30/11/2010
Yo yo yo!!! Im in NISEKO and its soo cool. Nothing really to report from the journey on the 28th. I arrived in Sapporo and jumped on my coach to Niseko and with me was young Jonathan Whipp a kid from Manchester heading to Niseko working for NBS also! We had the coach to ourselves and got to know each other.
When we arrived in Hirafu, our manager Pauly came to pick us up. He is a ski instructor but will be more managing, and is from Australia – seems like a real solid dude. He took us to Seikomart for a mini shop and then I got to meet the crew! Everyone is pretty sound and it wasn’t like when i first met the staff at Turoa. I think its because there are a lot new staff.
It started snowing when we arrived and it hasn’t stopped since. Its insane, the location of our accommodation is perfect, right next to the slopes and really close to our ski school office – its ski in ski out and its just perfect. I am sharing a room with a sweet dude called Kay from Switzerland. He is a skier and is super chill its nice. My room is pretty big and traditional. There is bambooy flooring and the other traditional thing is the sit down shared showers! I havent had a shower with anyone else yet but it will be interesting when there are more people in there. Ill just think of it like a changing room.
There hasn’t been much to do with the hill not open, its been snowing loads and we’ve been like caged animals waiting for training and our passes. Training starts December 3rd!
I am trying to think what else I have been upto and apart from orientating myself with the place, thats been about it. In the down time Ollie and Larissa came over from Niseko Villiage and just been jamming with Chloe and the rest of the crew its been awesome. I have been working on my CASI Level 3 notes and trying to get it all done before we start training but there is craploads to do!!
We’ve been issued with cell phones which is cool and thats really about it
Ill report in later with some more good stuff
Peace and love
Koo
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Saturday, 27 November 2010
TOKYO & JAPAN MADNESS
24/11/2010
The day has already arrived, yes I am in Tokyo giving you my first Jap style post. This place is like no other it is so unique and different and almost magical. It all started the morning of the 23rd when I was dropped off at the airport, the excitement really started then, you know when you get super excited and you cant stop laughing because you are about to do something absolutely insane, thats the feeling I had! It was incredible!! I was so nervous and happy all at the same time!
To get myself in the Japanese mood at Terminal 5 I thought it rude not to have a little Chicken Katsu Curry breakfast! It was delicious as always, the crispy breaded chicken was like something out of a 5 star recipe book and the sauce – oh the sauce was soo much better than the one I had in New Zealand. I was left thoroughly satisfied and then pushed onto my departure gate.
Our plane was called and I remember thinking how BA was so inferior in comparison to Emirates in terms of their organisation – BA announce the flight is boarding and everyone piles on, with Emirates they have sections and they board from the back of the plane to the front to prevent queage – thought that was much better however we did end up getting into Tokyo on time.
I checked in online and managed to score a nice exit seat, and the middle seat was empty which was ideal. When doing the bag drop off my snowboard bag was slightly overweight however it was enough to get away with which was a relief!! There was no way I was shipping anything after the debarcle DHL gave me in NZ.
To make sure I synced up with the time difference I tried to sleep as much as possible on the plane, I managed to get about 7-8 out of the 11 hrs snoozing and then spent the other 3 on BA’s in flight entertainment. The movies were the latest but again comparing to emirates their BA’s IFE is nothing in comparison. I watch 1 and a half movies and they didnt really rock my world.
We landed in Narita airport and going through customs and immigration was a surprisingly smooth process – in arrivals I managed to meet some fellow snowboarders and we went to ship our bags to resort. I got the train which was marked in English lettering which made things a lot easier, all I needed was a little help on the route, which information kindly helped me with and I was on my way. The first impressions I got of Japan were the clinical cleanliness of the people and the place, to the point where people were wearing surgical masks on their face to reduce the amount of toxins they were breathing in. I am not actually sure how much of a difference it makes but its their choice.
The people are friendly and even with a language barrier endeavour to communicate with you to come to an understanding so they can help. After my train ride finding the hostel was pretty easy going. Settled in had a shower and went on my way to the Electronic part of Tokyo as I was pretty close to it. Akihabara it was called and it was huge, busy noisy colourful and insane. Strangely there were some Japanese girls dressed up in pink or as school girls handing out flyers and stuff not sure what it was for but it looked ominous I am sure it was harmless as its a populat tourist spot and its broad daylight but it was a little strange. As well as that the food looked a bit crazy, I went safe and got a chicken doner kebab from a van (hahaha safe he says) it was pretty damn good. I followed that up witha KFC to continue the review – it was on par with the UK and US not crispy skin but fried and a little soggy – disappointing.
I found myself in absolute awe of the busyness of the place. There were soo many different electronics stores selling pretty interesting things the best thing i saw was a tiny speaker attached to a 3.5mm headphone jack. This would plug into your iphone or ipod and play the music out loud. I am sure I have seen it before but it just looked smart.
En route to the electronics store I based the used book selling district and the sports district. The sport distrct was insane the snowboard shops were incredible!! I was in heaven and what made me feel better was the fact that all my boards were on show for ridiculous prices whereas I paid next to nothing! Thanks Matt@Ride – oh yeah.
After walking around PEOPLE watching I went back to the hostel for a rest before heading back out to try and find the imperial palace – this did not happen and I ended up spending a couple of hours walking around trying to find my hostel. I gave up and decided to have a Japanese dinner of 10 gyoza’s and 2 pieces of chicken katsu it was yum! The food was soo good and good value considering it was Japanese food. I guess given its in Japan its less sought after than it would be in the UK. I jumped on a train back to the station i was familiar with. After another rest I walked to see the electronics district by night before heading back home!
I am now in my bunk bed in my room about to pass out
Peace and love people
Koo
25/11/2010
Oh my goodness I am so tired right now, the jet lag didnt help my sleep much last night, I was up at 4am and woke up on the hour every hour after that, my sleep was very disturbed which made me pretty drowsy. At least I managed to keep my head down until 8am even though it was a broken sleep.
I woke up and set of on a mega sightseeing day. I wanted to cram loads in and I think I got some good stuff in. I got the train to the Tsukiji and went to the world famous wholesale market, particularly the fish market – it was smelly for sure but there were some insanely large fish, it was unfortunate people from the public weren’t allowed in the auction area because thats where I reckon all the huge Tuna fish would be alongside the big fish like sharks etc... I am wondering what the whaling and dolphin hunting and selling policy here is – are they free to catch and sell in public or is it not legal I remember Whaling for commercial purposes was banned all over the world but Japan said they were whaling for research purposes and are still killing whales. I imagine some countries think that is a front to continue hunting. Whats the deal with being allowed to kill and sell shark meat but not whales – don’t get that. Anyway massively sidetracked, it was definitely an experience – the market was huge and you had to have a tough stomach to handle the smell and the blood, I saw a guy knifing live fish – wasn’t the most ideal sight but I suppose thats what happens in a fish market.
I walked from the fish market through to Hamarikyu Gardens, these are landscape gardens next to Shiodome and are home to the 300 year old pine. It was a pretty special tree, special trunks had to be fitted where it lay to hold up ins enourmous weighty branches. After a tranquil walk around the gardens I proceeded to Shiodome tower. There was a cute famous Japanese chick outside with camera’s on her, she was doing some sort of dance or may have even been shooting for a music video but she was definitely nice to look at! She waved to the fans and at that point I decided to leave.
I continued on walking the wrong way for about 2k but grabbed some lunch during my long detour so all was not wasted. I had a chicken katsu curry and to be honest I liked the wagamamas one better! Terrible thing to say given the dish comes from Japan but i can only be honest.
After being re-routed I ended up back on track and went to Ginza – high end shopping district I walked through I didnt really want to shop just wanted to look at what the shopping was like, and it was immense it was like being on bond street. I passed on through and headed over to Tokyo station and to the Imperial Palace and the Imperial East Gardens. That took me to 3pm – 6 hrs on the move I had to get back to the hostel and chill. I spent a couple of hours relaxing in my room watching a snowboard movine – The Storming – EPICL Heldor and Tortein killed it!!
