Hi, Tokyo

About a month ago, during the time that my best friend came over to visit me, we planned a short trip to the well-known, crazy capital of Japan: Tokyo.

We took the nightbus = no sleep at all guaranteed, and we arrived in Tokyo around 7 in the morning. After searching our hostels we went to explore the city. We stayed in the neighbourhood Asakusa, known for the shiny building with the golden…thing(?) on top.

We visited the centre, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno and Harajuku. Yes, we saw all the cultural stuff and it was nice, but oh, oh how I felt like I was in my own dream when I entered the alleys of Harajuku. Shops full with distinct clothing and accessories. My kind of fashion everywhere; I wanted to scream of happiness, seriously. To top it off we had a little snack in a superkawaii, pink restaurant.

Of course, going out was one of the most important things we wanted to do too. We went to Roppongi, the ‘gaijin’ (foreigners) clubbing area.  Not too many gaijins there though. Except for the visitors of the omnipresent reggae clubs, which included diehard reggae lovers (both black and Japanese). Which is only better, since you enter the real Japanese party-culture. We went to a bar-club where a lot of dancing was going on. You’d be surprised how many Japanese guys can actually dance way better than Western (white) guys. It seems like they are capable of anything.

Anyway, I’ll quit talking about unnecessary details. Just have a looks at the visuals.

Asakusa. (So, what exactly is that golden thing?)

In Japan, you can randomly run into some geishas on the street.

The best fish I've ever tasted, in a shady restaurant in an alley of Ueno.

Another thing you randomly run into: temples. (This one was in the middle of a shopping area)

Lamas! In a game centre.



The result of pericura-booths in the same game centre.

Awesome building on our way to Harajuku.

Now this is what I'm talkin 'bout.

Commercialism.

And more.

Hi, Seoul

Time for a new post! I will try to not get too negative about Japan here, but...I went to South-Korea during spring break for a week and it is awesome. We went there with a ferry, from Osaka to Busan, which took us 18 hours. It was a really nice boat trip; including crazy karaoke, musical entertaining and even a sauna. Trying to sleep on the boat was not a real success though, but hey, that wasnt the idea of the trip anyway.

When we arrived in Busan we had a real Korean lunch: rice, pork, soup and several bowls of veggies, salty shrimps and other sauces to put in the soup. After that we took the train to our final destination, the capital of South-Korea: Seoul. When we arrived we (surprisingly) immediately could find our way through the city, thanks to the useful directions everywhere on the subways. The hostel my roommate and I were staying in was the best; it felt like being at home, because of all the zebra print decorations. The hostel owner was also a tattooist and he was such a relaxed 'dude', he really made us feel at ease there. The rest of the week just has been crazy; shopping, clubbing, shopping, clubbing, and of course visiting a temple. I wish we could have stayed longer.

To conclude, to me it seemed that everything in South-Korea is just an improvement of what Japan is and has: less unnecessary rules, people who actually laugh on the streets instead of all those stoic faces, easier (and cheaper) transportation, better music, and -very important- cheaper clothes and food. The only negative things I encountered were #1 the weather (it was annoyingly cold all the time) and #2 the abundance of advertisements of plastic surgery. Especially the last struck me as odd; everywhere in the subways you can see before-and-after pictures. So, they are basically telling little girls that they aren't perfect if they look too Asian, and that it's very easy to fix that. #3 The disgusting pork organs I ate. Usually I don't eat pork, neither do I eat organs so this was the worst combination for me; especially when I found out this little secret when the food is already in your stomach.

Well, I don't to go to deep into the details, it's not my diary here. So for the rest, I'll let the pictures explain my experience in South-Korea!

The instant hot food machine on the boat.

Busan

Lunch

The sad skyline of Seoul on a rainy day.

A temple in a park with many temples.

KFC localises! (It wasn't that good though...)

Dongbang! A Korean cake with vanila in it: as yummy as it looks!

Sushi as breakfast at the hostel. Not really my thing in the morning.

Water-in-a-paper-bag-machine.

Seoul Centre

Hi, Nara

Last weekend we went to Nara with a group of international students. Nara is very traditional, like Kyoto you can find many temples. But there is one thing that makes Nara distinct: the deers. They have a park full of deers just walking around. You can feed them, but be careful they are very, very hungry. I got robbed by a deer actually, he took the chocolate cookies I just bought out of my bag without me noticing it; now that is one talented deer, oh dear! And by the way, I must excuse myself beforehand for the superfluous pictures of deers. I just like to pretend that I am an animal photographer sometimes, and the pictures came out good, so I want to share them with you.

A Japanese man in traditional clothing entertaining the tourists, which are also Japanese.

A beautiful little lake.

Just to make sure.

Hey deer.

What a daredevil am I.

Oops.

Such a sunny day!

Little bambi.

And the wicked uncle.

Beautiful traditional garden.

Look at that construction!

I actually don't know what this is.

Hi, Osaka

Yesterday my roommate, my Dutch friends and I went to Osaka, which can be seen as 'second capital city' of Japan. Indeed, it was just like I was walking in Tokyo (even though I have never been to Tokyo yet, it just felt like it). We were lucky, because we got there when it was already dark, so the lights of the city stood out even more. My impression: many colours, awesome sneakers, different people and 'chickboys' as I like to call them. These are guys who basically act as escort-boys, and don't look too macho or masculin. It's all about the appearance in Osaka; boys with slim (and then I mean, very slim) trousers and handbags, and girls with colourlenses, bare leggs and boots to their thighs. I will dedicate a later post to all the different kinds of people I have seen so far, if I have enough photo material, so that is still coming. For now, the colourful face of Osaka.

The streets

The shops. Which drove me crazy.

I wanted to sream of exitedness when I saw this.

There is one word for this: style.

Apparantly business men drink a lot with their colleagues. After a diner with too much sake involved, this men couldn't find the way back home and just lay down, drunk, on the streets of Osaka and fell asleep. When he wakes up on the street, he wipes the dust and dirt of his suit, and goes to work again.

Hi, Kyoto

It's been a while since I've been in Kyoto, actually more than a week ago now. But I still wanted to share some of the beautiful things I saw there. We went with a group of Japanese people, who showed us around a little bit. At first we walked through streets where every shop offered us their food samples. After that we went to a place where we saw this orange tempel, I guess it was the golden temple I asked them to take us to. A long walk through narrow streets with more shops, and more food samples followed. This road finally took us to an incredibly beautiful view, just around the hour of sunset; it was amazing.

Just a road in Kyoto.

This is all candy. Japan is the definition of cuteness.

Cuteness, again.

And, again.

A temple

This I think, was part of the golden temple.

The sunset gave the already beautiful nature an even more impressive glow to it.

Kyoto, I'll be back.