Trick Or Treat

From the insect sushi restaurant in western Tokyo. A cookbook is also on sale.

I'm an Englishman, get me out of here!

Happy Halloween!

Some costumes available in all tacky Japanese shops:


A terrifying ghost cloak. Perfect for double amputees. Or if you're feeling a bit more upbeat:

Dundalk, Done Blogging

Fiona picked me up from the bus station in Dundalk - the largest town that's not a city in Ireland - and back to her house by the coast in a small part of Dundalk called Blackrock.


Dundalk, in County Louth, is near the quasi-invisible border, with the notable distinctions that travelling between the two will see the change of billboards with euros to pound signs, kilometre markings to miles, and lots of adverts in Northern Ireland for fireworks; being illegal in Ireland. Also, the mobile phone coverage around that area fluctuates, so Fiona has to check her phone in case she gets charged UK coverage instead of Irish coverage.

Otherwise, the town is small and built on top of the coast, which was beautiful. We went out for a few drinks with her friends to one of the few pubs on the high street, where everyone knows your name.

An interesting tidbit: Dublin is the only place in Ireland that uses postcodes.

Her family were welcoming and it was a fun stay. The next day, we drove along the coast, stopping for a seriously delicious scone, and towards the border. In the mountains, I made friends with this donkey, and we drove past the Long Woman's Grave which has an interesting story to it.


Further along the coast to Carlingford and the castle.


We finished the drive with the megalithic (large rock) Proleek Portal Tomb, which has the superstition that if you throw a stone on top and it doesn't fall off, you will have good luck.


The next day, the weather wasn't so good, so we went for a drive but it was too rainy to see much. I was more than happy to relax after Dublin, so it was fun to chill and catch up with Fiona.

On the Monday, Fiona had work, but kindly her dad drove me down to a UNESCO site neart Drogheda, about 30 minutes south where his parents live. He picked me up as well, and I was extremely grateful for his kindness, as I had a fantastic time. Newgrange and Knowth are near the River Boyne (as in Battle of the...) and the structures are aged at older than the pyramids, about 3000BC and about 1000 years earlier than Stonehenge. From the visitor centre, with its own fascinating museum, you are given bus times to visit the passage tombs, as they are a minibus drive away and each is given a guided tour. The place, as I was told it would be, was busy - full of American tour-groups.

Knowth was full of mystery and the tour guide was knowledgeable. Unfortunately, out in the open, it was so windy and freezing that it wasn't much of an enjoyable experience until we went inside one of the tombs. The wind was so strong that it made the guide impossible to hear at points, with the classic moment of "The most important thing to know about Knowth is..."


The kerbstones around the central tomb have carvings that have never been solved, and this is one of the best parts: trying to guess at the meaning. Horseshoes? Language? Decorations?


The smaller passage tombs served as hiding spots for the dwellers, who crawled into the darkness and out of the view of the Vikings. Why they didn't themselves go inside is because they were sent into battle with their swords drawn, and this was an impossibility for the small openings.


The guide was impressed with me when I worked this one out to be a crescent of the moon at different strengths, with the lunar tide through the middle which, although not proven, has been worked out mathematically to be exact. He even asked if I was an archaeologist! Indiana Phil!


The second destination was Newgrange, which is a huge prehistoric building, most famous for the sunlight illumination for 17 minutes on the Winter Solstice. From the third picture you can see a small sun passage over the doorway. Inside, the floor slopes upwards slightly so that the sun passage farther down the tunnel is at floor level. At a certain time, once a year, the sun hits and a beam of light travels along the floor all the way to the wall at the back. A short video here.


Luckily, we were given a simulation and it really was a sight to behold. To imagine how old this place is and how specific the design and architecture was is truly impressive.

There is a raffle every year for 100 people to be invited to watch the natural illumination every year. Last year there were 40,000 entries! No harm applying.

The Newgrange area is well worth seeing, and I was extremely fortunate to have transport there and back. Otherwise, it's probably easiest to join a tour from Dublin.

