I as a general rule love animals, but of course there are a few I appreciate more than others. There are a couple of people who know my favourite animal. For the rest who does not: Manta.
Maybe it's a Pisces thing, but I love Manta rays. They fly under water; how cool is that!?! It amazes me that something so big and odd can be so graceful and magical.
And one of them went right past my face today and I swear I stopped breathing for a minute or so. HoooOOOly fuck! They're HUGE! I already knew that they are the largest of the rays, but still ... DAMN! I'm very happy right now; the sun is shining inside my head ^^
I had been in kind of a shitty mood since yesterday when I made a soldier cry. Yup, a grown man broke down on me. I had asked why he drank so much and he had answered that it was because otherwise he couldn't sleep. He's not the first soldier I've met on this journey that didn't sleep without aid. We had a talk about Iraq and how it has messed up a lot of young men and continues to do so. It was only after he said out loud why he couldn't sleep that he broke down and I'm sorry I asked him. It was nice to talk to him though. Speaking English without simplifying was good too.
The night under the stars was spend on the most awful beach. It is the closest to the hostel and there is actually a road going across the water and ruining the view o_O I was a good thing we were all drunk!
I'm going back to the mainland tomorrow and will land in Osaka in time for Halloween.
Happy sailing to me.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Just another day in paradise.
Well, I haven't really been doing much to tell you the truth.
I arrived early Thursday and spent most of the day at the beach in a hammock with a beer ^^
Friday I biked around south Okinawa looking at peace memorials and reconstructed historical sites (no historical site survived the battle of Okinawa in 1945 unfortunately) which of course was an active thing to do. And today I walked to the Shuri area which used to be the capital of Okinawa - but in between Friday and today Monday I only read, drank and played cards because of a typhoon (an extremely wet experience)
I was suppose to go couch surfing with an American couple for a few days near Kadena Air Base but they haven't been online to give me the address so I'm not entirely sure what I'll do tomorrow. If they do not get in contact I think I'll head out to a nearby island to snorkel with mantas.
Maybe I'll bike the 20km up to Okinawa city and snicker at the spectacle that is the Americana japan. Central Okinawa is were most of the bases are and despite some guide books' insistence that it has an international feel every traveller and Japanese person I've meet says that it's a kinda freaky experience, heh.
We're a few people who are going to camp out on the beach under the stars tonight; mainly because we've all been cooped up inside the whole weekend and just need air! Now!
*Flies out the door with a bag full of beer*
I arrived early Thursday and spent most of the day at the beach in a hammock with a beer ^^
Friday I biked around south Okinawa looking at peace memorials and reconstructed historical sites (no historical site survived the battle of Okinawa in 1945 unfortunately) which of course was an active thing to do. And today I walked to the Shuri area which used to be the capital of Okinawa - but in between Friday and today Monday I only read, drank and played cards because of a typhoon (an extremely wet experience)
I was suppose to go couch surfing with an American couple for a few days near Kadena Air Base but they haven't been online to give me the address so I'm not entirely sure what I'll do tomorrow. If they do not get in contact I think I'll head out to a nearby island to snorkel with mantas.
Maybe I'll bike the 20km up to Okinawa city and snicker at the spectacle that is the Americana japan. Central Okinawa is were most of the bases are and despite some guide books' insistence that it has an international feel every traveller and Japanese person I've meet says that it's a kinda freaky experience, heh.
We're a few people who are going to camp out on the beach under the stars tonight; mainly because we've all been cooped up inside the whole weekend and just need air! Now!
*Flies out the door with a bag full of beer*
Friday, October 23, 2009
Domo!
Osaka turned out to be boring. It's alright for nightlife but it is a butt ugly city. It got leveled in WWII and is one of the cities that just never got over it. It is industrial in the uninteresting way. But I guess it's a good base for exploring other places in the region; I went to Nara on a day trip.
Nara looks very small when you step off the train but it holds 8 temples, shrines and ruins that are on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites; quite impressive really. Everyone talks about Todai-ji as the place to see so I went there first expecting big things ... and I guess that's what I got. Todai-ji is a monster. It's the largest wooden building in the world. When you first enter the gate it looks nice but not too impressive (I've been in Japan for a few weeks now so I've seen my fair share of impressive buildings) But like with Niagara Falls the closer you get the greater the impact. When I left again my neck hurt from all the looking up and going "Holy dung beetle".
