- To all men comes a time when you have seen enough temples
- A really good way of testing how much you love Japanese food is to visit an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant that provides a variety of food styles. Portion of chips or fish heads in slop I wonder?
- There is always a lovely cheap cafe selling gorgeous noodles for about £2 right after you have given up hope and gone to the overpriced place because you were too hungry to walk. Annoying!
- If you don't like cold green tea, you are unlikely to like green tea ice cream. Who thinks that stopped us?
- You have to be very careful when buying snacks out here; rice crackers with whole dried fish in them, rolls with sweet bean paste cunningly hidden inside, every bite is an adventure. Kara: "It's not that I'm squeamish, I just don't like it when my food looks at me".
- The life of your average Samurai seemed to consist largely of sitting around watching other people do all the work, before committing some minor faux pas then dying in some incredibly grisly self inflicted manner.
- Heated toilet seats are awesome. Also why have we in England been lifting up the toilet lids all our lives.? Like suckers. Put them on auto lift when you walk in!
- The low chairs and beds are killing us. We ain't that supple.
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Things we have learnt in the last few days
Bitesize Japan
Lots to do in Japan but we aren't really staying anywhere long enough to see all of it. Instead we are getting a flavour of what it has to offer and where we will come to when we return...
Around Kyoto
You could seriously just live in Kyoto and still not visit every park, museum, temple or shrine. We took Jo and Nate's advice and headed out of town a bit to Inari-jinja (Inari Temple and shrine).
Temples and shrines in Japan can be large sprawling affairs over a whole hill. Investigating one can be more like hiking than just popping in to your local church. Inari-jinja has loads of red gates covering the pathways to the top of the hill, with shrines and graveyards along the way. You get to the top and see views of Kyoto and also down to the main temple area.
As we have some new momentum, we then hopped back on the train and headed to Nara.
Nara is the type of place you could spend 2 days in. Or in our case, an afternoon. There are some massive temples, a great shrine, an awesome park and... loads of mental, sacred deer. Wandering among the many many tourists. It was like Bambi on crack. The deer were nudging you, pushing past you, trying to get food... imagine this mixed with groups of school children, coach loads of Japanese OAPs, and the odd bemused Western tourist. Fantastic. Oh, the temples were awesome too but less amusing than the crowds.
Himejii
The long and short is we went to see a castle. It was peeing it down. We met fellow travellers Matt and Nickiy, coming out of the castle. They looked very wet, very cold and pretty miserable. Turns out all the indoors bits are under renovation. So we all went for lunch together instead and when we return to Japan, we'll visit the castle.
We did get a photo of Matt and Nickiy outside a model of the castle :-)
Hiroshima
We weren't sure what to expect of the first city that had a nuclear bomb dropped on it. It surprised us that it is a thriving, bustly city, with beautiful wide avenues and lots of bridges and rivers. As you would expect, no old buildings. Though they have rebuilt their castle.
One building survived the Atom Bomb, and is now a Peace Memorial.
There is also a Peace Park and a museum about the run up to the A-bomb being dropped and its effects. The museum was pretty sobering but thought provoking:
Around Kyoto
You could seriously just live in Kyoto and still not visit every park, museum, temple or shrine. We took Jo and Nate's advice and headed out of town a bit to Inari-jinja (Inari Temple and shrine).
Temples and shrines in Japan can be large sprawling affairs over a whole hill. Investigating one can be more like hiking than just popping in to your local church. Inari-jinja has loads of red gates covering the pathways to the top of the hill, with shrines and graveyards along the way. You get to the top and see views of Kyoto and also down to the main temple area.
As we have some new momentum, we then hopped back on the train and headed to Nara.
Nara is the type of place you could spend 2 days in. Or in our case, an afternoon. There are some massive temples, a great shrine, an awesome park and... loads of mental, sacred deer. Wandering among the many many tourists. It was like Bambi on crack. The deer were nudging you, pushing past you, trying to get food... imagine this mixed with groups of school children, coach loads of Japanese OAPs, and the odd bemused Western tourist. Fantastic. Oh, the temples were awesome too but less amusing than the crowds.
Himejii
The long and short is we went to see a castle. It was peeing it down. We met fellow travellers Matt and Nickiy, coming out of the castle. They looked very wet, very cold and pretty miserable. Turns out all the indoors bits are under renovation. So we all went for lunch together instead and when we return to Japan, we'll visit the castle.
We did get a photo of Matt and Nickiy outside a model of the castle :-)
Hiroshima
We weren't sure what to expect of the first city that had a nuclear bomb dropped on it. It surprised us that it is a thriving, bustly city, with beautiful wide avenues and lots of bridges and rivers. As you would expect, no old buildings. Though they have rebuilt their castle.
One building survived the Atom Bomb, and is now a Peace Memorial.
There is also a Peace Park and a museum about the run up to the A-bomb being dropped and its effects. The museum was pretty sobering but thought provoking:
- our history tells us that we HAD to drop the a-bombs on Japan or they wouldn't have surrendered. The museum presented documents and a narrative suggesting that the US and UK wanted to use the bomb to show their might to the Soviet Union. Therefore the demand for surrender sent to Japan was deliberately made unpalatable to the Japanese (ie it did not state that the emperor system could continue). There is more on this, but that's it in a nutshell. No doubt some of you will have some opinions on this...!
- Hiroshima rose up again quickly after the a-bomb, and rebuilt the city
- Since the 1950s, when the US left and so they could more freely tell people about the effects of the A-Bomb, the city has modelled itself as an ambassador for world peace and calls for total nuclear disarmament (not totally surprising but interesting none the less).
