Hakata Excel Tokyu Fukuoka

... all the stuff we didn't carry in backpacks for the last 8 months so here we are, unpacking and repacking boxes, and shifting our necessary items to suitcases to bring with us to Oman... which is, tomorrow! Yep, our flights have been booked and tomorrow we leave Japan to fly all the way to Muscat, where we're staying for a couple days until we do the short jump to Salalah our new home. <br><br>What is ...

... for museums or exhibition halls in Tokyo the first week I arrived. Didn't find anything! I'm sure I must have just missed them somehow. Then in Osaka I heard about a robot place in Nagoya, but I'd already passed that town by and was nearing the end of my trip, so backtracking didn't fit the circumstances. Somewhat reluctantly, I resigned myself to not getting to see any of the famous Japanese robots... at least not on THIS trip, I consoled myself.<br><br>Then I saw it ...

WON'T YOU TAKE ME TO RETRO TOWN?*<br><br>Kitakyushu is the 11th(?) largest city in Japan, but, aside from Space World, it gets hardly a mention in my collection of guidebooks, maybe because it has heavy industry, including a large steel plant. Surfing the internet to discover something worth visiting in Kitakyushu, I happened to find a PDF of a guidemap for Retro Town Mojiko. I couldn't resist! Mojiko is literally at ...

KARATSU<br><br>There is next to nothing in Saga, but it's a convenient rail connection to the pottery towns I want to visit. There is also a recently-built Comfort Hotel right next to the train station, and the rooms are very pleasant and an excellent value. I took the train from Saga to Karatsu and back this afternoon. Karatsu is an old town with a long tradition of making rough, non-symmetrical pottery, some of which looks like it was ...

... and experience was worth it!<br><br>The next day we boarded the Beetle - a high speed Jet Foil Boat which lifts out of the water and skims on ski-like foils. It took less than 3 hours to do 120 miles across the sea to South Korea which is pretty quick. It felt like you were on a place or a train but was even smoother, so no sea sickness, even after having an early morning beer - well, it was free!!

Naja gesehen haben wir sie noch nicht. Wir haben nur bemerkt, das hier die Leute nicht so freundlich sind. Andi hält einer die Tür auf (wartet extra auf sie ne halbe minute) und erntet nichtmal ein Kopfnicken... nani sore????<br>Schön sind die Frauen hier auch nicht dafür gibts hier Hostclubs und das einen nach den anderen und das für beider Geschlechter....Mal schauen ob ich morgen ...

... out' (for the second time this trip, after Myanmar the first time). But hey, Kyoto is one of the must-see cities in Japan! There were a few nice ones though, especially the Golden Pavilion. On the third full day in Kyoto I went to Osaka, together with three Spanish guys I met the night before in the hostel. We took the shinkansen to Osaka and 13 minutes later we were already in Osaka! In Osaka we first went to the local castle, which wasn't all that exciting and after ...

... to check out the spa that was eerily located on the thirteenth (top) floor of my hotel which was a very new and interesting cultural experience. The baths were located in a large room with ceiling to floor windows and a panoramic view of Fukuoka (my hotel was right downtown). Here's the basic process of a Japanese, and Korean for that matter, bath: There are two baths, one hot and the other cold. First one takes a dip in the steaming hot bath, then hops into the icy water to ...

... home. I became aware that I was learning more by reading the first chapter of it, entitled 'most commonly used words and phrases', than I had in six weeks of previous Korean language study and would likely learn in ten weeks at K.L.I. At one point a guard came up to me and asked me what I was doing there in Japanese. I was able to answer that my friend was inside. He said okay and went about his business. It was a small victory, but I was happy to be able to communicate, if even just ...

... front of both parents at about a 35% angle, and remained there for a few seconds, to show my deep gratitude for their invitation to dinner and also for taking time out. They did not bow, or only slightly. But I do believe that they were surprised that I knew how much to do it and how to do it correctly. It is pretty logical, as are all Japanese customs, once you get to know them. And that is also a reason why I am writing this diary in such detail.