Today we got our first proper sleep in. We technically got 10 hours of sleep, but somehow it still didn't feel like enough. Once we surfaced we devoured squid sushi we had purchased the day before at the super market (which was amazing by the way), then took a bus to the start of our hike.
The bus took us to Shiratanai Unsui Gorge where we started our hike for the day. Sadly Kaz's ankle had started hurting that morning (GRRRRR) so we had to take it quite slow at first. Fortunately it wasn't much of a problem because we were stuck behind the encumbered and over equipped Japanese tourists anyway. After about an hour of hobbling we were fully embedded in the forest. It was very pretty and tranquil. We had the intention of catching the 1:45pm bus back to the hostel, but one of us, not going to say who, was too slow and so we had to delay and catch the 4pm bus back. It turned out to be a good move anyway though, because it allowed us to walk around some more and enjoy the scenery for a bit longer.
In the evening we went to a restaurant called Shiosai which where I could try the closest thing possible to a Katsudon I could. It was divine. I had mackerel sushimi with the meal and it was phenomenal.
In the evening we met up and chatted with some more backpackers from Europe and Australia. A French guy claimed he was a cook worked in Tokyo for 6 months. He said the working hours were absolutely crazy as cooks and it's not unusual to work 75 hours in a 5 day week. Unbelievable.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Japan day 4 - Yakushima
We woke up at 6am to catch a shinkanzen all the way to the very bottom of the Japanese mainland, Kagoshima. We didn't have much time to travel around because we needed to board a ferry to Yakushima, but it looked like a surprisingly large city. I was expecting a small fishing town, but it looked as crowded and interconnected as Kyoto.
After a few stressful moments of navigating Japanese signs, we managed to board our ferry on time and travel to Yakushima island. I tried to sleep, but a Japanese game show on TV was echoing around every corner of the boat. It's a little bit disheartening to know that low quality slapstick style humour exists in literally every corner of the world.
Once we arrived we immediately went to our hostel, met and chatted to an interesting German couple, planned our following day and hit the bed.
After a few stressful moments of navigating Japanese signs, we managed to board our ferry on time and travel to Yakushima island. I tried to sleep, but a Japanese game show on TV was echoing around every corner of the boat. It's a little bit disheartening to know that low quality slapstick style humour exists in literally every corner of the world.
Once we arrived we immediately went to our hostel, met and chatted to an interesting German couple, planned our following day and hit the bed.
Japan day 3 - Kyto
David designated himself as leader of the group and organised a very early tour around the bamboo Forrest. It was beautiful. The bamboo was smooth and well preserved. If I were blindfolded I would have guessed it was plastic. After the visit we stopped by a french themed bakery to grab some pastries. Don't get me wrong, the food was great and there was definitely a Japanese fusion with each pastry, but it felt strange to be enjoying such international foods in Japan. Not to worry, I guess I'll be indulging myself in Japanese food soon enough. Unfortunately after the meal I was so sleep depraved that I needed to travel back to the hotel to get a few more hours of beauty sleep.
After the small pit stop, Kaz and I decided to travel to travel to Ichiran Raman; a intentionally designed anti social restaurant where you make your order via vending machine. It was a fun gag and the food was phenomenal. We also had a small walk around the imperial palace too.
We rejoined David, Beck (Bek? Bec?) and Morgan at a restaurant where we enjoyed some homemade Japanese food (literally homemade, because this 'restaurant' was actually someones kitchen; I guess food serving laws in Japan are quite relaxed). The food was amazing and the service was super friendly.
After the small pit stop, Kaz and I decided to travel to travel to Ichiran Raman; a intentionally designed anti social restaurant where you make your order via vending machine. It was a fun gag and the food was phenomenal. We also had a small walk around the imperial palace too.
We rejoined David, Beck (Bek? Bec?) and Morgan at a restaurant where we enjoyed some homemade Japanese food (literally homemade, because this 'restaurant' was actually someones kitchen; I guess food serving laws in Japan are quite relaxed). The food was amazing and the service was super friendly.
