Dave Quest 2

The End of the World

2007-09-30T23:37:00.000-05:00

Its not really, but it is the end of this blog. After another year of tapping away at various keyboards I have decided to put my blogging days behind me. Time to become an international man of mystery... an enigma if you will. So if you want to know whats going on un my little world youll have to email me, stalk me on facebook or look at my photos on flickr and take a guess at whats going on.

Currently Im in South America and loving it so I dont really have time for posting stuff. Especially because Im trying to see a lot of the continent in just a couple of months so my time is very precious and I should be spending it in other ways.

So there it is, the end of another era. Currently the plan is to return to Japan in December briefly before heading to Seoul for January to make some cash. Then hopefully get some work for a couple of months back in Tokyo so me and Eri have some time to get back to normal and possibly make preparations for her relocation to Australia. Its all in the air at the moment but I really hope it works out as planned. I look forward to returning to Aussie shores and settling down for a while to get myself sorted out then on to bigger and better things.

So thanks to everyone who left comments and for the support vaious people have given to continue doing this blog. Hopefully we can actually hang out in person and have actual human contact instead of digital. Now Ill leave it to others to carry the flag. Take care of yourselves... and each other. Respect.

All Me Baby

2007-09-30T23:15:00.000-05:00

Anyone for Scuba?/Hasta Luego

2007-09-25T11:19:00.000-05:00

For Bennos surfing pleasure we made a stop in El Salvador. Unfortunately Rich was ket out of the waves due to a rib injury. Due to the fact there was nothing else much to do there besides eat delicious seafood we kept it moving into Honduras to enter the world of scuba. Immediately before we even officially entered the border we were taken by the Honduran ladies beauty and friendliness. Our painfully long border crossing was made much less painful by the girls training and working there. For such a small country every day you see a large numbers of pretty girls. A good ratio indeed. Unfortunately there were not so many on the island of Roatan where we did our diving as it is the most touristy spot in Honduras. We had much difficulty deciding which of the two main islands to choose, the cheap and small one Utila which is known as more of a backpacker destination or Roatan the bigger and supposedly better island. In the end we went with Roatan because the diving is meant to be better. Utila would have had more backpackers to hang out with but which was the better choice? We will never know.

The island was pretty quiet due to the low season and recent hurricances. So we managed to score a sweet deal on a kick ass hotel room to relax in after diving. I was very pleased with our diving school and instructor. We had a funny German lady who knew her stuff but wasnt too serious. By the end of the first day we had done our first dive. Its a really weird sensation breathing under water, one that definately takes a bit of time to get used to. Once you become comfortable with it its good fun. Floating around underwater feels a bit like being in zero gravity on the moon. The coral landscapes on this reef were definately just as alien. By the fourth day we weer all pretty comfortable divers and we did a kick ass dive through a deep channel with lots of "swim throughs" and a huge reef swarming with big ass fish like groupers. Good stuff. The nightlife wasnt much to write home about but after a big day of diving in our awesome beds we slept like rocks.

After returning to land we backtracked to a small coastal town called Tela where we parted ways. Rich & Ben heading down further south to Nicaragua and I back north through Guatemala to Mexico city for my flight on October 5th. It was a great 3 weeks or so, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks to the boys for letting me tag along and for all the driving you did. Good luck with the rest of your trips and hopefully we can do it up again in South America somewhere. Respect.

El Salvador/Honduras

2007-09-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

Doin it up in G-Mala!

2007-09-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

Fate works itself in funny ways. The day Eri flew out of Cancun I replied to an email from Mr B. Walker who walked into my hostel room a few hours later. He had just returned from Cuba with rich and was staying just around the corner in the hotel I checked out of that morning. After realising we had more or less the same plan for the next few weeks and he & Rich had a spare seat in their car we took off the next morning for Central America. We drove south down the Carribean coast and after a night in Chetumal crossed the border into Guatemala.

Not knowing what to expect we were all pleasantly suprised by the awesomeness of the little country. First up we checked out the famuos Tikal ruins early in the morning when the loal wildlife was most active. The howler monkeys were very vocal and a little creepy. Then we made our way to the awesome colonial town of Antigua which has some of the best food Ive had all trip at dirt cheap prices. Needless to say we indulged and frequently used the phrase "do it up" when making decisions. The highlight of our time there was definately climbing the active volcanoe where you can walk to within metres of flowing lava. Naturally it was damn hot.

After a pit stop for one night in lake Atitlan which was a cool spot. We headed on to Xela which is known for its cheap and good Spanish courses. Me & Ben enrolled at a school for five hours a day tuition and homestay with a local family for five days. Unfortunately my teacher was pretty shitty, he was a young dude who had also lived in Japan and just wanted to talk about it, usually in Spanish till I became confused then he would revert to English. He way over estimated my Spanish level and didnt bother teaching me the basics. So I changed teachers for the last two days which was a million times better. Our host family was very nice and the meals were decent but a bit bland. Im not as big a fan of beans as the locals. In our five days we did loads of stuff like salsa, visited hot springs, went to the local fair and on the Friday night we joined in the Independence Day festivities and got pretty loose. All in all Xela was good to us but it was too cold due to its altitude, a far cry from the beaches in Mexico.

Next on the agenda is scuba diving in Honduras via a surfing pit stop in El Salvador.

Yucatan Peninsula/Guatemala

2007-09-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

A Great Week

2007-09-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

It was with much excitement that I entered Central America to begin the second half of my trip. Not only was I entering a new continent but I was meeting my girlfriend after a 4 month hiatus. After landing in Mexico city I beelined for Cancun following the direct path of Hurricane Dean more or less. To my relief the damage to the Yucatan was minimal, the only threat was of periodic clouds and rain. Needles to say it was great to see Eri again, just 4 months ago we were living together in Tokyo and I was an English teacher, it feels like a different lifetime now. After spending a night in Cancun we left as early as possible for a great week around the Yucatan peninsula. If I can be bothered later Ill write something but for now Ill let these pictures tell the story.

Day One - Playa Del Carmen

Day Two - Dos Ojos

Day Three - Cozumel

Day Four - Tulum

Day Five - Chichen Itza

Day Six - Isla Mujeres

Before arriving in Mexico I was tipping it to be the best week of our lives, I dont know if it lived up to that title but it sure was way up there. We have something special together and I hope that we can continue it in the future but its up to the gods now as my time in Japan is over. So thats it until December when I will briefly return to Tokyo before returning to Sydney for the long term. When I think about whether it is worthwhile having a long distance relationship I like to think of the quote: "life isnt measured by the number of breaths you take but the number of moments that take your breath away." I dont know if it is true but I like the sentiment.

True Tales of San Fransisco

2007-08-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

After hanging out with Rick for a week I headed to the next city to see a few more friends I made in Tokyo who coincidentally all happen to live in San Fransisco. Gen a guy I worked with, Ishmael a guy I lived with and Yoni a guy I met through couchsurfing. I stayed with Yoni at his place in the Noe Valley which is a particularly nice area of town. You can tell its an area with money by the ladies at the park with their immaculate dogs as opposed to "Mexicans with pitbulls" as Yoni put it. He swiftly took me out to a house party in another part of the Bay Area which was being thrown by a plastic surgeon. It must have been interesting for him to see his own work on a girls chest walking around his party. Everyone was super nice and I got some dancing tips from a big group of Latino ladies who liked to party.

The next morning we headed out with Yonis girlfriend for some genuine San Fran Yum Cha! Man I was pumped, I figured that if great dim sum was to be found in the world it would be in Hong Kong or San Fransisco due to the giant Chinese population. It was all I hoped for as we hit up all the classics like the Sieu Mae, Cha Siew Bao and Fried Calamari and tried some new things too. I put it up there on par with Sydney. I have had better in Sydney but I only sampled one restaurant out of the literally hundreds that are available in San Fran. I must remember to move here one day. Later I caught up with Gen to hang out at the Mission District to check out the great street art, eat cheap Mexican and drink beer with all the trendy kids at Dolores Park. Then we went to a gallery opening for free booze and then met up with Ishmael when he finished work for a beer.

During the day when people were working or at school I did the tourist stuff, like see the sea lions, do a bay cruise past Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge and see the great neighbourhoods like the hippy mecca Haight street and one of the biggest Chinatowns in the world. But it was the evenings that provided the most entertainment. On Monday we headed to a screening of the Daft Punk film "Electroma"/Bang Gang party which would have been great except for the fact we couldnt get into the screening and the Bang Gang guys didnt play. Riot in Belgium played a great set of more or less the same thing but I got pretty drunk in preparation for a big night then they pulled the plug abruptly forcing me & Gen to go to Broadway (the strip club street) for lack of anything else to do.

On the Tuesday night we went to a $2 Mexican beer & tapas at a pretty funky bar in Soma. Then on Yoni's brothers recommendation, me & Gen took his Japanese friend Shoko to a gay bar called the Tranny Shck for a trans-gender show which was very entertaining. The show was a tribute to the 30's so a big group of she-males got dressed up in elaborate costumes & make up, then put on a performance (dancing & miming) to old showtunes. There was only one real woman who actually sang and her name was "Alotta Bootay" who more than lived up to her names image. Shoko had never seen a show like this before and loved it, I was happy to hang out with a real Japanese person since its been such a long time.

On Wednesday, my last night Yoni drove us down to Oakland to a legendary jazz club/Japanese restaurant called Yoshis to see a Blue Note artist whose name I forget (shame on me). He was a brilliant piano player accompanied by a drummer and bassist. His improvisation was brilliant as he mingled some classic tunes like "Everything in its right place" by Radiohead in amongst his own stuff. His drummer threatened to steal the show with his multiple solos and crazy symbol work but I think he over did it a bit always going nuts behind even the quietest of songs. It was a great show though, I have to remember to catch more jazz shows, especially from younger dudes who are influenced by hip hop.

So that was that, I had a great time in the great city. Even just hanging out in the neighbourhoods walking the dogs was pretty fun. As far as citys go this one is way up there. I cant be bothered doing anymore collages right now so for photos head to my flickr sets.

My Curse

2007-08-21T00:50:00.000-05:00

This week coming up was going to be the highlight of my trip and possibly my life. Seeing Eri again for a week in paradise in the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I had planned out an amazing itinerary that would see us snorkelling, swimming with dolphins, visiting ruins and scootering around the islands in the Carribean sunshine. Then fate dealt its heavy hand and delivered one of the strongest hurricanes in the history of the area: Hurricane Dean. A top Category Five hurricane hitting the peninsula almost directly where we are going.

The hurricane will move across Mexico and hit my arrival destination of Mexico City on Thursday morning, the day I will get there. Then somehow I have to haul ass back through the destructive path to get to Cancun by Saturday to meet Eri at ground zero. Fingers crossed the roads will be clear, the power running, the shops open, but who knows. Even if everything is running we are still guaranteed a week of clouds and thunderstorms instead of a week in paradise.

Bad weather seems to follow me, especially when I plan something special. Like the Roskilde festival which downpoured more than it has in its 30 year history. I can accept that these things happen but this hurricane arriving just before my reunion with Eri is too much. I think we will still go and pray for the sun to come out. Also after Eri leaves I was planning on spending a month in Central America but the whole region is affected by tropical storms with no break in sight. I don't know what to do except go there and hope for the best. Maybe I will get a lucky break for a change but if history is any indicator it's highly unlikely.

Oh Canada!

2007-08-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

Saturday saw the reunion of the deadly duo Rick James & Dirty Dave in Rick's hometown of Toronto. He took some time off work to come down and show me a good time for which I am very grateful. I stayed at his place in the suburbs which felt just like being back in Sydney which was a nice change.

On the first evening we headed out to some of his friends places for a few drinks and then to a random house party. I was very impressed by his friends condos in the city, either his friends are loaded or Toronto housing has a very high standard. The party was cool, a bunch of media industry types with a high sense of self-importance but thanks to all the beers and tequila I wasn't phased and found some nice people to chat to.

The next day we headed out to see Toronto Zoo. I have been going to a lot of zoos lately which I love but I think I need to cut down from now on, too much of a good thing. Anyway I think we went for Rick's benefit and his friend who got us in for free (sweet!). The zoo is definately up there in my books, I would place it between Taronga in Sydney and Tama Zoo in Tokyo. The North American animals are the highlight.

A couple of days later when Rick's Japanese girl came to town we headed out of the city to the great lakes and stayed with one of Reuben's friends at his family cottage on the beach. now these beaches are not on any ocean but rather on the banks of these massive lakes but for all purposes they are the same, just without waves or salt. It's pretty bizarre going under water and being able to open your eyes and not have the taste of salt in your mouth. It was beautiful up there and Reuben's buddies were great company. We all went for a few rounds at the local go-kart joint and arcade which was good fun.

