Fuji-San

On my last full day in Japan, I did two things.  First, I splurged and stayed at a nicer ryokan, which was friggin' awesome.  Second, I went to see one of the most unmissable sights in Japan - Fuji-san.  It was a bit confusing to find the bus from Tokyo to a place called Kawaguchi Lake, which has a great lookout point of the mountain. I wanted to climb Mount Fuji, but many red flags advised against climbing it in winter.  I also didn't have enough time, nor was I prepared for a snowshoeing trip.

Kawaguchi was pretty much dead.  Many places were either not open, or empty.  There weren't that many people, and there was a lot of snow.  However, it was a clear day.  All the mountains and trees around the Fuji-san area were a nice break from the din of Tokyo.  I walked to the gondola that went up to the lookout.

Mount Fuji is an beautiful and epic sight to behold.  When I saw it, I realized why it was of national importance.  It is one huge-ass mountain.  It also is very wide.  None of my pictures could do it justice at all. 

Lucky nothing like this happened to me on my backpacking trip.

After I came down, I walked around Kawaguchi Lake.  It was getting really cold, and the few places that were open were closing up shop.  However, I stumbled over a nice outdoor onsen that was open.  Had it to myself for the whole time.  Excellent.

Getting back to Tokyo late because the bus was late to arrive, hot tea was waiting for me in my room.  Once I saw that, I just smiled and thought to myself that it was worth splurging on a better ryokan.

Traditional Japanese breakfast

Well, that more or less sums up my travels through Japan, HK, Macau, and Guangzhou.  It was one of my most memorable trips.  I had total control over where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, which is the advantage of doing a solo assault.  But, next time I do Japan, I want people to come with me for sure.

Tomorrow, I go back to Vancouver for about a month.  I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends who I haven't seen in over 9 months! Oh, the stories I have to tell them!

I'll miss all the places that I've seen here in Asia so far.  I'll miss my colleagues that are leaving Wuhan, especially my travel buddy Nicolas.  We've traveled all over China with each other: Wuhan, Shanghai, Wudang Shan, Xi'an, Beijing and Chengdu. Our adventures together are over, but mine are not. I will have more, and perhaps find a new travel partner.

What awaits me when I come back to China in August?  I don't know.  Keep checking my blog.  It might be out of action for a while when I'm back in my native Vancouver, but rest assured, it'll be back in full swing by the time I get back to China.  Part one of my adventures in Asia are over.  Thanks for reading and have a great summer!!!

The Big City

 Tokyo. Day 3.  Started off in the Geekdom of Akihabara, or commonly known as アキバ (Akiba).  Mission - to find a cheap iPod.  I was about to get an iPod Nano, but then realized I didn't need it.


I walked down the street where the Akihabara Massacre of 2008 occurred.  For more on that sad story, I suggest looking it up here.  Akiba offers electronic everything.  Electronic gadgets.  Computers.  Games.  Young women in maid suits calling you "master" trying to get you to come into their restaurant.  You're wondering if I actually went into one of these places.  Well, I didn't, although I immediately regretted that decision after I left the area.  I should have embraced the Japanime subculture of the area.  I mean, when's the next time I can get a waitress to call me "master?"

The Geekdom of Akiba

On my way to Shinjuku for some afternoon shopping.

After Shinjuku, I walked down Harajuku again because it was too rainy the first time around.  Ran into this "fun shop."

Walked through Shibuya again, this time with actual legions of people.  The Japanese wait for cross walk lights to tell them to walk, unlike everywhere else in Asia!

Roppongi Hills by night.

F--king FINALLY!  An Irish pub!  Had my long awaited Guinness sometime after dinner.

Then headed to the Tokyo Tower, which resembled the Eiffel Tower in so many ways.

A view of the big city.

I wonder where that fish did go? A fish, a fish, a fishy oooh!

The next day, I left the hostel early to get down to the Tokyo Fish Market, the largest fish market in all Asia.  On the way there, I stopped by the Sony Building.  Their showcase displays had may gadgets of varying functionality.  Some were pretty useless, while others were pretty neat contraptions. A portable bike with a GPS attachment was pretty cool to look at.  I even considered buying a new cutting-edge digital camera, but it was tai gui le.

I got down to the fish market around 9AM, which was WAY too late to see the really interesting things like the fish auction.  Nonetheless, there were hordes of fishermen, workers, trucks and wagons, and of course, fish remains.  I got to see how the fishermen cleaned up after a day's work.

 The one word I can think of to describe the fish market is intense. Trucks would not stop.  Fishermen were arguing and demanding payment from their bosses.  People were trying to sell their fish to whoever passed by.  To be honest, if I had access to a kitchen in Tokyo, I would have bought a nice piece of fish.


Before leaving the area, I was approached by an old lady who asked me if I wanted to have some sashimi.  The lineup to this place was pretty long, but since it was only me, I skipped to the front immediately. It was the best sashimi I've ever had in my life.  There's no other way to explain it, but my sashimi don tasted like excellent.

