Sorry!

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. I guess I just havent had the urge recently. Well theres a lot to talk about now!

I have just had a very busy nine days touring extensively around japan with my parents. I flew to Tokyo from Kumamoto the friday before last arriving sometime in the morning. The first thing that struck me about the city is its size. Its enormous! A vast megalopolis that seems to go on forever. We spent two days there but i felt i only saw a mere smidgen of the city, i think you need to allow quite some time to do the place some justice. We stayed right next to the emperors palace. I was hoping to catch the emperor taking a dump or something next door but to my disapointment I caught not a glimpse. Visited some excellent museums, monstrously tall buildings and a giant gaijin bar called Roppongi. Also dined in the oldest Yakkitori in Ginza street. To visit Tokyo maybe a megalopolis but maybe to live there it would become a bit of a smegalopolis because its too darn huge for me. Despite being very much the centre of the Japanese world it also seemed to have a different spirit of its own and a vibe i hadnt encountered before in Japan. More dynamic, insanely busy and where a gaijin doesnt stand out so much.

Then on to skiing in Niigata prefecture, staying in a delightful Ryokan or traditional Japanese guesthouse. We our own maid who couldnt have been much taller than an oompah lumpah and who had mastered the art of hobbling, bowing and hobbling and bowing at the same time. She also served us a banquet in our own private room with special menu and name banner. Much food was eaten including an balonie that was cooked alive in front of our eyes. Poor creature! Much sake was also consumed much of it some of the best sake i have ever tasted.


Skiing was remarkably easy for me to pick up after eleven years. It just seemed to click back quite naturally where i had left off. Although i did get rather cocky and tried a black run which i managed to complete after about an hour. Also met the famous folk singer Kayama whom we had our photo taken with. I didnt press him about my own singing career obviously as i didnt want to give him an inferiority complex.

Then on to Hiroshima and the peace park. Hiroshima has a very nice atmosphere similiar to that of Nagasaki. The peace park is an extremely comprehensive museum and can leave you a little emotionally overwhelmed but is well worth the visit.　Gave my parents a quick stop at Kumamoto and had delightful dinner with my friend Miwa and her parents, then on to Nara for the night and bid farewells in Osaka from where I went back to Kumamoto with a shopping stop in Fukuoka....Phew! I think i will never again have taken so many trains (and so many good trains at that) in such a short space of time unless i interail on the ネコ　バス ((nekko bus)　to the moon!