All posts by Oliver

Asia 2012

To Nara, my Deer

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Today was cloudy and quite rayless… well, from the sun anyway. So, before we got to our main destination today, we made a brief stop in Fukushima.

We used our short stay to look for a post office, where we could a) withdraw some cash (most bank ATMs do only accept Japanese cards) and b) send off a few postcards. We knew there should be a post office near Umeda, but the map we had and the maps that were hanging around there were completely different. In fact, the maps in that area were also contradicting themselves. Something clearly messed this up. But thankfully there was another international bank, so we could at least get the money.

Radiant with satisfaction we hopped onto the train again and headed for Nara. Nara has been the capitol of Japan a long time ago – today it’s mainly know for its shinto shrines and buddist temples, as well as the deer that roam freely around Nara Park to bug the tourists. On the photo (shot in 2010) you can see a pack of deer cornering some innocent tourists at a vending machine to feed on them… or to be fed by them? I always mix that up, but in the end there will be blood, trust me on that. Nothing we want to show children.

Since we saw all the important shrines and temples last time, we just briefly checked upon the area and explored more of the urban Nara (yes, also some caching attempts). Not being a main metropolis, it certainly has a quite nostalgic feeling to it, roaming the streets away from the main tourist ant trail. Unfortunately the bad weather didn’t stay in Osaka so it was quite cloudy, even earlier dark than usual and just could not entirely satisfy us, so we called it a day.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that Fukushima-ku is just a ward of Osaka – so it’s far away from Fukushima-ken (the prefecture), Fukushima-shi (the city) and especially from Fukushima Dai-Ichi NPP (the problem). We’re not THAT bonkers.

Asia 2012

Renovating Himeji

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Unlike most Japanese Castles, which have been reconstructed with concrete, Himeji Castle is still made out of wood – one of the reasons it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Right now the main keep is undergoing renovations and can’t be visited. It’s already been like this two years ago, so we didn’t bother to visit then. It’ll be at least two more years till they are finished, but we went to visit the castle and the city of Himeji anyway, so we don’t miss the chance to see at least the bit we can.

With the main keep under a giant cover block, the mood was a bit killed. But the gardens are beautiful and we could walk through the West Bailey – which was also home to Senhime – that gave us an idea of how amazing the castle must look. Combining a “new” white castle and the wonderful gardens with all those cherry trees one can imagine what kind of a battle field this will be at the Sakura blossoming time. Well, there would be more to tell, if it wasn’t… you get the idea.

One thing about the city itself was a bit irritating first. After we’ve been walking about 500m away from the station, we couldn’t remember seeing one vending machine. And yes indeed, there weren’t any to be seen around. For some reason there aren’t many on the main road. But of course, once you leave the main road you can find enough of them. Just for a moment we were suspecting we left the country without noticing.

Asia 2012

Through Our Osaka Neighbourhood

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Let me cite something from the “Lonely Planet: Japan”.

For something completely different, take a walk through this retro entertainment district just west of Tennō-ji-kōen. At the heart of it all you’ll find crusty old Tsūtenkaku tower, a 103m-heigh structure […]. When the tower first went up it symbolised everything new and exciting about this once-happening neighbourhood (shin-sekai is Japanese for ‘new world’).

Now, Shin-Sekai is a world that time forgot. You’ll find ancient pachinko parlours, run-down theatres, dirt-cheap restaurants and all manner of raffish and suspicious characters.

Have this text just for flavor. Of course it’s not as bad as it sounds and I think the most suspicious characters were two non-Japanese who were examining strange places as if they were looking for something.

Anyway, after doing laundry and getting some curry for brunch, we decided to just go north, explore the area and grab whatever cache is along the way. We went along till Namba (a modern entertainment and shopping district) grabbed Omurice for dinner and took a short train-ride back.

But the interesting things happened on the way to Namba, of course. Our area is really a place time forgot, but we already mentioned that in another post. Where Hiroshima with it’s streetcars has a nostalgic feeling, it’s really more run-down here. The further we went north, the better it got, though.

During our walk we discovered two time capsules, meant to be opened 2025 and 2098. (Steffen thinks, we will be able to live to see the first opening – of course I aim for the second opening.) Then there was this temple that had a giant lion’s head (giant as in 12m high, 11m wide and 10m deep) with a wide open mouth that seems to be some kind of stage. And to the Sky View of Namba Parks we had to go twice. At the first time we couldn’t search for the cache because of the many people. But after I noticed that I forgot my compass there, we had to return and were lucky enough to find the spot empty. Aside from those highlights we saw a lot of the colorful urban Osaka.

