Onsen

Thursday 18^th November 2010

MP3 track of the day: Safe Passage - The Last Samurai

Weather: Same as yesterday, a cold start followed by a beautiful day.

I woke up to another cold morning ... and fifteen fly bites (umm, looks like something took a fancy to me last night). I had a quick look around my room to see if I could see any possible candidate for the bites but alas, nothing was there. I got ready and was out the door by 9am; after yesterdays semi-chilled out day, I was ready to hit the tourist trail once more. I had decided that today would be split into two sections; firstly I would visit the twelve temples, then climb the small hill, that are located behind my hostel. Hopefully this would take me until around 2pm when I would then head back to my hostel for lunch. After this I would head towards the train station and visit an Onsen, which is located up on the hills, above the city, (more on that later) for a bathe and to watch the sunset before taking photos of Nagasaki at night, as I didn't get round to it yesterday (though I did managed to get my train ticket to Kyoto).

The twelve temples are located on a single straight road behind my hostel; the hostel is in the middle of that road so I decided to head to one end of the road first and work through the temples one-by-one until I got to the other end. First up was a Chinese temple (you can usually tell as they are normally painted in red) which you had to pay 300 yen (£2.50) to enter … flaming Chinese! I decided to pay and it was okay, but it wasn't really worth it. I proceeded to look at all the other temples, for free, in order; only having around five hours to visit twelve temples, I thought I was cutting it fine, however most of the temples consisted of a gate, followed by some steps and only one main building. It only took me two hours to visit all the temples and so I then headed up the hill to Kazagashira Park

Kazagashira Park, named after some Japanese bloke who did something good ages ago, was a very small area, on top of a hill, surrounded by loads of small houses. Again it didn't take me long to walk end-to-end taking in the view and seeing Kazagashira's monument. The view of Nagasaki from up here was pretty good; I thought that if the view from the Onsen wasn't that good, I would come back here, tonight, to photograph the city of Nagasaki.

It was now around 11:30am and I had done everything that I wanted to do this morning; as it was getting close to lunch I headed into the main shopping area where, on my way in I saw a toy shop selling, what looked like Japanese transformer models. I went in and I looked at all the different boxes which held different models; I asked the lady in charge how much one of the models were, to which her reply was that they cost around 3,000 yen (about £23.00). However she did say that they were sold as a kit and not already assembled, but they were painted; this didn't bother me too much as I have assembled kits when I was younger (the smell of the glue when I entered the shop brought back distant memories) however the Japanese instructions and the £23.00 price tag did bother me. I left the shop and decided that, if I see another shop selling the same models on my trip, I would get one (as they are very Japanese), if not then I won't (I might have a look on the internet as well).

After this I went in search of food; I found a 'go-round' restaurant which is very Japanese; guests sit on a giant round table with a moving conveyor belt in front of them. Plates of food travel on this conveyor belt and you just pick a dish that you fancy. All dishes are colour coded and when you are done, you take your empty dishes to the cashier and pay for what you have eaten. I waited for a couple of minutes, soaking in the atmosphere, however the queue for a seat was quite long and there wasn't anything that took my fancy (plus if I got the wrong plate I could end up with a bill for £25.00!).

That was all very interesting, but it didn't solve my hunger problem. Once out of the 'go-around' restaurant I found a sandwich shop which, I thought, was displaying a lunch menu offer of a sandwich (that looked bigger in the photo that in reality), a pastry and a hot drink or 590 yen (£4.20). I decided to take them up on the offer and I joined the queue. Once I got a the cashier I had in front of me what I thought was part of the 'meal deal' however I got charged 850 yen. Not knowing the Japanese for 'hang on pal, the meal deal in the shop window said 590 yen … what's going on?' I smiled and paid the extra £2; once sat down I saw the advertisement again and, as I ate my food, I felt like I had been done like a kipper.

I still wasn't full and so I headed to a small supermarket where I purchased some chocolate along with other snacks for my train ride to Kyoto tomorrow. To stop me spending even more money I headed back to the hostel (stopping at another convenience store to get a litre bottle of orange juice) where I met some of the staff having their lunch. We chatted for a while and then I looked at the photos I had already taken today.

