Here's my second-to-last update about the holiday, I'll probably send the last one when I get back to Holland. We're flying back on Thursday already! In the beginning everything couldn't go by fast enough, but now it's almost time to go home, I want to stay longer! I especially wanted more time in Kyoto, that city is difficult to navigate so it's hard to see lots of things in a short time. Also having painful legs doesn't help! But more about Kyoto later. First, back to Hiroshima.
I ended my last mail on Thursday night. We went out to dinner and had okonomiyaki. It is often referred to as 'Japanese pizza', but only because it's round and you can put different toppings on it. It has nothing else to do with pizza. It's basically all kinds of ingredients fried on a teppan (frying plate) covered in mayonnaise. We both had pork wrapped in egg, mine also had a mochi (sticky rice cake) in between. It was covered in a sauce that tasted like curry ketchup and mayonnaise. It was nice, but a bit too greasy for my tastes... The place was on the 6th floor of a building. On this floor were only okonomiyaki restaurants. It's like walking through an alley with restaurants opening up to it on either side. The teppan are like a large counter that everyone sits on side by side. The people who work at the restaurants keep yelling at people passing by to entice them to come into their restaurant (they do that everywhere, we've learnt that it's not rude to ignore them, but I also seem to ignore people that ARE talking to me, like when I was walking in someone's yard in Miyajima XD) Anyway, the guys who worked at the restaurant we went to were nice, though, one spoke a bit of English so he asked us where we were from and how old we were and said he liked a band from the UK, from the 70s, that sounded a bit like 'Chaos UK' (heavy accent).
On Friday we got up early and took the train at 10:15 (25 mins) and the ferry (10 mins) to Miyajima. We could already see the big red torii gate from the boat, it was really exciting! First we walked to Itsukushima shrine, which the torii belongs to. It's super touristy there, but very beautiful. It was high tide, and then the shrine and the torii seem to be floating in the water. We then walked up to Daishoin temple, which was a lot more beautiful with a lot fewer people! Gosh, the treasures they had there... uneblievable! Miyajima is one of the most sacred places in Japan, so all the temples there are well-looked after. Daishoin has a few enormous sand mandalas made by monks from Tibet, it's been visited by the Dalai Lama and the Emperor, and the founder of Buddhism in Japan (the guy whose name I can never remember) is enshrined there, along with other famous historical people. Around the temple were all these nice subtemples, one with a hundred lanterns on the ceiling, and one with a path leading up to it full of little Buddha statues on the sides (I think there were about 200).
We took the cablecar up Mount Misen, the highest peak on the island (530 metres high, but we only went as high as 450 or so). The views from there were great, but it was a bit cloudy and rainy that day, so we couldn't see very far. We could see 'mainland' Hiroshima, though, and going up we saw the red torii and the pagoda nearby.
We didn't stay up long, because I was starving (should have eaten before we went up ><), so we took the cablecar down again and went in search of some food. But as we came by Itsukushima shrine again, it was low tide, which means the seabed between the shrine and the torii is dry and you can walk up to the torii! We did that, of course. I took my shoes off, because the tide wasn't completely out yet and I was still up to my ankles in water (which is wonderful when it's over 35 degrees every day) and lots of seaweed. :P
Then we went to a little restaurant where I ate niku udon (udon noodles with beef) and Eddie ate niku soba (soba noodles with beef). It was delicious! I got a couple of souvenirs along the way to the ferry, and I got geta; the wooden shoes that are worn under kimono and yukata. Finally found a place that sold them cheap! They're surprisingly comfortable, considering you're walking on a block of wood. And then we took the ferry and train back to Hiroshima again.
On Saturday I got up and ate the cream pan (bread) I had bought the day before. I had bought something a few days earlier and asked the girl what was in it, she sad 'cream' and it turned out to be butter. So I thought: cream pan = butter. Well, it turned out to be pudding. XD I had a pudding bun for breakfast. Nice, but yeah... XD Later we went out to the A-bomb dome; one of the few buildings still standing after the atom bomb exploded over Hiroshima and the only building that is still standing today (and will be preserved forever). Goodle A-bomb dome and you see what it looks like. It was a lot smaller than I thought. It's basically a ruin, but when you think of WHY it's a ruin it is very impressive. Behind it is the Peace Memorial Park. In it is a flame that always burns. It was actually lit from the fire that has supposedly been burning for 1200 years on Miyajima, lit by that guy whose name I can't remember. >< The peace flame will not be extinguished until all nuclear weapons are removed from the world. watching that, Eddie and I both commented that unfortunately it would probably not be extinguished during our lifetime. :(
The Peace Memorial Museum is very impressive. It explains exactly what happened when the A-bomb was dropped, how it affected the people and the city, what the residual effects are, etc. It also explained something I was dying to know: why did America decide to drop the bomb on Japan and not on Germany? They played a mean game, though; despite several people saying it was immoral, they decided not to warn Japan that if they didn't capitulate, they would use the atom bomb. What I also liked is that Japan doesn't pretend to be innocent in all this; in the museum is explained what they did during the war as well.
After visiting the museum we went to Shikkuen gardens. It was nice, reminded us of Koishikawa Korakuen gardens in Tokyo; because both gardens contain miniature replicas of famous places in Japan and China. But our legs hurt very much, so we went back to the hotel.
On Sunday we had to take the dreaded train to Kyoto. The busiest day of traveling during the entire Obon festival, the day all the trains were reserved full, the day we had been dreading. But we miraculously had seats! We were super happy all the way to Kyoto! :D Lots of people got on at Hiroshima, because a lot of people travel to Hiroshima for Obon, as Obon is a festival that celebrates the ancestors and a lot of people died in Hiroshima, of course. So many people were leaving from Hiroshima, and since we got there about 45 minutes before the train left, we were at the front of the queue so we had seats! Yay! At Shinosaka we had to change trains, took a 20 minute regular train to Kyoto and then we were there.
After checking in we went to the east of the city, up into the foothills, where there is an area called the Philosopher's walk. It is called that, because a famous professor of philosophy called Nishida Utaro (I did write his name down, so I'd remember it XD) used to walk there during his lunch hour almost every day. It also has a few famous temples along it. One of them is Nanzenji. This temple has a lot of room divider screens that were painted on by famous artists, hundreds of years ago. Some are even gold-plated. Very beautiful, but no pictures allowed. Around the temples are Zen gardens which are gorgeous. Entry fees were 500 yen, though, this is more expensive than anywhere we've been so far.
The next place we stopped at is Otoyo jinja, a collection of little shrines that was very nice. And it was free, which we liked. We put some money in the Inari (fox) shrine to thank whoever is out there for getting us seats on the train!
Then we walked to Ginkakuji, which means Silver temple. It is not silver, though; it is unfinished; the silver layer was never put on. So it is just a brown temple. XD it is a replica of the Golden pavillion though, which does have its gold layer. More about that later. The stroll garden around the silver pavillion is quite nice, so we spent some time there. This was also 500 yen.
After that, we took the bus back to the station, which took us 45 minutes due to traffic! Kyoto only has two subway lines; one running south to north (and vice versa) and one running east to west (and vice versa). There are a few local train lines, most of which don't go near the station. Many people cycle there or take the bus.
In the evening we went to Pontoncho alley, a small cosy alleyway full of restaurants. We missed the shrine there, though, I don't know why; it's hard not to see something there, the street is so narrow. XD We also went to Gion, which is the geisha district. We didn't see any geisha, but the stroll through the area was very nice. It's more traditional Japan than the big concrete buildings you see in every city. Near Gion is Yasaka shrine, which is very nice too; it has a big gate which is at the end of a big street, so you can see it from far away.
Our legs are getting so bad, though. >< It's getting hard to walk for hours, like we did before. They just get tired very soon.
