it went black

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH :( Golden brown my arse. Here's a nice opportunity to show off the sexy new gaps in my bottom teeth. I swear to god they didn't rot or fall out or get cavities, it's just my dentist is a sadist.

new haiirr

I got my hair chopped off today. I feel a little sad! Now I'm gonna go dye it back brown cos I'm well over red.

beep beep

My fortnightly trips to the job center are steadily turning into a
reunion of old friends. This is nice at the time, but, seriously,
the anticlimax is probably comparable to the aftermath of a
crack binge. Not that I've ever experienced this, but I would
imagine the grey and sad tinge the world takes on as I wave
goodbye to my favourite security guard and head back home
for a bowl of lonely cheerios isn't too dissimilar to a fairly painful
comedown.

I got back from 2 weeks in Cornwall last week, which was pretty
fun. We went to the Minack Theatre, which I've been to before
and is SUPER. I also did a seal trip and visited a Japanese garden
and did a bunch of coast walks and bikerides on MY NEW BIKE.
Yes I bought another bike. I loves it. I cycled from coast to coast;
Portreath to Devoran and back again. It was fun.

Soon I'm going to Ibiza and then last night I booked a flight to Pisa,
and managed to persuade my sister to leave Max and come with me!
I literally didn't think I had a chance in hell of getting her to agree to it
but she did! Woooo.

I want to go to Poland too but I really need to earn some money first.

I also realised on holiday that it's probably quite likely that I'm an
amazing artist, but that, because my mum FORCED my left-handedness
out of me as a baby, I've never had chance to realise my skill.
So I might try practising with my left hand and then I can get rich and
famous. Makes sense.

I want something interesting to happen. No wait, I want to MAKE
something interesting happen. But I just don't know how :(

Happy Birthday Max :)

Today is Max's first birthday! I fully cannot believe a
year passed already. I made a really cringeworthy video
montage of his first year... I'm totally gonna be the
embarrassing auntie. I had to make it small cos I have a small
computer and I can't figure it out unless everything is in
proportion :( PRESS FULLSCREEN AND TURN the volume upppp

Annnnnnnnnnyway, nothing new to report. I'm going down to Cornwall in a
week and a bit with mum and dad and then me and Kirsten are going to
Ibizaaaaaaaa on the 22nd September.

Oh yeah, I got braces too. They make me look super cool, if you're into
that kinda thing. Which most boys are not. Gutted. How will I find a husband
now.

Weltschmerz..

is my new favourite word. Actually, all my favourite
words are German. It kind of makes me want to learn
German. And it makes me wonder why we don't have similar
words in our own language. Does it mean we don't need them,
or does it mean our language is lacking?

My second favourite word is Fernweh. I also like Wanderlust.

I don't know why I'm telling you this, but there we go.

I'm unemployed still. I've bought 15 books in the past 2 weeks.

FIFTEEN books. When am I going to read 15 books? Plus I keep
wanting more. I don't know what happened to me. Books and
words. Why couldn't I be so into books and words when I actually
needed to be, i.e. throughout my entire education.

I literally have nothing to write about right now. I'm applying for
jobs like a maniac but no one is getting back to me. I have no
money as the job centre ruined my claim twice. I have no plans,
nor really much hope of being able to make plans until I get a job
and start earning.

God.

Island fever

I’m writing this on a train again. I sure like to write on trains.
I’m on the sleeper train that runs from Hat Yai in Thailand to
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We already passed through immigration,
and now it’s only 10 hours to KL!

Well I don’t have much to report other than that in 2 days I’ll
be back home. I think I’m excited. But then I also worry that
within a couple of days it’ll be like I never left, and everything
will start to fade into something I once did. I don’t like that
feeling so much, so no doubt within a week I’ll be making plans
for the next trip. I’m happy when I’m planning.

So anyways, after leaving Bangkok I headed for Koh Phangan
because I thought I wanted a beach holiday. I aimed for some
beach way up on the north east coast, and boy was it far out.
And I mean that in every sense of the word. I mean, it was the
perfect picture of island paradise, yet the lack of proper roads
meant I couldn't hire a motorbike and explore. So I was pretty
much stranded at the bungalow resort place until it was time to
leave.