Nara had just had the weirdest festival: Deer antler cutting festival o_O
So all the Sika deer that roam the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara" site were without antlers, heh. A bit odd but it apparently has something to do with protection of locals and tourists. My guess is that some of the males there are very horny (pardon the pun) buggers who are very protective of their harem and in order to give stupid people a fighting chance when they do what comes naturally to them: Not think when faced with a territorial deer; antler cutting became mandatory for all deer on the site. There were a hell of a lot of school kids there that got their first visual biology lesson on reproduction; like I said: horny buggers.
All I got was a couple of shoes full of poo >_<
There were a few school classes that were there to interact with tourists to practice their English. So I managed to say "Good. And how are you?"- "My name is Ane. I'm from Denmark"-"Thank you (for a piece of origami)"- "Bye bye" 10 times ... and I know this because I had 10 pieces of origami in my bag when I came back to Osaka. Kids are cute sometimes ^^
Well, I decided against going to China (too much paperwork involved) so after spending 40 hours on a ferry I'm now in Okinawa. It's a good thing I like the water and sailing otherwise a person might go mad on that ferry trip. There is nothing but vending machines on board and I didn't know that so I hadn't brought any food with me and I only had 200 yen in coins in my pocket. It was a loooong trip from my stomach's point of view. You are put in a room with 40 futons and you can choose to lie there or go out on a small section of deck; I spent a great amount of time reading on deck and watching the waves and occasional flying fish. On the upside I got to practice my Japanese because I met the coolest biker chick (who owns a fish pet shop) who spoke a minimum of English so we had to make do with numbers, my "point and speak" book and impro sounds ^^
Anyway ... I am back in tropical weather and I don't mind that one bit. It suits me ^^
Okinawa is reference heaven for me but probably lost on most of you so I'll just keep it to myself :) And I'll write about paradise later.
See ya'
Nara looks very small when you step off the train but it holds 8 temples, shrines and ruins that are on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites; quite impressive really. Everyone talks about Todai-ji as the place to see so I went there first expecting big things ... and I guess that's what I got. Todai-ji is a monster. It's the largest wooden building in the world. When you first enter the gate it looks nice but not too impressive (I've been in Japan for a few weeks now so I've seen my fair share of impressive buildings) But like with Niagara Falls the closer you get the greater the impact. When I left again my neck hurt from all the looking up and going "Holy dung beetle".
Nara had just had the weirdest festival: Deer antler cutting festival o_O
So all the Sika deer that roam the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara" site were without antlers, heh. A bit odd but it apparently has something to do with protection of locals and tourists. My guess is that some of the males there are very horny (pardon the pun) buggers who are very protective of their harem and in order to give stupid people a fighting chance when they do what comes naturally to them: Not think when faced with a territorial deer; antler cutting became mandatory for all deer on the site. There were a hell of a lot of school kids there that got their first visual biology lesson on reproduction; like I said: horny buggers.
All I got was a couple of shoes full of poo >_<
There were a few school classes that were there to interact with tourists to practice their English. So I managed to say "Good. And how are you?"- "My name is Ane. I'm from Denmark"-"Thank you (for a piece of origami)"- "Bye bye" 10 times ... and I know this because I had 10 pieces of origami in my bag when I came back to Osaka. Kids are cute sometimes ^^
Well, I decided against going to China (too much paperwork involved) so after spending 40 hours on a ferry I'm now in Okinawa. It's a good thing I like the water and sailing otherwise a person might go mad on that ferry trip. There is nothing but vending machines on board and I didn't know that so I hadn't brought any food with me and I only had 200 yen in coins in my pocket. It was a loooong trip from my stomach's point of view. You are put in a room with 40 futons and you can choose to lie there or go out on a small section of deck; I spent a great amount of time reading on deck and watching the waves and occasional flying fish. On the upside I got to practice my Japanese because I met the coolest biker chick (who owns a fish pet shop) who spoke a minimum of English so we had to make do with numbers, my "point and speak" book and impro sounds ^^
Anyway ... I am back in tropical weather and I don't mind that one bit. It suits me ^^
Okinawa is reference heaven for me but probably lost on most of you so I'll just keep it to myself :) And I'll write about paradise later.
See ya'
Monday, October 19, 2009
Utsukushii!
Oh yes, Kyoto is beautiful ... when you are willing to look for the good stuff. And I don't mind walking for a far bit so I'm okay ^^
When I first got of the train and looked out from the station my heart sank: Concrete *sigh*
It's the most uninspiring material, concrete, and you see a lot of it in Japan >_<
But luckily on my quest to find a place to sleep I found Gion, where the Geisha live :D I quite literally stumbled upon it and a couple of Maikos thought I was cute. I'm getting better at Japanese and I must have blushed because they giggled, heh.
