conclusion
Back home again, and I am already missing Japan... It was a great trip and theres still alot to be seen there for my next visit, so I am very looking forward to going back soon!
as promised, here are some (not all) pictures from the trip.
and here are some videos
as promised, here are some (not all) pictures from the trip.
and here are some videos
Monday, October 15, 2007
winding down
The last few days have been pretty slow, in terms of treking around the country. We arrived in Nagoya and spent a few days at Marc`s, just hanging out and taking it easy. I was to come to Tokyo yesterday, but never made it. Deena and I joined Marc and his mates for dinner and drinks, and finished off the night with some karaoke rockin`. As we left karaoke we went for some famous japanese curry, someone pointed out that the sun was rising. I thought it was around 2 or 3, but I was way off. Getting back to Marc`s around 6:30, I decided that I was going to stay another day and recover before heading off to Tokyo City... and I`m glad I did.
This morning, feeling fresh as a daisy, I hopped out of my sleeping bag, took a shower and headed for the train to Tokyo. I got here around 5ish and decided to hang around the Shinjuku area untill I was ready to crash. I played some video games, and walked the streets for a few hours untill now... I found a fancy internet cafe and its almost bedtime.
Tomorrow I`m going to meet Deena (she stayed in Nagoya an extra day to catch up on some work) at our hostel in Asakusa (Tokyo). Afterwards I plan on wandering around Roppongi and Akihabra one last time before our flight home in a few days. Hopefully I will be able to remember where the locker was that I stashed my suitcase full of goodies (I had found an almost perfectly good suitcase in the dumpster and it amazingly fit all my junk snugly like a good game of tetris).
thats all for now
so long folks
This morning, feeling fresh as a daisy, I hopped out of my sleeping bag, took a shower and headed for the train to Tokyo. I got here around 5ish and decided to hang around the Shinjuku area untill I was ready to crash. I played some video games, and walked the streets for a few hours untill now... I found a fancy internet cafe and its almost bedtime.
Tomorrow I`m going to meet Deena (she stayed in Nagoya an extra day to catch up on some work) at our hostel in Asakusa (Tokyo). Afterwards I plan on wandering around Roppongi and Akihabra one last time before our flight home in a few days. Hopefully I will be able to remember where the locker was that I stashed my suitcase full of goodies (I had found an almost perfectly good suitcase in the dumpster and it amazingly fit all my junk snugly like a good game of tetris).
thats all for now
so long folks
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Sapporo, Hiroshima and Italy
Silly me, I forgot to mention our 2nd day in Hiroshima! After our first fun filled night in Hiroshima we had a more depressing view of Hiroshima. We started off by visiting the A-bomb dome, which was a building thats still standing (with a little help) after the atomic bomb was dropped nearly directly over top of it. They kept the building there, despite its delapitation, to remind the world of the destruction that took place there many years ago. We then strolled through the peace park and visited various statues and reminders of the atrocities that took place. Most of them were in memory of all the innocent children and older folks that died in the attack. After working through most of the park it was time to go to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museam. In it was a timeline of all the events that took place in Japan before, during, and after that fatefull day. They started off by saying how there was many battles being faught between Japan and China. After that was resolved Japan became active in World War 2. Hirshima was a mobilized military town which housed many soldiers and military personell. They also mention that Hiroshima was the prime target because there were no allied priosoners of war on site. Once the bomb was dropped it had destroyed most of the city centre. There were many pictures and miniature models showing the path of destruction left behind by the bomb. It was very depressing, but that was only the begining. After the introduction there were ruins brought back into the museum. Metal girders warped by the heat, burned clothing, melted glass bottles and roof shingles. They even had a stone staircase that was charred by the atomic rays, but left a shadow where a lady was sitting on the bank steps, waiting for the bank to open during the time of the explosion. This was all very emotional, and it could have done without the wax sculptures of 2 kids and a woman walking through the rubble with their skin melting off their arms. They then showed the effects of radiation on the human body (short and long term) and revealed to us how many of the countries today still have stockpiles of atomic weapons. It was really scary actually. In the end, the museum never justified Japan`s involvement in the war, but rather show the effects of the kind of destruction atomic weapons can produce and are trying to show all the people that we shouldn`t let this happen again.
After the museum we were pretty bummed out to do anything fun, so we then decided to get the hell outta there and hopped on a train to Fukuoka.
We all know what went down in Fukuoka and Nagasaki.
Right now its day #2 in Sapporo. 2 days ago we took a real long train(s) ride to Sapporo from Fukuoka. The train ride was fun for the most part. During the longer train we enjoyed ourselves by sitting on a couch in the train watching black sheep (not the chris farley movie) on my ipod, dined in a fancy traincar and then had a nice sleep on a bunkbed. It was a real fun experience and I would love to do it again.