On the Thursday we took a trip up to the tourist-must-see Niagra Falls which was cool. At first glance it wasn't all that impressive but then we took the boat ride to the base of the falls and it was pretty cool hearing the thundering sounds it made and being soaked by the mist that floats away from the base. Then we did some tourist junk things like mini-golf and went to the casino to watch Reuben lose his money. Rick got lucky on a slot machine so he footed the bill for some activities.

The other main activity we did was go out to Center Island in Lake Ontario in the city for a picnic and riding bikes around. I have a feeling it was a somewhat romantic thing for Rick & his girl to do that I was dragged along to by default. But it was definately a nice place, I was a little shocked by the "Clothing Optional" beach that a number of people were taking full advantage of. I guess Toronto is fairly liberal though, we also saw a "Tighty Whitey Car Wash" on Church St (the gay district - didnt have my camera but see a photo here) which also caught me off guard.

In the evening we hit up a popular bar for my last taste of Toronto nightlife. It was pretty decent, a very lively bunch these Canadians are. We did a bunch of other stuff during the week like play a round of golf, watched an amateur ice hockey game, went to see a major league baseball game, go see the Simpsons & Harry Potter, had a beer at a local stripclub, so even though it was all pretty low key we were always busy doing something. So thanks to Rick for being a great host. It was great to meet your family (including Baba!) and extend our friendship across another country. Next time its your turn to come to Sydney and we can do it up!

Toronto

2007-08-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

New York, New York

2007-08-11T00:51:00.000-05:00

Similar to my stop in Paris, I ended up in New York without any personal connections and a few days to get a feel for the place. So because my couchsurfing experiences had gone well I used the website again to find a host to stay with for three nights. The main benefits of couchsurfing is that you hang out with locals which gives you a somewhat different perspective on the place... and it's free which is a great relief on the hip pocket.

New York, the great city needs no introduction. From all the films and television shows everyone has an impression of what the city and its people are like. At first it was a little surreal being there and seeing all the yellow cabs, policemen, riding the subway and all those kinds of things. The couchsurfer (Matt) I stayed with lived in Harlem with three other girls from Oklahoma. I'm sure there are good reasons for Harlem's dangerous reputation but as is usually the case with these places I had no problems at all. I was happy to be staying in an "authentic New York" part of town. I only did a few things there like check out the famous local jazz bar, eat at the local fried chicken shop (so unhealthy). Unfortunately I didn't have time to see all the Dominicans playing checkers in the street on Saturdays or to go to the Apollo which was closeby. I felt pretty cool staying "in the ghetto" but apparently it was one of the better areas of Harlem.

Another area I really liked was Brooklyn, one night I went with one of the housemates to a free concert in Prospect Park which was cool. WIth my two days there I just checked out the major areas of Manhattan like Chinatown, Soho, Greenwich Village and the Meat Packing District, I also tried to see some of the major sites like Times Square, Ground Zero, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Union Square and the view from the Rockefeller Centre. Basically it was a lot of walking and subway trips around town. While I'm happy I got to see a lot, I wish I had more time to properly enjoy some of the things that the city has to offer properly. Luckily I had great hosts to hang out with a bit to keep me entertained and give me a little insight into how New Yorkers live.

New York is a lot like you would expect it to be: a cultural melting pot of people from all over the world that constantly buzzes with all kinds of interesting things happening. I think it would be very difficult to ever be bored there with the multitude of things happening. Some parts of town are really beautiful (like the villages), some parts are arty (lower east side), some parts are ghetto, some people get around in stretch Hummers, most people get the subway (which is falling apart) and its this contrast which makes the place so interesting. There isn't just one New York, there is one for every person. It's ability to cater to so many is what makes it such a great place. Anyone who gets the chance to live there is spoilt for choice, if I get the opportunity one day I'll take it.

New York/Rockefeller Centre View

2007-08-11T00:25:00.000-05:00

Viva la France!

2007-08-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

I caught the train to Paris a few days before my flight out of Europe was scheduled to give me enough time for a brief glimpse at the legendary city. Originally I didn't want to go to France but I was forced to due to no seat availability on flights from Spain. I didn't know anyone in the city so I arranged through couchsurfing to stay at a nice girl called Charlotte's modest place. It turned out perfectly as her place was in a convenient spot, she was very kind and showed me some interesting places and it was free!

On my first proper day she took me to the Pompidou Centre for a few modern art exhibitions which were cool but I was more blown away by the building itself and the layout of the place. It also has a huge library with great books, study areas and computers which is people can use for free. I thought it was a great way to encourage education and culture in the community.

That evening we just relaxed and watched the DVD of "Paris Je t'aime" which I thought was very appropriate. The next day I was ready to hit up the great museums like the Louvre and another Picasso museum but when I arrived at the famous glass pyramid I found out that it and all other museums are shut on Tuesdays... shit!!! Oh well nevermind, so I hustled around checking out the areas Charlotte had recommended to me then in the evening we did the proper tourist thing of going up the Eiffel tower to get a beautiful view of Paris.

Missing the Louvre was a bit of a bummer but it gave me the chance to walk around Paris's streets and get drawn in by the city's charms. It really is as beautiful as its reputation; the buildings are all old and stunning, the streetlights are charming, the cobblestone roads and great boulevards are pretty, even the subway stations a re nice and the whole city is laid out so well its very easy to navigate and get around. I was only there briefly but I liked what I saw, I mean it's beautiful, the food is amazing, people dress well, the French language sounds great and is fun to have a crack at, definately a very romantic place to come with someone special. I would like to spend more time there but when I am older and don't have the energy to backpack around exotic countries and have more money to do it properly.

Paris

2007-08-08T00:06:00.000-05:00

Viva la Spain!

2007-08-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

After returning to Madrid city from the camp, I found a hostel with two of the other "anglo's" and we headed out for a night on the town for a well earned drink after being completely sober for a whole week. I'm fairly sure I was one the only people over 18 so we headed to a district where the doormen were not to strict with the enforcement of the rules. One of the Spanish kids who became my homie lined up lots of free drinks so things got pretty messy pretty quickly... for me anyway. The night is a bit of a blur but I remember at one point walking down the street with no shirt on (because someone borrowed it) thinking I should really go home. The next day we parted ways and I'm pretty sure I'll never see any of those people ever again.

For the next few days I stayed with the guy I couchsurfed with before the camp and basically recuperated and did routine stuff like washing, updating the blog, planning etc. I got out a bit to see a bit of Madrid like the awesome Reina Sofia Museum and the great Parque del Retiro which is packed with people drumming and partying on Sundays (I'm pissed I didn't have my camera) and also go to the Madrid Zoo/Aquarium which is never a bad day but basically I wasn't feeling Madrid. Maybe it was because it summertime when many people go on vacation elsewhere or because I was staying in a guys house and not meeting other travellers but for whatever reason I was glad to leave.

Then it was off to Barcelona which is a place I've wanted to go for a long time. I got situated in a hostel and walked around to soak in the incredible atmosphere. The main road Las Rambla is packed with crazy buskers and street performers day and night. After being blown away in Madrid by seeing Picasso's great works like Guernica I had to check out the little Picasso Museum which was cool but mostly contained his early works and left over pieces not quite his best ones.

The next morning I was extremely pleasantly suprised by the appearance of my favourite Sydney girls Eve & Briony whose visit happened to coordinate with mine. For the next few days we checked out Gaudi's various works including the completely mind blowing La Sagrada Familia, went to the beach, went to bars, hit up the biggest nightclub (was so so) and had a nice tapas dinner before I took off. It was great to have a few more very enjoyable days with the ladies since our time in Sarajevo was so short; I really look forward to our rendevous in Bolivia.

After being a little dissapointed by Madrid, Barcelona definately more than lived up to my expectations and totally redeemed Spain for me. It was definately my favourite place in Europe so far. I love all the great buildings and Gaudi architecture, especially around the Gothic quarter, there is a real vibe of creativity and fun in the air which is very contagious. I'll definately come back to this great city any time I come to Spain.

Madrid Zoo/Barcelona

2007-08-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

The Greatest Thing Ever

2007-07-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

Check out this clip from a prison in the Phillipines. I was completely blown away.

The chain email is probably being forwarded around the world as we speak... I just want to do my part. Can't wait for the final performance.

Drastic Change of Pace

2007-07-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

So I was in Madrid flying solo, pretty over backpacking these European cities, unable to get an earlier flight to America with a modest budget and time to kill. So I got online and searched for volunteering opportunities and came up with the website for a program called Pueblo Ingles which is a week long camp for Spaniards where only english is spoken. The deal for native speakers is a free accomodation and food for a week in the country side. Sounded okay so I applied on Wednesday, met with them on Thursday and was off on my way on Friday morning.

The catch? The only space available was on the Teen program which meant I was going to be hanging out with mostly 14-16 year olds... okay no problem Ive been doing it for a year... BUT and its a big but... the average age of the other natives is also 16-17 except for the camp counsellors. Hmm, usually I am the youngest person at these things, this time I was the oldest by far. Also rules like no smoking, drinking and curfew. Time to roll the dice. On the Friday morning I was thinking "what the hell have I got myself into".

Actually everything turned out great. After the initial awkwardness of the big age difference and adjusting to being on a schedule I started having some good clean fun. The accomodation was good, the food okay, the kids were great, the activities not too kiddy and I didnt mind the rules as it gave me a chance to have a healthy week and some decent sleep for a change. The schedule was pretty full on from 9am till 11pm with only a 2 hour break in the afternoon for a siesta or pool side relaxing, but the days went by easily.

Because my "team" didnt do well earning "points" I ended up doing some pretty strange activities in the afternoon like drama which turned out to be fun and then "make over" which meant a bunch of high school girls vigorously applied make up to my face which I then wore around until going to bed. I thought it was pretty fun until around dinner time when I was subjected to a barrage of jokes and stares at my expense (I have no photos of this event). The routine was broken up by a trip into the La Alberca town which was beautiful, a "funfair" day where we each made a booth and traded in beans and a mini olympics day. On the last evening a little party was organised by the pool where we drank sangria (without wine) and danced to the latest pop crap. I felt really old when they played "grease lightning" and I remembered when I was in high school doing the same many years ago. Luckily there were a bunch of counsellors my age to talk to so I didnt feel like a social deviant.

Despite the age gap and not having spent time with high school kids since... high school, I enjoyed hanging out with the kids (Spanish and anglo) and by the end of the week was even a little sad to be leaving. When I saw the older camp people arriving I was glad to have gone with the kids one, kids are more fun. After spending every hour of the day with these people for a week, bonds are forged quickly. However this experience was a product of circumstance and I wont be doing it again, also I probably wont see any of these kids again. I had fun even if it was very clean, next week in Barcelona I am going to try and make it extra dirty to compensate.

La Alberca & Camp/Last Day Snaps

2007-07-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

Damn the Pound

2007-07-18T09:50:00.000-05:00

After the madness of the festival Chin kindly let us recover at her place for a few days. We didnt really make it out for any "sight-seeing" as such, rather we rested, used the computer and hung out with the old girl and her great architect buddies before parting ways. Because of its size Copenhagen is a cool city for jetting around on bikes, which I enjoyed. Then it was off to London to visit a few friends and see what its all about.

I stayed with Dave Meier (formerly Salmon) and Simon Oliver at their place in Stockwell, which is in south London. Initially I thought it was a pretty ghetto area with lots of government housing and a convienience store fitted with bullet proof glass (you have to ask the Indian attendants to get your chips or whatever, then they slide it to you through a hole), but it turned out to be completely safe and convenient.

Most days I headed out to various famous museums (that are free), parks, and the cool markets at Camden. My only weekend coincided with Daves farewell barbeque and night out in Clapham which was a long and messy affair (for others). After the weekend Monica came back to town and took me out to a dinner in Brick Lane which is in a really cool area of London in the north. The bars and cafes around there were ultra cool places where the indie kids hang out. If I had more time I would love to check it out properly.

The time flew by and I would have liked to stay longer but the Dollar to Pound ratio was just too crazy for me. So it was off to Madrid and the slightly more kind Euro.

