Hey everyone. I have been slightly inactive on this blog for a long while now. I wasn't very good at keeping up to date with the blog, and I guess it's now too late to try to remember the days, like I had been before. Anyway, I have a new laptop now, and I'm waiting to get all my photos back, after that, I'll post a few of my favourites.

The effects of this gap year

Since coming back from travelling, I have felt largely two ways while not busy at work. I either have a massive feeling like I should go out and do something, usually sociable, just to retain that little bit of life in me. If not that, then I just feel lethargic and unfocused. I can't keep my mind on anything, and I can't find anything to entertain me. I end up mindlessly wandering around the house looking for things to do or eat. After the excitement, adventure and social scene of travelling, being back in a small English village can leave you feeling a little bit empty. That's why I'm looking forward to uni so much, so I can get that feeling back! I think I'm addicted to nee things...


~GG

So here't the deal for those passing through:

My laptop still hasn't been fixed, so I can't get at my photos to help me remember.
BUT
Once I do, first off I'll finish off writing about the rest of my trip. Perhaps not day by day as I had started, because there is a huge amount of writing to do if I did that, but I will still talk about everyday. Except the ones where I lay in bed hungover all day (there were a few).
Then, I'm going to start another blog, for my university life, both about what I'm learning, my work and my social life. I'll throw in the link once I've created it.

More posts coming soon, I swear.

I am awarew I haven:t written for 6 weeks now, and I hav the perfect chance to right now, but my laptop died. Got wet somehow (unknown reasons!!).

Tu - 14/06

The morning of the 14^th I didn’t do too much, not because I was hungover surprisingly. I got up late, now that my body clock was fixed, then decided to go see a temple in Gion with Sally, a girl from California. The temple has a ¥500 entry fee, but I would pay that to see some of the artwork they have inside. Demons and dragons, very intricately painted.  We didn’t get to the temple until 4.30, as Sally had work until 2 and then we went to lunch with Saskia before she left for Osaka. By the time we got the temple, it would shut in half an hour, so we had to see the whole temple as quickly as we could. After seeing those temple grounds, we walked up to a Shrine only a couple of blocks from there, which had more of a park around it. We didn’t spend too long there as there wasn’t much to see. That night I think I spent at the hostel just relaxing. Sorry for the short post, but I didn't do a lot on this day. So I'll put a few more photos instead!

Mo 13-06

I was back to riding alone on this day, so I figured I’d do some more touristy sight-seeing. I started by heading up north to the Kinkakuji temple, the famous Golden Pavillion. On the way there by bus, there are two bus stops for the Kinkakuji: Kinkakuji-mae and Kinkakuji-mae (mae meaning first) and Kinkakuji-machi (machi meaning street). I did not know this at the time, and we drove past Kinkakuji- mae. Of course I thought I had missed the stop, but some helpful 15 year old boys offered to show me, as they were going to the temple as well. So I got chatting to them (kids in Japan, and a lot of adults actually, love to practice their English with foreigners). So we chatted and strolled into the temple grounds, and we took photos of the Paviliion and I think I have a photo with them. On my way round, and in the middle of taking a photograph, I was ambushed by another group of school kids wanting to practice their English and fill out a work book. I was happy to help, and again there were more photos. The questions they ask are mostly the same, things like “Is this your first time in Japan?”, “What is your favourite Japanese food?”, “Can I take your picture?”. For the most part I’m happy to go along with it. After seeing the Golden Pavilion, which is very picturesque and impressive, the whole building having been covered in gold leaf, I headed back down to the exit. From there I followed the road to another temple, the Ryoan-ji. This one is where the famous 13-stoned Zen rock garden is. It could have been an incredibly peaceful place if it was not full of other tourists and school trips. I can easily imagine sitting there for a long time just lost in thought and the beauty of the mountains around Kyoto. Despite the other people, I still took plenty of photographs, though I have not looked at how well they came out yet. It’s a shame that many of my photos are taken on the fly, so they often have poor quality.

That night, Saskia and I were invited to a 70s music bar called “Slow Hands”, and we were happy to tag along. We were invited by an Artist/clothes designer/musician named Mayumi, a very nice and very chatty girl from Nagoya. This bar was a small place, where you couldn’t possibly fit more than 15 customers. It was in a basement, was cool and smelt damp, but the atmosphere was nice. The barman, despite not speaking any English, was a very nice guy and knew a lot about 70s music. On learning I was from England, he started playing a BBC DVD of 1970s English music. In fact there were many other things I would prefer from the 70s, but I didn’t say that. It was a nice thought of his.  We sat and drank there for quite a long time, and eventually some Japanese people arrived. Mayumi started to play an impromptu piece on violin accompanied by a Japanese woman on piano. The Japanese people there, again not speaking much English, were very nice none the less. Drinking really helps things along in a conversation when neither side speaks the same language. The Japanese people called Saskia a “Dutch Wife” when they found out where she was from. I had to explain to her that a “Dutch Wife” is a Japanese name for a sex doll. I don’t think she was impressed, but it was funny for the rest of us. We stayed there until maybe 2am, then made our way home, got some combini food then went to bed.

Interim blog 12/06

3 days ago I bought a guitar, entirely on a whim. I am very prone to impulse buying. Unfortunately this isn’t very healthy when you’re on a tight budget. The guitar I bought is a pretty nice one, a Yamaha ¾ size acoustic. It cost me ¥15,500 (eek!). Obviously I realised that this was a silly purchase. So today I tried to return the guitar, but it turns out the shop doesn’t do returns (or the man just didn’t understand me, which seems likely). So that sucks. I went to another music shop I saw nearby, and enquired as to whether they buy guitars. They do (yay!), but will only pay ¥5,000 for it. This means I would lose a large ¥10,000 (of course you can figure that out for yourself). I now have 3 options: find a better deal at a different shop (does Japan have pawn shops)?), sell the guitar for the low ¥5k, or try and busk my way out of this debt. What would you do in this situation? I think I might try the busking thing for one night, and see if I bring in any cash at all. Maybe being gaijin will help me out this time!!

