Associa Toyohashi Hotel

Note. This is not a blog about my hometown, Taketoyo, or my travel experience, but just an rankings of best tourist spots I visited around Nagoya and a consideration on typical boring sites.The best attractions I have visited in my neighbourhood are as below.
("Neighbourhood" here means the area for one day excursion from Nagoya.)

1. Kumanokodo Pilgrimage Routes (Owase, Mie)
2. Magome & Tsumago (Gifu ...

... Mrs. Tanabe, which was a 5-minute walk from the Hanamatsuri temple.

We had a marvelous meal. I asked for a "dentou" (traditional) Japanese meal, and that's what we got. Oden, which was boiled vegetables, eggs, and other goodies in a big pot of soy-flavored broth, Japanese beer (a must), tempura (deep-fried vegatables and shrimp), miso soup, rice, and about three types of salad, were all on the menu. We ate, we drank, and then we left.

Walking along this mountain road ...

... some information about what I was doing in Japan, and they called me a few days later to confirm a date for them to come into my classroom, record me in action, and interview me afterwords.

They didn't tell me though, that they'd be recording me and interviewing me, as part of a long-story, at the practice run. So when we arrived, I met an excellent speaker of English, who spent the first eight years of his life in America, and who had done interviews with Will Smith. His name ...

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I've been getting my ass kicked consecutively by six to twelve year olds once a week---for a few weeks now.

Karate out here in the Inaka (countryside) is very different from your typical Western Mui-Tai, mat-grueling Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-style ass-kickin workout. No. Here, it's a matter of being able to handle the mental discipline of allowing people smaller than you to kick your ass. Again...and again ...

... here. I really wanted to hike up the mountain but apparently hiking season is
only in July and August since it can get really cold up the mountain. We took a limited express train from Shinjuku all way to Otsuki and then took a local train to Kawaguchi. The trains were not as nice or fast as the Shinkansen but the trip wasn't too long. The local trains were really old trains. The trains had only two or three cars ...

So I managed (scold-free) to pay my second visit in an Onsen.
Now the reason why I did not post up my first visit (at least I think I didn't...) was due do a growing fear of being discovered for all my gaijin tendencies, which includes some body art.

For those who are not informed about Japan's general policies on tattoos, let me fill you in. Now I'm no Japan-encyclopedia here, but I'll do my best. Traditionally, the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) were the ...

Death to anyone who actually calls this a "sport". Where's the 'sport', or fun, in running long distances, causing pain, exhaustion, thirst, and minimal benefits to ones physical condition? What about one's mental condition?

I remember crossing that finish line, muttering "thanks" in about three languages, I was so delirious. Sure, it was an awesome experience, taking in the beautiful scenery on a perfect Autumn day in ...

... where you pass around a wireless microphone, and take turns screaching out tracks from the Beatles, The Carpenters, Michael Jackson, or any of the hundreds of artists they have stored in these machines. You do it in a small but comfortable room filled with sofas, tambourines, and a telephone for easy food and drink ordering.

Genius.

I hope I did this day justice, as I'm sure the photos and videos will explain more that my words can.

Adieu!

So we got up at some point after our binge drinking the night before. It was a blast, but I paid for it. Derek and I still trying to figure out whether I'm allergic to Tatami or his blankets. I'm scared to found out which.
I left red-eyed, stuffy and with a nice head-splitter with Derek for probably the most beautiful views I've ever seen in my life. I mean, Canada and Japan are very different countries, and both have their own distinctive landscapes, but these views were ...

... 333;. Not bad for a city that almost no other foreigners seem to know about! After I'd tramped around Kakegawa for a couple hours, I hustled back to the station to jump another train. Heading back westwards, I then stopped off in the far larger city of Hamamatsu, a bustling industrial and commercial center just east of the saltwater lake Hamana-ko. With all the trade and economic growth going on in the region, the city has developed a rather impressive showpiece station ...