Hakodate

We exchanged our JR Rail Pass orders the other day and embarked on our three week rail across Japan. We headed towards Japan's north most island, Hokkaido, couch surfing in Hakodate. Our host is this British fellow, Ben, who has lived in Japan for five years and is making a living here teaching the locals English. It's my first time couch surfing and so far it has been great and very convenient.

Today we took the tram down the the pier and climbed Mt. Hakodate located at the peninsula. At first we didn't find the path leading straight to the top so we just rummaged through the steep forest for a while until we found a serpentine road leading to the top. Half way through we found the path and continued on that. At the top the view of the city was magnificent. We let our eyes rest on the beautiful view and took the cable cart back to sea level.

It was getting a bit nippy and we figured we might as well go to an Onsen, a hot spring bath house. The place where we went to was famous for its rust brown water. We bathed for about two hours, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. It kinda felt the same as getting out of a sweltering hot sauna. This was my first Onsen experience and there will be more come since especially Hokkaido is dotted with Onsens all over the place. If you ever come to Japan you have got to try an Onsen. If you don't it is the same as going to Finland and not going to a Sauna.

The best thing happened the other evening. We had just arrived at Hakodate and we were walking down to Ben's house. We got a little hungry and went into this random shop that seemed like a restaurant. Inside there was a man, his wife, and their four children. The place seemed something between a restaurant and someone's living room, making the place quite cosy. We had sushi and talked with the locals for about two hours. They didn't speak English almost at all but I used the little Japanese I knew and we got along great. I think I understood almost a half of what they were saying. At the same time I had one of the best moments in meeting people and I got to practice my Japanese a little. They were so friendly and welcoming and I shall treasure them in my memory forever.

Tomorrow we are taking the train to Muroran where we will meet our next host, Jude. We are staying in Muroran for a couple of nights until heading on again. It feels good to be on the road all the time, you don't feel like wasting time since there is basically no opportunity to stop moving about. We are leaving around noon to see what the future holds for us.

The memories I will treasure forever

We departed for Kyoto on Saturday. That is when I met Clara, a cool British woman who was also going to Kyoto on the same day. Since we had the same destination we figured we might as well take the Shinkansen bullet train together. I went down so easily, you just bought a ticket and got on - as simple as that. It took only two hours to get from Tokyo to Kyoto as we watched the landscape fly by. We arrived in Kyoto and it was difficult finding a safe haven, we hadn't made a reservation beforehand as neither Miikka nor I wielded a credit card. Clara stayed at K's hostel which was the coolest place with a bar and a wicked common room to hang out in. There weren't any more vacancies in K's since it was a popular hostel, and it was also weekend which are usually booked full. We exchanged numbers with Clara to keep in touch and hang out later. After three hours of searching we found room in a hostel called "The Cheapest Inn" and it was just as cheap as its informative names implied. But still it was a place to sleep and to take a shower, so it was adequate.

Getting around in Kyoto was easy. The city was way smaller than Tokyo and the streets even had names and were in a form of a grid so it was easy to navigate. The fastest and the cheapest way to get around was to rent a bicycle, you could just hop on anytime and go where you wished. The shrines and temples were the thing to go check out and there were many of those to rummage through. I was especially fascinated with a mountain shrine, its streets decorated with thousands of torii gates to pass through and loads of little shrines dotted all over the place to say your personal prayer at. In the yard of Toji temple there was a huge monthly flea market which sold Japanese antique. What I took with me from the market where a pair of ninja shoes and a Tengu mask I just had to have. At that point I didn't even care about the price as cheap as I am.

We met Miikka's Japanese contact, Nobu, who was nice enough to show us around the city and some good attractions. He was really chill and I got to meet his friend, Maru, too. One night we introduced our Japanese friends to a salmiakki flavored Finnish vodka called Salmiakki Koskenkorva. They found it pretty liqourice and hard to down as we Finns didn't seem to find no problem doing that.

