I came to Japan expecting Tokyo to cost me a BAZZILION dollars, but so far so good! Since we don't have oodles of time here, we are mainly just trying to check out lots of areas, which has proved tres inexpensive. Its like once we are done walking around an area and looking at everything, the day is already over!
Today we found a great contemporary art museum though which had some really really cool video pieces in it. Also discovered how AMAZING the photo-booths in all of the arcades are. You go in, pick some crazy theme or background, take about 6 photos. THEN, you go into another booth, pick three of the 6 photos, and have like 5 minutes to decorate them, add backgrounds, change you eye color - you know, the normal stuff that every photo should have. They also make your skin look FLAWLESS, and add stuff to your eyes so they look massive. Hilarious.
On another note- it is so hard being a vegetarian here! Everything has meat, and if it doesn't, it almost certainly has fish. Actually correction - it is hard to eat HEALTHY and be a vegetarian here. The chocolate bars, popcorn, rice chips, ice cream, and lattes are all good and veggie friendly, but defs not part of a balanced diet.
I guess I'll work on that part once I get back to my life where I can cook food (I think the thing I am most excited about when I get back, next to seeing people, is cooking and baking... yummers).
Alright, our time in Tokyo is almost over, only four sleeps to go! Tomorrow will be SO good though, as we are going to Harijuku to take in all the cos-play kids, and oh-so-famous Harijuku girls, who all parade around on Harijuku street every Sunday. I will also be taking in the Harijuku thrift store. Yes folks, I might just find some new duds. I am sure they will be MUCH more normal than what I'm used to... you can see why I'm excited.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Flip The Switch - Tokyo Is The Light...
Made it! I am in Tokyo and absolutely amazed!
Being here is such an immense change from the rest of our travels. I knew it would be, but really it is CRAZY.
This city is super massive. It's bright, clean, full of lights, and also Christmas decorations. The stores are all massive, the people are all sharply dressed, and the first park that we found today was BEAUTIFUL in its Autumn colors.
So far we have basically just randomly checked stuff out. Ended up at a science museum that was pretty neat. It had some rad stuffed creatures, skeletons, history stuff about Japan, and awesome interactive things. We have also checked out one of the multi-leveled arcades that are basically gambling... sort of? But SO fun. Basically my not-so-inner child is allowed to run free here.
From the arcades to the massive toy stores, to the VERY exciting Gibli Museum that we are going to tomorrow - I am enjoying things here.
Anyways, adventures basically consist of us picking a district of Tokyo, taking the train there, and exploring. So far - so good.
Being here is such an immense change from the rest of our travels. I knew it would be, but really it is CRAZY.
This city is super massive. It's bright, clean, full of lights, and also Christmas decorations. The stores are all massive, the people are all sharply dressed, and the first park that we found today was BEAUTIFUL in its Autumn colors.
So far we have basically just randomly checked stuff out. Ended up at a science museum that was pretty neat. It had some rad stuffed creatures, skeletons, history stuff about Japan, and awesome interactive things. We have also checked out one of the multi-leveled arcades that are basically gambling... sort of? But SO fun. Basically my not-so-inner child is allowed to run free here.
From the arcades to the massive toy stores, to the VERY exciting Gibli Museum that we are going to tomorrow - I am enjoying things here.
Anyways, adventures basically consist of us picking a district of Tokyo, taking the train there, and exploring. So far - so good.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea...
Today will be our last day in our South East Asia travels. Right now I am in Hanoi, awaiting this evening, when we will be flying away to Tokyo, Japan.
Since last post, I have met locals in a un-guidebook-mentioned city, traveled quite the ways, and left the beautiful country of Laos (that's a bit out of order). Also in our journeys, we experienced a VERY tiring three day tour that involved SO much cycling, some treking, kayaking, staying in a village, and riding an elephant! I was quite happy to hear that the elephants we were riding were rescued from dangerous logging, and now enjoy their days carting around tourists while having the evenings to freely roam the jungle - happy elephants! Being in the villages was kind of weird, kind of good. I felt super out of place, but it was great to see the way of life there.
Travels have been good so far, and I am happy to be headed to Tokyo as it will be a very different scene, I am sure. So farewell Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia - its been nothing but great experiences. To the night buses, the villages, the fish oil smell, the buddhas, the temples, the woman yelling "hey LAYDEE", the selling, the buying, the street food, the roaches, the art, the noodles, the rice, the history, the beer Lao, the good and the bad, and everything else - goodbye for now.
