calory

My lack of sleep is starting to get ridiculous, it's been like 1,5 months since my travel (and lack of sleep) started. I wake up early in the morning for the cause of sleeping early aswell, but somehow I end up not sleepy until late... and then it goes again.

Anyway, today I've been ridiculously tired all day. Like, sleepy tired. We went for lunch at a Italian place and had some spinach/ricotta ravioli with creamy pesto sauce, the thickest cheesy garlic bruschetta I've seen, caramel/chocolate ganache wih vanilla ice cream and tiramisu. Nice yeah, even though I eat spinach/ricotta ravioli every time I have pasta where I live in Malta lol. My excuse is that I've been out traveling for 1,5 months now alright, I'm allowed to have Italian 

Has obviously not been out and around so much, been spending all time in the kitchen and that's not very interesting atm so I'll give you guys a peek on how Singapore's departure hall looks like. It it impressive 

Safely arrived in Sydney, or actually Singleton, on tuesday. I flew from Taipei with a transit in Singapore, where they announced a delay of three extra hours... Which meant like, 8hrs of dead time in the airport. I was really impressed of Singapore's airport, but 8 hours was a bit over the top. Oh well, thought I could spend some time food researching so I went to subway, had a GORGEOUS tunamayo sub (I love subway more than any other chain in the world, but never eat there), then tried a sardine sandwhich, then the Singaporean dish chicken and rice. I'll have to try it again outside the airport though, cuz that one was one of the poorest meals I've ever bought in my life. It was like, nothing. And dry. And the service-mind of the catering staff was... Not there. Alright, it was after midnight, but c'mon, 95% of the people was obviously VERY bothered by the customers. No smiles. Sighs and rolling eyes. The airport was great, but the service was low, I have to say (at least the service around the food court). Or maybe it was my face

Sharing some Taipei pictures, had a bit time to stroll around before going to the airport. Pretty! Sunny! Bubble teas! I need to come back and give Taiwan a better chance at some point.

As I stayed at Kansai airport hotel with a bfast buffet closing at 9.30, I had lots of time preparing for the flight (which departed 16.40). I then slept through the full flight and landed about 18.40-something. In Taipei. Chaos

I've gotten used to the organized and shy people of japan, and was now facing shouting people (alright, loud language) queues that wasn't really a line, no one gave me an arrival card for the immigration so I had to go back the line again, buses was confusing, where's the english etc etc. In the end, I think I was just so confused cuz I didn't eat or drink anything on like, 7-8hrs.

Somehow got hold of Nick who've been living in Taipei for 4 years. Great guy! I'm really sad we didn't get more time together, but the world is small :) We stumbled into a lantern festival, really pretty, saw a band playing, then went to Shilin night market for some tastes of Taiwan. I felt like home with the street food stands before even going inside the actual market. 

I bought quite much. My weakness is these stands, I can go crazy and buy all sizzling things I see. I got some kind of blood-marinated stuff (or I don't know actually???), hundred kilos of fruits (alright, just a lot) and chicken feet. I never really thought eating chicken feet would be a tasty experience, it's just skin and bones after all, but I wanted to at least try. I was freaked out, but I did it and I never chewed any toes I tell you

Biggest sausages ever

A pic of my saviour from last night. Me and my friend ran to catch the last train, but for some stupid reason I took it to the wrong direction. Lol

Tomorrow, I'll leave Beppu early for Taiwan. Japan has been nice, but I can't deny that the weather here really sucks this time of the year. I've been missing Malta more and more, everyone seems to upload lovely, sunny pictures of Malta and I'm just like, I belong there. I belong in the sun and in the beaches. But time will come soon, in a week I'll leave Taiwan for summer time Australia and it'll all be glorious ;)

Let me say... Well, it wasn't utterly disgusting. Remember the chocolate chips I had before in Kobe? Well, those worked together better, but I mean, it was edible. Maybe not the brightest of all flavor combinations, but a fun valentines month thing to dare people with I guess. 

Another special thing is that this is the only burger I've bought except for McDonald's cheeseburgers (also tried Teriyaki and prawn burger here in Japan, once) and I have to say that Lotteria knows the deal. Between the bread and mustard dressing (and very artificial chocolate sauce) was a breaded chicken piece so juicy the liquid just overflowed when biting. Screw all those dry beef patties and chicken breast burgers, this is the shit. It was a epic sight in between the weirdness, I'm still not into burgers but bring me another strange one and I'll eat it.

