Final travellog

Well peeps, this is it.
The Final post of my japanese travellog.
All in all I saw alot and missed alot. Part two is definetly going to come.
Before that I think I will try somewhere different for reference sake.
:>

29110801

Hey again,
Well I managed to meet up with my first international friend, Julian.
We went out in Tokyo for a while, he is such a nice guy he bought me coffee, dinner and a beer! We chatted and I coached him in some finer points of english. We went to this little restaurant and had the deep fried oysters with rice and miso. Very tasty and so tender. He taught me a few things about how they do dining in France. Really nice guy.
I'm gonna see if I can help him out by getting him info on the place I'm staying. They have an arrangement were if you work with the staff and are staying long term you can get free accommidation. Really good deal but only usefull if your staying for a few weeks or more.
After that we headed back to our respective residence's. Tommorow I will be hanging around the hostel as long as possible but I have to check out 11 so it's a long wait for my train to the airport. Hopefully I can leave my pack here and just do a bit of wandering.
Mixed feeling's about the flight, will be nice to have a set of drawers again and see my peeps but it's gonna be damn hot and not Japan.
Might be able to post from the airport but I'm not sure.
See you all soon.

291108

Well last night was interesting. They ended up just doing the scallops raw with soy and wasabi. Really tasty, they also did a little simmer sauce, butter, wine and pepper very nice. Didn't end up going to the party as it was at one of their seperate sites which is rather expensive to get to.
Instead I ended up hanging out with a bunch of brits. There seem to be a lot of people who are traveling for about two years straight which is pretty cool. Some take out loans and others get part-time work in the various countries.
After a few hours sitting around sharing stories(I have stories :>) they introduced me to a bad game called 'fu*k the dealer'. As I was the newbie I had to be dealer first. Lets just say the night was long and this morning is not such a great idea. Spent too much money again too so the next two days are going to be very minimal. None the less I am still able to make it to the plane so its not a disaster. I think I have finally figured out this picasa youtube stuff so their will be vids in the blog now.
Looking forward to getting out of this backpack when I get back to Oz.

281108

Hey peeps,
Well last night was nice. Wandered Kitabashi-dori and picked up another lovely little gift what I think was a pretty reasonable price. I'm going of the other prices at the other shops and those of comparative items but I think its a lovely piece that will be appreciated so that is what matters.
After that picked up a couple new types of cup noodles at very good prices at this little shopping centre. Last night was one that was more like a curry than a soup and was quite nice. Tonight soba noodles in a soup with a little omlette type thing and prawns in it again quite nice.
This morning woke up at 10 and organised my ticket for Ghibli Museum. That was an interesting experience. They have terminals in a particular chain of convenience stores here that are like a computerised ticket-tek. A Japanese only ticket-tek but fortunately the staff were happy to help me out. I know have a copy of my full name in Kanji as well as the machine wanted this information. Took the lady a while to figure out how to put Richard into Kanji but we got there in the end. After that I had a couple hours to kill and Sensoji temple was just down the road so I headed down there. Ended up as free access so I spent a while there and got a bunch of pics I labeled as Nishoji accidentally.
Then it was about time to head to Mitaka. Caught the two trains easily enough and was there with time to spare. The museum is in a park so I wandered through there enjoying the autumn colours. Just before I got to the Museum the sun came out! yay.The museum was great. Made me feel like a little kid which is just as well as the place was crammed with them. Couldn't take pictures inside again which always sucks. Got some shots of the building and the rooftop garden statues though. After this it was about time to head back home.
Got back to Asakusa and the sun was still out a bit so got a couple shots of the Asahi headquaters for Kate. Weird looking building.
Now I am at the hostel and they are having a party at one of the other branches. They just cracked a big box of fan oysters and are shelling them at the moment. I am hoping they will be doing that omlette in the shell thing so I can try that but I am not sure if we are invited.
Thats all for now folks.

271108

Well peeps probably had my last view of the Japanese landscape on the shinkansen to Tokyo today.
Got to my hostel quite easily this time. Pretty big place and looks nice. Payed my last major outlay on the accomodation so everything in my pocket is for food and a couple more gifts. Today is raining in Tokyo so probably just gonna chill at the hostel and see if I can find some free sights to see before I leave.
The hostel looks to be full of information so I should be able to dig something up. I may even spend big and go to the Ghibli museum as originally planned. Estimated price is 1500 yen which is transport and entry so I think I will as that was one of the first spots I tagged to visit. I will have to look into the Monjya as it sounds tasty. If it's like okonomoyaki which is what I have heard so far it should be good. no pics today as most of the day was travel and the rain is irritating.
Till next time peeps.

26110801

Well today was a bit of a nothing day for me.
Spent most of the day bumming around in the hotel.
About 3pm I headed out to see if I could do some shopping. Happy to report I now have gifts for a few lucky individuals. Down to 7000 yen for three days in Tokyo. Every time I tell a Japanese that they laugh. Sounds like its gonna be a bit of a drag in Tokyo with that much cash but hey, the rest of the trip has been good, so glad I did it despite a few hiccups.
Tomorrow I checkout of here and get the shinkansen for Tokyo. Should be in Tokyo by 1pm so will have to try and find some cheap dinner there tomorrow.
So after hanging around the hotel I went out to a few shopping districts to see what sort of gifts I could get for the peeps back home. Found a lovely item for the parents and even managed to get the price down a fair bit from the original thanks to my being foreign. Not THE item I wanted to get but that was well out of my price range. After wandering the shopping districts I had an appointment with a guy called Yoshiaki Minami at a place called Tins Hall which I had a few drinks at last night.
Really nice guy and a retired architect. He now does special effects. He bought me a beer last night and promised to got me a deck of Japanese cards for a game called Hana Huda. They are really quite nice cards but much smaller than the ones we use in the west. After seeing these I thought of someone they would be a perfect gift for so I went and got a deck of more traditional ones. The ones he got me are disney cards as they have an english manual.
I had a few drinks with him again and we struggled through a conversation about the economic situaiton and Japan. He recommended I try a dish called Monja, similar to Okonomoyaki but a Tokyo version. We will see how much it costs. Being an ex-architect he recommended some buidlings I check out while in Tokyo, I am always up for free sights to see and am sure Kate will be quite intrigued by what is in store.
That was about all for today. A couple new pics of crazy buildings but nothing else. Next post will be Tokyo.
See ya.

Birthday review

Well last night was a bit of a bust. Forgot the place I am staying closes the door at 12. Luckily after dinner and a couple drinks I came back the hotel for some more cash and to head into Osaka central and was reminded on the way out, this was about 10 to 12.
Dinner was average as well. Seems they tempura damn near anything here. Had onion, eggs, beef, prawn, eggplant and potato with Miso and rice. Looked interesting on the menu but turned out pretty boring.
Went for a couple drinks at a place called Tin's Hall which was cool. Got talking to a guy next to me at the bar and he is going to buy me a pack of Hana-Huda cards which apparently are very beautifull playing cards for an old japanese card game. Should be interesting to see and if they are as good as he says may pickup a pack for Kate as we all know how much she loves card games.
Anyhow, gonna see if I can do some shopping today so I can stop worrying about this cash situation.
Bye

Watashi-no Tanjobi!!

