China/Japan/Korea 2008 successfully completed!

On 3rd July 925pm, we landed back home.. And safely concluded our trip.

Count our blessings to have gone through a historical earthquake in Chengdu, a less serious quake in Japan, scaling Mt Fuji snow-covered slopes and capturing upclose scenes of a violent Seoul Anti US Beef protest and returning home unscathed. For that, i am grateful.

To the friends we met along the way who shared a moment during the trip with us:

Friends from Sim's Cozy (Cheng Du)
1. Sim (Singapore), Maki (Japan), Qian Xi and Nan Xi
2. Ada, Saya, Alice, Sherry, Crystal and staff from this wonderful guesthouse
3. Yasu (Japan, Fukuoka) and his erotic teacher (Name i didn't manage to catch)
4. Tim (Australia)
5. Frankie(France)

Friends from Blue Mountain Guesthouse (Whom we imparted the Singapore game of "Heart Attack")
6. Shi Xin and her beau (Harbin, Shanghai China)
7. Xiong (Qing Dao, China)
8. Li Ling and friend (Hu bei, China)
9. Lady who was chatting with Marco (Shen Yang, China)
10. Guy who was very slow at playing "Heart-Attack"
11. Staff who were kept awake by the din we made the whole night

12. Matador - the fidgeter who made Benny's plane ride to Hangzhou an unforgettable one.

13. Shi Fu - The monk on Er Mei Shan's Tai Ping Si monastery

14. Jackie's friend who brought us to some fine Dim Sum and snacks in Shanghai.

15. Zit and Dutchy (Australia) whom we met on board ferry to Osaka

16. Hal (Osaka, Japan) - who very generously gave his time to help us locate Sam and Dave bar.

17. A nice fella (US) who generously shared his "places to go" list with us at Toyo Hotel, Osaka.

18. Stefan (Italy) - whom we met at Nakano, Tokyo, Yadoya Guesthouse. Thank you for the superb hospitality. Yes, you do have some resemblance to George Clooney.

19. Masahiro-san (Osaka) whom we had a chat with on the train to Ibusuki.

20. Joseph (Hungary) whom we met at Hoteiya. Gadgets are your thing!

21. Mei (Kyoto) whom we swapped stories with at Hoteiya.

22. Tom (Chicago) who generously brought us around Yokohama and a baseball game

23. Obasan whom i had a long chat on the bus to Mt. Fuji. Hajimemashite

24. Uncle Fisherman (Kagoshima, Japan) whom we met at Dolphin Port, Kagoshima.

25. China TV station crew whom we met at Ibusuki hot sand bath resort.

Khao San Fukuoka Guesthouse
26. Liu Yan (China) who helped us find lots of info on places to visit in Fukuoka. Good luck to your romance!

27. Kim (Ulsan, Korea) whom we met at Khao San Fukuoka. Thank you for the correction!

28. Manager of guesthouse

29. Long curly hair guy (Kagoshima)

30. Marcel (Holland) who got stalked by an old man on his first night in Tokyo. Met at Tokyo Backpackers guesthouse.

If i left out any.. just add on.


Unsure why.. But today 6th July, 3 days after returning, i feel that my movement and speech speed is slower. Not figured out the reason yet. but maybe it is my recovering from flu..

The feeling of being back in Singapore is slightly surreal. Kind of that i am not in the present moment. As if some part of me is somewhere else. Maybe it's my first time being away for 2 months; the longest i have travelled.

There are still plenty of missing chapters not up in our blog. Maybe i'll fill them in when there's a feel to do so.

Already smiling and laughing at some videos we took.. Team George I Go, thank you for the wonderful moments. We shall gather soon to relive the good moments!

Stuart looking forward to "Travel Chronicles 2 - USA/Europe"

Seoul - 1 hour 20 min plane ride from Fukuoka

We've arrived safely to Seoul. The shortest plane journey we have sat on. Now language is a problem! We have no advantage in reading signboards anymore. Korean words totally do not resemble chinese characters unless Jap.

