Driving, stunning views and the police

Date: Saturday 17^th August 2014

Weather: Though I crossed half of Japan in one day, the weather remained pretty much the same wherever I was. A roof of cloud covered the sky for the entire day. The weird thing was; no matter how high, or low, the road I was on climbed or descended, the clouds always seemed to remain at the same height. There was, of course, long periods of heavy rain, which means...

MP3 track of the day: Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain – Jason Donovan

The morning pretty much went how I'd planned it. My alarm went off at 4:30am and, due to having a long shower the night before, I had a light shower, cleaned my teeth and got dressed. I found myself sitting inside my car at around 5:00am. After double checking that I had everything, I made sure that my music player, snacks and drinks were all within easy reach; I then consulted my map.

My route home would try to be as direct as it could be, missing large urban areas and as many traffic lights as possible. Not only did I think that this would make my trip quicker, I also believed that it would save me money on petrol. To start, I would head north until I joined the '458'; this would take me into the large city of Nagano (where I stayed for my 30^th birthday) however, as I would be within this city at around 6am on a Saturday, I was confident that traffic would be light. After this I would join the '18' briefly before switching onto the '172', which headed in a north-easterly direction through fields and many small communities. Next I would switch onto the '272' which would take me over the mountains and into the city of Aizu-Wakamatsu. By the time I reached Aizu-Wakamatsu I felt that it should be about midday; I would therefore stop for something to eat (plus probably fuel) before heading straight towards Japan's eastern coastline. From their I would take the '7' through the big cities of Fukushima and Sendai. This part of the trip I wasn't looking forward too however, once through Sendai, it should be plain sailing along the '45' all the way to Miyako. For those who have limited knowledge of Japanese geography; I would start of by heading east, then I would head north-east to Aizu-Wakamatsu before heading east to Japan's eastern coastline. I would then head north, hugging the coastline all the way back up to Miyako. I left that my 'estimated time of arrival in Miyako' would be around 10pm. With my plan, my bags and my 'snack and music placement' double checked, I turned the ignition key and quietly left my hostel's car park (which is actually a small area of grassland next to a stream). The time: 5:15am.

The first part of my trip occurred without incident. Always wary of road closures, I found the mountain road to Nagano open and without traffic. Japan really is beautiful in the morning; I loved climbing into the clouds, only to fall back out of them and into another small farming community with plenty of rice fields ready for harvesting.

A part from reminiscing about my 30^th birthday holiday, Nagano proved to be no problem at all. I went straight through this lovely city and out onto the '18'. Due to local morning traffic, things did slow down a little around the suburbs of Nagano however, once far enough away from the city, the cars disappeared and I was once again left by my self. A sheet of grey cloud hung above me as I drove north-east which, though no good for photos, did make the day a lot cooler and meant that my air-conditioning was not required.

I found the '172' to be a joyous road of little traffic, plenty of places to pass and – for once – a continual white hashed line (which means that you can over-take). The time was getting onto 9am and I had enjoyed this road so much that I didn't want to leave it however, soon enough, the dreaded '272' was shown on the road sign above me.

For those of you unfamiliar with my '30^th Birthday blogs', it was this road - which was closed due to snow - which forced a 4/5 hour diversion around the mountain range it crossed. As I approached this road, it didn't look that inviting; the clouds were dark grey in colour and seemed to be swirling around as a warning. The cloud looked thick therefore, I wondered if the road would have been closed due to sever fog however, as I searched everywhere for a sign none appeared. I pressed on; sure I could have abandoned my route and used a different road however, I had an old score to settle and I wanted to know if the '272' 'winter closure' was justified.

The winter snow closure was certainly justified though, for this summer trip, the dark clouds weren't an issue (the cloud never reduced visibility because, when I climbed, so too did the cloud … weird). I could see how dangerous this road could be if there was ice and snow on it; at first the '272' meandered it's way in between soaring mountains on either side of it, closely following the path of a river. Once it could meander no more, the road started to climb extremely quickly through a series of 's' bends, some of which had a little less 'stopping you from driving over the edge' equipment than I would have liked.

Once at the top, the mountain seemed to have given up trying to dissuade me and it opened up a view so stunning that I can't remember seeing anything quite this good anywhere else in Japan. I parked up – along with two other Japanese cars – and stared down into the valley way, way, way below me. Sharp edged mountains crashed downwards hitting lake after lake in the valley below; this sight went on and on and on, right into the distance. I took photograph after photograph trying to do this area justice though alas, I couldn't quite get it right. A Japanese guy – who I had driven up the mountain with – also stopped his car and, as we took photographs, we chatted a little; he also asked if he could take my photo. After my 'photo shoot' he wished me well and continued on his way; I wanted to take a few more photos however, the mountain had other ideas.

I had thought that the mountain had given up trying to make me leave however, it had just been storing up power for one gigantic hit. As I was taking my last shots, a torrent of rain came from nowhere. I rushed to my car, got in and drove off with my wipers on full power. This continued all the way down the mountain preventing me from seeing the terrain around me. Once I had stopped descending I instantly recognised the place I had stopped at last April. I then drove through terrain and villages which, though not completely new to me, felt alien because of the dynamic seasonal changes within this area.

