Wow, it was hard to believe it was already my last day in Tokyo.....for the time being. A day that started in the rain and ended in the rain, and while the following day was much nicer, it's only a short reprieve as a typhoon is now upon us. Typhoons in October in this part of the Pacific usually don't come to Japan - they'd rather go towards Indonesia or the Philipines. But of course, this year, one had to come here *roll eyes* At least, after that, most days should be on the sunny side. And apart from the rain, it shouldn't be too bad in Kyoto (Tokyo would have been another matter though)

Anyway, it's not exactly like it's anyone's fault so I should probably stop complaining, LOL It's not gonna do any good anyway, and there are always indoor places such as museums to see!

Oh, before I forget! I promised I would show you a couple of pictures of Hello Kitty regional stuff, so here it is:




But back to day 3. Seeing the weather and since I had planned to go there anyway, I decided that my first stop would be the Tokyo National Museum, an huge multi-building facility at the heart of the Ueno park, NE of central Tokyo

Tip 3: When in Tokyo, get a Suica. And if all other subway/train lines fail you, get on the Yamanote To get to the Tokyo National Museum, I chose the lazy option and took the inbound Yamanote line for Ueno. I am saying it's the lazy option because there are lots of subway and train lines circulating in Tokyo, and starring at the map of public transports of this city for more than five seconds is due to give you a headache, LOL The greast thing about the Yamanote line is that it goes just about anywhere a tourist would like to see, or close to it at least, and because it's a circular loop, you can't get lost on it, i.e. there is not a good direction and a wrong direction (at worst, you'll spend just more time on the train, but you'll get where you want to eventually)

Also, if you plan to stay in Tokyo a few days, you must get a Suica card. I've already talked about it before and that's because Suica and I became best friends over the course of the last few days. As I mentionned in a previous entry, Suica is a card you can use to get in just any form of transportation within Tokyo and is in some ways similar to the Oyster card familiar with our British friends (at least for those living in or around London). Fares won't be cheaper with it but it means no need to worry about buying a ticket (and no need to worry about not being able to figure out the automated ticket machines!). You just touch your card to one of the gates when you get in the station, then again when you exist at your destiation, and it automatically deduct the right amount. You can charge it at virtually any station at automated machines with the Suica sign (don't worry, you can get instructions in English).The card is always valid unless you fail to use it during 10 years. So if you plan on returning within the next few years, you can keep it with you (and with the rising yen, it might be a good idea as it might be worse a lot more when you come back, LOL). If not, you can get back the money that's left on your card as well as the 500 yen deposit (about $6) you must pay to get one. So far so good, but it actually gets better. This being Japan, it couldn't be just a dumb card being used in one city. The day before I found out that I could use it on the Tobu line of bus in Nikko and several areas in the country now accept Suica too. Also, you can use it as a form of payment! In particular at vending machines, for coin lockers (very practical when you've just arrived in Japan and don't have the small change for a locker!) and shops within the stations, but more and more shops outside stations accept it too. You can even use it to buy food and drinks on train such as the Narita Express. And, although that probably won't concern tourists, you can even make internet payment with the right computer....

Btw, there's another card pretty similar called Pasmo. It offers roughly the same advantages within Tokyo, altough the points where you can pay with it may differ from the Suica ones. So far, I've seen more places accepting Suica than Pasmo, but you would be good to go with that one too

From Ueno station it's about 10 minutes on foot to get to the museum, most of it walking through the beautiful Ueno park. No pictures because of the rain, but it was amazing how quickly the agitation of the life in Tokyo was left behind as soon as you step in. It's a pretty urban park, with very large alleys, several museums and a zoo, but it's an escape of the whirlwind of the city life nonetheless, and I imagine a lot of people must go there, particularly on sunny days during the weekend or at lunch time. The museum site occupies the northern end of Ueno's park and acutally consists in several buildings. The Toyokan, the large east building housing the Asian collection, was unfortunately closed for earthquake-proofing work to the building and will only reopen in 2012. The first building that's likely to catch your eye though upon entrance is the imposing Honkan (main hall), the only building with traditional japanese roof (other buildings are either very modern or inspired by western classic architecture - such as the Hyokeikan), housing the general Japanese collection. It is divided into two floors. The first floor is divided into thematic collections while the second floor follows a temporal approach, from Jomon period to Meiji