I headed back out and went to Tokyo Dome City it was crazy! Such a cool place and I am so glad I went there at night because it was all lit up! Tokyo Dome City is like a little city compound with just fun stuff to do, like a mini theme park – it was awesome. From Tokyo Dome I went to Shinjuku this was like another popular night spot with loads of shops restaurants bars and clubs. I walked around and ended up in the red light district accidently (woops) and subsequently got hounded by dudes either asking me if I wanted girls or wanted to go to a strip show, one had a directory that he was flicking through but he could have been asking if I could adopt one for all I know because it was all in Japanese, I just kept saying nee arigato – sionara! Haha i briskly left the area and continued on home. I am officially pooped after all the walking I did today but I saw loads and was pretty stoked with the progress.
Peace and love people!
26/11/2010
I am exhausted again today after another intense day of sight seeing! I find with each day I learn more and more about the culture here and its great because there is so much to learn. I went to Yushima Shrine to start with and from there moved onto another beautiful temple – I wish I could tell you more other than explaining the scerenity and the beuty but I cant it was magical all the same. En route to Sumo to Rygoku i found a street market which was packed with people and all the crazy stalls you would expect in a Japanese market – in fact come to think of it it wasn’t that crazy – shoes, clothes, household goods etc...I couldn’t walk through without making a couple of purchases – a wrist band and some chop sticks.
I made my way to the Sumo wrestling theatre in Tokyo and its just a shame I couldn’t get to see a wrestling match whilst I was here. I am imagining it would be an awesome atmosphere! Enroute to the theature there were statuettes of some of the Yogozunas (long reigning Sumo champs). There was an open sumo museum where you could watch old footage and look at all the historical champions. I didnt really understand the rules of engagement but it appears you have to push your oppononent out of the sumo ring, whoever is out first looses. Despite being wrestling its handed in a very well respected manner. As with all Japanese they are honourable helpful nice people. I have been humbled by just how kind and helpful they are to foreign people even with the language barrier. It never ceases to impress me. My Japanese certainly isn’t getting any better but I am trying to get used to the culture.
With my feet burning I chilled out for a while at a scenic garden built in honour of those that Japan lost during the war. It was the perfect was to chill out and rest for a while before then heading to get some lunch. I got my phrase book out and busted out I wanted something with chicken in please could you choose from the menu from me. Instead I receive a pork dish – ALL good though as it was delicious and its safe to say I have mastered the use of the chop sticks but to ensure I was adhering to the etiquette correctly I later checked online about dinner etiquette. Aside from the obvious its not good to waste soy sauce its disrespectful so use as much as u are going to eat. I have been putting loads of soy on my rice and you aren’t supposed to do that either. You keep chopsticks in one hand and rice bowl in the other hand. It is ok for you to bring the rice bowl to your mouth as you eat and when eating other things with your sticks you can use the rice bowl as a catcher if anything falls but it shouldn’t. You shouldn’t really mix up food unless you receive a don buri. When finished you should point your chop stix to the left on the plate. Dont stick chop sticks in food as this is a ritual they use for the dead.
I proceeded to the Yasukuni shrine and paid my respects to the Buddah! It was a cleansing experience. Then headed onto the Shibuya district which is another crazy busy suburb packed with shops...by the time i arrived i was so tired and kinda over the busyiness of the xmas Friday night and called it early.
Its getting to the time where I need to peace out and sleep sorry about the crappy blog
28/11/2010
Right so the day has arrived where I must leave Tokyo for resort. I have a journey ahread – a flight to Sapporo from Haneda airport in Tokyo and then a 2.5 hr transfer for Sapporo to Hirafu Villiage where I am living! Very excited about getting to resort and very much looking forward to settling in one place. Living out of a bag and constantly walking around Tokyo till my feet burn is getting old and I could do with some different livin!
Yesterday I started my day super early heading back to a shrine I visited the night before to get some good pictures and understand more about the shrine. It was amazing to see people taking time out of their day in between work or school to go to the shrine and pray – The Japanese seem to be a more spiritual bunch of people as opposed to religious as such! It was humbling to see.
I moved onto Shinjuku to the government buildings. They offer a free trip up the 45 floor of their building to get views of Tokyo and beyond. I wasn’t inspired to be honest – city skylines don’t do a lot for me these days they are a bunch of buildings stuck together. It is amazing what man has achieving in constructing these buildings but I don’t get much out of it.
I then went to visit the Mejiji Shrine which was pretty huge and embedded in some beautiful gardens. There was a wedding going on and I managed to see the traditional dresses worn my women and children and it was incredible I was very lucky to see it. I moved onto Hanjuku to see the cool young hip shopping area and the people are soo stylish – i Love it! I walked though the shopping area and managed to stop in a Nike Store with a wall of Ipads about 40 playing videos – only in Japan! So tech! Insane!
Tokyo tower was next on the list and the walk was soo long I got their and its like an orange and white Eiffel Tower with a palladium of cafes and bars underneath it. I managed to chow down hard one some tasty food – the highlight again was the gyoza. On the walk back home I got lost and ended up resting my feet in a school playground which was full of kids playing dodgeball of all games and some were practising on their trombones! It was awesome just soaking up the atmosphere of the city by getting lost and walking around!
I made my way home to get some rest before heading for dinner. I seem to be getting away with telling people in restaurants i don’t eat beef and i want a dish with chicken and can you choose for me please. I got a sweet chicken soba with noodles veg and soup and used my newly learnt Japanese etiquette.
I made my way to Akihabara again before heading home to bed. Tokyo has been insane – I have loved how the underlying big city themes are there however it is soo different still – I love it! Though having had a lot of time in the city walking around I am ready to move on. I have learnt so much about the ways of the Japanese and how to behave, my Japanese is slowly getting there but is nowhere near conversational! We shall see, onto the next adventure, my home for the next 4 months – Sapporo, then Hirfu!! How exciting – I will post up how it is!
Peace and love
The day has already arrived, yes I am in Tokyo giving you my first Jap style post. This place is like no other it is so unique and different and almost magical. It all started the morning of the 23rd when I was dropped off at the airport, the excitement really started then, you know when you get super excited and you cant stop laughing because you are about to do something absolutely insane, thats the feeling I had! It was incredible!! I was so nervous and happy all at the same time!
To get myself in the Japanese mood at Terminal 5 I thought it rude not to have a little Chicken Katsu Curry breakfast! It was delicious as always, the crispy breaded chicken was like something out of a 5 star recipe book and the sauce – oh the sauce was soo much better than the one I had in New Zealand. I was left thoroughly satisfied and then pushed onto my departure gate.
Our plane was called and I remember thinking how BA was so inferior in comparison to Emirates in terms of their organisation – BA announce the flight is boarding and everyone piles on, with Emirates they have sections and they board from the back of the plane to the front to prevent queage – thought that was much better however we did end up getting into Tokyo on time.
I checked in online and managed to score a nice exit seat, and the middle seat was empty which was ideal. When doing the bag drop off my snowboard bag was slightly overweight however it was enough to get away with which was a relief!! There was no way I was shipping anything after the debarcle DHL gave me in NZ.
To make sure I synced up with the time difference I tried to sleep as much as possible on the plane, I managed to get about 7-8 out of the 11 hrs snoozing and then spent the other 3 on BA’s in flight entertainment. The movies were the latest but again comparing to emirates their BA’s IFE is nothing in comparison. I watch 1 and a half movies and they didnt really rock my world.
We landed in Narita airport and going through customs and immigration was a surprisingly smooth process – in arrivals I managed to meet some fellow snowboarders and we went to ship our bags to resort. I got the train which was marked in English lettering which made things a lot easier, all I needed was a little help on the route, which information kindly helped me with and I was on my way. The first impressions I got of Japan were the clinical cleanliness of the people and the place, to the point where people were wearing surgical masks on their face to reduce the amount of toxins they were breathing in. I am not actually sure how much of a difference it makes but its their choice.
