tumble, tumble, japan

Okayama, Kōraku-en

Apologies to people who have met up with me so far and have not been impressed by my account of the trip, haha. Cue conversations that go What happened on your trip? Pause Erm, nothing much. There was a lot of snow. I am terribly inarticulate when it comes to stuff like that, and recalling singular trip-changing events is not exactly my specialty. I can remember having done stupid things rather well though. Like forgetting shoes, falling/sliding on a snow slope no et al (only two; two only).

Still in the midst of sorting out photos, but the sorted ones are here.

It is odd; I pride myself on having a decent memory when it comes to recalling holidays and photos, but while looking through the photos on my digital camera an hour ago, I find myself surprised by more than a few images and their recorded memories. Once I looked, I immediately remembered where and when I took them, but it was a little alarming that if I had not gone through the photos, some places and people would had been forgotten and wasted.

Quick thoughts about the different places on the trip, before I forget.

Tokyo
Design Festa; nabe in Ms Peh’s hotel room, with the hot pot on a chair and the rest of us around it, overeating and watching television that we didn’t understand; cuttlefish snacks; eating potato chips and stoning while watching the DF crowds go by; grumbling with Abula; the Octopus man with his guitar, later accompanied by his Starfish friend; they had cool amplifiers; weird guy with singalong groupies, complete with dance moves; cold winds and rain; Nikko in the rain; fried red bean fritter; buying umbrellas; Kawagoe; kaiten sushi lunch; walking down to Candy Street; senbei crackers; free roasted chestnut; Hakone; climbing up the most horrible slope to get to our hotel; cold winds on the boat; a 90% obscured Mt. Fuji; black tamago (eggs) that should add 7 years to your lifespan; volcano; oden; slightly scary toilet + shower stall; great breakfast, with damn delicious apple pie thingies and butter pastries; AtoZ cafe; Krispy Kreme donuts; night bus to Kobe before heading back to Kyoto; washing up in a public toilet; night bus rest stop in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.

Kobe
Early; alighted somewhere where we shouldn’t have alighted; walked, asked, found way to the train station; ate our last donuts before deciding to visit the Science Museum; portrait-drawing robots that sing; a pair of girl and boy robots; a nice exhibition of classic cameras; scary doll; IKEA; no meatballs; shuttle bus; lunch; slept on the train to Kyoto; afternoon light was gorgeous.

Kyoto
Hostel was far, bags were heavy; good buffet dinner; the hot showers don’t start until 8 pm; temples; temples; shrines; the mini 88-temples pilgrimage on a hill that took forever to climb; old man as guide, who showed us the shortcut down; Nijo Castle; wonderful ume crackers; Arashiyama; terrible winds, but pretty sights; overrated tofu that we threw away after forcing down half a box; looked for what was reputed to have the best dorayaki, but it sold out when we got there; rain.

Nara
Deer; green mochi (the best mochi ever); KFC; soft serve; temples, big and bigger; candles; deer shit; long long queues; kani udon; deer munching on paper; deer chasing people; beautiful park (prettier when we went)

Himeji
McDonalds for brunch; Himeji castle; koko-en; people up on ladders; heron flying; koi feeding; carnival; handicraft stalls; candy floss boy; mochi people; leather stall.

Osaka

Tottori
Quiet town; walking; a random 100 yen store; the woman in the dunes; a dinner restaurant that only had us as customers that night; sand dunes; the uselessness of umbrellas; winds; boots; raincoats; silliness; waiting for buses at a bus shelter that provided quite a few photo opportunities; magazine on table; pretty chairs; most-wanted criminals poster on the wall; ramen for lunch; round #2 of the sand dunes; free boots rental; weather that cleared for our benefit, even if only for an hour or so; sand, sand, sand; camels and donkeys; circus girl balancing; group of elderly that fell victim to stealth photography; Judy and the Dream of Horses.

