Happy Birthday Max :)

Today is Max's first birthday! I fully cannot believe a
year passed already. I made a really cringeworthy video
montage of his first year... I'm totally gonna be the
embarrassing auntie. I had to make it small cos I have a small
computer and I can't figure it out unless everything is in
proportion :( PRESS FULLSCREEN AND TURN the volume upppp

Island fever

I’m writing this on a train again. I sure like to write on trains.
I’m on the sleeper train that runs from Hat Yai in Thailand to
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We already passed through immigration,
and now it’s only 10 hours to KL!

Well I don’t have much to report other than that in 2 days I’ll
be back home. I think I’m excited. But then I also worry that
within a couple of days it’ll be like I never left, and everything
will start to fade into something I once did. I don’t like that
feeling so much, so no doubt within a week I’ll be making plans
for the next trip. I’m happy when I’m planning.

So anyways, after leaving Bangkok I headed for Koh Phangan
because I thought I wanted a beach holiday. I aimed for some
beach way up on the north east coast, and boy was it far out.
And I mean that in every sense of the word. I mean, it was the
perfect picture of island paradise, yet the lack of proper roads
meant I couldn't hire a motorbike and explore. So I was pretty
much stranded at the bungalow resort place until it was time to
leave.

So despite it being the most beautiful place I've ever been,
I got completely bored within about 5 hours of arriving.
But I stuck it out for a few nights, mainly because it was
stunning and deserted and the food was delicious. I don't
think I've ever been more desperate to escape a place though;
I always thought I'd love being stuck on a desert island, but
I've defo changed my mind!

Then I decided to make a plan, which consisted of; go to a
detox spa. SO I headed back to Samui, stayed a few nights in
a bungalow by the beach, then checked in to Spa Samui, where
I did a 3 ½ day fast, complete with colemas. It was quite good
actually, and I wish I’d done the 7 day one instead, but it
was way too expensive.

When I went to check out, they only charged me for accommodation.
I took my time paying it, packing my purse away, flicking through
free book they gave me, asking if I was done, and walked out
without paying for the actual detox. That 170 quid is better off
in my sorry looking bank account anyway.

The stupidest thing was, I'd already checked into a cheap
bungalow literally right next door to the spa, and as I left
I told them I didn't need a taxi as I was only walking next
door. So I spent the next 4 nights in a constant state of panic
that they would come knocking on my door!

I spent most of those 4 days driving around on my motorbike,
as it was ridiculously hot and my room had no aircon and
only the lamest fan you ever did see. So the only way of actually
keeping cool was to stay out in the sun all day getting windswept
on the bike! I did a bit of exploring and chased a few sunsets,
and ate tonnes of delicious sweetcorn with salt and butter from
various markets.

Then I got the ferry to Suratthani, a bus to Hat Yai, where I spent
a boringish evening wandering around the town, eating sticky rice
and mango and drinking endless coconuts in an attempt to not die in
the heat.

And now I'm here. I have one night in KL, then a flight back to
England on Thursday! I get the weekend at home, then I'm off to
Longleat safari park, and onto Pembrokeshire with my parents on
Tuesday. And then, finally, I need to get a job!

Tokyo Nights

I’m not in Japan anymore :(

I’m in Thailand, on a sleeper train bound for Suratthani,
from where I’ll catch the ferry to Koh Phangan. I’ve never
been to Koh Phangan, despite the fact I used to see it’s
hazy outline every day from the beach in Bophut.

My final three nights in Tokyo were amazing! I had
expected a quiet end to the trip, and in fact I had
started to wish I could’ve just gone straight to Thailand
after Nagoya. I wanted to go out on a high, and I worried
that I’d hang around Tokyo with fading memories.

I had changed my booking from 2 nights in a cheap hostel
a little north of the city to 2 nights in K’s House, where
my trip had begun. I knew that Sebastian was staying there,
so I decided a friendly face might help my last few days
pass easier.

In the end, I never made it to my dorm bed on either of
those nights. My first stop in Tokyo was the Sheraton Grande
in Tokyo Bay, courtesy of Andrew. It was most definitely the
fanciest hotel I’ve ever stayed in, and it was in Tokyo Bay,
yo! It was incredibly surreal and amazing, and, well, I'm
keeping it for myself, so therefore that's all I'm writing.

