BootsnAll Travel Network



Archive for May, 2006

« Home

Tokyo-Taipei (well actually it’s Tokyo – Osaka – Shanghai – Guangzhou – Hong Kong – Taipei… phew!) – UPDATED

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

Well, I said some sad goodbyes in Tokyo. I am not sure when I will see anyone again. Saya and Dom – good luck with the weddings… yes it’s not a typo – did mean weddings… there are more than one… Well it’s a cross-cultural union – you have to include everybody!

And to Minami – Good luck with everything, and thanks for everything too…

I seem to find myself here in Shanghai… The crossing was fine and quite smooth. Not so much fun without Craig and Victoria though or the team of identically shell-suit clad, Chinese team of some sort of sport (one thing is for sure they weren’t the national table-tennis team – they were terrible at it!). If you guys are reading… I missed you!

It’s still an entertaining voyage though: Mr Bean showing after 9.45pm, the table tennis table at reception, the Japanese-style bath and 2nd-class sleeping arrangements, the free breakfast, the haunting sound of the staff’s after-hours karaoke in the bar, and the feeling even 4 days after you get off that you are still on board! Woah… there I go again. Hope it didn’t last too long for Craig and Victoria – it took me about 4 days to get my land-legs last time!

I can feel China in my lungs again… splutter, splutter. I had a pleasant walk round today to a park near HuiHai… lots of people seem to be in their pijamas today, it must be a Shanghai Sunday thing. There was lots going on in the park: singing and playing music, fitness machines put to good use, ear-piercing and Chinese chess.

I also saw 6 people from the boat today by chance, 4 of which are in the same hostel as me… It’s a small world after-all…. And I met up with the girl I shared a room with when I was last in Shanghai… well she didn’t leave here at all… she was job searching then, and found a job and apartment searching now.

I leave for Hong Kong on an overnight train tomorrow morning, one night there and then I fly to Taipei… I’ll update this entry when I get further on. Will get some last photos of Japan on too. I’ll also make an entry for one of the main reasons I was in Tokyo… Hino Sensei’s Martial Arts classes!! ooh they were good!!

Over for now…

As promised, here are some last moments from Japan…

Leech!And a couple of the leech's mates... For the zooligists… turn away Granny

Minami, last day in the parkDom and Saya, last day in the park

Osaka port, very early!Don't remember it being as grey as this...All aboard! The express to China!Japanese-style

Catch me up in Taipei.

Hino Sensei and Buzen

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

Hino describingHino cut 

This man is a kind of a wizard really. The happy, smiling kind!
When Hino Sensei was young he wanted to find the masters that he had read about. The masters that could do amazing feats and have a control over many things. He found that they didn’t exist, he couldn’t find them, yet there were still books and books about them. So this was his starting place to see what he could become….

Hino Sensei is 57. He is a small man of small build and commands enormous respect from his students. His very nice wife is his assistant and also an accomplished martial artist in her own capacity. The way he approaches his class is always with good humour and a beaming smile. This seems to me to be a real martial art. It is peaceful and contains no fighting. It is a peaceful approach that holds no force or fear. It is not far removed as some forms of Tai chi are, for example, that have developed into a form of exercise for health. This is still martial, working with a partner in a combat situation, but Hino Sensei’s emphasis is connection and communication. It is a sight indeed to watch him bring his largest students softly to the groud with the lightest of touches.

This is an art that would take years to master as it involves discipline, softness and honesty. I am looking forward to the next set of classes.

Hino ForestHino spiral

Gaijin in Tokyo (Sumo-Disneyland)

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006
A Gaijin is short for Gaikakojin and is the Japanese word for foreigner. It also sort of means outsider, and I know exactly how this feels. Yesterday Minami's mum took us both to lunch. The restaurant was a rather posh establishment. As I ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Big One

Saturday, May 20th, 2006
Buna-ga-take This hike was an all-dayer. Buna-ga-take is listed among Japan's Top 200 mountains... which is nice. I took and hour's bus ride from Kyoto to somewhere in the sticks called Bomura, a sort of hamlet at the foot of the mountains. [Continue reading this entry]

To Kyoto and beyond…

Saturday, May 20th, 2006
So from Koya-san, passing back through Osaka and on to Kyoto. Great to be back here. It seems nothing has changed, including the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Koya-San

Thursday, May 4th, 2006
Cable cars and cherry blossomsKoya-San cable car from Gokurakubashi  Koya-san is a raised mountain plateau in the north Wakayama prefecture about ... [Continue reading this entry]