Catherine’s Blog

Angled LPM

Originally uploaded by LPM

Poor Rikard, it is not his fault that he did not get the reaction he expected when he unveiled his plans recently. I went into a spin, there are a lot of reasons for this and it is going to take some time to work them out.
My main thing to remember is Rikard is NOT Anthony, he won’t do the things he did, hopefully. The ripples and waves from my marriage are going to affect my personal relationships for a long time. More so with my reaction to his news that caught us both by surprise. After a long conversation, talking about time lines, worries and expectations here is the news.

Rickard is coming to visit, hopefully a long extended visit. The reason for the visit is to get to know me a little better than hour chats on Skype. It is a testing visit. Just to see little old me. ME!

I am excited but am not bouncing around like a loon, this cat has been kicked too many times for that, I have promised that I will when he has booked his ticket. Which he intends to do in the next few months.

So 2009 might have a tiny silver lining, which is good considering it has been the most horrible year ever, for me.

I have been told 2010 is going to be “awesome”, considering how excited Rikard was I can not really help but to agree and grin.

The sever my website has been down so the journal entries have been written up and have been posted on the appropriate day when the server was put back on line.

My trip to Sydney has been really good. I am currently using the down time on the plane to catch up with the blog.

The trip was good with some frustrating bad spots that although frustrating, in the past would have upset me greatly and combiner were stressful but now much less likely to accompanied by blind panic.

First Natalie and I wend our way across to Avalon airport, admiring the the sunrise but we were a little late and I missed the plane. Opps, the first time in my life and an expensive mistake I won’t make again. Natalie the trooper drove me to Tullamarine Airport (which I kept calling Heathrow) and I caught a later plane.

I managed to negotiate the Sydney train system and got myself into Circular Quay, the most stunning view from a train station, I suspect in the world. (Of course if forgot to inquire where I could find locker at the airport and has to take my little suitcase with me.) I took lots of photos of the bridge and Opera House and found some lovely christmassy photos as well. It was hot but really enjoyable and the tramping around in the sun has bleached my regrowth into the colour I was dyed in London, it is looking more natural now. I went around the Rocks and sat in the pub, with the crazy laptop on the bar. I then went to get money and managed to miss the slot and slip my card under the card reader! Bugger. I only had that bank card. Oh dear. I had enough money to get me to St Leonard’s and met Ed. He picked me up and we headed to his mother’s home.

There I met the delightfully elegant Margo, Ed’s very stylish mother. Having met Madeleine, Ed’s sister it very easy to see where the good looks come from. It was really good see Ed. He is looking great and very, very happy. I suspect the relationship with Maddie has something to do with that. I met the other woman in Ed’s life, the very beautiful and fluffy Boo, a long haired tabby.

Ed and I napped and then got ready for dinner before launching to a trek across town with Margo, along the way having some really great house porn moments. I really like the Californian Bungalow look, one day I will buy one of them. We crossed the bridge on the train and I discovered you could walk across it. This is something I have tucked away in my memory banks.

We found the restaurant and although the service was a little slow and the food heavy for the weather it was a great feed and good company.

In the restaurant I received a text that my flight had been cancelled and to call Jetstar. Not good news but I dutifully called and the amount of time on hold ate my phone credit! Grrrrr. I did not get through, very annoyed to say the least. Then I discovered a very bad thing. I had dropped my DSLR camera at Circular Quay earlier in the day and thought there was no damage. Nope, I had cracked the base plate on the opposite corner to the battery door. This is not good. I will be looking into the repair when I get home. Seeing the LCD screen from the inside of the camera is scary.

We then moved to a cocktail bar to met more of Ed’s friends and there was a time, even after a coke and gin and tonic that I ended up napping before we headed back to a friend’s of Ed’s. Getting a taxi in King’s Cross after chucking out time was akin to the melee that is Camden or Trafalgar Square in London, except the dresses are much skimpier and the heels high producing many clones that border and go over the whore line. There was some more drinking and catching up at house before collapsing on the couches. I had used Skype to find out about the flight and was not going back on Sunday but now Monday.

Sunday started off with people arriving to construct steampunk outfits. I can not say how much of a big yay, that was. Even though it felt very early. A yummy breakfast was supplied and it was a relaxed start to the day.

Ed and I headed to the station which was a long and hot walk. The Bureau of Meteorology said it was about 27 degrees but it felt much hotter and by the time we reached St Leonard’s. We waited for a bus but decided that even though it was decked out in tinsel inside and out that we did not want to do the walk and we took a cab. The proceed to crash and burn with regards to doing anything more. More naps were taken and then delicious pizza consumed.

Sydney has a different feel to Melbourne, Sydney leaves you in no doubt you are in a large city and it is Australian. Unlike Melbourne many of the trees are indigenous and there are huge swathes of bush in the middle of suburbs and of course there is the harbour. The feel is big busy city and not the slightly more laid back feel of Melbourne with its European feel.

