It took me a month to get my photos online, but I've finally done it.
Those interested in seeing my (heavily filtered) adventures in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong can now head over to http://picasaweb.google.com/mikesinmelbourne to view the various albums.
Cheers,
Mike
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Japan - Final Day
I'm vegging out at an internet cafe now and will be heading off to the airport in just a few hours. There's a typhoon heading straight for Hong Kong at about the same time I am, however, which has me worried that my flight will be cancelled or delayed. But, at this point, all flights seem to be on track so who knows.
There really isn't much to report on since the last day in Kobe. I headed out last night with a group of friends from in and around Tokyo and we enjoyed some authentic Katsu Don (the stuff in Melbourne just doesn't compare) and fancy alcohol, including the first sherry (or however you spell it) I've ever had.
So, despite there being nothing really to report on for the last 24 hours, I still felt that a fitting final post was in order, if only for my own benefit. I've learnt a great deal on this trip not just about other cultures but also about myself, which is what I'd always hoped you happen. They say that a bit of worldly travel really does change ones perspective. I wouldn't say that it's really changed mine, but it has certain strengthened it. If nothing else, I feel more prepared for the relocation to London in July because of what I've learnt here.
Finally, there was one thing that I realised I didn't really blog about here, and it is well worthy of a mention. I spoke about the nice people I met and drank with in Japan, but never really spoke about the everyday people that I never said more than two sentences too. The feeling of being a tourist in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan was distinct for each country. But I wanted to stress just how patient and kind the Japanese people really are. And I'm really talking about all of them. Not once did I came across anyone who made me feel unsafe or unwelcome, and not once did I come across anyone who seemed impatient while I struggled to form the sentence I was looking for. While I was in Hiroshima, for example, I went to a convenience store and tried to order a snack, a cooked sausage. Problem was there were three different types of sausages and so when I asked for a sausage, she looked momentarily surprised before politely asking me which type of sausage I wanted and then waited patiently while I fumbled for the words for "any kind of sausage is fine". Trying the same thing in Australia I think would get you rolled eyes from staff and frustrated sighs from customers waiting in line behind you.
This sort of patience that the Japanese people have for foreigners learning their language has been central to the huge improvement I have made in my Japanese since I got here. It isn't because I learnt much new language here, but instead I learnt to change how I approach speaking Japanese. I used to only say a sentence if I was certain I could get it right. As a result, my japanese never really evolved beyond a certain point becuase I was never learning through error, which is really the only effective way to learn a language. Now, I say a sentence even if I know I'll stuff it up. The natives here are incredibly patient and even if your sentence is an incoherent mess, they'll wait with perfect patience while you try again.
My last little comment for this blog will be to advise you all of a big secret that I discovered very early on, and continued to relearn on a daily basis during my travels; I'm pretty much wrong about everything. No, seriously, it's true. I didn't believe it either, but you should come to terms with it. Every one and every place was unlike anything I'd expected. This has motivated me to see the rest of the world for what it really is, not for what I have always thought it would be.
I suppose I'll pick up this blog again when I head over to London and roam around Europe, but for now, this is the end. Thanks to everyone for reading and a big thanks to those that took the time to comment. I did start this thing just for me but I think knowing that other people were interested made me work a bit harder, which is something that I'll personally benefit from when I look back on this in the future.
See you all very soon!
Mike
There really isn't much to report on since the last day in Kobe. I headed out last night with a group of friends from in and around Tokyo and we enjoyed some authentic Katsu Don (the stuff in Melbourne just doesn't compare) and fancy alcohol, including the first sherry (or however you spell it) I've ever had.
So, despite there being nothing really to report on for the last 24 hours, I still felt that a fitting final post was in order, if only for my own benefit. I've learnt a great deal on this trip not just about other cultures but also about myself, which is what I'd always hoped you happen. They say that a bit of worldly travel really does change ones perspective. I wouldn't say that it's really changed mine, but it has certain strengthened it. If nothing else, I feel more prepared for the relocation to London in July because of what I've learnt here.
Finally, there was one thing that I realised I didn't really blog about here, and it is well worthy of a mention. I spoke about the nice people I met and drank with in Japan, but never really spoke about the everyday people that I never said more than two sentences too. The feeling of being a tourist in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan was distinct for each country. But I wanted to stress just how patient and kind the Japanese people really are. And I'm really talking about all of them. Not once did I came across anyone who made me feel unsafe or unwelcome, and not once did I come across anyone who seemed impatient while I struggled to form the sentence I was looking for. While I was in Hiroshima, for example, I went to a convenience store and tried to order a snack, a cooked sausage. Problem was there were three different types of sausages and so when I asked for a sausage, she looked momentarily surprised before politely asking me which type of sausage I wanted and then waited patiently while I fumbled for the words for "any kind of sausage is fine". Trying the same thing in Australia I think would get you rolled eyes from staff and frustrated sighs from customers waiting in line behind you.
This sort of patience that the Japanese people have for foreigners learning their language has been central to the huge improvement I have made in my Japanese since I got here. It isn't because I learnt much new language here, but instead I learnt to change how I approach speaking Japanese. I used to only say a sentence if I was certain I could get it right. As a result, my japanese never really evolved beyond a certain point becuase I was never learning through error, which is really the only effective way to learn a language. Now, I say a sentence even if I know I'll stuff it up. The natives here are incredibly patient and even if your sentence is an incoherent mess, they'll wait with perfect patience while you try again.
My last little comment for this blog will be to advise you all of a big secret that I discovered very early on, and continued to relearn on a daily basis during my travels; I'm pretty much wrong about everything. No, seriously, it's true. I didn't believe it either, but you should come to terms with it. Every one and every place was unlike anything I'd expected. This has motivated me to see the rest of the world for what it really is, not for what I have always thought it would be.
