The last train out of Sydney’s almost gone

So after an unintentional hiatus from the blogging I have locked up the manager and I’m going blog crazy! Over the last few days we have covered a fair bit of ground travelling from Hiroshima to Hakuba in one day (8+ hours). There always seems to be a discrepancy between our projected travel time and our actual travel time when we set out on the Dori. It took us around 3 hours longer than we planned to get to the hostel in Hakuba, but that was because we had to take 5 trains. Not part of our plan, but a story nonetheless.

So after our long journey (anything longer than 8 hours is officially a journey – not a trip) to Miyazaki we took the return leg on our way to Hiroshima. Being famous for pretty much one event in history, may make Hiroshima sound like a dismal place. But in reality, it’s really not all that bad. The city itself is quite small and the main shopping districts have the expected amount of neon lighting for a Japanese city of its size. We decided upon the mandatory tourist visit to the A-Bomb dome and the accompanying museum which were quite eye-opening for me. The shell of the A-Bomb dome stands near the river in Hiroshima. A skeletal dome with crumbling brick walls, supported by steel reinforcements created by the local council. When first I saw it I was of the opinion that it could only stand for hate. A symbol of man’s obsession with destruction and war and the unthinkable horror that the event caused. If I were a survivor – I would never want to have to see that building. I thought that they should never have kept it. But after visiting the museum I could see why they had kept it. The museum contained information about the day the bombing happened, the lead up to the event and other more personal stories from people who survived it. That part was sad. I remember the quote they had on a wall from a photographer right after the event. It said:

“I wrestled with myself for 30 minutes before I could take the first photo. But after I had taken it I felt a sense of release. I wanted to get closer. But my viewfinder clouded with tears.”

It was so powerful. At the time I was really moved because after a poor night’s sleep and an early morning start, it was so heavy to look at before breakfast. Either way, it made me realise how hateful humans can be.

That aside, we also had the absolute pleasure of visiting the red tori gate at Miyajimaguchi. Around 25km outside of Hiroshima by train there is a small ferry that takes you over to Miyajima island. The sun was up, the sky was blue and the surrounding waters looked so inviting. The island itself is quite a mountainous place with temples, pagodas and bush walking tracks. As we strolled around the coast we could see the gate rising out of the water in it’s bright red form. The sunlight enhancing its vivid colour. Atop a nearby hill sat a bright red pagoda in a shade that mirrored that of the gate. For a small place, this island had a lot to see. So with our camera fingers already in cramps from the beautiful sights thus far, we decided to take a bush walk (yes another one, shut up). We walked along a lightly forrested pathway, all the while being scrutinised by the wild deer that inhabited most of the island. The sun was still reasonably high in the sky and we thought we might go for a climb up the mountain side. Surely the views would be incredible. En route we encountered a little sign that read “This track is VERY HARD and it would be advisable for you to use the alternative route, blah, blah blah” or words to that effect. Very hard? Whatever. Up we went. But as we ascended, the slight incline of the steps became more and more intense until eventually we were walking at a pace of around 1m per every 5 steps. It was tough! But we had nothing to complain about – we had read the sign, and it was in enlish for fuck’s sake! 1.5 hours later we reached the summit. We were kind of worried because we weren’t even sure that the mountain had a view at the top. But sure enough, after scaling a rope (left by ninjas in the Japanese highlands no doubt), the view we had hoped for was there waiting for us. Glorious 360 views of Hiroshima and its surrounding countryside were ample reward for that gut busting trek (please check out the panoramas on flickr). It really was amazing. And it made me feel better since we’d just spent so much of our effort climbing that fucking mountain!

Anyway, as if these sights weren’t enough, on our ferry trip back to the mainland we were blessed with an insane sunset. The gradient of the sky faded from pale blue down through purple and eventually into a light pink colour. It was like we were in a japanese painting. The deep orange sun crept slowly down between two mountains flooding the world with a supernatural glow that had the japanese and gaijin reaching for their cameras. And then as that giant orange ball melted completely down between the mountains it left us with a pink and blue sky that would be futile to try and explain here. Have a look at the photos because it was awesome.

Hopefully there are more good things headed our way. Last night I got a little excited when we arrived in Hakuba and it was snowing ever so lightly. The slow falling particles flowing out of the darkness were only visible for a few seconds as they caught the street light. Sure it was freezing, but I didn’t really care. It was magical. I was in the zone just staring into the night sky as I walked along. Until one hit me in the eye. Cos that really hurt. Ouch!

