Day 5: These shoes weren't made for walking

4th July 2007 (My first day of keeping a log book of the daily Activities)

7:30 am: The plan was to have breakfast and catch a tram back to the Hiroshima JR station and head to Miyajima. Mother nature had other plans, we emerged from Comfort Hotel to be greeted by heavy rain. Still lugging my suitcase which by now had become a burden (if only I had a backpack) I was not at all looking forward to getting onto a crowded tram. The tram stop was literally across the road. It was too far too be carrying luggage over in torrential rain. Several trams passed us, each looking extremely overcrowded with people commuting to work. We boycotted our initial plan to grab the tram and jumped in the first cab of many lined up outside our hotel. The trip wasn't too long, nor was it too heavy on the wallet.

Our plan was to dump our luggage into the ¥600 lockers at Hiroshima Station and prepared ourselves for a day trip to the floating Torii, Miyajima. The train ride wasn't particularly long and we were soon at the station. The rain was still coming down so we each invested in a ¥450 umbrella. This was by far the worse day yet for sightseeing. The weather was absolutely miserable, there was a minor temperature drop and the heavens had opened up. A quick stroll across the road to the Ferry port and we caught a ferry to Miyajima Island. Thankfully the JR pass covered this ferry ride. The ride felt so surreal once the port was out of sight it felt like we were moving back into a primitive time. The rain must have kept away majority of the tourists as the ferry trip over was empty (much to my approval).

Rain was lightly spitting down as the ferry teared through the calm, foggy sea. Soon enough we approached the mountainous island. Steam rose from the dense forests and it felt so pure and untouched as we came closer. Through the fog stood a bright orange Torii, the loudspeaker on the boat confirmed that it was the famous Itsukushima Torri. People were rushing to the sides of the boat trying to get a snap of the famous landmark (I, one of them).

We grabbed a Momiji Manju which was a toasted maple leave shaped biscuit with red bean filling inside and walked along the shore to the temple. Deers! They were everywhere, un-phased by humans they went about searching for food or somewhere to sleep. Lonely Planet claims to watch out for these Deers in particular after multiple cases of deers eating JR passes. No deer was going to ingest my JR pass. Not on my watch. The temple was lovely, bold orange structs, wooden passage ways while rain fell around it. Such a perfect atmosphere. The main hall was conducting some ceremony which we suspect was a traditional wedding. Music filled the hallways with peaceful song. Definitely a nice place to bring a chick, it reminded me in a way of my year 8 trip to Old Sydney Town. Wet, miserable yet still providing a view of what life would have been back in the day. Snapping some scenic shots and soaking (literally) in the atmosphere we were on our merry way.

We had only been on our feet for no longer than 2 hours and my feet were completely drenched. It didn't help that I had planted my foot into a puddle completely submerging my foot. Wet socks, could anything be worse. Squish, squish, squish. Grabbed some local lunch, Chicken Karage. Headed to another temple, Daishoin. Starting to see a trend with the Temples and Shrines, they all each had similiar moulds but had their own redeeming trait. The plus side of this was we were able to go upstairs to the top of one of the shrines. Majority of all the previous areas had cordoned off the upper sections. The wet weather had taken its toll on the Lonely Planet as well, pages were creased and half of it was soaked. What a sorry sight. As if you wouldn't make Lonely Planet more durable, at least water proof!

Soaked to the bone, physically drained and quite over the wet weather but despite all of it Miyajima was such a nice side trip. Hopping back on a train we headed back to Hiroshima station to retrieve the main luggage. I immediately changed out of my wet shoes into the more airy thongs that is Havaianas. I threw out my damp socks and left my now white feet to air. Oh sweet mother of... air, my feet, so good. We jumped on a train and were on our way to Osaka.

Osaka was more of a impromptu destination, our initial plans did not have Osaka pencilled in for overnight stay. Thanks to the wonders of the internet we made bookings at a place called New Osaka Hotel. The destination was Shin Osaka station (we would later find out we were in the middle of nowhere). New Osaka is conveniently situated next to the station and it wasn't very difficult to find our lodging. We walked in and were greeted by warmth, why was this blasted foyer so hot? Hotter than the outside temperature! Argh, those maniacs. It would also be the first time we would have separate rooms, we unpacked and explored Osaka downtown, Umeda.

