Blogs from Hyogo, Japan, Asia - page 5

On Saturday, me, Lani, and her roommate Rachelle went to see the Himeji Castle, and it was one of the best "little" trips I've had this semester! Even though things didn't work out exactly as we had planned, it was still a lot of fun! And we learned an important lesson from that day...to always expect the unexpected! We planned on leaving at 11 AM Saturday morning. But let's be honest, this is me and Lani...so we took our time and had a nice breakfast in the dining room and got to talking about Okinawa and skydiving. By the time we had decided that you are more likely to die from skydiving than bungee jumping (Lani had jumped off the Macao Tower over spring break), we looked at the clock and realized it was already 12! ... read more

Section 1 We had come by shinkansen to Kyoto and our first stop would be Kinosaki. We found the platform for the JR Tokkyuu Kinosaki Express at Kyoto station, had time to buy some onigiri riceballs and we were off enjoying the long ride which brought us via the JR Sanin Honsen line passing the mountainous area to the other side of Japan. The views from the train were pretty but the weather changed before we arrived in Kinosaki and the rain started to pour down violently. From the station, the courtesy bus took us to our ryokan and it seemed that all the elderly people from the train had come to bathe in Kinosaki too. Kinosaki had been famous in the beginning of the 18th century with many well known artists, writers, and calligraphers having ... read more

Dear All, Keeping ones' collective heads down to squirrel away every spare yen has been the year's prime activity. Having lately been inundated with correspondence lamenting the dearth of travelblogs, the following temporary measure will have to suffice- these are from almost the last time the lady and I were blessed with synchronised time off, some time in the first half of February. However, I am pleased to garrulously offer tidings of having very recently returned from a trip to Hiroshima- news and views to follow anon. Furthermore, the Sakura season is on the verge of exploding, those little blossoms coyly dipping their toes in the sunshine. And subsequently the small matter of officially hitching ourselves together will take place in six weeks. Brace yourselves yourselves for a blog blizzard in the almost near future... ... read more

Happy New Year. Or Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu/あけましておめでとうございます I know this is a little late, I think I was waiting for more things to add to make a more substantial blog. But there's not so much else to report (other than working alot of overtime) and nothing in the pipeline, so you'll have to make do with this tiddler. So, New Year in Japan- my first. I was blessed enough to spend it with my the Japanese side of my soon-to-be-family, out of the city in Miki, marginally out in the sticks. Bring on the good food, convivial familial atmos and plenty of booze- just like home! New Year's Eve was marginally more eventful than my last one (when I'd been asleep)- traditional end-of-year TV; the Red and White Show (a marathon music competition akin to -but ... read more

Unreal, I've just made a schoolboy error and deleted an hour's worth of prose. Which has probably saved you considerable boredom as the replacement will be somewhat shorter than the original. Oops! So, today is Boxing Day, and thoughts travel back to the same day three years ago when nature delivered a strong message to alot of very unfortunate people in Asia in the form of a tsunami. Somehow, a mixture of karma, good luck and whatever else forms the happenings of the cosmos contrived to leave me living. I'd never have foreseen that in 2007, I'd find myself in Japan, eagerly awaiting my marriage! There have been -and continue to be- obstacles and trials, but also predominantly much joy. This Christmas has given me a chance to re-appreciate the good things in my life. It's ... read more