Well, after 29 hours of subways, airports, planes and taxis, we've made it to paradise. Thanks to our good judgment and the enthusiastic advice our very good friend Greg Fenske, we arived in Mumbai and immediately fled by plane to Goa where a beachfront shack awaited us. Not that we could reserve one of course (we're in India now after all). But our good fortune continues as we met veteran travellor Sue from Britain after our flight to Mumbai and shared the ordeal of going from the International airport to the Domestic airport by way of the "free" shuttle service. Now the shuttle is free, it just took 2 hours to get on it for a 15 minute drive. Fortunately, we arrived around midntight and our flight to Goa was leaving at 4:55am. So we banded together with Sue as she was headed back to our destination of Arambol, having just been there 2 weeks ago and returning to meet friends. This worked out exceptionally well for us as we were in little shape to navigate pre paid taxis and the raw culture shock of a one hour drive from the airport in Goa to the promise of a beach side hut we had no reservation for. The one hour drive was intense (you definitely know you're in India when you get on the roads here) but we just focussed on all advice Sue was giving us en route and followed the instructions Greg had generously provided us. On arriving in Arambol all unfolded according to plan and they'd just opened up the huts Greg had recommended the day before so we picked one right on the beach with it's own bathroom that wasn't too close to the chaos of town but a very easy 5 minute walk to it. Again we sent up prayers to our paton saint Greg Fenske for delivering us to this promised land. Our hut also came with friendly neighbours from Colorado who are travelling with their 2 daughters (aged ~2&4). They've been in India for a while and on hearing where we'd come from proclaimed "What a great soft landing in India". Apparently, everywhere else is far more intense, chaotic and confronting. Uh huh.
So here we are in Arambol, a Northern beach of Goa (Goa's a state in Indai that was once a Portugese colony), where we blend in seemlessly with all the other tourists that the locals are determined to separate money from. The upside of this is that Arambol is set up to cater to all our Western needs and after 2 months of being on the fringe of Japanese society, this place is idyllic and right now I'm hard pressed to think of why we'd leave!
I wrote this post while sitting on the deck of our beach hut, listening to the sound of surf, watching the cows roam down the beach while I quietly sweated through the heat of the day in the shade with the salt of the ocean on my skin from my morning swim in the warm ocean and powdery sand on the soles of my feet. Our only goal since arriving has been to do as little as possible until we adjust to the climate and the 4 hour time difference. We haven't spent more than $5 Cdn on a meal with beer and we're eating like kings.
Last night we managed to build up enough energy to make to "Magic Park", and danced with some expat hippies after a scrumptous vegetarian buffet.
If you were kind enough to donate to the travel fund of our wedding, you can rest assured it is being very well spent!
Signing off from a sweaty little internet cafe in Arambol! Yay honeymoon!!!!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sayonara...Top things Japan will be missed for
Its true..we are sitting in the airport awaiting our long flight to Bangkok and then Mumbai and then Goa..and finally Aranbol. We anticipate a min of 24 hrs travel! Yikes. Things we are sad to say goodbye to..
1. Onsens!! No explanation needed.
2. Heated toilet seats, heated bidets, getting a kick out of the modesty "flush" button.. used for discreet toliet experiences, automatic lid lifter, automatic flush, classical music option while going...
3. Friendly and helpful people..
4. Onigiri, sushi, soba, tempura, asahi, unadon and all the weird and wonderful foods..
5. Efficiency
6. Contradiction and paradox is rampant in the country... it can be endearing and sooooo frustrating!
Well we are outta time, we will catch you all from the beaches of goa where we plan to chill out for a couple of weeks with plenty of time to update you all on our travels!
So long sushi, hello curry.
1. Onsens!! No explanation needed.
2. Heated toilet seats, heated bidets, getting a kick out of the modesty "flush" button.. used for discreet toliet experiences, automatic lid lifter, automatic flush, classical music option while going...
3. Friendly and helpful people..
4. Onigiri, sushi, soba, tempura, asahi, unadon and all the weird and wonderful foods..
5. Efficiency
6. Contradiction and paradox is rampant in the country... it can be endearing and sooooo frustrating!
Well we are outta time, we will catch you all from the beaches of goa where we plan to chill out for a couple of weeks with plenty of time to update you all on our travels!
So long sushi, hello curry.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Kicking it Kyoto Style
Kyoto is now one of my all time fav cities.