I suppose I'll pick up this blog again when I head over to London and roam around Europe, but for now, this is the end. Thanks to everyone for reading and a big thanks to those that took the time to comment. I did start this thing just for me but I think knowing that other people were interested made me work a bit harder, which is something that I'll personally benefit from when I look back on this in the future.
See you all very soon!
Mike
Friday, April 18, 2008
Kobe - Day 3
It only ever seems to happen when I'm high up in a building. But my experience in Tokyo did prepare me somewhat. At about 4am this morning I was awake, just because I couldn't sleep, and then I felt the whole building move under me. It's really quite a difficult feeling to explain, but the eeriest part was not the feeling itself but the noise the building made as it was twisted out of its natural position. This quake was certainly weaker and shroter then the one in Tokyo, but while I didn't have quite such an extreme reaction this time、I still had to sit there for the next 30 minutes trying to get my heart rate back down.
Kobe is a small-ish city of about 1.4 million located just west of Osaka. In fact, the two cities of will probably one day just end up becoming one city, I'd say. It's geography is very similar to Hong Kong's Wan Chai and Central districts; you basically have a huge mountain range surrounded the city, a 5km stretch of the city itself, and then a bay. If the buildings here were all more than 50 stories, it'd be a perfect replica. Kobe is now one of Japan's three major port cities but has a long history of being the original port city. When Japan first opened up it's waters to international traders, they were all required to port and reside in Kobe, and were forbidden from travelling to the rest of Japan.
I have a friend who lives in Kobe (Azusa) that I arranged to catch up with while I was here and I'm really glad that she was able to act as my guide. I saw a great deal of Kobe that I might have otherwise missed out on.
Our day started out relatively late at about 1pm, and we headed down to get some lunch in Sannomiya, the central area of Kobe that is about 20 minutes walk from my hotel. After which we caught up with one of Azusa's friends and headed out to the port and jumped on a spiffy looking boat for a 60 minute cruise around the bay and then back in. It was a beautiful trip and given the weather yesterday (cold, rainy, windy) we somehow managed to be the only 3 people on a boat capable of comfortably holding 100 people. We enjoyed a $2 can of Asahi Super Dry each and enjoyed the view.
After getting back to port Azusa's friend had to head back to Osaka so Azusa and I headed out to a touristy part of town basically called 'foreigner village'. It's the location of several houses built by western merchants who settled in Kobe and this place has become something of a way for Japanese tourists to see what live is like overseas without having to go overseas. I have to say, the buildings were pretty authentic and they smelt like old wooden western buildings. One of them, the english-style house, had a bar built in and we proceeded to drink there for a few hours.
After we both started to get a little bit toasted, we were picked up by more of Azusa's friends and headed out to a buffet restaurant on the 24th floor of the building overlooking the bay. After all the difficulty I've had reading menus in Japan, I was extremely thankful for the opportunity to look at my food before ordering/taking it. However, it didn't help me too much, since some things were unidentifiable for me. I did however try whatever looked alright and came out with a few interesting but altogether delicious choices, including some sort of egg cake.
Following dinner we headed up one of the mountains to a lookout where we could see all of Kobe, as well as Osaka far off in the distance.
There isn't really anything too interesting to report here, but I had a great day nonetheless. I'm about to head back to Tokyo for my last night in Japan before returning home. I always thought that this would be a sad part of this journey, but it isn't that bad. After 5 weeks of drinking, walking, and cycling, I'm looking forward to going home for a bit of a holiday!
Kobe is a small-ish city of about 1.4 million located just west of Osaka. In fact, the two cities of will probably one day just end up becoming one city, I'd say. It's geography is very similar to Hong Kong's Wan Chai and Central districts; you basically have a huge mountain range surrounded the city, a 5km stretch of the city itself, and then a bay. If the buildings here were all more than 50 stories, it'd be a perfect replica. Kobe is now one of Japan's three major port cities but has a long history of being the original port city. When Japan first opened up it's waters to international traders, they were all required to port and reside in Kobe, and were forbidden from travelling to the rest of Japan.
I have a friend who lives in Kobe (Azusa) that I arranged to catch up with while I was here and I'm really glad that she was able to act as my guide. I saw a great deal of Kobe that I might have otherwise missed out on.
Our day started out relatively late at about 1pm, and we headed down to get some lunch in Sannomiya, the central area of Kobe that is about 20 minutes walk from my hotel. After which we caught up with one of Azusa's friends and headed out to the port and jumped on a spiffy looking boat for a 60 minute cruise around the bay and then back in. It was a beautiful trip and given the weather yesterday (cold, rainy, windy) we somehow managed to be the only 3 people on a boat capable of comfortably holding 100 people. We enjoyed a $2 can of Asahi Super Dry each and enjoyed the view.
After getting back to port Azusa's friend had to head back to Osaka so Azusa and I headed out to a touristy part of town basically called 'foreigner village'. It's the location of several houses built by western merchants who settled in Kobe and this place has become something of a way for Japanese tourists to see what live is like overseas without having to go overseas. I have to say, the buildings were pretty authentic and they smelt like old wooden western buildings. One of them, the english-style house, had a bar built in and we proceeded to drink there for a few hours.
After we both started to get a little bit toasted, we were picked up by more of Azusa's friends and headed out to a buffet restaurant on the 24th floor of the building overlooking the bay. After all the difficulty I've had reading menus in Japan, I was extremely thankful for the opportunity to look at my food before ordering/taking it. However, it didn't help me too much, since some things were unidentifiable for me. I did however try whatever looked alright and came out with a few interesting but altogether delicious choices, including some sort of egg cake.