On Monday I went out on my own, because Eddie just couldn't walk anymore. It's a good thing he didn't; it took me 5 hours to view 2 temples! First it took me 30 minutes to get to the Golden temple (Kinkakuji) by bus. No more buses for me. I don't do buses usually, because I get sick. I got so nauseous on this bus I kept contemplating getting off somewhere and walking to the temple. I would have if my legs weren't hurting so much. But when I got off the bus I had to sit down for about 15 minutes before I felt slightly better and was able to get going again.
The Golden pavillion is very nice though. It's cheaper than the silver pavillion in terms of entrance fees (400 yen). It is covered in real gold, and it was redone in 1996 or so, so the current layer is still very shiny and beautiful. The stroll garden around it is very nice too. The only disadvantage is all the tourists. It's so crowded there, you can't really enjoy the views, because there's always lots of talking and people bumping into you. I bought a little charm for good health there; they were much cheaper there than at any other place I've seen so far. And for some reason I felt better after touching it. :) I also bought a charm for safety in traffic which I can hang in my car. :P
I then went down the street to Ninnaji temple. Or so I thought. I got hopelessly lost. >< I ended up asking an old lady, but she said loads of stuff in Japanese and all I could gather was that I had to go back to the golden pavillion and take another road from there, or something. Then I came past some road workers and I asked them. Another old lady walking by made it clear to me that she would walk me there part of the way! This is the second time someone has done this for me and I am so amazed by their friendliness. It's like: well, I can't explain to you how to get there, so I'll just walk there with you. Most people in the rest of the world would be like: stupid tourist, whatever.
Anyway, during the walk there, the lady kept yapping away at me in Japanese. I didn't understand everything, but I did understand she asked me if I was alone, so I explained my friend was at the hotel. She also commented on how tall I was. I tried to explain that everyone is tall in Holland. After about 15 minutes we got to a bus stop where there was a sign that pointed towards Ninnaji. She left me there and I found my own way. It was still an hour from there, though (it seemed so close to the golden pavillion) so by the time I got there I had been walking for 2 hours non stop and I was completely dead. A nice cup of tea at the coffeeshop by the temple did wonders, though. After that I had enough energy to view the temple complex. This also has a really nice zen garden and screens that were painted on by famous old artists. There are several other buildings, including a 5-storey pagoda and a big entry gate. I didn't have the energy left to do the miniature pilgim walk (in Japan there are 88 temples that are known as the pilgrimage temples; Buddhist monks spend weeks walking all over Japan and visit each temple. And behind Ninnaji is a miniature version of this walk which takes about 2 hours). I then walked for another hour down the street where there was a Japan Rail station; from where the trains did go to the station (no more buses for me). So when I finally got back to the hotel it was 5 hours after I had left. ><
That evening we went out again, though, because the 16th of August is the last night of the Obon festival and that evening, large bonfires in the shape of Kanji (Chinese signs) are lit on the mountains surrounding the city. Those bonfires were the reason we went to Kyoto last, instead of before going to Osaka, which would have made more sense, geography-wise. These past few days in Kyoto they had been selling pieces of wood that people could write their wishes and prayers on, and those are burnt in the bonfires to send them up to the gods.
We walked down the bridge and stood where a lot of people were already standing, thinking we could see the bonfires best from there. But the police made everyone get off the bridge at some point, sending us down to the river. An American guy called Fox started talking to us and the three of us decided to walk down the river together to where a lot of people were sitting. And at 8pm, we saw the kanji for 'big' light up on the hill we were facing. It was really cool! :D We walked a bit further down the river and saw another kanji, but I could only recognise the 'woman' part of it and not what was next to it. We crossed the bridge and just saw the tip of one other kanji bonfire. So very awesome!! After that it was back to hostel. We bought some watermelon on the way, that was yummy! :D
I just wish we had had more time and more energy in Kyoto. Next time I go to Japan I will go there first (and rent a bike) to see the rest!
And this morning we took the train from Kyoto to Tokyo. We still didn't see Fuji; the sky was blue but it was really unclear; lots of water in the air apparently. So I saw what I think were the foothills but I'm not sure. At least when we went from Tokyo to Osaka we could see most of the mountain. XD
Well, now it's about 4:25 pm and I am in Ikebukuro hostel in Tokyo. Our laundry is in the dryer. Tonight we are meeting Tomoki and we are eating shabu shabu. It's nice to be back in Tokyo! Tomorrow we are going to the Ghibli museum and the day after it's home already!! O_O It's been a great trip. I've taken about 1600 photos. XD But don't worry; I won't bore you with all of them (only mum and dad). When other people visit me (or I visit them) I'll narrow it down to the nicest ones. XD And of course I'll put the nicest ones online and send you all the link!
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Greetings from 広島
I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since we got to Japan. And only 6 days left!
I left off at Monday, I think. We went to Nara by train, took us only 45 minutes. The scenery on the way was great; lots of mountains and nice little villages. We stayed at Nakata B&B, a cute little traditional B&B run by a 60-year-old man named Nakata-san. There were tatami mats on the floors, low tables and we slept on futons (which are much more comfortable than they look!).
Nakata-san told us there was a candle festival in Nara that week, which is held once a year, so at 7 we were at the park where the paths and ponds were lit with literally thousands of candles. It was really gorgeous and a great way to see Nara for the first time! In Nara park there are about 1000 deer that are considered the 'messengers of the gods'. They walk around free and are really cute! We saw some on that night. On the way back to the hotel we had nice big bowls of udon noodles in soup. And at a little souvenir stand I had my first conversation all in Japanese! The lady asked me if the souvenirs could be wrapped together, I said that was fine, she told me the price and I paid her. Short, but I was so proud of having achieved it all in Japanese! I swear I have forgotten most I have learnt, because half the time you need to ask more complicated stuff anyway. XD
The next day, Thursday, I had breakfast downstairs (banana, orange and a chocolate bun served by Nakata-san) and I chatted with a French girl and her mother that were staying at the B&B as well. At 10:00 I left to go view Nara, agreeing to meet Eddie somewhere on the way (he didn't feel like going out yet). But after walking for 45 mins, my camera showed the low battery sign! So I walked back to the hotel, changed the battery and walked back into town, Eddie coming along that time. We then proceeded to walk for another 5 hours, I swear we saw most of Nara. At some point I had the feeling we had walked to another city. XD It's a good thing I took a lot of walks in the weeks leading up to this holiday, to break in my new hiking shoes, or I'd never have been able to do it. Poor Eddie wasn't in such good shape, though, he kept complaining I was like his mum, who also always wants to walk everywhere on holiday. XD
We first went to a temple called Shinyakushiji. It proved immensely difficult to find, tucked away in a residential area with streets so narrow I'd be surprised if my car could turn a corner there. We asked an old lady the way and she started explaining it to some random guy who walked by, who then took us all the way to the temple! That was so nice of him! The temple itself is very small, but very valuable; it is one of the oldest temples that are left in Japan. It was built in the 8th century. Inside are 12 statues of demons guarding a Buddha statue.
Then we walked through the forest to Kasuga grand shrine, which is surrounded by hundreds of stone lanterns donated by people. We walked up the hill where we saw more deer (some were going into a souvenir shop XD) and then to the highest temple, the name of which I can't remember right now, but from where we had an amaaaazing view over Nara.
We walked down the hill to Todaiji temple; the largest wooden building in the world (and it's enormous, even though it's now only 2/3 the size it used to be) containing the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. It was truly impressive and dwarfing being in there, even though it was crowded. There are some other statues in there that are also huge. And there is a pole with a hole through it, lots of people were squeezing themselves through the hole, must bring good luck or something. I didn't go through; it didn't look like my big gaijin hips would have fit. XD
We then walked back to the hotel, and 5 minutes after we got back it started pouring rain and there was a massive thunderstorm!! I was so glad we got back before that broke loose. But the French people from that morning had to catch the train, so they were worried. Luckily it stopped pouring after 30 minutes, so they went to catch the train and we went to get food (McDonalds again, Eddie didn't feel like noodles and I didn't feel like anything really). We had to walk back in the rain, but we had borrowed an umbrella at the hotel.
