Made it back to London earlier this afternoon, all is well.
Just in case anyone is actually concerned, I'm not dying or anything - I've just been hit by some sort of bug that's made it inconvenient for me to be travelling. I tried to put up with it for a couple of days but all that's happened is I feel worse. I thought I'd head back to Lee and Margaret's for a day or so to get over it before hitting the road again.
Haven't decided where I'll go next, but I was originally hoping to return to London via Oxford and Cambridge...
Friday 30 March 2007
Thursday 29 March 2007
I Am Not a Number!
I had to say it, I had to bloody say it. I should've gone to Portmeirion on Tuesday, when the weather was perfect. Instead, yesterday was overcast and foggy - all day. I had to say it.
Despite the weather, yesterday was a brilliant day out. I woke up early so I could get the earliest bus out there - which only goes to the front of the (mile long) driveway. That was okay, the walk was worth it.
When I made it to the gate, I couldn't resist the temptation to ask "Where am I?" - unfortunately, the guy at the gate didn't appear to understand my little joke. I'm guessing that almost everyone reading this doesn't get it either, so let me fill in some back story...
You see, Portmeirion is where the classic '60s cult TV series The Prisoner was filmed. Starring Patrick McGoohan as the protaganist - known only as Number 6 - it's a fantastically surreal and subversive series that, by the end, really has your head tied up in a twist. Naturally, I love it.
Not only was I intrigued about visiting where the show was filmed, I was genuinely interested in seeing the place for its unique architecture. It was put together over a period of 70 years by its somewhat eccentric creator, and includes his own specially created constructions along with rescued buildings from other sites, all put together overlooking the sea.
It's colourful, it's fascinating and it's beautiful. I've noticed it a lot in Wales, but pastel colours seem a popular choice for painting houses - and Portmeirion takes it to the limit. Amazingly enough, it never oversteps the mark and passes into tastless territory. The bright colours seem quite overwhelming at first, but as you walk around the area you really feel the atmosphere created by the clash of colours and architecture that it works, it really works.
Having watched the show a few times, it was a little disorientating walking around and finding buildings in different places to where I was expecting them. It turns out the creators of the show were even more inventive than I'd originally thought as they've really used the locations to their full extent. The producers were also given access to a number of areas around the resort that aren't available to normal visitors, so I wasn't able to see everywhere Number 6 had been.
What I wasn't expecting was that the Village is only a small part of the resort - the rest is taken up by a massive maze of bush-enclosed pathways that lead to various lookouts. I spent a good couple of hours just wandering around here and still only saw around half of it.
Unfortunately, as I hinted at earlier, it wasn't all perfect. Sadly, the glorious weather of the day before decided to bugger off overnight and, in its place was a thick and gloomy fog that refused to dissipate all day. Funnily enough, it actually helped create a pretty secluded atmosphere which, considering its history, was quite enjoyable. But still, I would truly have loved to be able to have a blue sky in my photos rather than the grey and white gloom I captured instead.
I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not, but there were a lot of visitors there during the day - and I'm pretty sure quite a few of them were there because of The Prisoner (at one point I was following a guy with a video camera who was singing the theme song). Apparently the annual Portmeiricon Prisoner Convention was held just the weekend gone and you could see some of their handiwork around the area - particularly the grassy section, where you could plainly make out where they'd placed the markings for the human chess game.
I also took the time to grab some souvenirs while I was there - the first time I've done so on my entire trip.
My original intention was to head home at closing, in the desperate hope that the sky would suddenly clear up and I'd get my blue sky, but by 3pm it was pretty clear it was only going to get worse so I decided to head back to the hostel, which is where I stayed for the rest of the night.
I'm very unhappy to say that I've had to cut my trip to Wales a bit shorter than I'd intended because... I've fallen sick! On Tuesday night I started to get a tickly throat and on Wednesday it'd only become worse, so today I decided to head back to Cardiff for the night before catching the train back to London tomorrow.
Despite the weather, yesterday was a brilliant day out. I woke up early so I could get the earliest bus out there - which only goes to the front of the (mile long) driveway. That was okay, the walk was worth it.
When I made it to the gate, I couldn't resist the temptation to ask "Where am I?" - unfortunately, the guy at the gate didn't appear to understand my little joke. I'm guessing that almost everyone reading this doesn't get it either, so let me fill in some back story...
You see, Portmeirion is where the classic '60s cult TV series The Prisoner was filmed. Starring Patrick McGoohan as the protaganist - known only as Number 6 - it's a fantastically surreal and subversive series that, by the end, really has your head tied up in a twist. Naturally, I love it.
Not only was I intrigued about visiting where the show was filmed, I was genuinely interested in seeing the place for its unique architecture. It was put together over a period of 70 years by its somewhat eccentric creator, and includes his own specially created constructions along with rescued buildings from other sites, all put together overlooking the sea.
It's colourful, it's fascinating and it's beautiful. I've noticed it a lot in Wales, but pastel colours seem a popular choice for painting houses - and Portmeirion takes it to the limit. Amazingly enough, it never oversteps the mark and passes into tastless territory. The bright colours seem quite overwhelming at first, but as you walk around the area you really feel the atmosphere created by the clash of colours and architecture that it works, it really works.
Having watched the show a few times, it was a little disorientating walking around and finding buildings in different places to where I was expecting them. It turns out the creators of the show were even more inventive than I'd originally thought as they've really used the locations to their full extent. The producers were also given access to a number of areas around the resort that aren't available to normal visitors, so I wasn't able to see everywhere Number 6 had been.
What I wasn't expecting was that the Village is only a small part of the resort - the rest is taken up by a massive maze of bush-enclosed pathways that lead to various lookouts. I spent a good couple of hours just wandering around here and still only saw around half of it.
Unfortunately, as I hinted at earlier, it wasn't all perfect. Sadly, the glorious weather of the day before decided to bugger off overnight and, in its place was a thick and gloomy fog that refused to dissipate all day. Funnily enough, it actually helped create a pretty secluded atmosphere which, considering its history, was quite enjoyable. But still, I would truly have loved to be able to have a blue sky in my photos rather than the grey and white gloom I captured instead.
I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not, but there were a lot of visitors there during the day - and I'm pretty sure quite a few of them were there because of The Prisoner (at one point I was following a guy with a video camera who was singing the theme song). Apparently the annual Portmeiricon Prisoner Convention was held just the weekend gone and you could see some of their handiwork around the area - particularly the grassy section, where you could plainly make out where they'd placed the markings for the human chess game.
I also took the time to grab some souvenirs while I was there - the first time I've done so on my entire trip.
My original intention was to head home at closing, in the desperate hope that the sky would suddenly clear up and I'd get my blue sky, but by 3pm it was pretty clear it was only going to get worse so I decided to head back to the hostel, which is where I stayed for the rest of the night.
I'm very unhappy to say that I've had to cut my trip to Wales a bit shorter than I'd intended because... I've fallen sick! On Tuesday night I started to get a tickly throat and on Wednesday it'd only become worse, so today I decided to head back to Cardiff for the night before catching the train back to London tomorrow.
Tuesday 27 March 2007
Gone North
I've managed to find an Internet cafe in Caernarfon, but it closes in 30 minutes so I'll have to be fast.
Yesterday I spent eight hours in a bus. No, wait, I lie - it was actually two buses. It took over four hours to go from Cardiff to Aberystwyth, then another three or so from Aberystwyth to Caernarfon. Not surprisingly, I was quite tired by the time I arrived - but I still had enough time to prowl the streets and take some pictures.
It's an interesting little town this one; it's centered around a massive castle, with the main part of the town residing inside the castle walls. The streets inside are fairly narrow, and the whole castle area doesn't take very long to walk around (I know - I did it), but it's a really nice area and I'm glad I came.
That's not how I felt yesterday afternoon after the bus ride, though.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to come up this way - the only thing I can think of is that the Lonely Planet guide mentioned the castle and it sounded interesting, plus I thought I may as well see North Wales while I'm over this way.
The bus ride itself was exceptionally dull, made worse by the fact that every time I pulled out my book to read I'd feel sick almost instantly, so the whole trip was spent alternating between falling asleep and watching the scenery. And it's a good thing, too, that the scenery was so nice because every time I looked forward at the road, I'd start to worry.
What I haven't mentioned yet are the roads: they are not built for today's vehicles! They are extremely narrow along the back ways (which, over here in Wales, is practically everywhere) and barely have enough room for one car going one way, let alone two. That doesn't stop the drivers zooming around as fast as they can, though, especially around the tops of the cliffs I chose to look down. There were at least three times driving up here I was certain we were going to fall to our deaths.
Seeing how I was totally buggered last night, I stayed in, did some reading, then fell asleep at midnight. The next thing I knew it was morning - and 10am. I slept like a baby all night, it was great.
Taking my time to get ready, I didn't actually hit the streets until almost midday. My first stop was the tourist information centre for a bit of help deciding what to see - which, as was going to be the case anyway, was the castle. Its most recent claim to fame is that it's where Charles was crowned Prince of Wales by his mum (the Queen).
So far I've seen a few castles on this trip but, to me, this one has been the best. I've already forgotten most of the history behind it, but basically it's been around for a really long time and has been restored enough so that you can walk through most of it. There are corridors leading all through the walls, plenty of towers and turrets, and LOTS of stairs.
Once again, it didn't really occur to me as I was walking in, but once I reached the top of the towers I started to have that strange nauseous feeling again - oh wow, it's high up here. Really high. I don't like being this high from the ground. Despite the rising panic, I managed to brave the heights and take in the spectacular views.
For the rest of the afternoon I've been following the walking tour around town, given to me by the information centre. All up it's 1.5 miles, but it only took about 30 minutes or so to go around. It wasn't until the end of the tour that I discovered this Internet cafe.
Tomorrow, I'm getting up early in order to visit Portmeirion - roughly an hour's bus ride from here. I just hope the weather holds up, because today was unbelievably beautiful.
Yesterday I spent eight hours in a bus. No, wait, I lie - it was actually two buses. It took over four hours to go from Cardiff to Aberystwyth, then another three or so from Aberystwyth to Caernarfon. Not surprisingly, I was quite tired by the time I arrived - but I still had enough time to prowl the streets and take some pictures.
It's an interesting little town this one; it's centered around a massive castle, with the main part of the town residing inside the castle walls. The streets inside are fairly narrow, and the whole castle area doesn't take very long to walk around (I know - I did it), but it's a really nice area and I'm glad I came.
That's not how I felt yesterday afternoon after the bus ride, though.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to come up this way - the only thing I can think of is that the Lonely Planet guide mentioned the castle and it sounded interesting, plus I thought I may as well see North Wales while I'm over this way.
