Yamato Nara

... ettei! Käydään vetämässä pienet Karaokesessiot Tokiossa ja tullaan sitten viimeisellä luotijunalla tuhannen örvelöissä takaisin Osakaan. :-) Toimii!

Suunnattiin siis ensimmäiseksi aamulla Shin-Osakan aseman lipputiskille varaamaan sunnuntaiksi meno-paluulippuja Tokioon. Hiukan nosti kylmää hikeä, että miten tästä varaushommasta Japaniksi oikein selviän, mutta ihan mainiosti meni. No problemos. Tai silleen oli kyllä problemos, että olin ihan sulaa vahaa taas n ...

... niin täytyy koittaa pitää laukut tiukasti selässä, ettei käy kuten viimeksi! Ei kuitenkaan ollut tänään samaa henkilöä ja hotellin esitetelineet ja miespolon selkä säilyi täten ehjänä. :-) Viimeksi saatiin tosi pieni huone, mutta nyt napsahti oikein kunnon jättipotti ja Japanin mittaluokassa tosi komean kokoinen on tämä huone. Aamiaiset kuuluu hintaan ja kivasti ikkunasta näkyy vielä ohi kiitävät luotijunat, ei voi valittaa!

Koska tälle illalle ei ...

... 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 ...

... feeding them, petting them, and even exchanging customary bows. It definately felt like they were more than simple animals. It`s very hard to describe. One even came right up to me and stared me in the eyes. Why would a deer ever do that? And, for a second, looking into its eyes, well, I don`t know how to put it into words. But, it was scary and peaceful all at once. The deer of Nara seem to be always watchful, and always ...

... I've heard they are cheap places to spend the night, the low crime rate means it is unlikely you'll get your bag knicked. Hungry, I looked for a place to eat. The Don was another lp recommendation not far from the Internet cafe, opposite McDonald's. Officially the Don is a fast-food joint but it was much like a restaurant. I ordered something that looked good and thankfully it tasted good too: fried shrimp on scrambled ...

... year old. I looked at her with the blank stare of a serial killer. The day took an even worse turn when we got to Nara, an ancient town just south of Kyoto, and the first temple, Kofuku-ji, was knocked down. Apparently they don't bother refurbishing here, they just knock down completely and rebuild from scratch. Still, it worked for Batman and James Bond. We moved on to the more 'actually still there' temples and ...

... e*sy to underst*nd *s they h*d pull down screens with written English expl*n*tions. We were invited to try out the revolving door which I think I did with quiet finesse, unlike Pete, who *lmost ripped the door of it's hinges *nd h*d it *lmost sl*mming b*ck into his f*ce! Very funny. Next up we were ushered to the museum *nd left to our own devices to look over the m*ny different we*pons, see video, which w*s *ll re*lly interesting. As we h*d * bit of time to sp*re before the ...

... regret at such a missed opportunity. But the big man upstairs works in mysterious ways and thus delivered the goods yesterday on a trip to the Ashiyama district of Kyoto. Ashiyama was recommended by our barman companion of the previous evening "Nae Borrar, scenery very stunna" and he was spot on in his assement, with stunning mountains and rivers greeting us on arrival. And just five minutes into our trek up the mountains we were greeted by a sign I thought only existed in my ...

ok...well i never ended up getting back to my place that night. after i left the internet cafe, i kept on walkinhg further and further in the wrong direction. at about 3 something in the morning, i came to a park in a quiet area of town, and there were already a couple guys crashin there for the night, so i just picked my bench, used my bookbag as a pillow, and caught some sleep. by the time i woke up in the morning and found my way back to my apartment ...

... knows that jet lag is there to be fought and so having come to collect us from Osaka, he was keen to take us out again. His appartment, at which we had only the briefest of visits, seemed very empty - he gestured briefly at the bathroom and kitchen before taking us to their sitting room, where we would be sleeping. There didn't seem to be anything in it, or anywhere to put our stuff. But we had no time to worry about this, as the horse quickly whsked us ...