For many of you, I’m sure, Italy is no stranger. The country, which boasts 54 World Heritage Sites, including countless priceless relics / ruins from the glorious Roman Empire (which at its peak, stretched from as far as the Middle East and North Africa to the south of England), is abundantly rich in ancient history, tradition, food and culture.
For me, after 40 years of my existence, this would only be my first trip to the famous Shoe/Boot of the Mediterranean. And one that took me more than a month to put the itinerary together…
Now, back to Naples.
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I promised to leave Japan when I wrote my last post for 2018. As some of you might know, I failed to do so. This time, it’s for real.
This is a trip that has been four years in the making. I first had the idea of tracing the cities along the Mediterranean coastline in 2016, because I’ve always been fascinated with the Mediterranean region.
Countries like Italy, the south of France, Spain and Portugal are so rich in history, cuisine and culture. I had always been interested in ancient civilizations, in particular the Greek and Roman Empires.
Of course, to visit every major city in the Mediterranean region in one trip is almost impossible. I originally planned to spend four and a half months covering the coastline from Central Italy to Portugal, but due to my sheer ignorance of the Schengen ruling, I was forced to cut Portugal (and a side trip to Morocco) altogether and scale down the plan to meet the 90-day allowance for non-European Union citizens.
Still, three months of traveling nonetheless looks a bit daunting, given the longest I’ve continuously been on the road (not including my two-year stay in Japan) was a 24-day solo trip to Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Austria) back in June, 2012.
Central & Eastern Europe Trip – June 2012
This time, I would spend almost three weeks to slightly over a month in each of the Mediterranean countries I planned to visit, starting with Italy, then to the south of France, and finally ending in Spain.
Leaving the depressing gardens, we went in search of shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ), because my friend was craving it. It didn’t seem such a bad idea at all. Nothing like some steaming hot broth to warm up freezing bodies, I thought.
A light rain accompanied us en-route to the shabu shabu restaurant, as we navigated through some winding (and partially hidden) alleys in search of the hotpot paradise, aided by Google Maps.
Suddenly, the heavens decided to throw a tantrum, and it started pouring buckets!!
Just then, we spotted the shabu shabu place from across the street and dashed for it, only to be greeted by a wooden sign hanging on its door that read “定休日” (meaning “designated rest day”).
We collapsed on the bench next to the entrance of the restaurant, exhausted and convinced that our day must have been cursed from the start.
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Exhausted from our pre-dawn excursions, including a two-hour maroon at a train station, we decided to sleep in on New Year’s Day, and woke up for lunch. It had been an eventful New Year’s Eve for us, having started the day as early as 8 a.m. The original plan that day had been to visit Okayama Castle (岡山城), bright and early so we could avoid the crowds.Standing majestically over the Asahi River (旭川), Okayama Castle (like many castles in Japan) is a reconstruction, the original structure having been almost totally destroyed during the Second World War. Only the Tsukimi Yagura (月見櫓), which translates literally as the “moon viewing turret”, remains from the original 1620 construction. However, what separates Okayama Castle from the others is that it is one of only two jet-black castles ever constructed in Japan, the other being Matsumoto Castlein Nagano. Their black facades have earned them the moniker “Crow Castle”.
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I hope you have enjoyed the trio of haiku (俳句) from my previous posts. It’s actually my maiden attempt at writing haiku. In fact, I’ve had to read up on the rules and conventions / stylistics of writing haiku before giving it a crack myself.
Native Japanese speakers or non-native speakers proficient in the Japanese language may even find the grammar or my choice of words used in the haiku somewhat strange, and I can only apologise for my own language shortcomings.
What I do try to convey through each of these haikuis a state of mind or an emotion that works symbiotically with an accompanying photograph to capture or express those thoughts / feelings / emotions at that point in time (i.e. when the picture was taken).
Instead of three parallel lines, I chose to present the haiku in a single line in the classic Japanese way, like the script on an omikuji (おみくじ) strip.
However, I have deliberately left out any explanation of the haikuin all my previous posts, so that you can draw your own meaning or interpretations.
I hope to come up with more of such posts in future, as and when inspiration strikes.
Now, say this again more quickly: “Chi-ku-bu-shi-ma”.
Repeat this five times.
竹生島! * 竹生島! * 竹生島!! * 竹生島!! * 竹生島!!!
This tongue twister of a name is NOT a joke. Not only is it a real island, but also one that happens to be one of the top three spiritual spots located in the mysterious yet enchantingly beautiful Lake Biwa, in Shiga Prefecture.
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Fall is almost over in Hokkaido, although you wouldn’t know that here in sunny Singapore. To be honest, me neither. It’s almost two months since I moved back for good from Japan.
Fall is the best season to visit Hokkaido or anywhere in Japan in my opinion, because the islands (save for Okinawa) will be slowly clad in a mesmerizing patchwork of crimson, mandarin and golden hues from north to south, beginning with Hokkaido. With Halloween around the corner, fall is also the best season for ghost stories (although some believe summer to be the best).
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Standing majestically over the 
lonesojourns 