Friday, May 24, 2019
Japan day 2 - Kyoto
Today was another big walking day around Kyto. We woke up and immediately headed towards the center of the city to do a free walking tour. On our way there we got attracted like magnets to a manga museum. Kaz unleashed the inner fan girl and drooled over every managa she could find.
Just when I managed to unstick Kaz from the manga, I found myself stuck to a sushi train. It was amazing! Expensive, but amazing.
Finally we got to the walking tour just in time. The guy touring us was an Aussie from Brisbane and was remarkably knowledgeable about Japanese culture. He told us about the geisha and maiko. Traditionally, women from poor families with no prospects could earn money from the age of 15 by training as a social entertainer. Women all begin as Maiko's and have to pay a huge amount of money upfront (or get it loaned) to buy all of their equipment. Then they dress up in traditional clothing and learn valuable social skills including how to dance traditionally and entertain business men with drinking games. Once they reach a certain age and are good enough at what they do, they become Geisha's and have more freedoms including where to travel - but not enough freedoms to have relationships - to do that they need to surrender their title of Geisha and get married. The Australian guy described everything in a very positive way, exclaiming that this profession had grown and become so well respected that even women from well off families considered it a privilege to train for years in this art.
I felt differently, however. Perhaps my feminist roots got in the way, but I couldn't help but feel that these poor women were victims of a very outdated tradition.
We also met Dave in the late afternoon and enjoyed some curry (yes, Indian curry) with his girlfriend, Callum, Morgan and Ian Free. Good night :)
Just when I managed to unstick Kaz from the manga, I found myself stuck to a sushi train. It was amazing! Expensive, but amazing.
Finally we got to the walking tour just in time. The guy touring us was an Aussie from Brisbane and was remarkably knowledgeable about Japanese culture. He told us about the geisha and maiko. Traditionally, women from poor families with no prospects could earn money from the age of 15 by training as a social entertainer. Women all begin as Maiko's and have to pay a huge amount of money upfront (or get it loaned) to buy all of their equipment. Then they dress up in traditional clothing and learn valuable social skills including how to dance traditionally and entertain business men with drinking games. Once they reach a certain age and are good enough at what they do, they become Geisha's and have more freedoms including where to travel - but not enough freedoms to have relationships - to do that they need to surrender their title of Geisha and get married. The Australian guy described everything in a very positive way, exclaiming that this profession had grown and become so well respected that even women from well off families considered it a privilege to train for years in this art.
I felt differently, however. Perhaps my feminist roots got in the way, but I couldn't help but feel that these poor women were victims of a very outdated tradition.
We also met Dave in the late afternoon and enjoyed some curry (yes, Indian curry) with his girlfriend, Callum, Morgan and Ian Free. Good night :)
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Japan Day 1 - Kyoto
On the 22nd of May 2019 I woke up at 6am to catch my flight to Japan. It involved a 4 hour layover in Munich and 3 amazing airplane meals.
At roughly midday on the 23rd May I ran into Kaz's arms romantically. She had arrived 5 hours earlier (ouch) and politely waited around in the airport for me. We were both jet lagged and hangred (hungry + angry + tired), but very relieved to see each other.
We activated our JR pass and immediately took a monorail and train to a station in Tokyo called Shinigawa station where we took a bullet train to Kyoto. That's right, no time to explore Tokyo yet, we'll be doing that by the end of our trip.
I ticked off the two things on my list within an hour of landing in Japan. I purchased green tea from a vending machine and I used a Japanese toilet.
When we arrived in Kyoto, I forced Kaz to waddle through the streets with me to our accommodation; I was done with sitting down on public transport. The thing which strikes me most interesting about Japan is how clean it is. There wasn't a single piece of plastic floating around. All the streets were as small and cramped as Jakarta, yet as tidy and well kept as Delft. Every anime I had ever watched was right; each house was small and unique. Very nice :)
We rested up in our accommodation for a few hours after arriving, then hit the town to explore. We read on trip adviser that Ippudo was a fantastic restaurant to enjoy. I guess every one else had read that same trip adviser recommendation because there was a huge line filled with white people out the front. Undeterred we ate at the restaurant and met up with an American accountant from New York / Chicago called Ben. The company was great and the food was phenomenal - pork broth ramen with dumplings. The bar has been raised quite high. After the meal we walked around Kyoto for a bit longer with Ben. We got to see a few temples and a small district / ward famous for Geisha's (the Japanese women who dress entirely in white). We also walked past mini casino which had all the worst parts of a normal casino, and none of the good parts. The giant room will filled with small slot machines and were being used almost exclusively by the elderly and a few business men. Each slot machine blasted out memorable tunes and flashy lights and the whole place stank of cheap beer and cigarette smoke. It looks like the Japanese like to gamble.
