Otsu Prince Hotel

... You weren't able to see much from the outside except for the palace wall.

On the way to the palace I learned all about the X-Man ...... yes, the comic book. Jordan is a big fan. In return, I told him all about the original Planet of the Apes movies (all five of them).

Oh, forgot to say that we stopped at Mcdonalds for breakfast and Starbucks for coffee.

We also stopped at the International Manga Museum. Unfortunately ...

... The bus ride back from the temples was quite the experinece. The bus was packed. It was very hard to get off the bus at our stop. You have to get off the bus at the front of the bus which meant we had to push our way thorugh everyone. You actually get on the bus at the back door and you get off at the front. You pay your fair when you get off.

We ended the morning at a large ...

... I both fell alseep during the drive, not much company for Yuki). Before going tohis home we stopped at a luxurious cake shop for coffee. I had a delicious chocolate mouse. We then went to pick up Yuki's family who were shopping at a local mall. His daughter looked very nervous as she walked up to the car. Yuki took us to his home for a short visit. He has a nice two-storey house (a little small, but very comfortable). I ...

... e' stato in qualche ostello capira'. Sono anche riuscito a vedere Italia-Olanda (dannazione) nella sala tv dell'ostello, e non so dire cosa mi abbia fatto incazzare di piu': la partita in se', il commento tv di due invasati giapponesi che hanno strepitato durante tutto l'incontro, il fatto che mi sia dovuto alzare alle 3.30 per vederla, il fatto che l'abbia vista con 6 olandesi (di cui 3 sorelle mie compagne di stanza, unica consolazione), oppure il fatto che i suddetti olandesi ...

... off to see the number 1 destination in Kyoto - Rokuon-ji Temple commonly known as Kinkaku or The Golden Temple. It was a bit of a hike - a little further than I thought anyway following the kyoto walks guide but we finally made it and joined the hordes of other tourists that thought they would also arrive later in the day and miss out on the big crowds. Gee, I wonder how big the BIG crowds are then!! We were guided in and more or less pointed in the direction of a ...

... to Erik's eyeballs) in luggage and travellers. After check in, since Erik has 1K status on United, we got to sit in the super cool lounge that they have set up for people who travel all the time. My favourite part was the free food! (bananas, apples, yogurt, all the healthy stuff you can't find in the food court) Plus, it was calm and quiet. After our free lunch we sauntered down to the gate, walked on the plane, and we were off. It was fantastic! [allow 9 hours of flight time] We ...

... is famous for its patterns of raked gravel within a nice little park with a great view. After bidding farewell to our lovely hosts Hana and Yugo, we were to continue our travels south to Himeji and Hiroshima. If I had any capacity to do so I would decorate you with a very big medal for grappling with this text to the end. Hey, after the discontinuation of this blog has left a gaping hole in your life you may have to consider getting a new hobby! Just kidding. Thanks for sticking it out!!!

... teaching Japanese out here his linguistic skills came in handy but I soon regretted bolstering his vocabularly with Nigiri Boobu as he began thinking about testing the phrase on a passing waitress. Luckilly, he backed down and we weren't thrown out into the street. We tried to track down Aussie Rob's sister earlier in the evening but only got a ansaphone. It seems a safe bet that we got the right number though as the greeting was Men at Work's Down Under. Will try again ...

... Our local supermarket has the saying "Please enjoy yourselves. It is the purpose of the place for it" plastered on every wall in the food court. Many t-shirts seem to have some semi-profound sounding statement on them like, "Look into the sky. Tell me it wants what it sees. Let's falling." It's so weird!!! I guess that's why I'm here, right? :)

Anyway, the pictures I posted here are from our "enkai" welcome party. These parties are known for quiet, submissive ...

alright...at the cafe again. i had some time to kill because my favorite tv show here doesn`t start until 9 so i got off the subway a stop early to do a quick update. my internship here has been a blast! i`m workin at an international school summer program called jfk-just for kids. i get up every morning at 6, catch the train at 7:03, then after a 30 minute ride i walk about 20-30 minutes, depending on the heat, uphill to school. i get there around 8 and work-out in the gym ...