Wehn we got back to the hotel, I got a Japanese lesson from Nakata-san. He taught me how to say 'difficult' (which is a very difficult word: muzukashii) and how to explain my sister is the oldest daughter, I am the second daughter and my brother is the first son.
The next day, Wednesday, we actually wanted to see more of Nara (there was one temple I wanted to see that we hadn't yet) but the forecast predicted more rain, so we decided to catch the train to Kobe while it was still dry. It took us about 1.5 hour to get to Kobe, having to change trains at Osaka. The hotel in Kobe was almost impossible to find with the map they had on their website. After asking a few people, we finally got there.
After checking in, we walked for 15 minutes to the ShinKobe station to reserve seats on the shinkansen, as we knew the next period would get busy because of the Obon festival which starts tomorrow. But all the trains were full! We could only get a seat reservation on the train from Kyoto to Tokyo, but there were 2 other trains we wanted to get a reservation for. So that was pretty bad. >< On the way back to the hotel we visited a shrine called Ikura Jinja. It was very nice and peaceful there, there was a little creek, so we sat there for a while resting our tired legs and praying for a good trip. We also went to Tokyu Hands, where I also got the kitty bank. This time I got some cute bento stuff (yes, there's some there for you as well, Marlies!). In the evening I felt like another bowl of udon, so I asked the lady from the hotel and she actually walked me there! The restaurant had a large watermill out front, really cool. The neighbourhood the hotel was in has a few houses left from when the Dutch and Portuguese did a lot of trade here, so some actually look European. I had another stomach ache in the evening, probably from the stress from not getting any seats on the train, so I went to bed early, around 10. I dreamt horribly; that I killed Cailleach, and after that I couldn't sleep anymore, so I was awake by 6. So all in all Kobe wasn't that good an experience. In the morning we got to the shinkansen station early and had to wait 45 minutes for a train to Hiroshima, which was packed! Because we didn't have a seat reservation, we had to go into the non-reserved area. Well, we were in the doorway actually. Luckily Bonny's suitcase is very firm, so I sat on that for the entire 1.5 hour. The trip to Kyoto on Sunday, in the middle of the Obon period, will probably be worse. >< We got to the hostel, Hana hostel Hiroshima, and we checked into the nicest little traditional Japanese rooms. Can't believe it's in a backpackers hostel! It has its own little entryway where the toilet is, before you go into the room itself. In the room is a little side room with a sink and mirror. After settling in I went to view Hiroshima castle. Eddie stayed behind, he was too tired. The poor guy isn't used to walking so much, and traveling around so much. Anyway, the castle. Of course the original castle was destroyed in the atom bomb, so this is a replica, but it looks just like the old one. Inside there are old samurai clothes, swords, papers and letters. From the top you have a great view over the city. You could see the A-bomb dome (the building the atom bomb exploded over and was thus spared complete destruction, so today it stands just as it did right after) and Miyajima (where we're going tomorrow). Wehn I got back to the hotel room the news was on; apparently there's a tyfoon over the north and middle of Japan, which is why there was so much rain! Luckily we are to the south of it; here it was just very hot and sunny. ^^ Oh and on the way to the castle I passed a bookstore. So I went in and bought a children's book, which has very easy Japanese; so easy for me to be able to read. But when I got back to the hotel and looked at the text better, I realised most of the story has the exact same lines. >< There are only about 3 or 4 different lines in the book. So yeah... But the pictures look funny.
And now it's about 7pm. Tomorrow we are going to Miyajima; the one place I most want to see in all of Japan! There is a torii (vermillion Japanese shrine gate) in the water there. The Japanese consider it one of their 3 most beautiful sights. My blog has the shrine at the top. Ever since I first saw this place on pictures, I've wanted to go there, and tomorrow we finally will!! I can't believe I'm so close to it right now... ^^
The day after it's viewing the Peace and Memorial park and the A-bomb dome. That will be pretty sad. :( And then on Sunday we are traveling to Kyoto. So keep your fingers crossed for us the train won't be too packed... Which it probably will be. XD More updates from me from Kyoto!!
I left off at Monday, I think. We went to Nara by train, took us only 45 minutes. The scenery on the way was great; lots of mountains and nice little villages. We stayed at Nakata B&B, a cute little traditional B&B run by a 60-year-old man named Nakata-san. There were tatami mats on the floors, low tables and we slept on futons (which are much more comfortable than they look!).
Nakata-san told us there was a candle festival in Nara that week, which is held once a year, so at 7 we were at the park where the paths and ponds were lit with literally thousands of candles. It was really gorgeous and a great way to see Nara for the first time! In Nara park there are about 1000 deer that are considered the 'messengers of the gods'. They walk around free and are really cute! We saw some on that night. On the way back to the hotel we had nice big bowls of udon noodles in soup. And at a little souvenir stand I had my first conversation all in Japanese! The lady asked me if the souvenirs could be wrapped together, I said that was fine, she told me the price and I paid her. Short, but I was so proud of having achieved it all in Japanese! I swear I have forgotten most I have learnt, because half the time you need to ask more complicated stuff anyway. XD
The next day, Thursday, I had breakfast downstairs (banana, orange and a chocolate bun served by Nakata-san) and I chatted with a French girl and her mother that were staying at the B&B as well. At 10:00 I left to go view Nara, agreeing to meet Eddie somewhere on the way (he didn't feel like going out yet). But after walking for 45 mins, my camera showed the low battery sign! So I walked back to the hotel, changed the battery and walked back into town, Eddie coming along that time. We then proceeded to walk for another 5 hours, I swear we saw most of Nara. At some point I had the feeling we had walked to another city. XD It's a good thing I took a lot of walks in the weeks leading up to this holiday, to break in my new hiking shoes, or I'd never have been able to do it. Poor Eddie wasn't in such good shape, though, he kept complaining I was like his mum, who also always wants to walk everywhere on holiday. XD
We first went to a temple called Shinyakushiji. It proved immensely difficult to find, tucked away in a residential area with streets so narrow I'd be surprised if my car could turn a corner there. We asked an old lady the way and she started explaining it to some random guy who walked by, who then took us all the way to the temple! That was so nice of him! The temple itself is very small, but very valuable; it is one of the oldest temples that are left in Japan. It was built in the 8th century. Inside are 12 statues of demons guarding a Buddha statue.
Then we walked through the forest to Kasuga grand shrine, which is surrounded by hundreds of stone lanterns donated by people. We walked up the hill where we saw more deer (some were going into a souvenir shop XD) and then to the highest temple, the name of which I can't remember right now, but from where we had an amaaaazing view over Nara.
We walked down the hill to Todaiji temple; the largest wooden building in the world (and it's enormous, even though it's now only 2/3 the size it used to be) containing the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. It was truly impressive and dwarfing being in there, even though it was crowded. There are some other statues in there that are also huge. And there is a pole with a hole through it, lots of people were squeezing themselves through the hole, must bring good luck or something. I didn't go through; it didn't look like my big gaijin hips would have fit. XD
We then walked back to the hotel, and 5 minutes after we got back it started pouring rain and there was a massive thunderstorm!! I was so glad we got back before that broke loose. But the French people from that morning had to catch the train, so they were worried. Luckily it stopped pouring after 30 minutes, so they went to catch the train and we went to get food (McDonalds again, Eddie didn't feel like noodles and I didn't feel like anything really). We had to walk back in the rain, but we had borrowed an umbrella at the hotel.
Wehn we got back to the hotel, I got a Japanese lesson from Nakata-san. He taught me how to say 'difficult' (which is a very difficult word: muzukashii) and how to explain my sister is the oldest daughter, I am the second daughter and my brother is the first son.
