Japan/Korea Blog
About Me
- Name: Hammy
- Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Getting old, learning new things all the time, family man, getting fat and lazy, electrician, uni grad, has-been sportsman, High jump record holder
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Preface
In the year of 1996, an American friend of mine, let’s call him Norman Wayne Karo (his identity shall not be protected), asked me if I would like to come on a trip around Japan with him and he would act as my interpreter. I only had a few weeks to organise tickets and visas etc.
As I didn’t have any holidays left at my job, I asked the Production Manager if I could take time off without pay. A week before I was due to leave the Production Manager went on holidays for two weeks. The owner and manager of the company asked me about my holidays. He felt that it was unfair to take the time off. I didn’t see that it was unfair to anybody else as I wouldn’t be getting paid for a month. Nobody else had to suffer. Anyway, he gave me an ultimatum – go on the holiday and leave my job or stay and keep my job [author’s note – best decision I made]. Ended up quitting my job and was sick for the week before I left. That way I got to stay home and was paid for my last week of work without having to do any work. I did have a doctor’s certificate telling me not to work for a week so I wasn’t bludging. Nearly didn't make the start of the trip because I was sick.
Exchange rate was about 94 Yen to the dollar and somewhere around 800 Won to the dollar.
My camera was an ordinary camera and some of the photo quality will bear that to be true.
Jap Blog 13th of July 1996
So far, so good. I’ve seen a few things already that have surprised me. Some beautiful Japanese women, trees everywhere alongside the expressway into Tokyo and lots of smog. You can barely see for 5kms. So far everyone I have dealt with spoke English. A couple of other notations – people who drive all seem to wear white gloves and they spell with American English. Trying to speak any Japanese feels daunting. Also, no facial hair and lots of babies but very unusual to see parents with more than two kids. Very few people overweight or tall. Very clean airports, Black hair seems to be quite fashionable at the moment, everybody is wearing it that colour.
Looked for a tall white guy (Wayne) at Fukuoka airport there he was with Masa Koga and Imrie Sallay from Hungary. Took the chikatetsu (subway, or underground railway) to Imrie’s flat. Walked about for a bit to a temple and then had a great tea at a yatai (portable restaurant) where some of the locals laughed at my efforts to eat soup with chopsticks. Can’t believe how friendly the girls on JAL are, and they will speak English to you.
Shinto Torii
Jap Blog 14th of July 1996
Also noticed yesterday that on the JAL flight they had a cockpit camera view of the runway for takeoff and landing. First time that I have been served ice cream on a plane. First stop today was a sushi restaurant where we had the set menu. Ate teishoku which was very filling and only 600 yen. Had a look at a Buddhist Cemetery.
Took the chikatetsu (underground train) and visited Kushida-jinja Shrine. A good look through the Canal City shopping centre. Television sets were available that were twice as long as they are high. There was a great water amusement for children. Went to Fukuoka Dome which is home to a baseball team. Walked down the beach to Momochi Seaside Park which is next to Fukuoka Tower.
Visited the ruins of Fukuoka Castle and watched the last 5 innings of a baseball match. The supporters were great. It was a high school game at Heiwadai Stadium. Had a couple of girls start laughing at Wayne and myself and Wayne made fun of them.
We had tea at Sunday’s Sun. I’m finding it difficult to slurp my ramen and drink from the bowl in public. I like the idea though. Never had this problem at home. Hard to believe that the stores were open on a Sunday. I still am yet to see a petrol station. Is everyone driving electric cars around? Old people occasionally bow to you as one did at the baseball match.
Yamakasa Festival float pic.
Jap Blog 15th of July 1996
Today we rose at 4am to catch a festival which started at 5am. Yamakasa was the name of the festival. A few thousand men with sumo-type dress running down the street, pulling a float and chanting “Eisa!” The streets were lined with people to cheer them on and TV cameras were there also. We then took the chikatetsu to Hakata and paid 8030 yen for the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Hiroshima. Normal cruise speed was a miserable 240 km/h. At least the TGV in France rattled along at 300 km/h. The mountains along the way were completely covered with trees and the ground has only rice paddies. Our traveling time was less than 1 ½ hrs. I am really disappointed about not being able to keep my Shinkansen ticket. Wayne said it was so that people didn’t throw their litter on the ground but I thought that it would make a great souvenir.
Once in Hiroshima it didn’t take Wayne long to find the Oho residence. We dropped our baggage off and had a quick meal. It turns out that Kiyoko, the daughter, was an exchange student in Mt Gambier, South Australia, and Mrs Oho has also been there. It’s a small world.
Our first visitation was to the A-bomb Dome. Another pic. Humbling is how I would sum it up. Introspective perhaps. Wayne and I rang the Peace Bell. There was the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound where the ashes of tens of thousands of people were laid. Children’s Peace Monument is dedicated to a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who died while making paper cranes in the belief that if she made one thousand her leukemia could be cured by the one wish that she would be granted.
Wayne specifically wanted to see the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb. Twenty thousand Koreans died because of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Also saw the Flame of Peace and Hiroshima Peace City Memorial (Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims). Wayne and I spent three hours in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Building. I found it to be quite moving. I also find it very funny when the Japanese bend down to walk in front of you. Mainly because they are so short that they don’t need to duck. Schoolgirls find our appearance to be funny.
A quick look at the hypocentre stone and then lunch. Okonomiyaki. Quite nice. Hiroshima Castle (and again) next and then Shukkeien Gardens where I could veg out for the day. Shrine inside Hiroshima-jo. After that it was back to the Oho residence for some octopus, seaweed, eggplant, cod, gobo, tofu, etc. We sat down afterwards with Kiyoko and Mr and Mrs Oho. Very friendly people. Mrs Oho brought in some homemade sake. And even I had some. Pretty strong stuff at 35% proof. What a long, hot day.
Finally found a petrol station. Fuel is 105 yen/litre and there are no bowsers. Everything is suspended. And no leaded petrol is available for sale. It is all so weird. Japanese aren’t yellow, I have discovered. They are brown. Everyone has a deep tan.
Jap Blog 17th of July 1996
At some stage in proceedings about here, Mrs Oho gave us five slices of rockmelon to eat. Rockmelon only costs about $A2 back home so I tucked into it without a second thought. I was just about to have my third piece when Wayne informed me that the rockmelon cost about 12000 yen, or $A140. In peak season they could cost about $A200. Can you imagine how difficult it was to finish that last piece of rockmelon?
Yesterday we were allowed a bit of a sleep in. We got dressed up and attended a Rotary meeting. Had to stand up and bow when I was introduced. The whole meeting was conducted in Japanese. Luckily the guys I was sitting next to, Okano and the president of Kirin Beer Company, have been to Australia and spoke English. They said that it wasn’t disrespectful to eat your lunch when the Rotary Club president was giving his speech. I spoke so much to Okano that I was last to finish my meal, which was of Western variety. Had my photo taken with Wayne and the Hiroshima-Aki Rotary Club President. When we left, the girl from the service desk extended her hand and so I shook it. She only wanted to take my name tag. We changed clothes in the toilet and took a train to the station near Miyajima. The guy at the ferry terminal said “Bonza mate” when he was told that I was from Australia.
On the island of Miyajima there are stacks of souvenir shops and I bought a headband inscribed with “kamikaze”. People laughed at me all day. I’m used to that. Many photos taken of Otorii Gate and again and temples on the island. Itsukushima Shrine. The deer are friendly too. We climbed almost to the top of Mt Misen. Nearly killed me. Japan is so humid in summer and we were carrying our daypacks. Stone steps have been placed all the way to the summit. Pic of Tahoto Pagoda. It took only 20 minutes to come down and the cable car (let’s face it, why climb when you can take the cable car?) only just beat us. We walked to the bottom with a Norwegian girl whose name escapes me. I ducked off to get a photo of the five-storey pagoda. Nothing special happened on the way back to Hiroshima.
