So, this is goodbye

Now that the trip to Japan is over, there will obviously be no more posts, unless Nik wants to add things here and there. It was a great deal of fun, and I want to thank Nik and Ali for being genuinely great travel companions - we had alot of laughs together, and no tears, so that's a plus.


I think I can speak with Ali and maybe Nik when I say this isn't the last time we as individuals will visit the great island nation of Nippon - it's quirkiness and beauty charmed us such that the thought of never going there again is implausible to me at least.

-Dan

Day Twenty-Two and onwards: Tokyo to Perth (Land of the Setting Sun)

Our final day was fairly uneventful, we packed our bags at the hotel, as rain fell on Tokyo for the first time during our visit. After checking out, and leaving our bags at the hotel, we went back to Daikanyama to spend our yens - Ali and I both found some suitably great purchases, including Ali's 90% off mohair jumper. After Daikanyama, we wandered Shibuya for a bit, visiting the Krispy Kreme we had walked by the prevous day (when there was a line of about 50 people coming out of the door). Once in the queue, we were each given a freshly baked dougnut from the shop as a free sample - it was amazingly delcious - soft, warm and fresh from the oven(?).

We eventually returned to the hotel and waited in the lobby for a bit, before heading off to catch the Narita Express we had booked the previous night. After an hour and a half on the train, we reached the gargantuan line at the Qantas check in area. Here we observed as numerous Qantas customers (jerks) tried to have their ridiculously overweight baggage checked in at no cost, or get upgraded to buisness class because they were "sick", whilst delaying the already long line. Eventually we got to the front of the line, and managed to get seats at the front of a section - meaning extra leg room. We ate some dinner (ramen of course), and wandered the airport until our flight was ready.

The third person on the middle three seats was a snowboarder from Sydney, who we shared stories about Japan with - unfortunately, we never found out his name. It was however, a nice change from the usually obnoxious Australians visiting Japan. After 10 hours of on and off sleep, we touched down in Perth, and thus our journey had come to an end.

-Dan

Day Twenty-One: Tokyo (It's not so bad once it's in your mouth)

Again we were up at 9am, but this time with purpose - our Tokyo Free Guide, was meeting us in the flower shop of the Keio Plaza at 10. We managed to get there just before she arrived. We had worked out a vague itinerary through email, so she immediately took us to our first destination - Shinjuku Central Park - which of course is located in western Shinjuku.

Despite being late winter, thus no cherry blossoms were out, it was a very beautiful place - testimony to this was the large amounts of people with impressive cameras, lenses and tripods, patrolling around and taking photos.

We eventually moved on, headed for Shinjuku station, via a few stores, including a vast food court full of expensive sweets (causing Ali to remark "I can't wait to come back to Japan when I'm rich"), as well as a rather Ikea like store that also sold food and clothes - where we got some apple crisps, and these delecious mini dried fish with peanuts;

Eventually we got to Shibuya from Shinjuku station, and caught a bus to Daikanyama - a district which was new to us. It was filled with trendy clothes stores, as well as some kooky little places that sold all manner of bizzare things - including a replica of the Terminator's head from Terminator 2, rabbit fur hats, and thankfully - Cherry Cola! We found a store selling amazing (and expensive) t-shirts, unfortunately, my gaijin dimensions got the better of me, as their sizes did not accomedate my lankyness.

We returned to Shibuya by train, and after an excellent ramen lunch, started to walk towards Harajuku. We looked into the small, interesting shops along the way - these were places we never would have found without Yuko - previously we had been rather dissapointed and jaded with Harajuku. We ended up at Harajuku station, and went up to the bridge nearby to see the strangely dressed girls who come out of the wood work on Sundays. We were quite late, so most of them were gone, but we did see a few, including a pack of girls dressed in pink, squatting and feeding each other;

From Shibuya, we headed to Akihabara - passing the usual rabble of people handing out pamphlets, and creepy maids. We ended up in a small, multi storey shopping centre, much like the one we went to on our first trip to Akihabara with Nik. After passing through a few floors of strange, we stumbled across a performance by a wanna-be J-Idol, singing to her fans (mostly creepy dudes) from a small stage. As with all things in Akihabara, it was an odd experience.

We eventually parted ways with Yuko at Akihabara station, where she presented us with some of her favourite snacks she had bought earlier on, we felt quite guilty about having nothing for her, but we thanked her heartily for what was a great day around Tokyo.

