mrobertson

Located about 3 minutes by ferry from Xiamen, there is a popular tourist spot called Gulangyu Island. It has many museums and sights, which I did not see because it was raining. But I did go to the aquarium. There are no cars on the island, just trams that are at a constant risk of running someone down. The ferry to the island is jam-packed, and they load the passengers on almost like cattle, but it's a very short trip, so it's not unpleasant. Aquariums are a really tough place to take pictures. Low light, moving fishies, lots of reflection... but I did the best I could, maybe some are worthwhile. At two separate times, a person came up and asked for a picture with me. To some people, seeing a foreigner is rarer than ... read more

After a 12-hour plane trip, a 4-hour wait, and a 1.5 hour plane trip, I finally arrived in Xiamen. It is an island across the water from Taiwan (it's part of the PRC). The airline, China Eastern, is acceptable, but quite budget. They don't have personal TV's, which I believe is now a violation of certain FAA regulations. They showed "The Ant Bully", "16 Blocks", a French film, and a Chinese film. I didn't really pay attention to any of them. For lunch they served pork and rice, with an interesting sauce I had never tasted before (maybe it was rancid), a potato salad with tiny shrimp, warm bun, and a soft creamy cake thingy that tasted like caramel. Dinner was a pork and mushroom mixture over thin broad noodles, a salad comprised of lettuce, ... read more

Not surprisingly, I never finished the Hokkaido set. Maybe I will once I get my own computer. I did take some nice pictures in Kyoto, so I'll try and get those up, but this photo upload system is so inelegant and time consuming. Anyway, I'm in Australia now, and have been for over a month. I spent a few days in Sydney, where I visited Koala Park, saw Superman, and played videogames with an Australian friend from Japan, then caught a cheap plane to Adelaide, which is a couple hours west of Sydney, I believe. I eat lots of cereal, filling the void that Japan created, and can again afford to eat vegetables and fruits. However, overall, I find the food selection here to be lacking. The most common lunch item is the meat pie, or ... read more

Very small update this time. I've had a rather unpleasant month, spending 2 weeks with a fever, then one week with tonsillitis, followed by a week nursing an allergic reaction to the tonsillitis medication (apparently my body doesn't like penicillin anymore). I've basically spent the month in bed; reading, taking medicine, and eating yogurt. I think I screwed up that punctuation. Japanese doesn't really have punctuation, which can be nice sometimes. But i guess it has similar things. I'm not really sure what I'm saying, so I'll move on. I ate many litres of yogurt, and am continuing to do so. The Aloe variety is very popular here, and contains small clear chunks of aloe inside, which are quite delicious. After my fever seemed to be gone, and before noticing that I had tonsillitis, I had ... read more

Last monday I went to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Mitaka is in the western part of Tokyo, and the museum is located in Inokashira Park, a nice park with water, trees, benches, and things. Studio Ghibli is one of the most famous animation studios in the world, perhaps only second to Disney (maybe Pixar too, but Disney just bought them, so I guess that makes this redundant). Pictures weren't allowed inside the museum, but I took a few outside, and on the roof area. I also took some pictures of food, and other miscellany.... read more