Asanokan Ise

... lecz nie po to przyjechaliśmy na Suzuka.

Jedno z ciekawszych doświadczeń to Pitlane Walk, czyli spacer po alei serwisowej i możliwość podejrzenia przygotowań poszczególnych teamów. Żeby nie było wątpliwości – nie były to ćwiczenia pokazowe, lecz prawdziwe przygotowanie do zawodów. Każdy zespół zajęty był swoimi obowiązkami, a zwiedzający mogli przyglądać si ...

We did the usual disembarkation and re-boarding to go through security in Nagoya. I threw the Japanese quarantine inspectors into a tizzy. I saw there was no line for the security checkpoint and didn't see them at the far end of where the line normally is, so I jumped the barrier and almost violated their quarantine. The decided I didn't have swine flu and let me through. I had only a few minutes between when I got to the gate and we started to board.

A restless night of strange furniture rearranging upstairs until 3AM, so I rolled out of bed exhausted way too early. And suffered the consequences trying to navigate the many, many private railways in Osaka (more on this to follow).

But I did manage to drop my bags off at the new hostel and catch the right trains to Ise-shi (Ise city) in Mie Prefecture, which is 2 leisurely hrs away by train from Osaka. The ...

... place for both gods and Japanese tourists to visit. Despite the crowds we found our little corner of serenity and managed to say a prayer or two. Afterwards we strolled down the little street next to the shrine filled with Japanese delicacies. These delicacies included beer ice cream, soya ice cream (not half bad) and all kinds of dried/fried/boiled/backed/grated/sliced fish. Apparently it is expected in Japanese culture that ...

So Saturday I woke up early, caught the 7:30 train to Nagoya and got there at around 8ish. Met up with Emily and Roxy at around 8:30ish and we took the Kintetsu line to Ise. Took 2 hours! Most of it was sleeping. We got there and went through the bazaar, I ended up buying this fish cheese thing, because I needed something to sustain my ...

... mai a vedere una gara al Mugello.Non oso pensare che colpo sarebbe per loro. Penso che al mio primo anno di asilo e con un piccolo gruppetto di elementi abbiamo fatto moto piu' casino dei 20 o 30 mila che sono venuti a vedere la gara. E' stata una bella esperienza , una bella gara e anche molto bello e piacevole conoscere piloti, manager e meccanici del team Italiano Amadeus X One.Che Saluto

I had my final day of work last Wednesday. For all the significance of it, it was somewhat of an anti-climax. I finished my lessons, said farewell to the staff, then got on my bike and rode home. Chapter closed . . . on to the next stage. Anyhow, I was more fixated on the fact that I had to move out in a mere three days' time, which was a far larger venture. Mayu and I wisely started packing things up well in advance and sent an early load back to her house ...

... Spanish thing about the place was two Spanish guys, the only other foreigners, who were looking around with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. But in a way, the dodginess had a peculiar charm. Plus, there was like no one there so not only was there no queue for the dodgy dodgy rides, thered be next to no people at all on the dodgy dodgy rides. But there was one thing that this theme park excelled ...

... usual I bought a lot, my justification being that I didn't bring all of my clothes with me to Japan so I need some more here! haha oops In general life in Osaka is like that of any other large city, a lot of hustle bustle, people always seem to be going somewhere with at least 4 shopping bags in tow. OH-and japanese women? always in high heels, no matter what. Saturday we were walking around Osaka and came upon a TON of police lining a main street. Katherine had seen this ...

We wanted to go to an restaurant with "all you can eat" in Nagoya which Kai knows well from his last stay in Japan. However the weather was once again against us and additionally we took a snail-train instead of the rapid express to Nagoya so instead of 2+ hours it took us 4+ hours to get there. Then there was not enough time left for it because after 11+ PM there are ...