The next morning we awoke in Sapporo and were releived to enjoy some nice fall weather. My first impression of Sapporo was great. Nice weather (in comparison) wide streets and not too many people (in comparison). We stuck our bags in a locker, took a change of clothes out, and then made our way to the Sapporo Brewry Museum. Along the way, we stumbled by our new favourite Japanese chain store, Hobby off / Book off (no Hard off there). There was lots of fun junk to buy, but I had to restrain myself and only walk away with a Power glove for my new (very used) famicom system, and a copy of Super Mario Bros 3. when we got to the Sapporo Brewry Museum were greated by very friendly staff and the enterance was free! yippie! We made up our own explainitory captions, since there was no english, and then we came to the first bar. 400 yen for 3 glasses of various Sapporo beer products, with cheese! It was quite delicious, and very cold. After finding out how cheap of drunks we were, we continued through the museum and came by a 2nd bar, only one exhibit away too. We then drank a bit more cheap and tasty beer. Then we staggered into a Sega arcade, played some games and walked through the mall. Tired as hell, we then went to our internet cafe where we stayed the night and barely got any sleep at all.
Day 2 (today). We woke up kinda, and emmiditly headed for the mountains. Finding our way there was rather difficult as all the english we came across in Japan had suddenly dissapeared. After some minor difficulties, we found a bus to the mountains where we enjoyed some onsen bathing in the outdoors. It was really, really relaxing. After a few baths we headed further into the mountains, up a cable car and ate some almost delicous lamb dish which we cooked ourselves. Had in not been damp outside, we would have have been able to enjoy a beautiful view of the mountain covered with trees in their fall colours. Instead, we ate inside and then viewed the mountains afterwards. It was quite grand. Quite. I can try to explain how nice it was, but that would just be paifully boring to read. Pictures to come within a few weeks.
Tomorrow were off on another long trip, 4 trains and 12 hours later, to Nagoya. I will look forward to finding out if my package made it back to me or not.
chumbawumba
avi
After the museum we were pretty bummed out to do anything fun, so we then decided to get the hell outta there and hopped on a train to Fukuoka.
We all know what went down in Fukuoka and Nagasaki.
Right now its day #2 in Sapporo. 2 days ago we took a real long train(s) ride to Sapporo from Fukuoka. The train ride was fun for the most part. During the longer train we enjoyed ourselves by sitting on a couch in the train watching black sheep (not the chris farley movie) on my ipod, dined in a fancy traincar and then had a nice sleep on a bunkbed. It was a real fun experience and I would love to do it again.
The next morning we awoke in Sapporo and were releived to enjoy some nice fall weather. My first impression of Sapporo was great. Nice weather (in comparison) wide streets and not too many people (in comparison). We stuck our bags in a locker, took a change of clothes out, and then made our way to the Sapporo Brewry Museum. Along the way, we stumbled by our new favourite Japanese chain store, Hobby off / Book off (no Hard off there). There was lots of fun junk to buy, but I had to restrain myself and only walk away with a Power glove for my new (very used) famicom system, and a copy of Super Mario Bros 3. when we got to the Sapporo Brewry Museum were greated by very friendly staff and the enterance was free! yippie! We made up our own explainitory captions, since there was no english, and then we came to the first bar. 400 yen for 3 glasses of various Sapporo beer products, with cheese! It was quite delicious, and very cold. After finding out how cheap of drunks we were, we continued through the museum and came by a 2nd bar, only one exhibit away too. We then drank a bit more cheap and tasty beer. Then we staggered into a Sega arcade, played some games and walked through the mall. Tired as hell, we then went to our internet cafe where we stayed the night and barely got any sleep at all.
Day 2 (today). We woke up kinda, and emmiditly headed for the mountains. Finding our way there was rather difficult as all the english we came across in Japan had suddenly dissapeared. After some minor difficulties, we found a bus to the mountains where we enjoyed some onsen bathing in the outdoors. It was really, really relaxing. After a few baths we headed further into the mountains, up a cable car and ate some almost delicous lamb dish which we cooked ourselves. Had in not been damp outside, we would have have been able to enjoy a beautiful view of the mountain covered with trees in their fall colours. Instead, we ate inside and then viewed the mountains afterwards. It was quite grand. Quite. I can try to explain how nice it was, but that would just be paifully boring to read. Pictures to come within a few weeks.
Tomorrow were off on another long trip, 4 trains and 12 hours later, to Nagoya. I will look forward to finding out if my package made it back to me or not.
chumbawumba
avi
Monday, October 8, 2007
Fukuoka and Nagasakiiiiiii
A slight change of plans... Since Nagasaki was totally booked up for the few days of the festival, we chose to go to Fukuoka and head to Nagasaki the next morning. Our first night in Fukuoka wasn`t very eventful. We got in, in the mid afternoon and found ourselves one of the only hostels availible. We quickly booked it and dropped off our bags. From there we took a little stroll through the city. Fukuoka doesn`t offer anything different than most of the other cities we`ve visited. Tall buildings, busy streets, Japanese food... nothing to write home about. We took it easy that night. Although the most exciting part of the day was when Deena had stumbled onto a few websites that were talking about her`s and Robb`s comic book, Titty Terror. People from all over north america were writing about how much they enjoyed it and there was even a fan art section where people were submitting their own titty terror drawings. It was quite shocking to see this, especially for Deena, since they only released a small teaser comic and handed out some coppies in Toronto. Deena celebrated on our way back to the hostel by jumping up in the air, we then returned to our beds and passed out.
