さくら！Sakura

Through talking to some of the people here, I've learnt alot about the Japanese system of education and what lies in store after school finishes. Taking Yuma's school for example, the students attend school 5 days a week with a half day on Saturday. English and Mathematics are cumpolsory (and I swear the Maths is three years ahead of senior Maths in Aus). Sport clubs are run every afternoon when school finishes at around 4pm and continue through any given holiday. For some reason or another, block exams take a similar path, being held smack-bang in the middle of the holiday. What a pain. Once a student finishes school however, to be accepted into a University, one has to take and pass a written exam composed of Mathematics and English (reading comprehension and listening). If the student passes, great, off to uni, but if not, that student is expected to attend a type of Math/English tutorial lesson three times a week until the next uni entrance exam held in the following year. I don't know why things are like this here, but if you're born into a Japanese family and Maths or English isn't your thing, you've really lucked out..

Since I've been in Japan and despite the fun I'm having, I've seen alot of dull faces during the day, typically mounted on the shoulders of a man in a suit who works 6 days a week struggling to climb the corporate ladder. It has become clear to me that this is probably due to the pressure each worker has to perform in such a densly populated and highly competitive society. So, for a while I've wondered what these sorts of blokes do to release some steam. On Sunday I found out. They go to a place called Hamadera Park. Only a 10 minute ride from the house, this park acts as a leisure district for working class families on Sunday afternoons. Here, you can set up tents, have a BBQ, open a beer, enjoy live music and kick the footy (and by kick the footy, I mean have a slug of the baseball bat).

What better time to visit than during the end of March when it's slowly but surely starting to warm up and the 'Sakura' or Cherry Blossom trees start to open up. Strolling through the park is quite an experience at this time and is immensly popular. The Japanese even have a word for it. 花見 - hanami - flower viewing.

Although checking out the freshly bloomed Sakura is the highlight, there is no shortage of rose houses, walk-through gardens and the odd patch of whatever these ones below are.

Making the most of my last free day in Osaka, I decided to do as the Japanese were doing and grabbed myself an Asahi and some sushi before finding a nice warm spot under a tree to enjoy it all.

Got the visa!

Three days have passed since I went to apply for my visa at the Chinese consulate, so this morning I woke up early to retrace my route out to Awaza without the guidance of a kind policeman. The journey there was surprisingly smooth considering I was in a shambles last time. When I arrived at the consul, I simply forked out 4000 yen for the 30 day visa and the claiming receipt and that was it, it had a Chinese visa.

On my way back home, I was looking to change some Yen I got out yesterday for Chinese Yuan and Egyptian Pounds at the major train station of the area called Namba. The currency exchange booth wasn't open for another couple of hours, so I decided to go for a little walk around the station which is pushing for the title of 'Shopping Mall - featuring train station'. It is truly deceiving how far your can walk underground in one of these stations without noticing how much ground you've covered on the surface. After a 10/15 minute walk in one direction, I popped up on the other side of Namba. It's amazing.

With a good three hours before the currency exchange booth opened and in pursuit of things to do, I decided to have a quick sniff in 'Takashimaya' which is Japan's equivalent of say David Jones in Aus. Worldwide in these sorts of places, I have a theory that the floor number is directly proportionate to the quality of the opposite sex. On the first floor, you have the cosmetics section. Need I say more? This floor is filled with women who know how to look good and how to make people look good. (They also help bring people into the store from the main entrance). The second floor is usually women's clothing, shoes, accessories etc, so they're not as good here, but they're certainly worth a lap. The third floor however, is usually home to appliances and homeware goods. This is where, according to the theory, the store likes to employ it's 'average stock'. They're great help, but not girls that you want helping you with things outside of grabbing a new microwave. Finally, the fourth floor is menswear. Now, this floor is no good for obvious reasons.

Once I'd circumnavigated Takashimaya, I started heading back towards the exchange booth but it was still a bit early so I thought I might pop in to a place which I thought looked a bit wacky... 'Beer & Coffee'. What a combo. The beer was surprisingly cheap here so I grabbed a pot of Kirin whilst I sat and read some quality reading material that I had picked up earlier.