There was a Fire Festival being held in Kurama, a half an hour train ride away north from Kyoto. It rained on the festival and water didn't quite seem like the right element for a Fire Festival, but in the end it turned out really nice. It was an ancient ritual where the men of the village carried huge torches and chanted this rhyme. After the festival we headed back to Kyoto, grabbed a bite to eat, and went to this small Soul Bar down a little alley and up the narrow stairs. My Finnish friends left a bit earlier so we just drank some whiskey and talked with Clara. We seemed to find loads of things in common and no trouble finding a subject to talk about, and we really enjoyed eachothers company. We lost the track of time and we must've spent over an hour just talking in the bar. We continued to this reggae bar, Rub-a-Dub, down the street and hung out and talked there for a while until we decided to head to our hostels since it was getting fairly late. We later hung out almost everyday, had some red wine and cheese (yes we are posh), held little picnics, and stayed up late talking.

Miikka left back to Finland with his newly bought foldable Japanese bicycle. He also agreed to take my Tengu mask back home for me since it was too big and inconvinient to carry around back to Tokyo and to other places unknown. After a week in Kyoto we took the day bus back to Tokyo with Clara. Again we talked on and on and then one Japanese man had to tell us to shut up since I was getting a bit over excited. I felt a little embarrased since we were the only ones talking and we kinda got carried away there and ended up bothering everyone else. Or at least I did.

I felt good to be back in Tokyo. Kyoto was cool too but Tokyo has just so much more to offer and to surprise you with. We went to a bar called Pink Cow with Clara. We figured we as might as well spend the whole night drinking since it was already 11pm and the last trains leave at midnight. So we tried to find this place called Milk, but it turned out it was out of business, so this Japanese guy we met tried to take us to a bar but he ended up escorting us to a restaurant. So we just got a bottle of warmed sake and left for Shibuya to find another place more suitable for our taste. We found this underground whiskey bar which was exactly what we were looking for. So we got some whiskey and talked again on and on. It so strange how well we got along, I didn't find any inconvinience there. We ended up passing out in the subway and when we came to we saw these kids all dressed up for their Sunday baseball practice. And we just thought to ourselves they have no idea what's coming for them. So we were back at our hostel around seven am with only three hours to sleep before check out.

Next day we went back to the Khaosan Tokyo Ninja hostel where we had stayed before. There we met my friend Ilkka, who had just arrived in Japan a couple of days before. I know him through a friend from the army. Since it was Sunday we went to Harajuku to check out the cosplay girls and to recieve some free hugs. We ate some cheesecake, whipped cream, and strawberries from a cone. You heard me, only in Japan. In Yoyogi park there were loads of street performers doing all kinds of silly dances and shows. Many J-Rock bands were also playing free gigs near the park. We especially were very fond of this Funk\Rock band Stereo Lynch. There were many jugglers and and rythmic rings where people played dingeridoos and drums. We bought cool hats and had a blast.

On monday we went to see some arts with Clara and Ilkka and we lots of fun. But the best was yet to come. Karaoke baby. We went to do karaoke with Clara's Japanese friend Yurie and other international friends. I literally had so much fun ever that I think I popped a vein from the back of my head. Ilkka wasn't feeling too good later (all you can drink, what do you expect) so he had to sort is head out for a while before we could take another cab. We got back to the hostel in one piece in the end. One of the best nights in my life.

Then it occured to us. We were in Akihabara window shopping for random devices and we realised that we should buy a guitar and a drum and go to Yoyogi park to do some jammin. The next day, after visiting the Tsukiji fish market early in the morning, we went to Yoyogi with our little guitar and the drum. I played the guitar, Ilkka got the rythms down, and Clara took care of the vocals. We even named our band, Bright Colors and Two Big Dudes, and made a music video of our first single (which is a cover song) of In the Jungle. We also throwed the frisbee and played this peek-a-boo game with some Japanese people. We had so much fun, and I can easily say it was the best day of my life so far. I wished the moment would last forever.

Since it was the last day for Clara in Japan we decided to go to Park Hyatt's New York Grill bar to have a glass of Suntory Whiskey and enjoy the view of the great city. I felt really blue since Clara was about to leave and we had become such good friends in the past two weeks. We still had some crazy fun and got high on vitamin C from drinking C.C. Lemon (over 70 lemons' worth of vitamin C in every bottle baby!) and took loads of silly pictures. We said our goodbyes the next morning and agreed to meet again in the future. She's such a cool person and I really miss exploring the city with her. It's just not the same anymore. Lucky agreed to meet again in the future and have more wine and cheese in London! (and C.C. Lemon too)

Today we went to the Spiral Building with Ilkka and listened to some music and observed art. I got really spaced out for hours listening to music. I found this instrumental Japanese J-Pop band, Pepe California, which I found utterly fantastic. The feeling and the jamming really reminded me about the day with Clara in Yoyogi Park. I got really moody and I found myself sobbing in the record store. Oh lord I feel so embarrased now, but I just couldn't help it. I just want to go back to that day in Yoyogi and be there forever. It was the best chill out ever and I'm very sad it's over, for now at least. I'm more than postitive that we will meet again and have the best time again!

