Bondi Beach - tick! Opera House and bridge - tick! Meat pie - tick! 'Roos, emus, possums and koalas all ticked as well; it's a photo checklist out here. No spiders yet though; if I find a redback in my clothes before putting them on I'll try and get a picture for you. That is if I remember to shake my clothes at all... Sarah: "...just hold your trousers out and shake them out before putting them on." Mart: "Oh, I haven't been doing that." Merryn (motioning): "And your shoes, just up-end your shoes and give them a shake before [View Full Entry]

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Oguni All I had was a name and a phone number given to me by Yukari in Hiroshima. I did not book the accommodation myself and I didn't give any credit card details, so the whole thing was being done on word. And I don't even know what they look like, but since I am likely to be the only Westerner with a backpack hanging around the bus station it should work out fine. I'd said I wanted to visit Kyūshū to get away from the cities and because it was a good 10 degrees warmer than the opposite end [View Full Entry]

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I know there's an odd-one out in that title, as 'Sword' isn't in the phonetic alphabet (should be Sierra). I'll explain why it's there down below. Another thing always interested me about the Japanese was their capacity for improving something, or practising something to perfection, regardless of how long it takes (or whether what they're doing is even commercially viable). There was something of that attitude on display in that Kyudo session a couple of entries ago and I am curious about a country in which you can get Dan (master) grades just like in martial arts, but for I [View Full Entry]

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My cousin Alison lives in Shanghai now, with her husband Piers and their new 4-month old, Ruby. I haven't seen her in more than 5 years and since I was in the vicinity it seemed like the ideal opportunity. So after emails from Alison with some paperwork and two trips to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, bingo: a visa. The flight is just over 2 hours and I landed at the new airport East of the river in the new Pudong district. I know nothing about China, so everything you read here comes I learned from Al, Piers and the [View Full Entry]

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I think I figured out the bath thing: I need to take my shaving gear in. The 10 minutes it takes gives me time to cool down before the next dip. I must also be doing something else right if when I walk in a guy nods at me (now just wait a second before you get the wrong idea there!), gives me a big smile to say hello, and after I've been washing a while grunts and smiles again, gesturing to the bath, trying to tell me that's enough and I can go in the water now. Population, Earthquakes, [View Full Entry]

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Politeness and the culture clash I've been a sucker for all things Japanese since I was at school. The TV broadcast James Clavell's Shogun and Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha in rapid succession and I was rather taken with the place. So I am a little disappointed in myself that it took so long to come here. I think I know why this is though. To a large extent, writing about Tokyo or Japan is easy: without fail, all travel writers point out how a westerner's first few days in Japan are thoroughly alien, dislocated and bewildering and Sofia Coppola's Lost in [View Full Entry]

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It's like the End of the World (again) It seems I was worth a shout on the radio: "HEY! I just picked up a tourist, from SCOTLAND!". That was Sheila, owner and chief driver for Mr. Kab in Unalaska and Dutch Harbor, and also my guide for the afternoon. She's not cheap, nothing is in Alaska because of the cost of importing everything northwards. But whilst the rest of Alaska was expensive compared to the Lower 48, Unalaska is expensive like Norway. I hired her for 2 hours, but she was happy for me to stay another 2 after that [View Full Entry]

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The Inside Passage to Juneau No map this time, too fiddly. More slow travel though: The M/V Malaspinaferry from Bellingham in Washington state takes two and a half days to navigate up the inside passage to Juneau, the state capital of Alaska. The South-East, they also call it the panhandle, is mostly blue sea, grey cloud and green trees. This far South, even in mid-winter, I'm told the average temperature is above freezing. But being coastal it's a damp cold, so it's just like Scotland, which is almost on the same latitude. I've learned such a lot whilst [View Full Entry]

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Things to do in Winnipeg... I'm afraid to say there wasn't much to report on Winnipeg. I wanted to like it, but it was closed. Like Toronto and Calgary, it has one of those enclosed walkways above street level connecting buildings in the town centre. It enables people to walk in air-conditioned comfort during the blistering cold in Winter or the prairie heat of Summer. The downside is it robs the streets of people and there's less of a buzz about the place. Saturday afternoon, place was like a ghost town. (...in fact, there aren't that many things to do [View Full Entry]

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On the night bus from Montreal to Toronto I was too alert to sleep. I drowned out the rattling emergency exit window with the mix-CD Mick had given me as a present before I left home. He's included the Stones, Zeppelin, Dave Brubeck and a few other jazz-funk tunes, so it felt a little like an imaginary road movie, passing late-night remote gas stations and diners with neon signs to a soundtrack of electric guitars, hammond organ and horns that sounded like they came from a 70's cop-show. Newfoundland & St. John's Toronto was warm, almost T-shirt weather after than [View Full Entry]

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