London

2007-07-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

World Class Week

2007-07-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

On Thursday the music started unfortunately so did the biggest downpour of rain Roskilde has ever had. 50mm fell over 24 hours of continuous rain (or something like that) basically it didn't stop for a day. But that didn't stop the punters from enjoying some killer music. We started off by seeing Arcade Fire who were brilliant, followed by LCD Soundsystem who were also great. Then a little of the Killers and Bjork on the main stage but it was too cold and wet to be outside so we checked out some of the smaller acts in the tents instead.

The next day was jam packed full of good bands, so we checked out great music for a solid 11 hours straight more or less It went Stones Throw (J-Rocc, Guilty Simpson, Peanut Butter Wolf), New Young Pony Club (a highlight), Beastie Boys (suprisingly entertaining), the Klaxons (good as expected), Dizzee Rascal (pretty cool), CSS (crazy), the end of Queens of the Stone Age (so so but great finale), Peter Bjorn & John (great live show) and M.A.N.D.Y. (cool). Whew! It was hectic running around all day, we missed bits & pieces of most shows but caught all of the important ones. The rain held out all day too which was nice although getting around in gumboots took it's toll on our feet.

Saturday had mostly club acts in one area so we didn't have to run around so much. After a sleep in we went up to watch Clipse perform (who were good) and after the show we ran into our old neighbour Tyson from Sydney which was pretty crazy. Then it was off to see Erlend Oye play in his new band 'The Whitest Boy Alive' which turned out to be the festival highlight for me. They played for an hour and twenty minutes playing the songs from their album and also jamming, improvising and doing cover songs. Erlend is a great performer and the Scandanavian crowd loved him. It was a really great show that I got a lot out of. Afterwards I would have been happy to go home but Juz was keen on the Brazilian & Portugese acts who were pretty crazy. Bonde Do Role & Buraka Som Sistema were very entertaining and got people moving like crazy. Then Diplo rounded out the evening, initially to a small crowd due to the majority of people watching the Chilli Peppers, but the crowd grew pretty quickly when they heard Diplo's crazy beats.

On Sunday the sun finally came out for a glorious day to close out the festival and the best acts that were mostly on the main stage and we could all (the Fins & the Brits) hang out together becuase we wanted to see the same things. Me & Juz took the morning to wander around soaking up the festival atmosphere and catch some of the karaoke that was going on. Then it was into the front pit (which was really easy to get into) for Arctic Monkeys and then again for my personal favourite Muse (who were great as usual - but thats the 4th time for me so the magic has faded for me). Then regrettably it took too long to organise everyone so I only caught the very nd of Data Rock which looked like a crazy gig with the singer crowd surfing and about 8 guys in tracksuits acting crazy. The big finale was Basement Jaxx which turned out to be a great choice, generally I'm not a huge fan but they put on a great show with singers, dancers, a great band, costume changes, guys in monkey suits then finally some fireworks to send out the night. I forgot how many good songs they have that everyone loves. It was one of those magic moments because we were all together down front dancing & having a good time.

After all the stages had shut down (except one) was when the real fun started as people still hyped up from the week decided to grab any poles, sticks or whatever and start banging them on a closed coffee stand in an African rhythm type gathering. It was more fun than you can imagine with people drumming, dancing & singing up a huge mass of noise that was not musical in the slightest but got people more excited than any band did. When that was broken up by security it was time to head back to the tents, where security were busy putting out tent-fires that people started all over the grounds which is a Roskilde tradition. I needed one last hit of great music so I went back into the festival grounds at 2am to catch the last gig which was Justice.

I had seen them dj before and so wasn't expecting much except ear-bleeding techno music. But they really suprised me by putting on a Chemical Brothers-type show. Reworking all their debut album and remixes on laptops and keyboards. Combined with the great set design and lighting (not to mention the kick-ass Arena tent) and the atmosphere of the last show of Roskilde; the place went off. Their music doesn't make you want to boogie but rather convulse in time to the music. They really know how to make people move.

A great way to wrap up a great week. Many sights were seen, friends were made, storms endured, beers were drank, bands were seen and fun was had. I hope I get to do it again someday before I get too old to be camping out at a rock festival. It was definitely worth the effort of organising it all.

Roskilde '07 (Concerts)

2007-07-09T09:17:00.000-05:00

Mud & Fun

2007-07-05T05:03:00.000-05:00

After catching up with Chin in Copenhagen for an evening we decided it would be best to get to the festival grounds as soon as possible due to the fact that nearly 40,000 people head to the camping grounds on the first day (4 days before the music starts). It turned out to be a good call despite the pain it caused lugging around camping gear and food for an hour or so trying to find a spot. The whole west side of the grounds was completely full so we eventually decided on a spot on the east side quite far away from the stages. It was relatively quiet and unpopulated which would not last long.

The camping areas were divided into various areas each with a common area with food stalls, toilets and a huge tent (or agora) with it's own particular theme. We ended up next to the 'dance' themed agora which was fortuitous. The very next morning the clouds arrived and began to downpour on the proceedings, making us very glad we set up when we did. The next day the dirt had been transformed into mud and little lakes. The rain stopped us from exploring the grounds much, but it did not stop the party at the dance agora at night. So we went out and danced away to reggae music a few evenings and got loose with fellow punters who were excited to be there. The music was good, however by the 4th day of reggae I was pretty over hearing those laid back grooves constantly.

Our neighbours in the camping area turned out to be champs all round. Closest were a bunch of Swedish Fins (maybe 8 of them) who were great ambassadors for their country because they were so nice and so attractive. These Scandanavians are so good looking and well dressed. We were also close to a group of hilarious English lads who took a shining to Juzzy and made him punish his liver every evening. They affectionately renamed us 'Hot Dave' and 'Skip'. The sun did come out for a couple of days so we could enjoy watching dance classes/showcases at the agora, swimming down at the lake and just hanging out throwing frisbees around and what not. Basically the three days warm up passed by really quickly and by the time the music was starting we could have done with some more time to hang out in the camping grounds with our new festival buddies.

Roskilde '07 (Warm Up)

2007-07-05T04:59:00.000-05:00

"Ich bin ein Berliner!"

2007-06-29T13:34:00.000-05:00

As Kennedy said in German "I am a doughnut!". After hanging out here for almost a week I want to be a doughnut too! Our gracious host Lincoln received us last Sunday morning early in the am and after a little chatting and a recovery sleep we set out to explore the streets of Berlin. His house is in a very central location which is very convenient for us to get around.

Berlin has a lot going for it: good planning, good transport, great bars and cafes, tonnes of cultural stuff on, awesome clubs, very cheap rent and other living costs. As cities go this one is pretty hard to beat in terms of livability. The people look very chic and arty but without pretense. You can wear whatever you like into clubs without worrying about a 'door policy'.

The main downers have been the weather (mostly cloudy and showers) and the need for us do all the preparations for Roskilde. After getting a feel for the city we only had a day or two to really enjoy it and the last couple we have been busy running errands. I had hoped on doing more cultural activities and going out a bit more, nevertheless Berlin has been good to us. We've caught up on sleep, got up to date with nerd internet needs, been to most of the 'cool' areas, seen the Berlin wall, went to an unbelievable nightclub, had dinner with Linc's German friends and went to a wine bar where you only have to pay a donation which was cool. Hiring bikes for a day was definately the best way to see the city.

I envy Linc for being able to live in such comfort in the middle of Europe and even enjoy the benefits of free education (damn people with EU passports). Tonight we are hitting up another club which I'm sure will be great before trucking on to Copenhagen. Aufwiedersehen.

Berlin

2007-06-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

Blasting Through History

2007-06-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

Leaving Bosnia behind so soon was a shame but we had to make tracks further north quickly to have enough time to get know Berlin properly and prepare (mentally and physically) for the 8 days of camping coming up very soon.

The first stop was Budapest which was a bitch of a daytime train ride (14 hours) so by the time we arrived late at night we only found an overpriced hostel with a horrid backpacker bar to have a beer in. The next day we promptly changed to a much better place with a sexy Hungarian manager to stay in and on the recommendation of a guy we met went to a great bar called 'Szimpla'. This place was a lot like Cafe Lounge but it was huge; set in a run down building which had been remodeled with an arty decorum: plants and vines, graffiti pieces, second hand furniture, projections and what not. It was basically the coolest bar we've ever been to. We met people from Spain, Germany, Cuba and of course Hungary. A well enjoyable evening.

The next day after some tiresome city exploring i.e. too much walking, we unwound in the local Hungarian thermal baths for a good 4 hours, definately the highlight of Budapest. They had various pools, a whirlpool and an insanely hot sauna which you have to take a block of ice in to resist the pain; although the feeling when jumping into the 16 degree pool straight afterward was heaven. As night was falling some mean clouds covered the sky and within minutes the most insane storm was underway; wind sweeping away towels and bags, rain being forced in a horizontal direction, hail and lightning. So we watched it from the best possible place... in the 26 degree outdoor baths until we were evacuated for fear of a lightning strike.

After three nights we got the bus to Prague to check out what all the hype is about. In my opinion not much. Sure it's a beautiful city with great statues and architecture but the place was absolutely swamped with tourists and drunken louts. Granted we only stayed for two nights and didn't really know where the good places were but I was happy to leave. The only redeeming feature was a tout in the tourist area promising us a "midget lesbian" show for half price! I was intrigued thinking this was a once in a lifetime opportunity but Juz was not as moved by the two strangest (or greatest) words ever put together.

So it was goodbye Prague, hello Berlin to stay with my buddy Lincoln and check out the quality European city. Hopefully we'll get some rest as this is the calm before the storm, but if we don't that's also good.

Budapest/Prague

2007-06-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

A Moving Experience

2007-06-19T09:38:00.000-05:00

After deciding to meet the ladies from Sydney we found ourselves in Bosnia a country that was ravaged by war not more than 12 years ago. The scars are still very visible with bullet holes riddling a frighteningly large proportion of the houses and buildings around the country. En route to the capital we stopped overnight in the town of Mostar which is reknowned for its old bridge Stari Most which was rebuilt after the war as a symbol of peace, progress and hope for the Bosnian people. Turns out the whole area around the bridge is a beautiful cobblestone town with nice restaurants souvenir shops. Touristy but nice. On the night we were there we happened to come across a big rock concert under the bridge put on by Heineken which was pretty cool. It interesting seeing the Bosnian youth release their angst, basically it was like a Bosnian "Shoreshocked" with a killer venue.

The next morning we walked into our hostel to find two sleeping beauties waiting for us with mad bed hair. Meeting the girls in the beautiful city of Sarajevo was another unexpected suprise on my trip which turned out to be great. We did some solid catching up and sharing of travel tales, the girls having come from Bulgaria and Turkey, followed by some city exploring before an awesome home cooked dinner (Briony is a Spaghetti god!) and then some solid drinking at a nice bar in town. We happened to come across an Austrian Thai-kick boxer who was having one of his 2 drinking nights for the year so he forced round upon round on us and picked up the tab. He was a hilarious dude, telling us about loose women in Austria, his insane training regimen and even gave Briony a nice compliment about her ass (in a non sleazy way).

The next day proved to be one to remember as we took the recommended tour of Bosnia by a man called Soni, who was a teenager in Sarajevo during the war. He took us to the famous tunnel museum, sniper hill and a great lookout over the city. But what was really emotional was when we sat down in a park overlooking the valley of Sarajevo and he told us the story of his city's tragic history. Like a lot of peoplem Sarajevo and Bosnia were just names I would hear on TV or see in the newspaper, but to be there and have someone as eloquent and humane as Sonni explain what happened adding personal accounts and stories was very moving indeed. People cried as he told the story of his people and everyone was touched by the accounts of heroism and endurance. That night when we were out drinking I said to him that today was a special day for me; he laughed (somewhat at me) and said "It was very normal day for me!" before I left feeling slightly humiliated... but a great guy none the less.

Mostar/Sarajevo

2007-06-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

First Taste of Europe

2007-06-17T08:37:00.000-05:00

So after arriving in Croatia and finding a place, I was joined by Mr. Justin Mile to begin our trip through eastern Europe en route to the Roskilde festival in Denmark. We met in Dubrovnik on the coast which was incredibly beautiful but too touristy, so many vacationing European families and not so many backpackers.

After a good session of catching up we made tracks up to Split which was not so different: some Roman ruins, the beautiful Adriatic sea, a tonne of elderly tourists, but it did have one point of difference which was some pretty banging nightclubs. Down by the beach was a big building filled with bars (somewhat like cockle bay) which were packed with gigantic Croatian locals and foreigners.

The highlight of our brief foray into Croatia had to be the day trip out to the island Hvar where we hired a small boat and jetted around the small islands and bays. Upon sighting a tiny island inhabited by some random goats we promptly docked in the bay and chased them around for half an hour, good clean fun.