My first visit was for the Buddhist sculpture room, and I must admit my breath caught when I first entered the dimly light, black-walled room. I've seen lots of museums, and I love them, but I think something the Tokyo National Museum does better than any other museum I've seen is let the artifacts "breathe". Their number in a given room is fairly small, which means each one in turn takes centre stage as you walk around the room, instead of competing against each other for your attention. I hope the few images below will give you an idea of what I mean













I only had the time for the Honkan but returning to see the other collections (and for some shopping at their great museum shop!) is definitely on the cards for when I return later on

Since Akihabara was only a couple stops away, I decdied to pay a short visit to the Electric town, just to taste the atmosphere there. I don't know if you're familiar with it, if you've read what the guide books have to say about it but everything is true, LOL Originally, Akihabara was the area where a black market for electric goods developped just after WW II under the American occupation and has since become known as the Electric Town, even though nowadays, manga and anime-related shops are as numerous, if not more, than their electronic goods counterparts (electric house goods, which were what Akihabara mostly sold between the 40s and the 70s have almost disappeared altogether, at least in the main streets). I didn't stay there for very long but there are definitly two images that will stay with me: the lights of the streets in the twilight and the poor girls in cosplay gear (in majority in gothic lolita or "cat" costume - or a combination thereof) handing out flyers for the latest manga-themed boutique or bar that have opened in the adjacent streets. I'm saying "poor" girls because they had to be all cutesy even though it was pouring at that time of the day and the temperature must have been only about 10 C and most of them didn't have a coat. Yet still they went on, one about every 5 metre in the main boulevards, trying to attract the attention of the high-schoolers and salarymen coming there for their daily manga fix or for a look at the latest mobile phones

After a while I returned to the station to move towards Shibuya. It was the first time I had to take the public transport around peak hours (although as I saw the following day, even at 6 AM, things can get a little hairy). You may have heard or seen how station officers would push people in, forcing more people than the cars should humanely take in? Well, I haven't experienced it first hand, for which I am grateful, as I stayed long enough to get a seat, but I did see it, and it's as bad as you could imagine, LOL What I did experience though is having to exit such a crowded place: it's a very strange sensation, one I don't remember ever experiencing, like it wasn't so much me exiting but the crowd moving me around with a will of its own. The best way I can think of putting it is that I was literally spat from the train

My main reason to stop at Shibuya was to visit one of the holiest grounds of fashion: Shibuya 109. This tall building just across Shibuya stations takes the women (and men, although this mall only has women apparel - there's a branch dedicated to men apparel a few minutes away though, as well as one with a greater emphasis on OL clientele - office ladies, that is women in their 20s or 30s) who dare cross its door through a whirlwind of fashion. Even if the style of clothes sold there are not your cup of tea, you owe it to yourself to go there once, just for the ambiance and the assault this place is for the senses. The shops are one next to the other, with just wall partitions between them but no doors: they all open on the circular walkway which takes you from one escalator to the next as you go up. The visual impact cannot be described, although it pales in comparision with the impact on your ears: each shop blasts its own music, yet despite that the thing you will hear the loudest is the "Irasshaimase" of the salesgirls using their most saccharine-cute voice (saleswomen in their case really, really wouldn't fit) and who want nothing more than assist you and talk you through their newest items and the latest fashion (and it never gets boring since fashion there changes every other week!)

Tip 4: a bit of shopping etiquette: shopping can be a bit disconcerting at first. You'll be greated at every turn by "Irasshaimase" or any variation thereof. It does kind of mean "welcome" and you're first reaction when greeted in a shop is to greet back, right? Well, wrong in Japan, at least in departments stores or where shops are open on the street. Calls of "Irasshaimase" do not need to be answered: in fact, answering back by "Konnichiwa" or any greeting would often be interpreted as you wanting to either to buy something or ask a question. I'm pretty sure I must have confused the hell out of a couple saleswomen when I replied "Konnichiwa" then turned my back on them to look through things or exit the stall/shop. "Irasshimase" is kind of a way to harangue and attract customers, something that the girls or Shibuya 109 have turned really into an art form

Since I had a train at 7 AM, I decided to call it an early night in. After all, Kyoto was waiting, and I didn't want to be late!

Sorry to be late! The plan was to return from Nikko so that I could get to the hotel, write this entry and get some sleep. Well, it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, although it wasn't anyone's fault.....but more about that later.