Well today is my Birthday in Japan!
Not much of an eventfull day so far. Went to Osaka castle and wandered the park there for a while. Some new pics mostly of the surrounding gardens and park. The castle looked real impressive from outside but as it was a reconstruction after the air raids the inside is modern and designed as a Museum. The museum was a bit of let down again. A number of Japanese only interesting looking displays and an entire floor was closed. Couldn't come back with my original 600 yen ticket either but I'm only here for another full day anyhow.
I will be going back to the park tonight though as it's supposed to be quite a sight lit up.
After wandering the castle gardens and the park I wandered around a zoological park in the area but fortunately didn't pay to go inside. From what I saw from outside, which was most of it there wasn't much worth the 500 yen anyhow.
After that I went to a chain called Mos Burger, which do Japanese style burgers. They all looked like the standard beef patty in a bun to me but mabye the patty is different. Anyhow I couldn't go past their Takoyaki burger which appeared to be a tempured takoyaki ball on a bun with maybe teriyaki sauce tartar. That's about all I have to say about that.
After that wandered a while longer and found the area I am having dinner. Is somewhat seedier than the underground mall but the prices are better and there is plenty of food around. The seedy bit probably comes from there being a few strip clubs down a side street. I think there might have been a few Kabuki places too as there were guys out on the street in Kimono and the pale make-up etc on.
Haven't met anyone at this place yet either so it may be a solo birthday party but there will be good food and thats the main thing. :>
Oh, doesn't look like I will be trying fugu either as its damned expensive, you can get a small serve for 1000 yen but that is around about how much I wan't to be spending on the entire meal tonight, pity too as that is another classic Japanese food I am going to miss but it does mean I can try a few of the cheaper alternatives, will try and get names for you all and let you know what its like next post.
Bye

241108

Last night was another great night in Miyajima backpackers.
Met an Ozzie couple that were living in Annerley! What are the chances?
No Ton-jiru but got some Ikane, dried squid with another can of O-Sake.
All this while reading about the amazing developments towards the Singulaity.
Big night, talking to the couple from Annerly then some guys from Germay and Bosnia.
Then the host with the most broke out a bottle of Sake he had received as an opening gift. That went round the table and it was great. I actually got some pics of the festivities this time.
After that a very patient Japanese couple were trying to teach me how to use chopsticks properly. We were up until 4 practicing and they were wanting to know where to go in Australia, what it was like etc.
The guy seemed really interested in the Aboriginals and I tried to explain the current situation to them. That kinda dissapointed them but they still want to see the surf and the reef etc.
This morning I was up at 7 and got my train in to Hiroshima with plenty of time to spare. While waiting on the platform I met a guy from Hawaii, we chatted for a while but he had to get his shinkansen back to Tokyo. Interesting story behind that. His mother is native Japanese but removed since the war. This is his second time in Japan, last time he was helping his mother find her birth mother.
His mum doesn't speak Japanese so he was the interpreter. Amazingly they managed to find his grandmother here and then the rest of the family.
Nice story, anyhow for breakfast this morning got my 100 yen pastry and this time it had sweet potato filling which was a surprise.Also surprising was that it was quite nice for breakfast.
It's raining and 12 in Hiroshima today, according to google last night Osaka is overcast but not raining. It is however meant to be 12 aswell so its definetly getting colder. According to the hosts at Miyajima Backpackers yesterday was the last day of Autumn and I am definetly feeling it.
Gonna be painfull getting off the plane into Australian summer.
On the train to Osaka there was a Japanese lady sitting beside me and we got chatting about what it's like in oz, what I like about Japan and obviously what foods I like so no sleep on the train.
Got to Osaka and it was 11 with rain!! I know the temp as there was a billboard across the street. While looking at my map it dropped to 10! Got two trains to Shin-Imamiya and then had to call for directions to hotel. They provided such great information on the site. Told me which train station to get off at and which exit to leave from then three minutes on foot....
No direction, street or address.
Anyhow worked out in the end and I have checked into my room. The place is a real dive compared to any of the other places I have stayed. Cheap, cause I gave the guy a 10000 yen note he ended up only chaarging me 4000 for the three nights so I now have an extra 50 yen. Unpacked and settled in, still raining. Planned my routes etc, stil raining. Decided not to mope about anymore and caught a train to one of the parks, stil raining. Underground mall! Killed some time in there for an hour or so, all the food got me hungry and it was getting dark and colder, still raining. Came back to hotel and got some cup noodles on the way. Tonight I eat cheap and tomorrow I feast!
Think I might checkout Osaka castle tonight if it stops raining as it is supposed to really impressive by night. They light it up and apparently it shines gold.
No pics from today so far but a few of last night.
Bye

231108

Well last night was a blast. Probably the most fun I have had in Japan yet.
Ton-Jiru is awesome and there was so much of it!
I ate like a king and the beer at the hostel is quite possibly the cheapest in Japan.
150 a can which is very cheap, normally its like 300. Had this one called Chu-Hi, made by Kirin.
Not sure if it was beer as they were calling it o-sake and it didn't really have any fizz to it.
Lemon flavored so very enjoyable. They also had little nibbles which were Imake, dried squid and Anago, teriyaki style eel served cold.
Went great with the drinks. Made friends with a few of the people staying here. One Japanese guy from around Suzuka shared his sake with me and this california guy.
It was our first time so he found that quite enjoyable. You have a bit of the dried squid and a mouthfull of sake and that's the way you do it.
Gotta say Sake is allot easier to drink than I expected. Doesn't burn like vodka but warms your belly.
After that moved down the table and got chatting to another aussie! We managed to figure out how best to describe AFL to the Japanese.
Ended up as 'a combination of basketball, soccer with your hands and takling like rugby'.
One Japanese guy called Akira, yeah like the anime, was surprised they don't wear protection in rugby or AFL.
After that these girls were showing off some fans they bought with pop stars on them.
These guys are from a group called SPal and apparently they are the Japanese backstreet boys, many laughs.
Then we got talking about the pronounciation differences in english and there were many laughs from various poor trnslations.
Anyhow, after all that fun missed my initial train from Miyajima to Hiroshima but there were plenty of others so I didn't miss the shinkansen to Himeji.
Thinking I might go over to Miyajima again tonight and get a gift for Kate.
It's perfect for her and I am sure she will love it.
Well Himeji was great. On my way to the castle they had another food fair which was such a tease but I managed not to buy anything.QQ
After this I went to the castle and Koko-en garden. Himeji castle was very impressive. All those stones hand laid, crazy.

After that I went over to Koko-En garden which was gorgeous. Unfortunately half way through my camera battery died.
You missed the bamboo groves, pine forest and seedling garden. Nothing in the seedling garden really being autumn but the rest was gorgeous.
There were three ladies there playing the lay down guitar things, sounded like Shamisens but wider note range. Really set the scene.
After that headed to a few shrines but they all wanted about 500 yen admission which I cannot afford anymore.
Saw pretty much everything there was to see from outside anyhow. Headed home after that and had my instant noodles.
Tomorrow I am off to Osaka and should arrive there by 10:30. I have been advised to try TakoYaki there as its the home of TakoYaki.
I will see if I can get any for cheap but I am allowed one extravegance there and then its all Tokyo.
Bye for now.

221108

Well well peeps I have checked into Miyajima Backpackers and it is a great place. Whish they had availability for my whole stay in Hiroshima. Right on the shore three minutes from the station and awesome staff. The place is 22 days old and super clean. Tonight they are putting on a Ton-Jiru party which means free Japanese food! As you have guest this dish involves pork cause you all know they use Ton for pork, Tonkotsuten ramen is pork and prawn, this Ton-Jiru looks to be a Shabu-shuabu type deal. Pork stock with various vegetables and forms of soy bean in it. Gonna be tasty! Unfortunately I had already heated the pack of super good instant noodles I had been saving but this Ton-jiru dosn't seem to involve any meat so It may not be too filling for me.
Went over to Miyajima island today after doing some laundry and it was very beautifull, unfortuantely I hadn't realised today is the weekend so it was packed with families doing the tourist thing. That wasn't the worst part though. As you head up to each shrine the streets are lined with FOOD VENDORS! So muh tasty food and I didn't buy a single thing :> very proud of that, just hope all this sacrifice pays off in Tokyo.