Our visit was cut short by the desire to meet up with the Bourke st ladies Eve and Briony in Bosnia. It is great to be travelling with a mate from home, especially one as quality as Mr. Mile... plenty of good times to come.

Croatia

2007-06-17T08:34:00.000-05:00

Land of Milk and Honeys

2007-06-11T07:58:00.000-05:00

Me and Em reunited in the wondreful city of Tel Aviv and promtly set about getting to know the local bars and clubs with her new Israeli pals. To my suprise the city is extremely modern and the main priority of the locals is to have fun in the sun. The Mediterranean beaches are beautiful as are the local people (some of the best in the world in my opinion) who come from all cornrs of the world as a result of the Diaspora. Most people have immigrated from Europe and the States although there are many other Jewish descendants from places like Ethiopa, Morroco and Argentina that have returned to the motherland.

We met alot of great people there despite their reputation for being stand-offish. One Canadian Jew I met described Israelis like a pineapple, "prickly on the outside and juicy sweet on the inside" which is true to some extent. Tel Aviv is not so different from any other cosmoplitan city. So we made tracks to the holy capital city of Jerusalem for the real Israeli experience. I was shocked to find that within the walls of the old city there were countless shops selling tourist junk such as t-shirts with things like "don't worry, be jewish" written on them. Despite such places the experience of being in that city was pretty special.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Catholocism all have their own unique "quarters" in the old city where thy have some of the most sacred places in the world. I went to a beautiful old church where they had the piece of marble that Jesus's body was put on to prepare for his burial and other such incredible pieces of history. I saw the famous "wailing wall" where the orthodox jews pray, Mary's tomb and even visited the alleged room of the Last Supper. AThese such places were incredible but the experience I will remember the most will be my visit to the Holocaust museum: Yad Vashem.

Even just the building for this place is amazing, it is shaped like a Toblerone with a slight unoticeable inclination so that when you walk through the museum and follow the story to it's conclusion (the creation of Israel) you exit to a spectacular view of the valley of Jerusalem. The exhibitions were tastefully done without anything too gruesome. They had objects like Schindler's List (the real thing), parts of the train cars used and anti-semitic propoganda. The most powerful moment for me was seeing the room were folders full of the names of the victims were and realising the extent of the tragedy. Six million is a big number but when you see a visual representation of those people it's overwhelming.

We also made a quick daytrip to the Dead Sea which was super cool despite the gaggle of loud Americans that were also there. I highly recommend getting muddy there, apparently it's great for your skin. Then it was time to return to Tel Aviv for more sun and drinking before me and Em parted ways. It was very interesting for me visiting that tiny new country and getting to know some of it's inhabitants. I find Iraeli people to be mature and responsible people (maybe because of the military service) who are also execptionally kind and hospitable. I hope to return one day for a longer time. The intense security (bag searches, metal detectors, guards, military folk) can be annoying (I had to be interviewd and searched for about an hour when crossing the border) but is necessary and just becomes a part of life.

So thank you to Em for letting me tag along and to all the great people we hung out with, I'll never forget the place or the great food.

Tel Aviv/Jerusalem/Dead Sea

2007-06-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

Friendly Jordan

2007-06-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

Due to the available flight paths on my airline network, I found myself on a Royal Jordanian flight to the capital of Amman (en route to Israel) so I decided to use this unexpected opportunity to get to know the country of Jordan a little bit and I'm very glad I did. To my pleasant suprise I discovered that Jordan is a nice place and the people are ridiculously friendly. I'd heard their reputation for being friendly but it was still a suprise when I experienced it first hand. They really are ridiculously friendly; whether it's the taxi driver giving you his number in case you have any problems in town or the old men inviting you to sit down and drink a tea with them or everyone you talk to saying "welcome to Jordan!" with such enthusiasm.

I spent a day in the capital Amman getting to know the place a little and checking out some ancient Roman ruins, before heading to the incredible Petra. This place is shortlisted for one of the "new seven wonders of the world" and it's easy to see why. They used this place in films like Indiana Jones & the Mummy. It's basically a city carved into sandstone mountains and terrain on an epic scale. I rode a horse into the caverns with this Jordanian horse man jogging along side. He thought it would be hilarious to make the horse run as fast as he could while he yelled things like "Try before you die!" at me. I thought I might be dying sometime soon for a minute before some lady yelled at him to give me a break. It was pretty funny though.

Another unexpected place that turned out to be a winner. I really think it's much better not to know too much about a country before you get there, it makes everything more interesting. Also I think the countries in this region like Syria, Lebannon & Israel are underated destinations. The middle east is definately a nice place to travel and interesting too.

Amman/Petra

2007-06-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

Loving Nepal

2007-05-28T00:37:00.000-05:00

After a day and a half journey I finally stepped out onto the streets of Kathmandu, ready for action. Coming from India the differences are immediately noticeable; relaxed pace, non-intrusive locals, better hygiene standards and it didn't take long for Nepal to work it's considerable charms on me.

Kathmandu was a vibrant place, with some hustling and bustling being done against the backdrop of ancient architecture with the Himalayan hills constant presence in the distance. With my guidebook in hand I jetted around seeing the major tourist spots while allowing time for random wanderings through backstreets. Getting around was very easy and getting lost was perfectly safe, despite the city being in a slight state of unrest due to the Maoist rebels. I did catch a street protest of bareback Nepali men, but it was of the non-violent variety.

Dut to the impulsive nature of this side trip I arrived completely ignorant about the place and it's people, which can often be the best way so everything was a suprise to me; for example like the substancial development in Kathmandu. The most pleasant suprise however was the Nepali women in the streets who are gorgeous, my head has been turned more times in the last week than than in the other three since I left Japan. They are beautiful people; unfortunately 7000 of these women and girls are trafficked as sex slaves around Asia and the Middle-east every year.

Next it was time to go on a jungle safari in the Royal Chitwan National Park, which is the number 3 attraction in Nepal. I booked a 2 night/3 day package which included canoeing (looking for crocodiles), a walk through the jungle, a jeep safari and an elephant-back safari. Going on the elephant safari was definately the best although most uncomfortable way to see the animals. I also rode an elephant bare-backed which was brilliant but on the safari they fix a wooden harness on the beast for four people to squeeze into which is most uncomfortable. In total we spotted 3 rhinos, a gharial, a family of deer, some monkeys, a couple of wild boars, a few peacocoks and plenty of birds; the only tiger we saw was in captivity. Not so much luck but it's to be expected in a huge 900 square kilometre park and only a limited time to see it.

The real highlight was the time spent bathing with the elephants. Everyday at lunch time the elephants take a bath in the river while you sit on top of them. They spray you with water, lie down, shake you off their backs... it really brings out the Jungle Book kid inside you. Now I'm in Pohkara the other famous tourist city for one night before I make the long journey back to Delhi for my flight. It's another beautiful place in this beautiful country. I will definately return here one day when I have more time to do one of the great valley treks.

Kathmandu/Chitwan National Park/Elephant Bath

2007-05-28T00:13:00.001-05:00

Missing Tokyo

2007-05-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

Here is a video put together by my good friend James (from Florida). He took the footage on his little digital camera on nights out including a few during my last two weeks in Japan. Respect to you brother! (More of his videos here)

It's Solo Time

2007-05-20T05:31:00.000-05:00

After getting out of the freezing hills down to Kasol, we decided to make tracks down to Chandigarh to visit my mum's friend of 35 years; the one and only Rani Khumar. Rani is an unstoppable little whirlwind of life and from the moment we touched down she has excessively fussed over us like a surrogate mother making sure we are constantly well-fed and refreshed and there are no two ways about it.

After living simply in the mountains hand washing clothes and so forth it the special treatment is definately welcome. However I feel bad for Rani's house helpers who have had to put in overtime in the kitchen to make us a variety of tasty treats. In these 5 days I've sampled countless new Indian tasty treats that have all been superb; thank you Gita.

So the last 5 days have been filled with eating, drinking (Rani is fond of the pre-dinner drink) and a little sight seeing around town. Chandigarh it turns out is the only planned city in India so it reminds me alot of Canberra with it's straight wide roads lined with old trees, a very pleasant place indeed. The rickshaw drivers must love it because all the trees make it about 5 degrees cooler on the roads than it would be without them.

On our little trips we ran into a bunch of keen school kids who followed us around all day and we went to this amazing Rock Garden built by a guy called Nek Chand. He was this government worker who one day was inspired by the discarded waste he saw and began making sculptures and eventually this whole wonderland of junk for which heis world famous now. I was suprised by how impressive the place was.

Today Em & I parted ways because she wants to go to another Indian valley and she has already been to Nepal which is relatively close by. I've wanted to go there ever since I saw Mr. Guy Fisher's amazing photos and Em assures me it's a great place. I have about a week to spend there, so not enough time for a big mountain trek but I will certainly be visiting the Chitwan National Park so I can finally realise one of my life's ambitions to ride an elephant. So it'sfinally time for me to break out on my own a little and spread those wings of mine. Fly baby.

Tomorrow I'm off, so big thanks to Rani for the hospitality and the laughs. You're a legend.

Kasol/Chandigarh

2007-05-20T05:27:00.000-05:00

Weed is Everywhere

2007-05-13T04:23:00.000-05:00

After a week or so India decided to take its wrath upon me. Granted not as bad as on others but certainly unpleasant enough. Being that everything is dirty it's hard to determine the exact cause, but recently I've had a combination of lethargy, aches, a cold, and the infamous "Delhi Belly". It comes and goes every few days so at the moment I feel okay.

Em & I departed Manali after a couple of days and head a little south (not far) to a little village called Manikaran en route to Pulga which is a tiny village all still within the Parvati Valley. This region is known for it's high grade marijuana which grows and is smoked freely everywhere. The funniest experience so far was smoking and playing cards with a local Baba (a holy man, like a sadhu) who struggled with the concept of when it was his turn.

Pulga was a nice little town but the weather was far too cold prompting me & Em to contract illnesses and then retreat back to Kasol where we are now. On the way back we travelled on the roof of the bus through windy & bumpy mountain roads which was definately a new experience for me, having to duck regularly for fear of decapitation by power line. I'm keen to see a different part of India so I think we will travel down to Chandigarh to stay with my mums friend and revel in Indian hospitality. Apparently the servants iron the newspaper everyday for extra reading pleasure.

Otherwise not so much to report, the illneses and shitty weather have not been conducive to meeting new people. So as a substitute I have been getting stuck into an incredible book which you may have heard of called 'Shantaram' about an Australian escaped convict who flees to Mumbai. It's a true story and is amazingly well written, it is also set to become a movie starring Johnny Depp despite the fact that the main character professes to being an ugly man. I recommend reading it before everyone starts talking about it (which they already are).

For now I splurged 250 rupees ($8) on a nice hotel to recover in so I am enjoying the luxury of hot water and cable TV, 'Indian Idol' is a great show. Hopefully next time I write I'll have my full health back.

Manali/Pulga

2007-05-13T04:14:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Ugly India

2007-05-05T05:47:00.000-05:00

Anyone who had been to India will tell you it's a land of extremes, I have only been to two parts so far but the contrast is extraordinary. I flew into the capital of Delhi at 2am on a Sunday morning, which I was warned is a very sketchy thing to do, but 2am must be too late for all the hustlers because I had no problems whatsoever from the airport to the guesthouse (unlike Em who had her driver start to take his pants off). It was even very quiet in the Main Bazaar where we were staying, but by 10am the main street was manic. Locals, shop owners, hawkers, kids, beggars and cows all roam this street while rickshaws and cars try to negotiate the chaos.

Em made the long trip down from the North to come meet me (what a good woman), it is great to hang out again after a long year and a half absence. Originally we were gonna go to Japan together before she took the World Bar job and started Wham. We stuck around Delhi for three days while I got acquainted with India and Em took care of a few matters. Getting used to the food (no Delhi Belly yet), noise, heat (in the 40's), and smells took some adjusting. We stuck mostly to the backpacker area because to get anywhere in Delhi takes so much effort. On the night of the third day we got on a sleeper bus to Manali in the Himachal Pradesh region where it is nice and cool and where I am now.

Manali is a beautiful village in the valley of some giant mountains. Admitadly I didn't know much about India when I arrived, so I was very suprised to find myself in the middle of snow-capped mountains having to brave the cold. We even considered going snowboarding which is available, but now is not the best season (seeing as it's the hot season). The local people look quite different due to the Nepali influence. Em found us a very cute and quaint guesthouse on the edge of town which is blissfully quiet, except for the cows which get let out at 10am. We even have the sounds of a waterfall to fall asleep to. No shower, instead we heat a bucket of water for 40 minutes then mix it with cold water to pour over our bodies, which sounds ghetto but is actually strangely rewarding to not have such modern conveniences. Yesterday I tried joining Em on her daily yoga routine, today I am in pain, tomorrow I will try again.