Since last post, I have met locals in a un-guidebook-mentioned city, traveled quite the ways, and left the beautiful country of Laos (that's a bit out of order). Also in our journeys, we experienced a VERY tiring three day tour that involved SO much cycling, some treking, kayaking, staying in a village, and riding an elephant! I was quite happy to hear that the elephants we were riding were rescued from dangerous logging, and now enjoy their days carting around tourists while having the evenings to freely roam the jungle - happy elephants! Being in the villages was kind of weird, kind of good. I felt super out of place, but it was great to see the way of life there.
Travels have been good so far, and I am happy to be headed to Tokyo as it will be a very different scene, I am sure. So farewell Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia - its been nothing but great experiences. To the night buses, the villages, the fish oil smell, the buddhas, the temples, the woman yelling "hey LAYDEE", the selling, the buying, the street food, the roaches, the art, the noodles, the rice, the history, the beer Lao, the good and the bad, and everything else - goodbye for now.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Onwards we march...
Mountains, jungle, rivers, beautiful skies, hundreds of drunk white kids… wait… what? Welcome to Vang Vieng, Laos! Karen and I have made our way up through Cambodia, the southern part of Laos, and all the way to (and since yesterday, past) Vang Vieng, where we were for the past couple of days. When people mentioned “tubing down the river” all through our journey, I never really knew what they were talking about or what to expect. So we show up, on the side of a dirt-ish kind of highway, and get a tuk tuk driver to take us to a guesthouse, and to figure out what the big deal is. When going through this small and quiet town, it was strange to come upon the very large tourist section that has formed here. Basically, this is how it goes:
You come here, rent an inner tube, go on a day long pub crawl down the river to the numerous bars that are on the waters edge, and then continue after the sun goes down (at about 6 o’clock) at all of the more land-oriented bars. That is the main draw of this place, and it has its good and bad points to it. I realized today that even in a crazy place like this, I still don’t like top forty music, nor do I appreciate fist pumping, backwards hat-wearing people. I don’t mind having a drink or two whilst floating down the river though, and it was a pretty fun way to spend a couple of days.
Now, however, we are in another town called Laung Prabang. It is a town full of french influence, as well as SO MANY good restaurants and bakeries. The night market is bustling, bright, and full of a lot of great things. The general atmosphere here is really great; it is peaceful, and quaint. Tomorrow we are headed on a three day tour, which is going to be the best tour we have done or even though about, for sure! It is a combination of trekking, cycling, kayaking, home-stays, and playing with elephants! So good! As our trip is nearing it's end, the rest of our time in Laos will be spent well.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Buddhafish...
On a happier note... lets talk about monk chat.
Cambodia's major spirituality is Buddhism. One of the things that I really wanted to achieve by traveling in Asia was to learn more about Buddhism. Truthfully, I have always admired Buddhism without really knowing much about it. At this VERY excellent cafe/restaurant called "Peace Cafe" an opportunity arose.
A few days ago, Karen and I first fell upon Peace Cafe. It is a vegetarian restaurant that also runs yoga classes, singing group, monk chats, and has a meditation hut. All of these things were very appealing to us, so we looked at the schedule and decided to come to as many things as possible. Yesterday night we went to yoga which was a really great class. The teacher was clearly highly skilled at yoga, and described things in a very easy to follow way.
This evening, we went to monk chat - an intro to Buddhism. We showed up a bit early and grabbed a cup of tea while waiting for the monks. They soon arrived in their orange robes and shaven heads, with smiles on their faces. At the monk chat, two monks (a third joined later) were there, as well as Karen, myself, and a guy named Nick from Seattle.
The chat was just as I had dreamed, a monk telling us about the root meanings behind Buddhism, and showing us a bit about Buddhist meditation. The monk who came later was SUPER educated, and could speak exceptionally good English. With him we were able to ask any questions we had about Buddhism and he would give us his answers. It was good to hear about the robes, the temples, what people do at temples, and that Buddhism is more about just being a good person than anything. I guess what I will take away is the word Purpose. Do things with a conscious purpose and realize what you are doing and why you are doing it - simple.
Karen and I decided that this third monk was the Buddhist equivalent of Catfish. Hence, Buddhafish.
Anyways, I am at peace knowing a bit more about the culture here, as well as what the real purpose of all of these pagodas is. Now when we visit more temples tomorrow, I will know that my own reasons behind being there are what matter, not really any specifics traditions or ceremonies.
Cambodia's major spirituality is Buddhism. One of the things that I really wanted to achieve by traveling in Asia was to learn more about Buddhism. Truthfully, I have always admired Buddhism without really knowing much about it. At this VERY excellent cafe/restaurant called "Peace Cafe" an opportunity arose.