Took lots of pictures and saw a Tanuki, I have no idea what to call it in engish as I have never seen one of these things before in real life or otherwise. Kinda like a racoon but without a tail?
Oh and started the day real well. Checked out of Hiroshima and into my new place and realised I had left my leather jacket in Hiroshima, first train back and they had it waiting for me. Needless to say I was extremely gratefull to them and will never leave anything behind again.
Tomorrow up early for Himeji. Should be nice as long as the weather is as good tomorrow as it was today.
Bye for now

211108

Well Fukuoka looks interesting but not enough time again! Fortunately it is the last day trip I am doing.
Everytime I show up at one of these places for a daytrip and get the map I find a good couple weeks worth of things to see and do.
When I arrived it was raining so I hopped a train to the furthest destination hoping it would fine up in the meantime.
Got to a place called Saitozaki and the weather had improved a little. No more rain but overcast with the wind.
Better the wind than rain. This place is out on a little spit with two seasidde parks on it. I went the cheaper of the two.
The place was nearly deserted presumably due to weather and the season.
Was a nice little park, had an amusement section and the rest was gardens and an animal farm.
Wandered the gardens and animal farm for what ended up being three hours! This park is huge, like an island of its own.
I imagine it would have been gorgeous in spring/summer and was still very nice at this time of year.
Found the Kangaroos in the animal park, wallabies but hey. I also saw some prairie dogs!
Very uncooperative, kept hopping up on their hind legs when I wasn't ready. Spent a good 10mins trying to get a photo of that.
After this had to hop two trains back to Hakata which is the name for the central station in Fukuoka.
Wandered the streets, got my return seat and had a bowl of what I am guessing is called "super-insano chilli and tofu ramen" for 630.
This stuff had my eyes watering and my nose running and was still incredibly tasty. The first really spicy food I have had here.
After that wandered a little more, wanted to buy a local delicacy of the hakata area called Karashi Mentaiko which is cod roe pickled in chilli.
Unfortunately the cheapest I could find was for three egg sacks at 1020 yen. Asked if they had singles(hitotsu) but they did not.
By then it was time for my train back to Hiroshima with the sun setting on a now fine day.
All in all a nice little trip out but again not enough time. The train back is the nicest yet.
Big plush seats that you dont have to recline to be comfortable, power point included and a 1min tune before anouncements.
Because I have the rail pass it didn't cost any extra for these comforts either. Pity its only a 1hr trip back.
Not many new pics as the colours were all washed out or something from the patchy light.
Tomorrow I relocate in Hiroshima, go to Miyajima Backpackers in Miyajima-guchi so I should only need to do a ferry ride to Miyajima island.
This too is covered by the rail pass as there is a JR ferry service.
Bye for now

Christmas in Hiroshima!!

Jingle bells jingle bells jingle bells rock...
For some reason that version kept popping into my head.
Today was a mixed day. Started out frustrating.

I should start by correcting an oversight on my part. The garden I paid to get into yesterday does have cultural significance.
It's name literally translates as 'shrink scenery garden' so those are mini hillsides, valley's etc and was used by the Aasano clan for many years.
Second I herby dub Hiroshima 'city of cats'. Cats on almost every corner and heaps in and around the parks.

Today, had to go between the ticket counter, JTB and city information about four times before I got my Sanyo pass.
They kept thinking it was like a Japan rail pass which can only be obtained outside the country.
Ended up all good and now have tickets to Fukuoka(aka Hakata) for tomorrow, Himeji the 23rd and Osaka 24th.
I also have tickets for Osaka to Tokyo on 27th and my ticket to Narita for the 30th.QQ
I am now also down to 40000 yen for the rest of the trip so I am glad they have great instant noodles.
After that little battle I headed for Hijiyama park which also houses Hiroshima MOMA.
Lovely park pearched on top of a rather steep hill so great views. Pretty big park so I started at the top end and strolled through to the bottom end to bring me adjacent to Peace Boulevard.
Strolled Peace boulevard which is were I saw these lights setup, was only midday so they weren't on yet. Found a flyer that had dates and times amongst the Japanese so came back tonight.
Continuing along Peace Boulevard brought me to the Peace Memorial park.
This is a big park covering what was once a busy suburb, completely destroyed by the bomb.
This is were I started getting depressed. First all of these memorials with 'the hope of world peace' can't see that any time this millenia.
Second the way the park seemed to be treated. School kids running and screaming allover the place. Climbing over monuments and gardens.
At the entrance to the park which didn't get much attention was a multilingual plaque explaning how the whole thing had been laid out so you looked between the pillars of the Peace Memorial Park Museum down what was referred to as "a view of prayer".
Guess what? Buses parked right in front of this "view of prayer". The dude who designed the place went to all the trouble to line up all the monuments and they park buses in front of it!?
Next the school kids, beating the living daylights out of the bell of peace which has clear instructions on its use, disregarded.
Then there are freaking christian converters in the park handing out flyers about god bringing peace! It was a christian country that dropped the freaking bomb!
So moved on pretty quick from there as it was getting me down.
Headed past the A-bomb dome which was more what I expected, some respect for the dead and the ideals of peace, no kids doing trivia hunts. Moved on from there to the Hypocentre, I am assuming this is the actual ground zero were the thing went off due to the name.
Had to check my map a few times and do a couple blocks but there is definetly a seven level carpark there now. Moving on.
Couple blocks up is the reconstruction of Hiroshima castle. The exterior is a reconstruction the inside is definetly not.
Paid my 350 yen to go in and see the museum and alot of the exhibts didn't have english.
This is something I have noticed in Kyoto and Hiroshima. I have seen heaps of tourists in these two cities and maybe four in Sendai but there was better english support in Sendai.
Hiroshima I would expect to have far greater english support than Sendai as I would think it a more likely tourist destination than Sendai. I mean who has heard of Sendai before this blog?
Anyhow great views from the top of the castle and what was in english was interesting.
So as you can see from the pics sun was setting as I was leaving Hiroshima castle and it was getting very chilly again.
Back to the hotel for instant noodles, different ones this time and not as good as the ones pictured, they have been the best so far, Mi-Goreng has nothing on these.
No dog in the lift this time, ate my dinner, put the heavy winter gear on and head out to see this 'Hiroshima Dreamination' the light's I mentioned earlier.
This really made me happy, the whole time I was muttering jingle bells rock or that one line I know from it.
I get an early christmas in Hiroshima and my birthday in Osaka! I was very happy.
So made some navigational errors in my ignorant bliss and landed in 'Okonomi-mura village'.
This was the hub for the cool kids. Heaps o crazy styles, so many street vendors with grilled squid, little bean paste pikachu's and those fish things I had been meaning to try for a while.
150 yen got me a fish shaped cake thing, there was this kid chanting the name to his mum but has slipped my mind. Waffle outer with the red bean paste inner.
Now I am not a fan of the bean paste but it was good hot with the waffle.
Sat and ate that while watching the crowds. Saw more koban(cops) in that five minutes than my entire trip!
After that wandered the street stalls, choc-bannans, takiyoki, bean paste waffle things in various shapes all for 150, marinated squid, grilled squid, ichie moli and sausages on sticks even chips from the sweet potato thing I tried in Sendai.
Managed to get through all that culinary delight whithout making another purchase.QQ
Disoriented me though so took me a half hour to get my bearings and get home.
Today also set a record for pictures, 70 odd new pics uploaded mostly of my early christmas.
Enjoy..