We did play crazy golf in the rain though!

The next day Andrew left for Osaka and I headed for K’s,
where I bumped into Sebastian, Meta, the girl who I went
out for sushi with on my second night in Tokyo, Rebecca,
who I’d last seen in Nagoya, 2 girls I’d met in Hiroshima,
plus a couple of other people I’d briefly met at various
other hostels. There was one guy called Jamie who I
remembered from Tokyo part 1, and he had just moved in
to his own place but was visiting the guys at K’s.
Couldn’t keep away I guess… I know the feeling.

So much for a quiet end to my time in Japan. We hung around
the hostel for a while and then went to a place called
Stella’s, a karaoke bar. I sung my little heart out all
night long, until I literally had no voice left. People
slowly began disappearing off to bed until there was about
4 of us left.  Finally it was me and Jamie, so we
decided to go for a 5am jog around Sensi-jo Temple, the
most famous temple in Tokyo. My god, I’ve only just
realised now I’m writing it down how awesome that sounds.
Awesome or ridiculous? I’m going for awesome.

We got back to the hostel at 5.30 for a cup of tea and a
20 minute nap on the sofa, then Sebastian came down at 6am
and the three of us headed off to the fish market. I think
I was still drunk, which probably isn’t the best way to be
when you’re trying to dodge carts and raw fish. It most
definitely made it a more surreal experience though!

Writing all this down is making my heart ache. I wish I
had appreciated the absurdity of the situation more at the
time. I miss Japan!

I needed to be checked out by 11am, so Jamie amazingly
offered up his new place for me to catch up on much
needed sleep. We went back to the hostel, was checked
out by 8am and then we caught the train to his. Sleeeeep.
I think I finally left at something stupid like 5pm, and
went to my CAPSULE!!

I got absolutely soaking wet on the walk there, and arrived
with water literally pouring down my face. I’ve probably
never looked hotter. I was given a lovely locker for the
remains of my sodden shoes, and headed up to the 8th floor
to investigate my bed for the night.

Oh my, I LOVE capsule hotels. I don’t think I’ve ever felt
cosier. I expected it to feel cramped and claustrophobic,
but it was actually really roomy. There was enough room to
sit up and turn around and probably even do a roly poly if
I felt like it. There’s a little TV screen and a mirror and
a clock radio, plus switches for lights and god knows what.
You also get a clothes locker, where there’s a towel and
some pyjamas!

I dumped my stuff and went upstairs for my second public
bath experience. I had the whole place to myself, again!
I feel like a cheat! Then I put my lovely pyjamas on and
went down into the common room, where I made friends with
a couple of French boys who were stuck in Tokyo til the 1st
May, because of the ash cloud! Gutted. I think they thought
I looked pretty hot in my lime green Pjs though. Then I
clambered into my capsule for a bloody good sleep. I’m
going to set up a capsule hotel in Sheffield, I reckon
it’ll go down a storm.

Soo, on the morning of the 23rd I caught the train to the
airport, got my flight, arrived in Bangkok, sweated a bit,
got a taxi to my hostel, sweated a bit more, got upgraded
to a double room, got some sleep, checked out at 11 and
went round to Lynette’s new apartment, where she was kind
enough to let me crash for the night. We ordered food on
the INTERNET, and it came and we ate it; this country
seriously has that shit figured out.

What I love about being in Bangkok these days is I’ve
done all the tourist things, so I don’t put any pressure
on myself to get out and do anything! That sounds horribly
lazy, but you know you’d feel the same! Bangkok was my
weekend.

So that brings us to the here and now!  No more real
plans as such, but watch this space!

Kyoto

Oh dear lord, I forgot to write anything again. The 6 nights
I spent in Kyoto were the best ever, I had an absolute blast
with some amazing people. There’s no possible way I can
remember everything we all got up to, so this is a condensed
version of an incredible week.

