Only when I've actually put the light off do I remember the other thing I wanted to write about.
I'm still getting panic attacks. Not as hard and not as often as before, but they're still there.
My hangover from last night just wouldn't shift, today. And as usually happens with this situation, I felt the familiar heavy heart beats and tension inside that goes with my body's reaction. I managed to get to the pub for last orders after discovering that there was no beer left in our fridge. A pint of cider later followed by a walk home through the ran and I was pretty much fixed again.
I met someone recently who started getting them for almost the same reason, except it was some kind of speed in his case, rather than acid in mine. He was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and takes valium with him most places. Scary.
~aFx
Monday, 14 June 2010
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
the apology [originally posted 01 Jun 2010]
As you may have noticed, I stopped writing my blog when I was half way through my trip to Japan. I think it was mostly because I felt that I didn't need to write it any more. It was already some days behind where I was up to, and I realised that my original reason for writing it - to stay sane in a very foreign land, had become moot. That trip was the happiest I have been for years and years. And once I realised that this was the case, I suddenly felt that these things were my memories, not to be shared so easily. Now, I look back on this and think that it was a bit selfish. I still have my notes from each day and so I will write them up, as an aid to my memory at the very least. There are plenty of pictures still to come - you may well have seen them if you have visited my flickr page. Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to the next blog entries about Japan, they'll come, but please understand that I changed how I felt about the process.
Edit: My internal monologue had also been shocked into silence by being in such a strange place. That was awesome.
Ok, so that out of the way. On to other things.
I've rejoined a dating site. I'm not sure at this moment how much of a good idea that is. I guess I should follow some good examples and write about the dates (if and when they happen), especially if they prove disastrous. That said, I have been meeting some really nice girls lately, all via the bunch of mates I've gathered in Chorlton. Slightly concerned that they're generally about 8-10 years younger than me but that all kind of fits in with me being in my fifth or sixth childhood.
I'm still playing Eve, and still trying to get that elusive first killmail... Well, a killmail where I'm not the victim!
I'm thinking of taking up my mum's offer of getting me some more driving lessons for my birthday, and actually get my licence sorted out. This would rock. I find that I'm missing the whole driving thing, which is just as unexpected as finding that I enjoy driving in the first place!
I'm probably going to move back to London. The trip to Japan pretty much killed all my savings and I want to go back there, probably for longer. The only conceivable way I can do this is to start doing contracting, and the best place for contracting is in London. We'll see how this works out. Whatever happens, I'm desperate to change what I'm doing.
Things feel stuck at the minute. Please bear with me if I'm a pain in the arse until the situation gets better.
Maybe now I can get some sleep since I've written some of this down.
Night night all
~aFx
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Thursday April 15th [Nara - Kyoto]
20100415 [Nara]
Flickr set for Nara - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623896927960/
Flickr set for Kyoto - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623896950306/
checking out and shopping
Late in the night, a German/Vietnamese family arrived, including screaming youngster and a Vietnamese grandfather whose party trick was falling over. Paper partition walls and glass windows into the lower floor of the house are not very conducive to sleeping when their kid was screaming. I tried to sleep in, but it really wasn't happening. Early shower then checked out, leaving baggage behind for a few hours...
3 storey pagoda and temple next to sarasawa pond
It was time to see a bit of Nara since the whole hangover and Nagoya thing was a bit of a waste of time. I set out and found a very nice 3 storey pagoda and a pond. To be fair, I found those by incident with where I wanted to go, which was the tabi-ji "ninja footwear" shop in town, which was ace :) I've always wanted a pair! I'll be amazed if they get worn outside the house but fuck it, I think they're ace.
deer and wandering up to Nara's most famous attraction - the Todai-ji temple
Mangy, pacified, and that's just the tourists. Deer are everywhere once you get near the Todai-ji temple. These ones treat "deer crackers" pretty much like crack. They are addicted. They'll eat just about anything and I daresay it'll kill them, but the crackers you can buy from various street vendors in the temple and park complex. Apparently a favourite trick is to put a cracker into someone else's back pocket, because they will follow you -everywhere-, such is their blind addiction. According to the signpost information, they keep the mother's sedated at a different location due to them being aggressive around their fawns. Also, if you bow at these deer, they bow back :) To be honest, I never saw this in practice. They also poo a lot.
todai-ji and daibatsuden
This is apparently one of the oldest wooden structures in Japan. It houses the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world, and it is, really, very bloody big. And that's just Buddha. He's got some friends, and they're all huge. They, I tell you, they ate all the pies.
mos burgers
Oh God. There's a fast food outlet in Japan called Mos Burger. They make small, but perfectly formed burgers (and, allegedly, coffee too). Amongst the various things they do is a Teriyaki Chicken burger. I'm addicted. I'm horrendously addicted. My name is Adam and I am addicted to Mos Burger Teriyaki Chicken burgers. Beautiful, non-stringy piece of chicken, dripping with this amazing sauce, really fresh, crisp lettuce on top with a huge dollop of mayonnaise. Oh God Yes.