I dropped my bag at a Ryokan and proceeded to get hopelessly lost; I'm good at that. Saw a lot of cool and beautiful streets though (pictures will come later). The Imperial Palace found me not the other way around, and from there I managed to find the Manga Museum. Oh yeah!
It's kind of too bad I won't get to see the philosopher's walk in full bloom, but I did get a beautiful autumn walk in Fushimi inari taisha (I have a little pictures diary of that, hehe) And on my way back I walked past the Nintendo building. Woo!
The least touristy thing was Shimabara, the old "entertainment" district. I went to the old gate and to Sumiya without meeting a single westerner :O
I've overdosed on temples. There are sooo many here! Nishi Hongan-ji was my favourite.
And I've been fairly antisocial here. No hanging out with people really. There was an american that seemed very eager buuuut no.
Anyway, I was suppose to go to Okinawa today but the ferry has been cancelled (which I am told happens quite often) so I'm in Osaka trying to decide if I want to wait for tomorrow's ferry for Okinawa or if I want to wrestle with Chinese immigration and take the ferry to Shanghai. Hm ...
When I first got of the train and looked out from the station my heart sank: Concrete *sigh*
It's the most uninspiring material, concrete, and you see a lot of it in Japan >_<
But luckily on my quest to find a place to sleep I found Gion, where the Geisha live :D I quite literally stumbled upon it and a couple of Maikos thought I was cute. I'm getting better at Japanese and I must have blushed because they giggled, heh.
I dropped my bag at a Ryokan and proceeded to get hopelessly lost; I'm good at that. Saw a lot of cool and beautiful streets though (pictures will come later). The Imperial Palace found me not the other way around, and from there I managed to find the Manga Museum. Oh yeah!
It's kind of too bad I won't get to see the philosopher's walk in full bloom, but I did get a beautiful autumn walk in Fushimi inari taisha (I have a little pictures diary of that, hehe) And on my way back I walked past the Nintendo building. Woo!
The least touristy thing was Shimabara, the old "entertainment" district. I went to the old gate and to Sumiya without meeting a single westerner :O
I've overdosed on temples. There are sooo many here! Nishi Hongan-ji was my favourite.
And I've been fairly antisocial here. No hanging out with people really. There was an american that seemed very eager buuuut no.
Anyway, I was suppose to go to Okinawa today but the ferry has been cancelled (which I am told happens quite often) so I'm in Osaka trying to decide if I want to wait for tomorrow's ferry for Okinawa or if I want to wrestle with Chinese immigration and take the ferry to Shanghai. Hm ...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Nice to see a friend.
It is really nice to experience new things and meet new people but I have to admit that it was great to see a familiar face of a friend. A big hug and a smile after getting of a train made my day ^^
I watched a play in Nagoya by the way ... in Japanese ... it was Phantom of the Opera ... and it was the most surreal experience I have ever had in the theatre ... no shit.
Anyway, I went to Gifu to meet Makoto, but I didn't have to since we ended up in Nagoya anyway. Makoto had the great idea of going to Nagoya Port Aquarium and I didn't complain. I've never seen him as serene as when he was looking at the dolphins; we all have our safe places.
Before we went to the aquarium we stopped between Gifu and Nagoya to check out a replica of Satsuki and Mei's house ... yes, the girls from My Neighbour Totoro ^^ I now have a picture of myself next to the house and next to the bus stop (with an umbrella). It was amazing! They had all the details right: The imperfections on the house, Mei's boots and bag, The dad's bike. The thing that was missing though was a big one: Totoro's tree behind the house. But it was awesome anyway. Woo! I can't wait for the museum!
Makoto took me to his favourite cafe to eat and gave me a Japanese "point and phrase" book (and it's damn useful) so I was really happy until we got to his house in Gifu. Getting introduced to Makoto's family really had my nerves on end; I didn't want to embarrass him by doing something stupid and breaking some formal rule. Well, if I did commit some taboo I wasn't told, hehe. The area and the house is very traditional Japanese in a beautiful way and I only had the best impression of his family.
Speaking of beautiful: I'm in Kyoto. But I'll write about that later :)
I watched a play in Nagoya by the way ... in Japanese ... it was Phantom of the Opera ... and it was the most surreal experience I have ever had in the theatre ... no shit.
Anyway, I went to Gifu to meet Makoto, but I didn't have to since we ended up in Nagoya anyway. Makoto had the great idea of going to Nagoya Port Aquarium and I didn't complain. I've never seen him as serene as when he was looking at the dolphins; we all have our safe places.
