Death Row Diaries - 23 March 2006
Big in Japan
Dear All,
Well here we are, at last, the final chapter in the Honney Tours trilogy. And at this point; a special thanks for all the donations to the Cambodia Trust and as is customary, to all of you for your emails sent along the way to cheer me up.
After leaving Cambodia, I had an all too brief stop in Hong Kong and with it too little time to catch up with my homies there. But the times they are certainly changing; for back in the day we would have been burning the candle at both ends but now my mucker Jasper in his new role of father was the picture of homely bliss. Although we still managed one night on the town as you would expect.
The new style morning after a night out in HK with Jasper!
Then it was off to Japan. Now how ended up getting there let alone going around the Planet Honneywood for the third time was due in part to hanging on the telephone last March and realising that I was going to come back to the UK in the cold dark of a wet winter...instead, I have returned to the cold dark of a dry as a bone UK.
Japan was simply fascinating and so enjoyable. Oh and whilst technology drips off everything, I seemed to manage ok. The myth that it is expensive was blown on a night when I struck up conversation with a lad in a pub who had been in London for business last summer to which he commented, “London velly expensive”. I stayed in some cracking places, none of which were more expensive then the Bridge Hotel, Greenford with its up close and personal view of the flyover.
The transportation was everything you have heard it to be. I bought a first class 14-day voucher for £375 and traveled in sumptuous style at a great rate of knots for over 3,000 kms and of the 15 or so trains that I used, one was 2 minutes late!! Ordinarily, and with the possible exception of Grand Central in New York, I would strongly advise you against railway concourse dining. But you can eat like a Lord in some places and Kyoto station is a night out in itself.
The thing about Japan is not that there is obtrusive order in the way things are done, rather polite efficiency. It is done with a smile and courtesy that is from a time long gone, alas. My mastery of the language did feature a lot of pointing and chuckling along, but so obliging were my hosts that nothing was insurmountable. And that was something I found all over the country.
This experience can best be summed up when I got on an ordinary commuter train in Kyoto, where a load of school kids were already sat chattering away. All of them had their feet on the seats, but incredibly, all had taken their shoes off and when they exited the train, they brushed the seats before leaving. In the UK I would probably have been told where to go for merely looking at them!
As you know, I took the opportunity with my rail pass to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and even as I write, I am still numbed form the experience. But I am so glad that I went and saw what I did.
This being the last days of this and in all probability all my Tours of Duty, a certain sense of melancholy sat in as I reminisced about this and the other trips set in. And so what better way to lift my spirits then to take myself off to Kobe, for an evening of fine dining!
If you have heard of Kobe beef, let alone had the sheer pleasure of tasting it, then all I can say is that it is everything you ever thought it would be. I pitched up at a swanky place, ordered a fine bottle of red to accompany it and reached gourmet nirvana at what was a lot of dosh for one person. But I thought an evening of self indulgence deserved. So moved by the experience, I made my way into the Kobe night and ended up in a reggae bar, run by a Nigerian ex-footballer whose best friend from his village in Nigeria played for QPR! Yup, it’s a small world.
As tactfully as I could stress that Dominic Iorfa was rubbish, I left it that he was unlucky and that he did not settle. The bar man just burst out laughing and said that when he heard we had signed him, he thought anyone could play for an English team. At which pointed I conceded that yes, he was crap after all.
Well people that is it. I could wax on a whole lot more about Japan, as I had such a great time - if you have ever fancied nipping (no pun intended ) over there, do. But the trip is in the past as is the likeliness of another big trip. I recently realised that I have got this far in life and I don’t own a suitcase! I am also keen to try one of those things called a holiday where you seem to fly in and out of the same place and remain there for the duration. It seems a little alien to me, but I hear they’re relaxing!!
Again, many thanks for all the emails. I must say this trip has been arguably the most incredibly and whilst I have seen and witnessed many things that have filled me with fear and a certain sense of loathing about the world we live in, I am reminded of the generosity of my friends who again have had me come knocking on their door and who have more than accommodated me. The simple fact is that the whole world is a better place when you hear its people laugh and proceed through the day with a smile on their face.
Well, subject to my physio, the next mass email will be ahead of the Chicago marathon later this year. I know I said I would not do another one, but then again, I said I would not go traveling again!!!
Final call for Honney....
Cheers
JH..xx
pps the website to donate to Cambodia Trust remains open until Friday 17 March, thanks again.
www.justgiving.com/ctrustjh |
