Yamaguchi - Obaasan and Me

A wonderful eventful day in Yamaguchi

Wow, I’m so tired I don’t know where to start writing. Well, top of the document, obviously, but… this has been my most eventful day so far, it even tops yesterday.

I planned to take the main sights of Yamaguchi by foot (or bus if necessary), so the first stop was the tourist office at Yamaguchi Station. I wasn’t able to figure out the bus routes from the nearby bust stop so I decided to walk from the hostel. It took me about 50 minutes. I was glad the weather was nice, though it was a bit on the cold side. (I’ve been told by several people that his is the coldest week, or the coldest part of winter. Not too happy about travelling towards the colder areas at this time… Think I’ll have to buy a new sweater at this pace.)

At the tourist office I had a nice conversation with the lady at the information desk and I got a big collection of tourist brochures and helpful info, and, to my surprise, a souvenir from the people at the office! They gave me a small Hagiyaki ceramic cup, a special Japanese ceramic style that Hagi is famous for. I don’t know exactly why they decided to give it to me, but I guess I was different from the usual tourists, and spoke a higher level of Japanese (or any Japanese at all) than they expected me to. I must have given a positive impression at least. :)

After sorting through all the brochures I decided to go to the nearest tourist attraction and start there, walking from one tourist attraction to the next until I’d have enough. I never got that far; as I walked up the Ekidori (Yamaguchi main street from the station) I accidentally fell into pace with an elderly lady walking beside her bicycle. She asked me (in Japanese, of course) if I was sightseeing, and when I replied yes (going to sightsee anyway) we soon had a (halting) conversation.

After a couple of blocks the Obaasan (nickname for elderly women, meaning “Grandma”) asked if I wanted to join her for a cup of coffee at a nearby café. Seeing this unique opportunity to practice Japanese, and socializing with the locals at the same time, I was glad to accept; and ended up being treated to coffee and a piece of cake. Our conversation somehow absorbed the lady at the table next to us for a while, and a little later Obaasan’s friend came along too, an elderly lady named Nakamura-san. The original Lady-at-the-next-table changed to a younger woman, but she too was included momentarily before we left. “We” were: me, Obaasan and Nakamura-san.

They joined me for sightseeing, and then it gradually became them showing me the sights and paying all my entrance fees etc. I tried to protest, but Obaasan just smiled and pushed my hand away. When the ladies became tired Nakamura-san’s car magically appeared from somewhere and they drove me around to 2-3 other sights, treated me to Akizaki (or Akisaki) – a traditional Japanese winter drink; a hot, white, thick, sweet drink, complete with a dash of alcohol. And afterwards they insisted upon driving me back to the hostel.

Wow, and I haven’t even started on the sights! It was so amazing to experience the local attractions in the company of these local old women. Obaasan had adopted me quite quick, although I didn’t realise it until a long while afterwards. She kept saying I was like “mago”, but I didn’t know it meant “grandchild” until I looked it up. By that time Obaasan had used it several times. The ladies including the first “table-next-to-ours-lady” and the lady serving the Akasaki, kept saying I was beautiful. I do believe most of it is because I’m tall (compared to Japanese), blond (all the black-haired Asians want lighter hair), fair-skinned (which is the ideal) and blue-eyed (unusual & exotic). I think I halfway embarrassed the Akasaki-lady by saying “thank you”, she obviously didn’t expect me to understand a word. And then suddenly we had another conversation going (or perhaps the same one, just once more…).

Outside the Akasaki-shop (or shed with benches) we passed a small group of teenagers, and when one of the boys tripped while staring at me Obaasan snickered and said “He’s staring because you’re beautiful!” I had to contradict her; I think he stared because I’m a foreigner. It isn’t unusual that people stare at me, ant not that weird either, given that I’m tall and blond and wearing my strikingly bright red jacket –which is very at odds with the Japanese fashion.

I still haven’t described the sights, but if I don’t ever get to it I hope the pictures will say it all.

Now it’s time for bed, I’ve got a long day tomorrow as well, going to Akiyoshi, sightseeing and returning to Yamaguchi. Hope I’ll be able to realise this plan though. I have to get better at following my plans thorough to the end. Or in many cases; at least start them!

Oyasumi. Obaasan, arigatou!
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*omiyage postkort, Nakamura-san’s bil med barnesikring, vandring etter retur til hostellet.
Xavier Memorial Church, 5-etasjes Pagoda, Gammel restaurant nå museum (se etter utklipp blant brosjyrene),

The rail from Shimonoseki, with Kate in Hagi, and arrival Yamaguchi.

