IP HOTEL Fukuoka

... ducks that were living in the carp pond. It is amazing how sometimes the simplest things can bring the greatest pleasure -- I really enjoyed feeding those animals.

We then proceeded to the ocean and a cliff-filled area known as Manza-mo. There were some spectacular sights here. It was a very windy and rainy day but this did not dull the spectacular view. No wonder this was a favourite place of Ryukyu kings.

The Churaumi Aquarium was indeed a sight to ...

... any pictures to upload of this eerie and fascinating place as my camera battery was drawn down and I was forced to use an old-fashioned disposable film camera. I've been in caves before but the stalactites and stalagmites and the underground stream that runs through this one are just beautiful. This cave was well worth the visit.

One of the most sobering places that we visited was the Himeyuri Monument. This was an area in which Okinawan school girls that ...

... the US invasion forces landed near the end of the war. Apparently this was one of the most difficult and bloody battles of the Pacific War. It is hard to believe that this beautiful place was once a WW2 killing ground. Thousands of Americans died here and hundreds of thousands of Japanese died. I'm sure that the war memorials here will be very sobering.

It will definitely be an interesting couple of days.

... did all of our shopping in fast forward. On our way home, we stopped at the military exchange, the small American-style mall on base. My mom and I went inside to buy silk robes, like the one Julia gave me for Christmas. We also got books for our respective plane rides, and then went to dinner at Macaroni Grill nearby. It was absolutely delicious, and Riley was very funny. While Julia packed at home, my mom and I took Riley ...

... it was a hot day made even worse by humidity.

The aquarium was very cool (especially since it had A/C, ha ha). There were lots of little exhibits to look at in addition to several big tanks that were chock full of fish. Since we were in Japan, everyone had a camera and crowded around to photograph every fish. Luckily, I was taller than almost everyone there, so I got some pictures too. The big tank with the whale sharks, rays ...

... but we did snag some Anpanman gummies.

When we got home, it was definitely Riley's bedtime, but then Mom, Julia, and I watched UP!, which I got for about 90 cents in Beijing. It worked, but since it is such a new movie, of course it was bootlegged and thus had a laugh track from the movie theater and also some of the writing was in Russian. It was still a good movie though. Afterwards, I fell asleep in about a second, despite this really not very action-packed day.

... full surround screens and running fully networked first person shooter, robotic battle simulations and role playing games. Pretty much what you would expect from a Japanese 21st century video arcade, but still amazing to see it in the flesh. So with that shopping centre done in a couple of hours, we headed down the escalators, and realised that once we continued past ground level there was an entire city which existed under the ground, with tunnels ...

... una excentricidad del Hotel Hyatt en el que estoy, pero no, está en todas partes, también en el centro de congresos.... (Nota: escribo de nuevo desde el último avión, Madrid-París)Me despedí de Japón con una visita a Osaka que organizamos Patricia y yo para vernos a medio camino, ayer, y que estuvo muy muy bien. Osaka es una gran metrópoli japonesa, llena de rascacielos, edificios apiñados, calles anchas llenas de letreros y neones, muchísima gente por todas partes ...

... showing baseball highlights or cartoons or other such things to entertain passengers. Knight Rider with David Hasselholf even made an appearance, though I wasn't watching. Mostly I looked out at the scenery and listened to the Dark Tower by Stephen King on CD. The Korean countryside between Seoul and Busan is hilly, heavily forested and dotted with small white shrines, probably to dead ancestors, though I can't say for sure. It's pretty and seems wild but not forbidding. We reached ...

... house slippers. The Tanaka home had one most apparent feature: Imari porcelaine and related items, books. The home was set up much like a traditional Japanese home, with an open kitchen adjoining to a dining room, and continuing in an open fashion into the living room with a sofa set, and into a traditional Japanese room. All rooms had tatami straw mats. The traditional Japanese room had a low rectangle beautiful wood table, with ...