Thursdaysd's East Asian Excursion
Sep 21st, 2010, 05:41 AM
#43
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Yikes, this is no fun, t-d. I recall very similar issues -- was changing planes in Shanghai en route to Osaka when I had a misstep and went down like I was shot. 1 leg worked, the other could only be dragged -- after 2 days of that, I holed up in my room for a full day, and that restored me to about 80% mobility, which was fine.
Sep 21st, 2010, 06:04 AM
#44
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ok, if you are not going to limp along, like a trooper, then i suggest you hire carriers who will transport you aloft for the rest of your trip.....cleopatra had them, why should you not...??
take two aspirin and some orange juice and you will be fine in the morning..
take two aspirin and some orange juice and you will be fine in the morning..
Sep 22nd, 2010, 01:21 PM
#46
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Hi Gertie - thanks for asking. I made it to Kyoto, and am still planning on continuing (bought a bunch of train tickets yesterday), but I am limping VERY slowly, which limits sightseeing, and am concerned about permanent injury. I stopped by a hospital very near my hotel yesterday, but there was hardly any English spoken, and they wanted a 5250 yen new patient exam before they addressed the real problem. I may try Kyoto University Hospital on Friday. (Today is a holiday and it seems the hospitals are closed!)
I talked with my insurance co. and they will cover an emergency room visit after a $75 copay. It didn't seem that the hospital I visited yesterday had an emergency room, or at least I wasn't in it.
Bob, not sure they have palanquins in Japan, although they do have taxis. However, this is a budget trip, if I were going to take taxis everywhere I'd have to come home a lot sooner. Maybe you could send some bearers?
Proper TR entry after I get my journal up-to-date and blog Vancouver.
I talked with my insurance co. and they will cover an emergency room visit after a $75 copay. It didn't seem that the hospital I visited yesterday had an emergency room, or at least I wasn't in it.
Bob, not sure they have palanquins in Japan, although they do have taxis. However, this is a budget trip, if I were going to take taxis everywhere I'd have to come home a lot sooner. Maybe you could send some bearers?
Proper TR entry after I get my journal up-to-date and blog Vancouver.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 01:30 PM
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Emergency departments are few, and holidays are tricky. There are e designated clinics and hospitals which accept patients after hours, weekends and holidays. They are published in the newspaper. You could ask your hotel about that option. Sometimes there is a new patient dee, sometimes not. If you get desperate come to Kanazawa early and we'll take you. They will certainly speak English at Kyoto university. They may not want to see you without a referral though, as many uni hospitals like to treat only difficult cases. Call before you go - or have someone call for you.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 01:45 PM
#49
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Thanks so much Kim (you're up early!). If it doesn't seem to improve today I'll have the hotel call the university hospital. This is the same ankle I injured years ago in Turkey, so it's weak to start with.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 02:02 PM
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Good luck and I hope you feel better. Most doctors will speak at least some passable English. In fact, all of mine do, and I see quite a few. English speaking doctors are not a rarity. But, the reception staff may not have very much English at all.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 02:27 PM
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ok, i have rounded up a few....gpanda will be in charge....don't count on him for much...he talks big but does not follow through....khunwilko is available... orgy is also on board... AO said she will help, but has to be carried in a chair when she is transporting you.... the moderator might even help on weekends (we can get away with murder then on weekends)... robert mcintosh can come too and bring a strong flight attendant to lift your bags overhead.... several guys on soi 4 said they would help if you also can assure them that their oxygen bottles can be refilled...
i don't know how much you weigh, but after eating all that asian food, it can't be much so this should work at least for the next month or two and then we can arrange for replacements or maybe you will be healed by then...
i don't know how much you weigh, but after eating all that asian food, it can't be much so this should work at least for the next month or two and then we can arrange for replacements or maybe you will be healed by then...
Sep 22nd, 2010, 03:18 PM
#53
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thursdaysd - I first met you here online when you were doing your Sore Foot Tour of Budapest, Austria and Venice - that was when I was recovering from my accident in Japan when I fell and broke my foot!
I certainly hope you feel better soon. Maybe you should bite the bullet and pay the deductible for an examination.
Looking forward to traveling along with your report.
Feel better soon!
I certainly hope you feel better soon. Maybe you should bite the bullet and pay the deductible for an examination.
Looking forward to traveling along with your report.
Feel better soon!
Sep 22nd, 2010, 03:20 PM
#54
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Kyoto International Foundation (Nanzen-ji area)
TEL：075-752-3010
many English speakers there. open on national holidays, saturdays, and sundays.
http://www.kcif.or.jp/en
you might be able to consult with the staff there.
TEL：075-752-3010
many English speakers there. open on national holidays, saturdays, and sundays.
http://www.kcif.or.jp/en
you might be able to consult with the staff there.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 03:27 PM
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Just realized you are in Kyoto - my former Japanese teacher is now living there - if she's around, maybe she has time to help you - email me if you want - my screen name with 'b1' added at hotmail dot com.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 03:58 PM
#56
Original Poster
Really appreciate all the fodors help (and laughs - that's a motley crew, all right). Am waiting for 9:00 am local to make phone calls. Just ate breakfast at the Palaceside Hotel - unlike NeoP I thought it a better deal than the coffee place down the street - unlimited coffee and juice, and the toast and ham no worse. The coffee place was a nice room, though. This is clearly a tourist hotel, unlike the Toyoko Inn in Tokyo, where I was the only gaijin in sight. Normally I'd prefer the more immersive experience, but at this point good English skills at the front desk are welcome.