The beginning of the day almost went without a hitch: I say almost because while I got early enough to catch one of the first trains to Nikko, I should have been able to stress less than I did....the thing is, Shinjuku station is one hell of a maze. Seriously, this thing is just too big: I knew it was the busiest station in the world (3.5 million people transit there every day) but it's another thing to experience it! Although after three days I'm (just) beginning to get the hang of it, yesterday I couldn't find the metro line I wanted (Marunouchi line) anywhere for Tokyo Station, so in the end I settled for taking another line (Yamanote line), except it takes quite a bit longer to get there. Luckily I got to Tokyo Station in time, quickly found the train I needed and even settled in with a few minutes to spare

Tip 2: if you travel between cities more than once, you must buy the Japan Rail Pass: this first train was one of the famous shinkansen. I was able to hop in without buying any ticket thanks to the Japan Rail Pass, which I still find hard to believe it actually exists, LOL Seriously: there are passes available for one, two or three weeks and are either ordinary or green (=first) class. Buy a pass and you'll be able to use almost all of the Japan Rail network of trains, which pretty much covers the country anyway. The sole notable exception is the "Nozomi", one type of shinkansen that you can't use (well, you can, but you must pay the complete fare, which kind of defeats the purpose). You can even make reservations for free (there are both reserved and non-reserved seats: on popular lines, it is recommended to reserve your seat since the number of unreserved ones is pretty limited). The only thing is that you must buy the voucher in your home country (or at least abroad)! You must buy that voucher and exchange it once you arrive in Japan. It usually takes one or few days to get the voucher after ordering it, although I guess I depend who you turn to (there's a list of sales agents on the pass' website)

The train left Tokyo Station at around 7 AM and we started to travel towards the north. Remember how I said how much I love train travel? Another reason is that there are things about the area you travel through you can only really take in if you're on a train. In this case, it was the extraordinary spread of the city of Tokyo. As you travel away from the centre of the city, the skycrapers and business headquarters thin out and make place for appartment buildings or even individual houses. However, the city seems to go on and on, and as the train is a few meters above ground, I was greated by an urban sea in the morning light. I am not usually one big on modern urban development, but even I must admit that there was something fascinating and almost beautiful about it....

It was only after 25 minutes that forests and rice fields cut Tokyo from the next cities, and I arrived at Utsunumiya to take the Nikko line that would take me to my destination. It's funny however how you can guess quickly that Nikko is the popular destination with tourists. Utsunomiya see a lot of trains go through but only this line is singled out that way:



The Nikko World Heritage site is distant from the train stations by 20-30 minutes on foot, so you can either walk there or take a Tobu bus. I decided to walk there though, and I gave myself a pat on the back when I saw this in the distance:



I mean, I'm a girl: how could I resist the call of Hello Kitty-ness? Btw, if you like Hello Kitty stuff, you would have gone nuts in there. It's too bad the woman inside could not allow me to take pictures to just show you. It's not so much the quantity (although there's that too) but the type of items you'll find in there. With a few exception, none of the things there could be bought in a shop outside Japan as they were all regional-limited types. To give you an idea, Nikko proper is represented by the three wise monkeys (there are other symbols for other parts of the area) and they've declined it into all kinds of items (I've taken pictures that should show up tomorrow of stuff I've bought). And they have stuff like that for all regions of Japan. Nuts, I tell you!

After the Hello Kitty pit-stop I resumed my walk and finally arrived at the Shinkyo, literally the bridge of the god(s), which signals the beginning of the Nikko Park and the World Heritage Site. And there, more good news were waiting:



Koyo!!!!! Koyo is the name given to the automnal colors of nature and while I knew that above Nikko, the change was well under way, I was surprised to see hints of it in Nikko proper! With that I crossed the road (not the brige: it's closed except for ceremonies like marriages, for instance) and proceeded towards the World Heritage Site

I tried to get there early to beat the crowd but it was the crowd that beat me, at least as far as Tosho-gu shrine, the most famous of the several shrines and temples on the site, is concerned - the rest was actually what I expected for a weekday, but Tosho-gu shrine was jam-packed and it was difficult to navigate there without bumping into someone. In particular, there were tons of kids from different shools, all with their colorful hat or scarve that signals he/she belongs to a given class. The fun thing about that though is that, as a foreigner, you can be almost certain one or more kids will come up to you and try out their English. If you ever go there, please indulge them: it's actually an exercise they are given by their school (they'll probably ask your name and which country you're from and to sign a form). Several talked to a woman from Norway before turning to me. The poor boy who asked me my name seemed at a complete loss of what to do next when I told him my name which isn't easily proonounced in most languages and that they have most likely never heard before in their life *g*

