Japan: Kōya-san

Perched high up in the mountains about an hour away from Osaka is a small town called Kōya-san, which is home to a large Busshist temple complex founded in the 9^th century.

The road to Kōya-san is steep and winding, but the scenery is absolutely amazing.

 

We arrived and found a parking space next to a cemetery, so we went in to have a look. Every plot belongs to one family and a memorial is added for each new family member that dies. The wooden blocks in the background represent people whose memorials have had to be removed to make space for new arrivals.

Nearby we found this thing. I’m not sure whether it was a grave or not.

It’s customary to throw water onto these statues apparently…

…I don’t think I’d mess with this guy though, so I didn’t bother.

Around the corner was possibly the coolest memorial I’ve ever seen. Some Japanese guy obviously thought “screw tradition, I want a space rocket as a grave.”

Near to the graveyard was the temple complex itself.

This huge wooden temple is the main attraction in Kōya-san…

…I felt I had to violate the “no photographs” rule to get a snap of this.

We finished off the day with a nice lunch in a local restaurant - tempura shrimp with rice and seaweed, pickled cabbage and miso soup.

Japan: Living Off the Grid

Hi, my name’s Sam and I am an addict.

Don’t worry Mum I’ve not suddenly taken up heroin or anything, but I have realised since coming here how much I depend on wifi and the mobile internet back home.

I was horrified to find out that wifi is very scarce here and most people still have wired internet in their homes (in this part of the city at least). A feeling of shock washed over me when I was told the bad news – how would I check my facebook and twitter every 5 minutes? What if I wanted to put something on Instagram? Would I have to go without Foursquare for 3 months?!

What followed can only be described as an addict’s response to being made to go cold turkey. I unconsciously checked my phone during the first couple of days hoping that some kind of magic would deliver those sweet, sweet nuggets of mostly useless information that I found myself craving. I frequently scanned for networks wherever I went; I thought I might get a connection in McDonalds, but I was wrong. I was out of the loop and I hated it.

 I even started bargaining with myself – if I turned on my roaming it would only cost £8 per megabyte I thought. If I’d carried on down that road I’d have already sold a couple of my less essential internal organs and I’d be trawling the Osaka red-light district in the giblet-hugging boxers I bought in China trying to sell myself to the more partially sighted and desperate perverts in order to fuel my data habit.

I’d tried to connect to a very weak wifi signal, which appeared to be from some form of hotel, out of sheer desperation over the weekend, but nothing came of it. That was until I woke up to a shed-load of messages on Tuesday morning. I think my phone picks it up in the early hours when it’s not being used because it’s useless by the time I wake up. In a way I’m glad though. I can still check everything on the computer at work - I get the exact same amount of mindless drivel, except I get it in one big chunk now instead of one little piece every few minutes. Without being constantly online you begin to realise that the sky is indeed blue and there are some interesting things to see in the world every day.

Who knows, I might learn to turn off my phone now and again when I’m back in the UK. But then again, I might not. A person needs to know what Zach Braff had for breakfast.

Japan: Chicken Knees and Raw Fish

My most frequently asked since my arrival on Thursday has undoubtedly been “what’s that?”

The food has all been pretty good. There’s some good stuff and some weird stuff, but nothing that has come as too much of a shock – as long as I’m not eating noodles, noodles and more noodles I’ll be reasonably happy.

I was told we were going to a chicken place on Saturday night. Surely you can’t do anything weird with just chicken, right? Wrong.

A fairly normal chicken skewer with cheese

Green pepper stuffed with ground chicken

Chicken and onion kebabs (lots of fat)

This is where it gets weird - these were "soft bone"

Chicken skin with rice

Sunday was sushi night. I’d never had it before but I figured that nothing there would be as bad as having to gulp down a deep-fried chicken’s knee so I went into it with an open mind. The layout is strange; you’re assigned a table next to the long conveyor belt from which you simply pick what you want. You can also order things directly from the kitchen using the interactive screen on the conveyor and they arrive via a chute.

 Tuna-mayo roll

 Raw salmon, onion and mayo on rice

 Grilled eel on rice

Cucumber roll (left) and raw tuna roll (right)

It’s 9pm on Sunday night as I write this (1pm UK time), so I know that my family will probably be sitting down for a nice roast dinner. It’s making me realise that there are some holes that sushi alone cannot fill.

Japan: Osaka Castle

Put “Osaka” into google images and you’ll be bombarded with pictures of the famous Osaka castle (Osaka-jo). It was originally built by Toyotomi in the 16^th century, and then ransacked by the Tokugawas in 1615. It’s been destroyed by lightning, burned to the ground and bombed by the Americans since then, but it’s always been rebuilt. The current structure is a post-war reconstruction, which is pretty impressive.

 The approach to the castle

 Osaka-jo

View from the front

Like any good tourist, I made sure I got to the top for a look around:

The area surrounding the castle was very busy. There were entertainers, food stands and even live bands:

 I have no explanation

Osaka-jo concert hall

The Jeff Hot Chili Peppers

The NKH building, which houses the Osaka History Museum, was also nearby, so I went for a wander around. Unfortunately they’d only managed to translate the title of each information board, meaning that I was left wondering what the hell I was looking at most of the time.

NKH building 

Some kind of wall

Oh, and I also saw one of those weird cafés where you go for a cup of tea and to stroke a dog that’s not yours. Apparently it’s relaxing!