Sep 23rd, 2010, 04:34 PM
#57
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Quick update. I haven't turned up any options in Kyoto aside from the University hospital and the hospital I tried on Wednesday. On the plus side, the ankle is clearly not broken, and seems to be responding to rest and arnica and some very sticky white plaster things a pharmacy sold me - at any rate, I'm limping faster today, despite a more energetic than expected evening. I think I'll just keep going, and see how I'm feeling when I get to Kanazawa. I go to Koyasan tomorrow, and although it's a bit of a trek to get there it sounds like just the right place for a slow limp.
If I'd known last evening would require more standing than I was ready for (much of it on one foot, leaning on the hiking stick I took along as a cane, lol), I wouldn't have gone, which would have been a pity. The Welcome Guide I had contacted wasn't available during the day, and said their days usually ended at 5:00 pm, but would I be interested in going along with her to a Moon Viewing Ceremony in the evening? (See http://www.daikakuji.or.jp/english/event/index.html - Kangetsu-e) Well, of course I would, and it was a wonderful experience - the clouds went away and a full moon appeared at exactly the right moment, just as the Buddhist ceremony started.
If I'd known last evening would require more standing than I was ready for (much of it on one foot, leaning on the hiking stick I took along as a cane, lol), I wouldn't have gone, which would have been a pity. The Welcome Guide I had contacted wasn't available during the day, and said their days usually ended at 5:00 pm, but would I be interested in going along with her to a Moon Viewing Ceremony in the evening? (See http://www.daikakuji.or.jp/english/event/index.html - Kangetsu-e) Well, of course I would, and it was a wonderful experience - the clouds went away and a full moon appeared at exactly the right moment, just as the Buddhist ceremony started.
Sep 24th, 2010, 06:55 AM
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Sorry to hear that your ankle is bothering you. The 'sticky white plaster thing' could be Salonpas, a very popular brand made in Japan. It may give you comfort to know that it has been approved by the FDA. Here is some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salonpas.
Sep 28th, 2010, 04:03 AM
#60
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Quick update: I made it up to Koya-san, and then survived a long travel day to reach Tokushima (note to HT - I did see the Naruto whirlpools). I'm now in Takamatsu, and have decided to skip Matsue, instead going straight to Kanazawa tomorrow.
<b>20-21 Sep - Resting Up and Random Observations</b>
After I spread the entire contents of my wet pack around my very small room in Tokyo so the things could dry (I hung the silk sleep sack, which fared worst, over the shower rail) I limped back to the station in search of dinner. I chose based on the pictures outside, and ate some very good pork fried in ginger at a little place right on the station forecourt. Sleeping was less successful - I woke up at midnight, but after going back to sleep around 3:00 am slept through to 8:00 am. I had given up any thought of visiting the fish market because of my bad ankle.
Breakfast at the Toyoko Inn featured lots of good coffee and O.J., and an OK croissant, but what appeared to be tuna fish sandwiches on limp white bread and potato salad (which had also appeared with the pork at dinner). After I got everything back in my pack and returned to the station I had no trouble buying a ticket on the shinkansen to Kyoto with my Visa card, although I did need some help finding the right platform. Since I didn't have a window seat I couldn't see a lot, but given the amount of haze there wasn't much to see.
RO #1 It is very humid. I live in NC, where the summers are miserably hot and humid, but although it's not as hot, it's even more humid. No Turkish bath effect, but just stand outside and you'll start sweating.
The countryside looked pretty, with tree-covered hills, but the towns were very crowded. I wondered what will happen when the population decreases, if it does. (My welcome guide in Kyoto said that people are just living in smaller groups - nuclear instead of extended families). Maybe the traffic situation would improve, at least, the traffic in Kyoto was horrible, and it took my taxi a long time to go the short distance to the Palace Side Hotel. I had opted for a garden view room, but since at this time of year all I could see were the outer trees, I'm not sure it was worth the extra. The hotel itself seemed old and tired after the Toyoko, and between the tour groups and the location it's not a place I'd revisit. The area is completely dead after the middle of the afternoon, with very few eating options, and it's not on a main bus route.
RO #2 The streets are immaculate. I mean, absolutely immaculate. No trash aside from a little leaf litter, and occasionally a few weeds. It's not just Kyoto - even a port city like Wakayama has the same freshly-made look. When I did see a stray beer can down an alley, it came as quite a shock. And not a pothole or loose brick in sight.
RO #3 In the UK, people drive on the left, but on escalators they stand to the right. Here they drive on the left and stand on the left. Although most of the time they walk on the left side of the street, this isn't universal. You also need to keep an ear out for cyclists using the pedestrians' part of the sidewalk.