The next morning we were awoken by a construction crew next door. It helped us wake up early and rush to the train station to catch our train to Nagasaki for the day. After a beautiful train ride we arrived at the main station. The weather there was VERY hot and VERY humid... We both felt really gross the instant we walked into the open air. We headed for the tourist information booth, grabbed a bite to eat, and then ventured into the city via streetcar to catch a festival with a big paper dragon (the name escapes me right now). It was really neat to see all the participants walking around and hoisting the dragon up and down in the air. Quite the spectacle. Then we walked down the street and saw a huge staircase with Torii all along the way. I hiked my way up to the top while Deena hung back and enjoyed some shade (not like it would have helped, it was still hot as heck). At the top of the staircase lived a large temple, I didn`t catch the name since it was all in Japanese, but it was still very nice. I also enjoyed a great view of the city from atop of the staircase. After I met back up with Deena we both decided to go back to Fukuoka to escape the tremendous heat, and I`m glad we did.
Along the way we planned a spontanious route to Sapporo to hopefully enjoy some nicer cooler weather, to get a cross japan view of the land and also to take full advantage of our rail passes. The trip leaves tomorrow and should take around 17-20 hours. We are both very looking forward to the trip.
Tonight we are staying at a surprisingly large japanese style hotel in Fukuoka, equipped with tea and a biscut. Hopefully they will replenish our stock before we retire for the night. They were damn good biscuits.
Thats all for today, stay tuned for more updates from the land of the rising sun.
g`bye
The next morning we were awoken by a construction crew next door. It helped us wake up early and rush to the train station to catch our train to Nagasaki for the day. After a beautiful train ride we arrived at the main station. The weather there was VERY hot and VERY humid... We both felt really gross the instant we walked into the open air. We headed for the tourist information booth, grabbed a bite to eat, and then ventured into the city via streetcar to catch a festival with a big paper dragon (the name escapes me right now). It was really neat to see all the participants walking around and hoisting the dragon up and down in the air. Quite the spectacle. Then we walked down the street and saw a huge staircase with Torii all along the way. I hiked my way up to the top while Deena hung back and enjoyed some shade (not like it would have helped, it was still hot as heck). At the top of the staircase lived a large temple, I didn`t catch the name since it was all in Japanese, but it was still very nice. I also enjoyed a great view of the city from atop of the staircase. After I met back up with Deena we both decided to go back to Fukuoka to escape the tremendous heat, and I`m glad we did.
Along the way we planned a spontanious route to Sapporo to hopefully enjoy some nicer cooler weather, to get a cross japan view of the land and also to take full advantage of our rail passes. The trip leaves tomorrow and should take around 17-20 hours. We are both very looking forward to the trip.
Tonight we are staying at a surprisingly large japanese style hotel in Fukuoka, equipped with tea and a biscut. Hopefully they will replenish our stock before we retire for the night. They were damn good biscuits.
Thats all for today, stay tuned for more updates from the land of the rising sun.
g`bye
Saturday, October 6, 2007
goodbye Osaka, hello Koya-san
We, very leisurely, left Osaka early in the morning and slowly made our way to the train station to get to Koya-san. We went to a department store to find a bag for me to carry all my goodies in, only to find that the bags I had in mind cost upwards of 20,000 yen.
`forget that` I said.
we then went for breakfast and then hit up the post office, where I was to spend over an hour trying to mail a box full of treasures to myself in Nagoya. Hopefully this will all go off without a hitch, and I wont end up like the guy next to me in line (from Detroit) yelling at the postal workers that his package was supposed to have arrived a month ago.
`good luck` he said to me.
My heart sank a bit.
From there we were on our way to Koya-san, which is a small village up in a basin of a mountain where there are over 100 Buddhist temples. Along the way, I made friends with an elderly Japanese woman. At least I think we were friends, she diddn`t speak a lick of english, but she was very kind. She gave me a little pack of tissue paper and told me what the advertisement on the back was (in Japanese). She then got off the train at her stop, after many nods of me not knowing a word she was saying to me. Again, she was very nice and friendly. After taking a train, then a train, another train, and a cable car, and finally a bus... we make it to the `town centre`... Its pitch black outside by this point, and we are tired as hell. We decide to go to the only hostel in town for the night and spend the next night at a temple lodge.
We very quickly find the hostel and approach a drunken clerk (at least I think he was drunk, he smelled of booze and stumbled with his words a bit)
`reservation?` he said
`nope` I replied
A shocking look came over his face which only concerned me a bit. He showed us the only room left in the hostel which was all the way up in the attic. He was very apologetic that this was the only space available. He revealed the room to us, after climbing a very steep staircase and crawling through an oompaloompa sized door. The room was magnificent. It was very large (with very low ceilings), it had a window, lamp, TV, a table with a few chairs, and a large log strangely placed across the centre of the room. It was the fanciest attic I`ve seen in my life, so far.