We're stayin' in the heart of Myeong Dong, a bustling shopping district. Clothes are not too costly from our first glances today. I believe, girls will especially find Myeong Dong exciting. Unlike Japan where most shopping closes early, here the night markets come out when shops close. So it's still happening up till around 1030pm. After that, slowly night markets close too. This is only Myeong Dong. Dong Dae Mun (Dong Da Men - East Gate), may close much later as it's supposed to be the largest shoppping mecca here. We'll update on that later.

Something we really miss is the graciousness, polite and orderly nature of Japan. I doubt we will find that kind of culture anywhere else, where even security guards hold extreme pride in their work and bow and greet customers. Amazing.


Came across a massive demonstration this evening at City Hall. Whole road was closed due to demonstrators gathering all around with candles. Apparently after we left, there were some scuffles and riots. Was on the late newscast.

The matter was calling for a restriction of US beef, due to Mad Cow disease. Nicely explained to us by a Korean-Canadian chap after hearing an ang moh tell us it was the World Cup... Duh! how lame..


And this Tee photo is for Marco, you're still in our hearts!

Stuart

Last days in Japan...

Our last days in Japan! We splurged alittle on some delicacies unique to each prefecture. We had live squid in the town of Saga. The tentacles, eyes and body were still moving when it was served to our table. Captured some videos too.. Only 1 part of it's body was sliced into sashimi like pieces. We finished that and the rest of the squid can be grilled/tempura'd if we liked.

Saga beef: 6 slices costed us S$41. The beef was cooked by the staff over a hot plate very briefly. Succulent and done juz nice. Frankly, Ben and i were hadn't heard of Saga beef before ordering. It was only when we ordered.. and the small portion relative to price hit us! Then we asked what kind of beef we were having.. After flipping through various food magazines afterwards at a bookstore, we realised Saga beef is one of the 3 best beef in Japan. The others being Kobe and Matsuzaka. So... unknowingly, we also tasted another delicacy. haha..

Ordered with that was a Udon set. Cooked by the staff too. Total cost came up to S$80.



A visit to Kokura - The renown grapes.. Kyoho Grapes! We chose only the cheapest ones to try. And a small bunch costed us S$6.50 (500yen). Some other top of the line ones were S$30-50 a bunch. Yes, they were great too. Then we visited Kokura-Jo but it was probably 1/3 the size compared to Osaka castle. Kokura is north east of Fukuoka and takes around an hour by train. Worth going. It surprised us as there wasn't much write-ups regarding this place and we were expecting a sleepy town.. And yes, it was a vibrant city-like town!


Our last day... And fortunately the sun came out to bid us farewell! Superb day for Momochi Beach, akin to our East Coast Park. as we were there on a weekday, population was sparse.. But i really missed the beach and enjoyed having an ice cream there and lying on the beach chairs for awhile.
Then it was off to Yahoo Dome and Hawks town.. Their baseball stadium and neighbouring shopping mall.


We had a good laugh and repeated laughters over this article: "Cultures in Japan that annoys you"
It's about a common rule at Onsens, where tattooed ppl are not allowed in. Coz other customers might be frightened and not patronise again.



Stuart - smiling again while looking at the above.

Kumamoto - Volcano at Mount Aso

Too tired now to write... will Add naration when free!







Stuart

Blue label'ed

And i know Angela will be happy to see this!

Beppu - Hot springs kingdom of Japan

 
It was Beppu today. The hot springs paradise in Japan. Famous for having the highest concentration of steam emitting from the ground.. That was the sight that greeted us when we arrived by a train that took 4 hours (The faster train would have taken only 2hrs). Pockets of dense steam were floating in the air in various areas.

 
There are several "jigokus" to visit here. Jigoku means Hell. But each one's entrance is 400yen (S$5.20) or we could buy a day pass at 2000yen (S$27) for all. But we reckon it is sufficient just to view the most interesting one as they are all boiling water and steam simply. The best one is the Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) which is a scalding 90 degrees and clear blue in colour. Dense steam emits constantly throughout and there were eggs being cooked in a woven basket too.