Asia 2012

Hiroshima Drew Us Back

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Yesterday we came back to Osaka, today we went back to Hiroshima! On our last trip we’ve been there for a few days, but we wanted to go back this time as well – to visit the peace park, eat some great food and let geocaching lead us to some places we didn’t know yet.

But the day began quite sad, since the Daiyoshi wasn’t open and we couldn’t get our breakfast there. We had to resort to some Ekiben (train station lunchboxes), but that was just not the same.

Fortunately – after we arrived in Hiroshima – things got brighter. And not just the weather (Osaka’s forecast was one reason for our “escape”). We like Hiroshima, it’s a nice city with friendly people and great food. Anyway, as mentioned, we wanted to let geocaching lead our way and boy were we successful. It led us to new, interesting places like temples, the former Bank of Japan Hiroshima branch (now empty and kind of a museum), an old train, several monuments and (who would’ve guessed) food.

Of course, we visited the Peace Park, walked those paths of grieve and rang the Peace Bell. One thing was different, though. Unlike the last time, the place was filled with Japanese students, mostly on day trips. It seems to be a common assignment for them to talk to foreign tourists and ask them about where they come from and what they think is necessary for all to live in peace. We were a popular “target” for those small groups, being addressed four times while only being in a small part of the park. I think that’s a great assignment allowing them to practice English, talk to strangers and get a (very) little insight on other cultures and opinions.

After exploring more of the city, it was finally time for the main reason we came back to Hiroshima. The Daimarudou in the Okonomimaru – an okonomiyaki restaurant in a building full of restaurants, mostly okonomiyaki restaurants. We’ve been to this place two years ago and added it to our list of favorite shops immediately. We even printed a photo I took last time, to give it to the shop owner with a dedication. The food was still great, the people very nice and actually we are even considering going there again before we leave Osaka.

Asia 2012

The Boys are Back in Town

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只今! After two years, we’re back in Osaka! Just a three hour trip from Fukuoka and we’re in the Aqua Metropolis again – the Anti-Capital, the town where dodgy areas are other cities shopping areas, all in all a wild place. Well, so they say

Usually on the day of our arrival we explore the area to see where we’ve landed. This time on the other hand, we already knew the place. Not much has changed – never was a modern ward or anything and everything looks the same as before, just two years older. There’s our wonderful hotel with our nice tatami mat room (and a luxury bottom showering toilet), around the corner is our convenience store and main water supply, close to that the optician that helped me fix my broken glasses last time (despite not understanding each other) and on the other side of the street is a restaurant that serves long lasting breakfast and other great dishes (thus, was our first stop after checking in).

Good to be back!

Asia 2012

Wrapping up Fukuoka

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Last day in Fukuoka: Time to wrap it up. Due to our laundry, we started a bit later for todays tour around Fukuoka. First destination was Fukuoka Tower, which unfortunately meant something we wanted to avoid for the rest of the trip: Bus rides. But hey, they’re not as bad as on Okinawa-hontō here. Sure, they are slow and have to go through all the traffic, but at least one can pay with plastic (smart cards) here. No more coin digging!

From the tower we got a nice view over the city – but I have to admit, it’s not up to the usual standards we’re used from those towers. Less interaction, information and (well, that might be a plus) souvenir shops. We even had to figure out the direction to Germany by ourselves. At least it was kind of a quick stop.

After exploring the area a bit (no, we did not unsuccessfully search caches), we went to the next item on our list, which is directly next to the tower: Robosquare. Sounds exciting and big, but is actually more of a shop that also displays some mostly modern robots. So we could browse through that quickly as well and fetch lunch. I have no idea what it really was, aside that it was a noodle dish with pork – so it resembled Okinawan style (supported by the music they were playing in the shop) –  but it wasn’t Okinawan Soba or anything else I could recognize. But who cares, it was tasty!

We wanted to get some more red bean soup (see yesterday) after that for dessert, but once we arrived at the shop, we were confronted with an empty counter. No desserts… life’s not fair (fwp, I know).

