On the streets of London

Hi Guys!
So today we didn't really have any major sightseeing plans, we just went out with my buddies to shop around town.
We went to Denmark street and browsed through some music stores and then we moved on from one clothe store to the next.

We visited a Shopping mall where we then spent a good portion of our day just shopping, browsing, eating frozen Yogurt etc.
 I bought myself a chargeable bus card called the Oyster card  which cost 5£ for the card it self and 31£ or 7 days of unlimited bus travel and unlimited travels with the subway (or the underground/tube) inside zone 1 and 2.
It is a great way to save money and to travel easily. Definitely worth buying, and you get the 5£ back when you return the card (if you want to return it). It can be bought at almost any stations ticket booth, so definitely don't miss out on this simple, money saving wonder!

 Since tomorrow is new years eve we are going to have a party at my friend Lauras house. I will do the cooking and we will gather to the rooftop
to watch the fireworks at London eye.

Tomorrow is going to be so much fun!



Cheers
Robert

Finally in London !!

So as I have previously mentioned I am off to London... TODAY!

I have noticed, that I have the darn-est luck when it comes to transportation.
My brother drove me to the airport and I was off towards new experiences!
   I had a short layover in Copenhagen and arrived safely to London... but of course there has to have been a landslide on the tracks so, we have to take the buss to Coulsden town where I had to wait 30 min on the train.
   I had a slight flu when I left, and surprise, surprise, now I am practically dead-ish.
Oh well, now I am here at my friends house and here  I shall end my night.

Until tomorrow Chaps!
Robert


PS.
I will be making my V-log again! Check it out HERE !

Eyes on London

Hi Y'all !

Now that I have settled right back in my normal life here in Finland it is time to plan my next upcoming trip.
This time I'll be visiting London!!! It's going to be my first time and I have only a few ideas of what I want to see there.
I will  be going during new years season so I will be going to the London Eye to see the fireworks.
As I did in Japan, I will do now. I am going to blog and Vlog my trip.

You can go check out my Youtube channel: TravelersPOV ( http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelersPOV)
There are some videos already about my travels trough Japan so make sure to check those out and rate and comment.

London get ready.

Cheers!
Robert

Tokyo to Nagoya (My last day in Japan)

Today I am going back to Nagoya but before that I wanted to go and run an errand for my brother at the Brand-x record store in Higashi Ikebukuro so I set of after breakfast.

I got all the way to Ikebukuro station without any problems but from there on I feel like this day has just not gone my way. 

I tried to find the place for like 1 hour, first going to Sunshine city where they said that the place I was looking for was not there. 

So I asked the police that were walking by and they helped me a bit but then I finally found it after finally asking a local Family Mart convenience store and getting the right direction.

I went in and soon found out that it was a store only for Japanese metal music. No "foreign" metal bands were to be found so I went back to Asakusa to my hostel a bit annoyed.

I took my luggage and headed of to Tokyo station where I had to rush in to my Shinkansen to get on board before it left, and let me tell you that it was CLOSE to that I didn't make it. 

I arrived soon in Nagoya and went to find my hostel which was inside a Hotel, that caused a bit of confusion at the info and when I was searching for it.

Well at least I am here and that is all that matters. I went out and did a bit of shopping and now I will sleep and tomorrow after breakfast, I will finally be flying back to Finland. 

I want to extend my gratitude to all the Couch Surfing hosts that have hosted me, without you my trip would have been very lonely. Special thanks to Yoshimi and Yuko!!!! Love you guys! 

Also big thanks to you, the readers, who have followed me and read my earthly scribbles. 

THANK YOU!

Cheers
Robert (TravelersPOV)

Go check my Youtube channel for the Videos of my trip!
Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelersPOV/videos

My day trip to lake Kawaguchiko (one of the fuji five lakes)

Mt. Fuji in the distance 

So today (15.8) I woke up and had a brunch at my hostel (I ate the breakfast at my hostel and a bento that I bought) and then left to go to Lake Kawaguchiko. I had originally wanted to climb Mt. Fuji but since I don't have the proper equipment needed (since it can get even below 0 at the top) I decided to just go see it from one of the many sightseeing spots near it.

 So it was 1 p.m. when I hopped on the train and I arrived around 3 p.m. at the Kawaguchiko station.
The weather was a bit cloudy and foggy so I could only observe Mt. Fuji from its silhouette. But man it was gorgeous and BIG! I will definitely come back to Japan and climb it !

I also wanted to go and visit the Aokigahara forest (known also as the suicide forest to foreigners thanks to VICE).
And once again I was disappointed to find out that there was one more bus going there but no more buses coming backwards from there so, typically, I could not go there either.
For Japanese people the Aokigahara forest is more known for the fact that it grows on top of lava rock and there are some lava rock caves there as well and hiking trails around certain places.