(N.B. I didn't try busking, and I'm pretty sure I would have been largely ignored.)

Sat 11/06

I spent my Saturday with Saskia, a dutch girl. She mentioned the night before she was seeing some monkeys, and I asked if I could tag along. We headed up to Arashiyama, seemingly out in the country but in reality not even out of Kyoto. We started by heading to a temple, which I can’t remember the name of. The garden at the temple is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was nice, with a huge koi pond and lots of Japanese style garden arrangements. There was also a big, famous bamboo grove up there, so we headed that way too. After the temple and the garden, we got a slightly expensive (for my budget anyway) lunch of fried pork, egg and rice, which tasted really good. Slight note that has come into my head, I think my mind is deteriorating. The quality of my writing is going down hill, and I seem to be writing in a child like way. This is not good. Also, I keep wanting to write emotes onto my blog, such as J. I guess this one comes from being on the internet too much. I must break that habit!

                Anyway, on with the blog. After lunch we headed to the Arashiyama monkey park. It was a ¥550 entrance fee, so I was really hoping it’d be worth it. There’s nothing worse than paying money just to be disappointed.  The monkey park was on top of Arashiyama or Stormy Mountain literally translatd. Luckily for us it wasn’t stormy at all. It was a pretty hard climb, even though it was less than 200m tall. It was slowly getting hotter as we climbed. At the top of the mountain is the monkey park and viewing platform. There were dozens of monkeys sitting around or playing up there, and the view of Kyoto was absolutely amazing! I honestly did not realise how big Kyoto was until I went up there. It seems so much smaller from the ground, compared to Tokyo at least. We spent a good couple of hours on top of the mountain with the monkeys, despite one trying to swipe at me! I took so many photos and videos, and I’m not looking forward to the mammoth task of uploading them all!

After Arashiyama, things got worse though. When we got back to the hostel, I found I had lost my wallet. I took apart my room looking for it, and could not find it. I then went back up to Arashiyama to see if it had been handed in at the station, as Arashiyama was the last time I definitely had it. There was no sign of it at the station. I went to the nearest koban and asked there. The Japanese police were incredibly helpful and friendly, and despite not having my wallet there, took down my details and essentially filed the incident, so that if it does turn up I will be contacted and the wallet returned to me. As of yet, the wallet has not shown up, and I don’t feel that it will. But being the easy guy that I am, life goes on. I’ll just cancel my card that was inside, and get a new wallet. One that I won’t lose!

After that, I headed back to the hostel and had a drink, and then was invited to an Irish bar in Kyoto with a couple of Americans, the dutch girl, a Singaporean girl and a Japanese girl. Quite a mix, and from the looks of it, we seemed to stand out a bit in the bar. Having no cash (as I lost my wallet), one of the Americans paid for my drink and I would pay back today (Sunday). It was an imported American Ale called Rogue Dead Guy, fruity and pretty strong, and should have been colder. It was incredibly expensive as well, at ¥1000 for a pint (possibly, they don’t use imperial measure here). By the time I got up this morning, the Americans had checked out and left, so I didn’t have the chance to pay him back.

Kyoto Day One - Fri 10/06

My first working day in Kyoto. I met a mother and son at breakfast this morning, and the invited me along with them for their day. I think it was their last day here in Kyoto before heading South. Anyway, we started off by going to the Nijo Castle, which is the first castle I’ve been t in Japan. They say it’s a castle, but it seemed like more of a manor house with walls and a moat. It didn’t have the winding, walled pathways to create deathtraps, or the tall white donjon or keep that is characteristic of Japanese castles. That saying, it was built by the Tokugawa in 1603, so the need for proper castles was much less than decades before. What was cool was that all around the main manor was a nightingale floor, a floor that is nailed just right so that each step you take squeaks, the resulting sound being something like a nightingale’s song. Trying to walk along that without making a sound is impossible! It seems artistic now, but it was created so that people, such as assassins or ninja couldn’t sneak around without being heard. So essentially it was fuelled by paranoia. 

The moat around the Nijo-jo Castle

After that, we moved to the Fushimi Inari taisho, or shrine. There was a festival there today, but unfortunaltey we missed it. It was still an impressive shrine. It just went on and on. It is famous for its huge number of red wooden torii or gates. And there were literally hundreds of them, covering all the pathways. We took a turn somewhere at the back of the shrine and stumbled upon several very old cemeteries, which in Shinto means lots of mini-shrines for the deceased. They were really cool, all old and mossy, and made for a lot of good photos. These cemeteries were way up a mountain, but there was still a little old lady who had walked up there (and it wasn’t an easy walk) to pray at these shrines. From the looks of things, she was moving from one shrine to the next (I saw her at 3 different shrines in a row), so perhaps she was doing a pilgrimage. You could tell that some of the shrines had not been visited for a long time and were slowly falling apart. There were some signs of life up there though: newly placed rice and salt trays, lit incense and candles; that sort of thing. Eventually, after getting a bit lost, we headed back down the mountain, a way we hadn’t come up, and not through the shrine. This way lead us through what looked like tiny farms, strange after the dense forest of the mountain. All of a sudden there was a school, all this way up. The first kids we saw seemed confused to see gaijin up there, but being young as they were, they said “Konnichiwa.” first, and then simply “Hello.” It was a really big school. We got lost somewhere on the way down, after following groups of school kids. Luckily, a friendly fifteen year old; whom I didn’t get the name of; offered to help us (and practice his English).