So tomorrow it’s on to Sendai in the north. When I think about how much ground we have covered in trains over the last few weeks it’s pretty crazy. But I think the best way to explain it is this: Josh has read three books since we arrived which is a total of nearly 2000 pages all up. Does that give you a clear picture?

A man is just a man

So it has come to my attention that I have been rather slack over the past few weeks with this blog writing thing. And I apologise. As I mentioned earlier; it’s not that I haven’t got anything to write about, it’s just that there is so much. Consider this another one of those tie-in posts that fills in some of the gaps that seem to have been appearing recently.

One aspect of Japan that deserves its own post is the food. The deliciousness of this country is something that is hard to overlook. Starting with Tokyo all the way down to Miyazaki we have experienced culinary delights like never before. The most recent food outings have definitely been the best as they were much more guided affairs. Peter and Suzanne, two people who are no strangers to indulgence when it comes to food, showed us their local sushi train. Rather than the day old, stale sushi they have on Australian sushi trains – here it’s an entirely different experience. Firstly, there are usually two chefs sitting in the middle section ready and waiting to make whatever you want. You just shout out and request whatever type of sushi you like and they will whole-heartedly agree and spring into action. This resulted in us eating plate after place of super fresh melt-in-your-mouth raw tuna and salmon. Plus we had the luxury of tasting some freshly made egg roll sushi. Flippin’ awesome. It was by far the best sushi I have tasted in my life. But as always – Japan seems to have something up its sleeve. Another surprise. Last night we went for dinner at a place serving radish and bonito flake salad. Sounds nasty, but it’s delicious. Who would have thought? We then had an assortment of yakitori (skewered meat) and crazy egg thing that I have dubbed ‘the crazy egg thing’ – because nobody seems to know what’s in it. Of course in between meals there have been the little snacky things. Anyone who has been here will know about choco pies. Chocolate coated sponge biscuits with cream in the middle. I’ve also had green tea and red bean ice cream. I’m yet to try the black sesame soft serve ice-cream but it’s rumoured to be awesome. Chinese pan fried dumplings known as ‘gioza’ here are always nice for a quick bite. And then there are the fast food bars. As you have probably noticed from the photos we have discovered the beef and rice meal that is available at so many places. However there are also places serving soba (wheat?) and udon noodles in a variety of tasty broths. There are even a few curry house chains that have managed to squeeze into the fast food arena – although very tasty, I do wonder what they put in them.

So after all of this eating, I hear you ask me to choose my favourite. Well – it is a toss us between a couple. One thing that I tried for the first time in Miyazaki was the nikomaki. Essentially a thinly sliced piece of marinated beef, wrapped around a sushi-roll length of rice. I don’t know what the hell it was marianted with, but it was delectable. My other front runner in the race for Nati’s favourite food was from Tokyo. Josh and I managed to find an inexpensive place serving tempura vegetables and prawns with soba noodles. The price was right and the food was great. Maybe it’s just a Winter meal, but I find myself craving soupy noodle dishes more and more often. However, probably more interesting than what I do like about Japan, is what I don’t like.

Continuing with food, I have found, much to my amazement, that there are foods here I don’t actually like. Most of you will probably know that I am not a fussy eater at all. Just not celery. But I would like to add another thing to that list. Natto. Our always truthfrul friend Wikipedia describes it as “a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans”. To be honest, if I had heard that description before I had the opportunity to try it – I would have probably given it a miss. But I did manage to pick it randomly off a sushi train conveyor belt that was brimming with tasty dishes. I was feeling adventureous and thought I’d have a crack. It’s hard to explain how it made me feel. Like Fry once said – it was like a party in my mouth, and everyone was throwing up. Stringy, slimy fermented soy beans. I managed to force one natto roll down after some strong opposition by my gag reflex. But the second one was just not going to happen. Another dish I didn’t really enjoy was the octopus balls. Cooked in circular cake tins, the little balls are a mixture of batter, ginger, wasabi and bonito flakes with a portion of octopus tentacle nestled in the middle. They are then served with mayonnaise and a dark, sticky sauce. It wasn’t so much the taste that got me – more the texture. Not quite comparable to natto – but still not my favourite.

As a sign off I would like to hit you with a story about the world being small. As I was writing this post at 1:30am in the hostel common room a guy walked in and looked at us and goes “Josh?” I was pretty shocked. I thought that maybe we had met him in Kyoto or something. “I don’t expect you to remember me. I did computer science with you at Uni SA”. Jesus Christ. The chances of meeting someone you went to uni with in Adelaide whilst in Hiroshima? My bet is that the chances are low. But I guess you just can’t escape the Radelaide.