First when I checked out from my hotel this morning I looked out the window. Snow, not falling, but thrown violently around in the wind. I appreciated the short walk to the station, but not having to wait for my train in the cold. There were people shoving snow off the platforms as I got up there. (yes up! For those that haven’t seen a Japanese railway station I can tell you that most of them have ticket offices and ticket machines and timetables etc. on ground floor, and then the platforms and the rails themselves one floor up, or more, from there.)

I had decided to take the longer train ride to Hagi in favour of the view, rather than taking the (possibly) fastest route inland. After a while I managed to get a seat in the right direction to fully enjoy the view that was not completely obscured by heavy snow or sleet clouds and the amounts of such stuff in free falling towards the ground. It was cloudy ad snowy most of the way along the coast, with the occasional surprise of sun and blue sky shining through the clouds for a short while.

It was a very nice ride along a very, very, local line. When there was people on the train I was people-watching. I was able to observe the locals commuting; mostly high school kids half sleeping on the train on their way to school, and less sleepy-looking middle aged men going to work. The flow of people came and went like tidal waves, leaving the two carriages almost deserted in between the busier stations. I was the only one travelling as far as Hagi, but I was never completely alone in the train. ((picture!))

When there weren’t any people on board I observed (what was visible of) the view. I saw the smallest train station I’ve ever seen; it had a short stretch of cement platform, a unisex toilet with 3 walls and no door, and a 3-walled waiting hall big enough only to squeeze in 3 people, with one of them standing in the doorway –which made out the 4th wall. There were miniature shrines accessible from no visible path, roadside Kannon (statue / goddess of mercy) and a surprising number of cemeteries in remote and inaccessible places. (In many cases I can see why they chose the place, but not how they use it; how do they get the heavy gravestones up there?)

I enjoyed most of the journey, with the exception of the 1hr 42 min waiting time at Nagatoshi station, where I had to change trains. The first thing I did was digging out a warmer sweater from my backpack, put on my beanie (hat/cap/lue/whatever) and gloves. This waiting hall had more than 3 walls, but one of them was still open directly to the platform area. At 11:11 I was glad to finally settle down in the warm and cosy 1-car train to Hagi.

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Hagi with Kate
Waiting, Kate’s apartment, food, wandering around Hagi, Hina doll exhibition, Hagiyaki (also mentioned in the Yamaguchi text), Hagi-latte w/mikan, purikura, bus terminal and bus ride to Yamaguchi.

Kate @ the 1# place to B!

Arrival Yamaguchi
Taxi-Youth hostel

Arriving in Shimonoseki

Backpaking day 4 – Arriving in Shimonoseki
+ Reflections on addiction to Internet (in Norwegian)

Travel day today, got up reasonably early, checked out from the Fukuryu Business Ryokan and took the 100yen-bus loop to Hakata station. I bought my ticket, and then ate my onigiri breakfast at the platform waiting for my train. My train was a ‘futsu’ train (local train) headed to Kokura where I had to change train to get to Shimonoseki. At Shimonoseki station I stopped to get the local tourist guide, and then I walked the 50 metres to my hotel, left my luggage and headed for the closest Internet Café while waiting for check in. After checking in at the hotel I decided to take a bath to wash of the travel dust – or train sweat* as I hereby rename it in the spirit of the modern age. (These words sound better in Norwegian; “reisestøv” & “togsvette”…)

Clean and clothed, planned what to do while in Shimonoseki, and where to go the next couple of days. I e-mailed with Kate and established that I’ll come and visit her in Hagi on Wednesday, and from there I’m taking the bus to Yamaguchi where I’d like to stay a couple of days –if there’s any available accommodation. From Yamaguchi I’d like to go back up to the north-western coast to the area around Oda (pronounced O-da / Åda) and then east to Matsue and Tottori before heading south to Okoyama. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this, and hopefully I’ll be able to do this at a more leisurely pace than I’ve had up to now.

Anyway, so far I have no idea if anything after Hagi will become more than thought, but I managed to decide how to spend my day in Shimonoseki. Tomorrow morning I’m getting up early and taking the first bus to Karato to see, explore and experience the famous (big, anyway) morning fish market, and then I’ll spend the day in Karato and Chofu to see all the touristy stuff.