After this I got ready for my Onsen experience (a 'must do whilst' visiting Japan). Last night I chatted to a British guy who had just been to the Onsen; he said that, first of all, you wash in a small shower cubical where you must soap, and rinse, before entering the actual Onsen. Onsen's are split male / female which is handy, as you bath in the nude. I packed my towel, swimming gear (just encase) and my camera and tri-pod so that I could take photos of Nagasaki, at night, from the top of the hill after my bath. The British guy also said that you could put your feet into a tank of water while fish ate the dead skin off them; this was quite funny as you can now get this done in my home town's shopping center, however I've been on my feet for three months and so I thought that I might give this a whirl.

At 4pm I headed to the train station where I would pick up a free shuttle bus to the Onsen complex. I was in luck when I saw the shuttle bus, which leaves the train station every thirty minutes, waiting at the train station. There was no driver in the bus and so I waited inline with what I thought was the queue. After about five minutes the shuttle bus left without me, or any of people from said queue. I soon realized, that the queue I was in was for another service and so I waited thirty minutes for the next shuttle. The bus ride was uneventful and long, stopping on every road we drove down. Once at the complex I first had to put my shoes in a locker (which I actually thought was a locker for all my stuff and I wondered how I was going to fit my bag in the locker. When I saw a lady take her bags into the complex with her I realized that their must be other lockers) and I then queued to get in. I was served by a nice lady who provided me with written instructions in English. She gave me an elasticated wrist band with an electronic tag on; I could use the tag to purchase items and services by scanning things and the tag would tally up what I had done, or bought, and I would pay the bill at the end … I was looking forward to trying this electronic tag thingy.

The lady pointed me up the stairs onto the second floor. Before heading up the stairs I noticed that there were many different rooms on the ground floor where you could have a massage, watch TV in a very relaxing chair or have your feet eaten by fish (cool) by using your electronic tag to pay for these services. I ignored all of these additional services and continued upstairs. Upstairs there were two doors, one male and one female. Having gone through the male door I was in a room with loads of lockers; as I wasn't sure if this was the area where I had to get my kit off I went to a row of lockers where there was another guy and I observed quickly. As it turned out this was the area to get nude and so I did so; I went through the same door the guy I had observed had gone through.

I arrived in another room with lots of shower cubicles with lots of naked Japanese men in; still feeling a little uncomfortable I elected a shower cubical where there wasn't too many others around and I got down to the business off washing myself with soap and rinsing (making sure I occasionally held one of my arms or legs outside the cubical so the Japanese knew I was doing things correctly). Eventually I made it to the Onsen baths; there were a couple of baths inside however I headed for the ones outside. It's quite a strange feeling being on the top of a hill, on the top floor of a building, outside at night, in the Japanese Autumn totally naked; I quickly made my way into the nearest onsen which was set at forty-one degrees. The water was lovely and the view over Nagasaki, with the sun setting, was pretty impressive. I forgot all of my uncomfortable feelings and just laid back and relaxed in the hot water. I was glad that the Onsen company had been so thoughtful; as you can imagine, news of me naked in a bath could cause chaos around the world with women grid-locking the streets of Nagasaki trying to get a glimpse, women trying to re-route planes to Nagasaki and train drivers being held to ransom unless they meet the women's demands. No luckily the Onsen had decided to keep my arrival 'low key' which was a good thing.

I tried many baths, all set at forty-one degrees, apart from one which was set at eighteen. After about thirty minutes I left the hot baths and went for a quick dip in the eighteen degree bath which, after finding out how cold eighteen degrees is compared to forty-one, became a very quick dip indeed. At this point I was pretty much ready to go, I had enjoyed my experience but I couldn't stay in the hot water any longer. I was encouraged, when I got back to my locker to get changed, to find that the same people who I had seen as I was going into the Onsen were also coming out at the same time as me; this meant that I had spent the correct amount of time in the baths, totally by accident.

Once changed I kept my socks off and headed down stairs to put my feet in the water with the fish for ten minutes. When the attendant opened the lid a whole swarm of small fish headed my way as they must have known lunch was on its way; I slowing put my feet in the tank (as not to crush the fish) and, at first, the experience felt funny. Soon I was relaxed and I even lifted my feet onto the ball so that the fish could eat the dead skin from underneath; it felt as though hundreds of little sprays of water where hitting my feet at the same time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My ten minutes where up very quickly and so I slowly took my feet out of the water, dried them off, and inspected them. Running my hand over my feet they felt slightly silky and a lot more healthier than before. I put my shoes on and, as I hadn't used the electronic tag thing (the Onsen costs automatically went onto my account and the lady took my electronic tag away from me to put the 'fishy feet' charge onto it) yet I went to a vending machine to purchase a can of coke. My feet, obviously enjoyed the fish thing, didn't want to walk and so it felt a little weird walking to the vending machine.

