Hotel Taihei Tottori

... watch the latest fashion victims.
So, our impressions of Japan after 10 hours here:
- The incredibly friendly and polite people;
- Amusement at the vending machines on every street corner. Beer, chocolate, hot noodles, coffee, cold tea...
- The Japanese guy who asked `Australia, Australia?` and then proceeded to jump around like a kangaroo and then imitate a koala (and ...

... also says that it is important to make sure the cattle feel relaxed, and also naturally to keep the cowsheds clean. But what took me by surprise was that the cattle listen to music all day long!

I asked whether the cattle are fed beer and given massages with sake to produce better quality beef, according to the myth believed by some overseas.

They flatly denied it with the simple phrase, “No beer, No massage”!

The cattle are shipped before they ...

We arrived in a very rainy Tottori and to be honest it did not stop throughout the whole day we were here. The first thing we did on arrival in town was to drop our bags off at our Minshuko, which is a type of Japanese hotel, less elaborate than a ryokan, but with the same tatami matted rooms. Unfortunately , there was little in the way of restaurants with English menus, so we just ...

... really enjoy. Unfortunately this continued for breakfast where we got the same smelly fish as in the first ryokan. I think that will probably be our last ryokan even though overall we really enjoyed it, the food is just not easy for a non-Japanese. Though it must be mentioned that it is beautfiully presented, as you will see from the photos that we took. Overall, we give this ryokan a thumbs up, mostly because of its wonderful onsen. Next stop - Tottori!

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 ...

... Tokyo December 21st to January 2nd I will stay with several friends and hang out and see a few sights around Tokyo. I will return via Osaka to see another friend. 3rd Leg - Tottori January 2nd to 9th - Not a real leg but I have to pack up my goods and send them pack to Oregon and clean my apartment and say good bye to my friends. 4th Leg - Thailand January 10 - Fly to Bangkok. I am ...

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..

... bridges and ponds, not to mention the odd tour group or five! I didn`t mind this though as I`d decided to make a concious effort to let insignificant annoyances (which soon add up over here!) go over the top of my head, and it`s working so far... Adjacent to the garden was the castle so I walked around the grounds, and got some nice views of the city. There were a few schoolchildren there as well, so I recived some excited "hello"s and ...

... found it funny the JETs from England and New Zealand have been told they're not really speaking English. "Can you say that with an American accent?" their teachers will ask. Haha! Some try and some just say no. "I would need some lessons before I could do that," one guy said. Tonight Zach and I have our first English club meeting with a group of random older women from our town (it's being passed on from our predeccesors). I ...

8-17-2006 Thursday Ahhh...it's nice to be back in my apartment again. :) Today after school, Zach and I took a train to Kyoto (the pictures actually correspond this time!). My favorite moment on that ride was when I looked away from the window as another train was passing by. "Ah! I get really car sick." I told Zach. "Oh, you do?" he asked, seemingly concerned. And then he started bobbing his head and body around in attempts of worsening my motion sickness. Hahaha! THAT DORK ...