Mount Fuji.

We climbed it.

Yes, it took us a while, and we were passed by grannies. Bryn got some pretty bad altitude sickness and we had to stop at a hut and rest until he acclimatised. We got hella sunburned and the decent killed my knees. Two days later, it still hurts going down stairs.

It doesn't matter, because we just climbed the tallest mountain in Japan. All 3776 metres of it.

We began the ascent at the fifth station a little bit before 8pm, all rugged up and rocking the headlamp chic...



The climb itself wasn't that difficult, but by the 8th station (3/5ths of the way up) Bryn had a headache and was feeling really dizzy and out of it from the altitude, so we decided to bunk down in one of the huts.

We got up at 4.30 to watch the sunrise, which was incredibly beautiful, and then stumbled back to bed. Later in the morning, fortified with Vegemite sandwiches, we started climbing again. By now the greenery had petered out and all we could see was volcanic rock and a few late snow drifts in the distance...



We also spotted these tractors taking food and supplies to the shops on top of the mountain...



At this point the sun was roasting us alive. Everyone we passed on their way back down assured us it was worth it and told us to "Ganbatte!" (do our best). One group had a quick conference in Japanese on how to translate that into English, coming up with the somewhat situationally inappropriate "break a leg!"

We didn't, thankfully, and by lunchtime we'd made it to the top...



We were above the clouds...



... blue and white as far as the eye could see. On our other side was a very big (very dormant) volcanic crater...



The decent was hard on the joints and not the least bit exciting, but we made it back to the fifth station without much drama and stumbled back onto the bus for the long ride home. It was probably the most physically demanding 24 hours I've ever had but it was an amazing experience and a view I'll never forget. (I can't quite believe we did it!)

Pantsman!

If you've got 5 minutes to kill you can't go wrong with this gem of a Japanese public service announcement - the potty training video. It's incredibly cute.

Did I mention..

.. that the No 1 beer in Korea is called Cass? Of course, I had to drink a lot of it.

Engrish

Yesterday I was at the travel agent, organising my flight home. While I was waiting for some forms to be printed, one of the other customers came up to me and asked for help with his business cards. What the hell? I thought.

Many Japanese business cards have an English translation on the reverse side, and he wanted to know why one of his cards said 'director' and one said 'directer'. I pointed him in the correctly spelled direction, he thanked me and got straight on his cell to let one of his underlings know: "Machigaimasu! D-I-R.....".

On the way home, one of the stores was advertising 'Used Crothing'. In an area full of used clothing stores I can't believe they haven't noticed that their sign stands alone, spelling wise. The sad truth is probably that they have noticed, and don't care.

I think my next third year class might be 'Dictionary Use 101 - don't wait until you meet a gaijin in a travel agency'.

Korea Day 1

Ok, now that I finally have some time to breathe at work (no classes today! but returning to Aus obligations continue to plague me) I'm finally sorting out all my pics/notes about Korea.

After arriving late the night before and sleeping in a cheap airport hotel with some questionable decor,





I headed into Seoul, dumped my bag at the hostel and headed out to explore. I was soon captivated by the artsy neighbourhood of Insadong, where I bought cute earrings, ate some chicken and ginseng rice porridge and chatted to a lot of students who wanted to practise their English.

Some university students interviewed me on my perceptions of gay rights in Korea (Having arrived less than 24 hours ago, I don't think I was much help):



(Also notice that Koreans do the finger V too. I still wonder what's up with that)

On my way to check out the palace, three girls started chatting with me. They asked me to come for coffee with them, and then took me on the tour of the palace themselves. They were all incredibly sweet and this ended up being one of the best parts of the trip for me, just chatting with some locals and quizzing them about Korea.



We parted with me nearly collapsing from tiredness (weak!) and heading back to the hostel for a diet coke and a sit down. Later I rallied and went down to the night market for dinner and had a look at all the incredibly ugly designer knock off goods available. Where are all the copies of the cute designer goods? The ones that aren't quilted and encrusted with 3 tonnes of tacky ass gold and diamante? After some spicy rice cake stew and a beer, I headed home without buying anything.

PS - Also, despite recent government efforts to outlaw the consumption of dog meat, I'm pretty sure these feet ain't no chicken:

Korea

I'm back, and I don't want to eat another bite of kimchi for a month. Korea was fantastic, I did lots of things, I took many photos and I will post more about it all later but for now,

The Highlights

* Getting hijacked by three Korean girls on my first day, taken out for coffee and on a personal tour of the palace and folk museum.
* Taking a cooking class, making my own kim chi and trying on the traditional costume - hanbok. I looked ridiculous.
* Climbing to the top of Mt Namsan and watching the sun set over a few drinks.
* The Lotus Lantern Festival for Buddha's Birthday. Two hours of the most elaborate lantern floats - including a fire breathing dragon!- and beautiful dancers.
* Delicious street and night market food and a little bargain shoppping.

The Lowlights

* Hostel did not supply toilet paper. WTF. You have free breakfast, but you can't even shell out $2 for TP. Do they consider TP a personal choice?
* Creepy guy taking my picture at the parade and telling me how 'cute and pretty' I was. I had to leave my good spot because of you. Ass.
* Getting sick on Sunday, not enjoying the one bibimbap I got a chance to eat and confirming my long held hatred of huge shopping centers.
* Buying cool omiyage for people and then leaving it on the train.

I had so so much fun, but I must confess it's great to be back in Japan and able to understand what's going on again. When I'm in Japan I only see the ways I'm still different but after a week in Korea fresh off the plane, Japan felt like home.

More to come....

Children's Day Supermarket Special

Last week we had Kodomo no Hi (or Children's Day) in Japan, where young kids are dressed up, taken out and spoilt rotten by their parents. And what was this I spied next to the capsicums?



That's right, goldfish! Only 6 bucks.



I wonder if they were 'reduced to sell' the next day, or discreetly flushed down the toilet?