The people are friendly and even with a language barrier endeavour to communicate with you to come to an understanding so they can help. After my train ride finding the hostel was pretty easy going. Settled in had a shower and went on my way to the Electronic part of Tokyo as I was pretty close to it. Akihabara it was called and it was huge, busy noisy colourful and insane. Strangely there were some Japanese girls dressed up in pink or as school girls handing out flyers and stuff not sure what it was for but it looked ominous I am sure it was harmless as its a populat tourist spot and its broad daylight but it was a little strange. As well as that the food looked a bit crazy, I went safe and got a chicken doner kebab from a van (hahaha safe he says) it was pretty damn good. I followed that up witha KFC to continue the review – it was on par with the UK and US not crispy skin but fried and a little soggy – disappointing.
I found myself in absolute awe of the busyness of the place. There were soo many different electronics stores selling pretty interesting things the best thing i saw was a tiny speaker attached to a 3.5mm headphone jack. This would plug into your iphone or ipod and play the music out loud. I am sure I have seen it before but it just looked smart.
En route to the electronics store I based the used book selling district and the sports district. The sport distrct was insane the snowboard shops were incredible!! I was in heaven and what made me feel better was the fact that all my boards were on show for ridiculous prices whereas I paid next to nothing! Thanks Matt@Ride – oh yeah.
After walking around PEOPLE watching I went back to the hostel for a rest before heading back out to try and find the imperial palace – this did not happen and I ended up spending a couple of hours walking around trying to find my hostel. I gave up and decided to have a Japanese dinner of 10 gyoza’s and 2 pieces of chicken katsu it was yum! The food was soo good and good value considering it was Japanese food. I guess given its in Japan its less sought after than it would be in the UK. I jumped on a train back to the station i was familiar with. After another rest I walked to see the electronics district by night before heading back home!
I am now in my bunk bed in my room about to pass out
Peace and love people
Koo
25/11/2010
Oh my goodness I am so tired right now, the jet lag didnt help my sleep much last night, I was up at 4am and woke up on the hour every hour after that, my sleep was very disturbed which made me pretty drowsy. At least I managed to keep my head down until 8am even though it was a broken sleep.
I woke up and set of on a mega sightseeing day. I wanted to cram loads in and I think I got some good stuff in. I got the train to the Tsukiji and went to the world famous wholesale market, particularly the fish market – it was smelly for sure but there were some insanely large fish, it was unfortunate people from the public weren’t allowed in the auction area because thats where I reckon all the huge Tuna fish would be alongside the big fish like sharks etc... I am wondering what the whaling and dolphin hunting and selling policy here is – are they free to catch and sell in public or is it not legal I remember Whaling for commercial purposes was banned all over the world but Japan said they were whaling for research purposes and are still killing whales. I imagine some countries think that is a front to continue hunting. Whats the deal with being allowed to kill and sell shark meat but not whales – don’t get that. Anyway massively sidetracked, it was definitely an experience – the market was huge and you had to have a tough stomach to handle the smell and the blood, I saw a guy knifing live fish – wasn’t the most ideal sight but I suppose thats what happens in a fish market.
I walked from the fish market through to Hamarikyu Gardens, these are landscape gardens next to Shiodome and are home to the 300 year old pine. It was a pretty special tree, special trunks had to be fitted where it lay to hold up ins enourmous weighty branches. After a tranquil walk around the gardens I proceeded to Shiodome tower. There was a cute famous Japanese chick outside with camera’s on her, she was doing some sort of dance or may have even been shooting for a music video but she was definitely nice to look at! She waved to the fans and at that point I decided to leave.
I continued on walking the wrong way for about 2k but grabbed some lunch during my long detour so all was not wasted. I had a chicken katsu curry and to be honest I liked the wagamamas one better! Terrible thing to say given the dish comes from Japan but i can only be honest.
After being re-routed I ended up back on track and went to Ginza – high end shopping district I walked through I didnt really want to shop just wanted to look at what the shopping was like, and it was immense it was like being on bond street. I passed on through and headed over to Tokyo station and to the Imperial Palace and the Imperial East Gardens. That took me to 3pm – 6 hrs on the move I had to get back to the hostel and chill. I spent a couple of hours relaxing in my room watching a snowboard movine – The Storming – EPICL Heldor and Tortein killed it!!
I headed back out and went to Tokyo Dome City it was crazy! Such a cool place and I am so glad I went there at night because it was all lit up! Tokyo Dome City is like a little city compound with just fun stuff to do, like a mini theme park – it was awesome. From Tokyo Dome I went to Shinjuku this was like another popular night spot with loads of shops restaurants bars and clubs. I walked around and ended up in the red light district accidently (woops) and subsequently got hounded by dudes either asking me if I wanted girls or wanted to go to a strip show, one had a directory that he was flicking through but he could have been asking if I could adopt one for all I know because it was all in Japanese, I just kept saying nee arigato – sionara! Haha i briskly left the area and continued on home. I am officially pooped after all the walking I did today but I saw loads and was pretty stoked with the progress.
Peace and love people!
26/11/2010
I am exhausted again today after another intense day of sight seeing! I find with each day I learn more and more about the culture here and its great because there is so much to learn. I went to Yushima Shrine to start with and from there moved onto another beautiful temple – I wish I could tell you more other than explaining the scerenity and the beuty but I cant it was magical all the same. En route to Sumo to Rygoku i found a street market which was packed with people and all the crazy stalls you would expect in a Japanese market – in fact come to think of it it wasn’t that crazy – shoes, clothes, household goods etc...I couldn’t walk through without making a couple of purchases – a wrist band and some chop sticks.
I made my way to the Sumo wrestling theatre in Tokyo and its just a shame I couldn’t get to see a wrestling match whilst I was here. I am imagining it would be an awesome atmosphere! Enroute to the theature there were statuettes of some of the Yogozunas (long reigning Sumo champs). There was an open sumo museum where you could watch old footage and look at all the historical champions. I didnt really understand the rules of engagement but it appears you have to push your oppononent out of the sumo ring, whoever is out first looses. Despite being wrestling its handed in a very well respected manner. As with all Japanese they are honourable helpful nice people. I have been humbled by just how kind and helpful they are to foreign people even with the language barrier. It never ceases to impress me. My Japanese certainly isn’t getting any better but I am trying to get used to the culture.
With my feet burning I chilled out for a while at a scenic garden built in honour of those that Japan lost during the war. It was the perfect was to chill out and rest for a while before then heading to get some lunch. I got my phrase book out and busted out I wanted something with chicken in please could you choose from the menu from me. Instead I receive a pork dish – ALL good though as it was delicious and its safe to say I have mastered the use of the chop sticks but to ensure I was adhering to the etiquette correctly I later checked online about dinner etiquette. Aside from the obvious its not good to waste soy sauce its disrespectful so use as much as u are going to eat. I have been putting loads of soy on my rice and you aren’t supposed to do that either. You keep chopsticks in one hand and rice bowl in the other hand. It is ok for you to bring the rice bowl to your mouth as you eat and when eating other things with your sticks you can use the rice bowl as a catcher if anything falls but it shouldn’t. You shouldn’t really mix up food unless you receive a don buri. When finished you should point your chop stix to the left on the plate. Dont stick chop sticks in food as this is a ritual they use for the dead.
I proceeded to the Yasukuni shrine and paid my respects to the Buddah! It was a cleansing experience. Then headed onto the Shibuya district which is another crazy busy suburb packed with shops...by the time i arrived i was so tired and kinda over the busyiness of the xmas Friday night and called it early.
Its getting to the time where I need to peace out and sleep sorry about the crappy blog
28/11/2010
Right so the day has arrived where I must leave Tokyo for resort. I have a journey ahread – a flight to Sapporo from Haneda airport in Tokyo and then a 2.5 hr transfer for Sapporo to Hirafu Villiage where I am living! Very excited about getting to resort and very much looking forward to settling in one place. Living out of a bag and constantly walking around Tokyo till my feet burn is getting old and I could do with some different livin!
