Slowly but surely my Australia adventure is coming to an end, and at the same time my Japan adventure is getting started. But for now the main focus is on the ending adventure. There are still four exams ahead, but tonight the School of Sport, Tourism & Hospitality at La Trobe has a BBQ for all students finishing this semester. My end-of-highschool party memories come drifting back. I’ll need to make sure I have a camera with me tonight, so I can take some snapshots.
After spending about 16 hours in an airplane I arrived back in Melbourne this morning. So let me summarise the highlights of my trip.
Hiroshima
As soon as I arrived in Japan on the 7th of October we jumped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. Our first stop in Hiroshima was the island Miyajima, mostly famous for it’s floating shrine. We walked around for the best part of the afternoon, enjoying the beautiful village and of course the shrine. Around 4pm we returned to the mainland and took a tram into the city of Hiroshima. First we checked into the hotel, and then headed out for dinner. Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake filled with cabbage or noodles, depending on the region) was the plan. That was delicious. After dinner we went for a walk to the Atomic Bomb Dome, the only building left standing in the city centre after the atomic bomb was dropped onto Hiroshima. Seeing that building was quite a humbling experience. We had already seen it by day from the tram, but by night it looks spooky and peaceful at the same time. The next morning we visited the museum next to the Dome. In the afternoon we took a train to Kurashiki.
Kurashiki
We arrived around 4pm, a little earlier than expected. After finding the hotel we headed to the historic area, the main attraction in Kurashiki. The area consists of a canal and a host of traditional buildings in the surrounding area, as well as a museum housing some of the world’s greatest masterpieces. We had the museum visit planned for the next morning, so we just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere of the area. After dark we walked to the train station for sushi. After have a strawl around the entrance of the Kurashiki Tivoli Park we returned to the historic area to see it lit up in the dark. The next morning we made good on our plan to visit the museum, and after lunch and a bit more walking we headed back to the train station to catch a train bound for Kobe.
Korea On Wednesday the 10th I caught an afternoon flight to Incheon, the airport of Seoul, South Korea, to spend two days with my friend Jerry. After arrival we headed straight for the pub to enjoy a Korean pub meal with some of Jerry’s colleagues. This, and all the other Korean dishes I tried, was delicious. The next day we took the subway into Seoul. Jerry had to return to work, but I staid and visited some amazing sites. The day after I had breakfast with Jerry before heading back into Seoul for a little more sightseeing before making my way back to the airport.
Some people are meant to do certain things, and other people are certainly not meant to do those same things. I’m not meant to wear socks I guess. I’m not sure exactly when and where I caught it, but it has been going on for roughly one year now. The problem: after a few weeks holes start to appear in any new pair of socks that I buy. I never used to have that problem. And I’m not buying the very cheapest socks of which one would normally expect things like this. I wondered, is it my shoes? I would have to say no… It happens with my casual shoes, it happens with my work shoes. Does anybody have any suggestions??
Today is a happy day from green tea drinkers like me. Yahoo News reports the following:
A study of more than 40,000 men and women in Japan has found that those who drink a lot of green tea live longer, researchers said on Tuesday. […] the beverage was particularly effective in fighting heart disease but did not reduce the death rate due to cancer, as some earlier animal studies had suggested. (Full article)
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Air Guitar World Champion 2006: Ochi “Dainoji” Yosuke from Japan! Ow, what? You didn’t know there was such a thing as Air Guitar World Champion? But sure, it’s nothing new. This year was the 17th edition and it took place in problably the most ‘normal’ country on earth: Finland. Well, without further adue, see here the prize-winning performnace of Ochi “Dainoji” Yosuke.
For more info on the Air Guitar World Championships (and I’m sure you’re curious by now), click here.
Last night I spent almost talking two hours talking to my family on the phone. Obviously, since my family is Dutch, I spoke in Dutch with them. My non-Dutch friends have always commented on how harsh the Dutch language sounds, but I never realised that to be true. Until last night that is… I hadn’t spoken Dutch for probably about a month, and after speaking Dutch for an hour my throat was hurting. Guess it’s true that it’s a harsh language…
Today was the 4th time in as many months that we had a “fire drill”. I put fire drill in quotes, because it was not a drill, but it wasn’t a fire either. It usually happens on the weekend, about once a month, that the fire alarm goes off in my apartment building without any particular reason. The first time it had that strange excitement about it, you know, that strange excitement you feel when something might be terribly wrong. It’s probably what a bungy jumper feels just before the elastic pulls him back up, but then about 10% of that. The second time it was just awefully cold. The third time was a good opportunity to catch up with my neighbours, who I hadn’t seen since the fire alarm went off the month before. And today, well… it is starting to get annoying. I’m really losing interest in jumping into my shoes, grabbing my jacket and my wallet, almost forgetting my keys and making an orderly exit. And next time, if something is really wrong, me and my fellow dwellers might think it’s just s stupid wiring problem setting the fire alarm off.
Ow yeah! The gloommy days of winter have passed and the sun is shining again. Flowers are budding left right and centre, and the air just smells like spring. I’m not sure what exactly changed, but since a few days I can actually feel the spring in the air. Yesterday afternoon, when I was on my way home from around 5.30pm, I was waiting for the tram, and a guy with a guitar sat down next to me and started playing some country tunes. The sun was just setting, and in combination with the music it made me feel extremely peaceful and serene. This is what I mean with the feeling of spring. When the tram arrived after about 10 minutes I dropped my spare change (I had about $2.35) in the guy’s cup to thank him for playing that music.
On Wednesday the 10th I caught an afternoon flight to Incheon, the airport of Seoul, South Korea, to spend two days with my friend 
Ow yeah! The gloommy days of winter have passed and the sun is shining again. Flowers are budding left right and centre, and the air just smells like spring. I’m not sure what exactly changed, but since a few days I can actually feel the spring in the air. Yesterday afternoon, when I was on my way home from around 5.30pm, I was waiting for the tram, and a guy with a guitar sat down next to me and started playing some country tunes. The sun was just setting, and in combination with the music it made me feel extremely peaceful and serene. This is what I mean with the feeling of spring. When the tram arrived after about 10 minutes I dropped my spare change (I had about $2.35) in the guy’s cup to thank him for playing that music.