The bus ride itself was exceptionally dull, made worse by the fact that every time I pulled out my book to read I'd feel sick almost instantly, so the whole trip was spent alternating between falling asleep and watching the scenery. And it's a good thing, too, that the scenery was so nice because every time I looked forward at the road, I'd start to worry.
What I haven't mentioned yet are the roads: they are not built for today's vehicles! They are extremely narrow along the back ways (which, over here in Wales, is practically everywhere) and barely have enough room for one car going one way, let alone two. That doesn't stop the drivers zooming around as fast as they can, though, especially around the tops of the cliffs I chose to look down. There were at least three times driving up here I was certain we were going to fall to our deaths.
Seeing how I was totally buggered last night, I stayed in, did some reading, then fell asleep at midnight. The next thing I knew it was morning - and 10am. I slept like a baby all night, it was great.
Taking my time to get ready, I didn't actually hit the streets until almost midday. My first stop was the tourist information centre for a bit of help deciding what to see - which, as was going to be the case anyway, was the castle. Its most recent claim to fame is that it's where Charles was crowned Prince of Wales by his mum (the Queen).
So far I've seen a few castles on this trip but, to me, this one has been the best. I've already forgotten most of the history behind it, but basically it's been around for a really long time and has been restored enough so that you can walk through most of it. There are corridors leading all through the walls, plenty of towers and turrets, and LOTS of stairs.
Once again, it didn't really occur to me as I was walking in, but once I reached the top of the towers I started to have that strange nauseous feeling again - oh wow, it's high up here. Really high. I don't like being this high from the ground. Despite the rising panic, I managed to brave the heights and take in the spectacular views.
For the rest of the afternoon I've been following the walking tour around town, given to me by the information centre. All up it's 1.5 miles, but it only took about 30 minutes or so to go around. It wasn't until the end of the tour that I discovered this Internet cafe.
Tomorrow, I'm getting up early in order to visit Portmeirion - roughly an hour's bus ride from here. I just hope the weather holds up, because today was unbelievably beautiful.
Sunday 25 March 2007
Unexpected Delights
Considering I hadn't intended being in Cardiff today, I think I made a pretty good time of it.
As I mentioned in this morning's post, I've had to book another night here so I can actually manage to get to North Wales at a reasonable hour of the day. The downside has been trying to fill another day of sightseeing in a city where, let's face it, there's not a whole lot to see.
At the bar here at the hostel they have a little book full of useful information, most importantly it includes a list of sights to see while you're here. One of them I noticed a couple of days ago, but I wasn't sure I should see it until the girl behind the bar convinced me it was worth going.
The place is called St Fagan's, and it's a living Welsh museum - by this, they mean you can wander around a real preserved Welsh village and take a look inside the buildings, and even watch people recreate how things were done back in the day - such as boot making, baking bread, that sort of thing.
For some reason I wasn't expecting a lot, but it was a big surprise - it was a lot bigger than I was expecting, there was a lot to see (not a great deal to do beyond walking around, though) and it was actually quite interesting. It sure beat the pants off the museum I saw yesterday.
I spent several hours wandering the paths, taking loads of pictures (yes, I'm one of those tourists) and generally soaking in the atmosphere. There was also another castle on the property which boasted a spectacular garden, one of the best I've seen so far.
But the best bit came after talking to one of the fellows watching over the place: it turns out the Doctor Who film crew had just been there a couple of months earlier! He said they were there some time in December, which means it was for the soon-to-be-aired third series - which means I've managed to do a pre-emptive location visit! I certainly had a spring in my step after learning this nugget of information.
Departing at closing time, I headed back to the hostel for a drink and a snack. I haven't mentioned this already, but daylight savings clicked in over here last night, so once again my body clock is a bit haywire. It also threw my evening off a little as I was planning to head back to Cardiff Bay to take some night-time pictures of the area, but it was still broad daylight - and chilly as hell. In the end I went during the light.
As I'd hoped, it was starting to turn dark by the time I arrived and I proceeded to fill up the rest of my second 2GB memory card, as well as part of my third. By no means do I consider myself a competent photographer - especially with the cheap little camera I'm using - but I'm very proud of some of the photos I've been taking, and I'm especially pleased with some I took tonight.
Almost all of today, the weather has ben quite rubbish - overcast and threatening to rain - but as I arrived at the Bay the clouds decided to part for a while and I was given some nice blue skies to photograph, which slowly turned into a wonderful night's sky.
Tomorrow I'm catching some buses up North. It should be a terminally boring day, but the days following should hopefully make up for it.
As I mentioned in this morning's post, I've had to book another night here so I can actually manage to get to North Wales at a reasonable hour of the day. The downside has been trying to fill another day of sightseeing in a city where, let's face it, there's not a whole lot to see.
At the bar here at the hostel they have a little book full of useful information, most importantly it includes a list of sights to see while you're here. One of them I noticed a couple of days ago, but I wasn't sure I should see it until the girl behind the bar convinced me it was worth going.
The place is called St Fagan's, and it's a living Welsh museum - by this, they mean you can wander around a real preserved Welsh village and take a look inside the buildings, and even watch people recreate how things were done back in the day - such as boot making, baking bread, that sort of thing.
For some reason I wasn't expecting a lot, but it was a big surprise - it was a lot bigger than I was expecting, there was a lot to see (not a great deal to do beyond walking around, though) and it was actually quite interesting. It sure beat the pants off the museum I saw yesterday.
I spent several hours wandering the paths, taking loads of pictures (yes, I'm one of those tourists) and generally soaking in the atmosphere. There was also another castle on the property which boasted a spectacular garden, one of the best I've seen so far.
But the best bit came after talking to one of the fellows watching over the place: it turns out the Doctor Who film crew had just been there a couple of months earlier! He said they were there some time in December, which means it was for the soon-to-be-aired third series - which means I've managed to do a pre-emptive location visit! I certainly had a spring in my step after learning this nugget of information.
Departing at closing time, I headed back to the hostel for a drink and a snack. I haven't mentioned this already, but daylight savings clicked in over here last night, so once again my body clock is a bit haywire. It also threw my evening off a little as I was planning to head back to Cardiff Bay to take some night-time pictures of the area, but it was still broad daylight - and chilly as hell. In the end I went during the light.
As I'd hoped, it was starting to turn dark by the time I arrived and I proceeded to fill up the rest of my second 2GB memory card, as well as part of my third. By no means do I consider myself a competent photographer - especially with the cheap little camera I'm using - but I'm very proud of some of the photos I've been taking, and I'm especially pleased with some I took tonight.
Almost all of today, the weather has ben quite rubbish - overcast and threatening to rain - but as I arrived at the Bay the clouds decided to part for a while and I was given some nice blue skies to photograph, which slowly turned into a wonderful night's sky.
Tomorrow I'm catching some buses up North. It should be a terminally boring day, but the days following should hopefully make up for it.
Serendipity
More mistakes have been made, but I'm recovering from them.
According to my schedule, last night I should have spent the night in the middle of Wales - in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it to be honest, but it was the only place I could find in Wales that had a bed for Saturday night. Last night the rugby semi-finals were on and Cardiff... and Swansea... and every-bloody-where else was entirely booked out.
However, I got lucky. And not in the pants down kind of way (sadly).
While I was at the bar on Friday night, the girl working mentioned there were beds available at the backpackers' down the road - did I want one? Stupid question really, I was dreading trying to find this place and was a little worried I might end up as a steak in some demented Welsh farmer's lunch (Torchwood, you are to blame for this!).
So last night I stayed in Cardiff again, which gave me some more time to look around. On second wander, Cardiff is a little bigger than I originally thought - there's a whole area not printed on the map I was given - so I took some time to wander around there. Not a lot there, just a lot of shops.
I also took the time to look through Cardiff Castle, which was equally garish as it was impressive. The guy who used to own it was somewhat eccentric, and he'd had the place decorated to suit his rather odd tastes. It was all very impressive and ornate, but it's not the kind of place I'd be happy living in. Aside from all the Catholic hullabaloo adorning everything, every room was just so over-decorated I'd be afraid to move for fear of damaging anything.
After this I spent some time in the Art Gallery. I took a good look through the exhibit explaning how Wales was formed, but I'm sorry to say that it's hard to become entirely enthusiastic about a bunch of rocks - no matter how many fossils are embedded in them. I tried to find the paintings - apparently they have the largest collection of impressionist paintings outside of Paris - but I couldn't find them. I might head back again today, now my feet have recovered.
By now, my feet were killing me so I decided to take the open top bus tour around Cardiff to see the sights... and it turns out I've already seen the best ones already, on my own. Most of the tour was 'this used to be' or 'this is going to be' - it turns out there's not a lot of original Cardiff left anymore, and they're still busy building new Cardiff. It's probably going to be worth a visit again in another few years.
Wait a moment, I was explaining my mistakes, wasn't I?
As I was saying, today I was supposed to be in the middle of Wales, heading north to Caenarfon but, instead, I'm still here in Cardiff. I figured it shouldn't be too difficult to get a bus or train up there, but I didn't take into account one thing: today is Sunday! The only bus (that only goes half way, mind you) leaves here at 6.20pm and arrives at 10.20pm - after which, continuing on would be impossible until morning.
Hence, I'm staying another night in Cardiff - however, this has led to something better. Rather than spending one night in Caenarfon, I thought I might stay for a few days and check out North Wales. I've also discovered it's not too far away from Portmerion - the site where The Prisoner was filmed!
According to my schedule, last night I should have spent the night in the middle of Wales - in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it to be honest, but it was the only place I could find in Wales that had a bed for Saturday night. Last night the rugby semi-finals were on and Cardiff... and Swansea... and every-bloody-where else was entirely booked out.
However, I got lucky. And not in the pants down kind of way (sadly).
While I was at the bar on Friday night, the girl working mentioned there were beds available at the backpackers' down the road - did I want one? Stupid question really, I was dreading trying to find this place and was a little worried I might end up as a steak in some demented Welsh farmer's lunch (Torchwood, you are to blame for this!).
So last night I stayed in Cardiff again, which gave me some more time to look around. On second wander, Cardiff is a little bigger than I originally thought - there's a whole area not printed on the map I was given - so I took some time to wander around there. Not a lot there, just a lot of shops.
I also took the time to look through Cardiff Castle, which was equally garish as it was impressive. The guy who used to own it was somewhat eccentric, and he'd had the place decorated to suit his rather odd tastes. It was all very impressive and ornate, but it's not the kind of place I'd be happy living in. Aside from all the Catholic hullabaloo adorning everything, every room was just so over-decorated I'd be afraid to move for fear of damaging anything.
