Another day in Tokyo
Although the title may make the idea of another day seem usual and ordinary... maybe even boring... trust me... another day in Tokyo is awesome! Today the day started with Joss taking me down to a magical land where there were many many fine foods on display. It was Shibuya food market and man there was some awesome stuff. The food was well presented with lots of good colours and really vibrantly fresh produce on display. Joss and I bought some stuff and tried some of the free samples.
We tried to find a sword museum but ended up in Harajuku park where we caught people doing just about everything you could think of: from playing football/frisbee/rugby, juggling, Japanese drumming and dancing, cycling, skating, bands playing and people just posing around. Lots of good energy and once again the Japanese passion for whatever they are doing.
Meiji shrine was next for us to take in some of the traditional Japanese element and also to do the little Shinto wish-making/prayer thing. The shrine was very impressive, the huge Torii gates on the way in also were quite cool.
After that we headed to the Tokyo Government offices and headed up to the 45th floor to get a good look over the city. I didnt take a picture cos there is no way I coulda done the view justice.
Then we sorta just bummed around shinjuku for a while and then joined the Breakdance crew we'd met yesterday for a while. I enjoyed doing a bit of uprocking and just getting a feel again for my style. Once again though, Joss and the Jap guys were totally blowing me out with their skillz. I called it a night early and headed off.
After that I headed to the station and came accross one of the weirdest dance acts I'd ever seen. Guys dressed as weird Samurais flashing their torso's and screaming. Was entertaining, especially when the lead guy ran up to me smiled widely and screamed "HALLO!". I said hello back and he gave me a thumbs up and then screamed again and flashed his pecs at me then ran back to the group. Was... very odd.

Shinjuku and Bboy styling
Started the day by hitting out to Shinjuku to see what all the fuss is about. And my god was i impressed. It`s like the best example of the Japanese modernisation phenomenon. The tall buildings and amazing skyscrapers. The shops that are stacked one on top of each other and accessed by elevators. Went to the NS building which is a building which is hollow in the middle, has a huge atrium in the middle?@and a sky bridge on the 29th floor so you can get a great view down to the ground floor. Was pretty awesome and I dont think my description is really doing it justice. After that I hit out to Shinjuku park and took in some of the awesome Japanese style garden layout. After that I hooked up with Joss in the hostel and we had dinner on the top floor of the NS building then headed down to a spot Joss had found out about where local bboys practiced. Was nice to finally see Joss` style. It was pretty crisp and he had a good move set. But next to the Japanese guys it was pretty hard to step up. These kids had some really tight moves. Their foundation skills were impressive and they had some serious power to them as well. I threw down a couple of sets but nothing was gonna even compare to what the guys were doing. Was a good atmosphere and actually found myself remembering why i did breaking in the first place. Was awesome seeing these kids just throwing down in the street, really throwing themselves into it and not giving a toss about who was watching or who joined in. Real good place to be. Definately a high point of the trip.

Imperial palace
Bit of a hangover today but once again I`m not gonna let that stop me seeing the sights! I headed to the imperial palace to have a look around. The place was massive. From the statue of some famous Samurai (guess who was paying attention), to the massive gardens to the awesome water fountain display the place was really cool to look around. Very good place?@to chill and reflect in.
I met Joss for a pint afterwards and we chatted for a bit before I hit the sack.

Techness
I decided to have a tech day today. I hit out for Ginza first since it seemed like a good starting point. First stop was the sony building which contained some awesome Technology examples. TV screens that were so clear it made my normal vision seem fuzzy.
Then it was time to hit AKIHABIRA! The tech centre for tokyo! It contained pretty much everything you could ever want or need or not need or want for computers. From old school console games to the latest cutting edge PC software! In between all this were spattered a few anime shops which contained enough toys and figurines to make you question the sanity of the average Japanese cartoon fan.
I met a couple of guys at the hostel and we struck out for some drinks. One of them turned out to be a bboy from Luftbourough (excuse the spelling) so got chatting to him about his local breaking scene and his style. Good night although we may have drank too much.

To Tokyo!
Arrived in Tokyo and found my hostel with no problems whatsoever. The next morning however I was awoken by a mild earthquake. It was only a three or so but it was still trippy seeing my room swaying like that. I then went out to Chiba to meet up with Alex and meet her host mother. Spent most of the day hanging with Alex since she was heading back to the states the next day. Was awesome fun... and if you`re reading this you better post a comment!

