Turtle Inn Annex Nikko

... obstacles from Ninja Warrior (Sasuke as known in Japan). Larry and I have seen some of the shows so we thought it was be really cool to try some of the challenges. At Muscle Park they had the hand bike (you pedal across this horizontal area using your hands), cliffhanger (you have to maneuver though these ledges that are as thick as your finger tips), salmon ladder (a pull up bar where you have to kind of pull up and at the same ...

... a little air dryer for your backside). There's an internal fan that comes on to avoid any unpleasant odors. There's probably a button to cause wheels to appear so you can drive the thing down the street... Anyway, suffice it to say that the Japanese have advanced the technology of toilets.

Now, could somebody explain to them to adopt toilet paper with a little more heft than single ply?

... zum Rand gefuellte Wanne mit heissem Wasser gaaaaanz frueh am Morgen (weil Fruehstueck wird um halb 8 serviert... und nur bis halb 8)
Wir wissen jetzt auch, wie man so ein Japanisches Bad auch richtig benutzt... wir hatten zwar schon mal von irgendeinem Japankenner gehoert, wie das denn so ablaueft... aber wenn man dann wirklich da ist, dann denkt man nicht an irgendwelche Waschablaeufe oder so... also haben wir auch gleich mal am ersten ...

... and scallop), beef, tempura and some unknowns that tasted great. Washed down with a big, cold Asahi beer!

Then, bath time. Wow. First time in a Japanese bath. Private, not a sento, but hot enough to peel paint and just the thing for sore muscles. The whole Japanese process where you shower/rinse first, then get in the tub to soak.

... wohl Wandern angesagt! ... y a y :p

Gestern und vorgestern haben wir uns in Asakusa mit Sabine und Andi getroffen (Studienkollegin und soon-to-be-Gspons ;)
War sehr amuesant uns auf der von Japanern nur so wimmelnden Azumbashi Bruecke zu finden. Sabine passt wie die Faust aufs Auge hier nach Japan. Dieses Land bringt ihre besten Eigenschaften noch besser zum Vorschein! XD
Wir sind einfach mal Essen gegangen und danach am Abend noch zu einem ...

... was small but charming. The temple could be reached by bus but I just walked to get a better idea of what the town looked like and see some of the shops along the way. Before crossing the street climb the hill up toward the temple I saw a noteworthy red bridge that crossed a beautiful river that flows through the town. I am not sure what the name is but it seems like it is one of the "postcard" type places Nikko is known for.

Nikkō, Tochigi, Japan michaelsavage

... It is a part of decoration of the sacred horse stable and the carvings showing the life of monkeys are displayed around the stable. On the opposite side, the most impressive architecture of Nikko, Yomeimon gate stood there. But I remembered that I should see another thing before going through the gate, which was listening to Roaring Dragon in the next hall. Honestly, I didn't know ...

... we got a combined ticket for 1000Y otherwise most temples would have cost 1300Y each. The area has been designated a World Heritage Site. The most important and famous is the Toshogu Shrine, inside the gate is a horse stable with the three wise monkeys carved, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. All the temples were very nice and not very crowded and they were surrounded by moss covered stone walls and fences.

... forest as it is, it's so calm, despite absolute hordes of us crawling all over it. There are some stunning facts about the temple, none of which I have to hand, but many many people took a long time making it a proper long time ago, it's big, and probably burned down a few times in the process. Nuff said. Again, heavily edited numbers of pictures to follow. Then.. more wandering through forests, shrines popping out of the mist, no idea what they were there ...

... what this little boy had been saying to them beforehand... "Look at that giant white man!" ...or perhaps... "If you make me have my picture taken with those two I'll never speak to you again". With a bit of prompting the boy then demonstrated his English skills, telling us his name and how old he was. He kind of put our attempts at Japanese to shame. Heather's Pedometer Stats: 20582 steps, 12.76km, 571 Kcal burnt