Arrived back at the Oho’s house just before 8pm. Had tea which consisted of fish, sea slug, rice etc. They took us to their friends’ place who had organised a ride in a truck to Kyoto for us. The driver was called Hirotaka and he was a great bloke. Didn’t speak English though. It was great trying to communicate with him. He picked us up at 11pm and we stayed up until 1am talking. Wayne went to sleep earlier as he was really tired. There were tunnels and towns everywhere along the tollway. Speed limit on the expressway was only 80 km/h. The plan was for us to be dropped off at the nearest toll gate but Hirotaka took us all the way to the main railway station. I gave him a stuffed kangaroo and after that he didn’t want to accept Wayne’s gift. He really went to a lot of trouble for us.
We arrived in Kyoto at 3am. There were a whole heap of skateboarders at the station and they told us that it was 5-10 kms to Wayne’s friend’s house. The expressway had been full of trucks and the toll from Hiroshima to Kyoto was 4580 yen.
We had to stay awake until 6:40 and wait for a bus. I fell asleep a couple of times on the bus. We had a small breakfast and then went to bed until 5pm. Met our host, Toshiyuki Iwaoka, Ryuji, Poppo, Akihiro, Nakamura-san and we went out for tea. Had squid, sashimi, show mein, steak, daiken salad, tempura, sausages, kebabs – yakitori. They even served us a fish on a skewer that had be cut up but you could see the fish still breathing. Taking flesh from an animal that is barely alive on a skewer with chopsticks is not the most pleasant experience. Can’t complain about the freshness of the food though. Tea cost about 17000 yen ($A200) for seven people and Iwaoka wouldn’t accept payment from anybody else. Gion Festival was going on outside.
Then we hit the clubs/bars. I was forced to talk to a girl, Hisako, by everyone after she waved at me. Nakamura-san acted as my translator. Such a nice guy. She asked me out for a date. Another bar and then home. Later, I saw Hisako in the street and I was urged to go and say goodnight to her. She didn’t understand and thought that I wanted to go back to her house with an exclamation of “My parents!”
Jap Blog 18th of July 1996
Hisako didn’t show for my tour of Kyoto. Hardly surprising really. I dropped in at a Sumitomo Bank to take some cash out of my credit card (almost impossible to spend anything on credit card in Japan – cash is king) and they wouldn’t let me have any money. Incidentally, the bank employed an older guy to stand at the door, greet you, and show you which teller you need to see. Talk about over employment. Rang mum and my sister, on a phone inside the bank, but they were not home or I couldn’t get through so I rang Mr Loppy in Bordertown to get the Commonwealth Bank’s phone number. Spoke with Tim Lawrence at the Bordertown branch, whom I know from school, to provide assurance of my identity.
The problem was, even though I had thousands of dollars in credit on my credit card, my limit was only $500 and so I was only able to withdraw $500 in cash on a weekly basis. If I had wanted to buy something for $3000 and had enough funds that wouldn’t have been a problem. Don’t make the mistake of heading to Japan with about $80 in cash and the rest stuck in a credit card. Ah, the naïve traveller.
Managed to get my credit limit increased to $1000. The female teller in Sumitomo bank couldn’t accept that I had been in touch with my bank in Australia when I asked her to try the transaction again possibly because I had been using a green phone. The green phone was only for local calls – how could I possibly have called Australia. Good old Telstra Phonehome card.
Persuaded them to try again and to their astonishment the money was available. The phone calls to Australia cost me $A88 and I could have called the telephone number on my Visa card handy numbers card that I had inside my wallet and saved me all of the expense.
Walked to Nishi Hongan-ji. Just huge. So was Higashi Hongan-ji. You must remove your shoes when entering the temples. Walked to a massive garden but it was closed. A small temple with a cemetery caught my attention [author's note: Pack them in don't they? People in Japan are cremated after they die]. So hot today. Had a look at Kara-mon at Higashi Hongan-ji.
I’ve noticed that nobody hands pamphlets out to white people and Japanese have the unusual habit of parking their cars, turning the air conditioning on, and going to sleep. In a country where petrol isn’t cheap it is most unusual. Also, there are almost no bins to put rubbish into. You are supposed to finish your drink/ice cream outside of the shop where you bought it. On the television, suspected criminals are named and filmed but handcuffs are not shown. Intriguing. Watched a bit of “Alf” and it was very well dubbed into Japanese. It’s even possible to watch American programs in Japanese or American. English for signs is American English. In some pamphlets it is more Japanese English eg “friendly” becomes “friendry”. This country is so service-oriented. So many people to greet you, especially in the banks, and there are heaps of bean counters. Service girls use such a high-pitched voice and they are too polite. Just shut up and do your job. Japanese commercials are full of people singing and bouncing about on the screen.
Jap Blog 19th of July 1996
Wayne and I stayed up until 2:30 am talking last night after watching “Aladdin”. This morning we went to the Gion area and Maruyama-koen (park). Walked to Kiyomizu-dera (temple). There are some famous love-stones there which Wayne managed to walk between with his eyes closed. I just missed so will have to wait a long time for love. [author's note - Doesn't everyone have a photo overlooking Kyoto from Kiyozimu-dera or inside?] We saw some quite crowded streets in our travels today where the motto must be love thy neighbour.
Our next stop was Sanjusangen-do Temple. It is the longest wooden building in Japan at 120m and houses 1000 buddhas which took 70 sculptors 100 years to make. Absolutely fascinating.
Caught a train north and had a two kilometre walk to Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) on the Path of Philosophy. Quite beautiful gardens surrounding the pavilion. We managed to get a bus that took us directly to Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion). Beautiful. Two Japanese girls, Miyoko Yamahata and Aki Yoshida, both 1st year uni students, were interviewing people on their thoughts on the Golden Pavilion. Wayne did his interview in Japanese (the show off). The girls just went silly when Wayne told them that I was from Australia. We seem to be very popular here. I gave Miyoko a kangaroo and she just had to give me something – another curious Japanese custom. It turned out to be a very strange item – her comb. Both girls were only 18 and quite chirpy. They wanted our addresses and they gave us theirs in Kanji form. I think that we did quite well in our sightseeing. Iwaoka and his wife, Kazumi, took me out to the best ramen shop in Kyoto, near the main train station.
Jap Blog 20th of July 1996
Today we joined four of Iwaoka’s [author's note - interesting Japanese-style apartment car park] friends and drove to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka-ken (prefecture). These people stop at nearly every highway stop. The posted speed limit is 80 km/h but they drove at 130 km/h on the expressway. The toll was 5500 yen. Had eel (unagi) for lunch. Not bad. Then we went to the Suzuki household by the harbour. Shell fishing was the plan. It was possible to get them by hand but the shells and rocks were very sharp, as I found out. Once I started to use the tool designed for shell fishing I had a lot of success. It was like a pitchfork with a steel net to catch and sift with. Twenty eight kai (shellfish) in one go was my best effort, a record no doubt. We even caught a crab, sea urchin and two jellyfish.
