Awajishima Kanko Hotel Sumoto

... which is a well-journeyed train as you can see from the picture below. I wouldn't say that it is a particularly comfortable train, but its retro-flavor will make you feel like you have slipped back into the good old days.

So, what is it exactly that makes Tajima beef so good?

According to Mr. Okamoto, one of the workers at the ranch, its superb and distinctive regional bloodlines passed down for many years are the primary reason for the excellence of Tajima beef ...

... this computer.　So far we did a bus tour of the main attractions in the city. Now we are looking for a place for fCub to have some Kobe beef. Tomorrow we will probably go to one of the famous shopping areas in Kobe. More to follow tomorrow. Sayonnara, Cubnelaine

... hall observatory, china town and the harbour district.

We started to walk and before long, found ourselves lost in a maze of covered shopping plazas. It was like Gintengai and Okaido ( the two covered malls in Matsuyama, which I'm not sure if I've mentioned ) but much bigger and glitzier.

After a few hours of shopping and having some lunch we finally made our to city hall. We decided we'd just kind of hang out ...

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So we left Hibarigaoka and headed off to Osaka. We have been saving money by travelling on a special ticket which allowed us 5 days unlimited train travel for about 50 pounds but restricted us to only slow, local trains. On the bullet train the journey from Tokyo to Osaka is about 2 and a half hours, on the local trains ...

... choked up when it came to the toasts. I realise that this is probably the first time that I have shown pictures of Keiko's family. In the following photos we have pictures of Kiyomi (Keiko's Mum), Hiro (her brother) and his girlfriend Miki. Not forgetting of course the guest of honour, Keiko's dad Shunichi. Happy Birthday Shunichi!

... explained what we wanted, he apologized profusely because he would have to go speak to the manager. If we could just wait. "Sure" we said. He was back in less than 30 seconds. "I am so very sorry. I cannot help you. You will have to go to ticket window number four." More bowing. We look over. Ticket window number four is another three strides away, with no line and a nice smiling lady ready to show us the same level of service. "Arigato" we said, to more bowing from ...

... make as they come out the machine), but they are little pods of joy, so that's ok. I strolled through what I assume was the food market and one man was kind enough to let me photo his fish. I wonder how he got the occtopus so round and alluring. Yes, that is the fish brain on the left hand side ...

We made no attempt at an early start today, getting up at 11.30 and doing a bit of web surfing. It was Easter Sunday, not that anyone in Japan celebrated it though. We left the place at 13.30 in the end and headed over to Osaka castle. Osaka castle was originally built in 1583 destroyed and rebuilt several times since then. The castle had large grounds, with gardens and parks within and was ...

... to myself "was he American or something else ghastly?". I can't believe I'm even telling you this. Anyway, the penny dropped seconds after I'd opened my mouth. I think only Gargamel heard me and I have no doubt that he has suffered at the hands of others during his lifetime so he was kind to me. I went through Buckingham Palace, did lots of shopping, and on my second to last day it was pretty warm so I went and lay in Green Park in my bikini!!! It felt very odd to be in a ...