Yesterday I started my day super early heading back to a shrine I visited the night before to get some good pictures and understand more about the shrine. It was amazing to see people taking time out of their day in between work or school to go to the shrine and pray – The Japanese seem to be a more spiritual bunch of people as opposed to religious as such! It was humbling to see.
I moved onto Shinjuku to the government buildings. They offer a free trip up the 45 floor of their building to get views of Tokyo and beyond. I wasn’t inspired to be honest – city skylines don’t do a lot for me these days they are a bunch of buildings stuck together. It is amazing what man has achieving in constructing these buildings but I don’t get much out of it.
I then went to visit the Mejiji Shrine which was pretty huge and embedded in some beautiful gardens. There was a wedding going on and I managed to see the traditional dresses worn my women and children and it was incredible I was very lucky to see it. I moved onto Hanjuku to see the cool young hip shopping area and the people are soo stylish – i Love it! I walked though the shopping area and managed to stop in a Nike Store with a wall of Ipads about 40 playing videos – only in Japan! So tech! Insane!
Tokyo tower was next on the list and the walk was soo long I got their and its like an orange and white Eiffel Tower with a palladium of cafes and bars underneath it. I managed to chow down hard one some tasty food – the highlight again was the gyoza. On the walk back home I got lost and ended up resting my feet in a school playground which was full of kids playing dodgeball of all games and some were practising on their trombones! It was awesome just soaking up the atmosphere of the city by getting lost and walking around!
I made my way home to get some rest before heading for dinner. I seem to be getting away with telling people in restaurants i don’t eat beef and i want a dish with chicken and can you choose for me please. I got a sweet chicken soba with noodles veg and soup and used my newly learnt Japanese etiquette.
I made my way to Akihabara again before heading home to bed. Tokyo has been insane – I have loved how the underlying big city themes are there however it is soo different still – I love it! Though having had a lot of time in the city walking around I am ready to move on. I have learnt so much about the ways of the Japanese and how to behave, my Japanese is slowly getting there but is nowhere near conversational! We shall see, onto the next adventure, my home for the next 4 months – Sapporo, then Hirfu!! How exciting – I will post up how it is!
Peace and love
Monday, 15 November 2010
Bye bye southern hemisphere - hello Dubai!
15/11/10
Wow, its been 2 weeks since my last blog and a lot has happened. Finding the time between the travelling to dedicate some time to all my lovely followers has been hard...I’ll give the recollection of the past couple of weeks a good shot however there is a lot to remember...good thing about this is you’ll probably just get the highlights...let me check where I left off last time...right after Yarra valley the following day was spent driving through Melbourne City with my Uncles father in law...my dad took a turn for the worse and wasn’t feeling too great which wasn’t ideal given his flight was the following day!! We stopped at the docklands for a light walk and then onto St Kilda where Jane lives for a spot of Pizza at the Stokehouse – they were soo nice. We went for a short walk along St Kilda beach before making our way back home so my dad could relax.
When my dad was taken to the airport the following day I decided to meet up with Jane for what I thought was going to be an afternoon of stress free sight seeing and fun...what I thought was going to happen and what ended up happening were 2 completely different things. Basically Jane is in love with Melbourne city and desparately wants to work toward becoming a resident. In order to do that she needs commitment from her employer that they will sponsor her. Once upon a time ago her employers did promise this however they are now in the process of selling the bakery. You would think the simple solution would be to get the new owners to sponsor them...however they still weren’t going to be owners for another month and Jane only has another couple of months left on her working holiday and time is running out. So we discussed the situation she was in and thought up options...with only 2 months left it was going to be too late to find another company to sponsor her, the other 2 options were student visa which killed 2 birds with one stone as she wanted to study anyway, however that was another can of worms in terms of red tape so the easiest option that would buy her more time in Melbourne was to do rural work for a couple of months to allow for visa extension. The rules are you need to do 3 months of rural work to qualify for an extension, however Jane only has 2...so she would need to use that wit and charm to good effect to talk her rural employers around to signing off on a slightly untruthful but earlier start date. It was her best option so we hunted for books and websites to apply for this work and I left her with that. It was a good day and spending time with Jane is always great regardless of how its spent!
In the evening I met up with some old friends from Canada who live in Aus – Sam, Tim B and Matty...they are all doing well, Sam is a ski bum still and Tim and Matty are well and truely in the groove of their careers! It was good to see them even though they are still kids – I cant believe how young they are!! Good times.
I flew out the following day back to Auckland then through to Brunei for a 12 hr stopover. I decided to do the city tour of Brunei to kill some time – It was interesting we went to 2 Mosques on built for the 28th and 29th kings of Brunei, every time a new king is borne a mosque is built in their honour and the number of domes is equivalent to which generation of king they are. It seems like a very monarchist country – most of the touristy places and memorabilia is around the Royalty and the royal family. All very interesting indeed. We went to a Water Village where there was a subset of civilians from Brunei lived. The houses and pathways were built on water stilts – crazy stuff!
Before heading back to the airport we had a couple of hours in the mall where I sampled the Brunei KFC – it was pretty awesome as far as KFCs go! I wanted to spunk the rest of my Brunei dollars so decided to buy some sunnies a watch and a usb key all for 22 quid! Ha!
I returned back to the airport with about 6 hrs to kill and subsequently destroyed the book “White Tiger” it was a great read however no as epic as the Godfather, that is still by far my most favourite book of all time – the Sicilian not far off it either!!
Before I knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and I had landed back in London to find my dad in hospital and my mum still away. It was me and Ash so went to visit my dad and made sure he was taken care of. After completing some admin on Monday I went to the embassy of Japan to submit my working holiday visa application – they didnt require my passport which meant I could go to Dubai to my best friends wedding!! Before I knew it I was flying with emirates to dubai the following day and surprising my best friend with my arrival.
The first thing I noticed about Dubai was the sweltering heat! I met up with Cams family at the airport and we drove to meet him at the hotel. The shock on his face when he saw me was very amusing, even more amusing was the fact that I called him whilst at the airport to tell him I wasn’t going to make it. Sad news was Paul didnt make the flight! His fear of flying got the better of him, he has to learn to get over it. I met most of Camerons family and they were all welcoming loving people and we were all there to celebrate this great occasion.
As a result the first couple of days weren’t really spent doing much in the way of touristy things...me and Oualid (Shabnams boyfriend) hung out a lot whilst Cam was busy with family duties along with Shab. Memories include going to the biggest snowdome in the world in the Emirates mall – It was ridiculous!! So much fun tho! I taught Oualid for about an hour then rode for an hour! It was soo dope seeing the riding scene over in dubai – there were some seriously sick little Arabic riders! They loved it
Other highlights included going out a club called Chi where we were VIPs watching Tinie Tempah perform a few songs. We got a table and even though this place was huge and had about 3 massive rooms we stayed in one little place the WHOLE night – I guess we had in the back of our minds the fact that we paid a shitload for our VIP area so we weren’t going to abandon it. Along with the table came a lot of drink and lets just say we got merry and had good times to celebrate Cameron getting married.
Cams wedding was a beautiful, it started with a soft drink reception for everyone to gather, we got changed at the venue which was a very grand hotel with stunning architecture and amazing interior design. We all took our places on the patio and the bride and groom arrived on their chariot – a boat in a river pulled into the patio and they stepped off and joined the ceremony. The service was short and sweet and done in a very classy stylish way. The bride and groom rode off to freshen up for dinner! Which I must say was epic!! Too much food – lots of meat and a crazy amount of deserts – so delicious so tasty so good! I loved it! Cam and Nilu looked great together and were so happy.