This is the ryokan,a net he outdoor spa (onsen). I can't leave japan before trying it out at least once, but when I watch it I really don't feel like getting in. I'm a fucking cat :(

Anyways, we ended the mountainhike (both up and down) with great coffee, and later some izakaya dinner with beer. After that, we went searching for a technobar we were at the night before, but it took hell of a while I say. Ended with tequila shots and more beer.

Today, I've been crying my eyes out. The Hiroshima days has for some reason caught me deeper than the other cities (except for the chiba psy party) and when we, my Hiroshima family for 2 days, split I felt completely heartbroken. Like, seriously, I cried on my platform. It's a thing included when traveling, it reminds me of how alive and full of feelings I am, and for the first hour alone at my train I was just bursting of emotions. Obviously this is the thing of how beautiful life can feel, and that you need some downsides to fully grasp the beauty. Oh god, I'm just swambling around, guess I'm still a bit emotional.

Anyhows, slit myself from Hiroshima to arrive in Beppu today. Is staying at a former colleagues place, a shared flat with 4 Japanese guys and atm 1 french couchsurf girl. Party people, about my age and like-minded, oh Marcus you should've come here!! 

Fries with the sashimi yes please!

Our favorite technobar in Hiroshima, just fucking 

impossible to find but very tiny and very cozy <3

At the moment, I'm sitting in the living room of the hostel, waiting for my iPad to charge up. I have about 7hrs to kill before meeting up  with other couchsurfers, and I'm thinking of going to Miyajima. Apparently, that's one must-do thing while visiting Hiroshima, and with the hours I have to kill.. Why not.

 

Got shitfaced. Kanpai!

Anyhows, spent around 5 hours of walking around Sannomiya after that, ate some sweet potato tayaki and tamago onigiri and just killed time. Later, we went to a shabu-shabu and yakiniku restaurNt and got our meat cravings filled. We paid a certain amount (this case 2000yen=€14) and then we were free to order how many refills we wanted of both veg and meats. Good deal I have to say, Japanese style of eating out differs a lot from eating out in west. It's more of a play, you kind of make your own dining experience rather than having everything already planned and given right on your front door. I love the Japanese cuisine more and more for every day, and I can't imagine living without my soba or natto bfasts anymore.

Sjögurka!!!!!

Valkött+späck. Skall testas imorgon

Miso market

Shabu-shabu

Yakiniku!

Blood levels was low after these hours of walking and eye-shopping  so it was Mochi times!!!!! Anko (sweet red beans), green tea ice cream, dark syrups, green tea soup, mochi (balls made of mashed sticky rice) ohmygod. Sugar sugar sugar! More sugar please, my diet has changed from my European one so now I increase my carb intake and lower the fat. High carb low fat.  Not that I follow a diet or so, I just happen to eat like this here.

So, desserts first and then..... Yakitori Izakaya! Basically we went to an izakaya and ordered many different small dishes of skewed chicken parts. Had some heart and liver again. Loads of beer for that aswell (everything was 280yen each!!). We then left Kyoto, I continued to a Spanish meeting/party and went later to a club in central Osaka. Closest to party I've been to, normal clubbing-dancing-drinking like in Malta. Smiling and having fun, finally some dancing goddamnit.

Maiko's house!

Pickled vegetables tasting

Most beautiful restaurant entrance ever

Anyway, met up Anderson today and we had a great but short moment before he left me with Tokie who had been studying Swedish for 6 years!! Been living in Sweden for 6months aswell, she speaks surprisingly good English for being japaneese. We had some coffee, she showed me purikura and later we had beer in a Irish pub. Some hours in between, I spent on walking around for hours, just looking at stuff. The journey is starting to feel better now, the last time in Ishibashi (former host) just felt awkward to be honest..

A penguin outside a penguin bar :)

I was thinking if I should start eating stuff at home, but then I realize I easily get a filling bowl of soba for between 300-550yen (€2-4), it's quite alright to eat out. When I eat those noodle soups I just eat 2 times a day, they really make me full (so hot, so filling, so incredibly lovely), so the cost of about maximum €8 for food each day is okay. Most of the full meals in convenience stores cost more than that anyway.

