I think im turning Japanese I really think so

What can I say about Japan... absolutely amazing! Travelling from west to east I went through, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Tokyo where I stayed in my first hostel with 7 other people, visited and learnt all about the A-Bomb in Hiroshima, stayed in a Ryokan (a room 2.5m X 1.5m), went to Fuji-san, saw a Geisha, got my first haircut away where he shaved my ears!, witnessed a bamboo cutting ceremony, visited countless temples and gardens, went to the baseball, ate Fugu (the poisonous puffer fish), had a look at all the techy stuff in Tokyo, met the goth kids at Harajuku Station, met up with Erica and Nathan (work mates who live in Tokyo) at a weird but really fun bar and pretty much got lost everyday in Tokyo and Kyoto where the subway maps look like a multi-coloured bowl of spaghetti. I have so many stories to tell but here are just a select few.

Fugu
After asking many people who I had met in my travels, I finally found two people who would come and try Fugu with me, Jonathan and Sayaka. An information tourist lady recommended a place for us to eat Fugu even though the season for eating it is during Dec-Feb. I can remember walking into the restaurant quite nervous about what I was going to be putting in my mouth. However we were there for Fugu and Fugu is what we ate, we had it raw, deep fried and boiled along with many other side dishes to compliment the expensive but cheaper than I thought set menu. What did it taste like? Well I liked raw Fugu best as it had its own taste where as the deep fried and boiled just tasted like normal fish to me but still very tasty. There are rumours of tingling of the lips and in extreme cases going into comas, but we were all fine and full by the end of the meal.

Fuji-san
Staying in Tokyo, there was one morning where I woke up and said to myself "I think i'll go to Mt Fuji today." Lucky I did because that was the only half cloudy day I had whereas the rest of my stay was rain and full cloud. I took a cable car up to another hill where there is a popular lookout for this awesome spectacle and when I got there you couldn't see the mountain at all. Cloud everywhere. I was so dissapointed but I decided just to sit there and see if the cloud would go away. And in bits it did. I never got to see the entire mountain at once, but throughout the 3 hours staring at the mountain listening to my iPod, I pretty much saw it all taking some great photos. I had planned to climb it, but climbing season starts in 2 weeks time and it is closed up until then.

Walking and walking and walking
Everywhere I went in Japan I walked, I reckon I walked about 8hrs a day and there was at least 2 of those hours spent working out where the hell I am. I saw many of the popular touristy areas, and a lot of the side streets and back alleys. My accomadation one night closed its doors at 1am and I missed the curfew and the last train, so I did an all-nighter roaming Tokyo in the wee hours. The Japanese people are very friendly and helpful and they usually pointed me in the right direction including the train ticket lady who ran a good 50m after me to tell me I was going the wrong way, she was so puffed... he he he.

China is next, Shanghai, Xian and Beijing for around 3 weeks.

Good morning Vietnam

Hanoi up north was our next stop after Thailand and while we were there Scott and I bussed 3hrs to Halong Bay (Decending Dragon) for 3 days on a junk boat. Activities included: Swimming (pic), kyaking, cycling, trekking, cruising, drinking and a lot of laughs as we were lucky enough to have a great group on our boat. The weather has been hot and muggy all through Vietnam. 33 degrees and 90% humidity. Halong Bay has definately been a highlight so far in my trip and i would come back one day.

Nha Trang was our next stop in Vietnam, about 3/4 of the way down south of Hanoi. Usually a peaceful beach town but when Scott and i arrived we had no idea that the Bien Festival (Sea Festival) was on the very next day. Accomadation was hard to find and with 20,000 Vietnamese tourists flooding the town we somehow manged to find a place to stay tucked away down an alley way. During the festival there were a lot of performances from local idols and celebrities that the crowd loved but i had no idea who they were. The next day we went on a boat cruise to the islands around Nha Trang. We snorkeled and drank wine swimming in the water with floating rings in the sun which was a lot of fun. During lunch, the boat band were entertaing around 100 of us as 4 boats all moured together to watch the performance. This is when Scott and i gave a fantastic vocal performance (pic) singing the kangaroo song (Waltzing Matilda as Australians know it).

Ho Chi Minh City down south was our last stop in Vietnam. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels (230km all up). We clambered down just a 90m section where we both just could fit. By the end my legs were fatigued and sore and because it was so hot down there was once again perspiring all of my body fluids. As well as crawling around, i fired 5 rounds using an AK-47. I feel that i was quite accurate being my first time ever shooting a gun and by the end of the first shot i was completely deaf as the bang was so loud. I then visited the war museum after that which was both very graphic and very sad.

Next stop is Hong Kong for 2 days then Japan for 10.
Thank-you for all your messages and emails, i love hearing from you all.

Off with a Bang...kok

Only spent around 6hrs in Bangkok before heading off to Koh Samui (an island in Southern Thailand) for 3 days. Its hot...very hot here and I’ve been sweating like a pig everyday, however Scott (a good friend of mine who i will be travelling with for 2.5 weeks) and i have been making the most of the hotel pools and beaches. My first good meal away from home was an 800g Snapper eating it on the beach drinking plenty of Singa beer watching a thunderstorm in the distance, not a bad way to start a holiday!

My birthday was spent off to a Safari park where we rode elephants and watched a very scary crocodile show. We also ended up getting ring side seats for some Thai Boxing that night.

The crocodile show was quite amazing as the crocs weren't happy as you could hear them snarling and giving the occasional snap towards the handlers, so when the handlers stuck their heads in the crocs mouth and hand down their throat, the small crowd and us that were watching were dead silent as we all were expecting the worst.

After a very entertaining day, i would have to say Thai Boxing that night was the highlight. Firstly watching 2 thirteen year olds belt each other up then after around 7 more duals was the Bangkok champion VS some other guy who were around 23 years old. This fight was intense where it was non stop punching, kicking and kneeing each other in the balls. The champion ended up losing but by only just. In one of the rounds we watched beforehand, we saw a boxer getting KO'd from a knee to the head. I am spewing i didn't capture that on camera.

The next day we went on an all day tour of Ang Thong National Park, 2hr boat ride outside Koh Samui. Scott and i climbed a steep hill to see the view from the top which took nearly 2hrs to get up and back down in the extreme heat. This was the picturesque scenery that is all over every postcard here and was well worth it. After travelling to a few other islands and lagoons, swimming, snorkling and playing beach vollyball we were home by early evening having a few cocktails by the pool.

The next day we took a 40min boat ride to Koh Pha-Ngan where 8000 people gather for the monthly Full Moon Party (low season 8000ppl - High season up to 30,000ppl). The photos i have taken were around 7pm on the night, i didn't take the camera with me when we headed down later where it would have been stolen. There are around 15 or so clubs along the 700m beach each playing their own style of music, mainly techno and dance which suited me just fine. Different feeling dancing in thongs on sand, my legs were killing me the next day. Saw a guy pick up a chick with him wearing the 'Borat swimming costume', and witnessed a guy getting a UV fluoro paint tattoo of the Lord of the Rings character 'Gandalf' painted on his leg.

Danced all night until the sun came up in the morning then i crashed back at our bungalow. The party pretty much starts at around 11pm, peaks around 3am and it goes through to about 6pm the next night.

Next stop, Vietnam for 12 days travelling from Hanoi down to Nha Trang then to Ho Chi Min City. More beaches, more trecking, and bia hoi!