We spent the following day going to the tallest building in the world which was an architectural stroke of genius, the Burj – however I found it to be pointless. It was built for the sake of being the biggest building in the world as opposed to having any sort of purpose. Everything has be to bigger and better in Dubai. Before heading out for a traditional “after the wedding meal” between the families. The brides family invites the grooms family for a feed and they just get to know each other and marry themselves!
We had a couple of nights we spent out and about in Dubai and it is definitely a happening place! There was a bar called the Roof Top which Lonely planet recommended and the decor was so chic it was like being in a Western European Bar like the Kensington Roof Gardens . The Jameria Beach Resort Walk is very nice with lots of nice bars and restaurants and shops. After our Mega night out Oualid and I spent the day in the beach, the water was so nice and warm and some of the sun set shots were so picturesque!! Ahh good times
My overall opinion of Dubai is if you like Modern Architecture, then its a great place too see. There is a lot about Dubai which feels a bit pretentious empty and showy. You don’t feel like you are experiencing any Arabic culture, English has to be spoken widely and there are a large number of expats. It seems Dubai has been sold to the western world as an extension of their paradise in the middle east. Its hard to spot natives and feels like there is no historical or cultural significance. It feels like a sell out and this was a part I didnt appreciate. Along with this is the fast cars and malls and flashy living is one that doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
In all it was a great place to visit but not what I was expecting and a place I am not sure I would visit again. I cut my trip short and didnt really feel like I was missing out!
I am now back in the UK and I think that brings everyone upto date. Between now and me leaving for Japan I have lots to do which will mean my next post will probably be from Tokyo.
Origato!!
Peace and love people
Wow, its been 2 weeks since my last blog and a lot has happened. Finding the time between the travelling to dedicate some time to all my lovely followers has been hard...I’ll give the recollection of the past couple of weeks a good shot however there is a lot to remember...good thing about this is you’ll probably just get the highlights...let me check where I left off last time...right after Yarra valley the following day was spent driving through Melbourne City with my Uncles father in law...my dad took a turn for the worse and wasn’t feeling too great which wasn’t ideal given his flight was the following day!! We stopped at the docklands for a light walk and then onto St Kilda where Jane lives for a spot of Pizza at the Stokehouse – they were soo nice. We went for a short walk along St Kilda beach before making our way back home so my dad could relax.
When my dad was taken to the airport the following day I decided to meet up with Jane for what I thought was going to be an afternoon of stress free sight seeing and fun...what I thought was going to happen and what ended up happening were 2 completely different things. Basically Jane is in love with Melbourne city and desparately wants to work toward becoming a resident. In order to do that she needs commitment from her employer that they will sponsor her. Once upon a time ago her employers did promise this however they are now in the process of selling the bakery. You would think the simple solution would be to get the new owners to sponsor them...however they still weren’t going to be owners for another month and Jane only has another couple of months left on her working holiday and time is running out. So we discussed the situation she was in and thought up options...with only 2 months left it was going to be too late to find another company to sponsor her, the other 2 options were student visa which killed 2 birds with one stone as she wanted to study anyway, however that was another can of worms in terms of red tape so the easiest option that would buy her more time in Melbourne was to do rural work for a couple of months to allow for visa extension. The rules are you need to do 3 months of rural work to qualify for an extension, however Jane only has 2...so she would need to use that wit and charm to good effect to talk her rural employers around to signing off on a slightly untruthful but earlier start date. It was her best option so we hunted for books and websites to apply for this work and I left her with that. It was a good day and spending time with Jane is always great regardless of how its spent!
In the evening I met up with some old friends from Canada who live in Aus – Sam, Tim B and Matty...they are all doing well, Sam is a ski bum still and Tim and Matty are well and truely in the groove of their careers! It was good to see them even though they are still kids – I cant believe how young they are!! Good times.
I flew out the following day back to Auckland then through to Brunei for a 12 hr stopover. I decided to do the city tour of Brunei to kill some time – It was interesting we went to 2 Mosques on built for the 28th and 29th kings of Brunei, every time a new king is borne a mosque is built in their honour and the number of domes is equivalent to which generation of king they are. It seems like a very monarchist country – most of the touristy places and memorabilia is around the Royalty and the royal family. All very interesting indeed. We went to a Water Village where there was a subset of civilians from Brunei lived. The houses and pathways were built on water stilts – crazy stuff!
Before heading back to the airport we had a couple of hours in the mall where I sampled the Brunei KFC – it was pretty awesome as far as KFCs go! I wanted to spunk the rest of my Brunei dollars so decided to buy some sunnies a watch and a usb key all for 22 quid! Ha!
I returned back to the airport with about 6 hrs to kill and subsequently destroyed the book “White Tiger” it was a great read however no as epic as the Godfather, that is still by far my most favourite book of all time – the Sicilian not far off it either!!
Before I knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and I had landed back in London to find my dad in hospital and my mum still away. It was me and Ash so went to visit my dad and made sure he was taken care of. After completing some admin on Monday I went to the embassy of Japan to submit my working holiday visa application – they didnt require my passport which meant I could go to Dubai to my best friends wedding!! Before I knew it I was flying with emirates to dubai the following day and surprising my best friend with my arrival.
The first thing I noticed about Dubai was the sweltering heat! I met up with Cams family at the airport and we drove to meet him at the hotel. The shock on his face when he saw me was very amusing, even more amusing was the fact that I called him whilst at the airport to tell him I wasn’t going to make it. Sad news was Paul didnt make the flight! His fear of flying got the better of him, he has to learn to get over it. I met most of Camerons family and they were all welcoming loving people and we were all there to celebrate this great occasion.
As a result the first couple of days weren’t really spent doing much in the way of touristy things...me and Oualid (Shabnams boyfriend) hung out a lot whilst Cam was busy with family duties along with Shab. Memories include going to the biggest snowdome in the world in the Emirates mall – It was ridiculous!! So much fun tho! I taught Oualid for about an hour then rode for an hour! It was soo dope seeing the riding scene over in dubai – there were some seriously sick little Arabic riders! They loved it
Other highlights included going out a club called Chi where we were VIPs watching Tinie Tempah perform a few songs. We got a table and even though this place was huge and had about 3 massive rooms we stayed in one little place the WHOLE night – I guess we had in the back of our minds the fact that we paid a shitload for our VIP area so we weren’t going to abandon it. Along with the table came a lot of drink and lets just say we got merry and had good times to celebrate Cameron getting married.
Cams wedding was a beautiful, it started with a soft drink reception for everyone to gather, we got changed at the venue which was a very grand hotel with stunning architecture and amazing interior design. We all took our places on the patio and the bride and groom arrived on their chariot – a boat in a river pulled into the patio and they stepped off and joined the ceremony. The service was short and sweet and done in a very classy stylish way. The bride and groom rode off to freshen up for dinner! Which I must say was epic!! Too much food – lots of meat and a crazy amount of deserts – so delicious so tasty so good! I loved it! Cam and Nilu looked great together and were so happy.
We spent the following day going to the tallest building in the world which was an architectural stroke of genius, the Burj – however I found it to be pointless. It was built for the sake of being the biggest building in the world as opposed to having any sort of purpose. Everything has be to bigger and better in Dubai. Before heading out for a traditional “after the wedding meal” between the families. The brides family invites the grooms family for a feed and they just get to know each other and marry themselves!
We had a couple of nights we spent out and about in Dubai and it is definitely a happening place! There was a bar called the Roof Top which Lonely planet recommended and the decor was so chic it was like being in a Western European Bar like the Kensington Roof Gardens . The Jameria Beach Resort Walk is very nice with lots of nice bars and restaurants and shops. After our Mega night out Oualid and I spent the day in the beach, the water was so nice and warm and some of the sun set shots were so picturesque!! Ahh good times
My overall opinion of Dubai is if you like Modern Architecture, then its a great place too see. There is a lot about Dubai which feels a bit pretentious empty and showy. You don’t feel like you are experiencing any Arabic culture, English has to be spoken widely and there are a large number of expats. It seems Dubai has been sold to the western world as an extension of their paradise in the middle east. Its hard to spot natives and feels like there is no historical or cultural significance. It feels like a sell out and this was a part I didnt appreciate. Along with this is the fast cars and malls and flashy living is one that doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
In all it was a great place to visit but not what I was expecting and a place I am not sure I would visit again. I cut my trip short and didnt really feel like I was missing out!