Following dinner we headed up one of the mountains to a lookout where we could see all of Kobe, as well as Osaka far off in the distance.
There isn't really anything too interesting to report here, but I had a great day nonetheless. I'm about to head back to Tokyo for my last night in Japan before returning home. I always thought that this would be a sad part of this journey, but it isn't that bad. After 5 weeks of drinking, walking, and cycling, I'm looking forward to going home for a bit of a holiday!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Kobe - Day 1
The Crowne Plaza in Kobe easily wins the title of best hotel in this whole holiday. For a fair price of $140, I have a great view overlooking all of Kobe, a PC in my room with free internet access, and otherwise exceptional facilities. But, I didn't come here to look at hotels so I'm going to write this post and go for a walk around this beautiful looking city.
Osaka finished up very nicely on Sunday and I have received probably the best souvenier that I could get on this holiday. Our friends at the local darts bar had a relatively quiet night at work so we spent a fair bit of time talking with them, and played a few games together. Towards the end of the evening, they suggeted that they record a game with all five of us in the bar (three staff, James, and I) using this little DVD recording system. It was pretty impressive. The screen is split into three sections. The whole right half of the screen offers of a view of the player facing the board and the left half is split again offering a view of the score board (its all electronic) in one half and a view of the darts board in the other half. I came last, but I really don't mind (I still have the higher fucking score than you James, so shutup! :P). At the end, I walked away with a (free) DVD to record the great experience as well as the inappropriate gestures I was making at James while his back was turned.
I transferred to Hiroshima on Monday and after 5 days of seemingly endless drinking I decided it was time to just relax a little. I checked in to my hotel at 3pm, ordered a movie, and read a book. I know it sounds boring but the time out was rather necessary.
On Tuesday I caught up with another of my old Japanese teachers from Melbourne, Miki. She had only returned to Japan a few weeks earlier but I had missed her farewell party in Melbourne due to a bout of the flu. After meeting up at about 9am we headed out towards the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and the A-Bomb Dome. What was a bright and lively conversation of broken Japanese and English instantly turned into a quiet, respectful silence as we rounded the corner and the dome came into view. That silence continued almost uninterrupted until we left the museum nearby 3 hours later.
I had seen countless photos of the A-Bomb Dome. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it was one of the very few buildings left standing when the first nuclear weapon was used in war, at 8:15am August 6 1945 (JST). The bomb detonated almost directly above what was an industrial convention hall at the time and it is theorised that this is why the shockwave wasn't able to knock it down, because there was more downward pressure than sideways pressure. Other concrete buildings survived, but most were at least 500m (horizontally) from the hypocentre. The photos I had seen never seemed to capture the building quite the way you can see it up close. It has been preserved exactly as it was after the explosion, and presumably no bodies would even have need to be removed since at that point, there would have been no bodies or anything other than bricks, warped steel, and concrete.
The dome is at the edge of a large memorial area which also incorporates a memorial to the victims, a childrens memorial, a museum, and several other attractions. I visited the museum which was simply incredible. The displays progress through talk of how Hiroshima came to be involved in the war and subsequently a target, and then covered the detonation of the bomb, its immediate effects, international proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the long term effects of radiation. The atomic attacks on Japan are something I've learnt about in the past but there was still plenty of new information.
One thing I hadn't known was that at the time of the bombing thousands of school children had been mobilised to work in the city demolishing wooden houses to create fire breaks for the air raids that were soon to come. The irony of this is that when the bomb exploded, everything within 2km (including these children) was either incinerated or instantly caught fire when temperatures reached over 2000 degrees celcius instantly. The fire breaks would do nothing. An extensive area of the museum displays clothing and other items that these children had when the bomb exploded. There is a further display that depicts those children who were unfortunately far enough to away to have not been incinerated instantly but close enough to have been exposed to such temperatures that their skin had literally melted off their bodies and hung loose as they walked the streets in search of help. Many of them died within 48 hours after their burns and extreme radition exposure took its toll. Those who managed to live beyond 6 months were likely to spend the rest of their lives not only emotionally ruined but also physically disabled, unable to concieve healthy children, and will most likely live short and painful lives.
The bombing may have ended the war and saved more lives than it took, but I think it is too often considered only in terms of dead, injured, or living. The attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, did not claim as many lives as the firebombing of Tokyo. However, fires were extinguished, the injured may be healed, the war ended, and Tokyo was rebuilt. There are still over a hundred thousand people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki who continue to experience unimaginable pain to this very day. That pain will continue with the deformaties passed to their children for generations. But the war ended over 60 years ago.
I had always been aware that nuclear weapons were the most powerful destructive force we had ever created. I am now, however, deeply aware that they are also the most inhumane device that we as a species have ever created.
Osaka finished up very nicely on Sunday and I have received probably the best souvenier that I could get on this holiday. Our friends at the local darts bar had a relatively quiet night at work so we spent a fair bit of time talking with them, and played a few games together. Towards the end of the evening, they suggeted that they record a game with all five of us in the bar (three staff, James, and I) using this little DVD recording system. It was pretty impressive. The screen is split into three sections. The whole right half of the screen offers of a view of the player facing the board and the left half is split again offering a view of the score board (its all electronic) in one half and a view of the darts board in the other half. I came last, but I really don't mind (I still have the higher fucking score than you James, so shutup! :P). At the end, I walked away with a (free) DVD to record the great experience as well as the inappropriate gestures I was making at James while his back was turned.
I transferred to Hiroshima on Monday and after 5 days of seemingly endless drinking I decided it was time to just relax a little. I checked in to my hotel at 3pm, ordered a movie, and read a book. I know it sounds boring but the time out was rather necessary.