Incidentally, how much does this woman look like Mama Fratelli from The Goonies!


The next morning, I took an early flight back to Bournemouth, typed up the first day of Ireland, before jetting off to France. Ferrying, actually. Zzzzz

Reaching New Lows

And just when I thought I'd escaped Japanese TV...

Image Of The Week #96

I'm almost 100% sure it's pure coincidence but how amazing is this bar name in Sendai!

(taken in Sendai - 27th October, 2008)

It's Not Just Me

The Yamanote Line is a fan favourite. One of the bloggers I enjoy has also expressed his love for the green train here:

The Yamanote is a loop urban line in the center of Tokyo with 29 stations. The Imperial Palace is in the center of the loop.
It is the busiest line in the world.
It is used by an average of 3.6 million passengers a day. Some busy days more than 5 million people use Yamanote trains to move around Tokyo.
Some days, the Yamanote line (With only 29 stations) transports more people than all trains and lines in the New York metro system (nearly 500 stations and 26 lines).
Yamanote started in 1885. It is one of the oldest urban trains in the world..
During rush hour, in a station, one train stops every two minutes.
There are videogames only about Yamanote
It takes around 60 mintues to do the whole loop.
Yamanote trains have 11 wagons. Some of the wagons have 6 doors and some have 8 doors. Some trains have 88 doors!.
On top of each door there are two LCD screens. That means that there are 176 screens per train! The maximum speed a Yamanote train can travel is 90km/h.

A whole host of pictures can be found through the link.

You Haven't Seen This Man

Police are still officially searching for Tatsuya Ichihashi, Lindsay Hawker's murderer, although they believe him to have committed suicide. During this time, photoshopped posters have gone up around Tokyo, imagining him in a range of disguises, including drag. It's tough to not fault the Police who let him slip away at the crime scene, but I've suspected he's been dead a long time. The problem is that there is no resolve.


Fiona's Mum told me that she was worried for her daughter's safety as she had only arrived in Japan around the same time as the death. I explained, rather controversially, that there was more to the story, and while the dead girl was hardly at fault, it cannot be forgotten that the teacher had complained to the Police about him stalking her and then going to his apartment with him.

I think the lesson to be learnt is that you can never let down your guard wherever you are, and that nowhere is ever going to be crime-free, but there are sensible ways to avoid dangerous situations.

Mon Amis

Having a very relaxing time in France, doing next to nothing. It's a great change to city life, with the vast nothingness of the countryside and the rural baguette-buying, dog-walking lifestyle. I even made a new friend, from next door, who is the cutest thing.


I'm just hoping he isn't being fattened up for Christmas.

インターナショナルな男の人

I'm off to France for a few days, and will finish the rest of Ireland from there.

(It really couldn't have been anything else!)

Put The Map On The Map

A quick recommendation for Compass Map's InsideOut and PopOut Maps. I've been using them for years now and I've never been disappointed. They're not only small and subtle but they are cleverly designed (award-winning, in fact). They fold in and out, and have a good three or four maps of the differing views of the city on them.


There are also the larger versions with the same maps but also a city guide, including sightseeing, accommodation, restaurants and expressions.


There are hundreds of cities covered by these maps and I have quite a large number now, including Dublin. Strangely, I don't have any of the Japan ones. I've never seen them in shops but I hear they exist.

In Dublin's Fair City

RyanAir is much like the NHS, I suppose. Sure, it has its bad points, but you never really hear about the good it does too. Bournemouth to Dublin direct, cheaper than a train to London, and at half the time, for example. So far I was liking Ireland, with its 1.90Euro bus ticket, that dropped me off straight outside the door of the rather grand-looking Avalon House Hostel. I wasn't particularly fussed about the quality as it was only one night, but this place had free internet and breakfast and I was able to leave my bag in a locker.