leaving nara
Time to walk back along the little road to the station, so I picked up my bags and did just that. Local train ride to Kyoto was pretty uneventful. I like Nara. It's tiny, but it's got a great deal of character. As the first city that existed in Japan, it's pretty nice. The houses and the people - both in step with each other.
arriving kyoto
Bit more time spent looking around the station, which is huge and impressive. Finally found the right line to get to a place called Nijo ("second castle" I think) which was on the JR line so no extra charge! Yay. So, arrived at Nijo, which was only two stops away, and set out according to the directions for the hostel "in direction of Nijo Castle"...
shocking directions
So, 15 minutes later when I was very confused, having just found Marumachi Street, I ended up asking a woman behind a counter of an ice cream and cake shop where the hell I should be going. This, it turned out, was a bad idea. I walked 15 minutes back to the station, then took a different road at the intersection, found the castle, or one corner of it, and picked up the directions from HostelWorld there... leading me back to about 200 yards from the ice cream and cake shop, but headed in the right direction. Quite tired now.
kyoto's cheapest inn
Massively massively basic. No frills, no pretension to even thinking about frills. This was a very small 3 storey building with one room per floor and dorm bunks with curtains that didn't quite go all the way to closing. Awesome. The showers, it turns out, are basically in the common room and are 2 shower cubicles in length. When you're sharing the first cubicle space with a large basket, this makes changing quite tricky.
wandering down to station
Up and out of there as there wasn't a lot of point in hanging around. Wandered down to the JR Nijo station again to try and get some sightseeing done. This district of Kyoto is quite strange, in that it's pretty much building - temple - building - school - tv station - castle. The city is filling in the gaps between the sights, growing like background radiation.
kyoto central station
The station has got the weirdest roof, from inside, of any place I've been to. Check the photos. It's extravagant and quite, quite bold. It's also totally ugly from the outside, but maybe they weren't thinking of that at the time. The shopping plaza inhabiting the space is named The Cube, so you can imagine the architecture.
temple next to it
Along the road, not 500 yards from this monstrosity is a massive temple complex called Higashi Honganji. Wasn't much going on here apart from a biting, cold wind. Quite weird how the construction work next door to it had interlaced with its roof, though I guess this could have been a repair job on an existing building... After taking some photos, I went along the street towards the station to do my usual trick of confusing the hell out of people in Starbucks. "dekopi?" "Do you want me to write out the label for you, it'll save you the bother?" "decahinat kopi?" "Yes." "10 minute!" "Fine."
walking downtown
In a fit of piquem, I decided to walk the 2km back downtown, towards something I meant to see, the International Manga Museum of Kyoto. However, when I got there, it was 5.30pm and the place had just stopped accepting new visitors. Boo.
merry island cafe
Rough Guide informed me that there was a place doing Thai and Indonesian style menu near the river bridge along from the manga museum. I found it, but once I was told that the Thai Green Curry was off, somehow, magically, they'd manage to run out of it "Will this be on tomorrow?" "No no, it has run out." "Fiiiine." In the end, I had a beer and a spaghetti carbonara while realising, slowly, that I was feeling absolutely dreadful.
feeling completely awful and walking home in the cold - allergic reaction?
Walking home in the cold is a good way to sink a lot of heat, and I was pumping it out. Not felt that ill in a while. Couldn't tell if it was some kind of delayed reaction from getting a bit sunburnt 2 days previous, or some kind of allergic reaction. I really haven't a clue. In the end, I got back to the hostel and went straight to bed at around 9pm. Rocking.
Flickr set for Nara - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623896927960/
Flickr set for Kyoto - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623896950306/
checking out and shopping
Late in the night, a German/Vietnamese family arrived, including screaming youngster and a Vietnamese grandfather whose party trick was falling over. Paper partition walls and glass windows into the lower floor of the house are not very conducive to sleeping when their kid was screaming. I tried to sleep in, but it really wasn't happening. Early shower then checked out, leaving baggage behind for a few hours...
3 storey pagoda and temple next to sarasawa pond
It was time to see a bit of Nara since the whole hangover and Nagoya thing was a bit of a waste of time. I set out and found a very nice 3 storey pagoda and a pond. To be fair, I found those by incident with where I wanted to go, which was the tabi-ji "ninja footwear" shop in town, which was ace :) I've always wanted a pair! I'll be amazed if they get worn outside the house but fuck it, I think they're ace.
deer and wandering up to Nara's most famous attraction - the Todai-ji temple
Mangy, pacified, and that's just the tourists. Deer are everywhere once you get near the Todai-ji temple. These ones treat "deer crackers" pretty much like crack. They are addicted. They'll eat just about anything and I daresay it'll kill them, but the crackers you can buy from various street vendors in the temple and park complex. Apparently a favourite trick is to put a cracker into someone else's back pocket, because they will follow you -everywhere-, such is their blind addiction. According to the signpost information, they keep the mother's sedated at a different location due to them being aggressive around their fawns. Also, if you bow at these deer, they bow back :) To be honest, I never saw this in practice. They also poo a lot.
todai-ji and daibatsuden
This is apparently one of the oldest wooden structures in Japan. It houses the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world, and it is, really, very bloody big. And that's just Buddha. He's got some friends, and they're all huge. They, I tell you, they ate all the pies.