So the original Hiroshima crew of Jo, John, Angie, and I were
joined early on by Cat, from Perth, and Bastian, from
Holland. We had some day trips out and usually ended up in
the hostel’s Zen café for beers. People came and went, but
it was a weird feeling being the ‘constant’; we started
thinking in terms of newbie’s, and it was lovely having a
group of friendly faces at breakfast, where we met every
morning for the buffet!

The first morning I had arranged to go on a walking tour
with an Australian girl called Rebecca, who I had spoken
to briefly on the Travbuddy website. I took Joanne and
Bastian along with me, despite the fact it was absolutely
pouring with rain, and our shoes were soaked by the time
we reached the meeting place. The tour guide, who called
himself Ted, was lovely, but the walk was a bit lame. It
was meant to be an ‘underground’ type tour, where we would
visit the Kyoto nobody else got to see. Well, there is a
reason for that.

Okay so it wasn’t so bad, and I’m sure the weather didn’t
help, but if you go to Kyoto, avoid Johnny Hillwalkers
walking tour! We got to see the original headquarters of
Nintendo, a few cottage industry style houses, where
people were making fans, and the headquarters of the MAFIA!
We were told not to take any pictures as we walked past an
otherwise unspectacular building, except for the very
expensive cars and elaborate security system. We stopped
for a piece of inari sushi and a tea break, and then we
made our escape from the tour.

Another day, Cat, Jo, Sebastian and I went on a trip to
Nara, a cute little town with deer and temples and shrines
and pagodas and the like, although we ended up missing the
main attraction, a huge Buddha, because we got preoccupied
by practising our karate moves.

We had a night out at a karaoke bar, taking Brian, a guy
from Kansas, along with us. The bar was the tiniest place
ever, and the little Japanese lady behind the bar stood
clapping along to our terrible singing and serving us sake
by the glassful.

One day I hired a bicycle and went to the Golden Pavilion,
which was super pretty, then all the way across to the Silver
Pavilion, which had real nice gardens, then down the Path of
Philosophy, through the Gion district, and back to the hostel.
Boy, I sure was tired when I got home.

Lots of other things happened too. I took a daytrip to
Himeji Castle, where the cherry blossoms were still in
full bloom and the sun was shining, making everything look
picture perfect. I also went out for delicious okonomiyaki
with an Australian guy called Darren. Okonomiyaki is my new
favourite food EVER.

One night Jo and I rode our bicycles into Gion to see a
Maiko and Geisha show, which was a total highlight. The
girls performing are actual real life Maiko and Geisha,
and the traditional dance and music was amazing. We came
out of the theatre into Gion, and saw an actual GEISHA
out on the street, hurrying into a taxi! Spotting the
elusive geisha is like tracking some kind of wild animal,
you get a fleeting glimpse as they scuttle across an
alleyway. We rushed home full of excitement to tell
everyone about our sighting, but nobody seemed interested
enough so we went downstairs for beers!

Eventually our group began to dwindle as people moved on
or went home, and eventually it was just me, Angie and
John, and another guy called Andrew who we’d met a couple
of days before and had gone to the bamboo grove with the
previous day. Then Bastian came back from Hiroshima for
the last night, so we went out for some gorgeous food in
a little Japanese restaurant across the river.

The next morning, the sun had reappeared, so Andrew and
I went for a morning trip to Fushimi Inari, a shrine
famous for the hundreds of Torii gates that twist and
turn up a mountain. It was made famous for it’s appearance
in Memoirs of a Geisha, and was super pretty.

We ended up staying loads longer than planned, so it was a
bit of a rush to get back to the hostel to pick up our bags
and get back to the station for the 5.30 train. But we made
it, and an hour later I made it to Nagoya, which is where I
am right now!

The night before last I stayed at Hostel Ann, where Rebecca
was staying. I pretty much checked my mail and went straight
up to bed, got up early the next morning to do my laundry,
and headed downtown for a wander round some shops. Then I
packed my bags back up and came here, to Kyoya Ryokan Nagoya!