When the time had finally come for the booth to open, I went over I asked to change the money I had for Yuan and Egyptian pounds. They had Yuan, but no pyramid money, so I decided that I'll pick both up from the airport before leaving. All of that could've been seen as a waste of time, but I had a good day out, so, no regrets from my part.

After catching the train home, I decided to go over to the sports store that my host parents own to label and pack some tennis rackets. It's a bit repetitive but any way I can give something back to them for allowing me to stay with them is more than worthwhile.

Quick note

Just a quick reminder to all people reading the blog, there is in fact a new poll to the right hand side of the screen as you scroll down. You may not have seen it yet, but to those of you who have not yet voted, please do so, as it is a decision I have to make before heading on to China.

Kindest Regards, Matt.

A nightmare I had called 'Getting a visa'

(Sorry, this story's got no room for pictures)

Japan's rail system is one of the most extensive and efficient ones in the world. Generally speaking, the trains are so frequent you could never use them as an excuse for being late. Buying tickets and navigating your way through the stations are also pretty easy things to do once you've got the overall gist of things. It's when you need to catch a train out to woop-woop to get your Chinese visa when things go pair-shaped. To get out there, you need to travel by a couple of different local trains and also divert to a subway during the latter part of the journey. I suppose it doesn't help when you go to ask one of the rail-masters where Azawa is and they have no clue.

Pioneer readers of this blog would recall a time when I commended the Japanese race for their helpfulness when it comes to a lost foreigner. Today was a perfect example of this. At Namba (the major station I would travel from) I was loitering out front of the station with a rough page of directions from the internet in one hand and a rather dazed expression. Just before I thought about heading back to centre station, this bloke with a suitcase walked past, looking back every couple of steps at me as if to offer guidance. Once I noticed this, I asked him if he knew where to catch the subway from. Briefly scratching his head, he asked me where I wanted to end up. I told him Awaza, and he said "Let's go". As we ascended the major staircase, I was confused as to whether he was heading out to work, if he was returning home or even if where ever he was going was in my general direction. I soon found out that he was a police officer heading home from a night shift and that his home was in the complete opposite direction to the way we were headed on the train we'd caught. I was, of course, in shock when I found out he had delayed returning home to his girl friend to take me out to this place called Awaza. To this moment I wonder whether he did it simply to hear more about Australia or just because he saw it as his duty.

When we finally arrived at Awaza, the consulate was closed for another 15 minutes so he asked me if I liked Japanese food. I replied yes and suggested that we grab a bite to eat whilst out this way. After a quick walk around, I was a bit hesitant to go into the local restaurants which weren't as cheap as I was hoping, with a budget like the one I have. This didn't turn out to be a problem however, because this guy, whoever he was, insisted on buying me lunch as he "understood that I'd be tight for cash". At first I refused to do so, as he had already done so much, yet he seemed so persistant, so I gave up and went along with it.

After lunch and about 30 thank-you's, we parted ways and I headed up to the consulates office. I knew I was in a bit of trouble from the start when there was a choice of 20 forms to fill out and most of them were in Japanese or Chinese. So I picked the one with the most English in it and went at it. After I had filled out the form, I took a seat in the passport-photo booth which was conviniently in the same room. What wasn't convinient, however, was the machine's inability to deliver very important passport photo regulations in English! It was Chinese or Japanese. So, taking my best guesses, I got some photos printed out which looked something like what they should be.

This is to re-invigorate your attention..

Once I'd got all that sorted, I lined up in a monster of a line headed towards "Visa Counter". I was a couple of people before the front of the line when, for the third time I'd gone over the application, I'd found the spot to ammend your photo in half Japanese. So, with a "Don't talk to me" look on my face, I made my way out from the front of the line to a desk with a glue stick and a pair of scizzors on it. With about 20 minutes to spare, there was of course, an old woman sitting there cutting the edges off her photo to the micro-millimeter. At this point I was risking another marathon out there to get it all done within business hours the next day. The old lady finally finished and in about 3.5 seconds, I'd fixed up the photo, glued it to my application and rejoined the line. Wondering if the visa-god could make things any harder for me, I'd once again approached the front desk, slapped down my application and was told by the woman in a mildly Chinese accent "Oh, I forgot. You also need a photocopy of this page from your passport." (Note: this was not the passport page itself, but something else that wasn't mentioned on any of the consulate websites). Once I'd coughed up another couple of bucks to get this done and rejoined the now shorter line, I was just about to put a gun in my mouth when the woman called me to the desk once again, took my papers and told me to come back in three days to collect my visa.

