Takaneso Matsumoto

... and some old relics dating back to before the Jomon period (each period in Japanese history is marked by the Emperor who reigned at the time. Even today official dates and many business transactions are marked by the year of the Emperor – we are in the 21st year of the current Emperor, Akithio) It is located in the Japanese Alps and called “the roof of Japan.” It is surrounded by beauty and natural hot springs.

We did some shopping in the little old part of ...

... We did notice that we were missing the hot broth. Some of the locals started lining up for a table. The owner/waiter finally delivered our broth and then had the audacity to tell us to eat quickly! Come on! It's not our fault! We swiftly finished our meal. I'd chalk up this meal as more of an "experience" as oppose to getting a hardy meal.

We continued with our sightseeing. On the way to Matsumoto castle, we stopped by ...

... 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 ...

Settling in in Matsumoto. Spent about 4 1/2 hours on trains today, slow one from Nikko to Utsunomiya, a shinkansen to Omiya, another shinkansen to Nagano, then another slow train to Matsumoto. Signs of civilization at the Matsumoto station - a Starbucks!

Hoping that I can find the castle tomorrow. The ryokan has bicycles to lend, so I'm going to try and ...

... me laver quand meme.

Demain nous partons pour Hyroshima. Nous aurons plusieurs heures de train a faire. Entre Tokyo et Takayama, ce n'etait que 4 heures mais demain, c'est plus. Je ne sais pas si ce sera avec le train haute vitesse. Je ne vous en ai pas parle mais c'est vraiment fameux ! On ne sent pas la vitesse sauf quand on va aux toilettes. La, il faut se tenir.

Je vous reparle bientot.

Elo xx

... but we couldn't find it. Finally asked at a post office and found out we’d been reading the map upside down. Kuso. Walked back through town, in the rain. Turned on the right street, but still didn’t see the hotel. So I called them. Unfortunately, at "Oyado Banyo. No English." He finally hung up on me. Kuso. Walked a little farther down and saw the ryokan on another street. Finally.

The ...

... face, give face, dont loose face... says nowhere dont break promises or dont lie...
Anyway, after she repeated her invitation 3 times i said ok, they paid my beer, i paid my food.
NIce...what annoyed me was that she was inching closer and closer to me sexual harassment from a over 50 years old japanese lady?
whowww....
She then wanted to sing karaoke, so up we went, after some time i got a bill over 1700 yen, 17 dollar, went down and off she went without even saiing ...

So sorry that you havent received any news from us....from Mt.Fuji on, we didnt have any access....We stayed at the World Heritag Cultural Site in Gokayama, which was like staying at a camp.Basically, we have been in a mountainous area...the students have been writing a journal every day - One student writes about our day and at the end of the trip these pages will be copied by the leaders and a booklet will be made for ...

couldn't get to the computer last nite. only have a minute this morning.
took a train here yesterday. it's up in the "mountains", which are like big hills. it's really such a neat town. their specialty here is making sake and woodworking. i think i'll get a few real pretty bowls.
tim said yesterday on the train "show me the pictures of sedona", he was really missing her and he continues to narrate. as of ...

... could really say no to living in the Japanese Alps with a beautiful girl? So I am doing my postgrad, learning Japanese (slowly!) and doing some domestic duties. Soon I hope to pick up a few hours of work a week to pay the mortgage back home. So any work that can be done electronically send my way - only $40/hour (negotiable)! We are extremely lucky to have a two bedroom house, only about 10 mins walk to Rebecca's school, 10 mins ride to ...