Once I was clear of the mountains and back in the valley below, I had a huge smile on my face even though the rain was still bucketing it down. I had beaten the road which had caused me so many problems and, as the time was 11am, it would appear that this road is indeed a very quick way to move from Japan's central prefectures, to it's northern ones. I continued to drive, enjoying what view I could see and noticing that, for every ten kilometres I got closer to Aizu-Wakamatsu, another car could be seen heading in the same direction as I.

Due to traffic, I crawled into the outskirts of Aizu-Wakamatsu at around midday. Having missed breakfast (I was hoping to find somewhere open along the way but alas, there wasn't anything) I was starving. Unsure what I fancied, I scoured the huge signs erected along the road. Soon enough I found a sign for a ramen 'chain restaurant' which I had visited before. My stomach gave a stir of approval and so I left the main road and parked my car within the restaurant's car park.

As I was munching my way through a semi-spicy bowl of ramen (with six gyoza's as a side) I looked at my road map wondering if the route I had planned was still viable. My current route meant that I had to travel through three big cities (Aizu-Wakamatsu – I was still on the outskirts -, Fukushima and Sendai). It was becoming obvious that hitting these cities out of the 'rush hour period' was irrelevant, due to it being a Saturday and still within 'Obon'. As I looked at my map I saw a possible route north, which would mean that I missed all three of these cities however, I would have to travel through Yamagata city instead. As I kept gazing at my map I realised that, if I did indeed head north, Yamagata was the only big city between me and home. I could head north through Yamagata and then, head directly east joining the Japanese coastline at Ishinomaki before continuing north along Japan's eastern coast all the way to Miyako. With that settled I finished my meal, closed my map, paid and got back in my car.

A part from one minor accident, the drive up to, and through, Yamagata city proved to be effortless. Now I joined the '347' east-bound; which is the same '347' I used on the first day of my holiday. Though it was still raining, the views were still good and I enjoyed weaving my way along this mountain road. All too soon, I found myself level once again and driving through small towns and villages.

Once I had stopped for a quick bite (It was now 6pm), I found myself within the city of Ishinomaki. It was here that I would stop travelling east (due to the sea) and instead I would head north along a very familiar road; so familiar in fact that, due to the time, I didn't mind that it was now dark and therefore I couldn't see anything. With the feeling of home sight I pressed on, possibly going a little quicker than I should have.

At 8pm I crossed into Iwate; my home prefecture.

I was only forty-five minutes away from home when I saw a police car – which had been travelling in the opposite direction – do a U-turn and switch on it's red flashing lights. At this time, I knew that my speed was okay therefore, I was unaware of any traffic law I had violated. Being a good citizen I pulled off the main road and into a bus bay; I then put my hazards lights on and stared at my rear-view mirror hoping that this specific policeman had been given a radio message and it wasn't actually me he was after. That dream faded as soon as he pulled into the bus bay behind me.

At the same time as the policeman got out of his car, I forgot every single word of Japanese I had learnt over the last two years (though I put a funny spin on this, it is probably for the best that I look as though I can't speak Japanese. I could have said that I knew a little but then, he might have said something which I may have misunderstood to mean something completely different. My studies have prepared me for light conversation, asking directions, shopping and chatting up pretty Japanese ladies however, as of yet, I have not read 'chapter 237: how to get yourself out of trouble with the police when they pull you over for a traffic offence').

I opened my window to be greeted by an elderly gentleman who appeared to have lost his eyes. He seemed to be one of those people who closes their eyes whilst speaking, only to open them when he had finished. When he did open them he got quite a shock and realised that, the first two minutes of our meeting had been fruitless. “... good evening officer, can I help you...” was the facial image I portrayed and, as they explained what I had done wrong with a mix of Japanese, English and gestures, my face changed from 'butter wouldn't melt' to a honest look of 'I had no idea that was against the law'.

At night in Japan, a lot of traffic lights change the way they work (I now hate traffic lights even more). During the day traffic lights in Japan are the same as back at home however, at night, they continually flash either amber of red. I interpreted this to mean that, whichever road at the junction had the amber flashing light, then they had priority over the red however, it actually means something a little different. Yes the amber flashing light has priority over the red however, you still have to reduce your speed considerably with an amber flashing light and, with a red flashing light, you actually have to stop, look both ways, and then continue on your way. I, of course, sailed through a red flashing light – after checking that there was no traffic of course – and didn't actually stop. I gave the policeman my Japanese drivers licence and my 'foreigner card'. He went back to his car and spoke with his colleague; they then both came back to me and gave me back my cards. I then had to write my name – in block capitals - on a green slip, and place my fingerprint next to my name. Once completed, they wished me safe travels and off I went (though, I was still a little shocked therefore, I actually drove off forgetting to turn off my hazards and also forgetting to put back on my headlights).