To top this all off, I caught the express train home, which of course, flew right past my station and the four after that.

Finally, in tears, I decided then and there that this trip isn't about doing everything right... It's about making as many mistakes as I can and learning from every one of them. I'm off to a good start.

The New Shopping Centre

Yesterday was a Saturday here in Osaka. But unlike Saturday's back home, everyone wakes up at the usual 8am and gets ready for work. Yuma catches a train two hours out of Osaka to Kyoto for university and Junya (his little bro) goes back to school for a Tennis club. It's full on.

Not wanting to sit at home all day, I grabbed a bike and rode out to have a better look at the new local shopping mall called Ario. As I rolled in, I was lucky enough to get the closest bike park to the main entrance of the whole facility (it's these little things that excite me). From the main entrance I walked straight to the food court with a goal in mind. "Don't forget to take a picture of the food before you scoff it down"! Since I was sure you all wanted a glimpse of Japanese McDonalds, I went there for what they call a Chicket Filleo set (wasn't game enough for the Teriyaki burger). The picture you see to your right is a M-sized set with coke that tastes nothing like coke in Aus, chips and a burger that's quite similar to the Australian 'Crispy Chicken Fillet Burger'. In accordance with my etiquette, I'd performed a disappearing act on it before heading out to have a better look around.

From the top level, I worked my way down, having a quick squiz of every clothes store, adventure store and Italian designer boot store (for the shop attendants of course). I did this all the way down to the first level when I came across 'where the boys hang out'. It was a massive arcade! Not as big as arcades like the one in the Crown Casino, but with more creative games. From digital fishing games, to gambling games, to drifting games, to horse racing games, they had it all. I can imagine this picture to your left would be exciting some of you 40 year olds out there who, under a bad weather forecast, would be denied a day out on the course. Not in Osaka! If it's raining here, leave your hats at home and come play virtual horse racing with a wide-screen, first class view of the action!

Old friends

Yesterday was really the first day of catching up with my old Japanese exchange mates. Yuma and Daichi (a friend of mine's old host brother) had just returned from their post-school ski trip up in the mountains, so yesterday we decided to get out and about.

First we rode to a new shopping mall called 'Ario' where we ate Udon for lunch and chatted up some little Japanese surfer girls in Billabong. When we got the chance, we also headed into the Myer equivalent to buy a new belt for myself, as my old one was a freebee with my wallet and is almost at breaking point.

When we were done there, we rode our bikes for a bit down the main drag until we came to a colourful building titled 'Big Echo'. I didn't have to think twice about what sort of building it was. What is it with Japanese and Karaoke!? I've been wrapped into it three times in the last two and a half weeks I've been here! It's crazy..

Nevertheless, we all gave it a fair crack singing for about 2 hours straight. By the end of the session it was clear to me that there was obviously some hidden talent in the room- 'Closet idols' as I refer to them. As for my talent, I'm getting closer and closer to handing myself in to the nearest police depo under charges regarding public disturbance. If I turn myself in, they should go easier on me.

Early days in Osaka

This trip has been, and promises to continue being a trip of firsts. Where ever I go, I am staying in new places, exploring new areas, meeting new people and looking for new ways to live cheaply. Yes, I have been to Osaka before, but everything planned for me was planned by the school. I would wake up early, get dressed and ship off to the Japanese school as part of the exchange agreement. This time around, it's all up to me. From what I eat to what I do during the day, it's all my decision. This is a time for me to explore the Osaka that I didn't see before, but at the same time it's a chance for me to retrace and relive old memories.

This all started at the local train station where, for some freakish reason, I was able to navigate myself first to my host parents shop (where they work during the week) and then to their home without guidance. It was a wierd feeling but it saved everyone concerned some directions over the phone.

Since my host parents had work and Yuma (my old host brother) was on a post-school ski trip, after I had unpacked and become reacquainted with my old room, I rode a bike out to where the old Japanese school was. Here, I met up with some of my favourite teachers from the exchange, but also the current rugby team who only get one game a month! Poor fellas..