The next morning we left to find our self a temple to stay in. The lady at the tourist information centre told us that many of the temples were very full for the night, and that the one we were to be staying at would have an outhouse and paper walls separating the rooms from one another. That was fine, we said. Having booked our accommodation for the night, we headed off to get some breakfast. We went to a little restaurant by the tourist centre. I ordered Udon noodles, and Deena vegetable rice. During our meal I made conversation with an elderly Japanese man, who also diddn`t really speak any english. He was talking about how Canada was cold in the winter and warm in the summer (at least thats what I gathered from playing a spontaneous game of Japanese style charades). He was also very friendly and cheerful, and in great shape for a 72 year old mountain man. From there we headed off to launder our clothes. We were both very stinky, more so Deena, and felt that it would be a fun experience (doing laundry in the mountains).
It was time to check into the temple, I was really looking forward to this experience. We were very cheerfully greeted at the front entrance by a monk who was happy to check us in. He was a very tall man, but acted very small and humble. He asked us what time we would be eating dinner and bathing, and took our drink orders for dinner. He walked us to our room, down a very very clean wooden corridor and showed us in. The room was magnificent. Not only were there solid walls between the rooms, but we also had an indoor washroom. After dropping off our bags, we went for a stroll through the town. We looked at some temples and walked through a very nice and almost eerie Buddhist cemetery.
Finally, it was time for this very refined Buddhist dinner I`ve been hearing so much about. We were walked into a rather large room, with 4 little tables and 2 floor mats, quite the private meal. It was a strictly vegetarian meal consisting of 2 kinds of tofu, various pickled mountain veggies, some sort of seaweed dish, some kind of lemon soup (to fight the mountain scurvy), white rice and a rice cake they call `devils tongue` (I believe).
After dinner we waited in our room for bath time. After a half hour there was a very quiet, but persistent, knocking at my door.
`sumi, sumi, sumi, sumi...` he said, until I opened the door.
`this way` he said
by the time i got to the bottom of the staircase, he was already waaaay down the hallway by the bathhouse. My fat feet don`t really fit into these slim slippers they gave me, which makes walking (quickly) a challenge. The bath was lovely, I had a good soak in the stone hot tub and then washed myself clean.
Then Deena showered. Then we went to bed.
early the next morning, around 6:30 in the AM we were greeted by another very persistent knocking at the door.
`sumi, sumi, sumi, sumi...` I answered the door and we were off to the morning ceremonies.
I diddn`t know what to expect, as I know nothing about Buddhist culture. Our favourite monk walked us to the ceremony hall. We entered a room full of ornaments, statues and all sorts of religious things that I diddn`t know of. In the centre of the room was 2 stools, for Deena and I. I thought that there would be other tourists here also observing the ritual, but it was just the two of us. We sat and watched them chant (a) very mesmerizing prayer(s?). I wonder what they were saying.
`zee zee wuh wuh nai uh gee wah zee zee..` this went on for about 30 min. There was some cymbal crashing throughout, and some gong dinging with a little bit of bell bonking. It sounded neat, but nothing I would put on my ipod. Now was time for the tourist interaction. We got on our knees and were told to put 3 pinches of some dried plant on a burning incense. Then, after a little more chanting, the main priest in the centre of the shrine turns to us. From behind he looked like a really old man, but was surprised to see him as a young man when he turned.
`thank you very much for staying and observing our ceremony, we hope you enjoy your time here. Breakfast will be served... arigato`.. or something like that , I can`t remember it word for word. It was a really great experience watching them do what they do... whatever it is that they were doing.
Breakfast was similar to dinner, but with other styles of pickled veggies, miso soup, seaweed and some sort of tofu and bean pancake. There was also what looked like a baby plum, which was EXTREMELY sour, and somewhat tasty.
After breakfast we took a little nap and I charged my dead ipod for the trip that lay ahead. We left the temple and headed to the cable car station where we would take the train back to Osaka. On the cable car we met our Belgish/kazakastanian chums... I knew we would be seeing them again, somewhere. We rode the train back to Osaka together, and one of them psychoanalyzed Deena with some mind games (quite accurately too). When we got to Osaka we said goodbye and went on our way.
We make it to Hiroshima around 4 and find out that all the hostels and hotels are booked.
`this is preposterous` I thought.
We then decide that we should stay the night at one of these luxury Internet cafes. We checked it out, and it turns out that it would actually be cheaper to spend the night in a private internet booth with a TV and internet than an actual hostel. I opted for the room with a bed and Deena selected the reclining chair option. This was definitely more worth while than just a straight up hostel. They supply us with towel, slippers, toothpaste and brush, and a locker for the night.. and all for 2300 yens! I should also mention that there is an all you can drink fountain pop machine, espresso machine, soup and soft serve ice cream. Man, am I going to be sick tonight!
Before we got here, we killed some time around the city (since all the museums and such were closed for the day). We had a nice soba noodle dinner at a tiny hole in the wall and saw some action on the street shortly afterwards. I wasn`t sure what was going on, but there was a tall American looking guy holding onto a pole with a small Japanese man pulling on his bag with all his might. They were both screaming at each other while the obvious tourist`s friends were only watching on. Deena had pointed out that the Japanese man was wearing a jazz club t shirt, and we had noticed smoke or steam billowing out of the jazz club as we walked by. I wonder what was going on.