We started off a little shaky.. we had a very hard time finding accomodation in Kyoto, as it is one of the peak seasons because of the leaves changing colours. I called many places.. all full.. and full... and even with the help from the kind gals at our hostel in Hiroshima who spoke Japanese we got turned down at one place because the owners were concerned about our lack of Japanese (or as they put it, because they couldn't give us the attention we needed).. and then we got a break at the Bon Guesthouse.. and they thought they could only accomodate us for 2 nights (it all worked out and we stayed 5)...off to Kyoto.
We confirmed our suspicion on this overnight bus trip.We have discovered that gaijin:s get sent to the back of the bus!! At least these gaijin. Every overnight bus trip, or even a long bus trip we have done we have been seated in the last row of the bus (despite it not being full). even when we have Japanese people book our ticket!! Well the trip from Hiroshima to Kyoto was particularly uncomfortable! which meant arriving in Kyoto at 6am feeling slightly strung out! However, the sun eventually came up and we killed some time on the river Kamo before heading to our guesthouse.
We decided to take it easy on our first day, massages, onsen.. and good food. Now we were prepared to take on Kyoto. The city is magical and mysterious.. it is the spiritual mecca of Japan, and wonderful mix of Hip Urban, Buddhist, Shinto, Samauri, Geisha, Japanese tourist, Gaijin tourist, locals and expats.... there is something for everyone.
We did a walking tour with Johnnie Hillwalker.. (must be in his 70's and doing this for years) he gave us the low down on the history of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan and Kyoto, the history of pottery, mala beads, fans,sweets, tatami matt makers and other industry in Kyoto, aka..Japanese families working out of their homes for generations.... and how that is all changing,Geisha and so much more.
We explored on bikes.. and discovered beautiful temples and gardens.. shops.. canals..restaurants. We hooked up with couchsurfers and danced (well not really) to a Japanese band playing video game music, wearing taped masks, one guy fully naked rocking to a crowd of animae clad japanese youngsters (CRAZY).We spotted Geisha, saw lit up temples...went to a Zen meditation..ate green tea ice cream, went to a crazy craft market at a temple..... and so much more. I look forward to my next visit and I have only been gone a day!!
We started off a little shaky.. we had a very hard time finding accomodation in Kyoto, as it is one of the peak seasons because of the leaves changing colours. I called many places.. all full.. and full... and even with the help from the kind gals at our hostel in Hiroshima who spoke Japanese we got turned down at one place because the owners were concerned about our lack of Japanese (or as they put it, because they couldn't give us the attention we needed).. and then we got a break at the Bon Guesthouse.. and they thought they could only accomodate us for 2 nights (it all worked out and we stayed 5)...off to Kyoto.
We confirmed our suspicion on this overnight bus trip.We have discovered that gaijin:s get sent to the back of the bus!! At least these gaijin. Every overnight bus trip, or even a long bus trip we have done we have been seated in the last row of the bus (despite it not being full). even when we have Japanese people book our ticket!! Well the trip from Hiroshima to Kyoto was particularly uncomfortable! which meant arriving in Kyoto at 6am feeling slightly strung out! However, the sun eventually came up and we killed some time on the river Kamo before heading to our guesthouse.
We decided to take it easy on our first day, massages, onsen.. and good food. Now we were prepared to take on Kyoto. The city is magical and mysterious.. it is the spiritual mecca of Japan, and wonderful mix of Hip Urban, Buddhist, Shinto, Samauri, Geisha, Japanese tourist, Gaijin tourist, locals and expats.... there is something for everyone.
We did a walking tour with Johnnie Hillwalker.. (must be in his 70's and doing this for years) he gave us the low down on the history of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan and Kyoto, the history of pottery, mala beads, fans,sweets, tatami matt makers and other industry in Kyoto, aka..Japanese families working out of their homes for generations.... and how that is all changing,Geisha and so much more.
We explored on bikes.. and discovered beautiful temples and gardens.. shops.. canals..restaurants. We hooked up with couchsurfers and danced (well not really) to a Japanese band playing video game music, wearing taped masks, one guy fully naked rocking to a crowd of animae clad japanese youngsters (CRAZY).We spotted Geisha, saw lit up temples...went to a Zen meditation..ate green tea ice cream, went to a crazy craft market at a temple..... and so much more. I look forward to my next visit and I have only been gone a day!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Kenji & Sachiyo
The campsite on Miyajima Island is very sad. It's very large with many tenting spots and all of them are empty except for the very tame deer that wander all over the island. They are so tame that one almost bit through Mere's pack during an unguarded moment, trying to get at our mandarin oranges (which we've been eating constantly since we got here). Fortunately, we intervened in time to save Mere's brand new pack from permanent damage and from Brad doing permanent damage to a protected deer.
