Tamagotchi Explorers

Well it has been a pretty cool few days. We have seen just about everything Kyoto has to offer and a few of the surrounding areas too.

At the moment Brad and Darren are at some dodgey italian rip-off place odering this posts namesake (spaghetti and cake). I settled for some fish flavoured rice balls after walking the streets while the guys did their washing as Darren was down to a single sock and a wife basher, which is not really appropriate attire for the streets of Japan.

So with the Giant Budda, Silver Pagoda, Gold Pagoda, Imperial palace, Deer park and 20 to 30 other sites done all that is left for us to do is the ninja village. We are planning how best to approach the ninja masters and ask for a crash course. Brad thinks we should disguise ourselves as pirates, Darren wants to make a sacrafice to the gods and my plan was to breach their inner sanctum with 200 bells attached to our clothes in order to prove our worth. But that all seems like too much hassle so we are just going to dish out 800 yen and go along with the rest of the gaijin visiting on the day.

Last night we went out to the party district in Gion (a local suburb), after getting knocked back from several places for not being japanese we opted for the local Pig and Whistle, had a pint then continued to attack the pavement in serach of a bar. We found one that had an hourly charge for all you can drink, so being good aussies we did our duty and finished the spirits placed in front of us then left before the karoke started.

Money running out! Photos coming soon i promise!

WOW

Well today was pretty awesome, we managed to squeeze in an Imperial procession, the path of philosophy (Brad contemplated society, Darren wrote some poems and I invented the interstellar messaging system - more info coming later), a large ensemble of temples, multiple shops and a few eateries.

Brad used chop sticks for the first time yesterday and is already shoveling in the food like a pro! Darren is regretting bringing a bad pair of shoes and my beard is going on strong.

The flight over was pretty good, I managed to get told off by a small child and she re-affirmed our holiday mantra
"ITS A GOOD HOLIDAY, ITS A HAPPY HOLIDAY". Brad got told off by an elderly lady about forgetting to pack a bomb and we are still waiting for Darren to be yelled at.

We are currently at the hostel with the other two having a snooze (possibly an extended nap since they turned offf the alarm and continued sleeping). It is very cramped and Darren has already managed to tear the bathroom door off in a feat of wild bear like strength.

With a large portion of Kyoto done we are planning a day trip tomorrow to check out a deer park and a few local temples at Nara. It is about 50mins away so after a hearty breakfast of miso soup and rice balls we will chant our holiday mantra for a while in the zen garden then make tracks for the day.

Pictures will be coming tomorrow and I will try to make an entry whenever the guys are taking naps

The three stages of travel:

1. Planning!
2. Planning!!
3. Planning on arrival about what to do first!!!

To my utter horror and dismay I found out that there will be no semi naked large folk trying to grapple with each other while we are in Japan. Now I am not sure if there is an 'underground' sumo league but I assume that there would be in some form or another so my current mission is to find it!

Apart from that nothing much is developing, we are deciding on what rail passes to buy and are leaning towards the cheaper economy seats for the 'mingle' and 'cheap' factors.

I have been keeping an eye on the seismic activity around Japan in the ope of getting some early warning signs about a terrible catastrophe, you can find the site that I have been using HERE. I have heard that in the event of an earth quake to STOP, DROP and ROLL is the best practice to ensure your safety, I will make sure we are all drilled beforehand on proper earthquake procedures so rest assured that what ever happens at least one of us will survive.

On to some local Japanese info:

Current conditions as of 4:00 pm JST
Partly Cloudy
Feels Like: 34°
Humidity: 66%
Visibility: 9.99 km
Dewpoint: 23°
Wind: S 35 kph
Sunrise: 4:54 am
Sunset: 6:39 pm

A quick email was all it took for everyone to jump on board of Brad's planned holiday, both Darren and I invited ourselves and got Brad to do all the planning.

After getting approval from family members, loved ones, employers, mum and dad (Brad) and several different deity's, flights were booked to Japan. A rough guide was then completed and we found out our first piece of bad news, there will be no sumo wrestling while we are there! I am very fond of the fat bastards and would have liked to have seen a fight, but oh well the travels will continue without them.

Looking forward to getting this site spick and span for the trip so subscribe to the page to make sure you are kept up to date with all of our posts along the way.