After relaxing for a bit at Keio Plaza, we headed to Ebisu, to find a Katsu restaurant I had read about online. We managed to find it with ease - it had a line of seats outside due to its popularity meaning people usually have to cue for a while. Thankfully it was about 9:30pm by the time we got there, so we got a table immedietly, and sat down to an awesome dinner of Tonkatsu (Pork katsu). The meal was expensive, but worth it, being our last in Japan for this trip. Afterwards we picked up some celebratory pastries at a bakery that was closing down for the night, and devoured them, to complete a night of culinary bliss.

-Dan

Day Twenty: Tokyo (What's so unnatural about the other Lawson?)

A lazy start, as we got up at 9, but didn't really get out of Keio Plaza 'til 10:30. After grabbing some breakky at the "Natural Lawson" down the road (not to be confused with the "Lawson Station" across the street from it), we headed for Akihabara. We wandered the street, again very much disturbed by the variety of "maids" handing out pamphlets for their maid cafes - especially scary were the ones with hair bleached pure blonde, a look that may be appealing to some, but looked quite terrifying to us. We wondered aimlessly for a while, stopping at a Taito arcade to play some Street Fighter 4 at one point.

We eventually ended up at the pork and noodles place we went to on the first day in Tokyo, which seems like ages ago now. The fatty pork was just as delicious as we remembered, and after draining our bowls, we left Akihabara, though I doubt for the last time.

The next place we headed for was Harajuku - I wanted to get some Ghibli toys for my nephew and nieces. After stopping by our hotel, we hopped on the Yamanote loop to Harajuku, and headed to Kiddyland - a five storey monstrosity of a toy store that we had been to previously. I ended up getting some plushies.

We eventually decided we should head to our hotel to relax for a bit before heading out again, both of us were still tired from our long journey. After a couple of hours chilling in our room, we set out to explore the area we were in - Shinjuku - a bit more. Heading west from the station, we ended up at a large stationary store, where Ali bought some Japanese paper for his folks. We again failed to find a restaurant reccomended in the Lonely Planet Tokyo book, due to it's incredibly vague maps and descriptions, so we decided to head to the Hobgoblin bar in Shibuya - owned by the small, British, Wychwood Brewery. For the third time this trip, we had a burger, this time accompanied by a pint Hobgoblin beer - which was very nice.

We proceeded to a club called Gaspanic in Shibuya, but after a beer we decided it wasn't our thing, and left for Shinjuku, ready to be up early for what was to be a busy day.

-Dan

Day Nineteen: Hakuba to Tokyo (Real technology brings you an aromatic coffee break and a fine life)

The day began early again, and it had a promising start - there had been a great snowfall during the night, and it seemed like it was going to be a nice day for skiing. Unfortunately, the weather turned soon after our awakening, and the rain began to fall. After eating a quick breakfast, we headed to Happo One again. However after a few hours of skiing in the rain, we were too wet and cold to continue, and decided to call it a day and head to Tokyo.

After grabbing lunch at the local 711, we packed up and got a lift to Hakuba station, where we caught a bus and subsequent train to Tokyo, and then onto Shinjuku. We got to our hotel about 6pm - we were immediately surprised by the obsiquious nature of the staff, however the hotel was very nice. We settled in and showed, and then headed out for a bit - going to a nearby Nike store, and a Bic camera, looking for places to spend our Yens.

Eventually we grabbed some dinner, at a nearby restaurant, which was delicious after a long day without much food. Before heading back to the hotel, we grabbed some Sapporo Beer and Meiji chocolate, enjoying them in our room

-Dab

Day Eighteen: Hakuba (Snow Problems)

Late post because of the terrible internet here.. though we are in Japan, it is nice to know the Aussies can bring a bit of the shitty internet access from home here with them

Getting up at 7:30am was a struggle for us after a pretty exhausting day, even so, we struggled out of bed and got us some free continental breakfast. We then had to wait a while for the ski rental place to pick us up, fit us out, and send us back, by which time it was 10am, and we felt like our early start was somewhat wasted.

Regardless, we hit the slopes at about 10:30am, and tentatively eased back into skiing. It had been a year since both of us were in Megeve skiing, so we managed to get back into the swing of things fairly quickly. I ended up on my arse on three occasions - though in my defence, once was because I threw myself into the snow to prevent myself from falling off a cliff, thus I'm not sure if it counts... Ali however, managed to stay upright all day. The mountain we were on is called Happo One, and it was absolutely amazing - great runs from top to bottom, though they are not as well marked for difficulty, so we ended up on some tough runs before we had really found our feet.

Unfortunately, as the small Canon we had wasn't charged, and I wasn't willing to haul my camera around, we didn't get any shots of us or the amazing views.

We returned to the lodge for about 4:30 pm, after a long day of skiing. We relaxed for a bit, before heading off to the Echoland area again for dinner - failing to find anything that really ticked our fancy, we ended up (shamefully) at the same Mexican restaurant. It was just as delicious a second time.

