New Hankyu Osaka

... nd quite often delightful:)<br><br>I discovered two in Os*k*, quite by *ccident...<br><br>One night I w*s looking to enjoy some live music. This is * little different in J*p*n. You don't just w*lk down the street *nd he*r j*mming coming from * b*r. In f*ct, if you *re *t the right pl*ce *t the right time you might not even he*r it, bec*use it might be going down on the 8th floor! The scene exists, but it's just * bit different.<br><br>*nyhow, I s*w * sign th*t re*d ...

... be the thing which has provided sufficient (if shaky) stability in the world to save us from (so far) another one of these weapons being used. Not the consolation those affected would want perhaps, but an example of the suffering of a few bringing safety to a far larger numbers that fans of 24 will often hear Jack Bauer talking about, as is depicted in the film United 93, and as governments all over the world have to consider on a daily basis. A sombre ...

... read a book, or had a moment of silence. Instead we chatted the entire time and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes around us. When we finally made it Osaka, we met up with my friend and quickly tracked down the tallest skyscraper we could find. After some spectacular photo ops we went to an Italian restaurant (I had lasagna) Afterwards we met up with another friend, attempted to go bowling but instead, we walked a little over a mile and 1/2, saw some yakuza, and played a round ...

... table continued for quite some time and consisted of everything from beef, squid, soup, rice, prawns, beer, sake, wine, tea, icecreams and oranges! It was a Korean feast and completely delicious! I left my camera at the hotel however we do have some photos that i'll add here eventually. In short that food was fantastic, Naoko and her parents were very friendly and generous and we had a great time! After they dropped us to the train station ...

... been turned into a museum.<br><br>And that's where the town of Nara comes into play. Nara, is a 'small town' by Japanese standards, and would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the fact that it holds the largest wooden structure in the world; Todaiji Temple. But the real kicker is that its the longest surviving wooden structure in Japan. Way back when, the Japanese constructed all of their Temples, Shrines and Castles out of wood. Everything was made of wood. Of course, that ...

... s one swingin' getup. The entire, crowded little street is surrounded by enormous neon lights *nd signs th*t seem to stretch on forever - gi*nt LCD displ*y screens fl*shing *dvertisements, loudspe*kers pl*ying music *nd b*rking b*rg*ins *nd even gi*nt mech*nic*l moving cr*bs were pl*stered w*ll to w*ll, *ll competing with one *nother to see which could gr*b your *ttention, not to mention w*llet, the most. Amongst the pl*ces we explored w*s * p*rticul*rly interesting est*blishment we were ...

... for two d*ys *nd spent the first d*y exploring Fukuok*: Which *ctu*lly only re*lly involved going to C*n*l City, * huge complex th*t h*s been n*med * 'city within * city'. It h*d ret*il stores from Gucci to Hello Kitty, Pokemon Centers, Hundreds of b*rs, * The*tre (Which w*s showing the Lion King music*l) *nd even Hotels. We ended up wondering *round *nd getting lost *nd eventu*lly found * Movie The*tre, *nd decided to go see Sweeney Todd. Lets just s*y, I ...

... shopping, it was easy to waste away hours here and it even gave us an opportunity to immerse ourselves in Japanese movie culture, as we joined an audience for a subtitled viewing of Sweeney Todd.<br><br>While the movie was pretty average, suffering horribly from Tim Burton's borderline creepy Johnny Depp fetish and self-masturbatory directing style, the movie experience on the whole was good fun. So get this; they have three flavors of popcorn - buttered/salted, caramel and ...

... suits made of only dark gray to black fabrics), it was not hard to look beyond the differences and find many endearing qualities in this place. Here are, at no specific order, my Japan's Top Ten list: 1. Rock hard mattresses Surprisingly very comfortable! A great help to ease the Jet lag. 2. Boxed meals at the train stations Prepackaged Bento boxes full of delicious surprises. For $10 you get a world of yummy ...

... such a crowded place could be perilous, and the Maiko would never get away from camera carrying people like me. I later bought an antique postcard featuring a Maiko to make up for my lack of pictures. Though the market continues on after dark, we were ready to leave around sunset. Mark and I decided that rather than bussing back to the train station, we would take the half-hour walk through the city. It was not a particularly pretty section of Kyoto, but ...