Saga-Nishiki is a special weaving method (or if you want to be fancy a unique brocade) that is specific to Saga prefecture. It begun being made at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868) by Kashima Nabeshima, the lord of Saga Prefecture. Originally named Kashima-Nishiki and used only for noble ladies, it became known as Saga-Nishiki in 1910. 
Saga Nishiki entrance with Kayo and Eriko
At the beginning of June my friend Kayo organized for us and our other friend Eriko to experience Saga-Nishiki making. There is an old Japanese house in Saga city where they make Saga-Nishiki. We arrived on an exceptionally hot day, and found two ladies working on some weaving surrounded by some beautiful Saga-Nishiki products. The weaving can be used in various items including bags, jewelry, hair products, small dolls, and as part of a kimono.
 
My wooden textile table


Tables were then set up for us to learn how to make Saga-Nishiki. Wooden textile tables are used. Numerous strands of Japanese paper coated in gold are stretched from the back to the front. To weave the silk thread through these gold strands, you first take a pointed thin piece of bamboo and weave it through the strands in the desired pattern (we were given a back and white sheet to follow and also someone had already started on the piece for us). After reaching the end, you stand up the bamboo tool on its side to create a space between the gold strands that will go over or under the thread. You then pass a similar bamboo tool which has the thread on it between the strands, pull it tight and then start the process again.

Bamboo stick used for threading through the gold strands - that's my hand on the right for a size reference!
 
Threading through the silk thread
We probably worked for about half an hour and maybe I managed to add about 4 lines of thread to the piece! I asked (with the help of Kayo) how long it would take the ladies (our sensei’s) to make an inch high piece, they said about about a day. That’s a lot of time spent hunched over a small table and lots of focusing of your eyes on very fine threads and details. So it really made me appreciate more the work that they do.

Sensei putting my earrings together
After having a go at weaving we then got to make earrings. We were able to select a piece of pre-made Saga-Nishiki, and an earring shape. The material was on double sided tape. We had to cut out a small circle and then placed it on a small rounded circle piece of metal. Then using small pointed tools and glue we pushed the remaining material into the hollow on the other side and then glued this to the earring. While the glue died we had a bit of time to talk to the ladies. I asked how long they had been making Saga-Nishiki, one said about 30 years. She started making Saga-Nishiki because she wanted to make it for herself. Then Saga Prefecture asked her to come and make it as her job and to sell.
The final product
It was a great experience, I’m really glad I got to do it. Plus now I have my own earrings featuring this amazing weaving! 

Afterwards the three of us went to a small tea shop and drunk Japanese tea out of Arita porcelain, ate Japanese sweets and chatted. Thank you girls for a lovely afternoon!!


 
Much love always
Peace, love and smiles
Ange xoxo


Side note: Saga-nishiki is also the name of a popular cake that is made in Saga, so explaining to students that I made Saga-nishiki, I had to be careful that I explained it was weaving not the cake!
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This blog is probably well over due. It’s taken awhile because I’ve been trying to work out how to put into words my reasoning, but also still deciding what I want to do. I’m still not really sure I have the words, but at least I have a little idea of what I’ll be doing this year now.

Some of you noticed from past blogs that I was having a few difficulties, and doing a lot of reflecting. Thanks to those of you that sent messages to me. I was actually having a rougher time that I let on. There were a lot of tears, messages/conversations with family and friends, and a lot of thinking. I had gotten to a point where I was no longer enjoying travelling as much as I thought I would. I was homesick and lonely.
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From Hue I took the night train to Hanoi. It was an interesting experience which I wrote another poem about (Night Train). After arriving in cooler Hanoi I walked to my hostel and settled in. Being the capital of Vietnam the city has a huge population (more than 7million) and there seems to be people everywhere. For someone who doesn’t like big cities it didn’t really appeal to me, but I did force myself out to explore a bit.

Hue, just slightly north of Hoi An (a four hour bus ride), is a former imperial capital (1802 until 1945) ruled by the Nguyen Dynasty in central Vietnam. I decided to only spend two nights in Hue, so had two days of sightseeing and felt like I managed to fit in a fair amount.

The first day I spent walking around the city. First I walked to the train station to buy a ticket for the next day to Hanoi, which was a very easy and quick process thankfully.

Although I only had one day of sunshine in Hoi An, I loved my time there. It helped a lot that the hostel I was in was very sociable and I met lots of people to share experiences with. The town itself is quiet, laid back and gorgeous. There are a lot of old buildings with yellow facades, and Hoi An is famous for lanterns and tailoring. It runs alongside the Thu Bon River, near the coast and sits in the middle of Vietnam.

After getting off our bus to walk out of Cambodia and getting back on, we then had to get off again to walk into Vietnam, which also involved standing in a room, with our bags, with no air conditioning, sweat dripping down our faces and down our backs as we waited for our names to be called.

After leaving hectic Phnom Penh I headed south to the coast. My first stop was at a small river town called Kampot. With a population just under 40,000, it is famous the country over for its pepper, but is apparently also well known for durian (a pungent smelling fruit). However, I had chosen to go to and stay in Kampot for an extended period to attend some yoga classes.