After this I spent some time in the Art Gallery. I took a good look through the exhibit explaning how Wales was formed, but I'm sorry to say that it's hard to become entirely enthusiastic about a bunch of rocks - no matter how many fossils are embedded in them. I tried to find the paintings - apparently they have the largest collection of impressionist paintings outside of Paris - but I couldn't find them. I might head back again today, now my feet have recovered.
By now, my feet were killing me so I decided to take the open top bus tour around Cardiff to see the sights... and it turns out I've already seen the best ones already, on my own. Most of the tour was 'this used to be' or 'this is going to be' - it turns out there's not a lot of original Cardiff left anymore, and they're still busy building new Cardiff. It's probably going to be worth a visit again in another few years.
Wait a moment, I was explaining my mistakes, wasn't I?
As I was saying, today I was supposed to be in the middle of Wales, heading north to Caenarfon but, instead, I'm still here in Cardiff. I figured it shouldn't be too difficult to get a bus or train up there, but I didn't take into account one thing: today is Sunday! The only bus (that only goes half way, mind you) leaves here at 6.20pm and arrives at 10.20pm - after which, continuing on would be impossible until morning.
Hence, I'm staying another night in Cardiff - however, this has led to something better. Rather than spending one night in Caenarfon, I thought I might stay for a few days and check out North Wales. I've also discovered it's not too far away from Portmerion - the site where The Prisoner was filmed!
Friday 23 March 2007
Yes, I'm a nerd - so shoot me
Ah, there's nothing quite like fulfilling a fantasy - which is what I accomplished today.
Whenever I mention to anyone that I want to see Wales, and Cardiff in particular, I tend to get the same question: why?
Why? I'll tell you why! It's because this is where the new series of Doctor Who is made, and I want to see the locations where it's filmed!
Let's head back a number of years to my childhood. Year four of Primary school. My family had just moved back to Newcastle after living in Tuncurry for a couple of years and I'd started at a new school. It's always a tough thing to do, but thankfully I met several friends who, I'm very proud to say, are still friends today. One of them in particular - and he knows who he is - is still one of my closest buddies today.
I can still remember it clearly: for some reason, our class had to spend the afternoon in one of the other classrooms. I dutifully filed in and sat down with the only two people I knew, Alex and Christian. After a bit of chit chat, Alex asked me if I liked Doctor Who. I can't remember what my answer was, but my honest answer looking back on it would have probably been that I'd never really seen it that much, but liked what I'd seen. My memory is shot to pieces these days, so I could be wrong.
I guess this was a sufficiently positive answer for my friends as one of the novelisations was quickly shoved under my nose and I got reading (which was what we were supposed to be doing in this double-sized class). I can even remember which book it was: Planet of the Daleks, one of Jon Pertwee's adventures. You see, it had a pretty big impact on me that I can still remember to this day.
You can probably guess the rest of the story: Drew likes book, watches more of the show, reads more books and is totally hooked - and also kicks off a lifetime love of science-fiction and horror. It's been this way pretty much ever since too; ever since, I have always had a soft spot for the Doctor and his adventures through time and space.
Closer to the present: a few years ago, while I was writing for the magazines, I co-authored an article for What DVD about the 40th Anniversary of Doctor Who - an article I still think is one of the best I've ever written. In it, I made a wild prediction: later that year (2003), there would be a big announcement made about the future of my favourite science-fiction series.
Guess what? I WAS BLOODY RIGHT!
Later that year it was announced that Doctor Who was finally making its return to TV, almost 15 years since its last appearance. Naturally I was over the moon - not just because I'd predicted it happening, but because... well, the Doctor was coming back!
I'll admit, I am a little biased, but I am absolutely thrilled with how the new series has turned out. As a fan, I've always had to put up with the smart-arse comments about the dodgy effects, the wobbly sets and the tacky acting - but I never really let it get to me simply because I absolutely love the premise and the stories which, in the end, is really what it's all about. This time around, however, the show has been blessed with it all: visuals, effects, actors and stories. It's a perfect blend and I'm proud to announce to the world that I'm a Doctor Who fan.
Cut to the present: after accepting the offer to come to the UK, it quickly dawned on me that I'd be able to spend a bit of my time location spotting. You see, the new series (and its less than stellar spin-off, Torchwood) is now filmed almost entirely in Wales - a lot of it in Cardiff, the capital city - so I thought it might be a good excuse to come over to this side of the country and have a look around.
Which is exactly what I did today!
I arrived in Cardiff last night at around 10pm - completely pooped and extremely hungry. I'm staying in a hostel just over the river from the Millennium Stadium, which has been used as a set a few times during the filming of the first two series. After a few drinks, some food and a big sleep, I woke up ready to visit some of the sights I've seen on the small screen.
Imagine my disappointment walking around Cardiff city and not seeing anything. I hate to break it to anyone, but Cardiff is not the most exciting place I've been to. It's remarkably small for a capital city (it's roughly the same size as Newcastle, if not smaller) and there's not much around to look at. I chanced across a shopping centre that was used in one episode, but I was quickly becoming quite disenchanted with this leg of my journey.
After buying a new pair of pants to replace my mud-stained ones, I thought I'd take a trip to Cardiff Bay to see if there was anything there worth seeing. The girl at the hostel warned me there wasn't really a lot to see there, so I was braced for the worst.
On the contrary - it was the motherlode!
It turns out that most of Doctor Who (and Torchwood in particular) is filmed in Cardiff Bay, not the city itself!
Hopping off the bus, I was greeted immediately with the astonishing Millennium Centre and, more importantly, the entrance to the Cardiff branch of the Torchwood Institute! It's a good thing my camera is digital, I would've wasted a hell of a lot of film just on this one monument alone.
Wandering around the area was a Who fan's delight: I walked along the pier where Mickey and Rose talked about getting a room for the night; I walked down the very same flight of stairs that the Doctor hurriedly escorted his captive female Slitheen down; I saw the restaurant they ate at; over the bay I could see the area where Elton had once again discovered the TARDIS; not only did I see the main entrance to the Torchwood Institute, but I also walked past (at first, not realising what it was!) the "fake" entrance - there are so many areas around that have been used on both shows it's crazy.
After marvelling at it all for a while, I wandered up to the visitor centre and picked up a Doctor Who location guide (the Welsh seem justifiably proud of their association) as well as information on a museum exhibit showcasing some of the props and monsters from the show. You can guess what I spent the next couple of hours doing.
I'm sure there are plenty of people reading this thinking I'm nuts, that I should be out seeing the "real" sights of Wales rather than wasting my time on immature and childish pursuits. To you, I say: you're wrong.
I had so much fun today, it has truly been one of the most exciting days for me for this entire holiday and I am extremely glad that I did it. The last year or so has been quite difficult for me, so taking the time out today to forget all about my worries and, instead, reverting back into that bewildered little kid I used to be has made a tremendous impact on me.
Thursday 22 March 2007
But I Don't Even Like Cheese!
Well, adventure is what I wanted - and adventure is what I got.
Yesterday I left Bath and visited Cheddar, home of a massive gorge and some very impressive caves. Oh, and cheese.
Getting there wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd hoped. Rather than just catching a train there, or even a single bus, I had to catch one bus all the way to Wells (an hour away), then catch a connecting bus to Cheddar (20 minutes). This was a doddle; it was also a nice ride through some grandiose scenery. I made it there eventually and headed up to see the caves.
As tourist traps go, Cheddar's not bad. The caves are quite interesting (and they were warmer than outside), and they've even gone to the effort of transforming one of the cave tunnels into a faux-Lord of the Rings adventure/scare path. I was the only one who went through so, being the mighty brave and manly man I am, nobody saw me jump at the scares (one of which involved the shop owner dressing up and standing very still... until walking past him).
I didn't have a lot of time in Cheddar - only a few hours - so I was initially a little hesitant about going on the Gorge walk, but I figured I'd have enough time to see part of it and headed up the 268 steps to its entrance.
Now, I'm unfit at the best of times so this was quite a hike for me - but I eventually made it. But that was only the beginning! The full walk goes up one side of the Gorge and down the other - did I mention it's huge? Well, the Gorge is HUGE. I don't know how far I walked, but it took me a good hour or so to do the first half the walk - maybe a little longer seeing how I kept stopping to take pictures.
By now, time was now running low to get back to the bus so I opted to walk back via the road rather than the second half of the gorge. It didn't take long until I figured out this was a mistake. This road was obviously not made for walking as there was bugger all space on either side of the road and there were plenty of cars around, but I persevered.
What I haven't mentioned yet is the weather. Most of the day had been quite overcast, but as I started to make my way along the path the rain decided to come down. Not too heavy, but just enough to make the area damp. And muddy. And slippery. As luck would have it, I made it all the way up and down without falling once, and this included some very precarious slopes and paths.
I'm sure you can guess where this is going - and you'd be right.
Walking along the flat road, I had to make a detour through the grass on the side of the road in order to avoid being mashed by one of the many cars. It didn't look slippery, so I didn't take as much care as usual - and fell slap bang right on my bum. My jeans, my jacket, my jumper - none of it escaped the mud.
Feeling like an arse, I rushed back to the bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. It turned out I had plenty of time and could've made it up and down the other side of the gorge after all - and probably would have avoided looking like a messy homeless guy sitting at a bus shelter.
The next stop on my tour was Cardiff and the only way I could get there from Cheddar was via Bristol, which meant catching the bus back to Wells, catching another one to Bristol and finally another bus to Cardiff! Making it to Wells was easy enough, but there was a good 40 minute wait in the cold for the bus to Bristol, which itself was another good hour ride.
I didn't end up making it there until just after 7pm, just in time to see the bus station cafe closing. Thankfully, I only had to wait...
Ugh, just remembering it drudges up the pain again. I had to wait another hour and twenty minutes for the bus to Cardiff. I think most of the day was spent waiting for buses. Of course, it gets better - the time came... and went... and still no sign of the bus!
40 minutes later (!!!) it finally arrived, but the bus driver didn't want to sell me a ticket and suggested I wait for the next one - this was the last one. Thankfully, he must've realised this and gave me a sly grin and told me to hop on anyway.
At last, I was on the way to my next destination - Cardiff!
Yesterday I left Bath and visited Cheddar, home of a massive gorge and some very impressive caves. Oh, and cheese.
Getting there wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd hoped. Rather than just catching a train there, or even a single bus, I had to catch one bus all the way to Wells (an hour away), then catch a connecting bus to Cheddar (20 minutes). This was a doddle; it was also a nice ride through some grandiose scenery. I made it there eventually and headed up to see the caves.
As tourist traps go, Cheddar's not bad. The caves are quite interesting (and they were warmer than outside), and they've even gone to the effort of transforming one of the cave tunnels into a faux-Lord of the Rings adventure/scare path. I was the only one who went through so, being the mighty brave and manly man I am, nobody saw me jump at the scares (one of which involved the shop owner dressing up and standing very still... until walking past him).