This post has gone on long enough... Tomorrow we are to check out the city and then make our way to Nagasaki for a festival we only found out about today. The whole city`s accomodation is already booked up, so we may be staying at another internet cafe, if we get lucky again.
bless spellcheck
avo
`forget that` I said.
we then went for breakfast and then hit up the post office, where I was to spend over an hour trying to mail a box full of treasures to myself in Nagoya. Hopefully this will all go off without a hitch, and I wont end up like the guy next to me in line (from Detroit) yelling at the postal workers that his package was supposed to have arrived a month ago.
`good luck` he said to me.
My heart sank a bit.
From there we were on our way to Koya-san, which is a small village up in a basin of a mountain where there are over 100 Buddhist temples. Along the way, I made friends with an elderly Japanese woman. At least I think we were friends, she diddn`t speak a lick of english, but she was very kind. She gave me a little pack of tissue paper and told me what the advertisement on the back was (in Japanese). She then got off the train at her stop, after many nods of me not knowing a word she was saying to me. Again, she was very nice and friendly. After taking a train, then a train, another train, and a cable car, and finally a bus... we make it to the `town centre`... Its pitch black outside by this point, and we are tired as hell. We decide to go to the only hostel in town for the night and spend the next night at a temple lodge.
We very quickly find the hostel and approach a drunken clerk (at least I think he was drunk, he smelled of booze and stumbled with his words a bit)
`reservation?` he said
`nope` I replied
A shocking look came over his face which only concerned me a bit. He showed us the only room left in the hostel which was all the way up in the attic. He was very apologetic that this was the only space available. He revealed the room to us, after climbing a very steep staircase and crawling through an oompaloompa sized door. The room was magnificent. It was very large (with very low ceilings), it had a window, lamp, TV, a table with a few chairs, and a large log strangely placed across the centre of the room. It was the fanciest attic I`ve seen in my life, so far.
The next morning we left to find our self a temple to stay in. The lady at the tourist information centre told us that many of the temples were very full for the night, and that the one we were to be staying at would have an outhouse and paper walls separating the rooms from one another. That was fine, we said. Having booked our accommodation for the night, we headed off to get some breakfast. We went to a little restaurant by the tourist centre. I ordered Udon noodles, and Deena vegetable rice. During our meal I made conversation with an elderly Japanese man, who also diddn`t really speak any english. He was talking about how Canada was cold in the winter and warm in the summer (at least thats what I gathered from playing a spontaneous game of Japanese style charades). He was also very friendly and cheerful, and in great shape for a 72 year old mountain man. From there we headed off to launder our clothes. We were both very stinky, more so Deena, and felt that it would be a fun experience (doing laundry in the mountains).
It was time to check into the temple, I was really looking forward to this experience. We were very cheerfully greeted at the front entrance by a monk who was happy to check us in. He was a very tall man, but acted very small and humble. He asked us what time we would be eating dinner and bathing, and took our drink orders for dinner. He walked us to our room, down a very very clean wooden corridor and showed us in. The room was magnificent. Not only were there solid walls between the rooms, but we also had an indoor washroom. After dropping off our bags, we went for a stroll through the town. We looked at some temples and walked through a very nice and almost eerie Buddhist cemetery.
Finally, it was time for this very refined Buddhist dinner I`ve been hearing so much about. We were walked into a rather large room, with 4 little tables and 2 floor mats, quite the private meal. It was a strictly vegetarian meal consisting of 2 kinds of tofu, various pickled mountain veggies, some sort of seaweed dish, some kind of lemon soup (to fight the mountain scurvy), white rice and a rice cake they call `devils tongue` (I believe).
After dinner we waited in our room for bath time. After a half hour there was a very quiet, but persistent, knocking at my door.
`sumi, sumi, sumi, sumi...` he said, until I opened the door.
`this way` he said
by the time i got to the bottom of the staircase, he was already waaaay down the hallway by the bathhouse. My fat feet don`t really fit into these slim slippers they gave me, which makes walking (quickly) a challenge. The bath was lovely, I had a good soak in the stone hot tub and then washed myself clean.
Then Deena showered. Then we went to bed.
early the next morning, around 6:30 in the AM we were greeted by another very persistent knocking at the door.
`sumi, sumi, sumi, sumi...` I answered the door and we were off to the morning ceremonies.
I diddn`t know what to expect, as I know nothing about Buddhist culture. Our favourite monk walked us to the ceremony hall. We entered a room full of ornaments, statues and all sorts of religious things that I diddn`t know of. In the centre of the room was 2 stools, for Deena and I. I thought that there would be other tourists here also observing the ritual, but it was just the two of us. We sat and watched them chant (a) very mesmerizing prayer(s?). I wonder what they were saying.
`zee zee wuh wuh nai uh gee wah zee zee..` this went on for about 30 min. There was some cymbal crashing throughout, and some gong dinging with a little bit of bell bonking. It sounded neat, but nothing I would put on my ipod. Now was time for the tourist interaction. We got on our knees and were told to put 3 pinches of some dried plant on a burning incense. Then, after a little more chanting, the main priest in the centre of the shrine turns to us. From behind he looked like a really old man, but was surprised to see him as a young man when he turned.
`thank you very much for staying and observing our ceremony, we hope you enjoy your time here. Breakfast will be served... arigato`.. or something like that , I can`t remember it word for word. It was a really great experience watching them do what they do... whatever it is that they were doing.
