Kamikaze Canuck

Tons to update on this blog so I’ll have to be rather terse.

From Tokyo I took a 7 hour bus to Kyoto, the former capital of Japan.  This turned out to be the place where  I would have a lot of cool memories and random adventures.  I started out my  first morning in Kyoto by renting a bicycle at 6AM and cruising the city.  School children making their way to school paused in awe to watch the wreckless “gaijin”(foreigner) fly past on his bike.  Soon after, I came upon multiple firefighters (in front of their firehall) performing a cadence of army-like salutions and marches before starting the days work.

After that I spent 4 + hours exploring some of Kyotos’ many temples and shrines.  Unfortunantly, they do not allow cameras inside these temples so an outside shot will have to suffice.

After that, Me and a fellow canuck (the only North American I’ve met in Japan) from the hostel named Sarah hit up the karaoke bar beside the hostel for some karaoke and sake.

After a couples days of exploring Kyoto, it was time to make like an Usain and bolt.  I took my 1st Shinkansen (bullet train) ride to a city called Himeji with aims of catching the local ferry to an island called Shodoshima.

After a missed bus, and some poor directions, I found myself with a 2 hour wait in the ferry terminal.  Enter:  My 2 newest Japanese friends, Goro and Tomoru.

These two dudes pumped Sake into me for 2 hours at the ferry terminal.  Every time it was my turn to buy a round, they would refuse.  and discreetly sneak off to the gift shop to buy another round.  2 hours later, a slightly less coordinated Jason boarded the ferry amidst a terrential downpour of rain.  Upon finding out that I had plans of sleeping outside, Goro insisted on paying for a hotel room for me.  Hows that for Japanese generosity?   After settling into my hotel room, I met Goro and his work colleague for dinner.  They pumped me full of sake and fed me excellent Japanese food until my stomach hurt.  Again, letting me pay for nothing.  Here are some pics:

I presented Goro with a gift of gourmet Canadian tea’s as a thank you for his generosity and kind spirit, and parted ways.

In the morning I set out to explore the island of Shodoshima, which is best know for its mountains and wild monkeys.  Here are some random pics from throughout the day:

From the island of Shodoshima,  I took another ferry to the city of Takamatsu, where I currently am (but will be leaving shortly).  The residents of Takamatsu have been awesome to me.  Both times I’ve eaten at a restaurant here, I’ve had drinks sent my way from people who are genuinely curious to meet a foreigner.

 

Japanese Toilet

Fast Fact! 

One thing I forgot to mention in my last blog post was that you pretty much need a PHD to operate a Japanese toilet.  All Japanese toilets have heated seats (something we need in Canada!)  and each of the buttons you see above performs a different function.  I haven’t figured all of them out yet, but one makes a flushing sound without actually flushing the toilet (???), and one shoots water up your bum.  The knobs you see are to regulate the water pressure.  So, I suppose if your up for a particular thrill, you could crank that knob up to 10.

Sayonara!   Stay tuned and stay thirsty my friends….

 

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