RandA world in Osaka

Where's Angela now?

2009-05-11T21:25:00.007+10:00

It's been 4 months now, back in beautiful Melbourne, where you can get the BEST coffee and brekkie of softly poached eggs on rye/grain/sourdough bread with all the yummiest sides. I've missed you Melbourne!!!

To pick up from where I left off:

1. Nha Trang to Mui Ne:
The former was not quite the 'Surfers' Paradise of Vietnam' as I had been led to expect. The beach was fairly quiet and the weather was quite stormy. It rained everyday we were there. We did become regular patrons at the Aussie fish and chip shop!
Mui Ne was relaxing. Chilled out by the pool as the beach was non-existent during the day. The tide was quite high between 8am-10pm so that pretty much ruled out sunbathing on the beach!

2. Ho Chinh Minh City to Phu Quoc:
HCMC was a crazy, bustling city that never sleeps. Two days really wasn't enough. We managed to fit in Ben Thanh Market, War Remnants Museum and shopping around town.

We took a very quick (2-hour) tour of Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta. The brick kilns were interesting...very hard-working people working in horribly dusty conditions. The boat trip on the Mekong was relaxing. We enjoyed delicious and sweet coconut juice at a coconut farm.
Then it was off to Rach Gia for a night before embarking on a hyrdofoil(speedboat) to Phu Quoc.
Phu Quoc was just the best way to end a 3-month trip around South East Asia. It was 5 days of nothing else but beach, massage, more beach, reading and eating the most exquisite bbq seafood. Ah...what a life! I'm yearning for those hot, humid days as I'm writing this, when the heat prevented you doing much else other than lifting an icy cold drink or laying on a sunbed soaking in the sun, or getting a cheap massage anytime of the day! Bring it all back!!

Check out more photos here.

What happened before, during and after Earth Hour...

2009-03-30T16:05:00.006+11:00

...from this:

...to this:

Follow the story here.

Having fun in Vietnam...

2009-03-29T16:07:00.010+11:00

It's been a very intensifying 2-week tour of Vietnam with three girls. Packing in Hanoi, a 3-day cruise of Halong Bay, visiting ancient ruins of Hue and going crazy with tailoring clothes in Hoi An.

The drinks and food are flowing freely most nights. So much fun, so little time.

See more action here.

Hello hello!

2009-03-19T20:16:00.006+11:00

Sapa in northwest Vietnam is a mountain resort bustling with tourists. I didn't expect to see more rice terraces here. It's a squeaky clean and more developed version of Yuanyang in Southern China.
There are many ethnic minority groups living in the surrounding villages outside of the main town. Many women, young and old, come into town selling their wares. I was astounded at their very good grasp of English. They all crowd around tourists chatting happily away.
Monica and I were approached one morning outside a cafe/bar by a young woman. She was very friendly and asked where we came from, our names and how long we were staying in Sapa. We found out that she was 25, married at 15 and has 2 young children already! She laughed when we told her we were both unmarried and had no children. She then progressed to sell her handicraft to us. It wasn't long before another woman approached us too, carrying a really gorgeous baby on her back; also from the same village of Lao Chai. We ended up buying a purse from each lady.
We were hounded endlessly on the walk to a nearby village. Cries of "Hello hello!", "Where you come from?", "What you name?", "You buy from me?"(mostly in that order!) followed us. I fired my responses back just as quick: "Australia, Angela, No thank you!". They also had the "Maybe later you buy? Remember me, OK?" response. There probably was a compulsory crash course in business English in town.
View more pics here.

Running out of time...

2009-03-14T14:32:00.002+11:00

...on internet! It's sooo slow here.

So here is what I've done in a nutshell:

* Luang Prabang - enjoyed the beautiful waterfalls and great company

*Vang Vieng - tubing down the river, twice! First time was lame was we'd only made it a 100m; the bars along the river got in the way. Seriously!

*Vientiane - actually did some sightseeing, instead of lazing around. Saw weird Buddha sculptures in Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) and went to a gleaming golden stupa Pha That Luang.

Next, Vietnam!

Photos here.

Lazing in Lao

2009-03-05T17:52:00.003+11:00

From being hand-fed, fussed over and drinking up a storm in Malaysia, I am now on the move again with my dear friend Monica. We're taking in the beautiful lush green jungle of Laos and discovering its slow and laid-back culture, and its delicious sweet fruit shakes.
So far the highlight has been a 2-day trek through the Nam Ha National Park in Luang Nam Tha. The heat made the trek a little more taxing but the beauty of the park made up for it - climbing steep trails, admiring the ancient trees and bamboo forest, learning about the medicinal use of plants and crossing multiple streams and bamboo bridges.
There were 8 altogether in the group: an Irish couple (who were amazingly fit considering they were in their 60s!), a Swiss engineer, a Canadian studying in Kyoto and a German with a French-Polish girlfriend and us. It was a really great group to hike with. Many travel stories were swopped and lots of laughs were shared.
The village we stayed at was called Ban Nalan and the people are of the Khmu tribe. The kids were gorgeous and very intrigued by the "falang" (foreigners). They enjoyed having their photo taken and playing games with us. I saw very young girls, from about 4 years old, chopping wood with a maschete for fire, pounding rice to remove the husks, and feeding the farm animals. The boys just seemed content to play and annoy them! The girls certainly work hard including looking after the babies too.
The simple fare we ate in the village and on the trek was delicious. A typical Lao meal includes sticky rice, which you take a little handfull and roll into a ball, then dip into laap (a cold salad of minced meat or fish) and vegetables. Over the two days, we sampled a spicy eggplant dish, fish laap, pumpkin soup, duck and sticky rice. And 'lao lao', a potent rice whisky, was being passed around generously. By the end of it, I was totally over sticky rice, and haven't touched it since!
Next destination was Nong Kiao, a little town by the river. We only stayed a night as we wanted to head to Muang Ngoi, a more rural town accessible only by boat. Not much sleep here as the chickens were at it early and the thin bamboo walls didn't shield out the trucks and motorbikes driving past or the really loud snoarer from the next room!

Muang Ngoi was beautiful and really chilled out. Our 3 days there were dictated by our stomache and thirst. Really slow living here: the meals we ordered took forever (recommended to bring a book along). Lucky the Beer Lao was always quick at hand. Electricity only runs between 6-10pm each day (actually was shorter some nights!) so getting an ice cold drink was difficult. They must also kill the chickens freshly for each meal ordered!
We spent each night in our hammocks, reading until the sun set and we got drowsy. We did have a little swim in the river and a bit of a walk. But not much else. Such is life!
View more photos of Luang Nam Tha and Nong Kiao/Muang Ngoi.

A bit of a pickle in Pangkor

2009-02-20T05:08:00.008+11:00

I've had quite a holiday in Malaysia. Visiting a few relatives and eating and drinking loads. My cousin planned a great trip to Pangkor Island, along the western coast of Malaysia, about 3-4 hours south of Penang. It is a small island mainly inhabited by fishermen but has really beautiful beaches too.
The 3-day trip started off well and early. The drive was only going to take about 3 hours with a 40-minute ferry ride to the island. However, as all well-planned holidays go something had to come up.
We had to make a pitstop an hour into the trip as a loud bang was heard coming from the rear of the car. A punctured tyre had unfortunately occured and resulted in a lengthy wait as the boys discovered the spare one couldn't fit properly. In the end, when the highway patrol couldn't help either, we had to be towed into the nearest town to get a new tyre. Almost 3 hours later, we were back on track.
When we arrived at Pangkor Island we hired motorbikes and took a quick tour. There is only one main road encircling the entire island, so it only took a few hours to get an idea of its layout.
Later that night, after the cheapest seafood feast I've ever had, we took ourselves to a pre-booked 2-hour massage near the hotel. We had to wait for a little while as the massage parlour was busy. So it was at this time that the boys decided to show me how to ride a motorbike.
Now, this was actually my second try (previously had been in the hotel's parking lot, which made me quite nervous as it was narrow with many parked cars). I did well, but I must have gotten too excited or nervous when turning the bike around. I didn't release the throttle in time to brake and hit the curb. The result: a damaged front wheel which cost me RM$250 (about AU$100), a few cuts and bruises to my feet and a very embarrassed Angela. It all happened in front of a small crowd who were nice enough to not laugh too much at my mishap and helped me to my feet. Oh well, at least a bruised ego was the worst of it. Still, I'm determined to learn...
Anyway, the rest of the trip wasn't so dramatic. We all had fun snorkelling and jetskiing and drinking up the sun (and beer!). Soon I'll be on the road again when I continue my adventures with Mon from Chiang Mai. Laos here I come!
See more photos here.

Challenging China

2009-02-10T13:14:00.017+11:00

China in all its natural glory is also one of the most challenging destinations I have been to. Everyone around me, even the European tourists, spoke Mandarin except me. Whenever a bus ticket was purchased, I really hoped for the worst. And it never failed to disappoint me.
The buses are dirty, suffocatingly smoky with men who were even spitting inside!! Both Mon and I got sick separately after two long bus rides. Although I think it was also the food we ate. Our diet consisted mainly of vegetables and rice; too scared to eat too much meat as often they aren't refrigerated.
We did have really delicious meals throughout China. Surprisingly the southern Chinese eat with loads of chilli, although they aren't always spicy like the Thai food. From hotpots to steamed carp (had this twice in Yuanyang!) to dumplings. The best value dumplings were in Dali - about AU$1 for 11 pork or vegetable dumplings. The best whole steamed fish in Yuanyang for all of AU$3.75.
Lijiang was beautiful albeit very touristy. The Old Town was wholly reconstructed and lacked the quaintness of Dali. Souvenir shops sold pretty much the same thing anyway, so trying food was more challenging. We did take some time out of the tourist-filled area and ventured out on mountain bikes to Baisha, about 10km out of town. We were rewarded with a great view of the Jade Snow Dragon Mountains most of the way.
The Tiger Leaping Gorge was an experience I'll never forget. Not only was the weather divine, but the views we had were amazing. Unfortnunately, I strained my knee quite badly and started to limp before the end of the first day and for most of the second. I quite enjoyed taking a pee at the Halfway Guesthouse, which had fantastic views of the mountains (although a little chilly!) and sitting in the sun at Tina's Guesthouse at the end of the trek. The food was the most memorable part of the trip: cheap and delicious. The best coffee was at Jane's right at the start of the trek.
The trip to the rice terraces in Yuanyang was quite uncomfortable and long. It took over 24 hours of total travel time in smokey buses and pitstops at the most disgusting toilets ever. Then we arrived at quite a small town that was both dirty and gloomy. I was then struck down with the flu over the next two days. I only managed to eat vegetables and rice.
There was heavy fog over the valley which meant that you couldn't see much of the rice terraces. So we booked another night, hoping the mist would lift. When it cleared, we hired a taxi to take us to one of the terraces for sunset. What a sight! It really took my breath away. The whole valley seemed to be illuminated by the reflections off the terraces. And it was a neverending sea of undulating rice fields. So beautiful! I didn't think that farmland could look so amazing.
Then it was back onto another disgusting sleeper bus (which the men smoked and spat in) to Kunming before we split up - me to Malaysia and Mon to Thailand. A trip that should have taken only 6-8 hours dragged on for 12 hours!! It was unfortunately Mon's turn to get sick! Not much to do in Kunming anyway.
All in all, China was quite exciting. The views were amazing and the people we met along the way were really interesting and fun. Couldn't have done it without fumbling through terrible Chinese and the help of the lovely staff at the hostels who booked us tickets and also wrote out our destinations on little bits of paper, and also the help we got along the way from foreigners who spoke fluent Chinese.
Photos of Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge here. And of Yuanyang here.

