Hotel Marix Miyazaki

... wir noch etwas den Strand runter gegangen．Aber da nicht hohe wellen waren, waren kaum _Surfer dort. Alles in allem schaute es aus wie in Hawaii...war zwar noch nie dort aber so schaut das sicher aus. Der nette alte Herr von der Strandkoerbchen vermietung ist uns dann noch nachgerannt und hat uns jeden einen keks gegeben. Auf den nach hause weg im }Zug haben wir mit aelteren Frauen gequatscht und die haben uns auch so eine art Keks gegeben ...

... anything to go by. DJ events, Live bands, Ladies Nights, Quiz Events and even Fish & Chips on the menu, its just like stepping back into a bar at home for a few hours, except that there are a great diverse crew of people there from all over the world who can give you the rundown on almost anything and everything thats happening around town. I was only in there for two nights but i really felt like a local with ...

... most spectacular setting on the top of a mountain. Could see the distant volcano (which was thankfully quiet). Even had deer come visit while we were in the outside onsen. Made a successful (thanks to the GPS) trip to our hotel in Miyazaki. Got on the JR train yesterday and toured south to Obi City where they have a city of old wooden houses and a Samari castle. Interesting. Today we head north. Just a quick entry for now.

... Friends emailed me warning "Watch out for the culture shock coming back to the states." This is not the first time we have come home from a third world country so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from the transition from people having too little to people having too much. I think because of my past experience it wasn't difficult to walk into my first Whole Foods, but also we had the consumerism of Japan to ...

... created. The museum talked about events leading up to the bombing, why Hiroshima was the chosen target and the extent of the damage at the time to places and people. A very well put together museum. Leaving Hiroshima we cut west towards the Sea of Japan then down south across the Kanmon Striates (under the striates, through a tunnel!) and onto our last island mass of the trip Kyushu. From there we hugged the east ...

... As we started to ride through a voice yelled out "Walking!! Walking!!!". Apparently we were being watched. Another day of grey, but not wet biking and we spent the night in the town of Usa; apparently companies would register here in the 50's so they could put "Made in USA" on their products. Really. They had a nice park for camping at least. Saturday dawned grey, but still dry, and it was time for our last day from hell on the bikes; not that we set out to have ...

... I toured 2 automotive parts manufacturers based here in Miyazaki. One factory was very typical of what I would expect to see in America. However, at the second factory, I walk up to the front of the building to see my name posted at the entrace. The president, GM and senior engineer talked to me and showed me around the factory ...

Unreal is only word I can use to describe the last 2 days. Just a hint: 3 days in Japan = 3 nights of Karaoke! We have been treated like rock stars since the day we arrived. 5-10 Japanese Rotarians are constantly shuffling us around to various sightseeing destinations. In 2 days I have learned how to perform Zen Buddhist Meditation Ceremony complete with punishment, visited ancient burial grounds, toured a Plasma TV factory, walked ...

... at themselves, they point to their nose. After several tense moments of conversation I figured out that everyone was not telling me that I had a big nose, but they were trying to tell me about themselves! My humor is hard to translate here. One of the translators was a fashion designer. I asked her if she could design a shirt that could me lose 10 pounds. She didn't laugh and said she would bring me a shirt later. . . Maybe she can! Have to run!

... Zealand reading the book, and saying how the basic principles of the children`s story can be applied to adulthood as well. At the time I didn`t have a clue what he was talking about, but I can see where he was coming from now... As for the other exhibits, they were fun and interactive, although the non-existent English information meant that I mostly just pressed buttons at random and hoped for the best! After a quiet night in my hotel room (no ...