The Joining of Worlds / 二つの世界が出会った時
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: autumn, colour, design, fall, japan, japanese, photography, south east asia, tokyo, travel writing, Zen
Tag: south east asia
DISPOSABLE JAPAN #2
by joostay
Random images from Japan taken with a disposable camera 2003/04 [click to scroll] DISPOSABLE JAPAN #1
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, blog, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, south east asia, tokyo, travel, urban
The sleepy little town of Phetchaburi, Thailand.
by joostay
Monks, monkeys and mentalists… why these underdog towns will always reign supreme. As many people would attest, so often when you travel it’s the seemingly crappy little towns that leave the biggest impression: the nondescript two-bit places with no visitors, quietly going about their business, content not to make a fuss. Back in April I spent some time in Phetchaburi in Thailand – an unassuming agricultural town of just 25,000 about 160km south of Bangkok. Any visitors that do come […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, blogging, hot, ikimasho, monkeys, Phetchaburi, rural, se asia, south east asia, sunny, thailand, town, travel, urban, weather
The Okutama region of western Tokyo
by joostay
Yes, this is Tokyo. But not as you know it. Ikimasho! Okutama is a mountain district in the west of Tokyo. To get to Okutama Station take the Chuo Line from Shinjuku and switch at Tachikawa on to the Ome Line. Depending on connections the journey takes anything between 90 minutes and 2 hours (for a very reasonable 1,080 yen). Buses are irregular to Lake Okutama, one or two an hour – and if you decide to walk between […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, culture, dam, hatonosu, hiking, ikimasho, inaka, japan, lake, nature, okutama, ome, shiromaru, south east asia, tokyo, wildlife
Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo
by joostay
An oasis of calm in the heart of metropolitan Tokyo Established in 1949, The Institute for Nature Study (Shizen Kyōikuen) is a nature reserve set right in the heart of downtown Tokyo. Within a 20-hectare park, the Institute is home to 1,436 species of plant, 2,130 species of insect and 130 bird species. Its aim: to preserve the natural environment of Tokyo’s forests and marshlands. The grounds are used for research and education, although anyone may enjoy the park’s trails and natural beauty. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, bizarre, blog, caterpillars, culture, guidebook, ikimasho, insects, japan, japanese, meguro, nature, south east asia, tokyo, travel, turtles, urban
Merry Christmas & Sumatra Ikimasho!
by joostay
Cliched as it is to say, it’s hard to believe that 2013 is nearly through. This time last year I was getting ready to visit my friends Allan and Fanfan in Bangkok, before hopping over the border to Myanmar. In January I went back to Taiwan to visit Jiufen, the real-life inspiration for Spirited Away, while in summer I spent a few weeks in Bali via Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Tomorrow I fly to Sumatra for my last trip of […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, indonesia, japan, sinabung, south east asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, trekking, volcano
Deconstructing Tsukemen
by joostay
Noodles and soup. Simple. A closer look at ramen’s lesser-known cousin. I’ve been eating a lot of tsukemen lately. Too much probably, but I love it. Basically tsukemen is like deconstructed ramen: cold noodles which you dip into steaming hot soup. The thing I like about tsukemen is its simplicity – there’s no place to hide as a chef. There are just two main components, noodles and soup, so chefs are faced with the difficult challenge of making it as delicious […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, china, cooking, eating, food, japan, noodles, ramen, restaurant, shop, south east asia, tokyo, travel, tsukemen
Welcome to my crappy Indonesian gym
by joostay
Aircon? Nope. Equipment? Nope. Safety? Nope. Badly cut-out clippings of stumpy men on the walls? Yup. Welcome to my crappy Indonesian gym. I just renewed my gym membership in Tokyo. It’s expensive. Like proper expensive. Most gyms over here run in the region of ¥10,000 a month (£60). That’s a pretty standard rate. There are cheaper ones to be found, but this one is just down the road from my house and has pretty much everything I want. With winter just […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, gym, indonesia, island, lembongan, membership, nusa lembongan, se asia, south east asia, travel
Beautiful Bali: In the Shadow of Gunung Agung
by joostay
Beneath a sacred volcano lies a simpler way of life soaked in tradition The Balinese believe that Mount Agung is a replica of Mount Meru – the sacred Hindu mountain considered to be the central axis of the universe. Mythical tales tell of it being 672,000 miles high – with the sun and the all planets of the Solar System revolving around it as one single unit. It’s the be-all and end-all of everything. The centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. In short, a […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, beautiful, coast, indonesia, nusa lembongan, nusa penida, se asia, seaweed farming, south east asia, sunset
Kecak: Balinese Fire Dancing
by joostay
