Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan. Until I arrived, then they moved it. Actually it was ages ago. But they couldn’t move the buildings. So they left them here. Mainly, shrines and temples. The former Shinto, the latter Buddhist. They swing both ways here. Shinto is great, they have no God, no prayers, – Read More-
We left Tokyo and bullet trained it to Kanazawa. I wrote to tell you, then, because sleeping at nighttime seems to be a problem here, I collapsed in a heap of deep sleep. Neat. Mel, who’d also been asleep for a bit, woke me up with ‘we’re there!’ The train was slowing down, coming into – Read More-
I’m on a train from Tokyo to Kanazawa. Why? Because I am, that’s why. It was suggested to us, its half way between Tokyo and Kyoto and it sounds good. So we’re off. On the Bullet Train. Which is so clean, precise, on time and organised that you are reminded once again that this must – Read More-
We took off on Monday at about 11.30 in the morning. They fed us, turned off all the lights and pretended it was a night flight. 12 hours, 2 movies, half a book and countless failed sleep attempts later, we arrived in Tokyo at 7.30am Tuesday morning, local time. Fresh as… someone who hadn’t slept – Read More-
That’s the first disappointment really. You arrive in Japan pretty much at dawn and instead of a rising sun it looks like a bad day in Manchester. Wet, grey, mist, rain, dull. But heh, we’re in Tokyo!!!! Which you know because half the population are in demi-burqua-in-white mode. Surgical masks are everywhere. It makes it – Read More-
I’m off to Japan. Now. Soon. In the lounge at the airport fulfilling my basic requirement. Consume twice my bodyweight in food and coffee before getting on the plane. And then we’re Tokyo-bound. It’s a pilgrimage. I’m going to the place where my Sony Walkman was born in 1979 and my Suzuki 185. And although – Read More-
Donald Trump is coming over for a state visit. The full works. He’ll be dressed as Henry VIII with a stick-on beard and paraded up the Mall in a horse-drawn carriage so the crowds can adore him. They’ll probably let him take Melania to the Tower and cut her head off, then its over to – Read More-
I last visited the area of London commonly known as ‘Tottenham’ about 2 years ago. It was a bit of a hole, if I’m honest, with dingy streets and dodgy shops and dirty pavements and dire transport facilities and… decadently… dependable… doggedly desirable… dastardly… Anyway, in the middle of all this dross stood Mecca. White – Read More-
Ok, bruvvers wot works for Transport fer Lunduun, dis is ‘ow we copes wiv shit wot ‘appens on are trains, right? Less take an ‘ypofetical, right? Some geezer, f’rinstance, decides to take a walk along the tracks around Euston, in da rush hour. We need a plan, a guideline, for da union. And its diss: – Read More-
Attack is the best form of defence. So we’re told. If you’re in their faces then they can’t be hurting you. Can they? And sometimes you defend before you’re attacked. Then its called an attack. Which is confusing. But we’re not talking war, we’re talking football. In which sustained attacking is the best way of – Read More-