April 2010
1 post
March 2010
27 posts
So Long, My Dear
So I moved out of Chelmsford, sold my beloved drumkit and all my furniture, got drunk with friends for a final time, hugged my mum and dad and got on a plane. I was nervous for the two weeks leading upto departure, even though I had been planning this trip forever.
I felt guilty for leaving Golden Staph and Bermuda. I felt nervous about not having enough money. I felt excited about not having a...
Sydney
We hadn’t even taken off from Perth before I got my first dose of Sydney culture - An Ed Hardy douche-bag. He was covered head to toe in the sequin range and was an eyesore on the red-eye.
Without much sleep, I test out my pack carrying skills on the way to Shag Cottage. I am thinking more about the unconfirmed birth of my niece than the post-cyclone drizzle that I am walking in. The...
Bonnie Bee O'Brien
Miss Chu (Darlinghurst?East Sydney?) is great. I missed out on eating there the previous day with the other Perthonites, but it is my first stop the next day. Shredded duck pancake and steamed pork bun for breakfast.
Next stop is Gordon’s Bay. I had a perfect time there on tour and was keen to re-live it. After walking from Coogee and doing an questionnaire on bottled water (thanks bloke,...
How To: Travel Toothbrush
01: Buy an ordinary toothbrush.
02: Locate the desired length along the handle of the toothbrush.
03: Using your index fingers, bend the toothbrush at the desired point. Continue back and forth motions until the toothbrush divides into two.
04: Discard the unwanted piece of toothbrush into a bin.
D-Day
Going to Sydney was nothing. I have done it plenty of times before. Shit was suddenly real. I was going to Tokyo!
I have a serious dilemma in regard to my digital SLR camera. I hadn’t really planned on using it all that much, because I was taking two other cameras. And it weighs alot. And it has lenses. And chargers. And chords… I leave it with Conor and my pack and conscious rest at...
Tokyo
I wake up not nearly as early as I should have. My intention was to hit the fish markets nice and early so I could see some of the action. I end up going at 9am, which is still too late.
By the time I had navigated the subway and walked into the world’s largest fish shop, vendors were started to wash down their stalls and bag up the last of their stock. I still managed to see people hacking...
Playlist One
My Bloody Valentine Beaches Devo Sonic Youth Animal Collective Black Mountain Massive Attack Bon Iver
Nikko
I wake up and gather my things. I still need to sort my money out before I get going. Bloody ‘Commonfilth’ bank card that doesn’t work at all god damn it. Anyways, off to the onsen to bathe with about 6 old fat naked Japanese business men. Yep. I got naked with a whole bunch of old naked Jap’s. Sitting on a little stool and washing yourself in the presence of others is...
Shogun-Town
At 4:30am the lights come on and I pretend to act asleep as a guard comes over and checks me out. He doesn’t wake me nor say a thing on the matter. I arise and buy a coffee(out of a vending machine), before going and unloading my ‘change of diets’ poo. It is not the right colour, texture, smell or feeling. I then act on a brainwave from the fairly sleepless night from before. If...
Hillbomb - Nikko
Nara
I get up and head to Ueno to get my rail pass exchanged. It was time to get out onto the JR lines. I then head a little further into the city and go to Akihabara for some Polaroid film and Fuji 200. Ok, so my chances were thin- but I dint really expect to be told that Fuji 200 doesn’t get made anymore! Crud.
Right before I check out of the hotel, I use the bathroom. I can’t figure out what button...
Sakura And Deer
I awake early and shower in the Japanese style bathroom. I am used to the whole ‘sit on a tiny stool and wash yourself’ routine, so it is easy going. Katsuro agrees to hold my bags for a few hours, so I grab my board and my map and walk up the road to Nara park.
DEER. EVERYWHERE. I didn’t realise how many deer there actually were. I knew that there would be some, but there are fricken hundereds....
Another Day, Another train
I wake up and get back to the travel prep. I change my mind from Kyoto and decide to head further West/South. Nagasaki looks interesting, so does Fukuoka. I think I will head over that way. I will be using the most of my Rail pass and it gives me another week or so to see some of that part of the country before meeting up with Amanda in Osaka.
I get on with the squat shower and then its straight...
Playlist Two
Black Sabbath Dinosaur Jr Deerhunter Fucked Up Kurt Vile Smog Electrelane Mika Miko
Sakurajima
New day, new month. I get up at around eight and head to try and hire a scooter. I soon discover how amazing the landscape is. I skate down this long hill (which I remember climbing in the dark the previous night) and chuck a right towards the ferry terminal. I then spot the hire place and go to talk to the owner. Because I don’t have an international drivers licence, I am unable to get hold of a...
