Monday 9th October 2000

Last Sunday Yuki and I went to Ikabukuro to a huge shopping centre called "Sunshine City". En route we came across yet more of the right wing hate merchants spouting anti "white man" garbage from the top of a bus. The reaction to this sort of thing would be sooo different in the UK, in fact they would not be safe to openly preach like this. We didn't go to Sunshine City to shop though, we went to visit the aquarium. It was very good, but I was not too happy with the size and quality of some of the marine mammal tanks. There was one tank there showing the marine life of the Kerama Islands, a sort of preview of my holiday! My favourite thing at the aquarium was a small blue frog probably called Eric. I didn't know frogs came in blue, and it had really funky black markings too!

I had another business trip to Kyoto from Wednesday to Friday with a some of my colleagues from various parts of the world. The evening entertainment, as usual included a session of karaoke. It never seems a good idea until you get there and start singing, then believe it or not there is no shortage of volunteers to pick up a mic. Everybody, no matter how shy eventually gives it a go. It should be stressed however, that certain people like Sepi, a girl from California, should never be given a classic like "Stairway to Heaven" to destroy!

After business was concluded on Friday afternoon our hosts treated us to a white water boat trip. It was a nice way to see the natural side of Japan, including several interesting birds (no cliché jokes here). The water wasn't too rough but it was quite a ride in a few places as the boat rode the rapids!

Late on Friday night after arriving back in Tokyo we met up with Yuki and hit Roppongi. This included stopping off at a few bars and yet another trip to a karaoke club. Again good fun, but maybe once a week is enough for anyone's ears!

On Saturday afternoon, Yuki and I went to Odaiba to shop and just stroll around. While we were at the "Decks Tokyo Beach" shopping centre we saw a band putting on a street performance of their latest maxi-single, quite a common occurrence in Japan. They were actually very good. I like a lot of these J-pop bands. They usually have very tight tunes with a lot of harmony. This group was called "Smooth Ace". Next we went to an adjacent complex called "Aqua City". This is a new centre with lots of shops, a big new high-tech, multi-screen cinema, and several entertainment zones. Lastly, we went to another new indoor shopping mall called "Venus Fort". This place was the most impressive. It was a replica of an Italian town, even down to a sky whose clouds appeared to move due to clever shaping of the ceiling. I don't remember ever seeing a better shopping centre. As with most Tokyo malls, it has great restaurants, but if you're shopping, it's really only good for fashion goods. It's also open very late at night.

Wednesday 11th October 2000

I'm writing this from an observation point on top of Zamami-Jima (Jima means island). Zamami is about 2 1/2 hours flight south west from Tokyo, but is still part of Japan. It is one of a group called the Kerama Islands. I arrived yesterday, the last leg of the journey being a 75 minute high speed ferry ride via Aka-Jima from the nearest airport at Naha City in Okinawa. The information desk at Zamami port found me a very cheap (2500 yen/night) room at a Japanese style hostel. There are no meals included and so far I have managed to find only two restaurants. Despite being a small village, in true Japanese style, it has a convenience store open until late night. The TV wasn't working in my room and there were no windows, so today I was moved into a newly vacated room which had both. As a bonus I am situated opposite the local school, and today they put on a display of some sports and, more impressively, some traditional Japanese drumming (sort of drum dance). I was amazed to see some of the smaller children wielding their big drums. The weather here is fantastic and the sea is warm, but it's officially off-season. Whale watching is now becoming popular in the first few months of the year which is helping to boost the local economy. It was incredible today to be the only person on Ama beach! Conditions were perfect - hot sun, calm sea and about 30 - 40 metres of visibility underwater. My only previous experience of snorkeling was at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (not a bad place to start)! The coral here does not match those standards, but the fish are every bit as amazing. In Kyoto last week I bought a digital camera with a waterproof case. I'm attempting to get some pictures of these amazing creatures, but it's not easy as most of them won't stay still long enough! Anyway, as I said I'm at an observation point waiting for a (hopefully) beautiful sunset. Earlier today I hired a bicycle and a wet-suit. The shop that hired out the bike said it had to be returned each day - I hope they're still open when I get down from here! I don't think there'll be too much fuss if I'm late. The people here are generally much friendlier than those in Tokyo. People actually say hello in the street here - even if you're a foreigner! Shortly afterwards... I returned the bike 30 minutes late. How wrong could I have been? The old guy at the shop was livid! He wanted to close for the day. I can understand his irritation by my lateness, and I happilly paid a half-day penalty for my half-hour crime, but still he went on to moan about what a pain foreigners are. So I told him in Japanese not to be angry (not something a Japanese person would say to someone of his age). I've just had a very nice "curry rice" meal, yesterday I had prawns with chillies. They are the only two menu items I've been able to read in the two restaurants I've tried so I have to do the same for the next two days or think of another solution!