Once back at home I put all of my stuff away before turning on my computer to see what kind of penalty I could face. The bad news was that I couldn't find any information on the penalty however, the good news is that tickets are usually issued at the time and that, having your fingerprint taken is a standard procedure when you have been stopped by the police (it's a bit like writing your signature). Strangely I didn't feel angry with the police, or annoyed with myself; I honestly didn't know about this rule therefore, I knew that I would probably get stopped now or later (the day after I chatted to a couple of Japanese friends. I found out that the fine could be about £60 and that, I might get a few points however, given that I didn't get a ticket there and then – and that the police had told me the rules of the road, been quite charming and wished me a save trip – they felt as though I probably got away with a caution … but I will just have to wait and see).

Once I had finished researching my possible punishment, I put all of my belongings away, filled up the washing machine for tomorrow, had a little bite to eat and fell soundly to sleep dreaming of all of the things I had achieved within such a short period of time ... and almost forgetting about the police.

Toodle Pip!

P.S. So blog fans! I am afraid to report that, it maybe a year until my next post. The reason for this is because, this winter, I might be heading home for Christmas (if not I shall probably stay home trying to save money). Next Spring I want to move to a new part of Japan therefore, summer 2015 seems like the next time I'll be travelling. Where; I have no idea … that's half the fun isn't it?

The long drive home

Date: Thursday 3^rd April 2014

Weather: Superb … until I got close to Sendai. Once north of Sendai it started to rain ... a lot; still, by the time I got north of Sendai the sun had set and so I couldn't see anything anyway.

MP3 track of the day: Paper planes - MIA

I woke up five minutes before my alarm was due to sound. Having had a shower, packed and bought today's breakfast last night, it took no time at all to get dressed, check the room to make sure that I hadn't left anything and hand in my room key. I was therefore within my car at 6:45am heading out of my hotel's underground car park.

Driving out of the dark underground car park my eyes had to adjust quickly to another bright sunny day. Unlike yesterday (or the day before) I didn't drive in the wrong direction and within ten minutes I was clear of Nagano. I then got comfortable, delved one hand into my bag of 'breakfast goodies' and prepared for the long drive north.

If I'd managed to complete my planned route to Nagano, I would have entered the city from a north-easterly direction. Today I was heading straight north until I hit the sea. As the temperature was in the high 'teens', I was confident that any sea road would not be closed due to snow therefore, I would hug Japan's western coast and continue north to Niigata (this is where I went, to catch a ferry, to Sado last August). Once in Niigata I would stop for lunch before proceeding east through the first mountain range. I would then head north before, once again, heading east through some more mountains. After this I would hit Japan's eastern coast therefore it would just be a case of driving north until I hit Miyako.

Things started very well indeed. I had already told you that I managed to leave the city of Nagano without incident. Well, I now found myself driving along at a very decent speed. I was worried that I may get caught up in the 'morning rush' however, because I'd left Nagano early, I spent the 7-8am rush hour period within the middle of a scenic valley gazing upon a huge mountain which seemed to remain fixed in a north-western position. Thoughts of the drive to Nagano did fill my head however, as the mountain remained just west of me, I found myself driving around it until, once I'd hit the coast, it filled my rear view mirror.

The mountain remained behind me all the way to Niigata. This was good as I found myself surrounded by beauty. I found myself driving a long a road which had been laid between the 'Sea of Japan', to my left, and a continual line of coastal rock shooting straight up, to my right. Behind me was said snow-capped mountain and the weather was stunning. The road twisted as it hugged the coast and fortunately, traffic was light. My gaze mostly fell upon the sea, which was a beautiful light-blue colour. This part of the drive reminded me of my trip back from Sado last year, and I was loving it as much now as I did then.

All too soon I found myself entering the city of Niigata. When I say 'all too soon' I really meant it; I thought that I would be within Niigata's city centre around midday however, here I was, driving around the cities council offices at 11am. It mattered not; I still performed the tasks I had planned to do, which involved filling up the car and having lunch. For lunch I went to McDonald’s. This McDonald’s is located right in the centre of the city and, I think, they have had a problem with people using their free car park and then heading into town to shop. The reason I say this is because as I pulled into a parking space a camera – from a small green box – in front of me flashed and then red Kanji appeared in a small screen below. Worried that the red kanji meant that this parking space was closed due to snow, I moved my car to another space however, the same thing happened. Once I'd ordered my meal I was given a coin which, once put in the car parking machine, would mean that I wouldn't be charged for parking. I quickly consumed said meal, put said coin within said car parking machine and as I approached my car, I noticed that the Kanji had turned to a pleasant green. I drove off heading north.

Now; at this point I was coming to the end of my 'great push north' and soon I would have to turn east for the first time. Back in McDonald’s I had studied my road map and the '113' – the road I had chosen to take me east – seemed okay. As far as I could tell the road didn't climb that much and it seemed to follow a large river which, looking at how far the contour lines were a part, I assumed said road was in a valley. Logically, I felt that this was a very wise choice however, as I turned onto the '113' (and my car compass pointed east) I was as worried as a badger in a dessert, and as alert as a hawk as I searched for closure signs.