There was also a smaller reddish jigoku which has iron contents in it thus the colour. Less hot but still not possible for soaking in. And then we found a free foot onsen hidden in a corner which is freaking hottttttt.. Once we came up, the part of our leg soaked was obviously a different shade. Almost cooked. haha.. we're guessing, having experienced 4 different onsens now, that the temperature of the foot onsen is 50-55 degrees celsius.

The lotus-like leaves that grow in the pond can grow huge during the summer months. And can carry the weight of children below 20kg.


Then we strolled towards the sea side and found a public sand bath. But weirdly the sand was covered with water too.. Maybe it wasn't ready for use. Great view by the water front and if you're coming here, i would recommend 2 full days here. That should suffice.
For dinner, we found an eatery operated by an old couple and had Champon, a famous dish of Nagasaki, coz we didn't had it the day before. It is similar to Chinese-style soup noodles. And then right after, some takoyaki next door. Decent.

Stuart - having tasted some live squid today. Eyes and tentacles still moving.

Nagasaki - 2nd A-Bomb site

Days after visiting Hiroshima.. These are from Nagasaki A-Bomb museum. It was raining the whole day of our trip there so we didn't get to explore much outside these places.


Facts and figures of the death toll and destruction caused by another tragic decision.

 
Aerial photo of Nagasaki. Before and after.

Click and view the enlarged photo to see how much destruction it caused, with a bomb that is thousands of times less powerful than what is avail today.

 
Memorials

 
1st row From left: 1. 11:02am, the moment 1/3 of the population was wiped out instantly. Many clocks stopped from the blast shockwaves. 2. Twisted steel frames from a fireman post. 3. Melted rosary retrieved from a church. The donor's mother's body could not be found, so she kept it for remembrance.

2nd row from left: 1. Fat Boy, only 4m x 1.5m. Only around the size of a Honda Jazz. Think about how many lives were taken by 1 Honda Jazz sized car. 2. Coins that melted and fused together. 3. Ceramic plates fused together.

3rd row from left: 1. Glass that's melted and fused together with the bones of a human hand. 2. Money in the safe, surrounded by thick lead walls, burnt by the thermal rays. 3. A helmet with fragments from a skull fused to it.

 
The burnt, charred bodies and injuries are self-explanatory.
Of interest is a portion of a tree trunk, which decades after the bomb, was chopped off. Fragments forming a base of a vase were found deeply entrenched in the tree trunk. Look closely and you'll see some spaces within the trunk. Those were where glass fragments shot through and the trunk gradually grew and covered them.

Read these words from survivors if you have the time. They give insight into their thoughts.






i was extremely saddened and angry after reading this. I strongly do not think that, the war administration then did not have enough evidence to believe Japan would be surrendering soon. The 1st usage of the bomb to justify to the public on expenditure and incapacitate their opponents would have been more than enough. Why the need for the 2nd?

Stuart - Egos of leaders, if unchecked, can reap untold disasters.

Kagoshima and Ibusuki hot sand baths

 
After 1 month+ in Japan, it's finally the day to try the Shinkansen bullet train. We bought the 5 days Kyushu Rail pass and have free access to any trains! It came at a hefty 16,000yen - S$209, however. It's fast till our ears pop when at full speed. Similar to the feeling of a plane taking off, you'll have to squeeze yr nose and pop ur ears. Very smooth ride and we were happily rested by the time we got to Kagoshima at the southern end of Japan, 2hr 40min away.

 
The main highlight at Kagoshima was its still active volcano on Sakurajima island. But it was rainy and clouds hid the volcano's bellowing smoke from us. Kagoshima is a small town that has a cool summer like feel to it, especially nearer the coast, Dolphin Port. Although not a big city, it doesn't look dull and colourless like Hiroshima.

A real pity we couldn't see the volcano and we ended up splurging alittle on fantastic sushi to lift our moods! I normally don't take eel but at this place, it was done so sweetly, i couldn't resist finishing it after takin' a small bite. After that, it was off to Ibusuki, the hot sand bath beach further south of Kagoshima..