The jet lag was hitting us (me) pretty hard so after that we ordered an icecream from a vending machine and marched our way back to the hotel to crash.
At roughly midday on the 23rd May I ran into Kaz's arms romantically. She had arrived 5 hours earlier (ouch) and politely waited around in the airport for me. We were both jet lagged and hangred (hungry + angry + tired), but very relieved to see each other.
We activated our JR pass and immediately took a monorail and train to a station in Tokyo called Shinigawa station where we took a bullet train to Kyoto. That's right, no time to explore Tokyo yet, we'll be doing that by the end of our trip.
I ticked off the two things on my list within an hour of landing in Japan. I purchased green tea from a vending machine and I used a Japanese toilet.
When we arrived in Kyoto, I forced Kaz to waddle through the streets with me to our accommodation; I was done with sitting down on public transport. The thing which strikes me most interesting about Japan is how clean it is. There wasn't a single piece of plastic floating around. All the streets were as small and cramped as Jakarta, yet as tidy and well kept as Delft. Every anime I had ever watched was right; each house was small and unique. Very nice :)
We rested up in our accommodation for a few hours after arriving, then hit the town to explore. We read on trip adviser that Ippudo was a fantastic restaurant to enjoy. I guess every one else had read that same trip adviser recommendation because there was a huge line filled with white people out the front. Undeterred we ate at the restaurant and met up with an American accountant from New York / Chicago called Ben. The company was great and the food was phenomenal - pork broth ramen with dumplings. The bar has been raised quite high. After the meal we walked around Kyoto for a bit longer with Ben. We got to see a few temples and a small district / ward famous for Geisha's (the Japanese women who dress entirely in white). We also walked past mini casino which had all the worst parts of a normal casino, and none of the good parts. The giant room will filled with small slot machines and were being used almost exclusively by the elderly and a few business men. Each slot machine blasted out memorable tunes and flashy lights and the whole place stank of cheap beer and cigarette smoke. It looks like the Japanese like to gamble.
The jet lag was hitting us (me) pretty hard so after that we ordered an icecream from a vending machine and marched our way back to the hotel to crash.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Freedom of Spe - (this title has been censored for your safety)
For those that know me, they'll know I value liberal freedoms very strongly. But for those who know me really well, they'll know I think there are limits to these values. In previous posts I've talked about freedom more generally. I've talked about how simply being empowered by technology to follow our desires can be catastrophic if there isn't a strong cultural guiding force. I've also talked about how some freedoms should be removed all together such that well-being is maximized. For example, I think providing unlimited dog food to a Labrador will only result in a painful and tragic death.
But this post will be a bit different. Here I want to talk about freedom of speech in the digital age, and specifically where I think a line should be drawn.
For the most part I believe freedom of speech is an incredibly powerful social tool. It allows us to articulate and spread ideas in non violent ways that can encourage positive change. I used to believe quite strongly that as long as there is no direct physical violence as a result of what someone is saying, then that person should be free to say it. I even held this view in light of the fact that 1) this could facilitate online bullying and 2) It allows members of the Westboro Baptist Church to picket funerals with anti gay rhetoric etc etc. The reason I defended freedom of speech so strongly is because it's used as the process by which we determine other values. Galileo had radical and offensive ideas about the sun being the center of the solar system, and if he was empowered with the freedom of speech the world would have been better of.