I didn't have a lot of time in Cheddar - only a few hours - so I was initially a little hesitant about going on the Gorge walk, but I figured I'd have enough time to see part of it and headed up the 268 steps to its entrance.
Now, I'm unfit at the best of times so this was quite a hike for me - but I eventually made it. But that was only the beginning! The full walk goes up one side of the Gorge and down the other - did I mention it's huge? Well, the Gorge is HUGE. I don't know how far I walked, but it took me a good hour or so to do the first half the walk - maybe a little longer seeing how I kept stopping to take pictures.
By now, time was now running low to get back to the bus so I opted to walk back via the road rather than the second half of the gorge. It didn't take long until I figured out this was a mistake. This road was obviously not made for walking as there was bugger all space on either side of the road and there were plenty of cars around, but I persevered.
What I haven't mentioned yet is the weather. Most of the day had been quite overcast, but as I started to make my way along the path the rain decided to come down. Not too heavy, but just enough to make the area damp. And muddy. And slippery. As luck would have it, I made it all the way up and down without falling once, and this included some very precarious slopes and paths.
I'm sure you can guess where this is going - and you'd be right.
Walking along the flat road, I had to make a detour through the grass on the side of the road in order to avoid being mashed by one of the many cars. It didn't look slippery, so I didn't take as much care as usual - and fell slap bang right on my bum. My jeans, my jacket, my jumper - none of it escaped the mud.
Feeling like an arse, I rushed back to the bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. It turned out I had plenty of time and could've made it up and down the other side of the gorge after all - and probably would have avoided looking like a messy homeless guy sitting at a bus shelter.
The next stop on my tour was Cardiff and the only way I could get there from Cheddar was via Bristol, which meant catching the bus back to Wells, catching another one to Bristol and finally another bus to Cardiff! Making it to Wells was easy enough, but there was a good 40 minute wait in the cold for the bus to Bristol, which itself was another good hour ride.
I didn't end up making it there until just after 7pm, just in time to see the bus station cafe closing. Thankfully, I only had to wait...
Ugh, just remembering it drudges up the pain again. I had to wait another hour and twenty minutes for the bus to Cardiff. I think most of the day was spent waiting for buses. Of course, it gets better - the time came... and went... and still no sign of the bus!
40 minutes later (!!!) it finally arrived, but the bus driver didn't want to sell me a ticket and suggested I wait for the next one - this was the last one. Thankfully, he must've realised this and gave me a sly grin and told me to hop on anyway.
At last, I was on the way to my next destination - Cardiff!
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Bath
No time for clever titles today, I'm sitting in an Internet cafe and the time is ticking by. I've been booking accommodation for the next week, which is harder than I expected. Although I wanted to spend a few days uninterrupted in Cardiff, I've had to break it up with a trip north simply because I couldn't get anything on Saturday night.
Tonight is my last night here in Bath. I actually decided to extend my stay here by a night simply because I was enjoying the place so much and I wanted to see more of it. Not to mention I was told tonight is going to see around 10,000 toga-clad partiers hitting the streets for one of the biggest nights of the year. Honestly, who can say no to that?
Yesterday was mostly spent wandering around the city and taking in some of the sights, primarily the Roman Baths. This was the site of a huge temple and hot spring baths way back in the days that the Romans were occupying the land and has been used by various other people throughout history since. It was only recently rediscovered - around 100 years ago - and is a pretty spectacular place to visit. I was told to leave an hour to go through the place - I ended up in there for almost three.
The tour concluded with a chance to taste the water in the Pump Room which, of course, I did. I then spent the next five minutes desperately searching for something else to take the taste out of my mouth. It's worth a taste, but only once. Back in the old days it was prescribed as medicine - funnily enough, medicine these days tastes just as bad.
After this I was determined to find a decent vantage point from which to see the city, so I headed north up a long, tall hill in hopes of finding a good spot. After an hour of walking I was just about to give up hope (especially after the freezing cold wind and tiny particles of ice had started to pelt me) when I chanced across a cemetary that had some amazing views of the city. It was a suitably creepy area too - lots of crumbling tombstones and sunken graves made me think of Night of the Living Dead. No zombies, though.
An hour later I was back at the hostel - and I was buggered. Lightweight that I am, I spent most of the night relaxing in front of the teevee, but before I went to bed I headed downstairs to the bar to grab a drink and book another night.
This morning I went on the free walking tour of the city, which I'd tried to do the day before but I couldn't find where it was so I missed out. It was a great walk as well as a great tour, taking us through a surprisingly large area of the city. I know someone will be interested to know that I went past where Jane Austen spent 18 months living in Bath (and apparently wrote Northanger Abbey) as well as walked one of the walks she discussed in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I haven't gone into the Austen Centre though, partly because I've been told it's not that good - but also because my interest in Jane Austen ended around seven months ago.
Our tour guide was a great old guy. He's been doing the walking tour for 24 years now and he obviously knows his stuff. He was also far fitter than the rest of us as he had no problem scurrying around the streets and outrunning us with ease.
After the tour I hopped on one of the tour buses that circles the city in order to visit Prior Park, which promised (and delivered) a stunning view of the city. I took many, many pictures here (it was a beautiful area) but I had to rush my way around in order to get back to the bus in time.
I'm really glad I took the time to stay another night, there's a lot I missed seeing yesterday that I managed to catch today. Plus the weather today was a lot better - it was just as cold, but the sky was mostly devoid of clouds.
Tomorrow I thought I'd head out to Cheddar to see the caves out there before heading into Cardiff. But, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself - I still have a toga party to get through!
Tonight is my last night here in Bath. I actually decided to extend my stay here by a night simply because I was enjoying the place so much and I wanted to see more of it. Not to mention I was told tonight is going to see around 10,000 toga-clad partiers hitting the streets for one of the biggest nights of the year. Honestly, who can say no to that?
Yesterday was mostly spent wandering around the city and taking in some of the sights, primarily the Roman Baths. This was the site of a huge temple and hot spring baths way back in the days that the Romans were occupying the land and has been used by various other people throughout history since. It was only recently rediscovered - around 100 years ago - and is a pretty spectacular place to visit. I was told to leave an hour to go through the place - I ended up in there for almost three.
The tour concluded with a chance to taste the water in the Pump Room which, of course, I did. I then spent the next five minutes desperately searching for something else to take the taste out of my mouth. It's worth a taste, but only once. Back in the old days it was prescribed as medicine - funnily enough, medicine these days tastes just as bad.
After this I was determined to find a decent vantage point from which to see the city, so I headed north up a long, tall hill in hopes of finding a good spot. After an hour of walking I was just about to give up hope (especially after the freezing cold wind and tiny particles of ice had started to pelt me) when I chanced across a cemetary that had some amazing views of the city. It was a suitably creepy area too - lots of crumbling tombstones and sunken graves made me think of Night of the Living Dead. No zombies, though.
An hour later I was back at the hostel - and I was buggered. Lightweight that I am, I spent most of the night relaxing in front of the teevee, but before I went to bed I headed downstairs to the bar to grab a drink and book another night.
This morning I went on the free walking tour of the city, which I'd tried to do the day before but I couldn't find where it was so I missed out. It was a great walk as well as a great tour, taking us through a surprisingly large area of the city. I know someone will be interested to know that I went past where Jane Austen spent 18 months living in Bath (and apparently wrote Northanger Abbey) as well as walked one of the walks she discussed in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I haven't gone into the Austen Centre though, partly because I've been told it's not that good - but also because my interest in Jane Austen ended around seven months ago.
Our tour guide was a great old guy. He's been doing the walking tour for 24 years now and he obviously knows his stuff. He was also far fitter than the rest of us as he had no problem scurrying around the streets and outrunning us with ease.
After the tour I hopped on one of the tour buses that circles the city in order to visit Prior Park, which promised (and delivered) a stunning view of the city. I took many, many pictures here (it was a beautiful area) but I had to rush my way around in order to get back to the bus in time.
I'm really glad I took the time to stay another night, there's a lot I missed seeing yesterday that I managed to catch today. Plus the weather today was a lot better - it was just as cold, but the sky was mostly devoid of clouds.
Tomorrow I thought I'd head out to Cheddar to see the caves out there before heading into Cardiff. But, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself - I still have a toga party to get through!
Monday 19 March 2007
Where are the dancing little people?
At this very moment, I'm sitting in the pub underneath my hostel in Bath. I've had a couple of drinks, I'm watching the Chelsea vs. Tottenham football game and I'm having a bloody good time.
I'm back on the road - and I'm loving it. After arising slightly later this morning than I'd hoped, I packed up my bags, tidied up my mess as best I could (again, thank you very much for the last week Margaret and Lee!) and hopped on the tube to Waterloo station on the way to my first stop: Stonehenge.
I was in a bit of a hurry to leave and I didn't have a chance to have breakfast, so after buying my ticket to Salisbury I grabbed some lunch, a drink and a book to read on the train. A couple of hours later I was deposited at Salisbury station with a bus ticket out to Stonehenge.
For some reason, I have been completely unable to get the Spinal Tap song out of my head - but that's okay, because Stonehenge completely lived up to all of my expectations. Fair enough, it's basically a pile of big rocks - but what a pile of rocks!
This site is so old and rich with history, it's mind boggling to understand what an amazing monument it is. The stones are MASSIVE and, according to the tour guide, are buried in the ground so that ony two thirds of each rock is poking out of the ground. I don't quite understand how they know, but the stones were apparently carved in Wales and shipped to the area and erected. The beautifully crazy bunch who built it also put in a few fancy architectural tricks in order to hold the stones together. Fantastic stuff.
Aside from the 'henge itself, the area was jaw droppingly beautiful with green pastures surrounding the area. It was also freezing cold, thanks to a particularly brittle arctic blast that decided to arrive yesterday - but nothing could dampen my enthusiasm. Naturally, I took a bunch of pictures (some of them should be pretty spectactular too, the sky was magnificent) but I won't be able to post any until I get back to London.
Braving the weather for another 40 minutes waiting for the bus, it suddenly dawned on me that something was missing - I left my bloody book on the bus on the way! After a few curses at my carelessness (notch up a £7.99 carelessness tax), the bus arrived and I was soon on the train to Bath.
Incidentally, if anyone is interested in buying me a belated birthday present: Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis would be a nice surprise.
What can I say about Bath except I absolutely love the place. I originally had no intention of coming here, but a couple of people mentioned I should drop by while I'm close to Stonehenge - and I'm so glad I did. I'm currently booked in to stay for two nights, but I'm seriously considering adding another day so I can take a bit longer to check the place out.