Yesterday, in a similar fashion, I revisited the old park we used to go to which is packed with Sakura (cherry blossom trees) which I may even be lucky enough to view before I head over to China. If I do, you're in for some good pics. I'll make a special edition for it.

Ps. Forgive me for the lack of photos. I promise I'll have some for the next blog. No, I haven't lost the camera Dad.

The long ride

If I had to describe the bus trip from Tokyo to Osaka in one word... I couldn't. There's a couple of words in my head and none of them are good. Now, I'm not going to sit here and rave on about how terrible it was since a $150 slice off transport costs is always handy. I will say however, that if you have the money, go the Shinkansen! Considering the distance of the trip, the highway bus chugs along at a fair pace, especially over night when there's no traffic. What kills it is these tiny seats that stretch along each side of the two story bus.

I was lucky to have a vacant seat next to me, but nothing beats being able to recline... To bad these seats were locked into what I swear was a couple of degrees forward.

The dominantly Japanese crowd seated around me didn't seem to have any troubles sleeping. That was until I started blowing up my inflatable travel donut. I'm pretty sure I caught a couple of mild racial slurs from the back seat in Japanese but nothing could stop me from making the trip as painless as possible for myself.

All in all, the bus fell short of it's title 'Mega Dream Bus'. My bum was sore the whole way, the blokes in the back hated me and there was certainly no dreaming going on, but the BEST part is that I get to do it all over again on my way back to Tokyo where I fly out of...

Harajuku Tech Night

Well I was right about the interesting people part, but in most cases the blokes that attended the tech night were surprisingly well dressed, including Danny Choo who rocked up with his full star-trooper kit. He's a wild character, obviously into his star wars and even the casual public boogie.

I will admit that as the night wore on, the subtle star wars theme was too much to resist. We all gave it a go.

Whilst all this was happening, Neil and I still had this cartoon-figure key ring in our back pocket from the promo girls at the door. Without knowing what all the fuss was about, we casually assumed it was just a cheap form of advertisement and forgot all about it but eventually some fella came up to us and asked "Do you Poken?". At the time we thought this bloke was a couple horses short in the top paddock but it turns out that when you rub two of these things together, a little light comes on and they sync. So by the time you get home, you've synced with 30 0r s0 people and when you plug the gadget into your computer and register, a list of registered contacts comes up with all their details. They were calling it an electric business card. It's a good idea, apparently popular in Europe where it started. We ended up leaving a bit earlier, popping into the local karaoke bar on the way home for a wind down to the night. I'm improving, but still not blogable. Sorry to those out there who I'm denying a laugh.

Getting off the couch

Compared to the last couple of days, today was quite successful indeed. I left the couch this morning with a goal of getting fed (cheaply as always), getting some more money out and purchasing a JR bus ticket to see me to Osaka, my next stop.

I managed to achieve all three things in Shinjuku, a short walk from where we are in Yoyogi. After visiting 'Soft Bank' to pull out some cash, I strolled over to Shinjuku station where the fun began. First I walked in the centre of the station where I spotted a counter headed 'Ticket Information'. After a brief chat in studdered Japanese, the pleasant ladies behind the counter sent me in a Southerly direction where I was to cross a main road and turn left. It turns out that the JR bus station was positioned on the corner of the next block.

Soon enough, I found my way to right ticket counter where I purchased a One-way pass for the Seishun Mega Dream Bus which would take me from Tokyo Station to Osaka station for 4,300 yen which equates to about 67 bucks. Compared with the domestic flights and the Shinkansen bullet train, this was the most economical alternative.

The bus ride is about 9 hours long, but as we're leaving at 10pm, sleep should come into play and this Dream Bus' name will be put to the test.

After I had secured a ticket for Monday, I headed home via a little place called Yoshinoya. Here I uncovered the best amount of food not much money could buy in the area. All for 550 yen (about $8.50), i recieved a bowl of Miso soup, a plate of cooked salmon, a fair sized bowl of Gyudon (thinly sliced beef and onion on rice) and complimentary tea. What a bargain! haha I was stoked. You may be thinking "Gee, there's a place I can get kebabs around the corner for 5 bucks", but for here in Japan and with the ozzy dollar as weak as it is, 8 bucks is something to stick by.