On Tuesday I caught up with another of my old Japanese teachers from Melbourne, Miki. She had only returned to Japan a few weeks earlier but I had missed her farewell party in Melbourne due to a bout of the flu. After meeting up at about 9am we headed out towards the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and the A-Bomb Dome. What was a bright and lively conversation of broken Japanese and English instantly turned into a quiet, respectful silence as we rounded the corner and the dome came into view. That silence continued almost uninterrupted until we left the museum nearby 3 hours later.
I had seen countless photos of the A-Bomb Dome. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it was one of the very few buildings left standing when the first nuclear weapon was used in war, at 8:15am August 6 1945 (JST). The bomb detonated almost directly above what was an industrial convention hall at the time and it is theorised that this is why the shockwave wasn't able to knock it down, because there was more downward pressure than sideways pressure. Other concrete buildings survived, but most were at least 500m (horizontally) from the hypocentre. The photos I had seen never seemed to capture the building quite the way you can see it up close. It has been preserved exactly as it was after the explosion, and presumably no bodies would even have need to be removed since at that point, there would have been no bodies or anything other than bricks, warped steel, and concrete.
The dome is at the edge of a large memorial area which also incorporates a memorial to the victims, a childrens memorial, a museum, and several other attractions. I visited the museum which was simply incredible. The displays progress through talk of how Hiroshima came to be involved in the war and subsequently a target, and then covered the detonation of the bomb, its immediate effects, international proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the long term effects of radiation. The atomic attacks on Japan are something I've learnt about in the past but there was still plenty of new information.
One thing I hadn't known was that at the time of the bombing thousands of school children had been mobilised to work in the city demolishing wooden houses to create fire breaks for the air raids that were soon to come. The irony of this is that when the bomb exploded, everything within 2km (including these children) was either incinerated or instantly caught fire when temperatures reached over 2000 degrees celcius instantly. The fire breaks would do nothing. An extensive area of the museum displays clothing and other items that these children had when the bomb exploded. There is a further display that depicts those children who were unfortunately far enough to away to have not been incinerated instantly but close enough to have been exposed to such temperatures that their skin had literally melted off their bodies and hung loose as they walked the streets in search of help. Many of them died within 48 hours after their burns and extreme radition exposure took its toll. Those who managed to live beyond 6 months were likely to spend the rest of their lives not only emotionally ruined but also physically disabled, unable to concieve healthy children, and will most likely live short and painful lives.
The bombing may have ended the war and saved more lives than it took, but I think it is too often considered only in terms of dead, injured, or living. The attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, did not claim as many lives as the firebombing of Tokyo. However, fires were extinguished, the injured may be healed, the war ended, and Tokyo was rebuilt. There are still over a hundred thousand people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki who continue to experience unimaginable pain to this very day. That pain will continue with the deformaties passed to their children for generations. But the war ended over 60 years ago.
I had always been aware that nuclear weapons were the most powerful destructive force we had ever created. I am now, however, deeply aware that they are also the most inhumane device that we as a species have ever created.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Osaka - Day ... umm ...
The space bar on this thing is smaller than the shift key!
Osaka, it was explained to me, is a lot like Melbourne. The layout of the city, style of buildings, scenery, gardens, and more have nothing in common at all. But there is one vibe you get in Melbourne that is perfectly replicated in Osaka. The people here are just nice. Not to say people in other cities aren't nice (Hello Brisbane), but Melbourne is the only place before Osaka that I have been to where you can sit down for a drink and get to know the people at the table across from you. Yes, this happens in other cities, but it is almost unavoidable in Melbourne and Osaka.
This is not only the first holiday I've ever really had, it's also my first time overseas. I am travelling alone. So I've had to learn along the way how to travel. I know that sounds like a silly thing to be saying, but I really had no idea if I wanted to do tours, go to museums, amusement parks, bars, walking around, etc etc. But I'm happy to say that I've finally found my groove in aimless wandering. I've done it ever since Hong Kong, and I love it more and more every time. Yes, I have an agenda to a certain extent, things that I want to see, so i walk in the general direction of those things and then figure it out along the way. Getting lost is a reward within itself.
Yesterday is a shining example of how enjoyable this approach can be. I had two things that I knew I wanted to see in Osaka: Osaka Castle and the business district. These were both north, so without even looking at a map, I hit the road and headed in the general direction of north. I walked main roads, side streets, parks and laneways for a good 90 minutes. I had no idea where I was, but as I later discovered, I was headed north west. I had eventually hit, without even realising it, Osaka Castle. I came to the intersection of a convenience store, and a good looking park. I decided to pop in and get some sunscreen and water, and sit down in the park for a minute.
Identifying sunscreen in Japan is an experience in itself.
As I walked into the park I scanned around for a place to sit down when I noticed the castle off in the distance. If I hadn't stopped for sunscreen I would have walked right past it, but that's part of the experience I think.
Osaka castle rests at the top of the hill and stands eight stories tall but not very wide, which is pretty impressive. But, it is actually now the third castle to be constructed at this point. The first was razed just 32 years (1615) after it was built when Japan was in a long period of cival war. 10 years later, the victor rebuilt the castle and grounds which stood until 1868 when it was destroyed by retreating armies to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Meiji restoration's forces. It was rebuilt again a few years later, but is apparently smaller than it used to be.
You can walk into the castle and scale the 8 flights of steps or use the elevator. I opted for the steps. You then progress down the stairs and check out some various exhibits. Plenty of English to be found so a fair bit of time can be spent here familiarising yourself with the history of the castle, and as a result, Osaka. My favourite part, however, was certainly the castle grounds. The castle itself was part of a heavily fortified complex (ironically designed to be impregnable but conquered only 3 decades after its construction) and as you enter the complex you pass through not one but two moats and a gorgeous expanse of gardens. Had I been here two weeks ago when the Sakura were in bloom it could possibly have been one of the most beautiful man made places on earth.
