…Bruges, #sweet!

I know we are quite used to old stuff in Holland. In Bruges it is quite similar, my god… Gonna post more, later…

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…muses in music

I remember, when we moved from one house to another just around the corner. It was really close and I was about 7 years old. In the new house, our whole life was in boxes, which really didn’t matter, as long as I could listen to music.

So amidst the couches, boxes and friends of my parents who were moving around the house helping us move, my father had put our old-fashioned taperecorder on the floor, with the headphones connected, so that I could listen to the big tapes with songs by Donna Summer, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Queen, among others (I still remember those songs)..

That is how crazy I am about music. And that’s why I thought of making a blogpost with just some (because there are 1,000’s of the most beautiful songs) of my favourites… Here we go:

I am crazy about black music, a lot of soul and hiphop:

this here, is one of the most beautiful songs ever:

but I am crazy about jazz too, here is the master:

or more modern jazz:

I can go berserk over some nice soulful hiphop:

or some blazing funk:

and there are even some dutch artists, although I don’t like so many of them:

hope you like them…

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…beautiful Japan

I remember one of my teachers in high-school so distinctly: mr Netscher.

Mr. Netscher was my dutch teacher, most troughout the last couple of years of highschool. Apart from being the most amazing and relaxed teacher, there was at least one very interesting aspect about him. In one of the discussions we had about books and reading them, he confessed to usually buying 3 copies of a book. One to read, a second to use a marker and pen and make notes in and a third to put on the shelf. From this confession, let me assure you he was definitely not a geek, spoke so much love for books and literature, that I have always remembered this.

In fact, whenever I travel, I unequivocally think of the story. Cause in my opinion, travelling is the same. You should be able to travel in 3’s: one for ‘living’ the trip, one for the ‘memories’ and one for the visuals; the 3 main purposes of travel. And I love the living, I do the remembering through this blog and finally this blog also serves the purpose of reproducing the mostly amazing, beautiful things I have seen… A lot of them also represent the ‘living’-part, so if need-be I’ll try to combine them with comments…

I hope you’ll see what I saw…

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…all work and all play (taste, see, feel and you will be)

monday, june 20th

You know, I gradually think I like having found a certain way of assessing different cultures. In my opinion, no single culture or country does everything best. So the trick is, to find those elements of a culture, that you like and combine them with elements you like of other cultures. Maybe eventually, I end up defining something of an ‘esperanto’-culture…

And that is exactly, why I am sitting where I am sitting now. I mean, I like tea and all, but I don’t like it in the morning, when I ‘got’s ta git ma groove on!’ So I’m here, at Tully’s Coffee, sipping my 2nd double espresso (they’re not that big), having some warm ham/cheese roll and a sugar-coated donut, listening to Miles playing ‘Round midnight! Cause there is nothing like Italian espresso, american jazz and japanese technology (I am writing this on my smartphone )… Yeah baby! How’s that for integration?!

I slept a little later today; guess I needed some sleep, to process all of the impressions. And moreover, I am in Hiroshima and, this is where it gets serious, sadly we know the name now for one reason and one reason only. When walking around the city, you don’t notice that, as the inner city is just like any other big japanese city: big shopping malls and covered promenades (to keep you dry )…

But when you come here as a tourist, obviously, you notice nothing is older than 65 years, 10 months, 15 days, 2 hours and 12 minutes…

…

Of course, when you live here, you’re probably only reminded of it by the fact that stupid tourists come here to look at only 2 things, one of which just because Hiroshima is the closest to it (where I was yesterday)…

The other of which I needed to see. It is one of the few things that remained: the Center for Industrial Promotion (how’s that for irony?!). Located at the river, Hiroshima also is located beautifully, amidst a delta, where rivers flow through the city inland, the building is left as it was. All of the remains are left, stones unturned and the dome of the building shows the impact coming from about 500 m above by way of the inward bent construction.

I get silent.

I try to imagine, what it must be like when armageddon descends from above killing tens of thousands of people instantly and about 200.000 in the years after, but of course I can’t…

I try to imagine, what it must be like, to sit on the stairs in front of the Sumitomo bank and become a dark shadow as an imprint of what used to be me, but I can’t…

I try to imagine, what Tange Kenzo meant, when he inscribed his Cenotave memorial statue with “Rest in peace. We’ll never make this mistake again…” and I think I have a pretty good idea…

……

Anyway…

It’s a good time to take the streetcar back to the hotel and pick up my stuff. Also, as the internetconnection last night wasn’t the most examplory for japanese technology (it sucked, basically), I needed to share some positive experiences, so I thought of doing that in the lobby (excuse the non-rotated pix, I will correct that later). So after taking a cab and buying a ticket for the bullettrain Shinkansen (damn, the ticketbuying and getting on it is as fast as the train itself!), I am now enjoying the smooth and hyperfast ride on the bullettrain (yesterday Osaka-Hiroshima, 345 km took me 1 hour and 27 minutes!)…

In fact, this train is so fast (how fast is it?!), that just when I think I will sit on the left side of the train to view the Street Kanmon, which is the 1km wide strip of land connecting Honshu (island where I was) to Kyushu (island where I’m going), we apparently are in Kokura already, the first stop on Kyushu! 225 km in 49 minutes: that’s how fast!