More Hong Kong photos

2009-02-03T21:09:00.000+11:00

You can see more photos here.

Chinese New Year in Dali

2009-01-27T18:47:00.007+11:00

The overnight sleeper train from Kunming was fairly uneventful. I was quite excited as it was my first overnight train ride. Getting the train tickets itself was quite a chore, with our very limited amount of Mandarin Chinese. After a lot of pointing to the guidebook and gesturing, we did manage to get our tickets. The few hours spent in Kunming had already made us realise how difficult it was going to be. Our attempt at ordering dinner was quite lame. Also involving pointing and gesturing to pictures. We left one supposedly famous restaurant because its ordering system (you had to purchase a ticket at a window) proved too challenging.
I slept well enough on the train, albeit to the very loud snores of a man sleeping in the bunk underneath Monica. He really sounded like he was choking on his own tongue!
We arrived at 8am in Dali's new town, Xiaguan, feeling quite disoriented and sleepy.
Another short bus ride later took us into the Old Town where our hostel is. The Old Town is very neat, with "tourist" written all over it. The architecture is a reconstruction of the Tang Dynasty buildings. There's even a street called "Foreigner Street" if that gives you any indication! The shops are all filled with souvenirs and other nick nacks. Many bars and restaurants line the cobblestone streets. We have already tried the local dumplings and rice pancake. Lots of chilli spices are used.
The Jade Emu Guesthouse is huge and has a great common area, complete with a bar and pool table. There was a free hotpot dinner for the guests on Chinese New Year Eve. Followed by more drinking and firecrackers, of course!!
Yesterday, Mon and I headed to Shaping to see the Monday market. It was smaller being the first day of the New Year. Not much else other than produce being sold. We did chance upon a little concert though. A large circle had formed in a square off the main road. Groups of women performed in turn in their traditional costumes. Even children danced for the audience. And then sometime into the event, a bus decided to roll into the square and literally squeezed itself through! The crowd didn't mind at all.

Today, we tried to catch a ferry across Erhau Lake, a massive lake just outside of Dali Old Town. But we were very disappointed at the high asking price of almost AU$40. Oh well...just have to wait until we get to Lijiang tomorrow for more sightseeing.
Go here for more photos...

Hong Kong: hazy, crazy and tasty!

2009-01-22T21:24:00.018+11:00

Amidst the haze rises numerous skyscrapers, that reach out to the sky like long fingers. Hong Kong is a shopping haven for its locals and tourists alike. I for one was just happy to watch the frenzy.
So far, Monica and I have seen much of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon (where we are staying, the most densely populated part), and also the outlying islands called Lama and Lantau Island.

Lama Island was a quaint and laid-back fishing village. Here I saw houses built on stilts along the water's edge. Lantau Island featured the Big Buddha sitting atop Ngong Ping plateau. Quite magnificent in its immenseness. There were many markets in Kowloon where we stayed - a Ladies' Market (selling clothes, bags and accessories), Temple Market (selling clothes, bags and more accessories), Goldfish market and a flower market. The flower market was amazing and had so many beautiful, very large bouquets of gladiolus, chrysanthemums and various other species.

We have also been tasting the various food that Hong Kong has to offer, from dim sum to fish ball noodles to bubble tea. We still think that Melbourne's dim sum is the best.
See more photos here.

Snow fun

2008-12-30T14:00:00.001+11:00

X'mas @ Tabitabi

2008-12-26T10:00:00.001+11:00

And it snowed.....

We had a lovely Christmas dinner at Lodge Tabi tabi complete with a snowball fight after...

...and a really cold group photo session...

Merry Christmas!!

RandA Japan: Phase 2

2008-12-25T17:15:00.000+11:00

We're now in Hakuba, Nagano. The snow is aplenty. Today is just absolutely beautiful; blue skies and lots of heavenly white snow.

We arrived on a wet rainy day with not much snow at all (it took us about 10 hours, with 7 train transfers, a great karaoke session in Yasu, Shiga and no sleep).

But that all changed on Christmas Day when it started to snow heavily. Skiing is just sublime and sweet. The powder is awesome to ski on, albeit a little difficult for me! I'm so used to skiing in icy Australian conditions. At least it doesn't hurt when you take a tumble!

We had a Japanese-style Christmas dinner at the lodge. The lodge staff made 'nabe' which is a hotpot of delicious vegetables, mushrooms, oysters and chicken for 30 people. Beautiful, simple, slow food. Still miss Dad's christmas cake and pudding though...any left Dad?

It was sad to leave Osaka...I received so many lovely cards and gifts from students, teachers and staff members. I didn't really have time to get too sad in the last week as there was so much to organise. I did have a few cries on the train home a couple of nights. But the next stage of my journey is going to be so exciting - travelling around South East Asia for almost 3 months.

Now it's just chilling out in the snow for another week and a half.

'Twas November in Japan....

2008-11-28T18:49:00.001+11:00

...and autumn was in full swing.

We ventured to the Iwatayama monkey park in Arashiyama, Kyoto. The monkeys were out and about, doing their thing...

Consensus is out - we are lazy... and cold

2008-11-09T13:15:00.006+11:00

The weather has now turned and is reminding us of the cold that greeted us when we first arrived. Its amazing its already been 9 months into this journey of sorts, and we feel that the next 3 months will be gone before we have time to catch our breath.

We have been up to much since our last post, and we hopefully be up to much more in the next few months. We have planned a skiing trip with several work friends to Hakuba in Nagano, Pat and Di are in town at the moment, and the day they leave, Jo will arrive. Following on the heels of her departure will be Rob, followed by Andrew (possibly). Then we head to Nagano for skiing, then Tokyo, then the rest - we will see.

That seems to be what we will be doing, but we have done much since September. From what I can remember, we have had an impromptu visit from Aimee and Dirk, managed to catch Radiohead in concert, saw an awsome fireworks display, finished up with our Japanese lessons, Halloweened it up in Osaka and possibly more things that i cannot remember.

R

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri - another festival of dragging things

2008-09-21T21:50:00.004+10:00

The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is hailed as one of the most exciting festivals you could ever go to. Was it ever! Who would've thought dragging around massive danjiris (intricately carved wooden floats) really fast around a city's streets (which were at times very narrow!!) could be as adrenaline-pumping, heart-racing and testosterone-charged?
You feel the quick beats of the taiko drum and the addictive energy surge as a danjiri races past you, with a thunderous roar of people cheering as they pull and run with the float. You could feel the pride of centuries of tradition fire up each time a danjiri approached. The urgency of the crowd controllers as they warn of the approaching danjiri and its neighbourhood clan was palpable. No one else ruled the day but the people and their danjiris.

In the above photo, a part of the awning of this building has been damaged, hence the red tag on it. The danjiris have left their mark around the city's buildings over the years. There is even danjiri insurance available! This year no death has been reported, but apparently at least one person dies each year the festival is held.

You can see more exciting pics here and here.

Challenge: Mt Fuji

2008-08-20T13:16:00.020+10:00

Task: Survive!

It was a challenge not to be taken lightly. We were faced with a mountain 3776m high and we didn't know what to expect.
From Tokyo, we caught a couple of trains to Kawaguchiko, an area at the base of Fuji-san. Then we unloaded our luggage at the hostel we booked for the night after the climb, and got ready the necessities, trying to pack as light as possible hoping that it wouldn't be too cold at the summit.

At 6.30pm a bus took us to the 5th station of Mt Fuji which is about 2400m high. It was already raining and looked like it was going to rain all night. So equipped with new raincoats and walking sticks (a must for the hike; these can be stamped at every station at about 200-300yen each), we began our overnight trek.

The climb up was made more difficult in the dark, (plus I didn't have a torch, so had to rely on others' light) and at times we had to clamber up rocky steep inclines on both hands. Some of us had difficulty adapting to the thinning air as we ascended. And you couldn't climb for too long as you just got tired really easily and needed plenty of breaks. Every step felt like a 100 steps.

There are 10 stations on Mt Fuji that you could stop at to get a hot cup of coffee (even beer) and something to eat, at phenomenal mountain prices! A cup noodle cost 500yen and choc bar around 400yen a piece. And you also pay 100yen to use the toilets.
The 7th and 8th stations had several "half" and "quarter" stations along the way, which made it quite confusing to know exactly where one was.

It got really jam-packed with people between the 9th and 10th stations as the path became quite narrow. At times I was dozing off while standing up waiting in line! I did give myself quite a fright a couple of times when I awoke to find myself teetering on the edge of the mountain.

The conditions were really cooling down even more and we didn't have enough warm clothes to put on. At around 4am we stopped. We were still about an hour away from the last station. But we wanted to make sure we could watch the sunrise instead of waiting in a queue of some sort. So in freezing and windy conditions we awaited the sunrise.
It was a beauty. As if there was a choir from the heavens accompanying its debut of the day, it opened up its arms of warmth and comfort upon our tired and aching bodies.

We trudged upwards again after mustering some super-human strength we didn't really have. Victory came slowly....more lines, more patience, more strength....we saw the torii gates of the last station but it just took forever to get there.

And then we did. At around 6:40am after 9 hours of climbing, Rich and I walked through the gate holding hands up in the air and let out a weak "woohoo". We suddenly found some energy to pose for photos, eat a bowl of ramen and take in the view. And then crashed on a bench for half an hour.

We spent about an hour at the summit, exploring the crater a little. Mt Fuji isn't beautiful; it's really just a rocky reddish-brown dormant volcano. But the views you get from the top is just breath-taking.

I still can't believe I've climbed Mt Fuji....and I'm not even going to spoil it by mentioning the way down. That was a downer.

See photos here and here.