What better way to spend the night than with a trance-inducing exorcism dance. It’s 8pm in Ubud and the wind is picking up. Sitting in silence in the grounds of a ruined temple I notice that the dark trees surrounding the perimeter are almost indistinguishable from the darker clouds above. It’s hot. Thunder cracks in the distance. A lone gust threatens to extinguish a long line of lanterns that climb the set of crumbling stone stairs. The weather dies down, and in […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, dancing, fire, indonesia, kecak, ritual, south east asia, travel, tribal, ubud
The day I saw a body being burned in Denpasar
by joostay
A chance encounter with Ngaben – the traditional Balinese Cremation Ceremony. My curiosity is going to get the better of me some day, I swear. Cycling round the potholed streets of Denpasar I was prepared for the traffic, the pollution, the general insanity. Pure city life in SE Asia is often a free-for-all: people selling animals (dead or alive) on the street, kids playing in desolate alleyways, a general feeling of structured chaos. I’m used to it. What I didn’t […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, buddhist, ceremony, cremation, denpasar, hindu, indonesia, ngaben, reincarnation, south east asia, travel
Visiting Denpasar: The only tourist in town
by joostay
Like it or loathe it, Bali’s bustling capital doesn’t care what you think of it. Bali’s capital, Denpasar, is untamed. There’s something about it that sets it apart from Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh et al… cities which, over the last fifteen years, have become firmly established on the tourist trail. These cities, once exotic, are now epicentres for the travel industry, with virtually all foreign visitors on the SE Asia loop passing through them. As a result, travelling […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, bangkok, cambodia, denpasar, guidebook, hostel, hotel, indonesia, kites, Kuta, puputan square, sanur, satay, south east asia, street food, thailand, travel
To infinity & beyond…
by joostay
∞ Hey mister where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. Where to? I don’t know. You want a ride? Good price. Where to? I don’t know, where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. Where to? I don’t know. You want a ride? Where to? I don’t know, where you going? Nowhere really, I’m just walking. ∞
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, indonesia, indonesian, motorbike, nusa lembongan, poetry, scooter, south east asia, taxi, travel
A little village in the forest
by joostay
No other way to describe it really. Pure rural Asia. Every time I’m faced with a scene like this I’m reminded of how crazy modern life has become. You’ll not find anyone bitching about how their $5 Starbucks cappuccino isn’t hot enough here. Actually this compound is probably better than some of the shithole venues I played with in my old band. Better accommodation anyway. I stumbled across it purely by accident in the middle of nowhere on Nusa Lembongan, Bali. […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, camping, indonesia, local life, nusa lembongan, remote, rural, south east asia, travel, village
Cliff Jumping in Bali
by joostay
Believe me, 43ft looks a long way down from the top… Cycling round Nusa Lembangon and Nusa Cengingan – two islands off the east coast of Bali – is a great adventure. Starting off at Jungut Batu and circling the circumferences you’ll come across remote mangrove swamps, hidden villages and the bluest water you’ve ever seen at the aptly named, Blue Lagoon. What makes this rugged coastline even more spectacular is that you can jump off a 43ft high cliff […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, blue lagoon, cliff jumping, diving, extreme sports, indonesia, nusa ceningan, nusa lembangon, south east asia, travel
The Early Risers of Sanur
by joostay
The early bird catches the worm. Or the sweetcorn. It’s 7am in Sanur, Bali, and the beach is buzzing. In a good way. Locals hit the sand from sunrise, eating breakfast, gossiping, swimming. There are no tourists about. Only a sprinkling of foreigners inhabit Sanur beach during the afternoon, but during the morning it’s strictly a Balinese affair. Boys fly colourful geometric kites overhead while old toothless women toast sweetcorn on makeshift grills. It’s peaceful, certain parts of the beach […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, beach, indonesia, morning, sanur, south east asia, travel
Blackout over Lembangon
by joostay
The smell of a mosquito coil is unmistakable. I must be passing a shop or someone’s house. I can’t tell. It’s pitch black. As I pass an alleyway I squint to see a pair of eyes peering back at me, the glow of a cigarette burning brighter as he or she takes a long, deep drag. Further down the street the headlights of a dozen mopeds dance in symphony like fireflies, swerving back and forth back and forth to avoid […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, bali, blackout, electric, lembongan, nusa, power, satay, south east asia, street food, travel
Smiling with the Indonesian artists of tomorrow
by joostay
Travel with a smile and the whole world smiles with you… OK, brace yourself. I’m about to say something extremely cheesy so please bear with me. Someone once asked me what the most important thing was to pack when going to Asia. I simply replied, “a smile.” Cheesy or not, I still stand by it. It goes for whatever country you visit. Body language is universal. I can’t speak Burmese but in the past I’ve been beckoned over to eat […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, backpacking, bali, experiences, guidebook, indonesia, sanur, smile, south east asia, travel
Global Domination. Sort of.