Matsue
Train ride to Matsue; slept; cloudy; a long walk to the hotel, made easier with the directions from a ryokan owner; Matsue Castle; castles; walking for a dinner place; curry udon at the station restaurant; hotel has a funky shower room and the room has a sink; the television screens static and I eat crackers to pass the time; woke to noisy neighbours; walked with bags to Ms. Mar’s hotel; caught the boat ride; legs tucked under a kotatsu; polite agreement to not-sure-what; girl on boat kept staring; didn’t like her; 11 am bus; with a plain bun and off to Hiroshima.

Hiroshima
Hana Hostel; snoring roommates; roommates who don’t sleep; Nakau; hunger; miyajima; deer; oysters over rice; fried red bean fritter;
peace museum; kindergarten carnival; iphone death; google rocks; hot cocoa; roaming + Lotteria fake cola;

Hagi
Rain; thought of cycling; cold; fucking cold; random Uniqlo store; small Daimaru store; udon at the bus terminal; Orange Hotel; funky credit card swipe thing; good breakfast with strawberry jam and toast; nasty vending machine soup; tonkatsu; Hagi Castle ruins; Hagi bus; 100 yen; arcade centre with wi-fi from hotel above it; rain; sad bus shelter; bridge with woman on bicycle; sculptures; lonely train station with not a lot of trains; getting lost; missing directions, despite map; big fucking big spiders; walking; hot udon is good for cold evenings; supermarket with not-nice melon buns.

Shimonoseki

Fukuoka
Long walk to the hostel; thank goodness for a map and detailed directions; first sighting of Hotto-Motto; checking in early; Khaosan Fukuoka; heading to Tenjin for a do-nothing, window-shopping day; found Wi-fi at Seattle’s Best Coffee; Ringer Hut; bookstores are good for window-reading; yatai stalls; walking down to the Canal City shopping city; huge Meiji neon signs that reflect on water; city loop bus (100 yen); the bathroom mat looks very dirty, but ok, dirty feet are sometimes better than freezing feet; no body foam in the hostel shower room; dorm mate who sleeps at ten, okay here we go again; Daizaifu; didn’t cycle; some plum red bean snack; so many students; Marinoa outlet shopping; two ferris wheels; Ohori Park; art museum; another Yayoi Kusama’s pumpki; Fukuoka bus centre; Kinokuniya;

Kumamoto
Hello good morning; Kumamoto Green Hotel took forever to find; not fun looking for places with a very heavy backpack and no directions/map; the hotel receptionist looks like someone in Singapore who doesn’t like me; this woman doesn’t like me too; wonderful weather; walked the Ginza strip; this city has quaint little shops; tired; Yayoi-ken’s tonkatsu is wonderful; Mount Aso; thank you weather for being this overwhelmingly gloomy and cloudy; train to Aso; early; corn potage; bus to Aso; Aso is a strange and wonderful place, especially when you can’t see beyond a few metres; love and dislike; back to Kumamoto by early afternoon; okay, let’s eat another tonkatsu meal; Mos Burger for dinner; we’re watching tv tonight.

Nagasaki

Okayama

Sapporo

Otaru
Designated trash days are a bit troublesome, to be honest; walking to Sapporo station takes longer than imagined;

Asahikawa
Christmas Eve; the phone alarm went off exceedingly soft; no one heard except the ants, but okay, up by seven a.m.; rushed like a nut to get ready and to throw trash out; hazardous walk to the street car stop; to Sapporo bus station to take the bus to Asahikawa; amazing scenery on the way to the coldest city in the nation; raven; so much snow; how can there be so much snow; transferred to bus for the zoo; zoo blanketed under snow; how can there be so much snow; harbinger – falling imminent; penguins; polar bear; monkeys; chimpanzees; orang utan; orang utans are scary; brown bear; tiger; black panther; fall #1 – near the monkeys; fall/slide #2 – on the way to the polar bear; sliding is easier; chicken karaage for lunch; march of the penguins!; so cute; let’s try not to fall; let’s try not to slip; bus ride back to the city; roaming is depressing on Christmas day; roast chicken leg + McDonalds + coke + pudding makes a decent Christmas dinner; tv specials; now now that was a big stingray.

