Thursday, December 01, 2005

Big Brother Gaijin's Tips for Traveling Japan

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Get rich before you come. Seeing a geisha or maiko walk through Gion is fun and all, but hanging out with them is not cheap!

If you dont have enough money to hang out with them, at least try to see them dance! (More pictures from the Fall dance coming soon!)

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Take advantage of every opportunity to jam! Don`t forget to bring your shamisen!

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
When climbing an active volcano, ignore all signs warning of danger and forbidding trespass. Take the path less traveled...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
...like this one i found wandering through the cow pastures...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Make friends wherever you go.

Join a hostelling association before you go, and save yourself some cash flow! This country is expensive!

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Pretend not to know the strange person that keeps taking pictures of you.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Get lost in a garden.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Spend as much time as possible in Kyoto. And come in the fall.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
If you want to see a Japanese castle, head straight for Himeji!

Remember: Soba is your friend! Eat it, and eat it often!
Want a good view of Fuji-san? Climb the nearest electrical or cell phone tower...You wont be disappointed! And since you can`t climb Fuji, at least you can say you climbed something!

Exploring on bike is your best bet, but dont forget to take time to stop and smell the tea...

5 comments:

Patrick Leong said...

hi melissa. cool. i like this post. it is funny yet practical. thats your big brother or boyfriend :P ? by the way, i will be leaving japan for good soon. dec 14th i will be back to my home country - malaysia to work. see ya. tell me more about the geisha dance. i thought of visiting gion one last time. i just read the book memoirs of a geisha. thought of seeing the place before leaving.

Lindizzy said...

Awww, Chris came out to visit again? He must really miss u. Or maybe some of your addiction to geisha is rubbing off on him, lol. Or both. But we all know he just went to some photo studio with those fake backgrounds, 'cuz no one takes snapshots that good ;op. I miss the smells of Kyoto. I'll never foret our visit with Mamechika. I wish I could come visit too! Just maybe, in April....I'll try to....Miss 'ya lots! Sorry but my computer is slow. I wanna talk soon! Do you have IM??

Melissa said...

Patrick! Oh no! youre going home? Dec 14th is so soon! I wish i could meet you before you left! I guess I'll just have to catch up with you in Malaysia! I hope youre going to keep blogging, even after you become a responsible working member of society :)

You definately need to take another stroll through Gion. especially after reading Memoirs...you'll appreciate it much more...the book and the place. More about the dance coming soon!

And he's definately my big brother: P

JRock: GRacias amigo :)

Lindz: I think he comes more for the Geisha than anything else. i saw Mamechika one day in one of the alleys near the Hanamikoji and she did a little bow to me! She is so beautiful...shes going to become a Geisha soon, remember? the ceremony is in March. Wow, Im obsessed! MSN! MSN!

Abbey said...

More great photos. And funny!

Anonymous said...

Hi Melissa. I hope you read this. It is amazing to see someone I grew up with exploring so much of the world outside our little home town. I would love to do traveling all over like that too but I know I don't have the courage that you have to do it alone. I'm not exactly sure how this messaging thing works so I hope you read this. I guess my dad got this website from your dad. Next time you come home come accross the street and tell me more about your travels...I'd love to hear about it. Meanwhile, I'll come back to this site and look around. Take care, Michelle