I know, I know, I said yesterday, I like to see whether there are people in a restaurant before entering to judge if it’s good… Well, all bets are off when it comes to the Fukuoka Fish Market, under which you can have sushi and sashimi made from the catch of the day! Under the offices, where during the day probably the fish is traded, there is a ground floor with about 7 or 8 restaurants. They open @ 6 (some even open for breakfast) and I didn’t risk being late… Two elderly ladies entered in one I had my eyes on and I asked “joy?”, which hopefully means “good”…

I enter and sit down at the bar and notice one other positive thing already: the gorgeous waitress and me have to use signlanguage as she does not speak any english! The place to be y’all! And after what we have negotiated what I will have comes next: OW.MY.GOD. (and you know I am an atheist, but I say this with the utmost respect: there is a god and he feasts on this sashimi and sushi all day!!)…

Same thing as the sushi bar in Osaka: every time someone comes in or leaves there is a big roar, even my cute waitress starts something like: “domo arigato gozaimass”… Do you know those restaurants, where you just don’t want to stop ordering because you don’t know when you’ll be in one of these heavenly places again? Right! One of those. The only thing I will leave out is the music choice: the Buena Vista Social club is strange but ok, but I am now listening to closet-Ricky… Dig? Doesn’t matter, of course. The smallest cloud in a steelblue sky… Check it out:

After the sushi, a place I reluctantly leave (in fact, the sushi chef is looking at me sometimes as if to ask: “are you still here?”, I am walking back through nightclubland, the part of Fukuoka that has about 3000 (not kidding!) karaokebars and nightclubs. In this part I also see a huge amount of older men with traditionally dressed women; as you might know, the geisha concept still is very alive here, although in the west, we too often associate it just with sex. Geishas apparently are most importantly women you want to have by your side, that are chique company and yes, that in some cases also have other essential qualities…

A very funny thing by the way: I was telling about how a lot of restaurants and bars are located on the second floor, so you cannot see who is in there? Well, obviously that also works the other way around, so the question is: “how do you attract people to enter your karaokebar or nightclub and not one of the 2999 other ones around the block?”… Simple, you play a tape of female voice, something that men are very sensitive about, and she sounds as if she is particularly inviting you to go inside. And I have to say, it attracted my attention too, until I noticed she was an it.. uhn… never mind…

All ‘n all i have to say Fukuoka is not a place I will remember as particularly special or unique; it is just a big city with a lot of shopping centers…

However, there is one thing, why you cannot pass Fukuoka, if you are in the area…. mmmm…

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…all work and all play (the island’s my oyster)

sunday, june 19th

Maybe it’s the buddhism…

Maybe that’s why the Japanese don’t seem to care so much about others; when you take a cab and someone makes a horrible and sometimes even dangerous move, the cabdriver doesn’t even sigh! When someone riding a bike has to pass an ignorant european, who doesn’t know where to walk on the sidewalk (dammit), there is not a single word! And when there is a line at a hi-speed ferry and people move in front of others, because they have put their suitcases in the beginning of the line: not a blink..

What is that?

Just the other day I entered an intersection from the right and as it was a beautiful day, through the open window I heard a man riding a bike yell at me: “to have the privilige is a right, motherfucker!”. For a moment there, I thought I must have missed a sign or run over his bike or something, but no, I had the privilege on the intersection and it was a beautiful day. Clearly, the man was frustrated, because of: too late for work, too early for retirement, too little too late in life, too little sex in too much time or all of the above…

Of course, this is kind of an extreme example, but in less obvious revelations our demon of frustration reveals itself more often than not.

Now, the Japanese shouldn’t overdo the not caring about others. They should not become indifferent, but I haven’t been here long enough to judge whether that is the case. But apparently, there is an overflowing sense of first making sure you do the right thing yourself, before you try to make sure for others. In Holland especially, we sometimes have that reversed…

I wake up and take a taxi to Shin-Osaka station, where the Shinkansen (bullettrain) leaves for Hiroshima. Picture this: a train that travels 345 km in 1 hour and 28 minutes! That’s 235 km/hr average! And checking in and buying tickets is as easy as 1-2-3…

So once again, I must have broken some efficiency record: from my hotelroom in Osaka to the hotel in Hiroshima, 350 km away in less than 2 hours… Did I mention I sincerely recommend travelling in Japan (ow and that it is raining in Osaka)?

As it is too early for check-in, I leave the bags in the hotel and take the streetcar to Hiroshima port. From there I’m taking the speedferry to Miyajima, an island on the Sanyo coast, famous for its orange torii, which is a shinto-gate to the Itsukushima sanctuary behind it. It wouldn’t be so famous, if it wasn’t for the fact that both the torii as well as the temple are built in the water. The torii can only be reached at low tide. If all is well, I should be able to see it both with high and low tide today…

Ow and I’m glad I am in excellent condition and not pregnant, as it is prohibited to die or give birth on the island! In fact, until sometime ago, pregnant women couldn’t even visit the island…

Arriving on the island, I walk the boardwalk with lanterns and go ’round the corner to be overwhelmed by the sight of the gate in the sea and the temple on the axis of it… I mean, the temple is not extraordinarily unique and neither is the gate, but the whole idea, the combination with a pagode and additional temple on the hill next to it and the fact that it was originally built in 593 AD makes me in awe…

Moreover, when I enter the temple, there is a weddingceremony, how cool is that? I think when I am passing by (and with me many more tourists; that must clearly be a downside to marrying here), the tea ceremony is starting. Exiting the temple, I see a funny fortunetelling system: you shake a big cylinder with small sticks in it. From a very small opening only one stick can be taken and this stick has a number. The number corresponds to a drawer in which your fate lies. Read it and the future doesn’t hold any secrets anymore…

Behind the temple is the treasure hall and next to that a path leads up the hill to Daishoin temple.