Manali is the perfect place to relax and unwind, so other than a little exploring our days are fairly tame. Today we went to the local baths which are supplied with beautiful natural hot spring water which turns to murky questionable water by the end of the day. It was a good experience bathing with the locals, hot springs are an age old male-bonding activity. Nothing like getting steamy and part-naked with someone to get to know them. Along the way we have picked up two friends. Hiro who is from Nara who we met on the bus ride and Sally who is from Manchester who we met in town. Both have moved into our lodgings and we hang out a fair bit.

So all is well at the moment, since coming up to the mountains I feel 100% better. Delhi is a bit of a hellhole and I haven't been in nature for a long time and I have never seen nature like this in my life. The mountains are epic and the air is beautiful, a place that moves the soul. We will probably move along pretty soon though as it is a little too cold up here and there is plenty more of India to see.

Delhi/Manali

2007-05-05T02:35:00.000-05:00

R & R

2007-04-30T05:15:00.000-05:00

So next up was Hong Kong with me mum, which meant I got to be a boy again and enjoy being taken care of for a short time. This was my second time in Hongkers so sightseeing was not a priority. Sleeping, eating dim sum and spending some qt with my laptop... I mean with my mum. She booked us into a nice little hotel on Lantau Island which was nice and quiet. Island life was a nice change of pace from Tokyo.

For the 5 days I relaxed and ate as many cha siu baau as possible and even enjoyed a swim in the South China Sea. I also had a number of small matters to deal with such as getting injections for India and sorting out a few changes to my plane ticket routing. No debauchery to speak of even though Hong Kong has a reputation as being somewhat of a capital of sleaze.

It was very nice to spend some time with my oka-san and sample Hong Kong's finest dim sum (Sydney is still number one) and prepare myself for the chaos of India. I look forward to seeing my good old friend Em and 'do' India as much as one can in a month. I know that if there is anyone to travel Asia with it's Em as she has the necessary skills down to a fine art. Hopefully I can learn from the yogi master herself before my own solo travels commence. Stay tuned...

Hong Kong

2007-04-30T04:37:00.000-05:00

Perfect Start (Almost)

2007-04-24T05:59:00.000-05:00

My last two weeks in Tokyo were frantic, particularly with trying to make plans and organise a flight itinerary for 19 flights over the next seven months. I think I have squeezed out a good plan, but all plans change so we'll see what happens. It was particularly difficult as I didn't have my laptop which was still in Australia being repaired. Right now I am sitting in a hotel in Hong Kong backwriting all this months posts.

Anyway it all got done somehow, but I had no time to research my first destination; Shanghai. We arrived at the airport more or less clueless with what to do, although Eri had a Japanese guidebook and I knew I had to get to the STA office to organise my flight to Hong Kong. It brought back unpleasant memories of my first arrivial in Thailand, it's not a good feeling arriving in another country without being prepared. In a strange place, where english is not common, carrying luggage around with no one to help you. This time turned out fine actually but just that feeling reminded me how stressful travelling can be if you are not clued in.

We managed to get a cheap hotel in a great spot, right off Nanjing Rd which was nice despite the staff's general unhelpfulness. Thanks to Chin's recommendations we found ourselves at a nice trendy bar next to the Musuem of Contemporary Art after walking around a bit, where we mingled with the expat crowd. Afterwards we wandered into some fashion party next door and helped ourselves to the free wine and food on offer. Sunday was a glorius day, starting off with an amazing lunch at Ye Olde Station restaurant, followed by a trip to the Urban Planning Museum to try and understand the huge beast of a city, then a walk through the 'old town' area, then we saw the Shanghai acrobats show with all the other tourists and finally had a drink on the Bund at Bar Rouge.

Monday was a bit disappointing, as the trip to the famous Oriental Pearl Tower ended up taking too much time. So we had to skip a trip to the artist district of 50 Mogashan Road and one last delicious Shanghai meal to get to the airport on time. Other than that blemish the 2 night trip was perfect. We ate, drank, danced and sight saw a lot in the crazy city and had a great time. Of course saying goodbye at the airport was rough. We don't know what will happen in the future but I definately know it's not the end. It was too good to let it go. I think the 7 months will go quickly, but what will happen after is hard to say; at least we had a beautiful time in Japan, Singapore and especially Shanghai. We should be thankful for those special times and leave the rest to fate, hopefully the future will be even better.

Shanghai

2007-04-24T04:50:00.000-05:00

That's a f**king plane ticket!

2007-04-22T07:43:00.000-05:00

So here's my itinerary for my trip, all on my round-the-world plane ticket (minus the flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong due to ticket restrictions). Many segments of the trip will be done over land, particularly through eastern & western europe and up the west coast of South America. Some land segments were not by choice but due to the available flight paths (Amman/Paris/Iquique/Sao Paulo). The dates are flexible however the destinations are not.

21/4: Tokyo - Shanghai (JAL)
23/4: Shanghai - Hong Kong (China Eastern Airlines)*
28/4: Hong Kong - Delhi (Cathay Pacific)
31/5: Delhi - Amman (Royal Jordanian)
11/6: Tel Aviv - Budapest (Royal Jordanian)
11/6: Budapest - Dubrovonik (Malev Hungarian)
12/7: Copenhagen - London (British Airways)
18/7: London - Madrid (Iberia)
7/8: Paris - New York (American Airways)
11/8: New York - Toronto (American Airways)
18/8: Toronto - Chicago (American Airways)
18/8: Chicago - San Fransisco (American Airways)
21/8: San Fransisco - Dallas (American Airways)
21/8: Dallas - Mexico City (American Airways)
24/9: Mexico City - Santiago (LAN Chile)
24/9: Santiago - Iquique (LAN Chile)
29/10: Lima - Buenos Aires (LAN Chile)
19/11: Buenos Aires - Santiago (LAN Chile)
22/11: Santiago - Rio De Janeiro (LAN Chile)
1 3/12: Sao Paulo - Tokyo (JAL)

* Not included

(Destinations in italics are transits.)

Key Stats:

- 19 Flights (15 destinations/4 transits)
- 7 & a half months
- 4 Continents (Asia/Europe/North America/South America)
- 370, 000 yen ticket + 100, 000 yen tax ($4700 AUD)
- 1 Broke motherf**ker.

Seeing as I've never been to any of these countries (except Hong Kong) I feel this trip is simply catching up with everyone else and it is more economical to do it all at once instead of as multiple small trips. Fortunately the timing is good for me, having finished my contracts with my schools in Tokyo and I have friends to visit & travel with in every continent (almost every country) and I think 24 is a good age. What I don't have is a huge amount of money but I have enough to get by on a modest budget.

If anyone would like to join me at any particular location feel free. In particular I am in need of a travel buddy in Spain, New York and Buenos Aires (also possibly Rio De Janeiro). Everywhere else I have company but the more the merrier, especially for the rock festival Roskilde in Denmark (early July).

It"s a once in a lifetime kind of deal before I settle down next year. Hopefully I make the most of it and learn & enjoy myself as much as possible, which is not always easy. Wish me luck.

All Good Things...

2007-04-21T05:40:00.000-05:00

My Sayonara drinks were actually split over two Friday nights: the Friday of my last weekend and the night before I flew out. Both were just a few drinks at an izakaya in Shibuya with a few friends. My last week of work was fairly normal, just like any other except with a tinge of sweet sorrow.

Japan has been good to me; in my year (and a bit) here I've managed to enjoy my work (for the first time ever), make some good friends (shout out to JIMBO!), get to know a lot of Japanese people, and of course is meet my beautiful girlfriend who has made the whole experience for me so special. But never the less the time has come to leave and move on to other things. Namely travelling for this year, followed by settling down somewhere next. I want to follow through with my plan to visit Europe and South America as part of my 'worldly' education before I settle down somewhere for the long term.

Its time to leave but not move on, my round the world plane ticket will see me return to these shores in December when I can take my old job back or try something else (like find a job back home). At this point I'm undecided, but hopefully by the time it comes around I will have a better idea of what I want to do. In the back of my mind I want to do another month winter camp job in Korea in January to make a bit of money (because I will definately be flat broke). Right now its too hard to say, which makes it hard on Eri but unfortunately it can't be helped. No one knows the future we can only do the best with what we know today.

I should be excited about my 7 month world trip, but it's hard to be at this point leaving so much behind. Even though there is much to look forward to, it's too distant for it to feel real right now. I think what I'm doing is the right thing, but who knows. Someone told me that "you never regret the things you do, just the things you don't do". So in that spirit I'm off to make good on those plans I made many moons ago.

Sayonara Party & Drinks

2007-04-21T04:48:00.000-05:00

At Least My Pants Were Dry

2007-04-16T06:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the big day, I had heard of Fuji Q Highland not long after I came to Japan and looked forward to/feared the day when I would have to go and put my manhood to the test. The one thing that gave me confidence was looking around at the other patrons of the park who ranged from kids to high school girls to salary-man types to grandmas, which made me think "if they can do it, surely I can". But Japanese people can often be tougher than they look, take the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for example he looks a bit like Yogi Bear.

Anyway, Buri-chan & Aska drove me & Eri, Masa and Buris friend Shun down to Yamanashi near Mount Fuji to get some stress blown away by adrenaline. When I set eyes on the big coasters from the car my hands immediately started sweating which Eri pointed out to everyone for their enjoyment. I was told it's best to go to the main attractions early in the morning so we went to the biggest one Fujiyama first thing in the morning, despite my wishes to go to Thomas Town. Ten years ago when it was built it was the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world, while not the number 1 anymore it's still insane and a hell of a way to start the day. The main drop was intense but what is really crazy about this ride is the length. When you think it should be almost over there are another 5 or 6 dips which really push your tolerance capacity. Inevitably I screamed like a girl and Eri laughed in fits at me (not with).

Afterwards I felt pretty good, the first is the hardest so we headed to the next station of insanity Eejanaika which holds the record for the most number of inversions on a ride (14). It's actually called a dimension-coaster because you are harnessed in from the top and your feet remain free to dangle and you move independently of the track (backwards, forwards, in various loops) which is very disorientating and you have no idea which way you are or will be going. The most intense moment comes at the start when after ascending slowly for a few minutes (backwards) the ride comes to its biggest dip which you can only see half a second before you go down it. Its hard to describe but the thing is pure insanity.

After our high voltage morning we spent most of the rest of day on the parks other more tame attractions, including a very amusing 30 minute trip through a haunted hospital with live zombies (Japanese dudes) in it. I think the girls were a lot more scared than the guys, but apparently I pushed Eri in front of me and used her as a shield between me and the zombie but I don't remember it. We wrapped up the day with another go of Fujiyama and me & Eri got the first cart to my (sarcastic) delight and in an appropriate finish to the day I ended up with a combination of spit and nose drippings (it was cold) smeared all over my face with my hair up on ends. Laughs were had (by others), photos were taken and we went home to wrap up another solid weekend of fun.

The last one is gone now which is hard to believe. At least next weekend Eri will come with me to Shanghai which will make it less sad when I go. But still sad indeed.

Fuji Q Highlands

2007-04-16T04:47:00.000-05:00

A Disney Weekend

2007-04-10T05:40:00.000-05:00

Well it had to be done didn't it? A weekend trip to Tokyo Disney that is... so why not go all the way. Me & Eri left the urban misery of Tokyo for a couple of days to visit the fantasy lands of Disney Land & Disney Sea and staying at the Disney Sea Hotel in between. I didn't know what to expect having never visited any such Disney place but I was pleasantly suprised by how much fun I had. Of course a lot of it had to do with my lovely girlfriend who enjoys the parks equally as much as any of the kids.

There are many false stereotypes about Japanese girls and there are some true ones. I know two for a fact: 1. All Tokyo girls love shopping & 2. All Japanese girls love Disneyland. These are not generalisations but statistical truths.

Disney Sea was up first, which is the newer and more adult-orientated of the two parks (you can buy beer). It is not as large but there are equally as many appealing attractions. Luckily it was not a busy day and ride queues averaged about 40 minutes which is nothing from what I'm told. We did all the main rides and shows and I was suprised to find myself screaming like a girl on the rollercoaster-type attractions much to Eri's amusement.