Later on, we went to the local Onsen, just down the road from the lodge. This place was nowhere near as nice as the one at Shirakawa-go (so don't feel you missed out, Nik), it was however very relaxing after a reasonably hard day. After getting back to the lodge to find the internet was down yet again, we decided to wander around in the snow, back to the distant convience store, for some much needed snackage. After eating a bunch of Oreos, we turned in for another early morning start

-Dan

Day Seventeen: Shirakawa-go to Hakuba (Going Mobile, Or: "Ali, I've a feeling we're not in Japan anymore")

Sadly Nik has left us high and dry, so rather than enjoying his whimsical writings, faitful readers, you will have to deal with the ramblings of the mad and incompetant - Ali and I.

The day started early in our guesthouse, with the usual uphill battle to get Nik and Ali out of bed for breakfast. After 35 mins, they were up and dressed (sadly not showered, only baths were available, and only in the evening). Nik was slightly less dismayed with the breakfast offered by the gueshouse, but still - he was noticably displeased. As with last night, Ali and I enjoyed the experience immensely.

After a short walk around town, we were on the bus back to Takayama - it was much bigger and less crowded this time, which we were all thankful for, facing a hard day of travel. We all boarded the same train headed to Nagoya, and said our goodbyes to Nik at Mino-ota, a backwater town in the middle of nowhere. After saying goodbye, we caught two trains and a bus, then made a trek through the heavy snow to our lodgings.

The most notable thing about this place is that EVERYBODY is Australian - the place is packing with about 40 Aussie "blokes", and most of them seemed to be in the bar. Needless to say it was just like being at home - that is if we spent out lives at the OBH. However as much as we felt like fish out of water, everybody thus far has been perfectly nice, so no complaints there.

We strolled through bitter cold into the Echoland area for dinner, and wound up and a cosy Mexican restaurant of all places. The meal was exactly what we needed after a day of snow and trains.

Tomorrow morning we hit the slopes, so be sure to check back for a full acount of how badly we embarassed ourselves on the slopes and in the lodge.

-Dan

End of the Line

Today (the 18th, assuming this is posted then) is my last day in Japan. I’m writing this ahead of time, as I’m spending the day swapping between buses, trains and planes from 10am onwards. So, given that this is my last time with the laptop, I thought I’d take the opportunity to sign off properly.


I’ve had a great time in Japan. Despite some concerns over the cuisine, I’ve really enjoyed every stage of the journey and the stuff that we’ve gotten up to. From the minor stuff (such as heated toilet seats) to bigger things (the view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, or seeing the Golden Pavilion for the first time), it’s been a blast. We’ve met some really interesting people, and done some really interesting things. It’s been an unforgettable experience.


Dan and Ali have been great travelling companions, and I hope they have a great time during their remaining days in the country. I haven’t really done much travelling in this kind of group, and I didn’t really know what to expect from it. They’ve made it a great time, and I’m very grateful for it.

I still retain editing privileges on this blog, so I might drop in to leave occasional witticisms and the like. But otherwise, I’m looking forward to getting back to Australia, seeing everyone and getting on with things.


Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog. I’m sure Dan and Ali will do a lot to keep it up to date until their final legs of the journey end. Otherwise, that’s it from me. See you back home.

-Nik

Day Sixteen: Takayama/Shirakawa-go (Hey! Eyes up here!)

Takayama is a cold place. Much colder than we had anticipated. We learned our lesson well yesterday and dressed warmly, but there was something in the air that just could not be stopped by layers of clothing. Nonetheless, we pressed on, eager to see the “famous” morning markets of Takayama. To be honest, they weren’t great. That is all I have to say about that.

Despite that initial setback, we made the most of the morning. We called in at a cafe for waffles for breakfast (I was roundly mocked for choosing a breakfast sandwich instead). Daniel even had an espresso, which he says was quite good. I was less adventurous, getting something called “Italian coffee” which is a lot like “normal coffee” but with some froth on top. We spent the next little while roaming the streets of old Takayama, perusing the handicrafts and sake breweries (or distilleries? I’m not really sure) until our bus to Shirakawa-go, a small country town famous for its rural atmosphere.

The bus was packed, and there was little space for baggage. This led to a pretty tense moment on the bus between me and an old man who wanted to go up the back. I really wanted to let him, but there was literally nowhere for me to put my backpack. We worked it out in the end, but it ended with me sitting on a weird foldout seat in the aisle. Also on the bus, by strange coincidence, were our original roommates from Kyoto. Small world.