In Daishoin temple, there is a serene quiet… Big discrepancy with the boulevard next to the temple in the sea. As this temple is just an active church, people come in, say prayers (after clapping their hands twice) and the place smells like incense, which probably also gives it its meditational invitation… On the temple grounds there maybe as much as 10 bigger and smaller shrines and temples, all built against the hills and in the trees. I can imagine they prohibited people to die here, because if I was close or considering euthanasia, I definitely would like to put myself to rest there…

Walking downhill again, I notice another aspect of buddhism, I guess. When in Holland, young people wave at you, or yell “hi”, you kinda wonder whether they’re making fun. I guess that is our society a little. Here, they sincerely want to say hi! When you put your thumb up, they do the same… I guess for an atheist, I’m a pretty buddhist kinda guy…

Still, nothing human also is strange to buddhists as I was harrassed by buddhas witnesses! Two women come up to me, one very pretty, the other… and they start talking to me. Now  I know they are friendly here, but women to men like that?! So after the ‘where are you from’ and ‘first time in Japan’ through ‘business or pleasure’ via ‘do you like Japan’ they arrive at whether I am very biblical…  Aaah, so there comes the monkey out of the sleeve! With a very respectful, “I am an atheist so fuck off with your godspeak!!” (of course, in fact I said I don’t believe, but I feel closest to buddhism), we went on our merry way…

On the map of Miyajima, I have seen there is a cableway to the top of the mountain on the island, Mount Misen. Mount Misen is the place, where one of the monks went to meditate and where consequently some temples and shrines were established. Also, the monk discovered a fire or heat from the mountain, that has been burning since discovery. I have to get rid of my dutch cynical thought that wonders who is there to check and prove the claim and get more into the buddhist positive thought it is burning at this time and looks beautiful. The buddhist is having a hard time, though, when the voice in the cableway claims, that the water boiling upon this fire is a cure to a variety of diseases… (the name Sylvia Millecam comes to mind somehow). Taking the cable I end up on the second largest peak, so I have to walk to the highest peak, which is worth it (and not that far a walk, just uphill). Beautiful view with grey weather though, but what I hoped was the case: from Mount Misen you are able to see the torii all the way down in the bay…

I take the cableway back and stroll a little around the village. There at every corner, you can get grilled oysters with some soysauce; am I that predictable? And they were good…. mmmm…

When I take the ferry back to mainland, I take the streetcar back to the center. I feel completely at home in this shaking line 5; in Rotterdam that streetcar took me back home… Well, this one is shaking as well, like crazy, but what goes for the subway in Osaka, goes for the streetcar in Hiroshima: know it and you get around. I decide to check in at the hotel and go for a bite.

I walk around and I constantly run into another difference in culture (apparently): where I am from, you want to see people sitting and enjoying; here a lot of the restaurants are behind curtains or on the second floor. So in my dutch opinion I cannot judge the people having dinner; is it any good? I decide to not go for the obvious sushi, but for one of those restaurants on the 2nd floor! Well, it is the same principle as yesterday, but much fancier, all separate booths (romantic!) and jazz in the background and a million dishes to choos from! And they are amazing yet again…

Back at the hotel, I lay myself to rest, wondering why Japanese love talkshows and quizshows so much…

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…all work and all play (the emperor’s new clothes)

saturday, june 18th

The Japanese ride bikes. Not as much as the dutch, but pretty damn close.

But if you are familiar with japanese traffic, you’d know that it is a kind of Evil Knievel stunt (and then I am not even talking about the fact they drive on the wrong side of the road)!

So what do they do? They ride their bikes on the boardwalk, which is barely wider than the ones we have in Holland. Now, to judge the full implications of this social interaction, let me describe the following complications:
1. the pavement has these blindpeople’s tracks, that are about 1 cm deep in depth, varying from grooves to knobs;
2. in case you forgot, the japanese drive, ride, walk (and think?) on the left, so where do you ride or walk, especially as there always is a stupid european, non-english, non-maltese tourist;
3. when arriving at an intersection, where do you pass pedestrians; at the side of the road or at the side of the building?
4. when you take the bike, you at least wanna ride 4 times as fast as when you’d walk, regardless of points 1 to 3…

Get it? It is a reason to believe in a positivity driven religion like buddhism, that I haven’t seen any horrible accidents happen…

So anyway…

I get up and take the flawless public transportation to Nara, which is just a little further than Kyoto, or so it seems. When arriving in Nara, you already notice it has been the capitol so much shorter than Kyoto; it’s smaller, it’s lower and they are rebuilding a lot on main street as if they want to show they realise this is the street most tourists take… Don’t get me wrong, this is not ‘too little too late’, it just shows they are newer at this.