So despite it being the most beautiful place I've ever been,
I got completely bored within about 5 hours of arriving.
But I stuck it out for a few nights, mainly because it was
stunning and deserted and the food was delicious. I don't
think I've ever been more desperate to escape a place though;
I always thought I'd love being stuck on a desert island, but
I've defo changed my mind!

Then I decided to make a plan, which consisted of; go to a
detox spa. SO I headed back to Samui, stayed a few nights in
a bungalow by the beach, then checked in to Spa Samui, where
I did a 3 ½ day fast, complete with colemas. It was quite good
actually, and I wish I’d done the 7 day one instead, but it
was way too expensive.

When I went to check out, they only charged me for accommodation.
I took my time paying it, packing my purse away, flicking through
free book they gave me, asking if I was done, and walked out
without paying for the actual detox. That 170 quid is better off
in my sorry looking bank account anyway.

The stupidest thing was, I'd already checked into a cheap
bungalow literally right next door to the spa, and as I left
I told them I didn't need a taxi as I was only walking next
door. So I spent the next 4 nights in a constant state of panic
that they would come knocking on my door!

I spent most of those 4 days driving around on my motorbike,
as it was ridiculously hot and my room had no aircon and
only the lamest fan you ever did see. So the only way of actually
keeping cool was to stay out in the sun all day getting windswept
on the bike! I did a bit of exploring and chased a few sunsets,
and ate tonnes of delicious sweetcorn with salt and butter from
various markets.

Then I got the ferry to Suratthani, a bus to Hat Yai, where I spent
a boringish evening wandering around the town, eating sticky rice
and mango and drinking endless coconuts in an attempt to not die in
the heat.

And now I'm here. I have one night in KL, then a flight back to
England on Thursday! I get the weekend at home, then I'm off to
Longleat safari park, and onto Pembrokeshire with my parents on
Tuesday. And then, finally, I need to get a job!

Tokyo Nights

I’m not in Japan anymore :(

I’m in Thailand, on a sleeper train bound for Suratthani,
from where I’ll catch the ferry to Koh Phangan. I’ve never
been to Koh Phangan, despite the fact I used to see it’s
hazy outline every day from the beach in Bophut.

My final three nights in Tokyo were amazing! I had
expected a quiet end to the trip, and in fact I had
started to wish I could’ve just gone straight to Thailand
after Nagoya. I wanted to go out on a high, and I worried
that I’d hang around Tokyo with fading memories.

I had changed my booking from 2 nights in a cheap hostel
a little north of the city to 2 nights in K’s House, where
my trip had begun. I knew that Sebastian was staying there,
so I decided a friendly face might help my last few days
pass easier.

In the end, I never made it to my dorm bed on either of
those nights. My first stop in Tokyo was the Sheraton Grande
in Tokyo Bay, courtesy of Andrew. It was most definitely the
fanciest hotel I’ve ever stayed in, and it was in Tokyo Bay,
yo! It was incredibly surreal and amazing, and, well, I'm
keeping it for myself, so therefore that's all I'm writing.

We did play crazy golf in the rain though!

The next day Andrew left for Osaka and I headed for K’s,
where I bumped into Sebastian, Meta, the girl who I went
out for sushi with on my second night in Tokyo, Rebecca,
who I’d last seen in Nagoya, 2 girls I’d met in Hiroshima,
plus a couple of other people I’d briefly met at various
other hostels. There was one guy called Jamie who I
remembered from Tokyo part 1, and he had just moved in
to his own place but was visiting the guys at K’s.
Couldn’t keep away I guess… I know the feeling.