- It has lots of programmes and rallies and efforts to achieve this
- There is a MASSIVE emphasis in the city on how Peace can and should be achieved in the world.
Near Hiroshima is the island of Miya jima. This island has the classic red temple gate in the sea, that is used for a lot of iconic Japan images.
Again, think Temple complex covering a whole hill. In fact, think 4 hour hike to the shrine on the summit or do what we did and get a cable car to the top and walk back down. Again...somewhere you could spend a day or 2 exploring...
Of course, we also went to Hiroshima Castle and we HAD to just do it...
Turns out Samurai armour wasn't really built with 6 footers in mind. No trousers to fit him and that tunic should be down to his knees...
Nagasaki
So, we liked one city that had been atom bombed so we went to the other one...okay, bad taste! In fact, Nagasaki is as far west and south as we will come in Japan and is a long way from Tokyo (on train at least). We are here because it is a buzzy, laid back, but lovely city. We've dubbed it the Japanese Bristol - really pleasant, chilled out, lots of great things to see but not one great big "look at me" type attraction.
Originally the city was the ONLY place in Japan for centuries where foreigners were allowed. This has led to a large China Town, a reputation for great food influenced by different cuisines and, for some reason, a lot of cake shops :-) It is a port city with a river system. We've spent a pleasant sunny day strolling by the river, going up the hillside to look at temples and shrines, visiting the dock area, and just well, doing what we'd do back home. Very very pleasant.
The big shame, is that, like everywhere we've been, there is so much more to explore just a train or bus journey away... next time...
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Photos Martin should have put up yesterday
Martin making his presence felt at the house warming.
Our lovely host.
Bullet train! (Shinkansen)
The octopus balls Martin ate at the cherry blossom festival
Cherry blossom festival
Traditional Japanese house we stayed in in Gunma Ken.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Latest Photos
Raw tuna. With sesame seeds. On a stick. Lovely.
Temple complx with modern Kyoto in the background. Nowhere does traditinal alongside modern like Japan.
Kara and another section of the same temple.
Happy anniversary to us! Fortunately Japanese waiters are very au fait with the universal "can you take our photo please" gesture. Note the white cups full of sake!
Man taking photo of Geisha outside coffee shop. How post-modern are we?
Gaijin, Geisha and Gunma
Gunma-Ken
When Jo and Nate first arrived in Japan, they lived in Gunma province. Jo loves going back there and found out there was a cherry blossom festival on there at the weekend. So, we headed out of the big smoke to the little smoke.
Jo had arranged for us to stay in the old family home of one of her friend's. It is a traditional Japanese house with views of the mountains, a stream, and cherry blossom. The rural idyll. It came complete with a grumpy father in law, muttering what might have been "what are these foreigners doing in my house?". Photos to follow!
The cherry blossom festival was very serene. There was an alley of cherry blossom trees in full bloom, and food stalls selling loads of goodies. Beautiful. Plus, a gorgeous crisp, sunny spring day.
Then we went to a housewarming party, which Jo and Nate had been invited to. It was great. The host, Kaske (probably spelt wrong) was friendly and kind and laughing about his time spent learning English in that great town of Eastbourne. He had also just built the type of house that Grand Designs teams dream about until they realise the practicalities. We loved the toilet controlled by a remote and with an automatic sensor so the lid lifted up when you walked in and relaxing music played (Holst, The Planets, Jupiter, in case anyone is interested). The built in fireman pole in his living room was cool. We asked why he had it. He said "So people can have fun climbing it". A couple of glasses of wasabi wine later and Martin did.
Gaijin (foreigner)
So, we left the security of Jo and Nate and their amazing language ability and on Monday morning headed to Kyoto. Well, ok, Jo had left us a note with detailed instructions of how to get to the right station in Tokyo.
The bullet train (shinkansen). VERY fast. Very clean. Makes you feel like a 12 year old on your first train journey again.
We passed Mount Fuji (very quickly) and many other places. Quickly. Blurry photos to follow.
Geisha
Kyoto is the traditional heartland of Japan. When you imagine old Japanese cities, you are thinking of Kyoto. Beautiful cobbled streets with bamboo and wooden buildings. More temples than you could ever see in a visit. And Geisha. We have been fortunate to see a few of these elusive ladies, all made up, quickly scurrying away. To kill the romance a little, the ratio of geisha to tourists taking photos of geisha is approximately 1:20. Photos of tourists taking photos of geisha to follow.
We've spent our time in Kyoto doing what we love best - walking and eating. The place is divine. It is cultured, elegant, and beautiful, in a very Japanese calm, zen way. When the UK is no longer cut off from civilisation, we heartily recommend a trip out here. Japan is awesome.
We went to the Nishiki Food market. Everything from mini octopus on sticks ,to fat fish still alive, to fish heads on sticks, to various unidentifiable sloppy things. Great fun. Even Martin is afraid to say he eats anything out here.
We're ashamed to admit, we ended up in Starbucks today. We'd been looking for a cuppa for ages and it was raining. And cold. We feel dirty.
Two years of bliss
Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. It was great to be in such a romantic city. We treated ourselves and went out for a lovely meal.
Has marriage changed Martin? By Kara
Today Martin has done 3 very un-Martin things:
When Jo and Nate first arrived in Japan, they lived in Gunma province. Jo loves going back there and found out there was a cherry blossom festival on there at the weekend. So, we headed out of the big smoke to the little smoke.
Jo had arranged for us to stay in the old family home of one of her friend's. It is a traditional Japanese house with views of the mountains, a stream, and cherry blossom. The rural idyll. It came complete with a grumpy father in law, muttering what might have been "what are these foreigners doing in my house?". Photos to follow!