A ryokan is basically a traditional Japanese style inn. There
are tatami mats on the floor, sliding paper doors, and public
baths. You sleep on a futon, which is just a mattress on the
floor. It’s adorable, I love it! I had booked into a dorm room
but because they are quiet, they have upgraded me to a private
room with a TV, Apple computer, balcony, fridge, the lot. I
forgot what it’s like to sleep in a room on my own!

Today I walked to Nagoya castle, which was quite similar
to Himeji castle, but it had these really beautiful gardens
and there was also a street style performer doing balloon
animals, juggling, mime, and a bunch of other stuff. I think
he was having a bad day because everything kept going wrong!

Then I walked miles to find a shop called 3 Coins, which is
like the 100 yen stores but its 300 yen, and a slightly higher
class of tack. Then I jumped on a train to another 300 yen
store, and bought lots of lovely crap. Another early night
tonight before Tokyo again tomorrow!

Kawaiii

I’m on the train again, heading from Hiroshima to Kyoto!
A few people from my hostel and I are travelling en-mass,
as we all seem to be on the same itinerary! It was absolutely
chucking it down this morning, and someone has STOLEN
my new umbrella, so I’m going to have to buy yet another
one. It was super cute too, see-through with yellow polka
dots! I decided to wait around the hostel to see if the rain
would stop, but it didn’t. I think maybe I just didn‘t want
to leave, I love that hostel!

I had an awesome day yesterday, partly because the sun
was shining and continued to shine all day! I made my way
via train and ferry to Miyajima, and headed straight for the
floating Torii gate to catch it before the tide went out.

As I was stood taking pictures I recognised a boy from my
hostel, so I went over and said hi, and we just kind of
mutually tagged along with each other all day. He was
called Sylvain and was a French banker living in Paris.
He was dead nice, and we had a little island adventure,
taking the ropeway to the top of Mount Misen in search
of monkeys. We decided to hike the whole way back
down to the bottom, which took literally ages.

We high fived at the bottom and bought some roasted
oysters to celebrate, and I tried to befriend all the tame
deer that live on the island.

We saw a Japanese couple all dressed up in traditional
wedding clothing, and wandered round the cute little streets
and craft shops.

We headed back to the hostel together, and sat down with
a cup of tea with a few other people who had also just got
back from Miyajima. I made friends with an Irish girl called
Joanne, who is also heading to Kyoto today, and a Dutch
guy called Peter.

Peter offered to make spaghetti for us all, and then we
discovered we had a chef amongst us; a French guy called
Stefan. So Peter, Stefan and I headed off to the supermarket
for the ingredients, and Joanne and I sat and drank tea and
chatted while the boys made spaghetti for seven!

Lots of other people came and went, including 2 families
with children who set up a game of cards. It was basically
just a really nice, if noisy, chilled out evening! There must
have been about 9 or 10 different nationalities sat around
chatting with each other last night, and it felt like the whole
room was buzzing.

At one point I ran upstairs to fetch something and found
a boy sat on his own in my dorm. I wanted to invite him
downstairs but he didn’t even glance at me when I walked
in. It was kind of a shame, the amazing thing about staying
in hostels is the fact that you meet so many new friends.

John and Angie, an older couple from Australia are also
heading to the same hostel in Kyoto today, so I helped
them to the station as Angie is in a wheelchair, and it would
otherwise have taken them 2 trips to get the wheelchair and
Angie’s walker to the station. But we ended up missing the
train so we had to sit in a coffee shop for an hour. They are
really sweet, and have spent a lot of time in Japan so have
loads of interesting stories and tips on what to see.

Well, it’s almost time to change trains in Osaka so I’m going
now, Sayonara!

Hiroshima

The BBC weather forecast lied. My 3 days in Hiroshima
were meant to be warm and sunny, but today was cold and
rainy. I think this is my comeuppance for leaving my 100 yen
umbrella behind.

Once again I’m staying at K’s House. I hadn’t even realised
I’d booked into K’s for Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto, I just
booked the top rated hostels and had done with it. I’m super
glad though, they are the best!

After I arrived here yesterday evening I sat around in the living
room making friends, and getting loads of Kyoto tips from two
Belgian girls and a French guy.

