Cambodia

It was a hard goodbye from Bangkok but at the same time it was good to get out of that urban roller coaster for a while... so after an hour and a half we finally landed in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The country is so flat, there are really few hills scattered around the whole country but there is a huge river though.
We got to know the little town a bit and get comfortable in our hotel preparing for the next day's big thing, visiting Angkor Wat, the famous World Heritage Site Khmer style temple complex.
Indeed it is a wonder of mankind arquitechture since it was all carved in stone and it was a lot of carving done because after Angor Wat, which is around a couple of square km's big we went to Angkor Tom which is another complex of temples which covers an area around 3 times the size of that of Angkor Wat.
It really is a treasure of the human artistic and arquitechtural engineering.
Too many tourists though, it would probably had a more "mystical" vibe to the place if there weren't so many tourists.
And that's where I get to the point about the socio-economic situation of the country.
After the Khmer Rouge, the revolution that spilled a lot of blood in Cambodia in the 70's the place was left in ruins and all the educated people, journalists, doctors, writers, historians and so on were all tortured and killed leaving the country with majorly the poor and uneducated ones to clean up the mess... so sad.
I payed a respectful visit to the Killing Fields, which were exactly what the name says, extermination camps with multiple shallow graves where tens of thousands were executed mercilessly and also to the Genocide Memorial which was a school used by the regime as a centre of torture and execution of those who posed a threat to it in anyway.... really a bad vibe there...
The country is indeed very poor and in a lot of need of investment, training and education of its people but the good thing in all of this is that even after all the tragedy they have been through they all have smiles in their faces and are happy to help you with any information to get you where you want to go.
A lotta love Cambodia!!!

Thailand

We arrived in Phuket, Thailand and the difference between that and Japan was shocking!!!
It was sooo damn hot, the traffic was insane (in an outlaw sort of way) and the women were wearing a lot less close... not to mention language and culture obviously.
We took a boat to Phi Phi Islands in the morning and it was just a paradise, crystal clear water, those huge rocks right in the middle of the water, white sand, ahh.... just perfect!!!
We went for a day trip in a small boat with some other 6 or so tourist around the small Islands around the area including the one in the movie The Beach.
The snorkeling was sooo cool, there are so many varieties of fish and coral reefs and sea animals in there and the water is so cool and clear, the sun burning my skin as I swam and dived around the place.... I missed that so much, last time I went inside the water was around 3 years ago in Brazil.... long time...
The Beach itself wasn't as great as it looked in the movie, I preferred other spots, but still was a beauty of nature for sure!!!
And, as all unexpected things that do happen and, perhaps, should happen in a decent trip to exotic places, our boat wouldn't start so we had to be towed by another one very slowly and enjoying the sunrise all the way back to Phi Phi Don... lovely.
Than after a descent hand picked grilled lobster at one of the local restaurants we went for a night at the local stadium to watch some Muay Thai matches (thai boxing for those who don't know) and maaan.... those kids and men fought really hard but gracefully at the same time.
The crowed was yelling with the blows and knock downs, it was a hell of a night!!!
the other day we just walked and shopped around the island and in the afternoon went back to Phuket to catch our flight to Bangkok.
Now let me tell you something... Bangkok is the practical definition of the word "intense"!!!
There are so many people there, so many buildings, cars, bikes, tuk tuk's (a mix of bike with chariot) that for the more layed down it may be a hard time trying to understand what the hell is going on... I just loved it!!!
The people are beautiful, the Buddhist temples and shrines are so many and so beautiful!!!!
The food is excellent and cheap and you can find pretty much anything you want in there and when I say anything I mean ANYTHING!!!
That's what Bangkok's about and I loved it!!!
I even ate a local delicatessen, roasted grasshoppers and maggots, which I actually liked a lot and will definitely have some again with beer. That was right before the countdown for the New Year which was downtown and with literally millions of people in the streets to watch the fireworks and so on... I will definitely come back to Thailand, love at firs site!!!

Last Days in Japan

Yep, Tokyo is massive!!! Sooo many people, I actually found a Brazilian restaurant and ate some home food I missed so much since I left my old home to discover the world, specifically New Zealand, three years ago... The feijoada was excellent!!! There are so many buildings, people, shops, electronics, cars.... its just crazy!!!
The subway stations are just half of the town, underground though, and millions of people go through it daily so you spend nearly half of the day trying to find your way out of it... just amazing!!!
The hot spots are Asakusa ( traditional temples and open markets ), Shinjuku and Shibuya (shop till u drop) and the Tokyo station which is an extremely must see spot itself, in my opinion!!!
I took a day off Tokyo to go to Mount Fuji or, like the Japanese say, Fujisan and Hakone, a little town surrounded by mountains with rope ways, sulfur bursting out of the volcanoish mountains and a ship trip on its lake.... it was definitely the most exciting of my adventures in Japan!!!
Mount Fuji is just soooo beautiful and big.... a lot of snow.... just a jaw dropping view!!!
And Hakone is such a beautiful place, though very cold, that I didn't want to leave.....
Back to Tokyo for the last couple of days and after that was Kyoto, a city famous for its temples which are scattered around town. I assaulted pretty much the most important of them in one day and on the other it rained so heavily I was glad I didn't leave nothing for later...
Now I am in Osaka, famous for its cheap but excellent and extremely diverse food, the speciality: Takoyaki, a little sort of cheese ball but with octopus inside and sauce (similar to the Okunomiyaki one) on top... absolutely fabulous!!! I`ve been eating so much here... I actually gained a few pounds.... Japanese culinary is great!!!
Well, I will be leaving in a couple of days to Thailand but I know I will miss this country a lot, and I do have a feeling it wont be the last time I will be here...