After I finished my can I paid my 1,650 yen bill (£12.50) and headed out, into the car park to take some photos of Nagasaki at night (I had to shoot through a metal wired fence though) before getting back on the free shuttle bus and returning to Nagasaki train station. Once there I went onto the pedestrian foot bridge and, once again, I took quite a few photos of Nagasaki at night (this time focusing at street level) before grabbing some tea and heading back to my hostel. I had enjoyed my Onsen experience and it certainly is a must when visiting Japan, however I still prefer the baths in Budapest as a) the buildings are a lot more interesting 2) there are many more baths set at different temperatures and d) you can wear a swimming costume.

I've enjoyed my time in Nagasaki; in a hectic two week tour of Japan it's been kind of relaxing here, though I would probably only spend two nights next time. Tomorrow I catch the 8:30am train to Kyoto arriving at 2pm, meaning that I have to be up by 6am. Next stop Kyoto and my stay in a Ryokan!

Toodle Pip

Billions of school children

Wednesday17th November 2010

MP3 track of the day: Idyll`s End - The Last Samurai

Weather: A cold start but becoming a beautiful day with, shock horror, a blue sky

Out at 10am wasn't bad I suppose; the cute Swiss chick had already left and it wasn't such a bad thing, she talks in her sleep. Anyway, with my 'all day tram pass' I had just purchased for 500 yen (£4) I decided to hit the piece park first. As I had been to Hiroshima's piece park I wasn't planning on staying long. Three days after the atom bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, America bomber 'Bock's Car' was on a flight path to Kokura; after circling three times over Kokura the bomb was not released due to the weather being so poor and so, with the weather at Nagasaki being better (and the fact that it was an important military port) it was decided that the choice of target was to be changed and at 11am on the 9^th August 1945 'Fat Boy' was dropped on the town resulting in 140,000 deaths once the effects of radiation had been included (70,000 died immediately).

I had a quick walk around a black monument that indicated the exact spot where the bomb hit. I then walked up to the atom bomb museum where I contemplated spending the 200 yen (£1.50) admission cost to have a look inside the actual museum (I had already been to Hiroshima's). After reading my guidebook I decided that I would go in and have a look, however I wouldn't take too long (and I would totally skip the 'crusade to remove all nuclear weapons' part). As I approached the entrance there were millions, no billions, of Japanese school children (a slight exaggeration, but definitely more than a school year) in every direction; a sea of navy blue uniforms and teachers with flags in the air, probably indicating which class was supposed to be where. I reluctantly handed over my 200 yen admission fee as I knew I would be fighting for room, at each exhibit, with a navy blue Japanese child, however I wasn't going to spend too long here so maybe I'll over take them. Well I forgot children don't really like to spend too much time in museums and so we actually kept up with each other (lucky me).

The museum was okay, though very much like Hiroshima's. The main differences was that this was a little more horrific, with more video of the actual wounds suffered. It was also about Nagasaki and so the models showing the devastation were of a different city. I soon exited the museum and then I spent a few minutes walking around the small piece park taking a couple of photos.

Back on the tram I headed to the other side of the city to go to 'Glover Garden', a European set of gardens (Nagasaki was the only place in Japan where trade was allowed to be exchanged with outsiders for a very long time; therefore there are quite a few European influences around the ports, including these gardens). Again on the tram there were loads and loads of school children; at each stop there were more of these navy blue people and I soon realized that maybe the school was partaking in some sort of Nagasaki project. I did wonder if Japanese children did actually go to a school as, so far in Japan, I've seen children, in their thousands, out-and-about in all three cities that I've visited.

Before arriving at the gardens I had to go up a road with shops on either side; most shops were selling this type of cake that, a bar of it, would cost in the region of £10. Luckily one shop was offering free tasters; I didn't think the cake was worth the amount requested. At the top of the road there was the 'Oura Church', a wooden christian church, that looked very much like any christian church anywhere in the world. To the right of the church there were some steps leading to the gardens; it would cost me 600 yen (£5) to visit these gardens and, on reflection, I didn't really think it was worth it, especially as they were European gardens and I can see similar gardens in, well, Europe. It wasn't just the cost that was a factor in my decision, the growing crowds of navy and the fact that I was hungry also helped me make a quick decision. I therefore battled my way down the road and once more onto the tram heading for the city center to find something to eat.