Rest of the evening we just walked about exploring what Umeda had to offer. Still no Yube, was this some wild goosechase my sister had sent me on? I just want to buy some cream! Osaka is what we more expected a major Japanese city to look like. Bright lights, large shopping distrcits and people running around. We stopped by the Umeda Sky Building. The top level was closed due to high winds so we only made it as far as the observatory level. View was quite impressive, the building was only semi-impressive. People had left many messages and attached them to the trees. Shamelessly we also left messages, unfortunately they were supposed to be wishes. Such as "Peace and Prosperity on Earth" etc. Due to our under assessment of the situation we (embarrassingly) had left mini Getaway sentiments "Japan Rocks!". Had some McDonalds for a late night snack, they're right, even Mickey Ds tastes better in Japan. I'm over day 5, at least I can walk around my room naked ...

Day 4: Hiroshima, Hair cuto!

3rd July 2007

Up until now these days were moving oh so incredibly slow. We had managed to cover a majority of Kyoto's attractions in such a short space of time. As it was the last day for us in Kyoto we woke early and organised our luggage and headed to our final destination. Nijo Castle. According to Lonely Planet the gates opened at 9am. We arrived shortly after 8:30 and decided to grab some breakfast since we lucked out with the hotel. Checking on the admission price my travel buddy noticed a sign. "Nijo Castle is closed on every Tuesday in December, January, July and August. If Tuesday is a National Holiday, we will close on the next day, Wednesday". The Castle saw us coming. It was July and it was Tuesday. Lonely Planet confirmed that we had in fact been foiled by the Castle. Thankfully being engineers we had a contingency plan. Nishiki Markets! We arrived much too early. Shop fronts were still opening with majority of them still closed. Nothing special, plenty of food products, preserves and sweets.



Not too long after we were on another train heading towards the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) provided us with a tourist's guide for the city and directions to our hotel. Tram was the primary mode of transport and we were immediately being whisked to out next sojourn. Like the previous hotel check in was mid afternoon. Given this opportunity we dropped our luggage off and headed into town to explore the city with the notorious history.



I'll try to keep the activities of our half day in Hiroshima brief. The riverbank was the main location for most of Hiroshima's historic sites are located.The A-bomb Dome which in the books of history is the location where the First Atomic bomb was detonated 600 metres above. Other memorable sites along the river included the Centograph, Peace Bell, the clock tower, Children's Peace Memorial inspired by Sadako and stalls full of cranes.



Final destination was the Peace Memorial Museum. We spent almost 2 hours here. Quite simply this part of the trip was the most awe inspiring. I was left feeling a combination of humility and embarrassment. It felt like walking into a capsule and seeing the monstrosities and devastation that was the nuclear bomb. Spine tingling, eye opening experience especially for somebody like me with little prior knowledge of the event. Definitely a must. At the end of the museum there's a chance for participants to leave a note to be filed into the archives. Seeing notes of hope and inspiration left by hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) from different locations and creeds was definitely heartwarming. The ones I could read (English) shared the same sentiments of grief and enlightenment after being awoken from a slumber of ignorance.

In retrospect there's was a particular feel to the city. Without sounding all sappy there was a romantic feel, a resounding calm most probably created by the atrocities of the past. Definite feeling of resolve and unity. Weather that was imposed on me after learning the events that took place or that is instilled with the people at the city I'm not sure. Headed back to the hotel and finally checked in. The walk from Comfort Hotel into town is short and very convenient. For dinner we had Okonomiyaki at small joint enjoyed with some Sapporo brew.



After dinner we walked through the streets or Hiroshima, the area was covered so it was a semi-indoor/outdoor area. I was still searching for that Yube cream for my sister. Again no luck. Does this blasted cream even exist? We wanted to find a hairdresser as we were donning 6-8 week haircuts. Our guide had recommended a place called Replay Haircut. We spent a good 30 minutes searching through the streets for this place. Eventually we stumbled upon another hair place. Not Replay but we walked in. We attempted to explain to the lady at the desk that we needed a haircut. We received more sign language in the form of her forearms being folded mid air to make a large cross. A large cross? That meant no. No, were closing? No, we cant cut your hair? Either way we left this place and continued our journey for Replay hair cut.