Strolling down main street, I try to find a Starbuck’s or something alike, but there is none. Well, that does create the opportunity to try something different: in this case typical (I think) skewers of doughballs with various coatings, sesame seed, soy syrup and more, all sweet.. And the guy has a suspiciously nice coffee! I am on my way to Todai-ji temple…

Outside of Todai-ji, it is so funny to see how Japanese children, like the Korean ones as well, are a different generation than their parents’. They are practising their english every chance they get and as there are many schoolchildren, apparently on a school trip, they even have exercises with questions they have to ask foreigners to complete assignments… Not only that, but you almost feel as famous as an NMU-professor at graduation: you are constantly asked if they can take your picture. I think it’s cute; shows how they are realising that the pure, isolated nationalistic approach of their parents doesn’t benefit them today…

On my way to the temple, I see, smell and pet some of god’s creatures Nara is also famous for: deer! They walk freely through the whole town as they are perceived as messengers of the gods. Well, if that is the case, the gods should prevent little japanese kids fom teasing and overfeeding the postmen!

In 752, when the importance of Heian-kyo (Kyoto) was growing, because of the location inbetween three mountains, emperor Shomyo needed to reaffirm Nara’s position as capital and buddhist center. To this end, he built the Todai-ji. And I must say: if you need to build a temple, you really gotta build a temple!

Cause my goodness, it keeps getting better, or should I say, different… First of all, the lane towards the main gate, Namdaimon, is cute. This gate is huge and so impressive, but then, the interior with the 16 m Buddha, flanked by 2 bosatsus (like bodhisattva, an enlightened being) and 2 heavenly guards (koumokuten) is amazing!

It is impressive, I have already seen so many temples and shrines, but here in Nara they keep amazing me!

From Todai-ji, I walk through a forest towards the Kasugashinto sanctuary, which is beautiful just because of its location already, but also because of the (apparently) 3000 stone lanterns standing alongside of the paths leading up to the temple. They were all gifts from ordinary people to Kasuga out of religion, gratitude or opportunism…

From Kasuga, I walk through the woods to another Unesco thingy: Shin-Yakushi-ji temple, unique for its army of 12 clay protectors… Beautiful, once again!

From there I decide to walk back through the Naramachi district, famous for its old merchant houses and a really cute old district…

All ‘n all, Nara is very cute, with an amazing amount of temples hidden inbetween houses in Naramachi, the old town. However, you can see Nara was only capitol for about 70 years; it is a provincial, quiet town in the countryside, albeit with some beautiful hidden treasures!

But hey, if I’d been emperor, I’d have moved to Kyoto too… Clothes and women; why stay in the countryside if you can have everything you need 50 kilometers north?

Coming back from Nara it is still early. At one point the train stops at a seemingly large station, where a lot of the people get off. Now, usually, I am not such a follower, but I get a vision of me ending up somewhere in the north of Japan, which would mean a blast if I weren’t supposed to be somewhere pretty soon. Following the crowd, I end up being in Osaka Station; only the biggest station in Osaka! So I decide to walk a little and finally pass the two rivers running through Osaka. At a certain point, my feet are killing me, so I take the subway to Namba; the most lively district with the most restaurants and bars. Good, cause I’d die for an ice-cold beer!

Finding a restaurant here is not easy. It is kinda like the Beenhouwerssteeg in Bruxelles; you don’t know which one to pick; moreover, the resemblance with the easy and quick food in the Beenhouwerssteeg is very accurate. I have noticed anyway that Osaka is a place where you can have the best food, but the Osakans do like quick. Skewers (all types and forms of sate) can be found on every street by the dozens… From what I saw yesterday, apparently, the saying is true: people from Kyoto go bankrupt buying kimonos, people from Osaka from going out to dinner :-/ !

The food is, as my friend Ricardo would say, lo.ve.ly! I have some deep-fried skewers, some grilled ones, some roasted chicken with home-made chilly sauce and some baked meat dumplings with some draft asahi. And to top it all off, of course I have to try a shochu, that I see on a poster (advertising sucks!), which tastes like very strong sake… I’m so glad I don’t have to drive, let alone on the left…

What I notice, walking through Osaka, is that they love at least two things to death: pachinko and karaoke! Pachinko is a kind of pinball game, with which you can win prizes, that you can collect at the counter. Around every corner there is a game and gambling house and next to most of them is a karaokebar… Walking through these streets with neon and noise; the Japanese characters and faces are the only thing reminding me I am in Osaka and not in Las Vegas!