I had planned to spend around 4-5 hours at the World Heritage Site thinking I was being generous and that maybe I'd tire of seeing temple after shrine after temple, but I did stay for four hours in the end. There's just so much to see. There was also a small (only one main room and several items in the hall around it) but nice museum with all the basic informations in English as well. The main attraction there though must be the beautiful garden behind the house which, the person at the information desk informed me, was created 400 years ago:



Again, the traces of koyo had me clapping my hands and made for great pictures I thought!

And here are a few of the many, many pictures (and videos!) I made at the World Heritage Site, including the famous Three Wise Monkeys and the Sleeping cat above the entrance that leads to Tokugawa Ieyasu's grave:









At around 1.30 PM I decided to take the bus to lake Chuzenji for the Koyo there. Another nice surprise and that I hadn't heard of in any of the guide books or online, is that the Tobu bus actually accept the Suica card, which means I didn't have to worry about the fare or having the right money to give the driver. The lake is at around 1200 meters above sea level and the road that leads there is pretty scenic, with many turns and beautiful mountains in the background, all turning into yellows and reds at this period of the year. The first third went pretty well, until the bus just stopped. We looked before us and all we could see then is that a few other cars before us had stopped as well. It would only be 7 kilometers and more than 3 hours later (yep, it took us almost three hours to do 7 kilometers) that we would know that the road was actually completely overcrowded right up to the top(I heard this morning that it had been like that more or less the whole day!). The reason? Everyone it seems decided to see the Koyo on that day, including a large majority of Japanese....

When I got to the top, it was dusk and there was no reason for me to stay there, so I asked the driver if he would head back to Nikko and could I just stay in? He had a small laugh, although I could tell it was more out of embarrassement than anything else, and pointed at something. I guess my face fell somewhat when I saw what he was pointing to me: there was a enormous queue (Japanese queue - in a very orderly fashion - for everything, including getting in the subway and even at peak hour; once inside the subway train, it's another story entirely though, as I'll explain tomorrow) which I immediately understood was of people waiting for the bus to Nikko. I had a flash of panic because I figured out that if it took too long to get a bus and if took as long to go down as it did to come up there, I may well miss the last train back to Utsunomiya and thus to Tokyo! At the end of the day, it was three buses and one hour later that I could finally take one, and the journey was mercifully short, only about 15 minutes longer than scheduled. Still, it was a whole afternoon wasted in terms of sightseeing. Every cloud has its siilver lining though and in this case it came in the form of great people I talked to while waiting up there and then on the bus: a French couple who actually skipped Nikko as they had transfered late from Tokyo, only to have only a couple of hours for sightseeing up there (eek!) and a lovely Japanese woman who was wondering what language we were speaking. We actually journeyed together all the way back until her stop on the shinkansen (she lived a bit outside Tokyo). She even bought me a kind of pastery filled up with red bean paste (the same you'd find in daifuku). It was sweet but they actually added salt all around the pastry, which may sound weird but actually made for a nice combination. And, most imporantly, the guy was making them on the spot, and they were hot (and the wait at Chizenji being at above 1,000 meters above sea level, we were freezing!)

It also made for a wonderful exercise since we spoke in Japanese the whole time, with minimal use of English (a few words when I didn't understand a couple of things). I could actually hold my end until we got into the shinkansen. Suddenly the fatigue of the day hit and I found it increasingly difficult to focus and find my words. I actually fell asleep on the train after she left on the way back to Tokyo (and miraculously woke up about ten minutes before my stop). Then there was the journey back to Shinjuku and then there was the not small issue of finding my way through the Shinjuku station jungle back to my hotel. However that time I got it right the first time around and I was in by 10 PM, but way too tired to do anything, hence why you're reading this today, and not yesterday as intended ;-)

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this entry and the pics. I may upload the rough footage of some of the vids I made sometime along the way: as you may have heard, there's a typhoon heading our way. I'll leave tomorrow early for Kyoto and apparently it will hit there on Saturday (the other two days should be dry, albeit partially cloudy), so, although it should be degraded down to a tropical storm at that point, I might be confined indoors, or at least limit my visits to a couple of museums and some shopping, so more time to work on the material I am accumulating now

Hopefully I'll have the time to write a post about the day that is now about to finish - I heard there was lots of rains and a visit to the Tokyo National Museum in the cards, hmmmm.....

