Tower Kyoto

... stairs than the competition. The typical bathroom has a central drain in the middle of the floor. There were lots of sliding doors, many of the type that slides into the wall. Others were in 3 segments, unlike the usual 2 in America. I also noticed a double door where one of the doors was much narrower than the other, which I think is a typical design. The houses seemed to be steel-frame construction, with triangulated hinge joints in the ...

... We went to the Manga museum on Sunday, the comic books are everywhere in Japan - business men on the train are reading copies, it is the largest collection in Japan over 300,000. Kyoto is meant to be one of the foodie cities in Japan for Japanese food! Octopus balls, chicken livers, pigs ears - need I say more! For Lisa's birthday we found an Irish pub and had a meat pie and baked potato (fantastic ;-) Off to a sumo tournament on Monday in Osaka! Chat soon

... all I wanted to do was just get done, now that I'm done, I wish I had a better plan. But 'cest la vida. que sera, sera.<br><br>We wandered the streets and found a couple cool bars and a night club, they all pitched in their pocket money to get me into a cash-only club, I bought pitchers for the crew in thanks. I had a fun time and I'm sure to remember the evening for a while to come. The funny thing is, not a single one of them sent me an email or found me on facebook, even ...

... got some real 'classy' Japanese food which was a nice break from student grub. However, the true memories were made at the zen meditation and the festival. The zen meditation took place in the evening (after aforementioned delicious meal). We headed up to a temple and were greeted by a friendly looking monk. After being shown our pillows (chairs are soooo not done) we were asked to sit down. What then ...

When I first arrived in Japan, I didn't realize just how big it is. Sure, it looks sort of big on a map, but its still dwarfed by its over sized neighbors, China and Russia. Japan may be smaller than those guys, but really, its a TARDIS. There are so many cities here that go unnoticed by travelers, because they are seen as boring small-towns. Boring? Small? Half of these places are bustling, buzzing and each have a unique atmosphere of their own and I am amazed and glad that we ...

... of the most *m*zing so f*r in its *bility to m*int*in *n *ir of sophistic*tion whilst simult*neously combining the big city vibe of Tokyo with the historic*l relev*nce of sm*ll temple towns. The outskirts of Kyoto, not five minutes *w*y by subw*y, feel *s though you've tr*veled to some f*r off, qu*int vill*ge town rich with cultur*l signific*nce. With the *mount of be*utiful temple complexes, shrines *nd J*p*nese zen g*rdens we visited, it would be impossible to *dequ*tely describe ...

... which you c*n boil eggs in. The *nnoying thing is th*t you don't re*lly get to see the hot springs in their 'r*w st*te' but they *re still quite *we inspiring even if the one with *nim*l's m*de you feel s*d. (Are hippos supposed to e*t pot*toes?)<br><br>To wind things up we found ourselves *t *n Onsen in the outdoor 'Mud b*th'. And it w*s deffin*tely muddy. Although it m*de it * little less *wkw*rd when sh*ring the pl*ce with * whole lot of n*ked str*ngers. Murky ...

... to a freaking docile hippopotamus which you could feed potatoes.<br><br>As the day drew to a close, however, it was time to try out the famed Japanese bathing culture. It is said that no trip to Japan is complete without an onsen visit; the opportunity to bathe in various forms of hot springs with others in heats supposedly so intense, you have to take breaks every hour for fear of passing out. We opted for one of the only mixed bath houses in Beppu, which as it so happens ...

... had booked the flat. Worried that we would not find another place to stay, Papa and Mama phoned around looking for a room for us and offered us to stay in their house should we not find accomodation. After lots of phone calls they found a place for us and to our regret we had to leave our palace and the company of Papa and Mama (we were secretely praying for them not to find anything). They were so kind that they drove us to our next ...