None came. I was actually put at ease quite early into the journey as the traffic level was quite high. Japanese number plates have the 'prefecture's name' of where the vehicle was bought and, though not a great guide, I guessed that not all of the people using this road were local. The journey was fine though, as we moved further east and into the first range of mountains, snow did start to appear. Also it was quite slow going; I guessed that not many 'east-to-west' roads were open and therefore, I got stuck behind quite a few lorries. It would appear that, along the '113', the Japanese had ran out of white paint and the whole road had a continual orange line down it preventing over-taking. I therefore just had to wait.

Once on the other side of the mountain range I started to relax. There was still another mountain range to go over however, as it hadn't been a problem going, I didn't think that it would be a problem on my return journey. However, before crossing that said mountain range I still wanted to head a little further north so that I would hit Japan's eastern coast above Sendai.

The '343' was my chosen route to cross the second set of mountains. The time was now 3:55pm (this is the same time I got stuck on my way to Nagano) and so progress had been good so far. Once again I looked at the map for any indication that it might be closed however, I found none. Though the road, on paper, didn't look as inviting as the '113', I couldn't see any big amounts of ascending. I therefore turned onto the '343' only slightly worried. The levels of snow were getting higher and higher but I kept going...

… until I saw a sign with flashing lights and red kanji. As I drove past said sign I saw the 'winter kanji' and in my heart, I knew, that this road was closed. I however continued as the traffic level was still good however, ten minutes later, only one other car and I remained heading east. I therefore turned around and headed back the way I'd come.

On my return journey I found a police car coming the other way. Now I'm not sure if you are suppose to flash your lights at an oncoming police car but, flash my lights I did. Once pulled over I had a lovely chat with two police offices, one of which was a lady who spoke English well. The male policeman confirmed that the '343' was indeed closed however, the alternative route he suggested wasn't too much of a detour (maybe an hour at most). We then had a little chat about the weather, where I was from and whether penguins could really 'look up' without moving their heads before the police officers wished me a safe journey and I, having thanked them, gingerly pulled back onto the road and drove cautiously until out of sight.

My 'de-tour' saw me heading even further north before taking the '47', which then headed in a south-easterly direction and met up with the '343' on the other side of the mountain. The road I had to take north concerned me a little as it wasn't a main road. Also, once on it, a flashing sign with red kanji appeared however, I could not see the winter kanji. As I was now driving parallel with the mountain range I didn't think it would be a problem and then, once I saw a lorry in front of me, I felt as though I should be fine however, it wasn't until the ascending had peaked that I truly started to relax.

Before joining the '47' I had to wait for a line of lorries to pass by before I could turn onto the road safely. You would have thought that I would have been annoyed being at the back of a line of lorries however, you couldn't be more wrong. With this amount of commercial traffic I knew that the road must be open and so, finally, I was crossing the final mountain range before I hit the eastern coast (though, I was crossing it at a slower pace than normal). As the high peaks gave way to more gradual inclines I looked back at one of natures more impressive creations thinking that, sure they are beautiful; but they are also very annoying.

The sun had set as I entered the 'Miyagi prefecture' (the prefecture south of my home prefecture). I'm not a massive fan of this prefecture as traffic is usually terrible here and today, was no exception. It was raining hard and it took me forever to enter the city of Ishinomaki (this is where I stopped for breakfast last Sunday). This city marked the end of my travels east and, to celebrate, I filled up my car once more (petrol is cheaper here than in Miyako) and did a bit of 'foreign food' shopping. Being 6:45pm (exactly 12 hours since I started; my route home, so far, has taken four hours less that my route going) the traffic was bad entering the city however, my route out was pretty much traffic-free. I therefore made okay time as I travelled back to Miyako. Once again I was driving in the dark so there was very little to see. It wasn't until 10:45pm that I started to see familiar sights and at 11pm I pulled into my apartments car park.

Having driven for 16 hours I decided to leave the bags in the car (a part from some cheese I had bought in Ishinomaki) and just head straight to bed. Tomorrow I will worry about unpacking.

So that is the end of my spring holiday. I've had an excellent time and I've seen a lot. If it wasn't my 30^th birthday and, if I'd knew about all of the closures, would I still have gone? No, probably not. Honestly I think Nagano is just a little too far to drive to within a day. Also I think it would be more productive to leave this area until the summer however, it was my 30^th and with northern Japan completed this was one of the only places I could have gone to and, honestly, I really liked Nagano.

I don't have any holiday plans until late July / August of this year so until then...

Toodle Pip!

Happy New Year

MP3 track of the day: I will walk 500 miles – The Proclaimers

Weather: beautiful in Tokyo, though a little cold. Still, no rain and I had blue skies all day.

Tuesday 31^st December 2013 – 8:30pm

By 8:30pm I'd read a couple of chapters of my book, looked at everything on the internet and was now thoroughly bored. I was also finding myself 'nodding off' and missing the new year wouldn't do at all; to prevent this from happening I put on every item of clothing I owned, picked up my camera and tri-pod and went out into the night. As I walked towards my destination (Senso-ji temple) I discovered that it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be; still I was glad for the extra layers.