I spent about an hour at the castle and strolling around the grounds before stumbling upon the business district which was just on the western side of the castle complex. After another 30 minutes of walking here I stopped for a drink and realised that I'd only been wandering for 3 hours but I had already seen the two items on my agenda. As a result, I decided to just walk and randomly picked directions to go in for another hour or so, and managed to get pretty lost inside a market. By 4 o'clock I had hit the river and deducted that I must be heading back south and this path would eventually lead me back towards home.
This is where it gets pretty stupid. I have a compass, but for most part I just navigate by the sun when i'm doing my walking. It's been effective, but I just wasn't thinking at this point and decided that if it was 4pm and the sun was on my left, then I must be heading south. Which is completely wrong. I was walking further and further way from my hotel and realised this in two stages. First, I crossed a river that I didn't remember crossing before. Second, I went into a district of town that was unlike anything you would expect to find in the central parts of the city. As I strolled on, I found rail yards, warehouses, low-low cost housing (still decent in very-wealthy Japan). I decided I was lost, but I really didn't care.
Or at least, I didn't care until I walked into a railing on the street and my leg started hurting. I was off day dreaming about something and looking at the sights when I suddenly smacked my thigh and knee straight into a metal post sticking about 3ft out of the ground, barely missing some very important possessions of mine. Fortunately the street was deserted and nobody saw me. My pride was a lot more wounded than my leg was ever going to be.
It was 6pm at this point, and I decided it was time to catch a train home. It took another 30 minutes to find a train station. I did the math on the train, and realised that, after taking away lunch and the castle, I had been doing nothing but walking for 5 hours, and even then I was walking around the castle but just at a much slower pace. It feels good.
Last night was another night at the darts bar, meeting the lovely folk of Osaka and having a little too much to drink and stumbling home far too late. Today I awoke late and went to the park with my friend to partake in some strange sport that he's got himself addicted to... he calls it hockey. I dunno.
Tonight, however, brings a sour note to my trip in Japan. James, my sport friend, is one of the fabulous people I met through my Japanese classes in Melbourne and I have had a great time catching up with him in Osaka and earlier, Hakuba. However James and I are now headed in entirely separate directions with him staying in Japan until May next year (hopefully longer) and me running off the London. It may be 1 to 3 years before we're in the same place at the same time, so tonight will be something of a big deal. Tomorrow I'm off to Hiroshima.
Hope you're all happy and healthy,
Mike
Osaka, it was explained to me, is a lot like Melbourne. The layout of the city, style of buildings, scenery, gardens, and more have nothing in common at all. But there is one vibe you get in Melbourne that is perfectly replicated in Osaka. The people here are just nice. Not to say people in other cities aren't nice (Hello Brisbane), but Melbourne is the only place before Osaka that I have been to where you can sit down for a drink and get to know the people at the table across from you. Yes, this happens in other cities, but it is almost unavoidable in Melbourne and Osaka.
This is not only the first holiday I've ever really had, it's also my first time overseas. I am travelling alone. So I've had to learn along the way how to travel. I know that sounds like a silly thing to be saying, but I really had no idea if I wanted to do tours, go to museums, amusement parks, bars, walking around, etc etc. But I'm happy to say that I've finally found my groove in aimless wandering. I've done it ever since Hong Kong, and I love it more and more every time. Yes, I have an agenda to a certain extent, things that I want to see, so i walk in the general direction of those things and then figure it out along the way. Getting lost is a reward within itself.
Yesterday is a shining example of how enjoyable this approach can be. I had two things that I knew I wanted to see in Osaka: Osaka Castle and the business district. These were both north, so without even looking at a map, I hit the road and headed in the general direction of north. I walked main roads, side streets, parks and laneways for a good 90 minutes. I had no idea where I was, but as I later discovered, I was headed north west. I had eventually hit, without even realising it, Osaka Castle. I came to the intersection of a convenience store, and a good looking park. I decided to pop in and get some sunscreen and water, and sit down in the park for a minute.
Identifying sunscreen in Japan is an experience in itself.
As I walked into the park I scanned around for a place to sit down when I noticed the castle off in the distance. If I hadn't stopped for sunscreen I would have walked right past it, but that's part of the experience I think.
Osaka castle rests at the top of the hill and stands eight stories tall but not very wide, which is pretty impressive. But, it is actually now the third castle to be constructed at this point. The first was razed just 32 years (1615) after it was built when Japan was in a long period of cival war. 10 years later, the victor rebuilt the castle and grounds which stood until 1868 when it was destroyed by retreating armies to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Meiji restoration's forces. It was rebuilt again a few years later, but is apparently smaller than it used to be.
You can walk into the castle and scale the 8 flights of steps or use the elevator. I opted for the steps. You then progress down the stairs and check out some various exhibits. Plenty of English to be found so a fair bit of time can be spent here familiarising yourself with the history of the castle, and as a result, Osaka. My favourite part, however, was certainly the castle grounds. The castle itself was part of a heavily fortified complex (ironically designed to be impregnable but conquered only 3 decades after its construction) and as you enter the complex you pass through not one but two moats and a gorgeous expanse of gardens. Had I been here two weeks ago when the Sakura were in bloom it could possibly have been one of the most beautiful man made places on earth.
I spent about an hour at the castle and strolling around the grounds before stumbling upon the business district which was just on the western side of the castle complex. After another 30 minutes of walking here I stopped for a drink and realised that I'd only been wandering for 3 hours but I had already seen the two items on my agenda. As a result, I decided to just walk and randomly picked directions to go in for another hour or so, and managed to get pretty lost inside a market. By 4 o'clock I had hit the river and deducted that I must be heading back south and this path would eventually lead me back towards home.