Kango Inoguchi, our host, was a good teacher, when it came to shell fishing. He’s 58 and will retire in two years and go to Australia. Funny old guy who spoke a bit of English that he picked up in the navy. He delighted in telling me in English that he liked his wife, Chizuko, because she had “big tits”. There was a huge cook-up for tea. Raw prawn tails, whole cooked prawns, sashimi (which I almost choked on and was so close to throwing up in front of everybody it wasn’t funny), sushi, sake, squid, dried squid, gyoza and kai. Eat, eat, eat. Other family members include Keiko and her boyfriend Kou, Yuko and boyfriend Koji, Susumu (wife), Yuki and son Jujero. I rate Yuko as a 10 (One of those games that we played constantly about rating how pretty Japanese girls were).
Iwaoka’s friends – Toshihiro and Akiko Shimada (another 10), and Yumiko Kitajima and Tsutomu Nakamura. Iwaoka went to bed fairly early because he wanted to leave at 3 am.
Jap Blog 21st of July 1996
Had a decent breakfast. Still can’t believe the size of last night’s tea. Down to the beach. Even though it was threatening to rain all day, the beach was pretty packed. Wayne and I were the only gaijin (foreigners) on the beach. Bit of beach volleyball with Yumiko and Tsutomu, body boarding and sumo. Markibono (me) reigns supreme as champion sumo. Then we went back near the Suzuki’s household for more shellfishing. There were fishing paddocks in the river and I cut my hands on the poles. Kou managed to break the rake tool. Good tea. Everybody left. Bought a five day rail pass.
Jap/Korea Blog 22nd of July 1996
After a terrible nights sleep we arose at 5am. Watermelon for breakfast and then Kango drove us to the main train station. At our first change we had two minutes to catch the other train. Luckily it was on the same platform. The guys in charge of the train timetabling don’t muck around in Japan. The train bound for Tokyo became a little crowded but we had a seat for the whole trip. Bought a ticket for the Narita Express where we sat opposite a Japanese woman, who is married to an Iranian, and her daughter. This woman was very talkative and offered us some double-yolked eggs. We had some biscuits left over and so we handed them out.
Narita airport is the most confusing airport I’ve been in. Bloody Yanks all over the place just being Yanks. I hate the fact that United Airlines allow smoking, and Yanks. Hideaki was a boy of five years of age who sat near us. Wayne started talking to him and they were chatty. The cheeky little shit said that my beard reached my toes and should be shaved off. He was quite interested in my hairy legs. Stewardesses were very rude and ugly.
Caught a bus from the airport and that was a hair-raising experience. Longevity for bus drivers in Seoul can’t be very good. The roads are a mad house. Can’t believe the amount of advertising signs plastered all over the buildings. After a bit of walking about in circles we found the place where Wayne wanted to stay but it was full. Some mute/deaf guy took us to another place. Fifteen thousand Won/night for the two of us in a yogwan. Had some hot chicken stir fry for tea at 11000 Won.
Korea Blog 23rd of July 1996
Seoul – an intriguing city (wide roads). A place where if you look lost enough people will ask you in English if they can help. The women here are simply gorgeous. Hardly any ugly young women. They have the most kissable looking lips. Perfect lipstick. Lovely eyebrows. High cheekbones. Hardly any women smoke. Their hair is absolutely stunning.
We slept in today. Didn’t hear my alarm and there are no windows in our room. Woke up at nearly 11:30. Tapkol (Pagoda) Park was our first stop. Old people everywhere. Then lunch. Had difficulty finding a place and a girl asked if she could help us. She did. Wouldn’t take up our offer to buy her lunch though. Noodles. Hot side dish of kim chee. Had a look at Poshin gak – a bell pavilion. Statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin to admire. Bookstore in Kyobo Building was huge. Wayne was looking for a particular guide book in the Japanese section and so spoke to a girl reading a Japanese book. She looked very guilty and admitted that she didn’t speak Japanese. A guy did, but poorly, and then he surprised us by speaking English. Went to Kyeongbokkung Palace but it was closed on Tuesdays. Got a little bit lost then took a photo of Chung Jung Gong Min Young Hwan statue. He held four ministries in government, was mayor of Seoul and a leader of the Korean Independence Movement.
Chang Deokkung Palace was large and we had to pay for a tour. It was in English. On the tour were some Russian, French and German speakers. Lots of photos and postcards. Changgyeonggung Palace was also closed. Walked past Kwangjang and Tongdaemun markets until we reached Tongdaemun – East Gate. Fairly impressive. The map also mentioned Tongmyo – Royal Shrine. Had much difficulty locating it. Lovely woodwork. Some guy walked up and asked if he could help us. He was very surprised when we told him what we were looking for. “How did you find out about that? Not many people know about it.”
“It was on the map,” came our reply. We arrived just before closing time – 6:30pm. Had tea, bulgogi (beef) and Mr Chong (English name Johannes), who sat next to us, was very nice and talkative. Showed us how to eat our traditional meal and then ordered a second course for us. He paid for it. Turns out that he is head civil engineer. His English was marginally better than our Korean. Nice bloke though! I thought that he may have been a taxi driver because he wore white gloves. Turns out that he picked up a gas bomb and it burnt him rather badly that he spent four months in hospital. Walked back to the yeogwan.
There are police and army guys everywhere. The police even control the major intersections. Good idea too. We were sitting down contemplating a move and some bloke walking past with a fan said, “Hot?” and fanned us. A couple of guys waling past waved and smiled at us. These Koreans really crack me up. Driving is very chaotic. Walking along a street you will see four or five shops selling the same items and there will be only six or seven different types of shops in the street. How do these people make money? There are more motorbikes but less bicycles on the footpaths than in Japan. Korean women seem to be a fraction taller and have an ounce more meat on them than Japanese women. There is a strange-looking habit of girls holding hands and also guys bit it seems to be more for protection (or companionship) than homosexuality. Public displays of affection also seem to be a no-no, same as Japan. Bought a t-shirt “Korea – World Cup 2002” – made in China. Hard to believe that it was only 2000 Won. Bought a hat this morning. When asking the old man how much was it, he wrote it down but it was difficult to read. Another guy said, “Five dollars”. In $US yes, but I’m not American.
When I bought my postcards to day the girl thought that Wayne and I were French. Her Korean (of course), Japanese and English were really good. Why French? I thought that I was very polite.
There are almost no American cars here. Everything is Korean. Japan has Volvos, Saabs, BMWs, Cadillacs etc.
Pics - National Museum Entrance, Tonhwamun, Coronation Hall Chang Deokkung, Piwon - secret garden, Inside Piwon.
Korea Blog 24th of July 1996
Out and about at 10am today. First place that we managed to find was the city hall. Previous to that Wayne haggled a guy down to 4500 Won from 6000 Won for some Korean red ginseng. The guy really wanted the sale. Then we had a gander at Teoksugung Palace. I handed the girl enough money for a youth (19-24 years of age) and she didn’t believe me when I said I was 24. Showed her my passport and she still got the calculator out to check!
Walked to Namdaemun (South Gate). Quite impressive. Bumbled our way over to the statue of General Kim Yu-Shin and two of Kim Ku. At Teodsugung I took a photo of King Segong the Great (1397-1450). He invented Hangul, sundial, waterclock, rain gauge and some other instruments. There was some very nice looking rock poetry in this area. Climbed up to Seoul Tower and paid 1600 Won for the 3rd floor observation deck. Lunch was bibimbap (mixed rice and vegetables with egg) – best food I’ve had so far. Took the subway to the Olympic Stadium – huge. Had tea at Lotte shopping centre. Wayne had chicken ginseng in another restaurant and I had kal gook soo (sword noodles). Spent ages walking around for a cinema that was showing “Eraser”. When you walk through the wrong areas the look on people’s faces lets you know. Don't take the back streets.
Korean men spit whereas Japs don’t. I haven’t seen any women riding motorbikes and the only foreign cars I have seen are two Volvos.