Tokyo

Today is the 4th of January (close enough; sing the song if you know it), and I am currently on the train to Narita Airport where a flight back to Singapore awaits.

The last few days of the trip, particularly yesterday, were just spent worrying about packing everything into a nice palatable (and carryable) pile(s). Thus, there was limited sentimenalism but plenty of imagined packing configurations.

This morning was bright and slightly cloudy.

Hello, it is the end of the year 2009.

Am currently watching NHK 60th Kohaku. I don’t know almost all of the performers, except the very popular crowd pleasers, but it still makes for an interesting watch. You learn quite a bit about the country from its music, and so far, we have had songs from almost very genre including a disco crap track from some girl group. It was horrendous; the clapping was unusually subdued.

Hmm SMAP is doing a Michael Jackson tribute.

(Anyway, Tokyo has been nothing but shopping, sadly. Most of the city decided to close for the New Year, and to find pleasure in coaxing out my wallet.

This is the third time I missed Meguro Parasitological Museum and Cow Books! Tmd.)

Being back in Tokyo after some ten weeks feels a little like coming home. Only home it is not, but there is a comfortable sense of familiarity and I did not have to check any map or ask for directions to get to my hostel. Knowing where you are going with luggage can never be overrated.

Yesterday was meant to be lazy to compensate for the long and slightly overexciting journey from Sapporo. But, I was quite happy to be back in Tokyo and so hopped off to Ueno after depositing my stuff. Ameyoko felt like Chinatown during Chinese New Year, except without bah-kwa and with piles and piles of tako and crabs instead. Ah. I miss bah-kwa.

Anyway, Kangaroo Hotel is by far the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in in Japan. Hands down. The best interior decor as well. Hmm, then again, its concept is more like a business hotel rather than a hostel. Seriously, hostels here are not worth the dough. (Some may draw attention to the so-called benefit of a more social environment, but that same social environment is usually comprised of just two or three overly chatty tourists with exceptionally loud voices.)

The weather is nice. Not a peep of snow in sight, and I am quite relieved about that. It feels more like autumn here, and the temperature lingers in the 10-15 range instead of the -5-0 range. Encouraged by the forecast and yesterday’s outing, I decided to forgo the winter jacket and long pants, opting for two thinner jackets and leggings instead. Bad idea. Let me introduce me to winds.

The city was exceptionally windy today. Sure, the sun was shining so prettily up there; but if the wind blows, it is best to be wearing long pants. Lesson learnt, and tomorrow, the scarf and hat will also be back in active duty.

Today: Shinjuku, Shimokitazawa and Shibuya. The SSSes. I planned for Odaiba, but having alighted at Shimbashi and gotten a taste of the chilly breezes, I decided that visiting somewhere near the sea was not particularly a wise thing to do. Also, I really wanted to do some shopping. After weeks of deprivation, I damn well deserve to spend some money.

That said, Christmas shopping is kinda fun after Christmas. No pressure, and so many sales!

Number of photos taken: 1.

Also, The Book Thief was wonderfully satisfying. Finished it at lunch (couldn’t resist; last chapter!). My seafood paella wasn’t that good, but the book was the one that got me teary-eyed. How can a book that reveals its ending way before it ends still be so devastating? Ahh.

Next: book #13, Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy.

Am three-quarters into The Book Thief, and am already dreading the end. Such a good read.

I think I will be sleepless tonight.

Today, I washed, vacuumed and threw out four big bags of garbage. I also ate the remaining contents of my fridge, which consist of (the list follows, for the sake of posterity) a packet of udon, a bag of shredded cabbage, an egg, a packet of tofu, half a packet of corn kernels, a chicken drumstick, one-quarter bottle of milk tea, one-quarter bottle of Coke and four baby tomatoes. Not a total conquest though since I drew the line at finishing the last clove of garlic and a forgotten half-packet of instant noodles.