Mt Misen
After the heavy air of yesterday and the many hours in front of a PC screen trying to salvage my files what i really needed was some exercise and some fresh air... and it came in the shape of MT Misen.
Mt Misen is situated on Miyajima island off the coast of Hiroshima and although it is possible to access the mountain by using a cable car, all i could think was "Where is the fun in that?"
I grabbed a walking stick and set off up the mountain. The going was fairly easy for the first part. So much so I got bored of the track and headed off into the woods to trail blaze my own way for a bit. I even ended up going up the river by using the many rocks that were strewn all over it. Then the going got tough... For the last 2.5km up the mountain the path became stairs. Steep stairs. And I dont care who you are... 2.5km of stairs is a lot. The going was tough and the sweat poured off my mighty frame but I slogged on and reached the summit. The view was awesome. I went to a few shrines on the mountain top and then caught the cable car back down. It was kinda fun at the top ropeway since all the monkeys and deer crowded round the cable car station. Afterwards it was a simple descent and train ride home.

Hiroshima
I woke up late to a grey and rainy day. I actually felt kind of nervous about what I was going to see today and how I would react. I first went to Skukku-en park to see the gardens there. They`d been laid out to make a minature landscape including mountains, rice fields and forests and was very picturesque.
Afterwards I went to Hiroshima Castle and took in the museum and wandered the grounds for a bit to take in the layout etc of the place.
Then it was time to head to the A-bomb dome. It looked pretty much like any other derelict building. Stark and skeletal. You wouldn`t know it had been in the middle of an atomic explosion if it wasn`t the plaques around telling you.
I wandered around the peace park and it was a weird air to the place. Quite solemn in some areas and really touristy in others.
The worst part for?@me was the hall of records which contained the names and information on some of those that had died. Not all of them since so much paperwork was lost in the bombing. The survivors accounts really struck home when you read some of the after-effects of the bomb.
The museum was a morbid affair to say the least. Some of the exhibits were pieces of clothes or skin and nails and although they were interesting to see I was still left with the thought that these were parts of people in front of me. I was pretty spaced out by the end of it, although I got a rather rude awakening in the form of accidently deleting my Ipod files so have lost all my photos of this trip. Which is slightly annoying.

Koya-san
Seems my luck is holding out! I went down to the prayer session this morning which was interesting. Afterwards I was invited on a tour by one of the monks and agreed to come along although I would have to leave at 3 to get to Hiroshima before too late.
Not only did we get a guided tour but we were filmed by a Japanese TV crew who were making a program on the foreign interest in Koya-san so I may appear on Japanese TV.
The tour was very deep which meant it was hard to take it all in but was really interesting and the monk leading us even lead us in some chants and prayers at some points. We even prayed to Kobo-Daishi, Koya-san`s founder. The guide, Kurt Genzo, was very interesting and well-informed on the area and history and said he`d been studying there for 9 years. We were lucky as we got to take in some of the decoration that had been put up the day before for Kobo-Daishi`s birthday which was pretty awesome.
I left the tour and headed to Hiroshima. My room here feels kinda sleazy after the grandeur and majesty of the temple at Koya-san although the coin operated porn channel on the TV really made me laugh.

Koya-san
Probably the most scenic place I`ve visited in Japan. Koya-san is simply beautiful. It sits on a mountain top which is accessed by cable car. The train coming through the valley is quite something too since it winds it`s way along railways along the sides of the mountains and you see the mist spattered peaks and the low lying valley down below.
Once I arrived in Koya-san there seemed to be a deep and almost breatheless air to the place. I stayed the night in one of the temple accomodations and was led to my room by a young Monk. After a few minutes another monk arrived and brought me some green tea and showed me around the temple then invited me to the morning service. He said then he would bring up dinner at 6pm and left me to it.
I had a quick wander around the town and the pouring rain did nothing to damage the beautiful scenery.
Dinner was a mighty affair. All vegetarian cooking and it was really nice although I had trouble finishing it since there was so goddamn much! I spent the rest of the night in the temple since the rain wasn`t very appealing to wander around in.

Movieland, More temples and more alcohol
Went to toei Movieland today and was pleasantly amused by the set-up. Lots of random movie-sets scattered around and the Power-rangers display almost cracked me up. Although my biggest joy was wandering along and hearing some kids shouting: "STEBEN-SAN!". I turned and seen three kids I`d met in Nara the day before run towards me. It was funny seeing them so after a quick round of hand-shaking and high 5s they set off.
After the movieland I headed to see a couple of the temples I hadnt got around the day before to see what was on offer and was quite impressed with the size and layout.
I then headed back to the hostel. I met Alex and her friend Nadine so it was time for some drink. We watched Team America on Alex`s laptop too. Great night!