Day Two: Having been asleep by 10 the night before, getting up early was no problem. We needed to be out sharpish to beat the crowds at the Topkapi Palace. This was the home of the all-powerful Ottoman Sultans for most of the history of that incredibly wealthy empire, and is quite something. It’s not so different to Mughal palaces- layout, architecture and so on. Although the walls are somewhat thicker, and they need impressive fireplaces here in European Turkey! The Harem was home to the Royal Family (not just a place for scantily clad women to hang out, much to my disappointment). They had eunuchs to look after them, some of whom rose to prominent ranks. The Ottomans had a complex system of concubines, whereby beautiful girls were requisitioned from all over the expanding empire ... read more

Last year's trip to Suzuka for the bike race was a wet business. This year, it was marginally overcast but dry. There were also a thousand cyclists in the our race- up about 600 on last year! For those not famililar with the format, you have an hour, and have to go as fast and hard as you can until the time runs out. The first run at this was a way of currying paternal-in-law favour, but it turned out to be quite fun. So, armed with the knowledge of what it was like and a general need to exercise, I agreed to do it again, and spent a few months before scooting around on the bike to get ready. As a sort of last hurrah, all of the 'eligible boys' all took part- Papa, Katchan ... read more

So, I find myself at the unemployed end of three years (and one week) of teaching English in Japan. It seems fitting to cast an eye on the whole experience. What's it like? What does it look like? Who do you work with? How are the students? Prepare to be enlightened, (perchance) entertained and generally disuninformed. Who did you work for? I worked for ECC, one of the biggest companies, and from what I can gather, it's the best of the big ones to work for. The money is decent enough for the work you do, the hours are pretty short and you get lots of holidays (including bank holidays, which Japan has in tropical abundance). You get well looked after by Personnel, who do a brilliant job of bridging the cultural gap between a big, ... read more

Me again. Apologies for the profusion of words and pictures. I hope you'll agree, though, the photos at least are worth the time... We’re slowly ticking off ‘must-see’ places in Japan. This one is…Koya-san, an area of some beauty, relevance and reverence on the top of a mountain in Wakayama Prefecture. It was established in 816 by Kobadaishi, a Japanese fellow who studied Buddhism in China and subsequently brought it back. Since then, Koya-san has developed into perhaps the pre-eminent Buddhist site in the country. There are hundreds of temples and shrines, and other than a few bits, appears relatively untouched by the modernity and industrialisation that blights/lights the rest of Japan. It’s an incredibly tranquil place. To get there, it takes about 90 minutes by fast train from Osaka, followed by a cable car on ... read more

One of the biggest drawcards in Osaka is Universal Studios Japan. Theme parks are big business/super-popular here, and USJ is the biggest and best in the area. I've been bah-humbugging the idea of going for ages, but finally bit the bullet after concerted urging and promises of 'it's fun' from Mitsu. As usual, 'her indoors' was right. I was blown away by the detail of the place, they really did a proper job when they designed and built it. There are a number of specific areas like Amity (Jaws), Jurassic Park and so on, but the main park itself is more like 1930s New York- complete with realistic shop and restaurant windows. All that's missing are the crime, filth and traffic, hehe. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), the restaurants are fully working models. ... read more