Alpha Kyoto

... complex in the centre of Kyoto. We food a small restaurant where we had pork cutlets with cabbage, rice and miso soup. It was very tasty and delicious. After lunch Yuki headed back to Osaka to spend sometime with his family this weekend. He works in Tokyo suring the week and comes home on the weekends. We won't being seen him again on the trip. He was very kind to us and spent alot of time ...

... his wife and daugther some gifts from Canada which they both liked very much.

For dinner Yuki took us and his family (including two of his nephews) to a Korean barbeque. The food was fantastic. I tried thinly sliced beef tongue as well as a raw beef dish.

Yuki dropped us off at the train station in Osaka, It tooked us about 25 mintues to get back to Kyoto, the train was very packed. I stooded all the way home.

... watch the latest fashion victims.
So, our impressions of Japan after 10 hours here:
- The incredibly friendly and polite people;
- Amusement at the vending machines on every street corner. Beer, chocolate, hot noodles, coffee, cold tea...
- The Japanese guy who asked `Australia, Australia?` and then proceeded to jump around like a kangaroo and then imitate a koala (and ...

... they had the grace and good thinking to offer me their last available room usually good for single traveller albeit without inroom toilet and bath and at a too good to refuse rate. 6300yen for a single room. I gladly grab that offer and made arrangements with him to leave my bags at the Shimizu 1st thing in the morning as we had a tour the whole of the next day.

... felt so safe, even in Istanbul. it seems like crime is almost non-existent here. i can walk anywhere, any time. i would feel the need to be more cautious about those 2 parameters in Istanbul. think about the side streets of beyoglu... japan seems to have a significant homeless population. i have seen many people sleeping in boxes on pavements and inside Kyoto station. the police doesn't bother them and they don`t bother the public. i haven`t come across a single beggar.

... señales para poder llegar a una estación de Policía, pues allí de pronto alguien hablaba ingles y me podían orientar. Después de caminar como dos cuadras sentí que alguien gritaba y al girar hacia atrás me di cuenta que era la señora del Seven eleven que en su agitado hablar logre entender que había logrado hablar con el hotel y que amablemente me explico como llegar, casualmente ya había pasado por allí dos ves pero el letrero del hotel no estaba en letras ...

... Buddha statue or 'Daibutsu', and I don't know how big it is, but it must extend over a few stories. Its magical, because no one dares say a word because you don't feel worthy, so the silence somehow makes it seem bigger.

We were also treated to something rather special while we were in Nara. We were there for Setsuban, which is the day of celebration before the first day of each season. But, traditionally it refers to the Spring Setsuban, celebrated on February 3rd ...

... to a freaking docile hippopotamus which you could feed potatoes.

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 ...

... castle more to get used to the surroundings than anything but had to get some cash out first so tentively stepped into the local bank. After some discussion and checking weather the hippy on my passport could be the minger sitting before them AND a spelling test! (I was asked to re write the word Dollar because they couldn't read my handwriting) cheeky buggers, I was wadded up and ready to go. The castle was really nice but was only allowed to ...

... After that, I wished I could go to the Sanzen-in Temple to explore a waterfall. Legend says it is a waterfall without sound!! It sounds interesting. So, we made our way to the waterfall. The travel guide book showed us that we had to take the bus n. 16 or 17 in front of the San Dori station (not so sure if the name is correct). Yeah, we got on a right bus n. 17 but the problem was we got on a wrong ...