Route Inn Tsu

... wida&#263; i s&#322;ycha&#263; w telewizji nie oddaje nawet 10% tego, co dzieje si&#281; na torze. Dodatkowo czu&#263; zapach rozgrzanych opon i spalin. Rewelacja!<br> <br> Po do&#347;&#263; emocjonuj&#261;cych kwalifikacjach (kilka wypadków) mia&#322; odwiedzi&#263; nas Nick Heidfeld. (Nie)stety w zwi&#261;zku z podejrzeniem o z&#322;amanie przepisów (przekroczenie pr&#281;dko&#347;ci mimo &#380;ó&#322;tej flagi), 9 kierowców zosta&#322;o wezwanych przez FIA na krótkie przes&#322 ...

We did the usual disembarkation and re-boarding to go through security in Nagoya. I threw the Japanese quarantine inspectors into a tizzy. I saw there was no line for the security checkpoint and didn't see them at the far end of where the line normally is, so I jumped the barrier and almost violated their quarantine. The decided I didn't have swine flu and let me through. I had only a few minutes between when I got to the gate and we started to board.<br>

... still ambivalent about organized religion, but it was a rather nice awkwardness-cleansing my hands and mouth at the purification fountain, and bowing/clapping at the shrines--I even said a prayer (for safe travels) at one of the public shrines. Not a bad day in all; even got up the nerve to ask a Japanese man to take my picture on a bridge leading to the auxillary shrine Kazahinominomiya. <br><br>Tomorrow...Nara.

... by a 2-3hour wait in the airport and then a 6.5 hour flight which has me arriving in Bangkok at 5pm i figure by time i clear immigration and get into the city it will be 7pm, so sorta a long and ****** day i'm not sure if i will have the time to get my visa for Vietnam right away or have to grab it the following day, all i know is i really want to get a hotel for one night with a pool! Just been craving a good swim in the hot sun like crazy.

... that there are a thousanad tori which lead up to the top of the hill. I walked a little way through them but unfortunately there was a lot of building or restoraion work going on and the place was pretty messy and unappealing so I turned back after about five minutes and walked back to the hostel. Everywhere you look in Kyoto there are temples, and everywhere else there are shrines. It is hard to see how such a big city has been fitted in between them ...

... An elderly lady came in, looked at us, and quite unexpectedly gave us an incredibly broad smile. She went and sat in the corner behind us, but she kept looking at us. Curiosity was too strong, she couldn't resist anymore and she came to chat to us. She spoke a little French, but no English. It turned out she was quite a famous artist who has painted a lot of views of different nature scenes from various parts of Japan. She gave us a postcard of her artwork ...

... who spend any vacant moment fixing their hair or make-up (20 secs waiting in line at maccas why not use my mobile's in built mirror to adjust that extension...). You realize that somehow this has gone too far when you hear real stories of business men buying used schoolgirl panties from vending machines in Tokyo and boyfriends pimping their girlfriends out.....enough said really. * Vending machines: yes everywhere....except strangely none selling chips or ...

... for the first time now that it's been that long. After a bit of a chat and a cuppa, Simon headed off to work and Mike and I headed out into Osaka. We hit the city centre and headed down to the Tsutenkaku Tower which I have given some history about previously. We actually headed up it this time which i hadn't done previously. It gives you a very good view over the city and I could see many of the places I had been to on the bike. Mike was jet-lagged to the maximum so I don't ...

... tourists to and from various attractions, and the tan was a result of spending all your time outside. Even the few female rickshaw pullers we saw had the "soccer player" build and were all very cute. Must be a qualification for the job. On the right side of the bride, the other side of the dam, the water was much deeper, and small boats of various types replaced the fishermen. There were pontoons, two-person paddle boats, small rowboats, sight-seeing boats piloted by ...

... a tent in the middle of the night after rolling into the Badlands of South Dakota well after midnight, then waking up at sunrise a few hours later to see the vast, breathtaking landscape stretching out before me in all directions. We'd done pretty much the same thing in Kyoto, having got to the city around seven in the evening weighed down with the exhaustion of the long trip we'd just taken. When maladjustment to the local time had us all up and ready to take on the city by seven ...