We had a Halloween party at the hostel, and also my first Halloween ever. I had a Pig hat and Ilkka was a Panda. And of course Pig & Panda from Finland won the Wii Tennis tournament. Bringing home the gold! Tomorrow is our last day at the Ninja and we are moving to a capsule hotel in Asakusa for five nights. After that we will set for a three week journey through Japan from the top of Hokkaido all the way to the southmost point of Kyushu.

Tokyo - Kyoto

The first week in Tokyo has went smoothly. It's a huge city but so amazingly easy to get around and find your way through even without a map as we have been doing. But our expeditions have not always been without trouble. A couple of times we had to walk quite a trip back to the hostel since we missed our last train. We found our way back with help from some friendly locals so nothing to worry about there. It's cool how every part of the city has a different character - From Roppongi, the area where especially gaijins (foreigners) like to get drunk to Asakusa, the older, more authentic part of Tokyo with shrines and a great place to experience Japanese cuisine.

Today we are departing for Kyoto, the cultural capital of the land. We are leaving around noon on a Shinkansen high-speed train. We have no hostel booked or anything and the whole situation seemed pretty much fully booked when we checked it on the net. But maybe this makes traveling more interesting, not knowing what exactly will happen next. I'm pretty sure we will find some place to stay, there's always some place where we can find shelter.

In Japan

Arrival to Tokyo went without mishap thanks to a working subway and train network. Buying a ticket is managed by a ticket vending machine and the ticket inspection is also done by an apparatus which makes travelling around the city very convinient and fast. Trains come and go every five minutes so you don't really have to worry about missing your ride. Only if you miss the last train of the day you basically have to choises, a cheap and an expensive one. You could spend the night at the station which which is pretty uncomfortable or take a cab which can cost you big money according how far you are from your destination.

Yesterday we almost missed our last transport back to the hostel since we were eating some fantastic sushi and drinking sake at Shibuya. We didn't realize the time fly since we were having such a great time. Before we were at this traditional style okonomiyaki restaurant in Asakusa. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese style omelette that you have to cook yourself on a pan on the table. Luckily the waiter helped us out cooking it, if not we would have only made an unpeculiar mess. After the feast we headed to this huge temple area nearby, there was great architecture and a huge market an people swarming like ants. And the amount of vending machines is unbelievable, they mostly contain beverages and cigarettes but in certain areas there are vast amounts of small vending machines containing anything from toys to computer software.

Today we went to Akihabara where are loads of duty free shops that sell mainly electronic devices and household items. We found ourselves in this huge mall kind of thing - or we didn't actually figure if it was a mall or one huge ass store. On every nine floors they sold a different kind of selection of stuff to spend your life savings on. One storie was all computers while one was focused on cameras and the other on washing machines, Refridgerators, CD's, Games, Toys, Restaurants, you name it. Just getting through all nine floors took hours. All the hassle, and flashing lights, and the people running back an forth drove me dizzy.

D-Day

So this is it, I almost can't believe it - I'm actually going. I've been over-hypeing the subject for six months since I bought the tickets and now the day is actually here. The feeling is almost overwhelming, I've got to pull myself together.

Of course it goes without saying I'm going to miss my family and friends a lot, but the silly thing is there's one person I will miss more over the others. There's a girl who lives in the States and we've been talking actively with a web cam and a mic since early summer if I recall correctly. Yes, I know it sounds very silly but truly I will miss her a lots. She's cool, funny, thoughtful, and above all crazy and she's become a dear friend to me. Lucky enough someone created the internet so we can exchange messages via Facebook at least.

I can't tell you how good it feels to get out of Finland, and to get to an environment totally opposite from what I've used to. Time to turn a new leaf in my life then. Still have to double check everything since I always tend to worry too much and then I will be on my way. Hope I will make it there in one piece.

Ganbarimasu!