Today I hired a bicycle and headed for the Peace Memorial
Park and Museum. I fell completely in love with the bike,
just because it made me look like a total dork, especially
riding along one handed holding an umbrella (I bought a
new one).

I made a beeline for the museum, basically because I’d put
a little bit too much trust in the BBC and had left the hostel
minus a jumper, so I needed a warm.

The museum was really intense, and was full of photographs
and artefacts from the aftermath of the bombing. There was
also lots of information about the history of nuclear weapons
and about the present situation, which is really disturbing.

There were photos of the burns victims, most of whom died
within a few days of the bombing, and loads of things that had
been recovered from the destruction, from roof tiles and glass
bottles fused together in the heat, to blood splattered school
uniforms and actual bits of burnt flesh and finger nails.

There was also a watch which had stopped at 8.15am, the
time the bomb hit. The weirdest thing was a ‘shadow’ on a
step; the heat from the explosion had scorched the step and
wall behind where someone had been sitting, but left the
outline of the person, who had no doubt been instantly killed.

After the museum I wandered around the rest of the park.
There is a flame, which will continue to burn until the last
nuclear weapon has been destroyed.

The most moving part of the park is the Hiroshima
Children’s Peace Monument, for the children who died in
the bombing. It is centred around a little girl called Sadako
Sasaki, who was 2 when Hiroshima was hit. She developed
Leukaemia when she was 12 as a result of the radiation, and
thought that if she could fold 1000 paper cranes, she would
be cured. She died before she could complete them, so her
classmates folded the rest, and they were buried with her.
Since then, thousands of paper cranes have been folded for
Sadako and left at the memorial as a symbol of peace.

I also visited the A-Bomb dome, which has been left in it’s
original state as a reminder of the destruction, and, I guess,
the recreation, of the city.

Then I went to Hiroshima Castle, but it was a bit boring.
The actual castle had been destroyed by the bomb, so it’s
just a rebuild-come-museum, although you could go out
onto the roof and see out over Hiroshima, which was
quite cool.

I had a wander round some covered shopping streets, and
then cycled back to the hostel for a cup of tea! This hostel
is amazing, the atmosphere here in the evening is
unbeatable. Hostelling is the best; when you stay in a hotel
everyone keeps to themselves, hangs out in their room and
eventually locks themselves up alone at night. But in a hostel
there’s no privacy in your dorm, so you spend all your spare
time in the common areas with everyone else.

You sit on sofas chatting all night, making each other cups
of tea and sharing stories and tips. Everyone is so different;
although I seem to be one of the few who came to Japan as
part of a bigger trip, most other people are here on a 2 week
holiday.

Actually, I think that’s the main reason why I love the
atmosphere so much. There are none of the pretensions
and inflated egos that you tend to find amongst backpackers;
no holier than thou attitude that seems to seep out of their
tanned skin and dreadlocked hair. It’s made me realise that
SE Asia is for morons. I mean, I’m not a moron, but that’s
because I don’t have enough self confidence to be egotistical.

Here’s something I overheard just before I left for Japan; a
girl stood behind me in line at the 7/11 in Bangkok, and she’s
talking to her friends about someone who’d asked if she was
on holiday. “NO I’m not on holiday”, she goes, “I’m a
BACKPACKER”, and she actually sounded genuinely
impressed with this glorified status she‘d granted herself. I
mean, seriously, shut the hell up. You’re on holiday, enjoy
yourself. Actually, I’m doing that thing again where I get
annoyed over trivial things because it reminds me of someone
else. Never mind.

Shinkansen

I’m on a bullet train yo! I just left Tokyo and I’m
on my way to Hiroshima, which takes about 5
hours, plus a change in Shin-Osaka.

It’s the nicest train I’ve ever been on, and it
makes me wonder what the people in first
class get! It’s dead weird, because the train
is super quiet, and it feels like you’re just
going a normal speed until you look out of the
window, and almost have a seizure. You know how
you’re eyes dart from side to side when you look
out of a car or train window? Well I worry that
my eyes will literally start vibrating and
eventually burst, so that’s why I’m writing
this rather than watching Japan go by.