I am now back in the UK and I think that brings everyone upto date. Between now and me leaving for Japan I have lots to do which will mean my next post will probably be from Tokyo.
Origato!!
Peace and love people
Bye bye southern hemisphere - hello Dubai!
15/11/10
Wow, its been 2 weeks since my last blog and a lot has happened. Finding the time between the travelling to dedicate some time to all my lovely followers has been hard...I’ll give the recollection of the past couple of weeks a good shot however there is a lot to remember...good thing about this is you’ll probably just get the highlights...let me check where I left off last time...right after Yarra valley the following day was spent driving through Melbourne City with my Uncles father in law...my dad took a turn for the worse and wasn’t feeling too great which wasn’t ideal given his flight was the following day!! We stopped at the docklands for a light walk and then onto St Kilda where Jane lives for a spot of Pizza at the Stokehouse – they were soo nice. We went for a short walk along St Kilda beach before making our way back home so my dad could relax.
When my dad was taken to the airport the following day I decided to meet up with Jane for what I thought was going to be an afternoon of stress free sight seeing and fun...what I thought was going to happen and what ended up happening were 2 completely different things. Basically Jane is in love with Melbourne city and desparately wants to work toward becoming a resident. In order to do that she needs commitment from her employer that they will sponsor her. Once upon a time ago her employers did promise this however they are now in the process of selling the bakery. You would think the simple solution would be to get the new owners to sponsor them...however they still weren’t going to be owners for another month and Jane only has another couple of months left on her working holiday and time is running out. So we discussed the situation she was in and thought up options...with only 2 months left it was going to be too late to find another company to sponsor her, the other 2 options were student visa which killed 2 birds with one stone as she wanted to study anyway, however that was another can of worms in terms of red tape so the easiest option that would buy her more time in Melbourne was to do rural work for a couple of months to allow for visa extension. The rules are you need to do 3 months of rural work to qualify for an extension, however Jane only has 2...so she would need to use that wit and charm to good effect to talk her rural employers around to signing off on a slightly untruthful but earlier start date. It was her best option so we hunted for books and websites to apply for this work and I left her with that. It was a good day and spending time with Jane is always great regardless of how its spent!
In the evening I met up with some old friends from Canada who live in Aus – Sam, Tim B and Matty...they are all doing well, Sam is a ski bum still and Tim and Matty are well and truely in the groove of their careers! It was good to see them even though they are still kids – I cant believe how young they are!! Good times.
I flew out the following day back to Auckland then through to Brunei for a 12 hr stopover. I decided to do the city tour of Brunei to kill some time – It was interesting we went to 2 Mosques on built for the 28th and 29th kings of Brunei, every time a new king is borne a mosque is built in their honour and the number of domes is equivalent to which generation of king they are. It seems like a very monarchist country – most of the touristy places and memorabilia is around the Royalty and the royal family. All very interesting indeed. We went to a Water Village where there was a subset of civilians from Brunei lived. The houses and pathways were built on water stilts – crazy stuff!
Before heading back to the airport we had a couple of hours in the mall where I sampled the Brunei KFC – it was pretty awesome as far as KFCs go! I wanted to spunk the rest of my Brunei dollars so decided to buy some sunnies a watch and a usb key all for 22 quid! Ha!
I returned back to the airport with about 6 hrs to kill and subsequently destroyed the book “White Tiger” it was a great read however no as epic as the Godfather, that is still by far my most favourite book of all time – the Sicilian not far off it either!!
Before I knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and I had landed back in London to find my dad in hospital and my mum still away. It was me and Ash so went to visit my dad and made sure he was taken care of. After completing some admin on Monday I went to the embassy of Japan to submit my working holiday visa application – they didnt require my passport which meant I could go to Dubai to my best friends wedding!! Before I knew it I was flying with emirates to dubai the following day and surprising my best friend with my arrival.
The first thing I noticed about Dubai was the sweltering heat! I met up with Cams family at the airport and we drove to meet him at the hotel. The shock on his face when he saw me was very amusing, even more amusing was the fact that I called him whilst at the airport to tell him I wasn’t going to make it. Sad news was Paul didnt make the flight! His fear of flying got the better of him, he has to learn to get over it. I met most of Camerons family and they were all welcoming loving people and we were all there to celebrate this great occasion.
As a result the first couple of days weren’t really spent doing much in the way of touristy things...me and Oualid (Shabnams boyfriend) hung out a lot whilst Cam was busy with family duties along with Shab. Memories include going to the biggest snowdome in the world in the Emirates mall – It was ridiculous!! So much fun tho! I taught Oualid for about an hour then rode for an hour! It was soo dope seeing the riding scene over in dubai – there were some seriously sick little Arabic riders! They loved it
Other highlights included going out a club called Chi where we were VIPs watching Tinie Tempah perform a few songs. We got a table and even though this place was huge and had about 3 massive rooms we stayed in one little place the WHOLE night – I guess we had in the back of our minds the fact that we paid a shitload for our VIP area so we weren’t going to abandon it. Along with the table came a lot of drink and lets just say we got merry and had good times to celebrate Cameron getting married.
Cams wedding was a beautiful, it started with a soft drink reception for everyone to gather, we got changed at the venue which was a very grand hotel with stunning architecture and amazing interior design. We all took our places on the patio and the bride and groom arrived on their chariot – a boat in a river pulled into the patio and they stepped off and joined the ceremony. The service was short and sweet and done in a very classy stylish way. The bride and groom rode off to freshen up for dinner! Which I must say was epic!! Too much food – lots of meat and a crazy amount of deserts – so delicious so tasty so good! I loved it! Cam and Nilu looked great together and were so happy.
We spent the following day going to the tallest building in the world which was an architectural stroke of genius, the Burj – however I found it to be pointless. It was built for the sake of being the biggest building in the world as opposed to having any sort of purpose. Everything has be to bigger and better in Dubai. Before heading out for a traditional “after the wedding meal” between the families. The brides family invites the grooms family for a feed and they just get to know each other and marry themselves!
We had a couple of nights we spent out and about in Dubai and it is definitely a happening place! There was a bar called the Roof Top which Lonely planet recommended and the decor was so chic it was like being in a Western European Bar like the Kensington Roof Gardens . The Jameria Beach Resort Walk is very nice with lots of nice bars and restaurants and shops. After our Mega night out Oualid and I spent the day in the beach, the water was so nice and warm and some of the sun set shots were so picturesque!! Ahh good times
My overall opinion of Dubai is if you like Modern Architecture, then its a great place too see. There is a lot about Dubai which feels a bit pretentious empty and showy. You don’t feel like you are experiencing any Arabic culture, English has to be spoken widely and there are a large number of expats. It seems Dubai has been sold to the western world as an extension of their paradise in the middle east. Its hard to spot natives and feels like there is no historical or cultural significance. It feels like a sell out and this was a part I didnt appreciate. Along with this is the fast cars and malls and flashy living is one that doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
In all it was a great place to visit but not what I was expecting and a place I am not sure I would visit again. I cut my trip short and didnt really feel like I was missing out!
I am now back in the UK and I think that brings everyone upto date. Between now and me leaving for Japan I have lots to do which will mean my next post will probably be from Tokyo.
Origato!!
Peace and love people
Wow, its been 2 weeks since my last blog and a lot has happened. Finding the time between the travelling to dedicate some time to all my lovely followers has been hard...I’ll give the recollection of the past couple of weeks a good shot however there is a lot to remember...good thing about this is you’ll probably just get the highlights...let me check where I left off last time...right after Yarra valley the following day was spent driving through Melbourne City with my Uncles father in law...my dad took a turn for the worse and wasn’t feeling too great which wasn’t ideal given his flight was the following day!! We stopped at the docklands for a light walk and then onto St Kilda where Jane lives for a spot of Pizza at the Stokehouse – they were soo nice. We went for a short walk along St Kilda beach before making our way back home so my dad could relax.