Tokyo - the modern city

2008-08-20T10:00:00.006+10:00

It's the summer holidays! Time to explore a little more of Japan....so we went to Tokyo for 5 days.

What can I say about it? It's modern and cleaner than its sister, Osaka. Its just bigger and better. More international too, with many tourists and expats living there. Some of us felt we didn't get stared at as much.

We stayed at a really dodgy hostel called Kowloon House. Maybe it was trying to live up to its namesake as I felt like we were in some homeless district and not in Tokyo. The dorm-style room (yep, one BIG open plan room) has 2 sets of 8 beds made of steel scaffolding. Quite uncomfortable even with a futon on the wooden 'bunk'. It had all but one toilet and shower to share amongst 14 other guests. No privacy unless you were like the "obasan" (old aunty) that has been living there for around 5 or 6 months and had made a curtain barrier around her bunk with all her clothes. She's Japanese and was quite strange, probably not much older than us. She would turn off the lights and mute the TV volume right in front of you while you were watching it! Not the most sociable personality.

This isn't the cleanest place I've ever been to...but you do get what you pay for, at 1500yen a night. That's really cheap considering Japan's reputation for expensive accommodation. So it just gave us an excuse to try to stay out as much as we could.

We visited (not in order cos my poor brain can't remember):
Shinjuku - just another shopping district. Our trip began here at Shinjuku station after almost 9 hours on a bus.

Shibuya - with its massive pedestrian crossing and neon lights. It's also home to the famous Hachiko statue (a statue of a dog), and nearby was an air-conditioned tram car where people could just sit and escape from the sweltering heat. And there was also the expensive and trendy Omotesando Hills, the "Champs Elysees" of Tokyo (where you watch the rich empty their bulging wallets). We also had fun at an izakaya with all-you-can-drink. Mind you, they were very stingy on the alcohol!

Asakusa - an overly touristy temple area with many souvenir shops and apparently a red-light district we walked pass! Last time Rich and I was here, the souvenir strip leading up to the temple was open-air, but it had been converted to an undercover shopping arcade this time. Such a pity, as it blocked the view of the temple from the entrance. All for the sake of tourism.... Another highlight was taking the water bus down the Sumida River towards central Tokyo.

Roppongi Hills- with its cool cafe/restaurant/shopping area, and a movie theatre where we saw Batman: The Dark Knight.

Tsukiji Fish market - for an early morning fishy tour (we got there around 7am) and then a scrumptious sushi breakfast after. Still can taste the melt-in-the-mouth sashimi!

Central Tokyo -
*Marunouchi - walking around the Imperial Palace gardens and trying to get into the palace only to find out it was closed...again! Rich and I don't have much luck with this place - we were faced with the same situation last time. We also headed to the Tokyo International Forum. This amazing piece of architecture looked like a massive glass ship. There was a kids convention being held there...looked like fun. Rich was quite taken with it.

*Ginza - Tokyo Tower has great views of Tokyo and yummy curry restaurant that looked like a science lab.

*Harajuku - with its massive park filled with lots of music, interesting groups (including several 50s rockabillies and one group practising bagpipes!) and great shopping for the girls! Not as many Japanese dressed in cos-play as we'd thought. It was just relaxing being surrounded by so much green.

Aoyama - we visited the Meiji Shrine and watched a traditional wedding procession. Beautiful bride in a white wedding kimono, with a rather darkly clad entourage of guests in her tow. We also bumped into another ECC teacher in the middle of the park.

Akihabara - where the boys went to a maid cafe (the waitresses were dressed in maid outfits and can feed you if you wanted like Tommy Lee Jones in a "Boss" coffee ad!) and checked out the electronics city.
Check out more photos here and here.

And of course, Rich and I went to the New York Grill & Bar in the luxurious Park Hyatt in Shinjuku, and chilled out with several cocktails, feeling lost in translation...

Before we landed ourselves with the mega task of climbing Mt Fuji...

Tenjin Matsuri - a festival of watching boats go by

2008-07-31T15:33:00.017+10:00

Another hot day and another festival to go to. This time it felt much bigger with more people dressed up in yukatas, the summer kimono. It was a day filled with getting absolutely sweaty and hot. No amount of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages could really quench our thirst.
It was a day that began with a well-thought out plan, or so we thought. Get there early, about 4pm and scout out for a brilliant spot to view the fireworks later that night.
Well, when we got to there it was already packed. Thousands of people were milling about in the Tenjinbashi-suji (the nearby shopping arcade). We stumbled into a temple off the arcade, and fell upon the opening ceremony of the festival. Men in costumes were shouting and drums were beating. We took photos of other people taking photos. Interesting and frustrating!
Then after meeting up with another friend we made our way to the river, following the men and drums for a little.
Both sides of the river were lined with stalls selling food, drinks and had various shooting/lucky-dip games. Many people had brought chairs and were getting comfy in their spots, ready for the light show later that night.
We decided to place ourselves on the bridge, hoping to stay put there. No luck! Before long, we were told to get off as the bridge was to be closed to pedestrians before the procession began.
Where we ended up gave us a great view of the boats as they floated by. A big fire was lit directly in front of us on one of the barges.

The fireworks started about 8pm, later than scheduled. Surprise, surprise...that the spot we had chosen gave us a terrible view of the fireworks! It was further down the river around a bend, so trees and buildings blocked our view. A hasty decision was made to move, along with thousands of other contenders in search for a better view. I've never been in such close contact with so many sticky bodies in my life! We were literally 'carried' by the crowd and had to fight to break free.

We ended up in some side street where we found people sitting on the bitumen in fairly neat rows. So Japanese! And that's really how we ended the night. But not before I had the immense urge to relieve myself in a toilet miles away. One thing about massive Japanese festivals is the lack of amenities. No extra portables were organized. So maybe a handful of restrooms to cater for 100s of thousands of visitors.
Check out here for more photos.

Gion Matsuri - The festival of dragging things.

2008-07-24T21:03:00.003+10:00

Its summer now, and there is a festival of some sort every 5 minutes or so. We decided to head over to Kyoto for one of the biggest parade type festivals in Japan - the Gion Matsuri. Although quite interesting, it was busy, hot and humid, and after standing around for 4 hours watching as each one passed, everything looked kinda the same. I did have some excitement when I managed to wrangle my way into a hotel overlooking the parade. Actually, there was no wrangling, the hotel staff were too happy to have some unknown person wander around the floors of their hotel.

Check out the album for some photos.

Looks like there is a festival on in Osaka today and tomorrow night... the Tanjin Matsuri. More of the same I suspect, but there are fireworks! There is also another festival where they have similar wooden floats dragged really quickly around the streets. This one sounds more exciting.

Rich

House parties are possible in small spaces

2008-07-05T02:01:00.000+10:00

Parties are funny in Japan. Set a time for, say 7pm, and all the Japanese guests arrive on the dot, and leave just before the last train at 12am. All the non-Japanese guests stroll in late, and leave whenever. It's funny, looking back at the photos we took from Steve's Birthday/Alex's housewarming, there is not a single Japanese guest in sight. By the time we were ready to take stupid photos, they had disappeared.

There is no point to this story. Just photos.

More on flickr

Rich.

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Now playing: Captain Black - Sister

Flickr photo account

2008-06-28T19:03:00.005+10:00

Need to see everything we are up to? Now you can. See all the photos that didn't make the cut to appear on our blog.

Koyasan

2008-05-16T12:41:00.004+10:00

Here's a quick, long overdue entry for our trip to Koya-san. In a nutshell, this place is ace. A two hour train ride south of Osaka takes you into one of the most sacred places in Japan. Nestled in the Kii Mountain range, this town is one of three sites included in the World Heritage listing.

Its a fantastic place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We had arranged overnight accommodation with one of the 60 (i think) temple lodgings (Shukubo). The stay included authentic vegetarian cooking (Shojin-ryori) and a 6am prayer session.

Its great to come here to see temples and shrines intertwined with the natural beauty of Japan. A fantastic contrast to the bleakness of the city, and without the hordes of tourists in Kyoto. We want to come back here to attempt more hiking. We did try some on this trip, but failed in a way we are not proud of!

Upon deciding that we should attempt some hiking in the afternoon of the second day, we conveniently forget our maps and proper attire before we leave our lodging. We then purchase fragile paper products to take with us on our hike through the forest. The afternoon arrives, and we decide to start our hike at a halfway point, going in the opposite direction suggested on the maps. We take an hour to find the "entrance" to the hike, conveniently placed behind a two storey carpark next to a toilet block. Yay! We start our fantastic hike. Ange is already tired and is showing signs of annoyance, which I should have taken as a sign and abandoned the whole thing. We walk for 40 minutes and come to a fork in the road. Using our newly acquired maps in Japanese, we try to decipher the signpost. To cut an already long story short, we end up taking a wrong turn, which lead us to a road off the map, in the middle of nowhere. After a lot of swearing and cursing, we find it takes us back to the place where we started our hike. Great times.

We find later that the main tourist office has hiking maps in English, and they also advise people how to navigate "tricky" parts of the walk! However, we are still determined to take this pilgrimage track, this time going the way suggested.

In all, it was an ace adventure. We know what we want to do next time!

Rich

Unesco link

Bike ride around Osaka

2008-05-10T01:22:00.004+10:00

Ange and I had a little 30km bike ride today. Although it doesn't sound like much, keep in mind we were on our one speed granny bikes (complete with baskets). Fortunately for us, 99.8% of the city is flat as a tack. We now have arses of steel.

Highlights of todays tour of this city include:

Our first adventure further than 5km from our place on our bikes
Riding like madmen/women
Having lunch with friends at a cosy Malaysian restaurant in Umeda
Avoiding stepping foot in Yodobashi Camera store
Taking an impromptu trip through the longest undercover shopping strip in Japan, comprising of 2.6km of shopping ~~heaven~~ hell.
Taking another impromptu trip along the banks of Okawa River, and actually seeing more green than grey in Osaka
Enjoying the wide footpaths of the business district
Worried that we would be arrested for riding like monkeys as we rode through 30-40 uniformed police (it looked like a head of state visit)
Having weird sweets on the steps of the deserted National Museum of Art
Riding through Utsubo park while roses were in full bloom
Actually getting home in one piece

Here's a map of our travels today. I'll post some reference pictures on the map soon

Cheers.

R

View Larger Map

"What else has been happening in randa world?"

2008-05-04T12:24:00.008+10:00

Let's see...

1. Went to the sumo tournament.
2. We went to a house/apartment party.
3. We moved upstairs to our new abode
4. Took Steve's new bbq out for a spin
5. Went to Kobe, ran into some crazy guy in the middle of the mountain, had yummy gyoza in Chinatown and had Campari and soda in a really cool European cafe (Alliance Graphique).
5. Now on holiday - Golden week - and drinking loads of Campari and soda and soaking up the lovely warm spring days....