I can’t wait for Hiroshima, I’ve heard lots of
good things about it, and I’m especially glad
that the weather is on the up, I checked the BBC
forecast and it looks like sunshine for the 3 days
I’m there! Hurrah.

I just read through my last few blog entries and
realised my writing ability has begun to dwindle.
I think part of my problem is I didn’t write a single
thing the whole time I was in India, and when I leave
it so long I find it really difficult to start back up.

Plus for the last couple of weeks I’ve felt like my
head is full of mush, which is probably partly true
because I’ve had a cold since my 3rd day in New
Delhi. I have no idea what’s going on there, and it
makes me feel like a fraud for all the times I’ve
claimed I never get sick.

Anyways, Tokyo was completely amazing, although
I didn’t do half the things I wanted to do, mainly
the early morning fish market, which is meant to
be insane. I guess it’s a good job I’m going back
for another 3 nights before I leave.

Yesterday the weather was rubbish, grey and chilly
with drizzly rain. I headed for Tokyo Tower, which
is Japan’s slightly larger version of the Eiffel
Tower. What is with that? If I was France, I’d be
pretty pissed off about that.

I took some pictures from below and sat in the
lobby with a hot chocolate trying to decide whether
I wanted to fork out 800 yen to go up to the
observation deck. I decided it probably wasn’t
worth it, what with the weather being rubbish and
all, so I headed back to the metro and instead went
to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings,
or something like that, where you can go up to the
observation rooms on the 45th floor for free.

It was pretty cool, although to be honest there
was nothing particularly spectacular about the
view over Tokyo, to say it’s such an incredible
city. In New York, you can easily spend ages
pouring over the view from the Empire State
building, pointing out all the buildings you
recognise and just generally soaking it up, but
there’s something a little less romantic, or
magical, or something, about Tokyo’s skyline.

It’s way better being down there, where you can
see the contrast of the modern skyscrapers rubbing
shoulders, or maybe banging hips, with the intricate
wooden roofs of the temples.

By the way, I can see Mount Fuji from the train
window!!

Afterwards, I walked to some park or another, I
forget the name, getting ridiculously lost along
the way. I knew it was going to be a bit of a trek,
but I suddenly realised just how much I’ve been
spending on the metro. The only public transport
I’m used to is in Thailand and I guess India, where
you can get around on the skytrain and metro for
pennies. Here, I’ve been paying about £1.50 per
journey, it’s slightly depressing!

The park was cute, with loads of cherry blossom
trees and little lakes brimming with sparkly koi
carp. I started getting cold though, and the rain
came back heavier, so I decided to go back to the
hostel for a warm! I got talking to a girl from
Holland called Meta and we headed out to a nearby
100 yen shop, which is similar to Poundland or
99cent stores, only much, much better! You can
buy all sorts of tack there, and tonnes of Hello
Kitty stuff! I’m definitely planning a mass
shopping spree there before I come home. I bought
a pair of warm fuzzy socks and an umbrella, which
I’ve just realised I left in the hostel this
morning.

On the way back we stopped at a sushi restaurant,
which was amazingly delicious! Then back to the
hostel for tea and biscuits. Meta was in Japan
as part of a personal project, which sounded
incredibly interesting but I didn’t fully
understand what it was. She told me that her
father had been imprisoned in Indonesia by the
Japanese in World War II, and that she was trying
to find a comparable Japanese father/daughter to
interview, and was eventually planning on getting
the whole project published. But I probably missed
a vital element somewhere, so I’m sure it’s much
more complex and inspiring than it sounds!

Anyways, I’m quite glad to be leaving Tokyo, even
though I really enjoyed it; normally my first
impressions of big cities are that they’re horrible
and stinky and lifeless, but Tokyo wasn’t like that
at all. It was clean and efficient without being
clinical. The people were polite and law abiding
without being characterless (nobody in Japan
crosses a road until the green man says so,
even if it’s a tiny road with no traffic in
sight).

I felt safe, and didn’t once feel intimidated like
I did in New Delhi, or have to breathe through my
sleeve like I do in Bangkok! People ride around on
bicycles without being worried about thoughtless
drivers. The public transport is great, the food
is great, the people are great. Tokyo has it
figured.