As I had set off with three and a half hours before midnight, I found time to stop and photograph the main streets of Asakusa. Due to the light being poor, I had to erect my tri-pod to get a good shot. This attracted some stairs, but not as many as I thought it would.

Once at the temple I found it a hive of activity. Senso-ji temple is a Shinto temple therefore, it has an outer-gate followed by a long corridor (this corridor, being 'touristy', had shops lining both sides) which lead to the inner-gate and then the temple itself. The area is quite large and yet, I found it completely rammed with people; it seemed as though all of Tokyo had come out tonight.

I did not want to pray and, having seen the tourist shops a thousand times, I skirted around the outer-gate and entered through the inner-gate within no time. I was amazed to see that people were already going into the temple in their hundreds, praying for a good new year. I, on the other-hand, took photos of them praying and also of the many temples, pagodas and shrines within this culturally rich area though, I had to be careful; a guard had told me that I couldn't erect my tri-pod to it's full width due to the volume of people. I understood his point however, taking decent photos without it was pointless. Due to there being no wind I only had to open it slightly to give the camera a sold base.

I moved around slowly noticing that, apart from the praying, there were an awful lot of food stalls. Give the Japanese any excuse to eat and they'll eat. I however, realised that the stalls sold expensive 'tack' although, I did fancy a little snack. With time on my side I left the site to find a convenience store to purchase some cheap 'tack'; I was back within the thick of it by 11pm.

At 11:30pm I strategically positioned myself with the temple and Tokyo Skytree in full view. Here I waited along with thousands of others for the new year to come in.

At 11:45pm the police stopped the public from entering the temple. I could sense the tension building.

All of a sudden a small cheer went up and a group of people rushed into the temple. One guy stopped on the top step and waved to a cheering crowd before going in. It was at this point that I peered at my watch and realised that the new year was upon us. 'Is that it' I thought to myself; I new that a Japanese New Year is all about family and praying, but the Skytree hadn't even changed colour. I stayed and watched more people enter the temple and throw their money into a bottomless pitt. I had enjoyed witnessing a 'difference in culture' however, as it was evident that things were going to repeat themselves from now on (with group after group entering the temple) I left and headed back to my hotel.

After saying 'happy new year' to the front desk assistant, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed. The time was 1am but I still stayed up for another hour to talk to friends and family.

Wednesday 1^st January 2014

I woke up as late as I dared. I had to check-out by 10am and so at 9am I had a shower, packed and got ready before I handed in my 'key card' at 9:55am. After surrendering all of my luggage, I left the hotel in search of breakfast.

Tokyo seemed little different from, what was now, last year. I ate some doughnuts for breakfast before walking back to the Senso-ji temple to see how much of a mess it was after last night. To my shock people, in their billions, were still queuing to throw their hard earned cash away on a superstition. I spoke to a police woman who said the temple remained open last night until 6am; it was then closed for cleaning and reopened at 10am. I couldn't believe the sheer amount of people standing in line waiting to wish for a new year. As I watched them – witnessing nothing new – I decided upon a new business venture; I would build myself my own shrine somewhere in Japan and say that it is 'the' place to worship for a good new year (I'll get Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise to say that they had prayed here and wonderful things happened). I shall then make my own 'new year good luck charms' and sell them for a reasonable profit. This, given the amount of people here at Senso-ji, would mean that I wouldn't have to work at all in 2014 (showing that, indeed, this temple does do wonderful miracles). As I said, as I wasn't witnessing anything new I left the site quickly and headed … well anywhere.

Not having a plan today (and hating crowds) I decided to do what I did twelve days ago and walk around Tokyo. Last time my desired location had been Shinjuku; this time I decided upon Rippongi but, how I got there would be up to me and fate. Leaving Asakusa I followed the river heading south; having taken far too many photos this holiday already, I left my main camera at the hotel and used my MP3 player. I bumbled my way along the roads looking up more that down. Being in between the tourist spots, foot traffic was light; I therefore made good progress as I listened to a mix of classical music.

About an hour after I'd started walking I found myself at Tokyo's main train station. How I got here, I cannot begin to tell you but I didn't think I'd come so far south so quickly. I was however grateful as I needed the toilet and something to eat. Major train stations always have a plethora of both and so I headed in and followed the signs for the 'restaurants'. It would appear that the whole of Japan had, at that moment, decided upon the same action as I, resulting in every restaurant being full with a line of people waiting at each one. The toilets too were busy with the queue for the ladies doing rings around the entire train station. The men’s too had a queue, which I joined as I was desperate; fortunately it wasn't that long and soon I escaped the station forgetting food.

