Itinera mundi mentisque

From Japan, I flew first to Holland to see my girlfriend for a weekend, and then took a complicated route back to Helsinki, because I had originally booked the Tokyo flights cheaply from Tallin, and hence had multiple stops on my way. Here's a photo from Raekoja Plats during my stopover.

Labels: English, Estonia, Holland, Travel

Posted by Janne at 22:49 | Permalink | Comments

Last couple of days I spent taking on average four baths a day in Ikaho, a small Onsen resort two hours from Tokyo. The town is on slope, and the main street on stairs.



On the top of the stairs, there's a little Shinto shrine, and lots of prayers.



Whilst the ryokan I was staying in had excellent out door hot pools (rotenburo), I decided to try the Sento, Japanese public bath. Only this time, it was rather private, since there were no other bathers at the time, so I took the opportunity to get some photographs inside.

Labels: English, Japan, Travel

Posted by Janne at 21:31 | Permalink | Comments

As you can see from the previous post, I did manage to get my phone battery charged. If you want to use your phone in Japan, don'tleave your charger home! And get a traveller one that works with different currents. For in Japan, they have their totally own system for mobile phones, and not compatible with anything else in the world, so you cannot by normal chargers, at least not for Nokia phones.

However, if you did bring your phone, but not the charger, or the charger you brought doesn't work, there might be one rescue: At least if you have a Nokia phone, go to any SoftBank outlet. They don't sell you a charger, even though they've got some Nokia phones in they selection, but they are happy to charge it for you while you go for a lunch for example.

Labels: English, Japan, Mobile phones, Travel

Posted by Janne at 09:13 | Permalink | Comments

The last two days, I've been stationed in Osaka. Apart from enjoying the famous Kansai food, I have visited a couple of Samurai Era castles. Osaka catle is of course a fake, reconstructed after being destructed a couple of times, so I only had a look from outside yesterday. Even if not genuine, it is still a truly imposing sight. Let alone the cheryy blossoming around it.



Today, I made a day trip to Himeji, where lies the biggest and best maintained remaining original castle of feudal Japan. The sight is breathtaking, and there were even more cherry trees...

Labels: English, Japan, Travel

Posted by Janne at 22:30 | Permalink | Comments

No pictures, as I was afraid, but perhaps I'll be able to send some a bit later. Funnily, last time I visited Nara, I was among the tourists that were taking pictures of the wedding couple and guests from a distance at the shrine... now I was there at the site myself, but didn't have a functional photo equipment.

The shinto wedding ceremony was something I'll probably never forget - and that's not because of the legs that were rather hurting afterwards...

Labels: English, Japan, Travel

Posted by Janne at 20:19 | Permalink | Comments

Been a while since I updated the blog... well now there's a reason, since I'm currently in Japan. Tomorrow I'm going to attend Maiko's and Adam's wedding. Unfortunately, my phone battery died and I dont seem to find a way to recharge it, so I may not be able to take pictures (but I'm sure there are other people who will). Here are some I managed top take today.

Labels: English, Japan, Travel

Posted by Janne at 15:59 | Permalink | Comments