More Tokyo

So I went to the Tokyo Games Show recently and wow it is impressive. All the major brands were there except Nintendo, which was a little disappointing but it was still good. I got to play Fallout 4 which was soooo fun. I had to queue for an hour and a half and I got about 10 minutes of play time but it was worth the wait :)

I was staying with my friend Azusa at the time and we went out with her family to a historical site in Tokyo which had old houses and shops.



Im staying in Yokohama right now and I visited Minatomirai which is a really nice place, and it reminded me of Hiroshima because it is so beautiful.

Right now I am staying with Atsu. We bought Monster Hunter 3 for Wii and we have been playing that pretty much every second we have been awake. He took me out one night with his university friends and we went to izakaya and karaoke all night. It was a really fun night and I hope that I can go out with them again sometime. Thankyou so much Machi, Noripi (Onigirichan), Kanako, Chinkoface, Ai, Hiro, Hashi. And thanks for letting me sleep at your house Kanako.

-hey this is Atsu! Dear Adams parents, thanks for letting me stay at your house in April. We are having really good fun with my crazy mates!! They are REALLY WASEDA and stupid :)))

and Dear Al, I miss ya!!!

Tokyo!

So today I arrived in Tokyo, after taking the overnight bus and met up with Hiroki, my flatmate and good friend at university. We lazed around most of the day but on the evening we went to Roppongi, and watched Resident Evil in 3D, which was quite scary haha. Then we just walked around the main street and came back.

The following day I went to Asakusa which is a traditional part of Tokyo and also a major tourist attraction.

Today I went to Akihabara which is the place for geeks and gamers alike. It is massive, and full of japanese geeks.

Kobe and the Epic Adventure!

On my last day of Hiroshima I went to the Peace Memorial park, but I had to go at night since I didnt have enough time and I was leaving to Kobe the following morning. The Atomic Bomb Dome building really tears your heart apart. Presevered in the same state as it was when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima, only a couple hundred metres away from the centre of the explosion.

I got up early the following morning to get the bus to Kobe, a long 6 hour ride, but well worth it. Kobe is one of the most beaufiful cities I have seen, and one of the most lively too. With mountains quite close to the north, sea to the south, and a bustling city centre this place has everything!

The first day I arrived I decided to just walk around and explore on my own. I was trying to get to the local sake brewery but when I got there the museum had just shut... but I wasnt too late to get some free samples of sake hahahah. Anyway heres the photos of that.

The next day (today) I got up at 7 and made my host (a nice japanese guy named Tetsuya) some breakfast. Even though egg is a staple food in Japan he told me he had never eaten omelette before... Anyway today was epic adventure day :P I wanted to visit the onsen (hot spring) in the mountains called Arima Onsen. On my stupid small city map I picked up at the station it seemed to be north, and that was about all it could tell me. Testsuya told me "do you see that mountain? its on the other side" hahahah. He said no one that he knows has ever walked there, so I thought I would try. Getting to the mountain was easy since I could see it... so I just used my compass (thanks Andy & Bernie) to go north.

I hit the mountain and asked a local how to get to the onsen so he told me how which direction to go and wished me luck haha. Luckily I met a lot of travellers along the way. I would travel with a group for a couple of hours then part ways and I would travel with another group who were heading in the same direction for a while.

So I traversed Mt Maya, and Mt Rokko. Heres me at the top of Mt Rokko.

After 6 hours I finally reached the onsen, and by that time I really needed it! haha. Actually Arima Onsen was an Onsen in the town of Arima, a nice mountain town. So that was a nice suprise, at least I had somewhere I could go to eat! After that I came back to the city (by train this time) and met my next host (Matteo). Hes a cool guy I will be staying with him for 2 nights then heading for Tokyo.

Biwa Lake, Kure, and Hiroshima

Right so I havent written anything here recently. Thats because it has been difficult to get internet access for long enough time to write a good entry. And in some internet cafes it doesnt let you connect your camera, but enough of that heres what I have been up to recently.

I was traveling with my friend I met in Osaka and we planned to go to lake Biwa in the Shiga prefecture of Japan because she knew the captain and we could get a discount. We had a couple of hours to kill so we aimlessly wandered around Kyoto.

Biwa lake is the largest lake in Japan, as you can see it looks like the sea! We did kayaking and swam in the lake. It was awesome! The captain said next year I can come for a summer camp internship for a month, which sounds really really cool to me!

I only stayed one night because I had to catch the bus to Hiroshima! The city is sooo beautiful. It is very modern but a great sense of peace can be felt as you walk around the city.

My host was in a nearby city called Kure, which is a bout 45 minutes on the train. The train stops at countless small towns before arriving in Kure. The landscape is very uneven with mountains surrounding the towns.