 Headed to the Imperial Palace after that.  Unfortunately, they didn't allow me in because tours only went through early in the day.  Too bad for me.

After being rejected there, I moved my stuff from my hostel to a small and inexpensive ryokan.  It was in Asakusa, and was near the hostel.  It also was roughly the same price.

After that, I gunned over to a suburb outside of the city core.  Why did I do that??? To go to one of the best parts of my trip...the Ghibili Museum!!  I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside.  The only thing I'll say about it is that it is a magical place.  It's a small museum, but it was easily a highlight of my entire backpacking sojourn throughout Japan and South China.

At night, I went to the well known areas of Harajuku and Shibuya.  Huge amounts of people, although maybe not as crazy as I thought.  Maybe that's because I was coming to Japan from China, maybe because it was raining.  I dunno.  But I did have a good time walking around seeing all the fashionistas out in full force.

I ended my second day in Tokyo trying to get into an Irish pub to get myself a Guiness, but it was WAY too busy.  I settled for a hot shower and tea before bed.

Totoro selling tickets.

Shibuya!

London, Paris, maybe TOKYO! (Tokyo...definitely)

My favorite city in all of Asia was Hong Kong.  Don't get me wrong.  I like other Asian cities.  Shanghai is youthful.  Beijing is full of exploration.  Manila is an adventure.  But now it is very clear to me.  Tokyo is the definitely the place. Actually, I think it even beats Paris on my list of cool cities.

I arrived just before sundown.  As I got to my hostel, I was greeted by a bunch of backpacking hippies. My hostel room reeked so much like man-sweat, I immediately began to miss the Joyce's place in Sendai.  Maybe it was because I was so used to being around such people over the 3 weeks of my backpacking trip, I began to not want to see them anymore.  Spent a bit of time looking for other accommodations around Asakusa, but stumbled across some interesting attractions along the way. I got to see some nicer accommodations for about the same price, and a major temple.  I also came across an internet cafe which rented adult mags and vids, sold new underwear and had small, cramped booths with both a computer and aTV with a DVD player...aiaaahh perverts!).  It was also packed with people, which made it all the more weird. I just wanted to check my email.  I washed my hands so many times after touching the keyboard, you'd think I was a germophobe.  Well, I guess in those few minutes, I guess I would count as one.

Dinner was small and inexpensive.  Many places were closing down as I continued across the Asakusa region.  It also started to drizzle snow, so I stepped into a "shot bar," where there was all you can drink for dirt cheap.  An interesting experience happened. 

I saw a bunch of these kinds of places around, but it didn't really click into my head that these places were for heavyweight whiskey connoisseurs.  As I sat down at a bar stool, I realized that this place had a capacity for max 8 people.  There was another guy there just drinking in silence.  I decided to follow suit, although once the bartender found out I was a gaijin, him and I had a long conversation about Vancouver, what I do in China, the various budo I have studied, different kinds of drinks and how much I missed my girl.

I swear the place had about 100 or more types of whiskeys, sakes, and various other kinds of hard liquor.  I mostly tried my favorite: single malt scotch whiskys.  The one that stood out above all was the Islay single malt Lagavulin.  It actually tasted like burning.

I also tried various sakes, which I didn't particularly enjoy.  Most of them reminded me of baijiu back in Wuhan.  I could stand it, so I delved into some American whiskeys that I would probably never try ever again. Okay fine, I'd drink Maker's Mark again because it was delicious.

The cool night air kept me focused and awake.  As I walked back to my stinky hostel, where it still took me quite a while to fall asleep despite all the drinks I had, I ran into Ultraman near the BanDai commercial building. Strange way to end my first night in Tokyo, but whatever.  More fun was to come!!

Sendai Part II/ Matsushima

 The next day, Joyce and I went to the harbor town of Matsushima.  The area is famous for having a string of really beautiful islands and awesome seafood.  It was really cold the day we decided to go there, but I had fun nonetheless. The food alone made it worth while.  Below shows my oyster lunch.

Freshly made rice crackers.

Joyce and I ate skewered fish cakes while drinking free tea with some old Japanese women.

The ferry ride brought us past some stellar views of the nearby islands.  Basho, a famous Japanese poet, only had this to say about Matsushima after being blown away by it's beauty:

Matsushima ah!
A-ah, Matsushima, ah!
Matsushima, ah!

At night, Joyce and I walked down a main pedestrian artery of Sendai towards the JR Railway Station.  Going up a tall tower to overlook the city at night, I found out Sendai was a lot more expansive than I thought.

Cheese Kit Kat. Strangely tasty.

Joyciaaaaahhh!!!!!

I really liked Sendai.  It is a sad tragedy of what happened there during the quake, but Joyce is stickin' it out up there for a while.  I'm so honored to be a friend of such a brave young woman.

It was well worth it to go up there and meet my old colleague.  But now she just needs to return the favor and come to see me in China (*ahem* Joyce...meet you in Shanghai or Beijing sometime...).