Tomorrow morning will be a mad rush.

I plan for it to be, anyway. Today, just barely here, is the day before I leave Hokkaido for Tokyo where I shall spend the remaining week of my holiday.

Yesterday, I bought myself a small suitcase so tomorrow will be a lot of fun. I shall heave a huge sigh of relief when I finally reach my hostel in Tokyo. I think of my route from here to there, and it gives me not that much Christmas cheer. First, a hazardous walk to the streetcar station, then to the bus stop where I shall board a bus for New Chitose airport, then a plane to Haneda where I shall then take the monorail, then a train to Ueno, where I will need to switch trains to get to Minami-Senju. Finally, there is a 15-minute walk from the train station to the hostel. What a delightful journey it promises to be, with a backpack, a carryon bag and now a suitcase.

Today, I shall pack whatever that still needs packing (I got inspired this evening and packed quite a bit of stuff already). Then, I shall need to clean this room and return it to its initial glory. I have bags of sorted garbage that I have no idea where to toss, because say, plastics are Wednesdays, burnables on Mondays and Thursdays, and paper on Fridays. And, today is Saturday and you aren’t not even supposed to put out garbage the night before, so doing that a few days before will definitely be a despicable act.

Am also slightly nervous about missing my flight on Sunday. This anxiety stems from the fact that I overslept the day I was supposed to leave for Asahikawa. The alarm did ring, but I had forgotten to reset the volume level so it rang only in theory. Funny thing was that I was already awake about half an hour ago and that I was waiting for the alarm to go off; when I decided to check the time, because waiting feels like forever (but I don’t like waking up early, in principle), it was almost an hour after when the alarm should had gone off (loudly). However, it is also entirely possible that I did hear the alarm go off, thus my half-awake state. Ahh, the mysteries of real life.

To summarise, I shall triple-check and double-confirm that my alarm will be ringing loud and clear on Sunday morning.

Just saw a raven trotting through snow. Damn adorable. On the bus to Asahikawa 旭川.

09:10, I can no longer make out the horizon between ground and sky. If anything, snow can be unifying.

09:17, Mayday’s 温柔.

09:20, it is so pretty out here.

09:25, it is probably true that the most beautiful scenes are best seen with the eyes, than through a camera lens. It is also probably true that I didn’t have time to fish out the camera.

09:33, on a wild sheep chase.

09:45, halfway there, and the temperature readings have indicated, so far, readings of -1, -3, -6 and then -3. I find myself thinking that -3, ooh not that bad. Insane.

10:09, snow is piled up high on both sides of the road. Waist type of high. Mountainous. Hmm, traffic seems to be backed up. Not a good sign.

10:12, oh toll booth.

10:14, I love it when Jenny Lewis sings “I’ve had it with you, and Mexico can fucking wait” in Pictures of Success.

10:51, how come there is snow in a covered tunnel?

10:53, snow up to shoulder. Okaaaay.

So, it is evident that Sapporo has been getting the leftover snow. I come to Asahikawa expecting a cold and snowy city, and it didn’t disappoint. Far from it. About damn far from it. The cold wasn’t so bad, but the snow. I think I won’t again ever see so much snow in one place for a very very long time. I have graduated from not having seen snow before to having seen a lot, a lot of snow. If no one bothers to clear the snow for one day or even one night, I bet this city will be buried under a blanket of white.

Observation: Hong Kong tourists are damn noisy.

Asahikawa zoo is fun. Once you get used to slipping and falling, there is plenty of cute animals to see. Slopes are dangerous; you slip and fall, and you try to get up and then you slide down a couple of metres more. It is insane how many other visitors that particular slope has claimed.

Penguins on strolls are especially cute.

Merry Christmas!