I've recently changed my view upon the realization that the power of conversation has been wildly exaggerated. I used to idealize freedom of speech as creating a space where turbulent ideas can mix together and battle for superiority - a kind of natural selection for good ideas. Now, due to the polarizing nature of the internet, I think this view was very naive. YouTube, for example, is filled to the brim with different political ideas from all across the spectrum, and this seems like a good thing because it creates a giant virtual space in which people can engage and learn from these ideas. I think the reality is very different. Instead, the YouTube recommendation algorithm manipulates this space and pumps confirmation bias into our brains with 21st century efficiency. Since most of us now live in largely virtual worlds, I don't think we can rely entirely on the ideal of freedom of speech to properly inform us or reform our societies.
So what's the solution? Surely, I'm not proposing some type of Government censorship, right? Wouldn't that be some slippery slope to some tyrant taking control and manipulating our decisions? Well, I have two proposals:
1) The internet needs a healthier virtual space to spread ideas. Basically a well developed forum with unlimited free access to the worlds information. I don't think this is as unrealistic as it sounds. Wikipedia is a perfect example of what can be done with donations. I envision a website which is a hybrid of Kialo & Wolfram Alpha. In principle, AI could also be used to fact check information as well.
2) I think social media companies need to be penalized for spreading false information in the same way sugar based products should be taxed for causing obesity. Admittedly, I'm unsure what the metric for false information should be, but I suspect it can be measured.
But this post will be a bit different. Here I want to talk about freedom of speech in the digital age, and specifically where I think a line should be drawn.
For the most part I believe freedom of speech is an incredibly powerful social tool. It allows us to articulate and spread ideas in non violent ways that can encourage positive change. I used to believe quite strongly that as long as there is no direct physical violence as a result of what someone is saying, then that person should be free to say it. I even held this view in light of the fact that 1) this could facilitate online bullying and 2) It allows members of the Westboro Baptist Church to picket funerals with anti gay rhetoric etc etc. The reason I defended freedom of speech so strongly is because it's used as the process by which we determine other values. Galileo had radical and offensive ideas about the sun being the center of the solar system, and if he was empowered with the freedom of speech the world would have been better of.
I've recently changed my view upon the realization that the power of conversation has been wildly exaggerated. I used to idealize freedom of speech as creating a space where turbulent ideas can mix together and battle for superiority - a kind of natural selection for good ideas. Now, due to the polarizing nature of the internet, I think this view was very naive. YouTube, for example, is filled to the brim with different political ideas from all across the spectrum, and this seems like a good thing because it creates a giant virtual space in which people can engage and learn from these ideas. I think the reality is very different. Instead, the YouTube recommendation algorithm manipulates this space and pumps confirmation bias into our brains with 21st century efficiency. Since most of us now live in largely virtual worlds, I don't think we can rely entirely on the ideal of freedom of speech to properly inform us or reform our societies.
So what's the solution? Surely, I'm not proposing some type of Government censorship, right? Wouldn't that be some slippery slope to some tyrant taking control and manipulating our decisions? Well, I have two proposals:
1) The internet needs a healthier virtual space to spread ideas. Basically a well developed forum with unlimited free access to the worlds information. I don't think this is as unrealistic as it sounds. Wikipedia is a perfect example of what can be done with donations. I envision a website which is a hybrid of Kialo & Wolfram Alpha. In principle, AI could also be used to fact check information as well.
2) I think social media companies need to be penalized for spreading false information in the same way sugar based products should be taxed for causing obesity. Admittedly, I'm unsure what the metric for false information should be, but I suspect it can be measured.
Friday, April 19, 2019
France Trip 12th April 2019
Heyo, so I just came back from France a week ago. I started writing content for my blog, but gave up after the first day. Here's what I wrote:
We walked around the city for a while seeing all the Lille statues and Lille museums. We even stopped by at a traditional Lille bar and enjoyed Lille espressos.
In the evening I was pleasantly surprised with a deliciously large chocolate birthday cake. To top the day off we played a game of poker for a little bit of money.
We were actually there for 3 days. The other days involved a lot more poker, museum tours and a quick visit to Dunkirk. Overall it was a nice experience and I enjoyed the company, but the whole trip seemed a bit dry. There wasn't much to do and there wasn't an exciting vibe about the city. The magic of France seemed to be pretty overshadowed by the homelessness problem. No stockpile of baguettes could outweigh the harassment we got from a beggar aggressively trying to steal our food.
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