But the campsite isn't sad because of the deer or that it's too cold for anyone else to want to camp here at this time of year. The campsite is sad because we've just said good-bye to Kenji & Sachiyo who drove us here 3 hours South of their home near Okayama earlier that day.
Kenji teaches high school English and to improve his skills, lived in Victoria for a year. He's also a fantastic taiko player who played with us in Uminari Taiko although he hasn't had time or motive to play since returning from his time in Canada. That's where I first met him and he's one of my main reasons for wanting to come to Japan to visit him and his lovely wife Sachiyo who also lived in Victoria for 6 months.
Kenji had wanted us to come to Okayama on that particular weekend so he could take us to taiko concert and show us around since they both work crazy hours during the week. When we arrived, we felt very grateful to enjoy their (by Japanese standards) spacious apartment in an interesting area sort of between a rural and urban area. The district they live in is called Hayashima and to celebrate its 420th birthday 6 different taiko groups would be performing in the auditorium.of their community centre. Mere & I were the only non-Japanese in the packed theatre so I was very excited to get to see 4 hours of pure 100% undiluted homegrown Japanese taiko. Mere & Sachiyo started falling asleep about half way through the show as the soothing vibrations of the drums bombarded the room and started lulling them to sleep. Meanwhile, I was on the edge of my seat, savouring this taiko buffet which started with a local kids group demonstrating some impressive skills. The next highlight were 3 women of another local group who just ripped it up, passing solos back and forth between each other playing overtop these driving swing beats that left me in awe and mouth breathing by the end of their set. Then some friends Kenji used to play with took the stage as Fujin taiko showed just how 3 people can leave an audience breathless from flawless fue (a Japanese flute) and incredibly strong, relentless energy. They immaculately performed some very difficult pieces that clearly demonstrated years of continous practice. Another highlight followed their set as suddenly 4 demons came into the audience from the exits banging drums, shaking rattles, waving staffs and giving children in the audience nightmares for years to come. However, demons (aka Oni, pronounced oh-knee) arent't considered all that bad here in Japan so once the screaming children had been removed or medicated, they took the stage and were joined by 8 other fully masked & costumed demons. Now, having worn an Oni mask on stage myself once or twice, I'm blown away by how many of them are in cosutme because I know how smoking hot it is inside them, especially under stage lighting. So I spent most of their set thinking...okay, when are they going to take those masks off and end their suffering?...Well, they don't. They pull out an entire mind blowing half hour set in full regalia which created such an other worldly experience it's hard to describe. But after watching them for a while it really seemed like there was this big pack of hairy demons rocking out on stage. It was so cool and something I'd never seen anything like before (with or without drugs). Sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show or I'd let them do the talking.
Kenji's sister & brother-in-law run a very fine tempura restaurant in Okayama so our visit kept getting better as we woke up Mere & Sachiyo after the grand finale of all the groups playing together. We had by far best tempura I've ever had. Kenhi's sister served us herself and brought course after course of exquisitely made delicacies we washed down with beer and sake. I didn't think you could do much with deep frying veggies and seafood , but man was I proven wrong. The Japanese word for delicious is 'Oichi'!
We were also very happy to meet the parents of Kenji & Sachiyo. Kenji's Mom sewed up a huge tear in one of my few pairs of pants and his Dad (who'd been a monk before retiring) showed us a dvd over a very fine lunch of the ceremony where Kenji's brother took over the temple he'd built.
On our way out of town to Miyajima, Sachiyo's Mom & Dad were kind enough to print off some cheap bus tickets Kenji & Sachiyo helped us find on-line since we can't read the language here. We arrived at Kenji's with unclear plans for the remainder of our time in Japan and they were golden in helping us sort out our last few weeks in Japan.
Since they hadn't been to our next destination before (Miyajima Island, renowned for it's floating temple and being "One of Japan's 3 most scenic places to visit"), they offered to drive us down to it on Sunday since the tolls on the highways are cheaper and we could enjoy a short road trip together. They said they loved being reminded of their time in Canada having us around too.