So much for a quiet end to my time in Japan. We hung around
the hostel for a while and then went to a place called
Stella’s, a karaoke bar. I sung my little heart out all
night long, until I literally had no voice left. People
slowly began disappearing off to bed until there was about
4 of us left.  Finally it was me and Jamie, so we
decided to go for a 5am jog around Sensi-jo Temple, the
most famous temple in Tokyo. My god, I’ve only just
realised now I’m writing it down how awesome that sounds.
Awesome or ridiculous? I’m going for awesome.

We got back to the hostel at 5.30 for a cup of tea and a
20 minute nap on the sofa, then Sebastian came down at 6am
and the three of us headed off to the fish market. I think
I was still drunk, which probably isn’t the best way to be
when you’re trying to dodge carts and raw fish. It most
definitely made it a more surreal experience though!

Writing all this down is making my heart ache. I wish I
had appreciated the absurdity of the situation more at the
time. I miss Japan!

I needed to be checked out by 11am, so Jamie amazingly
offered up his new place for me to catch up on much
needed sleep. We went back to the hostel, was checked
out by 8am and then we caught the train to his. Sleeeeep.
I think I finally left at something stupid like 5pm, and
went to my CAPSULE!!

I got absolutely soaking wet on the walk there, and arrived
with water literally pouring down my face. I’ve probably
never looked hotter. I was given a lovely locker for the
remains of my sodden shoes, and headed up to the 8th floor
to investigate my bed for the night.

Oh my, I LOVE capsule hotels. I don’t think I’ve ever felt
cosier. I expected it to feel cramped and claustrophobic,
but it was actually really roomy. There was enough room to
sit up and turn around and probably even do a roly poly if
I felt like it. There’s a little TV screen and a mirror and
a clock radio, plus switches for lights and god knows what.
You also get a clothes locker, where there’s a towel and
some pyjamas!

I dumped my stuff and went upstairs for my second public
bath experience. I had the whole place to myself, again!
I feel like a cheat! Then I put my lovely pyjamas on and
went down into the common room, where I made friends with
a couple of French boys who were stuck in Tokyo til the 1st
May, because of the ash cloud! Gutted. I think they thought
I looked pretty hot in my lime green Pjs though. Then I
clambered into my capsule for a bloody good sleep. I’m
going to set up a capsule hotel in Sheffield, I reckon
it’ll go down a storm.

Soo, on the morning of the 23rd I caught the train to the
airport, got my flight, arrived in Bangkok, sweated a bit,
got a taxi to my hostel, sweated a bit more, got upgraded
to a double room, got some sleep, checked out at 11 and
went round to Lynette’s new apartment, where she was kind
enough to let me crash for the night. We ordered food on
the INTERNET, and it came and we ate it; this country
seriously has that shit figured out.

What I love about being in Bangkok these days is I’ve
done all the tourist things, so I don’t put any pressure
on myself to get out and do anything! That sounds horribly
lazy, but you know you’d feel the same! Bangkok was my
weekend.

So that brings us to the here and now!  No more real
plans as such, but watch this space!

Kyoto

Oh dear lord, I forgot to write anything again. The 6 nights
I spent in Kyoto were the best ever, I had an absolute blast
with some amazing people. There’s no possible way I can
remember everything we all got up to, so this is a condensed
version of an incredible week.

So the original Hiroshima crew of Jo, John, Angie, and I were
joined early on by Cat, from Perth, and Bastian, from
Holland. We had some day trips out and usually ended up in
the hostel’s Zen café for beers. People came and went, but
it was a weird feeling being the ‘constant’; we started
thinking in terms of newbie’s, and it was lovely having a
group of friendly faces at breakfast, where we met every
morning for the buffet!

The first morning I had arranged to go on a walking tour
with an Australian girl called Rebecca, who I had spoken
to briefly on the Travbuddy website. I took Joanne and
Bastian along with me, despite the fact it was absolutely
pouring with rain, and our shoes were soaked by the time
we reached the meeting place. The tour guide, who called
himself Ted, was lovely, but the walk was a bit lame. It
was meant to be an ‘underground’ type tour, where we would
visit the Kyoto nobody else got to see. Well, there is a
reason for that.