It took away my appetite completely, and first around 7pm I managed to get myself some soba noodle soup. I'd probably eaten earlier if it wasn't so that my body was completely trashed and hurting everywhere. Anyways, stomach a bit better now (still not good though) and I just hope it'll be going away for tomorrow. Japaneese people, well me too, seems to love undercooked eggs. That might maybe be a reason, but then lots and lots of people here would get sick all the time no?

Since I stayed in coma inside today, I don't really have any pictures to show you, except the soba noodle picture. I give you pics from Monday jan 20th instead, enjoy!

Tomato ramen soup!

Soba noodle soup with raw egg and spring onions.

The last 3 hours was spent on food. I had my dinner consisting of pork ramen soup and kimuchi, but had still like, 2 hrs left so I decided, why not try udon tsukemen (noodles you dip) and takoyaki aswell (octopus pancake balls). Yeah, had like 3 meals in those 2 hours, just to kill some time and to try. Also side ordered 6pcs of gyoza :)

I'm now at my new hosts place in Ishibashi, a student town. My host study biomechanics at the university beside and hates both alcohol and smoking... How lucky it's the beginning of the week, I don't need to show my bad wolf side really yet :P

Ramen bfast!

Pork ramen and kimuchi

Takoyaki, bleeeeeeeee

Udon tsukemen with a pork slice

At the event, I met people who was willing to open up and share their family life with me if I wanted to stay in Tokyo. An au pair thing I would call it, which I greatly, oh god you don't know how much, appreciated with all my heart. But. 

I feel in need of a rest. I haven't been relaxing at all since I woke up that departure day, and Im started to feel worn. So when I got the offer to go down west to Osaka (Kobe), I took it. Tokyo in all great might, but somehow, south did give me this more relaxed feeling of thought. So I went.

And here I am, being guided around by two soul family members, who unfortunately can't be with me much more these coming 5-7days. But I'm sure I'll manage with a bit help of couchsurfing.org.

I would't forgive myself if I forgot to write about my meeting with Kobe beef as a introduction to the city. I tried it in the dish Sukiyaki, which means the meat and veg is cooked in the middle of the table together with soy and a dashi/konbu stock, then dipped in a raw, whisked egg before putting it in your mouth. Kobe beef was more amazing than I ever imagined. The thin slice of meat literally melted in the mouth. I'm not kidding, it MELTED away. It is a very fatty slice you got, all deliciousness amazingly marbled into the meat and oh boy, that's an illegally sexy texture you have. Does fat sound disgusting? Try it if you can. It'll be worth those extra calories. Try it in a real japaneese way (whatever you choose that to be). Just go. Now

Look at that marbling. Just look at it. Can you imagine how it feels when those fat molecules is heaten up between the protein ones? It falls apart from the lightest bite, and it will make you sigh of culinary beauty.

Anyhows, Robert found me and we went straight to Attic room for something to eat. All food was fucking hell, great! Nice introduction, even though the food wasn't typical japaneese or anything. Got some good ideas and inspiration, we had some pâté, a awesome chicken salad, something that could aswell be named 'salmon wellington' and a truly beautiful avocado, tapenade and prawn tartar topped with sesame seeds. Some not-the-best wine and ume-shu with that. Umeshu really is hell of a good liquer to finish a meal with.

Straggled away to Legato, a Italian place on the higher floors with view over east Tokyo. Nice glass windows, and great ginger ale (spicy is the shit). THEN... We found some caves. I'm speaking literally here, my friend took us down a basement and it was all very weird, but in a good way. That place was so.... Fucking awesome! Very calm though, but hell, the place consisted of tiny caves built in papier mâché, inside/on/together with the walls, go down a few steps and you have to crawl to get into those. Difficult to get a proper picture, but a really nice and different experience. Narrow, tiny, one could easily get stuck there if you're bigger than the average Asian. Weirdness <3

So, first night was nice, second is Friday and we got some party going on. Let's await and see what Tokyo has to tell me. So far so good, and if the clubs are boring I'll just stick my head down the beers instead ;)

Had a big touch screen fucking cinema, food, red