Slurping on my coke, I was reading my guidebook to decide the next best course of action. I've felt quite weird today, quite tired. I can't really be bothered to do any serous sightseeing, I actually fancy heading back to my hostel for a snooze. However I resisted the temptation and I decided that I fancied doing something I never, ever like doing. I decided to look around the shops.

So there I was, in the middle of a shopping center, looking at all the shops. I had set my walking pace to slow and I was enjoying myself. I walked this way and that and didn't really see anything 'Japanese', most of the stores were similar to ones back at home … until I found this souvenir shop. I had already decided that Nagasaki was going to be the place that I would start to purchase souvenirs, if I found something that I liked, as I knew time would be short in both Kyoto and Tokyo. Looking through the shop there were lots of ceramics, which is very Japanese, however I didn't really trust the international postal service that much. Instead I focused my time on the chopsticks; not attached with just Japan (more of an Asia thing) I still decided to purchase a set as there was a set that I liked. A lady came over and I pointed to the chopsticks that I liked; she then pointed to the boxes below which, I presumed, held said sticks. She picked up the box which was designed for the sticks that I liked and, though it was the blandest of the selection of boxes, it had a certain 'upper class' feel. I happily paid the 1,000 yen (£8) for something that I thought was going to cost nearly double that and, once leaving the shop, I opened up the case just to make sure...

… and then I popped back into the shop to purchase said chopsticks as there weren't any within the case. This souvenir cost around £16, the next two souvenirs that I purchased only cost £2/3. Firstly I got a newspaper for my dad (ha … read that if you can) and then I got myself a Manga comic. Manga is a type of drawing style for Japanese comics; It may not be anything to do with samurai or temples but this new Japanese art is known throughout the world, I bet you've all herd of Pokemon right? I purchased said comic and had a flick through; what looked like a comic dedicated to martial art fights, good versus evil and swords turned out to be a book with many different types of story line … some of which were quite pornographic, which made it all the more annoying that I couldn't read the text.

That was it for my shopping, there are a few other items that I would like (a fan and a old style Japanese picture) however it looks like a photo book of Japan is out as I can't find them anywhere. It was now 3pm and I decided to head back to my hostel, however on approaching I decided to take a little detour and visit a temple. Suwa Shrine is a huge of complex designed in 1625; It took quite a while to get to the top of all the steps but, looking back, the view of the city was pretty good. I had a quick tour of the temple before heading back down and back to my hostel around 4:30pm.

I'm now in the common room just chilling; tonight I plan to use my 'tram day pass' once more to head to the train station to advance book my train to Kyoto in two days time. Oh speaking of Kyoto I managed to book into a Ryokan (Japanese style accommodation) which I'm very excited about. It's still a hostel, and it was cheapish, so I don't know how authentic it will be (it has the internet) but it's better than nothing.

So I've been in Japan over a week now and so It's time to have a bit of a round up. So far I have spent £42.50 per day which is waaaaay under the £80.00 per day I thought I would need. However this doesn't include the rail pass, and my first two nights accommodation, I purchased before arriving so my costs will go up, but still I can't see it hitting £80.00 per day. Food wise this is the second cheapest country that I have visited, only just beaten by Fiji. I have never paid more than £8 for a meal and they have all been delicious; supermarkets and convenience stores have packed meals which they heat up for you and they taste good … all for £3/£4.

Things that I have noticed is that there are a lot of 'bobbies on the beat' which I found slightly odd for, apparently, a safe country. It has been useful though as I've managed to ask them a few questions which they are glad to help with.

Bicycles are a big thing in Japan and they come at you from all directions. I do believe that I will get hit by one before I leave however the interesting thing is that I have yet to see one locked up; all the Japanese leave their bikes unlocked when they go shopping or even to sleep for the night. One of my favorite past times is checking out the bizarre fashion statements made by the Japanese. My favorite has to be a guy who seemed to have modeled himself on 'Jack the ripper' and 'denim man' who was covered, head to toe, in blue denim except for a large black berry on his head and big black boots. Female attire is very nice indeed with many women, even in the winter months, opting for big black leather boots and mini-skirts … female fashion has never been so interesting.