Today was really just catching up on sleep and getting to the airport. Ed drove me which was very cool. We chatted about many things, life, relationships, London, Australia and stuff. We are in quite similar situations and it helps that Ed knows Rikard quite well. This proved for some enlightening conversations. I think my view of Rikard and what ever we have has shifted ever so slightly with bits and pieces of news from London and a bit of eye opening from Ed. Still taking things slowly though. Getting my feet back on the ground and getting back bits of me I have squished is the order of this month.

It was great to see Ed, hear about London and generally feel a little less disconnected from a life I worked hard to build there. It was great to see a different side of him and met his family and friends too as well as well as see a bit of Sydney.

I am appear to be sitting at the bar of the oldest pub in Sydney, with the lap top and a schonner of Carlton Draft beer with the condensation condensing into little rivers of liquid. The pub is tiny, there is a leaning towards men seated around the rectangle shaped bar. The lines are Victoria with the tiles on the wall showing their age as well as the local trade in yesteryear. (Front bars were tiled high due to men peeing in the pub during the six o’clock swill.)

I am in Sydney for Ed’s 30^th round the world celebration. More on that later, time to catch whilst looking like a dork in a fairly old school once filled with dock workers pub with a lap top on the bar.

The last week or so have been a little round about like some quite depressing times and some great times.

Friday last I had job interview that I suspect went badly as I have not heard anything yet, I would have liked the job but I doubt if I am qualified enough. Cataloguing would be a skill I would have liked to hone a bit. Oh well, those are the breaks.

After the interview I headed out to visit Adrienne and Bill in Kyneton. Driving there I had to contrate on watching for kangaroos. Bill cooked up a lovely meal, stir fried beef. Adrienne and I then hit the gin and tonic and generally chatted about very little but also a lot. We spent a bit of time wandering around the property both in the dark as well as in the light. Bill is into short wave radio in a big way and has an array of boxes and wires that look a touch arcane and are attach to large antennae outside the home.

I headed back to Melton on Saturday morning, managing not hit any kangaroos again. Driving early morning and evening is a little fraught when you are unused to watching for kamikaze kangaroos.

I pottered around the house Saturday, sending the roomba around and doing a bit of washing. Saturday night I dressed up in my new skirt from Japan and headed off to Toby’s house warming.

Toby’s house is modern and in Brunswick West, very nice. I am quite jealous. I chatted to Toby and some of his guests. It was very odd only knowing Toby and I appear to have lost a little socialising knack. I suspect this is from generally feeling down. I was missing London, mainly the fact that socially London was just easier. There was more on and I knew what was on. I have very uncomfortable feeling of being homesick for a town I spent time being homesick in! I am sure this limbo will right its self.

I general I spent most of those days feeling quite down, the combination of fish out of water with the interview and Toby’s party as well as having to mess about on public transport and negotiating use of a car taking its toll.

Sunday I popped down to visit Adrienne’s house in Faulkner and helped her pack some books and admire her home. It is lovely, a slice of time warp of kitsch and scientist.

I was in need of a little not down time but brain reorganisation. There were a number of things poking in my brain and not helping with my mood. I need to sort out some stuff and called Rikard in London (I think this is the first time this blog has heard of Rikard, I knew him in London and when he discovered I was leaving and the circumstances for the departure he decided to act on the feelings he has had for me for a long time.). We chatted about many things including travel plans, up until now his coming trip to Melbourne had been couched in terms of if and now it is when. We both have our reservations. I really need to settle and adjust to my failed marriage status. I still miss Anthony terribly but recent circumstances have hardened my heart and it is time to recover and go forward. This very long discussion was much needed we talked about many things and sorted out a number of things. It was really good, and a weight I had realised I was carrying was lifted. I gather he was very happy as well.

Monday saw me sewing, a lot, aprons. We contacted a craft market for the Thursday and were hoping to do it but need to build up stock.

Tuesday was fabric shopping followed going out to visit Jack and Tracey. I am going to admit to avoiding this meeting, I knew it would be tough. Jack has grown so much, he is now 2 cm shorter than me. His body shape is changing and is going to be fairly stocky. He thought I was going back to England even though he knew about Anthony. His response to it all was, I am really sorry to hear that. Frankly the best response anyone can give, heart felt and to the point. He had not realised that I was here to stay and declared my return the best present ever. I may have done very well not to cry at that point.

Tracey I caught up over pizza and wine, it was lovely to chat and generally catch up. Tracey and I seem to fall back in the old patterns pretty quickly and that was comforting.

I ended up on the last train the Melton (9.55pm), an enlightening journey. I now suggest people who use TfL and complain should try Melbourne for a bit.

Wednesday was again sewing and more sewing. We had a craft market for Thursday and we had to prepare for that. Arnie dropped over some of his had turned pens to sell as well.

Thursday was an early start and heading to Bacchus March Village for the craft market. I set up and waited, Nat bought down some plastic bags we had forgotten and I waited. I sold a pen. I waited more, people admired the aprons. Some stall holders to a point of sketching our design in plain sight of me. Not impressed and annoyed I did not say anything at the time.

