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.
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
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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