19110801

Another hotel without wireless. Have to use their PC too but I am cheating. Dynamic IP and no MAC restrictions, hehe.
Well I braved the cold and am so glad I did. Wasn't so cold tonight as the wind had died down.
While I was wandering the streets I could have sworn there was a bit of snow. Little flaky wet things from the sky but only lasted a few seconds so I'm not sure if it was or not.
While looking at various menus I was given a coupon for a place called Za Watami.
Paid for 1000 yen if I spent more than 500. Had to ask this old guy at the front desk for translation.
Fortunately he seems to be the english speaking member of the staff so he clarified for me.
Very stylish place and looked quite popular. I only know this from the number of people coming and going as they kept me away from the rest of the people.
That I was ok with, what I was not ok with was the english menu they gave me. Didn't have half the good looking stuff on the Japanese menu. Fortunately even the Japanese one had pics for everythig so I pointed.
For starters I had Gyoza and a serve of Salmon sashimi. The sashimi was awesome! The Gyoza was good too but I have had this a couple times before.
This time though it came with what turned out to be a vinegar type sauce and some hot sauce.
With these it was a totally new dish, delicious. After this I ordered what ended up being Salmon Yuke.
Salmon Yuke, I will never forget my first! A little bed of cucumber and onion, raw Salmon strips topped with roe and those little not sesame seed things and some shredded lettuce-ish type stuff that isn't, all finished with a drizzle of egg yolk.
This was amazing, I wish I could have told them how good this was for me in Japanese. If it weren't for the cost I would have had a second. Ended up resorting to the mind blowing gesture as it was.
On this note I have started a charity, the "help me eat more Salmon Yuke" fund. If you would like to donate email me at the usual addresses. ;>
I also ordered a beer and they nearly ended up charging me twice as I had to enquire as to where it was once I had finished the Gyoza and Sashimi.
With the voucher ended up costing me 600 yen, the price of the Salmon Yuke. Tomorrow is instant noodles QQ
Off the food topic, tomorrow I am going to JTB and getting all my essential expenses out of the way so I can budget in more Salmon Yuke :>
Gonna be an expensive day. Will get the Sanyo pass(30000), tickets for Osaka to Tokyo(14050), pay for accomodation for two nights in Osaka(6000), accomodation at tokyo(6000) and the ticket to Narita airport(?).
This outlay should guarantee that I can at least get on the plane, although I would rather not. QQ
That's all for now, tomorrow will no doubt be heaps of pics of Miyajima as it's listed as one of the top three views in Japan.
Once I have done this one I think I will have two under my belt as I am pretty sure Matsushima is on the list as well.
If there is time after JTB and Miyajima I will drop by Hiroshima Castle and the Peace Memorial Park
Bye from Hiroshima.

191108

Well all I have arrived in my second last stop in Japan, not counting Tokyo as I have stopped there already.
Was up at 8 this morning for the 9:30 Nozomi train to Hiroshima. Got the trains fine, only took 1.5 hours.
Took me a while to find the hotel again but I can at least narrow them down to a couple blocks now.
The trouble with this one was that it has no english signage so I went past it a few times.
Checked into my Japanese style room. Little dissapointing, no screen doors like I was expecting but tatamae mats on a raised floor and the bed is a futon on the floor.
Very good location though, now that I know where it is. 3mins from the station which will be good for Miyajima and Fukuoka.
Checked in and then headed out to see a few sites. Went to Shukkeien garden as it was nearby. Nice garden but the first I have had to pay for to get in.
250 yen and not the garden I would have chosen to pay for. No cultural significance and does not compare to Nara or Nikko.
Made sure I took plenty of photos so that I got my moneys worth.
It seems to be getting colder as I head south which I find weird as I was expecting it to get warmer but anyhow.
So I wandered about the gardens for a few hours with an icey wind blowing the whole time.
By the time I was heading out of the gardens my nose was numb so I decided I would head home.
Picked up some instant noodles for a late lunch as I don't think I will be braving the night tonight.
Lady asked if chopsticks were ok for the second time. Got back to the hotel, elevator door opens and there is a dog standing in the elevator.
I look at it it looks at me, I don't know which floor it wanted so I moved to the side and he heads out!
Interesting.
Gotta say I am very worried about how much shopping I am going to be able to do in Tokyo.
Got prices on my next few destinations and can save 5000 yen if I get the area rail pass which is 30000.
That will leave me with 60000. The trip from Osaka to Tokyo will cost 14050 leaving 45950 for accomodation in Osaka and Tokyo plus food in between.
Anyhow, new pics of the garden and a couple shots of the river here. I might try going out if I get hungry enough but hopefully tomorrow will be a bit warmer or at least not so windy.
See/speak to you all in a couple weeks I guess. QQ

17+181108

Im back,

Well I dunno what was going on with my blogger access but I have got it back.
New pics from Ise, yesterday and today Nara. Ise was really nice, don't let the lack of pictures fool you. The shrines were not much to look at compared to what I have seen previously. I am pretty sure these were shinto shrines which is probably why they were plain compared to the others. Although not much to look at the place had this vibe and as you all know I am not religious but you could feel it, except when a tour group came past and the guide started yelling whatever. I was reminded of the phrase "hows the serenity" but doubt any of them would have known what I said let alone pick up the cultural reference. Anyhow when I was out of earshot of the tourists it was incredible. These shrines are rebuilt every whatever years as per some holly dudes decree so that may also explain the lack of detail. All of them are set in this big forest which was just gorgeous. Birds twittering, that smell of a rainforest which is the same here as in oz and a helicopter buzzing around overhead. Hows the serenity.

Today was Nara which was also gorgeous. Lots of gardens and lakes and of course the Baidutsuden. Wow, the Baidutsuden is incredible. The building itself isn't that old anymore as it was lost to war and fire a few times but the great Buddha statue inside goes back to the 7th century. Insane, he sits on a lotus and each leaf is intricately carved diagrams that basically illustrates the whole buddhist philosophy. The incredible part is that each leaf is supposed to be identical. Now I can't verify that as you can't get close enough to see the leaves but it wouldn't surprise me. The place was swarming with school kids and tourists so not exactly a solem moment but damned impressive. I took a big vid of that as there was too much to photograph plus I wasn't keen on flashing the Buddha with his guardians there. Still haven't go the video thing working but I am on it so soon. There were a few other shrines about and I managed to get to a couple of them and this little museum thing that wasn't on the map but had a special exhibt of some original armour and swords from samurai days. Very cool stuff. The also had this pair of huge drums that apparently had been replicated at great expense. While I was looking at the originals and the replica's I noticed that there was an error. On each of the drums in the middle they have this symbol I have been seeing all over Japan. Now I checked this out a few times. On the replicas the two drums have different symbols in the centre. On the originals the symbol is the same and on the sketches of the originals the symbol is the same. None of the other people seemed to notice and pictures were not allowed so I can't back this up with images but I am sure somewhere someone screwed up big. The cost of the replicas was something like 60 000 000 yen which is why their known as the worlds most valuable drums so I am guessing someone lost their job for that.
The swords were gorgeous. All originals dating back to 12-14BC with scabards and two sets of armour, one battle use and one parade use also originals, both were beautifull, whish I could take pics in these museums as I would really prefer to record the things I have seen in those than some of these shrines.
Anyhow, that took up all day. Wandering the parks and shrines instead of power walking like so many other tourists foreign and Japanese. There was this one pair that really got me. I was reading this thing about the base of a temple that used to be in with the 5 story pagoda, they come up and read along with me. Blah blah dates back to 5th century or whatever, then they go and sit on it!! I'm like WTF? they just finished reading about its history and cultular heritage and they don't think it might be wise to park their asses somewhere else? weird.
Had to hustle back to get the last rapid service train home which takes an hour as it is. Got dinner from a new place tonight and was dissapointed. I am about to go out again and get some instant noodles as it did not do the trick.
Tomorrow Hrioshima, tickets booked and all so will let you know how that goes tomorrow night.