This is where it gets pretty stupid. I have a compass, but for most part I just navigate by the sun when i'm doing my walking. It's been effective, but I just wasn't thinking at this point and decided that if it was 4pm and the sun was on my left, then I must be heading south. Which is completely wrong. I was walking further and further way from my hotel and realised this in two stages. First, I crossed a river that I didn't remember crossing before. Second, I went into a district of town that was unlike anything you would expect to find in the central parts of the city. As I strolled on, I found rail yards, warehouses, low-low cost housing (still decent in very-wealthy Japan). I decided I was lost, but I really didn't care.
Or at least, I didn't care until I walked into a railing on the street and my leg started hurting. I was off day dreaming about something and looking at the sights when I suddenly smacked my thigh and knee straight into a metal post sticking about 3ft out of the ground, barely missing some very important possessions of mine. Fortunately the street was deserted and nobody saw me. My pride was a lot more wounded than my leg was ever going to be.
It was 6pm at this point, and I decided it was time to catch a train home. It took another 30 minutes to find a train station. I did the math on the train, and realised that, after taking away lunch and the castle, I had been doing nothing but walking for 5 hours, and even then I was walking around the castle but just at a much slower pace. It feels good.
Last night was another night at the darts bar, meeting the lovely folk of Osaka and having a little too much to drink and stumbling home far too late. Today I awoke late and went to the park with my friend to partake in some strange sport that he's got himself addicted to... he calls it hockey. I dunno.
Tonight, however, brings a sour note to my trip in Japan. James, my sport friend, is one of the fabulous people I met through my Japanese classes in Melbourne and I have had a great time catching up with him in Osaka and earlier, Hakuba. However James and I are now headed in entirely separate directions with him staying in Japan until May next year (hopefully longer) and me running off the London. It may be 1 to 3 years before we're in the same place at the same time, so tonight will be something of a big deal. Tomorrow I'm off to Hiroshima.
Hope you're all happy and healthy,
Mike
Friday, April 11, 2008
Osaka - Day 3, maybe 4
Osaka seems determined to make itself nothing but a blur. Or, I seem determined to make Osaka nothing but a blur. Regardless, it is officially 6:58am in this amazing but deadly city. Osaka, for me, holds one esteem above all others; my most embarrassing Japanese stuff-up to date.
But, I get ahead of myself.
Kyoto Day 2 was quite exceptional. Despite the pain it caused me to do so, I hopped on my bike and rode around the city from site to site. Personally, I found the tourist attractions in Kyoto to be rather "eh...", but they were beautiful and amazing nonetheless. However, I felt the need for something a bit more substational than temples and castles. As a result, I headed out on my bike for a 10km ride up the eastern side of Osaka, enjoying the beautiful scenery and falling Sakura flowers as I went along. Before I knew it, I had ridden from the middle part of Osaka to it's northern most point, where the city met an impassable mountain range. I proceeded to ride back for about 15km, since I managed to get lost along the way and ended up further west than I ever needed to be. It was an incredibly enjoyable ride though. After returning my bike, I headed back to my hotel where I enjoyed a few (rather expensive) Grasshoppers before heading to bed rather early.
Although it lacked anythign specifically interesting to me, Kyoto is nonetheless an extremely beautiful city, especially in spring, and I highly recommend it. However, if you do go, I think a bike is the best way to get around. Kyoto is unique to Japan in that it's major attractions are not necessarily close to major train stations. Whether you are like me and not terribly intersted in temples and castles, or if that really is your thing, you'll find Kyoto by bike to be an incredible (and convenient) experience.
After waking up bright and or early in Kyoto, I headed back for the short trip to Osaka by bullet train, which takes only about 15 minutes all up. Barely enough time to get comfortable. I checked in to my hotel, and, believe it or not, tried to find a place where I could rent another bicycle using directions provided by the hotel. The directions where however quite useless, so I ended up on foot for the afternoon.
My friend James joined me about about 3pm, helped me to find a bank to exchange some travellers cheques, and then I went with him to do some shopping, which seems to be 50% of what you can do in Osaka (the other 50% is eat and drink). I was happy to know that my hotel had a laudry room and I briefly washed my clothes (since Hakuba I had been washing them with soap and a bathtub) and stepped out with James for a night of dinner and drinking.
It was the drinking part where everything went kind of wrong. I hadn't really had too much, but I had more than enough to be at a point where my abilities with the language were far out the window. By 9, we were back at our 'local' where we enjoyed the always friendly service and some darts. Everyone seemed happy to see us return, for which I was glad.
Now, I need to go into a little bit of detail here. It's not uncommon, even in English, when a good mate says wrong against you in a casual way, that you might want to say 'Hey, are you looking for a fight?'. James said wrong agaist me. I wanted to ask him this very question. Explaining this properly seems beyond me now at 7am, however.
You see, the word for 'fight' (kenka) and 'marry' (keikon) are all too similar (to me) in Japanese, and 'fight' is a word I've only learnt on my holiday. After James' slightly offensive remark of some kind, I wanted to say to him 'Do you want to fight me?', which would have been slightly funny in the situation. But I actually asked him 'Do you want to marry me?', in the loudest voice I could manage.
Needless to say, the whole bar heard me. I spent the remainder of the night trying to assure everyone present that I was, in fact, not gay. Even after spending the whole night there, I'm still not sure that they all believe me after my sudden marriage proposal. It's a great place, but I doubt anyone there will ever treat me with respect again.
I am, however, getting pretty good at darts. :)
But, I get ahead of myself.