2008-05-04T12:19:00.000+10:00

Osaka Castle

What's that I hear?

2008-05-04T11:16:00.000+10:00

The sound of music?

Yes!!

We now have a digital piano and also a second-hand digital drumkit. Rich had been eyeing the drumkit for a couple of weeks now, so he as quite excited when I suggested I'd get it for him. It's so much fun.

The piano is quite good and although it doesn't compare to my baby grand (being looked after by the Thia's - thanks! I hope you're enjoying playing on it, Elaine.), it definitely does bring home how much I miss playing. Aah...music is here at last!

Kobe Trip #1

2008-05-01T17:01:00.029+10:00

We arrived at 12.30pm in Sannomiya, Kobe. It looked like we had picked another gorgeous day for a day trip.
We went to the Shin-kobe ropeway (cablecar) up to Nunobiki Park. (440yen each, one-way) Beautiful views of the port area and city. Clear blue skies.

Then walked around the large park and then started our descent down the mountain through the Herb Park - admission at 200yen each. We tried to get out of paying as we'd thought there was no one at the booth, but the attendant magically appeared to take our monies! A well-maintained garden, neatly grouped in categories from cooking herbs to medicinal herbs. The herb 'garden' was really just a small paved area arranged in a grid, amidst a larger park.

As it was closing time, we walked out of the park and then began our journey downwards on a hiking trail. On the way, we passed a really nice waterfall and sat there for a bit while we munched on some snacks. It was quite peaceful, just hearing the sound of gushing water and birds chirping. We also stopped at a reservoir; it holds Kobe's supply of water. Very clean and refreshing!
Part of the way was a little tedious to do in our non-hiking boots. This is quite a popular route for keen hikers all geared up. We even saw a team of young base ballers training. They would run up the steep and narrow track and run just as fast down!
We also ran into a crazy man in the middle of the mountain. We had turned up a narrow path and had thought this would lead to another waterfall. Then we started hearing strange noises and saw this skinny guy with a hat up ahead. He was kind of groaning and grunting to himself. I think he saw us and then started pointing his water bottle at us. I got a little worried as the path was really narrow and we couldn't avoid him even if we wanted to. Suddenly the groaning stopped, and he was nowhere to be seen. So, relieved, we continued up this path.
All of a sudden, Crazy Man jumped out of the bushes to our left! I nearly screamed in fright. Bloody hell! We'd thought he'd gone away! He didn't do anything more other than continue his grunting to himself as we hurried past him.
Unfortunately, the path looked like it would lead back up the mountain, so we had to reluctantly turn back and head down towards Crazy Man again. We kept our eyes down as we walked past him, still grunting and all. Strange! We could still hear the grunting as we walked away from him.
The sun had already set by the time we reached the city centre. I had heard of Kobe's chinatown and wanted to sample its food. It was situated nearer the port area, so was quite a walk to find it. And you wouldn't guess who we saw again. Yup, Crazy Man! I swear he was stalking us. Luckily, we were walking behind him at this pedestrian crossing.
We literally fell upon Nankin Machi (Kobe's answer to Chinatown) and it was surprisingly quiet. It was distinctly 'chinese' with heaps of red pillars and Chinese lanterns adorning restaurants. There were Chinese waitresses calling out to potential patrons, beckoning them to try their fare. Chinese food is a little more expensive in Japan.

Except for this little gyoza eatery we found. This dodgy place had pretty decent gyozas (fried dumplings, 6 for 380yen) and udon with meat sauce (600yen). We even had seconds of the gyozas.

Quite happily full after, we headed towards the port area to walk off our gyozas. It was quite a pleasant stroll, through an area which was reminiscent of Melbourne's Docklands, though not as many restaurants.
We discovered a European style cafe (in the middle of nowhere) on the way to the port, and returned here for a drink. It really reminded us of the cafes we'd been to in Europe, with its decor and lights. We had to order a very distinctly European drink of Campari and soda. Yum! Mental note to return here in the near future.

Steve's new bbq

2008-04-29T13:19:00.003+10:00

Steve surprised us with a call to "have a barbie". He had bought a portable set for 1,300yen and wanted to take it for a spin.

So at 9pm, we headed out to the supermarket and loaded up on drinks and meats. Chef Hughes (Steve) had also marinated a nice piece of steak for most of the day and made some onigiri (rice balls). It was a delectable feast!
We managed to rope an unsuspecting skateboarder into joining us too. His name's Kazuki and he was really cool. He stayed with us all night, kicked the soccer ball and also drank some plum wine (too sweet for my liking).

However, after the second round of meats, we ran out of fuel. So Rich was sent on a mission to find more charcoal (and alcohol), whilst the rest of us had to try and keep the flames alive. We tried burning several disposable chopsticks too. Kazuki looked quite horrified and amused when we did this! We only realized later why...
Anyway, Rich came back with the alcohol minus the much-needed charcoal. So in went the rest of the chopsticks, about another 30 or so. The result was both effective and well, funky. The nicely marinated steak was cooked beautifully, albeit for a strange pine taste. We will never burn chopsticks again! We'd thought that burning chopsticks was a sacrilegious act against the holy grail or something. But well, it was just plain stupidity to burn them.

Later that night, we had a visit from the local cops, in plain-clothes. I was sitting on the tarp whilst the guys were having a kick, and was approached by 3 of them. I got a little nervous as one of them came up and started speaking to me in Japanese. He was quite pleasant and smiled. I was told to produce my gaijin card. He then started asking questions about what I was doing in Japan and where I lived. Of course, I couldn't really answer him, except to say "ECC" and "Abeno"! By this stage, the boys had returned and a couple more cops had also rocked up. Steve started to speak a little Japanese and was also asked to show his gaijin card. In the end, we realized they were just doing a routine patrol of the area. Still, we were worried that we had made too much noise and had been reported by some neighbour.
Well, the cops didn't even bat an eyelid at the empties we had all over our picnic tarp! Go figure! I reckon if we still had the bbq going, they would have joined in!

Only in Japan: Part II

2008-04-23T12:37:00.002+10:00

I love a bit of hot yoga in the morning.

We're off to see the....castle!

2008-04-22T11:22:00.012+10:00

Himeji is located 10km west of Kobe. It took us an hour and a half by the rapid express train.

Himeji castle is one of the most amazing castles in Japan, being one of a handful of Japanese castles that still is in its original wooden form.It has five stories and is surrounded by moats and defensive walls. Quite impressive in its architecture. We had fun clambering up narrow stairwells up to the 5th floor and winding our way around the castle grounds, and imagining what it would have been like back in the 15th and 16th century.

We were also blessed with a beautiful warm spring day to enjoy even more cherry blossoms. We got hold of a couple of free bicycles and had a ball riding around Himeji. There really isn't much to see around town except for the castle, which we couldn't ride into.

It felt really weird to be on a bike - I think it's been about 20 years since I last rode on one! Rich had fun watching me fumble and wobble on my bike.

Our new abode #2

2008-04-15T12:28:00.000+10:00

We have moved, again! This time to the 2nd floor in the same building. It's smaller but brighter and cozier.
Here are some pics...

Going hanami crazy in Kyoto.

2008-04-08T02:48:00.027+10:00

Kyoto is absolutely gorgeous at this time of year. Its streets are lined with beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom. It even smells better! We only spent a day (last Thursday) there; it only takes us an hour and a half by the express train.
We'd prepared to do as much walking as possible - armed with a walking map of eastern Kyoto and our hiking shoes, and even some sandwiches.

Our journey included a visit to a few temples and shrines, a pagoda and Maruyama Park.

The temples and shrines were quite old, with gorgeous little zen gardens and interesting statues. The pagoda was visible from the main street - quite an unexpected sight!

We walked up a steep hill through a narrow winding road lined with souvenir shops and various food stalls and restaurants. All were at tourists' prices, of course! I dragged poor Rich through most of these little shops, being quite the window-shopper I am. There was even a shop just selling chopsticks, with prices as high as 10,000yen a pair!!! A $100 for bloody chopsticks, go figure...wonder if it can feed you by itself too.

This trek to Yasaka Pagoda was bustling with tourists, all cramming into the narrow road to shop and eat. It did become quite a chore walking so slowly.
The pagoda was interesting with its wooden architecture and 5-tiered roof. Although, I must say the one in Nara is more impressive, on more expansive grounds surrounded by more trees than tourist shops.

We squeezed out of this crazy atmosphere into a calmer park called Ryozen Kwannon. After paying 200yen each, we entered into a large, much quieter area. This is where an absolutely massive statue of the Kwannon stands, at the other end of the park. It was built as a tribute to all the 48,000 foreign soldiers who were killed on Japanese territory during WWII. It measures 24m high and weighs about 500 tonnes (of concrete and steel-rod frame-work). Beneath this large statue is a shrine which holds memorial tablets of 2 million Japanese who also dies in the war. Memorial services are conducted four times each day.

Maruyama-koen was the next stop. Well, it really became more than a stop. Firstly, we were just overwhelmed by the numerous cherry blossoms. It was really a sight to see! Secondly, we were also awestruck at how many people had taken over the park with their picnic rugs (really they were just large blue or green tarps!!) and their boxes/bags of food and alcohol. At this stage, most of the tarps didn't have many picnickers on them. Apparently, hanami (cherry blossom viewing party) revellers come early and save precious park grounds for either their friends or even co-workers. I've even been told that some big companies send their little shit-kickers along to sit at a park all day, hail or shine! And thirdly, the park also had plenty of food stalls and outdoor dining areas set up. Much like a massive carnival!

We hadn't really expected how crazy or intense hanami time could get. The poor blossoms! Having to put up with loads of Japanese and tourists drinking heavily. Well, it didn't take us long to join in!

We sat ourselves down at an outdoor restaurant and ordered beers and wedges. It was a sublime spring day, warm and sunny. A great time to enjoy beers!
We were also very lucky to be on the receiving end of Japanese generosity. An elderly couple sitting at the next table had taken an interest in us, probably because I had spoken in English and very broken Japanese to the waiter! The kind lady gestured to the menu whilst her husband called a waiter. We thought she had wanted to know what our plate of wedges was. But the waiter said that she wanted to order us some food, "as a present". We couldn't refuse (literally, we were lost for words in Japanese!) and ordered two bowls of udon. It was a truly humbling experience.
After sitting for a little while longer in the gorgeous sun, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away from the mayhem and went towards Gion, the city centre.
Here, I must mention that there were a few geishas wondering around, attracting lots of attention. People gather around them and take photos. It was quite hilarious when we saw one geisha start texting and chatting on her mobile! Maybe she was giving her geisha mates a heads up on her location!