The hotel was super nice, not tacky at all as you would expect, with Disney images subtly placed in the patterns on the wallpaper, bedding etc; not to mention all the Disney junk you could take home (cups, towels, etc) which excited Eri somewhat.

Disney Land had a lot to live up to, but unfortunately due to the closures of three rides (Eri's 3 favourites), grey skies, the kid-orientation of the park and the outdated nature of some of the attractions (1980's Star Wars anyone) it didn't quite stand up. But after a full weekend of being amused I was happy to head back home for a home cooked dinner.

The weekend was well worth it and one thing to cross off the 'things to do' in Japan list. With time running out quickly there remain a few more things to squeeze in before departure. The thrills from the Disney rides prompted us up the ante and organise a trip to Fuji Q Highland for my final weekend in Japan. The park has some of the biggest and fastest rollercoasters in the world and seeing as I have never ridden a big one before should be quite interesting. Hopefully I don't wet my pants or appear even less manly but it's a definate possibility.

Disney Sea/Disney Land

2007-04-10T01:59:00.000-05:00

O-Hanami!!

2007-04-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Spring sees the sakura flower bloom for two short weeks in the year throughout the year, which means it's time to settle in under a tree and drink. The age old practice of hanami is centuries old and the perfect excuse for getting hammered in the middle of the day.

We set up shop in Inokashira Koen, which has to be a contender for one of the most photogenic places in Tokyo. Not too much to tell in the way of stories; we came, we ate, we drank, we left. It was a killer day though, the atmosphere was great I was feelin the love which is rare in Tokyo. I guess everyone is happy to be leaving winter behind and rejoining the sun.

Eri's friends were very hospitable as always and I'm pretty sure Juz had a good time practising his 10-word deep Japanese all day. He has taken to uttering random words from time to time to help him remember them, which often results in him drawing attention to himself and confused looks.

If you can ever make it to Japan in late March/early April I highly recommend it. Last year I missed it because I was in Laos, but I didn't have any friends anyway. I recommend getting some of those too, it makes it much better.

Hanami @ Inokashira Koen

2007-04-01T11:12:00.000-05:00

Guess Who's in Tokyo?

2007-03-25T20:33:00.000-06:00

Wednesday brought us another visitor from home... the world famous dj Justin Mile. After initiating him to the crazyness of Shibuya, we took him out on Friday to Shinjuku to try and find some crazy wackness to laugh at. We headed to a club for a 'para-para' dancing party, where all the young freaks go to dance in unison, however the party actually started at 6am that morning so it was finished long before we arrived. So stuck in Shinjuku without a plan, I thought it was a good opportunity to finally go to the infamous 'Ni-Chome' gay area. It is basically the only real gay area in Tokyo so I thought it was worth a look.

Turns out it is much tamer than I expected, you could probably walk through and not realise what is was. There were a few rainbow flags and inside one shop they sold gay manga which was quite interesting. So we went to a bar that Eri's gay friend recommended, to our suprise it was pretty quiet and the dudes looked the same as most Japanese guys perhaps even slightly more masculine. After a drink we decided to go bowling, which turned out to be good fun. I took out the first game by 2 pins (too bad Juz) and on the second game the skill level deteriorated to joke bowls such as through-the-legs or run-down-the-whole-lane.

Saturday arvo we walked around the super funky Shimokitazawa and then feasted on all-you-can eat Shabu Shabu. Sunday was a cultural day where we took in a French art exhibition at the crazy new Art Center in Roppongi (the building more impressive than the exhibitions), then went to the arty Super Deluxe for an art magazine event which included videos, djs and a live performance which was interesting. Basically a dude was in a huge box and he would push the box around the room in sync with a video that was being projected onto the screens. It was interesting for a little while but it got old pretty quickly. Then me & Eri went to a quirky Chinese restaurant for some shredded duck with Chinese bread, dumplings & stir-fried vegetables; god damn was it delicious! Super cheap too less than $10 each. Which capped off another stellar weekend. Only 4 more to go until I get out of here, there sure will be plenty to miss.

Shimo/Shabu Shabu/Art Center

2007-03-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

A Quiet Wednesday Evening

2007-03-20T21:53:00.000-06:00

I spent my one day weekend hanging out with Rick because he leaves Japan next week. On Saturday night we had an all nighter in Roppongi for St. Patricks Day, his Irish buddy Alton was insanely loose, when I got there he was hoisted on peoples shoulders screaming Irish songs. We stayed away from the madness though and headed to the Brazilian bar, the Aussie Bar and a ramen restaurant. On Sunday we walked around Harajuku with some really nice graphic designer friends of Ricks. They were taking photos of the clothes which they then sell to a company in L.A. at $10 a piece, sweet gig.

It was pretty low-key, so on Wednesday Eri got us cheap tickets to see 2 Many Dj's play at Womb. I'm pretty sure Womb is the club they used in Babel when the deaf girl goes to a nightclub and takes ecstacy. This was actually the 2nd time I have been there to see them but last time the line was ridiculously long so we got turned away and by the time I got in they were finishing up and the club was so humid I was sweating from just being in there. This time was much better, it was still crowded but manageable and we caught about an hour and a half of their 'Old School' mix set, the following night they were doing a 'Current Stuff' set. Despite the title they still played plenty of new tunes I was happy to hear, like the devastating 'Walkman' by Sebastian and the final track of the night which was their awesome Soulwax remix of Robbie William's 'Lovelight'.

Needless to say the Japanese crowds were loving it. This is the 3rd and 4th time they have played at Womb since I have been here. It is pretty difficult to differentiate yourself as a dj and still make people dance for a long time, so I definately respect their talents, especially because they do a crazy live show as Soulwax Nite Versions which I'm dying to see. It was cool to finish work, go to a rocking show (every night is pumping in Shibuya) then head home with the lady on the last train. Eri struggled on the bike ride home from the station because she was hammered from spending the afternoon at a fshion party drinking beers and nihon-shu (sake).

It's My Party

2007-03-12T08:55:00.000-06:00

After getting reaquainted with Japan, work and my woman my 24th birthday rolled around (on the 9th of March) so it was time for celebrations. This year I was fortunate to have my astro-twin (same birthday) James here to celebrate with. After minimal organisation we gathered a small group of party people for all you can eat & drink yaki-niku, followed by more drinking at karaoke in Shibuya. It's nice to have Japanese friends because they are very hospitable when it comes to special occaisions, me & James received the special gifts of Japanese thong-style underwear and 'vitamin drink' for extra power in the bedroom. It was a good night from what I can remember... I definately know Rick made an ass of himself... humourously at first followed by excessively later.

The rest of the weekend was kind of low key in a nice way. Then on Monday night Eri took me to see Muse play which was awesome, Mathew Bellamy is just the most crazy musician in the world. They played for two hours without a bad song, their stage production is pretty good too with the lights and whatnot. It could be much better though I think they need a new stylist/production designer. My only problem with the night (and it's a big one) is that it was a seated venue and our seats were too far away. The venue makes the biggest difference to the experience and ours was a little distant, standing in rows is not how a rock show should be enjoyed. The highlight for me was 'Knights of Cydonia' which they played last, they seem to have cut my favourite 'Space Dementia' from their set, probably because it's too crazy.

Anyway, solid weekend, solid birthday. Getting older now so I've decided this is my last year of travelling and teaching. Next year I will settle down (somewhere) and try to figure out how to have an enjoyable career and make some good money at the same time.

がんばります。

Birthday Weekend

2007-03-12T08:46:00.000-06:00

Love You & Leave You

2007-03-03T21:06:00.000-06:00

The second week started off well, with a tourist ferry ride home via Circular Quay for some photos, then on Tuesday the lovely Lara organised some tickets for the Zoo for me & Cam to enjoy. I do love a good zoo trip and while this one was good I couldn't help but think the zoo has gone downhill since my youth.

I remember when they used to have panthers, more monkeys, an awesome aquarium at the bottom with a kickass seal tank. Also they have traded the impressive African elephants for puny Asian ones... talk about a shitty deal. All the new buildings are pretty wack I think, especially the Thai style elephant enclosure and food hall and the layout seems more difficult to navigate. Still worthy but not worth paying the $33 they charge. The highlight was easily the bird show; with huge birds regularly swooping over your head it's very impressive indeed and the stadium has one of the best views of the harbour in Sydney, great spot.

The rest of the week was filled out with dinners, last trips to the beach and yum cha. Then on Friday we went along to see Nick's new band Sparkadia play which was awesome, I highly recommend seeing their show and checking out their music. It's great to see my good friend doing well in a band that has a promising future on the horizon. Soon they are moving to London to try and crack Europe. Best wishes to them, I'm sure they will do well.

So that was that, a nice little trip for me. I got to tan it up a bit, see my friends (people I didn't see don't classify), catch up on news and what not and eat a shitload of Ogalo burgers... damn fine it was too! Two weeks was enough for me to get an idea of the life I could of had and I feel no regret in my decision to come to Japan. There are plenty of great things about Sydney but also many disagreable things; not the least of which is the transport.

Public transport in Sydney is a joke and owning a car is not much better unless you never want to go to the city. How can people live productive lives when they can't even get around? This theory also extends to the realm of Sydney's social structure. Because you need to use private transport for socialising I think that it's partly the reason that people to develop small social circles which lead to exclusivity and socially strategic attitudes... which I detest. It's just an idea which may or may not contain some truth , however I would point to Melbourne as a case example where the public transport is great and people are friendlier with less attitude. Think about it.

Enough ranting, it's back to Tokyo for me for a few months until I head off to see the rest of the world for research purposes before I begin my campaign to start my global empire. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Sydney Week Two

2007-03-03T21:04:00.000-06:00

Home Sweet Home

2007-02-25T19:13:00.000-06:00

Its been a great week back in Oz. Kept it pretty low key; just been catching up with friends, hanging out like old times, going to the beach, eating yum cha and plenty of Ogalo... fantastic. In a week I managed to catch up with most of my friends (the key ones anyway) go to the beach three times, have yum cha twice, go out to the Cross, get hammered at the Modular CD release party in Mona Vale and have a nice dinner and drinks at the always awesome Cafe Lounge. Pretty good I think.

Thanks to everyone who has graciously had me on their couch or driven me around town. One more week to go (no weekend) before I head back. I look forward to more of the same and ticking off a few more people on the list and a few more things I want to do like see a live band, go to Taronga zoo, catch a movie at the Palace and go to Freshwater beach. It's been great to be back and get a feel for the life I've forsaken... and while it's been great I'm sure I made the right decision to relocate to Japan.

Sydney is a great place, but it's difficult to break out of old habits, do new things and make new friends as it's society is structured in terms of social circles which determine your lifestyle. The saying 'some things never change' is definitely true when it comes to people, I think people never change they just get older. So now I am more firmly committed to traveling to new places and doing new things in an attempt to broaden my horizons and see the world (and life) from different perspectives. Europe and South America are next later on this year and I'm glad to say that I will definitely be seeing many of my pals overseas and I look forward to the exciting experiences to come after I soak up the feeling of being home for a bit and head back to Tokyo to see my lovely girlfriend who I am excited to say will be living with me for the remainder of my time there. Cho tanoshimi!!!

Sydney Week One

2007-02-25T14:19:00.000-06:00

Headman/Ashes & Snow

2007-02-11T21:51:00.000-06:00

On Saturday night Eri took me, Kumiko & James along to Unit again to see Headman (at my request). She is a real winner; free gigs, good cook and generous in bed. The music was great and I had a good time, except Eri had to talk business for most of the night.

Yesterday we went to Roppongi Hills to see a preview of the the excellent 'Ash & Snow' nomadic museum exhibition which is coming to Tokyo soon. The photos are incredible but they are printed in a strange way that makes them look like drawings which detracts from their genuiness cause they look fake. The short films were great; narrated by 'coolest voice ever' Lawrence Fishburne and also in Japanese by Ken Watanabe.

Then we met up with American James to go to a gaijin nampa party full of NOVA teachers and Japanese girls who want to speak english. It was pretty funny, with MC's who dropped NOVA references in their raps and loose business guys trying to get with all the girls. I had a good time but going home for dinner and a movie was better, the party reminded me why I don't like being single that much.

On Saturday I take off for Sydney but I don't arrive till Sunday night. If anyone wants to pick me up from the airport or lend me a phone while I'm there that would be very sweet and I would be indebted indeed. Also if anyone has a new phone number please email it to me so I can holla at you. See you soon... get ready.