161108

So, Kyoto isn't going too bad after all but I am still trying to stay near stations. Today I used the subway for the first time, cost an extra 200 yen as my rail pass doesn't cover subway but made it easy and saved some walking(feet hate me right now). Subway trains are packed. Was crammed in but no dudes on the platform to squeeze that extra person in so maybe in my last few days in Tokyo I will have the privelege of being stuffed into a train. I have no doubt that when they do it they are extremely polite about it.
Caught the sub up to the International Manga Museum which was interesting and their admission fee was excessive for a tourist. Its really a library more than a museum. Walls and walls of manga, none in english of course. Couple little displays on international equivalents to manga which were cool.
So after that wandered down the street to Nijo castle. Absolutely freaking gorgeous garden's in this place. Took heaps o pics and a few videos as they were just too big and beautifull to do with digital wides. These places always amaze me with the detail. This one was from the 1800's and had so many little intricacies. When you consider most of this stuff was done with chizel and hammer or whatever primitive tools they had its incredible how much time they must have put into them.
So after wandering around for a while there headed down the road for the train station when I realized Shinsen-en garden was across the road.
Popped into there and am so glad I decided to walk the JR station instead of taking the subway otherwise I would have missed it altogether. Lovely little lump of serenity in the middle of the city. A number of pics were taken again.
I am also going to be putting the videos I have taken so far on youtube and for the sake of organasition will be embedding them in the relevant posts so you may want to have a scroll down again to see if anything takes your fancy.
Weather is looking a little better for the next few days, no rain just overcast so tomorrow will be Nara/Ise. Then Tuesday checkout of Kyoto and onto Hiroshima for my last stay. Will hopefully be there seven days, do Miyjima, Fukuoka, Osaka and possibly whichever I don't do tomoroow depending on cost and time.
I dont want to belive its all coming to an end already but I have decided unless I spend like two months here there just wouldn't be enough time.

151108

Hey hey,
Well today was quite succesfull. Got to Higashi-honganji and Nishi-honganji shrines plus the Kyoto Museum without getting lost! All these places are however very close to Kyoto station so that made it easy. The shrines were gorgeous. Higashi is huge and one of the largest wodden buildings in the world apparently. Unfortunately and proly for that reason the whole thing is enclosed in outer bilding of metal but inside is incredible but no photos allowed. Wandered in there for almost an hour just looking at the screens and the little architraves or whatever. Very intricate for their age. I then headed to Nishi which is another sect's temple. Equally impressive. On the way there was going through this area I have dubbed "buddhist town" as its a bunch of streets all with shops selling only Buddhist trinkets. Pretty interesting. In Nishi there was a pidgeon with hayfever! Freaked me out to start with the I felt sorry for it as I know what this is like.
After Nishi I made my way over to the Kyoto museum. Initially went for a sword and armour display but fell in love with this stuff called Maki-e which is a type of lacquer-ware. Will be buying much of this before I leave. So intricate and unbelievably beautifull. Fortunately for me there was a special exhibit on the stuff at the moment so that was well timed. Cost me 1400 yen to get in but well worh it. No photography or sketches allowed but I won't be forgeting it and will try and get some genuine Japanese stuff to bring home. Wiki has some good examples of the simpler stuff which I think is the most beautifull but pictures don't do it justice. Anyhow, spent a couple hours in the museum then headed back to base to eat.
Last night I had Altima Curry or some such which came with a raw egg on it. You mix it in and the curry cooks the egg, delicious and filling. Tonight was a rice bowl dish with strips of beef that came with a whole raw egg, still in the shell and an egg seperating device. Had to ask for directions on what to do but was much the same as last night, split the egg mix the yolk through. Wasn't sure I wanted to know what to do with the whites so I just left it.
After that headed back into Kyoto station as there was an art festival type thing on. Had awesome live tunes and some graffiti artists. There was this stall there with crazy scary masks and a couple dudes all dressed up as monsters wearing the masks. I was looking at this one that appeared to be a statue as it had been in the same spot when I past it on the way back from the museum. It wasn't and the dude freaked the hell out of me! In the same stall were these beautifull soulful pictures and they had some of them on postcards. One really got to me so I bought the postcard, only 100 yen so I can afford it. Will check out the ladies site later to see her other works. Have uploaded a photo of it as I am not going to post it. Might get a little frame for it when I get home.
So the tunes were awesome, one band that I think is called Audio Safari is like the Japanese version of Portishead so right up my ally. Another was wild jazzy funk stuff, they are called "Mouse on the keys" Had to explain what this meant to the guy I asked as their name was in english. Micky mouse I said, and keys, piano bits. Ahh, so-da he says. Had a rockin DJ going when the graf artists were doing their thing but didn't get his name.
Then came back to find I no longer have the room to myself. Five spanish guys I think, not very talkative and in their little group.
Tomorrow I plan to go to Nara or Ise depending which is closer after going to the Kyoto International Manga Museum and Nijo castle. Should be good If I don't get lost.
Till next time peeps,

141108

Well people I am now in western Japan.
Managed to get the cash and get out of Tokyo without street signs. I have no idea how they do it. It's the same in Kyoto which really sucks as it just screws up the whole experience. Even a number of the people I have asked could not tell me where they were. Twice I have asked at convenience stores and the guy who works there could not tell me were it was! Two of the travel information centres have looked up addresses and the position ended up being wrong so something is not right here.
Went looking for a place for dinner and got lost. Got some directions from a pair of beautifull Japanese girls in a sushi shop were I ended up having a snack before the main course. Pretty sure this was my first sushi in Japan too. Delicious crab meat with roe and pickle.
So they point me to the road outside and tell which way to head up it till I come to the main road near were I am staying. 15mins later and I still haven't come to the turn so I turn, things get familar and wouldn't you know it I come across the street I was after signed at this intersection but I had to double back. I had crossed the street I was after without knowing it as they don't sign any streets at all intersections. Neither of the roads involved are minor at any stage either so I have no idea how or why they do it this way but they must have a trick. Really amazes me how the cities are so large but they only sign one in 1000 streets and they don't sign them at every intersection or even major intersection's.
Got one of the two Japan West rail passes. One company, two passes which overlap but neither covers the other entirely! Plus the rail system in Kyoto that covers the majority of the city is not included so things are gonna get pricey or I'm gonna waste alot of time finding a point were the street I am on is signed.
Looks like Sendai is gonna be the highlight. Simple to navigate, plenty of action and damn good food.
On the shinkansen here we pasted Mt Fuji and I managed to get a couple reasonable shots that have been uploaded. I have checked into the hostel I am staying at for the next four nights. Pretty good location but tomorrow morning I will be putting landmarks on the maps I have. Thats the other thing that sucks, the maps. Saw this enourmous mall when I was lost and thought, thats gotta be on the map. This thing is like queen street with 5 levels and all indoors. What do you know, neither of the two maps I have had it on then! Between the two maps I don't even have names for all the major roads which doesn't really matter when the streets don't have the names on them in RL anyhow.
Now if they put the Pachinko parlours on the maps it'd be impossible to get lost :>
I dunno how things are gonna go from here, If I can't figure out how to reliably navigate It's gonna screw up this part of the trip. I'm already thinking twice about going to a few places because of this which is stupid but ....
Here's hoping Hrioshima has signed streets.
Till next time