Gion was even busier. There seems to be an endless stream of buses dropping off tourists around Kyoto. Shopping is quite expensive. But still it was interesting to see what was being offered. Mostly Japanese sweets, wrapped exquisitely perfectly in little parcels and then boxed, to crafts to kimonos and all its accessories.
We paid a quick visit to Heian Shrine and its amazing torii gate. Traditionally, Shinto shrines have a torii gate marking its entrance. Passing through a torii gate is an act of cleansing and purification before entering the shrine.
We couldn't go back to Osaka without first returning to Maruyama park to see how the parties were going. It was certainly still very much alive at 9pm! And even more rowdy as more and more Japanese were getting quite intoxicated.
What a day! Beautiful cherry blossoms to amazing shrines to lots of stumbling Japanese people! Hanami, we look forward to the next one.

Sakura in our local park

2008-04-03T02:46:00.004+11:00

Here's a few photos of the Sakura blooming in our local park. We are planning on having a small hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party with a few friends soon.

We have a webcam!

2008-04-03T02:20:00.001+11:00

Yay, we have a webcam for our computer. You can skype us on my account: richardfoong, or just search for me.

Happy times.

Only in Japan: Part I

2008-03-31T13:11:00.007+11:00

Randa-world are taking orders for these fantastic bags now! Click on the image to see the adults only version.

New members of our family

2008-03-31T12:45:00.000+11:00

Our neighbors in the apartment above us moved back home last week, and had stuff they couldn't take with them. As a result, we have adopted 10 goldfish (i think). We haven't (re)named them as yet, but they were affectionately known as "the little bastards".

So far, we've named the big one "Mr T(iny)"

R

Steve and Nathan's House/Apartment Party

2008-03-30T12:49:00.002+11:00

Small apartment + 5 Japanese + 14 gaijin + chu-hi* + beer + great music = house party!!

*chu-hi is a mixed drink in a can; can be easily purchased at vending machines or convenient stores or supermarkets. Very potent.

clockwise from top left:
a) Me and crazy cool bunch of Japaneses. FYI, that's a guy in the purple shirt (top).
b) our fellow-ECC-lians, plus Alex in the white polo (Steve's mate form Oz).
c) me and I-can't-remember-his-name. Quite cute!
d) Rich and Nathan
e) The party

Our Holiday periods

2008-03-18T03:21:00.003+11:00

Hey everyone,

Now that we are somewhat settled into the daily grind here in Osaka, our attention has now turned to organising our holidays! I've posted a calendar of our days off and who is coming over when. We are also moving within the building next month to a place on the top floor. It has heaps of light, but its going to be a sauna in summer (apparently). The other added bonus is that the couch folds out to a double bed.

Cheers,

Rich

Osaka Castle

2008-03-12T02:19:00.005+11:00

Just a few pictures of a visit to Osaka's very own castle. It wasn't warm at all, but much better than a previous attempted visit a couple of weeks ago. It was nice to be in a large space filled with more trees and birds.

Another beginning....

2008-03-11T23:41:00.008+11:00

Our group was getting excited and apprehensive as training drew to a close last Friday (that's our kid's trainer Dave, far right). Filled with a vast amount of knowledge and new skills, we were ready to take on the Japanese people, and whatever they had in store for us to correct and define.
So to celebrate, we headed out to the city for a big night out. We went out for McDonald's (which I can proudly say I resisted!) and then to Bella Bushka, a popular gaijin (Japanese word for foreigners) hang out. It was quite big with pool tables, dart boards and a foosball table. It was pretty quiet for a Friday night, but nevertheless, we certainly livened it up quite a bit!

We were then convinced that karaoke was a great idea and so took ourselves to a tiny karaoke bar nearby. Singing at the top of our lungs never felt so good! Or should I say shouting? It was great to just let loose after two and a half weeks of intensive training.

This is our second day so far....and it's tiring! The kids are so cute and very lively as you can imagine. But all the training has come good. The lesson plans are making some sense and the work environment is mostly fun. The schools have very friendly staff who are helpful and able. Some even set up the kids lessons' materials (ie. tapes (yeah, we have to use tape decks and videos!!), flash cards and games). Oh the joy of working! At least we will have two consecutive days off to discover more of Japan, other than its subways and endless expanse of concrete.

Ange's birthday in Nara

2008-02-26T00:36:00.009+11:00

We spent my birthday on Sunday Feb 18th in Nara, a city east of Osaka. It took us about an hour's train ride to get there. Nara is known for its temples and shrines, eight of which are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We only managed to visit 3 of them - they are quite spread out.

The three we visited are located in a large park which even the locals use to do their daily exercise and walking their pets. There's not much grass in Japanese parks, but at least there were quite a few trees. A nice change from the bustling city of Osaka.
One thing that was lovely to see was deer freely roaming the park, Nara-koen. Apparently they're sacred and thought by Buddhists to represent messengers of light from god. They are so tame and friendly! The males have had their antlers shaved off though. I guess its for safety reasons. You could buy 'deer biscuits' to feed them too. Rich loved them...

We did lots of walking that day. But it was well worth the effort as the views were magnificent. The temples and pagodas were really great wonderful architectural pieces of art. They're all made of wood and without any nails! To think that some of these have been standing since around the 14th century. Some have been rebuilt since then.

We then headed back down towards the city. Its quite small and much quieter and more slowly paced than Osaka. There are quite a few little cosy bars and restaurants in the heart of the city. We found a noodle place for lunch. I had a dish called 'nabe' set meal, a noodle soup cooked (?) in a claypot with sides of mackerel sushi and tea. Yum! Rich had an udon set meal. In Japan, you can get set meals which consist of a main dish served with sides such as pickles, miso soup, salad, rice, and/or tea. Quite good value for money as you are definitely very full after one of these! They cost anywhere between $7-20.
After stuffing ourselves, we then went in search of a bar, and stumbled into 'Woo Koo Bar?'. And yes, even with the question mark. Not sure why. But this place was really cosy. The owner, nicknamed Obi-wan (for you Star Wars fans out there) was great and was quite excited to find out we were from Australia. His English was quite good. He told us that he'd lived in California for awhile and loves surfing. His bar had quite a wide range of beers and even had beef jerky!
Well, all in all, I really enjoyed my birthday. I really do miss the lovely parks of Melbourne.
PS. Oh, we had just enough money left to grab a couple of little birthday cakes on the way home...

Needle in a haystack

2008-02-17T19:00:00.001+11:00

Here's our place in relation to Osaka:

Google map link here.

Snowing again today....

2008-02-17T17:07:00.011+11:00

More photos from Namba and its shopping arcades....

You might recognize the famous 'running man' billboard.

This is a huge arcade called Shinsaibashi-suji. It's just endless shopping and eating!

______

We awoke to more snowfall today. Its soo cold! And the apartment is definitely not so cosy at the moment. Probably up for more cold weather this week.
Yesterday, we headed to Umeda, another district filled with more departments stores and shopping arcades. We spent about 2 hours in this electronic store called Yodobashi. It has 5 floors, each selling cameras, PCs, mobile phones, and even clocks! Just imagine the brightness of 7-eleven and then enlarge that image by a 100 times. It's filled with noise from lights and store attendants shouting out specials, and also the large number of people that crowd that store on the weekend. We couldn't take a photo, so you'll just have to take our word for it!
Then at about 5pm we went up Sky Building, a massive twin tower complex (45 storeys), which looks like a modern version of the Arc de triomphe. We went all the way up to the observation deck at the top floor. This deck is built in between the two buildings and is accessed via a glassed-in escalator. Very cool, but not if you're prone to vertigo. We were just in time for the sunset. So beautiful!
Osaka just seems like an ocean of buildings. It really drove home the expanse of this city, and how different it is to Melbourne.

Yattai! (We did it!)

2008-02-16T02:00:00.014+11:00

We arrived to a rather barmy 5C in Osaka on 12th February. The weather did not abate our excitement at starting a new life in this city. After what felt like endless weeks of partying, cleaning up Rocklea Rd, more partying and dining, and finally saying teary farewells (thank me for that!), we were definitely ready to begin a new phase in our lives.
Our new abode is in a quiet area about 5km out of central Osaka called Abeno-ku. We are surrounded by two train lines and two tram lines, convenience stores are bountiful as are vending machines selling beer, cigarettes and even batteries! So we will not starve, get thirsty or run out of energy.
The apartment is quite large, with three separate areas: lounge/TV room, bedroom with double bed and kitchen.

Bathroom and toilets are also separate. One downside is the toilet - it's a squat toilet! There's barely much room in the toilet itself, and squatting just makes it even more interesting. Really gives your knees and thighs a great workout! There is a seat you can place over the hole, but it does make it very difficult to manouevre around. Another downer is the lack of natural light. It's very dark in the apartment until about midday when the sun finally creeps in.
But aside from the darkness and the poo-hole, the rest is quite cosy.
We have spent the last three days getting to know Osaka - doing lots of shopping and going to the 24-hour supermarket. It's quite a novelty figuring out the products. Haven't had any misses here yet!
Apart from the very exciting sight of snow falling (!!), the first day was definitely the most frustrating, with lots of misses. As we were going to be here for quite awhile, we had to first get ourselves Alien Registration at a ward office (council) which our housing agent, Patrick, had pointed out when he picked us up from the train station the night we arrived. After 3 tedious trips back and forth to this ward office (2 for not bringing our new address and work details, and the required passport photos), we were finally told that we were in fact at the incorrect one. Luckily we were only 15 minutes walk from this place!
Then, the rest of that day was spent waiting for our luggage to arrive from the airport. Bad luck struck again as we missed this delivery by about half an hour, and wasted a whole night waiting.
Oh the wonders of communicating in Japan! It's definitely going to be an interesting time here.
By the way, we now look quite Japanese with our newly acquired jackets!

hello?

2007-09-27T23:50:00.000+10:00

Now related to teaching, of course.

Japan here we come!

