WorldCon 2007 , Japan

[GOLLUM]

Well the time has arrived folks. In a few hours time I'll be heading off to the airport and then off to KL with a 2 hour in transit stop followed by my connection to the Land Of The Rising Sun.

I will arrive in Japan 7.40 local time on Saturday.

Bon Voyage!!

[scalem X]

have a good trip, gollum.

[Nesacat]

Have fun GOLLUM ... see you in a week.

[GOLLUM]

Thanks guys...

Currently at KL airport 9.45pm local time. Waiting for my connecting flight to Tokyo at 11:30 pm. Picked up Terry Brooks latest Elves Of Cintra, which I'll read on the trip to Tokyo. Picked it up at Melbourne airport.

[GOLLUM]

Not much time so I will make it brief.

Got into Yokohama OK　and spent the day organising my rail trips. Checked out the bay area including Convention Center for WorldCon. It's huge and impressive. Got some nice pics I'll upload when I get home of the area. Very humid and warm which is a bit tough.

Off to bed to get ready for tommorow's tour of Mt Fuji.

I won't have a lot of time on the net whilst I'm here so my info will be short. When I return I'll post my diary of WorldCon and Japan plus choice pics.

Night all...

[j. d. worthington]

Good night, Gollum... and enjoy both the tour and the con....

[Nesacat]

Goodnight GOLLUM .... have fun on the mountain and at the convention.

[GOLLUM]

Today was the Mt Fuji and Lake Hakone tour. The weather was fine and we got to see Mt Fuji`s summit of which I took several photos. We also went on a river cruise on one of the 5 surrounding lakes as well as taking the cable car. After this we had a japanese style bentoh box for lunch at one of the lake hotels. We then went to station 5 which is at the halfway point of Mt Fuji. From there we were able to see the summit very clearly wreathed in some cloud before heading to lake Hakone. They have two replica pirate ships/galleons on the lake which make quite a sight. From there we went to Odinawa station to catch the shinkansen or bullet train back to Tokyo where the tour disbanded. Those bullet trains are amazing as we had the chance to see several zip past our station at a frightening speed!

One thing that struck me was the amount of greenery and rolling hills outside of Tokyo, which at times could have been taken from a scene somewhere in Europe. Also heaps of rice paddies to look at.

I then went to dinner and had some beautiful tempura looking out onto Yokohama harbour where the hotel is.

Tommorrow is the Tokyo tour and the day after I`ll be in Kyoto, Japan`s original capital and still its cultural center.

That`s about it for the moment, so see you all later....

[Nesacat]

Looks and sounds like you're having a very, very good time ... tempura and all. Any sign of Godzilla yet?

[scalem X]

Tommorrow is the Tokyo tour and the day after I`ll be in Kyoto, Japan`s original capital and still its cultural center.

Original Let's say: previous

Wouldn't want to forget Heijo-kyo and Nagaoka-kyo.

[GOLLUM]

Yes well I`ll defer to your better judgment Mr Scalem...

No sign of Godzilla yet Nesa..

Today I went around Tokyo station area in the morning. It`s a huge place with a zillion platforms although I`m starting to get the hang of using the metro system. It`s actually quite easy with all signs in English and Japanese inside and outside the train and train lines colour coded.

In the afternoon I had the Tokyo half day tour. We started with a climb to the observation platform for a spectacular view of Tokyo central and its harbour. Then we went on a river boat for a 40 minute cruise around Tokyo bay which was pretty cool. Following this we went to a Shinto Shrine, Shintoism being the major religion in Japan along with Buddhism and Christianity. The Shrine itself and surrounding gardens was very impressive, lots of photos there! People wash themselves in a fountain first in addition to breathing in so-called lucky smoke which is supposed to help with ailments and bring good luck before entering the shrine. I　also prayed at the temple. Following this we went through the famous Ginza district known for its high end shopping before finishing the tour at the Imperial Palace Plaza.

Now I`m off for some dinner before getting ready for tommrow`s trip by bullet train to Kyoto where I will be for 2 days before the conference starting on Thursday.

That`s all for now folks, see you later...

[Nesacat]

The Shinto shrines are very lovely. I went to one that had a Zen garden of raked sand and rocks and the monks would rake new patterns everyday and move the rocks to fit. Beautiful.

Did Ginza turn your pockets inside out and upside down?? Love the colours that glitter that should really clash and jar but somehow seem to work in an over-the-top fashion.

Have fun in Kyoto.

[GOLLUM]

We only stopped briefly in Ginza so there was not much time for shopping only looking!!

Just had a western style dinner with a nice garlic pasta with oysters and mixed vegetables followed by a cream filled Dolce Ice Cream with lots of chocolate sauce, almond flakes, wafers etc... not too bad at all.

Now to prepare for tommorrow, wish me luck......

[GOLLUM]

Arrived safley today via the amazing Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto. Following this we had our afternoon tour around Nare where they have an amazing Buddhist temple called Todaji Temple. The Buddha there is supposed to be the biggest in the world at 54 feet and weighing over 400 tonnes. There are 1,100 free deer that roam the temple grounds, amazing stuff and very tame so you can feed them. Here we also had a lucky dip where you get to see your future predicted, mine was fair to middling in the good luck stakes on a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is the best luck I got 3. After this we visited a Shinto Shrine which had 2,000 lanterns outside and another 1,000 lanterns inside the building. Quite a sight actually.

After the Nare tour I decided to catch the local subway to go to Gion Corner. This is where they have the traditional cultural show. Feautured was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony follwed by traditional Japanese Kyoto or Harp playing. Next up was a Kado flower arrangement followed by Gagaku traditional court music orchestra and dancer. Then we saw a Kyomai style dance with beuatiful Geisha like girls with painted faces and traditional kimonos. Finally we saw an amazing Bunraku or puppet play, this was a definite highlight. Needless to say I took plenty of pictures!

OK, I`m off to sample some of the local cusinie before hitting the sack toi get ready for tommorrow`s full day tour of Kyoto which includes Nijo castle, Golden Pavillion, lunch at the Handicraft center, Heian shrine, Sanjusangendo and Kioyomizu temple. Then its back on the Shinkansen local time 6:20 pm arriving at Shin-Yokohama by 8:30 pm and back to my hotel by approx 9pm to get ready for day 1 of the WorldCon.

Bye for now folks!!....

[scalem X]

Sounds super, ah I so want to be there!

I'm biting my fingers here to make me less envious, but it doesn't work. Say Gollum how are you getting on the internet there, with some luck I can go to Japan next spring and I just wondered; plenty of access?