For me I treated it like an introductory yoga retreat.
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Warning/disclaimer: there is some reference to war and suffering that occurred during the Khmer Rouge in this post. I’ve tried to keep it short and not to brutal, but honest, clear and respectful to the victims. I hope it doesn’t upset you, but that it does make you think about the past, present and future.

A visit to Cambodia wouldn’t be complete without a visit, even a short one, to Phnom Penh the capital and largest city in the country.

Little known Battambang is actually the second largest city in Cambodia (behind Phnom Penh, at 196,000) and sits just south of Siem Reap in western Cambodia. It was a noticeable change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap. On the evening I arrived a walked from my hostel to buy water. I walked along the Sangkae River which has a nice park alongside it. There were all sorts of people out in the park walking, running, playing games, sitting and talking.

After a 3 day journey, involving a night bus from Inle Lake to Yangon, a flight from Yangon to Bangkok, and then a train, tuk tuk and bus from Bangkok, I finally arrived in Siem Reap exhausted. It was an interesting experience crossing the land boarder.

After my three day hike I certainly needed some down time to recharge the batteries, and Inle Lake was the perfect place for that. Inle Lake is a fresh water lake on the western side of Burma, it’s the second largest in the country and sits at an elevation of 880m, so is still reasonably cool compared to many other parts of the country. It has a wonderful laid back feel to it, and the Nyaung Shwe township where I stayed was lively without being busy.

My journey to Inle Lake was a bit of an unconventional one over almost a week. I had decided to get the train from Mandalay to Kalaw as I had heard it takes you through some beautiful scenery and it’s a cheap way to travel (it cost me a total of about US$10). I took my first train from Mandalay to Thazi leaving in the afternoon. It was a nice ride, but bumpy. Although, I was glad not to be in the seats in front of me which seemed to bounce more often and more dramatically than mine.

North of Bagan along the Irrawaddy river is the second largest city of Burma, Mandalay, it also happens to be the last royal capital. The centre of the city is the square area where the palace grounds still stand (although the palace itself is a reconstruction of the original) surrounded by a wall and a moat. I was not all that impressed with Mandalay as a city, it was a bit run down, loud and busy, but I enjoyed my stay there.

Before the stars had begun disappearing and the night begun turning into day, we were already on the road on our E-bikes (simplified scooters run on batteries) heading towards the ancient grounds of temples and pagodas of Bagan. We climbed to the top of one, just as the first light of day was appearing. As the light increased the outlines of the taller stupas began appearing.

Despite having been in the country for more than a week I’m still unsure which name to use. Burma is the original name of the country, including when it became a separate self-governing colony from India under British colonialists in 1937. In 1948 independence came for the country under the name Union of Burma. But following the military coup in 1962 and subsequent dominance over the country by the military it became known as Myanmar.

After my time on Koh Lanta I headed back to Krabi for another couple of nights. The main reason I did this was so that I could spend a day at the beautiful Railay, a penisula between Krabi and the nearby resort town of Ao Nang. Road access is impossible as there are high limestone cliffs, making it super popular with rock climbers the world over, but also meaning that access can only be made by boat.

So the morning of my trip, I left my hostel and step outside...

After Bangkok I didn’t really have any solid plans until my flight out of Bangkok to Myanmar on October 5th. So I was pretty much free to do what I wanted, I knew I wanted to explore Southern Thailand, especially the islands, so that’s where I headed. I ended up flying into Krabi, purely because that was the cheapest flight option.

As the plane was flying into Bangkok I realised I was nervous! Thailand has long been on my list of places to visit for it’s natural beauty, architecture and the culture. I was worried that I had built it up too much in my mind and that it wouldn’t meet my expectations. Plus I was still not completely comfortable with the idea I was travelling alone and missed the family a lot.

Singapore became a stop over so I could spend as much time as possible with the family before heading on to Bangkok. I just extended it out for a few days. I’m really glad I did this to have a breather to adjust from being with family to traveling on my own in a very modern and English speaking country (oh my goodness so much English!).

During our family reunion trip in Bali, as well as relaxing and talking, we also did several day tours.

The first one we did with Yuda and Ari (they work with/for Paul who owns the villa we stayed in) which went north along the eastern coast of Bali. Our first stop of the day was at a water palace where the local king (Bali once had several kings ruling different areas of the island) would entertain guests.

The excitement started the moment flights and accommodation were booked, but it really started building when Ryan and I left Hong Kong. It got to the point that Ryan was literally bouncing with excitement while we waited in the arrivals area of Denpasar airport for the rest of the family to finish with immigration and walk through the doors. It had been a 20months since I had seen them and about 15months since Ryan had seen them.

Kuala Lumpur was just a short stop over on our way to Bali but we still managed to see a few things. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur a little later than expected as our flight out of Hong Kong was delayed by heavy air traffic. We managed to make our way successfully to the hostel using public transport, dropped our stuff off and then headed out for the evening with Shahlaa, my friend Faisal’s wife who is currently living and working in KL.