Fortunately, the restaurant is just around the corner of the subway station, which is nice, cause it pours… Walking underground to the actual tracks I get the feeling Japan’s consumer spending is quite ok… Not only above ground the streets are packed, but underground as well… Buy, buy, buy…

Oh and did I mention it is raining on Osaka? Cause when it rains in Osaka, it really rains in Osaka…

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…all work and all play (temples and prada)

friday, june 17th

The japanese sleep everywhere. I have already seen them sleep in their car, in the bus, waiting at the airport, but now I have seen them behave like cows. They even sleep standing up! In the subway, they sleep while holding on to those balancegrips! It must be something like “the secret of their success”, that they constantly are able to do powernaps…

Speaking of subways, I am not sure what to think about something. Something that can be quite awkward, when you’re a forreigner and didn’t know about it; they have special women’s cars in the subway. Fortunately, I had seen it when I was waiting for the subway in Osaka, so I could avoid some cute mistakes! Now, I can’t help it: I immediately think about why… Why did they instigate this measure? A measure with quite a couple of consequences; you have to create an enormous amount of special carts, paint “women’s only” on the side, I don’t know, enable special garbage dispensers (like on the toilet?), maybe put all of the seats in a circle, so that all women can gossip with one another, something like that, but you agree, it costs quite a lot of money probably… And why?

Is it an example of affirmative action, positive discrimination, so to speak (which hardly seems necessary here)? Was it a reaction to the enormous amount of sexual misconduct occurences on Japanese trains and subways (which you can hardly imagine when you see the men behave like puppets on women’s strings)? Or was it just a measure to try to avoid this before it happens (which shows your faith in the masculin part of society)? All ‘n all, let me make one thing absolutely clear: first of all, when you see the women in the cart: they are not the beautiful Japanese women I have seen so far and second of all: both out of principle, as well as just from practical reasons, I would never be with a woman, who wants to ride the “women’s only” cart… We don’t have them yet, do we?

Anyway…

I get up early, take the subway to shin-osaka subway station to get the jr-train to Kyoto. The public transportation system, as far as I can see in 2 days is amazingly effective! Of course, Kyoto is not too far away (40 km to the north), but can you imagine it only takes me 30 minutes from my hotel?

I get out at Kyoto station and sit myself down at a Starbuck’s (I know, but they do have the best coffee here!) to have some espresso and breakfast. I love to just sit down and make a gameplan for today. So, the plan is to just start walking, as apparently Kyoto is do-able on foot. My first goal is the Imperial Park, where the Imperial Palace is.

I am out of Osaka, so it stopped raining today; the sun is even shining every once in a while. I stroll down Karasuma-dori (dori means street) and I drop into the little streets behind the main street, which I didn’t just read in the travel guide, but remember from Seoul for example. Apart from finding most of the authentic restaurants in these backalleys, because only the big chains can afford to be in the main streets (make a mental note for tonight), in Kyoto this is where you will find the most amazing little shrines and temples.

Walking towards the palace park, I visit one, where by the way people still walk in and pray. I burnt an incense stick for all of you, so things must be looking perfect now!

When I walk down this main street it is remarkable how modern and metropolite Kyoto is and in those backalleys so traditional. And, amd I hear you cry out in utter surprise, Japanese women are bloody attractive! I noticed that in Osaka and I notice that here! And they have the same type of arrogance most pretty women have in Holland (except the ones I know of course ), so they are more western, than we’d like … Seriously, they dress beautifully (a lot of then have an individual style, which is a surprise to me in this grouporiented country) and they look very well made up, and not just literally. And although the men in general are greyer, I see a lot of young men (my age), that try to create their own style too… Funky people, y’all!

I arrive at the Imperial park and after having walked through some smaller shrines, I get to the main gate to find out from some fierce policeman, I need a ticket, which I can get at the tourist office, gives me entrance in a group (ow, how I love that, not!) and, to my surprise is free! However, the guided tour doesn’t start until 2, so as it is only 11:30, I decide to walk the philosopher’s path. As at one point I am not totally sure, I am going in the right direction, I ask a man, who doesn’t stop at just giving me directions, but walks with me the whole way! Despite his limited english and my limited japanese skills, we manage to have somewhat of a conversation. Again, I feel very welcome in this country…

Before walking the path, I visit another one of those Unesco heritage sites. Sometimes I think, this is just a marketing tool to get tourists there (the Noordoostpolder wants to be on there, for crying out loud), but on the other hand: there is a lot of cultural heritage here, my god! This temple is Ginkaku-ji, which lies beautifully against the mountains and bamboo and moss forest. Also, it has a (rumour has it) very symbolic garden of white sand and rocks.

From there, I stroll down the philosopher’s path, so named after a philosophy professor in the beginning of the 20th century, who walked this path to keep in shape. Hm, I like to walk it, because it is about 1,5 km with as much as 8 traditional and religious buildings around it! In april, this must be the most amazing place, as the cherry blossoms explode and the whole path turns to pink… I end up at the Eikan-do temple, where you take your shoes off outside and walk the wooden halls outside all the way around the complex. As there are some monks chillin’ here and there, it gives you quite a serene feeling… I have to say, so far I am very serene anyway. It seems I am more of a buddhist after all…

Although I feel a little rushed as it is almost 2 and I have to be at the palace to meet the emperor, I keep up the spirit and take a taxi to the palace. Apparently, I arrive exactly at 2:03 and I am not the only one who’s late… So there are about 25 people and a tourguide, this should be fun!