2007-09-14T11:19:00.001+10:00

Since making our decision to take a year off and work in Japan in 2008, we have been lying low and trying to do the thing called "saving". Much harder to put into practice (not mentioning any names!).
We have been doing quite a bit of research and gaining as much information from friends who have taught in Japan. It's a very exciting experience to look forward to - fresh sushi, yummy ramen, busy and cramped living, skiing, and also the teaching (which has been described as scary to start off with, but easy and also monotonous after awhile).
Last Friday made it all the more real. We had secured ourselves interviews with ECC Japan held at the Hilton in East Melbourne. The day began at 10am with a very informative seminar conducted by a representative from the school. He is an American who had been teaching for about 3 years and has probably lived there for about 5-6 years now. After that we sat the dreaded English test. It brought back memories, long buried, of high school. Many of us were feeling quite apprehensive about it, as a pass of 70% was required to proceed to the next stage in the recruitment process.
The 45-minute time limit passed by in what felt like seconds. The grammar and technical terms (adverbs, infinitive - huh??) really stumped us all. There was much doubt and wonder as to how we could call ourselves English speakers after that!
After lunch two of the 14 hopefuls were absent, having been discreetly informed that they were not successful. We all breathed a sigh of relief - we're a step closer to Japan now.
Before we could take another breath, we were thrown right into the next stage: the teaching demonstration. Each of us were given a card with details of a topic and age group and were instructed to plan a 5-minute lesson. We were to take turns to teach the rest of the group who pretended to be children. Now this is where I started to stress....
My topic was on jungle animals (lion, monkey, elephant and snake) and I was to teach a group of 4-6 year olds how to identify each one. Anyway, that was the easy part. Creating the flashcards was the challenging part for me. My artistic skills are quite limited to stick figures, but when it comes to animals....well, you can imagine the monstrously ridiculous pictures I came up with. But everyone had really great (& funny) demos. It was heaps of fun being kids and laughing at each others silly pictures.
We then progressed on to the interview stage. Rich and I were interviewed together by the Japanese rep. He just basically confirmed our successful application and told us to get more documentation organised.
What a day! It felt a bit like Aussie Idol (or maybe The Apprentice?) walking out of the interview room, elatedly punching the air, whilst the others awaited their turns with bated breaths.....
Onward to Japan!

Video Editing

2007-05-30T23:01:00.000+10:00

Some video editing done a while ago. Although it was easy enough to do the layers, the hardest bit was timing the damn thing.

Cloning test from RandA World on Vimeo

2006 - A bad year for the Australian Slopes?

2007-05-17T01:38:00.000+10:00

Yes it was. But we still had some fun...

The climb back up was not.

...and a nice video to boot.

RandA World on Vimeo

Oh, I wish I were here...

2006-07-27T00:53:00.000+10:00

As we lie in wait for the Australian snowfields to turn from the worst season ever, the the best season ever, I just thought i'd post the panorama shot from the top of the skin mountain on Niseko. Also included the music video for the White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, Niseko mix...

Niseko 2006 from RandA World on Vimeo

Easter Weekend - Wilsons Promontory

2006-04-27T18:53:00.000+10:00

With our happy camping companions Mon & Vic, we set off around the Prom for our third camping trip in 2 years. We decided to take this 40km hike more leisurely, breaking it up into 4 days of hiking. To cut a fantastic story short (i can't work out what to write), we had fantastic weather; our $40 tent survived consistent overnight rain; we partied with other fellow hikers; went skinny dipping and still had time for fish & chips at the local store in tidal river!

There were probably a few more moments, but either i can't share them with you, or i just plain forgot.

Rich

Parks Victoria

Update on the world in 38+ days

2006-04-27T18:37:00.000+10:00

It would be safe to assume that everyone knows we are back home safely. Just in case this isn't the fact - well, we are home. Its been about 3 months since the trip, and I want to go back overseas. As this blog is dedicated to our travels, i thought i'd continue to update this blog with other various travels in our world. From henceforth this site will be know as 'RandA world in 38+ days'. I hope this has cleared up this issue with everyone.

Ok, now to more important matters... Check out this vid of Ange on snow!

Rich

Happy Birthday to me!

2006-02-10T03:00:00.000+11:00

Hey all. This may be the last post from o/s before we begin our trek back from Sapporo in the north all the way to Tokyo in the south. Lets pray for no cancellations in our leg from Sapporo to Tokyo, otherwise it will be another exciting day spent in an airport! Yay.

I`m spending my birthday quietly with Ange in the youth hostel in Sapporo. No one else seems to be around at this time. Although this hostel is clean and tidy (with free internet), it feels quite bland (much like a YHA hostel back home). Apart from that, its a short walk from the station to get to where we need to go.

We spent the day walking the streets of Sapporo checking out the famed Sapporo Snow Festival. In its 57th year, it doesn`t fail to surprise us with the work produced by these crafty sculptors. I think pictures will explain the moment better. The temperature was a balmy -13C with the wind chill factor bringing it down even more. We could only stand an hour or so looking at all the sculptures before we had to seek refuge in a coffee shop or department store.

It seems a pity we have only spent an afternoon and evening in Sapporo. I guess we underestimated the amount of time required to take in this city. I`m a bit sad that we missed the Sapporo beer hall... Oh well, it just means we have to organise another trip to Niseko and Sapporo!

Hope you all have enjoyed our weblog. Take care everyone, and thanks for all the fish... I mean comments!

See you all soon

Rich

Sayonara snow and beautiful mountains......

2006-02-08T22:54:00.000+11:00

Sitting in a cosy lodge called Woody Note, resting after a lovely "mystery dinner" that only cost ￥１７００. Our friends Tim and Sam are staying here with family members. It's been a wonderful few days skiing for us. Snow is in abundance, plus keeps snowing very regularly here.
Although yesterday, Sam's younger sister, Amy had a serious tumble. Rich and I were skiing a little way behind and came upon some of her family members gathered in a small circle. On closer inspection it was Amy lying on her back in a lot of pain. Her cousin had been sent off to alert ski patrol, equiped with a Japanese phrase book.
We had been skiing down a run with a terrain park. The run got narrow towards the bottom and this was where the accident occurred. Amy had clipped the edge of a jump, which was very icy and hard, and did a tumble. She hit her head and injured her back. Luckily she had purchased a helmet the day before! Ski patrol was fairly quick, rocking up in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, we tried our best to keep Amy warm and comfy. She was in a lot of pain.
After about another 15min of broken English and lots of sign language to ascertain her details and injuries, she was put on a stretcher and wizzed off to an ambulance at the bottom of the run. She was then driven to Kutchan Hospital, a town about an half an hour away.
The update is she's doing well, and will be in hospital for another few days. What a way to spend your holidays! It certainly made some of us ski more cautiously. We're getting hold of some hard hats very soon!

Tomorrow, we're heading off to Sapporo for the Ice Festival, where there will be heaps of massive ice sculptures on display. We'll try to create one of our own...
It's been a terrific holiday. Definitely want to do more of Japan next time. Spend more time on the slopes first and ski to our hearts content. Ah! Lovely white snow, we will miss you. But will return soon....

Ange

Powder, and more powder!!

2006-02-06T00:53:00.000+11:00

Niseko is absolutely gorgeous. It has been dumping for the last week, non-stop! For you powder-hounds out there, it is definitely the place to satisfy your addiction. There is no end to this stuff.
It has been quite an adventure leading up to this leg of the trip. We left London, uneventfully, and arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday about 11.30am. Rich had to immediately organise our ski equipment which had been sent here from Melbourne a few days prior. (Thanks Andrew!!)
Rich took off in the persistent rain towards the cargo holding building. I was too exhausted after the 11 hour flight to move, so I took charge of our luggage and waited in the airport.
Two hours later, a drenched (but very happy) Richard returned with the goods. To cut a long story short, he had to go through various departments who gave/stamped numerous documents before he eventually got to our skis. It was worth it though as it worked out to be much cheaper than hiring. The Japanese have this really cool courier service called Takyubbin. It only cost us $20 to send our skis ahead of us up to Niseko, directly to our lodge. Apparently the Japanese send their luggage all the time, instead of carrying them. I guess you wouldn't want to lug your stuff around in busy subway trains.
Tokyo, in short, is loud. A sensory overload! It's such a culture shock. I think you need to do it in small doses, and definitely with a well-planned itinerary! We regretted not having done the latter.
One thing we have certainly loved is the food. Glorious food! Sushi, yakitori, udon, ramen, tempura, and rice galore! Love it, and can't get enough of it. It's a very healthy way of eating and I do feel much more alert, probably cos we've eaten a lot of fish. Czech food is good but very heavy and hearty.
It was also quite weird to experience an earthquake firsthand. I was sitting in our cupboard-like room (it was tiny; we couldn't both stand up comfortably at the same time!) when the quake happened. The walls seemed to cave in and move in really strange ways. I did feel very claustrophobic although it didn't last long; maybe about 15 seconds. We managed to find out on the Japanese news that the earthquake had measured 3 on the richter scale.
Well, if you think this has been an adventure, there's more!
Our flight to Niseko was scheduled at 10am from Haneda airport. We got there 9.20am and found a very chaotic and jam-packed departure area. We got into a mile-long line for check-in, not knowing how we were going to make this flight. It was only at 9.55am (and we hadn't really moved much in this line) that we found out check-in for this flight was suspended. Now, keep in mind that Japanese speak very little English. It was very difficult to find out what was happening. Even announcements were made in Japanese, to a huge crowd of mainly Australian tourists!
Bad weather and snow had caused massive delays as planes couldn't land at Sapporo, our destination. We managed to get the whole picture from our Aussie compatriots who were all heading up to ski.
By 2pm, with our flight cancelled hours ago, we were desperate to find out how to get out of this messy situation. We eventually decided to go by train, but still had to get flights to another airport. That organised, we were up for an even longer night, as the train from this airport was scheduled at 1am the next day!
Anyway, we actually made it to an earlier train and arrived at Oshamambe, a town an hour away by train to the ski resorts. We then still had to stay the night because the next train didn't run until 6am the next day. So we booked ourselves into one of two hotels at this tiny town. Actually, booked out is more correct! There were 10 of us all together and there was only accommodation available for 10 people. How lucky was that!
All in all, we made it to the mountain by 7.30am and still managed to ski for 4 hours. Now too tired to write anymore. But it has been well-worth it for the awesome views and excellent skiing conditions.

