Hineno Station Izumisano

... say the Japanese are reserved conformists!!);
- Our hostel, where despite staying in cheap dorm beds, has a marble entry, super helpful staff and plays Christmas carols in the foyer all day long;
- The bathrooms with automatic lights, soap dispensers and taps. And completely unfathomable control panel for the toilet.
- Awesome beer... which maybe I`ve had enough of for now.

... 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 ...

... the women. But when they talk in english they talk at a really normal pitch!
5. They say `hai, hai, hai` (yes, yes, yes) all the time
6. All of them, without fail, are incredibly fashionable. Makes us feel a bit plain. Even Sarah.

Osaka was also useful just for introducing us to little Japanese details that they have all across the country. Like...

1. Ridiculous amounts of vending machines on every corner selling loads of weird drinks, even coffee in ...

... more... much more. In fact, the place was very "busy," indeed!

The ceremony involved a lot of chanting (by the monks only), the droning of a resonating bowl, small wooden slates on which attendees scrawled (wishes, perhaps), a trip to the alter for a silent prayer and to pinch some incense and add it to the fire, and finally culminating in a darma talk by the elder monk.

We listened to the monk's distintive delivery, only able to guess at his message. It was interesting ...

... spot. He hid in the bushes, and listened to what the demons had to say. Finally, the demons started to grunt and talk about how easy their life was for them, taking whatever they wanted because everyone in Japan was so afraid of them, but one demon mentioned how much he longed for entertainment, since all they did was pillage and plunder every night. The demons talked for a long time, and when the sun pulled its lazy rays out into the sky, they all flew and ...

... to waste. Also, I haven't seen it on every train, but there are sometimes "women only" cars. Easy to spot due to the pastel pink everywhere. I hear stories of women getting pinched on the behind when those cars get uber full and it's easy to sneak in some lewd gesture. In defense, you yell "Chikan!!" (roughly, "perv") and everyone around you will be much ashamed. I take the women car whenever possible. The weather ...

Well, I'm sitting in front of a computer with an internet connection, so I s'pose I better update this. Hope you appreciate my blogging dedication. Apologies for any lapses in punctuation -- not used to Macs or Japanese keyboards. Currently sitting in my friend Haggis' (AKA Matt, AKA Stockers, AKA Sancho Roderiguez) flat in Osaka, slighly hungover, watching Bright Eyes on a Japanese music channel (the popular US ...

... restaurant for dinner simply because it was the only one on the whole floor that didn't have a 45 minute queue...and we could read the English menu. Honestly - trying to order food in this country would be impossible without someone who could read (or I guess speak) Japanese. Home and 930 bed.

... English at all levels of education. On the plane, I heard 2 passengers in front of me speaking in Brazilian Portuguese. They were having a hard time understanding what the American flight attendant was asking. I jumped right in and offered some translating service. It turned out that these two Brazilian girls of Japanese heritage were going to Hiroshima for a friend's wedding. Originally from Rio, they sported a glowing tan that was a signature trademark of Ipanema and ...

... Chica and I won 10-9. We collected our gear and went to pay. 3 hours pool and 4 cans of lager came to a little over 10,000 Yen, about 50 quid. I was a tad shocked obviously but that's apparently the going rate! Ouch! We then headed home to watch T3 and X2, both of which Simon hadn't seen. Masae cooked us a roast chicken dinner, get in you beauty! By the way, got an e-mail from Liz today with an excerpt from the Chiang Mai Lonely Planet book, hope you can make it out. KL central baby!