The cherry blossom festival was very serene. There was an alley of cherry blossom trees in full bloom, and food stalls selling loads of goodies. Beautiful. Plus, a gorgeous crisp, sunny spring day.
Then we went to a housewarming party, which Jo and Nate had been invited to. It was great. The host, Kaske (probably spelt wrong) was friendly and kind and laughing about his time spent learning English in that great town of Eastbourne. He had also just built the type of house that Grand Designs teams dream about until they realise the practicalities. We loved the toilet controlled by a remote and with an automatic sensor so the lid lifted up when you walked in and relaxing music played (Holst, The Planets, Jupiter, in case anyone is interested). The built in fireman pole in his living room was cool. We asked why he had it. He said "So people can have fun climbing it". A couple of glasses of wasabi wine later and Martin did.
Gaijin (foreigner)
So, we left the security of Jo and Nate and their amazing language ability and on Monday morning headed to Kyoto. Well, ok, Jo had left us a note with detailed instructions of how to get to the right station in Tokyo.
The bullet train (shinkansen). VERY fast. Very clean. Makes you feel like a 12 year old on your first train journey again.
We passed Mount Fuji (very quickly) and many other places. Quickly. Blurry photos to follow.
Geisha
Kyoto is the traditional heartland of Japan. When you imagine old Japanese cities, you are thinking of Kyoto. Beautiful cobbled streets with bamboo and wooden buildings. More temples than you could ever see in a visit. And Geisha. We have been fortunate to see a few of these elusive ladies, all made up, quickly scurrying away. To kill the romance a little, the ratio of geisha to tourists taking photos of geisha is approximately 1:20. Photos of tourists taking photos of geisha to follow.
We've spent our time in Kyoto doing what we love best - walking and eating. The place is divine. It is cultured, elegant, and beautiful, in a very Japanese calm, zen way. When the UK is no longer cut off from civilisation, we heartily recommend a trip out here. Japan is awesome.
We went to the Nishiki Food market. Everything from mini octopus on sticks ,to fat fish still alive, to fish heads on sticks, to various unidentifiable sloppy things. Great fun. Even Martin is afraid to say he eats anything out here.
We're ashamed to admit, we ended up in Starbucks today. We'd been looking for a cuppa for ages and it was raining. And cold. We feel dirty.
Two years of bliss
Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. It was great to be in such a romantic city. We treated ourselves and went out for a lovely meal.
Has marriage changed Martin? By Kara
Today Martin has done 3 very un-Martin things:
- When approached by an Australian woman in Starbucks who was chatting to us, Martin said "Would you like to join us?". Kara almost fell off her chair.
- In the food market we bought 3 sweets. We didn't like them. When we met a pair of fellow travellers and told them about our buys, Martin offered them the third one.
- Finally, we approached (probably a scam) by some Japanese woman collecting for an earthquake appeal. Martin gave her change (about 20p).
Kara is a bit perturbed. What has happened to the nice, reserved, suspicious man she married? Is he gone for good or will he return when we get home?
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Japanese adventures
This is the vinegared sea weed Jo just made us try. Ergh.
Pregnant Jo!
View from Jo and Nate's flat this morning
Jo demonstrating the 3D models
Kara posing when the white ninja struck... yes, Jo is wearing a very Japanese facemask. We were waiting for Jo and she snuck up on us.
Kara in a litter thingy
Martin in the electronic districtOur first pregnancy ultrasound...
...before you run out to buy cute outfits and grab your knitting needles, we have to explain.
So, having purchased a bottle of Australian Bundaberg Rum as a gift for Jo and Nate, we got to the station. "She looks a bit porky" we thought of our normally slim friend. No, Jo is actually 5 months pregnant! This means she now has slowed down to have the energy of a normal person rather than 2...
This morning part of our culture exchange was to visit a hospital. Exciting things about the hospital were:
- you get a little plastic sleeve when you enter to put your umbrella in
- instead of buying tea and coffee from a kindly old lady in a canteen, you buy a hot can or hot bottle of tea from a cabinet
- the toilets have a full control panel of options including: warm; flushing noise; spray; wash; strong deodorising. Kara was too scared to try the washing options so opted for a warm seat that made a flushing noise to cover untoward sounds and then she hit the deodorise button to see what happened.
Of course, the most exciting about being in hospital was being allowed to see Jo and Nate's little baby on the ultrasound screen. Very very cute.
Family mission
Before we came to Japan, Martin's dad asked us if we would mind looking into something...his grandfather had been an engineer with Armstrongs in the late 1800s. He had been involved in building battleships that were commissioned by the Japanese Navy. Family belief was that he had actually served in the Japanese Navy for a bit and also that there was a memorial to British involvement in the 1904 Russo-Japanese war.
So, using our recently activated Japanese Rail Passes, we got on a couple of trains to Yokosuka, to visit the Mikasa Battleship, which is now a museum.
A series of fortunate things happened. First, we asked questions in the ticket shop. Their English wasn't good enough to understand us but... then a gentleman walked in. Who spoke fluent English. And obviously knew A LOT about Japanese naval history. He told us he'd give us a guided tour of the ship.
These are some of the things we learnt:
- that a Japanese characteristic is to learn from the best. So when they realised they needed a navy they went to the best to learn - the British
- this means that Japanese naval terminology is full of un-Japanese words eg "oshpot" which is "washpot"
- the Japanese commissioned 6 battleships from the UK, all of which were used in the 1904 war
- the British and Japanese were allies then, and the British helped a lot (eg not letting the Russian fleet dock in British colonies on their way to Japan etc)
- the 2 ships built by Armstrongs were called "Yashima" "Hutsuse"
- unfortunately the only 2 ships lost in this war were the ones made by Armstrong
- the Mikasa was the ship of Admiral Togo, whose tactics helped win the war
- we found a shield dedicated to the help of the British engineers in building the ship.
