Out West!

---

Yes, I’m still alive. I’ve been pretty busy (hence the publication of numerous blogs at once). So let me catch you guys up on what I’ve been doing..

I took an afternoon train out to Himeji, about an hour west of Kobe, on my day off back in November to check out one of Japan's most beautiful castles. Himeji Castle is one of only 12 surviving feudal castles in Japan and has served as a backdrop in several films (including “The Last Samurai”).

I'm not sure what it is, but somehow I manage to be "adopted" quite frequently when I travel. My guess is that I either give off some sort clueless vibe or it’s just the fact that I tend to travel by myself, and people worry about a young girl traveling alone in a foreign country. Let’s hope it’s the latter. 😉

On this occasion, I was adopted by an older Japanese man (and amateur photographer) who noticed my spiffy camera and decided to usher me around inside the castle to all his little photo vantage points. He was very nice and chatty, but I’m sad to say that I couldn’t understand a word- all I could do was smile and take pictures at each spot he took me to. After a while he took his leave and I was free again to wander.

After spending a couple hours exploring the castle and grounds, I decided to head over to the gardens, which had extended visiting hours that week because of the autumn leaves. I managed to only come across one other person while I was there though- a rare event in Japan! Unfortunately I did not have a tripod, so many of my shots didn’t come out. I still had a fabulous time though.


I visited the castle again a couple weeks ago while Aaron was here, and hope to make it back to the gardens in the spring.

---

Photos

Inside
The pillars are made from 780-year-old cypress trees!

The salaryman on vacation
Notice the matching outfits!

Here fishy, fishy..
I was told that this is supposed to be a dolphin, but I don't really see it.

Comments

[Sir Cody]

Fantastic pics
Fantastic pics as always. And as for always getting attention, its because you're really really hot. I mean I tell you this often enough so why is there a question. So yeah, itsAWESOME THAT YOU'RE STIL HAVING FUN. kEEP TAKING AWESOME PICTURES i CAN ADD TO MY SCREENSAVERS and I should learn to look up while I'm typing, so from Portland, ME have fun and I'll talk to you later. Kepp knocking them dead.

[Brent-san]

Red Hot
I recently broke out the dance move you inspired where I use the hot girls buttocks as the fire and warm my hands up. Looks like Japan has got a good hold on you...and by the way your pics are insanely colorful and crisp...keep snappin shots, loving life, and sing a karaoke song on me. "Gambate"....good luck!