Kyoto Day 2 was quite exceptional. Despite the pain it caused me to do so, I hopped on my bike and rode around the city from site to site. Personally, I found the tourist attractions in Kyoto to be rather "eh...", but they were beautiful and amazing nonetheless. However, I felt the need for something a bit more substational than temples and castles. As a result, I headed out on my bike for a 10km ride up the eastern side of Osaka, enjoying the beautiful scenery and falling Sakura flowers as I went along. Before I knew it, I had ridden from the middle part of Osaka to it's northern most point, where the city met an impassable mountain range. I proceeded to ride back for about 15km, since I managed to get lost along the way and ended up further west than I ever needed to be. It was an incredibly enjoyable ride though. After returning my bike, I headed back to my hotel where I enjoyed a few (rather expensive) Grasshoppers before heading to bed rather early.
Although it lacked anythign specifically interesting to me, Kyoto is nonetheless an extremely beautiful city, especially in spring, and I highly recommend it. However, if you do go, I think a bike is the best way to get around. Kyoto is unique to Japan in that it's major attractions are not necessarily close to major train stations. Whether you are like me and not terribly intersted in temples and castles, or if that really is your thing, you'll find Kyoto by bike to be an incredible (and convenient) experience.
After waking up bright and or early in Kyoto, I headed back for the short trip to Osaka by bullet train, which takes only about 15 minutes all up. Barely enough time to get comfortable. I checked in to my hotel, and, believe it or not, tried to find a place where I could rent another bicycle using directions provided by the hotel. The directions where however quite useless, so I ended up on foot for the afternoon.
My friend James joined me about about 3pm, helped me to find a bank to exchange some travellers cheques, and then I went with him to do some shopping, which seems to be 50% of what you can do in Osaka (the other 50% is eat and drink). I was happy to know that my hotel had a laudry room and I briefly washed my clothes (since Hakuba I had been washing them with soap and a bathtub) and stepped out with James for a night of dinner and drinking.
It was the drinking part where everything went kind of wrong. I hadn't really had too much, but I had more than enough to be at a point where my abilities with the language were far out the window. By 9, we were back at our 'local' where we enjoyed the always friendly service and some darts. Everyone seemed happy to see us return, for which I was glad.
Now, I need to go into a little bit of detail here. It's not uncommon, even in English, when a good mate says wrong against you in a casual way, that you might want to say 'Hey, are you looking for a fight?'. James said wrong agaist me. I wanted to ask him this very question. Explaining this properly seems beyond me now at 7am, however.
You see, the word for 'fight' (kenka) and 'marry' (keikon) are all too similar (to me) in Japanese, and 'fight' is a word I've only learnt on my holiday. After James' slightly offensive remark of some kind, I wanted to say to him 'Do you want to fight me?', which would have been slightly funny in the situation. But I actually asked him 'Do you want to marry me?', in the loudest voice I could manage.
Needless to say, the whole bar heard me. I spent the remainder of the night trying to assure everyone present that I was, in fact, not gay. Even after spending the whole night there, I'm still not sure that they all believe me after my sudden marriage proposal. It's a great place, but I doubt anyone there will ever treat me with respect again.
I am, however, getting pretty good at darts. :)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Kyoto - Day 1
I've learn't a tremendous amount on this trip, and today was no exception. Today I learnt that I must hate myself, or at least my body. It's the only explanation that I can fathom for the suffering I cause myself.
Somewhere in the last 72-hours I left Tokyo and headed down to Osaka. It's not really clear to me, but I have receipts from hotels that show me that it really did happen. My friend from Hakuba is now living in Osaka so it didn't take very long at all before we were in a bar. For the whole of my time in Osaka, I really didn't see anything about Osaka. In fact, I've been in Kyoto now for only 6 hours, but I know it a hundred times better than Osaka :P
I did, however, have a tremendous time. Darts are surprisingly popular in Japan and they have these wicked electronic boards that automatically tally up the score so the player doesn't have to think (the main reason I never really liked darts in the past). James, myself, and a friend of his stumbled upon a darts bar on Sunday night and proceeded to get friendly with the staff. I now have a local in Osaka, a fact of which I'm rather proud. We drank until 4am, following which we stumbled home and I proceeded to sleep until 4pm that day.
After getting up at 4pm, we were at a restaurant enjoying some Shochu by 6pm. Our local darts bar had a competition running until 10, so we spent until then staying downstairs at a middle-eastern themed bar and enjoy some Shisha. This was a first for James and I, but it was surprisingly not too bad. It is essentially a very light flavoured tobacco smoked from a rather elaborate looking bong. Obviously, it's clean, otherwise I wouldn't have touched it. But it was not harsh or strong, had a nice grape flavour, and lasted us about an hour. I wouldn't really go out of my way to find it again, but none the less, it was a good experience.
At about 11 we were back in the darts bar, chatting with the staff and allowing them to play with us as well. We had our collective arse handed to us. It was still fun, however, I managed to get 17 shades of off-my-face by about 4am, when we did the traditional 'hang out outside a 7-eleven, eat microwave burgers, talk far too loud, but try to convince the locals that we're americans' thing.
4 hours later, it was time to check out and head to Kyoto. My hangover wasn't all that bad, but it was still rather apparent, the lack of sleep did my no favours, and the 20kg pack on my back felt a lot heavier than it really was. Regardless of this, I decided to walk the 5km from Kyoto station to my hotel. And, I enjoyed it!! What made this even more strange was that even after a 5k walk carrying 20kg on my back, I decided I'd like to get a bike, of all things, and ride around Kyoto. Part of me knew this was a stupid, stupid idea. But another part of my knew that I really would love it and it would be heaps of fun. And it was!
