Hotel Sekigane Tottori

... up a few snacks from a local minimart. Tottoris main attraction for visitors is its sand dunes, which are situated on the coast about 5km out of town. These dunes cover a large area, and they are massive , more like giant hills. It had just rained so they were easy to work up (quite easy but still steep). After creating some artworks in the sand, it started to drizzle again so we ...

... Our food however was not the easiest meal we have both ever eaten. We are quite adventurous eaters, even Daniella as she is a bit new to eating fish, there were just some really weird foodstuffs put in front of us here. Some we could not decipher what on earth they are, just that they came from the sea and dont taste that good. We enjoyed our old favourites such as sashimi, tempura , beef and crab, but there were just too many things we did ...

We climbed the extinct volcano of Daisen today. Nearly 3 hours up and a punishing 2 hours down. Sadly it was very misty and drizzley so we saw very little except a few pleasant locals that we passed on the way. I don't think they get very many foreigners in these parts. Legs hurt now.

Sorry for not putting up any new entry but I have been busy packing up all my things to ship back to Oregon. It is interesting to realize how much stuff I have collected over the last six and half years. Lots of CDs, books, videos, clothing and lots of paper and pictures. I also realize that the 3 plus years in Tottori is the longest period of time I have spent in the same place (apartment, house, or room) since I ...

... I The trip plan: 1st Leg - Kyushu December 17 - Tottori to Fukuoka by Super Oki and Kodama shinkansen. - Stay in Fukuoka December 18 - Fukuoka to Yufuin - stay in Ryokan December 19 - Yufuin to Kagoshima - stay in Kagoshima December 20 - Kagoshima to Nagasaki - take the Kyushu shinkansen December 21 - Nagasaki to Tokyo - take the Nozomi shinkansen from Hakata to Tokyo 5 hours straight 2nd ...

Greetings to the first entry of my big trip. It is ten days before I start the first leg of my trip to Kyushu. It will be my second visit to Kyushu as the first one was in 1995. I am planning to go to Fukuoka and then head to Yufuin in Oita prefecture and then contrinue down to Kagoshima and onto Nagasaki. The trip is part of the plan to visit all the prefectures in Japan which will be down to 1 after the trip leaving only Fukui..

... the flight to China. Being in a country like Japan, it`s easy to feel isolated, and this was especially the case in the proceeding few days when all I wanted was to be at home. It was a case of grinding it out, keeping busy, and the three weeks would soon pass... It was a relief to leave Kyoto behind on Sunday as I headed for Amanohashidate on the west coast, voted one of Japan`s top three scenic attractions. The view of the 3.5km sand spit ...

Visit a Japanese city with an incredible history, cuisine, art, natural beauty, friendly people and a proud tradition ... and you'll be in Kyoto. A four-day stay in this wonderful city is not enough, but it's a start to getting a feel for Old Japan, of samurais and geisha, of castles, of temples and gardens around every corner, of food that is an art form, of narrow alleyways of which each has a story to tell in its cafes and shops and mom-and-pop restaruants.

... me that despite being a Japanese beginner, I can take big steps each month in speech. Reading and writing skills in Japanese will take much longer to master. But I will become proficient (to a certain extent) in hiragana and katakana in 2007. This I vow. My workbook for Japanese's phonetic symbols will be memorized, scrutinized, underlined and repeated day after day after day the remainder of the year. ***

... speaking... Hearing the story of an old English tale in Japanese and seeing the medieval fighting (yes, swords) take place simultaneously kept it all so fresh. The entire cast came out and bowed twice after the show and received long, delightful applause. It was well-earned appreciation for a super, 2 1/2-hour performance from the small theatrical company's efforts.