All in all the market was an experiment and we know now to scope the market before hand. The goods we were competing against were made by people doing it for a hobby and therefore not out to make a profit. Also the market was a little old style and there really was not enough people coming through. I am glad that we did take Dad’s pens because they saved us. We sold 5 of them for more than Dad normally sells them. It was a step learning curve and although disappointing we know what went wrong.

Thursday night I visited Dave for a very important job, to buy underwear. Dave is on night shift and because I am not working then shopping trips to the 24hour K-mart are only moderately insane. We pottered around a bit before I went to sleep, leaving Dave to do the nocturnal thing. I got up in the morning as he went to bed and after a little friendly housework headed back to Melbourne to pack for Sydney.

Lights

Originally uploaded by LPM

I was up early this morning and not terribly bright eyed and bushy tailed. I did not have the most fantastic sleep, quite broken and not the fullest.
We are currently driving up the Hume highway after undertaking our second driver change. We are driving in 2 hour shifts. I have had a nap, I have decided that if I am tired after a caffeinated soft drink then napping is justifiable.
The first bit of the trip was not far from Puckapunyl and Flowerdale, both areas affected but the Black Saturday bushfires. There is burnt areas up both sides of the highway. The Hume is a double lane highway with a green median strip. The fire jump this, burning the median strip. The burnt hillsides clearly visible. Including a hillside with the lines of plantation planting clearly visible but completely denuded. The indigenous vegetation is still standing and carrying the eerie regrowth from a fire. The trunks produce hundreds of small shoots and it looks like that have been wrapped in green fur. This is the unique nature of the Australian bush, the gumtrees burn feircly and hot because of the oil in the leaves but it takes very serious fires to kill them.
The devastation is plain to see, even after 10 months. From the Hume there is is no evidence of the homes and businesses lost, I am sure in Kinglake and Marysville that is still very evident.
So, we are heading to Wangaratta for our first stop. We are heading to Parks. It is nine hours from Melbourne and we are heading there to take photos of the radio telescope.

Parkes is the radio telescope made famous in the movie “The Dish” and was instrumental in a number of the Apollo missions as a relay station for NASA. We are heading up for photos. Dave had taken some lovely ones when he was there last and he and Marty had the hair brained idea to drive up. We are driving up today, nine hours, having a rest, setting out to the Dish at midnight and staying until the sun rises. Then another sleep and heading back to Melbourne. I suspect this is because we are slightly mad.
Having made a stop in Wangaratta for the all important snacks we are out on the Hume again. We have an esky (cooler box) with oddly healthy cans of sparkling fruit juice and water. Plus chocolate, snakes and chips. All this should keep us going for the long haul driving. We need the water because the air con has stopped working. Oh dear. We maybe puddles of goo by the end of this.
Although it has just started raining, which will cool things down a little, the section we are travelling along is quite flat so very big sky so we have been able to see the dark grey clouds approaching for sometime before it began to dump huge be fat drops on us. This are is drier than around Melton. No green in the paddocks, the green is just from the eucalyptus trees. The grass is the pale gold of a dry landscape, parched.
We have crossed the border into New South Wales, which unlike Victoria is bigger than Texas. Marty is still at the helm and it is getting warm as we have left the rain behind. Dave has spent a fruitful time cleaning out his glove box. Finding a number of things he has not seen before.
My turn to drive, we have had lunch in Wagga Wagga and I am next into bat. I have done the adjusting from a tall man to short woman routine and we are off. Long stretches of country road with lorikeets on the roads. Through little towns with just a couple of silos, rail crossing and a pub.
Then onto the highway, stopping for photos and heading towards the dark grey clouds.
The rain has arrived, heavy rain that windscreen wipers can barley keep up with. The trucks and road trains coming the other way are throwing up sheets of water.
This stretch of road works in slippery and the truck coming to other way threw up mud. Panic, and wipers engaged to to remove the fine silt across the windscreen.
I have to pee to Forbes McDonald’s is used before Dave drives the last little bit.
We are behind a large road train. Dave chats to the driver on the CB. We wave to the driver and the one ahead as well pass them on the overtaking hill. The rain has stopped, there are two huge rainbows looking very bright on the grey sky. Dave has pulled over as one of the rainbows is doing a huge arch across the sky. The trucks we passed pass us as we all wave.

Parkes is dry, they have not had the rain we have driven through. Brilliant, given the fact we have driven 9 hours to find it was raining would be gutting.

The dish is huge, it is hard to describe how big it is. At 65 metres across it manages to move very gracefully. It is chilly and I am very glad for my wrist warmers and scarf as well as the huge coat that Dave lent me that belongs to Andrew. The tripods are set up and we have taken shots through the dusk an into the night. Some very long exposures that have caused excitement from the ranks. It is time for food.