Kyoto, I have to be honest, was never going to be my favourite destination. In fact, if not for the fact that everyone told me I had to go, I probably wouldn't have gone at all. But, like most things I wasn't sure I wanted to do, I am now immensely glad that I did.
Kyoto has a population of about 1.4 million, and sits only about 60 minutes drive from Osaka. It was, for almost a thousand years, the capital of Japan until that privilege was moved to Tokyo in the late 1800's. It has resisted every attempt to modernise and sit as a rare jewel, offering a glimpse of the Japan that was, so long ago.
It is also a buddhist mecca, of sorts. Housing over 2000 temples. Not really my sort of thing, but they are incredibly beautiful.
I've got a one hour limit here, sorry, and I think it's time for me to go, so I'll cut this short. I really like Kyoto, and highly recommend it. Especially if you like the arty or religious stuff. I also strongly suggest that when you get here you rent a bike. It costs about $15/day, but the city is nice and flat. Kyoto is ideal for a cycling tour since it's major attractions are not as close to each other as they are in other cities. Cycling in Japan is unlike cycling in Australia. Helmets are never worn, but bikes and pedestrians share footpaths with ease. Most footpaths in Kyoto also have half of the pavement allocated to bikes, and the other half pedestrians.
One last quick point, Lonely Planet really is shit. It is thoughtful enough to offer the location of a bicycle parking lot (they really have these) on the map, but somehow the idea of putting a bicycle rental store on the map just passed them by, not quite entirely. They mention that there are bicycle rental stores, near the train station, but that's it! What good is a bicycle parking lot if I can't get my hands on a freakin bike!
Less than two weeks now! Miss you all heaps! I hope everyone is happy and healthy.
Mike
Somewhere in the last 72-hours I left Tokyo and headed down to Osaka. It's not really clear to me, but I have receipts from hotels that show me that it really did happen. My friend from Hakuba is now living in Osaka so it didn't take very long at all before we were in a bar. For the whole of my time in Osaka, I really didn't see anything about Osaka. In fact, I've been in Kyoto now for only 6 hours, but I know it a hundred times better than Osaka :P
I did, however, have a tremendous time. Darts are surprisingly popular in Japan and they have these wicked electronic boards that automatically tally up the score so the player doesn't have to think (the main reason I never really liked darts in the past). James, myself, and a friend of his stumbled upon a darts bar on Sunday night and proceeded to get friendly with the staff. I now have a local in Osaka, a fact of which I'm rather proud. We drank until 4am, following which we stumbled home and I proceeded to sleep until 4pm that day.
After getting up at 4pm, we were at a restaurant enjoying some Shochu by 6pm. Our local darts bar had a competition running until 10, so we spent until then staying downstairs at a middle-eastern themed bar and enjoy some Shisha. This was a first for James and I, but it was surprisingly not too bad. It is essentially a very light flavoured tobacco smoked from a rather elaborate looking bong. Obviously, it's clean, otherwise I wouldn't have touched it. But it was not harsh or strong, had a nice grape flavour, and lasted us about an hour. I wouldn't really go out of my way to find it again, but none the less, it was a good experience.
At about 11 we were back in the darts bar, chatting with the staff and allowing them to play with us as well. We had our collective arse handed to us. It was still fun, however, I managed to get 17 shades of off-my-face by about 4am, when we did the traditional 'hang out outside a 7-eleven, eat microwave burgers, talk far too loud, but try to convince the locals that we're americans' thing.
4 hours later, it was time to check out and head to Kyoto. My hangover wasn't all that bad, but it was still rather apparent, the lack of sleep did my no favours, and the 20kg pack on my back felt a lot heavier than it really was. Regardless of this, I decided to walk the 5km from Kyoto station to my hotel. And, I enjoyed it!! What made this even more strange was that even after a 5k walk carrying 20kg on my back, I decided I'd like to get a bike, of all things, and ride around Kyoto. Part of me knew this was a stupid, stupid idea. But another part of my knew that I really would love it and it would be heaps of fun. And it was!
Kyoto, I have to be honest, was never going to be my favourite destination. In fact, if not for the fact that everyone told me I had to go, I probably wouldn't have gone at all. But, like most things I wasn't sure I wanted to do, I am now immensely glad that I did.
Kyoto has a population of about 1.4 million, and sits only about 60 minutes drive from Osaka. It was, for almost a thousand years, the capital of Japan until that privilege was moved to Tokyo in the late 1800's. It has resisted every attempt to modernise and sit as a rare jewel, offering a glimpse of the Japan that was, so long ago.
It is also a buddhist mecca, of sorts. Housing over 2000 temples. Not really my sort of thing, but they are incredibly beautiful.
I've got a one hour limit here, sorry, and I think it's time for me to go, so I'll cut this short. I really like Kyoto, and highly recommend it. Especially if you like the arty or religious stuff. I also strongly suggest that when you get here you rent a bike. It costs about $15/day, but the city is nice and flat. Kyoto is ideal for a cycling tour since it's major attractions are not as close to each other as they are in other cities. Cycling in Japan is unlike cycling in Australia. Helmets are never worn, but bikes and pedestrians share footpaths with ease. Most footpaths in Kyoto also have half of the pavement allocated to bikes, and the other half pedestrians.
One last quick point, Lonely Planet really is shit. It is thoughtful enough to offer the location of a bicycle parking lot (they really have these) on the map, but somehow the idea of putting a bicycle rental store on the map just passed them by, not quite entirely. They mention that there are bicycle rental stores, near the train station, but that's it! What good is a bicycle parking lot if I can't get my hands on a freakin bike!
Less than two weeks now! Miss you all heaps! I hope everyone is happy and healthy.
Mike
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