Wining and Dining

Well, we all know how famous japanese food is around the world but there are a lot more dishes to be appreciated than we can imagine and only when you are here you can have a realistic idea of how diverse their cuisine really is.
A couple of days ago I went to meet my girlfriend's mom in at her home in Chioda, a little rural village in the middle of the mountains a few k's from Hiroshima.
They eat what they harvest, rice, spring onions, all sorts of vegetables etc...
Home style cooking in Japan is just sooo good... and Rieko San, my "mother in law" was proud to say it was all organic and fresh, noticeably by the way.
We ate Red Mackerel Sushi, Fish Paste and Spring Onion soup, a fresh salad of all sorts picked right from her garden and sea weed, a must in japanese cuisine.
I visited a 250 year old temple from the village and said my prayers thanking for the hospitality and good food.
When we came back to Hiroshima the following night we went dining with her other sister Humiko in a restaurant that serves Chabu Chabu, a bowl of spicy water boiled right there in the table, and come the fresh vegetables and raw pork and/or beef slices, very thin, which you pick up with ur chopsticks and and gently shake and turn inside the bowl cooking them as you eat. The waiter keeps bringing tempura oysters (absolutely delicious), scallops in sauce, teriyaki chicken, egg rolls, tempura shrimps, Gyuno Tataki (one of my favourites, which is raw beef slices seasoned with garlic, onions, spring onions, pepper, lemon and vinegar) and a couple more trays of sliced pork which I gulped down mercilessly until I was absolutely full. I must remind you this is Japan so the restaurants have no chairs and you have to find the best possible position on the little pillow under you, a bit uncomfortable for westerners but definitely worth it! I kid you not when I say it was one of the best dining experiences of my entire life!!!
And do you wanna know the best part? It cost 2000 yen (around 20 dollars) per person for an unlimited serving (yes, that's right, if you keep eating the food keeps coming), isn't that amazing!?!?!
I can't forget about the sushi experience which I learned to love and enjoy. They are carefully prepared and look so cute you don't even want to touch them, just look.
There are so many: salmon eggs (my favourite), octopus, salmon, tuna, mackerel, snapper, all sorts of shrimps with wasabi (strong root, really strong), japanese mayo, onions.... its just endless.
Last night my girlfriend and I met some long time friends of her in another traditional restaurant in downtown Hiroshima and along came all that food again, I even ate raw tongue and beef.... from a horse!!!!
Japanese food is so sophisticated in its simplicity that it gives meaning to the word "art".
Gotta love it!!!

This is the story of a man... in a land... called Japan!!!

Alright after 17 hours and 3 airports I finally made it to Japan. The Osaka Kansai Airport is massive, I mean, it's like sooo big that 2 thirds of it weren't even being used!!! There are new anti-terrorist measures in play these days in Japan which means I underwent some serious fingerprinting, digital photo taking, strip nearly naked searching and a full checking of my luggage and belongings before I could step foot on japanese soil. The security oficials, one man and one woman were amazed with my tattoos and after I said '' I'm not yakuza '' we all laughed and the ice was broken...
That was it, I was finally ''legally'' in the land of the rising sun!!!
My girlfriend and her brother in law picked me up and we went to their home in Kobe ( the city that was badly damadged by an earthquake some years ago ).
Did I go to bed and rest? No!!! Strait to the restaurant to eat ''yakiniku'' a kind of gengis khan on the table. After tongue fillets, stomach strips, raw liver with spring onion dices, pork bits and peaces etc... I was ready to roll!
Her sister arrived from work and together with her two early 20's sons we all went bowling 'till 3am.... unbelievable, I actually produced some decent strikes.
Next day we took a bus to Hiroshima (we all know what this city is famous for...) to meet her other sister and family where I was received with great joy by her sisters two little girls and kid, even the neighours showed up with gifts to meet a ''brazilian gaijin'', and I was served with one of my favourite dishes Yakisoba cooked right in front of me followed by Okunomyiaki the city's home dish which is a type of omelet with vegetables, pancake, noodles, sauce and mayo on top DELICIOUS!!!
After that came the beers, all local of course, sake, whisky and we just joked and talked ''shit'' until we could barely stand.
Gotta tell'ya, japanese people are extremely friendly aswell as polite and respectful, so far I'm just overwelmed by the country's beauty and warmth (I mean human warmth because now is winter and snow is not a distant dream...), so that's it for now, c u in my next post or how the japanese say JYAMATA NE!!!

My Trip To Asia

Hello everybody, this is Gunnar and I created this blog to share with family, friends and anybody else interested in other peoples stories; the experiences, places and people I'm about to discover in my trip to Asia.
I will be roaming through Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Borneo, Malaysia and Singapore before returning to NZ.
Wish me good luck and see you in my next post...