Blogs from Shimane, Japan, Asia
September 22nd 2010
Richard and I exchanged bemused glances. How had we arrived here, in a beauty salon at 9pm in rural japan, looking like a cross between a burns victim and a papier mache model? It had been an interesting, slightly surreal day...... A few days previously I had travelled from Nagasaki to Shiminoseki, where I had met David Brent, sorry, Richard off the ferry*. In an attempt to save money, Rich had bought a tent in China, and we planned to find camping spots wherever we could and work our way up the west coast of Honshu, before eventually arriving in Kyoto. After a night's camping in a park on the Shimoneseki hillside, we crawled our way through plunging gorges and windswept coastline up the JR rail network, arriving at a station just outside Matsue in the ... read more
April 11th 2009
The blog backlog is still on the backburner - in the meanwhile, here's some cherry blossom photos :-) まだ書いていないブログが多いですが、当分この島根県で撮った桜の写真をご覧下さい。 日本語でコメントしたい方、「Private Message」をクリックして下さい。... read more
February 22nd 2009
Time was running out. To be more precise, the snow was melting - a month earlier than usual. As it turned out, the three weeks I was enjoying summer back home turned out to be ideal snowboarding time, thanks to heavy snowfalls. The problem was, there was still something I wanted to try doing - I still hadn’t been snowboarding at night. So that’s how we came to be travelling down highway 9 in Shimane, heading for Mizuho Highland skifield. Even so, because it was the tailend of the season, it wasn’t confirmed until about 3pm on the day whether or not the night session would even go ahead. When we phoned the skifield and were told preparations for the night session were being made, all three of us started cheering. I wish I had been ... read more
October 20th 2008
We left Hiroshima and had to take the train north towards Hamada City to reach Tsuwano which is south of Hamada City. The journey there was on a train that was not Shinkansen but was still comfortable and the views from the train were spectacular. The journey was made through some beautiful mountainside and the colour of the scenery was wonderful. Tsuwano is a small town with a population of 9,000 people. It is known as little Kyoto in Japan with its beautiful feudal style buildings and castle situated on top of a mountain. It is also known for its Washi paper, Sake breweries and there local steam train that runs still once a day. We arrived in Tsuwano at 11:00am and went straight to the visitors Information office. The people in there are very helpful ... read more
September 16th 2008
"Was bus that just pulled out" quick gasp for air "going to Shichirui?" and another, I asked the group of 3 that were waiting at the Sakaiminato bus station. "No (in English)" one of them says , "That one leaves from over there (in Japanese)". I had pulled up in the carpark on the wharf side, and thinking the bus was due to leave at 8am I ran, only to see a blue and white bus ("the bus you need to get will probably be a blue and white one") pull out of the depot. After taking a few minutes to catch my breath I wandered over to the queue and started chatting to the afore-mentioned bearers of good news, who incidentally were waiting for the same bus. Who did I see later when I headed ... read more
August 25th 2008
jak pech to juz na calego! przyjechalam do Matsue, bo mialo to byc male, urokliwe miasteczko (140tys. ludzi- to jest male miasteczko, jak na japonskie warunki ;) ). Glowna atrakcja, to przepiekny zachod slonca za jeziorem i za gorami (w pierwszej trojce najpiekniejszych widokow w Japonii - oni tu chyba maja ranking na wszystko: najladniejsze widoki, sciezki, trasy pociagiem) Mialam zostac jeden dzien, bo ilez to mozna upajac sie widokiem zachodzacego slonca, jak sie jest samemu, a nie jest sie romantycznym poeta? jednak pierwszego dnia spoznilam sie na zachod ok 10 min! zawsze mnie zaskakuje, jak to slonce szybko zachodzi (rege, pamietasz poscig za sloncem na Krymie?). zatem decyzja: zostaje na 2 noce. Ale nie tylko na zachod slonca sie spoznilam, bo na ostatni autobus do hostelu tez, wiec "nocleg" w Internet cafe (jeszcze nigdy mnie ... read more
August 24th 2008
jestem w matsue- albo to ja juz oszalalam, albo kazdy poza mna! moze za dlugo bylam w wielkich miastach, ale ci ludzi tutaj sa ...dziwni! po pierwsze zagaduja! ale poza tym jeden sie caly czas smieje, drugi caly czas sie drapie, ktos inny podspiewuje, jakas pani cieszy sie ze mowi do mnie angielsku (a powtarza tylko: what time is it?) dziecko dalo mi japonskiego cukierka, to ja go czestuje polska czekolada, a tu nagle wszyscy ludzie, ktorzy stali na przystanku poprosili o czekolade. pytam sie, czy do hostelu dojade tym autobusem, oni sie smieja! autobus przyjezdza, wszyscy do niego wchodza i wpychaja mnie do niego krzyczac: kono basu! (ten autobus) wsiadam, wysiadam jak mi karza. i pytam sie co teraz, jak dojde do hostelu, a pani mi pokazuje, ze nastepny autobus jest o 7:16. super! zyczy ... read more
April 13th 2008
Actually, there was more than a pot - way more. Discovered in 1526, at the peak of its production around the early 17th century one third of the world's silver came from the Iwami mines. Many of the technologies and methods used here spread to other parts of Asia. One of the mine shafts is open to the public, the many others are closed off with grates at the entrance. Getting into those would be one way to not be found in a hurry... 500 sounds like a pretty good number - Gohyakurakan Created to commerate those who had died working in the mines, the initial plan was to create 16 stone arhat/rakan (Buddhas), but the idea grew and despite problems raising the funds eventually it was settled that there should be 500. These aren't 500 ... read more
March 20th 2008
I've been thinking a lot about Bill Murray lately. Most of the time, its in regards to his role in Lost in Translation. But more recently, it has to do with Groundhog Day, and his colorful yet repetitious mornings. As I rise with the sun and ride to work, I pass the same cute silver haired woman right at the top of the bridge, riding with her garden tools in the front basket. I then cut past the same students riding nonchalantly in groups of twos or threes, and as I turn onto a farm road, to my left, the same truck pulls into the drive of a house having an addition built on, and an old man opens his door as I pass. I then cycle through the Yokohama factory complex which is playing the ... read more
March 19th 2008
Here it is, my last 'Ode To The Snow' blog entry for this winter. Winter has technically been over for at least a couple of weeks now, and though a few stubborn piles of white gold can still be seen without venturing out of the neighbourhood, I've finally admitted to myself that until next winter there will be no more snowboarding :-( There, I've said it, it didn't hurt too bad. The end was nigh...... - I could almost use the back stairs, for their intended purpose that is. No more board descents into the row of trees. - The pile of snow that used to be my carpark (meanwhile I 'found' another one by the main driveway which didn't require the same amount of shovelling) had hardened due to the lack of fresh snow, so ... read more