The next day, Wednesday, we actually wanted to see more of Nara (there was one temple I wanted to see that we hadn't yet) but the forecast predicted more rain, so we decided to catch the train to Kobe while it was still dry. It took us about 1.5 hour to get to Kobe, having to change trains at Osaka. The hotel in Kobe was almost impossible to find with the map they had on their website. After asking a few people, we finally got there.
After checking in, we walked for 15 minutes to the ShinKobe station to reserve seats on the shinkansen, as we knew the next period would get busy because of the Obon festival which starts tomorrow. But all the trains were full! We could only get a seat reservation on the train from Kyoto to Tokyo, but there were 2 other trains we wanted to get a reservation for. So that was pretty bad. >< On the way back to the hotel we visited a shrine called Ikura Jinja. It was very nice and peaceful there, there was a little creek, so we sat there for a while resting our tired legs and praying for a good trip. We also went to Tokyu Hands, where I also got the kitty bank. This time I got some cute bento stuff (yes, there's some there for you as well, Marlies!). In the evening I felt like another bowl of udon, so I asked the lady from the hotel and she actually walked me there! The restaurant had a large watermill out front, really cool. The neighbourhood the hotel was in has a few houses left from when the Dutch and Portuguese did a lot of trade here, so some actually look European. I had another stomach ache in the evening, probably from the stress from not getting any seats on the train, so I went to bed early, around 10. I dreamt horribly; that I killed Cailleach, and after that I couldn't sleep anymore, so I was awake by 6. So all in all Kobe wasn't that good an experience. In the morning we got to the shinkansen station early and had to wait 45 minutes for a train to Hiroshima, which was packed! Because we didn't have a seat reservation, we had to go into the non-reserved area. Well, we were in the doorway actually. Luckily Bonny's suitcase is very firm, so I sat on that for the entire 1.5 hour. The trip to Kyoto on Sunday, in the middle of the Obon period, will probably be worse. >< We got to the hostel, Hana hostel Hiroshima, and we checked into the nicest little traditional Japanese rooms. Can't believe it's in a backpackers hostel! It has its own little entryway where the toilet is, before you go into the room itself. In the room is a little side room with a sink and mirror. After settling in I went to view Hiroshima castle. Eddie stayed behind, he was too tired. The poor guy isn't used to walking so much, and traveling around so much. Anyway, the castle. Of course the original castle was destroyed in the atom bomb, so this is a replica, but it looks just like the old one. Inside there are old samurai clothes, swords, papers and letters. From the top you have a great view over the city. You could see the A-bomb dome (the building the atom bomb exploded over and was thus spared complete destruction, so today it stands just as it did right after) and Miyajima (where we're going tomorrow). Wehn I got back to the hotel room the news was on; apparently there's a tyfoon over the north and middle of Japan, which is why there was so much rain! Luckily we are to the south of it; here it was just very hot and sunny. ^^ Oh and on the way to the castle I passed a bookstore. So I went in and bought a children's book, which has very easy Japanese; so easy for me to be able to read. But when I got back to the hotel and looked at the text better, I realised most of the story has the exact same lines. >< There are only about 3 or 4 different lines in the book. So yeah... But the pictures look funny.
And now it's about 7pm. Tomorrow we are going to Miyajima; the one place I most want to see in all of Japan! There is a torii (vermillion Japanese shrine gate) in the water there. The Japanese consider it one of their 3 most beautiful sights. My blog has the shrine at the top. Ever since I first saw this place on pictures, I've wanted to go there, and tomorrow we finally will!! I can't believe I'm so close to it right now... ^^
The day after it's viewing the Peace and Memorial park and the A-bomb dome. That will be pretty sad. :( And then on Sunday we are traveling to Kyoto. So keep your fingers crossed for us the train won't be too packed... Which it probably will be. XD More updates from me from Kyoto!!
Monday, 9 August 2010
Greetings from Osaka
Hi everyone! Another update from me. We traveled to Osaka from Tokyo on Friday. We spent 3 hours on the shinkansen (bullet train). I thought since it tilts in the curves you wouldn't feel it riding at all, but the thing shook and shuddered very much. Anyway, it did go fast and we had great views from the train. Fuji was in the clouds, however, that was a shame. We only saw its base. Perhaps on the way back next week!
We got to Osaka around 6pm, rush hour. We finally got to our hostel (Osaka J-hoppers) after being on really crowded trains. The neighbourhood of the hostel is really nice, though! Lots of little restaurants and stuff. Next to the hostel is a school which has its own vegetable patch which we could see from our window. The room was big and so were the beds, but it wasn't en suite, which is never very nice.
At 7:30 we met our friend Satoshi at Osaka station. He took us to a yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant where we did not only have the standard stuff like chicken thigh, but also chicken skin, chicken butt, chicken cartilage (that's kraakbeen for you Dutchies) and chicken stomach! Satoshi told us the last one was liver, but he sent us an email later saying he had made a mistake in the translation and it was actually stomach. My stomach got kinda upset from it, but I think that was also from the trip and all; doing way too much in one day.
As we walked back to the station we passed Hep Five, a sort of amusement area for youngsters. On the roof of this building is a giant red ferris wheel! Wish we had had time to go on it.
On Saturday I had very little energy. >< I guess it's from all the things we've been doing and seeing, combined with the heat and humidity. I did go out for 2 hours, to view Osaka castle. It's very nice (google it to see what it looks like) but after walking up to it I didn't have the energy anymore to go inside it as well. So I went back to the hostel and just rested. That evening there was going to be a fireworks display by the river, which could be viewed from the hostel roof. There was going to be free food (yakisoba (=fried noodles) and salad). It is customary for people to wear yukata when viewing fireworks displays in summer, so one of the ladies who works at the hostel helped me put mine on (that took 15 minutes!) and then we went up to the roof, ate and watched the fireworks. Yes, those yukata are as uncomfortable as they look. >< But everyone commented on how nice I looked! On Sunday we spent 2 hours on the train to get to Koyasan, a 900 metre high mountain nearby on top of which the shingon sect of Buddhism was started back in the 9th century. On top there are loads of temples and an enormous cemetery. On the way there we got higher and higher on the train until we were about 400 metres above sea level. Great views of course! The last 450 metres were done by cablecar and then we were at the top. We viewed a few temples and then walked for 2 km through a literal forest of the dead (Doctor Who reference ftw!) with 200,000 tombs, some as much as 1000 years old. So beautiful! At the end of it we got to the main tomb of the founder of shingon Buddhism (can't remember his name just now) and in front of it is a Hall of 1000 lanterns. In it are, as the name says, a lot of lanterns; 2 of which are said to have been lit since the 11th century! Unfortunately it was closed. It closes at 5pm and it was 6:30 by the time we got there. >< That was such a shame! One of the doors was open a crack so we peeped inside, but we couldn't see that much. Then we got the bus back to the station and the train back down. The altitude had really given me a headache. >< I'm used to living on sea level people!!
When we got back to Osaka it was 10 pm and all the little restaurants were closed. So instead of getting udon (noodles) like we wanted, we went to McDonalds instead. XD It was quite funny to be in such a sacred place where they all eat vegan food just a few hours before, and then eating McDonalds. XD But it was good. I got grape fanta, which was not that good. All the grape-flavoured stuff here tastes really sweet and chemically, but then again; so do the actual grapes!
And now it's Monday morning and we are going to view the temple here in Osaka soon and then we're off to Nara!
We got to Osaka around 6pm, rush hour. We finally got to our hostel (Osaka J-hoppers) after being on really crowded trains. The neighbourhood of the hostel is really nice, though! Lots of little restaurants and stuff. Next to the hostel is a school which has its own vegetable patch which we could see from our window. The room was big and so were the beds, but it wasn't en suite, which is never very nice.
At 7:30 we met our friend Satoshi at Osaka station. He took us to a yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant where we did not only have the standard stuff like chicken thigh, but also chicken skin, chicken butt, chicken cartilage (that's kraakbeen for you Dutchies) and chicken stomach! Satoshi told us the last one was liver, but he sent us an email later saying he had made a mistake in the translation and it was actually stomach. My stomach got kinda upset from it, but I think that was also from the trip and all; doing way too much in one day.