Red torii gates at the Fushimi-Inari Shrine

Mountain-side cemetery

We managed to get back into town, and on a whim decided to see the Kiyomizudera temple, this one Buddhist rather than Shinto. Again this was on top of a very tall hill, much like the shrine. On the way up, it started raining, which I was happy about, as it would clear the humidity that has been hanging around and cool me as I walked. It was a ¥300 (may have been ¥700) entrance fee, which I wasn’t happy about (I don’t like entrance fees for things as it is, but religious establishments, however large a tourist attraction, should not charge for entrance.  If this was one of the UNESCO world heritage sights as well, it really, really shouldn’t charge. A world heritage price should be something for everyone to behold without paying anything, only contributions (which seemed sizable as it was)). Anyway, once in it was quite spectacular. It is probably one of those places that is always featured in Japanese photo series. The view of Kyoto wasn’t much to speak about (especially not after Tokyo), but the mountain setting was amazing; the tiled temples and the pagoda peaking out of the dense green forests, all built on the side of the mountain. By this point we were all pretty tired, so we made our slow way back down the mountain. On the way I had a ツリプル or triple ice cream: strawberry on top, then dairy, then green tea. The strawberry and the dairy were nice, but I can’t say I’m a fan of green tea ice cream. Or green tea. Or tea at all. But still, try everything once, so I ate that. A wet, rainy walk, a bus ride then a subway 3 stops, and then another walk, and we were back at the hostel, with me in my dorm (currently deserted) and them in their private room, to rest for a while. 

Kiyomizu-dera, overlooking a cloudy Kyoto

My favourite photo. Unfortunately I had to be quick and it didn't come out very well.

Next on my agenda is dinner, but I don’t know if I’m going to bother buying something to cook or get some conbini (Japanistation and contraction of convenience store). I’m avoiding going out for food as much as in Tokyo, though I rarely did for dinner. In fact, most nights in Tokyo I slept from too early to eat, and if I woke up hungry, I’d just tide over until a very early breakfast at around 6am (more conbini food). And that is what I have done today in Kyoto.

Since arriving in Kyoto, I have been bitten by mosquitoes or gnats or some bug at least a dozen times. Though I seem to be the only one that has been bitten! Perhaps I am tasty to bugs… Scary thought I guess.

It appears I have some 3 weeks of back dated blog posts to post.

I have been writing them when I get the chance, and there have been times when I wasn't able to access the internet, hence why I wrote them offline rather than straight to the blog like this one. I promise, I will start to post more. In fact, I think I will do some today before I head out into Osaka. And, like I said in my last post; a photo:

View from the Mori Tower, Roppongi Hills. The urban sea of Tokyo goes on forever. I could not physically see the edge of the city.

I need to signficantly increase the readership of this blog!

I have 30 somthing twitter followers, 14 tumblr followers, several hundered Facebook friends and 6 youtube followers. However, I only have 2 followers on this blog. I need to advertise, tag and do all that sort of thing to raise this blog. I'm talking numbering in the thousands! SO here's my plan:

1. blog more
2. blog well
3. blog conistantly
4. include photographs
5. tag
6. advertise

So here's a photograph:

The Fushimi-Inari Shrine in Kyoto

I visited this shrine with an American mother and son from Minnesota. They invited me along on a whim, which was very nice of them :). Julie & Zeff, all the best to you!

Learning the kana

Something I have tried several times to find, but have always been successful in doing so is this: full articles or stories, or any writing for that fact, written entirely in hiragana or katakana. Now why would I look for this I might ask? One way I found that works for me to learn new "alphabets" is to translate it either one way or the other. In fact, I once taught myself how to write using bopomofo characters. It wasn't Chinese, but I used the characters that corresponded to the roman letters on this keyboard:

Of course that was only something silly, and what I'm doing with Japanese is much more serious. But it is the repetition that forces the characters into my head. If I had a full page of hiragana or katakana written out in front of, I would translate it into romaji, then translate the romaji to English. So I'd learn some new words as well, and grammar. You could argue I could do this starting with kanji, but my main focus at this point is definitely on the kana. If anyone reads this and has a page full of kana, please send me in its direction!!

Back Log Blog!

Obviously I haven’t been posting any of my blog while I’ve been out here, but I have been intermittently writing it. So here’s the writing from Beijing:

Hey everyone. Sorry about my silence since leaving on Friday. Working internet has been difficult in my hostel (I can get on Skype but no websites; God knows why). Anyway; my first day in China was a disaster. The taxi I booked never showed up, so I had to make my way to the hostel myself. I got a bus into central Beijing, which went fine. Then I got a “taxi” to my hostel. NEVER get a taxi in Beijing. He took me somewhere completely wrong and then MASSIVELY over charged me. Thankfully I found my way thanks to some locals and some foreigners; it only took me 5 hours…

Anyway, after that, I was stressed, hungry and tired. So what’s the first thing someone in my position does? DRINK! I went to a foreigners bar only 3 minutes from my hostel, started on my drink (10¥CN for a 66o bottle :D), then a guy I’d asked for directions from saw me and invited me to join. He was with a New Zealander (called himself a Kiwi); a nice guy into good  music and a bit of a pot-head; and an Irishman; a 41 year old that’d been cycling the world for 3 years; so I chatted with the guy who id gotten directions off of. Turns out him and his group of four were from Finland, 2 couples but I haven’t spoken to the others much. After that guy left, I spoke to the Kiwi and the Irishman, then the 3 of us got talking to 2 Swiss girls, then the Kiwi left (he went to Shanxi province today, so early night for him), and the Irishman, the Swiss girls and I got talking to a Scot, a Swede and a American. I hung around drinking until 3AM. That was all last night (Saturday 38^th).

Today was a bit of a write off. A mixture of jet –lag and a hangover meant I stayed in bed until 4PM local time (only around 9AM GMT). Obviously it was a waste of a day, but it couldn’t be helped. I got up around 1PM (maybe) and got two bottles of water (550ml each as I can tell) then went back to bed in my room 130. Eventually I got up and had some breakfast/lunch. The food arrived to me in the bar at around 6PM (maybe), and I ate while watching 50 First Dates, which was nice for a hangover. A few other Europeans watched too, but I think it was more for the bar maid person. She’s a nice girl, doesn’t speak a lot of English but she gets very giggly when she tries. I don’t mindJ.  I had “noodles with chicken” for breakfast, strange for the first thing to eat in a day, but I’m used to it now (I had rice with something for dinner on the plane and noodles with something for breakfast on the plane [check me out going native!]). It was pretty nice. Around 6PM I went for walk (unfortunately in flip-flips which hurt like a bitch; shoes tomorrow!!). I walked along the main street that I’m living on, a kept walking for around 30 minutes. It seems I’m in a very touristy area, just south of Tiananmen Square, but I was surprised at how many Chinese tourists there are around here (I’ll get back to the Chinese later).  I just walked up through a shopping/restaurant district for a while, before having to go home in time for a Skype call with my family. So I went back, had a coke and called my family. After that, I went for a drink where I went last night, a cool foreigner bar called Helen’s (despite seeing no one called Helen). It was early and pretty quiet, so I finished my Tsingtao and when back home.