Shirakawa-go was pretty beautiful. Nestled right in a valley between mountain ranges, it was covered in snow. Old farmhouses dotted the landscape, and entry to the town was gained by crossing a long, narrow bridge over a river many metres below. After dropping our bags at our inn, situated in one of the traditional farmhouses, we explored the town a bit. Lunch proved difficult, as most of the restaurants were closed, but we persevered nonetheless.

We ate back at the inn, the meal being prepared by the woman who ran it. River trout, Japanese vegetables, rice, pickles ,tofu, beef – it was quite a feast. Daniel and Ali had a great time. I’m not a big seafood eater, so the prospect of eating a full trout – head, tail and all – with my bare hands was less appealing.

After that, an American guy staying in the inn told us there was an onsen (hot spring) just down the road. We hadn’t had the opportunity to go to one yet, and the prospect of nuding up in public wasn’t incredibly appealing to some, but we went anyway. It was great. After the initial shock of being naked in a room full of other guys, it was really warm and really relaxing. Given that Zarah felt the need to find homosexual overtones in a snowball lob, I can’t imagine what she’d make of that, but I think it’s fair to say it was a worthwhile experience.

Anyway, that’s all for today. Daniel and Ali take over from this point on. I’m looking forward to joining the ranks of the readers. See you soon!

-Nik

(This post has been submitted by me because Nik is currently on the plane home)

Day Fifteen: Osaka/Takayama (Osaka, we hardly knew ye!)

Osaka seemed like a really nice city. I say "seemed like" because, despite spending two nights in the place, we really didn't do anything there. We divided day one between Himeji and Kyoto, and day two was spent in Hiroshima. What we came to know about Osaka was learned by walking between a train station and our hostel, and by looking out of train windows. I feel like we didn't give the place a fair go, which is unfortunate.

So anyway, we left Osaka behind today, catching a train for Nagoya to catch another train bound for Takayama. We're now good friends with the Japan Railways Shinkansen HIKARI super express, to the point where it's almost reassuring to be sitting in one of it's immaculate cars. The train to Takayama was a bit more interesting once we left Nagoya behind, weaving in between mountains and alongside streams on our way to the smaller city of about 90,000 people.

Takayama is nice, but incredibly cold - far more so than we had initially anticipated. Nonetheless, we pressed on to our hotel, dropped our bags and then headed into the town to see what there was to see. In fact, there was not a lot. The town is quiet and pretty and there are some really cool, really interesting shops, especially in the old part of the town. But otherwise, it's not exactly a happening place. A good change of pace, though, after the frenetic pace of Kyoto and Osaka (plus Nara, Himeji and Hiroshima).

We ate dinner at a famous hamburger joint in town before heading to an izakaya (Japanese tavern) for some sake and sashimi (I did not partake, but Daniel and Ali inform me that it was delicious). And that's about it. We head to Shirakawa-go in the late morning after hanging around here for a little while.

Daniel has asked me to mention something that was omitted from the retrospective posts: on our last day in Sapporo, after we went to the beer museum, Daniel threw a snowball at Ali. To be fair, it was much more impressive than that description makes out: Ali was across the road, and he threw the snowball up in the air. A bus went by, and the snowball sailed right over the top and struck Ali cleanly. Many a nearby Japanese person LOLed. I feel I should mention as well that Daniel fell over on the footpath like 10 minutes later, thus being the only person who stacked it during our entire time there. That is all.

-Nik

Day Fourteen: Osaka + Hiroshima (Wherein we dine at a traditional Australian eatery)

We're back in the present! Yay!

The time of the retrospective posts is ended! Well, that's not quite accurate - this post is technically retrospective, I guess. So are all of them. I should do more liveblogging. At any rate, we're now reporting on yesterday and not anywhere further back. I think you probably understood that from the start, but there it is explained nonetheless.

Busy, busy day today. We went to Hiroshima. Spent pretty much the whole day there, in fact, which means that despite staying in Osaka, we really haven't actually done anything here. And we're headed for Takayama tomorrow, so the secrets of this city will for now remain a mystery to us.

Anyway, we got up and made for the train station, stopping first to meet our good friend Mr. Donut for breakfast. Getting to Hiroshima took 1.5 hours in something called the 'silence car' of a Shinkansen. Ostensibly, the car is silent. No announcements are made, the people selling drinks don't say anything and you're not meant to talk. We observed this rule, fearful of being told off for poor train etiquette, even if no one else did. It was less noisy than the party that was going on two rows back on our train to Kyoto, but to call it silent would be stretching the truth to breaking point.

