Blogs from Hyogo, Japan, Asia
January 1st 2012
January 1st we left Osaka and headed for the port city of Kobe, only 25 minutes away from Osaka. We were slightly concerned that nothing would be open, it being both a Sunday and New Year's Day, but when we arrived mid-morning, Kobe was buzzing with people celebrating Hatsumōde - the first visit to a temple or shrine of the year (which is quite a big event). Lucky for us, our hotel was right next to the beautiful Ikuta Shrine. The road leading up to this Shrine was full of food stalls - from takoyaki (octopus dumplings) and grilled tentacles on sticks, to candy floss, boiled whelks and mochi (sweet glutinous rice balls). We joined in with the throngs, headed to the Shrine and queued up for a New year's random fortune paper, called omikuji.You shake ... read more
November 22nd 2011
So we're sitting here, wearing our cotton yukata robes, in our rice paper-walled, tatami mat-floored room, having just eaten a 6 course traditional Japanese dinner and bathed in hot springs with water famed across Japanese for its healing mineral properties and things are generally Pretty. Awesome. Rewind! We forgot to tell you, when we got back to our room in Kyoto there was a letter stuck to our door from the owner, addressed 'Dear Tess-san and Aisha-san'. That morning, we'd let the front desk know there was a minor issue with our room (but no biggie). The letter was hugely apologetic for all inconvenience caused (? not really?) and please accept our gift of a bottle of plum wine. How nice is that! Anyway, this morning we checked out, happened across a rully good boulangerie (we're ... read more
October 4th 2011
Mama's Food Rocks! Eating at home in Japan is my favourite thing in the country. It still amazes me how Japan on the surface — out on the street, at work, in social spaces — is highly formal, ritualised, and in this sense Japanese culture looks miles away from where we're 'from'. Of course you have the obvious external differences in the construction and visual arts in general, as well as the bowing, and public demeanours...but when you sit at home with family, meals are just raucus, irreverent, and the only real differences are the language and menu. It's a real shame that this is something that is inaccessible unless you do a home stay. the same goes for anywhere, but the contrast between external and internal seems more marked to me in Japan than elsewhere. ... read more
August 7th 2011
Last Friday I handed my annual leave form to my supervisor, he gave me this strange look. Was he envious? surprised? I still can not tell what Japanese people are thinking sometimes... I'm lucky that in Japan I am a gaijin and don't need to feel guilty about taking day offs. So my two-week summer vacation has begun. Our first trip was to Kinosaki onsen. Where to go was really not a big issue for me. I was just overwhelmed with joy because it has been long since I last traveled. And because my yoga course and work had kept me in for quite a long time. If I can, perhaps in Japan many people do not have the privilege of doing so, I would never want to sacrifice traveling for money and career position. During ... read more
July 4th 2011
My journey started back to the main island again with a short jaunt on the ferry and then a train to Okayama in ridiculous heat. This did mean on reaching Okayama I was completely floored and didn't feel like doing anything at all. I felt quite miserable as I was only there for one night and felt like I should be making the most of every second but the thought of dragging a heavy bag around for hours was just soul destroying so I found a cafe and got a nice cold drink and some lunch.. One quick stop over and onto Kobe which is a very vibrant and quite attractive city overlooking the sea. There a quite a few fun and interesting sights in Kobe the first being Chinatown which was a bit crazy given ... read more
April 28th 2010
After Kyoto we headed to Hiroshima. It is far so we spilt the drive into 2 days. On the first day we stopped in a small town full of Onsens. An Onsen is a Japanese hot spring which is separated into male and female pools and where you bathe naked. They are very relaxing and I felt like a new woman after. Must be those healing minerals! Dana and I went to one beside a waterfall which gave off a cooling mist as you sat in the near boiling water. Before and after your soak you have to shower yourself, but to do so you sit on a little stool beside the bath. I obviously don’t have pictures of these, although Dana took a photo of the communal bath in our Tokyo capsule hotel. Afterwards we ... read more
December 14th 2009
5:46AM. Jan 17th, 1995 7.2 Richter scale earthquake. Kobe's annual Luminarie is a memorial to the loss suffered in the Kobe Earthquake. The festival runs every year in December for about 12 days. Pictures taken on Dec 14th, 2009. Text written Jan 17th, 2010. As natural disasters continue to hit us, our prayers go to those who were affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Namaste ... read more
December 12th 2009
by shinkansen from kyoto station about 1 hour we walked to the castel about 15 minutes the imposing castle is considered the best in Japan and it is really worth... read more
My own personal hell; Hyougo, the land of bakeries Part 2
Published: January 12th 2010Asia » Japan » Hyogo » Himeji
November 23rd 2009
Monday Nov. 23rd A trip in Japan wouldn't be complete without seeing a temple or castle, therefore today we headed 40 minutes away from Kobe to Himeji City to see a UNESCO World Heritage Site... Himeji Castle! And lucky for us, the weather was PERFECT! Blue sky, and warm weather.. not what I'm used to having in November. Himeji Castle looks like your typical white Japanese castle (but somehow it's still pretty). A few interesting things is that it was designed so that you have to spiral around the castle in order to get to the keep, so if you were an intruding force people within the keep could watch and fire upon the enemy from safety. The castle was full of hidden rooms and what not, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to go into them... ... read more
My own personal hell; Hyougo, the land of bakeries Part 1
Published: January 12th 2010Asia » Japan » Hyogo » Kobe
November 21st 2009
Let me just start off by saying that this trip almost didn't happen. The week prior to this I had the flu and was not allowed to leave my apartment until the Saturday that my trip was scheduled for. But if you know me, you know I wouldn't let some stupid flu keep me from doing what I want to do (especially considering I had already paid a truckload of money for my train tickets!) Saturday, November 21st Monday November 23rd was "Labour Thanksgiving Day" in Japan, so I took the opportunity (and 2 paid holidays) to travel to Hyougo Prefecture (South of Kyoto) to visit a friend. It being so far away from where I live (about 14 hours by bus) I decided to pay the money for shinkansen tickets and have a shorter and ... read more
