Author archive
2 December 2023
Friends and family in Singapore After spending yesterday with old uni friends from New Zealand, I spent today with my 94 old aunt. I visited her straight after the hotel’s 1100 check-out, sat with her for a while before having a late lunch. To my surprise, she fed herself quite well today, whereas mid-year, she […]
30 November 2023
Above: It was hard to believe that the sunny scene was a -1 degC. Leaving Fukuoka Today I fly to Singapore on standby, via Seoul Incheon, as I was not eligible on any direct flights on staff tickets. I left my hotel at 0745 for the Fukuoka airport’s international terminal. I had last night confirmed that […]
29 November 2023
Today was our last day in Japan. We both felt that we had done and seen so much that it wasn’t necessary to go exploring. We would go for wanders before and after lunch and dinner, and let serendipity take its course. We lazed in our rooms after our 0830 udon and rice triangle breakfast, […]
28 November 2023
Aso Nakadake Crater The hotel room came with an awesome buffet breakfast of hot and cold items. Of particular note was the tempura beef slices and a yuzu jelly. I had planned for a departure at 0900 but we managed to push off at 0830 driving to Aso Nakadake Crater as our first stop. The […]
27 November 2023
Moving to Kyushu Today we make an interisland rail trip from Hiroshima to Fukuokka (or strictly speaking Hakata) to begin our Kyushu road trip. We left the hotel around 0820 for our 0905 train. The interisland crossing by tunnel was so short, I must have blinked and missed it completely. Arriving at 1011 at Hakata, […]
26 November 2023
We had opted for an early start in the hope of catching Miyajima Island’s iconic torii at full tide. We left our rooms at 0730 and got to the boat at the Atomic Bomb Dome by bus in time for the 0815 departure. Our arrival at Miyajima at 0900 was perfectly timed for the high […]
25 November 2023
Peace Memorial Park Many people know Hiroshima for only one thing: the atom bomb that was dropped during WWII. It’s such a big part of the city’s history I decided we would start our visit there and work north towards the castle. Alice and I left the hotel at 0915 by bus. Arriving at the […]
24 November 2023
Above: View of Mount Fuji on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Leaving Tokyo Today we say goodbye to Jacqueline as she flies home to Vancouver. On the other hand, Alice and I take the shinkansen south to Hiroshima, about 4h away. All three of us left the hotel around 0930 to give ourselves plenty […]
23 November 2023
Chureito Pagoda Today we make an excursion by organised day-tour to the Chureito Pagoda and other points in the Mount Fuji area. I had checked the weather forecast about 10 days in advance before selecting today’s date. With long-range forecasts not being accurate and a cancellation deadline of one-week beforehand, there’s a lot dependent on […]
22 November 2023
Cup Noodle Museum The plan for the day was go to Yokohama, which has a Chinatown. As with previous days, we left the hotel around 0930 so as to avoid the rush hour in the rail and metro. Our hotel is connected to a station which served Yokohama directly. At Yokohama station, we had trouble […]