So we arrived in kyoto after a few days in Osaka where we had a great time at the aquarium, looking at some beautiful animals including a whale shark and Edward mantaray. Another highlight of Osaka was eating takayo, puffy balls filled with octopus. Awkward? We then got a very quick train to kyoto and arrived in the mammoth kyoto station. It is freezing cold, we are so not equipped for snow temperatures. I am literally wearing all my clothes and am still turning into a red icicle. On the plus side my pack weighs nothing so walking around to hostel is a breeze! So anyway we have seen some really beautiful places here in kyoto. Lots of koi fish in very Japanese settings. We went to the bamboo forest, which was stunning. We can only imagine how amazing everything would look in spring or autumn. We rented bikes and spent yesterday getting lost, losing feeling in our face, hands and feet and finding temples. Today we are off to more temples and then getting a bus to Tokyo tonight (as we can't afford the shinkanzen). Looking forward to our stay in anon ryokan in Tokyo!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Gassy cafe
We are in Hong Kong. Lovely weather, but Omg this place is busy, we keep getting stuck in confined spaces. Ie on the metro, trying to exit the metro, trying to be sneaky and exiting via a mall, even walking down the street! Super amount of people. And the smoking, we are convinced our lungs are black. Anyway we went to a very retro slash has not changed in 50 years cafe today. Sat ons booth on the second story overlooking a square full of old men that later was filled with sex paraphernalia stalls (don't ask). The cafe was tiled all over with a very stern lady at the door. All business no pleasure. Had a lovely time drinking iced coffee. Then we heard a rumble and felt a vibration. Then we heard it. The guy next to us was letting rip in our direction. We died of laughter slash disgust.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Taipei 101
Started election day by having to move hotels again which is never much fun, so we stopped along the way and had some delicious French pastries in a park as it was really warm yesterday. Then we went up Taipei 101, very tall. Has the fastest lift in the world or something 1000 m per minute. Ear pain inducing! It was kinda cloudy up top so we couldn't see very far. But it was a pretty great view nevertheless.
Also some very cool tiles out the front! Finished election day by buying some Belgian beers, but couldn't find a bottle opener and there are no sharp edges in our room, so they are still chillin in the fridge, bummer.