Still in Kyoto, post 2

Hmmm... lots of random little impressions...

I have never gotten lost so many times in one day, as when I went to Osaka. I don't have a particularly great sense of direction but give me a map and I can successfully navigate my way around many cities, from Sydney, Rome, Paris, Kyoto, Tokyo... Osaka was something else... One reason I do so much walking here is because I'm continually re-tracing my steps. I swear, in Osaka station you could walk 'around the block' and end up nowhere near where you started. You'll see a sign saying 'JR line' and follow it, only to soon see a sign for 'JR line' pointing in the opposite direction. I spent 45 minutes there looking for the information centre... -_-

There are also so many steps. I'll soon have thighs of steel.

I don't know if I'm losing weight because although exercising a lot, I am eating a lot of rubbish - chocolate croissants, icecreams, etc. The reason for this is that I really do not like the local food. I can't describe it, but it's disgusting. Virtually everything comes with, like, bean curd, or a raw egg on the top. I'm about as big a fan of raw egg as the next Aussie, which is to say, not at all. The other day I had noodles and the waitress indicated that I should break my raw egg into a bowl of sesame sauce and then pour it all over my noodles. I actually did it, too. It wasn't actually as bad as it sounds; the problem is you have to be pretty hungry to eat it... I was sitting there thinking 'I am eating cold gelatinous noodles coated with raw egg...'

The other thing is that even if you find something you like, it is usually topped with something you don't like. For example, I like okonomiyaki (vegetable pancakes), but then they come with, say, a raw egg and tofu on it, or raw egg and ham, or something that looks like pink creamed corn...

And as for Japanese sweets, some of them look nice on the outside, but inwardly they are vile and usually contain red bean paste.

The main thing that strikes me about Japan is that they really have created their own unique world here. I mean, there's nowhere else like it. It's like a different planet, just for Japanese people.

It is probably the most civilised country in the world. Trains run on time. Everywhere is clean. Service is extremely good. The moment you sit down in a restaurant, you're brought a handtowel and glass of water, even if you're just having a coffee. They have plastic bags outside department stores that you can put wet umbrellas into. The water is clean. Machines work.

So many machines have sensors. For example you will walk up to a ticket machine and it will speak to you. Or you start to walk through a ticket gate - which is open by default - and if your ticket is invalid, it will slam shut right in front of you so you slam into it - a bit disconcerting!

It gets dark here from about 5pm, it's totally dark by 5:30.

If you are in a hurry to get anywhere, you're in for intense frustration. There is little meaningful information in English anywhere. And I did exactly what I did last time I went to Tokyo and tried to go to see Mt Fuji - took a local train instead of a rapid one, not knowing whether I was 'allowed' to use the rapid one on my ticket - therefore stretching a 90min journey into 2 1/2 hrs...

Like I mentioned, it can be frustrating because I don't understand anyone and I feel stupid most of the time. I feel dumb when I don't even know when to say 'thank you', dumb when I walk around in circles at every major train station, dumb when I don't know what to do with my things in the ryokan, dumb when I don't know how to pay the bill in a restaurant (I figured it out by now...), dumb when everyone else suddenly gets off a bus and I don't know why, etc etc. Anyway, I am learning but I guess I will have to repeat this process in Kawasaki.

For the first time last night there was someone speaking English on TV. Matt Damon was on some Japanese cooking show. Yay Matt!! I can understand you!!

Anyway, should stop here. I hope you're all well. I am okay... I feel kind of down in the mornings, but when I'm out and about I usually feel okay... sometimes I think 'I want to go home' but I'm between homes now anyway so there is no such place... hmmm... anyway, I don't know what I'm doing today, maybe I'll have a coffee and go to Nara. But I am a bit temple-d out!

Tomorrow I'm going to Nikko, after that to training....

Cheers to you all, hope you're all well :)