Japan (Day 5) – Akihabara & Imperial Palace

Thu 23/07/2009

I went back to Akihabara to pick up some camera gear specifically filters that I’d broken in Norway as well as missing hoods and caps I’d lost in Chicago. I thought the prices were quite cheap compared to what they sell elsewhere and best of all I could try out different lenses and cameras they had.

Now stocked up with the camera goods I made my way to the Imperial Palace and entered its premises. Yesterday I got as far as the foot bridge but today I got to go inside and the best thing, entry was free. The Imperial Palace is not that great of a place to visit as there wasn’t much to see inside; it was quite baron to be honest. There is a park inside the palace that sort of overlooks the city but you can’t see over the skyscrapers. The Imperial Palace sits just on the outskirts of the main CBD where all the finance buildings are located so you only have a good view of this.

The plan tonight was to do some night photography so I packed the bag with the tripod and camera gear. Due to the adverse weather conditions (i.e. rain) I decided only to go as far as Shinjuku’s food court. I stocked up on dumplings, a box of inari-sushi and some fried prawns. I headed back to the hotel, watched the Mummy 3 and cleaned out the food that I purchased.

smiles

Japan (Day 4) – Tokyo & Akihabara

Wed 22/07/2009

In the morning it was time to leave Lake Kawaguchiko and head back into Tokyo to explore the city. I thought coming back into the city was going to take twice the amount of time because the traffic would be really congested even though the bus is driving on the elevated highway. I arrived in Tokyo at around midday and headed for the hotel in Shinjuku. Unfortunately they didn’t let me check in yet so I just dropped off my bags and decided to come back later in the evening.

I didn’t have any sort of guide books with me or have any idea what to do in Tokyo so the first stop was the Tokyo Metropolitan Office. You probably don’t walk from the underground train to the Metro Office but most likely from street level. From the underground station to the Metro Office there are a large number of homeless people sleeping around near the entrances to Metro Offices. These homeless people set up mini cardboard camps that are separated about 3 meters from each other. I am surprised that these homeless people sleep here in the confines of government/metropolitan offices.

I didn’t want to spend at the Metropolitan Office so when I got inside, I just grabbed 20 brochures and left the premises in order to meet my friend on time at Shinjuku. I got lost at the labyrinth that is of Shinjuku Station. While trying to find the Central East exit to meet my friend, I found a great food court selling some amazing food (sushi, dumplings, fried goodies) and took note of it to come back later and buy dinner or lunch.

The afternoon was spent around Electric Town aka Akihabara, checking out the Manga stores and electronic shops. We then headed to the Imperial Palace when it started to rain and by the time we got there it was about to close so we made our way back to Shinjuku for dinner.

We chose a random restaurant in Shinjuku just because it looked good from the menu. It was difficult to communicate with the waiter as he spoke little English. Then out of nowhere a Bangladeshi came out from the kitchen to our table and explained some of the dishes to us. What we ordered was mainly pork in its different sauces as well as some very odd entrée servings of raw octopus, fish guts (or cuttlefish) and picked prawns. Steer clear of the first two delicacies as they were horrible.

smiles

Japan (Day 3) – Lake Kawaguchiko & Lake Saiko

Tue 21/07/2009

It was a very overcast day in Lake Kawaguchiko but a couple of us from the Hostel decided to hire some bicycles and ride around the lakes. There are 5 lakes in total hence this area is called the five lakes, duh. I wanted to go to all of them but that was not feasible on the bikes we had so we just decided to go around Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko. For most of the ride, it was on a designated cycle path but there are parts of the ride where you have to ride on the road.

It was fairly quiet on the roads so you should be fine. The terrain is quite flat for most of the journey but just as you move to Lake Saiko, there is a relatively steep climb. It’s only a short climb so if you have nothing to do in Lake Kawaguchiko, riding a bike is a great way to explore the area. You don’t even need a helmet, just bring a backpack with some water, nibbles and you’re set for the day.

There’s some splendid views to enjoy while you ride around the country side. We visited one of bat caves and it was quite possibly one of the worst tourist attractions ever. The cave is tiny, you can walk and crawl around in a matter of minutes. There wasn’t a bat in sight, I guess for obvious reasons and supposedly where the bats hibernate, they’ve blocked off the tunnel entrance.  If you fancy stopping at the caves, feel free to do so. The only benefit I can see from visiting these caves is to cool down from the heat, natural air conditioning.