I was on my way just after noon and did a quick loop of the city centre, starting at O'Connell Bridge, which must be one of a kind in its being wider than it is long. On the other hand, the River Liffey is unspectacular and the only interesting thing I heard about it - the urban myth that Guinness water is taken straight from it - is untrue. Along O'Connell Road past the monuments,including the Spire and to Parnell Square. I'm happy relying on a subtle map, trying not to stick out too much, but the problem is that a lot of the history is lost. Luckily, the tours I did filled in the information. I even walked straight past the General Post Office without realising it was there, a near-miss considering its importance. More on that later.


On the North side of the Liffey (Dublin has a reputed north-south divide, with the affluence belonging below it) I followed the High Street to the Old Jameson Distillery; a fantastic guided tour and museum, ending with a tasting session. The Tour-guide explained the process of making whiskey, and the differences between Irish, Scottish and American - namely the Irish is distilled three times (for the smoother taste), Scottish twice and American only once. The lazy yanks.


Hard to see in the last picture, but my favourite part was learning about "Angel Share" - every year, 2% of a barrel's load of whiskey is evaporated, so a 20 year-old whiskey will have lost a huge percentage of what was originally cantered; adding to the reason why the price is higher. A nice name, I thought.


Afterwards, I walked along the river, past the Four Courts and crossed the Ha'penny Bridge, originally named Wellington Bridge (after the Duke), but coined this due to the toll price of crossing. Back past my hostel's road, the Bank of Ireland and through the narrow cyclist-hazardous doors of Trinity College.




The courtyard was beautiful, and I can imagine it being an inspiring place to study. Unfortunately, the tours were out of season as it was term-time but I was able to see the Book of Kells, which was frankly a load of religulous nonsense. The binding process was impressive, as was the mastery of the scribes but it wasn't worth the price of the ticket. Luckily, the admission also allowed a walk down the Long Hall, a library dating from 1592 full of some 3 million of the World's oldest manuscripts. Now this was something. Huge archives lined the room, head to toe of books that looked like they would crumble under a touch. The perfect Indy Jones setting, and one of the highlights of my trip.

(No photography allowed)


Out the other side of Trinity, to the Molly Malone statue, a fishmonger who sold more than just her wares. As I later found out that night, most of the monuments in Dublin have rhyming nicknames, so I might as well start here. Although I'd heard of the "Tart with the Cart", how about "The Trollop with the Scallops".

Stop!!!


Due to the lack of the Trinity tour, I had some time to kill before the night's event, so I decided to walk the length of Dublin centre to the Guinness Storehouse. It was about a 30 minute walk, and I passed the Castle, Christ Church and numerous pubs. As I'd worked out quite quickly (very observant am I), drink is a central part of Irish life. So much so actually that guide book sections on food and drink revolve around the liquid stuff. I guess there isn't much in terms of traditional Irish food.



The museum was ok, but nearly everything had already been explained in the Jameson tour - beer and whisky are pretty much made the same apart from the final few stages. The £12 ticket was just about worth it for the pint at the end in the Gravity Bar, offering a 360 degrees view over the city. Concerning the museum, I reckon the owners rely on tourists saying "Well, we just have to go there because we're here" regardless of how good the actual museum is. I know, because that's what I thought.


I freshened up a bit back at the hostel, and set out for Temple Bar, the nightlife and pub pedestrianised area near the river. By now, I wasn't using the map at all. It's an extremely easy city to get your bearings, and as long as you keep the Liffey and O'Connell in mind, you can't get lost. I'd recommend it for this reason alone as a good place for a weekend trip, in the same reasoning as somewhere like Amsterdam.

The sunset along the river was spectacular; much better than the weather forecast predicted. Cue photos!