I'm not kidding - after three hours I was looking the window of a real estate agent checking out prices of houses. This is the first place I've been to that I've felt I could really live here.
As usual, I arrived as the sun was starting to go down. After I checked in, I stopped by the bar downstairs for a drink before heading out into the town for a quick recce. By now it was getting quite dark, but I messed around with my camera for a little while taking some snaps (I have no idea how they'll turn out) before heading back to the bar for some food and some more drinks.
Which is where I am now. And with less than three minutes on the Internet machine (and Shampoo's 'Trouble' playing over the sound system), I must depart.
I'm back on the road - and I'm loving it. After arising slightly later this morning than I'd hoped, I packed up my bags, tidied up my mess as best I could (again, thank you very much for the last week Margaret and Lee!) and hopped on the tube to Waterloo station on the way to my first stop: Stonehenge.
I was in a bit of a hurry to leave and I didn't have a chance to have breakfast, so after buying my ticket to Salisbury I grabbed some lunch, a drink and a book to read on the train. A couple of hours later I was deposited at Salisbury station with a bus ticket out to Stonehenge.
For some reason, I have been completely unable to get the Spinal Tap song out of my head - but that's okay, because Stonehenge completely lived up to all of my expectations. Fair enough, it's basically a pile of big rocks - but what a pile of rocks!
This site is so old and rich with history, it's mind boggling to understand what an amazing monument it is. The stones are MASSIVE and, according to the tour guide, are buried in the ground so that ony two thirds of each rock is poking out of the ground. I don't quite understand how they know, but the stones were apparently carved in Wales and shipped to the area and erected. The beautifully crazy bunch who built it also put in a few fancy architectural tricks in order to hold the stones together. Fantastic stuff.
Aside from the 'henge itself, the area was jaw droppingly beautiful with green pastures surrounding the area. It was also freezing cold, thanks to a particularly brittle arctic blast that decided to arrive yesterday - but nothing could dampen my enthusiasm. Naturally, I took a bunch of pictures (some of them should be pretty spectactular too, the sky was magnificent) but I won't be able to post any until I get back to London.
Braving the weather for another 40 minutes waiting for the bus, it suddenly dawned on me that something was missing - I left my bloody book on the bus on the way! After a few curses at my carelessness (notch up a £7.99 carelessness tax), the bus arrived and I was soon on the train to Bath.
Incidentally, if anyone is interested in buying me a belated birthday present: Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis would be a nice surprise.
What can I say about Bath except I absolutely love the place. I originally had no intention of coming here, but a couple of people mentioned I should drop by while I'm close to Stonehenge - and I'm so glad I did. I'm currently booked in to stay for two nights, but I'm seriously considering adding another day so I can take a bit longer to check the place out.
I'm not kidding - after three hours I was looking the window of a real estate agent checking out prices of houses. This is the first place I've been to that I've felt I could really live here.
As usual, I arrived as the sun was starting to go down. After I checked in, I stopped by the bar downstairs for a drink before heading out into the town for a quick recce. By now it was getting quite dark, but I messed around with my camera for a little while taking some snaps (I have no idea how they'll turn out) before heading back to the bar for some food and some more drinks.
Which is where I am now. And with less than three minutes on the Internet machine (and Shampoo's 'Trouble' playing over the sound system), I must depart.
On the Road Again
Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on my first UK adventure. I'm planning to be gone for at least a week, maybe two, so don't panic if you don't hear from me - I'm probably off having a good time somewhere.
Friday 16 March 2007
One Week of London
Technically, this is my eighth day - but what the hell.
I think I've now significantly recovered from jet lag enough to be able to recount some of the shenanigans I've been up to since arriving in the United Kingdom.
My introduction to London was quite a shock, but a pretty good one. As I've mentioned, Lee, Margaret and I all went to see Nine Inch Nails in Brixton - which was a big thrill for me. Not because I was seeing NIN (although it was a great show) but because I've always wanted to go see a band at Brixton Academy - and here it was, not three hours into the country and I've already struck one of the items from my checklist!
The same night was also my introduction to the tube and the famous red double-decker buses, although most of it was a total blur because my brain had started to melt out of my ears from exhaustion.
In the morning, I woke up and headed into the city with Lee, who suggested I should jump on one of the tour buses that are continually driving around the city. Not one to ignore good advice (I can hear the muffled laughter from here), this is what I did. It was cold, but damn was it exciting seeing all of the sights I've only ever seen on teevee. The Thames, the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral... the place is packed with things to see.
I stopped off at the London Eye and took a trip up in that - somehow forgetting that I'm afraid of heights (I can hear the muffled laughter from here), so I spent most of the ride doing my best to get close to the glass and trying not to look down too much.
On Saturday we all hopped on the tube and watched Lee play a game of Lacrosse - then headed down to the bar for a few drinks. I was pretty grateful for such a peaceful day, to be honest.
Sunday was quite fun - I took myself into the city and wandered around for a while, mostly around the Regent Street and Leicester Square area. I spent a few hours checking out the Apple store quite thoroughly, then just meandered around the streets taking it all in. When it started to get dark I headed back to the flat.
Funnily enough, just as I was about to open the door it was opened for me by Lee and Margaret who were on their way out to dinner - which they very kindly invited me along to. We wandered up the road to a restaurant they've been to a few times before and assured me was really good.
It turned to be the funniest meal I've ever eaten in my life.
We turned up a little early, but were still allowed in by the very cheerful manager. After a few minutes he came to take our drink orders, but warned us that they'd had a big lunch crowd so the alcohol situation was a little shaky. Lee and Margaret discussed with him about what to order, and off he went. They then proceeded to tell me that the manager - the guy who served us - wasn't the usual guy that's there, but he still seemed just as jolly.
Not five minutes after he took our drink order, he was back at the table with a surprised look on his face wondering why we didn't have any alcohol - and then proceeded to take our drink order. Again. This was just the first sign of just how jolly he was that night.
In the meantime, more people had arrived and had started to order - including a table of eight. After a good ten or fifteen minutes, our effervescent manager reappeared at another table with some dishes - unfortunately, they weren't what this table had ordered. Obviously a little flustered, he placed a couple of the dishes down on a nearby empty table and returned to the kitchen.
Moments later, he reappeared at the same table and apologised - and proceeded to take their order again. The next time he disappeared back in the kitchen, the large table had decided they'd had enough and all proceeded to leave.
By now we'd had our drinks delivered but, from what we could work out from the girl who was also working that night, it turns out he had taken the orders from several tables, but had neglected to take note of which order went with which table. In order to save time, she took our order again, apologised profusely and, with a beautiful smile that simultaneously expressed frustration, incredulation and further sincere apology, informed us that this was her first night working here.
As we continued to wait, we began to notice the manager was starting to sway a little more than he'd done previously. We also noticed that the rest of the staff were obviously none too pleased at his behaviour, especially the new waitress. She later told us that she'd forced him to sit on the floor in the kitchen and eat all of the wasted food that he'd tried to deliver.
As Lee and Margaret continued to reassure me that this place was not normally like visiting an episode of Fawlty Towers (and I believe them!), the waitress was taking charge and getting everything back on track. We shared a few laughs with some of the other diners and soon everyone's food had arrived. As expected, it was excellent.
Then the manager tried to make himself a cup of coffee.
As we continued to eat, a loud crash came from behind the bar. And then another. I could see into the bar from my seat, so I watched what was happening. Sure enough, our good friend was back there trying to figure out the coffee machine and doing a superbly awful job at it.
We decided not to risk a dessert and instead elected just to leave. At the bar we found the waitress and the (swaying) manager, whose shirt was now covered in coffee stains. I guess he was the only one who was able to work the cash register, as he was being sternly ordered by the waitress on what to enter into it. As we left, she thanked us profusely.
Monday I did nothing except stay indoors - by now I needed a bit of a break. Especially considering...
Tuesday was my birthday! This whole trip has been my big birthday present to myself, but I figured I should do something fun for the day so I headed in to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, then took another wander around the city until it was time to meet up with Lee and Margaret who took me out to this fantastic Pakistani restaurant. Not only was the food wonderful, but the service was impeccable - dishes started to arrive within five minutes of ordering. After dinner, we went into Soho to a couple of bars for some drinks. A damn fine birthday, I must say - definitely a memorable way of entering my thirties.
Wednesday I took in a show... okay, a movie. As a massive fan of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, I finally found my chance to see Hot Fuzz - and, naturally, I loved it. I'll have to watch it a few more times to decide if it's topped Shaun though (which is currently one of my favourite movies of all time).
Thursday saw me head back into the city for another walk around, this time I took a look around Buckingham Palace and the gardens that are nearby. Everything looks a lot smaller than I'd imagined, but it's still a thrill to see all of these places in the flesh. One of the highlights was when a squirrel decided to run up to me - I guess in hopes that I'd feed it. It then paraded around the area, giving myself and another lady enough time to snap a few photos. You'd swear it was posing for us.
Which finally leads me today, Friday. Tonight I'm meeting up with an old friend from high school who I ran into briefly in Newcastle on Christmas Eve. She's been living out here for the last couple of years and invited me to her work farewell do, which is where I'm off to right now.
I think I've now significantly recovered from jet lag enough to be able to recount some of the shenanigans I've been up to since arriving in the United Kingdom.
My introduction to London was quite a shock, but a pretty good one. As I've mentioned, Lee, Margaret and I all went to see Nine Inch Nails in Brixton - which was a big thrill for me. Not because I was seeing NIN (although it was a great show) but because I've always wanted to go see a band at Brixton Academy - and here it was, not three hours into the country and I've already struck one of the items from my checklist!
The same night was also my introduction to the tube and the famous red double-decker buses, although most of it was a total blur because my brain had started to melt out of my ears from exhaustion.
In the morning, I woke up and headed into the city with Lee, who suggested I should jump on one of the tour buses that are continually driving around the city. Not one to ignore good advice (I can hear the muffled laughter from here), this is what I did. It was cold, but damn was it exciting seeing all of the sights I've only ever seen on teevee. The Thames, the Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral... the place is packed with things to see.
I stopped off at the London Eye and took a trip up in that - somehow forgetting that I'm afraid of heights (I can hear the muffled laughter from here), so I spent most of the ride doing my best to get close to the glass and trying not to look down too much.
On Saturday we all hopped on the tube and watched Lee play a game of Lacrosse - then headed down to the bar for a few drinks. I was pretty grateful for such a peaceful day, to be honest.
Sunday was quite fun - I took myself into the city and wandered around for a while, mostly around the Regent Street and Leicester Square area. I spent a few hours checking out the Apple store quite thoroughly, then just meandered around the streets taking it all in. When it started to get dark I headed back to the flat.