131108

Hey peeps,

Back in Tokyo for my last cash injection. Got the three trains fine right down to the cars. Once in Tokyo though took me almost two hours to find the hostel.
Forgot that in Tokyo the maps, ads, websites and business cards have street names but the streets themselves don't. That is the thing I hate most about Tokyo. Sendai I could find anywhere easy cause they had the street names on the maps and the streets themselves. Hoping Kyoto will not be like Tokyo in that sense. Anyhow, got there in the end, lovely Japanese couple lead me all the way from a couple blocks away so that was sweet. Have my accomodation in Kyoto booked and will be at the bank at 9am tomorrow. I know were that place is so should be easy.
After that going to the station and booking next train to Kyoto.
A couple new pics today but not much exciting, was on trains most of the day.
Met a cool french guy here at the hostel. Julian, my first international friend. Traded emails and we are now in each others contact lists.
Thats all for Today, Tomorrow should be more interesting as the train only takes 1.5 hours so I will be able to see some sights after ditching the big pack.
Bye for now.

121108

Well what a day,

Went into Aomori to get my next few stops organised and made a complete mess of the train. Was on the right train and three stops away when I was overcome by unceartainty. I hop off the train to check and of course the station is unmanned! So I manage to decipher the timetable and find that I was three stops away but now have to wait for an hour for the next train!! On the upside it did give me time to think out the rest of my trip. This is when I came to the devastating realization that I only have two more weeks in Japan!! Still so much unseen and haven't even touched Aomori or Hirosaki which I was really looking forward to. I am seriously considering pushing my flight back a week so I can get back up here after going south.

So when I get to Aomori, find the JTB(Japan Tourist Branch) and stumble through my broken Japanese and mostly english maps I get the following info.
From here to Tokyo costs nothing, JREast pass is v handy. First train from here at 8am get into Tokyo 2:30pm, all good. Tokyo to Kyoto takes 2.5 hours, sweet and costs 13520 yen!! Ouch! Once Im in Kyoto I can get to Ise in 2 hours at 3520 yen one way. Hiroshima is 1.5 hours away at 10790 yen, one way. Fukuoka also is only 1 hour away and at that stage I didn't really want to get another price. Suffice to say I may not be able to extend my trip and get to Hirosaki and Aomori properly. I was really looking forward to that part as there is a little 'Edo period' village they use for movies and Hirosaki castle, famous for its cherry blossom trees which I suppose wouldnt be much to look at this time of year anyhow. Haven't looked for prices on accomodation in Kyoto yet so it may not be much of a shopping spree in Tokyo before I leave.
I guess we will have to see how much yen I end up with after conversion. Having said that just checked the rate and its pretty poor. Should end up with about 127 900 not deducting bank fees! I still have 40 odd thousand after the hotel here in Goshogawara so it all hinges on what sort of accomadition I can get in Kyoto.
Anyhow, dinner tonight was interesting, Nori Bento, battered fish with rice, seaweed, gari and a damn spice little shreaded black vegetble. Tasty and fillig. I also had my first shop bought coffe today, before getting train prices of course. 650 yen and no espresso so I'll be sticking to the drip stuff I've been getting for 400 yen for four cups in Lawsons. Not a bad brew and not 600 a cup! Managed to catch a few of the lads back in OZ on msn and email so that was cool. One fool was under the impression I was back in Oz and had invited me to his place tonight, sorry mate don't think I'll make it :p

Anyhow, doing my laundry and a repack before heading back to Tokyo tomorrow so till next time....
PS - some new pics of cool looking moths, they might look broken in the pics but their not and a lovely sunset view from the train on the way back to Goshogawara.

111108

Irrashie mina!
Well I think I got my Picasa mess sorted. Now have the one album with all the pics in it. Bad news is it appears all but three or so of my Nikko pics are corrupted. Hopefully when I get back to my system at home I will be able to work some magic as there were many very nice pics.
Goshogawara, should be billed as 'City of barbers'. Today and last night I have seen more barbers than in my two weeks in Sendai. I finally got to an onsen today too! It was really nice. I think I did the right things, cleaning before hand and all. I'm not sure if this was a naturally occuring one or not. Most of them here are all inside buildings which is understandable but caused doubt, I really should have gone to the one in Matsushima as that I know is naturally occuring. They had three pools, one cold, one bubbly warm and one you could poach an egg in. It took me a while but I finally braved all three. Bubbles were real good on my poor feet and shoulders. I freaked the staff out when trying to figure out the sauna as I saw a switch on the wall and thought, needs to be turned on. Wrong! that was the "I'm melting!" button but after a few apologies It was all good.
Managed to get a good dinner last night, there are a pair of take out places down the road from the hotel. Last night was grilled fish in a sauce not unlike teriyaki, not as sweet though. Tonight was little dumpling things with fried chicken, pink ginger and some yellow ginger(maybe). All very tasty and quite filling. The picture had what looked like natto but there was none in my dish so I hope that was the only thing they changed for me! Oh, when I got my dinner last night for the first time they asked if chopsticks were OK! I was like, muchironde(naturally) so the poor lady was bowing and apologising till I was out of sight.
I am not going to be able to do Aomori or Hirosaki from here as it takes too long to get there and the first and last trains for here don't allow for alot of time. For that reason and all the things I've seen advertised for around the two places I am going to Tokyo Thursday and Friday for the cash drop then back up and staying in Aomori for a week. From Aomori I am sure I can see most of the things I want to. I also saw an ad for a festival in Okinawa but I don't think I can get there in time and do Aomori + Hirosaki properly. Fortunately with this new cash injection I can stay places longer and maybe get closer to seeing everything there is in each place. This doesn't mean I can get all of Japan done without coming back : >
Anyhow, In my latest set of pics uploaded is a pic of one of their enourmous apples, had to get a knife for it as there is no way I could eat all of it in one go. Delicious too so their quantity and quality. Thats about it for now, the school kids in Goshogawara love saying hello and bye bye to a real life gaijin too so that was amusing.
Couple more shrines for tomorrow and gotta organise my trip back to Tokyo.
Also gonna see if I can find a place that does this omlette type thing with Oysters, they cook it all in the shell, they add a fish stock to the oyster then mix an egg through so should be tasty if I can find it. Apparently there are a buch of places that do Fugu around here too but I think I'll try that in a big city were there's not so much risk of a dodgy chef!
Till the next installement.