“Eraser” was brilliant. When looking for my seat I asked a guy about the ticket and he said, “Oh, you’re a white guy!” I would have thought that that was quite obvious. As soon as the credits started the lights came on, the movie stopped and everyone cleared out as though there was a fire. Don’t waste any time shipping them in and out of the cinema as though they are cattle. Funny things about the movie. A propaganda movie of six to eight minutes precedes the film. Korean subtitles are put on the right hand side. Languages other than English are not translated into Korean. Sound reproduction was really poor and the lip sync was stuffed on the propaganda film.
All the signs at the palaces tell of the annexation of Korea by Japan, the buildings being burnt by Japanese etc, etc. The Japanese version isn’t as strongly worded as the English. “Japanese invasion of 1592”
Some more kids wanted to talk to us in Namsan Park so I just spoke English to them. They spoke Korean until we left and they said “Bye bye” and “I love you”.
Pics - Contrasting Buildings - the old palace and the new skyscrapers, Restoration at Kyeongheuigung.
Korea Blog 25th of July 1996
Watched a few hours of the Olympics last night. Getting into this judo. Even picked up a couple of Korean words. Went to Chongmyo (Royal Shrine) today. It has the longest wooden building in Korea, 19 Kan. Kan being a traditional length of measurement between two columns. Our 300 Won ticket also allowed us into Changgyeonggung (Palace). Lots of buildings and a new greenhouse. All day we were looking for a Lotus lantern which was on the map when finally we came across it only to find it to be Lotus Lantern International Buddhist Centre. Bummer. Next stop was Kyeongbokkung (Palace). Pic of Coronation Hall. We listened in on a heap of Japanese tours. Wayne is quite handy to have around as he speaks Japanese and they wouldn’t suspect that he could understand what the guide was talking about. Free tours. I recommend them. An older fella spoke to Waye in English as he was an English teacher. He then turned to me and said, “I’ve been to America two times.” As if I really care, not being an American myself. [Author’s note: Koreans expect all white people to originate from America.]
At the time that we were photographing Hyangwonjong (Pavilion), two 11 yr old girls wanted to talk to us. Had quite a conversation using our phrase book to tease them with questions such as “Are you married?” and the like. They spoke some English and some Japanese. Then we couldn’t get rid of them. They followed us everywhere. Four guys wanted their photo taken in front of the large pagoda and then wanted to talk to us. They were doing their military service in the police force. Caught the subway a little bit past where we planned to go but backtracked to the statue of great Buddhist, Ven Samyeong. It was there that we found Wayne’s PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) broken. That could cause more than a few problems. Took subway back to home base and met Christian from Pennsylvania. Funny guy and we spoke to him for an hour.
Pics - Artwork, King's Retreat.
Korea/Jap Blog 26th of July 1996
Fuel is 707 Won per litre and diesel is 303 Won per litre. It’s been funny that Wayne has been disoriented in Korea and I’ve done quite well in getting about the place. The exact opposite in Japan. Watched some soccer this morning and then acquired a box for some excess clothing I had. It rained quite a bit. We went to the post office and I had my box packed and wrapped for 1000 Won. What a great idea and great service. Only 8900 Won for postage. We had to go to the bank first and change some money. I took all of Wayne’s small Yen (6000) and changed that. We bought stamps also. Journeyed back to the yeogwan and grabbed our backpacks. Had chicken for lunch and wrote postcards. Went off to find the bus and then it started raining again. The bus was pretty full and I stood for most of the trip. Talk about slow at the airport and to make matters worse it was full of whinging Yanks. Aggghhh!!
Our boarding passes took about three minutes to organise. Everything went smoothly until my carry-on baggage was x-rayed. I grabbed my documents but not my backpack. Was about to jog off to the gate and realised that I felt quite light. Went back and asked about my bag. The guy couldn’t find it but I saw it. He thought that the bag had already been removed for destruction but a girl had just started to look through it. Lucky! After all that the plane was quite late in taking off. There was some official guy on the plane bothering people for ages. He had a 2-way radio – something that you can’t bring into Korea. The girl next to me didn’t want to talk. She was Korean.
No problem with immigration in Japan. Wayne’s penfriend Yuko was waiting for him. I was a surprise as Wayne had obviously not informed them that I was travelling with him. It didn’t cause a problem. Yuko’s mother doesn’t speak any English but her father speaks more as he gets more alcohol into him. I like this bloke. They prepared a great tea for us. Talked and watched Olympics until 2:30 am.
Jap Blog 27th of July 1996
Up at 9:00 am and had a reasonable-sized breakfast. Yuko, Wayne and I travelled into the city a bit to get the Zaurus fixed. Cost Wayne 12300 Yen and only took 20 mins. Had a Japanese BBQ for lunch. It included liver and beef among others. Went to a department store and bought some undies because Yuko’s mum was threatening to throw some of mine out. [author's note - festival celebrations going on everywhere] Yuko’s mum was going to pay for the new undies too. These people are just too nice. Yuko gave me a bell as a present. Before we got to the department store a girl stopped us and wanted to talk English with us. In the department store I heard “My friendo!” We had bumped into her again.
After our shopping Yuko took us to her uncle’s house. They had some clothes ready for us to join a festival. We carried an omikoshi, small temple on wooden beams that you place on your shoulder with a fox god in the middle, around the neighbourhood. Quite a few poses with the local children and the omikoshi before carrying this out. Some of the other neighbourhoods would have thought that it was disrespectful for a foreigner to carry so we had to do it where people knew who we were. Sat down for some tea in a large building. I had to introduce myself and chug a beer in front of the whole crowd. So, I don’t normally drink beer, abstention is the word for it, but I felt that the peer pressure was just a little bit too great not to. We had Japanese curry for tea and it was lovely and mild. We then pulled a musician's float into the town centre. Two hours of firecrackers, dance, people, acrobatics, drinking and people generally enjoying themselves. A Danish woman came and spoke to us and we had to give her a kiss. Dragged the float back and had another meal! Then we went back to Yuko’s uncle’s house. What a crazy day. The town was near Fusa Station. Lots of makeup too!
Jap Blog 28th of July 1996
Up at 8am. Breakfast consisted of cooked salmon, rice with natto – fermented beans that tasted like coffee [author’s note: one of the most disgusting things to be faced with at any time of the day] and misoshiro – tofu soup. Friends of Yuko’s cousin, including Iwow, Yoichi and Shino alia – WOW! YO! And SHIT NO! Dressed up again and pulled the float to another area. All the floats came and there was a huge omikoshi. Lots of drinks and music followed by a chanting/running/getting wet session before carrying the omikoshi for some 40 minutes up and down the street and between the floats. It was a Shinto ceremony. Had to have sake as a warm up before pulling the float. The ceremony was for the fox god in the omikoshi to bless the neighbourhood. A couple of hours of all this. Lunch. A Japanese curry! Very nice and quite mild. Siesta. Moved the float. Another siesta but I watched some baseball and Olympics. Some old geezer wouldn’t let Wayne and I carry the omikoshi but Yuko’s cousin let us in his neighbourhood. It’s a pity that the Japanese are so short. I had to bend down to do the carrying. At 7pm it was back to the float and then we received an invitation to tea – soba noodles and tempura. It must have been the local doughnut shop because all the police were hanging out there. Pulled the float around town to a Shinto shrine. Bad Girl, the makeup girl, was there and painted my goatee pink and my moustache green. Her daughter, Maho, stuck with us. She is in a few photos. Back to Yuko’s uncle’s place for a shower and a change. They dropped us off at the train station. Travelled to the Kimura’s place – Naoko’s parents. They seem like great people. Mr Kimura speaks some English, French, and German. Funnily enough he was unable to understand any of these languages when I spoke to him. Is this an example of Japanese humour that backfired? Bed just before 1am.