Lots of unanswered questions still, but our guide said Martin's dad could get in touch with him.
The man showing us round was a retired submarine captain who had been involved in setting up the Mikasa as a museum. His name was Greg and he told us that throughout his career he had worked in the US and as a US liaison because "I don't speak the Queen's English!". But how did he learn US English? He explained, "After World War 2 and during the American occupation, we had nothing, nothing. I was 5 years old and wanted to have toys. The American kids out here had toys. I learnt English so I could play with them!"
A day round Tokyo
Yesterday was spent in Tokyo again. In the rain. Boo!
However, we did lots of cool stuff:
- went to the electronic district, Akihabara. Wow. Martin's 12 year old self was in geek heaven. Kara didn't appreciate it so much, which led Martin to grump "I should have come here with Dave".
- we went to a museum. Kara liked it. Lots of interactive stuff about the history of Tokyo.
- we went shopping. Kind of. We picked up some snacks in a supermarket. When we got home, Jo said "Why have you bought sea urchin flavoured crisps?"
- the supermarket was soooo cool. We don't even know what half the stuff in there was.
- Jo took us out to dinner at a place where you pick your food from the 3d models, then go to a machine with photos of your meal on. Then you press the button for your food, pay and get a ticket. You then sit down at the table and your meal is bought to you.
Today has begun well, despite the SNOW last night and soon we are off out for our next adventure with Jo... discursive English class with fluent English speakers. The subjects: articles from Time magazine. Fingers crossed they don't hone in on that one about EU economic policy...
So, having purchased a bottle of Australian Bundaberg Rum as a gift for Jo and Nate, we got to the station. "She looks a bit porky" we thought of our normally slim friend. No, Jo is actually 5 months pregnant! This means she now has slowed down to have the energy of a normal person rather than 2...
This morning part of our culture exchange was to visit a hospital. Exciting things about the hospital were:
- you get a little plastic sleeve when you enter to put your umbrella in
- instead of buying tea and coffee from a kindly old lady in a canteen, you buy a hot can or hot bottle of tea from a cabinet
- the toilets have a full control panel of options including: warm; flushing noise; spray; wash; strong deodorising. Kara was too scared to try the washing options so opted for a warm seat that made a flushing noise to cover untoward sounds and then she hit the deodorise button to see what happened.
Of course, the most exciting about being in hospital was being allowed to see Jo and Nate's little baby on the ultrasound screen. Very very cute.
Family mission
Before we came to Japan, Martin's dad asked us if we would mind looking into something...his grandfather had been an engineer with Armstrongs in the late 1800s. He had been involved in building battleships that were commissioned by the Japanese Navy. Family belief was that he had actually served in the Japanese Navy for a bit and also that there was a memorial to British involvement in the 1904 Russo-Japanese war.
So, using our recently activated Japanese Rail Passes, we got on a couple of trains to Yokosuka, to visit the Mikasa Battleship, which is now a museum.
A series of fortunate things happened. First, we asked questions in the ticket shop. Their English wasn't good enough to understand us but... then a gentleman walked in. Who spoke fluent English. And obviously knew A LOT about Japanese naval history. He told us he'd give us a guided tour of the ship.
These are some of the things we learnt:
- that a Japanese characteristic is to learn from the best. So when they realised they needed a navy they went to the best to learn - the British
- this means that Japanese naval terminology is full of un-Japanese words eg "oshpot" which is "washpot"
- the Japanese commissioned 6 battleships from the UK, all of which were used in the 1904 war
- the British and Japanese were allies then, and the British helped a lot (eg not letting the Russian fleet dock in British colonies on their way to Japan etc)
- the 2 ships built by Armstrongs were called "Yashima" "Hutsuse"
- unfortunately the only 2 ships lost in this war were the ones made by Armstrong
- the Mikasa was the ship of Admiral Togo, whose tactics helped win the war
- we found a shield dedicated to the help of the British engineers in building the ship.
Lots of unanswered questions still, but our guide said Martin's dad could get in touch with him.
The man showing us round was a retired submarine captain who had been involved in setting up the Mikasa as a museum. His name was Greg and he told us that throughout his career he had worked in the US and as a US liaison because "I don't speak the Queen's English!". But how did he learn US English? He explained, "After World War 2 and during the American occupation, we had nothing, nothing. I was 5 years old and wanted to have toys. The American kids out here had toys. I learnt English so I could play with them!"
A day round Tokyo
Yesterday was spent in Tokyo again. In the rain. Boo!
However, we did lots of cool stuff:
- went to the electronic district, Akihabara. Wow. Martin's 12 year old self was in geek heaven. Kara didn't appreciate it so much, which led Martin to grump "I should have come here with Dave".
- we went to a museum. Kara liked it. Lots of interactive stuff about the history of Tokyo.
- we went shopping. Kind of. We picked up some snacks in a supermarket. When we got home, Jo said "Why have you bought sea urchin flavoured crisps?"
- the supermarket was soooo cool. We don't even know what half the stuff in there was.
- Jo took us out to dinner at a place where you pick your food from the 3d models, then go to a machine with photos of your meal on. Then you press the button for your food, pay and get a ticket. You then sit down at the table and your meal is bought to you.
Today has begun well, despite the SNOW last night and soon we are off out for our next adventure with Jo... discursive English class with fluent English speakers. The subjects: articles from Time magazine. Fingers crossed they don't hone in on that one about EU economic policy...