And you know what? It actually is! Not just because the palace is amazing, but we have a Japanese Ria Kershof (ask my mother who that is), who has a sense of humour and gradually is making jokes… Although, I couldn’t help myself to take a picture when everyone is kneeling to see something on the ceiling

But the palace and the tour are great, in that order. I still like to look things up by myself and go my own way. The tourguide points one interesting thing out though: she explains something about the relationship between the emperor and the shogun. It is kinda like what we have in Holland now, just a little more violent, with shoguns and emperors being killed and all. The shogun was like Mark Rutte and the emperor was like Beatrix; Shogun had the political power and the emperor had the authority to appoint. It was actually a very advanced and balanced system, as they needed each other. But here is where it becomes interesting, because the shogun had the money, his castle was much fancier than the one of the emperor! And his castle is called Nijo castle and is to the south of here…

So I walk south and see the castle. And then you inderstand what fancier means: he needed more protection as he was more vulnerable then the emperor! So he had, apart from having all kinds of rooms for reception of lords and royals, a nightingale floor. Indeed, when you walk on it, it squeeks to announce your presence… Built in the 16th century, mind you! And all of the rooms are indeed much more decorated than the ones in the imperial palace, so Ria was right…

I have one more thing to do. I want to go to Higashiyama (eastern mountains) , which is the east part of Kyoto, separated by the river Kamo. That is why in the old days fires could generally not reach this area, making it extremely authentic. I enter the area through the Yasaka sanctuary, a big shinto (as opposed to buddhist, but quite similar) gate, which you can recognise by the bright orange colours, which, stemming from chinese culture mean fire and energy. It gives access to an amazing region with small, almost european streets and temples, a 24 m high buddha, a huge pagode and as the piece-the-resistance the great Kiyomizu temple, up on the mountain and built on a unique construction of big beams, made of wood. The icing on the cake is the amazing view of Kyoto you have here! Just when you think it doesn’t get any better…

I have to say, today was an amazing climax of history and culture…

You can see why Kyoto is Japan’s Luxor.

About 1100 years as the nation’s capitol have left the most amazing beauty in this city of about 1,7 million people. Located inbetween mountains on three sides, something the fortunetellers of the emperor found ideal in 794. And although Tokyo has taken over and has become one of the major cities of the world, Kyoto has the trackrecord! (did you notice by the way, that Tokyo is an anagram of Kyoto? Is that a coincidence? conspiracy theorists, unite!)

And that’s why Kyoto is Japan’s Luxor.

Simple as that.

So after my last bit of cultural history, or historical culture, whatever, my feet are absolutely killing me. I am hungry and feel like some italian. I take a cab and let him drop me off at one of the shopping streets. And my god, a hip crowd, people! Apparently, the Japanese economy is doing fine, by the looks of it; Prada and Louis Vuitton with matching public, but also stores like Zara and the likes of them…

I remember my thought from this morning and returned to the street I walked down and indeed, in one of the alleys behind it I find an italian place, that serves the most amazing pastas… I take a taxi to the station and in no time I am back in Osaka.

By the way, when I lay my tired feet to rest, I zapp a little through the channels, which brings me to a news-item, where I thought the anchorman was talking about radiation effects on bugs in the north of Japan; I guess it shows how exhausted I am, as after a couple of minutes, I realise the item is about fireflies… Never judge a book by it’s cover, right?!

Time to go to sleep…

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…all work and all play (when it rains in Osaka, it really rains in Osaka)

thursday, june 16th

I’m a lucky bastard.

Somewhat of a professional one too, I guess, otherwise I wouldn’t be going here in the first place, but definitely a lucky one as well. Since four years ago, I am hired by one of our oldest clients, to train master students and tell them a little something about shipping and port economics. Now as the Netherlands Maritime University is located in Rotterdam and Gwangyang, South Korea, I have the privilege of going to Korea every year around this time to spend about two weeks with students from all around the world and have great discussions… Most importantly, I get to meet new people from across the world every time!

I have a simple philosophy of trying to combine as much business with as much pleasure, so the last three times in Korea, I tried to see as much of the country as possible. I went to Seoul, I visited Jeju island and last year I took a trip to Busan and Gyong-ju. So this time, I was wondering about what to do next…

I figured why not plan one week of holiday before, take the plane to Osaka, see Osaka, visit Kyoto and Nara, then take the Shinkansen (high-speed train) to Hiroshima, take the ferry to Miyajima island, take the train to Fukuoka, the high-speed ferry to Busan, Korea, have lunch with some friends and then go to Gwangyang to work… Not your typical type of commuting, isn’t it?! While I am writing this down, it really does sound like a plan!

My plane left at 14:40 on wednesday, which was nice, because then the grlz would be able to take me to Schiphol, which in my humble opinion is still one of the most comfortable airports in the world. Picking my boarding pass up from the machine, I said goodbye to my ladies and it was so touching to see, don’t get me wrong, that Daya couldn’t hide some small tears… I can’t wait to hug them again in about 3 weeks!

But before that, let’s do some working and playing, not necessarily in that order. After a 10,5 hour flight, that was as smooth as a baby’s bottom after a brazilian wax, I arrived in Osaka. When taking any type of transportation into Osaka from Kansai airport, which is about 35 km south of Osaka, you realise it is a very industrial city; factories and Europoort-type of areas before you reach the center. In fact, until the 30’s of the last century, Osaka really was just industry, but by now, it is a metropolis, with neon and a lot of people. Osaka is Japan’s 3rd biggest city with about 3 million people and you really notice that when you take the subway around rush-hour; this is what ants in an antheep must feel like. Everyone seems to look and walk straight through you only to deviate at the last second. What works is to just participate and do exactly the same!