Ange

Ｌｏｎｄｏｎ　－　Ｊａｐａｎ

2006-02-03T10:05:00.000+11:00

Ｈｅｙ　ａｌｌ，　ｊｕｓｔ　ａ　ｑｕｉｃｋ　ｐｏｓｔ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｈｅａｄ　ｏｆｆ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｓｕｓｈｉ　ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ　ａｇａｉｎ，　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｉｓｈｍａｒｋｅｔ　ｏｆ　Ｔｓｕｊｉｋｉ．　Ｗｅ　ｈａｖｅ　ｈａｄ　ａ　ｓｅｎｓｏｒｙ　ｏｖｅｒｌｏａｄ　ｏｖｅｒ　ｈｅｒｅ，　ｐｌｕｓ　ａｎ　ｅａｒｔｈｑｕａｋｅ　ｍｅａｓｕｒｉｎｇ　３　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｉｃｈｔｅｒ　ｓｃａｌｅ！　

Ａｎｙｗａｙｓ，　ｗｅ‘ｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｈｏｍｅ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｉｔ．　Ｏｕｒ　ｌａｓｔ　ｌｅｇ　ｏｆ　ｏｕｒ　ｔｒｉｐ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｓｅｅ　ｕｓ　ｈｅａｄ　ｎｏｒｔｈ　ｔｏ　Ｈｏｋｋａｉｄｏ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｓｋｉｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　Ｎｉｓｅｋｏ　（ｗｉｔｈ　ｅｖｅｒｙ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　Ａｕｓｓｉｅ　ｔｈｅｒｅ）．　Ｉｔｓ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｍａｇｉｃ！

Ｗｏｏｈｏｏ！！！

Ｒｉｃｈ　＆　Ａｎｇｅ

Another sunny day... in Cambridge

2006-01-29T05:03:00.000+11:00

We are now in Cambridge for the day, taking a 'Sunday-like' stroll through the town. We've been blessed with another beautiful, sunny day. Took ourselves down to the river, and watched the ducks and swans. Not too many punters today.
Its a bustling town, with great little shops and loads of eateries. Fed ourselves at a pub and then spent some time in a book store. I hope Jane Eyre will be a good read....
Tim (Kerryn's house mate) met us on Thursday night when we arrived at about 6.30pm. It had already gotten very dark by then. At first, it didn't feel as cold as Cesky Krumlov did, but the wind can get very bitter! It sort of snowed yesterday (more like rained). We had a small Australia Day Celebration courtesy of the Martin House crew (Tim, Martin & Pez). Certainly a great way to get introduced to the beer drinking London lot!
The London Eye was too pricey for us. But we did walk miles around the city, from Big Ben to Trafalgar Sq and Oxford St, down Regent St to Piccadilly Circus. It was peak lunch hour by this time. Talk about human traffic!! Then we headed to Buckingham Palace, Harrods and, of course, for a well-earned refreshment(s) at a pub.
We will post photos soon....

Ange & Rich

From Cesky Krumlov to Vienna

2006-01-26T10:51:00.000+11:00

Here are some photos from Cesky Krumlov and Vienna. We were lucky to get a free ticket whilst lining up for a concert! It cost 30 Euro!!! Anyway, we listened to a string quartet. So beautiful!
We have met a ton of Aussies hence the group photos are of our fellow mates.
Anyway, very short cos running out of time. AAaaagh! More later....
Ange & Rich
-edit-

Photo descriptions (May be in order):
1) Ange scoffing a sacher tort at the Cafe Sperl in Wein
2) Sideways photo of the Blue Light Jazz Bar (odd name). Very cool place tucked away near Charles Bridge in Prague
3) Ange & Rich drink tea in Cesky Krumlov
4) Shot of Cesky Krumlov from the castle. Beautiful blue skies with chill factor of about -10!
5) Us with more Aussies! (from left to right: Justin, Nick, Kate & Tom from Sydney)
6) Ange's head - at a string quartet recital at the Musikevein - Brahms Saal (room) in Wein

-edit-

Prague is beautiful, Cesky Krumlov is better!

2006-01-23T22:40:00.000+11:00

Once we set foot into Cesky, we were instantly taken by this beautiful town. Prague is great too, but too commercial for us. The winter time is so much quieter than we thought. There is hardly anyone around at night.
We're staying at Hostel Krumlov House. So warm and cosy; we love it!!! Thanks to Monica for this excellent suggestion. We have a whole apartment to ourselves, complete with a little kitchen and our own entrance! Its so homey, we might just stay here forever :)
Got up to some mischief last night with some (surprise, surprise) Aussies from Sydney. Went ice-skating at this lake, feasted at the Two Marys and had shots of Absinthe and vodka and lots more beer.
On this beautiful sunny and very cold day, we will discover the castle and more.

Ange and Rich

Last thoughts of Germany

2006-01-19T23:48:00.000+11:00

Its our last night in Berlin before heading over to Prague. We have been very lucky to have stayed in such a fantastic place as Dirk's apartment. As i write this, its started to snow again! We have enjoyed our time here and have learnt much about the history of this Country thanks to Dirk and Aimee who have filled in the blanks on what we think we know, and what we have had no clue on. We have had lots of time to write in our blog for Germany as we have had broadband internet to play with!

Here's a quick summary of the last few days of our trip.

Tuesday:
After a slow start to the day we met up with Aimee for lunch in Potsdamer Platz, the business district of Berlin. After what was breakfast for us, we headed over to the Jewish Museum for a slice of Architecture and history of Jewish persecution through the ages. Makes us think how lucky we really are.

I started snowing as we left the muesum and didn't stop till the next morning.

Wednesday:
Woke up to snow covered Berlin, yay! We headed South of Berlin to Potsdam, about an hour by train. We passed picturesque snow covered forests, lakes and towns to reach the summer palace of Frederik the Great. The snow covered palace grounds felt like something out of a fairytale. We took a tour of the New Palace situated a short 1.5km walk from the Sansoucci palace (i think it was another of his palaces. He has a few, i believe).

Later that evening we headed out with Aimee & Dirk for a bit of Vietnamese food (I had to try beef noodle soup over here - pretty good. I think the water makes the soup taste different). It was quite cheap for such a atmospheric resturant. Anyway, after dinner we went bar hopping to a few bars and ended the night at a bar with a beer menu of 100+ varieties.

Thursday:
Today we went north to Oranienburg to visit the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was a bitterly cold day which made the trip even more chilling. It was a little interesting/odd to see residental estates right next door to a concentration camp, but in some ways, its good to see the people of Germany has matured to the level of acceptance for what has happened in the past, and treat this ground as a memorial for the fallen.

Now its on to Prague and more snow! Wish i penciled time in for skiing... Doh!

Rich

Autobahns are fun!

2006-01-16T22:46:00.000+11:00

The weather has been quite cold at times. Today, the temperature dropped to -6 degrees! Wrapped up in our new winter outfits (I bought this really cool leather jacket for 45€, 70% off 150€!!), we're gradually blending into the European lifestyle. It's not as dreary and sludgy as we expected. The streets are clean and haven't seen snow in Berlin yet. Apparently, it might snow on Wednesday.
Today Dirk took us out to his hometown Leipzig. We hired a little VW Golf and flew along the autobahn at 180km/hr. Felt like we were on a rocket! So weird to see the driver on the left-hand side, driving on the wrong side of the road at break-neck speed! But so cool, at the same time, in a slightly scary kind of way.
Leipzig is quite an old German town, in Western Saxony, about one-and-a-half hours outside of Berlin. It is a trade fair city, holding major trade fairs here every year. I love the old buildings and brick roads. It was certainly bustling when we arrived, just in time for lunch.

We aimed to discover as much of the music history as possible in 3 hours or so. With this in mind, we headed to Bach's resting place: St Thomas' Church. Pity that one wing of the church outside was under construction, but nevertheless, we were in awe of the church. Before the magnificent altar is a plaque, marking the spot of Bach's remains. It was certainly quite an overwhelming feeling standing over it (for those who don't know, Bach was a prominent Baroque composer, and is revered in the music world for his major contributions to keyboard and sacred music. Can be difficult to play his works, but beautiful nonetheless). The church still holds services every Sunday and several concerts throughout the year. Definitely excellent acoustics for choirs and the Bach Organ!

The Leipzig Opera House unfortunately wasn't open to visitors, unless you're there for a concert. It was quite a modern and less ornate building. Very grand, indeed.
After getting lost for a bit and shopping (again!) it was time to go home. On the way, we visited the Battle of the Nations Memorial. It's a gigantic stone monument, standing at 95m high. It's where Napoleon lost his first big battle to the combined forces of the Prussian, Austrian and Russian armies, with casualties of apparently 100,000 men. Before the monument lay a large frozen lake. A few people were ice skating on it. It was certainly incredible to walk the entire length of it, having never seen or been on a frozen lake!
Ah! What a day. More to see tomorrow.....maybe the Jewish Museum for more history.

Ange

Winter sales to politics

2006-01-15T19:05:00.000+11:00

We spent a whole day on Saturday in Berlin's shopping malls, making the most of their winter sales. Saturday does bring out the Berliners in droves! I guess it was warmer to be in a shopping centre than outside in the freezing cold.

Saturday night saw us head out to a couple of cool bars. Tacheles is situated in a really run-down building that has been decorated with grafitti all along its inner walls. It's an artists' haunt of sorts. One level housed a couple of cinemas and the next one up was something of a market selling several artists' works. Works ranged from bizarre to really funny and of course, several politically inclined pieces were also exhibited. The top floor was the tiny bar, Tacheles. Reminded us of a Brunswick St bar. It had a great view of the city via a very modern glass wall. The bar seemed like a popular haunt of the young in Berlin.

On Sunday, we took a piece of history with us. We managed to carve out a small chunk of the Berlin Wall for keepsake. There still remain parts of the Wall that hasn't been destroyed. However, most of these are being protected, so this small section was one that Dirk knew we could access without getting into trouble. A section of it in central Berlin has been made into a memorial park. It also includes the No Man's Land in between.
Dirk then took us to the Bundestag, the German Parliament House. It is such an amazing building, architecturally. It consists of 3 buildings: the Chancellor's, Committee, and the Administration. The buildings are lined up in such a way that you are able to see through into the other 2 buildings from within each one. They call this the Band of Unity. It symbolises the unity of the three levels of the decision-making within the parliament.
We were very lucky to have our personal guide. Dirk works at the Administration building in the Bundestag. Unlike all the plebs queueing up in the cold outside, we were able to enjoy champagne and chocolate in the warmth of his office!
One highlight was being able to climb to the top of one of the towers. We had to use a very narrow and steep route which was for the general maintenance personnel (it was hidden away behind a wall in a meeting room). At times it was quite dangerous, because part of the way we had to climb up was just an exposed ladder attached to a high wall. There was no protection if you missed your footing; just don't look down or away from the wall.
It was certainly well worth the effort. The views we got were breathtaking, albeit freezing!

Ange

Guten tag!