Breakfast was similar to dinner, but with other styles of pickled veggies, miso soup, seaweed and some sort of tofu and bean pancake. There was also what looked like a baby plum, which was EXTREMELY sour, and somewhat tasty.
After breakfast we took a little nap and I charged my dead ipod for the trip that lay ahead. We left the temple and headed to the cable car station where we would take the train back to Osaka. On the cable car we met our Belgish/kazakastanian chums... I knew we would be seeing them again, somewhere. We rode the train back to Osaka together, and one of them psychoanalyzed Deena with some mind games (quite accurately too). When we got to Osaka we said goodbye and went on our way.
We make it to Hiroshima around 4 and find out that all the hostels and hotels are booked.
`this is preposterous` I thought.
We then decide that we should stay the night at one of these luxury Internet cafes. We checked it out, and it turns out that it would actually be cheaper to spend the night in a private internet booth with a TV and internet than an actual hostel. I opted for the room with a bed and Deena selected the reclining chair option. This was definitely more worth while than just a straight up hostel. They supply us with towel, slippers, toothpaste and brush, and a locker for the night.. and all for 2300 yens! I should also mention that there is an all you can drink fountain pop machine, espresso machine, soup and soft serve ice cream. Man, am I going to be sick tonight!
Before we got here, we killed some time around the city (since all the museums and such were closed for the day). We had a nice soba noodle dinner at a tiny hole in the wall and saw some action on the street shortly afterwards. I wasn`t sure what was going on, but there was a tall American looking guy holding onto a pole with a small Japanese man pulling on his bag with all his might. They were both screaming at each other while the obvious tourist`s friends were only watching on. Deena had pointed out that the Japanese man was wearing a jazz club t shirt, and we had noticed smoke or steam billowing out of the jazz club as we walked by. I wonder what was going on.
This post has gone on long enough... Tomorrow we are to check out the city and then make our way to Nagasaki for a festival we only found out about today. The whole city`s accomodation is already booked up, so we may be staying at another internet cafe, if we get lucky again.
bless spellcheck
avo
Thursday, October 4, 2007
osaka, the city of many flashing lights
Two more days in Osaka have gone by, and weve see quite a few specacles. The first one being the Osaka Aquarium. This is a huge aquarium with 9 large tanks inside, and as you descend in a spiral down from the top floor to the main floor there are 9 different depths of sea creatures to view. Everything from sea lions and penguins, to giant spider crabs and jellyfish... with a manta ray and whale shark in between. It was most incredible. Afterwards we rode a large ferris wheel next to the aquarium which moved veeerrryyy slowly, but eventually made it all the way around and we got a great view of the city en route. From the ferris wheel we headed to see an underwater 3d IMAX film. It was great, I actually felt like I was underwater with all those sea creatures, untill tremendous strain came over my eyes and I started to get very sleepy... 3d really takes a lot outta ya.
After we left that zone, we dicided to walk in a single direction from our hostel. Eventually we came by this street that sold all sorts of good goodies. Used video games, and large toy stores. We quickly hurried by most of the stores, as I was to spend the better part of the next day there. We then finished off the night by eating various fried foods off sticks and falling asleep to a kickass japanese assasin film.
The next day I hit up that video game district we had found earlier, of course. I bought all sorts of goodness for myself, but now I have nowhere to put em. My best finds were an original nintendo famicom and a 3do system for 1000 yen.. WHAT A DEAL! now I gotta carry this crap everywhere I go, but it will definetly be worth it in the end.... unless it breaks. We then took the rest of the day off and just wandered around the area for a while.
So far there seems to be the largest homeless population here in Osaka, at least around where we are staying that is. There are ALOT of them, compared to the other cities we visited (I maybe saw one other along the way). Its kind of comforting though, it reminds me of home.
Today we are off to try and get to Koya-san, i think its called... A bhuddist monastary up in the mountains. I expect to eat some great vegitarian meals and find jesus along the way. From there we are to go to Hiroshima and then continue on with the rest of our trip, but right now I gotta run and try to find a suitcase to buy and put all my goodies in it...
bobye
After we left that zone, we dicided to walk in a single direction from our hostel. Eventually we came by this street that sold all sorts of good goodies. Used video games, and large toy stores. We quickly hurried by most of the stores, as I was to spend the better part of the next day there. We then finished off the night by eating various fried foods off sticks and falling asleep to a kickass japanese assasin film.
The next day I hit up that video game district we had found earlier, of course. I bought all sorts of goodness for myself, but now I have nowhere to put em. My best finds were an original nintendo famicom and a 3do system for 1000 yen.. WHAT A DEAL! now I gotta carry this crap everywhere I go, but it will definetly be worth it in the end.... unless it breaks. We then took the rest of the day off and just wandered around the area for a while.
So far there seems to be the largest homeless population here in Osaka, at least around where we are staying that is. There are ALOT of them, compared to the other cities we visited (I maybe saw one other along the way). Its kind of comforting though, it reminds me of home.