Love is, what I got

Even after two weeks, somehow this place just continues to have weird and wonderful things to talk about. One thing I have neglected to mention over the course of the last few weeks is the vending machine culture that Japan has. There are a plethora of items that can be purchased from these things ranging from hot drinks to plastic anatomy diagrams. But instead of letting you just imagine what you can get, I will tell you what I have seen thus far: hot coffee in a can, beer (bottles, longnecks and cans), batteries, super mario characters, fried chicken and chips, eggs and little plastic anatomy parts. Why anyone needs the conveniece of something to show them where their pancreas is, I’m not sure – but this is Japan.

So our travels this week have taken us to Miyazaki. The small town where Peter and Suzanne are now living. It is basically at the bottom of Kyushu. To give you an idea of how far away it is from Tokyo – Josh and I had to travel for 12 hours to get here. The most amazing thing about that trip though was the fact that we covered the same distance from Adelaide to Alice Springs (1200km) in around 5 hours. That was awesome. Then we had to catch peasant trains for the remainder of the trip which travelled a third of the distance in double the time. If the Shinkansen was a woman, I’d marry it. Peter and Suzanne have quite hospitably shown us their local hangouts over the last few days. From their favourite sushi trains to their favourite bars in town – it’s all been a blast. I’ve learnt that the sushi train is a far more enjoyable experience when you know how to order the delicious stuff. Peter introduced us to the prawn and mayonnaise sushi roll with the topping which has been blowtorched to a golden brown. And the thinly sliced fresh tuna rolls with wasabi and soy. Amazing.

As a side note, I am proud to say that I am no longer a karaoke virgin. A little bit of a Sunday night session never goes astray – especially here. Last night the car park was packed and the rooms were filled with singing enthusiasts belting it out at the top of their lungs. At first I was a little hesitant as to how I would go singing in front of other people, but then I remembered the power of beer. After a few silly songs like Aqua, we cranked into some serious Bon Jovi and Guns ‘n’ Roses. By the time Britney Spears came out I could tell it was getting very close to home time. So Josh and I did an encore duet to The Plain White Ts and we called it a night. And that was nearly the most fun I have had since arriving here!

But as always, the show must go on. We are heading to Hiroshima today. Apparently the town itself is famous for the bombing but it’s said to have rebuilt itself as a buzzing place with loads of atmosphere. We will be spending two nights there whilst working our way up to Sapporo. At the moment I feel as though I’m having a little bit of a countdown to the snow, but I am still thoroughly enjoying the trips from place to place. And I also read that it is like -10 degrees at the base of the mountain that we’re going to. So with the attire I have packed that could be either quite fun – or super life threatening. Only time will tell.

Life. Oh Life!

So the blogs are getting fewer and further between, but that doesn’t mean the action is dying down. Quite the opposite in fact! After our adventures in Tokyo we thought the country air might give us a pleasant change. Takayama was our destination. Situated 2 hours north of Nagoya, the country air was quite sweet – but also flippin’ freezing! Our hostel was inside of a converted temple (any cooler?) and was run by an old Japanese guy who spoke excellent english. Our room was so cool – a traditional Japanese style dwelling, complete with tatami mats and sliding rice paper doors. On our first night here we got so lost it wasn’t funny. We somehow managed to lose ourselves in the cold, black night of a town of 90,000 but can navigate our way around Tokyo no worries. I maintained that I was following Josh and he later told me we were just kind of exploring so neither of us we paying any attention to our path. But I forgive him now for getting us lost because he got us found again so we can still be friends. Love you Josh!

The town of Takayama contains whole neighbourhoods that have been completely restored with old Japanese houses and buildings forming representations of what the place might have looked like in the late 18th century. Takayama also has a rather famous walking trail that contains a hell of a lot of temples and shrines. I don’t know how many we actually saw on that walk – but I can tell you it got to the point where it was hard to impress me. Nonetheless, the quiet setting of this mountain town and the beautiful winter sun made the day a very pleasant experience. Our next stop – Kyoto.

Now can I just take a little break here to say that the Japanese transport system is incredible. The Shinkansen is the super fast train that takes only like 4 hours to travel the distance of the whole main island and it is just awesome. We blazed our way from Tokyo to Nagoya in under 2 hours. Amazing. In fact it’s so fast that on the 11th of December we are going back to Tokyo for just one night and then back to the other side of Honshu because it’s only a 4 hour trip!