I was now getting really hungry however, I walked on fancying something other than fast food. I headed to Ginza certain of finding something which would take my fancy but no; due to today being the new year every promising building was shut leaving me with little choice but to dine in KFC. Once finished I proceeded onto my final destination being surprised at just how close it was. Rippongi is meant to be a trendy neighbourhood where all the 'cool children' hang. However, today being the first, all the cool children had gone home leaving the neighbourhood closed. I walked through the area seeing places I'd seen in March and, as I gazed, my feet started to hurt. By now the time was almost 3pm and so my weary feet had carried me around for almost four hours. I therefore found the nearest underground station and was pleased to find the line went north, close to Ueno park. A plan formed in my head; I would head to Ueno park and chill, before walking back to Asakusa where I would have a large evening meal, pick up my luggage and walk over to Asakusa underground station to board a train to the bus station.

Once I'd surfaced out of the underground I saw the park on my right. I walked towards it feeling that something was wrong. I didn't feel myself and felt sure it was the lack of food I'd eaten today (3x doughnuts, 1x KFC twister, 1x packed of fries and a packet of biscuits) therefore I went in search of something but, yet again, I found only fast food restaurants. I didn't not feel like last food and so I did something I try to avoid; I went to a coffee shop. Sure the hot chocolate and cake were delicious however, at about £5, it was almost half the cost of a meal. Whenever I travel, I always try to avoid coffee shops as much because, if not, your money will just evaporate.

Once I'd got my cake and hot chocolate I sat down over-looking the main street. I ate the wonderful cake and drank the lovely hot chocolate feeling little different. As I sat there I did start to drift off and so, there and then I realised what was wrong with me; I was exhausted. I knew that tonight I was taking a night bus and, no matter the state of the chair, I felt confident that I would be asleep in no time however, I couldn't sleep now. Against all of my bodies protests I got up and wondered into Ueno park where I found a seat and sat down for thirty minutes. Within this time I played a game on my MP3 player, 'people watched' and saw the sun go down on the first day of the year. Though feeling rubbish, I had to say that I enjoyed this relaxing time and, when the clock stroke 5pm, I was sad to move on however, move on I must.

Having walked between Asakusa and Ueno before I knew the way and soon I found myself close to my hotel. I went back to the Senso-ji temple to still see crowds of people wanting to pray for a new year (it looked as though the queue hadn't moved in the six hours I'd been away) before heading for a 'tonkatsu' (breaded pork) meal with rice and vegetables. Once consumed I felt a little better but not a lot. I thanked the waitress and staggered out of the restaurant and back towards my hotel.

Once in my hotel I received my bags back, and checked the internet. Even though the trip I was about to take was one of the simplest of my holiday (walk to the underground station: 10 minutes. Take the train for nine stops: 15 minutes. Arrive at bus station) I still wasn't looking forward to it. I felt as though, at any moment, I would fall asleep and end up god knows where. Once I'd walked to the station I walked down onto the platform where trains would be heading south. Praying for things to be straight forward I noticed that two different trains were approaching the station, neither of which displayed my required terminus as a destination. Not being in the most reasonable mood I got on the first train that arrived, remembering that this tactic had worked so well for me in the past.

Fortunately I had boarded the train which took me to the bus station. I got off and pretty much knew where I wanted to go however, I thought I'd check the map just to make sure. Why is it that help only appears when you don't want it? As I was about to move away from the map, confident in where I needed to go, a rather pleasant Japanese guy came up to me and asked, no insisted, that I took his help. I told him I wanted the local bus station so that I could catch a night bus to Miyako. He looked understandably confused at a foreigner asking to head to Iwate; until I told him I lived there. With that cleared up he still didn't disappear. We then had to ask the station officer (who was as much help as a walnut whip) and then he had to get out his Ipad to google search my request. I would like to note that, for the whole period, I had all of my bags on. Eventually he pointed me in the direction I was going to go anyway. To end this encounter as quickly as possible I thanked him a lot for his help and he looked pleased as punch. I then made a run for it.

I arrived at the bus station two hours before my bus was due. I sat down however, with every passing moment, I was feeling worse and worse and when my cough became continuous, I adopted a mask. To keep myself from falling asleep I wrote this blog and watched buses come in and out until mine arrived. As soon as it did I boarded it quickly and went to sleep as fast as I possibly could.

Thursday 2^nd January 2014

In truth, my night had not been as pleasant as I thought it would have been. Sure I slept a lot however, I woke up a lot too. I woke up for good about forty minutes before I arrived back within Miyako; I spent the time thinking about 'this and that' whilst trying to peer out of the window without waking anyone else up. I couldn't see much but, whatever I could see, seemed to be covered in snow. I found it quite ironic that, three days ago, I was walking around in a T-shirt and now snow covered the landscape.

Once I arrived within Miyako I picked up my bags and carefully walked to my apartment. I found my apartment cold but, not as cold as I thought I would. On the bus, I thought about going home and getting three or four hours sleep however, now that I was at home, I avoided the temptation in hope for a early, and long, night. I therefore got on with my jobs for the day which included washing, buying food and updating this blog.

So, with a rather sad expression, that is it for my winter holiday. It has been a fast paced, tiring holiday however, I have seen so much within a relatively short period. All-in-all, the trip cost me about 210,369 Yen (£1,203.00) which for thirteen nights, five flights, three ferry journeys and two night bus journey's (plus a good £70.00 spent on souvenirs) I don't think its too bad (£92.50 per night).