We found Replay and the service was exquisite. Rather largish studio with one main hairdresser and 3 assistants. As usual they greeted us warmly as we entered. After an awkward introduction we explained that we needed a haircut. But not any haircut, we wanted Japanese hair styles. Despite having to fork out 45 bucks or so I can tell you the experience is something I could quite easily get accustomed to. The overall procedure took close to an hour, this included hair washes and head massages, basic cut, more washes and the final touch up with a nice shoulder and neck massage. Being a barber type person refusing to pay no more than 10 bucks a haircut I was definitely surprised at the experience that was a proper haircut. We left the place sporting new Japanese hair dos. We would be able to blend into the Japan crowd without looking out of place. The only problem is that we didn't speak a lick of Japanese...

Day 3: Path of Philosophy

2nd July 2007

Another early start. Our schedule for today was to knock off and complete the right hand side of Kyoto. First stop was Ginkakuji aka Temple of the Silver Pavilion. Yesterday's excursion to the Golden Pavilion had our hopes up for its Silver Cousin. Unfortunately at some point in time while being built the plans for it to be coated in silver were abandoned and like that it was converted to a Buddhist temple. Talk about lacklustre performance! Nonetheless this compound also managed to get UNESCO stamp of approval for World Heritage Listing. These UNESCO guys go willy nilly with their approvals. The surrounding gardens were very decent. In fact they were "tranquil, serene and awesome" as so aptly put by my travel partner.


The walk we had prescribed for ourselves was called "Along the Old Canal". Despite reading forums and reviews on the "not so spectacular" Path of Philosophy we still decided to take it. It was a leisurely stroll. Worn and definitely more traveled path that meandered along a quiet stream that gushed along at a steady pace. There was a romantic feel to walking along the path, dodging low hanging branches we ducked into the neighbouring Honen-in Temple (by pure accident). Our next stop was the Nanzenji Temple, where would we be without our trusty map? It was at this point in time we were beginning to realise that these tourist maps were grossly not to scale. Half way through we managed to get lost.

Nanzenji Temple houses one of Japan's more famous Rock Gardens. The garden although fairly basic and probably simple to reproduce was extremely calming. We sat along the edge of the feet dangling over the edge and let the garden absorb us. We left the temple to grab some tucker and it was then we stumbled upon our first Ramen Noodle house.

"Arashaimusu!" the workers chimed in unison as we entered. It would only be much (much) later in the trip we would come to realise what that meant. It was a neo-urban style restaurant with modern decor, faint Jazz background music, young enthusiastic staff and a menu with pictures! After lunch we headed to the Heian Shrine and walked down to the Yasaka Shrine (What was notable about these places I don't remember). It was almost 3:00 pm as we Walked up towards the Ryozen Kannon and grabbed some dessert outside the Kodaiji Temple.

We walked through the Higashiyama district along Nienzaka and Sannenzaka Slopes passing numerous street venders. Taking this path we also passed the Yasaka Pagoda and eventually reached our last stop before dinner. This was the place I was recommended to visit and the place I was looking forward to the most in Kyoto. Kiyomizudera also known as the Pure Water Temple. People from around the world, around Japan, around Kyoto were here talking photographs and soaking in the more celebrated UNESCO Heritage Site listings.

The temple consists of a huge wooden balcony that overhangs over the hills of Kyoto. The view was stunning even though all we got was mostly overcast mountain views. At the bottom of the temple there is spring which is funneled into three streams of water. Apparently drinking from this spring has therapeutic powers. As lame as this sounds I can't help myself from being a sucker for novelty. We each granted ourselves with the mystical water and almost instantly (through the power of placebo) we energised and ready to power on. Up and atom!

As mentioned we dined in Gion that night. Gion is supposedly one of Kyoto's more heavily Geisha districts. The main street, Hanami-hoji is lined with many shops and restaurants boasting traditional Japanese architecture. At one intersection we noticed a small crowd (of mainly foreigners) congregating. After much confusion we were finally explained that there would be Giesha sightings at this corner. Sure enough within 30 minutes of loitering we spotted many a gieshas. As exciting as it was it felt some what demoralising for the actual Gieshas. Behind the clothing and makeup looked to be nervous and almost annoyed people. They were being hounded by people taking photographs and being interviewed by camera crews. They were an ancient Japanese Tradition enveloped by paparazzi-esque nature of curious minds.