We were scheduled to meet Steph at Hiroshima Station, an act which took far more effort than we thought it would. But after 20 minutes of waiting for each other in totally different locations, we met up and headed for Miyajima Island.



The place was a strange one. Half spectacular views, half interesting shrines and half crummy tourist traps (I realise that adds up to 1.5, but thirds sounded clunky and I am feeling like a particularly lazy writer at 1:14am), the place had something for everyone. There were even more deer. I saw one eat a guys paper shopping bag as he held it. They were awesome.

The highlight of the visit was the Itsukushima Shrine and it's floating torii gate. Built out over the water, it's a fancy boardwalk in a lot of ways, but the view was really cool. On the other side, a man was making a seemingly unwilling monkey do tricks. At that point, we decided to turn back. After a another meal of that pancakey-omlettey thing (I can't be bothered checking the spelling at the moment), we got off the island and headed back into the centre of town.

From there we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We arrived in time to visit the museum, but not the hall of remembrance unfortunately. It was a very sombre, sobering experience, especially afterwards as we wandered around the many memorials that dot the park, and as we stood next to the A-Bomb Dome. Not too much more to say about it, except that if you're ever in Hiroshima, you have to go there. I'm not sure how affecting it will be on any of us in the long run, but for now it certainly has had an impact.

Onto more fun subjects. We got delayed getting back to Osaka due to the trains being packed for some reason. I had wanted to visit a bookstore in the city which closed at 9pm. We got in at 8:30. We got to the right station at 8:45. Yet somehow, we made it in and out and I got a fresh copy of The Economist (to which Ali has recently converted) at a much more reasonable price than what was going in Sapporo. We also noticed how Obama-rama has swept Japan, each and every book ever written on Barrack was on display - not only at this store, but every one we have been to thus far. The store also featured Obama's victory speech playing on repeat.

We had planned to eat at a place near the bookstore but found it to be closed. That left us with only one other option: an Outback Steakhouse we had passed a few blocks earlier. Daniel vigorously opposed it. I was hungry for Western food, though, and the thought of eating at a restaurant themed with Australian culture as viewed through the lens of a multinational corporation and the Japanese food market was too much to resist. Ali was thinking the same thing, so we flipped a coin. And the rest is history...



The place was bizarre. Cowboy hats made random appearances. The toilets were labelled "blokes" and "sheilas". A pair of Mexican looking statues sat on one mantle, and in between was a crocodile in sunglasses holding a beer. VB was on the menu, as were "Aussie Cheese Fries", a dish which does not exist in its purported country of origin. Despite all of that, though, the food was pretty good.

And that's everything up to date. We're in Takayama next, then Shirakawa-go, and then I head home. Daniel and Ali will no doubt keep you posted on goings-on from Hakuba and Tokyo.

-Nik

Day Thirteen: Kyoto/Osaka + Himeji (Yeah, I guess it's pretty big... Vol 2)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 15 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 13 (Feb. 14) all over again.

The stay in the ryokan was all too short; by 10am we were packed up and ready to ship out. But although we would end the day at a new hostel in Osaka, our sights were focussed on a different target. We were bound for Himeji, and we were headed there for only one reason: to see a really awesome castle. We walked to the castle from the train station, which took about 15 minutes, where we met up with Steph and entered the castle grounds.

We were not disappointed. Himeji Castle has been built and rebuilt across several centuries, and the buildings that stand today are incredibly impressive. This will be a short post: I don't have any particular interest in going over every single bit of it like a tour guide, but there were some distinct highlights. The view of the main tower from the area just outside of it was awe-inspiring, as was the view from the top of the tower itself. There were some cool sets of armour and weapons within the tower, and a range of buildings serving a variety of purposes (like the suicide area). All in all, it was pretty fucking awesome.

After the castle was done with, we made the long journey back to Kyoto to get our bags before hopping on yet another train to Osaka. We arrived well into the evening, but luckily our hostel was right near a station so we didn't have to head far. We ate, I blogged and that's the end of that.


More to come soon.

Day Twelve - Kyoto + Nara (Yeah, I guess it's pretty big...)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 15 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 12 (Feb. 13) all over again.

It was our last day in Kyoto and we had very little to do with our time. So we decided to get out of Kyoto and head for the town of Nara, about an hour away. Joining us for this trip was a guy named Avi, an Israeli who was staying with us at the hostel. He was a very nice guy: a photographer (which meant that our photo stops, almost entirely monopolised by Daniel, were doubled) and a constant traveller.

Anyway, we made our way out to Nara in a very uneventful way. The place immediately knocked back our preconceptions: travel guides emphasised the traditional character of the place, which was instantly at odds with the network of cheap hotels and fast food joints that apparently encircle all Japanese train stations. But we pressed on nonetheless, heading along the sightseeing route along with many a Western tourist.