As we walked back to the station we passed Hep Five, a sort of amusement area for youngsters. On the roof of this building is a giant red ferris wheel! Wish we had had time to go on it.
On Saturday I had very little energy. >< I guess it's from all the things we've been doing and seeing, combined with the heat and humidity. I did go out for 2 hours, to view Osaka castle. It's very nice (google it to see what it looks like) but after walking up to it I didn't have the energy anymore to go inside it as well. So I went back to the hostel and just rested. That evening there was going to be a fireworks display by the river, which could be viewed from the hostel roof. There was going to be free food (yakisoba (=fried noodles) and salad). It is customary for people to wear yukata when viewing fireworks displays in summer, so one of the ladies who works at the hostel helped me put mine on (that took 15 minutes!) and then we went up to the roof, ate and watched the fireworks. Yes, those yukata are as uncomfortable as they look. >< But everyone commented on how nice I looked! On Sunday we spent 2 hours on the train to get to Koyasan, a 900 metre high mountain nearby on top of which the shingon sect of Buddhism was started back in the 9th century. On top there are loads of temples and an enormous cemetery. On the way there we got higher and higher on the train until we were about 400 metres above sea level. Great views of course! The last 450 metres were done by cablecar and then we were at the top. We viewed a few temples and then walked for 2 km through a literal forest of the dead (Doctor Who reference ftw!) with 200,000 tombs, some as much as 1000 years old. So beautiful! At the end of it we got to the main tomb of the founder of shingon Buddhism (can't remember his name just now) and in front of it is a Hall of 1000 lanterns. In it are, as the name says, a lot of lanterns; 2 of which are said to have been lit since the 11th century! Unfortunately it was closed. It closes at 5pm and it was 6:30 by the time we got there. >< That was such a shame! One of the doors was open a crack so we peeped inside, but we couldn't see that much. Then we got the bus back to the station and the train back down. The altitude had really given me a headache. >< I'm used to living on sea level people!!
When we got back to Osaka it was 10 pm and all the little restaurants were closed. So instead of getting udon (noodles) like we wanted, we went to McDonalds instead. XD It was quite funny to be in such a sacred place where they all eat vegan food just a few hours before, and then eating McDonalds. XD But it was good. I got grape fanta, which was not that good. All the grape-flavoured stuff here tastes really sweet and chemically, but then again; so do the actual grapes!
And now it's Monday morning and we are going to view the temple here in Osaka soon and then we're off to Nara!
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Second update from Japan
Second update from Japan, on the last night we will spend in Tokyo before traveling to Osaka this morning. We've been able to do and see a lot more, because we've been feeling better. My IBS is almost gone, we're getting used to the heat and for the past 2 nights we've been sleeping through the night instead of waking up at 1am and not falling asleep again until 5 am.
I believe I left off on Monday. The evening after I wrote my last mail we decided to go to Tobu, a large department store, to get some food. Many Japanese department stores have a food department at either the top floor or in the basement. But there are 2 Tobu buildings. One is a sort of university, not a department store. Of course we ended up there first. XD We went to all the floors and each time it was a surprise what we were going to see whenever the elevator doors opened. XD Not the right place, obviously.
We then went to the other one and that was the right one. The food department in the basement was freaking intense! Food and people everywhere. Each different type of food was laid out or displayed in a square, in the middle of which were the cashiers. Who kept yelling what kind of food they had and what was on sale, etc. So you're walking around, trying to recognise anything, through throngs of bustling people, with cashiers yelling in rapid (rabid) Japanese... Well after an hour we had some fruit (very recognisable, yay!), Eddie had some sushi and I had finally found a stand that sold a million kinds of yakitori. I bought 4 sticks, each of a different kind, and we went out into the relative peace of the Ikebukuro clubbing district again. 3 of the yakitori I had were great, the other one wasn't so good, so I didn't eat all of it.
On Tuesday we went to Akihabara, 'electronic city' as it's advertised as. Lots of neon, lots of computer/phone/other electric stuff shops and lots of girls dressed in Lolita clothes advertising a maid cafe (maid and host cafes are places where you are served by very pretty girls or boys and you pay not only for the food and drinks, but also for them to sit with you. They're quite popular here apparently). We went to a large department store where they had these vending machines full of balls with toys in them. I got a few of them, all kinds of trinkets, pretty cool.
Then we walked to Kanda Miyojin Shrine, which is close to bustling Akihabara and surrounded by flats, but it's very peaceful and of course there were loads of cicadas. I swear; the noise those bugs make is unbelievable. Sometimes you actually feel like it's too loud to bear. Like you need earplugs. XD We went to the shrine at sundown (which is 7pm; super early for us West-Europeans) and all these people came to pray at sundown. We wanted to throw a coin in as well but because all those people were there, we felt like it would be a bit disrespectful, as we obviously don't follow the shinto religion.
We went back to the hotel and for the first time this week I ate a normal-sized dinner.
On Wednesday I felt much better; I had slept through the night for the first time and I had some time to get up and get ready in the morning in peace. I did our laundry in the coin laundry downstairs from the hostel. Then we went to Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, a stroll garden which has replicas of famous sites in China and Japan, only smaller. We spent a few hours strolling around there and got stung by so many mosquitoes, it's just unbelievable. I took pictures of my legs, otherwise I really don't think you'll believe me if I say I have 25 mosquito bites on just one leg. But wearing my jeans is not an option in this heat; I prefer my skirts. Today I bought some mosquito repellent, though. I think it worked. I also had some cream to put on the bites, so hopefully it will all be gone soon. I look like I've got some kind of disease or something. XD They're not even small lumps; they're a centimetre across! Eddie's word to describe it was 'grotesque'. XD He has some too, though; first time in his life he's ever had mosquito bites. The mosquitoes aren't even that big, but they're different than the kind we have in Holland and England. They're black. Tomoki had alrady warned us, but yeah..
For dinner I went to an udon shop nearby (for those who don't know; udon are thick noodles). I had passed the shop every time I needed to go to the station and it smelt sooo good outside all the time, so I decided to have dinner there. I got kintetsu, which is the udon noodles in a broth with some vegetables and fried tofu. It was delicious. The guy who worked there spoke some English and he was very excited to hear I was from The Netherlands. He even knew the word 'Nederland' and he said we have a very good soccer team. As I was eating,he came by asking me if it was nice, and when I left he told me to come back again, and I think I will.
