Clifford Blogs

We left Koya san with only two nights left. Back to Osaka and the hotel that I started in.


Teruko got an invite to see a musician performing, so we went along to that. This guy was from Okinawa with a strange and uncanny resemblance to my late friend Greg D in younger days. He played Okinawan folk music with a heavy metal twist and told hilarious jokes. Well everyone in the room except me (because I couldn't understand) thought they were hilarious. I just enjoyed seeing everyone laughing. He was quite the entertainer- a great night.


 The next day we went over to Teruko's house in another part of the city.

man holes just get better

and better

Then onto her friend's place where a dinner had been organised in my honor. I think they wanted to check out this old Aussie dude that was hanging out with Teruko.

Teruko's and her four friends, not really

Teruko's four best friends from school and our host's parents and kids were there.

 We had a lovely meal and somehow spent about four hours talking.

translating Japanese to English on their phones

We got a lift from one of these ladies (second from the left- I'm hopeless with names- sumimasen) to a station then onto Umeda where my bag was in a locker and then out to a hotel next to the airport.

Dawn of my departure

And so that was the end of an amazing journey in Japan. Thanks to Teruko, I got to see so much that I would otherwise have not.

Domo arigato gazaimasu, Teruko-san.

very important

The trip from Kyoto to Koya san was tiring but impressive public transport system.

cable car passing spot

Jimyo-in entrance

 It was a relief to get to our Buddhist monastery.



The room lovely overlooking a peaceful garden.

The monks attentive and the food exquisite. Pity I didn't get a picture of a monk for you. But here's one of me....

Eating is one of my favorite things

Kyoto girls

Kyoto letterbox

Kyoto street

Kyoto shop

Kyoto girls

Kyoto bamboo

Kyoto art

Kyoto night

Teruko feet

On Thursday we left Sanjo cubbyhole by subway to Karasuma Oike.
Karasuma Oike to Kyoto.
Kyoto to Osaka.
Osaka to Namba.
Namba to Koyasan including a cable car up the side of the mountain.
Then a bus to Jimyo in, a buddhist monastery.
Never had to wait more than two minutes for each train or bus.

hungry tree

Spent a last day in Tokyo going to some of the most crowded streets on the planet. A river of humanity.

man hole

next to the public toilet

Just join the flow and swim in the current. When you want to get off you sort of have to swim across the current to get to the shore. Teruko showed me how to move through the crowd. 'Don't be polite or give way to anyone, just go.'

you grab some of the smoke and put it on where you want to heal

nose picking bay and spot the ear cleaner

Later my back was aching so much. Got a masseuse to visit the room. God, she was a honey. About five foot tall and eighty years old and bent over like a hunchback, with absolutely no English. She threw me on the bed and went to work with a vengeance. Who knows what she was saying, could have been, 'I'll have you looking like me in no time'.


Next morning Teruko and I left early, before checking out, for a walk in the nearby gardens, which  was previously the Emperor's estate. The Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Only to find the garden didn't open till 9am. We had coffee and toast in a cafe and watched the Monday morning commuters going off to work. Every second person has a mobile phone in hand, texting or something while walking along.

Got to the park, which we had to pay to get in, and had a nice stroll around. It is a beautiful garden.


We checked out after a long discussion with the staff about a swiveling mirror thing over the sink that I broke by trying to use it. Teruko thinks I'm clumsy. When people say I'm clumsy, I get nervous and start being clumsy.


Back onto a super fast bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto.

Teruko doing her Wedgey impersonation, good puppy

Another fantastic railway lunch.


Teruko found this quaint little house for a few nights. Old Japanese style. A bit ramshakle and full of weird stuff. Its a bit of a cubby house. The renovations, plumbing and electrical work makes me feel OK about my attempts.









Slept in a bit and then went on a walk called the Philosopher's Walk, took in a few more temples and shrines and ate sweet bean dumplings in sweet bean soup.


Pretty cold today. Came back to the cubby house and played making dinner from convenience store items. In Japan you can get some really good stuff at the convenience store.



I'm upstairs with the giant teddy bear, Beatles and Elvis posters playing an LP, 'The Sylistics' on a real turntable, writing this; while Teruko is in the outdoor bath downstairs.