Sendai is where alot of the Tsunami happened after the earthquakes. We did not see much evidence of this. Cracks in buildings mostly , but you would have to look for them.The resilience and attitude of the people in Japan is amazing. Cleanlyness is der rigor as well. Washing the store fronts, streets, the bathrooms are spotless and everywhere. We had to eat cow tongue. Its everywhere. Cows have no moos here and I know why! Everyone eats their tongues. I am speechless. The tongues were sliced thin as if shaven. You could have them in a bowl with rice and sauce or in a ball shaped, dipped in batter. What happens to the rest of the cow? They also have ox tongue which we never found. Curious , that curry is also popular. In Sendai, ... read more

Up at 6AM to ensure the departure and make the first leg of our way to Nikko from Sado Island. Our travel was like this: Bus,Bus,Bus,Jetfoil,Taxi,Bullet Train,Bullet Train, Train, Taxi, all before 5PM. Ready to go and we waited for the bus at 7:40 AM Sunday. 7:42 AM No bus. Panic... because we have 20 minutes to catch the next bus. We rush back to the Ryokan and sure enough the lady there knew exactly what to do. We hopped into her minivan and off we went to the next bus. We made it with 3 minutes to spare. This bus arrived. Whew. The rest of the travel was punctual by all modes of transportation and we arrived at our last leg by 4PM and were about to get into the Taxi when a bus turned ... read more

Travelling in Japan is a precise art. If you are late by 1 minute you miss your ride. THAT CAN BE UNHEALTHY. We awoke at 630AM to leave to go to Sado Island. We had to take a series of 8 separate rides to get to our destination. Subway, Bullet train , Bullet Train, Taxi, Jet Boat, Bus, Bus, Taxi We hopped on the subway to start our trip. 6 subway stops later we are onto our next leg from the JR station (Bullet Train) We actually have to take 2 of these trains. Before we embarked we bought 2 Bento Boxes (lunch boxes) which consists of many different snacks. A little of each flavor. Once on the train we settled in to our next destination, Tokyo. 3 hours later we arrived and promptly switched trains ... read more

That night we arrived, we promptly went out to eat in the Shimanouchi District. one the the entertainment areas of Osaka. We arrived at a hole in the wall with seating for 6,cantina style. I ordered a rich pork soup with seaweed on top. It was salty and tasty. YES I AM OBLIGED TO EAT MEAT because grapes are 25 dollars a BUNCH! Oh the agony! The district was entertaining! Red light as well. Lots of night clubs and youngish women dressed to kill. Did I mention the architecture. Next day we started out the by taking the subway to the JR station ( Bullet train ) to activate our JR Railpass to allow us to travel throughout our trip, in Japan. In Osaka, we have to think like an Osakian when figuring out the protocol ... read more

Today was a rainy day although it did not start out that way. We began the day on a city tour that took us around the #1 Ring road. This is the road closest to the center of the city. We stopped at numerous locations but ended up at St. Stephens church. The interior of the church was spectacular. With alot of guilded art as well as the numerous organs. Once we left the church it started raining and we parted ways from the tour group for the day. As we exited the church there was this guy who had a beer in his hand dressed like Michael Jackson, white, dancing in the street with not a care in the world. It was mesmerising in that he was in his own little world doing his stuff ... read more