101108

Well all I have arrived in Goshogawara and successfully got to my hotel.
This is going to be an interesting place to navigate as there is no travel information centre and its got no street names.
Fortunately the ticket guy at the train station was able to point me in the right direction. It seems they don't use street names except in their advertising and business cards. Asked the guy were azamachi dori(street) was and he gave a funny look. Asked with the hotel name and he new were I needed to go straight away.
Its weird, so many parts of their society are so well organise and then others are just a mess!
So I have finnaly figured out how to use the signs at the train stations. Got my first train perfectly right down to being at the right spot for my car. That got me to Hachinohe, I was a little worried about that transfer as there was not much of a window but it worked out. Rail line went along the ocean(umi) for a while which was very nice when we weren't in a tunnel. Got of at Aomori for the last transfer, this station was somewhat smaller and not as well signed so I ended up going to the gate only to find I needed the same platform i got off at. Had half an hour for this transfer so I had a bowl of ramen with fried bean curd for lunch before getting on the train with time to spare. This train was a Diesel and announcements were in Japanese only. Fortunately I have picked up that tsugiwa is next so I just listend carefully for "tsugiwa goshogawara". This Aomori prefecure appears to be the apple isle of Japan. For a good ten minutes or so there was nothing but apple orchards outside the train as far as I could see on both sides. The apples here are huge too, have yet to try one so it might be quantity over quality but thats something I will find out. It appears that today is a local holiday in Goshogawara so there may not be anything tasty for dinner but as always there is a Lawsons down the road so I won't starve.
The second train was bound for Hokkaido(largest northern island) and had a little info thing on the tunnel the train goes through. There is actually a station in the tunnel so maybe next time I am here in a warmer season I will head up to Hokkaido and stop there on the way. These guys are awesome engineers with their carparks and bike racks etc.
It also looks like this might not be such a great spot to get to Aomori and Hirosaki, on the map is only two stops away but the train here changed direction three times and took about 1.5 hours from Aomori.
Better go find some dinner as its a small town so hours probably aren't as long as in Sendai and as I said today might be a holiday. Oh this hotel room is v spacious. I can actually stretch both arms out in the bathroom! Got a great view from my hotel room on the 4th floor so I will take some pics and try to sort the Picasa mess later tonight.
Bye

The beautifull details

Hey Peeps,
Well I seem to have noobed my picasa album. Local Picasa says I have one, the default, website picasa says I have four and the blog says I have two so your missing out on some pics. Will endeavour to resolve this asap.
I must admit Im not much of a travelogger, been leaving out details so here they are in all their beauty and chronological order.
I have been seeing this chain of pharmacies around that has the best name, "The Drug Penguin, For the nice tomorrow" and a pic of quite a happy penguin. Haven't had my cam whenever I've seen one though so no pics.
When I was in Akihabra, Tokyo after having Ichie Molie and my first Umeshu I had to get a pack of Natto as it was recommend by the locals. This is fermented soybeans. About as messy as fondu and pretty average really. Supposed to be quite healthy, smells funky and doesn't really taste like much at all. I think I mentioned the spicy takiyoki (octopus balls) I had in Akihabra, better than the ones I had in Sendai. I found out what the tasteless flaky stuff was on them, a dried fish sauce type thing is what the lady said I think. For lunch one time in Tokyo, I wasn't entirely sure were I was at the time, I had one of those iconic rice triangles with the strip of seaweed. There was some sort of seed through it that looked like seaseme but tasted very different.
Next was Nikko which was famous for its laquerware when that stuff wasn't mass produced. There was this little museum devoted to the old way of doing it. Incredible how they get so detailed with such primitive tools. According to the info there they would apply at least 100 coats of laquer with powdered carbon between each layer! Beautifull pieces in there. For lunch after visiting the shrines of Nikko I had a curry bun which was very nice and filling. Still in Nikko they had a number of little graveyards scattered about town and all the gravestones were spotless, nothing like the one in fairfield. Its all really clean here which I find strange considering they dont have any bins on the streets here except next to the vending machines which I suppose are three to a block!
Sendai now, arrived at the train station and was looking at my map for all of 5 mins and a guy called Wataru comes up and asks If Im lost! He then goes on to walk me all the way to my hotel! The next day I am getting bearings before walking through town to Aoba-jo(Aoba castle) and another guy points me in the right direction so I start heading off and he tells me he will give me a lift! Drives me all the way there, As a result I did have difficuly getting back but all good in the end. Sendai people rule!
The castle was very touristy but looked out over the city. Heaps of families dressing their kids in Kimono and the male version(Yakuta?) there off. Then I noticed this little dragon dancing thing, watched it for a bit before I realized it was one of there robitics kits!! Classic Japan if you ask me. A robot doing a 100/1000yr old dance. After that went to the city museum down the road and learned a bit about Date Masumune. Did you know he had emmisaries dispatched to Rome and even went over to Korea! Dude is very cool and the pope of the time gave him citizenship, especially when you consider he was blind in one eye from childhood(smallpox). That was the night I had dinner off the map. Gyoza and griled eggplant cooked by Koujiro. They gave me a voucher for next time but I couldn't find the place again. The second cook there, Shima was a Uni student and we traded info on our countries. When I got back to the hotel there was some variety/dating show with a Japanese girl in kakadu! I even recognised some of the places as ones I had been to on my visit.
I've tried matcha ice cream(made from powdered green tea) with coloured Sago balls(seaweed based jelly if i recall correctly), not bad but not my idea of a desert, seen yoghurt flavoured pepsi but no V or Dare iced coffee. I finally had one of those sticky buns with the bean paste centre, again not my idea of a sweet but not really unpleasent. The ramen here is awesome. First one I had was Tonkotsuten ramen which is pork and prawn with a pickled egg. Another one I had was tomato based, not what I expected but I've only got the pictures to go by. Lunch one day was a sushi/sashimi plate from a seafood market up the road from the hotel. I think thats what I like most here, everything is mixed in. Across the road from this seafood market is a seven story department store called EBeans which is ladies fashion cosmetics etc, udon store and takiyoki store on ground floor though. In Brissy you'd have to go from rocklea into the cbd for that sort of trip. Then two blocks up are pachinko parlours(sooooo noisy) and Labi, a fantistic electronics store. Three blocks across is a lovely little park, these are small tall blocks too.
Anyhow this is too long for a post and I think we are about up to date. Let me finish by saying that counting in japanese is crazy. You have one suffix for counting drinks except beer which is a different one. You have another suffix for counting animals except birds which is different again and depending on what your counting can change the actual word for the number itself. eg 5=go/yon.
Future posts will be shorter but with current details.
Not missing Oz at all ;p

091108.01

Hey All,

Well today is my last day in Sendai. Went to the Sendai Mediatheque instead of Matsushima as the weather was crummy again but no icey wind today so that was a plus.
This place had a library and two gallery floors in it. One of the galleries was nice, pictures of scenery and some paintings. The other floor was poetry I guess, all written in Japanese so kinda missed the point but there was also a little section on birth or lifecycle or something, japanese only information so not entirely sure but nice anyhow. Apparently this building won an architectural award in 2002 as it doesn't have any pillars, guessing that would be better translated as upright support beams, very stlish. The elevators had all their circuit boards exposed which I thought was cool. Tried to get a decent pic for Kate but its on Jozenji-dori which is lined with trees so was kind of obscured. There shoud be more pics in the slideshow now of Tokyo and Nikko but I seem to have lost some of them. I have half a dozen memory cards here from three devices so there in here somewhere just gotta find them.
Went to the travel agency today and got fantastic assitance on my journey to Goshogawara which is north west of Aomori. I am staying there as the accomidation is cheaper and its only about 30mins out from Aomori by train so its a good compromise.
The lady at the travel agency was awesome, got me the times for all three trains and even reserved a seat for me on each of them which I think I should have paid for but I'll take what I can get for free without complaints. : >
Thats it for now. Unless I find the photos tonight after dinner my next post will be from Goshogawara.
Bye