Apparently, it is rainy season in the most part of Japan, but particularly on Honshu, which is the main island of Japan and by the looks and feels of it especially on this part of Honshu, where Osaka is located. It doesn’t rain, it pours. And this can continue for a couple of days. I saw the weather report on television and even though I don’t understand one word the man was saying (by the way, the news is not presented without making a bow to the audience 8:-) ), the map was pretty clear: rain. All around Honshu, basically. Just the temperature varies a little, between 22 and 27 degrees, which is not bad; basically you just get wet…

I arrive at the hotel around 9:45, where I can obviously not check in yet! So I leave my bags there, ask for a subway map and the nearest subway station and are on my way. At the Esaka subway station, I take a minute to figure out how the ticketvending machines work and where all the subway lines go. Cause you know what I always say: “know a city’s subway system and you know it’s heart!” (pretty fancy statement, aight?!)…

Taking the subway is double the fun, because it is raining. Right.

First, I go to Osaka castle. In the east of the center of Osaka, Hideyoshi in 1586 decided to build a pretty neat castle! Wise location, because surrounded by a couple of mountains, surrounded by big donjons (those high walls and waters around the castle) and beautifully… rebuilt. Indeed. It was destroyed, burnt, struck by lightning, so this rebuilt castle is from 1931. Some elements date back to the original building period, but on the other hand, you can see, they started copying very nicely in the beginning of the last century already, as there is an obvious Dudok, Citizen Kane-type of building on the compound, which used to be a museum, but now is just… uhn… empty.

Something that is very nice to see, is the enormous amounts of schoolkids at every single historical site I visit! I hear you think: nice to see? Well, I like how these kids get these kinds of schooltrips; I think our schoolsystem might use a couple of those ideas as well.

Ow and did I mention it is raining? It is…

Which brings me to a maybe somewhat surprising conclusion: Japanese are very friendly! Sure, on the outside, they seem kind of grumpy and uninviting, but once you talk to them, they open up and start to speak and be friendly! It is almost as if they don’t want to waste energy on smiling, when it is not strictly necessary… Now imagine me, walking towards Den-Den town, the electronics district, where I am looking for an umbrella-dealer. Yeah yeah I know, electronics… well anyway, before I was able to find one, an older man steps up to me, starts to speak in Japanese, which is quite rusty from my end and hands me his umbrella! Try that one on for size! Have you ever… I don’t believe I have…

And quite useful, as it is raining, aight?!

Furthermore, when I am walking through some smaller streets, trying to figure out where I am, a woman comes up to me and asks me in english if she can help! I say yes and give her the map, which she turns and she points me in the right direction. The turning of maps by the way is a funny thing: even tourist boards outside with those big maps are not oriented with the north up, but with yourself as the center of the map. It was funny, when I saw that the first time and takes some getting used to…

And finally, at least for today, I enter a coffeeshop (no, not like a dutch one obviously! I still remember arriving at Kansai airport and a continuous voice repeats: “the carrying of drugs is strictly forbidden”, or was that just, because a dutch plane had arrived?!) to have some coffee to get a little warmer… The coffee is filter coffee (bummer) and the pastry delicious (making up for the coffee), but the older couple running this little shop where a lot of their friends hang out to have some coffee is adorable. Again, they seem a little grumpy, but after the first contact, they are friendly (“whel al you flom?”) and helpful. Love it.

The coffee has warmed me up a little, so I get moving again and continue my walk to Den-Den town. Here I notice some interesting things. First of all, I pass by a couple of windows, which at first glance seem like girls accessories shops; Hello Kitty type of windows, but when I look closer, these are the little more PG-rated version of our Christine Le Duc shops! Nice and naughty stuff… And also, I wonder, don’t the Japanese men download?! Because in this neck of the woods, I pass by dozens of dvd-stores with a particular man-oriented assortment; these shops have curtains hung in the entrance and Yoshi and Miaki (japanese version of Heidi and Peter) type of softporn in the shopwindow! And all this time I thought they were so prude!!! Also, stores with manga characters, toys and dolls are very popular. And not just little boys are going into these stores; men of all ages drool over the little figurines… I guess when dolls are a man’s fetish, it is quite logical the gurlz dress up accordingly to get some arousal, hmmm?

I walk around Doutonbori street and some of the streets connected to it, because they are covered. Very welcome, because it is… raining.. indeed. It is getting late and I’m getting hungry, and what better way to celebrate my arrival in the land of the rising sun with some good old-fashioned (drumroll) SUSHI! Yes! So I find a plain and very local sushi bar, where all of the locals drop in after shopping (Japanese economy is doing pretty well, I gather) and have some sushi. When I step in, I first think I am the 1000th customer, because the whole crew of cooks and waiters shout as if to announce someone has come in! Later I reckon it is done when anyone comes in, probably to still announce them to the maitre d’. I sit down at the bar, where again a Japanese guy starts talking to me, even though his english is 2 words better than my japanese (konichiwa, arigato, domo and sayonara, so he knows 6 words), but with hands and smiles we come a long way. The sushi by the way is damn near amazing! I take a couple and have a most well-deserved Asahi with it…

A very satisfied boy, I exit the sushi bar, with just one more things to do. I want to go to the Floating Garden Observatory; a futuristic floating garden (hence the name ) inbetween two separate buildings. 173 meters above the ground there is a circular construction in which you can walk around, indeed, from one building to another. You take the glass elevator to the 35th floor and then you take an escalator through the sky from one building to the other. There you have an amazing view of Osaka and I just love views!!! Not really recommended to people with fear of heights or earthquakes for that matter…

But there is one more elevation; you can go up and outside! Going up the stairs I meet a most friendly security guard, who sees my nurtured umbrella and tells me that I cannot take it out on the balcony, because of the weather.