In the evening, Eddie and I went to Sunshine City. A sort of... wow how can I describe it? It's typically Japanese: shops full of toys and Hello Kitty stuff, lots of noise, lots of neon, lots of music, pachinko parlours, etc. Just loud and wow. We went to the Sunshine building, which is 60 floors high. On the 60th floor is an observatory. The elevator took about 10 seconds to get us up there. At its fastest it goes 600 m per minute! My ears popped, but other than that it felt ok. What was funny was that the moment the elevator stars, the lights go out, blacklights go out and the walls are covered in cheesy paintings of dolphins and stars and galaxies. Cheesy music plays as well, so much fun. XD
The view from the observatory was amazing. We could see all over Tokyo, on all 4 sides. And.... we saw Fuji! The sun was just setting (it was after 7), so I've got some great pictures of Tokyo in sunset and Tokyo with all its lights after dark. It was well worth the 620 yen we paid each. We spent about an hour there and then we went down again. Just outside that building is Tokyu Hands, a popular store for household items and party items. and there, I bought an Itazura kitty bank!! I've wanted one ever since I saw them on the internet. Here'sa cat with one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AIilzwdREE They are just so cute!! ^^
On the way back to the hotel we passed a McDonalds. Eddie wanted a meal and I got some chips (fries). Then on the way back to the hotel we saw a couple of very pretty boys (with typical Japanese spiky and dyed hair, cool clothes, black nailpolish, etc) and one was fixing his hair as we walked by. I was like: f*ck it, I'm going to ask them for a picture. So I asked and three of them were ok with it (one stepped up to the side) and I took the picture. One of them asked me where we were from and in crappy English he explained they were hosts from a host cafe!! XD Then I couldn't get rid of him, because he didn't understand what I was saying and I couldn't understand what he was saying and I just wanted to be polite and not just walk off. Finally I said in Japanese we were going to eat (I remembered that sentence) and pointed at the McDonalds bag. Then he let us go. XD He was cute though!! So Eddie and I kept joking how we should go to the host cafe and I could hit on the guys, etc. XD Hilarity ensued when, upon returning to the hotel, we discovered that in a booklet with ads that had been handed to us in Sunshine city earlier, there was a Host club guide with pictures of all these nice-looking hosts. XD
So yeah, Thursday (today) arrived and it was still hot, hot, hot and super humid. On TV we saw some Americans and after seeing nothing but tiny Japanese people all day, we couldn't help but say: OMG they're so fat! No offense to anyone. Just the ones on TV were all really big... Anyway, we went to Asakusa, which is the more traditional area of Tokyo; where old Edo used to be before Tokyo was a superlarge big ass city. There's a big temple there, Senso-ji temple, which is Buddhist, not Shinto, like the shrines we've visited so far (shrine = Shinto, temple = Buddhist). If you google Asakusa, you get all these pictures of a big red lantern; that's at the Senso-ji temple. There's quite a few of those. Leading up to the temple is a big street lined with souvenir shops and shops where you can buy kimono, yukata, fans, etc. We got a few souvenirs there and some stuff for ourselves as well (I really hope I'll be able to fit all of it in my bags; I only brought a small suitcase (courtesy of Bonny) and a big backpack, because I've been told on the shinkansen there isn't much room for big suitcases. We'll find out tomorrow. Eddie has a big suitcase, though, so when push comes to shove I can put some of my stuff in his suitcase and take it out again in Holland).
After Asakusa we went to Ueno park, which is really large. Eddie's feet hurt, though, so we didn't see the entire park (I'm so glad I've spent much of the past two weeks walking to walk in my new shoes; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do all this walking either). We did see the Inari shrine. Inari is a goddess whose shrines can be recognised by the fox statues in front and inside of them. There was also a realllllly cute kitty lying outside the shrine,very hot obviously. I took some photos. In Ueno park is also a Museum of Western Art, which has a big statue called the Gates of Hell outside of it (probably a replica, but still) (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gates_of_Hell.jpg) I took a picture of that, but we didn't go in.
We got back to the hotel and decided to go out for shabu shabu. This is a type of food where you get a large bowl of boiling beef stock on the table and you dip pieces of beef, pork and vegetables in it to cook them. It was super delicious!! And it was all you can eat so we got some refills of beef as well. Now I'm full. XD
I believe I left off on Monday. The evening after I wrote my last mail we decided to go to Tobu, a large department store, to get some food. Many Japanese department stores have a food department at either the top floor or in the basement. But there are 2 Tobu buildings. One is a sort of university, not a department store. Of course we ended up there first. XD We went to all the floors and each time it was a surprise what we were going to see whenever the elevator doors opened. XD Not the right place, obviously.
We then went to the other one and that was the right one. The food department in the basement was freaking intense! Food and people everywhere. Each different type of food was laid out or displayed in a square, in the middle of which were the cashiers. Who kept yelling what kind of food they had and what was on sale, etc. So you're walking around, trying to recognise anything, through throngs of bustling people, with cashiers yelling in rapid (rabid) Japanese... Well after an hour we had some fruit (very recognisable, yay!), Eddie had some sushi and I had finally found a stand that sold a million kinds of yakitori. I bought 4 sticks, each of a different kind, and we went out into the relative peace of the Ikebukuro clubbing district again. 3 of the yakitori I had were great, the other one wasn't so good, so I didn't eat all of it.
On Tuesday we went to Akihabara, 'electronic city' as it's advertised as. Lots of neon, lots of computer/phone/other electric stuff shops and lots of girls dressed in Lolita clothes advertising a maid cafe (maid and host cafes are places where you are served by very pretty girls or boys and you pay not only for the food and drinks, but also for them to sit with you. They're quite popular here apparently). We went to a large department store where they had these vending machines full of balls with toys in them. I got a few of them, all kinds of trinkets, pretty cool.
Then we walked to Kanda Miyojin Shrine, which is close to bustling Akihabara and surrounded by flats, but it's very peaceful and of course there were loads of cicadas. I swear; the noise those bugs make is unbelievable. Sometimes you actually feel like it's too loud to bear. Like you need earplugs. XD We went to the shrine at sundown (which is 7pm; super early for us West-Europeans) and all these people came to pray at sundown. We wanted to throw a coin in as well but because all those people were there, we felt like it would be a bit disrespectful, as we obviously don't follow the shinto religion.
We went back to the hotel and for the first time this week I ate a normal-sized dinner.
On Wednesday I felt much better; I had slept through the night for the first time and I had some time to get up and get ready in the morning in peace. I did our laundry in the coin laundry downstairs from the hostel. Then we went to Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, a stroll garden which has replicas of famous sites in China and Japan, only smaller. We spent a few hours strolling around there and got stung by so many mosquitoes, it's just unbelievable. I took pictures of my legs, otherwise I really don't think you'll believe me if I say I have 25 mosquito bites on just one leg. But wearing my jeans is not an option in this heat; I prefer my skirts. Today I bought some mosquito repellent, though. I think it worked. I also had some cream to put on the bites, so hopefully it will all be gone soon. I look like I've got some kind of disease or something. XD They're not even small lumps; they're a centimetre across! Eddie's word to describe it was 'grotesque'. XD He has some too, though; first time in his life he's ever had mosquito bites. The mosquitoes aren't even that big, but they're different than the kind we have in Holland and England. They're black. Tomoki had alrady warned us, but yeah..
For dinner I went to an udon shop nearby (for those who don't know; udon are thick noodles). I had passed the shop every time I needed to go to the station and it smelt sooo good outside all the time, so I decided to have dinner there. I got kintetsu, which is the udon noodles in a broth with some vegetables and fried tofu. It was delicious. The guy who worked there spoke some English and he was very excited to hear I was from The Netherlands. He even knew the word 'Nederland' and he said we have a very good soccer team. As I was eating,he came by asking me if it was nice, and when I left he told me to come back again, and I think I will.