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Edit: plans in Shimonoseki did not go as planned. Today (Tuesday) I didn’t manage to get up as planned due to exhaustion. The time is now 14:20, and I’ve yet to get out of the room. I needed a day to just let my body catch up, especially since I’ve planned a long day tomorrow. I’m a bit sad that I’ve been unable to do any of the Shimonoseki touristy stuff, but it might be a nice weekend trip saved for later, now that I know how to get here etc. My revised plans for today; buy train ticket for tomorrow, get food (also for tomorrow’s breakfast), and go to the post office to send the 2nd Traveller’s Notebook I’ve been carrying since Fukuoka. And after that, perhaps more food, and then I’ll return to the hotel to sleep.

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Åh, avhengigheten av internett! Det merkes ekstra godt når en reiser utenfor en daglig tilgangs avstand. Det hjelper til en viss grad å ha med seg pc’n, selv om den ikke har internettilgang, så kan man ”blogge” i Word, mens man av en eller annen merkelig grunn lengter etter å taste kombinasjonene Ctrl+C og Ctrl+V til et nytt vindu. Og mens man først er i gang kan man jo laste opp noen bilder til bloggen – og så husker en at man er visst ikke online likevel… PC uten nettilgang er i bunn og grunn er det bare selvbedrag (men som til en viss grad tilfredsstiller skrivekløen). Man er like avhengig, man bare utsetter neste dose litt lenger, mens man venter på neste internettkafe.

Det er ikke lett å bære tanken på en viktig e-post i innboksen – som man ikke får sjekket før man kommer til neste by – hvis man i det hele tatt finner et sted med tilgjengelig internettilgang der. Det er heller ikke lett å vite at folk faktisk er aktive på Facebook igjen, og ikke bare spammer hverandre med diverse applikasjoner. Jeg blir sittende igjen med ett ubesvart spørsmål. Hva tenker man mest på? E-posten, bloggen, eller kommentarene på Facebook?

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Backpakcing day 3, Fukuoka day 2

Haven’t done much today, no nothing much happened either. Woke up early to check if I could stay at the Ryokan one more night, and then went back to sleep another few hours. I needed it, apparently. Going out I headed for Tenjin and the same shop as I had tried last night. Searched a long time for the Traveller’s Notebook, and found it eventually. Then I went for (a late) lunch, before walking from Tenjin to Hakata while people-watching. The goal at Hakata was Starbucks in front of the station. There I spent about 2hrs sorting my bag, wrapping up the Traveller’s Notebook I’m sending to Bergen, and planning what to do tomorrow; stay (and do what?) or move on (where and how?).

I decided to move on to Shinomoseki tomorrow morning, so I stopped by Hakata station to figure out how to get there. Now I’m briefly back at the Ryokan, updating my documents, copy & past to USB and then over to an Internet Café to check my e-mail, to update my blog, and to see if I can book accommodation in Shinomoseki online. I hope it will prove easier than it was here. Off I go, I want to be back in decent time. じゃあね！

Today's Engrish:

Backpacking day 2 - Kumamoto & Fukuoka

Wow. Er så sliten at jeg har tilbragt en hel time uten å gjøre en døyt. Grov fram pc’n, åpnet Word, og glemte tid og rom.

Veien hit:
I dag morges stod jeg opp, tok trikken til Kumamoto Castle Mae, gikk til busstasjonen, låste inn ryggsekken min, og satte meg på en benk under tak og spiste frokost. (pølse og potet obento fra dagen før). Deretter trosset jeg småregnet og vandret Kumamoto Castle rundt, ruslet bort til kunstmuseet og så gjennom fugleparken (ikke det minste spennende, men en fin grønn flekk med masse fuglekvitter) på vei tilbake til busstasjonen.

En totimers busstur senere var jeg i Fukuoka, og på jakt etter et hotell/herberge/ryokan/hvasomhelst.. Jeg hadde tenkt meg til Khaosan International Youth Hostel, samme sted som jeg bodde i juleferien, da jeg forhørte meg i informasjonskranken (på Hakata Stasjon) om veibeskrivelser til alternative steder ble jeg fortalt at alt var fullt.