As some of you already know, I've traveled over to Japan for a three-weeks trip, which should take me to some of the most famous destinations there (and hopefully help me prepare later trips to some lesser known areas). I'll try to give you both an account of what my travel, share pretty pictures (and maybe pretty videos) and give a few tips should you ever wish to visit Japan based on my experience here

I took the plane from Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday early in the afternoon. I really dreaded the almost 12-hours flight since I really don't like taking the plane, but I was nowhere near as uncomfortable as I thought I would, although I couldn't sleep. Interestingly enough, the plane was full as far as I could judge but the travelers were for the major part Japanese, except in business and first class where the majority was Westerners. Apparently, the flights from Switzerland catter mostly to Swiss/European businessmen rather than tourists. It's a shame in that it means that it's not that popular as a tourist destination. The good news though is that the schedule caters to businessmen's need, i.e. an early morning arrival! We landed a little after 7 AM, almost half an hour ahead of schedule and proceeded through the airport

It's a shame that my digital camera wasn't ready then because one of first thing you do is go through a long corridor with very nice decorations on the wall, made of bamboo as well as textiles panels and I even spotted a representation of Murasaki, the author of "The Tale of Genji" *g* Customs on the other hand was a bit weird. I haven't traveled to the US after the 9/11 events so I don't know how it compares. Apparently they are on high alert (although I don't know why - but there were several messages on the train to Tokyo saying so....) and it resulted in pretty slow customs and baggage treatment. Also I had my luggage opened by customs (a first for me) although the guy was very nice and polite about it and just had a look through things and put everything back in place, helping me to close it again. He spoke good English although he got extra-polite when I made the effort to reply in Japanese

Tip 1 - how to get out of Narita: there are two airports in Tokyo: Narita and Haneda. Until now, Narita handled most of the international traffic while Haneda handled domestic flights. However, Haneda's just opened an international terminal last week (which looks very nice with a shopping area made to look like an Edo period village): from there, commuting to Tokyo is pretty fast (about half an hour, I think). But most of you will still probably land at Narita and while the airport's infrastructures are great, it's really far away from the centre. Forget about taking a taxi (the fare would cost in excess of $200): what I did was take the Narita Express train. If you intend to stay in Tokyo somewhere along your trip, don't get the ticket at one of the ATMs but rather go to the JR East office (the train company) and ask them for "Suica + N'ex combo". N'ex stands for Narita Express ticket and the Suica is a card which allows you to board pretty much everything that's local transportation within Tokyo without having to use small change and/or figure out how to use the ATMs for a ticket (which are a nightmare). You get a good discount if you buy them together so unless you have a Japan Rail pass valid on that first day, it could be worth getting. I said "could" because I would actually recommend most of you not to do what I did and take the bus limousines instead, which deserve all the major hotels in Tokyo and are very convenient and comfortable. The only reason why I did take the Narita Express is because my hotel is a 3 minutes walk from the station

That and I like trains - and this one was particularly comfortable: spacious, spotless clean, with locks to secure your luggage at the entrance of every car. Now all seats on this train are reserved seats (no need to reserve in advance though: you just get assigned a specific seat when buying the ticket). I can see two reasons for that: one is that the controller actually never asked anyone's ticket but just checked with a list he had if the right seats were taken (there were only a few people aboard), but the other and much more important one is that the train actually splits in two in Tokyo station and goes in two different directions from there. So you'd think getting at least in the right half of the train would matter, right? RIGHT? Well, not so for a couple (which I think were Americans) and their child who came to me at first saying I was using one of their seats. I double-checked my ticket although I was pretty sure I had it right the first time (my reservation was for train number 8, car 8, seat 8d - not difficult to remember, huh?) and I did have the right seat. I asked if I could see their ticket (although some of it is also in English, the word "train" "car" and "seat" are only written in Japanese so easily confusing) and they had actually gotten the wrong car. I told them what was numbers on the tickets were referring to and that they were in car 5, and while the woman was about to move, her husband said he would stay there since there weren't a lot of people anyway. He was right but a) this is Japan and Japanese people tend to respect things like seat attribution even if they could have another one (not to mention someone else could board later on who actually had a reservation for one of those seats) and as I tried to explain to them b) car 5 and car 8 would move in opposite directions past Tokyo Station (and apparently, they had to continue past Tokyo St.). Again, the wife thanked me and prepared to move but the husband essentially brushed me off and said that they would stay where they were. Now who would be so lazy that they would rather go in the opposite direction from where they are headed just because they can't be a*rsed to move a few cars down????? That almost pissed me off: luckily a guy got in at the next stop who had a ticket for one of their seats and they HAD to move (although it would have served him as a good lesson to have to lose one hour trying to get back to his intended destination through the subway, I was happy for his wife that she wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of his laziness. Guys sometimes, I swear!)