Okay so it wasn’t so bad, and I’m sure the weather didn’t
help, but if you go to Kyoto, avoid Johnny Hillwalkers
walking tour! We got to see the original headquarters of
Nintendo, a few cottage industry style houses, where
people were making fans, and the headquarters of the MAFIA!
We were told not to take any pictures as we walked past an
otherwise unspectacular building, except for the very
expensive cars and elaborate security system. We stopped
for a piece of inari sushi and a tea break, and then we
made our escape from the tour.

Another day, Cat, Jo, Sebastian and I went on a trip to
Nara, a cute little town with deer and temples and shrines
and pagodas and the like, although we ended up missing the
main attraction, a huge Buddha, because we got preoccupied
by practising our karate moves.

We had a night out at a karaoke bar, taking Brian, a guy
from Kansas, along with us. The bar was the tiniest place
ever, and the little Japanese lady behind the bar stood
clapping along to our terrible singing and serving us sake
by the glassful.

One day I hired a bicycle and went to the Golden Pavilion,
which was super pretty, then all the way across to the Silver
Pavilion, which had real nice gardens, then down the Path of
Philosophy, through the Gion district, and back to the hostel.
Boy, I sure was tired when I got home.

Lots of other things happened too. I took a daytrip to
Himeji Castle, where the cherry blossoms were still in
full bloom and the sun was shining, making everything look
picture perfect. I also went out for delicious okonomiyaki
with an Australian guy called Darren. Okonomiyaki is my new
favourite food EVER.

One night Jo and I rode our bicycles into Gion to see a
Maiko and Geisha show, which was a total highlight. The
girls performing are actual real life Maiko and Geisha,
and the traditional dance and music was amazing. We came
out of the theatre into Gion, and saw an actual GEISHA
out on the street, hurrying into a taxi! Spotting the
elusive geisha is like tracking some kind of wild animal,
you get a fleeting glimpse as they scuttle across an
alleyway. We rushed home full of excitement to tell
everyone about our sighting, but nobody seemed interested
enough so we went downstairs for beers!

Eventually our group began to dwindle as people moved on
or went home, and eventually it was just me, Angie and
John, and another guy called Andrew who we’d met a couple
of days before and had gone to the bamboo grove with the
previous day. Then Bastian came back from Hiroshima for
the last night, so we went out for some gorgeous food in
a little Japanese restaurant across the river.

The next morning, the sun had reappeared, so Andrew and
I went for a morning trip to Fushimi Inari, a shrine
famous for the hundreds of Torii gates that twist and
turn up a mountain. It was made famous for it’s appearance
in Memoirs of a Geisha, and was super pretty.

We ended up staying loads longer than planned, so it was a
bit of a rush to get back to the hostel to pick up our bags
and get back to the station for the 5.30 train. But we made
it, and an hour later I made it to Nagoya, which is where I
am right now!

The night before last I stayed at Hostel Ann, where Rebecca
was staying. I pretty much checked my mail and went straight
up to bed, got up early the next morning to do my laundry,
and headed downtown for a wander round some shops. Then I
packed my bags back up and came here, to Kyoya Ryokan Nagoya!

A ryokan is basically a traditional Japanese style inn. There
are tatami mats on the floor, sliding paper doors, and public
baths. You sleep on a futon, which is just a mattress on the
floor. It’s adorable, I love it! I had booked into a dorm room
but because they are quiet, they have upgraded me to a private
room with a TV, Apple computer, balcony, fridge, the lot. I
forgot what it’s like to sleep in a room on my own!

Today I walked to Nagoya castle, which was quite similar
to Himeji castle, but it had these really beautiful gardens
and there was also a street style performer doing balloon
animals, juggling, mime, and a bunch of other stuff. I think
he was having a bad day because everything kept going wrong!

Then I walked miles to find a shop called 3 Coins, which is
like the 100 yen stores but its 300 yen, and a slightly higher
class of tack. Then I jumped on a train to another 300 yen
store, and bought lots of lovely crap. Another early night
tonight before Tokyo again tomorrow!