Japan series + Osaka vs Tokyo

In Palau and probably other small island nations there is a term called ‘off island’. Simply it refers to when you are not on the island and are away travelling somewhere. While island life can be pretty awesome, it does however come a number of frustrations (regular readers will be well aware of my complaints). So sometimes it all gets a bit much and you just want to be back in a big functioning city again, with all those luxuries like that amazing new invention called the internet and a wide variety of (non-rotting) food & drink.

Kimonos in a traditional street in Kyoto

After arriving in June last year Amanda & I are yet to go off-island. Most ex-pats here think we are long overdue and the general consensus is that a trip away is needed every 6 months to maintain your sanity. Therefore a few weeks ago we booked (yet another) trip to Japan!

This will be our 4th trip to the land of the rising sun. We both love Japan and conveniently it's one of the places you can fly direct to from Palau. We are super looking forward to being in a big metropolitan city again (primarily Osaka) and can't wait to eat, drink, internet and go to some Sumo & Baseball games.

Takoyaki & Sapporo!

For a few years now I’ve often been asked by friends about my recommendations in Japan. So I've fairly regularly been sending around long email with a pile of suggestions about what to do, see, eat, drink and where to stay in Japan. Mostly this has centred around the Kansai region of Osaka, Kyoto & Nara as those are the places I know and like the best. With the advent of this blog (and the fact that people are actually reading it) I thought I should make my suggestions a little more accessible to the masses. So stay tuned for a series of posts about all things Kansai/Japan starting late March.

So first up I want to discuss the debate between Osaka and Tokyo:

A random street in Shinsekai, Osaka

If you know me you’ll no doubt be very aware of how much I love Osaka. In my travels I’ve noticed that some cities just click with you while others don’t. It may be pure luck that I’ve been in certain places at certain times or luckily had someone show me around. Either way, Osaka is one of my favourite cities in the world and here is why I think you should go to Osaka and not Tokyo.

Let me just clarify that Tokyo is awesome, it’s in Japan so of course it’s awesome. However it is HUGE and very spread out, it honestly appears to never end. Osaka is also a big city but not of the size of Tokyo, it also is extremely well located. Osaka is surrounded by awesome places to visit like Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Koyasan. And these are on local trains, not the super fast and expensive Shinkansen (bullet trains). 

Sunrise from my favourite hotel in Osaka (hotel Raizan South)

Japanese people are some of the most polite and friendly I’ve met but people from Tokyo seem to have very busy lives. They’ll never be rude to you and will help you out if you are lost but in Osaka people seem to want to know all about you, where you are from, why you are in Japan etc. I’ve had lots of great conversations with random people in Osaka that I haven’t really had in Tokyo.

Also one of the best points is that Osaka is Japan’s kitchen. There is a saying that goes something like this: People from Tokyo spend all their money on clothes and kimonos, while people from Osaka spend all their money on food. With that said Osaka sounds like the place to be for me! I’ve had good food all over Japan but Osaka definitely takes the cake ;)

One of the many beautiful shrines in Koyasan

One more thing about Osaka, I believe it’s cheaper. Whilst I haven’t kept track of every single yen I’ve spent, the times I’ve been in Tokyo I seem to be more out of pocket than I am in Osaka.

If you are travelling to Japan and have the time by all means see Tokyo, it’s pretty incredible. However if you are short on time I’d recommend Osaka if only for its central location to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe & Koyasan.

If you'd like to view some more photos from my previous trips to Japan they are located here: 
        Japan 1 - May 2011          Japan 2 - May 2012           Japan 3 - November 2012

Japanese wedding at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Osaka

 Also I would love to hear any comments my readers have about Osaka v Tokyo. Don't be shy.

Love watching Sumo, great sport!

Random Palauan TV screen captures

In December we bought a TV off some friends who were leaving the island. There are about 40 channels mostly filled with crap where none of it is worth watching. I was happy to finally get to watch some sport but instead of my beloved ice hockey about the best I’ve seen is some NFL playoffs and 2 x Rugby 6 Nations games. Apart from that we seem to watch an awful lot of tattoo and food shows. Thankfully we have the Australia Network which has some good stuff on at times like Food Safari (way to make me miss quality & varied food!). 

 Anyway here are some funny images I’ve seen screened on Palauan TV:

One channel is clearly run from a Western Digital TV device (WDTV), as evident by their screen saver that for a period often ran at night in lieu of actual programming.

Here is one of the local Palauan channels, I think they have some issues.

We have been getting some winter Olympic highlights although they spend as much time showing video of the Olympic flame and behind the scenes segments on things like figure skating hairdressers as they do actual highlights. Not sure where Palau is getting their feed from but I thought this was interesting to see.

And another channel broadcasting a screensaver. Nice work there Mitch!

Last night a whole bunch of channels changed to what I’ve termed the Blue Screen of Nothing (BSoN).

 

And finally when the Olympic highlights aren’t running we get a test pattern with a very annoying high pitched constant beep noise.

 

UPDATE: This afternoon the 'special event' channel which up until recently has only had pay per view UFC (and lately rather bad winter Olympic highlights) suddenly played the first Super Rugby game of the season (Chiefs & Crusaders). We were clearly getting the raw Sky TV feed from New Zealand. After the game had finished we had around 15 minutes worth of random slow mo' replays, screensavers and random game commentary which didn't align with the replays nor screenshots.

UPDATE #2: For some reason this afternoon almost all TV stations are now blank. I blame Mitch.

Liquid Desire

Another post I’ve been meaning to get around to is about the boat Liquid Desire. Last year another Aussie hit the island, Anthony has built his own state of the art twin hull catamaran and sailed it here to Palau. The boat is incredible and he’s done a wonderful job in designing and building it. It doesn’t look particularly big but trust me there is plenty of space. 

Amanda and I have been lucky enough to spend two amazing days on the boat. Late last year we had a big party to celebrate our friend’s 42^nd wedding anniversary (and their leaving Palau party). We also spend a very memorable Christmas day on the boat. 

Both days consisted of around 20 of us sailing and/or cruising around the rock islands with various activities like snorkelling reefs & shallow wrecks, stand up paddle-boarding, drinking, eating, lazing on the deck etc.

Anthony’s aim in Palau is to set up Liquid Desire as a surfing live aboard but is also set up for diving and fishing. If you want a trip of a lifetime get a small group together and hire Anthony’s boat and go surfing on the reefs in Palau. You won’t regret it. 

You can contact Anthony at http://liquiddesire.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/liquiddesiresailing

Here are some mostly average photos I've taken. Plenty of better ones on the websites though.

Moored in Malakal Bay

one of the many bedrooms

it's a tough life sometimes

the famous arch

inside the cabin

Captain & owner Anthony

one of Palau's many wrecks, this one you can snorkel

paddle-boarding in the rock islands

Anthony pulling up a Giant Trevally that my Dad reeled in

Sunset from the back of Liquid Desire at it's mooring