Roadhouse food, the stick your ribs and gut food that is a salvation for photographers who are trying to find food at 10pm in a small rural town in NSW. I have a ordered a small meal, a chicken schnitzel burger that appears to have to pieces of meat in it. Good Lord.

We are back at the Dish, it is darker as the moon has moved We have set up for long exposures and are swapping around shutter cords. Dave has produced a very cool 30 minute exposure of the dish moving. It is tracking across from a fixed point but unfortunately it has its back to us most of the time but it still was a fantastic time.
We are settling down to sleep. Marty is taking the double bed on account of his foot (he had it operated on recently), Dave had the middle bunk and I got the lower bunk on account none of us wanted to climb to the top, so I am really on the floor.

We have slept well and are hitting road refreshed. Breakfast is a sausage roll and sauce, not really breakfast but it is after 11, we have taken photos of the dish in the bright sunlight.

Back on the road, Dave is charge of the first leg. We are driving the area it was pouring yesterday and it is dry enough produce mini dust tornado. The country is all yellow, there is lots of wheat and sheep in the area with the odd heard of cows. The sheep are grazing in huge paddocks, a stark contrast to the amount of sheep that can be be run on a UK field.
We have stopped to take photos of pubs that I feel are very Australian. Sitting on the corner, they have verandahs that go out to the gutters and are double. They have a bit of decoration be it iron lace work or the more simple wooden lattice work. One of them had the sign many Australians will be familiar with “Counter meals served here”. Counter meals, simple pub food, served in the bar. Most of the shops in the street had the wide verandahs, a street scape that is Australian and very typical for small towns without huge air conditioned malls.

The roads all straight, we have gone around some bends with a number of whoops and cheers.
Driver change, Marty is driving, we change just outside of Junee. I remember that Flo for high school came from Junee, unfortunately I slept through it.

It is more comfortable now, I am not as sleepy, the sun is drifting for the horizon and we have Queen playing loudly. We have not had air con on the trip and today is quite warm. The landscape is still yellow and farm house still tend towards wrap around veranda regardless of the age of the house. Sensibly it appears not many people out here have gone down the crazy modern route of not having eaves on a house let alone verandahs.
We possibly have been the car too long, the sillies have set in a little. Dave has been making shadow plays on the tarmac by sticking his hand out of the window, above the roof.
We are in Albury hunting the RSL club for dinner.
Ahhhh, the RSL a local institution in most Australian towns. Albury does not have an RSL club it is a combined sports and services club. So the armed forces and sports clubs. It has the pokies and bars like most of the clubs. We ate in the decently priced bistro that served Dave sized portions of food to little old me. I may have eaten the Hawaiian parmigiana that appeared to have a half a pig or bacon and tin of pineapple pieces along with a heart attack of cheese and tomato paste. Marty and Dave had steaks after eating old fashioned prawn cocktails.
We are back on the Hume highway driving into the sunset. Riding or driving into the sunset is not something I recommend without good sunglasses. We have ditched Queen, we are queened out and have moved onto They might be giants.
Glenrowan Roadhouse seemed a good place to call Ela for her 30th birthday. I sure the background noise of the B-doubles added to the atmosphere of the phone call.
Dave has a tape of Hubba Bubba bubble gum. It is an awful smell. The sun has set, the sunset was very pink and has now moved into the deep burnt orange that I am yet to find in any other part of the world I have visited. The only light in the car is from the laptop and I am very caffeinated, I am sure this is a bad thing.
We have arrived back late but safe. I am too late for the last train and am staying at Dave’s. Goodness I am a little tired but it was worth it.

Parasol

Originally uploaded by LPM

In light of the lack of more thrilling content, I am going to explore some interesting cultural things I noticed in Japan that only two weeks of travel can touch on in such a profound way.
First the travelling alone thing, I noted a couple of times I was considered a bit of an oddity, travelling on my own. It took a bit to realise that in hotels and the such like, single women in general were rare and Japanese women even more so. Most Japanese women seem to travel in a pair or couple and the older women in packs that travel on buses. Feminism does not have much sway of the culturally entrenched sexism so this really is not that surprising. I don’t think it will put me off travelling on my own again but I now have a better idea what to expect and how to deal with all. The main reason is that being one your own generally means unwanted attention from business men, in the form of straight up pick up lines or inappropriate touching. In my experience clumsy attempts. In these situations it pays to be firm and to call them out on their behaviour.

Japan is a very safe society, I put my bag down in Harajuku, on a public footpath, mobile, wallet, passport, camera kit inside it. A practised eye knows what a lowpro bag looks like and is likely to contain. It was not touched and I was safe in the knowledge I only had to keep a small eye on it. It is a very odd situation compared with London, considering that because this was near a station it would have been either stolen of blown up by bomb disposal. They are very law abiding, there is little litter on the streets and they are very courteous, there is no real way to work out what their feelings are when interacting with them. As someone else noted, the amount of repression that goes on in a society to produce this is quite scary. The Japanese suicide rate gives an inkling of how this social conditioning can break a brain. There are very many positives to the Japanese way of life, the safety and cleanliness but to what cost? Is that cost too high?