mos burgers
Oh God. There's a fast food outlet in Japan called Mos Burger. They make small, but perfectly formed burgers (and, allegedly, coffee too). Amongst the various things they do is a Teriyaki Chicken burger. I'm addicted. I'm horrendously addicted. My name is Adam and I am addicted to Mos Burger Teriyaki Chicken burgers. Beautiful, non-stringy piece of chicken, dripping with this amazing sauce, really fresh, crisp lettuce on top with a huge dollop of mayonnaise. Oh God Yes.
leaving nara
Time to walk back along the little road to the station, so I picked up my bags and did just that. Local train ride to Kyoto was pretty uneventful. I like Nara. It's tiny, but it's got a great deal of character. As the first city that existed in Japan, it's pretty nice. The houses and the people - both in step with each other.
arriving kyoto
Bit more time spent looking around the station, which is huge and impressive. Finally found the right line to get to a place called Nijo ("second castle" I think) which was on the JR line so no extra charge! Yay. So, arrived at Nijo, which was only two stops away, and set out according to the directions for the hostel "in direction of Nijo Castle"...
shocking directions
So, 15 minutes later when I was very confused, having just found Marumachi Street, I ended up asking a woman behind a counter of an ice cream and cake shop where the hell I should be going. This, it turned out, was a bad idea. I walked 15 minutes back to the station, then took a different road at the intersection, found the castle, or one corner of it, and picked up the directions from HostelWorld there... leading me back to about 200 yards from the ice cream and cake shop, but headed in the right direction. Quite tired now.
kyoto's cheapest inn
Massively massively basic. No frills, no pretension to even thinking about frills. This was a very small 3 storey building with one room per floor and dorm bunks with curtains that didn't quite go all the way to closing. Awesome. The showers, it turns out, are basically in the common room and are 2 shower cubicles in length. When you're sharing the first cubicle space with a large basket, this makes changing quite tricky.
wandering down to station
Up and out of there as there wasn't a lot of point in hanging around. Wandered down to the JR Nijo station again to try and get some sightseeing done. This district of Kyoto is quite strange, in that it's pretty much building - temple - building - school - tv station - castle. The city is filling in the gaps between the sights, growing like background radiation.
kyoto central station
The station has got the weirdest roof, from inside, of any place I've been to. Check the photos. It's extravagant and quite, quite bold. It's also totally ugly from the outside, but maybe they weren't thinking of that at the time. The shopping plaza inhabiting the space is named The Cube, so you can imagine the architecture.
temple next to it
Along the road, not 500 yards from this monstrosity is a massive temple complex called Higashi Honganji. Wasn't much going on here apart from a biting, cold wind. Quite weird how the construction work next door to it had interlaced with its roof, though I guess this could have been a repair job on an existing building... After taking some photos, I went along the street towards the station to do my usual trick of confusing the hell out of people in Starbucks. "dekopi?" "Do you want me to write out the label for you, it'll save you the bother?" "decahinat kopi?" "Yes." "10 minute!" "Fine."
walking downtown
In a fit of piquem, I decided to walk the 2km back downtown, towards something I meant to see, the International Manga Museum of Kyoto. However, when I got there, it was 5.30pm and the place had just stopped accepting new visitors. Boo.
merry island cafe
Rough Guide informed me that there was a place doing Thai and Indonesian style menu near the river bridge along from the manga museum. I found it, but once I was told that the Thai Green Curry was off, somehow, magically, they'd manage to run out of it "Will this be on tomorrow?" "No no, it has run out." "Fiiiine." In the end, I had a beer and a spaghetti carbonara while realising, slowly, that I was feeling absolutely dreadful.
feeling completely awful and walking home in the cold - allergic reaction?
Walking home in the cold is a good way to sink a lot of heat, and I was pumping it out. Not felt that ill in a while. Couldn't tell if it was some kind of delayed reaction from getting a bit sunburnt 2 days previous, or some kind of allergic reaction. I really haven't a clue. In the end, I got back to the hostel and went straight to bed at around 9pm. Rocking.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Wednesday April 14th [Nagoya - Nara]
20100414 [Nagoya and Nara]
Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623764969227/
I woke up refreshed and deciding never to get that drunk in Japan ever again, or at least that hungover. The lady who runs the hostel recommended a good place nearby for breakfast and she was absolutely spot on. Komeda's Coffee house is just around the corner from the hostel and does the most amazing toast and jam, with a hard boiled egg on the side. Completely delicious.
robot museum
Has been closed for two years. Thanks, Rough Guide.
