Yakko Ryokan Nishinomiya

... Nyt tulikin taas näköjään pitkä reissu!

Mutta ei mitään hätää! Matka Takayamaan oli nimittäin aivan uskomattoman hienoa kyytiä, vuorien ja jokien keskellä, eikä tullut aika yhtään pitkäksi. Melko totaalinen mahdottomuus oli saada kuvia junan ikkunasta, mutta sellainen maisemien sarjatuli tärähteli verkkokalvoille, että voi pojat! Melkein jo jäätiin kyydistä paikassa nimeltä Gero, mutta päätettiin kuitenkin jatkaa matkaa Takayamaan asti. Ihan kiva oli täm ...

... 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 ...

... not exactly sure what we were in for. The Japanese customers noticed that we were American (hard to miss in a place that small) and one of them came over to talk to us in her broken English. She really took a liking to Ken, and ended up ordering us all more food at her expense. Much to Bridget's dismay, however, it was some of the most unusual food on the menu. While the rest of us enjoyed the "tentacular" array of seafood, Bridget was not exactly excited about eating ...

... more Wii. A slow start the next day, Gibbo and I head into Shinjuku and explore the busy streets there. Our focus is a tenegui shop, selling the head cloths we use in kendo. I pick out a couple of choice ones and then we carry on wandering. Finally we head back to pick up my luggage and I catch the Narita express out to the airport. Into a hotel for the night to wait for Dad and Natalies' arrival the following morning. Their plane is on time and we head into Tokyo to ...

... mit einigen Umsteigen kamen wir in Kyoto Station an. Die Architektur des Bahnhofs ist sehr modern zum Gegensatz was man sich an Kyoto mit den alten Tempeln vorstellt. Das Youth Hostel liegt im Higashiama South District, einer der besten Ausgangspunkte um die unzähligen Tempel und Schreine Kyotos zu erkunden. Als wir unser Zimmer sahen verlängerten wir gleich um 2 Tage. Das ...

... called Soami in 1525. It consists of 15 rocks laid out in a 25x10m mud-walled garden filled with white gravel. Visitors are given a chance to contemplate by sitting on a ledge overlooking the garden. It was quite a sight as all the gravel had been arranged to form circular swirls around the rocks. Apparently, the rocks are supposed to give the visitor a chance to indulge in philosophy by using the rock arrangement to stimulate thought. You can take a look for yourself at ...

... worst name I have EVER heard in my life and even thinking about it now puts a smile on my face! lol. Her name was "Weenie" I kid you not! I refused to tell mum her name, I made her look for herself because it was funnier that way! Anywayz, we finally got to Osaka, thank god! I was feeling like absolute ***** when we landed but it was all good. I took some pics, sent the initial first "We've made it!" entry for my travelpod and that was about it ...

... presents to distribute back home. Though he denies it vehemently, one can not argue that Dave didn't look like a fully fledged OTAKU (dork) that day. I could not resist a photo to capture the moment, with Dave bumbling around the store with the shop assistants help, looking for some rarity. His backpack was laden full with AV DVD and he had a bundle of posters/calendars under one arm. I know Dave hates me poking fun at his dorkiness, but we're all dorky at times, it ...

... There are 55,000 screaming colorful balloons flying around all over the place...I got a great video clip of it! Anyway, some of the most amazing events happened after the game as many Tigers fans stuck around the stadium area to celebrate the win and we are talking with a few when I yell out "picture" so I can take Mikes picture with a few fans. Well, every Japanese fan in the vicinity must know the English word picture because all of a ...