Today we are off to try and get to Koya-san, i think its called... A bhuddist monastary up in the mountains. I expect to eat some great vegitarian meals and find jesus along the way. From there we are to go to Hiroshima and then continue on with the rest of our trip, but right now I gotta run and try to find a suitcase to buy and put all my goodies in it...
bobye
Monday, October 1, 2007
kyoto to osaka
Kyoto.... what can I say... its a VERY large city, with lots of streets and buildings on either side. Riddled througout the newer buildings are temples and shrines everywhere. Kyoto used to be Japan's capital city, before the [capital] moved to Toyko. There were very many sites to see in Kyoto, but very little time to see them in.
On our first day out in Kyoto we rented a pair of bicycles and rode them to the western outskirts of the city to see some temples. By looking at the map, I figured we will be able to see plenty of hotspots before 7pm (we had to have the biked back by 7). After about 40 minutes we began to realize that the scale on the map(s) that we had wasn't very consistant at all. Also, our maps diddn't have any street names labeled, making the journey quite difficult. Deena then decided that we should ask someone on the streets for directions. She approached a lady on a bike at the intersection and pointed to where we wanted to go on the map. The bike lady pointed to herself and then down the street, assuming we were to follow her. We kept pace with her for about 20 minutes, winding down and around small streets, and eventully come to a glorious Tori surrounded by trees. This wasn't really where we wanted to go, but we were very glad that she had showed us the way. We would have never found this temple on our own, all tucked away within the suburban outskirts of Kyoto. Beyond the tori lived a large and rustic temple, surrounded by all sorts of exciting plants and a thick bamboo forest. We walked the grounds, stunned by the awesomeness that it was. I payed \200 to try and shoot 2 arrows at a target. Apparently my arching skills aren't as good as I remember it being. I missed the first one by alot, but the 2nd arrow almost made it to the actuall target.
After that temple (i think it was called the grand temple) we tried to find a shrine dedicated to insects. A pesticide company here felt bad for all the insects it helped slaughter, so they built a shrine for them. I'm not sure if we found it or not, but we did come across a really nice shrine with a very large lineup. We looked at it briefly, then went on our way. Leaving there we met a very friendly security officer, who was very eager to talk to us. He was very interested in why we came to Japan and how we ended up so far from the city. He was also very interested in the sweet bikes we rented... mine was brown and deenas was green. Upon leaving the shrine we figured that there was no way we would be able to see all the sites i had planned for the day, so we rode back to the city centre to return the bikes.
Needless to say we were really pooped out by the end of the day, so we just went for some eats and then off to bed.
Day 2 in Kyoto, it was a very rainy day. I awoke with itchy bites all over my body (much like the first night). The first night there I saw a little black spider crawl away from under my pillow, so he was my main suspect. I decided to let him be the first night, hoping he wouldn't do it again, but I was wrong. The 2nd morning was the final straw. Again I saw the little critter crawling away from me as I woke up, so I grabbed the can of raid in our room (handy that it was there ,eh) and sprayed the little bugger to death. After a few minutes my face felt a little numb so I thought it would be a good idea to open the window. I also gave Deena a little nudge just to make sure I didd't kill her so early on in the trip. I was ready to roll, and Deena was still in bed, so I went on without her. I walked in the rain to a covered street where they sold clothing and touristy shops. Not soo exciting, but at least I was out of the rain. From there I headed off to Sanjusangendo Temple which is home to 1001 wooden cannon statues. It was very spectacular, seeing all these hand made statues lined up all the way down a narrow corridor. Throughout them were various deities. Unfourtunetly picture taking was not allowed. Afterwards it was time for me to walk back to the hostel. I was already soaking wet at this point, so I didn't have to worry about getting any wetter. When I got back to the hostel, Deena looked very comfortable, having taken both matresses and pillows, and wedged herself into the corner of the wall. She had drawn some lovely pictures and wrote some stories while I was gone. We then hit up foods and hung out at a media cafe for some good ol american TV. On the way back to the hostel, I stopped in at the 711&holdings (its what they call 711 here) for a can of fresh flavoured oxygen. I decided to get the forest aroma flavour, rather than the coffee scented one. Feeling bright and refreshed after some good oxygen, we went right to bed.
The next day we woke up and checked out of our hoste. Before we hopped on the train to Osaka, we hit up the Golden Pavillion. This place was real nice. A 3 story old style house, with 2 of the upper floors covered in gold leaf, surrounded by a lake with little islands througout. Needless to say, it was quite shiny, quite.
We then rode the bus back to our bags and then trucked it to the train station. We waited for about 50 minutes for our train and were really concered when the train diddn't show up at the time specified. Every train/bus we caught here came and left the minute it said it was supposed to. Finally the train showed up, and 29 minutes later we were in Osaka. Again surrounded by a huge city with bright flashing lights. We booked a last minute hotel in the northen disctrict of Osaka, dropped off our bags, and then headed out for some tasty eats (cold soba noodles with tempura). Before we went for food, we wandered around a 9 story department store (there seem to be alot of these in Japan). I was looking around at gundam figures, when the airsoft department caught my eye. I've been looking for an airsoft gun here since day 2, specificly a mini electric MP5 that I've been eyeing for years (since I first became interested in non leathal firearms). There it was, the last one in stock. I emmidietly bought it and am looking foreward to practicing my target shooting all night. Moving and non moving. Which brings us to today... here.... right now... sitting at the Media Complex Space in Osaka, wondering which direction I left the hotel at. With some luck and little guidance, I'm sure we will once again find our way back.
good-bye
a.