Atsuta shrine, Nagoya
20 minutes walk away from the hostel, along the busy Otsu-dori and Atsuta-dori roads, lays the second biggest shrine in Japan. It's a magnificent bleached wood structure with a surrounding park land, including a pond with terrapins (or maybe turtles) basking on rocks, massive carp, huge chickens and one of the most pleasant looking buddhist-stuff shops I've seen so far. There wasn't much to see there apart from that, so I walked back to the hostel to pick my stuff up and headed to Kanayama station, then to Nagoya and onto the shinkansen once more... much less hungover this time. However, I still managed to get on a train headed in the wrong direction and had to change at its first stop to get back to Nagoya. Doh.
bullet train to kyoto
Tried reserving a ticket in the smoking carriage for a change. I don't recommend it to be honest. The air made my eyes itch. The journey took us past some more ridiculous mountains, bridges and agricultural areas.
nice people guiding me to the right train for nara
Completely unexpected. Arrived at Kyoto to change from the shinkansen to a normal train for Nara, found one, sat on it, and started looking at the directions to the guesthouse, and checked the list of stops on a poster above the train door, when a guy who must have been about 80 asked me where I was going. He then pointed out that this was a local stopping service which would take me a massive amount of time to get to Nara, and that I should instead get the Rapid service, even going to the trouble of asking the guard at the back of the train. He was completely right and I was so touched that he would take so much trouble to help me. Nice people here :)
nice people guiding me to the right place in nara
The rapid service wasn't all that rapid to cover the 35km to Nara, but we got there eventually. After that, I changed again for a local stopping service to get to Kyobate, where I immediately found the directions to the guesthouse to be pretty useless. I stopped in front of a shop next to the station and asked a woman on a bike, who went and asked the woman inside the shop, meantime a guy on a motorbike was going into the shop and asked directly if I was going to the guesthouse, then he went inside the shop as well, and came back holding a laminated map showing where we were and how to find the guesthouse. Turns out, it was a straight line from the station along the street. Nice people here too :)
Naramachi Guesthouse, Nara
Very very very traditional, shoes off, slippers on, not quite sure whether I can drink this beer in the common room, kind of place. Met a nice guy called Maurice, from Cologne who is staying here also, we went out to get some food and for me to become orientated, roughly with the layout of the town, versus where the guesthouse is. Now I'm back at the guesthouse and sitting, after a brief period of conversation with a nice but batty Italian lady, in abject silence as I type furiously away, drinking potentially forbidden biru. It's some kind of Asahi blend, he said, looking askance over at the can while still trying to type. That's kind of showing off but, well, never mind. Someone's just picked up the guitar from the corner of the lounge and is playing a ridiculously good version of Stairway To Heaven. Fully jazzed up and everything. Impressive.
Addendum
There's countless empty cans of beer in the recycle bin. Joy!
Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623764969227/
I woke up refreshed and deciding never to get that drunk in Japan ever again, or at least that hungover. The lady who runs the hostel recommended a good place nearby for breakfast and she was absolutely spot on. Komeda's Coffee house is just around the corner from the hostel and does the most amazing toast and jam, with a hard boiled egg on the side. Completely delicious.
robot museum
Has been closed for two years. Thanks, Rough Guide.
Atsuta shrine, Nagoya
20 minutes walk away from the hostel, along the busy Otsu-dori and Atsuta-dori roads, lays the second biggest shrine in Japan. It's a magnificent bleached wood structure with a surrounding park land, including a pond with terrapins (or maybe turtles) basking on rocks, massive carp, huge chickens and one of the most pleasant looking buddhist-stuff shops I've seen so far. There wasn't much to see there apart from that, so I walked back to the hostel to pick my stuff up and headed to Kanayama station, then to Nagoya and onto the shinkansen once more... much less hungover this time. However, I still managed to get on a train headed in the wrong direction and had to change at its first stop to get back to Nagoya. Doh.
bullet train to kyoto
Tried reserving a ticket in the smoking carriage for a change. I don't recommend it to be honest. The air made my eyes itch. The journey took us past some more ridiculous mountains, bridges and agricultural areas.
nice people guiding me to the right train for nara
Completely unexpected. Arrived at Kyoto to change from the shinkansen to a normal train for Nara, found one, sat on it, and started looking at the directions to the guesthouse, and checked the list of stops on a poster above the train door, when a guy who must have been about 80 asked me where I was going. He then pointed out that this was a local stopping service which would take me a massive amount of time to get to Nara, and that I should instead get the Rapid service, even going to the trouble of asking the guard at the back of the train. He was completely right and I was so touched that he would take so much trouble to help me. Nice people here :)
nice people guiding me to the right place in nara
The rapid service wasn't all that rapid to cover the 35km to Nara, but we got there eventually. After that, I changed again for a local stopping service to get to Kyobate, where I immediately found the directions to the guesthouse to be pretty useless. I stopped in front of a shop next to the station and asked a woman on a bike, who went and asked the woman inside the shop, meantime a guy on a motorbike was going into the shop and asked directly if I was going to the guesthouse, then he went inside the shop as well, and came back holding a laminated map showing where we were and how to find the guesthouse. Turns out, it was a straight line from the station along the street. Nice people here too :)
Naramachi Guesthouse, Nara
Very very very traditional, shoes off, slippers on, not quite sure whether I can drink this beer in the common room, kind of place. Met a nice guy called Maurice, from Cologne who is staying here also, we went out to get some food and for me to become orientated, roughly with the layout of the town, versus where the guesthouse is. Now I'm back at the guesthouse and sitting, after a brief period of conversation with a nice but batty Italian lady, in abject silence as I type furiously away, drinking potentially forbidden biru. It's some kind of Asahi blend, he said, looking askance over at the can while still trying to type. That's kind of showing off but, well, never mind. Someone's just picked up the guitar from the corner of the lounge and is playing a ridiculously good version of Stairway To Heaven. Fully jazzed up and everything. Impressive.
