Scaring, Studying and Sampling

Sometimes in life, we question what purpose it is that we actually serve. Here is my answer to that question based solely on my (almost) two weeks in Kyoto in the form of a top ten list. 1. Drinking 2. Unintentionally scaring old ladies 3. Self-learning Hiragana and Katakana 4. Developing Japanese comprehension – listening…

Old Surroundings, New Beginnings

I’m sitting in a cafe named efish that sits beside the river that flows through Kyoto. There’s a young acappella group practicing directly across the river from me. Based on what little I can hear, I think they’re singing a ‘One Direction’ song. I’ll have to thank blame my niece for even putting any form…

Kyoto and the Infinite Intoxication – Part 2 of 2

Arriving back at Tarocafe at 6am after the epic night of drinking and drunken-pash-attempted-suicide, I stirred at 1pm feeling absolutely written off. Greg and I decided that lunch was of the highest priority. We wound up (eventually) at Cafe Independents, an awesome underground cafe with a very alternative vibe. A photo that Greg took of…

Kyoto and the Infinite Intoxication – Part 1 of 2

It’s been almost a month since I last posted on Blogostino. How sad is it that it takes being ill at home from work in order to find time to sit down and write? Very sad indeed. I have been writing, but it’s all been in preparation for my Fringe show in September. Back to…

Koyasan

In the past couple of updates, I’d mentioned how this trip in some regards was about polar opposites. After two nights of hanging out in video game bars and a maid cafe with Nintendo-inspired decor, it only seemed natural that my next destination was Koyasan. About 90 mins south of Osaka lies Koyasan. Resting atop…

Osaka Revisited – Day 2 of 2

If there’s one piece of advice I can pass on about Osaka to any visitors who plan on adventuring in or around the area, it’s that there are actually two Namba train stations. Osaka Namba and Namba Nankai. To make things just a touch more confusing, you can actually walk via a multilevel shopping centre…

Osaka Revisited – Day 1 of 2

Packing up and leaving Sendai, I couldn’t help but feel that this trip was taking on a new form – polar opposites. I’ll delve into this theme more as I get words out there relating to this trip. It’s now been a week since I’ve returned to Melbourne. A lot has happened in that week….

One Day in Sendai

After the random night, I had set my alarm super early to get up to see the ‘golden rings’ or solar eclipse that was occurring at 7:30am. Unfortunately, my spirit was more willing than my body was to get up and get amongst it. After brunch at Freshness Burger (a seriously awesome organic burger chain…

One Random Night in Shinjuku

I hinted at the end of the last entry (perhaps even in the title of the last entry) that I spent one random night in Shinjuku. Because I basically story-teased the lot of you, I’ll spare you the boring bits and hop straight into it. After meeting Kirsty and Satoko in Shinjuku, I was waiting…

Ueno, Asakusa and the beginning of a random night in Shinjuku

After the excessive amounts of joy and glee that I had scurrying about the Studio Ghibli Museum, followed by drinking it up with Mamoru, Go and Shingo, the following day was supposed to be a bit more chilled out. “Not so“, says Japan. One thing I may not have mentioned, I switched accommodation for the…