Hillbomb - Sakurijima
Carp And Giants
I wake up a handful of times during the night. The mattress of dead leaves and scrub I had made included some sticks, which are poking in my back. It is also bucketing down with rain. Luckily I had set my tent up properly the night before, so there is no run off rainwater. My forty eight dollar tent is serving its purpose. After packing my belongings down in the cold and wet, I brush my teeth and...
Naoshima
The day started like the last. I woke up, fairly uncomfortably in my tent, wondering whether I should be up or not. I sure as hell should have been, because my dawdling meant that a local saw me packing up my tent at 7am! I am not certain that she saw me, but I saw her and she was praying to the shrine that I was about twenty metres the other side of. After a quick brush of the teeth and a tent...
Playlist Three
The Scientists Jay Reatard Unkle CAN The Raveonettes The Chills Jesus And The Mary Chain Roxy Music
Okayama
I didn’t sleep too well. The whole ‘not bringing a mattress to save on space and weight’ thing is getting too me. I was stoked to have the power to charge my electrics, and it was good that there was no wind. As with the other nights sleeping nojuku, I seem to sleep for about 4 or 5 hours before waking to a restless slumber stage. This stage hangs around for a few hours and then I get a few more...
Island Bound
I wake up, earlier than planned and have a refreshing spa and shower. I can’t help but feel alien in such an environment as an onsen. I am tall, white-as-the-light, tattooed and have red hair. They look nothing like me. After getting changed I take off and my first stop is the post office. I have a box of stuff to send home already, a pair of shoes, some souvenirs including a flag, some presents...
Miyajima
I wake with as much anxiety as I had the night before. Did they know I was here? Fuck.
I get up post-haste and get out of there. I take a mattress and pillow(which I will obviously return) and head for the campsite about 100 metres yonder. I set up the tent (very quickly, now that I am used to it) and then lay down where I read a little and then sleep some more.
I am woken by a god awful noise....
Call Of The Wild
Last night was warm and there was a gentle breeze outside all night, making me feel safe in my little tent.
I open the fly and just watch the world for a little bit. I eat my breakfast of bananas and jam on toast. Several deer walk past and I throw them some carrots and some tomatoes.
I get back into reading The Road. It reads easily and I devour it. By noon all I have done is lay in bed and...
Novels, Thus Far
Kobe
I fumble in my japan book and decide on spending a night in Kobe. The main drawcard is an art museum there, which is another one of Ando’s works. Shower time.
I wander over to the chalet to return the mattress and pillow. I am going to use the facilities and am thrilled for the hot soapy shower awaiting me. I haven’t been bothered keeping clean at this point, because I know that this...
Osaka
I wake up and get on with the onsen. After towelling down and changing into normal clothing, I catch up with that chap Michael. It only takes him three minutes of talking before telling me about the moment he found god. Oh fuck. Not another Christian missionary. Japan is covered in them! I give him the benefit of the doubt and he shouts me breakfast, which I then repay in a bottle of water and...
Hanami Party
I wake up to Brodie sneaking in the door. It isn’t super early, so I then get up and meander while they sleep in a bit longer.
When they do emerge we fire up some toast and spread gravilaxsus (Ikea stuff) and vegemite on it. I run through some photos with Amanda and formally meet Brodie. He is a graphic designer, who has a real eye for detail. He is living a few hours away in a town called Aco....
February 2010
19 posts
Bamboo Forest
We wake up and spend Sunday like most people. We dawdle, chat, drink tea and then make cupcakes in mugs in the microwave. Uhhh – WHAT??? So as happens, you can buy microwave cupcake soufflé things from 100 Yen stores. They are weird and funny and entertaining. The slight rubberyness makes them all the better.
Instead of going hiking in Nara (which was the previous plan), we get it together and...
Playlist Four
Green Demon
Onsen
Grass Eaters
For A Relaxing Time
Fugu
I Believe In
Human Damage
Rained Out
Today it rained from when I woke up to when I went to sleep. I didn’t do much.
Amanda got up and went to work at 8am. She got back at 11pm. Those are her normal hours. I would never last at that job.
I did my washing, watched a film and went to get some Yoshinoya (a cheap donburi restaurant). The one great thing about the day was that I got to listen to the first mixes of the Golden Staph...
A Fond Farewell
I wake up as Amanda is about to head to work. As this is my final day in Osaka, I go with her to the train station. It is a fond farewell at Kyobashi station, where Amanda then disappears into the pedestrian flow to Osaka Business Park. I really enjoyed staying in the ‘Leo Palace’ and having some company over the past few days. Amanda and Brodie, you guys have been amazing! Thank you so much...
