Super Hotel Yokohama Kannai

... and cup-noodles then returned to our rooms. Keith, Colin, Kelly, and Jared did their own thing and ended up coming in pretty late. The next day a couple people flew home leaving seven of us to go to Shinagawa together. I had three days before Karla showed up so I decided to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto for the interim and see the old capital while I waited for her to arrive and the we could tour Tokyo.

... this seaside town called Kamakura. It was the ancient capital of Japan. I went there to check out the temples and this really big Buddha. It was fun. I climbed up a very large hill or, after climbing it, I would like to say it was a small mountain. There was Buddhist monastery at the tippy top that was off limits but you got to go pretty high up. I had a great view of the city and the sea. After that I walked down and through the city to the sea and ate ...

... does not taste like how it looks). Well I went for 2nds and it was great!! Oh so hopefully it gets more interesting now. Here is the funny stuff. First of all they nick named Chris and I. There is an Anime called Precure and they have two characters called Coco and Nuts. Yes together they are Coconuts! They are both little squirrels like animals that chnage into good looking guys (key word good looking:) So guess what? They named us this. And of course I get the greatest ...

... bunch, mostly Americans and a few Latin Americans. I keep myself to myself. In any case I stand out like a sore thumb. We start with a fantastic birds' eye view of Tokyo from the top of Tokyo's World Trade Centre. Of course the city is famous for being built-up, but I've never seen anything quite like it. I especially like the ingenious 'double-decker' freeways, which often have a mono-rail track looping below ...

... to get a little bored with my surroundings (weather wasn't helping at all), so made for the station to retrieve my bag and then make the short journey to Shin-Yokohama to catch the Shinkansen back to base camp, which again took around 3 hours. By the time I got back to Kobe, the rain was long gone and the skies were far clearer. I think i'm going to Osaka for the day tomorrow, lets hope for better weather!

... three of us (well, Celeste knows some, but was out of practice and the place was beyond her ability anyway), I pointed to the picture of noodles on the wall. The waitress asked what size (I gathered from her hand motions, no one was speaking any English), and I somehow dredged up from my memory the words for small and medium, sho and cho. I uttered sho, and we waited for our soup. It was awesome. Not much to it, just broth, noodles, and a piece of what I ...

... particularly at rush-hour. It's also very quiet on the subway - as if talking would ruin everyone elses journey. I guess you get into a rhythm when so many spend so much of their life in these sardine cans. Tokyo subway system - brilliant. The Government of Tokyo have institued a policy where, during rush hour, there are female only carriages. Apparently Japanese men can't keep their hands to themselves. Getting out of bed isn't ...

... came to Japan at 23 and how much I've done and changed since then. All for the good! For my birthday I decided to have a curry party at home. So, trying to keep the numbers low, as I always fall into the trap of inviting everyone as I don't want anyone to be left out. I made up a list of quite a few folk yet not to many and invited them over for some ...

... do read every email sent (and comment posted on this), I can't always respond due to the lack of internet time I get here, but I do appreciate everyone keeping in touch. (Of further note, when in port, I don't have internet access at all). Well that's about all I can think of to say about Japan, and after visiting Kobe, Tokyo, Hiroshima, & Kyoto, I think I conquered all that I set out to. "Semester at Sea: Tour & explore by day, party by night." News Update: because of a typhoon set to ...

... visa was all done by mail. On the Tokyo - Shanghai leg of the journey, the flight attendants passed out the Customs and Immigration forms - they paint a more down to earth picture of China. "Have you been near any poultry in the past seven days?" "Are you sick - check your symptoms in the boxes on the right" Sneezing? Coughing? Flu like symptoms? As I'm considering whether I have any publications or media that would be detrimental to Chinese ...