 
Sushi place at Dolphin Port. Die die must try! Triple sushi: Tuna, Salmon and Prawn flamed and topped with mayo. It melts in ur mouth. Super.

The sushis made are classified into it's origins in Japan.. Different prefectures have their specialty fish and seafood.


 
We came upon a TV crew from Shanghai filming one of their female stars. We aren't sure who.

The dark grey and very fine sand was cool on the surface. Dig slightly lower and it will be hot, around 42 degrees. We were probed by the some members of the TV crew to try it. Recommended time is 10 minutes. Ben wasn't keen on it and we moved on. Costs 1000 yen including usage of an onsen after that.

The water along the coast, dammed by some man-placed rocks, was scalding hot! According to the locals, you can boil eggs in them. Sometimes going up to 90 degrees celsius. It wasn't that hot today but probably still around 60 degrees. Ibusuki's good for probably a 2D 1N stay over. Like a relaxing, no shopping and heavy walking kind of holiday.

Stuart - happy with the day out to the volcano, Mt Aso.

Fukuoka - Our last stop before we depart Japan

So that's our first day in Fukuoka. After a 4hour bus ride from Hiroshima.. Was told it took 5 hours. but we were early. that ramen we had is Fukuoka styled. Fukuoka is more often referred to as Hakata. Small city but is livlier than Hiroshima.

That's our new lodgings. A hostel called Khao San Fukuoka. The twin room (2600yen - S$34) was tiny. Its more like a single room with a bunk bed. Very claustrophobic. This place didn't give me a good impression when i first arrived. The moment u stepped into the place, the pungent smell of shoes hit, very badly. At the entrance are 2 shoe racks, about 2 metres tall each, and the ventilation on the first floor is only through the door. So whenever the doors are closed, the smell gathers, and concentrates.. And then when someone opens the door, all the evil particles start attacking them. AuckkkS! Awful, and so lesson learnt, everytime i'm going near, i hold my breath. Slowly, it becomes less of a problem. Staff here are friendly and very helpful. So that's a good balance. Now we switched to the dorms (2400yen per nite) but i feel betta as it's not so squeezy inside. The lounge area here is not bad. usually crowded too so that's good for interaction.

Will be stayin' here until we leave onthe 27th June bound for Seoul. And spend 6 nights there before flyin' back to Singapore on Asiana Airlines.


More Ramen at another shop in Nakasu street. They make the broth only when u order, and the one we had was butter ramen. Then there was a huge Mikoshi that we found accidentally, like 8metres tall. A festival is coming up soon. This is a massive festival as we interpretted frm the poster.


An interesting building name: "Eeny Meny Miny Mo" like when witches say before casting spells. For dinner, we headed to the supermart juz before it closed! Reached at 735pm just nice for the discount sushis! Still fresh stuff! Chose a huge chunk of salmon sashimi and the staff sliced it up and garnished it for us. And then a few shots of the river near Canal City, a large shopping mall with a canal running thru it.



Famous here is the Yatai, or street foodstalls. I think they only have it in Fukuoka, selling things like fried skewers of meat, scallops, seafood, veges and mushroms. Some also sell ramen and dons.. That nite, i only went for some skewered pork. Very delicious, oily and sinful.. 100yen (S$1.3) each. The next night we finally sat down for some Yatai, which costed alot!


And this is the night after, when we settled for some Yatai! Lotsa locals having their post work entertainment there. We had some grilled scallops, beef and mushrooms which costed 2200yen (S$30)! Over priced.. delicious no doubt. The beef was superbly done, tender, slightly bloody and very juicy.. for 1100yen each, we could easily have a full sushi set meal each in a restaurant! Just for the experience.. no more yatais.

After which, we walked thru a red-light district, near to the Yatai area.. not much business it seems. Very quiet streets.. And there was one building that stood out.

Stuart back from a day out to Beppuuuuu, hot springs town of Japan.