Friday, 16 April 2010
12 months of summer...
that was our boast we believe.
So, we have now been snowed on in every country we have visited so far.
That wasn`t the plan!!!
So, we have now been snowed on in every country we have visited so far.
That wasn`t the plan!!!
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Can you see what it is yet?
Shinjuku street scene, early evening
Temple in the middle of Shinjuku district
Some people take photographing cherry blossom more seriously than we do...
Temple in the park
A man could spend a lifetime searching for the perfect blossom and it would not be a life wasted. Fortunately Martin managed it in half an hour and is now free to cruise sake bars.
Kara on a bridge in a very Japanese park. The pond is teeming with coi carp.
Our lunch.
Back in Oz, Mal and Jarrod and THE snake.
Last tropical days...and Japanese beginnings
...so we spent our last day (Sunday) with Sarah enjoying the summer heat of Cairns by ambling around, sleeping in parks by the sea, and drinking smoothies. As he was out-numbered, Martin also enjoyed the delights of a spot of shopping (lots of market stalls and lovely boutique stalls).
The thing about travelling is you are always meeting great people and then saying goodbye to them... we said goodbye to Sarah... and met some new lovely people, the Skeltons, our couchsurfing hosts.
They run their own successful tree cutting business, while raising two lively and fun little boys. We got to see a real slice of their life and enjoy time with them. Martin went running with Nathan, the world's speediest 11 year old, and we got to chill out at Palm Cove, a beautiful beach town, with 9 year old Jarrod.
We also got to see the joys of living in the Tropics. We stopped off at one of Malcolm's tree cutting jobs. Jarrod came running up to us going "There's a snake!". The snake in question was a taipan. The 2nd most venemous snake in the world. It is illegal to kill snakes (!) so Malcolm had to first try to relocate it (Kara almost passed out at that one). It tried to bite him in return. With no choice, he hit it with a garden spade before partially severing its head with a pair of garden secaturs. Woah!
Land of the Rising Sun
What can we say? Tokyo? We love it!
So far expectations lived up to. We made it to the train station to meet our old friend Jo and her husband Nate, only to totally fail to get through the barriers. Luckily having 2 fluent Japanese speakers meet you helps speed things up!
Within 3 hours of landing in the country, Martin and Nate were ensconced in a street corner ramen (noodles) bar.Very smelly. All food eaten standing up (in Martin's case banging his head on the air-con unit), leaning on the bar (or bent double to reach the bar). Served by a shouty dude wearing pyjamas and a headband. AWESOME! Kara stayed at the flat with Jo to catch up on the sofa.
We spent yesterday settling in to this new country. We went to a lovely park (Shinjuku Goyen) to see the Cherry Blossom. There were loads of locals, all snapping away at the cherry blossom. We also did our first Japanese lunch (a bento box - basically a box with some rice, potato salad, pickled ginger, and chicken - perhaps- nuggets; 2 steamy dumplings with pork (we think); some edamame beans) as a picnic. While a lot of the restaurants have only Japanese menus, there are a lot of places with 3D models of the food in the window (!), or photos, or as with lunch we went into a convenience store to pick up our food. We're going to be experimenting over the next few days with our new Japanese word "o-susume " which means "whatever you recommend" :-)
We met Jo when she finished work (hard life for some!) and went up a tall tower to see the views of Japan. Well, some of us looked at the views. Some of us (ahem, Kara) got distracted by the kitchsy toys and stuff that was on sale.
Jo then took us to an Okonomiyaki restaurant. This is a cook your own deal. As the menu is in Japanese, Jo translated. We then cooked our own plum pancake/omelette thing, some octopus balls and something else with cheese in. There's going to be a lot of eating stuff we're not sure is in it over the next few weeks.
Tokyo is great. It's busy but not noisy. People keep their voices low. It's bad etiquette to speak on your phone on the train (hooray!). Everyone is pretty ordered and calm. We get stared at but that's okay as we are looking at all of them too!
It is 10 degrees cooler here but this means we can wear our jeans again and thick woolly fleeces. We have the heating on in Jo and Nate's flat. It feels like Christmas!
We also have our Japanese Rail Passes and soon are off to use them for the first time (!). And we have booked our ferry to Korea too.
The thing about travelling is you are always meeting great people and then saying goodbye to them... we said goodbye to Sarah... and met some new lovely people, the Skeltons, our couchsurfing hosts.
They run their own successful tree cutting business, while raising two lively and fun little boys. We got to see a real slice of their life and enjoy time with them. Martin went running with Nathan, the world's speediest 11 year old, and we got to chill out at Palm Cove, a beautiful beach town, with 9 year old Jarrod.
We also got to see the joys of living in the Tropics. We stopped off at one of Malcolm's tree cutting jobs. Jarrod came running up to us going "There's a snake!". The snake in question was a taipan. The 2nd most venemous snake in the world. It is illegal to kill snakes (!) so Malcolm had to first try to relocate it (Kara almost passed out at that one). It tried to bite him in return. With no choice, he hit it with a garden spade before partially severing its head with a pair of garden secaturs. Woah!
Land of the Rising Sun
What can we say? Tokyo? We love it!
So far expectations lived up to. We made it to the train station to meet our old friend Jo and her husband Nate, only to totally fail to get through the barriers. Luckily having 2 fluent Japanese speakers meet you helps speed things up!
Within 3 hours of landing in the country, Martin and Nate were ensconced in a street corner ramen (noodles) bar.Very smelly. All food eaten standing up (in Martin's case banging his head on the air-con unit), leaning on the bar (or bent double to reach the bar). Served by a shouty dude wearing pyjamas and a headband. AWESOME! Kara stayed at the flat with Jo to catch up on the sofa.