A few days ago, Karen and I first fell upon Peace Cafe. It is a vegetarian restaurant that also runs yoga classes, singing group, monk chats, and has a meditation hut. All of these things were very appealing to us, so we looked at the schedule and decided to come to as many things as possible. Yesterday night we went to yoga which was a really great class. The teacher was clearly highly skilled at yoga, and described things in a very easy to follow way.
This evening, we went to monk chat - an intro to Buddhism. We showed up a bit early and grabbed a cup of tea while waiting for the monks. They soon arrived in their orange robes and shaven heads, with smiles on their faces. At the monk chat, two monks (a third joined later) were there, as well as Karen, myself, and a guy named Nick from Seattle.
The chat was just as I had dreamed, a monk telling us about the root meanings behind Buddhism, and showing us a bit about Buddhist meditation. The monk who came later was SUPER educated, and could speak exceptionally good English. With him we were able to ask any questions we had about Buddhism and he would give us his answers. It was good to hear about the robes, the temples, what people do at temples, and that Buddhism is more about just being a good person than anything. I guess what I will take away is the word Purpose. Do things with a conscious purpose and realize what you are doing and why you are doing it - simple.
Karen and I decided that this third monk was the Buddhist equivalent of Catfish. Hence, Buddhafish.
Anyways, I am at peace knowing a bit more about the culture here, as well as what the real purpose of all of these pagodas is. Now when we visit more temples tomorrow, I will know that my own reasons behind being there are what matter, not really any specifics traditions or ceremonies.
Raw Edges...
Tonight is the end of day 5 of Cambodia so far. All I knew about Cambodia before getting here was that something bad happened once upon a time, and that once as a child I saw a clip on the television showing wooden huts full of skulls.
I have never fully associated Cambodia with anything. No full story, no culture, not even a certain kind of food. All I knew was that for some reason I associated the word "genocide" with this country.
Coming here, as well as reading a book called "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung, has opened my eyes so much. Simply visiting two places (the killing fields and the genocide museum) has taught me things that I feel I should have grown up knowing. It is weird to think of such horrific things happening anywhere in the world, and especially in such a peaceful place as present day Cambodia. Our experience, for example, at the genocide museum was such a contrasting scene. After walking through rooms where a thousands of people were brought to be tortured and then murdered, we would exit outside into a beautiful courtyard full of sunlight and palm trees.
Also with the killing fields, the scenery defied the story. Walking on small dirt paths we would wander past small wooden signs talking about what happened in a nearby spot when the horrors that happened were occurring there. Looking to the sides of the paths there were numerous large holes, overtaken by grass and flowers. It was hard to imagine those holes were mass graves only 31 years ago. The centerpiece of the killing fields is a large monument, filled with the human remains of about 17 000 people, all of which were found at the site we were walking around. The monument is there as a reminder of what has happened, an honor to the people whose lives were taken, and a stark reminder of what should never occur again.
Seeing that really makes you grateful to be alive. It really makes you thankful to live in Canada.
I don't really want to describe all the things that I have seen, as really it is just learned through visiting very public places, and reading very public things. I do recommend everyone brushes up on their Cambodian history, especially those who don't know anything about it. There are tons of books on the subject as well as a few movies.
I have never fully associated Cambodia with anything. No full story, no culture, not even a certain kind of food. All I knew was that for some reason I associated the word "genocide" with this country.
Coming here, as well as reading a book called "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung, has opened my eyes so much. Simply visiting two places (the killing fields and the genocide museum) has taught me things that I feel I should have grown up knowing. It is weird to think of such horrific things happening anywhere in the world, and especially in such a peaceful place as present day Cambodia. Our experience, for example, at the genocide museum was such a contrasting scene. After walking through rooms where a thousands of people were brought to be tortured and then murdered, we would exit outside into a beautiful courtyard full of sunlight and palm trees.
Also with the killing fields, the scenery defied the story. Walking on small dirt paths we would wander past small wooden signs talking about what happened in a nearby spot when the horrors that happened were occurring there. Looking to the sides of the paths there were numerous large holes, overtaken by grass and flowers. It was hard to imagine those holes were mass graves only 31 years ago. The centerpiece of the killing fields is a large monument, filled with the human remains of about 17 000 people, all of which were found at the site we were walking around. The monument is there as a reminder of what has happened, an honor to the people whose lives were taken, and a stark reminder of what should never occur again.
Seeing that really makes you grateful to be alive. It really makes you thankful to live in Canada.
I don't really want to describe all the things that I have seen, as really it is just learned through visiting very public places, and reading very public things. I do recommend everyone brushes up on their Cambodian history, especially those who don't know anything about it. There are tons of books on the subject as well as a few movies.
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