Before we went to the aquarium we stopped between Gifu and Nagoya to check out a replica of Satsuki and Mei's house ... yes, the girls from My Neighbour Totoro ^^ I now have a picture of myself next to the house and next to the bus stop (with an umbrella). It was amazing! They had all the details right: The imperfections on the house, Mei's boots and bag, The dad's bike. The thing that was missing though was a big one: Totoro's tree behind the house. But it was awesome anyway. Woo! I can't wait for the museum!
Makoto took me to his favourite cafe to eat and gave me a Japanese "point and phrase" book (and it's damn useful) so I was really happy until we got to his house in Gifu. Getting introduced to Makoto's family really had my nerves on end; I didn't want to embarrass him by doing something stupid and breaking some formal rule. Well, if I did commit some taboo I wasn't told, hehe. The area and the house is very traditional Japanese in a beautiful way and I only had the best impression of his family.
Speaking of beautiful: I'm in Kyoto. But I'll write about that later :)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Whoops ..
Well, slight change of plans. I'm in Nagoya. I had misunderstood Makoto; he said thursday, I heard tuesday. So I made a little detour to Nagoya before going to Gifu.
The best thing about Nagoya is a castle and a Noh theatre. Boston museum of fine arts also have a place here but it's so damn far away from the town that I'm skipping it.
I'm staying at a ryokan here (japanese inn). I'm getting used to tatami mats on the floor, sleeping on futons, deep bathtubs, little elves that serves me tea undetected, and of course a nice crisp yukata robe after a bath. Hotels will seem like such a letdown after this. It does however strike me as a bit weird that I have to share the roomkey o_O
It bugs me that postcards and postoffices are really hard to find here. Postcards is a small thing to do but it means a lot to my grandmother that I write her nice cards. Damn it.
I am building up a small collection of photos of Stitch. He is everywhere! Every little tourist attaction has their version of Stitch souvenirs. Apparently there is an anime running here based around Stitch and it's insanely popular. Very kawaii ^^
Just one question before I go: Is it wrong to eat sushi every day?
The answer is "no", right? ;P
The best thing about Nagoya is a castle and a Noh theatre. Boston museum of fine arts also have a place here but it's so damn far away from the town that I'm skipping it.
I'm staying at a ryokan here (japanese inn). I'm getting used to tatami mats on the floor, sleeping on futons, deep bathtubs, little elves that serves me tea undetected, and of course a nice crisp yukata robe after a bath. Hotels will seem like such a letdown after this. It does however strike me as a bit weird that I have to share the roomkey o_O
It bugs me that postcards and postoffices are really hard to find here. Postcards is a small thing to do but it means a lot to my grandmother that I write her nice cards. Damn it.
I am building up a small collection of photos of Stitch. He is everywhere! Every little tourist attaction has their version of Stitch souvenirs. Apparently there is an anime running here based around Stitch and it's insanely popular. Very kawaii ^^
Just one question before I go: Is it wrong to eat sushi every day?
The answer is "no", right? ;P
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Moving on.
I haven't had any time to myself the last four days so no update has been possible.
It has been a very compact few days. We were lucky to have a perfect view of mt. Fuji so it appears in a lot of my photos, hehe. Shizouka and close by towns are very traditional Japanese so I've definitely got my share of under the skin experiences with Japan ^^
Anyone who has seen Lost in Translation would have been able to snicker along with us when we went to Suntory winery; there where a lot of: "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time." being thrown around.
I only recognise a few Japanese characters so I'm blissfully unaware of what is being thrown at me from ads and billboards. The joy of not being sold anything; aaaaaaaaah ... ^^
I've decided to skip Hiroshima and go directly from Osaka to Okinawa (heat, wildlife and diving). First I'm going to Gifu, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka though.
Slowly getting ready to move along from Shizouka and all the people I've been hanging out with the time I've been here. Going to Gifu to hang out with my friend, Makoto, for a few days.
It has been a very compact few days. We were lucky to have a perfect view of mt. Fuji so it appears in a lot of my photos, hehe. Shizouka and close by towns are very traditional Japanese so I've definitely got my share of under the skin experiences with Japan ^^
Anyone who has seen Lost in Translation would have been able to snicker along with us when we went to Suntory winery; there where a lot of: "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time." being thrown around.
I only recognise a few Japanese characters so I'm blissfully unaware of what is being thrown at me from ads and billboards. The joy of not being sold anything; aaaaaaaaah ... ^^
I've decided to skip Hiroshima and go directly from Osaka to Okinawa (heat, wildlife and diving). First I'm going to Gifu, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka though.
Slowly getting ready to move along from Shizouka and all the people I've been hanging out with the time I've been here. Going to Gifu to hang out with my friend, Makoto, for a few days.
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