Kyoto
I nearly miss the shower deadline of 7:30am in the morning. That is early right? I am not a fuddy duddy who complains about shit like that too often, but if I am staying here for a few days it may get on my nerves. Anyways, I scrape through just in time and head out with Rusty who is keen to get some breakfast. He is a singer in a covers band in Sydney. He doesn’t want to sound like a ‘player’,...
Down The Garden Path
It’s after 7:30 by the time I wake up, meaning I have missed the designated shower time. This place is annoying. It is clean and the staff are friendly and it is in a really good spot. But fuck. Why would you make the bathroom close as early as that? I rogue down the stairs and into the onsen. The lights are off and it is obvious that it has just been cleaned. My apologies YH staff. I need...
Having A Stretch - Kyoto
Check out, Check in
I had missed shower curfew again. This time by: two hours. Yanfu hasn’t even woken up. I get out my laptop and search hostels in Nagoya. I think that is the next stop before I get into Tokyo. The manager of the hostel comes in.
HIM: “Aren’t you checking out today?”
ME: “Yeah, I am”.
H: “Oh, ok. Checkout is between six and nine”.
M: “Oh, right. What time is it now(checking clock)”
H: It is almost...
Fuji-San
It’s a white out. My toes are cold and if I wriggle under my covers, the cold patches sting me instantly. I don’t want to get up, so I delay the obvious. Rolling over with the greatest of care, as to not move out of my heat cocoon. At 730am, the Japanese ritual of blasting weird non-offensive music reoccurs. Fuck. I knew that the checkout was half an hour ago, but jeez. My jeans are freezing. I...
Abrupt Platform Session - Otsuki
Yokohama
A free breakfast. This is the best start to the day. The guy on the grill makes what I would consider to be the perfect omelette to go with my bread and OJ. I plug away at the computer, trying to figure out how to get to the Studio Ghibli museum. Harry comes in and we have a yarn and finish our hot drinks. We swap movies off our hard drives and swap a few more stories at the breakfast table before...
Studio Ghibli
Breakfast is the same as always. Eggs, bread and salad on the side. I change up my drink today and get a cappacino which is surprisingly good considering the little coffee machine it is out of. Internet research is the first real thing I do after eating and thanking the chef(“Oishi, domu aragatoo gazaimussssss”). I am trying to determine whether I bother going to any gigs here. I...
Thirty Frames Per Second
I run through the usual wake up protocol at Hostel Porto, eggs and all. I had already decided what today is for. Today is video camera day. I head down the street, past the dodgy old guys that seem to litter the streets in the area and hop on a train to Akihabra. I get off at Yokohama station to check out the Muji store and to buy a few small gifts for someone. After taking this line to Shinjuku...
Vending Machine - Yokohama
Video Days
Today I had the morning routine minus the shower, as I would be going skating all day. I put on my ‘skate outfit’ (this will be explained later down the track) and took out the Bloggie. I then shot footage for what will be the first of several films that I intend to make whilst on the road.
It took pretty much all day and alot of my energy. The camera works a treat and the little...
Streets Awash
Another rainy day. Like the last time this happened (Osaka), there wasn’t much in the way of things to do outdoors. The roads were awash and the drains were audible from inside my hostel room. Lucky I made the most of yesterday.
Breakfast was the same as usual. I could eat this everyday and not get sick of it. Who would? I get two coffees and an orange juice on the side. The staff here love me....
Dismal Weather
It rained all day.
The only real highlight was walking into Chinatown (wearing my pyjamas and a coat) and getting a pork bun that was like Godzilla’s fist.
I finished the film.
Note - The ‘Babus’ photo is dedicated to Salliejo and Alex. PS FUCKUPS 4LYFE
WatchUntitled - Yokohama
January 2010
26 posts
Fashionable Tokyo
Today was the last free breakfast I will get in Japan. I knew it was coming and I savoured it. I am going to miss this place, although I need to get out. The last few days have kinda sucked, because of the weather. I don’t really feel the need to do any more touristy things, but being stuck indoors sucks balls. I head for a shower before the mammoth task of repacking my bag. I hadn’t had roommates...
Mattis Massault
Mattis has the most amazing apartment. It is big and bright and overlooks Higashi Nihombashi. His bedroom has sliding doors and he leaves them permanently open to the living room, which seems to feel like his whole domain.
Breakfast is lunch, which is apples and grapefruit juice and a pastry bread type thing. We sit and talk hours, looking through photographs, learning about each others...
I Am The World's Biggest Idiot
The sun wakes me up quite early, with Mattis still being asleep. I think he is probably going to be late for uni. He ends up stirring and arising, grabbing an apple and bailing. He bids me farewell and godspeed on my adventures. I shower and get changed before leaving. Rich wakes up and is on his way to Yoga, down the road. I write them a thank you on one of the postcards I got from Naoshima,...
WatchUntitled - Mattis And Co