When I got home, a dumpling party had just started (I know they are gyoza in Japanese, but I don’t know what they are in Chinese). I went upstairs and made one, poorly. The staff; who seem to live/eat/drink here, did most of them. I got talking to an Irishman, an Israeli and an American with a French (?) girlfriend. After a while, a few beers and dozens of Avril Lavigne songs, the staff had prepared loads of dumplings and had cooked them, so I ate a plate full of them. They were a really good snack, but I should have something bigger! The Irishman and I headed off to Helen’s for a few, and once there got talking to the Fin from Saturday night, then a group of Swedes on a group trip (I spoke to four of them out of around 30) , and they were a nice bunch.

Oh, just remembered; as we left my hostel, a storm had started. Lots of rain at first, nd even more thunder and lightning. But by the time we reached Helen’s, it had finished. So we talked and drank with the Swedes for few hours, until I left around 2AM. I tried Swedish snuff, sort of a black lump you suck on, tastes like liquorice or sambuca. It was alright, but after a while made me start hiccupping and then feel really sick. Got over that and now I’m back in my hostel, in bed typing away. So I’ve met people from 12 different countries in less than 72 hours (England, Japan, America, China, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Scotland, Switzerland, Israel and New Zealand). This travelling alone thing is pretty cool. Also, I’ve out drunk an Irishman tonight, which I’m pretty proud of.

I tried to help a Japanese woman use a pay phone at Heathrow, turns out the phone was out of order though. This woman decided to sit with me and talk before we boarded anyway. She was a strange looking woman, in her 30-40s, really pale; grey even; make-up, stupidly skinny and with glasses. She’d been to a lecture at Canterbury University and was headed home. Her father was Chinese and her mother Dutch, but both moved to Japan. Her Japanese name was 実花 or Mika in Japanese, but went by Alice by Dutch. She’s given me her phone number (both home and mobile), and said to visit her in Nagoya as she lives alone. I think it’s a bit weird, but people say it’s just being friendly Japanese. Either way, I’m not going to Nagoya.

So that’s what’s happened on my trip so far, definitely too much drinking and sleeping, and I’ll cut down on both tomorrow. 9AM start to go to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City tomorrow.

Day 3 in Beijing. Today I finally got over the jet lag and managed to get up reasonably early. I headed up to Tiananmen Square. The gate itself is impressive, but apart from that it is quite underwhelming. Thousands and thousands of tourists, mostly Chinese, funnelling through thin gateways and over bridges. Once inside, the walls are dilapidated, with huge bits of the paint falling away. Add to that the constant Beijing smell of a hundred cigarettes, and it definitely kills off the glory that you see in the photos. After Tiananmen Square, I carried on heading up into the Forbidden City. The entrance fee is ¥60 Chinese, so around £6. It was a bit more interesting, but again it was full of tourists. At least this time there was no smoke though. I can’t remember looking back now, but I can almost guarantee that I spent another night at Helen’s. I think this was the night that I ended up staying awake drinking until 8am with Hannah, a Canadian girl, and Linus, a Finnish guy. Both really cool, but that long drinking hurts. Some of the staff from the bar were hanging around as well, long after it had closed. We started playing a game of how many Chinese people would respond when we shouted “Nihao!” (hello). I think I won. This part was technically day 4 now. Oh and that night, I met about 20 Canadians, some French-Canadians, the rest normal. Played a weird card game with the French-Canadians, something to do with werewolves and peasants… I don’t know.

Day 4 in Beijing.

This day I was invited by Hannah to hang with her and the Canadians, and a guy from Manchester as well. We went to a much more modern part of Beijing and looked around there, had a few beers. There’s not a lot I can say about that day, I didn’t see anything worth saying, just hung out with some really cool people. That night we went to a Pizza place near a stadium in Beijing, I forget the names of both. But these pizzas were huge, 18 inches I think. I ate so much pizza, and it was so good! And for very little money too. On the way back some Chinese street kid tried to mug us of our leftover food, and he nearly got smacked in the face by a couple of the Canadians. Damn urchins! After that, I think I must have gone to Helen’s again. It was really quiet that night, I have no idea why, so I drank with John, a very loud man from Georgia in the States. Loud and a bit annoying, but a good guy. While there I got chatting to some Mexican girls. Very nice Mexican girls. ¡Muy guapa!

These girls were travelling in China for 3 weeks, an were the only girls I had met so far close to my age (two were 19, and the other 20). And that was my last night in China. I drank with the Canadians some more and got some really good Chinese street food. Until then, I didn’t trust the Chinese street food, in case I got ill. These kebabs were supposedly mutton, but I am a bit sceptical about that! Either way it tasted great and like everything else in China, it was dirt cheap. I probably went home about 4am, despite needing to get up at 5 to leave for the airport. Needless to say I overslept, and had to rush and get a taxi to the airport. But all in all it worked out fine. China is an amazing place once you get into the flow of things. Obviously I had a bad first day, but after that things really got better. I met a huge amount of really amazing people out there, and I am definitely going back someday. 

Sorry... again

Yeah I had more internet problems here in Kyoto. But they are now fixed, and I have been writing offline, so I will start posting those. I also have over 1,000 photos to post, so I have a lot of work to do. Bare with me guys!

Bad internet!

So looks like I can't use my laptop here either. But at least my phone has connected, and they have plenty of computers around. It just means I can't post any pics for you guys.