Before I wind up this post i'll make brief mention to one of the Kyoto delicacies that we enjoyed. Takoyaki or octopus balls. Best way to describe them is, grilled goo balls with a chunk of octopus strategically placed in the centre. Mmm goo...

Day 2: Golden Temple et al.

1st July 2007

The next two days (or so) are somewhat a blur to me. Partially because I failed to make note of what occurred during our Kyoto days. My memories of Kyoto went along the lines of "Heaps of temples, even more shrines and plenty of walking".

The day before we had visited a Tourist Information Centre (TIC) inside Kyoto station. Given our previous interaction with Japanese people we fumbled about the foyer looking for maps on Kyoto and possible sightseeing activities. Eventually we approached the desk for help, we were given an English map of Kyoto Prefecture, a walking guide pamphlet and a hand-drawn map of Kyoto downtown. We were set for Kyoto!

Since Kyoto had two full days of activities we needed to book another night of accommodation here at the APA. We enquired and found it to be approximately ¥18000 for the extra night. Which was quite the premium on the previous nights we had spent there. That was also without breakfast! It would have seemed that Asiarooms had hooked us up nicely with budget accommodation. Given that all our luggage was already in the hotel room we obliged and took on the extra night.

It had been decided that our first full day in Kyoto would be spent exploring the left hand side of Kyoto with the right hand side being left to day 3.

Our first stop was Kinkajuki Template aka The Golden Temple. We walked over to the bus stop which was conveniently situated right outside the station and caught a bus to the temple. Despite having maps at our disposal we were immediately lost the moment we stepped off the bus. Thankfully another group of foreigners were also sightseeing that day. We found the temple and paid the admission fee (the first of many). The Temple was stunning, set upon the banks of lake situated in the middle of a delectable Zen Garden. What would be a reoccurring theme we felt a slight injustice to our trip with the photo capture ability of our point and shoot cameras. If only we had access to a Digital SLR!

Unfortunately the whole first temple experience had a slightly organised feel to it. Crowds were taking turns to get that 'perfect' shot of the temple. People were ushered about following signs whilst herded around the garden. Nonetheless the temple was a nice little gem that impressed us both.

Following the instructions on our printed "walking guide" we followed the road down to the Ryoanji Temple. This temple contains a Rock Garden with the quipe "It is up to each visitor to find out for himself what this unique garden signifies" (Ryoanji Temple Guide). Talk about gender specific! This would also be our first interaction with a Pagoda (which isn't such the rarity in Japan). One thing about this trip is my grown appreciation Asian gardens. Japanese gardens are lush and exhibit almost every possible shade/tone of green textures and if you're lucky there might be an extravagant water feature.

5:00 pm By this stage the temperature had become an annoyance and walking had perhaps taken a toll on my poor feet. We had completed the left hand side and we were off to complete Central Kyoto. We walked around the huge Nijo Castle complex albeit closed we promised to come back another day. A short stroll down we winded up at the National Garden and Imperial Palace. It was rather disappointing. There's nothing spectacular about walking down gigantic pebbled roads in 28 degree heat on an overcast day. Tired wanderers dragging feet around the like a zombie with a checklist of 'must sees'. So gave way to our other catch call "This would be nicer in another season".

I'm not entirely sure but it may have been that we ended up at Ponto Cho that evening for dinner. What we ate and what the place looked like I can't really tell you.

Day 1: First stop, Kyoto.

30th June 2007

The upcoming posts will most probably be quite vague in terms of holiday recounts. It was only up until day 4 that I started to make note of the days events. With that in mind we embarked on the first day of our holiday. Having been on a slightly delayed flight we touched down at Narita Airport a little later than scheduled. The heat although not on par with South East Asian countries was bearable but uncomfortable.

9ish: It was there at Narita airport that we were confronted in what would be a stark reality check of the language barrier. The information lady was helpful, at least she looked helpful, if we could interpret what she was saying. The moment we asked "English?" she replied promptly. Unfortunately her reply was not through voice but by means of a hand gesture whereby her index finger and thumb came together to make a slight gap between both digits. What proceeded was quite simply a barrage of Japanese. Despite this we managed to discern that we needed to catch a train to Tokyo station and then the bullet train to Kyoto.