The biking adventure took about 6-7 hours and you really get a sore ass sitting on those rented bikes. It’s not as bad as the time I rode from San Francisco to Muir Woods but it was uncomfortable nonetheless.

smiles

Japan (Day 2) – Mt Fuji Summit & Rest

Mon 20/07/2009

We took several rests along the way to the summit but the longest rest was at the 8th station at 3am. It was freezing up there and because we didn’t have adequate gear, it wasn’t a good idea to summit too early and freeze at the higher altitude. Even at the 8th station, the cold was unbearable and the howling winds made it even worse. There are benches you can sit on at each station so at the 8th station benches we wanted to take at least 45 minutes of rest or even nap. To counter the cold, we three strangers huddled up and shared our body warmth (still dressed of course). Everyone walking past would think, wtf are these guys doing? I managed to sleep for 10 minutes despite shivering for most of that time. All I had one was a t-shirt, thin north face jacket and trousers. I was barely warm in those clothes and I kept thinking when is the sun going to rise so I can get some warmth!

At 4:45am the sun broke over the horizon and the summit was edging closer. We sat on the side of the mountain taking in the sun rise and wondering to ourselves, if this has been all worth it? As the sun rose higher and higher above the horizon, we too got closer and closer to the summit. The queue to the summit at this point felt like it was taking longer than at any other stage. I was definitely fatigued and with only 4 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours, I started to feel weary and got a bit of a headache due to the higher altitude.

At 6:00am we reached Mt Fuji Summit and all we could think about was lets hurry up and get out of this wind and descend back to the 5th station. After a few photos we did make our way back down to the Bus. I thought making the descent was far more difficult than ascending to the summit. The reasons being that the road back down was quite slippery with loose rocks and since you were so fatigue it was easy to roll and ankle or tumble and hurt yourself. The entire descent was steep zig zags which felt never ending and I just kept thinking when this shit is going to end. It didn’t help that the others were waiting for me at the end of each zig zag because I was going so slow, sorry guys!!!

I was truly spent near the bottoms end and any amount of energy left was zapped away with the sun now heating me up and burning my face. My legs felt like they were going to collapse on me, I almost rolled my left ankle slipping on a rock and the final steps back to the 5th station felt like the steepest part of the journey. Everyone on the bus was sleeping except for the business men who were standing. We reached the hostel at approximately 10:30am and we only knew of one thing to do and that was to clean up and get some sleep!

My body felt hot like it had a fever when I woke up, my legs felt like they were missing and how I could only got 4 hours sleep was beyond me. My room mate who did the climb said people came into clean and vacuum making lots of noise but I was oblivious too it all. Had I been woken up by these cleaners, I too would have given them dirty looks like she did!

I did nothing for the rest of the evening as there wasn’t much to do in this little town! My fellow Mt Fuji climber and room mates decided to go for a walk and find a restaurant for dinner. We found a Ramen restaurant, ordered a banquet with some beers and enjoyed each others company.

smiles

Japan (Day 1) – Climb Mt Fuji

Sun 19/07/2009

The Airport Bus from Jason’s place was so convenient. The only problem was that I didn’t understand a word the driver said so when we did arrive at the airport, no one was flying international so I ended up at the domestic airport – thanks driver. I think there was a free bus shuttle service which runs around the airport but I didn’t want to wait around so instead I had to walk about 15-20 minutes to the International Airport with all my gear.

Check-in was straight forward but the only thing that left me a little baffled was when the check-in desk clerk said “please take a seat for 5 minutes while we inspect your bag”. The problem wasn’t checking of the bag but it was how do you know if they have checked it and you were good to go. After about 15 minutes I did see a crowd gather to the side of the check-in desks and it was at this spot that you were able to see customs checking your bags. If you can spot your bag on the desk then that would mean your bag had a problem. I didn’t spot my bag there so just to be sure I confirmed it with one of the check-in managers. Why couldn’t they just tell all passengers before-hand? What if a passenger goes into security and their bags had something suspicious inside? Do they need to come out again or would they just not see their luggage on arrival at the destination?

I fell asleep for most of the flight over to Tokyo and almost missed breakfast. The tail wind coming into Tokyo was very high so it made landing quite difficult. Just before we were about to touch down, the pilot (so I think) had to move the wing slightly upwards before balancing the plane to land. I could see many people hold their breathes or holding tightly on to their front chairs and praying nothing was going happen to the plane. I wouldn’t be surprised if even a little bit of wee came out.