We had some good conversations on the drive down and more fun times on Miyajima, taking a short boat ride through the shine gate out on the water and exploring the floating temple which was very cool.
So it was a bittersweet, sad farewell at the empty Miyajima campsite that afternoon to this lovely couple that took us in and in typical Japanese fashion, gave us far more than we could give them.
Mere and I hiked to the top of Miyajima the next day for a memorable 360 view but it paled in comparison to our memories of spending time with good friends!
But the campsite isn't sad because of the deer or that it's too cold for anyone else to want to camp here at this time of year. The campsite is sad because we've just said good-bye to Kenji & Sachiyo who drove us here 3 hours South of their home near Okayama earlier that day.
Kenji teaches high school English and to improve his skills, lived in Victoria for a year. He's also a fantastic taiko player who played with us in Uminari Taiko although he hasn't had time or motive to play since returning from his time in Canada. That's where I first met him and he's one of my main reasons for wanting to come to Japan to visit him and his lovely wife Sachiyo who also lived in Victoria for 6 months.
Kenji had wanted us to come to Okayama on that particular weekend so he could take us to taiko concert and show us around since they both work crazy hours during the week. When we arrived, we felt very grateful to enjoy their (by Japanese standards) spacious apartment in an interesting area sort of between a rural and urban area. The district they live in is called Hayashima and to celebrate its 420th birthday 6 different taiko groups would be performing in the auditorium.of their community centre. Mere & I were the only non-Japanese in the packed theatre so I was very excited to get to see 4 hours of pure 100% undiluted homegrown Japanese taiko. Mere & Sachiyo started falling asleep about half way through the show as the soothing vibrations of the drums bombarded the room and started lulling them to sleep. Meanwhile, I was on the edge of my seat, savouring this taiko buffet which started with a local kids group demonstrating some impressive skills. The next highlight were 3 women of another local group who just ripped it up, passing solos back and forth between each other playing overtop these driving swing beats that left me in awe and mouth breathing by the end of their set. Then some friends Kenji used to play with took the stage as Fujin taiko showed just how 3 people can leave an audience breathless from flawless fue (a Japanese flute) and incredibly strong, relentless energy. They immaculately performed some very difficult pieces that clearly demonstrated years of continous practice. Another highlight followed their set as suddenly 4 demons came into the audience from the exits banging drums, shaking rattles, waving staffs and giving children in the audience nightmares for years to come. However, demons (aka Oni, pronounced oh-knee) arent't considered all that bad here in Japan so once the screaming children had been removed or medicated, they took the stage and were joined by 8 other fully masked & costumed demons. Now, having worn an Oni mask on stage myself once or twice, I'm blown away by how many of them are in cosutme because I know how smoking hot it is inside them, especially under stage lighting. So I spent most of their set thinking...okay, when are they going to take those masks off and end their suffering?...Well, they don't. They pull out an entire mind blowing half hour set in full regalia which created such an other worldly experience it's hard to describe. But after watching them for a while it really seemed like there was this big pack of hairy demons rocking out on stage. It was so cool and something I'd never seen anything like before (with or without drugs). Sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show or I'd let them do the talking.
Kenji's sister & brother-in-law run a very fine tempura restaurant in Okayama so our visit kept getting better as we woke up Mere & Sachiyo after the grand finale of all the groups playing together. We had by far best tempura I've ever had. Kenhi's sister served us herself and brought course after course of exquisitely made delicacies we washed down with beer and sake. I didn't think you could do much with deep frying veggies and seafood , but man was I proven wrong. The Japanese word for delicious is 'Oichi'!
We were also very happy to meet the parents of Kenji & Sachiyo. Kenji's Mom sewed up a huge tear in one of my few pairs of pants and his Dad (who'd been a monk before retiring) showed us a dvd over a very fine lunch of the ceremony where Kenji's brother took over the temple he'd built.
On our way out of town to Miyajima, Sachiyo's Mom & Dad were kind enough to print off some cheap bus tickets Kenji & Sachiyo helped us find on-line since we can't read the language here. We arrived at Kenji's with unclear plans for the remainder of our time in Japan and they were golden in helping us sort out our last few weeks in Japan.
Since they hadn't been to our next destination before (Miyajima Island, renowned for it's floating temple and being "One of Japan's 3 most scenic places to visit"), they offered to drive us down to it on Sunday since the tolls on the highways are cheaper and we could enjoy a short road trip together. They said they loved being reminded of their time in Canada having us around too.
