So yeah, i went there over a month ago for about 2 and a half weeks with my cousin, her boyfriend and some of their friends. I actually forgotten most of the stuff i'd done there over the weeks, but looking through the photos yesterday brought back alotta memories that i though i'd share with all of my friends and stalkers.
Lets start from the beggining. It was 15 hour plane trip with a 2 hour stop over at hong kong. Was the plane trip enjoyable? In short, no. In long, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Oh, and don't buy food from the airport. It tastes awful and you get rauted six ways to sunday.
Look at this.
This is a 20 dollar burger from HK aiport. Look at the proportions of this burger. The bun is twice the size of the pattie. Couldn't they kill a bigger cow for me? Kill 5 cows if you have to, but dont charge me 20 dollars for 2 slices of bread with a rat in the middle of it.So after the plane trip, we landed in Japan ( you know, our destination...). Our taxi driver was waiting for us right after we got out of customs. He gave us a long japanese speech and then bowed at the end. I didn't understand a word he said, and he couldn't understand us either. It was just one big language barrier. For all we knew, he could have told us the meaning of life and we could've achieved enlightenment that very day. He did know a bit of english tho. "Cash pay now"
I was told how to say "I can't speak Japanese" in japanese. I didn't remember it tho, it was quite long. I just googled it and the way you say it is "Nihongo ga hanashimasen". Now why would someone want to learn a 9 syllable sentence that is useless?? If you go up to a local and say "I can't speak Japanese" in any language other than japanese, they would come to the conclusion that you can't speak their language. You could even say "I saw a flying purple carpet ringing up a rainbow baboon" and they would still conclude that you cannot speak japanese.
Anyway, 6 hour taxi drive later, we arrived at Hakuba where we were staying at the Morino Lodge. A ski lodge. Where we were gonna ski. At a ski resort. And eat ski yoghurt.
So the first night they gave us a traditional japanese room to say in. You know the one with the bamboo-ish wood carpet and grounded bed mats.
Japanese style beds. Some assembly required.
It was pretty late (about 3am), so we thought that it was a pretty good idea to sleep.
So i stayed a week in Hakuba. Each day consisted of the same routine. Wake up at 8, eat breakfast, start skiiing at 9, fall over alot, have lunch at 12, skii and fall over again, go back to the lodge around 4, go out and find a restaurant at 7, go back to lodge, sleep. Here are pictures in no particular order.
I'm the cool one in the middle lookin cool. This was when we were still in front of the lodge.
And this is when we were up at the ski resort up in the mountains.
It might be a bit hard to see in this picture, but there is a blizzard going on at the resort. My face had never been that cold in my life. It was less than 2 degrees and factor in the wind chill factor and the loads of snow being pummeled into my face...it was cold. If someone ever says in Australia "Man, I'm really cold". I will slap 5 ways to africa. You don't know cold! It was so cold, my testicles turned into ovaries.
Relaxin back at the lodge. And would you believe it, they have a Wii in their lounge room! Those japanese, they got everything everywhere.
This dish is called Katsudon. Its rice with fried egg melded into pork chops. It is the best dish ever in the world of food. I am on a quest to find a jap restaurant that sells this in sydney. And if i can find someone who can make it, i will instantly marry you, regardless of your gender.On the last day of our ski trip week, we decided to go to the top of the mountain and ski our way down. This is the view from the top.
After Hakuba, we stayed at Osaka. It was sort of like a hub that we'd stay at night, but go sight seeing in other areas of Japan during the day.
This is the front of the hotel where we stayed in Osaka. Mr.Bean, what do you have to say about the peculiar decor of this hotel?
I won't go thru in detail of each place we visited. Instead, here are random photos.
Vending machine galore.
Matsumodo Castle. The sign in the field says "I saw a flying purple carpet ringing up a rainbow baboon".
Imperial garden within the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. The water here is not only impure, its Im-PURE-ial Har har har ha... that bad joke made me cry...
This is the Dome. The only building to survive the Horishima bomb back in WWII. One of the reminders that an atomic bomb hit the place. If this building weren't here, you'd swear that Horishima was never been hit by a catastrophic explosion. There are buildings build in and around the area, resembling Canberra. After 40 years, the only trace left from the war is this one building that still stands to this day.I didn't take a picture of it, but there was this hill that was fenced off a couple of metre's away from the dome. The sign next to the mound told how 10,000 people who had lost their lives because of the bomb were collected here and cremated together, with their ashes buried under the very hill i was looking at. As i was standing, thinking about the impact of death on such a large scale, the effect of war and the importance of this memorial site, i looked over my shoulder and saw a woman walking a dog that had just taken a piss on a nearby tree. Slightly humourous reminder that life moves on.
This is Miyajima Island, just a short ferry trip near Horishima station.
This is a giant bat.
The famous Shinjuku crossing, the busiest crossing in the world. So naturally, companies are advertising everywhere here.
This is the statue of Hachiko the dog in Shinjuku. Hachiko was an actual dog back in the 1920s.In 1924, professor HidesaburÅ Ueno brought Hachiko to Shinjuku. Hachiko was a very loyal companion to Prof. Ueno. Each morning, Prof. Ueno would walk to the station, accompanied by his friend Hachiko. Prof. Ueno would take the train to his university to lecture for the day, and Hachiko would wait behind for him. Everytime Ueno would return from his lectures, Hachiko, without fail, would always be there waiting for his master. Together, they would walk home. This carried on everyday, Prof. Ueno going away and returning to see his loyal friend waiting for him at the station.
This continued until May 1925. Prof. Ueno and Hachiko, as they usually did, walked to the station where Hachiko would see Prof. Ueno off. That day, Hachiko returned to the station the same time he always had and waited for Prof. Ueno to return. However, Prof. Ueno did not appear. He had suffered a fatal stroke and died, never returning to meet the loyal friend that was waiting.
Hachiko returned to the same spot everyday, waiting for his master to return. In sun, rain or snow, Hachiko would always return everyday without fail. As time went by, Hachiko's loyalty never faded, always awaiting his master day in, day out. This carried on for the next 10 years, where on March 1935, Hachiko died, still waiting for his long lost friend.
This statue was erected in memory of loyal Hachiko.
Yeah, sad story. If you didn't feel anything, then you're just a heartless bastard. Shame on you! Ok, enough about the dead dog, lets move on.
Ok, you're probably wondering "Where's the pictures of the freaky jap people, Trung?". If you think that there's alot of freaky jap people around...then you're right. They all all in Harajuka. Lets see some of them.
Alice in JapanLand
These are geisha cosplayers. Or more commonly known as "WTF!??"
She has a suitcase because she is moving...into my heart...
I seem to be doin the same pose over and over again.
Bears...
As you can see, i am veeery happy. I mean, we're from 2 different countries...but it could have worked. Who needs to understand one another these days...we could've had something special...i am so alone...Well, that's more than enough photos. I actually have loads more, but theres just no time to post them all. Well i hope this post didn't bore you too much. I promise the future posts will not be this long. Unless i go to Europe or something.
Anyway, that's all from me.
Have a g'day,
Trung