I find some attitudes to different things very odd. Take smoking, smokers are not allowed to smoke on the streets and they huddle around smoking spots or crowd into smoking rooms. There is no smoking in restaurants during lunch hours but there is during the dinner services. The impression I got this was more for litter curtailing than public health! There are cigarette vending machines all over the place. It is all very confusing really, it is quite difficult to gauge the amount of the population that do smoke as well. The same goes for recycling, there is recycling points every where, you are encouraged to recycle and divide your rubbish. Bins for PET bottles and cans are provided next to the vending machines. You divide your rubbish in McDonald’s but when you purchase a take away from the same establishment a single value meal is placed in a large bag, the drinks and burger along with the chips placed in separate paper bags. So for a value meal you end up with three paper bags It is all very odd and quite wasteful. This disbelieve stretches to the electricity use in the commercial areas, the huge light displays, lights on all the time and the huge television screens that play music. All the time.
The brings me neatly to the noise pollution, goodness me, I thought London was bad. Trains, they announce the stations, the side the doors are opening and the connecting lines in both Japanese and English which is very helpful. Then just before the doors close there is music played, a little distinctive tune, in Tokyo this distinctive tune is different for each station and I think each platform and possibly train. Oddly, on the trains use of mobiles is actively discouraged and you are asked to put them on silent as well. If there is a TV screen it plays sound besides the ones on the train. Out on the streets trucks roll around playing the latest new realise from a band with the album promotion displayed on the back all lit up. There is also people in cars with loud hailers on top shouting about something, I don’t know what as it was generally in Japanese. Then there is the odd come and by stuff people sometimes with loud hailers and all over excited, the funniest being the promoting of a McDonald’s BBQ cheese burger by no less than four people out side a large store. Then there is the traffic lights that play a little set of chimes when you cross, the chimes differ for which section of the road you are crossing.

The odd thing is that you notice all this noise but you don’t understand how distracting it is until it is not there.

The crossing sounds I suspect are there for blind people. One this I noticed was the amount of white canes and guides I saw. The ground raised tiles were every where and there seemed to be sections in the train stations that a blind person could navigate more easily like barriers at the top of stairs and corners to stop the crowds taking over the entire area. There was a lot of Braille around as well. The amount of blind people just seemed to be more visible than say in the UK, they seem to lead quite independent lives.
The upshot for me is I don’t think I could live in Japan long term, I think tourist visiting and possibly teaching English for a time would be good but that would be the extent of it. The culture and the people are fascinating but you would always been an outsider.

Last time we saw our blogger she was in Nikko, the following day, Thursday, she chose to take it all a bit easier than previous days.  That was the plan.
I slept in and went down for breakfast at 8.30.  It was a Japanese version of Western style which sometimes can be odd, there was bacon, scrambled eggs and wedges.  Yes, wedges and bit of tomato sauce.  There was salad and fruit on the table.  I also got a bowl of rice, though odd for breakfast it does set you up for the day.  I avoided the pickles and the seaweed.
Then some internet surfing followed in the lobby and then I planned my day with the help of the hotel clerk.
I walked from the hotel into town, in search of postcards and photographic opportunities.  I found a couple of cute little shrines, they really are everywhere, including ones in the back yard, tiny ones with their own little red gates.  I also managed to find a Christian church, Anglican, a tiny little stone church with a porch full of slippers.  So off popped the shoes and had a little look, it was a fairly plain and simple as churches go, it is more chapel than church and its sight is odd in the traditional Japanese skyline.
I was following three ladies when one jumped in the air and retreated back very quickly.  There was a snake on the footpath, a striped one.  Language is never a barrier when you have a camera and they parted when they saw the camera and allowed me to take photos.
Then a stop at the famous Shinkyo bridge and trying to get a shot whilst the tourists crossed it and buses shook the bridge I was on.  Then a win in the post office for quick purchases and information in the tourist office.  I wander upstairs in the tourist office and saw a local display of poetry with hand painted water colours.  The poetry was pretty to look at, the calligraphy just so pretty.  It was a pity I could not read it.
Then I caught a bus back and to find the cold buddas but got distracted by the Imperial palace and had a wander through there.  Gasping at the wonderful wall paintings and beautiful outdoor scenes then it was shaking my head at the quite odd Western carpets that were used to show imperial power and willingness to take on western ideas.
I then headed for the buddas.  I found them, lined up along the river bank looking out at the leaves turning and river racing past.  They were wearing little red knitted hats and aprons, I am sure there is a reason for it and someone will enlightening me as to the whys and wherefores as about 50 buddas are wearing them.  The walk along the river was lovely and very relaxing.  My legs were sore and I headed back to the hotel.
I warmed up and had a nap before heading  down for dinner, which was another five course but I was not sitting out like a crazy lady.  Then it was time for a bath, long soak with other women, I was so pleased I had read up on bathing etiquette and was very warm and squeaky clean afterwards.  I changed into the hotel pyjamas and went down stairs to find out what the procedure for my treat was.  I met an English fellow drinking red wine in the lobby but had the conversation cut short by the masseuse arriving.  She was a delicately built middle aged Japanese woman who proceeded to knead and pummel me.  She touched my shoulders and sucked her teeth at me, even with her limited Japanese she made her displeasure and concern at the state of the back.  She worked very hard at trying to free up the muscles.  She did not make the knots disappear but certainly made me feel a lot better.
I headed downstairs and helped the English fellow, Stephen, drink his red wine and then we moved onto the vending machine beer.  We were joined by a Taiwanese teacher and two Japanese men in their hotel blue pyjamas.  The two guys also bought beer and we had a lot of giggle until 2am we were told to shhh by another guest.  Opps.