Funnily enough, just as I was about to open the door it was opened for me by Lee and Margaret who were on their way out to dinner - which they very kindly invited me along to. We wandered up the road to a restaurant they've been to a few times before and assured me was really good.
It turned to be the funniest meal I've ever eaten in my life.
We turned up a little early, but were still allowed in by the very cheerful manager. After a few minutes he came to take our drink orders, but warned us that they'd had a big lunch crowd so the alcohol situation was a little shaky. Lee and Margaret discussed with him about what to order, and off he went. They then proceeded to tell me that the manager - the guy who served us - wasn't the usual guy that's there, but he still seemed just as jolly.
Not five minutes after he took our drink order, he was back at the table with a surprised look on his face wondering why we didn't have any alcohol - and then proceeded to take our drink order. Again. This was just the first sign of just how jolly he was that night.
In the meantime, more people had arrived and had started to order - including a table of eight. After a good ten or fifteen minutes, our effervescent manager reappeared at another table with some dishes - unfortunately, they weren't what this table had ordered. Obviously a little flustered, he placed a couple of the dishes down on a nearby empty table and returned to the kitchen.
Moments later, he reappeared at the same table and apologised - and proceeded to take their order again. The next time he disappeared back in the kitchen, the large table had decided they'd had enough and all proceeded to leave.
By now we'd had our drinks delivered but, from what we could work out from the girl who was also working that night, it turns out he had taken the orders from several tables, but had neglected to take note of which order went with which table. In order to save time, she took our order again, apologised profusely and, with a beautiful smile that simultaneously expressed frustration, incredulation and further sincere apology, informed us that this was her first night working here.
As we continued to wait, we began to notice the manager was starting to sway a little more than he'd done previously. We also noticed that the rest of the staff were obviously none too pleased at his behaviour, especially the new waitress. She later told us that she'd forced him to sit on the floor in the kitchen and eat all of the wasted food that he'd tried to deliver.
As Lee and Margaret continued to reassure me that this place was not normally like visiting an episode of Fawlty Towers (and I believe them!), the waitress was taking charge and getting everything back on track. We shared a few laughs with some of the other diners and soon everyone's food had arrived. As expected, it was excellent.
Then the manager tried to make himself a cup of coffee.
As we continued to eat, a loud crash came from behind the bar. And then another. I could see into the bar from my seat, so I watched what was happening. Sure enough, our good friend was back there trying to figure out the coffee machine and doing a superbly awful job at it.
We decided not to risk a dessert and instead elected just to leave. At the bar we found the waitress and the (swaying) manager, whose shirt was now covered in coffee stains. I guess he was the only one who was able to work the cash register, as he was being sternly ordered by the waitress on what to enter into it. As we left, she thanked us profusely.
Monday I did nothing except stay indoors - by now I needed a bit of a break. Especially considering...
Tuesday was my birthday! This whole trip has been my big birthday present to myself, but I figured I should do something fun for the day so I headed in to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, then took another wander around the city until it was time to meet up with Lee and Margaret who took me out to this fantastic Pakistani restaurant. Not only was the food wonderful, but the service was impeccable - dishes started to arrive within five minutes of ordering. After dinner, we went into Soho to a couple of bars for some drinks. A damn fine birthday, I must say - definitely a memorable way of entering my thirties.
Wednesday I took in a show... okay, a movie. As a massive fan of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, I finally found my chance to see Hot Fuzz - and, naturally, I loved it. I'll have to watch it a few more times to decide if it's topped Shaun though (which is currently one of my favourite movies of all time).
Thursday saw me head back into the city for another walk around, this time I took a look around Buckingham Palace and the gardens that are nearby. Everything looks a lot smaller than I'd imagined, but it's still a thrill to see all of these places in the flesh. One of the highlights was when a squirrel decided to run up to me - I guess in hopes that I'd feed it. It then paraded around the area, giving myself and another lady enough time to snap a few photos. You'd swear it was posing for us.
Which finally leads me today, Friday. Tonight I'm meeting up with an old friend from high school who I ran into briefly in Newcastle on Christmas Eve. She's been living out here for the last couple of years and invited me to her work farewell do, which is where I'm off to right now.
Thursday 15 March 2007
So Where Was I?
Last time we left off, our hero had just worn away a significant amount of shoe rubber walking around Kyoto. We now continue with the rest of his adventures in the land of the crazy vending machines - Japan!
The morning after my massive walk around Kyoto, I was naturally pretty tired - but no rest for the wicked. Overnight the weather had turned for the worse and it was really bucketing down outside - and the train station was quite a long way away. The guy at the hostel suggested I bus it back to the station, so a short wander up the road to the bus stop and 150 yen later I was back at the train station and on my way to Hiroshima.
I'm not going to add any commentary about Hiroshima itself, I'm pretty sure everyone knows its history. All I'll say is that I had one hell of a rush trying to pack as much of the place into one brief afternoon.
As I've mentioned earlier, I didn't really plan this trip all that well - there are a lot of things I'd do differently now. If I had any single regret about my trip to Japan it's that I didn't get enough time at Hiroshima. I was very lucky that the hostel I was staying at was so close to the Peace Park so I managed to see quite a bit of this area.
Without a doubt the most impressive sight here was the A-Bomb Dome, but there were also quite a few different shrines to the many different people who died here. It's a sobering area to walk around. I can't help the feeling that some of the psychopaths who are in power of the various governments around the world could do worse than spend an afternoon here so they can see first-hand the unnecessary pain they inflict upon ordinary people.
Sorry, that's as political as I plan to get. Back to the action.
With the light starting to fade, I walked as fast as I could up to Hiroshima Castle to take a look here. This place was originally built in the 16th Century and was destroyed by the atomic bomb. The recreation was completed in 1958 and is now a museum.
It's a really nice area here and the castle outside is quite impressive, but by now I was starting to have a bit of Temple/Shrine/Castle burnout. I took a bit of a walk around the streets for a while, but I was still pretty tired from the day before so I decided to head back to the hostel for the night.
The next day has already been fairly well documented already, but I'll cover it briefly again - I caught the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Osaka and managed to check into the wrong hotel. What I haven't talked about yet is my extreme regret that I didn't just skip Osaka completely and stay in Hiroshima for another night.
While I was at the hostel, a couple of the other people staying there were planning a trip in the morning to Miyajima - which, I'd been told by another traveller, is considered one of the three most beautiful areas in all of Japan. Rather than spending a tranquil day looking at these fantastic sights, instead I was stuck in yet another city - but this time, it didn't appear to have any of the redeeming features of Tokyo or Kyoto.
Osaka is the only place I stayed that I didn't enjoy. Mistaken hotel incident aside, I found the place dirty, smelly and generally unpleasant. It was also the only place in my entire trip where I actually felt threatened by any of the locals - everywhere else I only ever felt welcome. I went for a walk after I'd checked into the correct hotel, but by this time it was dark and I was nowhere near any of the sights worth visiting.
Thankfully, the next day I was heading back to Tokyo - which I did as early as possible. Along the way, the Shinkansen travelled past Mt. Fuji so I took the time to take as many pictures as I could.
That's about all there is to tell really. After this, I took the Narita Express back to the Airport and stayed overnight in yet another hostel, then in the morning caught my flight to London via Frankfurt.
The morning after my massive walk around Kyoto, I was naturally pretty tired - but no rest for the wicked. Overnight the weather had turned for the worse and it was really bucketing down outside - and the train station was quite a long way away. The guy at the hostel suggested I bus it back to the station, so a short wander up the road to the bus stop and 150 yen later I was back at the train station and on my way to Hiroshima.
I'm not going to add any commentary about Hiroshima itself, I'm pretty sure everyone knows its history. All I'll say is that I had one hell of a rush trying to pack as much of the place into one brief afternoon.
As I've mentioned earlier, I didn't really plan this trip all that well - there are a lot of things I'd do differently now. If I had any single regret about my trip to Japan it's that I didn't get enough time at Hiroshima. I was very lucky that the hostel I was staying at was so close to the Peace Park so I managed to see quite a bit of this area.
Without a doubt the most impressive sight here was the A-Bomb Dome, but there were also quite a few different shrines to the many different people who died here. It's a sobering area to walk around. I can't help the feeling that some of the psychopaths who are in power of the various governments around the world could do worse than spend an afternoon here so they can see first-hand the unnecessary pain they inflict upon ordinary people.
Sorry, that's as political as I plan to get. Back to the action.
With the light starting to fade, I walked as fast as I could up to Hiroshima Castle to take a look here. This place was originally built in the 16th Century and was destroyed by the atomic bomb. The recreation was completed in 1958 and is now a museum.
It's a really nice area here and the castle outside is quite impressive, but by now I was starting to have a bit of Temple/Shrine/Castle burnout. I took a bit of a walk around the streets for a while, but I was still pretty tired from the day before so I decided to head back to the hostel for the night.
The next day has already been fairly well documented already, but I'll cover it briefly again - I caught the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Osaka and managed to check into the wrong hotel. What I haven't talked about yet is my extreme regret that I didn't just skip Osaka completely and stay in Hiroshima for another night.
While I was at the hostel, a couple of the other people staying there were planning a trip in the morning to Miyajima - which, I'd been told by another traveller, is considered one of the three most beautiful areas in all of Japan. Rather than spending a tranquil day looking at these fantastic sights, instead I was stuck in yet another city - but this time, it didn't appear to have any of the redeeming features of Tokyo or Kyoto.
Osaka is the only place I stayed that I didn't enjoy. Mistaken hotel incident aside, I found the place dirty, smelly and generally unpleasant. It was also the only place in my entire trip where I actually felt threatened by any of the locals - everywhere else I only ever felt welcome. I went for a walk after I'd checked into the correct hotel, but by this time it was dark and I was nowhere near any of the sights worth visiting.
Thankfully, the next day I was heading back to Tokyo - which I did as early as possible. Along the way, the Shinkansen travelled past Mt. Fuji so I took the time to take as many pictures as I could.
That's about all there is to tell really. After this, I took the Narita Express back to the Airport and stayed overnight in yet another hostel, then in the morning caught my flight to London via Frankfurt.
Tuesday 13 March 2007
Today I turn 'Old'
Today's my Birthday
I'm older but no wiser
Happy Birthday Drew
(Haiku)
My plan worked. About four or five months ago I made the decision that I would be in another country for my 30th Birthday - and here I am. Today is the day and I don't feel too bad. Actually, I feel pretty good. Normally I don't like celebrating birthdays, but I thought this one might be a good one to make a bit of a fuss over. Hence my trip - this is my birthday present to myself.