But back to the journey: another thing I love about train travel is the fact that you could slowly start to really comprehend that I was in Japan as I was looking at the landscapes passing by. At first glance, the route up to Chiba looked a lot like Europe, and in particular Switzerland as we passed through several small cities in between forests and fields. After a while though you start to notice details and that's when you realise you're really there: the finitions of the houses and the materials favored for their contructions, the (very small) gardens, and the fact that the fiels do not have a golden yellow typical of wheat or bareley, but the vivid green of rice paddy fields. And then you know you are in Tokyo when you spot the first really high rise buildings just after the Ne'x stop at Chiba



Got to Shinjuku sometime around 10.20 AM, stopped by a JR East office to get my Japan Rail Pass validated starting on Wednesday (for my trip to Nikko). Unfortunately, I that point I had started to feel really queasy and almost nauseated. I went to the hotel and as I expected, I couldn't get a room before check-in time (3 PM) but I could left my luggage. I was starting to feel pretty miserable with myself - which is just ridiculous considering I was in Japan AT LAST and I should have been dancing happily regardless! Still, I decided to go ahead with the plan and move toward Shiodome, where I walked around a little hoping I would soon start to feel better and then towards the piers a few stations away where you can get on short cruises on the Sumida river.

Luckily, my spirits lifted when I got to Hinode Pier as I started to feel better. What didn't lift though were the clouds:



This is the pretty amazing building which serves as headquarters for Fuji Television, as seen from Hinode Pier (hopefully I'll have the time to get a bit nearer later on)

The cruise in itself was nice although there aren't that many great sights: it's more about getting a feel of the city:



Finally we arrived at Asakusa where we were greated by one of the most famous recent constructions: like it or hate it, it's now part of the most famous views of Tokyo



One the left, you can see on the background the Sky Tree, slated to be finished at the end of next year and which should be the tallest radio tower in the world when completed, at a staggering 634 meters :s There will be two observations decks where the public can go, the highest one at 450 meters, by far the highest anywhere in Tokyo....also, this construction involves the complete urban redeveloppment of the whole area, which looks pretty interesting (at least on paper)

And, symbolic to the dichotomy that presents Japan today, looks in the other direction at that very spot and you'll see a subway entrance and a koban (a small police station) build in the image of ancient temples. They signal that Senso-ji, undoubtedly one of Tokyo's most famous attraction (and also one which origins are among the oldest), is near

Now Senso-ji is almost always crowded like mad, both by tourists and by locals, and although the weather was menacing when I got there, it was crowded. I really would like to return, preferably around the 6 AM opening for early day light and few people around, but I think the crowd is also part of the experience, in particular in the Nakamise area, that commercial street linking the Kaminarimon and the Hozomon:




I haven't got a clue what mascott it was supposed to be, but everyone wanted to have their picture taken with them!













I didn't take any pictures inside the main hall as they were conducting a ceremony. It wasn't forbidden to take pictures and other people did, but to me it somehow didn't feel right so I decided to head back to Shinjuku for a little shopping and go to the hotel for some sleep, at last! It is now Wednesday early morning (5.00 AM) and in two hours I should be in Tokyo Station to take a train to Nikko, one of the great World Heritage Sites of Japan, hopefully with some autumn colors thrown in for good measure ;-)

Well, I'm one week into my "Post a Day" resolution (which also means I'm three weeks away from taking the plane to Japan, mwahahahahaha!). Have I kept up? Impressions so far?

