matt.me63.com - Matt Edgar » japan

20 things we did on our trip to Japan

mattedgar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:45:45 +0000

visited lots of temples
shopped in the markets at the temple gates
travelled by Shinkansen
ate green KitKats
trod a fine line between kawaii and genki
got told off by a monk
walked in our socks across squeeky floorboards
frequently confronted the question of Theseus’ ship
ate cherry blossom ice cream
took an outdoor bath in hot spring water
visited the valley of hell by cable car
climbed aboard the cat bus
made friends with electricity
made a distress purchase of two umbrellas
ate mcdonald’s only once
played on the roof of the Children’s Castle
Lost Darth Vader in an Asaka sandpit
bought disney seaweed
got our bags back at terminal five
woke up at 2am feeling like it was 10 in the morning

Thanks to Edmund and Chika: our hosts, travel agents, tour guides and translators!

The search for Japanese balloonist Michio Kanda

mattedgar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:09:17 +0000

Michio Kanda is a Japanese town office employee and world-record-holding balloonist who has gone missing over the North Pacific while attempting to fly from Japan to North America. My brother and sister-in-law are part of his support team. They’ve set up a blog to provide updates on the ongoing attempt to locate him at http://kandaupdate.wordpress.com/

On his latest trip Kanda-san, who is 58, was attempting to break two world records: his own for duration spent in the air, and one currently held by Richard Branson for the longest distance travelled in a hot air balloon. His balloon “Starlight” is the second-biggest ever made. It has a safety capsule equipped with 20 days’ food and water.

Here’s hoping the search is successful and Kanda-san is soon found safe and well.