Smoking on the streets can only be done in smoking areas (you can't walk down a street and have a cigarette), however there are still smoking and non-smoking areas within some restaurants. At first rubbish bins on the streets were extremely hard to find, however the top tip on this one (told to me by Steve the American) is look for a vending machine (which are everywhere) and you usually find a bin next to them. Finally if anyone is interested in traveling within Japan, but worried about the language barrier then don't be; there is a lot of English around, especially in regards to transport, which has made it a breeze to visit Japan. The only down side is that food packaging isn't in English and therefore, sometimes, you don't really know what you're eating (a bit difficult if you are vegetarian) … but that's half the fun isn't it! My Japanese is coming along swimmingly; I can say `good afternoon`, `Thank you` and `goodbye` fluently; I`ve now decided to add another word, `sorry` I think should come in handy.

The only downside to Japan so far is that everyone is so dam polite they will never correct you. I went into a restaurant in Hiroshima and I wanted to know if I was holding my chopsticks correctly; the chef just smiled and nodded but I knew I was holding them incorrectly. Another slight pain is that blowing your nose in public is considered very rude, so I have to keep reminding myself not to and then find a quite corner or toilet. Finally the currency; in a country where 131 yuan is the same value as one pound, they still have a one yuan coin ... I have so much change that I think my wallet weights more than my backpack.

Japan expensive … I don't think so!

Toodle Pip!

Nagasaki ... the city of bridges

Tuesday 16th November 2010

MP3 track of the day: To know my Enemy - The last Samurai

Weather: same as yesterday, still cloudy

I woke up a decent time and said goodbye to Steve; I got ready and headed out for the train station. The train journey itself was uneventful with me writing my blog entry for yesterday. I did meet this very nice old British man who now lives in Germany (but i won`t hold that against him). he talked to me about every topic on the earth including why he keeps coming back to Japan. He was here for work a long time ago but he holidays here every year because it`s his favourite country ... I thought, good choice.

Once in Nagasaki I found my hostel which is located just over the river; the amount of old pedestrian bridges crossing this river is astounding (it`s bridge city). I checked in and Iasked them if they could tell me where a camera shop is (so i can buy a new memory card), the best places to purchase souvenirs and where I might be able to purchase a karate suit. I also got them to write `i am looking for a karate suite` in Japanese, which would become very useful.

As i couldn`t take any photos I headed straight to the camera shop where I bought a 4GB card for around eighteen pounds. I then took a couple of photos to make sure it was okay. Next I went to find a karate suite shop which became a lot harder than I thought it would be. For some reason I got totally lost; well lost isn`t completely the right word as i knew where abouts in the city I was, but it didn`t seem logical for me to be there. I was at the docks and miles away from the city centre; I therefore decided to head back to where I had been previously (which again I got to much quicker than I thought I should have) and started from scratch.

When I eventually found the shop I showed them the `I am looking for a Karate suite` line which they seemed to understand. They didn`t have any in and they had to be ordered (two days) which wasn`t the problem, the problem was that they looked exactly like the ones I had at home. As they did have any suits in stock I couldn`t see if the fabric was any different and, with it being one hundred pounds, I didn`t want to risk purchasing something that I already owned. I decided to leave it for now, maybe Kyoto.

I returned to my hostel to find a camera crew there, they wanted to interview me about Nagasaki, the hostel, and why I had come. It was all good fun having to act out scenes with a member of staff and I, at reception. I also had to answer questions like `what do I like about the hostel?`. I was told that I might be on local TV and the cameraman said that I was a good actor (watch out Tom Cruise). This might be the third time that I will be on Japanese tv; there were cameras for the Delai Lama, cameras at the fire ceremony in Miyajima and now here at the hostel I`m staying at ... I could be a Japanese star.

After this it all went back to normal; I met a polish guy who could speak Japanese and English fluently (git) and a rather cute Swiss girl ... I did manage to make her laugh a lot, so it`s going well so far.

Tomorrow I`ll head to a few of the temples, plus some gardens, and generally look around with. Tonight I need to find something to eat plus I need to book my Kyoto hostel as, apparently, it`s busy season and I need to book in advance.

Toodle Pip!