Miyajima - Hiroshima

We reached Miyajima (Jima means island) after a 40min train ride from Dobashi. At Miyajima-guchi station, right next to it was the ferry terminal. Starving, we went for some Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki that were supposed to be famous.. Didn't enjoy it that much as Osaka-style one though. The difference is in the way they are fried. Osaka-style ones have their ingredients all mixed up while Hiroshima ones are layered. Then we boarded the 10 min ferry! Deers were freely roaming there so we had the chance to play with some of them..

Miyajima is said to have one of the 3 prettiest sights in Japan, which is the Torii (Gate) floating on the water. We arrived at low tide, so got to take some photos close up wif it. Behind it is a huge shrine also constructed on the seabed. The entire island is deemed a shrine so the gate is built in the water to signify that visitors are entering a shrine. The gate is not dug in though.. It is merely resting on its own weight.

On the seabed, with one of the locals who were digging for clams. She got many in her pail.. Probably a few hundred. The shrine built on the seabed is Itsukushima Shrine. High tide would be much nicer!

Oysters were also a must try in Hiroshima. Grilled ones we found but didn't try. We tried a seabream fishcake and maple leaf style cakes with green tea inside though! Pretty good. Then we climbed Mt Misen.... A measly 500+m high wasn't going to be tough we figured.. But it was bloody steep! so we grudgingly finished it. Great view and the expected expensive drinks at the top.

Nearing the summit of Mt Misen, there were a couple of shrines. One of them housed a flame that is said to have been burning for 1200 years now. It was lit by Kobo Daishi, a holy man, in the autumn of year 806. This same flame was also used to light the Flame of Peace in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.. Along the way up, there were several small stone altars and where passer-bys would pick up a stone and place it on the ever-growing stack. And then, sheltered from the elements, in a stone crevice, there was another.


Playing with more deers.. And a smile from our deer friend. And then we soaked in the beautiful sights, tried to look cool in some photos and then made our way down after half an hour. On hindsight, it was worth the sweat.


Strolling around the streets of Miyajima. Many tourist shops are found there but half were closed by 630pm. The streets were lined with very beautiful traditional style 2 storey houses. Wooden crafts were a specialty here and that big wooden thing in the photo is a rice scoop.
The bottom right hand corner is a Sanrio shop - packed with Hello Kitties.
Tide came up before we left so we could capture some nicer shots of the Torii.

Stuart yearning for a freezing Coke right now.

Hiroshima - More artifacts

1st row from left: 1. The shadow of a person sitting on the steps when the blast when off. Her shadow remains where she sat. She probably vaporised. The rest of the steps turned lighter in colour. 2. The whole structure preserved. 3. The storyboard.
2nd row from left: 1. Roof tiles and walls melted. 2 & 3. Clothing remains.
3rd row from left: 1. The wheel-like handle's shadow etched onto the steel wall behind it. Thermal rays burnt the steel wall and whitened it, leaving the unburnt area blocked by the handle. 2. Mutated fingernails that grew from radiation exposure. 3. Glass bottles melted.

1st row from left: 1. Bent steel windows from some kilometres away. 2&3. Glass bottles fused and melted.
2nd row from left: 1. Glass bottles twisted and melted. 2&3. Black rain that contained soot, radioactive particles and dust that fell on Hiroshima 20-30 minutes after the blast. Contaminated the water and wrecked havoc on the survivors causing illnesses like diarrohea for weeks.
3rd row from left: 1. Hair that came off from a remaining survivor. She was badly injured and when her mother had stroked her hair to comfort, the whole bunch came off. Fortunately she survived. But contracted cancer in her later years. 2. A real preserved tongue from a victim. On the tongue are 2 purple dots, internal bleedings called "purpuras" caused by radiation exposure. 3. A poem on the nation's resolve in rebuilding Hiroshima.

Diagram showing the hypocenter of the A-Bomb and it's effects on buildings in the surroundings.

Attached this in case the photo collage is too small for reading... Read it.

The full poem

Needless to say, this visit left a deep impression on me. Watching and reading news and protests on nuclear weapons will not be the same from now on. They will invoke strong sentiments. Visit this place if u get the chance.

Stuart - going to bed now... 350am in Japan. Gotta wake early tm.