Friday morning was a little dry at the 7am week up call.  I woke Stephen and he joined me for an odd breakfast.  I then packed and headed back to Tokyo.  I should have blogged on the train, instead I slept.
I found the new hotel, the Toyoko Inn, a chain of hotels Stephen had recommended.  The staff were very helpful, really helpful and I left my bags with them and headed out to find  a number of shops that I had been asked to by from.
First effort was Shinjuku to find the magical land of fabric, just off a pedestrian street lined with porn shops is the land of make believe.  A fabric shop that made me weep with joy and have a small nervous spending spree in my head.

I had to head back to the hotel to get shopping lists and figured booking in was an option now.  I did into a well laid out room with a little note on the bed telling me there was storage under the bed!  Win.  I found all the right shopping lists and felt the cave of fabric wonders was best left for the cold light of day and headed to Harajuku apparently a huge hundred yen shop.
I found it through the seething masses and then made a little error of judgement.  I bypassed the normal Goth shops and found one that made original pieces.  Opps, a lovely skirt that fits fell into my hands, I may have paid for it, and walked out.  Oh dear, that was an over spend that meant being careful with money.  I also spotted two western goths and asked them about clubs and stuff and they pointed me in the direction of a website that could help.
I went to the 100 yen shop and purchased a heap of stuff for Michael.  Then it was a restaurant Joyce had recommended and rescuing my JR pass I had dropped and no one stole!
It was late back to the hotel and a well earned sleep.

Saturday really was a shopping day, and therefore a little boring on the blogging front.  I bought electronics, fabric, buttons and tired to find some books, failed, then a lot of toys followed by a quest for a DVD that failed. I had visited four different suburbs by this stage and headed back to the hotel.
I thought about going out but to be honest as much as I hated the idea of Saturday in a hotel room on my own the thought of a nightclub where I knew no one and they may not speak my language was more than a little daunting.  I did think about it, and got quite sad.  I moped for a bit and then got a lovely  phone call the cheered me up by listening to the mope and then diverting it.  At 10pm I figured it was dinner time and due to the mop and not wanting to struggle with menus I got McDonald’s.

Sunday I was up early, finding the rice balls for breakfast nice and applying lots of make up.  Time to find some Harajuku kids.
I managed to find the very odd rockabillies having fun, dancing in leather like the fonze and drinking beer.
I found a very small group of kids and managed to take good photos, I don’t think the other photographers, well the western ones that me being gotheed up was the reason they stood still and let me ask them to more their poses.  They were intrigued with me as well and a Japanese man wanted my photo.
I went to the nearby shrine as it was three, five and seven day.  Three year old and seven year old girls and five year old boys going to the temple very much dressed up.
I got back to find a dinner invite from Stephen and headed out to meet him without changing.  I suspect after the PJ’s the Goth stuff was a little off for this fellow who comes from the very normal world of finance.
Dinner was a chopstick nightmare of noodles that were slippy, but yummy,
Them it was the hotel to pack my bags.

Monday was an odd day.  I packed the bags, got them downstairs.  I headed off to see Asimo the Honda robot which was very cool but the rest of the museum was aimed at kids and I was feeling a little blah.
I really had no idea where to head, new I wanted a lens hood for my telephoto lens and walked between stations to find that. I wandered a fair bit, found a paper shop tried not to spend too much there.
Then it was hotel, change, trains and a plane.  It was a hellish trip to the airport, my Japanese failed me and I did not end up on the quick train but a slow train and ended up running late which meant I had to check a bag I did not want to and got stung on excess.  I then was escorted to the gate and although I had not been in the airport more than twenty minutes.  The change over in Sydney was mental, not that organised it seemed.

I was sad to leave Japan.  Sad to be coming home, I never ever wanted this, I wanted to share this home coming and devastated it is not like that.
More on being home later.

5/52 Konnichiwa

Originally uploaded by LPM

Not dead, just busy. Last few days and no time on trains to blog.