We stopped off at several different places along the way, including a park in front of a temple packed with deer. We thought it was quite a novelty and took a whole bunch of photos, not realising that the deer were everywhere throughout the city from here on out (an interesting fact about Nara: it stinks of deer crap). We made our way through several parks and open spaces, all of which were full of deer. I gotta be honest, the novelty was starting to wear off.

After much walking, we finally found ourselves at the main attraction: the Todai-ji temple. The complex is home to what is apparently the largest wooden building in the world (I still say I've seen bigger) and one of the biggest statues of Buddha on the planet.

The whole thing was pretty cool, and we hung around there for quite a while before heading out and battling the many tourist traps that line the paths in and out of temples. We ate lunch in Nara with Avi before heading back to Kyoto. Our next stop was a real highlight of the trip. We had booked a stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. So we bid farewell to Yashi, put our packs on our backs and headed for the place. It was great. The owners were incredibly friendly and the traditional Japanese room was very spacious and well-equipped.

After settling in, we headed back into the centre of Kyoto for some shopping and dinner. We randomly ran into Steph and wound up eating at a place called Mr. Young Men that served various types of okonomiyaki, an indescribable fusion of a pancake, an omlette and deliciousness. Well fed, we headed back to enjoy the facilities of the ryokan, which included green tea, traditional Japanese baths and yakata robes.

Next post coming shortly.

Day Eleven: Kyoto (Bars Shouldn't Have Street Fighter)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 14 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 11 (Feb. 12) all over again.

We began our day with yet another great breakfast - thanks again Yashi! - before heading out for a full day of temple appreciation. First stop was the Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple complex within walking distance of our hostel. It is famous for being constructed without the use of a single nail - the whole thing is made of interlocking pieces of wood. As with the Golden Pavilion yesterday, I will let the pictures do the talking.

We didn't read up on the temple extensively before we went, and little English-language information was provided. As such, we missed out on the ritual of drinking the water of the stream within the complex, which supposedly confers good health, wisdom and long life upon those who consume it. Our loss, I suppose.


From there we went to the Sanjusangen-do, another nearby temple. This one is famous for having 1001 statues of Kannon, a Buddhist figure whose exact role and nature I still don't fully grasp even after having been through the entire hall. It was impressive enough, I suppose, but not the greatest holy site we visited (despite being the most expensive). Pictures cannot tell the story on this one, as photography was forbidden, but (and this is my personal opinion - Daniel had a really good time there) you're not missing out on too much. You want to see a really big statue? Wait until the Feb 12 update.

We spent the early evening walking around Gion, retracing our steps from the previous night so Daniel could take photos.

Back at the hostel, we had dinner with Yashi. He made octopus balls (that's balls made with octopus, not what some people have thought upon hearing that term) which were delicious. We ate with Yashi, an Israeli guy named Avi who we would spend some time with in the next little while, and an Australian ex-pat from Abu Dhabi. He moved there after his previous boss, the Hon. Peter McGauran of the National Party, lost his job as minister for agriculture. I didn't like the look of him from the start. Upon finding out that little tidbit, I considered my initial opinion completely vindicated.


Anyway, we went out and had a couple of drinks. One of the bars had a SNES, which meant Street Figher II, which meant nothing good as far as I was concerned. We whittled away the rest of the evening in some British pub knock off, basically because it was the only place we knew how to find. On the way home we ran into Avi and planned out the next day, which involved a trip to nearby Nara. But that's another story for another time, i.e. tomorrow.


I will wrap up this series of retrospective updates when I can. But for now, I sleep.

Day Ten: Kyoto (Japan vs. Australia)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 14 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 10 (Feb. 11) all over again.

It was on this day that we experienced our first breakfast at IchiEnSou, our hostel. An explanatory note first: breakfast has been a decidedly mixed bag on this trip. There's been a real scale involved, but it has no upper end. It just goes from bad (7 Eleven) to average (any number of random chain restaurants and imitation Italian cafes). So to have an essentially homemade breakfast was a real treat. Yoghurt, eggs, bacon, organic bread, tea. It was really, really good. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, we don't have to revisit it in further posts.

February 11 is National Foundation Day, celebrating the reign of Japan's legendary first emperor, Jimmu. That much I learned from Wikipedia. The public holiday passed us by more or less: the trains and buses were still running, the shrines were open and the charm-selling tourist traps would be damned if they missed out on the crowds (I really almost did buy a charm which had the advertised aim of 'to against disaster'). So we piled onto a bus and headed for one of Kyoto's more famous attractions: the Golden Pavilion.