We had some good conversations on the drive down and more fun times on Miyajima, taking a short boat ride through the shine gate out on the water and exploring the floating temple which was very cool.
So it was a bittersweet, sad farewell at the empty Miyajima campsite that afternoon to this lovely couple that took us in and in typical Japanese fashion, gave us far more than we could give them.
Mere and I hiked to the top of Miyajima the next day for a memorable 360 view but it paled in comparison to our memories of spending time with good friends!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
BC Ferries Missed the Boat...
After escaping Tokyo after our arrival we headed North to the island of Hokkaido at the top of Japan. To save money since we didn't get a train pass and from years of conditioning from taking BC Ferries to get off Vanouver Island, we took an 18 hour overnight ferry which cost only ~$90 Cdn each (which is cheap by Jpn. standards). So we got on board and set up in 2nd class room on these fold out futons we'd booked for ourselves and 15 other new friends (none of whom spoke English but boy do they smile politely) we'd be sleeping with that night. After exploring the ship we made 2 major discoveries we will be lobbying for on BC Ferries upon our return. Please note there was no additional costs for these features:
1. HEATED BIDETS - a joy for any anus. If you thought Mere or I took a long time on the john before, imagine what happens when you introduce heated seats & the option of a warm pulsing sensation where the sun never shines!
2. PUBLIC BATHES - although we had to split up (men & women are separated to maximize the relaxation), we spent at least 2 hours of our trip in the most civilized and luxurious way possible...in a bathtub built for 20...literally. Steaming hot water continously pouring into a crystal clear pool of water as you watch any new comers take a cleansing shower before they get in. Also on hand was a steam sauna for those wanting some variation and to maximize your time in the bath, a cold pool was close at hand for when you got too hot. I slipped into Nirvana and stared through the picturesque windows looking out over the Pacific Ocean as we made our way North along the Eastern coast of Japan. Sweat soon lightly glistened on my brow as I thought of all our friends and loved ones on the other side of the ocean, working away, dreaming of experiences like the one I was thoroughly enjoying.
So next time you have to a BC Ferry, imagine yourself clean, naked, floating and relaxed in soothing pool of warm water watching the waves go by. Needless to say, we'll be counting on your support once we get a petition for BC Ferries set up.
1. HEATED BIDETS - a joy for any anus. If you thought Mere or I took a long time on the john before, imagine what happens when you introduce heated seats & the option of a warm pulsing sensation where the sun never shines!
So next time you have to a BC Ferry, imagine yourself clean, naked, floating and relaxed in soothing pool of warm water watching the waves go by. Needless to say, we'll be counting on your support once we get a petition for BC Ferries set up.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Chilled out chaos on Sado Island
Well folks, we have just spent an amazing week on Sado Island...We stayed with Naryo-san, her 3 beautiful children- Noto (2), Rin (4), Foo (7), Ellen another woofer from Canada, her son Marcus (8), 13 sneezy devilish cats, 1 crazy dog and the two of us!! Naryo has a very large,old style home nestled into the mountains of Sado amongst rice fields and bamboo forrests. We tried our hand at cultivating rice, a little challenging given the "natural" state of Naryos rice field (kinda like our back yard used to be!)
Sado is also the home of the legendary Kodo Taiko group.I had my very first Taiko lesson with one of their members..now I really understand why Brad loves it so much. The following day we checked out a fall festival the drum center was hosting... I was in complete awe of the apprentices that played. I have never seen Kodo perform so I cant compare it to anything but it was mind blowing!!
The snow seems to be following us and it got very cold... so we have headed south. We stayed in Osaka last night and hooked up with Jeremy, a friend of Ken Tuppers. We drank lots of beer and ate great food...paying for it today! Headed to Okayama to stay with a friend of Brads for a couple of days and then who knows.....
Sado is also the home of the legendary Kodo Taiko group.I had my very first Taiko lesson with one of their members..now I really understand why Brad loves it so much. The following day we checked out a fall festival the drum center was hosting... I was in complete awe of the apprentices that played. I have never seen Kodo perform so I cant compare it to anything but it was mind blowing!!
The snow seems to be following us and it got very cold... so we have headed south. We stayed in Osaka last night and hooked up with Jeremy, a friend of Ken Tuppers. We drank lots of beer and ate great food...paying for it today! Headed to Okayama to stay with a friend of Brads for a couple of days and then who knows.....
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