So, where to next? Well I hope to go on a short, 3/4 day trip to Nara around March / April time however, we will have to see how the money situation pans out.

Until then,

Toodle Pip!

The long drive home

Monday 6^th May 2013

MP3 track of the day: Ayaka – Te wo Tsunagou

Weather: It never rained but it remained overcast all day.

 

Yep you guess it; I found myself up at around 7am. First of all, I proceeded to the shower room however the owner wasn't around. I did a quick search but she wasn't there to ask if it was 'ok'. I knocked politely on the shower room door but there was no answer. I cautiously opened the door to find the room empty. I took a gamble; I decided to use the shower room now and hoped that no one else came.

It was a successful mission; I took a quick shower and left before anyone had noticed I was even up. I returned to my room, got dressed and re-read yesterdays blog to make sure it made sense. At 9am I said goodbye to the owner, who bowed and thanked me for staying; I in return thanked her before heading out of the door and into my car.

Even though it was only 9am I thought I would try the local 'plaza' as there was a tourist shop located within it. Most shops within Japan open at 10am (and today was a bank holiday) so I held little hope it would be open this early however, to my surprise, customers were already exiting the building – shopping bags in hand - as I approached. I eagerly went in and browsed the tourist shop like I had all the time in the world. It wasn't that I did have 'all the time in the world'; neither was it because I needed a lot of time as there was so much stuff to look at. It was the fact that there was nothing to choose from. In the end I went to the 'key ring' section (as these are usually the cheapest souvenirs) and narrowed my choice of purchase down to either a tacky key ring of a map of the area, or a tacky key ring of a fish which is famous around these parts. I ummmed and I arrrrred, eventually going for the fish. Paying £4.00 for something that I was less than trilled about did annoy me however, overall, I was glad to have something to remember my trip by. I then proceeded to Mr Donuts for breakfast before heading south.

As I have said before, the peninsular is shaped like a giant axe head with the wooden handle being the only way to access the 'axe' by land. Coming here I took the '383', which lead me along the western 'outer' edge of the handle. Going home I drove down the '279', which took me along the eastern 'inner' edge of the handle. Just like the rest of the peninsular the terrain, on both sides of the 'handle', were different. The '383' meandered up and down mountains and through forests; whereas the '279' was much straighter and it took me past fields where livestock were grazing happily. Both seemed to take the same amount of time however, due to the terrain, the '279' seemed more relaxed.

All too soon I was back within the heart of the Aomori prefecture and heading towards a road which I took during my summer holiday last year. This road did feel familiar and it wasn't long before I entered the city of Hachinohe.

If I'm honest, Hachinohe isn't one of my favourite cities. I've been there three times now (only fleeting visits each time) and every time I've ended up getting lost. This trip was no exception; by now the time was 12:30pm and I was starving. I headed into the city centre to try to find some Japanese food (I'd had western, Indian and fast food on my trip; my body was crying out for something Japanese) but, try as I might, all I could find was McDonalds. I then tried to get back onto the main road south however, this involved following signs, changing lanes and looking out for oncoming traffic (whilst looking for somewhere to eat). I'd almost given up on my preferred choice of meal when, just past a sign for KFC, I saw the word 'Maramatsu'. I cancelled my signal for the KFC car park and altered course. I raced into the restaurant and sat down on the only table available (however I did feel a little guilty as it was a table that could have fit a family of six). I ordered my favourite chicken dish and ate it in no time at all. As I ate I saw that at least two 'booths' were occupied with, let's say, 'low paying customers'. One had two old women in, each with what looked like a cold cup of coffee, talking away as if the place was empty. The other 'booth' had two high school students working on their home work whilst listening to their MP3 players. There were two small empty plates to suggest that they had, at least, ordered a little bit of food however, this too seemed to have been devoured quite a while ago. I see students within restaurants quite often in Japan and, actually, I do like it. I like the fact that they have somewhere else to work other than at home; I like the fact that no member of staff tries to 'turf them out' the minute they have finished their order however, as this is a 'countrywide phenomenon', I wish there were a few designated smaller booths equipped for this type of customer (with power points etc). The space the two girls were occupying could have had two 'working booths'. The old people on the other hand; well, they should just go home.

Half an hour after I'd entered the restaurant, I left. I got into my car and continued my long journey south. Well when I say long, it didn't actually feel like it. I turned my radio up, past sights I'd seen three days ago and guided my car along the road until I got back to Miyako. The only thing which saddened the trip was realising that, all too soon, my holiday had ended. Sure I get sad when all my holidays end; who doesn't? However this trip was different and I think it was down to the peninsular beating my expectations by a 'country mile'.

I arrived home around 4pm and brought my stuff into my apartment. For some unknown reason I had expected to find things had changed but, of course, they hadn't. I put all my stuff away, threw most of my clothes into the washing bin, had a long shower and wrote this blog. After that I looked through my bank holiday weekend photos with a small tear in my eye. Finally I checked my emails to find that one of my schools had cancelled all their English lessons on the 24^th May. I got up and made the appropriate change to my work calendar. Whilst doing so a smile appeared across my face...