At 7.30, I joined up with a Musical Pub Crawl, meeting at the Oliver St John Gogarty pub. This was advised to me, and I'd definitely suggest it as well (which I did the next day). Two musicians out of a rotating group, lead you around a few bars playing traditional music and explaining the history of the music and the instruments, which just so happened to be the Irish banjo, guitar and the bodhran - a goatskin drum. It was a fantastic night; the only setback being that as well as the ticket, buying a drink at each venue added up. And this is what I don't understand - Ireland is an expensive country - even more than the UK! I know, hard to believe - and considering how much they like to drink, I'm surprised they put up with the £4.50 average price of a pint. Nearly everyone there smokes as well, but I'm not sure how much that is. Anyway, the night was great and I was this close to requesting the Father Ted theme. As we walked past statues, the musicians gave their nicknames. For example, the James Joyce statue is known as "The Prick with the Stick", Kavanagh as "The Crank on the Bank", and the disastrous and now-gone Millennium Clock along the river as "The Time on the Slime".


My favourite is for the equally awful Spire of Dublin, which was to be named the Millennium Spire but completed in... 2003! Nicknames include "The Spike", "The Stiletto in the Ghetto", "The Stiffy at the Liffey", and "The Erection at the Intersection".


Along with the drinking, I've never heard a more foul-mouthed nation!

I was only in Dublin for one night and wanted to make the most of it, but after the long day travelling and touring, the two alcohol museums, and the last two and a half hours of drinking, by 10pm I was ready for bed! I made my way back to the hostel and used the Internet before heading to the four-bed dorm. Three German/Austrian girls and an English guy.

Less fun than it sounds.

The next morning, I slowly walked around the South parts of Dublin, debating whether or not I had time for the longer walk to Kilmainham Gaol, and deciding I didn't. I explored St. Stephen's Green, the upmarket street home to the National Museums, and to Oscar Wilde's House and the statue opposite. Again, nickname time: "The Fag on the Crag".


Doesn't he look like the lovechild of Hugh Grant and Stephen Fry!?

The Irish here covering up the red but leaving the ER VII.


I met the second of the tours inside the International Pub, ready for the start time of 11.30. Lorcan, was a well-educated and passionate guide who has led a 1916 Easter Uprising walking tour every day for the last 13 years. That takes some passion. It was brilliant for three reasons: he was a great guy, funny, knowledgeable and warm; secondly, I knew absolutely nothing about any of the events and now I know absolutely everything (of course I don't); and thirdly because of what I explained about the 'blind tourist' above - I was shown things that I had walked past and had no idea were there, namely the bullet holes everywhere, and the General Post Office, which houses the Irish Proclamation of Independence signed by the seven signatories. Very much worth a read. The actual document is fascinating as well, as the type script is not straightforward; due to the lack of supplies, they ran out of e's and substituted altered f's in their place.


Check out the bullet hole in this woman's arm!


I was shown St. Stephen's Green again, this time the bullet holes pointed out on the arch. Apparently, during the daytime, the gunfire across the park would cease temporarily at midday and the caretaker would go out and feed the birds, which is a sweet image.


The Castle was not occupied during this time, but we were shown it because the Guide believes it to be a planned decision by the uprisers rather than a lack of foresight. The woman holding the scales is looking away (from equality/justice) in disdain but notice the holes beneath each scale; rain water would tip them and the Irish decided that was too much, so decided to keep them balanced.


Lorcan recommended the Musical Pub Crawl (yay) and the Gaol (boo), which is the only thing I would have liked to have seen. I guess there's always a next time.

One of the lone travellers on the tour was an American girl studying for a term in Madrid and we went for lunch together. She was lovely and I've welcomed her to come to London (when I'm there) if she gets a chance. Always good to know people around the place. Annoying for her, RyanAir had made her check-in her bag as it was two cms over the length allowance (but under the weight allowance) which meant she had to pay them £16... to lose her bag. She was only in Dublin for a few days so would be spending the whole time bagless. If she wanted compensation, she has to fill out forms, emails, send a SAE etc. Every company has its good and bad sides. We split two meals, so we could try some traditional food; sharing Irish Stew (much like stew) and Fish & Chips (funnily enough...).

We went our separate ways and I collected my bag from the hostel, and proceeded past Custom House to Busaras - the main bus station, for a one and a half hour journey North to Fiona's house in Dundalk.


One and a half days in Dublin. Boy done good.