We successfully managed to (eventually) find the right bus to take us from Shenzhen airport to the border with Hong Kong, made it through the China and Hong Kong immigrations and onto the next bus to take us to the centre of Hong Kong. From there I took a back seat to navigating, for a change, as Ryan took charge to get us to the hostel using the data on his phone.

Our last stop in mainland China was Guilin, a prefecture level city in Southern China that is situated along side the west bank of the Li River. It is famous for it’s scenery of karst topography which is one of the main reasons that Guilin has become a tourist destination. About 20 years ago, my Nana and Grandfather also visited Guilin. They did a river cruise along the Li River which my grandfather fell in love with and it inspired him to write several poems about the experience.

Our next stop in China was Xi’an. This is one of the oldest cities in China with over 3,100years of history, it is the capital of Shaanxi Province in north west China. But to most tourists it is well known for the Terracotta Warriors (more below), which was the main reason we decided to stop in Xi’an and stayed for 4 nights. We arrived late on the first night after getting in from Beijing and then getting on the subway to the hostel.

I’m writing this on a fast train from Beijing to Xi’an (although it won’t be posted until after I leave China). We are 9days into our time in China and have just spent 5 great days in Beijing, capital city of China, home to 11.51million people and host of the 2008 Olympic Games. We managed to tick off the major sites and everything we wanted to see while in the city.

For our first full day in Beijing we headed to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square.

On August 2nd, I gave a final wave goodbye to Caty, Alex, Ruriko, Kayo, Rachel and Hashima-san at Saga airport and officially left Japan on a plane bound for Shanghai. It was sad to say goodbye to my Saga family and the place I have called home for the last three years. But even going through immigration, stepping on the plane and landing in Shanghai still didn’t make it feel real.

Today marks three years to the date that I arrived in Japan, and in 2 more days I will be departing for China to begin a new adventure - travelling around the world!

Japan has been an amazing experience. I have met many wonderful people from around the world, made new friends, learnt a lot about Japan, it's culture, history and people, as well as learning about other countries and about myself. I travelled a lot around Japan and got to do many things.
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Round 1’s can be found in cities throughout Japan. They are massive entertainment complexes for all ages.

The ALTs in Saga have made several trips to the Round 1 here in Saga City. Mostly we do spo-cha. This allows us 1.5 hours, 3 hours, or unlimited time to use all the facilities over 3 floors for a set price.

I haven’t really had time to blog much recently, there seems to be so much to do! So here is a quick run down on what I have been up to this month:

-       I went to try making Saga-Nishki (you can read all about it here on this blog)

-       I’ve been helping to organize getting Saga T-shirts made, and we finally got them over the weekend and I’m really happy with how they turned out! 

-       Having lots of dinners and spending time with different friends

-       I judged an International

Saga-Nishiki is a special weaving method (or if you want to be fancy a unique brocade) that is specific to Saga prefecture. It begun being made at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868) by Kashima Nabeshima, the lord of Saga Prefecture. Originally named Kashima-Nishiki and used only for noble ladies, it became known as Saga-Nishiki in 1910. 

At the beginning of June my friend Kayo organized for us and our other friend Eriko to experience Saga-Nishiki making.

Everyone knows trains in Japan are amazing, but you don’t really realize how amazing until you use them on a regular basis.

Not only are the trains nice, with comfortable seats, heating and cooling depending on the season but they also run on time. You can set your clock to the arrival of the trains, and you know something serious is going on if the train is delayed by a couple of minutes.

So recently I watched this video that I made soon after I arrived about my apartment and I realised how much more stuff I have now. A few things have changed so I wanted to make a video showing these (in particular the photo explosion on my walls) before I begin packing up and cleaning my apartment for the next person (mainly so that I remember what my apartment looked like but thought you might also like to see this too).

食べ放題 (tabehoudai) means all you can eat.

飲み放題 (nomihoudai) means all you can drink.

Both of these terms are common in Japan, especially at restaurants or work parties. The most common probably is nomihoudai. There’s usually a limit on the types of drinks you can order, and a time limit on how long you can do all you can drink (usually about 3 hours). But other than that, you can literally drink as much as you can in the time you have.

I’ve been slacking off on these blogs recently, but there hasn’t been all that much to report. I may be posting all these blogs in the space of a few days but they were written at different times about different periods of time. This one is about my last two weekends.

On the Saturday of the first weekend (May 10th) Caty, Penny, Penny’s mum and I headed out on a day road trip to tick off some things on our Japan Bucket List. Our first stop was the giant reclining Buddha in Fukuoka.

I just realised today that I never posted my latest "The Year That Was..." video on my blog.
Advice to remember:
Advice to remember:
Going home is the easy option, and you'll regret it a week later.
Take it all in your stride, focus on the good moments, and get up and do something!
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Currently working as an ALT in Saga, Japan. I will be here until August 2014 - then look out world! Peace, love and smiles xoxo
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