… only twelve weeks until my summer holiday.

Toodle Pip!

Jodogahama Beach

Saturday 21st April 2012

Weather: A beautiful bright sunny day, with a strong breeze.

MP3 track of the day: Pure shores – All Saints

I found myself, within my apartment, with little to do; this was quite a surprise as I've been living within Miyako for over two weeks and, within that time, I've been very busy setting up my apartment, visiting my places of work and generally keeping myself busy with 'non-tourist stuff'. Looking outside the window, the skies were blue and the sun was beating down; even the weather was wishing for me to become a tourist once more. With my camera, coat and car keys in hand I ventured out.

Venturing out, just after midday, meant that I didn't want to travel far; luckily for me, one of Japan's most beautiful coastlines lay within a ten minute drive of my apartment. However, to get to the coast I had to drive through an area which reminded me of how destructive water could be; before making it to the coast I drove through a large area of rubble, foundations and bent traffic signs. Last March, a huge tsunami hit this coastline destroying everything within it's path. A year on, and most of the land has been cleared; however, with Japan having a shortage of flat land, and being located on one of the most violent tectonic areas within the world, there are still debates on what to do with this wasteland. As I drove further a couple of houses had been re-built; I saw an old woman – who had probably been living within this area all her life – tend to her potted plants; however her, fully functioning house was a rarity.

Eventually I left the lower flat land and found myself driving up hill to the main car park. Being such a beautiful day, and a weekend, I expected the car park to be busier than it was. I parked with ease and hurried to a nearby viewing platform.

The view was sensational; down below me I could see small waves breaking upon a small harbour. The water was so clear that I could see straight through it's blue-green colours. Looking up from the harbour, small rock formations were dotted within the sea and, to both my left and right, huge cliff faces, covered in trees, stood proud overlooking the scene. It was very beautiful.

As I stood on the platform, taking photos and gazing into the sea, I was interrupted by a Japanese lady who spoke English very well. She explained that this was a nice view, but the place to be was a fifteen minute walk north from here; the place was called Jodogahama Beach. She said I could take a free shuttle bus however, with it being such a lovely day, she recommend the walk along the road, which would provide observation points. I thanked her but, before leaving, I saw a tourist boat pull into the harbour; 'when I get paid, I'll have a trip on that', I thought to myself.

The walk was okay; huge trees provided shelter from the sun, but they also blocked a lot of good photo opportunities. As I walked further and further Jodogahama could be seen through the tree branches; this made me walk faster. Once at the beach I looked around; the beach it's self was a pebble beach. It was made up of a white stone that matched the surrounding hill faces and rocks. The water was crystal clear and beautiful rock formations were scatted within the water, creating a small protective pool (which you can swim in). On top of the rocks were dark, and light, green trees. As I stood there the bombardment of colour was incredible; the light blue skies, the dark and light green trees, the bright white rocks and the blue-green clear waters. I swung my tri-pod off my back, got my camera out and went to work.

After a good hour I stopped taking photos and just lay, on the beach, in the sun. I pictured myself coming down here after school. I would bring a bottle and either work, or read a book; it sounded like bliss.

The sun was going down and the other tourists were heading back to the free shuttle; I decided to walk back to the car park. Once there I put my camera and tri-pod within my car; I then headed into the tourist office where I met a very happy Japanese member of staff. Once he'd seen me he bolted upright, said 'hello how are you', in an 'over the top voice', and disappeared from the service window in which he had appeared. Thirty seconds later a door opened and out he came; in his hand was a small booklet, which he passed to me. He, once again, disappeared and I was left scanning the booklet which I had in my hand. After a brief look I noticed two things; firstly it was a booklet about this coast and secondly it was all in English, even the map (which is a rarity here). I decided to sit down and take a longer look at the booklet.

After another twenty minutes or so I discovered that this little book was an excellent find; it listed loads of places to see and had English directions. Once I get paid I shall be going to visit these attractions one by one. I left the tourist office, but not before saying thank you to the gentleman; once again he popped his head out of his service window and, with a big smile on his face, he said 'Thankyou. You have a good day!'. I bowed back and left.

Not feeling ready to leave the area just yet, I found a map detailing two observation points, close by to the tourist office. I followed the trials, only meeting a handful of people. The first observation point consisted of a concrete tower with stairs leading to the roof. The view was okay, but the trees blocked any decent chance of a good photo. The second observation point looked away from the coast and towards the city of Miyako; the view wasn't great, however it was quite a sheltered area and there were stone tables and chairs. This, I felt, would make a great place to read a book, or come up with friends to play games and have a chat.

After this the sun was going down and it was starting to get cold. Once back at the car I decided that the day had been a good day; however with this new guidebook, Jodogahama was just the tip of the iceberg. I am now looking forward, more than ever, to my stay within the Iwate prefecture.

Toodle Pip