Hiroshima and other Japan odds and ends

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My camera is being a pain so not downloading as much as I would like but this is the last part of Japan now although we have been in NZ over a week. We will try to blog again in the next few days.


When we booked all this up we did not really think where exactly we may end up.
If life got boring in one place we would move on. Well Hiroshima was not on top of the list of must see but a strange morbid draw caused us to disembark the bullet here.

I have to say I'm glad we did because the Starbucks is a very good one at the station!

Before I go on I have to just say ( if I havent already) the Japs live underground!! Every mainline station has a warren of subterrainian malls that lead to all the main areas, in Kyoto it streached right out to near our Rykon, a good quater of a mile. All loaded with shops and restaurants and all crowded.

Anyway Hiroshima was really thought provoking, there is a big memorial park on the site of the epicenter which is really moving. Just the thought of the A bomb exploding 600 meters above you chills you to the bone. Im glad I went!!

Matt

PS

do's and donts we have learnt on the trip so far

1 Use trams in Hong kong
2 Use underground in Tokyo
3 use taxis in Beijing ( even if the driver is in a sort of metal cage)
4 Tip in Hong kong
5 do not tip in Japan
6 do not spit in Japan
7 Bring up the greenest cold ridden flem possible in Beijing!! youll be a hero.

Hiya

Well as Matt has already said Hiroshima was just so so sad. When we went around the museum we heard some of the stories of survivors it was awful it still haunts me.

Hiroshima was a very young town full of bars and clubs, it is a university town I really liked it, which I did expect.

We took the bullet train back to Tokyo (5 hour journey) and it was just brilliant watching Japan flashing by and listening to my Ipod heaven!!!Jamie I listened to LoveBox it is brilliant.

We really loved Japan and wish we had more time to explore it . The only thing I would say is that it is just so so so busy you do need some time out. However I would go back I just loved the people always so polite helpful and friendly. It is also so safe people just left there bags and went and got a coffee. The hotel rooms are very small they are a little pod you can NOT swing a cat, honest. We went out for a meal one night, we wanted something plain and simple so ordered fish with some veg. The fish was well we will never know (and do not want to find out) and the veg was sea veg we did not know what we were eating but looked like sea urchins and soft coral yuk!!!!!

We are going to NZ next so will update you all soon. Take care.

Love

Dee
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Comments

[Dave]

Wish I had gone
Never got the chance to go out to Hiroshima, but wanted to. Sounds like everything you would expect it to be. Great reading your blogs. I forgot about all the women walking around looking like dentists with their face masks on. As for food in Japan. I mostly ate in McDonalds, and I hate McDonalds, but at least it was shit I recognised as opposed to shit I didn't recognise. Another don't I learnt was don't go into a bar on your own and start chatting to a woman also on her own. She will take this as a marriage proposal and you will find it extremely difficult to get rid of her for the next couple of hours ! Take care, and look forward to the next update !

[Dave (Rovers Fan)]

1-0, and you f****d it up, 1-0, and you f****d it up, 1-0, and you f****d it up !!!
Hee hee hee ! Went to the Madejski Stadium yesterday to watch a small Northern team who had made the trip down to give you a game. What a mouthy lot those Reading supporters are, eh ? ;) Well, we didn't turn up in the first half and went 1-0 down with 6 minutes left til half time. You should have been at least 2-0 up by half time though. Then, dunno what Sparky said to the lads at half time, but we were a different team after the break, and then it was your turn to forget to turn up. Completely hammered your goal and even one of your players faking injury and a biased linesman couldn't stop us from winning. Yep, Benny McCarthy ended up scoring 4 times and even had a penalty claim turned down. The linesman, whilst trying to pull his black shirt back down over his blue and white hooped top that he had on underneath, failed to raise his flag for one of the goals, so at least one stood. Then David Bentley decided to hit a cracker that the linesman just could not possibly flag for offside - pick that one out ! Great match, your boys surely can play, but I always knew that. Lovely stadium. Great feeling shutting all those fans Southern fans up... :D

[the Joneses]

Oh dear these northeners are so .............
Well Igot up at 5am to see the second half on sky. Wish I stayed in bed !!!!

[Karen]

Love Japan
Glad you have liked Japan and it is great to hear so much about it - wonder why they live "underground" - maybe they feel safer after "the" bomb ..... just a passing thought. When I managed to open up your blog - William was with me and he spotted "Auntie Dionne" - you should have heard the excitement in this voice ....