2006-01-14T20:30:00.000+11:00

Berlin is quite a cool city. The buildings are a mix of new and old. Both as awesome as one another.
We took a free walking tour (New Berlin Tours) which took us around Central Berlin. Our guide, Chris was very well-informed, funny and interesting. He's an American who fell in love with this city 4 years ago, and hasn't left since. He's speaks fluent German and is very passionate about the history of Berlin. And there is so much history!
Throughout the tour, he pointed out several sites of significance, which were actually not very obvious to the tourist. For example, the site where Adolf Hitler spent his dying days in a bunker, is a mere grassy patch in front of an apartment block. We were in more disbelief than awe to be standing over it. Chris said that its insignificance was the aim, as this itself symbolised Germany's view of the past. They don't want to remember Hitler and his horrific actions but to memorialise the dead Jews and soldiers, and to move on. That was the message we got throughout the tour.
We visited the Brandenburg gates, the sister churches, checkpoint charlie, Berlin Wall, and the Humboldt University. In the square in front of the university was the site of the burning of 20,000 books. The Nazis burnt books that were contradicting their faschist views or were written by Jews. Authors of these books included Albert Einstein and Karl Marx, to name a few. The site is unmarked except for little glass pane built into the ground. We were told to stand over it and look into the glass. All I saw was empty bookshelves, which were capable of holding thousands of books. This represented the number of books burnt. And the reflection we could see of ourselves on the glass represents the current times. This was one interpretation offered by Chris. He said that this artwork was telling us to remember the past, which cannot be changed, as one cannot bring back those burnt books. We as individuals in the present can influence change for the future.
Another view offered by a tourist in a previous tour, was quite poignant. Apparently, she said that the empty bookshelves reminded her of the bunk beds in Auschwitz concentration camps.
The history behind the Berlin Wall is quite remarkable. It was confusing at first, trying to comprehend the events leading up to it (I got very confused about East/West Berlin/Germany; until I saw a map!). But Dirk showed us a video of the crumble of the Berlin Wall, and it all made sense.
Today, going to visit where Aimee works and probably do some shopping. Yay!

Ange

More photos from Paris

2006-01-14T06:59:00.001+11:00

Here are a few more photos from Paris.

1) View from our plane from overlooking Western Australia
2) Ornate ceiling from the Opera house
3) View from Eiffel Tower - cool perspective
4) Eiffel Tower at night
5) Our view from our hostel - overlooking Sacre Coeur
6) Arc de Triomphe - at 7am in the morning. Not a single tourist in sight

Enjoy. Rich

Some photos of our travels so far

2006-01-13T10:19:00.000+11:00

Some of my favourite photos of our trip so far...

I´ll post a few more soon... Let me know if it takes too long to load.

Rich

Danke vil!

2006-01-12T22:21:00.000+11:00

That means 'thankyou' in Dutch. Don't know if i've got the spelling right.....

Anyway, back in the Amsterdam library for some last minute emails, etc.

I have enjoyed Amsterdam. It's been a much more relaxed stay here, in terms of sightseeing. Haven't really rushed around too much, just been very happy wandering the streets.

Yesterday, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. We liked the museum building itself. Very modern and spacious. Not as awe-struck as we were in the D'orsay. But still quite brilliant paintings. We then went into the Heineken Brewery. Felt rather tipsy by the time we left. It was like a big theme park, and a huge homage to Heineken! Terrific beer too, although did taste different to the one in Melb.

We had a terrific (and filling) Dutch meal at this cosy little pub, not far from our abode. Lots of potatoes. I think i miss our fresh veg and salads. Our cholesterol levels must be hitting the roof! Oh well, we are certainly walking it off.

Next, is Berlin with Rich's sister and her boyfriend. Can't wait.

Ange

Monet... brilliant

2006-01-11T00:11:00.000+11:00

Although Ange will be entering her blog today, i't doesn't hurt to add my thoughts.

We are sitting in the warm and comfortable Central Library of Amsterdam using the free internet kindly provided by the tax payers (God bless them). Outside is bitterly cold, but bearable. Our visit to the Anne Frank house was a moving experience, one in which we took the time to try to understand the situation the family must have faced in uncertain times.

Another experience which completely blew my mind was our visit to Musee DÓrsay (mind my spelling). The detailed scale model of the Opera house with section left me in awe. I thought the museum could not top that for me until we entered the Monet exhibitions. I would not consider myself an art critic, but I was completely fascinated with Monets works. I must have spent at least 1.5 hours just looking at each of his works close up, then stepping back to absorb his mastery. It just blows my mind to see (close up) his brush strokes of layered colour and texture, and then to stand back and see, what seems to be random colours thrown together, to melt into beautiful works of art. Brilliant.

What i've noticed through this trip so far is the feeling that many tourists just feel they have to race through everything in order to have their catalogue of their travels well documented and full of locations and events. Although i'm guilty of adding my status of "being there" and "seeing this'', I found i couldn't take a photo of Monets works. I just had to observe and respect. Just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Anyways, my time on this computer will be up very shortly, so i hope you've enjoyed my brief insight to tourism and other thoughts.

Richo

Brussels to Amsterdam

2006-01-11T00:06:00.000+11:00

We discovered Brussels on a beautiful winter's day. There was bright blue skies and not a cloud in sight. Not as monumental as Paris, but certainly has a quiet charm of its own. I noticed a lot of Turkish and Middle Eastern shops around. We even chanced on Little India! I think I was glad to walk around and not be slapped in the face with so many huge and ornate buildings for a change.
We wandered around past a huge version of "Lygon St" with its numerous Italian/Belgian restaurants with waiters urging us to go in. Finally entered this Cafe Arcadian. It looked very cosy and warm. Lots of little tables nestled close to one another. A bit like Tiamo in Lygon St, actually! I had a tart of tomatoes and mozarella and Rich had 1/2 chicken and chips (of course!). So yummy! The beers (Duvel and Leffe) were very reasonable too.
There was this cathedral we walked past that was chiming a very minor version of Ode to Joy. Had to laugh at how serious and morbid it sounded. Much more interesting than the one-toned chimes of Paris.
Amsterdam glowed red when we arrived! It was dark when we walked through the red light district. Skimpily dressed women in their glow-in-the-dark bikinis/underwear looked out at us with utter boredom. Sex shops glowed brightly, tempting us to enter. Maybe.... :)
Found our hostel with luck (this seems to be the method of late in our navigation of each city) - The Bulldog. Its quite a large one, like a YHA. Booked ourselves a couple of dorm beds for 2 nights. This should give us enough time to venture the streets and try their coffeeshops!
I noticed heaps of snacky places - one must get the munchies after a few joints! Anyway, I did fail to mention earlier, that the red light district does smell of one big spliff! There are lots of people wanting to sell some to you. But we decided to get some from a coffeeshop next to our hostel - The Bulldog Coffeeshop. These guys are like a huge franchise - they even have a pub further along the street.
Just visited Anne Frank's House. Very poignant. I just felt utter sadness when i was in there. It really makes you think about the nature of mankind and how we treat one another. We are so fortunate. I must read the book again.
Will blog again soon......

Angela

Au revoir Paris!

2006-01-09T19:39:00.000+11:00

I can't believe that we're leaving Paris today. It has been several days of wonderful sightseeing. Soooo much art to absorb. We have so far seen Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe (at 6.30am and at nite!), Tour Eiffel and much of the streets of Paris. Our favourite so far is the D'Orsay. We were in awe of the paintings of Monet, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Loutrec.
Have met a tonne of Aussies here in this hostel. Doesn't really feel like we're that far away :)
Onward to Brussels and Amsterdam for more culture....
Ange

2006-01-08T08:00:00.000+11:00

no time on internet!

42 to 2 in 24 hours

2006-01-06T07:53:00.000+11:00

Well, this will be the first official post from Europe from us! As this is our first trip of this nature, we have been overwhelmed and excited and tired all at once.

We landed in Frankfurt yesterday and decided to head straight to Paris for our first official toursit stop. Our total travel came to roughly 30 hours of airplane and train travel. We felt a bit lost at first, but it really wasn't that difficult in the end.

We are now staying in a hostel called Le Village, located in Montmarte area near Sacre-Coeur. Yesterday, we had a quick visit to Sacre-Coeur and had a picture perfect sunset with clouds and all! (We will post some pictures when we are able to).

Today involved the Opera house & Musee de Lourve (sorry if the spelling is incorrect, i don't have the map with me). Ange and I spent the day in awe of the streets of Paris. We felt that some things were a tad gaudy, but we were still in awe nevertheless. The last half of our day we spent walking the Lourve on an empty stomach. Although we were a bit grumpy after 6 hours of walking the halls of the museum, it was a fascinating journey through the annuals of history.

I think i'm rambling, but you may have to apoligise as i am buggered... and its only our second day!

I'll have more to write soon.

Richard (and Ange!)

In the beginning, Bulleen was created

2006-01-02T12:45:00.000+11:00

Our first post to our new and shiny travel blog. I have about a million tiny little pieces to organise before we leave, and i'm here wasting precious minutes creating a blog. Oh well, i think its lunch time soon...

Today Bulleen, tomorrow the WORLD! Yay!

Rich

RandA world in Osaka

Where's Angela now?

What happened before, during and after Earth Hour...

Having fun in Vietnam...

Hello hello!

Running out of time...

Lazing in Lao

A bit of a pickle in Pangkor

Challenging China

More Hong Kong photos

Chinese New Year in Dali

Hong Kong: hazy, crazy and tasty!

Snow fun

X'mas @ Tabitabi

RandA Japan: Phase 2

'Twas November in Japan....

Consensus is out - we are lazy... and cold

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri - another festival of dragging things

Challenge: Mt Fuji

Tokyo - the modern city

Tenjin Matsuri - a festival of watching boats go by

Gion Matsuri - The festival of dragging things.

House parties are possible in small spaces

Flickr photo account

Koyasan

Bike ride around Osaka

"What else has been happening in randa world?"

What's that I hear?

Kobe Trip #1

Steve's new bbq

Only in Japan: Part II

We're off to see the....castle!

Our new abode #2

Going hanami crazy in Kyoto.

Sakura in our local park

We have a webcam!

Only in Japan: Part I

New members of our family

Steve and Nathan's House/Apartment Party

Our Holiday periods

Osaka Castle

Another beginning....

Ange's birthday in Nara

Needle in a haystack

Snowing again today....

Yattai! (We did it!)

hello?

Japan here we come!

Video Editing

2006 - A bad year for the Australian Slopes?

Oh, I wish I were here...

Easter Weekend - Wilsons Promontory

Update on the world in 38+ days

Happy Birthday to me!

Sayonara snow and beautiful mountains......

Powder, and more powder!!

Ｌｏｎｄｏｎ － Ｊａｐａｎ

Another sunny day... in Cambridge

From Cesky Krumlov to Vienna

Prague is beautiful, Cesky Krumlov is better!

Last thoughts of Germany

Autobahns are fun!

Winter sales to politics

Guten tag!

More photos from Paris

Some photos of our travels so far

Danke vil!

Monet... brilliant

Brussels to Amsterdam

Au revoir Paris!

42 to 2 in 24 hours

In the beginning, Bulleen was created

Ｌｏｎｄｏｎ　－　Ｊａｐａｎ