Addendum
There's countless empty cans of beer in the recycle bin. Joy!
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Tuesday April 13th [Nagoya]
20100413 Tokyo and Nagoya
Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623764846215/
Hangovers in Japan - not recommended
Checking out with a massive hangover, in blazing hot sun, with only a few hours sleep, followed by getting across town to Tokyo station for a bullet train ride was really really horrific. I highly recommend never getting yourself into this kind of fix.
Bumbling around Shinkansen station trying to not be ill
I did a lot of this, also a lot of dashing back to the restrooms to put cold water on my face and neck, hanging around next to rubbish bins, and finally managing, somehow, to keep it together on the train to get excited about the landscape rushing by. The bullet trains are amazing, spacious, smooth (mostly), clean and the staff are extraordinarily polite, things like the guard bowing to the carriage, making a formal, spoken announcement that he must now check tickets, more bowing, then the checking of tickets, then finally, turning and bowing to the carriage again before moving onward to the next. How the hell are we supposed to compete with that? You can get such cranky, annoying twats being guards on British trains. This is a breath of fresh air definitely.
Ridiculous mountains
Well, they've got plenty of them. The landscape changed so much going south west from Tokyo. And the hills are really abrupt, suddenly striking skyward in the middle of a town. Crazy. The Shinkansen shot past these places and through the hills. Literally.
Not seeing Mt Fuji
The massive disappointment was, having gone to the trouble, in my worsened state, of reserving a seat on the correct side of the train and waiting around for the next train to make it happen, that Mt Fuji was almost completely shrouded by clouds and therefore I could only see snatches of just how massive and imposing and insanely beautiful it is. I seriously could only see little patches of it, having to look at the scene for some time before realising that my eyes weren't deceiving me, and it really was that huge. I hope I can see it better when I travel back up to Tokyo.
Nagoya station
After the near 2 hour trip, I arrived in Nagoya central station which, as reported by some people I've met already, is very business-orientated, very corporate. The station is built around the long corridor connecting one side of the station to the other. I hunted in vain for a MacDonalds, as I was feeling a bit better and only wanted to take the opportunity to get some food in me. After searching around, I decided to just get to the next hostel, which meant a metro train ride to Kanayama station while still feeling ropey. Kanayama is busy, windy, has big roads. Not sure if I like it that much but it seems ok.
Hostel Ann
I followed the directions from Kanayama station, which thankfully included a MacDonalds (cheeseburger with chips in it and Fanta Grape FTW, but why do they load the burgers with so much black pepper??), and found myself at a really beautiful little hostel. Traditional style so shoes off, tatami straw mats in the bedrooms, and really comfortable beds. There's a little garden in an atrium at the center of the ground floor and very friendly staff. There's some people here who are doing teaching programmes, and some of their friends came over to catch up and bring food. Nice bunch. Meantime, I popped out to one of the shops and got some food and a couple of beers to get rid of the last vestiges of my hangover. So far, so good...
I'll try and get to the Robot Museum here, tomorrow. It opens at 11 and that's when I'm supposed to be checking out so I'll have to keep my baggage here but I'm sure they'll be able to help.
Sleep beckons...
Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623764846215/
Hangovers in Japan - not recommended
Checking out with a massive hangover, in blazing hot sun, with only a few hours sleep, followed by getting across town to Tokyo station for a bullet train ride was really really horrific. I highly recommend never getting yourself into this kind of fix.
Bumbling around Shinkansen station trying to not be ill
I did a lot of this, also a lot of dashing back to the restrooms to put cold water on my face and neck, hanging around next to rubbish bins, and finally managing, somehow, to keep it together on the train to get excited about the landscape rushing by. The bullet trains are amazing, spacious, smooth (mostly), clean and the staff are extraordinarily polite, things like the guard bowing to the carriage, making a formal, spoken announcement that he must now check tickets, more bowing, then the checking of tickets, then finally, turning and bowing to the carriage again before moving onward to the next. How the hell are we supposed to compete with that? You can get such cranky, annoying twats being guards on British trains. This is a breath of fresh air definitely.
Ridiculous mountains
Well, they've got plenty of them. The landscape changed so much going south west from Tokyo. And the hills are really abrupt, suddenly striking skyward in the middle of a town. Crazy. The Shinkansen shot past these places and through the hills. Literally.
Not seeing Mt Fuji
The massive disappointment was, having gone to the trouble, in my worsened state, of reserving a seat on the correct side of the train and waiting around for the next train to make it happen, that Mt Fuji was almost completely shrouded by clouds and therefore I could only see snatches of just how massive and imposing and insanely beautiful it is. I seriously could only see little patches of it, having to look at the scene for some time before realising that my eyes weren't deceiving me, and it really was that huge. I hope I can see it better when I travel back up to Tokyo.