On our first day out in Kyoto we rented a pair of bicycles and rode them to the western outskirts of the city to see some temples. By looking at the map, I figured we will be able to see plenty of hotspots before 7pm (we had to have the biked back by 7). After about 40 minutes we began to realize that the scale on the map(s) that we had wasn't very consistant at all. Also, our maps diddn't have any street names labeled, making the journey quite difficult. Deena then decided that we should ask someone on the streets for directions. She approached a lady on a bike at the intersection and pointed to where we wanted to go on the map. The bike lady pointed to herself and then down the street, assuming we were to follow her. We kept pace with her for about 20 minutes, winding down and around small streets, and eventully come to a glorious Tori surrounded by trees. This wasn't really where we wanted to go, but we were very glad that she had showed us the way. We would have never found this temple on our own, all tucked away within the suburban outskirts of Kyoto. Beyond the tori lived a large and rustic temple, surrounded by all sorts of exciting plants and a thick bamboo forest. We walked the grounds, stunned by the awesomeness that it was. I payed \200 to try and shoot 2 arrows at a target. Apparently my arching skills aren't as good as I remember it being. I missed the first one by alot, but the 2nd arrow almost made it to the actuall target.
After that temple (i think it was called the grand temple) we tried to find a shrine dedicated to insects. A pesticide company here felt bad for all the insects it helped slaughter, so they built a shrine for them. I'm not sure if we found it or not, but we did come across a really nice shrine with a very large lineup. We looked at it briefly, then went on our way. Leaving there we met a very friendly security officer, who was very eager to talk to us. He was very interested in why we came to Japan and how we ended up so far from the city. He was also very interested in the sweet bikes we rented... mine was brown and deenas was green. Upon leaving the shrine we figured that there was no way we would be able to see all the sites i had planned for the day, so we rode back to the city centre to return the bikes.
Needless to say we were really pooped out by the end of the day, so we just went for some eats and then off to bed.
Day 2 in Kyoto, it was a very rainy day. I awoke with itchy bites all over my body (much like the first night). The first night there I saw a little black spider crawl away from under my pillow, so he was my main suspect. I decided to let him be the first night, hoping he wouldn't do it again, but I was wrong. The 2nd morning was the final straw. Again I saw the little critter crawling away from me as I woke up, so I grabbed the can of raid in our room (handy that it was there ,eh) and sprayed the little bugger to death. After a few minutes my face felt a little numb so I thought it would be a good idea to open the window. I also gave Deena a little nudge just to make sure I didd't kill her so early on in the trip. I was ready to roll, and Deena was still in bed, so I went on without her. I walked in the rain to a covered street where they sold clothing and touristy shops. Not soo exciting, but at least I was out of the rain. From there I headed off to Sanjusangendo Temple which is home to 1001 wooden cannon statues. It was very spectacular, seeing all these hand made statues lined up all the way down a narrow corridor. Throughout them were various deities. Unfourtunetly picture taking was not allowed. Afterwards it was time for me to walk back to the hostel. I was already soaking wet at this point, so I didn't have to worry about getting any wetter. When I got back to the hostel, Deena looked very comfortable, having taken both matresses and pillows, and wedged herself into the corner of the wall. She had drawn some lovely pictures and wrote some stories while I was gone. We then hit up foods and hung out at a media cafe for some good ol american TV. On the way back to the hostel, I stopped in at the 711&holdings (its what they call 711 here) for a can of fresh flavoured oxygen. I decided to get the forest aroma flavour, rather than the coffee scented one. Feeling bright and refreshed after some good oxygen, we went right to bed.
The next day we woke up and checked out of our hoste. Before we hopped on the train to Osaka, we hit up the Golden Pavillion. This place was real nice. A 3 story old style house, with 2 of the upper floors covered in gold leaf, surrounded by a lake with little islands througout. Needless to say, it was quite shiny, quite.
We then rode the bus back to our bags and then trucked it to the train station. We waited for about 50 minutes for our train and were really concered when the train diddn't show up at the time specified. Every train/bus we caught here came and left the minute it said it was supposed to. Finally the train showed up, and 29 minutes later we were in Osaka. Again surrounded by a huge city with bright flashing lights. We booked a last minute hotel in the northen disctrict of Osaka, dropped off our bags, and then headed out for some tasty eats (cold soba noodles with tempura). Before we went for food, we wandered around a 9 story department store (there seem to be alot of these in Japan). I was looking around at gundam figures, when the airsoft department caught my eye. I've been looking for an airsoft gun here since day 2, specificly a mini electric MP5 that I've been eyeing for years (since I first became interested in non leathal firearms). There it was, the last one in stock. I emmidietly bought it and am looking foreward to practicing my target shooting all night. Moving and non moving. Which brings us to today... here.... right now... sitting at the Media Complex Space in Osaka, wondering which direction I left the hotel at. With some luck and little guidance, I'm sure we will once again find our way back.
good-bye
a.
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