We spent yesterday settling in to this new country. We went to a lovely park (Shinjuku Goyen) to see the Cherry Blossom. There were loads of locals, all snapping away at the cherry blossom. We also did our first Japanese lunch (a bento box - basically a box with some rice, potato salad, pickled ginger, and chicken - perhaps- nuggets; 2 steamy dumplings with pork (we think); some edamame beans) as a picnic. While a lot of the restaurants have only Japanese menus, there are a lot of places with 3D models of the food in the window (!), or photos, or as with lunch we went into a convenience store to pick up our food. We're going to be experimenting over the next few days with our new Japanese word "o-susume " which means "whatever you recommend" :-)
We met Jo when she finished work (hard life for some!) and went up a tall tower to see the views of Japan. Well, some of us looked at the views. Some of us (ahem, Kara) got distracted by the kitchsy toys and stuff that was on sale.
Jo then took us to an Okonomiyaki restaurant. This is a cook your own deal. As the menu is in Japanese, Jo translated. We then cooked our own plum pancake/omelette thing, some octopus balls and something else with cheese in. There's going to be a lot of eating stuff we're not sure is in it over the next few weeks.
Tokyo is great. It's busy but not noisy. People keep their voices low. It's bad etiquette to speak on your phone on the train (hooray!). Everyone is pretty ordered and calm. We get stared at but that's okay as we are looking at all of them too!
It is 10 degrees cooler here but this means we can wear our jeans again and thick woolly fleeces. We have the heating on in Jo and Nate's flat. It feels like Christmas!
We also have our Japanese Rail Passes and soon are off to use them for the first time (!). And we have booked our ferry to Korea too.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Photos
the intrepid Kayakers (aka the abandoners)
This little fella let Martin follow him round for 20 mins (and luckily he'd hired an underwater camera).
View from Port Douglas of evening sun
Baby croc we saw
Martin at Mossman Gorge
Kara and Sarah swimming in the gorge, with the perch and catfish
Mossman gorge
Little Crystal Creek, Paluma
Our companion one night (green tree frog)
Clue is in the sign...
Friday, 9 April 2010
Great things and Cruel Abandonment
We dived on the Great Barrier Reef!!!!
It was so cool. Like being in a nature programme. Originally we all said we'd just snorkel but the boat company (called Poseidon out of Port Douglas - fantastic copany, can't recommend them enough) said that we could make our minds up about diving when we got on the boat.
So, we snorkelled first. We saw parrot fish, a ray, a baby shark, coral, more fish, big fish, little fish, red fish, blue fish... so many beautiful fish! Then we went for it. Martin and I are PADI divers but I'm a nervous one. This meant I got to hold the hand of the lovely young Divemaster who accompanied me (woohoo! Being a coward has some benefits). Seriously, he was great and really made me feel comfortable. It's so amazing to be swimming with all these fish and through coral gardens. So we dived twice and on the second one I did it all by myself. Woohoo!
Sarah had NEVER dived before. So she took the plunge and did it. They hold on to the introductory divers all the time and manage all their gear for them. She LOVED it.
I won't bang on but wow, it was so magical. No offense meant, but it was better than seeing 2 great crested newts in a quarry in Wales!
Night Walk
So we finished that awesome day out and hot footed it to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the sea. We did a night walk through the rainforest. We saw a dragon up a tree (big lizar thing with pretty colours), 2 little yellow baby robins asleep on a branch (how cute!!), loads of spiders (huntsman but not the nasty kind), frogs that look like leaves, cane toads, and lots of crickets. We also learnt a lot about the trees in that area. I was shattered as it didn't finish until 11pm but it was worth it.
Oh, also at this hostel in the rainforest, Sarah and I worked in the kitchen to get free dinner. I'm doing it again tonight.
All by myself...
So, we arrive at our hostel and Martin asks about kayaking. He's been trying to do some since NZ but the weather has never been that great or it's been too pricey. Anyway, the next trip was a 2 day one that left this morning at 7.30... Sarah was up for it too, so that is how my husband has run away for 2 days with another woman!
I need and like my sleep. So I opted for a long lie in this morning and am off to do anti-Martin things like visit cultural centres, sit still and read, and sort out our bags.
Can't believe we're into the final stretches of our time in Australia...Japan, here we come!
It was so cool. Like being in a nature programme. Originally we all said we'd just snorkel but the boat company (called Poseidon out of Port Douglas - fantastic copany, can't recommend them enough) said that we could make our minds up about diving when we got on the boat.
So, we snorkelled first. We saw parrot fish, a ray, a baby shark, coral, more fish, big fish, little fish, red fish, blue fish... so many beautiful fish! Then we went for it. Martin and I are PADI divers but I'm a nervous one. This meant I got to hold the hand of the lovely young Divemaster who accompanied me (woohoo! Being a coward has some benefits). Seriously, he was great and really made me feel comfortable. It's so amazing to be swimming with all these fish and through coral gardens. So we dived twice and on the second one I did it all by myself. Woohoo!
Sarah had NEVER dived before. So she took the plunge and did it. They hold on to the introductory divers all the time and manage all their gear for them. She LOVED it.
I won't bang on but wow, it was so magical. No offense meant, but it was better than seeing 2 great crested newts in a quarry in Wales!
Night Walk
So we finished that awesome day out and hot footed it to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the sea. We did a night walk through the rainforest. We saw a dragon up a tree (big lizar thing with pretty colours), 2 little yellow baby robins asleep on a branch (how cute!!), loads of spiders (huntsman but not the nasty kind), frogs that look like leaves, cane toads, and lots of crickets. We also learnt a lot about the trees in that area. I was shattered as it didn't finish until 11pm but it was worth it.