Pic of John Lennon! (and Maho)
Jap Blog 29th of July 1996
Up at 9am for a large breakfast. Into the city to Ueno-koen (park) and there was some strange architecture there. Lots of homeless people in the park with their tents. Photo of Benzaiten Temple. Wayne took us to Little America. On the way to Asakusa Nakamise-dori we met a Canadian, Gavin, who thought that my accent was British. Photo of Hozo-mon Gate and Senso-ji Temple. Nice pagoda there. Had a walk around Ginza, the most expensive real estate in Tokyo, while looking for the train station that Wayne’s friend Mizuho was to meet us at. Went in the wrong direction and were 20 minutes late. Had a drink and the waiter kept filling my glass with water – even while I was trying to drink. Walked over to the Imperial Palace and then took the subway to Tokyo Tower. Saw some statues that are dedicated to aborted feotuses. Had tea in a department store – beef croquette, kai, cabbage, soup and rice. All the rice and cabbage we wanted. I kept bothering one young waiter for a new bowl of rice. Ended up eating four [author’s note – never want to see a bowl of steamed rice again]. Then we went for a walk around Shinjuku – the red light district. We all went into the lobby of a love hotel (5500 Yen/2 hours or 9000 Yen/night) and they said, “No, not three at one time.” Blokes on the street were handing out pamphlets for clubs but very few handed us anything. While waiting for a light to cross the road a Jamaican guy handed us a pamphlet and said that it was really cheap to get in (a bar)– only 4000 Yen! He said, “We have Americans, English and Australians.” I told him that I didn’t want any white trash. Went to the subway and said goodbye to Mizuho and headed back to the Kimura’s place.
Pics - Chikatetsu art, Funny sign - no smoking or bonfire.
Jap Blog 30th of July 1996
Up at 5:30am. No time for breakfast. Raced into Shinjuku to buy a bus ticket to Mt Fuji. 2600 Yen to get there but there wasn’t a full return. The Japanese girl who sat next to me didn’t speak any English or German or French. She spoke enough Japanese to her friends though. We bumped heads while we were asleep and that was funny. Fuji-yama was very much covered in cloud from a distance. Headed off as soon as the bus stopped. Was going downhill to start with and thought that I was going the wrong way. Wasn’t. The fifth stage starts at 2305 metres. On the way up I found a towel. I started to ask people if it was theirs and a group of four people gave me some mugicha and barley sugars along with taking my photo. Not many foreigners trekking. Met Chris from San Francisco at about the time I was feeling quite sick. Two guys went screaming past later and I said to them, “Are you crazy?” To which they replied, “Fighto!” Obviously they were fighters. Altitude sickness descended upon me as I had tried to climb too quickly.
Guess what film was being advertised on Mt Fuji. Not Kodak. Fuji film! I stopped at stage 8.5 at 3450 metres. Running out of time so I started my descent. Took me one hour to run down. Funny sign near the bus station. Bought lots of postcards - all of Mt Fuji. Caught my bus and talked to four Romanians. Met Wayne and Mizuho and then Wayne and I went to a shop called Sofmap which had all the new Zaurus equipment. Back to the Kimura’s and then over to Gusto’s restaurant for tea. Saw a Japanese girl with grey eyes today! She was an albino.
Jap Blog 31st of July 1996
Bellybutton count is up to four [author’s note – don’t remember playing this game but it obviously eventuated due to a lack of visible Japanese bellybuttons]. Had a real sleep in today. Had lunch and went into the city. It was 3:30 pm and all of the banks had closed their foreign exchange sections [author’s note – don’t take a credit card to Japan to survive on as this is a cash-based society]. Felt strange to walk into a bank and see only ATMs and no tellers. Went to Sunshine City – a huge department store within a 60 storey building. Played arcade games – we beat two Japs at Daytona. I managed a baseball pitch at 106 km/h.
Next stop was Toyota Amlux building – heaps of new models to look at and jump in. On display they had a futuristic model – Prius – which was designed to give 30 km/litre! It has a 1.5 litre engine and a capacitor that was charged from the axle. All the passenger seats could be folded out to reveal child seats and belts. It also had a CVT – continuous variable transmission. Photos in Ikebukuro station. Went to city government building but it was closed. Homeless village in the chikatetsu.
Jap Blog 1st August 1996
First stop today was the city government building where we took the elevator up to the 45th floor (to see the Tokyo skyline) in 55 seconds. Visited Sumitomo Bank for some more money. Need it to survive in this country. Went to Akihabura – the place where you can buy any amount of cellular phones, computers, global positioning systems etc. Next was the war memorial (entrance) [author’s note – the one where when the Japanese PM visits every year it causes a political stink] but the museum was closed. Back to the Kimura’s and out to a restaurant for tea – shabu shabu – a meat dish for all you can eat. You boil the meat and it was really nice.
Jap Blog 2nd August 1996
Up and had saman (fish) for brekky. Motoyuki, the Kimura’s son, drove us to the train station. The Kimura’s gave us 10000 Yen each. We were going to do some work for them but being foreigners meant we required a work permit and so we were unable to do so. Mr Kimura still paid us though [author’s note – the generosity of the Japanese is astounding]. Only person that talked to us in all of our train travel was a girl called Naoko [author’s note – aren’t they all?]. Quite crowded on the train at times. Interesting sign at train station. Wrote a few postcards. Plenty of mountains and trees. I saw a Jap blow his nose today [author’s note – a rare occurrence and one worth mentioning]!! Took a bus to stay with some guy near Toyama but we got off at the wrong stop. Waited an hour after phoning and then found out why we hadn’t been picked up. Town is called Inami. Best pair of legs I’ve ever seen today with a see-through mini skirt. Mmm, mmm.
Jap Blog 3rd August 1996
We stayed up until nearly 1 am last night talking to Mr Soichiro Hasegawa. He is a sculptor, usually with wood. After breakfast, egg tofu [author’s note – one of the other most disgusting things to be faced with at any time of the day], he took us around to the businesses of some friends. They were all wood carvers. Some marvellous work (and more). Also visited an art gallery that where he had organised an exhibition of some dead guy’s work. We saved 300 Yen on the entrance fee. Up to a Buddhist temple where Hasegawa san refused to pay the entrance fee, on principal. Another 300 Yen saved. Drove up to a park that had wood carvings from Denmark, NZ, Russia, Colombia and Inami. Went to a wood carving gallery and he saved us another 500 Yen entrance fee [author’s note – a good person to know!]. Some of the rama(n), which go above the doors in a traditional house, cost 3 000 000 Yen! They can take 2-3 months to finish and I can believe it. Hasegawa san is in charge of the Inami International Wood Sculpting Competition, or some such.
Photos - Turtle and Snake, Dragon, Dragon 2
Caught the bus back to Toyama after lunch and saw “The Great Buddha” – one of many, and inside the temple. The streets were all dollied up for some festival too, and again. On our train journey we had five kids from Seinanbu Junior High School want to talk to us in English. The leader of this bunch had been to Houston for one year. His English was crap and Wayne admonished him for this. A guy at a remote train station jumped across the tracks to ask us if we wanted his train. How polite.
Arrived in Higashi-Maizuru and found a hotel for 5700 Yen/night and got the clerk to knock it down to 10000 Yen for the two of us to share. It was only a single room and he didn’t want to let it out to two people, of the same sex. My, my – what must have been going through his mind. I paid the difference as I slept on the floor. Found out that I left my toiletries bag at Hasegawa’s place.