A Ghibli Good Time

2007-02-04T20:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday me & Eri visited the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. I am a HUGE FAN of the Studio Ghibli movies so it was great to finally get to go check out the museum. They have all kinds of cool stuff inside; models, original drawings, film cells, a recreation of Hayao Miyazaki's home studio and so on. Miyazaki is a genius and seeing his drawings, paintings and storyboards definately reinforced this fact and gave me a new appreciation for his work. They also have this crazy animation made from physical models put on a rotating surface, it's hard to describe but basically instead of using drawings they built little models which appear to move when spun around using special lighting... i can't explain it you just have to see it.

There is also a big soft-toy recreation of the cat-bus from Totoro which kids can enjoy jumping around in and a small movie theatre which shows Ghibli short films. We watched one about some kids and a whale which was cool, I understood some of the Japanese but far from all. Currently there is also a Wallace & Gromit exhibition which contained some of the models they used in the film and 'making of' footage. The actual museum building itself is pretty crazy and totally adds to the experience. Outside a life size Totoro greets you at the ticket booth and the exterior looks like its from a movie with the walls covered in ferns. Inside they really recreate the Ghibli world. It is spacious and has lots of 'secret' passages and overpasses and it's given an old style European feel by the vintage elevator and staircase. But the real treat was the life size statue of the robot from Laputa on the roof. Tonnes of people queue up for photos and we were no different. For souvenirs I bought some bookmarks which contain little film strips from Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. I bought extras to give away as gifts, so if you are a good friend and leave a comment I will give you one when I come home in 2 weeks.

After enjoying a hotdog at the Ghibli cafe we walked to Inokashira park and saw two of the craziest dudes ever. One guy is a regular who reads people manga comics putting on the different characters voices. He is very good and gives a lot in his performances, singing songs, doing sound effects and the like. I read somewhere that he has no other job and lives off people donations and any character voice work he gets from the studios. Good luck to him, theres something very romantic about it, telling stories for the love and not for the money, a true artist.

The other nutjob was a guy in various spandex suits, he was setting up getting his props ready (clothes, stereo, wigs, a banana) when we noticed him moving a bum out of the way for his performance. He looked intriguing so we stuck around and boy was it a good show. It could be called 'expressive dance' or something, the dude was just wacko. Doing various dances, gestures and acrobatics. At one point he ran away from the crowd to the lake and jumped up on the railing to display his booty. Crazy. It was a good show and he had a lot of energy. Well worth the wait. Then it was back home for delicious salmon pasta dinner and then fell asleep watching a movie; a good day all in all.

Ghibli Museum/Kichijoji Park

2007-02-04T19:58:00.000-06:00

Party Up

2007-01-29T17:59:00.000-06:00

The weekend in Niigata was definately the best I've had since being here. Eri & her friends invited us (me, Rick, Altun & James) for a weekend of skiing and drinking. This being my 3rd time on a snowboard on the first day on the slopes I finally got the hang of it and practiced my turns until late with Eri. Then we walked back to her pad for a Nabe party and some drinking until early hours. This time was much more fun for me because english was the language of choice and Rick brought the party with his ridiculous antics. A particular quote I like is "I've got my pants off, havin a good time, loving life!"... indeed.

The second day we headed to a different resort which was much bigger and had great conditions. It was real cool going around with friends and my favourite lady. Unfortunately my camera is not suitable for such activities so I have no photos with snow in it. But you can use your imagination, Japan mountains covered in snow are epic and I finally understand why people enjoy skiing so much. I could have done without my face being pushed in snow during a little tussel with Rick, but it's all part of the fun. He was trying to teach me about Canadian culture I think.

Then it was back to the pad (via maccas) for some swimming, spas and onsen to cap off a perfect weekend. Big up to the whole crew, it was a special time for everyone I think and hopefully we can do it again this season. Peace, love and all that.

Niigata Slopes/Sports Mansion

2007-01-29T17:56:00.000-06:00

I Love New Tokyo

2007-01-25T08:36:00.001-06:00

Cheers to my American buddy James (JIMBO!) for sending me this video. It's an authentic representation of the Tokyo life in under three minutes, made me emotional about the place and I haven't even left yet.

Jazztronik & KJM

2007-01-24T00:20:00.001-06:00

On the weekend I met my old buddy from high school Chai and caught up a bit. He's here for an internship with UBS which sounds very lucrative. Makes me think about how I can make the big bucks like these finance guys.

Me & James took him to 'The Room' in Shibuya with some other housemates to check out Jazztronik and Shuya Okino from Kyoto Jazz Massive play for a cd release party. The Room is small but friendly so I always meet new people and have a good time there. This time was no different and I left with a bunch of email addresses. I also tried my first 'suicide' where you snort some salt, do a shot of tequila and then squirt lemon in your eye. It is retardedly stupid, but not as painful as I thought it would be... cheers Chai.

I'm trying to organise my flight to Sydney, but it looks like all the cheap tickets are booked out and I can't afford the expensive ones. So I'm not sure what will happen, hopefully someone will cancel and I will get a seat, otherwise I will have to delay my trip to the non-summer month of March. We'll see, fingers crossed.

Sumo you know?

2007-01-16T21:55:00.000-06:00

Finished my first week back and picked up an extra shift on Sunday, so only had time to go out on Saturday for the sumo at Ryogoku with James, Ish and his significant other.

We bought the cheap unreserved seats and just sat in the empty good seats, which meant that we would have to do the "walk of shame" everytime the rightful owners arrived. We sat in four different places and I left my precious camera at one of them (due to the drinking), so I only got to really watch about an hour of sumo and then spent an hour and a half running around trying to find it. After the last match and the people cleared out my camera was returned to lost prFrom what I saw it was pretty cool, very ceremonial and dramatic, but also a tad slow. I look at sumo as the Japanese version of cricket, because it takes all day, is kind of boring but is fun to go to and drink with your mates.

After the sumo finished and the people cleared out my camera was returned to lost property to great relief. Only in Japan that would happen, my first thought when I lost it was "I hope a gaijin didn't find it".

I've started back at the junior high school for the home stretch, 5 weeks to go and then I hit Sydneys sunny shores for a holiday and then it's back to Nippon in March for my 24th birthday and to try and forge a new career path. Gambarimus.

Ryogoku

2007-01-16T21:00:00.000-06:00

Keepin it Brief

2007-01-08T19:50:00.000-06:00

Spent new years eve 06/07 in downtown Singapore with my mum (which was nice, but not so exciting). Saw some fireworks, relaxed for a day, then made a solo mission to Kuala Lumpur for a day, saw some birds, had a shitty time trying to get around (transport is f**ked there), came back to Singapore and said goodbye to the folks; as soon as I arrived back in Japan I caught the bus to Nagoya to meet Eri for the weekend; spent most of the time in the hotel but we did see a castle. Nothing too interesting to speak of; all the places I went to felt like the sticks compared to Tokyo so I'm glad to be back.

I finally got properly homesick so I'm planning on making a trip back home in late February for two weeks. Very exciting, the Dave Quest tour comes to Sydney! Will everyone still be there? If not holla at me so I can organise the best dates. In maybe 5-6 weeks I'll be back home and you better believe that I expect full attendance and participation at my welcome back party. There will be no slacking off. If I'm only gonna be in Australia for two weeks in '07 I wanna make them friggin good ones. Prepare thyself.

I gave my blog a bit of a spruce up by adding a cool flickr badge to as well as these nifty snap previews so you can preview the linked pages. I also put a shitload of photos from the trip onto my flickr account, so feel free to check them out. Hope everyone had a better new years than I did. Peace.

New Years/Kuala Lumpur/Nagoya

2007-01-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

Singapore Pt. 2

2006-12-31T01:20:00.000-06:00

On the 29th the weather fined up, and we took full advantage by visiting the Singapore Zoo & Night Safari which were awesome. But first we had a great farewell lunch for Catherine at a local Indian restaurant called Samy's. It is an old style Singapore restaurant in a big old colonial building. Top marks for atmosphere, authenticity, service and food. Top place, made me change my opinion that all Indian food tastes the same. Goodbye Catherine! Keep well!

I love going to the zoo and this was one of the best one's I've been to. If you haven't been to Singapore, the whole place is basically a jungle, giant trees line the roads and there is green everywhere you look. The zoo is basically a rainforest and they have tonnes of space and animals in good habitats. The Night Safari is a seperate zoo for nocturnal animals, and instead of walking around you get driven around on a tram which is sweet because walkig around is the only downer about zoos. Being at a zoo at nighttime gives the whole experience a different atmosphere and also the animals are more natural because they are basically oblivious to the visitors. Except for a tiger that I woke up from it's deep sleep by using the bubbler which had some shoddy plumbing and the pipes started shaking loudly. The tiger woke up and came straight for the glass to see what was up, I felt bad but it was pretty sweet having it come so close.

Then yesterday (being Eri's last day) we went back to Sentosa for a swim at the beach (with imported Indonesian sand), a pink dolphin show, a luge ride (kind of go kart) and a view tower before heading to Chinatown for dinner, where we ate some street food and looked around before heading to a nice Italian restaurant. A very touristy day, but very fun. It was a nice ending for her 4 days here which were very sweet indeed. This morning we had to get up super early to get to the airport, so today I am lazing around until tonight when I hope to meet up with my Japanese boss from work Ayako for some New Year's partying. Happy New Year to everyone, I hope it's a good one.

Day Three/Day Four

2006-12-31T01:00:00.000-06:00

Singapore Pt. 1

2006-12-31T00:29:00.000-06:00

For the christmas holidays I booked a ticket to Singapore to visit my mum and family. She relocated here for work to head the library department for the UNSW's new Asia campus. Eri wanted to come but her parents said it was not appropriate, but after visiting them and asking for their permission in person they agreed for her to come along.

We flew in during the early hours of the 27th and caught a quick taxi to my mum's nice condominium. Her uni gave her a generous rental allowance so we are in a great position near the city in a nice condominuim. In the morning I greeted my family properly and gave them their presents. It was nice to see them after a year of absence. Then we briefly visited the new campus which is down the road to see mum in action before heading out to do some exploring, followed by a post-christmas seafood buffet extravaganza with the family that left it's mark on our waistlines, followed by a beer down at the Quays at Asia's only Hooters family restaurant.

The 28th was a bit of a mess, after letting Ishmael and his friend drop their bags off at our place we took a walk to the nearby botannical gardens which were nice, except for the tropical rain that descended upon us. Then after attempting to visit the zoo we took a cable car to the resorty Sentosa Island to visit the aquarium, which was nice but small. Then it was off to Little India for dinner, where some guy grabbed Eri's ass, before meeting Ishmael and heading to Singapore's very own Ministry of Sound. The club is huge and very impressive, but the music is pretty dismal which is standard for Asia (Japan not included).

Day One/Day Two

2006-12-31T00:16:00.000-06:00

Ninja Christmas

2006-12-25T22:03:00.000-06:00

On the weekend me & Eri took Risha from Sydney to Asakusa to do some sightseeing and souvenir shopping. Managed to buy all my christmas presents in one hit. Probably the best presents I've bought yet, a jinbei for dad, a yukata for Catherine and a tea set for mum, amongst other things. Afterwards we headed to Harajuku for some more shopping, stopping by the Bape & Ice Cream's store, before meeting James and heading up the government building for a night view and getting loose on nomihodai at an izakaya. Then we parted with James & Risha because he left his bag behind and missed the last train.

On Sunday we headed out to Yokohama to see a Japanese Idols exhibition at the Yokohama museum of art. The exhibition was supposed to explore peoples obsession with fame and image, but a lot of the exibits had nothing to do with the theme. It was still a pretty decent outing. Then we walked to Chinatown where we found an all-you-can-eat yum cha restaurant for 2600 yen. Now, if you know me you know I LOVE YUM CHA more than most things in life. This being the first yum cha I've had in a year, I was suitably excited and devoured an unhealthily sized meal. Nice. While not quite up to Sydney standards, the food was still very good and it felt like meeting an old friend in my belly.

Monday, being christmas it was time for something a little special, so I met James and Risha for dinner at the ninja restaurant in Akasuka. The place was pimped out and the waiters were suited up in all the ninja gear, there were trap doors, secret passage ways and even a ninja magic show which was fun. But I was suprised by the prices, turns out the ninja restaurant actually serves gourmet food which means high prices and small servings. Granted the food was excellent, but it hurt the wallet and left me a little hungry. Usually theme restaurants are kind of cheap and tacky, but this was a serious restaurant... with waiters dressed as ninjas. Either way it was worth it being a special occasion and all. Also I'm pretty sure this is the only ninja christmas I will ever have.