~GA

China

I want to start this post off with an apology. Anyone following this blog will know that I left for my trip on Friday 27th May. It's now one week later, and I haven't made a single post since leaving. But I do have a good reason. The infamous Great Firewall of China seemed to be stopping me from getting on any websites. So I'm sorry for that.

China was both amazing and horrible at the same time. My first day went incredibly badly after arriving in Beijing. I got a bus into the city center, and got a taxi from there. The driver not only ripped me off big time, he also took my no where near where I wanted to go. Once I got to the right area, I had a pretty hard time finding the hostel, as it was off the main road and the directions were pretty poor. Thankfully I found some foreigners who knew the area.
After that, things got better. I went to a bar I'd passed, which was pretty much only for foreigners (I was told the bar turned away Chinese customers). So I sat with my beer. Someone I had asked directions from saw me and invited me to sit with him. This guy was Mikko, a Finnish man, and he was with a Kiwi and an Irishman, who's names escape me. So I sat and drank and spoke with them most of the night.
The next day was mostly a write off. Hungover and jet-lagged, I stayed in bed most of the day. When I eventually did get up, I didn't feel like sightseeing. I wandered around my area, which was a nice place, a mixture of shopping and tourism. There was a free event in the hostel bar, where you were supposed to make your own, but the staff did most of it. Got talking to a Swede, another Irishman and an Israeli. After that went back to the foreigner bar, Helen's, and drank more. There I got talking with a group of Norwegians on some sort of school trip, and an American called Glory Kong, from San Francisco.

The next day I got over the jet lag and got my arse out of bed and headed off to Tienanmen Square for some sightseeing. Like every other day, it was ridiculously hot, around 32 degrees Celsius all day. I saw Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and a park north of the Palace. The nicest bit was actually the park, despite the steep stairs in the roasting mid day sun. Another night was spent at Helen's, and this time I met an American and a huge number of Canadians, one group from Quebec and the other group for Ontario. Played a weird card game with the French-Canadians, but it was fun. Then carried on drinking with the Ontarians for the rest of the night. Didn't get home until 8AM that night...

Final day in Beijing was spent with the Ontarians. We headed to a modern part of the city. Had really good pizza that night, and again stayed out too late, but only until 4 this time. Went home and managed to oversleep, so I had to rush out and grab a taxi to make my flight.

Beijing is a mixed place. When I first got there, I hated it, but once I relaxed it got much better. Despite the dirty streets, horrible smells and rude people, it grows on you. The main thing that made my time in China was the people I met. I don't think I would have nearly so much fun if I had been always on my own, and it's something I haven't found in Tokyo yet.

Leaving for the airport in about 2 hours

Thought I'd make a quick post. SO I'm very slowly and stressfully getting packed (I know I've left it a bit late), and things are coming together. I still have a few things to throw in my pack, and some more money to move around and then hey presto I'm all ready. It's a bank holiday weekend, so the roads are gonna be busy, so I'm leaving for the airport at 3, even though my flight isn't until 8. Anyway, gotta run now and finish everything! Toodles!!

Meetings

So the list of people I have spoken to and am supposed to meet in Japan is slowly growing. I have a few YouTubers that I'm meeting, some in Tokyo, some in Osaka. Then I have 2 new friends I met through the language site www.themixxer.com. So I'll be meeting those 2 as well. And then another person I met through courchsurfing.org, unless she's off travelling! It's good to know I won't be completely alone :).

2 days now!

So I never quite got there.

I've mentioned many times before that my goal was £4,000 to take away with me. But unfortunately this was easier said than done. In the end, I'll be taking some £3,500 with me. I got pretty close, but not quite what I wanted. I'll just have to go without food a few days, eh?
I can't tell you the exact amount I think I'll have, because it changes every time I look, but £4,000 was around my estimate. So I hope not having that extra £500 won't hurt me too much. Unless, of course, I have a wealthy and very generous reader out there willing to donate... No? Didn't think so.
My Chinese money came through yesterday, so I picked that up from the Post Office. It was £211 for ¥2000CNY. And I have a sneaky suspocion this will be more than enough for my 4.1 days in China (yes, 4.1. I'm not counting day 5 a I'll be flying out at 9am.


Anyway, that was my slightly disappointed update for today, but on the bright side, in less than one week I'll be in Beijing!!

Last day of work

So yesterday was my last day of work until after my trip, so about 3 months. Pretty cool thought, I don't have to do anything I don't want to for the next 3 months, I'll just do what I want and relax! The time until now has gone really quick, up until the last couple of days. It's gone scarily fast actually, so now I feel I'm rushing to get everything done and that I'm not ready. Somehow I feel like this isn't actually true, because I've got almost everything finished already, just have to sort out some money. But still, it's less than a week now, eeek!

So I better crack on and finish off those last few odds and ends. This time in one week I'll be somewhere in Beijing living it up Chinese style!

PS Sorry about the short post, they'll get longer once the trip starts, I promise. And there'll be more, possibly several each week. Ja mata ne

New Laptop!

So I finally got my laptop sorted! Meaning I can keep in contact, keep editing and keep blogging for all you guys while I'm on my trip!! This is my first laptop, I'm a desktop man, but I like this :D. This is just a really really quick post to let you guys know about this important update (which I am obviously posting from my new laptop, despite still being sat at my desktop). I still need to post those promised pictures of the Japanese money, but it's getting late now so I'll do that tomorrow. Ja mata ne
~GA

Money money money

So I just went to the Post Office and bought some money. I got ¥13,000JP for £107.00 and I've ordered £200.00 of CNY, which I can collect after Friday.
I have to say, both currencies have a much nicer look than our crappy Pound Sterling. I'll post some pictures up soon.

Also, I can pick up my laptop tonight, though I may have to wait until tomorrow.
See you soon guys.


~GA

So I woke up this morning with a definite feeling of dread. I can't tell if it was at the fact that I only have one week until I leave, and so only one week to finish organising, or because in one week I'll be thrown in at the deep end.
It's not as if I haven't planned what I'm doing. Maybe just I've never done anything this big before. I don't know, it's the first time I've had that feeling. Maybe I won't have it again.