In other (more exciting) news, Duck and I are headed out to the annual 'Japan's internet bloggers night'. Coordinated by Danny Choo (local internet icon), the night promises to be one of thick glasses, pens in shirt pockets and some interesting people.

Harajuku Extreme

If you were to put good-looking girls, hundreds of clothes shops, unique fashion and bad hair-cuts in a magical bucket, stir it around and dump it somewhere between Shibuya and Yoyogi, you'd have Harajuku.

Only a 20 minute walk from where we are, Harajuku on a Sunday represents the relesase that Japanese youths crave through a stressful week at school or uni. For those wild enough to participate, dressing up as a popular fictional character is a common move on the part of crazed fans who deem Sundays a day to get their freak on.

Yesterday, I kitted up to go check it out. At first, I had trouble determining where the heart of the action was. So, as a last resort, I picked out the craziest dressed chick I could find, and followed her for a bit. She had white hair, bizarre make-up and clothes from another planet, but for a while I was confident that she would lead me where I wanted to go. After about 10 minutes of solid recon work, she pulled out into a coffee shop where her similarly dressed girlfriends waited with a cup of Jo. I hung my head in shame. But as I came up for a breath, I looked to my left where I had spotted a conjugation of people. I went to go check it out. This is what I saw.

If any one in Japan had an ego, it was these guys...

After I was all boogied-out, I continued down a pathway leading into a park area. The area was further out from the centre of Harajuku, but it was apparent that it was the show-grounds.

These guys made cleaning cool!

There was also some girls handing out 'Free Hugs', but I wasn't mad about a hug from these girls... I think one was a man...

Karaoke Night

I knew it was coming... It was only a matter of time... Karaoke night...

A time for everyone to give it a crack, a time when song choice could be fatal and a time when bad singers (like me) can sound half decent in the eyes of a routy crowd.

The night was kicked off by members of the local crowd. Not needing too many drinks beforehand, these brave souls got up to sing and dance along to a television mounted above the bar. They sounded great. So as you can imagine, I'm put in a rather awkward position as a vocalist adept in the subtle art of shower-singing.

As they do, things started to turn around after the third beer with dinner and I had decided to kick my night off with a Japanese song called 'Shabondama' by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi (the Jimmy Barnes of Japan). This went terribly... The Japanese crowd were too humble to admit it, but I would later have to redeem myself with an English song I was more familiar with, Wonderwall. This went better, but I still don't consider it bloggable... Sorry... What was bloggable was old mate from the end of the bar who acted a bit too friendly after my performance. He offered me a dance. At first I thought what the hell, he seems like a nice guy... Things only went downhill from there (as indicated by the next picture).

All in all, it was another good night out. I got the chance to publically embarress myself, but it was worth it for the laughs I got out of my audience.

After 8

Yesterday was miserable... It was freezing cold, pouring down rain and for a while I felt like I was in a bad James Blunt video clip. As a result, my plans to explore Daimon (the old exchange boys' hunting ground) were not looking good. This alll changed once night fell...

The rain had stopped and it was still cold, but Duck and I made our first moves towards what we call "the kitchen". With prices ranging from about 400 yen to about 900 yen ($6-$13), "the kitchen" is a family run business located in the backstreets of our local area, Yoyogi. There's about three available tables and a little TV to watch. The food is good and it fills the spot. From there, we caught the JR line north to Shinjuku station where we got off and walked to where the party's at, in Kabukicho.

Our first stop was a place called 'The Hub'. It's a charming little downstairs British pub which, unlike most British Pubs in Tokyo, actually has Japanese eating and drinking in it. The Japanese staff made us feel very welcome as we pulled up a couple of stools and ordered our first round of drinks. I thought, since I was in a British pub, I may as well sample a couple of different brews which, until yesterday, remained foreign to my palate. Such brews included the Irish stout Guinness, the malty London Pride and the infamous Chimay. Who would've thought that the first time I'd try these beers would be in Japan? Funny how these things turn out.