The bullet train was fast, but I somewhat disappointed. Faster! Mush! Yee-haa! Nonetheless the ride was comfortable. Plenty of leg room and most importantly the cabins were air-conditioned. The flight earlier this morning had clearly drained us. Exhausted, tired and in dire need of a shower we slouched in the Shinkansen that hurtled us towards Kyoto. Some 30 minutes into the trip we were greeted by a friendly looking service man who confirmed our seats and continued on his merry way. Shortly after another train employee cheerfully pushed a cart full of snacks and drinks down the train isles. Were all Japanese in Customer Service so polite and eager to please?


Armed with the advice "You have to try the bullet train Bento Box just once" and given our impoverished states we each ordered a Bento Box (This may sound like a simple task but we resorted to a series of hand gestures and picture pointing to get our order across). Not the tastiest food but given the pace we demolished the meals you may have been mistaken into thinking otherwise. Approximately 2 and bit hours later we were at Kyoto station. Stepping onto the platform we were overwhelmed by the size of the supplementary shopping centre built around the station. It was huge!


We found our hotel APA Ekimae quite easily. It's situated very close to Kyoto Station. Unfortunately we were due for check in until 3 pm, thankfully we were able to leave our luggage in the foyer while we went to explore Kyoto Station. It was around this time I decided to try to knock off some of the shopping list items that I had been requested to bring home. First and foremost my sister's list. It read simply: Yube cream and Shu Uemura eyelash curler. Sweet, i'll just pick up these two items while we're browsing the Kyoto shopping district. What would proceed would possibly be my greatest endeavour to find a beauty product. The heartache alone warrants a dedicated blog.

My sister had kindly attached a photo of what the Yube cream packaging looked like. All I would do is approach a sales assistant, point at the photo and I'd be set. Search of Yube cream take 1. I left the store with sales assistants laughing and whispering. Although I couldn't understand what they were saying I'd imagine it to be something like the lines of "Check out that guy, he was after some mythical face cream and eye lash curlers!". My first day and I had already been laughed at, What's going on? Maybe this wouldn't be so simple...

3:30 pm: We headed back to the hotel, I had successfully managed to find the eyelash curler but the blasted Yube cream was no where to be found. Checked into our hotel room. Can't remember our first impressions but I'm sure it was one of these catch phrases:

• "This place is tiny!"
• "Look, it has a bidet!"
• "A/C!"
• "TV!"

For dinner we trekked out to Kyoto Downtown and dined at The Four Seasons Restaurant. This was in fact recommended by the Lonely Planet guide book. We had no major problems trying to find the place. Food was excellent and coupled with some locally brewed sake was the perfect way to wind down our first day in Japan.

Departure Eve

29th June 2007

4:30 pm : Left the office early so that I could avoid traffic pick up my travel com padre. Traffic was smooth and arrived back at mine quite easily. In my last minute attempts to pack light I had reduced my luggage to a 4 t-shirt, 5 sock, 2 short and 6 underwear campaign. Was I too hasty in throwing out those extra t-shirts and undergarments? I figured, worse comes to worse I would just purchase necessities as required, right?

Had a quick last shower, grabbed my last home cooked meal for 2 weeks and fare welled the local nest. We were promptly dropped off at Kingsford-Smith Airport (Thanks, Dad). Check in was smooth and we both recorded on board luggage of 11 kg each. We were also informed that we were scheduled to be seated on a full Qantas flight. There went our hopes of stretching out and having a pleasant flight over. We were checked in and readying ourselves for leaving on a jet plane!


We proceeded to our departure gate and settled ourselves in front NRL Friday Night Football (Well, at least I did). Newcastle vs South Sydney, half way through the game it was announced that our flight QF21 would be delayed. Argh, not the best start to our trip. Finally boarded the plane and despite a few minor problems with flight path curfews we were soon tearing down the runway for takeoff. Japan here we come!

Prelude to Japan '07

What was initially supposed to be a 3-man posse was abruptly culled to a 2-man party. Due to unfortunate events it would have to be left to the dynamic duo to explore and absorb Japan in the summertime. The prerequisites of such a journey are as follows:

• Passport, check.
• Credit card, check.
• Lack of plans, check.
• Minimal grasp of the Japanese language, check.
• Desperate need for holiday, check.

This recount as been prepared with in-trip material and re-posted online. So how would two potentially unprepared Australian tourists fair in Japan?