In the evening, Eddie and I went to Sunshine City. A sort of... wow how can I describe it? It's typically Japanese: shops full of toys and Hello Kitty stuff, lots of noise, lots of neon, lots of music, pachinko parlours, etc. Just loud and wow. We went to the Sunshine building, which is 60 floors high. On the 60th floor is an observatory. The elevator took about 10 seconds to get us up there. At its fastest it goes 600 m per minute! My ears popped, but other than that it felt ok. What was funny was that the moment the elevator stars, the lights go out, blacklights go out and the walls are covered in cheesy paintings of dolphins and stars and galaxies. Cheesy music plays as well, so much fun. XD
The view from the observatory was amazing. We could see all over Tokyo, on all 4 sides. And.... we saw Fuji! The sun was just setting (it was after 7), so I've got some great pictures of Tokyo in sunset and Tokyo with all its lights after dark. It was well worth the 620 yen we paid each. We spent about an hour there and then we went down again. Just outside that building is Tokyu Hands, a popular store for household items and party items. and there, I bought an Itazura kitty bank!! I've wanted one ever since I saw them on the internet. Here'sa cat with one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AIilzwdREE They are just so cute!! ^^
On the way back to the hotel we passed a McDonalds. Eddie wanted a meal and I got some chips (fries). Then on the way back to the hotel we saw a couple of very pretty boys (with typical Japanese spiky and dyed hair, cool clothes, black nailpolish, etc) and one was fixing his hair as we walked by. I was like: f*ck it, I'm going to ask them for a picture. So I asked and three of them were ok with it (one stepped up to the side) and I took the picture. One of them asked me where we were from and in crappy English he explained they were hosts from a host cafe!! XD Then I couldn't get rid of him, because he didn't understand what I was saying and I couldn't understand what he was saying and I just wanted to be polite and not just walk off. Finally I said in Japanese we were going to eat (I remembered that sentence) and pointed at the McDonalds bag. Then he let us go. XD He was cute though!! So Eddie and I kept joking how we should go to the host cafe and I could hit on the guys, etc. XD Hilarity ensued when, upon returning to the hotel, we discovered that in a booklet with ads that had been handed to us in Sunshine city earlier, there was a Host club guide with pictures of all these nice-looking hosts. XD
So yeah, Thursday (today) arrived and it was still hot, hot, hot and super humid. On TV we saw some Americans and after seeing nothing but tiny Japanese people all day, we couldn't help but say: OMG they're so fat! No offense to anyone. Just the ones on TV were all really big... Anyway, we went to Asakusa, which is the more traditional area of Tokyo; where old Edo used to be before Tokyo was a superlarge big ass city. There's a big temple there, Senso-ji temple, which is Buddhist, not Shinto, like the shrines we've visited so far (shrine = Shinto, temple = Buddhist). If you google Asakusa, you get all these pictures of a big red lantern; that's at the Senso-ji temple. There's quite a few of those. Leading up to the temple is a big street lined with souvenir shops and shops where you can buy kimono, yukata, fans, etc. We got a few souvenirs there and some stuff for ourselves as well (I really hope I'll be able to fit all of it in my bags; I only brought a small suitcase (courtesy of Bonny) and a big backpack, because I've been told on the shinkansen there isn't much room for big suitcases. We'll find out tomorrow. Eddie has a big suitcase, though, so when push comes to shove I can put some of my stuff in his suitcase and take it out again in Holland).
After Asakusa we went to Ueno park, which is really large. Eddie's feet hurt, though, so we didn't see the entire park (I'm so glad I've spent much of the past two weeks walking to walk in my new shoes; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do all this walking either). We did see the Inari shrine. Inari is a goddess whose shrines can be recognised by the fox statues in front and inside of them. There was also a realllllly cute kitty lying outside the shrine,very hot obviously. I took some photos. In Ueno park is also a Museum of Western Art, which has a big statue called the Gates of Hell outside of it (probably a replica, but still) (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gates_of_Hell.jpg) I took a picture of that, but we didn't go in.
We got back to the hotel and decided to go out for shabu shabu. This is a type of food where you get a large bowl of boiling beef stock on the table and you dip pieces of beef, pork and vegetables in it to cook them. It was super delicious!! And it was all you can eat so we got some refills of beef as well. Now I'm full. XD
Monday, 2 August 2010
First message from Japan!
Hey everyone! Here's my first update from Japan. The subject line says Greetings from Tokyo, if you were wondering. Excuse any spelling mistakes and missing punctuation, it's an annoying keyboard. The space bar is about 2 cm wide and next to it is a button that makes me type in Japanese letters so whenever I accidentally press it, I have to press another button and delete what I wrote.
Anyway,update so far. We arrived last Saturday at around 11am local time. The flight was 10 hours, not 12; I had calculated it wrong. XD We were pretty tired. On the plane we did have extra leg room (that we had to pay extra for, more about that later) but I was right below an airconditoner so I was freezing for the entire trip. >< I got 2 blankets which I ended up pulling all the way up over my head so I wouldn't feel it. I did get to see Avatar; hadn't seen it before, it's very nice! So we arrived at Narita airport in Tokyo and it took us almost 3 hours to get from there to the hostel. Meanwhile, my IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) had started acting up, so Koosie was not a happy camper. >< The hostel room was the tiniest I have ever seen. It had a double bed (the next hostel, where I am now, has single beds the same size as that hostel's 'double beds') but the AC worked really well. It was in Jimbocho, the booksellers district, and there was some sort of festival going on for the manga One Piece. So they had a sort of treasure hunt about the manga and there were stands displaying original drawings and stuff all over the street. Oh; the heat and humidity are indescribable. If you've ever been to Burgers Bush (or any other zoo that has a replica of the tropical rainforest) in the middle of summer, you know how it feels. Coincidentally, it smells the same as well; a very humid, planty smell. Not unpleasant. The smell, I mean. The heat is very unpleasant. Luckily you canwalk around here fanning yourself and people won’t look at you crazy; they all do it. They also all carry handkerchiefs with which to wipe the sweat off their faces. As I thought before; I am much taller than 90% of the Japanese here, which is useful when looking for something in a busy street (you can see over everyone) but I do get gawked at by schoolkids (and some really cool goths, I was like: yay, they're impressed by me!). So on Saturday night I went to sleep at 9 pm and I was sleeping soundly until 11, when some #%&$ Americans (no offense to the Americans I'm sending this to, but you know you can be loud) started talking really loudly outside our door and in their room which was next to ours. Even after they had stopped, I still couldn't sleep and I was awake until about 6am. >< That was really the worst night of my life; IBS, heart racing, homesick, everything. >< The next day, Sunday, we went out at around 1:30 pm to meet up with Tomoki, a friend who lives here in Tokyo. We met him at Harajuku station and we walked down Takeshita Doori, the main street for Harajuku gothic/lolita fashion. It was really crowded and really hot, so at first I was like: Meh, I can't handle this. >< After a cup of tea it went a bit better, so we walked down the street. It reminded me so much of Camden Lock Market in London. We went into the main store for Goth/Loli fashion. I swear, I wanted to buy everything there! But it was all quite pricey, even though there was a sale on, and the clothes were all made for Japanese sized people... Eddie bought a belt thatwas priced down from 1999 yen for 300 yen!! That's less than 3 euros, for whoever is wondering. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there, I would have loved to!! We also went to a 100 yen store; everything costs 100 or 200 yen. I got a gorgeous bento there for 200 yen!! Marlies; I stocked up on bento stuff for you as well! It's unbelievable how cheap all that stuff was, compared to buying it online. Got some souvenirs for other people as well and some stuff for myself. Then we went to Meiji shrine; which is on the other side of Harajuku station. That was just amazing. It's got big paths leading up to it through a forest, the noise of the cicadas was incredibly loud, I videoed it so I can let you guys hear when I get back. The paths all had big torii gates at their starts. We learnt how to do the hand cleaning ritual and I put a prayer for good health for myself and safety for my family, with some money, in a box for prayers. Wrote it all in kanji! (Tomoki showed me how; I had never seen those kanji before!) Wehn we got to the actual shrine, it was already getting dark (sun goes down at 7 here) and the shrine was closed, that was too bad, but it was nice walking through that peaceful forest. We got out of the park and it was much hotter outside, back in the city. We got some food at a supermarket (they microwaved it for us) and then we went back to the hotel. this morning (Monday) we had to check out at 11, which we did. I was feeling fine earlier, so I had the rice I had left over from the night before, but as we were walking towards the imperial palace my IBS flared up again, much worse than before (maybe you cannot keep cooked rice overnight after all?) and we had to stay there until 2, until I felt better. I'm pretty sure it's jet lag, because I always get it when I get up early, and my body still thinks it's 7 hours earlier. So yeah, we were contemplating maybe going home sooner (Eddie has been feeling bad as well) but it would be such a waste of money and we wouldn't get to see the nice things outside Tokyo. We can't take day trips as I can't reallyfunction before 2 pm yet apparently. But hopefully by Friday, when we move to Osaka, it will be better. Today we went to Ikebukuro. Here we have a hostel with a much larger room, bunk beds and it's en suite! Ikebukuro is a district with lots of restaurants and some shops, which I saw when I walked around for a while earlier (I bought a gorgeous yukata here; like a kimono only different proportions) for less than 30 euros. However; no postcards to be found anywhere! not even in the post office or the bookshop. So you'll all have to wait for your cards a bit longer. So I'd better end it now, this is costing me lots of money. I'm posting this on my blog as well. Please keep your fingers crossed Eddie and I feel better soon, because this is no way to travel; feeling sick all the time. >< I came here to see all these nice things and I feel like I'm reallymissing out so far.