~GA

My Camera Setup

If you already know it or not, I plan to video and photograph this trip so so much. The videos will be editted and loaded onto YouTube (view my channel by clicking the button over there -->). So I thought I'd share with everyone what cameras I am currently using.

Video Camera
The video camera is a Sony DCR-SX33 HandyCam in blue.60x optical zoom and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. I'll be honest, I have no idea what that is but it sounds fancy. Inside that I have an 8GB memory card.

Camera
It's getting on in age a bit now, but I have a Sony DSC-S930 SteadyShot camera. 10.1 megapixelsand 3x Optical zoom. I need to get it checked out in the shop though, there are a few problems with the lens cover.

Gorilla Grip
I love these things. If you haven't seen one before, it's a tripod made up of linked balls that rotate and bend etc., so that you can stand it up, or wrap it round poles. Great for different angles and setting up shots on uneven surfaces.

Camera Phone
Occassionally I might use my iPhone to take photos, like when I am trying to be discreet. So I use my iPhone 3GS, and I have a few apps to play with on that, such as Instagram.

Visas

PLEASE NOTE: the information in the following post is only for UK citizens. Visa agreements and conditions may be different for different nationalities. This information is only for UK because I only know the information for the UK.


Visa to visit the People's Republic of China
This one caused me so much grief. Getting the visa is easy enough, just the fact that it is very expensive. Anyway, here's the information: to enter China for any amount of time, apart from in the airport, you need a visa issued by the China Visa Application Service. I am in China for 5 days, and I still needed a visa.
The smallest (time) visa you can get is for a one month stay anywhere within a three month period. So 30 days between the visa being issued and 90 days after that. Therefore, don't apply for your visa 6 months before you leave, as it will expire.
A Visa for China is expensive. Think of this before you go to China. A part of me regrets choosing to go to China purely because of how expensive the visa was. So here's the cost breakdown:
£30.00 Visa Fee
£45.00 Application Service Fee
£9.00 VAT (20% of the above prices)
£11.35 in Post Office Fees and Return Special Delivery Envelope
£4.00 for 2 passport photos

Total: £99.35
And that is why I ask you to thoroughly check details about China. It may be cheap once you get there, but getting in will cost you.

To apply for the visa (for UK citizens) go to http://www.visaforchina.org.uk. Then follow the instructions on there. I personally applied by post, but you can also apply in person or online (note: online application is not supported by all web browsers. I know from experience it doesn't work with Google Chrome).

And finally, here's my visa!! Sorry that it's sideways

Visa for Japan
UK citizens (and many other nationalities) do not need a visa to enter Japan if they in the country for less than 90 days. This means that for my 60 day trip, I will not need a visa. For people wanting to stay in Japan for longer than 90 days, you will have to visit a local bureaucratic office and get the stay extended. I believe it is at this point that you also have to get an Alien Registration Card (Gaijin Card). However, don't quote me on that, I haven't looked into it I'm afraid.
One thing you should know, I keep hearing that when entering Japan, for no matter how long your stay, you may be asked to show proof of funds to keep you going on your stay. Essentially they don't want you working when you shouldn't be. I think you also need a return ticket already booked, unless you have a visa of course. Obviously the easiest way to do this is to carry a big case full of cash, but that's not exactly practical for a traveler. Some people have done it though (JapanChannelDCom on YouTube said he entered with $25,000 Australian in cash). Anyway, I'm going to print off receipts or statements for the cards I am taking into Japan, and fingers crossed it'll be enough.

So that's my quick information on visas for a holiday. I wouldn't even begin to claim that I know much about visas for Japan, your best bet would be to go on official websites.

Travel money

So one of the hardest things to figure out for this trip has been how I am going to take my money. It has been suggested that I take all cash, but i wasn't keen on the idea of walking around with £4,000 in my pocket!
So after much deliberation I have chosen these 2 services to carry my cash, as well as somd cash for when i first arrive:

CaxtonFX Global Traveller Card
CaxtonFX is a part of the Newcastle Building Socity. For £10 you get the card, though £10 is automatically loaded onto the card, so it's essentially free. There are no ATM fees or international transaction fees from the issuer. For £5 you can get a spare card, definitely a good idea if you're travelling, so if you lose the 1st, you can cancel it and use the second.

Travelex Cash Passport
Recommended by the Foreign Office, again this card has no ATm or international fees from the issuer. This card has a double edged sword: buy it in GBP and you get a commission put on your bill. Buy it in any of the other currences (USD, CAD, AUD, NZD, ZAR or EUR), and you face a bad exchange rate. I did some number crunching, and if you use anything but GBP, you will only get £972 for your £1000 (did some reverse exchange). So you loose out on almost £30! Now the commission for GBP is only £20, so I'd definitely recommend this. (EDIT: I wrote this section once, then changed it when I did some more research).

So I'm taking these 2 cards, plus a spare card for each in case I lose the first. I'll also be taking around £150 in Chinese Yuan, and £100 in JPY, the Chinese Yuan to last me the whole time there, and the JPY to get me to where I need to go and for my first few purchases, until I find an ATM.
It's also a good idea, if you can, to leave your account details at home so that someone can recharge your cards in case of a bailout.

And as an extra fail safe, I will probably apply for a American Express Blue card. There's no annual fee, and if you're under 21, your application is based on household income rather than yours. This is good for me, as I won't have income while travelling around, but I can still get the card. This last one really is only for emergencies, and I'd try not to use it at all. It would be my last resort. Also, this card has 0% APR for 6-12 months, so if you're only travelling a little while, you can use it, pay what you used and then cancel it before they charge you more!!

For information on the CaxtonFX card go to: http://www.caxtonfxcard.com
For information on the Travelex Cash Passport go to: http://www.cashpassport.com
For information on the American Express Blue card go to: http://www.americanexpress.com/student

Above all, be careful with your money! Never log into an online bank account while not on a secure network, never divulge your details, don't carry more cash than you need, make sure you have the banks telephone number for cancellations of cards. You get the picture ;).