Jap Blog 4th August 1996
Up at a reasonable hour to catch the train. Had a 50 minute stop in Fukuchiyama so we walked to the castle and took a few photos. Photo of mountainside and tunnel at Kutani. Stopped in Tottori, had lunch and caught a bus out to the Tottori Sand Dune. Took the cable car to the dune from the bus stop. The guy running the cable looked after our backpacks. For free, as long as we were back before he closed [author’s note – I told you these people were generous].
Climbed the dune and then went boring down the other side to the beach. I’m sure that I broke the world record for 100 metres! Bit of a bastard climbing back up though. Back to the train station and bought some bread and milk. Played Pachinko. Can’t see the fun in it myself. Apparently it is very addictive. Took the train to Matsue and met Wayne’s friend, Yukinari Sano, whose mother picked us up. Nice tea followed by massages [author’s note – don’t remember this]. Bed at 1:30 am.
Jap Blog 5th August 1996
“Niwa niwa niwa, niwatorii ga iru.” A Japanese tongue twister. “In the garden there is a bird, and the bird is a chicken.”
“Omae aho ka!” A bit nastier. “Are you stupid you arsehole!”
“Achi ike” – bluntly, “Piss off”.
Yukinari’s mum hired a car for the day for us [author’s note – did I mention that the Japanese are a generous people? I’m sure I have]. We went to Matsuejo (Matsue castle). Pretty good. Interesting garden. Then the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and then his former residence. He was an a European, born in Greece to an Irish father and Greek mother who lived in Japan. Also Matsue Buke Yashiki – ancient residence of high ranking samurai. Also visited Matsue Histroical Museum “Koun Kaku”. Yukinari drove us out to Izumo Hinomisaki where we had soba noodles for lunch. Visited the “Girlfriend Temple” – En-Musubi. Here the plan is to throw some money into the large twisted straw, clap your hands and say a prayer. I picked up some money from the ground, why use my own, and got it to stick into the straw, clapped my hands and thought to myself, “Girlfriend please” [author’s note – wasn’t too long after that Mi-Kyoung came into my life].
The Japanese have low unemployment. Just how many people do you need to put up a sign?
Drove to Todai lighthouse and ventured up to the top. Walked down to the waters edge, the Sea of Japan, stripped down to our jocks and had a swim. I became high dive champion. Back to Matsue and filled the car up with fuel. I’ve never seen so many people at a service station. They even guide you onto the street. Something like three people cleaned the car as it was being filled by another. No wonder petrol is so expensive [author’s note – they don’t have price discounting wars in Japan at petrol stations. Rather, they have service wars. Some things about this country are not easily explained]. Had tea. Rang my sister in Australia.
Jap Blog 6th August 1996
Watched the Hiroshima Memorial this morning on the TV. Brekkie and then Midori (Yukinari’s mum) and Yukinari dropped us off at the train station. I mentioned to Yukinari that a girl I had seen was “interesting” and he laughed [author’s note – Can’t remember how to say that in Japanese]. Wayne and I proceeded to find out just how “interesting” Miss Rie Karakawa was. “Very”. At one train station we caught the attention of two 30-somethings. Pity they were travelling the other way. On our final train we had a seat across from a Japanese customer. I introduced Wayne as “R. Sole” and he in turn introduced me as “Dick Wad”. We spoke in English and really confused this couple. Wayne wanted to play a joke on them by pretending not to speak any Japanese. After I said that I was from Australia, Masai, the guy, used the word “hogen” and I thought that he meant Paul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee. It means “dialect”. Just as they left and thanked me for the koalas that I gave them and Masai wondered what present he should give me in return. I mentioned that his sunglasses looked nice and he was about to give them to me until Wayne told them in Japanese that they were boring presents and not worth worrying about. The look of amazement on their faces was brilliant and well worth the trouble. I wasn’t about to take the poor man’s sunglasses anyway.
Fukuoka train station was full of beautiful women [author’s note – this must be the best place I have ever visited for watching gorgeous women walk by constantly. It was full of them]. Wayne’s friend, Yuko Sannomiya, collected us from the train station. She called her Taiwanese friend Rie up and we went out for tea. A funny night. The girls’ English was quite ok. Yuko had a newspaper at her flat in English with all of the Olympic medallists [author’s note – it was difficult to keep up with the medal tallies but fun trying to read it in a Japanese newspaper].
Jap Blog 7th August 1996
Read the paper and had pastries for brekkie that Yuko had bought for us. Wayne and I ventured to Dazaifu where we crossed over the five-arched bridge, saw the Tenman-gu Shrine and entrance, Treasure House Museum, Komyozenji Temple and Garden, Kanzeion-ji Temple, Ittekikaino-niwa (apparently one of the must see places in Dazaifu, if not Japan), Treasure House with huge statues, Kaidan-in, Kaidan-in Ruins (no photo). Had udon noodles for lunch. Kaidan-in dates from 761 AD and Kanzeon-ji from 746 AD. Train to Nagasaki after buying another five day pass. Youth Hostel.
Pic - Japanese-style car wash
Jap Blog 8th August 1996
Statues seen and photographed in Peace Park, Nagasaki – Fountain for Peace, Monument, Main Statue, Soviet, Czechoslovak, GDR, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cuba, Turkey, USA, Argentina, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Mother & Child from Netherlands. Visited Matsuyama-cho along with Urakami Cathedral, the famous One-Legged Torii, Unknown Victims Shrine, Nagasaki International Culture Hall (Atomic Bomb Museum) – saw a couple that travelled a fair distance on trains with us a few days before. At the Peace Park I had an interview with six Japanese students and we kept bumping into them. Museum was pretty gruesome. Atomic bomb hypocentre, on-legged torii, Sakamoto International Cemetery (here are the Hebrew site and Glover gravesite, site of martyrdom of 26 Japanese saints, Goddess Kannon on Turtle at Fukusai-ji and inside (all the discs are messages to aborted or stillborn children saying how the parents wished that the baby was in a better place), Shojuku-ji with its huge camphor trees (these were blown away except for about 10 feet at the bottom and amazingly they regrew!), talked to a hibakusha – nuclear victim – in a cemetery. He really wanted to talk about his experiences and showed us his scars.
Visited Suwa-jinja Shrine with fortune telling taking place and lots of steps to climb. Took the tram down to Sofukuji Temple and then we got slightly off track. Wayne asked two girls for directions and they had only been in Nagasaki for two hours. They also were looking for the Spectacles Bridge, as it turned out. Finally, we got directions and Yuko [author’s note – aren’t they all called Yuko?] and Emi joined us. They came from Fukuoka. Bought ice creams and went into the city to find a Chinese restaurant. Had a five course meal for 3000 Yen each. We wanted to head back to the Youth Hostel and the girls decided to go out to an all-night nightclub. Stupid us.
Jap Blog 9th August 1996
Shower. Brekkie. Walk to train station and put almost everything into a locker. As usual my backpack wouldn’t fit in. Took it to Peace Park and it was a good thing that we arrived early as were able to get a seat. A great service, I must say. Not that I could understand it. I almost cried a couple of times. Wayne left early to go to his Rotary Club meeting – I was expected to attend, although this hadn’t been made clear to me.
Stayed around after the service waiting for everybody to clear the area so that I could get a good photo. Sat down and a Japanese lady, Hideko Rikitake, asked me if I was ok. In English. We started talking. She took my photo. Her grandmother and aunty were hibakusha and had died during the last year. We went to the “Unknown Victims” Shrine and lit a stick of incense for them. Walked to the bus stop and kept talking. Hideko asked me how old I was and I asked her to guess, adding that I look older because I have a goatee. Her guess was 28 [author’s note – being only 24 and having the person lower their expectation and guess 28 makes me think that I looked really old]. We swapped addresses and Riki told me about a ceremony that started at 6:30pm and asked if I would like to come. I said that I wasn’t sure about our plans this evening but would call her. Took the tram back to the train station and arrived at the same time as Wayne.
