Premier Inn Matsuyama

... weren't quite as impressed, being used to the vibrant fall colours of the east coast, but generally the consensus was "wow!"<br><br>From the top of the rope-way there was a probably 15-20 minute leisurely hike to Joju a beautiful and quaint settlement nestled in the mountains around Ishizuchi. We decided this would be a good time to stop for ice cream, so we all took a few minutes to enjoy some very delicious soft-serve from a local vendor.<br><br>After riding to ...

... continued all night long. And when I say all night long I mean it didn't stop until the next morning around 6am. This happened the whole long weekend and though Jess can sleep through anything I cannot and barely got a wink of sleep. I didn't let this stop me from enjoying the festival though.<br><br>On Saturday night was the big smashing ceremony and that was really the highlight of the festival. It was amazing how many people came too, from all ...

... so that I can regularly update you with some photos and information!<br><br>I will try and backlog later, adding in Tokyo photos, and some other events.<br><br>For now, just a quick glimpse into life in Hojo!<br><br>(More photos to come....more of our apartment (after I finally bought some curtains), my school, etc!)<br>

When leaving Edmonton, I decided it was finally time to retire my 15 year old norco bush pilot. I left it unlocked in the bike rack at my apartment the day I moved out and hopefully by now someone is getting deteriorated black rubber handle grip all over their hands and cursing at the stuck pedal. Or maybe they have already gotten sick of it and thrown it in the river valley.<br><br>Anyway, in Japan everyone rides bikes. Go to any train ...

... began.<br><br>At first I thought a guy in each boat would be fishing, but instead how it works is, there are lines of boats on either side of the river and the guy fishing is on another boat and he sails up the middle of the boats so they all get a good view.<br><br>So how it works is, the guy stands at the front of the boat, beside a giant flaming lantern thing and has 5 Cormorants, one tied to each finger. The light of the torch ( assisted of course by some massive spot ...

... very large moth / cricket things, that make a tremendous amount of noise!<br>-New cars: there are no old cars in Japan, everyone drives new cars.<br>-Car elevators: there are these crazy car elevators where they store cars here. I will see if I can get a picture.<br>-Toilet-sink: our toilet has a sink on top of it! When you flush the toilet it starts running and that is the water that fills up the tank to flush again the next time. Very clever, because then you can ...

... by nice walkways allowing you to stroll to your heart`s content. I showed amazing restraint by resisting from going inside it AND turning down the opportunity to go on the ropeway (the castle is situated on top of a hill). I did decide to climb up to another castle though which for some reason wasn`t listed in any of my guidebooks, but as it wasn`t a traditional Japanese one, it made a refreshing change. The views out towards the other castle, and of the Inland Sea ...

... changes between each city is the shape and color of the sweet. They all use the only sweet tasting thing that the Japanese traditionally have made - adzuki beans. Some things are shaped like balls, some like triangles, some like circles, but they all pretty much taste the same. We caught the Ferris wheel. Not much to say about that other than they're really comfortable gondolas with air conditioning and large seats. We took pictures of all of Matsuyama.

... from elementary or high school (apparently this is a common thing for Japanese to stay friends with people for that long. I guess it's not much different than myself). I was kind of shocked when she told me that she was asking if I could stay at our apartment when she came to visit. The entire time i lived in SB, my mother came up to visit 5-6 times. One time was for graduation, and the rest were random smatterings where she came up. I live in Santa Barbara for 11 years. Ah well ...

... to figure out the proper order of things. Most importantly - WHICH room was the one in which I was supposed to strip, and which rooms would afford me the embarrassing experience of being a clueless naked foreigner in the wrong place. I`m sure you understand it being worth taking a little time over this one. The women`s bath is in a steaming, tiled chamber with a little light ...