Blogs from Japan, Asia - page 790

I made the trip to Sendai to the Immigration Bureau to get my re-entry permit- a little stamp that alows me to leave and re-enter the country with my visa so I'm not stranded in South Korea next week. Little did I know, my trip coincided with the large Tanabata festival which Sendai in particular, is famous for. Tanabata means "Seven Evenings" and is a Japanese star festival right before Obon holiday week (next week). It celebrates the meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi. The Milky Way symbolizes a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separated these two lovers, and they were allowed to meet only once a year. One of the rituals of the festival sees Japanese people write wishes or poetry on small pieces of paper that are hung on bamboo poles with ... read more

06/08/06 Oh, golly, Tanabata and Fireworks. I woke up this morning in Anjo (I live in Okazaki) feeling a sensation very oddly like what I imagine the morning after a one night stand would feel like. Maybe that was from the mix of copious (and I do mean copious) amounts of grease and chocolate, stupidity, and lack of sleep the night before. I haven’t hung out with drunk people in a while. I think that there really is a “drunk by osmosis” or “second-hand drunk” phenomenon. But more of that later. First and foremost, I had a great time at the festival!! Tanabata is actually based on something Chinese, I think. In July each year two stars cross paths, and there are supposed to be a prince and a princess. Anyway, on that day, children write ... read more

Disneyland was amazing! I loved it! It was so colourful and clean - there were even cleaners cleaning the surfaces of and in between the rubbish bins! Being school holidays it was, of course, packed! That didn’t stop us, however, from going on as many rides as possible! Using our entry ticket, we could gain ‘fast passes’ to the most popular rides. This meant we could come back between certain times and only have a 5-10 minute line up, instead 60-90 minute. The rides were better than I expected - the fast rollercoaster ones were definitely my favourite! Splash Mountain was also great, similar to the Log Ride at Dreamworld but 100 times better! When we were in total darkness, the ride dropped - of course we were laughing hysterically the whole time! We were a ... read more

Between arriving in Japan (more specifically Tokyo) and writing this blog both a lot of time has past and a hell of lot of things have happened - however, I think I am starting it just in time to catch it all before it gets lost to my ever dissolving memory I'll start off with a little on Tokyo, and although I spent only 2 days there and was a bit brain dead for the most of it, it was an all around wicked city to enter Japan through. As cities go it is pretty cool and having never been to one of those scyscraper style, billion storie building places I found it all pretty impressive - an incredibly clean and quiet city that is not exactly cosmopolitan by London standards but has a colourful mix ... read more

Konnichi wa! I hope you aren’t all getting sick of receiving e-mails saying that I have created another entry on this goofy blog. For those of you who are tired of reading my ramblings, feel free to do what my brother does and simply scroll through the pictures! For the few of you who have the energy and time to be listen to my latest adventures, please enjoy. Last weekend I contemplated sleeping in for the first time since being here but I resisted that urge and instead got up on Saturday morning to see another area of Tokyo. I jumped on the local train and headed into the Akihabara district of the city. The area is known as “Electronic Town” because it is home to blocks and blocks of massive department stores that have floor ... read more