Kure happens to be where they built the largest battleship in the world. The Yamato. My host (Raj) happened to be the site manager of Kures shipyard, and he is in charge of the construction of 3 ships! He was very nice to me and he cooked a fantastic curry! We went to the Yamato museum since he hadnt been himself and wanted to go aswell.

I only stayed with him for two nights so on the last night he wanted to take me out to Hiroshima to see the nightlife, and the nightlife we did see! We went to this small club (well everything is small in Japan), and danced and drank and met the locals.

We only got back to Kure at 7am haha. So when I woke up I went to Hiroshima to stay with my next host for one night. The following pictures was taken while I was walking down Peace Boulevard, Hiroshima, Japan.

More Onsen, and a Hippy Guest House!

Yesterday I met up with someone for a drink, and he showed me around the most traditional area of Kyoto, which was sooo interesting! He showed me the old Tea Ceremony houses, where the high class families used to live. In which many traditions are still kept. The houses are made entirely of wood, so buckets of water are kept outside so that if a fire starts inside the house a member of the household can quickly get water from outside to extinguish it. You will just have to turn your heads because I cant seem to turn this one around haha.

Later on I found a very nice, but very old guest house. It used to be a guest house 500 years ago and is now a hippy guest house for japanese backpackers. Everyone here is really kind and welcoming, even if I cannot speak japanese very well they still welcome me. At about 7pm last night I heard a sequential dongs of a bell or something outside. And they told me that it was someone walking down the street, and the ringing was telling the families in the houses to start to put out there fires. Because in those days they didnt have gas ovens that they can easily put out. This is very rare for someone to do this today but it was so good to see that some traditions are still kept.

Manga Museum, and the original Nintendo HQ

Today I went to the Kyoto Manga (Japanese comic) Museum. It was sooo good. Basically its just a massive library of manga. With dozens of people sat on chairs all around reading there favourite manga haha. I read through the history of manga then did the same with a copy of Slam Dunk 1. You werent allowed to take pictures inside the place due to copy right reasons but I managed to get a couple.

An old school textbook for reading practice.

I also visited the original Nintendo HQ in the suburbs of Kyoto which was established in 1889. Back then they didnt make video games of course, but playing cards instead. I got co-ordinates of the old HQ building from google of course ;)

Kyoto!

I havent  been able to get internet access lately which is why I havent written anything here! But now I have access to a computer thanks to my host. Kyoto is sooooo nice!! I love it! It is still a city but there is still very much a traditional feeling present. There are dozens of temples and shrines that are dotted throught the city, which makes the place look absolutely beautiful!

While I was wondering around the city yesterday I stumbled upon a Budo centre, where I politely asked if it was ok for me to watch them practice japanese archery. Very very good, it was almost like a dance the way that every step and action was performed with such precision and care. I am not sure why it was only women that were practicing on the targets, though a boy about my age was practicing in the back, drilling the same moves as the women did, but firing at point blank range into a hay target. He told me he has been doing it for 3 weeks solid and doesnt know when he will get to use the real target range.

Later on in the day I came across some hip hop dancers in the street practicing. I approached them and had a chat with them, they have been in a team for 5 years and were practicing for an event the next day. They were soooooo gooood! meccha sugoi!

Yesterday was also the first day I tried proper japanese ramen! Absolutely fantastic sooo good I love it!

Nice Indian and Spa World again!!

Today another couchsurfer (Katarina) arrived at my hosts house. So we went to a very nice local indian resturant with Oolong tea. Very very nice!!

After I did a lot of research because I had planned to go to Kyoto today but then after much deliberation I decided to go with Katrina and Chiaki to Spa World... again!! haha its only 1000 yen (7 pounds) and its soooo goood and then we ate Kashikatsu (famous to Osaka) and came home. Chiaka allowed me to stay an extra night which was really nice of her and so I will go to Kyoto tommorow. I found a hostel for only 1500 yen (11 pounds) a night!

Shitennoji Shrine and a Secret Bar

Today was the last full day in Osaka but it was a good one! I met a couchsurfing host today (Chiaki). She was very nice and made me soumen noodles which is a summer food which is ice cold!! yummy yummy. It is really nice and she wrote down the recipe so I can make it.

After lunch I went to the Shitennoji Shrine which was very very nice. But they wouldnt allow me to take photos inside the shrine (except when the staff on duty was sleeping lol) but I got a few of the surrounding area and neighbourhoods.

When I came back we went out for a Osaka speciality called takoyaki okinomiyaki which was fantastic!!

Then she told me of this secret "underground" bar which is down a small alley in a unknown neighbourhood. You would never spot the alley if you didnt know it was there. Anyway we went in and the bar is submarine themed! You have to really slide open the front door to the place and inside is a very small bar which looks like the inside of a submarine! It even has turning wheels and buttons and switches. It is cheap for Japan because you dont have to pay an extra service charge for buying alcohol which is normal in bars.

And of course the 100 yen shop (70p), which is where I do most of my shopping XD