Went to the Golden Temple and it well and truly took my breath away. I bought a fortune oracle thingy there, just for the fun of it and it looks good, particularly for travel, childbirth (!) and "marriage proposal: it will be well arranged. Answer it soon." There have been no proposals yet but i expect my parents to be well into the arrangements. The "easy to birth" bit can come later.

Joking aside, i've had the most amazing day. I lost my guide book so had to guess and make things up as i went along and fate has been good to me. I found myself at some of the most amazing places. And then, when a massive storm hit some woman pulled me off the street and took me to her apartment to dry off and have tea whilst she practiced her English on me for well over an hour! I learned so much about Japan and Kyoto from her, better than my guide book for sure. I had to battle hard to insist on not being given an umbrella from her and to not cancel my accommodation and stay with her (she had nasty chihuahuas). I was most amused when i got back to the hostel and learned from a guy that he had exactly the same e xperience, minus the dogs.

I've only been in Kyoto a day and have found that i keep getting called over for kids to practice their English on me. Its truly bizarre. They seem to love the English accent too. Its amazing seeing peoples' faces change as you start speaking. I wonder if i should start charging for my lessons?

Today i awoke in Kyoto. Tokyo had been fantastic, as were my hosts who were generous beyond words. They even took me to a champagne brunch - the luxurious way to backpack. Some of my highlights for Tokyo were in the Harajuku area where teenagers hang out at the weekend dressed in gothic and other weird garb and spend the whole afternoon preening, posing and taking photos of each other. Really weird. There was a crazily busy shopping street nearby where they clearly bought their stuff, along with numerous illegal items. All in all, Tokyo was buzzing and was a really exciting place to spend the weekend. It was a great introduction to Japan, but now i'm off to seek its other more zen-like face.

I took the bullet train in to Kyoto yesterday. It was so nice to sit on a train that doesn't smell of urine and runs on time. I was amused to observe the cleaners bowing at every passenger as they disembarked. I will be shortly heading off to see the Golden Temple. Its not on most itineraries but i just read a novel based on the true story of an obsessive monk who went crazy and burned it down. Obviously its been reconstructed so i'm gonna go see if i conjure up a crazed response too.

Zen-out

I made it! My second day in Tokyo yet i strangely feel that i just stepped off the plane, given that i'm still ridiculously tired after an eventful flight and because every time i turn a corner i seem to enter an entirely different city. But then again, in another sense i can almost feel like i've been here ages as i've seen so much already. Tokyo truly is huge and seems to consist of cities within a city. Yes its vast and massive, but it has really distinct neighbourhoods and totally suprises you with unexpected sights, like a gorgeous old wooden house tucked in the arch of a railway line that is wedged between glass skyscrapers. You walk along a four lane freeway with high rises then turn a corner and find a tiny pocket of a village wih ridiculously narrow winding roads and houses you can't imagine could possibly last an earthquake. All in all, i like it. I love that its a city full of contradictions and doesn't care. A huge shrine can be surrounded by the busiest market of dodgy souvenirs, and inside will be the hustle and bustle of loads of people trying to push their way to the pool where they toss in coins before praying. The sound of the coins echoes constantly and makes quite a din. All this sound and activity and then you notice what everyone seems to be pushing to see: monks in what looks like a perfectly silent room separated from the all the din by a screen. I've no idea if the monks hear or even notice the visitors but the contrasting scene is really interesting.

Then there's Shinjuku. CRAZY. Way to throw myself in at the deepend on my first day. I have nailed getting lost. It took me about an hour to find my local station (which is a 10 minute walk away) I then unwisely headed to the biggest station in Tokyo (its about the size of Maidstone town centre). I was feeling all smug about sussing the ticketing system unti i arrived in Shinjuku and ended up taking half an hour to find my way out. At one point (whilst getting swept up in numerous currents of people) I considered whether i'd be more successful if i called the British Embassy and alerted them to my being taken hostage by the Tokyo subway. Needless to say, i made it out only to be blinded by a severe attack of neon. Times Square doesn't even compare. After the traumas of throwing up throughout my 12 hour flight, being sleep and food deprived, getting frequently lost and geeting frustrated with a city that has zero street names, I eventually sought comfort in a McDonalds, something i had vowed never to do. So ended my first day, in the comfort of familiar grease, salt and sugar.

(will get some photos online at some point - i bought a stupidly large picture card and am struggling to take enough pics to put to CD and get online. Bear with me)

Just testing the picture upload function. I found this pic somewhere on my computer and therefore have no idea who to credit it to, so apologies to whoever i stole it from. It's obviously St Paul's and its taken from the Millennium Bridge just infront of the Tate Modern. It's really best viewed at night, but hey, i didn't take it so why am i complaining?

5 days to go until i leave this currently very un-green and a little un-pleasant land (William Blake will be turning in his grave) and head to the land of the rising sun. How poetic. I'm nearly set. I've dyed my hair back to what i thought was close to my natural colour so i wouldn't have to fuss over roots, but i have little memory of what that colour used to be. Hence i think i've gone a bit too dark. I've now got about 2 weeks to embrace the sun and rescue my now corpse-like complexion in an attempt to look less monochrome when i get to Oz. Wish me luck.

Welcome to my pinboard for my up-coming travels. I'll be using this site to keep you posted on where I am, where i've been, and where i'm going to. Feel free to use this as a message board and make sure you post when I hit your town so we can meet up! Here's the itinerary:

23 March - to Tokyo for karaoke
27 March - to Kyoto for sushi
4 April - to Singapore for fake Prada
7 April - to Melbourne for cheap out-of-season Commonwealth Games merchandise
15 April - to Alice Springs and whatever else i can find to do there
21 April - to Canberra. I don't know why, I just am. It has books.
24 April - to Sydney for sun, sea and sand
1 to 31 May - Christchurch to Auckland and lots of bits inbetween, for the adrenaline kicks
1 June - to Fiji for cheap cocktails
8 June - to LA for Baywatch
16 June - to Portland for lots of books and coffee (reason enough)
21 June - to Vancouver and the Rockies, for the memories
13 July - to Toronto for poutine
23 July - to New York for Schwimmer and Gyllenhaal (and Ben Stiller if he's around)
28 July - to the UK. Because I live there.

Post or email me if i'm passing through one of your cities so i can get in touch and meet up. In the meantime - i have to find a new sarong and some sunnies......