Blogs from Hyogo, Japan, Asia - page 2

Our last touring day in Japan! We went down to breakfast. We had told the hotel that we were vegetarian, and that we ate no meat but we would eat fruit and salad. Our breakfast arrived. We were each given a huge tray on which were five different fruit juices, a bowl of coconut milk with semolina, a small bowl of yoghurt, a big bowl of fruit. Then a third tray arrived and was placed between our trays on the table. On that tray was a box of bread, a tray of baguettes, a pot of coffee, a saucer with three different butters and preserves. We are not takers of food pictures, but we had to take pictures of this breakfast!! See it pictured on Day 21, our last monring in Kobe. . Sated, at 9 ... read more

Returning to Japan for the fourth year, and to Himeji for the second year is proving to be an excellent beginning to my retirement from teaching. Being greeted with hugs from Japanese women colleagues from 9 years ago was a most unexpected gift. I have been surprised and delighted with how easy these first two months have been. The school year ends in Japan in late March and so I arrived in time to teach the last few classes and set exams for the Year 12’s (三年生). Yesterday was their graduation ceremony: a formal, solemn and moving end to their school days, followed by beaming faces, oodles of photos and a dance display at the school entrance. I was moved to tears by the rousing thanks each class gave their home room teacher. Shogai Daigaku (university ... read more

Sunday, 17th September 2017 Nagoya >> Himeji (278.3km, 93 mins, 8,610 Yen) The weather was forgiving as I woke up shortly after six this morning. The rains that plagued since yesterday had miraculously stopped as the skies gave an all clear signal. The weatherman from NHK had announced that the typhoon had already made landfalls in the southern part of Kyushu early morning and was soon on its way to sweep through the rest of Japan within the next 24 hours or so. With perfect weather before the impending storm, I jumped onto the opportunity for a whirlwind Shinkansen excursion to Himeji and Kyoto for the day. Home to the magnificent white castle, the beautiful Himeji-Jo was evident as soon as I made my way out of the train station. I strolled my way through the ... read more

Today, it was Kobe Sake tasting tour! YAY When Rebecca arrived, she joined an International group which is organising events in Osaka and in the region nearby. This group was organising a Sake tasting tour on Saturday and she asked if I could join as a guest. I had then to wake up early on Saturday morning (9.30 am lol) in order to take the train to go to Kobe. We had to meet the others at 12 in Kobe station. Rebecca joined me at the Kujo station and after purchasing ticket we were on our way for 1h ride with one change. I have to say that compared to the train from the airport, this one was fully in Japanese and we had to ask our way for the change as we couldn't find the ... read more

Po ranajkach ma CS odprevadza na stanicu Minamikata (hankyu line), rozlucka a smer kobe. Jeden prestup na stanici juso na expres vlak a uz sa veziem na stanicu kobe Sannomiya. Vlak v pohode, hankya line je lacnejsia ako jr line (cca o euro). Co mi CS vravela tak nahubky zvacsia nosia mlade baby vraj kvoli slnku, no nevim ja som myslel, ze kvoli ovzdusiu. Cca za pol hodinku vystupujem uz v kobe sannomiya. Po mensom rozkukany,hladam skrinky na batozinu. Nakoniec vdaka stanicnej navigacii ich nachadzam pri vychodnej brane. Batoh som v pohode narval do najmensej skrinky za 300y, su tu aj vacsie skrinky za 500y. Poslusne si fotim umiestnenie skrinky nech to po futbale zbytocne nehladam. System skriniek je jednoduchy, vlozi sa batoh, hodia sa peniaze (kovove), zavre sa a zamkne. Klucik sa uskova na bezpecne ... read more