When my dad was taken to the airport the following day I decided to meet up with Jane for what I thought was going to be an afternoon of stress free sight seeing and fun...what I thought was going to happen and what ended up happening were 2 completely different things. Basically Jane is in love with Melbourne city and desparately wants to work toward becoming a resident. In order to do that she needs commitment from her employer that they will sponsor her. Once upon a time ago her employers did promise this however they are now in the process of selling the bakery. You would think the simple solution would be to get the new owners to sponsor them...however they still weren’t going to be owners for another month and Jane only has another couple of months left on her working holiday and time is running out. So we discussed the situation she was in and thought up options...with only 2 months left it was going to be too late to find another company to sponsor her, the other 2 options were student visa which killed 2 birds with one stone as she wanted to study anyway, however that was another can of worms in terms of red tape so the easiest option that would buy her more time in Melbourne was to do rural work for a couple of months to allow for visa extension. The rules are you need to do 3 months of rural work to qualify for an extension, however Jane only has 2...so she would need to use that wit and charm to good effect to talk her rural employers around to signing off on a slightly untruthful but earlier start date. It was her best option so we hunted for books and websites to apply for this work and I left her with that. It was a good day and spending time with Jane is always great regardless of how its spent!
In the evening I met up with some old friends from Canada who live in Aus – Sam, Tim B and Matty...they are all doing well, Sam is a ski bum still and Tim and Matty are well and truely in the groove of their careers! It was good to see them even though they are still kids – I cant believe how young they are!! Good times.
I flew out the following day back to Auckland then through to Brunei for a 12 hr stopover. I decided to do the city tour of Brunei to kill some time – It was interesting we went to 2 Mosques on built for the 28th and 29th kings of Brunei, every time a new king is borne a mosque is built in their honour and the number of domes is equivalent to which generation of king they are. It seems like a very monarchist country – most of the touristy places and memorabilia is around the Royalty and the royal family. All very interesting indeed. We went to a Water Village where there was a subset of civilians from Brunei lived. The houses and pathways were built on water stilts – crazy stuff!
Before heading back to the airport we had a couple of hours in the mall where I sampled the Brunei KFC – it was pretty awesome as far as KFCs go! I wanted to spunk the rest of my Brunei dollars so decided to buy some sunnies a watch and a usb key all for 22 quid! Ha!
I returned back to the airport with about 6 hrs to kill and subsequently destroyed the book “White Tiger” it was a great read however no as epic as the Godfather, that is still by far my most favourite book of all time – the Sicilian not far off it either!!
Before I knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and I had landed back in London to find my dad in hospital and my mum still away. It was me and Ash so went to visit my dad and made sure he was taken care of. After completing some admin on Monday I went to the embassy of Japan to submit my working holiday visa application – they didnt require my passport which meant I could go to Dubai to my best friends wedding!! Before I knew it I was flying with emirates to dubai the following day and surprising my best friend with my arrival.
The first thing I noticed about Dubai was the sweltering heat! I met up with Cams family at the airport and we drove to meet him at the hotel. The shock on his face when he saw me was very amusing, even more amusing was the fact that I called him whilst at the airport to tell him I wasn’t going to make it. Sad news was Paul didnt make the flight! His fear of flying got the better of him, he has to learn to get over it. I met most of Camerons family and they were all welcoming loving people and we were all there to celebrate this great occasion.
As a result the first couple of days weren’t really spent doing much in the way of touristy things...me and Oualid (Shabnams boyfriend) hung out a lot whilst Cam was busy with family duties along with Shab. Memories include going to the biggest snowdome in the world in the Emirates mall – It was ridiculous!! So much fun tho! I taught Oualid for about an hour then rode for an hour! It was soo dope seeing the riding scene over in dubai – there were some seriously sick little Arabic riders! They loved it
Other highlights included going out a club called Chi where we were VIPs watching Tinie Tempah perform a few songs. We got a table and even though this place was huge and had about 3 massive rooms we stayed in one little place the WHOLE night – I guess we had in the back of our minds the fact that we paid a shitload for our VIP area so we weren’t going to abandon it. Along with the table came a lot of drink and lets just say we got merry and had good times to celebrate Cameron getting married.
Cams wedding was a beautiful, it started with a soft drink reception for everyone to gather, we got changed at the venue which was a very grand hotel with stunning architecture and amazing interior design. We all took our places on the patio and the bride and groom arrived on their chariot – a boat in a river pulled into the patio and they stepped off and joined the ceremony. The service was short and sweet and done in a very classy stylish way. The bride and groom rode off to freshen up for dinner! Which I must say was epic!! Too much food – lots of meat and a crazy amount of deserts – so delicious so tasty so good! I loved it! Cam and Nilu looked great together and were so happy.
We spent the following day going to the tallest building in the world which was an architectural stroke of genius, the Burj – however I found it to be pointless. It was built for the sake of being the biggest building in the world as opposed to having any sort of purpose. Everything has be to bigger and better in Dubai. Before heading out for a traditional “after the wedding meal” between the families. The brides family invites the grooms family for a feed and they just get to know each other and marry themselves!
We had a couple of nights we spent out and about in Dubai and it is definitely a happening place! There was a bar called the Roof Top which Lonely planet recommended and the decor was so chic it was like being in a Western European Bar like the Kensington Roof Gardens . The Jameria Beach Resort Walk is very nice with lots of nice bars and restaurants and shops. After our Mega night out Oualid and I spent the day in the beach, the water was so nice and warm and some of the sun set shots were so picturesque!! Ahh good times
My overall opinion of Dubai is if you like Modern Architecture, then its a great place too see. There is a lot about Dubai which feels a bit pretentious empty and showy. You don’t feel like you are experiencing any Arabic culture, English has to be spoken widely and there are a large number of expats. It seems Dubai has been sold to the western world as an extension of their paradise in the middle east. Its hard to spot natives and feels like there is no historical or cultural significance. It feels like a sell out and this was a part I didnt appreciate. Along with this is the fast cars and malls and flashy living is one that doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
In all it was a great place to visit but not what I was expecting and a place I am not sure I would visit again. I cut my trip short and didnt really feel like I was missing out!
I am now back in the UK and I think that brings everyone upto date. Between now and me leaving for Japan I have lots to do which will mean my next post will probably be from Tokyo.
Origato!!
Peace and love people
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Sydney - AMAZING
02/11/10
Hello people – wow its been a while since I last blogged and quite a bit has happened not entirely sure how I am going to recollect everything but I will give it my best try.
Things have been so busy I am sat in my room and its midnight and I find myself writing this because days have been packed and there has been no time. We were in Sydney the weekend also and with no internet or computer with me it was hard to keep track of things.
So my blog ended on Wednesday morning after my mega chilled morning, the day was beautiful so I decided to head out to town on my own, I walked to the tram station and after some serious ticket acquisition dramas which involved me having to pick up separate trams making separate stops for cash and then change and then finally buying a ticket on the 3rd tram into town. I arrived into Town and had a general plan to just roam around and soak up the city. I wanted to try little tid bits of food and see what it was all about. The first place I went to was Queen Vic Market, I was really wanting to check out the food section and not look to make any purchases. Before heading to the market I saw an incredible looking Japanese place so had a Chicken Teriyaki Sushi Roll to get things started it was delightful...The market was like any other with nick nacks and good cheap deals, I struggled to find the deli/food court. I found the food court and was slightly disappointed it wasn’t stalls, it was all established eateries, didnt stop me from tucking into a chick satay stick which was pretty damn good...I then found the deli and the eating madness started with a hot baked Sausage Roll which was a speaciality for the bakery – soooo good! I then purchased a greek piece of flat bread filled with lamb and it was sooo lovely also....I was in food heaven.