Kyoto is one of those places that everyone comes to when they visit Japan. And it isn’t hard to see why. The day we rolled in the brilliant red maple trees were shedding their leaves, blanketing their surrounds in a carpet of red stars. The late afternoon sun that drenched the remaining leaves made them glow with an amazing intensity. Some trees even boasted an array of leaves that seemed to form a gradient effect from light orange to bright red. The amazing thing is that this is also the capital for the Sakura (cherry blossom) festivals. The skeletal blossom trees scattered around the main temples make me think it could be even more amazing here in April. In addition to the amazing natural scenery here, Kyoto is absolutely LOADED with temples and attractions. After reading various travel information brochures Josh and I decided it would be a great idea to go and check out a castle. We settled on Mimoyama Castle. After some misguided walking and random questioning of japanese people (none of whom spoke any english) we managed to find what we were looking for. For some bizarre  reason the castle had been positioned adjacent to a baseball pitch. A japanese rendition of Old Lang’s Eye floated eerily over the airwaves as we entered the deserted castle grounds. With the sun fading slowly over the back of the two main castle towers and the chilly wind  biting at our unprotected faces we walked around in awe at this strange place we had found. Large crows circled the ominous structures and the lack of tourists and inappropriate music all helped to add to the growing sense of surrealism. However, I would definitely put this castle discovery down as a win for Josh and Nathan. It was an excellent way to end an otherwise uneventful day.

So in between the visiting of bamboo forests, temples with aqueducts, Shinkansen travel and endless delicious meals we have had – there have been some mundane and funny moments. One that springs to mind was the ambush of Josh by a bunch of japanese school kids. We had climbed up to the rooftop garden in the Kyoto Station to have a look at the view and as we were looking through the large panes of tinted glass they set upon him. A chorus of “sumimasen” rang out as they stampeded towards him and demanded a photograph. I meant to take a photo of Josh getting photographed, but I was too busy laughing at how ridiculous it all was. I wonder what they are going to do with the photo.

So tomorrow it’s off to Osaka (I think) and then we will be meeting up with Peter and Zan on the 12th of December. We also have accommodation booked for the snow so we will be there for christmas this year. The weather here has been ridiculously cold at night but at least it will toughen us up for the -4 or so they are getting up in Sapporo. And maybe even Canada when I get there. Anyway, as always people – feel free to email me and let me know what is happening in your neck of the world. I love getting emails. Once again there are some photos up with this post. I am honestly trying my best to capture what I am seeing, but I admit that my photos aren’t doing most things any justice. In real life they are much more amazing. I have come to the realisation that the best things I have seen will just have to remain as memories because my camera can’t seem to catch them the way my eyes do. Either way – I hope you’re enjoying what I do manage to snap

Lights are blinding my eyes

Wow. Firstly, let me say that if you have never been to Tokyo – come here! Also, if this is the first Japan blog that you have read from me, please scroll down and read the other one first cos this one might flow on. Anyway with that out the way, let me see where I should start. The Tokyo Tower? Roppongi nightlife? The sushi? The temples? The sizzling hot, stylish japanese women? (Did I mention them already?) Josh and I have seen so much in the last 5 days it’s kind of hard to write it all down. And plus you’d be here forever reading it. But if you want something substantial to read then you’ve come to the right place because will take longer than your lunch break!