Mid-way through my Chimay, one of Duck's mates, also a Matt, rocked up for a couple of quite ones and together we admired what we could of the younger girls hidden behind mountains of young Japanese businessmen keen for a knock-off ale.

After we'd finished our drinks at 'the Hub', we snuk into one more place called St. James. The venue was a 'standing bar', and shortly after arrival we noticed the 'standing' part was to it's detriment. A brief look over the shoulder confirmed that the young blokes in suits behind us were quite sauced-up. So, a couple of minutes later, as if on que, one of them fell backwards into the glass bordering the entrance. This was quite tastefully topped off by a dropped glass before we left.

On the way back home, we finished up in a traditional Ramen bar where we enjoyed three bowls of their finest 'tantan-men'. The spicy soup complimented the thinly cut Ramen noodles which topped what was indeed a good night out.

The Magic of Asakusa

As the new kid in town, catching a train for the first time in Tokyo is near impossible without seeking the assistance of a fellow ticket buyer. Not knowing how to catch a train, let alone in my own country, made this quite a challenge. However, it didn't take long for a friendly Japanese lady and her friend to show me how the whole thing worked.

Soon enough I had secured the appropriate ticket and was on my way to this place called Asakusa. I caught the JR line (Japan Rail) to Asakusa-bashi and then changed to the Asakusa subway line which took me all the way there. A short walk from the station saw me right to the grand entrance of sensoo-ji, the dominant Buddhist temple of the district. Most impressive was the view through the large gates, all the way down a corridor of shops and markets to the temple itself. The roof of each shop was studded with cherry blossom figures and a sea of people flowed in between. I took my time walking down the corridor, sampling free tastings of nuts and biscuits all made freshly on demand. I stopped about half way down to check out a wall of Samurai swords on sale when a elderly Japanese man passed in front of me, looking at the swords and then looking at me with a wrinkled grin. "Katana!" He said. And with stiff movements, he pretended to slash my head off. We had a bit of a laugh and a joke in broken Japanese before going opposite ways down the corridor. Once I had emerged from the canopy of cherry blossoms, the grandeur of the temple and the scent of burning incense engulfled me all at once. It was quite an experience.

I spent an hour or two walking around and taking photos of the main temple and the five story pagoda that towered high next to it. Just behind the temple, I found a courtyard which appeared to be a popular lunch destination. I had already had my lunch, but a copper statue struck my eye. Back in the day, Asakusa was the pleasure district of Tokyo. ie. where all the samurai came to get a feed and a drink. As a result, the art of Kubuki theatre became popular in this area giving rise to famous actors such as the one featured below.

As the day drew to a close, I walked back to the station waving at school kids on bikes passing by and admiring photos which represented my little pocket of tradtion that I like to call Asakusa.

The Itinerary

G'day everyone, I've been meaning to upload some form of itinerary to this site for a while now, but because of formatting issues, I'm unable to publish a full script. Instead I've decided to provide you with a quick trajectory. Here goes.. Tokyo - Osaka - Tokyo - Beijing - Cairo - Athens - Santorini - Mykonos - Athens - Patras - Bari - Positano - Pompeii - Rome - Florence - Venice - Milan - Nice - Carcassonne - Pamplona - Barcelona - Valencia - Bordeaux - Paris - Brussels - Brussels - Munich - Berlin - London - Sommerset - Manchester - Edinburgh - Stirling - Inverness - Glasgow - Edinburgh - Dublin - New York - Dallas - Mexico City - LA - Melbourne

Tokyo by foot

Well... I did explore. In fact, I went one step better... I got lost. Ask any seasoned traveller. Getting lost is one of the best ways to see the area. Without having to stick to a controlled route, you become liberated to venture off into literally "whatever looks interesting at the time". This summed up my first full day in Tokyo (2nd of March). By the end of the day, I'd figured out that I had spent 1 hour getting lost, 2 hours being lost and 2 hours trying to get unlost. At first I thought I would use the "Docomo building" as a reference point. Being one of the tallest buildings in Japan, I thought it was a pretty good plan.. I was wrong..

After having walked around for a bit, I realized that it was true what people said about Tokyo. It is indeed one big "concrete jungle". This was at least what I believed on Monday...