I continued my wandering and found a huge ski and snowboard shop which I killed a good couple of hours in – that pleased me greatly. I continued onto the Botanical Gardens to chill out and went for a mega walk across the city to the gardens not before grabbing a mini Thai chicken pie, and some Chicken Yakisoba – I was starting to fill up pretty bad so the walk around the gardens was much needed and was equally satisfying...the natural beauty amongst the city was amazing to see.
I proceeded to make my way home to then head out for dinner at the local mall before returning home to get ready for our trip to Sydney. We packed a rucksack and one piece of carry on luggage and we due to leave early the next morning.
We arrived in Sydney and checked into our hotel @ around 10am...we managed to find a bed and breakfast for 2 nights for $100 AUD a night, not bad considering Sydney is pretty expensive, we were pretty central but not staying in the most desirable place in Sydney but it was relatively safe. Our room as clean and we had a rest room to ourselves and thats all we needed. We spent our first day in Sydney walking around the city, through Hyde Park and then over to Darlington Harbour for a little spot of lunch and more walking...the early start meant we were exhausted so we went back to the lovely Omallys Hotel and had a couple of hours kip before heading back to see Darlington Harbour at night, and it was Friday night so it was buzzing I remember wishing I knee a couple of people in Sydney to head out with but unfortunately it didnt work out! All good. Darlington harbour was beautiful at night, we had dinner at the food court – tasty food reasonably priced, we were well fed and walked on home, not before watching a street performer from Japan for a good hour or soo, thoroughly entertaining!!
The next day we proceeded to walk through the Botanical Gardens in Sydney to the north to have a look at the incredible Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house. You can see why its a wonder of the world, its an incredible building...the engineering and structural genius was out of this world!! I must have taken a hundred pictures of the same building!!
After a lot of viewing we then went over to circular quay to take a ferry ride to Manly – a small Surf town in another district of Sydney...the beach was real choppy and you could see why it was good for surfing, I loved the little town and am slowly getting the surf bug...we had pizza in Manly before making our way home via the incredible night view of the harbour bridge and the opera house...so good.
On the last day in Sydney we walked around the pleasant markets of the Rocks area, it reminded me of Spitalfields only more spread out and a little more lively!! We watched a candy shop make hard candy from fresh...then made our way over to what was the highlight of the trip for me...Bondi Beach!!
We arrived to the world famous beach known for its amazing waves and high tides...the eutopia for surfers. There were lots of people out as the weather was lovely and it was a weekend...it was buzzing....i fell in love with the place and got the surf bug even more!! It was incredible! The water so clear, the sun so bright, the sand so white and the surrounding shops and cafes and restaurants were soo vibing it was awesome!!
After bondi we made our way back to the airport and to Melbourne.
The last couple of days have been very family orientated. On Monday I spent time with family friends and then we had the mega diwali function at home! It was a fun evening where I met a lot of my uncles close family and friends. It was a great way to spend our Indian new year. Today I think we were all a little hung over from tiredness of the mega celebration the night before. We drove to Yarra Valley, the wine district of the Area of Melbourne. The wine yards are a beautiful sight, we could have done with better weather but the company was great to all was good. We saw a couple of Kangaroos! Before heading home for dinner.
That brings me upto date...I can sleep knowing there isn’t much left to write from Australia as I don’t have long left!!
Peace and love
Hello people – wow its been a while since I last blogged and quite a bit has happened not entirely sure how I am going to recollect everything but I will give it my best try.
Things have been so busy I am sat in my room and its midnight and I find myself writing this because days have been packed and there has been no time. We were in Sydney the weekend also and with no internet or computer with me it was hard to keep track of things.
So my blog ended on Wednesday morning after my mega chilled morning, the day was beautiful so I decided to head out to town on my own, I walked to the tram station and after some serious ticket acquisition dramas which involved me having to pick up separate trams making separate stops for cash and then change and then finally buying a ticket on the 3rd tram into town. I arrived into Town and had a general plan to just roam around and soak up the city. I wanted to try little tid bits of food and see what it was all about. The first place I went to was Queen Vic Market, I was really wanting to check out the food section and not look to make any purchases. Before heading to the market I saw an incredible looking Japanese place so had a Chicken Teriyaki Sushi Roll to get things started it was delightful...The market was like any other with nick nacks and good cheap deals, I struggled to find the deli/food court. I found the food court and was slightly disappointed it wasn’t stalls, it was all established eateries, didnt stop me from tucking into a chick satay stick which was pretty damn good...I then found the deli and the eating madness started with a hot baked Sausage Roll which was a speaciality for the bakery – soooo good! I then purchased a greek piece of flat bread filled with lamb and it was sooo lovely also....I was in food heaven.
I continued my wandering and found a huge ski and snowboard shop which I killed a good couple of hours in – that pleased me greatly. I continued onto the Botanical Gardens to chill out and went for a mega walk across the city to the gardens not before grabbing a mini Thai chicken pie, and some Chicken Yakisoba – I was starting to fill up pretty bad so the walk around the gardens was much needed and was equally satisfying...the natural beauty amongst the city was amazing to see.
I proceeded to make my way home to then head out for dinner at the local mall before returning home to get ready for our trip to Sydney. We packed a rucksack and one piece of carry on luggage and we due to leave early the next morning.
We arrived in Sydney and checked into our hotel @ around 10am...we managed to find a bed and breakfast for 2 nights for $100 AUD a night, not bad considering Sydney is pretty expensive, we were pretty central but not staying in the most desirable place in Sydney but it was relatively safe. Our room as clean and we had a rest room to ourselves and thats all we needed. We spent our first day in Sydney walking around the city, through Hyde Park and then over to Darlington Harbour for a little spot of lunch and more walking...the early start meant we were exhausted so we went back to the lovely Omallys Hotel and had a couple of hours kip before heading back to see Darlington Harbour at night, and it was Friday night so it was buzzing I remember wishing I knee a couple of people in Sydney to head out with but unfortunately it didnt work out! All good. Darlington harbour was beautiful at night, we had dinner at the food court – tasty food reasonably priced, we were well fed and walked on home, not before watching a street performer from Japan for a good hour or soo, thoroughly entertaining!!
The next day we proceeded to walk through the Botanical Gardens in Sydney to the north to have a look at the incredible Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera house. You can see why its a wonder of the world, its an incredible building...the engineering and structural genius was out of this world!! I must have taken a hundred pictures of the same building!!
After a lot of viewing we then went over to circular quay to take a ferry ride to Manly – a small Surf town in another district of Sydney...the beach was real choppy and you could see why it was good for surfing, I loved the little town and am slowly getting the surf bug...we had pizza in Manly before making our way home via the incredible night view of the harbour bridge and the opera house...so good.
On the last day in Sydney we walked around the pleasant markets of the Rocks area, it reminded me of Spitalfields only more spread out and a little more lively!! We watched a candy shop make hard candy from fresh...then made our way over to what was the highlight of the trip for me...Bondi Beach!!
We arrived to the world famous beach known for its amazing waves and high tides...the eutopia for surfers. There were lots of people out as the weather was lovely and it was a weekend...it was buzzing....i fell in love with the place and got the surf bug even more!! It was incredible! The water so clear, the sun so bright, the sand so white and the surrounding shops and cafes and restaurants were soo vibing it was awesome!!
After bondi we made our way back to the airport and to Melbourne.
The last couple of days have been very family orientated. On Monday I spent time with family friends and then we had the mega diwali function at home! It was a fun evening where I met a lot of my uncles close family and friends. It was a great way to spend our Indian new year. Today I think we were all a little hung over from tiredness of the mega celebration the night before. We drove to Yarra Valley, the wine district of the Area of Melbourne. The wine yards are a beautiful sight, we could have done with better weather but the company was great to all was good. We saw a couple of Kangaroos! Before heading home for dinner.
That brings me upto date...I can sleep knowing there isn’t much left to write from Australia as I don’t have long left!!
Peace and love
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