The train to Tokyo and in between was sheer madness. I thought the tube trains got busy but I have to say this is even worse. The sheer number of people moving from one platform to another, cramming into the train, it’s just crazier then I’d ever imagined. My destination was Shinjuku where I was to board a bus and travel a further 1.5 hours to Kawaguchiko for my final destination for the day. Trying to find the Express Bus Terminal at Shinjuku is an adventure in itself and made worse only by the gear I was carrying and the amount of people rushing in all directions. Shinjuku train station is almost like a mega-city in itself and trying to find anything is near impossible. I was walking up stairs, across different terminals and even surfacing to the main streets all to find buses that either go to the airport or somewhere local in Tokyo. It was only until I asked for help that I eventually located the bus terminal to Kawaguchiko.

The journey from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko takes about 1.5 hours at a cost of 1700 yen which is quite cheap. You can take the train there but it is about 3 times more expensive and takes an hour longer.

I stayed at K’s House Mt Fuji hostel and it is quite a clean hostel compared to most hostels I’ve been to. While checking in, I managed to find 2 people to climb Mt Fuji with. I looked at the weather forecast and thought tonight was the only night possible to climb to the summit and see the sun rise.

• We started the journey at 6pm and walked to the bus stop.
• The bus left at 7pm to the 5th Station which took about 50 minutes.
• We began walking to the summit at 8pm.
• We were all under dressed and weren’t prepared for the weather conditions as we climbed higher and higher.
• There were too many people climbing to the summit, I would say about 1000 people and lining up behind one another and climbing meant the hike/climb will take twice the time.
• Stupid American teenagers pushing in and it was annoying that they were so loud and causing a fracas. I only hope they froze once they got to the summit as a number of them too were under-dressed.
• If I had the chance, I would knock every one of those little shits back to the 5th station. Americans already have a bad reputation as travelers, these freshman’s add to that bad rep.
• Climbing wasn’t difficult as you couldn’t go at your own pace. Until someone moved up and took a step, then you can take a step and go up. This was repeated for about 10 hours until the summit.

smiles

South Korea (Day 8) – Bye Seoul!

Sun 19/07/2009

Luckily before I went to bed that night I double checked my flight details otherwise I would have missed my flight. I thought the flight was at 12:00pm but actually it was at 9:20am so that meant I had to leave the apartment at 6am to have sufficient time to check in. There is a bus below Jason’s apartment that goes directly to Gimpo Airport. That is very convenient and saves me going on the metro train swapping and changing about 3 times. The bus was only 6000 won, a damn bargain and it only takes 50 minutes whereas the train would take about 1.5 hours.

The only thing bad about the bus is that it doesn’t let you know when to get off. So instead of dropping me off at the International Airport, I arrived at the Domestic Airport which resembled a ghost town and then walked for about 15 minutes to the International Airport where there was just a few more people (mainly Japanese) wheeling their suitcases around. Gimpo airport even has its own cinema, now that’s another first. I couldn’t possibly watch a movie at 7am in the morning. I wonder if there’s a side screen which displays flight times for those travelers’ killing time in the cinema and waiting to board that plane. I’m surprised it was even open this early and even the snack bar was open with the beautiful aroma of fresh popcorn.

smiles

South Korea (Day 7) – Migeum

Sat 18/07/2009

I didn’t do much today and just decided to kick back at Jason’s place. We just went to try out some Vietnamese cuisine downstairs. Vietnamese is quite popular here especially the noodle soups (pho), why wouldn’t it be popular? Everyone loves that MSG goodness. Later in the evening when the rain began to ease, we jumped on the Metro line for 1 stop to a suburb called Ori. There we went to the local plaza to watch Transformers 2. Tickets are 8000 won and we got 3rd row seats. 3rd from the front I mean so it wasn’t the greatest seat in the world.

In Seoul particularly at department stores they have this machine that allows you to insert your wet umbrella into some plastic so it doesn’t drip and leak water all over the shop. It’s a great idea but may be costly to provide the plastic, someone must be paying for that! These machines only work for the long umbrellas and not the retractable ones. It’s a very simple device; it’s just like placing a long plastic bag over the umbrella so that water doesn’t go all over the floor. I will assume they throw away the plastic in the bin once they’re finished at the department store.

I find it amusing that at most if not all train stations there are full body size mirrors which you can use to groom yourself, check your hair, your make up and so on.