Nagoya station
After the near 2 hour trip, I arrived in Nagoya central station which, as reported by some people I've met already, is very business-orientated, very corporate. The station is built around the long corridor connecting one side of the station to the other. I hunted in vain for a MacDonalds, as I was feeling a bit better and only wanted to take the opportunity to get some food in me. After searching around, I decided to just get to the next hostel, which meant a metro train ride to Kanayama station while still feeling ropey. Kanayama is busy, windy, has big roads. Not sure if I like it that much but it seems ok.
Hostel Ann
I followed the directions from Kanayama station, which thankfully included a MacDonalds (cheeseburger with chips in it and Fanta Grape FTW, but why do they load the burgers with so much black pepper??), and found myself at a really beautiful little hostel. Traditional style so shoes off, tatami straw mats in the bedrooms, and really comfortable beds. There's a little garden in an atrium at the center of the ground floor and very friendly staff. There's some people here who are doing teaching programmes, and some of their friends came over to catch up and bring food. Nice bunch. Meantime, I popped out to one of the shops and got some food and a couple of beers to get rid of the last vestiges of my hangover. So far, so good...
I'll try and get to the Robot Museum here, tomorrow. It opens at 11 and that's when I'm supposed to be checking out so I'll have to keep my baggage here but I'm sure they'll be able to help.
Sleep beckons...
Monday, 12 April 2010
Monday 12th April [Tokyo]
20100412 monday, tokyo
no pictures for today!
sleeping in
My body clock is getting worse and worse, leading to spending half the day sleeping. I think it's from all the walking around. The sound of the rain outside didn't help. Rainy day in Tokyo. Boo.
wandering to ueno park - museums closed!
Gutted. After making it out to Ueno Park and wandering through it to the museums at the far end, they were both closed :( Ended up walking around the back of Ueno Park station in the rain and wondering what to do next.
writing postcards
In the end, I went to the Starbucks connected to the station and wrote out postcards for my mum and my ex. The postcards I found in Asakusa and are both really nice. Silly cat one for mum :) Belated happy birthday one for Anthea.
back to tawaramachi and post office
Stopped off at the post office in Tawaramachi to get some money out and some stamps, staff really helpful! I'm liking the till machines they have which don't have a drawer, but rather spit out the right change. Another tick in the right box. Posted the postcard for my Mum as I haven't committed my ex's address to memory. Sue me.
back to hostel, laundry, working out places to stay in nagoya, nara, kyoto
Walked through the rain back to Sakura Hostel and did some practical things like sorting my laundry out and getting accomodation booked for Nagoya, Nara and Kyoto. Only one night in both Nagoya and Nara but that seemed like enough. Really liking the hostel as all the staff are super friendly.
Cuzn bar, Kaori
I didn't really know what to do that evening, so I figured I should try at least one bar in Asakusa. After a brief look through the Rough Guide, the closest one seemed to be a bar called Cuzn, just a few streets away. Lovely place, very subdued and just a few people in there. It turned out that it was open until 5am! So, I took a seat at the bar, tried some of my very poor Japanese on the barman and tried a local draught. To be honest, it was pretty bad. After that, I tried a Taketsuru, a Japanese whiskey. Very rich, very nice indeed. At this point, the chattering from behind me took form in the shape of the manageress, Miki. A colourful, jazz-addled woman who is one of the most friendly people I've met so far :) We talked about music for a while and then the chef, a woman called Kaori joined us at the bar. Kaori's great :) Really enjoyed talking with her, and I got so drunk that I taught her how to play Shithead. And she won. Grr. Next time, I won't be so nice when playing against her ;) The bar was never very full that night, but along the way there was a Japanese Olympic female wrestling bronze-medallist and friend, a business guy and a cool girl that he was intent on speaking to, a bass player that Miki waxed lyrical about. Really nice people. Now in contact with Kaori and Miki on facebook, so I'm hoping that I'll go there again when I return to Tokyo :)
amazing hangover
You have no idea. I got out of there at about 4.30am, and had to check out at 11am in an absolute state. More on that in the next part.
no pictures for today!
sleeping in
My body clock is getting worse and worse, leading to spending half the day sleeping. I think it's from all the walking around. The sound of the rain outside didn't help. Rainy day in Tokyo. Boo.
wandering to ueno park - museums closed!
Gutted. After making it out to Ueno Park and wandering through it to the museums at the far end, they were both closed :( Ended up walking around the back of Ueno Park station in the rain and wondering what to do next.
writing postcards
In the end, I went to the Starbucks connected to the station and wrote out postcards for my mum and my ex. The postcards I found in Asakusa and are both really nice. Silly cat one for mum :) Belated happy birthday one for Anthea.
back to tawaramachi and post office
Stopped off at the post office in Tawaramachi to get some money out and some stamps, staff really helpful! I'm liking the till machines they have which don't have a drawer, but rather spit out the right change. Another tick in the right box. Posted the postcard for my Mum as I haven't committed my ex's address to memory. Sue me.
back to hostel, laundry, working out places to stay in nagoya, nara, kyoto
Walked through the rain back to Sakura Hostel and did some practical things like sorting my laundry out and getting accomodation booked for Nagoya, Nara and Kyoto. Only one night in both Nagoya and Nara but that seemed like enough. Really liking the hostel as all the staff are super friendly.