Sendai Part I

 North of Tokyo lies the quiet and easygoing city of Sendai.  You may know of it because it was one of the hardest hit cities during Japan's devastating earthquake earlier this year. 

My old coworker Joyce from Sage Bistro at UBC teaches there.  She was the best host ever.  Right when I got of the shinkansen, she met me at the train station and brought me to have a local dish - beef tongue.  She let me crash at her place, and even showed me around town.  Later, we ate at a restaurant that served barbecue cow's stomach, artery and the like.

Beef tongue

The next day, Joyce and I met up with her colleagues.  We all went over to Sakunami Spa, a very well maintained onsen north of Sendai.  Like Takayama, the air was crisp and cold.  I loved it, especially coming from a city like Yokohama.  Joyce and her friends went into the female onsen, and I went solo in the men's pools.  Unfortunately for the girls, their outside onsen was unavailable, but mine was not.  It overlooked a bubbling creek that was surrounded by a cliff face. Beautiful!

More onsen hopping, but seriously, I never got tired of these!

 
After onsen hopping, we all went to Joyce's friends' favorite burger joint. It was a really nice break from all the Asian food I was getting during my trip through South China and Japan.  Eating there made me realize how much I actually missed American food. I never thought I would say it, but yeah, I miss it.

A Japanese, a few Kiwis, a Scotswoman, and some Canucks talking about differences in the English language.

 

Joyce and I at a coffee house.

After walking around at night, this steamy cap hit the spot.

Yokohama

I wasted a lot of time traveling the day I planned to leave Takayama.  Forgot my camera at the train station and had to turn back.  I lost 4 hours of travel time.  I had no definite plan of where I was going, which is both a blessing and a curse when backpacking.  All I know was that I had to get towards Tokyo or somewhere close to it. 

That's when I remembered my old iaido sensei back at UBC telling me Yokohama was a great international city.  It also happened to be a sister city of my native Vancouver.  I blitzed towards the place on the shinkansen. Once I got there and walked around at night, I fell in love with it.  It felt so much like Vancity.  Had a cheap dinner with local ale.

I got into town well after nightfall.

The next day, I rented a set of wheels and biked around town.  It wasn't terribly cold and once I got going it was totally fine. I hit a number of spots in just a few hours: the Mitsubishi Museum, Chinatown, Yokohama Harbour, and an area that resembled a cross between Yaletown in Vancouver and New Westminster Quay.

The variety of restaurants around Yokohama reminded me of home.  In Wuhan, there's not that much variety at all.  It's just local food and that's about it.  Not that it's a bad thing, but the Chinese love Chinese food.  (Correction: the Chinese of a certain region of China love their local food). But, in Yokohama, they love just about any flavor.  I was tempted to go into a Ukrainian restaurant for lunch, but settled for wonton soup in Chinatown (I was missing HK and Guangzhou at that moment).

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My ride

The Mitsubishi Museum is made for kids, but there's some pretty interesting stuff.  I had a very nice basic Japanese conversation with this orange robot.

Looking towards downtown Yokohama

Another Japanese Chinatown.  Tai gui le!

Takayama

I had some great outdoor adventures in the little town of Takayama - a small hamlet that looked over the Japanese Alps. It took a good to chunk of time just to get there, but it was well worth it.

I just scored. Found a free serve-yourself sake tasting cabinet.

The air in Takayama was cold and crisp.  The ground was covered in snow, and I sort of got there late in the day.  That didn't stop me from trekking up one of the nearby hills on foot.

I have to admit I do some pretty dumb ass things in nature when I'm alone.  At the trail head just before this picture of me in the snow, I saw warning signs not to continue on the path because it was slippery and snowed in. They were in Japanese and I can't read Japanese, but it was pretty obvious.  I continued on after seeing hundreds of footprints in the snow going past the sign.

Hiking around Takayama was refreshing.  Before this, most of my walking had been urban walks (from Guangzhou up to this point in my journeys, save Miyajima).  Ran into a guy with a group of dogs, but aside from that, the walk was just me, snow, and clean air.

After coming down the hill, I stopped at the local library to check my email.  I was very impressed by the library and wanted to take pictures inside of it to show my mom (who is a teacher librarian), but the librarian told me not to take pics. 

I asked where I could get some good food, and the staff told me to get some Hida gyu, which had meat quality standards similar to that in Kobe.  So I stopped at one place on the major road that ran through town to get a Hida beef noodle bowl.

I was craving a Guinness.  After a somewhat unsuccessful search for an Irish pub (I found one and the lights were on, but it was closed), I went back to my hotel and soaked myself in their external rooftop onsen. It was a clean and beautiful onsen and no one was around.  The snow came down slowly like powered sugar. I had the onsen all to myself for an hour and a half.  The only bad part was that I forgot my towel in my room.  I walked back soaking wet, but felt like a million bucks!

Hida Gyu dinner

This one's for my mom.  Buen Camino!