091108

Hey Hey devoted followers.
Well I finally got some of the pics uploaded. These are only of Sendai and Matsushima as the others are on my phone and since connecting it to a power to usb charger its been funky. Will probably get a card adapter for its sd card if its still playing up tomrrow and put those on too.
Now a couple of those pics I should explain, one is of a Bidet but it just looks like a toilet, I am not a very good photographer but any how it was a novelty thing.
There are a couple there that look a little odd as they are 'digital wide' shots and again I'm not much of a photographer but you should get the general idea.
I should be in contact more frequently now as I can use these luddites wired connection's.
I have booked accomidation for Aomori starting Monday and if the weather is looking any better tomorrow I will head to Matsushima to try out one of these onsens. As I'm sure you understand there may not be many shots of that, privacy and all but there is another shrine out there I missed and I may even do one of the cruises of the bay if the weather is no good for onsen-ing.
Hope your all jealous and I will keep you posted.
Till next time,

Catchup Post

Well no doubt you all think im dead by now and constructing a shrine to rival the Tokugawa's in my honour so don't stop on my account! :>
Let me start by saying that Loney Planet Japan got it wrong when they said Sendai is a good base of ops in the north of Japan. Very little english is spoken or understood here except for some of the friendlier uni students generally studying the language. Post office, banks, non western hotel chains you can forget about it.
Second, there english map is either outdated or trippin.
Only one of the three net cafes on it exist and there is no Aust consulate, plus my hotel is Chisan on the map but Chisun in RL.
So thats the bad, the good is it's sorta like a little Tokyo but every street has a name and there signed too.
This is the home of the Date clan, for those of you who have seen Ikkitiousen Date Masamune should be a familar name.
Anyhow, believe we left off in Nikko. Been in Sendai almost two weeks now, leave for Aomori Monday. Sendai is lovely, 'city of trees' is how they advertise it. This Masamune Date dude was awesome, like a renaissance man but pretty sure he was well prior to that.


Been to Matsushima twice now, one nite trip another day. Both with there own appeals. Thinking i'll go again as there is a bunch of onsen's out there been in use since this Masamune guy and proly prior too.
The crazy things Ive seen!? Will get pics uploaded v soon, promise! Great seafood here and in Matsushima.

Couple notes for the tech guys, power to usb dosn't appear to output same power as pc usb ports, no wireless in starbucks and a few of these hotels also did i mention Akihabra prices for electronics ain't as good as there made out?
Well thats it for now folks. Will try to keep u up to dae more often.
C ya.

Day 5

Hey Hey followers : >

Nikko is gorgeous, would consider coming back again but staying somewhere more 'japanese' closer to town. Going to sendai tomorrow, all booked in.
Will be there till Monday when I suspect I will head to Aomori. After that its south, looking too expensive to get to Hokkaido without the rail pass. That and its snowing, would be nice to check out the Ainu stuff up there though.

So Nikko is very nice, walked through the town and just the peoples yards are gorgeous. Saw busloads of people going through the town missing all the lovely little local non-tourist shrines and stuff. Bunch of Japanese school kids all said hello to me and freaked me out a bit, they were stoked when I replied Ohio, it was morning btw. Had a curry bun thing for lunch from a busy little bakery, tasty, had no iea what was in it till I bit in.

The stories of American tourists seems to be pretty accurate too. Had a couple of obnoxious ones making stupid requests to the poor hostess here, no japanese language whatsoever.

Anyhow, Sendai is looking tasty, costal so lots of seafood and from what I saw in tokyo should be great quality.

Anyhow, still time limited so gotta go, I'll try and get the photos online in Sendai and I might even get a prepaid phone, no promises though, bit worried bout my cash but havent had to make a withdrawl yet.

Ja mina!

Day 3 and 4

Sorry I didn't post yesterday.
Went out for dinner at a little grill bar and met a lovely couple from Nagano.
We had a few beers and Iche Moli, which is a mixture of skewered grilled meats.
This was classic peasent food and very tasty. There was chicken stomach, breast cartlidge, skin and mince. After this had some Umeshou, my new drink of choice.
Made from sweet plums and damned tasty. This is the stuff you can get in 711 too!

So, went to imperial palace gardens for a little bit this morning, nothing too exciting as could not go inside today!! will have to do this again when I am back in Tokyo.
Some cormarants in one of the moats and a statue of Kusunoki Masashige, some samurai dude.
Also wandered around Ginza, very classy. After this caught a train to Nikko.

Nikko, beautifull, cool and tranquil. I may have found a great place for you and dad, mum.
It's called Nikko Park Lodge. Western but the location is great. I think dad could tollerate this and you would be very happy with the surrounds. There are a few waterfalls and shrines around. Its in the middle of this forest but still easy to get to. On the way I went through Utsunomiya which looked quite traditional and is an interchange point so I will probably end up wandering around there abit later on.

Oh, the rail system suck's. I caught the train Nikko, train is called yamabiko and the destination was morioka!!? No mention of nikko.

Anyhow, on a time limit here so gotta go.

Day2

Konbonwa　mina. Got a keyboard now so will make this longer.
What a day! Haven`t walked that far in a long time.
Spent the day wandering Tokyo. Many very cool things to see.
These Japanese make use of every space extremley well.
Got some shots of a parking solution for Cam`s lowered car. :>

Saw some temples today, one pretty big one between akihabara station and a trucking company.
Looked real old and was almost strangely sheltered from the surrounding city. There was another pretty small one on the ground floor of this 20 storey building. Love the contrasts!
Not sure if I am behind the times or not but saw coke with vitamin c and diet coffee.
Thats right, not decaffe but diet!!? wtf? Also at 711`s you can get 18% alchohol. Something based on plums, right there on the shelf next to the other cool drinks!

Anyhow, lunch was one of those rice triangles in seaweed and a can of mango, mango drink was delicious and the rice triangle had a very unusual flavour in a nutty, pleasnt way.
After this I found like a CBD sized area that appeared entirely devoted to hats and female fashion accesories. That was for you vette :>

Mum, sounds like the place for you would be Ise, met this guy who had been here a few times already researching the Ainu and he was telling me about how the Japanese seem to love Ise, from what he told me it sounds beautifull. After wandering a while longer I found a couple parks and spent some more time in Akihabra. Every goddam shop is multi levels, so over stairs. Looks like I probably wont be buying any electronics cept robots as although they are ahead of us the prices are not that different to Australia/ebay. I will definetly be buying many anime items though, incredible stuff really. After this I got a can of sweet lemon and it was like solo but with pulp, delicious and freaked me out the first sip!

I was planning on going to roppongi for a few drinks tonight but got talking to this guy, much helpfull info on getting around and were to go. He doesn`t speak a word of japanese and has been here 5 times now, each for about two weeks!
Tomorrow I am going try to get to the imperial palace park and Tokyo, Wednesday will probably be boring as I am trying to organise a shinkansen(bullet train) to nikko to see the old castle and so forth there.

Thats it for now, will upload the pics once I can remeber my flikr details, nothing to get excited about yet though as I have just been using my phone.
Oyasumi.

Arrival

Ohio mina!!
Made it too tokyo and my pod.
Am now using their wifi to blog with an osk so i'll keep it short.
Glad i got my gps with me! Looking for charger and camera today.
Had tachiyoko(i thhink?), squid balls, tasty and filling.
They have the queen st mall of anime etc here.
An entire pachinko palor were prizes are figurines.
I'll posr again later. Gotta checkout.