Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers

... br><br>The boat leaves from right in the centre of Shanghai so you go past all the famous skyscrapers of the financial district. It`s all very glamorous and exciting, unlike our bedrooms which were apparently `japanese style`&#12288;which basically meant we slept in a room with loads of other people on a tiny mat on the floor. But what the boat did have was a karaoke room! I couldn`t muster up the courage to sing to a whole room of chinese karaoke enthusiasts but Sarah ...

... there are not enough lifeboats.<br><br>He asks the Brit, "Will you jump?"<br><br>"Yes, for the Queen!" he yells, and overboard he goes.<br><br>Next, the German...<br><br>"Ya, for zee homeland!" [splash]<br><br>The American...<br><br>"Hell yeah! God bless America!"<br><br>Finally, the Japanese...<br><br>"Everybody else is doing it," he chimes and throws himself to his death.<br><br>Of course, this is an exaggeration and stereo-typing, but I shared it with a ...

... spend with them.<br><br>-----<br>NIGHT #2:<br><br>Our second, and final, night was spent with Haruna, a 21 year old college student. Her loft apartment was very small, but she graciously hosted us. We were very thankful. She gave us a guided tour of the old city, plus threw an autentic takoyaki (octopus balls - no, not those kind!) party for us! How's that for native flare! We enjoyed talking about travel, language, music, and ...

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... We picked up a couple of bottles for the evening too (when in Rome...) Sake found, this left just the small challenge of finding a Kobe beef dinner. Unfortunately, it seems you have to pay through the nose for this (around 60GBP) which was a little beyond our budget. So we gave up and cheered ourselves up with a Japanese bath back at the hostel. Oh and the sake of course...

... lives. You can't go right up to the palace but you can see it across the moat. Even in the winter, it was beautiful! The swans in the moat helped. We also saw some very cute and unusual ducks there. We walked around nearby Hibya Park where we came across a large bell which John said was modeled after the Liberty Bell. He had the guidebook out so I totally believed him, but he was joking. I sat on a bench and he walked up to the bell and read the plaque. He said it ...

... After resting for a while, we went out around 6pm heading towards Meriken Park and Kobe Harbourland. From Sannomiya Station to Motomachi Station it is only one stop train ride and cost 120 yen. The train was crowded (but not as bad as in Tokyo), maybe because its a weekday and their salaryman (people working in japan are know by this name) are heading towards home. Walk from Motomachi station to kobe port (thanks for the guided map) and surprisingly, we walk pass ...

... Hello 1950! Lily and I were seated with the tea lady's and the librarians - sweet. The dinner was good, lots of sashimi, interesting mollusks, clam type things, sushi, sake and beer. After a few minutes of drinking, the normally quiet office men came out of their shells and began mingling throughout the tables-some even came to talk to us!! It was nice and we found out that a lot more of them speak English than we knew (SHOCKER!). Japanese events are known for ...

... vocabulary, still took great delight in showing us which dishes went best with which sauces, and how best to eat some of the more slippery delicacies with chopsticks. It seems that the policy I've tried to stick with when travelling works just as well in Japan as anywhere else in the world: Few people mind if you know very little about their culture, provided you make the effort to try and learn whenever the opportunity presents ...

... see the second Lord of the Rings when it comes out here. Luckily, they have a huge digital theater near my place, although who knows when it will get here. Example, I saw Minority Report in early June in Denver, well, it just came out into the theaters here!! The movie comes out on DVD next week for Chris' sakes!! Lets just say that with some movies there's a bit of a lag! As for anything ...