When I woke up yesterday, I sat up and made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish on that day. These included: determining how much money I was spending a day, finding an ATM that would take my card, finding some cheap places to eat, and generally travelling in a more directed manner. By about 2 in arvo, I had worked out that I was living on about 1200 yen per day (18 bucks), I had found a cirrus ATM, I had discovered some cheap places to eat and I didn't get lost! By this time, I was considering myself pretty lucky, but having ticked off everything on my list, I decided to take a 500m walk directly North, South, East and West of our location. All directions revealed a differnt coloured light, bigger trees and more creative architecture, but there was no 'old Japan' to be seen, until I went South. I walked for a fair while away from the hustle and bustle of central Shinjuku and just before I turned around to head back, a canopy of twisted trees and the crest of a wooden 'tori gate' caught my eye.

From that moment on, I was lead to believe that if you are keen enough to find remnance of 'old Japan' in Tokyo, you will find it nestled away at the end of backstreets and narrow alleyways, hidden from the public eye.

As I ventured further and further down the pebbled road, it occured to me that I was walking on one of a network of roads leading to a series of Buddhist shrines and sacred sites. The main shrine featured a courtyard bordered by traditional Meiji-period walls. Indside this courtyard, I found a tree which was surrounded by long networks of line upon which wooden plates were strung. I soon became aware that these plates were called 'ema' and that they were used for purposes of delivering wishes for health, prosperity, success or whatever else rocks your boat. Feeling rather in the moment, I decided to hang up my own in the spirit of my journey.


That night, Duck took me to a favourite restaurant of his and one that he frequents through the working week. Just before we walked in, he turned around and said "You wanted to practice your Japanese?" The door was opened and as heads turned, we were struck by a bellowing "iraaaashaimaseeee!!". It turns out that Duck is good mates with the bloke who cooks Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes with meat\seafood etc) behind the bar and each of the Japanese businessmen that were sitting there enjoying the atmosphere. It was immediately clear to me that this is where Duck really learnt his Japanese, not out of a book, but through talking with local blokes about work, food, beer, and on occassion, cute Japanese girls half their age..

The first stop

My lack of sleep was put to good use on the 9 hour plane ride from Brisbane International to Narita Airport in Tokyo. It was a very very very long trip, but I managed to pass the time by either sleeping, watching this crazy in-flight movie on jamaican bobsledders or sneeking peaks at the rather cute flight attendant (who offered me a Yebisu at lunch).

When my flight had finally reached it`s gate, I filed out of the plane accompanied by what was dominately a home-coming crowd. I was admittedly very nervous, as this was my first time through an airport (of any sort) by myself. I was off to a bad start when I reached immigration. I hadn`t filled in the box titled "address of temporary residence" as I had not yet asked for Duck's home address, and the little man behind the desk let me know it...

Baggage claim, customs and buying a train ticket were all a walk in the park having asked an erray of young Japanese uni students for a prod in the right direction. It's true that the Japanese airports are harder to find your way around (purely based on the rarity of adept English speakers) compared to airports in Europe and the US but I honestly believe that the odd bloke on the street compensates for this by doing anything and everything he can to help you out.

The train from the airport to Shinjuku station was scheduled to take an hour... It took two. 100m from my station, the train came to a sudden and violent stop. Then, all the lights in the train were killed and within minutes the train became surrounded by flashing red lights and Japanese police. I thought we were being attacked! The train driver began to announce the situation over the loud speaker, but of course, I couldn't make sense of his rushed voice. What did make sense to me was what I saw next... 6 policemen carrying a stretcher, shielded by large impearmeable sheets rejecting the public eye. I soon found out that there was a car accident and that the bloke on the stretcher was its victim.

Later on, when I had caught up with Duck (for those who don't know, Neil Duckett or Duck is a mate of my dad's who works and lives in Tokyo. He's been kind enough to let me stay with him) we went out to a place called "Doma Doma". In short, this place provided us not only with good food, but the nicest beer I've ever had on tap - Kirin. It was served in a frozen glass stein which was about an inch thick all round. The beer stayed ice cold the whole time we were there.

What am I doing? It's almost 1 o'clock here and I haven't even left the house yet! It's time to explore...

The next morning...

As you may of guessed, I didn't get any sleep last night. 

Here's a video of what I got up to after dark.