Plaza Kobe

... selling exactly the same thing (antiques?!) and all the stall owners were shouting `looky looky` as you went passed! We also went to an amazing food market with lots of street food and live animals in tiny cages and no tourists at all.<br><br>That night in the hostel we met a german guy called Richard who it turned out was getting the same boat from Shanghai so we left with him the following morning and began the final leg of our cross-continental journey to Japan ...

... young and edgy, which I liked. I later learned from his facebook that he was into skateboarding. I knew I liked him:) We've emailed and fb chatted a couple times since.<br><br>-----<br>MAID CAFE, AGAIN!<br><br>Of course, a return to Osaka would not be complete without at least one visit to my favorite Maid Cafe!:)...<br><br>(I made it three times, actually!)<br><br>Yuna and Meruru where there to greet me w/ a big KONNICHIWA! There was just something nice and ...

... at the station in Osaka. I surprised her with a couchsurfing adventure planned for the nearby Nara Prefecture and the old city of Nara (site of the original capital of Japan). She was excited!<br><br>-----<br>NIGHT #1:<br><br>Our first night was spent with Eri (age 25) and her family. They feed us a wonderful Japanese dinner and set us up in a traditional tatami guest room. Wonderful hosts:) I only wished we'd had more time ...

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... We spent $30 on 2 very large glasses of sake with giant round balls of ice (cold sake, not hot). We had a wonderful (but broken) conversation with the bartender and barmistress. They were very friendly and we talked about languages, japan, the US, politics and religion all without anyone really being able to speak the ...

... and chairs are on the floor. It was really neat! Tokyo The next day we took the Shinkasen (bullet train) from Kyoto to Tokyo where we spent 2 nights in a Western-style hotel before heading back home. Tokyo is a huge city connected by networks of trains and subways. We visited different areas of the city including Harajuku, Shinjuku, Hibya, and Ginza. We didn't make it to the famous electronics area as it was farther away and we didn't have much time. We did go to ...

We arrived at Kobe JR Sannomiya Station around 3pm and after picking up ur bags, we headed to our hotel, just to freshen up a bit. From the hotel brochure given by our travel agent, it was mention that it took about 7 minutes walk from the station. So we opt to walk to the hotel but we end up walking for more than 15 minutes since we did lost our way. Hhmm... that is usual for us in Japan. Managed to find the hotel and not bad since it is only a 3 star hotel. I would say its ...

... to-the-ones-who-left" party. Why did people leave? Because it's that time of year-the annual Japanese work shuffle! Every 3-5 years, government employees are 'shuffled' to a different job. Why? I don't know why. How can anyone ever be good at what they do if they are constantly changing? How does one have training for such drastically different occupations? For example, my supervisor Shima-san, started out working for the bank, then was transferred to Social ...

... being so much improved, I was able to take some great photos of some of the geisha and maiko (trainee geishas) heading to work or lessons. It was also a great opportunity to explore some of the pretty back lanes that make up the older parts of Kyoto. Dinner was a cliché fulfilled- a sushi bar with a conveyor belt slowly circling the room. I ate next to a local lady who, whilst our entire conversation was limited only to my 10-word ...

... down for dinner after work. We end up, again, at the Elephant Café in Kobe, at what is supposed to be a combination hello and goodbye dinner. Hello for us new teachers and goodbye to this girl from New Zealand who is heading home after almost a year of working in Japan. Funny thing is that quite a few NZers come here for a few years and then head home for a few years and then come back in ...