Shibataso Ine-cho

Komealla aamu-oopperalla pärähti tämä päivä käyntiin, koska onnistuin vahingossa unissani jysäyttämään sängyn päässä olevan radion täysillä päälle. Meinasi tulla aamu sydänkohtaus samaa kyytiä!

Nyt kun ehdin jo valittaa, että ei nähty ketään Tokion frendejä tällä kertaa, niin eilen tuli sitten sähköpostia ystävältämme Marilta, että hän on juuri tullut Australiasta kotiinsa käymään ja voitaisiin nähdä sunnuntaina? Koska meillä nämä junapassit kerran on, niin mik ...

... mitään ihmeempiä suunnitelmia, niin tehtiin pikapäätös suunnata Kobeen katsomaan Lumiere valoteosta, jota on paljon mainostettu joka puolella Japania. Kobe Lumiere on muistomerkki vuoden 1995 maanjäristyksen uhreille ja se järjestetään aina joulukuussa. Vuoden 1995 maanjäristyksen uhreja oli kaiken kaikkiaan melkein 6500 ja aineelliset vahingot aivan järjettömiä, että mistään pikkujutusta ei ollut kysymys.

Matka luotijunalla Osakasta Kobeen kesti ...

... 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 ...

... countries simply sharing their sympathy with the people of Nagasaki. It was a very emotional morning for all of us, visiting the hypocenter, learning about the bombing at the museum, and then moving on to the peace park. After spending our entire morning at the A-bomb memorials, we only had time for lunch before catching our train back to Kobe. So we stopped by a restaurant recommended by our hostel to try the champon (the delicious local delicacy, a seafood soup of sorts ...

... verdad... Por supuesto el ultimo dia dieron una charla en el instituto sobre las cosas que no se pueden hacer en verano, es decir las cosas peligrosas... bueno, pues En resumen he llegado a la conclusion de que TODO absolutamente TODO es peligroso menos hacer las tareas y estudiar.... Laura, la chica Canadiense, volvio a Canada para no volver...

... and Sifnos.

I told Michael that I'm going to try and pack really lightly on this trip. I'm going to buy a backpack that is small enough to bring into the cabin as a carry-on. Wonder if I can fit all my stuff in it and live out of it for 40 days? I dunno, but I'm gonna try!! Of course we will bring an empty folded-up bag for things that we buy during the trip too though!!

Konnichiwa, Thought I would let you know what I have been up to!! Monday - Have been for another look around this vast city and been up another tall building this time it was Japans equivalent to the Eifel Tower - but bigger 333meters high. Although the top viewing gallery was only at 250meters high! We also tried to look round the gardens of the imperial palace but unfortunately they were closed ...

... that we're used to with these types of celebrations. There was no waving or throwing beads, just everybody walk forward in your costumes, lets get this over with so we can all get some sake... Later in the day, we caught a ride on a train up into the mountains north of the city for the Kurama Fire Festival, a once a year event that we were lucky enough to be here for. In this one-road, picturesque mountain village, every year on October 22nd, all the locals get dressed up ...

Arriving back from Thailand with still a few days of vacation, I headed up to Amanohashidate with Hajemi, Nick, and Yuko. It was a beautiful time of the year and we did some spearfishing, drinking, karaoke, and just hung out together and had some fun!

... we were, sitting outside in the rain looking over the Sea of Japan, while soaking in a nice steaming natural hot spring! Very relaxing. Lastly, this week also included the re-opening of a local yakiniku (Korean beef) restaurant, which had an incredible special of Y90 drinks! (sorry, that's like 75 cent drinks) Need less to say, Noriko, Nick and I were there on opening night tallying up 37 drinks between the three of us! Ahh, meat and cheap drinks...lovin' Japan right now!