Arty water fountain. Who says the Japanese have no taste? We decided to climb Inasayama. Summit was at 333 metres and it took us 1 hr and 20 minutes to climb [author’s note – damned oversized backpack]. Incidentally, there was a cable car to take us to the summit but being backpackers and very money conscious, we decided to do it the real way. Great view. Wayne telephoned the Hazama household [author’s note – from the Rotary Club] as they had invited us to stay the night. I rang Riki, from the top of the mountain, and asked if she could meet us for the ceremony. Yes. Only took us 45 minutes to get back to the train station. Met up with a Swiss guy, Adrian, whom we had bumped into a couple of times previously. Had a drink together and as we were leaving two girls wanted to talk to us and take our photo. Great English [author’s note – why don’t I remember them?]. We left Adrian to it [author’s note – lucky bugger].
Caught the tram to Peace Park and Riki was a little bit late. The ceremony involved Toro – paper lanterns and candles – which were to be floated on the river. Wayne and I had all of our gear and so it wasn’t an easy walk. Get this, we dropped our gear off against a wall or somewhere, and just carried on with the ceremony. Took the lanterns down to the river where they were put on wooden floats and hundreds of them were sent down the river. Nobody touched our gear and the strange fact is that no matter how large my paranoia is, I didn’t expect anybody to interfere with our belongings [author’s note – great country or what?].
Wayne called the Hazamas again. We all walked to the meeting place – 25 minutes away. A restaurant was nearby and we had tea there. I had prawns – whole. Oishi (delicious). Mrs Hazama paid and Riki couldn’t believe it. Dr Hazama arrived and we dropped Riki off at her home. The Hazamas had offered for Riki to stay with them too [author’s note – did I mention the incredible hospitality of the Japanese?] but she politely declined mentioning that she had some window dressing to carry out in Kitakyushu the next day. She gave me a bookcase piece that had been in her family for a long time [author’s note – I still have it].
Drove a long way from Nagasaki and we are staying in an apartment block overlooking the Dutch Huis Ten Bosch. We talked until almost 2 am, generally about World War II, the bomb on Nagasaki and the strange things that Japanese do. The Hazama’s children are studying in America and they even rang one of their sons for us to talk to.
Jap Blog 10th August 1996
Slept in. Talked to Mrs Hazama until 12 o’clock. Journeyed to Huis Ten Bosch. A hefty 4800 Yen for our tickets, each. Walked through Kasteel Nijienrode, Cheese Farmhouse, windmill, Mysterious Escher 3D movie, Sail Universe ride, Multimedia Café – Internet (saw Derek Carlson’s home page) [author’s note – this was one of my first experiences of the Net], bought some writing paper, boat ride around the complex, Tall Ship Museum and film, Great Voyage Theatre, Paleis Huis Ten Bosch and then back to the Hazama’s house. A fairly good day.
Pics - Boerenkaas and Kinderdijk, Nieuwstad.
All of us went out for a BBQ tea. A Korean BBQ – all you could eat. And they made me eat [author’s note – this has never been a problem in the past]. Met some of Hazama’s friends and they came back to the apartment for a talk and to watch the fireworks of Huis Ten Bosch. Mrs Hazama thought that Tasmania belonged to New Zealand. While taking the boat trip around the harbour earlier today, a Japanese woman commented on the English written on the signs. Hate to inform you lady but they are written in Dutch.
Jap Blog 11th August 1996
Slow morning. Magazine, breakfast and a talk. Finally go underway and Mrs Hazama flew into a panic because she left it a bit late to drive us to the train station. Made the first train in time. Everything went ok until Wayne took us to the wrong train. No harm done as we could still make it to Oita in reasonable time. Travelled through Usa (the story behind this is that pre-World War II all electronic equipment from Japan was crap and so they badged it with "Made in Usa"). As we had all of our backpack material the train driver in Oita wanted to know where we were going, i.e. “Are you lost?” It was unusual for him to see two foreigners (giajin). Had tea at a cheap restaurant and Wayne’s aikido sempai paid for the meal. Walked to Oita diagaku (university) and checked in.
A package was waiting for Wayne and it turned out to be my toiletries bag. Met Kiyoshi Okazawa. Rang mum and Wayne rang some people. Kiyoshi then drove us to Yufuin (some interesting protest material here) and some onsen (hot springs). Spent 35 minutes in “the tub” and a girl came in just as I was about to leave. She was slightly embarrassed and went back outside. During this break in proceedings the Japanese guys became excited and one guy jumped out to put his glasses before she came inside again. We were naked in the onsen except for a face washer but this girl wore a towel into the water. Drove back to uni. The dormitory is a slum and the place should be condemned.
Jap Blog 12th August 1996
Wayne had stuff to do. Wrote thankyou notes and postcards. Went out for tea with Kiyoshi and Gorilla [author’s note – Gorilla was a large individual. Not the sort of opposite nicknaming that we would use in Australia]. I had two stir fries with rice and soup. Hara Itai (belly full). Watched a video. Guys were outside last night playing with fireworks.
Jap Blog 13th August 1996
Oita Post Office mail opening hrs are: Week 9-7, Sat 9-5, Sun 9-12:30
Oita Post Office cash service hrs is: Week 8-9, Sat 9-5, and Sun 9-5
Noticed a musical pedestrian crossing today. An old woman wanted to take our photo. Wayne seems a bit put off by this Japanese fascination for gaijin. I think that the novelty of being a novelty has worn off. I have noticed that men don’t buy anything at convenience stores – they just read magazines. This entire trip we have been heading in the wrong direction. The beautiful girls have been going in the other direction.
“Shinjirarenai” – unbelievable.
Japanese point to their nose when asking, “Me?” whereas us white trash point to our chests. At Hazama’s place their youngest son said, “Hope you have a nice meeting you.”
Wayne and I had lunch and then I jumped on the train by myself as Wayne had other plans to go back to the USA and I had to look after myself for a couple of days. Managed to get to Dazaifu without any hassles. Found the Youth Hostel and booked in, finally. Five Koreans also booked in and so I started talking to one girl, Myo-hee Kim, and she turned out to be an English teacher. The typhoon is due to hit Fukuoka at 9am and my flight is at 9:25am.
Jap Blog 14th August 1996
Almost no sleep last night. Too hot, too noisy and the Korean guy next to me wanted to roll onto my futon. Koreans call whites “John” or “Mary”. They asked me if my name was John.
Tried to ring the airport but it was engaged. No breakfast because I hadn’t ordered the night before. Arrived at the train station only to find that the trains had been stopped due to the typhoon (Kirk). Met Catherine, a Kiwi, and we took a bus to Futsukaichi onsen only to find no trains or buses. Rang JAL – flight cancelled buy my ticket from Okinawa to Hong Kong was still valid. Fat lot of good that does me as I am not in Okinawa. Rang the insurance company – difficult to access the “collect call” service. The bus driver saw a bucket in the middle of the road and so he stopped the bus, got out, and removed it. Took a taxi with Catherine to Hakata Station. Cost 3700 Yen.