13th October 2000

I'm on a regular (slow-speed) ferry heading back to Naha about a half day early. I've had three excellent days of snorkeling. Yesterday I went to Furu Zamami beach. I went on foot and returned by bus. It was cheaper than the bike! Today I went to another small uninhabited island with a guy staying at the same hostel. That island was fantastic. Not only the fish, but the coral was beautiful too. When we returned to Zamami I felt I'd left a piece of me there. It turned out to be just my sunglasses. Damn! They were Ray Bans and I'd just bought them on my last trip to LA. The reason I'm returning to Naha early is that, apart from diving or whale watching, Zamami has nothing to do for entertainment. Naha is a much bigger town and today's Friday, so maybe it will be a bit more lively. Minutes later... I've just realised it's Friday the 13th. Not a good day to be on a ferry!

Tuesday 17th October 2000

I spent last weekend back in Tokyo with Yuki. On Sunday we went to the annual festival for my ward, Minato City. It was a pretty big affair, with lots of stalls and locals giving traditional music and dance performances.

I'm now sat in an internet cafe (can't find the French accented "e") on the second leg of my holiday. I came to Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia (apparently you need a visa for Vietnam). This keyboard is rubbish, half the keys have lost their letters, I'm having to work from memory! Anyway, I arrived in KL after a 6 1/2 hour flight. I got a bus from the airport to my hotel. Everything was very disorganised, but very cheap.

My hotel is near the centre, but in a filthy area. That's not difficult, it seems most of KL is filthy and smelly. The hotel was very reasonably priced at 88 ringit per night (about sixteen pounds) and it's a big room - and clean!

So far I've been up the Petronas Twin Towers to the "Skybridge". These towers are currently the world's tallest buildings. They're very impressive, but it shows a marked contrast between the "haves" and the "have nots". Just outside this internet place (don't need a special "e" for "place") there are lots of stalls selling counterfit goods such as watches, perfume, clothing, wallets, in fact you name it, if it can be copied, it is on sale here! Pirate software is an absolute bargain, if you're the type with no concience. Think of the poor software company - what will Bill Gates do for jet fuel, if you buy dodgey copies of "Windows Me"!

It's the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday and KL is getting all excited in preparation. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the Grand Prix when I booked, and I'm flying out on Saturday night!

Wednesday 18th October 2000

Today I went to the Batu Caves, a couple of huge caves in a limestone outcrop. The caves are used as a temple by the hindus in Malaysia and contain many icons of their gods. There are also monkeys living in this area and they roam around the 272 steps which lead to the caves. These monkeys are not tame, but you can feed them if you want. I didn't, but two of them decided to leap on me anyway, one trying to eat the guide book I had in my back pocket!

I then got a taxi back into the city and have been wandering around the streets and shops since. Don't hesitate to use a taxi in Kuala Lumpur as they are very cheap. The streets are pretty filthy, with lots of dangerous holes, some big enough to fall down! Some of the shopping malls, on the other hand are very up market, equal to those in the west. Internet places are also very cheap, less than a pound an hour.

Saturday 21st October 2000

All I really did on Thursday was buy a handheld GPS (ironically, it took a while to find the shop) and go up the Kuala Lumpur Tower - a much better view than from the Skybridge.

Yesterday I decided to escape the city for a while and visited a huge, blue-domed mosque in Shah Allam, about a thirty minute taxi ride away. It was worth the trip, but unfortunately, it was closed to tourists because it was prayer time.

I went to the "Sri Devi" restaurant on Jalan Travers (Jalan means "Street") for lunch. They serve Southern Indian style food. You eat it off of a banana leaf with your right hand only. I then went to Bird Park and Butterfly park, pretty self-explanatory I think, and then on to the National Monument. Outside of the city area, Malaysia has some very respectable and relatively clean areas. One thing that seems to have been forgotten, in the city at least, is pedestrians. There are virtually no crossings on many of the main roads, so I've had to play human "Frogger" for the last week or so!

In the evening I ventured back to the area where the bars are. I had dinner with David Coulthard - well, I'm pretty sure it was him I saw walk in. Kuala Lumpur is going F1 crazy. There are replica cars everywhere and the place is swarming with westerners now. Some of them unfortunately being English men who don't know how to behave after a couple of beers, and who still think they rule the world.

Today I went to see the very ornate railway station and the National Mosque (this one was also closed to tourists at the time). This is my last day and I'm now just wasting time in restaurants and shops until I get a taxi to the airport. Now I know how cheap taxis are, I'm not going to bother with the bus. Incidentally, I actually managed to buy a chinese song in Tower Records today by trying to sing it to the assistant - pretty good going I think!