Cuzn bar, Kaori
I didn't really know what to do that evening, so I figured I should try at least one bar in Asakusa. After a brief look through the Rough Guide, the closest one seemed to be a bar called Cuzn, just a few streets away. Lovely place, very subdued and just a few people in there. It turned out that it was open until 5am! So, I took a seat at the bar, tried some of my very poor Japanese on the barman and tried a local draught. To be honest, it was pretty bad. After that, I tried a Taketsuru, a Japanese whiskey. Very rich, very nice indeed. At this point, the chattering from behind me took form in the shape of the manageress, Miki. A colourful, jazz-addled woman who is one of the most friendly people I've met so far :) We talked about music for a while and then the chef, a woman called Kaori joined us at the bar. Kaori's great :) Really enjoyed talking with her, and I got so drunk that I taught her how to play Shithead. And she won. Grr. Next time, I won't be so nice when playing against her ;) The bar was never very full that night, but along the way there was a Japanese Olympic female wrestling bronze-medallist and friend, a business guy and a cool girl that he was intent on speaking to, a bass player that Miki waxed lyrical about. Really nice people. Now in contact with Kaori and Miki on facebook, so I'm hoping that I'll go there again when I return to Tokyo :)
amazing hangover
You have no idea. I got out of there at about 4.30am, and had to check out at 11am in an absolute state. More on that in the next part.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Sunday 11th April [Tokyo]
20100411 sunday [tokyo]
Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623830737736/
harajuku
I've always really wanted to go to Harajuku. It's the Mecca of Japanese teen fashion and all sorts of nonsense abides there. The main street, the Takeshite-dora, is plagued by stalls and shops and a million billion people bustling along it's narrow length. The shops lead the fashion which leads the kids which leads the shops ... Anyone who knows a bit about feedback loops will start to get misty eyed at this point. It's a mental place. So after a quick tour of that I went towards Yoyogi Park nearby. So many people there, some cos-players, a load of rockabillys, one sporting the tallest quiff I have ever even heard of.
meeting up with stuart and anna again
I still hadn't bought a gift or anything so I started to head back to the shops, and bumped into Stuart and Anna again, who were both really hungover but pleased to see me. We chilled out in the park for a while, seeing a man with a monkey, a woman walking her turtle (honest), blimps, a bunch of boys who were practicing their dancing like they were the next big JPop thing, really silly outfits, a guy doing contact juggling which was 50% good 50% dropsy, multiple dogs which were amazing and fun to be around (there was some kind of club meeting for owners of huskies and these particularly fluffy Akita-like (apart from the tail) creatures with the biggest paws I have ever seen. The park is lovely, really enjoyed being there. Again there were sakura parties going on but also just people and families out enjoying themselves. Lovely place. I said my goodbyes to Stuart and Anna as they were going to go in search of the shrine in the other half of the park and I wanted to hit the shops again. I duly found a gift for my friend Jodi and headed off in search of the Design Festa Gallery that I had heard about from Zoe and also that I had seen advertised back at the hostel.
trying to find design festa gallery and going round the omotesando hills - stupidly long vocal battle audition queue, really expensive shops, wedding
I completely failed to find the gallery and decicded to just keep on walking. As it is I ended up walking around and through Omotesando Hills district, which looked really expensive for buying stuff, with various names like Dior, Chanel, with their own massive shops. There was a wedding going on at one of the temples next to a very swish place called Anniversaire. Next to that, there was a queue of boys, after which there was a queue of boys, then a queue of boys, and so forth for a good 4-5 minutes walk. At the end, I saw a guy who was on the staff of the event with a card saying that it was the Audition for some kind of Vocal Battle. I couldn't believe how long the queue was. It was nearly half a mile and remarkably well behaved. I can't imagine how long it would take for someone to eventually get called up for audition. Hours, maybe. Maybe they're still there!
down through harajuku street again and the nice bit of shops at the bottom
I eventually got back to the start of Takeshite-dori and I went on another explore down the street, checking out the side streets and the various other stalls. I got to the bottom of it and then went along Harajuku Street (not sure if that's what it is really called) which had a different vibe to the crash of colours and all the kids on Takashite-dori. There were more serious clothes shops and interesting looking places, and more space. Lots more space. Quite liked that end. I guess that's the bit which the guide book referred to as the hip-hop scene area. So, went around there for a bit, took some photos, then back up Takeshite-dori a final time just for the hell of it. Stopped for a cigarette on a side street (since that's the done thing) and found myself opposite a tea room called Christie :) I stopped in there and had pretty much the best roast chicken sandwich I have ever had. Well done, Christie. You're a credit to the name :) The proprietor was quite amused when I said I was Christie and showed him my passport. Anyway, that was a good time to finish checking out Harajuku and so I got back on the crowded train towards Shinjuku as it was the closer side of the Yamanote line circle back to Ueno Park.
shinjuku, getting assaulted by religious types
I decided to stop in Shinjuku and check it out, since I'd not, somehow, done that yet. Fuck me, that's a mental, busy, ridiculous place. The station is unbelievably huge and confusing, and then you find yourself outside in Takashimaya Times Square which is a lot like standing outside Shibuya station, but, somehow, a hell of a lot busier even on a Sunday night! Frankly, it was too hectic and intense, so I sat down for a drink at a starbucks for a while and chilled out to some tunes, watching 6pm tick over and the crush of people move past. Meantime, a really strong wind had started up. There's definitely a massive pressure drop happening so I suspect tomorrow there is going to be some pretty heavy rain :( This kind of fucks up my plan of going to Nikko quite badly, unless I bring Scuba gear.
remembering to get accomodation in nagoya, kyoto
This is just a note to myself to remember to book accomodation for Nagoya and Kyoto over the next few days. If I don't write about sorting this out, sort me out. Please? Thanks.
Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fractos/sets/72157623830737736/
harajuku
I've always really wanted to go to Harajuku. It's the Mecca of Japanese teen fashion and all sorts of nonsense abides there. The main street, the Takeshite-dora, is plagued by stalls and shops and a million billion people bustling along it's narrow length. The shops lead the fashion which leads the kids which leads the shops ... Anyone who knows a bit about feedback loops will start to get misty eyed at this point. It's a mental place. So after a quick tour of that I went towards Yoyogi Park nearby. So many people there, some cos-players, a load of rockabillys, one sporting the tallest quiff I have ever even heard of.
meeting up with stuart and anna again
I still hadn't bought a gift or anything so I started to head back to the shops, and bumped into Stuart and Anna again, who were both really hungover but pleased to see me. We chilled out in the park for a while, seeing a man with a monkey, a woman walking her turtle (honest), blimps, a bunch of boys who were practicing their dancing like they were the next big JPop thing, really silly outfits, a guy doing contact juggling which was 50% good 50% dropsy, multiple dogs which were amazing and fun to be around (there was some kind of club meeting for owners of huskies and these particularly fluffy Akita-like (apart from the tail) creatures with the biggest paws I have ever seen. The park is lovely, really enjoyed being there. Again there were sakura parties going on but also just people and families out enjoying themselves. Lovely place. I said my goodbyes to Stuart and Anna as they were going to go in search of the shrine in the other half of the park and I wanted to hit the shops again. I duly found a gift for my friend Jodi and headed off in search of the Design Festa Gallery that I had heard about from Zoe and also that I had seen advertised back at the hostel.
trying to find design festa gallery and going round the omotesando hills - stupidly long vocal battle audition queue, really expensive shops, wedding
I completely failed to find the gallery and decicded to just keep on walking. As it is I ended up walking around and through Omotesando Hills district, which looked really expensive for buying stuff, with various names like Dior, Chanel, with their own massive shops. There was a wedding going on at one of the temples next to a very swish place called Anniversaire. Next to that, there was a queue of boys, after which there was a queue of boys, then a queue of boys, and so forth for a good 4-5 minutes walk. At the end, I saw a guy who was on the staff of the event with a card saying that it was the Audition for some kind of Vocal Battle. I couldn't believe how long the queue was. It was nearly half a mile and remarkably well behaved. I can't imagine how long it would take for someone to eventually get called up for audition. Hours, maybe. Maybe they're still there!
down through harajuku street again and the nice bit of shops at the bottom
I eventually got back to the start of Takeshite-dori and I went on another explore down the street, checking out the side streets and the various other stalls. I got to the bottom of it and then went along Harajuku Street (not sure if that's what it is really called) which had a different vibe to the crash of colours and all the kids on Takashite-dori. There were more serious clothes shops and interesting looking places, and more space. Lots more space. Quite liked that end. I guess that's the bit which the guide book referred to as the hip-hop scene area. So, went around there for a bit, took some photos, then back up Takeshite-dori a final time just for the hell of it. Stopped for a cigarette on a side street (since that's the done thing) and found myself opposite a tea room called Christie :) I stopped in there and had pretty much the best roast chicken sandwich I have ever had. Well done, Christie. You're a credit to the name :) The proprietor was quite amused when I said I was Christie and showed him my passport. Anyway, that was a good time to finish checking out Harajuku and so I got back on the crowded train towards Shinjuku as it was the closer side of the Yamanote line circle back to Ueno Park.
shinjuku, getting assaulted by religious types
I decided to stop in Shinjuku and check it out, since I'd not, somehow, done that yet. Fuck me, that's a mental, busy, ridiculous place. The station is unbelievably huge and confusing, and then you find yourself outside in Takashimaya Times Square which is a lot like standing outside Shibuya station, but, somehow, a hell of a lot busier even on a Sunday night! Frankly, it was too hectic and intense, so I sat down for a drink at a starbucks for a while and chilled out to some tunes, watching 6pm tick over and the crush of people move past. Meantime, a really strong wind had started up. There's definitely a massive pressure drop happening so I suspect tomorrow there is going to be some pretty heavy rain :( This kind of fucks up my plan of going to Nikko quite badly, unless I bring Scuba gear.
remembering to get accomodation in nagoya, kyoto
This is just a note to myself to remember to book accomodation for Nagoya and Kyoto over the next few days. If I don't write about sorting this out, sort me out. Please? Thanks.
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