The pictures will tell you more about the place than I possibly can. It was cool, even if it is a reconstruction.

While we were there, Daniel went back in to get some photos of the building once the Sun came out. Ali and I stayed behind, and did not witness this alleged event so make of this story what you will. Supposedly, Daniel was mobbed by a group of Japanese girls who kept saying the Japanese word for 'photo'. Daniel first thought that they wanted him to take a picture of all of them. After all, he had his camera out and no one had given him lens-envy that day. But no, it turns out that they wanted a photo with him. As I say, no one else saw this happen; it's all uncorroborated and second-hand. But the mix of smug self-satisfaction and outright confusion on his face as he narrated this tale leads me to believe that he's telling the truth.

We spent the afternoon doing very little - lunch, looking around the shop, that kind of thing - before we headed to a bar to watch Japan play Australia in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. The place was packed. We turned up about 10 minutes before kick-off and there was barely room to stand. The match was okay, I guess. Australia was lucky, in our opinions, to hold the Japanese to a 0-0 draw. But it was fun and the bar staff didn't kick us out despite the fact that we didn't buy anything. Perhaps, in that small way, Australia was the real victor that night.

After the game came a real highlight though. Yashi, our host and guide, had been at the same bar and offered to take us on a walking tour of Gion. After clearing some pretty seedy territory dotted with some establishments of rather dubious character, we entered the traditional part of the district. Moving down the narrow streets, past all kinds of tiny shrines and religious sites that held all kinds of different meanings, as well as through some bigger temples, was a very strange experience. It's odd to feel so safe and at ease in such a big city, and to see the way the city looked after dark. It was the kind of thing that we wouldn't have been able to do without the help of a local, and it was a great way to spend an hour or so.

You know the drill - the next day will be up shortly.

Day Nine: Kyoto (Architecture in Helsinki)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 14 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 9 (Feb. 10) all over again.

To keep this remotely interesting, we have to skip over like half of this day. That's not an exaggeration. The first 12 hours of the day do not merit mentioning. We were on a train. Then we had breakfast. Then we got back onto another train. And then another.

I know I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time reliving it, and all of you out there (those who have stuck with this silly enterprise thus far) are no doubt happy that I limited the whole experience to a single paragraph and half a dozen sentences. But fear not, because once we hit Kyoto things got more interesting.

After some searching, we found our hostel in the Gion (geisha) district of the city. It's a great little place called IchiEnSou run by a guy named Yashi. I highly recommend it if you're ever in that part of Japan. It's run by Yashi and a couple of his friends and they're great friendly people. Also, they make a mean breakfast.



Anyway, back on topic. We headed out from the hostel to the Fushimi Inari shrine, a sprawling series of small shrines scattered across a mountainside. The shrine is for the Japanese spirt of foxes, amongst other things, and statutes of the animals watch over many of the buildings within the complex. The paths are lined by dozens of red torii gates which guide you up the mountain to a rather spectacular view of the city. It was quite a trek but the view was well worth it.



We made our way back to the hostel and asked for recommendations on good places to eat. In some madcap series of events from there, we wound up at an izakaya with Yashi and two random Finns from Helsinki named Kare and Anise. They were great. Kare regaled us with tales of his travels, including the time he got shot in South Africa. That was a fun story. Anise spoke less English, but was still a great guy to hang out with.

Kare payed for the meal, ostensibly on the basis that we'd but him a drink at a bar across the street because it was his birthday in a couple of hours. I say "ostensibly" becuase once we were there he insisted on buying all the drinks anyway. We were dead tired after a day of near-constant train travel and mountain-shrine climbing, so we weren't the best company to party with. It was okay though: when we left, Kare was already making friends with an American (who thought I was an American as well, or at least imitating one. I have no idea why) and a couple of random Japanese guys.

That's February 10 out of the way. Feb 11 coming soon. Watch this space.

Day Eight: Sapporo (Going South)

Due to the lack of a laptop charger, we have not been regularly blogging for a little while. I propose to gloss over this error by posting updates for all the days we missed and acting like it never happened. So even though this is actually the very early morning of Day 14 at the time of writing, please pretend it's Day 8 (Feb. 9) all over again.

The last day in Sapporo was a slow one. We checked out sometime mid-morning. That wasn't, however, to say that we actually left the hostel. We would, in fact, spend most of the day there until our train at 10pm using their internet and toilet and vending machines to our heart's content. Whether they were happy about this we couldn't tell. But given the temperature outside, unless they physically dragged us out of there, we were going to stay.



