Hotel Himeji Hills

... 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

... we caught the train back to Sannomiya and bid farewell to our comrades Saffiya and Nichelle.<br><br>Since we only had one more night in Kobe, Jess and I decided to retrace familiar territory. So we headed back down to the harbour and had a fantastic night.<br><br>It started out with the Maritime museum, which to be honest, wasn't the most amazing place I've ever been. It was interesting, but not great. I was mostly drawn in by the amazing building it's in!<br><br ...

... So many interesting shops and buildings. The first thing we did was went up in the Kobe Harbour Tower to get another view of the harbour area. We then set out to find Kobe Harbour Earthquake Memorial, which I found to be very disturbing / fascinating. They actually kept a piece of the harbour area that had been destroyed during the earthquake and preserved it as a memorial. Around the memorial are numerous plaques and kiosks ...

... Hiroshima's is more like a pancake with stuff on top, Osaka's is more like an omelet with stuff underneath. I'd probably choose Hiroshima first, but I couldn't finish that huge dish there, and remember: no doggie bags, so I'd eat it in the morning since it would last me the whole day. Osaka's was smaller so more manageable for me to eat the whole thing.<br><br>We split up with Takahiro and returned to the hotel to rest up ...

... By local JR rapid train - It takes 1 hour from Osaka to Himeji, and 45 mins from Kobe to Himeji. By Shikansen-- it takes half the time than the regular JR train . The broad Otemae-dori Street leads straight from JR Himeji Station to Himeji Castle. Walk from the station to the castle in about 15-20 minutes.

... one and a coi carp pondy type one among others. They were beautiful and lots of photos were taken - mostly by Kirill and his macro obsession, but in fairness he did get some good ones. We're in our youth hostel in Hiroshima now just getting ready to head out and sample the nightlife so I'll check back in later. Mostly because I want my little pin map to show everywhere I've been.

... Tooda, the Manager of the Sasebo Central hotel. We had a brief chat with him, and gave him a gift of some Australian badges, pens, and caramello koalas just as a small token of appreciation for the excellent rate he gave us on the room ($210 per night instead of the $430 it would have cost had we been rich enough to justify paying full price). Needless to say, without the discount, we would have been staying in a room ...

... We came across quite a few burgundy coloured maple trees which were so beautiful that I have vowed to come back to Japan in autumn to capture all the burnt colours of this amazing season. We wandered along the paths, there were quite a few caretakers sweeping the paths, weeding and they have everything looking pristine and we walked around more temples and the place where they filmed part of The Last Samuai with Tom Cruise. We stopped at Shoro which is one of the ...

... the devil... They then sit in front of each other and when they're both ready, the launch into each other. Without being able to see, you try to grab the opponent's belt. One of them pretended to launch towards the other and then simply stepped aside, winning as the other one fell on the floor. It's all allowed, it's just not very appreciated by the audience... In the box in front of us was the mother of ...

... of red later (had Pate, tried Snails (not bad), tried Venison Steak) and we chipped over to an Irish pub for some Guinness and Kilkenny, game on, a taste of the real stuff, at 800 Yen a pint, about £4.50, ouch. Boxing Day was spent watching movies and feeling hungover. Hair of the eggnog dog later and I'm a feeling fine! Spent the evening doing much of the same really, a few drinks and packing my bag ready for three days away in the sticks. Off to Hattoji...