Smile Hotel Koriyama

... the dragon's mouth, you can hear kind of a sonic echo sound (like the dragon is "roaring"). You don't hear this anywhere else in the hall. We saw a few women who wrote kimonos I guess to take some nice photos with the ancient buildings. We also saw a couple that looked like they just got married. The last complex we visited was Futarasan-jinja. It was less crowded so it had more of a peaceful feel. There were a couple of ...

... me 2-3 hours and so I was able to catch a train at 3:30. Arrived at Matsumoto around 7:30. Realized that the ryokan was going to be a bit far to pull a suitcase, I thought I'd catch a bus (as the website recommended, "just a short ride on Bus #2". Hmm. There is no "Bus #2". There was a "Bay #2" and the next bus was 50 minutes away. I'm sweaty and tired. Screw it, I'm taking a cab. Good ...

... Dort sollten wir einen Anschlusszug nach Aomori erwischen und wenn alles nach Plan verlaeuft (haha. der war gut) dann kommen wir vor Einbruch der Dunkelheit da oben an. Hui, da sind wir mal gespannt. Es kann nur besser sein als Nikko XD

Im naechsten Hostel soll`s angeblich wieder Internet geben, also duerfte mein naechster Eintrag nicht lange auf sich warten lassen XD

Bis bald also... じゃあまた ;。

... for about 3 months. Then the rice is pressed and the sake is drained out. The left over rice mash can then be distilled for the hard liquor, shochu. The sake can be of different classes depending on how much polishing was done--the best is the most polished. From the saleswoman, this brewery has dry sake, which was quite smooth, but I confess that I liked the taste of the cheaper sake 1 step lower, as it was bit sweeter. How bourgeoisie, I know. From the brewery, it's a ...

Jalleen palattiin pikkukaupungin tuntumaan kun paastiin Iwakiin Moriokasta. Iwaki on lansirannikolla Tokiosta about 2h matka junalla. Kaupuangissa ei ollu mitaan nahtavaa mutta mehan mentiin sinne ihan muitten juttujen takia...mentiin maanantaina virkistaytymaan Hawaii Spa Resortiin joka on muutaman juna-aseman paassa Iwakista. Nyt osattiin varautuu siihen ettei japskeja oo jonottamassa heti aamusta kun oli ...

... and masses of overhead lines ... but VERY clean, no litter at all. Mt. Bandi, on the other hand, was fantastic! This volcano is 1800 m high (surrounding land is 300 m), backed by higher mountains. It erupted in 1888, destroying villages, damming rivers, forming lakes, and losing much of its north face and top (600 m) in the process. It makes for some impressive countryside ...

... shame in the UK. This was a local train, but still quick and tilting. So the Japan adventure is over, I have loved this place...everyone should come..dont let the rubbish that its an expensive country put anyone of....OZ is more pricey than here!!! I have a slight problem now though, I need a new passport and apparently this takes 8 days...so considering wheither I should go to India or not!!!

Ok, so, 26 hours straight of local trains was a little too much. My stomach and head are both hurting, and I am ready to get there. I will never ride local trains for 26 hours straight again. But I do have all of the announcements in Japanese memorized. That's one way to learn Japanese.

... a great bowler. In fact he's pretty bad. But he is sooooo funny. He is a walking rock star, in everything he does. With his hair, and outfits, and he is always having fun. The most outgoing Japanese guy I've ever met... He had Amy spanking his butt for good luck at one point. I hope we spend a lot of time with him! Tatsuya was the big winner of the game. And after bowling we went into the arcade since they give you free tokens to play with for bowling ...

So we get to one of our first relaxing places from the outside bandai-atami doesnt look that nice, probably due to its heyday being 15 years ago! The hotel we stayed at was called Kirakuya Inn not much from the outside but once inside it was really nice, it has 2 public onsens for men and women with many different baths and a sauna, and two private baths on the top floor observing the mountains surounding bandai. It was really nice, Michelle`s bag broke (also her hair drier blew up, we ...