Hunh?

I get visions of people jumping over the edge holding their umbrella in a cartoonesque type of effort, but never mind… I understand. Ow, and I am wet anyway, because did I mention it is raining?

I have to say, the round is high and windy and wet, but the view is amazing (I apologise for the raindrops on the pictures; due mainly to… uhn… rain )…

After taking the subway, I lie down with the experience of finally eating the damn stuff in the country it comes from! C u tomorrow…

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…80 Something!

I know, I just love music.

So when Carla came up to me asking to help her and some friends record songs from the birhtyear of her brother, who was about to become 40, I said: “love to!”…

So her, Andre and Jop came over a couple of times in my small, little studio to record ‘Suspicious minds’, ‘I want you back’ and a CCR-song called ‘Who’ll stop the rain’. Now, apart from having a lot of fun, the recordings not only became really nice, we had so much fun in doing so, we planned to play them live for HP on his surprise birthday-party as well.

And so it was done.

Not only was the surprise genuine and complete, together with HP, who is a singer/musician as well, we played them live and people joined in; it was like a giant jam-session… Well obviously, we concluded we had to take it one step further: a new band!

Now I have a very particular taste in music as you know, so I had done some thinking the weeks after this on what we would be able to come up with as a theme for the band. But then there was Mike.

Mike is one of the best guitarplayers I know, but also an amazingly funny and likeable guy. So the first meeting of this new band, Mike came up with the idea of a theme that appealed to all of us so much: the eighties! Yes! The era we all grew up in! Immediately we started coming up with songs, tv-series, theme-songs and the lot, making it harder to limit the list than to compose one…

Two weeks ago, we had our first training (as a good friend of mine always used to call my bandpractices). And it was bloody amazing. With George, a drummer I had heard of, but had not met or played with, we kicked some ass. Damn!

It will take a couple of months to make everything tight, but then 80 Something is gonna come to party!!!

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…ow, how we were connected!

So, now that I got that off my chest , let’s talk about the finer things in life…

Through the subliminal, collective realization of what I described in the previous post, we thought we’d better plan a weekend away in the country.

Some of us even invited some new people to the party, who prove to fit in perfectly. We found a beautiful big farm type of accomodation near Nijmegen. Basically, we try to continue the tradition from the Romans who were there at Noveomagus about 2000 years ago to relax have great food and dito drinks…

As everyone gradually arrives on friday at the end of the afternoon, the place fills up with holidaychildren and -parents. Investigating the kitchen where a lot of magic is about to happen and filling up the various fridges with food and liquids, we settle in and wait for everyone to arrive.

All of the kdz immediately find their place around the fussballtable, the games or just outside in the rain (funny how they love that, hm?).

Some of us take our place in the kitchen to start cooking up some dinner. Everyone made or brought stuff to put together into one big family-dinner. A lot of italian (surprise), a lot of wine (thanks Pieter and Chantal ) and just a lot of effort, basically… And of course, as usual there’s not enough. Too bad…

After dinner it is time for the ever so popular “colourful night”. Everyone has prepared something at home, ranging from song and dance, magic tricks, standup comedy, but in my opinion everything was topped by the sawing of the woman. The famous Rolf Klok appeared with his beautiful hair and dito women for an amazing sawtrick. His confidence was proven by the fact that he used his own daughter for the trick… The whole evening we had two amazing hostesses presenting the show and all of the tricks.

After the kdz go to bed around midnight, we take up the serious discussions for a better world. At around 5, we call it a day (the next )…

The whole weekend basically is about relaxing, eating and drinking (ow and did I mention eating and drinking?). After breakfast, most of us go outside for some essential fresh air; the word fresh is taken very literally as it starts raining scrupulously. Never mind. Inside the hot chocolate with whipped cream awaits!

Games, cards and drinks guide us through the day, which passes with a speed completely contradictory to ours…

Dinner for saturday night consists of frying your own meat on hot plates with the craziest amount of side dishes you can imagine. What bad planning: we again have far too little food. Shame…

Some of us have some leftover resting to do, while kdz are playing, the rest of us is drinking, making music and talking into the night. Again we turn of the light almost because lights aren’t necessary anymore…

Sunday is a day for resting. Usually, but in this case particularly… I thought a weekend like this was for relaxing? Anyway, some walking, piebaking by Cor and Rolf (you should start a business!), hot chocolate, games (personally, I think some world championship teams have been formed), ow and did I mention food?

At the end of the day, we gradually leave this place, only to conclude we need this again pretty soon. Not as a necessity, but because we have so much fun!

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