Norikura-no-Yado Mai Matsumoto

... home! So after more stops at rest stops and potty breaks we pulled up in front of my apartment 22 hours after we left in the morning – beat!

The Mano family are the sweetest people I have ever met and generous beyond belief. I am so grateful that they are so kind to invite me to go on these great trips, I have seen some amazing places during my visits here!

I hope all is well with you and yours and that your Thanksgiving is wonderful!!!!


More later . . .

We originally were going to go to Mt. Fuji today but there was a chance of rain and we didn't want to be overwhelmed with the weekend crowd so we did some itinerary rearranging. I really wanted clear skies for optimal photography of Mt. Fuji. So we decided to go up to Matsumoto today. With sandwiches from Lawson's in hand, we took a local train up North. Matsumoto is considered the gateway to the Japanese Alps so there were lots of ...

... building in the centre of the old town, complete with torture chamber, a few free tastings at some sake breweries and a trip to the float museum which stands next to the town's largest shrine and which shows off a rotation of the beautifully detailed floats that are brought our around the town every spring and autumn for one of Japan's most popular festivals.

We reconvened around 7pm for some more hida beef and then managed to find a great little sake bar ...

... some money on cab fare. Hopefully I can remember to ride on the left side of the street and the other vehicles remember to do the same. I'm also hoping that the rumors of English-speaking guides are true.

Adjusting my expectations... I had thought I'd zip through the castle and get to Kyoto early. Probably not. Everything takes longer than you think.

... ville. Je suis tombee un peu par hasard sur une galerie marchande ou les jeunes branches de Tokyo vont s'habiller. Si j'habitais a Tokyo, c'est sur que j'y retournerais. Je me suis toutefois fait un peu snober par les vendeuses parce que j'avais clairement l'air d'une touriste. Il pleuvait tellement que je n'avais pas le choix que de me promener en running. J'ai aussi essayer d'aller au cinema mais j'avais vu les films qui ...

... states) based on the eponymous manga. Jes loved it and I gotta say, I was definitely engrossed myself. (Although we hadn’t realized it at the time, we’d seen advertisements for the sequel [it’s a triology] all throughout Tokyo.)

08.22.09

Up early to go to Asa-ichi, the morning markets. Takayama has been doing a morning market since the Edo period (about 200 years). There were ...

... the citys 1500 dollar a month is a average income by now...
and a lot of people do stupid jobs...in a fuelstation you have a lot of people for giving you the bills, filling your tank, wiping your windscreen...same same for building sites on the road ..always people with flags who say you what you can see yourself...even in supermarketparkingspaces you have guys stopping the pedestrians like we have it for small school children...
ah, and the screming guys outside the ...

... student.....being that we are soooo far behind, this will be - a picture is worth a thousand words...enjoy the pictures. Your students/children are doing great...we have been sleeping Japanese style on the floor for six nights and are anxious to move on to Hiroshima for real beds and bathrooms in our room. We have been taking the Japanese style baths every night!!...
Gosh, hard to believe our trip is almost over!!!

... she owns the whole of japan, this going on the " if i like it it's mine, if i see it's mine" principle.
i love you sweetheart. we both miss you both. i'm getting some stares here, so i need to go. i'll try to get on computer tonite. have to do laundry too.
i'll tell tim about orientation stuff. that was very thoughtful of you.
miss you much, you too kate :)
love you forever, like you for always
mom

... the storm would lighten up, if only for a moment so I could see some of the mountains I knew were around us. But it was not to be. This cannot be sugarcoated--it was completely miserable, probably the worst hike I have ever done. No good sights, huge gusts of wind roaring down the river valley, ice on you eyeballs and despite my best efforts of avoiding the slush puddles and pond-like potholes, walking in ice cold socks was not pleasant in the least. Plus when I ...