Happy spending!
~GA

I've just figured out that it's a 10 hour flight to Beijing. Any suggestions of what to do and how to beat jet lag? It'll be 6.30 am GMT when I land, but that's 13.30pm local time!!

~GA

Location:West Malling,United Kingdom

Imagine the days

Imagine the days when to go travelling was something so much bigger than it is now. To go to a foreign country where you know nothing about. Before the Internet, how would you find out about where you were going? I guess you didn't, and you just went with your fingers crossed.
And what about the fact that when you left, you left entirely. The only way you could get word back home would be mail. No one would hear from you and you'd hear from no one else. Imagine the freedom that would give you. Imagine just disappearing.


~GA

Bummer

Just filmed a quick video update, and then realised i didn't press record on my camera. So I was just talking to myself. Grr.


~GA

Hey guys

Just letting you all know what all the spamming is about. I've recently returned to blogger, and I'm going to use it specifically as a blog about my trip, rather than all the other junk in my head. If you want that, visit my tumblr account.
Anyway, all the posts I've been making are just going there to make pages within my pages. For example, in "The Plan", I have a list of links to posts which are my pages. Making sense?
Pretty much I'm filling out the rest of the site, building the content an d making it more useful to prospective travellers.
I want this to be more than just a blog :).
Anyway guys, it's not long now until I start travelling, and then I'll flood this place with posts and photos and videos for you all to enjoy.
I'm envisaging this growing and growing. Maybe I'll buy a domain name and add a forum. But that's a log way off.
So it's 15 days now! Exciting stuff.
~GA

Nara

After Kyoto I hit Nara, only a short train ride away. I have slightly less time in Nara than other cities, only 6 nights this time. I'm taking this week as a relaxation period, or I'll try to. I want to hang around in parks and the country, and generally get away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. With some of the biggest parks and oldest temples, I'm sure I can find somewhere.
In Nara I'm staying at a small hostel which is a renovated traditional house. It's called Yuzan Guesthouse, and this time I'm in an 8 bed dorm. It's pretty expensive in here, but was actually the cheapest in Nara, at ¥2500 a night.
<-- See, old house!
<-- the dorms.
<-- and the garden!
Sorry, I wanted to post a couple of pictures here as it looks so nice and... quaint.

Go to http://www.yuzanguesthouse.com/english

I'm in Nara from the 16th to the 22nd of June

Kyoto

After arriving early morning in Kyoto fresh off the bus from Tokyo, I begin my 7 day tour of the Old Capital.
I'll be staying at a hostel that is part of the Khaosan chain. Yes you guessed it, Khaosan Kyoto! Now in my 3rd week of travelling, it's time I started to cut back on the spending, and really get into the "traveller" way. So I opted to stay in 10 bed mixed dormitory, and I won't be in a private room again until my last week.

A bed in the dormitory is costing me ¥2000 a night, so I'll be paying around £100.00 for my stay.
<- A picture taken from Khaosan Kyoto's HostelWorld page.
Visit them at HostelWorld or their own site.
I have a total of 7 nights in Kyoto, and I will be leaving on the 16th of June.

The Plan Video

Contact Me

Aside from contacting through the Personal Messaging systems on the various sites that I have listed myself on, please feel free to e-Mail me any other questions or comments you may have.
My address is: gaijinabroad@gmail.com


Please note that I reserve the right to publish and quote any mail sent to me, unless stated in the message itself.

Tokyo

I arrive by plane in Tokyo around noon on the 1st of July. Straight from Narita Airport I'll be heading to my hostel, the lovely looking Aizuya Inn in Taito-ku (http://www.aizuya-inn.com). Again I'm staying in a private single bed room, this time with a shared bathroom. You can straight away see the differences in prices between China and Japan though, as this room will cost me ¥2500 a night, which is about £20. Still, it is one of the better value places I'm staying.
<-- the common room of Aizuya Inn.
This hostel, like many others, has an attached kitchen/bar. It has a slightly different system though. The menu is priced in "coins", with each coin costing ¥100. So a beer is 5 coins, ie ¥500, and an "English" breakfast (including: toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, salad, a yoghurt and coffee or OJ) will cost another 5 coins. It's pretty cheap, less than £4.00 for all that food.
To get to the hostel, I'll take the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno, then hop on the Hibiya Line to Minami-Senju St.. From there, its a short walk to the hostel (or so I am told, this doesn't include getting lost and distractions).

I have 7 nights in Tokyo, this time around anyway. While in Tokyo, I'll mostly be using the famous subways to get around, and the seemingly best and easiest way to do this is use the Suica Card. For a deposit of ¥500, and then top-ups as and when you need it, you can easily swipe in and out of the stations. Very similar to London's Oyster Card.

Getting There & Back Again

A quick note before I start: flights are one of the most expensive things you will be paying for, so choose carefully. Also, look into any extras you can get like I did. And finally, keep in mind that not all seats are released at once, so the flight you saw two days ago probably won't be there again. If you see something exceptionally good value, book it immediately!

Getting to China
For a start, you need a visa to visit China. For information on getting a Chinese Visa, click here.
Now, to get to China, I am flynig with Air China. My flight departs from London Heathrow at 20:25 on the 27th of May, and lands at Beijing Capitol at 13.30 the next day (Ed.- all times are shown as local times). I think it's around an 8 hour flight, but I can't figure it out exactly due to the time differences.

Getting to Japan
Still flying with Air China, my flight leaves Beijing Capitol at 09:25 on the morning of the 1st of June. A few short hours later and I'll arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport at 13:55.

Getting Back Home
I have a two part journey back home, firstly to Beijing again and then back to London. I leave on the 29th of July
Firstly, my flight to Beijing leaves at 09:00 from Tokyo Narita, landing in Beijing at 11:55. I only have a couple of hours here, and my visa will have expired anyway, so I'll stay in the airport for this wait.
At 13:30 I jump on another flight, then straight through to London Heathrow, landing in Blighty at 17:45.