So in the end we were killing a lot of time (definitely not unsuccessfully searching for caches), since we had to wait for our dinner to get ready. Or to be more precise: For those who were supposed to serve said dinner to set up their shops. Along the river, a lot of small mobile shops (Yatai) are set up each evening serving all kinds of food and especially Ramen – which we ordered of course.

Asia 2012

Fukuoka Geocaching

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Oh, it started so good today, finding three caches in a row – but then our good luck was depleted. Well, either that or all caches that are close to a temple or shrine just don’t work for us. Maybe it has to do with this one particular cache owner, who placed most of them. Anyway, we did only find one more and that was it.

On the way we saw a few temples, shrines (even on the top of the train station) and some Kazariyama. There is a Shinto tradition, where they are parading portable shrines (called mikoshi) through the neighborhood of the temple. Something you might have seen on TV or in a magazine. The masterful decorated Kazariyama are kind of like that – just that they are not shrines, thus not carrying spirits, about 8 meters high, weigh a ton and were used for racing. I would’ve liked to see that.

Of course, the caches led us to food as well (gotta love geocaching for that). We had some sweet red bean soup (zenzai) with ricecakes (genmai mochi) – so delicious. We also found the place for tomorrows dinner. (As you can see on the picture, the sun was so bright, that half of the soup evaporated before I could take the photo… true story!) If it weren’t for all the walking around, we’d return fat from Japan.

And just for the sake of completeness. Today was supposed to be a holiday: The Health and Sports Day (Taiiku no Hi). We didn’t notice anything about that. Most shops were open, no events were noticeable and some Japanese strangers we talked to didn’t know what we were talking about – except that it’s holiday and they get a day off.

Asia 2012

Nagasaki

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Today we went to Nagasaki, which is a two hour trip on the train. On the ride to Nagasaki the train was quite full, had to stand the whole time and move for other people. The ride back was fortunately much less crowded and so we could take a seat.

In Nagasaki we walked straight to the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum – also a good way to get to know the city a bit. The park and museum were both informative and shocking/touching. We will post photos about that, but suggest you search the information about the bombing yourself.

On our last trip, we’ve already been to Hiroshima (but didn’t write a blog about it) and plan to go there again this year. In both cases it was shocking to see how the city got destroyed in a matter of seconds, but also how thriving they are again today. If you ever come to Japan, visit at least either of the cities.

Originally we also considered going to the O-Kunchi festival, but we spent so much time in the park and the museum, that it was already too late to search that festival and check it out. So we were looking for food – which was quite difficult, since about every shop we stumbled upon was either closed or didn’t fit our tastes (but mostly they were closed). In the end, we went to a restaurant at the train station where Steffen could have some curry-like Udon dish (he developed a sixth sense regarding curry) and I a cold Udon and Soba mix.

Asia 2012

Trip to Fukuoka

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Today was time to say “Good Bye” to Okinawa (cue in Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli) and “Hello Again” (cue in Howard Carpendale) to mainland Japan, because we flew back to Fukuoka (well, not really “back”, since we only transited through there on the trip from Seoul to Naha).

Because it was only a short (95 minutes) plane ride, it wasn’t as exhausting as the trip to Okinawa. Only annoying thing was that they wanted to do a full extra check on my carry-on baggage, so I had to unpack everything (notebook, camera equipment, hard disk, all the regular stuff, etc.), let them x-ray it again, just to pack everything back up after they found… nothing. Steffen, on the other hand, had the easiest check in his life – didn’t even bother to unpack his netbook. I’d say he looks way more suspicious than me, but of course they were afraid they can’t see through my clever poker face.

Anyway, we arrived in Fukuoka (where they checked – for the first time – if we were actually leaving the baggage claim with the right baggage), got our JR Rail Passes and took the next train to our new temporary home – or homes, since we both got our own rooms! Okay everyone, party is on in 505. Bring snacks and drinks, and we will party Gangnam Style (even outside of Korea) all night long!

Asia 2012

Slacking

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After getting up in the morning we had a short debate on whether we should go to Shuri Castle as originally planned or just slack off. Well, the Okinawan attitude won and we agreed to not do sh*t for a change. (Not looking forward to the lengthy bus trip supported our decision.)

So, we can quickly sum it up with: Doing nothing, going to the curry buffet (gotta try the odd day’s menu – since we only tried the even day’s so far) and continue doing nothing (okay, not entirely true, did work through the photos we shot and even added pictures to one (!) post).

’nuff said and done.