This morning I yet again packed the back pack of doom and headed for the trains in rush hour.  It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I took off the the large backpack and man handled it on an off the trains.  The JR line has carriages with no seats, all the seats in the carriage are flip up and are not used during the peak hour.
Then it was negotiating the main Tokyo station and onto the Shinkansen and then a change onto a dinky local train.  The JR station in Nikko is apparently one of the oldest in Easter Japan and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  I have now seen a Frank Lloyd Wright building my mother has not!
I got on the bus with all the other tourists and headed off to see the sights.  It was a five temples in one day, shuffling around with pilgrims and tourists alike.  They were astounding in parts and a little worn in others.  It was interesting to see in one of them that they were restoring the paint work.   The temple was covered in plastic sheeting and people sat on low stools surrounded by lights and archic painting equipment, stoves, pots etc.  It was interesting to watch it was a no photography area.  Another temple had a dragon painted on the ceiling and the echo if the room meant you get a ringing clap under the dragons head, it is called the roaring dragon for that reason.  There were lots of pilgrims, as far as I can work out praying in the temples can become expensive.  Money in the box to pray and then fortunes, prayer sticks, plaques and charms mainly for prosperity and wealth.  For good or bad the Japanese approach to religion reminds me of the medieval catholic church without the guilt or the Ferengi which is a little odd because I don’t think anyone is out for swindling.  I find it all a little strange but considering my lack of Japanese and the fact it is religion I am not willing to ask.
So, I looked, climbed and wandered.  I braved the food, not really knowing what was on offer I went for a steamed bun, which was really fluffy with a nice meaty gravy filling.  I was well impressed with that discovery, I will be eating more of those for my lunches.  Spoke to a nice American fellow at one point.  I really am noticing the face most people travel in groups.  The JR woman when booking my accommodation said it was rare and found some places that would not take me.  It is quite odd really, I suspect if I was male or staying in a hostel it might not be so bad.
Anyway, I got cold, my knees complained so I headed back to the train station, picked up my bag, rode in a doily cab and got to the very expensive place I am staying in.  (Note, next time I go to a country that does not speak English I am getting a language course, this time I did not have time nor  in the right head space this time round.)  The staff member was very helpful but I quickly realised he could not go off track of the general hotel stuff. The room has two beds in it and is huge.  I am provided with PJ style outfit, lilac for the girls, blue for the boys.  I gathered my bravery together and went to soak my bones, dressed in my PJs.  The baths are segregated so it is nudity as a matter of course.  I managed to met an older lady on the way out but had the room too myself.  I soaked for half an hour in the mineral spring outside bath.  It was lovely, my bones feel so much better.  Of course there was the amusement of the floating boobs.  I then waited for dinner.
Dinner, well I did not want to eat in my room but… my table is at the end in the middle with me facing the room, proclaiming I sit by myself.  To top it off the waiter told me there was a drink provided and which would I like, pointing to the list in Japanese.  I told him I did not read Japanese and what were the options.  There, I went off script and he just kept asking me if I wanted a drink or no.  It the end he got someone else to service me who could tell me the juices on the list.  It was horrible.  I managed to work out oolong tea but that was about it.  I felt so stupid.  This uncomfortableness was compounded by my being seated alone.
So the meal, five very nice course but bloody small, the beef was divine and the corn soup really corny.  It was great food just not enough, I had climbed many stairs!
There is no internet in my room so I am sat here in the lobby which has been nice because after the meal people have drifted in and out, some played pool others read the hotel manga.  I will admit to sitting in the corner, skype chatting and drinking a beer.  The downside is they smoke down here, burggh.  I am going to take it easy tomorrow, maybe get a massage and generally give my body a rest.

Shibuya

Originally uploaded by LPM

Today’s blog is in bullet form:

• Washing, the laundry service was very expensive.
• Found laundrymat and very helpful patron, don’t think I shrunk anything.
• Wrote postcards
• Had a nap
• Finally able to withdraw money, important in a cash based society
• Sorted plans for next two day, Nikko for hot springs.
• Went to Shibuya on a whim, cue sensory over load.
• Bought gloves, had to sit down with the price.
• Got fleeced at dinner, the veg set down in front of me was not complimentary, glad I sent the tea away.
• Took some very cool photos.
• Have decided I am like an over dressed goth in London, this causes stares and people to spontaneously ask where I am from. (I am starting to think the blonde hair has something to add to this.)
• I have packed my bags again. Off in the morning, in rush hour. Erk!
• My back is sore and I am starting to get tired, still having fun.