Costs & Other Details
All of my flights were included in one big package, and the total came to £596.73. The 4 nights in Beijing only cost me an extra £50.
I'm going to be travelling light, as my flights only allow me 20kg of baggage.
And as far as I can tell, I do get some food on the longer flights, though I don't know what it will be. But I love airplane food anyway :D.

Before You Leave

These are just a few thing I have learnt while passing time before I leave, and I give you this advice from my own experiences.

Before you start your gap year, consider carefully what you want to do. You'll have an entire year, make the most of it. By the time I leave, I will have spent about 9 months working nothing. It has been boring. Do as much as you can!!

Start saving now! I'm pushing the budget now, because I didn't start seriously saving until January. The minute you decide to travel, start saving, even if you don't know where you;re going yet.

Learn the language. My biggest worry when I get to Japan is that I won't be able to speak to anyone, and I'll end up lost and hungry. I know basically no Japanese beyond the very basics. So start learning now!!

Start planning as soon as possible. That way you can set yourself goals for money, and you know what you'll be doing/seeing/sleeping.

Have fun! Especially before you leave. Obviously the trip will be the time of your life, but don't let before that put it down!!

Beijing

I'm landing at Beijing International Capitol Airport (北京首都国际机场 Běijīng Shŏudū Guójì Jīchǎng). There are several ways of getting from the airport into the city centre, including several bus services, the Beijing Airport Express line(北京机场轨道交通线Běijīng Jīchǎng Guǐdào Jiāotōng xiàn), and of course dozens of taxis.

My hotel fortunately has an offer of picking customers up at the airport for CNY240 (Chiniese Yuan Renminbi), which is about £22.

The hotel I am staying at is Beijing Leo Courtyard & Leo Hostel 2 (I think at some point they merged two hostels into one). It’s an old style hostel, and looks a lot like something you’d get in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

<-- Leo Courtyard er courtyard

The best thing about the Leo Hostels, and most other hostels in Beijing, is the price! I’m staying in a single-bed, private room with an en-suite bathroom, and it’s only £6.00 a night!

I have already paid £4.40 in deposit for the room, and I am to pay CNY216.00 on arrival! That’s only £20.00!

Here’s a link for that hostel: http://www.leohostel.com/. The Leo Hostel Group is also listed on http://www.hostelworld.com, which I used to book all of my accommodation.

I’m staying in Beijing for 4 nights from the 28th of May until the 1st of June, when I hop on a plane to Tokyo.

This is just me testing my tumblr/blogger mixer.

Tumblr

I'm afraid to say I have moved onto tumblr. I'll be continuing this blog on there, so here's the link: www.gaijinabroad.tumblr.com.
Enjoy and see you on the other side
~GA

Milestone!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I have finally reached the £2,000 mark! That's ¥262,846.09!!
It feel good to pass this one, as I've been stuck behind it for so long. Another thousand or 2 should do it.

Until next time
~GA

A rant about anime

Now as you all must have guessed from reading my posts, I like Japan. I like Japan a lot. A think their is a term for it something like Japanophile or Nipponophilia. And I am acutely aware that there are many people out there that also like Japan, and that these people also like anime. Now I have nothing against anime or manga, I have read a couple and watches a few of the movies, and occasionally I like them.

However what I cannot stand is the generalisation that everyone with an interest in Japan has this interest because they are into anime or are some weeaboo weirdo. How many times when I have told people about my Japan thing, only to be asked if I like anime! Often comes the follow up question of "Do you wish you were Japanese then?" The answer to this is simply no. Sure I am jealous of the fact that east Asian people can pull off just about any look they go for, but that is as far as it goes. I am White British and I am happy with that.

So, if your mind is that way inclined a to think anyone that likes Japanese wants to be Japanese and likes anime, think again. You do not need to ask the questions, if a person wants to go to Japan for cartoons, they will most likely mention them in passing, and if they want to be asian, well it's hard to miss the poor attempts you see sometimes.
And thus concludes my rant about anime and the stereotypes given to japanophiles.


'Til next time
~GA

Ps: I like Japan for it's culture history and food, not including anime, manga or pocky sticks. Just eat a dam chocolate bar!

Location:Everywhere in my head

Apologies

The promised video still hasn't been started. And for this I am sorry. I've run into a few roadblocks, such as not enough hours in the day, and my hatred of my own voice. I'm considering outsourcing the editing process to someone else, so I don't have to hear myself speak.


'Til next time
~GA

Location:Week St,Maidstone,United Kingdom

Tuesday

So on Tuesday I go filming in foggy old London. I know my channel is supposed to be about Japan and stuff, but I want to bang out some videos before I go, and I'm not going til May. Anyway, back to London.
So I'll be hitting up a load of places in London, some pretty famous and some a bit more off the beaten track, and sometimes a mix of the two!
I am going to the following places:

• Leicester Square
• Oxford Street
• Hyde Park
• China Town
• Trafalgar Square
• Covent Garden
• Camden Market
• Harrods Knightsbridge
• And the building commonly known as "The Gherkin".

I will try to film as much as I can in these places, but I can't be sure when it comes down to shops and things like that, I guess it's down to the owners.

Anyway, the video should be uploaded within a week, so please go check it out and give me some feedback!

Until next time, 

~GA

Beijing

Wait what? Beijing? I thought I was going to Japan?!

Obviously I am going to Japan. However I thought I'd start from the beginning of my trip. The flights I hope to take are via Beijing with a considerable amount of lay over. So I hope, if I can, to leave the airport and explore some of Beijing's famous attractions. The only one I know is tiennamen square. If anyone knows some others, please tell me.

What really concerns me about Beijing and China is all the censorship. Will I be made to disappear if I start filming? Because I do not want that at all. I must look into this. THats right, I am scared of the Chinese. Not in a racist way, just I fear for my human rights and life.


'Til next time
~GA

HNY!

Happy new years everyone! I'm sure I'm not the only one, but it's a big and excited year ahead! So many good things to look forward to, and some many good things appearing all over the place! It's going to be a good year, my year.