Anyway,update so far. We arrived last Saturday at around 11am local time. The flight was 10 hours, not 12; I had calculated it wrong. XD We were pretty tired. On the plane we did have extra leg room (that we had to pay extra for, more about that later) but I was right below an airconditoner so I was freezing for the entire trip. >< I got 2 blankets which I ended up pulling all the way up over my head so I wouldn't feel it. I did get to see Avatar; hadn't seen it before, it's very nice! So we arrived at Narita airport in Tokyo and it took us almost 3 hours to get from there to the hostel. Meanwhile, my IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) had started acting up, so Koosie was not a happy camper. >< The hostel room was the tiniest I have ever seen. It had a double bed (the next hostel, where I am now, has single beds the same size as that hostel's 'double beds') but the AC worked really well. It was in Jimbocho, the booksellers district, and there was some sort of festival going on for the manga One Piece. So they had a sort of treasure hunt about the manga and there were stands displaying original drawings and stuff all over the street. Oh; the heat and humidity are indescribable. If you've ever been to Burgers Bush (or any other zoo that has a replica of the tropical rainforest) in the middle of summer, you know how it feels. Coincidentally, it smells the same as well; a very humid, planty smell. Not unpleasant. The smell, I mean. The heat is very unpleasant. Luckily you canwalk around here fanning yourself and people won’t look at you crazy; they all do it. They also all carry handkerchiefs with which to wipe the sweat off their faces. As I thought before; I am much taller than 90% of the Japanese here, which is useful when looking for something in a busy street (you can see over everyone) but I do get gawked at by schoolkids (and some really cool goths, I was like: yay, they're impressed by me!). So on Saturday night I went to sleep at 9 pm and I was sleeping soundly until 11, when some #%&$ Americans (no offense to the Americans I'm sending this to, but you know you can be loud) started talking really loudly outside our door and in their room which was next to ours. Even after they had stopped, I still couldn't sleep and I was awake until about 6am. >< That was really the worst night of my life; IBS, heart racing, homesick, everything. >< The next day, Sunday, we went out at around 1:30 pm to meet up with Tomoki, a friend who lives here in Tokyo. We met him at Harajuku station and we walked down Takeshita Doori, the main street for Harajuku gothic/lolita fashion. It was really crowded and really hot, so at first I was like: Meh, I can't handle this. >< After a cup of tea it went a bit better, so we walked down the street. It reminded me so much of Camden Lock Market in London. We went into the main store for Goth/Loli fashion. I swear, I wanted to buy everything there! But it was all quite pricey, even though there was a sale on, and the clothes were all made for Japanese sized people... Eddie bought a belt thatwas priced down from 1999 yen for 300 yen!! That's less than 3 euros, for whoever is wondering. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there, I would have loved to!! We also went to a 100 yen store; everything costs 100 or 200 yen. I got a gorgeous bento there for 200 yen!! Marlies; I stocked up on bento stuff for you as well! It's unbelievable how cheap all that stuff was, compared to buying it online. Got some souvenirs for other people as well and some stuff for myself. Then we went to Meiji shrine; which is on the other side of Harajuku station. That was just amazing. It's got big paths leading up to it through a forest, the noise of the cicadas was incredibly loud, I videoed it so I can let you guys hear when I get back. The paths all had big torii gates at their starts. We learnt how to do the hand cleaning ritual and I put a prayer for good health for myself and safety for my family, with some money, in a box for prayers. Wrote it all in kanji! (Tomoki showed me how; I had never seen those kanji before!) Wehn we got to the actual shrine, it was already getting dark (sun goes down at 7 here) and the shrine was closed, that was too bad, but it was nice walking through that peaceful forest. We got out of the park and it was much hotter outside, back in the city. We got some food at a supermarket (they microwaved it for us) and then we went back to the hotel. this morning (Monday) we had to check out at 11, which we did. I was feeling fine earlier, so I had the rice I had left over from the night before, but as we were walking towards the imperial palace my IBS flared up again, much worse than before (maybe you cannot keep cooked rice overnight after all?) and we had to stay there until 2, until I felt better. I'm pretty sure it's jet lag, because I always get it when I get up early, and my body still thinks it's 7 hours earlier. So yeah, we were contemplating maybe going home sooner (Eddie has been feeling bad as well) but it would be such a waste of money and we wouldn't get to see the nice things outside Tokyo. We can't take day trips as I can't reallyfunction before 2 pm yet apparently. But hopefully by Friday, when we move to Osaka, it will be better. Today we went to Ikebukuro. Here we have a hostel with a much larger room, bunk beds and it's en suite! Ikebukuro is a district with lots of restaurants and some shops, which I saw when I walked around for a while earlier (I bought a gorgeous yukata here; like a kimono only different proportions) for less than 30 euros. However; no postcards to be found anywhere! not even in the post office or the bookshop. So you'll all have to wait for your cards a bit longer. So I'd better end it now, this is costing me lots of money. I'm posting this on my blog as well. Please keep your fingers crossed Eddie and I feel better soon, because this is no way to travel; feeling sick all the time. >< I came here to see all these nice things and I feel like I'm reallymissing out so far.
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Final Preparations and Setbacks
Well, in 5 days we will finally be leaving! It's getting so close. Eddie is coming here on Wednesday and on Friday we will head to Japan! ^^
Unfortunately there is a minor setback: Himeji castle is closed from April 2010 until somewhere in 2011 for renovations. I was really looking forward to seeing it. ><
However, I've found a good alternative; Okayama. A small town which is also on the way from Kobe to Hiroshima (as is Himeji) and it also has a castle that looks similar to the one at Himeji (only smaller). And where the one in Himeji is white, the one in Okayama is black, causing it to have the nickname 'The Crow's Castle'. The rest of the town looks interesting too. So hopefully it will be just as good. ^^
I haven't been doing any RTK studies, since I don't want my reviews to pile up again, like they did when I had the computer problems. So I've only been reviewing, but not adding anything.
I've also started Tae Kim's grammar and I wish I had done it sooner. It's so easy and fast! So I will keep that up for a few more days and hopefully I can string a few sentences together when we're there. ^^
Unfortunately there is a minor setback: Himeji castle is closed from April 2010 until somewhere in 2011 for renovations. I was really looking forward to seeing it. ><
However, I've found a good alternative; Okayama. A small town which is also on the way from Kobe to Hiroshima (as is Himeji) and it also has a castle that looks similar to the one at Himeji (only smaller). And where the one in Himeji is white, the one in Okayama is black, causing it to have the nickname 'The Crow's Castle'. The rest of the town looks interesting too. So hopefully it will be just as good. ^^
I haven't been doing any RTK studies, since I don't want my reviews to pile up again, like they did when I had the computer problems. So I've only been reviewing, but not adding anything.
I've also started Tae Kim's grammar and I wish I had done it sooner. It's so easy and fast! So I will keep that up for a few more days and hopefully I can string a few sentences together when we're there. ^^
Monday, 5 July 2010
Getting up-to-date
So I got my computer back and the virus is gone, yay! But it did leave me a few days behind on my onyomi reviews (I had about 300 due), so I finally managed to catch up with them yesterday. Just a shame after three weeks in Japan, loads of them will be due again. XD
I've also been making all kinds of final arrangements for the trip to Japan. I've ordered my Rail Pass and I've printed out all the hostel bookings and all. Only 3.5 weeks until we go! ^^
I've also been making all kinds of final arrangements for the trip to Japan. I've ordered my Rail Pass and I've printed out all the hostel bookings and all. Only 3.5 weeks until we go! ^^
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