by joostay
Supper in Tokyo. Breakfast in Kuala Lumpur. Lunch in Jakarta. Dinner in Bali. When I was still a wee lad in short trousers I remember my grandparents telling me that in ‘their day’ a ‘holiday’ meant taking the suicide-inducing local train from Belfast to Bangor for the afternoon. That’s a 30-minute journey. 14 miles. To eat a poke (that’s an ice cream to you and me), dunk their feet in the paddling pool and then go home again. I don’t […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, bangor, beach, belfast, indonesia, japan, java, kuala lumpur, malaysia, northern ireland, south east asia, sun, tokyo, train, travel
Summer Plans: Bali & beyond
by joostay
I’ve been in Japan 16 months now and I’m grateful for the opportunities living here has given me. In that time I’ve been to Taiwan twice, watched the sun set over the Temples of Bagan in Myanmar, drank moonshine in my friend’s apartment in Bangkok and next month I’m off to explore Bali. Time/cash permitting I’d also love to hit the Philippines before the end of the year. In August I’ll also be visiting Nagoya for the first time for […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, food, holidays, indonesia, japan, south east asia, summer, tokyo, travel, ubud, vacation
Kraftwerk 3D: Man Machine in Tokyo
by joostay
4 men. 1 album. 3 dimensions. After a sell-out (and computer crashing) run at the Tate Modern, Kraftwerk brings its catalogue retrospective to Tokyo: 8 consecutive gigs at the intimate Akasaka Blitz. It’s raining heavily in Tokyo. Outside a venue in one of the city’s central business districts, lines of people are waiting patiently, colourful umbrellas hoisted in the air. An almost fittingly minimalistic hand-drawn sign is taped to the door: KRAFTWERK. STARTS 5PM. Inside, you are immediately struck by the intimacy of […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, bass, berlin, bizarre, clubbing, culture, electronica, germany, japan, kraftwerk, moog, music, ralf, south east asia, synths, tokyo, travel, urban
My first Kanda Matsuri
by joostay
Dogs wearing clothes & revellers carrying portable shrines… One of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo returns after a four-year absence. Traditionally held on odd-numbered years, the 2011 Kanda Matsuri was cancelled due to the Tohoku quake and tsunami – meaning this year’s event was the first since 2009. Quintessentially Japanese, Matsuris like this are what makes living in this country so special.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, beer, culture, festival, guidebook, japan, kanda, matsuri, mikoshi, shrines, south east asia, street, sun, takoyaki, tokyo, travel
FRANCIS BACON / Tokyo Exhibition
by joostay
“You can’t be more horrific than life itself.” Your last chance to catch the master of the macabre in Tokyo. Described by Margaret Thatcher as “that man who paints those dreadful pictures,” Francis Bacon was one of the most exalted, most disliked artists of the postwar era. His abstract images of psychological and physical brutality still have the power to unsettle today – achieving on canvass what David Lynch achieves on film or what Beckett did on paper. The Tate gave […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, bizarre, culture, drawing, francis bacon, japan, modern, popes, retrospective, south east asia, surreal, tokyo, weird
Peace & solitude at Mt Oyama
by joostay
Why Mt Oyama earns its place on the list of ‘Kanagawa’s 50 Most Scenic Sites’ One of the best things about living in Tokyo is the ease of which you can escape it. Travel an hour in any direction and you’ll either end up on the beach or on top of a mountain. Izu and Hakone are both great day escapes – as is Takao, just an hour away from central Tokyo on the Keio line. The problem with Takao, however, is its popularity. 3 […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, cable car, food, hiking, isehara, japan, nature, odakyu, oyama, south east asia, train, travel, udon, walking
CAMBODIA
by joostay
Some photos from my time in Cambodia, including a short article on Happy Pizzas for Lonely Planet magazine. The happier side of Phnom Penh In the 1990s, Cambodia was a bad boy’s playground. Cheap drugs and even cheaper sex meant that the whole country was an ideal place for deviants to escape the humdrumness of the West; you could even blow up a cow with a grenade launcher if you were that way inclined… Nowadays, the deviant element is in decline – you’re more […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: angkor wat, asia, backpacking, cambodia, culture, food, guidebook, phnom penh, siem reap, south east asia, travel
VIETNAM
by joostay
Over the last ten years I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited a good few countries around the world. As such, I thought it’d maybe be nice to collect together a few of the shots I have taken along the way. I’m not going to provide any narrative on these posts. These photos hold memories for me. But I hope they give a flavour of some of the places I’ve visited. First up: Vietnam.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, food, hanoi, ho chi minh city, pho, south east asia, travel, vietnam
IKIMASHO! 