Asakusa/Harajuku/Yokohama/Akasuka

2006-12-25T21:30:00.000-06:00

Snowboarding and such

2006-12-17T22:33:00.000-06:00

Spent the weekend in Niigata with Eri & her friends. Me & 4 Japanese girls... sounds better than it was, unfortunately I couldn't get any male support so I was the minority for the weekend. Eri's parents have a 'sports mansion' which is basically an apartment with a pool, spa & onsen. Very tidy.

Saturday I tried my hand at snowboarding for the 2nd time and found I actually enjoyed it a little. The first time I spent the whole time on my ass being laughed at. This time is was still on my ass, but people were nice enough not to laugh. The conditions were not good by Japanese standards, but still good enough to practice my turns. Eri is a bit of a snow bunny so she gave me some good advice. In the evening we had a nabe party at the mansion which was tasty, but the combination of food, alcohol and excessive heating put everyone to sleep pretty quickly. But we got up to have a soak in the private onsen.

Sunday it was raining and bad conditions for skiing so we stayed indoors and went for a swim in the indoor pool and soaked it up in the spas & onsen again. Didn't do so much, but it was exactly what I felt like, recently I've had no time to chill out, especially with the lady. Hopefully conditions will pick up soon and we can make another weekend trip out there.

Niigata

2006-12-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

More of the same

2006-12-13T09:01:00.000-06:00

Another solid weekend has passed. On Friday Eri's older sister had an 'otsukare' (end of year) party in Shibuya. Was hilarious seeing Japanese dudes getting loose. When they are drunk they stop being shy and love speaking broken english. I even got a chant of my name going just from walking in the door. The funniest were these two guys who tucked there things behind their legs and put on funny voices because women paid less for the party. They said it was an old Japanese joke, but everyone else said it wasn't.

Saturday me & James went out for dinner with Kumiko and her friend. We went to an all-you-can-eat (tabehodai) yaki-niku bbq place for dinner. 2 hours of eating for 2000 yen ($20) was pretty sweet. James taught us all the term 'food peaking' and I explained to the girls that maybe 5 people would understand what it meant, if that. Wandering around Kabukicho in Shinjuku is always interesting too.

Sunday it was time for a bit of culture, so we visited the infamous Yasukuni Shrine, which is very controversial in Asia because it enshrines a large number of war criminals. The museum used some interesting wording, but nothing too extreme. I really don't know enough about the war to pass judgement. Then me & Eri took James to our favourite eating place in Tokyo, the Korean town Shin-Okubo for some Nabe & Chijimi. It's the new Yum-Cha for me.

On Tuesday night after work I went out with some coworkers to a 2 hour all-you-can-drink (nomihodai) place for 1200yen ($12). Needless to say we got loose and had a lot of laughs. One of my new coworkers shared many details of his sexual escapades in Japan which were very enlightening. But the funniest thing was a Japanese guy who is frineds with my Southern buddy James, who is reffered to as 'The General' cause he orders people to drink. This dude gets loose and yells shit at everyone in broken english. "I'm customer! You want the money? You bring me the beer b**ch!!". Classic.

Yaki Niku/Yasukuni Jinja/Shibuya

2006-12-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

Ageha Again & Nikko

2006-12-03T10:10:00.000-06:00

Just got back from Nikko which is a popular tourist spot near Tokyo. It was nice enough, famous temples etc, but a little too quiet for me. The place is a bit of a ghost town. Me & Eri went down for the weekend and basically just went to the very famous Tosho-gu shrine, where the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" saying originates from and we also caught a famous monkey-school show, which I didn't like. A monkey-school show sounds like it couldn't be anything but entertaining, but it was more of a monkey comedy or monkey theatre with about 8 monkeys and a Japanese guy going through rehearsed sketeches. I didn't get it.

On Friday night I found myself at Ageha for the 3rd time, not because I wanted to go, but because almost everyone I know was going and it was a good opportunity for me & James to spend some more quality-drunk-time together. It was the most crowded I've seen it for dj's Deep Dish & some other guy I don't care for. Even though the music isn't my bag it was a good party all the same. It was cool to see Kumiko's otaku (geeky) brother get loose and to see my different friends get along and have a good time.

Nikko

2006-12-03T10:09:00.001-06:00

Teenage Kicks/Quest Bar

2006-11-26T19:55:00.000-06:00

Had a pretty busy weekend. On friday night I went to the Teenage Kicks party in Shibuya was at the J-Pop Cafe which is an awesome venue. The night featured two Sydney artists: the Valentinos & K.I.M. (from the Presets). Both were suitably impressive. The Valentinos played a good, energetic show and K.I.M. played a whole lot of good music in his dj set. Was good, got loose, had fun, went home.

Saturday night I worked at a bar in Roppongi called Quest Bar. I had never done it before so i wanted to see what it was like... and it was shit. I was a kind of glassie, which meant that if it was quiet I would have to walk around trying to look busy and when it was actually busy I had to battle through drunk dancers on the dance floor. It was quite tough physical work, which I don't mind; but the main problem was the lack of socialising with customers and the lack of comradery between the staff. It was all a bit too serious for a job that it not so important. Nothing bad is going to happen if there are 4 ciggarette buts in the ashtray instead of 3. Basically it wasn't fun, also it was too friggin long (11pm-10am) basically it kills my weekend so i doubt I'll do it again.

Then last night had some Mexican food with Eri & spent some qt (quality time) together. Which was nice cause things have been a little rocky recently. Back at the junior high for the next 3 weeks so I will be a busy man again which is a mixed blessing. Going to Nikko on the weekend... sick!

Pharrell & Uffie

2006-11-20T23:39:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I took Eri to Womb in Shibuya for her birthday. We went to see my old hero Pharrell & Uffie (from Ed Banger records) play for the Ice Cream Store 1st anniversary party. It was one of those presents that is really for yourself.

Womb looks small from the outside but is actually pretty huge. Predictably it was crowded with young Japanese hipsters wearing Bathing Ape clothing. The dj's were all playing standard hip hop (yawn), but things heated up when Dj Feedz from Ed Banger got on the turntables. For those of you who don't know Ed Banger is the French record label that is home to Justice & Sebastian and other artists like Dj Mehdi & Kavinsky. If you don't know their stuff I highly recommend checking it out.

He mixed a variety of great electro influenced music, warming up for Uffie to come out and perfrom her current hits like 'hot chick' and 'ready to uff'. They are great tunes and she gave a good performance but the crowd were not so receptive. It could be shyness, but more likely the fact that there was no room for moving. It was just like a peak hour train where you are permanently attached to the person next to you. After a while I was sick of being brushed past and touched so I began to dance out of frustration to clear some space.

The shyness dissappeared though when the man of the hour came out. He has amazing presence and is unfairly good looking. The crowd all rushed forward, girls were screaming, it was like Beatlemania. After a while though the gig had to be stopped, cause some girls at the front were passing out from the weight of the crowd. His gorilla-like security lifted the tiny Japanese girls to safety with ease, and the crowd politely stepped back at Pharrell's request so the gig could continue.

Pharrell quickly went through his hits that he had produced and sung on like 'drop it like it's hot', 'frontin', etc with a dj providing the beats. While he has so many great songs and is a good performer, I got the impression that he didn't really want to be there. The 1 hour set was reduced to 45 minutes during which he rushed through the songs and sometimes barely sang (only the chorus on 'beautiful'). Then the gig ended abruptly and Nigo made a brief appearance, before another mediocre dj came out to fill in the last 2 hours before trains started. Pharrell is super-talented, a good performer and has great stage presence, but he just wasn't into it.

Roppongi/Kabuki in Ginza

2006-11-20T23:24:00.000-06:00

Last Friday me, James & Ish headed to Roppongi to get James acquainted with Tokyo's sleazy quarters. I compiled a list of the sleaziest joints in town and we hit them up one by one. Got kicked out of the first one cause I was a smart-ass to the manager. He was being a prick so I told him. No loss. Then we went to the cheap places to get properly boozed before heading to Gaspanic, the king of them all. It was dissappointing though so we went to the good old Brazilian bar underneath it, which is always a nice place to be.

When 5am came aroud Ish headed to work and me & James kicked on. After revisiting the cheap place and harrassing some American girls who thought they were pretty hot stuff, we (mostly James) managed to get into some trouble which occupied the next hour or so. Was pretty hairy but everything turned out okay, although I should slap James. Then we met a crazy Japanese guy who took us to a few other bars and bought us drinks, before we stumbled home in the early hours of the day. Can't go into too many details cause it was a week ago now and I don't remember most of them. But we did get job offers at a bar which I will try out this week.

On Sunday I went with Eri to see my first Kabuki show at the culturally important Kabuki-za theatre in Ginza. It was fairly interesting, the costumes & make-up looked amazing. However the music and story was fairly bizarre and boring for me. I'm sure the Japanese people in the Edo period loved it, but for me it all went over my head.

I did enjoy one scene where an 8 year old boy had a (dancing-style) sword fight with an elderly man. The choreography was quite nice and just seeing a little dude painted completely white and in all-samurai gear was cool. Plus it was nice to just walk around Ginza on a Sunday evening.

Kabukiza/Ginza

2006-11-20T23:20:00.001-06:00

Jimmy P

2006-11-09T18:40:00.000-06:00

This is the official welcome to my dear friend James to Japan and to say that he is a lucky bastard for having me. In the space of a couple of months I have shown him the way to a good job in a new country, a great work location, an awesome house, helped him register at the city office, buy a bike, countless local info & tips and after tonight gotten him some instant friends. Motherf**ker. Brad! Where was the love when I got here!?!

In all seriousness, I am very glad to have him here to share some good times with. I think he will enjoy himself very much and I hope he appreciates just how friggin easy it will all be. In about two weeks he will be further ahead than where I was after two months.

Yesterday we got him some sleek new wheels and established 'the 93-83s' (our shared birthday) bike gang and macked out in Komazawa park. Tonight we are celebrating by going out to Roppongi, getting mashed and meeting loose women. Leaving the girl at home tonight. More tales to come in the near future...

Our Pad/My Room/His Wheels/Straight Mackin

2006-11-09T18:22:00.000-06:00

Hakone

2006-11-05T17:52:00.000-06:00

Me & Eri took a trip West of aTokyo to the tourist mecca of Hakone. It is famous for it's onsens (hot springs) and the view of Mount Fuji. Eri borrowed her mother's Toyota Estima for the trip, which was pretty cool in itself because over here satellite navigation is standard.

After the one and a half hour or so drive we headed straight to the biggest onsen: Funesans. A typical onsen has a few different baths you can soak in but Funesans is more like an onsen amusement park with maybe thirty different baths and pools to enjoy. We enjoyed indoor and outdoor baths, spas, waterslides and a variety of themed baths, such as milk, wine and green tea baths. We even went in a bath with salt water imported from the Dead Sea (Israel). The craziest one was a foot bath with little fish who come and eat the bacteria off your feet but the queue was too long.

After soaking it up for a good four hours it was time to head to the nude section. It was my first time to bathe with a bunch of naked Japanese men (they don't trim the bush) but it wasn't uncomfortable because there were so many naked dudes, I was just another one. You do have a hand-towel you can use to casually conceal your manhood when walking but not so much as to look like you care. These hot springs are about 40 degrees and are indoor and outdoor. Outdoor was much better, especially under the full moon. Ah, so fresh and so clean! After a good five hours soaking we couldn't do much except eat, shag and go to bed.

Sunday was the touristy sight-seeing day, so we hit up the Ropeway cable car to the top of a mountain for views of the area, to hike around a little and take some photos. Then it was into town to take a look at the local jinja (Shinto shrine) by the lake and then the Hakone Open Air Museum where they have a big Picasso gallery with about 300 original works and a bunch of photos of the man in his French house. There are drawings, lithographs, a tapestry, lots of ceramics and some paintings; very inspiring stuff.

In a different installation work by a Japanese artist, you walk down some stairs into darkness, along a small corridor and then up & out a different staircase. I scared the shit out of these two girls who came into the exhibit and didn't know we were there by yelling 'boo!'. Man, I've never heard anyone scream so loudly then they ran out the entrance. It was funny as hell. Much funnier than I expected it to be. They screamed so loud that I got a fright too.

After that we headed to a local gyoza restaurant to avoid the traffic and then back to Tokyo. Great weekend, great getaway spot and not too expensive. There are a bunch of nice places around Tokyo you can get to easily for a weekend retreat. I look forward to the next time.

Ropeway/Jinja/Open-Air Museum

2006-11-05T17:28:00.000-06:00