snapshots

breakfast of champions


galaxy can run, but he can't hide


nirvana is so hard to reach...


galaxy and chi on top of the world

exploding tastebuds

walking around the early morning fish market at jagalchi gave us a real appetite. a middle-aged korean lady promised us a feast for only 30,000 won - how could we refuse? raw fish with garlic and wasabi, chased down by fish soup and a sprinkle of kimchi dishes = breakfast of champions.

before our hike to seokbulsa (mountain-top temple with amazing carvings of buddhist deities), we decided to enter a random restaurant (tavern of folkways: what?) and order lunch by pointing at random korean hangul characters. naturally, what appeared on our table were utter surprises. being adventurous types, we decided to invite a bottle of soju (korean vodka) with us on our hike. we only just made the last cable car down the mountain.

tired and hungry, we decided to follow-up our successful luncheon by choosing another random korean eatery for dinner. what eventuated was an excellent (and cheap) korean barbeque in what turned out to be a pretty classy establishment. the evening climaxed when an unsuspecting galaxy and i were waylaid by an innocent-looking green chilli. our mouths were on fire. hot tip for scorching tongues: suck on a pickled kimchi cucumber!

we are certainly well on our way to having stomachs of steel. china, here we come!

walkabout japan

we based ourselves in kyoto for seven days, and the weather was awful the whole time, with rain and/or snow making walking and sightseeing a very cold and wet experience. but we made the most of it and still had a pretty good time. did lots of day trips, out to himeji, uji, nara and osaka. saw about a billion temples and shrines in kyoto (admittedly it was getting all a bit too much towards the end...) then headed west to hiroshima, briefly stopping at okayama on the way.

himeji castle was amazing - like the castle at inuyama it's one of only four castles in japan that have been preserved in their original state, and not a concrete replica. but himeji castle is about ten times bigger than inuyama castle (or so it felt like). very awe inspiring.

nara-koen was another highlight. it was filled with massive, ancient trees and herds of (apparently sacred) deer, which terrorised countless unsuspecting tourists silly enough to have food in their hands, much to my amusement.

of all the temples in kyoto, my favourite was shoren-in. while it lacked the grandiose buildings, magnificent paintings or exquisite gardens that featured in some of the others, it didnt have hordes of tourists armed with cameras led by a microphone-wielding guide holding a little flag. it was modest but peaceful, with big, old trees and quiet, humble alters.

from hiroshima we caught the ferry out to miyajima to see the famous floating torii of itsukushima shrine. that was nice but not in itself particularly memorable. what was memorable was the two-hour hike we did to the top of mt misen. the trail was wonderful (but exhuasting) and the view from the top was fantastic.

but, you know what? the best part about the last two weeks has been spending time with mum. (yes, i know that is a nauseating-ly warm fuzzy admission to make)