Well, out of seven days, I've posted on five days in total: I missed one day due to migraine and another due to a hectic schedule (up at 5 AM for Japanese lesson, then very long day at work). I have however posted more than once on two occasions. This is excluding social posts from the total

Turns out it's much easier to do a post a day than I had initially thought. It had been kind of a knee-jerk decision and I'm actually not regretting it one bit. For one, it's a good occasion to start sharing the hundreds of pics of historical artefacts - and quite a few buildings of historical importance - I've been sitting on for the last couple of years. And I guess it's the boost I needed to also start writing things I had wanted to for years but never took the time to

Amusingly enough, I've been even more productive re: my Final Fantasy website and other online endeavours. I guess all this is not so much about having the time than about managing one's free time ;-)

Also, and maybe most importantly, it's been incredibly rewarding in that other members seem to have enjoyed the posts, and reacted to them, either by post, message or gram. Thank you so much to all of you for taking the time to read/see what I've tried to share with the community, and for taking the time to write a word - or even a whole haiku! - in reply ^-^

Things have been awfully slow around here lately, haven't they? Some days barely any posts are made. Of course there are a number of factors that I could lament about, people to blame, etc, etc. BUT I must admit that I haven't helped in any way with this issue either, since I've been busy elsewhere myself, be it work, preparing for my Japan trip next month or other interests, and haven't made any contribution, big or small, in a long time *hang head in shame*

Sooooooo, since I'm admitedly part of the problem, maybe I should try and be part of the solution, right? With that in mind, I've decided that I would try to make a post a day, at least until my departure for Japan (which is in exactly a month) - ideally, I should even be equipped to post from there, so maybe I'll be posting a kind of travelog here (in conjonction with my LJ or something) but I don't want to make any promises since I'll probably be pretty tired whenever I get back to the hotel in the evening :p

But yeah, a post a day. It can be anything, as long as it's not chat fluff (fluff can be good too! It just won't count towards my "post a day" target) or just a link with no explanation (which I don't remember ever doing, but still.....). Some posts will certainly be closer to short essays, others will be a few lines. Some will be pure academic, others will be on subjects that are not historical (movie reviews, international politics). Some will be posted with this persona, others will be posted by some of my alternate personae, while a few will be posted by unsuspecting victims friends of mine in their respective groups (if they are ok with that, since I haven't asked them yet, LOL)

I will allow myself days off whenever work has been doing my head in (which happens these days) or if I have a migraine. But apart from that, I'll do my utmost to keep at it. And if I'm inspired to do more than one post, then I certainly shall *eg*

See you later on the boards ;-)

I've been waiting for this for what feels like decades: Japanese Kazuaki Kiriya's second movie (the first one was the flawed-yet-sublime Casshern)


Find more videos like this on The Spill.com Movie Community

Although you can have a first taste above, do yourself a favor and watch it full screen on the movie's website (the site is in Japanese, but the navigation is conveniently in English ^-^)

At this stage, I'm not sure what to expect. It certainly looks like Kiriya will continue with the same live-actors-vs-everything-else-CG approach he used with Casshern, so we know there will probably be some absolutely stunning - and other more subtle and poetic - visual moments in this. What I worry much more about is the story: is it going to again give us something with lots of depth but unnecessarily complicated a la casshern, fall for an all style-no substence approach, or clean his act and give us what I suspect he's really capable of, that is impeccable, audacious style in the service of unconventional and daring story-telling? I guess we'll have our answer on May 1 this year *whistle*

I finally found my way back to my PS2 (which I hadn't touched in AGES) and FF XII which I have been playing all over again for the best part of the last 6 weeks or so. Still my favorite game so far (but then there are few games that can grab my attention outside RPGs, and I don't even play MMORPGs either), and I'm actually enjoying it even more this time around

Anyway, it also means that I'm back at work on my website and the walkthrough proper is now up until Chapter 7.1 (out of 10), and I hope, as long as things IRL allow, that I'll be able to post on average one page per week until the end of chapter 8 (i.e. it should take about a month to get there). Not sure how long it will take me to play chapter 9 since this is the part where you wrap up all the sidequests and stuff. However, I'm considering rushing through the main storyline until the end of the game for the walkthrough then going back to take my time for the sidequests. We'll see

Whew! At last, I made it *g* Since my FF X-2 is progressing well, I've decided to go ahead with the creation of my walkthrough for the latest installment in the series, FF XII. Since this whole FF dedicated space is probably going to become pretty huge, I've also got a new domain and a new host for all that stuff. Ok, so far it's only two pages for the FF XII walkthrough, but a couple more are already in the works:


The game has only been released in Japanese so far, but the NA release will be in late October and the European one in late February 2007, it seems. If you don't know what it is about, please check this trailer