Oh, also at this hostel in the rainforest, Sarah and I worked in the kitchen to get free dinner. I'm doing it again tonight.
All by myself...
So, we arrive at our hostel and Martin asks about kayaking. He's been trying to do some since NZ but the weather has never been that great or it's been too pricey. Anyway, the next trip was a 2 day one that left this morning at 7.30... Sarah was up for it too, so that is how my husband has run away for 2 days with another woman!
I need and like my sleep. So I opted for a long lie in this morning and am off to do anti-Martin things like visit cultural centres, sit still and read, and sort out our bags.
Can't believe we're into the final stretches of our time in Australia...Japan, here we come!
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Bring me sunshine...
So, after a slightly rocky start, Sarah found us! With her delightful company also came the sun. It's a real shame that she got eaten by a shark riding a crocodile while lassooing a jelly fish as we were enjoying her company – Pat and Ray: JUST KIDDING. She's fine!
Today has been a bit action packed. The injection of youth has made us have to do things. So, we got up at 7.45 (criminal) for a beach walk/run before breakfast. The sun was up! It was too hot by 9am! Yay! The beach is fringed with coconut trees and it all felt very tropical indeed.
We then headed up to the Daintree River for a river cruise with Bruce Belcher, a family owned business. We had complimentary tea and coffee before and then our boat ride was with Bruce himself (a dead nice guy). On the cruise we saw 3 little crocodiles (ranging from 10 inches to 2 foot) and an amesthyne python curled up in a tree. We also saw a BIG croc (about 3 metres) hanging out on the river bank. The Daintree itself is a pretty cool river – it felt and looked wild. Then – how cool is this – we got a free pie and can of drink each as we had booked on the midday tour!
After that we went to the Mossman Gorge. Unfortunately the main walking track was shut but we still got to see the lovely raging river running through it. Then we swam in it! There were perch and catfish swimming beneath us. You had to be careful because it was a bit wild and the current was strong. A real laugh though.
As if that wasn't enough for one day already, we then headed into Port Douglas to have a potter and pick up a smoothie. Port Douglas is a really laid back place with loads of boutique shops and cafes. Think Clifton Village but less pretentious, cheaper, and sunnier.
We hot footed it away from there at 5ish to go to a lovely restaurant / bar on the waterfront. The pull here was thus:
they feed a large grouper fish everyday at 5. It was MASSIVE. His name is George.
It was bar snack time til 5.30 – so for the princely sum of $46 (£30) we had two buckets of fresh prawns, some beer and wine, and chips. AWESOME!
Our action packed day is not yet over – Martin now has a drinking pal so we are going to the local bar that does cane toad racing...
Tomorrow should be great – we're going snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef!
So, Tropical Wetland Northern Queensland – massive thumbs up from us all. There's so much to see and do here that we should have spent a month just hanging out here!
Today has been a bit action packed. The injection of youth has made us have to do things. So, we got up at 7.45 (criminal) for a beach walk/run before breakfast. The sun was up! It was too hot by 9am! Yay! The beach is fringed with coconut trees and it all felt very tropical indeed.
We then headed up to the Daintree River for a river cruise with Bruce Belcher, a family owned business. We had complimentary tea and coffee before and then our boat ride was with Bruce himself (a dead nice guy). On the cruise we saw 3 little crocodiles (ranging from 10 inches to 2 foot) and an amesthyne python curled up in a tree. We also saw a BIG croc (about 3 metres) hanging out on the river bank. The Daintree itself is a pretty cool river – it felt and looked wild. Then – how cool is this – we got a free pie and can of drink each as we had booked on the midday tour!
After that we went to the Mossman Gorge. Unfortunately the main walking track was shut but we still got to see the lovely raging river running through it. Then we swam in it! There were perch and catfish swimming beneath us. You had to be careful because it was a bit wild and the current was strong. A real laugh though.
As if that wasn't enough for one day already, we then headed into Port Douglas to have a potter and pick up a smoothie. Port Douglas is a really laid back place with loads of boutique shops and cafes. Think Clifton Village but less pretentious, cheaper, and sunnier.
We hot footed it away from there at 5ish to go to a lovely restaurant / bar on the waterfront. The pull here was thus:
they feed a large grouper fish everyday at 5. It was MASSIVE. His name is George.
It was bar snack time til 5.30 – so for the princely sum of $46 (£30) we had two buckets of fresh prawns, some beer and wine, and chips. AWESOME!
Our action packed day is not yet over – Martin now has a drinking pal so we are going to the local bar that does cane toad racing...
Tomorrow should be great – we're going snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef!
So, Tropical Wetland Northern Queensland – massive thumbs up from us all. There's so much to see and do here that we should have spent a month just hanging out here!
Bring me sunshine...
So, after a slightly rocky start, Sarah found us! With her delightful company also came the sun. It's a real shame that she got eaten by a shark riding a crocodile while lassooing a jelly fish as we were enjoying her company – Pat and Ray: JUST KIDDING. She's fine!
Today has been a bit action packed. The injection of youth has made us have to do things. So, we got up at 7.45 (criminal) for a beach walk/run before breakfast. The sun was up! It was too hot by 9am! Yay! The beach is fringed with coconut trees and it all felt very tropical indeed.
We then headed up to the Daintree River for a river cruise with Bruce Belcher, a family owned business. We had complimentary tea and coffee before and then our boat ride was with Bruce himself (a dead nice guy). On the cruise we saw 3 little crocodiles (ranging from 10 inches to 2 foot) and an amesthyne python curled up in a tree. We also saw a BIG croc (about 3 metres) hanging out on the river bank. The Daintree itself is a pretty cool river – it felt and looked wild. Then – how cool is this – we got a free pie and can of drink each as we had booked on the midday tour!