Heldigvis var damen i skranken var snill nok og ringte et Ryokan (Japansk tradisjonelt gjestehus) for meg, og gav meg veibeskrivelser. Det så greit nok ut; ta 100-yen bussen fra stoppet utenfor stasjonen til stopp nr 5, ett stopp etter Canal City (et stort kjøpesenter jeg kjenner ganske godt nå), og gå siste biten derfra. Hun skrev opp navnene på stoppet og på Ryokan’et og tegnet inn bussruten, og satte en rød prikk ca der Ryokan’et skulle befinne seg.

Finne riktig buss og holdeplass var null problem. Jeg fikk til og med sitteplass. Det ble derimot problematisk da bussen ble STAPPFULL på holdeplassen før den jeg skulle av på, så jeg måtte presse meg gjennom en fullstappet buss, i full oppakning. Jeg var for øvrig den eneste som skulle av på akkurat det stoppet også. Tjohei.

Veien fra holdeplassen så grei nok ut. Jeg skulle gå over en bro, og ned til venstre, og se etter et stort hotell, og den røde prikken var på motsatt side av veien for dette hotellet. Det var derimot ikke Ryokan’et, så jeg gikk fram og tilbake noen kvartal og spurte 5 forskjellige mennesker om de visste hvor dette Ryokan’et var hen. Ingen kjente til det, og der den røde prikken var på kartet var det noe helt annet i virkeligheten, og navnet på Ryokan’et hadde blitt delvis uleselig. Til sist gikk jeg til hotellresepsjonen for hjelp og de tok 2 telefoner, tegnet et bedre kart, og sendte meg av gårde ”3 kvartal ned og så på høyre side”, og vertinnen fra Ryokan’et kom og møtte meg.

Ingenting er som et vennlig fjes og et ventende rom for en sliten reisende.

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Vell, ikke helt sant at jeg ikke har gjort noe siden jeg kom inn døra; jeg sjekket inn, fikk en forklaring av fasilitetene og kikket meg rundt før jeg trakk meg tilbake til rommet mitt og plugget i pc’n. Så gjorde jeg ingenting for en hel time (ok, 50 min) utenom å bla litt i Fukuoka Now og la tankene fly fritt omkring.

Jeg tror for det meste tankene fløy i retning av ”Hva i alle dager gjør jeg nå?”. Det var fullt på herberget jeg hadde lyst til å bo på (Khaosan, som nevnt), så jeg endte på dette Ryokan’et. Jeg spurte om 2 netter, men da jeg betalte, betalte jeg visst bare for 1 natt, så jeg aner ikke hva som skjer i morgen. Jeg skal spørre om jeg kan være her en natt til i alle fall, men det er ikke sikkert at de har plass. Syns det er litt merkelig, for jeg har ikke hørt noen andre her, andre enn meg, husvertinnen og hennes mor. (Edit, 4 timer senere: har hørt flere msk nå, har t.o.m. møtt noen av dem i trappen.)

(...)

Men det er på tide at jeg planlegger litt, så jeg kan booke overnatting så fort jeg vet når jeg kommer til et nytt sted. Å lete etter overnatting etter en hel dags reising er virkelig ikke tingen – spesielt ikke når alt er fullt.

Etter skriverier gikk jeg til Canal City for middag og spiste på Ichiran, en nuddelrestaurant med 1 standardrett, men den er tilgjengjeld også særdeles god. Da jeg hadde spist var klokken bare halv åtte, så jeg bestemte meg for å gå til Tenjin for å finne en bokhandel som selger ”Traveller’s Notebook”, en notatbok man kun kan få kjøpt i Japan og Thailand. Jeg fikk en bestilling fra en venninne i Bergen, og bestemte meg for at jeg må og ha en slik. Prioritert oppgave mens jeg er i Fukuoka for her vet jeg hvor butikken er! Dessverre kom jeg til butikken 5 minutter etter at den stengte, så jeg får ta turen i morgen igjen. I stedet tilbrakte jeg en times tid på Starbucks med en Café Mocha, skrev et postkort og en fon-post* før jeg gikk tilbake til Ryokan’et.

Og her er jeg, straks klar for futon’en; jeg må bare sy i en bukseknapp, pusse tenner og rydde vekk pc’n først. Oyasuminasai!

Dagens spesielle hendelse: Å støtte en middelaldrende japansk dame da hun skulle klatre over et midjehøyt gjerde litt utenfor Kumamoto Castle.

* fon-post er forkortelsen av telefon-E-post, så de ikke forveksles med e-post skrevet på data.

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Jeg skriver altformye gjør jeg ikke...?