Booked into Hotel Clio Court. Had a Japanese massage by an old woman for 4000 Yen [author’s note – must have had some money to burn]. Tea was in the New York Grill Windows Restaurant on the 14th floor of the hotel. There wasn’t a place expensive enough in the malls in the train station [author’s note – did I mention that insurance was to cover my costs up to about $A600 per day due to the interruption to my trip by the weather? Time to screw them over]. They had a problem due to the weather and had to stop the restaurant from rotating. Then they asked me if this was ok. I don’t know what they would have done if I had said no [author’s note – they are big on not offending anybody in this country]. The restaurant is an interesting concept. The centre doesn’t move or the outer piece but the bit in between where one is seated does. Black tea isn’t called black tea. It’s called “straight”. The best service in a restaurant I’ve ever had and the food, although small in portion, was delicious.
Ads on TV that feature music inform you of the musicians – a nice touch. Watched TV and one show featured photographs of Nagasaki – camphor trees, one-legged torii and the cathedral – taken just after the blast and compare with how Nagasaki now looks. I enjoy Japanese game shows. Even Japanese who speak English have great difficulty in understanding when I say phone numbers or spell my name.
Jap Blog 15th August 1996
A beautiful day. Checked out of the hotel. Went to the airport but not much info was on offer. Rang JAP and they booked me in for a different flight to Hong Kong tomorrow. Went back to the Hotel Clio Court and persuaded them to give me the same room as before. They didn’t want to as it hadn’t been cleaned but I explained that it was my mess so it wouldn’t bother me and that I would leave straight away to allow them to clean it. Great service from the staff. Typhoon Kirk [author’s note – it sounds a bit strange to give an English name to a typhoon in Japan] is gone now and the weather couldn’t be better. At the hotel they use an honours system for the minibar. You write on a list what you have taken and hand that into reception when you leave to be added onto the bill [author’s note – something that would not catch on in Australia].
Took the train to Karatsu, a town. Photos of Karatsu Shrine and Karatsu-jo. Met a pain-in-the-arse American by the name of Julia [author’s note – can’t for the life of me think what she said but it must have involved much unnecessary complaining about the buses or somesuch]. Yanks are certainly thin-skinned [author’s note – once again, whatever bothered her and ended up bothering me has been erased from my memory banks]. Took a bus to Yobuko, a fishing town. Farily boring. Back in Karatsu I was trying to match the Kanji for Hakata with the same price I paid to get to Karatsu in my train timetable. It didn’t match. Some guy wanted to help and speak English. He had been to Hayman Island for his honeymoon but wasn’t sure if he spent 7 or 10 days there. Japanese women don’t wear overpowering perfume, unlike Western women.
Back at the hotel and to another of the restaurants for tea. The waiter, a young fella, translated the menu for me. Chicken, pork, beef teriyaki. He asked, “You don’t drink alcohol? Where are you from? Australia? Australians drink like fish! That is how I identify them.”
Ordered some more food – hors d’oeuvres and chicken teriyaki. He gave me another serving of radish and said, “You can kill your time with this.” Which was referring to the wait for my second order. When I told the waiter, Kuroki, about the insurance business (paying for the stay in the hotel and my meals) he said, “You know you’re not full.” Only part of the menu I could read was the French hors d’oeuvres. [author’s note – I put the whole meal, about $A50, on my credit card and the insurance company reimbursed me. I am yet to receive a bill from my credit card company!! So, I have eaten the meal and been PAID to do so. Talk about having your cake and eating it]
Jap/Hong Kong Blog 16th August 1996
Even the telephones (international) and subway ticket machines have images of people bowing to you after you use their service. Many shops and buses have a recorded message which thanks you when you leave. Nice breakfast [author’s note – paid for by the insurance company, of course]. I arrived at the airport early enough. Checked in without hassle. Bought some gifts and then through passport control to boarding lounge. Even though I had asked for a seat a long way away from the smoking section I was placed only two rows behind. Took another seat for trip to Kagoshima and was able to sit only one row back for flight to Hong Kong [author’s note – I had smokers and cigarette smoke]. Included in the TV landing information was a short piece of not becoming involved in drugs and guns (white and black [author’s note - ?]) while travelling. “Just say no” [author’s note – didn’t realise that Nancy Reagan was involved]. Best headphones I’ve ever used on an airplane.
Hong Kong. Long wait in immigration queue but no hassles from officialdom. It is an offence to talk to the bus driver! Local phone calls are free from the courtesy phones at the airport. Classical type/Spanish music played on the bus. Men spit everywhere. They are disgusting. Slums next to opulence. Bamboo scaffolding! The place is crawling with Poms (English people). Spoke to some t-shirt sellers – they don’t know what will happen next year when China takes over.
People try to kill themselves, or so it seems, when crossing the road. And drivers always want to be in the other lane. Some beautiful women, some ugly women and some very ugly women – the whites. Jump on a bus and it’s one price and exact money only. The view coming in on the plane was great. Rubbish everywhere (view from dormitory window). The English signs aren’t perfect either. There is certainly enough information to get around quite comfortably. Lots of Germans and French as well as the toffy, snotty, spoilt Poms. Checked into STB Hostel for $HK200. Photo of Tin Hau Temple, Kowloon Park and then walked to the Star Ferry Terminal. Also visited the Hong Kong war memorial.Advertising everywhere. Went across to Hong Kong Island and caught a bus for the Peak Tram but didn’t know where the stop was [author’s note – can’t talk to the driver to ask!]. Ended up almost all the way up to the top of the peak at The Peak Galleria. This three storey shopping plaza had a restaurant with an all you can eat buffet at $HK258. Bought a few pieces of china at really cheap prices where the elderly gentleman in the china store was 72 and about to retire. He had decided to emigrate to Canada over the uncertainty of Hong Kong after China regains control. Then I purchased a silk dressing gown for $HK280. Bought some food at a supermarket for tea. Back to the ferry terminal and over to Kowloon. Walked back to the hostel via the Temple St market where I had bought some t-shirts earlier. The city is a magnificent sight at night. Probably prettier than Manhattan.
Back at the hostel the room contained an Israeli, a nice Yank (Hispanic), a Chinaman who had migrated to NZ and two Taiwanese. Spoke with the Asians until 1am about anything and everything but mainly China.
Hong Kong/Singapore/Australia Blog 17th August 1996
Pretty wet this morning. Had a shower. Toilet had stopped working. Bought some dim sum for breakfast. Inside the fairly large restaurant I was the only white person. I waited to be shown a seat, which is not the way things are done, and was finally seated at a table with a Chinese woman, her baby and her mother. Didn’t really know what I was eating but I suspect that it was the arse-end of a chicken.
Watched some TV and bought some Chinese porn magazines for Wayne. He had mentioned that they were fairly hardcore [author’s note – only hardcore for readers as they were written in Chinese and included no pictures]. Sat on a chair in the dormitory room and the seat fell off. I thought that Hong Kong would have been very efficiently run by Britain but it could be a case of “Why bother fixing things for China?” The place is quite run down and almost 3rd world in places. Found my way out to the airport with no problems. Talk about heaps of traffic. Almost left (well did but someone gave me a yell) my ticket folder behind when I checked in at the airport. They gave us a raincoat each while in the waiting room. During the showing of the safety film one of the flight attendants mimed and did faces, etc, for everything but the Cantonese parts. He received a warm round of applause. My window seat didn’t actually have a window. The flight wasn’t full and I was able to swap sides ok. We had an episode of Seinfeld and Sgt Bilko was the movie. Nothing to do at Singapore Airport (Changi). On the flight returning to Oz I sat next to Stefan Stegemann from Stuttgart. Had the same flight attendant doing safety procedure and watched Primal Fear. Leighton Keane, one of my mates, wasn’t at the airport waiting to pick me up. Shared a taxi with Stefan into Perth.
WHAT A TRIP.