But today is a day for celebration, not rumination! Today I'm going to go and hobnob with the stars - that's right, I'm going to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum! Lee and Margaret are taking me out to dinner tonight in the city, then later on in the week we're going to see a Shakespeare play - The Tempest, starring Patrick Stewart.
Thanks to everyone who remembered, I appreciate it a lot more than you'd think.
I'm older but no wiser
Happy Birthday Drew
(Haiku)
My plan worked. About four or five months ago I made the decision that I would be in another country for my 30th Birthday - and here I am. Today is the day and I don't feel too bad. Actually, I feel pretty good. Normally I don't like celebrating birthdays, but I thought this one might be a good one to make a bit of a fuss over. Hence my trip - this is my birthday present to myself.
But today is a day for celebration, not rumination! Today I'm going to go and hobnob with the stars - that's right, I'm going to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum! Lee and Margaret are taking me out to dinner tonight in the city, then later on in the week we're going to see a Shakespeare play - The Tempest, starring Patrick Stewart.
Thanks to everyone who remembered, I appreciate it a lot more than you'd think.
Monday 12 March 2007
Episode 2
I finished Episode 2 of my rubbish travelogue (or crapumentary series) today - this time I take a look at the airports I've visited on my way to London.
In case you missed it, here's Episode 1 as well:
Sunday 11 March 2007
Sunday Mornings
I've tried to fight it, but my body clock decided to go nuts on me this morning and I was wide awake at 6.50am. It's Sunday morning and I'm awake before 7am - surely this is a record.
It's been a busy few days - all a bit of a blur, to be honest. The first night was just amazingly surreal, being whisked off to a concert only hours after landing. Not that I'm complaining, it was a great show, but I did end up literally falling asleep on my feet during one of the quieter songs. I'm serious - I felt my knees buckle and I started dropping to the ground. I caught myself in time, but I guess being awake for 24 hours straight will do that to you.
I can't help the feeling that I'm getting ahead of myself, though - I still need to write about my last few days in Japan! Well, no time like the present, I guess. I mean, it was only a week ago...
The night I wrote about Tokyo was actually my first night in Kyoto - Saturday night, in fact. As I have since discovered on this adventure, it's not a very bright idea to try and cram too much into so little time. I've also realised it's not a very bright idea to try to do much after you've actually arrived where you're staying - so the rest of that night was a write-off. I did go for a bit of a walk around the city for an hour or two, but that was all I managed. Well, aside from having a chat and a couple of drinks with a fellow traveller.
Like Tokyo, though, the next day was massive. After a few chilly days in Japan, the weather in Kyoto was a magnificent 22 degrees with a perfect blue sky. My first stop (after a big long walk) was Nijo Castle. This place was great, exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see on the Japanese leg of my tour. The area itself is made of two separate buildings: Ninomaru Palace, the outer building, and Honmaru Palace, the inner palace (surrounded by a moat).
Ninomaru Palace was the more impressive of the two, mostly due to the Nightingale Floor. This was really cool: in order to alert the Shogun to people wandering the corridors (I'm guessing by this they mean assassins or other unfriendly people), the floors are deliberately designed to gently squeak as they're walked over. Throughout the tour, all you can hear is a constant squeaking throughout the place. Honmaru Palace was more ornate (and did I mention the moat?) and had some fantastic gardens, but it wasn't quite as interesting as Ninomaru. But it did have a moat.
Another brief walk later and I was at Kyoto Imperial Park, a rather huge chunk of greenery right in the middle of the city that is home to the Imperial Palace, Sento Palace and the Kyoto State Guest House - none of which is open to the public so I only saw the outside of them. It was a nice walk though. There were lots of people around that day (it was a Sunday) taking advantage of the weather, but it's also a really nice looking area with lots of plum blossoms, err, blossoming.
After checking my map, I realised the Heian Jingu Shrine was nearby (actually, there were lots of shrines nearby - there are temples and shrines everywhere in Kyoto!) that sounded interesting, so up the road I walked again... but it wasn't there. I checked the map again and figured I'd made a wrong turn, but no - I was in the right place, it just looked closed. A little disappointed, I found somewhere else to go instead and wandered off. As I kept walking, I came across a giant red gateway - and then realised I'd found the shrine I was looking for, I just came at it the wrong way.
By this time I was getting quite hungry, so I thought I'd head toward the city and grab something to eat. To get there I followed one road which led past the Chion-in Temple - this one looked too cool not to take a look. To get to it you needed to scale these massive steps - which I did - but by the time I got to the top, the bell started ringing to say the place was closing. It looked nice, though. I meandered through Maruyama Park for a while, passing the Yasaka Shrine until I finally reached the edge of the city.
I'd read about a soba bar toward the northern end of the city, so this was the way I started to head. Passing through the Sanjo Shopping Arcade - with a detour though the Nishiki Food Market - I came to where the place was supposed to be, but couldn't find it. By now I was having severe hunger pains, so I decided to head back to the hostel and dropped into the first place I found that looked good. One very nice meal later, I decided that 11 hours on my feet was quite enough for one day (it was dark by now, anyway), so I headed back to the hostel and crashed.
So that's Kyoto. There's still so much to go and I'm so far behind, I'll try to get up to date as soon as I can.
It's been a busy few days - all a bit of a blur, to be honest. The first night was just amazingly surreal, being whisked off to a concert only hours after landing. Not that I'm complaining, it was a great show, but I did end up literally falling asleep on my feet during one of the quieter songs. I'm serious - I felt my knees buckle and I started dropping to the ground. I caught myself in time, but I guess being awake for 24 hours straight will do that to you.
I can't help the feeling that I'm getting ahead of myself, though - I still need to write about my last few days in Japan! Well, no time like the present, I guess. I mean, it was only a week ago...
The night I wrote about Tokyo was actually my first night in Kyoto - Saturday night, in fact. As I have since discovered on this adventure, it's not a very bright idea to try and cram too much into so little time. I've also realised it's not a very bright idea to try to do much after you've actually arrived where you're staying - so the rest of that night was a write-off. I did go for a bit of a walk around the city for an hour or two, but that was all I managed. Well, aside from having a chat and a couple of drinks with a fellow traveller.
Like Tokyo, though, the next day was massive. After a few chilly days in Japan, the weather in Kyoto was a magnificent 22 degrees with a perfect blue sky. My first stop (after a big long walk) was Nijo Castle. This place was great, exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see on the Japanese leg of my tour. The area itself is made of two separate buildings: Ninomaru Palace, the outer building, and Honmaru Palace, the inner palace (surrounded by a moat).
Ninomaru Palace was the more impressive of the two, mostly due to the Nightingale Floor. This was really cool: in order to alert the Shogun to people wandering the corridors (I'm guessing by this they mean assassins or other unfriendly people), the floors are deliberately designed to gently squeak as they're walked over. Throughout the tour, all you can hear is a constant squeaking throughout the place. Honmaru Palace was more ornate (and did I mention the moat?) and had some fantastic gardens, but it wasn't quite as interesting as Ninomaru. But it did have a moat.
Another brief walk later and I was at Kyoto Imperial Park, a rather huge chunk of greenery right in the middle of the city that is home to the Imperial Palace, Sento Palace and the Kyoto State Guest House - none of which is open to the public so I only saw the outside of them. It was a nice walk though. There were lots of people around that day (it was a Sunday) taking advantage of the weather, but it's also a really nice looking area with lots of plum blossoms, err, blossoming.
After checking my map, I realised the Heian Jingu Shrine was nearby (actually, there were lots of shrines nearby - there are temples and shrines everywhere in Kyoto!) that sounded interesting, so up the road I walked again... but it wasn't there. I checked the map again and figured I'd made a wrong turn, but no - I was in the right place, it just looked closed. A little disappointed, I found somewhere else to go instead and wandered off. As I kept walking, I came across a giant red gateway - and then realised I'd found the shrine I was looking for, I just came at it the wrong way.
By this time I was getting quite hungry, so I thought I'd head toward the city and grab something to eat. To get there I followed one road which led past the Chion-in Temple - this one looked too cool not to take a look. To get to it you needed to scale these massive steps - which I did - but by the time I got to the top, the bell started ringing to say the place was closing. It looked nice, though. I meandered through Maruyama Park for a while, passing the Yasaka Shrine until I finally reached the edge of the city.
I'd read about a soba bar toward the northern end of the city, so this was the way I started to head. Passing through the Sanjo Shopping Arcade - with a detour though the Nishiki Food Market - I came to where the place was supposed to be, but couldn't find it. By now I was having severe hunger pains, so I decided to head back to the hostel and dropped into the first place I found that looked good. One very nice meal later, I decided that 11 hours on my feet was quite enough for one day (it was dark by now, anyway), so I headed back to the hostel and crashed.
So that's Kyoto. There's still so much to go and I'm so far behind, I'll try to get up to date as soon as I can.
Thursday 8 March 2007
Made it
I have seven minutes to write this, so it will be brief (about bloody time, I hear you say... especially you Danielle!).
I made it into Heathrow about half an hour ago, made it through customs in about five minutes and now I'm waiting for Lee to pick me up. Everything has gone so smoothly it's a little disturbing - although I am feeling quite woozy and almost passed out while I was walking from the terminal to the check out gates.
Apparently it's 2.30am in Tokyo right now, which means I've been up for 20 hours or so - despite the fact it's not gone 6pm here in London yet. Time zones, eh. Better yet, the night has just begun as Lee and I are heading out to see Nine Inch Nails play at Brixton - how's THAT for a welcome!
Three minutes left, I think I'll leave it at that.
Tuesday 6 March 2007
Paid In Full
I knew it was coming - today, it finally happened.
I've finally paid my stupidity tax.
As I mentioned this morning, I had to rush to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka - but not before I jotted down the details of how to get to the hostel I was staying at. I made my train in plenty of time and arrived in Osaka at 1.30pm.
The directions were quite easy, I just had one subway ride to make and I was at the doorstep. I made it in around 2pm and checked in.
After going up to the room, I soon found out that the advertisement for this place had been a bit colourful in its description. Instead of Internet access in every room, instead there were three free computers in the lobby. Not that big a deal, but still a bit annoying.
Anyway, I unrolled the bed and laid down for a while - and promptly fell asleep. The last few days had been pretty huge and I'd been running around a lot, so it's not that big a surprise really. When I woke up, it was around 7pm so I figured it was probably time to get out and see some of this new city.
I wandered down to the lobby and hopped onto one of the free computers, then brought up the website for the place I was staying. This was the point I started to realise something fishy was going on: the picture on the website didn't look like the place I was in. Puzzled, I got up and walked outside... and saw that the place I was supposed to be staying at was actually next door!
Suddenly, it all clicked. I rushed inside and tried to explain to the guy at reception what had happened. It took a bit of time as he only knew a tiny amount of english and I knew no japanese, but eventually I conveyed the message that I had checked in to the wrong place and I'd like to check out right away.