There are so many underground markets in Seoul. Long labyrinths and networks of stalls that usually connect up with a train station. Above ground there may be department stores and fancy shops but just below where you stand, you can find similar stores but I think they’re predominantly stores that sell cheaper products and different sorts of items. You’ll always find a store somewhere in Seoul even in the oddest of places. Sometimes I think anyone can set up a store and sell something but surely there is some sort of regulation or license required in order to sell goods.

smiles

South Korea (Day 6) – Technomart, Migeum & Seohyeon

Fri 17/07/2009

The torrential rain came in again today so while Jason was teaching at the local school I headed to TechnoMart; a large electronic department store in Gangbyeon to look at some goods. I can only describe TechnoMart as a sophisticated swap meet or computer fair where you can bargain with the shop/stall owners. There are about 8 floors of consumer goods ranging from cameras, white goods, PC peripherals and other things. The shops themselves are like mobile phone outlets in shopping centers so if you were thinking tables with goods laid out on them then you’re mistaken. The 9/10 floors house the restaurants and also the cinema complex. The goods are cheap and I managed to buy a wireless router for about 37000 WON which is roughly about $37US.

For dinner we headed to Seohyeon which was about 2 stops from Migeum to a restaurant serving pork and a million side dishes. The pork was basically fried on the hot plate in the middle of the table, together with some onion, mushrooms and also kim chi. Our table wasn’t very big but they managed to fill every inch with a side plate of food. That’s what happens when you eat at a Korean restaurant, although you may just order some meat dish, it will come with about 6-10 side dishes.

After dinner we decided to check out the night life in Seohyeon, the first bar we went to was called Lose Control. The music was rap and very loud, the venue itself was very dark and the crowd was mixed between locals and foreigners. After 1 drink we decided to leave and head to an Irish bar to meet up with J’s work colleagues and friends. This venue was much better with softer music and the crowd consisted of more foreigners than locals like you’d expect. We drank and drank and spoke till the early morning before taking a taxi back home.

Taxi’s are dirt cheap here, our trip was only about 5-8 km at most and it only cost about 1500 WON which is about $1.50! For some reason I just had the thought of taxi’s being really expensive here but I was quite wrong by a long way. I just wonder if taxi drivers make any money at all if the rates are that low?

smiles

South Korea (Day 5) – Incheon & Wolmido Island

Thu 16/07/2009

To make the most of another sunny day I decided to head to the seaside city called Incheon and Wolmido Island. I envisioned a nice beach town with sand and blue water but I was totally misinformed. Incheon itself is just a port town and Wolmido Island is renowned for its seafood restaurants and amusement park. There are no beaches to speak of, the water is green and murky. You can’t even get close to the water as the walls are built up quite high. There are people fishing by these walls but I don’t see them catching any sort of fish in these waters. On the water itself were a couple of container ships and smaller ships ferrying cars and passengers to different islands.

Wolmido Island is still under construction. The latest feature is a monorail which runs around the entire island so in the future you will have the choice of this monorail or the bus. I didn’t know there was a tourist ferry which takes you around the vicinity. I just missed the boat as I was trying to read where it goes and how much it costs. When you buy a ticket, you don’t see the sales person which is weird. There is a small opening in which I think you slide money under and the sales person will hand you the tickets. I pushed the money through but I didn’t get any response despite her hands there counting the money. Was I doing something wrong? what is the etiquette? I still hadn’t work out how to get tickets so the boat left without me.

After wandering around the area, I got myself a slurpee to cool off and studied the local map of the area on the giant board. Then the most bizarre thing happened while I was standing there reading the map. The map had to be about 3 metres wide and 2 meters high. The closest shop to me was about 10 meters behind me and about 5 meters on both sides. There was no one around this area so to say it was crowded is absurd. As I stood there sipping my slurpee, I heard some feet shuffle and then all of a sudden I heard someone scream really loud. I turned around to see what the fracas was all about and then immediately I saw this old lady on the floor almost face first into the ground.

I then thought what the fuck happened? I then helped pick up the old lady when I noticed her injuries looked quite painful. Her injuries include a grazed knee, elbow and hand. I thought she may have just slipped and landed like that but her friend pointed to my bag. Did I knock her over with my bag without even realising? surely I would have felt a bit of force if I happened to knock someone over. Sorry old lady but I don’t think it was my fault. Due to the space and surroundings, why would you be that close to someone or how would you bump into someone when if its not even crowded!

That evening I checked out of the hotel and headed towards the Bandung region for a city called Migeum where my high school friend has been staying for the past 2 years teaching English. I was going to crash at his apartment until I leave Seoul and get him to show me around the area.

smiles