Woof.

Japan: Sayonara

My feelings as I boarded my bargain £8 megabus to begin my journey last Tuesday were mixed to say the least. A fairly average 7 months in Hull was finally coming to an end and I was about to start what will hopefully be an exciting 3 months in Japan, on the other hand I was leaving a lot behind – not seeing any of your nearest and dearest for that length of time is a difficult prospect to face and as much as I hate to admit it, I will miss Hull. I instantly felt my decision was right when a chunky girl with bright red hair sat in front of me on the bus reminding me not to make the same mistakes as I did in China - I won’t come home no matter how much Dave Jones begs (not until July at least).

Leaving Hull

Two incredibly expensive pieces of card

I arrived at Kings Cross during rush hour where I battled through the crowds to find Alex and Anna who took me to sunny Watford for the night. We decided to get a curry - a decision which I instantly regretted the night before a long flight. After a £15 breakfast the next morning I boarded my first flight from Gatwick to Dubai. I was seated next to two very talkative Arabic men in those awkward emergency exit seats right at the front where you have to make awkward eye-contact with the stewardess during take-off and landing. What was meant to be a 7-hour flight turned into 8 when we had to circle the airport for an hour.

Dubai International was an experience. It was 33 degrees at midnight and the place is practically a city in its own right. Rather than sample the local grub I opted for a McDonalds. I have no idea how much I paid for it (I didn’t check the exchange rate), but it was a welcome break from airline food.

They wouldn't accept my instant win Bic Mac token...  

The Dubai to Osaka flight was a daunting 10 hours, but I lucked out and got a row of three seats all to myself. I was pretty knackered, so I managed to sleep for most of it (there was what can only be described as extremely violent turbulence as we flew over China which I was unfortunately awake for).

I passed through Japanese customs without a hitch and was relieved to see that my suitcase had made it the full journey (it wasn’t having a mini-break around Beijing airport like last-time). My first priority was obviously to try out the famous Japanese toilets which really are brilliant - they have heated seats and a warm water jet to get to places you wouldn’t want to put your fingers. I think the shock of a warm water enema clouded my judgement though, because I left my passport in the cubicle, thankfully a Japanese guy helped avert a crisis when he chased after me with it.

Kansai International

So I’m here safe, I haven’t been exploring yet, but who needs history and architecture to look at when you’ve got this cheeky chappy staring at you in the living room?

China: A Taste of Tibet

After two weeks of rice and noodles I was ready for a change. My boss and his family were going out to meet his brother's future wife and in-laws (apparently a big deal in Chinese culture). I, somewhat rudely, couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along. What ensued was possibly one of the weirdest dining experiences I've ever had...

The night started by being crammed into a car with 6 other people for a good twenty minutes, only one of them spoke any English. After much nodding and gesturing we arrived at a Tibetan restaurant somewhere across town. This was a proper painting, not just a print out!

Before the food came, a group of traditionally dressed Tibetans brought out a huge horn. I wasn't quite sure of the significance if I'm honest...

After what seemed like ages, the food arrived. You have no idea how happy I was to see something that wasn't rice or noodles. We had a selection of potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, grains and mushrooms as well as some questionable pee coloured tea. It wasn't quite a kebab but it was an improvement.

When everything was done and cleared away we were treated to what I think was dancing. At the end the "dancers" came off the stage and into the restaurant to drag people up for a weird Chinese hokey-kokey around all the tables. I got dragged up and it lasted about 15 minutes. Not ideal after a big meal!

We were then treated to the weirdest fashion show I've ever seen and invited to take photos with the "models". I like the guy dressed as a lampshade.

To finish off the night we were treated to a solo performance from this guy who I like to think is called Chenrique (Half Chinese, half Enrique). He was amazing.

We were then shooed out of the restaurant, and to be honest I was ready for bed. Weekends are killer here!

China: 1 Day Lost in Kunming

My goal for today was to explore and get to know a bit of Kunming. My original idea was to just hop on the bus to the city centre and have a bit of a nosey around like I would in any normal European city. For some reason the fact that I was in the middle of China had slipped my mind - there is no proper city centre.

I was out for a grand total of 6 hours, I was lost for approximately 5 and a half of those hours. I did get some nice snaps though!

I stumbled across this market pretty early on. I would have gone in but I had my phone and wallet on me...

This was Green Lake Park. I managed to get a taxi there by pointing at a picture in my guidebook.

No prizes for guessing why it's called Green Lake Park...

Park entrance.

After spending a good half hour walking in a crowd and being a foot taller than everyone I found a place called "The French Café". The staff weren't French, neither was the food, but I did spy my first Westerner outside of school.

From what I could tell this was some kind of art gallery.

One of the many streets I was lost down.

No matter how far you go you can never escape Starbucks.

A shopping centre?

The Chinese translates directly as "Federal Ministry for Keeping Dale Silk out of China."

Good to see the Chinese have a sense of humour.

I'll be honest, I don't know what this was.

Pagoda with shops.

Another street.

A lovely gate. I was shattered by this time and needed to find a taxi quick.

A "genuine" Apple store.There's one on pretty much every street.

Shortly after taking this picture I managed to hail a taxi. He didn't drop me off where I wanted to be, but I can't really argue considering I speak hardly any Chinese so I just walked. Now I'm all dusty and my legs hurt.