Destination: Japan

In this section...

Kyoto (1)	Osaka (1)
Tokyo (1)

List of Countries I Have Visited … Plus a Photo for Each

July 11, 2013 :: by RationalMatthew Follow :: Read 879 times :: 5 Comments

I awoke from the deepest, darkest sleep on the softest pillow and found myself staring out the window of a hotel in disbelief as the last red rays of the sun drifted below the clouds. Wow, I thought, that’s the most beautiful sunset I ever saw. But the bed was unfamiliar and it was far too early in my mind for the sun to be setting. Hang on a second, I thought- where am I?

I am often asked where I have been. But over the years I have done so many oodles of trips that the answer is blurry- several countries I have been to several times, with little rhyme or reason- sometimes I’d need to travel for work, sometimes I followed my heart someplace and sometimes my heart yearned for someone I’d met on a distant continent. I make this list as a little catelogue of memories and moments as much for myself as for you. Read more →

Posted in: Alaska, Americas, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dubai, East Asia, England, Estonia, Europe, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lapland, Maldives, Mexico, Middle East, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, North America, North Korea, Norway, Oceania, Scandinavia, Scotland, Singapore, South America, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK), United States (USA)

From a Terrorist Bombing to a Pachinko Jackpot

May 9, 2013 :: by RationalMatthew Follow :: Read 371 times :: 3 Comments

Pachinko parlour with rows of machines with colourful lights and gaudy music, Japan

There was 45 minutes remaining til takeoff as I rushed up into the terminal. As I ran my gaze caught a plasma screen showing the BBC News. The label across the bottom of the screen shocked me- “THE ENTIRE TUBE SYSTEM HAS NOW BEEN SHUT DOWN”. How could this be?, I thought. I had just been on the tube! The anchorwoman was talking about a “major incident” on the London Underground. But I couldn’t stay to sate my curiosity as they were about to close the gate. I jumped on the plane and we took off for Japan. Later that day, shoeless, a crowd of onlookers whooped and cheered as I inexplicably won a major jackpot in a strange Japanese Pachinko parlour. If there’s anything to be expected when travelling, it’s the unexpected, as I found out during a most bizarre 24 hour period spanning two continents. Read more →

Posted in: Asia, Britain, East Asia, England, Europe, Japan, Kyoto, London, Osaka, Scotland, United Kingdom (UK) :: Tagged: Bombings, Destiny, Illegal Gambling, Pachinko, The Tube, Trains

Surviving an Earthquake in Japan

January 24, 2013 :: by RationalMatthew Follow :: Read 290 times :: 8 Comments

View from the 13th floor of our hotel in Tokyo Shinjuku- hoping for no more big aftershocks

Ever since visiting the Kyoto region and winning big in Pachinko I’d longed to return to Japan and experience the cartoon craziness, rich history, bizarre cultural contradictions and the food once again. And the snow. I’d heard so much about the snow in the Japanese Alps and the north of Japan. The deepest powder you’ll ever see, I was told. But my mate Brad proposed a trip there at a time I was weary from travel and enjoying the southern hemisphere summer in Australia. “Come on, it’ll be epic,” he promised. He was right, as it turns out, and for reasons other than just the awesome snowboarding. I had never been to Tokyo before, other than some short transits through Narita airport on my way to Europe, so we decided that we’d fly out of the north island of Hokkaido for the last few days of the trip and spend a few days partying and exploring in Tokyo. As it happened, on my first day in Tokyo I experienced an earthquake for the first time. And it was a doozy- at 9.0 on the Richter scale, the 2011 Tohoku quake was the most powerful to ever hit Japan. Read more →

Posted in: Asia, Japan, Tokyo :: Tagged: Earthquakes, Snowboarding, Tsunamis