On our first night, Josh and I decided it would be better to just get acquainted with our locality. Check out some food. Maybe see what the neighbourhood was like. Our second night? Well, that was a friday. And you can’t have two members of the ex-sethdesigns, holy trinity drinking team in the world’s largest city and not grab a beer. But we really didn’t know what to expect when we popped into the first place for a “quiet one”. Upon consulting the lonely planet (we call it the bible), we decided that Shimo-Kitazawa would be a good place to start our exploration. The bible said it was an arty district located outside of the usual tourst spots and that was reason enough for us to have a squiz. The station exit lead us directly into a maze of small winding streets. Each street had any number of little shops, sushi bars, noodle joints and bars that lined every available bit of real estate. Most places in Tokyo are like that. As we walked through these foreign streets we decided to take a punt on a place named “Trouble Peach”. The sign was an orange and green neon with a cartoon leopard with a speech bubble stating simply “Eat a peach”. This place was dripping with class. The tiny, red doorway lead us through to a stairway that was so steep it resembled a ladder. At the top was a small, dark bar with small tables and late 70’s decor. The low lamps had painted light bulbs, dimming them to a point where it was hard to see your friends and the red refrigerator only helped to reinforce the mood of this retro little place. The walls were lined with a mixture of crazy Japanese posters and old cardboard record covers. The only thing missing was the joint in my hand as our super-cool barman/dj cranked out original vinyls of Bob Marley Live and Dolly Parton. It was a truly cool place. We ordered a few beers and then thought better of the delicious but Tokyo-steep beer prices (like $10 each!) and continued our walk. Within minutes we cruised by a place that seemed to be very happening. A place where young japanese and gaijin (whiteys) alike were revelling in a multi-levelled binge of beers and satay. Should we go in? I was hesitant, but Josh twisted my arm by pointing to the $3 beer sign. Yes please. In we went. We were shown to the second level where tatami mats lined the floors and everyone was sitting, shoeless, at the short tables. Now this looked like the kind of place I came to Japan for! More beers ensued and then, by chance, I bumped in a guy at the urinal (not in a gay way, okay?). After the mandatory “Where are you from?” conversation he told me he was from Chile. He said they were on the third floor if we wanted to join them. So we did. He was there with his Peruvian-Japanese (?) friend and a bunch of people that had met from a half Japanese facebook group (I know – it’s even random for Tokyo!). We chatted for a while until we were invited to go to a Latino club with them. Didn’t need thinking music for that one! Straight to Roppongi. Basically the touristy/club district of Tokyo. Apparently locals avoid it like the plague, but I had to find out why. It didn’t take me long.

The $30 taxi that we took from some place 2km down the road was my first taste of Tokyo nightlife. Quickly followed by a tirade of African spruikers that wanted to know if I wanted to see a strip show. These dudes were everywhere. On every corner there was a man asking if I wanted to go to his club. Seeing as though we had a set destination it was easier to fend most of them off. But at one point I did look behind me only to catch a glimpse of Josh, cornered by overzealous promoters, with a woman tugging on his arm trying to drag him into her club. I just kept walking. Josh is a big boy. So by the time we reached our club it somehow filtered down to us non-japanese speakers that the cover charge was around $30. More Tokyo-ness. But somehow one of the South Americans got us in for free. The club was going off. There were latinos and japanese cutting that dancefloor to bits! Our Chilean friend wasted no time in getting some scotch into us and the remainder that we paid for were all half price because of our South American connections. The drinks flowed until such time as we caught the yiros bug. But in Japan it’s like the beef and rice bug (please refer to the fotos section for a visual). We thanked our friends profusely before leaving and headed over to Yoshinoya. The place that has earnt a spot in our hearts for its fast food style Japanese cuisine. Boozed up, full up and thoroughly ready for sleep, we headed for the subway. One interesting thing about this place is that even though it’s the biggest city on the planet, the trains stop running at 12am. The service resumes at 5:45am and thank god for that because we were so ready to get home. All in all it was a crazy night. And that was Friday.

Saturday was little more tame. We went to a place called the Samurai Bar. Which I can’t really tell whether it’s cool or kitsch, but the people were real friendly and the setup was cool. The night started with some new random traveller friends from England and Canada and a few more Asahi’s. The night ended with Josh and I skolling beers with some Japanese people who barely spoke English. Beer, eh? It’s like the international language. It almost works as well as Bon Jovi songs!

Anyway, today we cruised around looking for some more obscure places. We found some gardens with amazing red maple trees and giant carp in the nearby ponds. The fading afternoon sun illuminated the leaves of the trees to their brightest reds, yellows and greens. Their drooping multi-coloured branches swayed in the gentle, winter breeze as giant carp kissed the waters surface. I found it hard to believe I was in Tokyo!

Tonight we capped things off with a visit to Tokyo’s highest observation tower at the Tokyo Tower. The place was packed. We didn’t even realise that it was it’s 50th anniversary. Either way it was an awesome view. 250m above ground level we could see the urban sprawl almost touching the sky on the horizon. It’s hard to explain the look of the lights against the blackness of the night, but looking out and seeing them disappear into the distance really was amazing. Like stars on the ground or something.

I’m sorry it was so long winded, but I had to sit down and get it all out! The craziest thing is that that’s not even all of it. Hopefully it wasn’t too hard to get through though. All I’m trying to say is that I am having the greatest time here and I can only hope for more when we head to the country tomorrow. We will be over in Takayama for a few days (near Nagano and Nagoya) to get some fresh air and castles into us. Then it’s on to Kyoto!