The suicides happen more deep in the woods in places where there is no trespassing allowed.
I'll put the link here for the Vice video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FDSdg09df8

So I just decided to take some photos and go to the lake and take a little round the lake with the boat that does regular turns around the lake.

View of Mt. Fuji from the lake

It was nice but I would have enjoyed it more if the weather would have been more clearer.

Well what can you do, so I tried  to enjoy myself the best that I could until I returned back to Tokyo.
This was my day today and tomorrow I'll be of to Nagoya but before that I'll be going to one record store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro.

Cheers.
Robert

Recap of the past 3 days, Takaoka travels!

I left Hakodate on the 10th at 3 p.m. because I didn't have any time for Sapporo and didn't want to stay in Hakodate anymore. So I hopped on the train and arrived to Takaoka at 11 p.m. where Yoshimi, my host, came to get me.
It was so hot outside even though it was already dark, I only now realize how much cooler Hokkaido region is.

The next day we didn't have anything planed so I slept late and waited for Yuko and Yoshimi to come home. When they both had arrived we ate and since Yoshimi still had work to do, she soon left back to work. Me and Yuko went to the supermarket to by some groceries, I had promised to make some simple food later on and to bake some cinnamon rolls. 

When we came back we started to make the dough so that it would have time to rise. I like to bake and to cook so this was a fun experience.
The cinnamon rolls turned out great and the pasta sauce also.
Later on Yoshimi returned home and we all ate with great appetite  before heading out to the Suiryuji temple where we had visited once before but now it was going to be illuminated.

I wore a Jinbei, Japanese clothes for men, which Yoshimi lent me and Yuko wore a gorgeous Kimono. 

We headed out and took a bus from the mall to the temple.
There were a lot of people going there and later on the reason stood clear in front of me. The temple was gorgeous!!! The illumination changed color every now and then and there were Japanese lanterns along the path to the temple. The wavy patterns of the rock garden was also spectacularly cool in the lighting. 

We hanged around for a while before returning back towards the home where we changed our clothes. Then we decided to go and buy some fireworks and go to a little beach where we lit them up and watch them until they died out. I decided to go and take a swim in the water and Yuko decided to follow my lead.
The water was super salty and there was apparently some jelly-fish in the sea as well and Yuko got stung by a couple while I was left almost untouched, only one sting! Hahah, poor Yuko. 

We then headed back home and showered and had a little drinking party. 

The next day was kind of a repetition of the day before, since we had no plans and we stayed home, made some food, rented some movies and drank.

I have been moving around so much and doing so much sight seeing lately that this was like a godsend to me, plus I had SO MUCH FUN! I will miss them all so much!!!!!

Today I left Takaoka after saying my goodbyes to both Yoshimi and Yuko. I then took the train to Tokyo where I just wanted to stay put for this day. So that is basically all that I have done today.
Tomorrow I will go and see a movie and go around town with my friend and the day after that, though I am not 100% sure, I will go to mt. Fuji. Whether I will climb it or not I am still not sure. 

Thanks for reading!
Cheers

Robert

Stuck in Hakodate

So today's blog is going to be a short one.
I woke up and had a great breakfast made to me by one of the owners of the place. It was truly delicious.
I thought that this must be a great start to a GOOD day.
I walked to the bank in the pouring rain to try to withdraw some money and after chatting with an employer there I understood that the banks can't help me if I have an foreign account and no card.
I was a bit discouraged by the news but decided to go and try one more time at the seven eleven.
It worked, I could lift the money I needed so I was getting more and more exited for today. Even the rain did not bring me down even though my shoes and socks got all drenched in the rain.

My good mood changed right at the moment I stepped to the station. The trains were late and the lines were incredible.
So as I asked around what had happened I found out that the wind and rain had blew some debris on to the rails and the trains were momentarily out of use.

I waited over 2 hours in the line and once I got to the ticket counter and showed my JR pass they said that I could ride the train leaving at 18.20 towards Sapporo.

I took their word and went to get something to eat inside the station. I was yet again struck with bad news, the trains were all CANCELLED!!!
So I did some thinking and decided that since I can not go to Sapporo I will take the train towards Takaoka tomorrow and stay for the night in Hakodate.

So I waited again the standard 1-2 hours in the new line to the ticket counter and got the tickets. Also I booked myself one more night to the B&B.

So I returned to the B&B and tought about going to the Jingiskan (mongolian BBQ) here in Hakodate but decided to just leave it be since I was not in the mood. So I got something else to eat and just stayed at my B&B and had a couple of beers.

Tomorrow there will be no Video and no blog but feel free to check out my other videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelersPOV
And remember to like, share and subscribe to my videos. Feel also free to comment my blog posts.

Cheers!
Robert