The bento box I bought on the train didn't contain anything I recgnized as protein, so I ate a ham and egg sandwich (on limp white bread) at the hotel before going to sleep for the afternoon. This is my standard practice for jet lag going east - get up for dinner and then go to bed with everyone else - it didn't work quite so well going west. I ate dinner at the fairly nearby Tsujiya that NeoPatrick had enjoyed. I quite liked a big salad with tofu and greens (probably meant for sharing), and the chicken livers weren't bad (although I just ate much better ones in Takamatsu). I thought the chicken and mushrooms just passable. Surprisingly, the place seemed to be closing down at 9:00pm.
Back at the hotel I called my medical insurance companies, establishing that my regular insurance required me to visit an emergency room, and I would have to pay the first $75. I'd also have to pay up-front and get reimbursed later. My evacuation insurance had changed providers since my card was issued, and after a round of phone tag I finally got an email with the right contact the next morning.
#RO #4 Back in May Fodors posted some tips on etiquette in Japan, and in the ensuing discussion I was called an Ugly American for suggesting that your average female tourist, who wouldn't be attending high-powered business meetings or eating in fancy restaurants, didn't need to take a skirt. Well, I didn't bring a skirt, and I certainly don't need one! Far more women, of all ages and apparent socio-economic status, are wearing trousers than skirts in public. My Kyoto Welcome Guide, a woman wearing trousers, had a good laugh when I mentioned the discussion.
<b>20-21 Sep - Resting Up and Random Observations</b>
After I spread the entire contents of my wet pack around my very small room in Tokyo so the things could dry (I hung the silk sleep sack, which fared worst, over the shower rail) I limped back to the station in search of dinner. I chose based on the pictures outside, and ate some very good pork fried in ginger at a little place right on the station forecourt. Sleeping was less successful - I woke up at midnight, but after going back to sleep around 3:00 am slept through to 8:00 am. I had given up any thought of visiting the fish market because of my bad ankle.
Breakfast at the Toyoko Inn featured lots of good coffee and O.J., and an OK croissant, but what appeared to be tuna fish sandwiches on limp white bread and potato salad (which had also appeared with the pork at dinner). After I got everything back in my pack and returned to the station I had no trouble buying a ticket on the shinkansen to Kyoto with my Visa card, although I did need some help finding the right platform. Since I didn't have a window seat I couldn't see a lot, but given the amount of haze there wasn't much to see.
RO #1 It is very humid. I live in NC, where the summers are miserably hot and humid, but although it's not as hot, it's even more humid. No Turkish bath effect, but just stand outside and you'll start sweating.
The countryside looked pretty, with tree-covered hills, but the towns were very crowded. I wondered what will happen when the population decreases, if it does. (My welcome guide in Kyoto said that people are just living in smaller groups - nuclear instead of extended families). Maybe the traffic situation would improve, at least, the traffic in Kyoto was horrible, and it took my taxi a long time to go the short distance to the Palace Side Hotel. I had opted for a garden view room, but since at this time of year all I could see were the outer trees, I'm not sure it was worth the extra. The hotel itself seemed old and tired after the Toyoko, and between the tour groups and the location it's not a place I'd revisit. The area is completely dead after the middle of the afternoon, with very few eating options, and it's not on a main bus route.
RO #2 The streets are immaculate. I mean, absolutely immaculate. No trash aside from a little leaf litter, and occasionally a few weeds. It's not just Kyoto - even a port city like Wakayama has the same freshly-made look. When I did see a stray beer can down an alley, it came as quite a shock. And not a pothole or loose brick in sight.
RO #3 In the UK, people drive on the left, but on escalators they stand to the right. Here they drive on the left and stand on the left. Although most of the time they walk on the left side of the street, this isn't universal. You also need to keep an ear out for cyclists using the pedestrians' part of the sidewalk.
The bento box I bought on the train didn't contain anything I recgnized as protein, so I ate a ham and egg sandwich (on limp white bread) at the hotel before going to sleep for the afternoon. This is my standard practice for jet lag going east - get up for dinner and then go to bed with everyone else - it didn't work quite so well going west. I ate dinner at the fairly nearby Tsujiya that NeoPatrick had enjoyed. I quite liked a big salad with tofu and greens (probably meant for sharing), and the chicken livers weren't bad (although I just ate much better ones in Takamatsu). I thought the chicken and mushrooms just passable. Surprisingly, the place seemed to be closing down at 9:00pm.
Back at the hotel I called my medical insurance companies, establishing that my regular insurance required me to visit an emergency room, and I would have to pay the first $75. I'd also have to pay up-front and get reimbursed later. My evacuation insurance had changed providers since my card was issued, and after a round of phone tag I finally got an email with the right contact the next morning.
#RO #4 Back in May Fodors posted some tips on etiquette in Japan, and in the ensuing discussion I was called an Ugly American for suggesting that your average female tourist, who wouldn't be attending high-powered business meetings or eating in fancy restaurants, didn't need to take a skirt. Well, I didn't bring a skirt, and I certainly don't need one! Far more women, of all ages and apparent socio-economic status, are wearing trousers than skirts in public. My Kyoto Welcome Guide, a woman wearing trousers, had a good laugh when I mentioned the discussion.