I suppose I should explain what happened: you see, all I had written down was the name of the place, so as I started walking up the street I was looking for any sign that had that name on it - which is what I found. Unfortunately, the place I went into was the new building which, as it turns out, is a completely separate entity to the other place. Basically, all I'm saying is that it was an easy mistake to make!
I wasn't expecting a refund and I didn't get one, which was fair enough. All up, this little misadventure cost me 2500 yen - roughly AU$25.
So that's my story. I've paid my stupidity tax for this trip - luckily it wasn't a lot this time.
Monday 5 March 2007
Rookie Mistakes
I'm now on day six in Japan and I'm realising just how many rookie mistakes I've been making on this trip. Don't get me wrong; I'm having a great time and what I'm seeing is amazing, but this is the first time I've been overseas and it's the first time I've ever planned my own trip. Knowing what I know now, the next one will be a lot better.
My biggest problem is that I've gone too far and not given myself enough time to have a look around. Yesterday was the perfect example: after a massive day in Kyoto, I ended up sleeping in slightly and didn't get to the train station until around 10.30am. Which was lucky, the Shinkansen was leaving at 10.40am, but then I needed to make a connection to Hiroshima which meant waiting around until 12pm. Consequently, I didn't get into Hiroshima until 1.30pm, and then the hostel until 2.30pm. I only had one night here, so I instantly raced out and saw as much as I could until the sun went down.
I'm getting ahead of myself, of course - I need to write something about Kyoto before I get to Hiroshima. However, that's going to have to wait because I now have to rush and catch another Shinkansen into Osaka and do the same thing all over again!
See what I mean?
My biggest problem is that I've gone too far and not given myself enough time to have a look around. Yesterday was the perfect example: after a massive day in Kyoto, I ended up sleeping in slightly and didn't get to the train station until around 10.30am. Which was lucky, the Shinkansen was leaving at 10.40am, but then I needed to make a connection to Hiroshima which meant waiting around until 12pm. Consequently, I didn't get into Hiroshima until 1.30pm, and then the hostel until 2.30pm. I only had one night here, so I instantly raced out and saw as much as I could until the sun went down.
I'm getting ahead of myself, of course - I need to write something about Kyoto before I get to Hiroshima. However, that's going to have to wait because I now have to rush and catch another Shinkansen into Osaka and do the same thing all over again!
See what I mean?
Saturday 3 March 2007
Made it to Kyoto
Today I moved on from Tokyo to Kyoto, which involved a Shinkansen (bullet train) ride and a lot of walking. Oh, and some head scratching because I misplaced my instructions on how to get to the hostel!
I'm really enjoying myself so far, probably more than I expected to be honest. My first day in Tokyo proper was mostly spent around the Asakusa area, where the hostel was located. I wandered out with some others from the hostel but didn't see much so I had an early night.
The next day, though - oh boy. After grabbing some breakfast, I wandered back up to the big temple in Asakusa to look at it properly. I don't exactly know what was going on there, I'll have to do a spot of reading up on the place when I get some time! The shopping arcade was very pretty - lined with fake cherry blossoms - but most of the stuff on sale seemed to be touristy souvenir things.
Next I caught the train into Akihabara, the electronics district. I have to admit, although it was pretty cool (many, many shops lined up - almost all multiple levels), most of the stuff for sale was a bit... ordinary? Some of it reminded me of the markets in Sydney.
Shibuya was my next stop - wow, this place was phenomenal! This is where the classic neon Tokyo image comes from: the big traffic intersection with lights, signs and moving billboards. It's an assault on the senses and I loved it.
I wandered around here for a couple of hours just admiring it all. The streets are so clean, there are so many shops and restaurants and people and cars - it was so enjoyable just to wander around, ducking into different shops. I'll admit, I was on a CD hunt, but I also came across this MASSIVE instrument shop that had hundreds and hundreds of guitars - I just wanted to pick them up and play (I'm really missing my guitar right now).
I'd been told by one of the girls I met the previous day I should head up the big tower in Yokohama so I can see the city sprawl from up high, but another guy at the hostel told me I should do it at Shinjuku as I should be able to see Mt. Fuji from there - so that was my next stop. I wandered around looking for an observation tower but couldn't figure out where to go, so I picked a nice tall-looking building and asked the girl at the front desk if I could go up top and peer out. She seemed okay with it, so peer I did.
It was one hell of a view - Tokyo literally goes on as far as you can see, all around. This comes at a price, though: pollution. In the end I didn't get to see Mt. Fuji because the not-so-distant horizon was obscured by a thick dirty cloud of smog. It made the sunset quite impressive, though!
Planning has never been my strong point (ask any of my friends, family, ex-girlfriends, people on the street, etc.) and, sadly, my lack of foresight really bit me in the bum today. After I'd booked all my accommodation and flights, only then did I find out about the cosplay that goes on in Harajuku on Sundays.
If you don't know what this is, basically lots and lots and lots of girls and guys get dressed up in all sorts of weird and magnificent costumes and parade around the big park, playing up to the onlookers and posing for pictures. The idea of getting a look at dozens and dozens of sexy young japanese girls in skimpy outfits fills me with all sorts of feelings, so the fact that I'm going to be in Kyoto when this is all going on has bummed me out a little. Just something else to look forward to next time, I guess.
Nevertheless, I decided to stop off and have a quick look through Harajuku anyway - but not for very long. I wandered down one arcade that was lined with clothes shops (some of which made me wish for an adventurous girl to try them on for me - don't judge me, you'd think the same if you saw this stuff!), but it was getting dark and I wanted to head back to Shibuya to see the place lit up at night.
Back on the train and back in Shibuya, by now it was dark and I saw everything lit up. If you've ever seen Blade Runner, you know what I'm talking about when I say the entire place was alive with people and light. I was there for about 30 minutes and, I kid you not, not once did the steady stream of people ever let up or thin out. There are so many people this place!
I needed to change trains at Akihabara in order to get back to the hostel, so I thought I'd stop by and have a look at the lights here too. It was good, but Shibuya was just so dazzling that anything else loses its lustre, really.
Anyway, after being on my feet for a good eight or nine hours, I was very glad for a seat and to take my shoes off! After an hour or two sitting on the nice comfy lounge, this nice French guy staying at the hostel and I wandered down the road to a bar and proceeded to chat and get drunk until 1am. Which would have been okay except I needed to take an early train to move on to Kyoto...
Which is where I am now. I went for a bit of an exploratory wander through the city this afternoon (if Tokyo reminded me of Sydney, Kyoto definitely reminds me of Melbourne!) but I thought I might take it easy tonight as I have a huge day ahead of me tomorrow.
I'm really enjoying myself so far, probably more than I expected to be honest. My first day in Tokyo proper was mostly spent around the Asakusa area, where the hostel was located. I wandered out with some others from the hostel but didn't see much so I had an early night.
The next day, though - oh boy. After grabbing some breakfast, I wandered back up to the big temple in Asakusa to look at it properly. I don't exactly know what was going on there, I'll have to do a spot of reading up on the place when I get some time! The shopping arcade was very pretty - lined with fake cherry blossoms - but most of the stuff on sale seemed to be touristy souvenir things.
Next I caught the train into Akihabara, the electronics district. I have to admit, although it was pretty cool (many, many shops lined up - almost all multiple levels), most of the stuff for sale was a bit... ordinary? Some of it reminded me of the markets in Sydney.
Shibuya was my next stop - wow, this place was phenomenal! This is where the classic neon Tokyo image comes from: the big traffic intersection with lights, signs and moving billboards. It's an assault on the senses and I loved it.
I wandered around here for a couple of hours just admiring it all. The streets are so clean, there are so many shops and restaurants and people and cars - it was so enjoyable just to wander around, ducking into different shops. I'll admit, I was on a CD hunt, but I also came across this MASSIVE instrument shop that had hundreds and hundreds of guitars - I just wanted to pick them up and play (I'm really missing my guitar right now).
I'd been told by one of the girls I met the previous day I should head up the big tower in Yokohama so I can see the city sprawl from up high, but another guy at the hostel told me I should do it at Shinjuku as I should be able to see Mt. Fuji from there - so that was my next stop. I wandered around looking for an observation tower but couldn't figure out where to go, so I picked a nice tall-looking building and asked the girl at the front desk if I could go up top and peer out. She seemed okay with it, so peer I did.
It was one hell of a view - Tokyo literally goes on as far as you can see, all around. This comes at a price, though: pollution. In the end I didn't get to see Mt. Fuji because the not-so-distant horizon was obscured by a thick dirty cloud of smog. It made the sunset quite impressive, though!
Planning has never been my strong point (ask any of my friends, family, ex-girlfriends, people on the street, etc.) and, sadly, my lack of foresight really bit me in the bum today. After I'd booked all my accommodation and flights, only then did I find out about the cosplay that goes on in Harajuku on Sundays.
If you don't know what this is, basically lots and lots and lots of girls and guys get dressed up in all sorts of weird and magnificent costumes and parade around the big park, playing up to the onlookers and posing for pictures. The idea of getting a look at dozens and dozens of sexy young japanese girls in skimpy outfits fills me with all sorts of feelings, so the fact that I'm going to be in Kyoto when this is all going on has bummed me out a little. Just something else to look forward to next time, I guess.
Nevertheless, I decided to stop off and have a quick look through Harajuku anyway - but not for very long. I wandered down one arcade that was lined with clothes shops (some of which made me wish for an adventurous girl to try them on for me - don't judge me, you'd think the same if you saw this stuff!), but it was getting dark and I wanted to head back to Shibuya to see the place lit up at night.
Back on the train and back in Shibuya, by now it was dark and I saw everything lit up. If you've ever seen Blade Runner, you know what I'm talking about when I say the entire place was alive with people and light. I was there for about 30 minutes and, I kid you not, not once did the steady stream of people ever let up or thin out. There are so many people this place!
I needed to change trains at Akihabara in order to get back to the hostel, so I thought I'd stop by and have a look at the lights here too. It was good, but Shibuya was just so dazzling that anything else loses its lustre, really.
Anyway, after being on my feet for a good eight or nine hours, I was very glad for a seat and to take my shoes off! After an hour or two sitting on the nice comfy lounge, this nice French guy staying at the hostel and I wandered down the road to a bar and proceeded to chat and get drunk until 1am. Which would have been okay except I needed to take an early train to move on to Kyoto...
Which is where I am now. I went for a bit of an exploratory wander through the city this afternoon (if Tokyo reminded me of Sydney, Kyoto definitely reminds me of Melbourne!) but I thought I might take it easy tonight as I have a huge day ahead of me tomorrow.
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