Today is Joyce’s Birthday, I called her this morning and we had a quick chat before I set off to the station, gathering more strange looks, especially from elderly women who are not adversed to staring. I got onto the platform in plenty of time, I did not want a repeat of last time. (Mind you looking at the tickets, missing the train meant I arrived earlier than I would have on the correct train!)
I on the train I sat by myself and watched the inside of tunnels a lot.
Once in Hiroshima I tried to withdraw money, this time managing to get the teller to take my card but it decline the request. Thankfully my Australian card gave results but I am quite unhappy with this outcome. I decided breakfast was in order and I found the McDonald’s breakfast hot dog irresistible. It was a good start to my morning, I think all countries should have them. Then it was a win at the post office with the phrase book and hand gestures school of Catherine communications. Also another win at the tourist information booth and finding the correct street car. Trams, I have no idea why I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see them, I suspect because there are not that many places that use them. After asking at the tourist office when I had to pay I got on with the flurry of westerners and little old ladies and headed to the A-bomb dome stop.
You get off at the stop and immediately you can see this shell of a building. I suspect most people read the guide books before they arrive and know what they are looking at, if this civilisation falls I am not sure if they will understand why a civilisation maintained a derelict building, suspending it in time, that time being, August 6th 1945, 8.15am. The time Little boy was dropped on Hiroshima. The A-bomb building which is listed as a world heritage sight was one of the few buildings left standing after the bomb, it is a time capsule, the rubble around it has not been touched, it has been shored up and repaired to maintain that post destruction state. It dominates the landscape, a twisted reminder that can be seen from most of the memorial park. It is a sobering site.
I walked along the rivers edge past the quite unattractive 1960’s style tower to the mobilized students. These were school children in the area, pulling down buildings as fire breaks if the town got bombed like pretty much the rest of Japan. They were forced by the government to do this. It was there I saw the first lot of paper cranes. At least 50 bunches of a thousand of them, folded with the wish for piece on each one. Gently threaded on strings and gathered in strands to be hung on the hooks provided.
I crossed the bridge into the peace park proper and to see the Children’s Peace Monument. This is the monument erected in remembrance of Sasaki Sadako and the other children who have lost their lives and the furtherment of of peace on the planet. I remember reading the story of Sadako and her thousand paper cranes in primary school, the story has stayed with me. She hope folding 1000 would grant her wish to live. She folded more than a 1000 but lost her battle, she was 13 when she died. (some stories say she did not reach the goal of a thousand, the peace memorial says she reached a thousand, I believe that.) Those cranes have come to symbolise the struggle for complete nuclear disarmament that Hiroshima has taken upon its self to promote. Children from around the world make them. The memorial has a dozen large open sided boxes containing cranes, filled with cranes. The cranes are in strands, containers or mosaics. There are hundreds of thousands of cranes and from what I could work out they are removed quite regularly. There was a set from Urquhart Primary, in Ballarat, astounding. While I was there a school group turned up with two bunches of cranes. They had a little ceremony that involved a lot of bowing and hats off. It was touching. I left before I burst into tears.
As a little side note, a lot of Japanese school children when out on excursion wear matching caps, this seems to be able to keep track of the children. I saw one school where three different grades appeared to wear different hats. The school uniforms are all quite similar so I suspect the hats are needful. Even if they don’t wear a uniform they have matching hats. I also noticed a lot of these school groups appeared to have a official photographer with them too, quite surreal.
Okay, so I drifted off, exploring, finding the mound where the ashes of unidentified victims lie and the new Korean monument. The Koreans were forced labours and about 10% of the causalities where Korean, the Japanese did not recognise them as victims for a long time. The giant turtles head was lost under a mantle of cranes and origami turtles.
Then it was a sit in the memorial hall before marvelling at the symmetry of the memory flame, cenotaph and the A-bomb dome. I then attempted to walk to the Museum of Peace. This was somewhat hampered by my appearance, it appears I could look like I speak English. This meant two stops of laboured year six English questions. I really did not mind, I did catch one lass pointing at my hair. I smiled and bent down, she had a good look and giggled a lot. I was stopped twice on the way to the Museum, and also had lots of students saying hello to me and any other westerner they could see. A lot of these children were visiting from outside the big cities, I suspect the tourists were some of the first westerners they had seen. It was amusing.
Once inside the museum it was less amusing with the noise but it did mean I did not cry in there. TO be honest it was very hard, looking at buildings and letters from Churchill did not have the impact of children’s school uniforms, tattered bloodied and the date of death written next to them. Hair that had fallen out of the victims in the days after the bombs, toys and personal effect. Photos of the victims. Skin and fingernails, I had to stop there and move out of that room. The noise levels went down as the awful and macabre artefacts dealt there terrible testament.
The largest impact for me were some of Sadako’s cranes, folded by herself in hospital and donated by her family. They are tiny. She made the progressively smaller and in the end would use a needle to fold them.
It makes me wonder if anyone had any idea of the long term effects of a nuclear bomb. And now that we do we still think it is a reasonable devise to protect a country with. The sheer lack of humanity of these leaders just gob smacks me and don’t get me started on the cost and where that money comes from and better use for it. It makes me want to belt heads together.
So I really needed a break from that and headed out to be sprung on by three school groups. I retreated to the other side of the river, took in the memorial for hair and went in search of dinner.
I found a place that served Okonomiyaki, the savoury pancake pizza thing and the Hiroshima style that they are well known for.
Then it was on the tram, making old ladies giggle and arriving an HOUR early for the train. I am currently on the train, rushing towards Tokyo and with no idea what I will do tomorrow and if my bank card will work, I live the high life I do.