That's not to say that we did nothing though. We went to the Sapporo Beer Museum, housed in the building once occupied by Japan's first ever brewery. The museum itself was small, unguided and entirely in Japanese. But the experience was redeemed by the museum bar at the end of it, which made for good times.



As you have no doubt gathered by now, sometime between returning to the hostel and departing for the train station, we used the laptop, eventually leaving the charger behind. Not a high point for us, but it all worked out in the end.

The train ride back to Tokyo (and then on to Kyoto) was always going to be a challenge. The rough ride we took to get into Sapporo gave us some indication that it wouldn't be all fun and games, but the return journey was always going to truly test our manliness. One train left Sapporo at 10pm, arriving in Aomori at 5:39am. 12 minutes later, the next train left Aomori, arriving in Hachinoche at 6:48am. Seven minutes after that, a final train left for Tokyo. Once there, we got on a 3-hour train to Kyoto with relative ease. But it's fair to say that we didn't sleep well at any point along the way.


See, that wasn't so difficult, was it? I bet it felt like February 9 all over again, and I bet you were glad to be there. For one thing, it meant that you were a few days younger. And if you were one of my sisters, it would mean that it was your birthday again! Yay! Check back in like 15 minutes for coverage of Day 9 (Feb 10). It's a blast from the past!

We're Back! (Does anyone remember that movie? It was awesome)

I know the last few days have been hard on all of you out there in our vast and diverse fanbase. I realise that you've probably been coming back here three, four, five times I day hoping - nay, praying - for some kind of news or update. I know, and I understand. That's why I'm very happy to announce that we are back on the air! The laptop charger arrived from Sapporo (sans adaptor, thanks a lot Sapporo International Youth Hostel!) and as a result we are reporting all the news all the time or at least when we get free WiFi.

Check back sometime tomorrow for a full update on all our goings-on. We'll be in Osaka, having been through Sapporo and Kyoto in the blackout period. We also took a brief trip out to Nara. Check Daniel's Flickr for some pretty cool photos in the interim - with more to come tomorrow.

So there you have it - a relatively short update on a pretty packed series of days. I hope it's been worth the wait, but let's face it: most of you probably didn't realise we stopped updating, and those that did are probably a bit disappointed with the new content. To that I say, "It's late and apparently I'm not allowed to go to bed until I finish this."

-Nik

Blackout!

Just writing to let anybody who reads this know that, due to our (my) stupidity, the charger for the laptop was left in Sapporo. We got into contact with the hostel, and they are going to send it to Kyoto, but it won't get here 'til Friday. As there is only 10% battery life left at the moment there will probably be no posts until then - by then we will have racked up a backlog of 5 days, so expect an epic one (unless we make one from a net cafe, or find a charger to borrow)

- Dan

Day Seven: Sapporo (Winter Blunderland, Or: In the Court of the Ramen King)

This is going to be a relatively short post; we didn't really get up to much due to some pretty intense snow. It's ironic that our enjoyment of this wintery city, during a time period known as the "Snow Festival," would be so marred by the very thing we came here to enjoy (that being snow). Maybe it's not irony, actually, but I'm not changing that sentence.


So the snow kept us more or less penned into the hostel for most of the day. We only ventured out to get lunch, and that simply involved us taking the subway to an underground food court and shopping centre. Winter hit us full-on the face though when we headed out to try and find some bookshop that I wanted to visit. It was totally worth it, though, because they had The Economist! In English and everything! (Do not ask me what I paid for it.)


The evening was a bit more eventful. We braved the snow once more to head back to Ramen Alley. The weather was cold, and the reception we got was chilly (see what I did there?). A couple of places refused to seat us, for reasons we weren't entirely sure of. Were they closing? Did they not like Westerners? Did that lady who kept giving us the stink-eye on the train call ahead and tell them to turn us away? If it was the latter, someone didn't get the memo because eventually we found a tiny 8-seat place run by this great old guy who was very friendly. He didn't speak any English, but we managed to chat a bit and ask him for a photo. It was one of a few positive encounters that we had entirely in Japanese without the local having to resort to broken English.

We took photos of the ice sculptures afterwards. Daniel was in full "professional" mode, making Ali hold an umbrella over him to protect his precious camera from the elements. The snow died down then and we headed back to the Odori site for pictures of the snow sculptures at night. Then it started snowing again. We ran back as fast as we could.

One note - I owe an apology to Mr. Donut. I think I mocked him in an earlier post. His donuts are alright.

We're now into our final day in Sapporo - we do the nightmare journey in reverse this time, taking three trains overnight back to Tokyo before heading on to Kyoto. Hopefully it's an easier trip heading back the other way, but I'm not prepared to bet on it.

-Nik