After that we went to the Mossman Gorge. Unfortunately the main walking track was shut but we still got to see the lovely raging river running through it. Then we swam in it! There were perch and catfish swimming beneath us. You had to be careful because it was a bit wild and the current was strong. A real laugh though.
As if that wasn't enough for one day already, we then headed into Port Douglas to have a potter and pick up a smoothie. Port Douglas is a really laid back place with loads of boutique shops and cafes. Think Clifton Village but less pretentious, cheaper, and sunnier.
We hot footed it away from there at 5ish to go to a lovely restaurant / bar on the waterfront. The pull here was thus:
they feed a large grouper fish everyday at 5. It was MASSIVE. His name is George.
It was bar snack time til 5.30 – so for the princely sum of $46 (£30) we had two buckets of fresh prawns, some beer and wine, and chips. AWESOME!
Our action packed day is not yet over – Martin now has a drinking pal so we are going to the local bar that does cane toad racing...
Tomorrow should be great – we're going snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef!
So, Tropical Wetland Northern Queensland – massive thumbs up from us all. There's so much to see and do here that we should have spent a month just hanging out here!
Today has been a bit action packed. The injection of youth has made us have to do things. So, we got up at 7.45 (criminal) for a beach walk/run before breakfast. The sun was up! It was too hot by 9am! Yay! The beach is fringed with coconut trees and it all felt very tropical indeed.
We then headed up to the Daintree River for a river cruise with Bruce Belcher, a family owned business. We had complimentary tea and coffee before and then our boat ride was with Bruce himself (a dead nice guy). On the cruise we saw 3 little crocodiles (ranging from 10 inches to 2 foot) and an amesthyne python curled up in a tree. We also saw a BIG croc (about 3 metres) hanging out on the river bank. The Daintree itself is a pretty cool river – it felt and looked wild. Then – how cool is this – we got a free pie and can of drink each as we had booked on the midday tour!
After that we went to the Mossman Gorge. Unfortunately the main walking track was shut but we still got to see the lovely raging river running through it. Then we swam in it! There were perch and catfish swimming beneath us. You had to be careful because it was a bit wild and the current was strong. A real laugh though.
As if that wasn't enough for one day already, we then headed into Port Douglas to have a potter and pick up a smoothie. Port Douglas is a really laid back place with loads of boutique shops and cafes. Think Clifton Village but less pretentious, cheaper, and sunnier.
We hot footed it away from there at 5ish to go to a lovely restaurant / bar on the waterfront. The pull here was thus:
they feed a large grouper fish everyday at 5. It was MASSIVE. His name is George.
It was bar snack time til 5.30 – so for the princely sum of $46 (£30) we had two buckets of fresh prawns, some beer and wine, and chips. AWESOME!
Our action packed day is not yet over – Martin now has a drinking pal so we are going to the local bar that does cane toad racing...
Tomorrow should be great – we're going snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef!
So, Tropical Wetland Northern Queensland – massive thumbs up from us all. There's so much to see and do here that we should have spent a month just hanging out here!
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Update
Easter Sunday is almost over here.
25 hours of rain.
Apparently it's here for the next 2 weeks.
Bugger.
25 hours of rain.
Apparently it's here for the next 2 weeks.
Bugger.
Rain
Reasons why Northern Queensland, Australia is like holidaying in the UK
- it rains. A lot.
- Mind you, the words "Tropical Wetland Rainforest" do have a few clues in them
- 16 hours of rain so far with no break
- eating picnic lunch in the car
- things to do include: drink tea, play board games, read a book
- we could have hired a caravan in the UK if we wanted to do the above...
- you can go to a look out and see nothing because it is too cloudy and raining too hard
- you can have conversations with your fellow travellers about how you are making the best of it.
- you drink tea because it's warm and something to do.
Reasons why Northern Queensland, Australia is NOT like holidaying in the UK
- you can go out here and stand in the rain for an hour and then see a cute little platypus in the wild
- you can go out here in the rain for 3 seconds and see more frogs and toads than you have ever seen in your life before
- you can sit outside, while it's raining, under shelter because it is still 24 degrees, eating your evening meal watching bush tailed possums play in the trees
- the sea is so warm it is still tempting to go swim even in the rain
- but you can't because it is infested with stinging jelly fish
- you go to sleep here in an eco-lodge powered entirely by solar to hear possums running on the roof above you
- you then go to sleep in your rainforest "hut" which has no solid walls, just netting so you can hear* the little critters all around you...
- ... and make your husband check it out three times for snakes and so on before you climb into bed
- your barman in rainforest hostel went for a walk the other night and saw a python climb a tree to eat a large bat
- you might find huntsman spiders in your hut
- you can swim in a mountain creek with a waterfall cascading on to you...
- ... but not in the nearest beach because there might be estuarine crocodiles or sharks or more jelly fish. Possibly all three in a semi circle round the beach. Or a crocodile riding on the back of a shark, using a jellyfish as a lassoo (we noticed Aussies tend to exaggerate the dangers round here).
- you can buy kangaroo meat in the supermarket. It's cheap because it's foul.
We're being green at the moment as this is our 2nd eco-lodge place in a week. It is very cool to be in the middle of the rainforest but a bit frustrating that it's, well, raining. So we're going white water rafting tomorrow as hey, we'll be wet anyway.
Oh, HAPPY EASTER folks.
* that's the theory. All we could hear was rain. It was like being in a tent in the UK.
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