A second post in one day? Madness!

Hi all,
I just realised my hotel (I say hotel, it's actually a ryokan - Google it) has free net access and also has a working and open USB port. Great success!

I've attached a couple of photos of mine (finally!). Apologies for the image sizes - I have no way to resize but the connection here is fast enough for it not to matter.

The first is of some early cherry/plum blossom I spotted out in Osaka around Osaka-jo (Osaka castle) and its attached park. It's early yet but a few of the trees seem way out of synch with where they should be - they should be blossoming in a month or so here.


The second is of some bizarre 'Engrish' advertising I spotted down by Osaka aquarium, which I know some of you will get a kick out of (Si and Andrew, especially).


Third is a shot of the Earthquake Memorial Park in Kobe - in particular, a section of Pier 3 kept as it was exactly after the 1996 quake. It's only a tiny section but it's enough to be quite a powerful reminder.


Last is a shot of a garden in Kyoto, about 5 mins walk away from my current hotel/ryokan. It's an interesting example of how the Japanese manage to work areas of total tranquility into the midst of a bustling (and very noisy) metropolis.


I have a load more to say, much of it about how crazy this place is (in the best possible way), but it's hard to put into words without writing a short novel. I guess the platforms at Kobe train station which play the tune to "I've been working on the railroad" when a train approaches are a good start.

Must dash before my time on this PC is up.

Take care all,
James



PS - Expect more updates, potentially with photos, since I've actually found a couple of good internet access points now, and I'm in Kyoto for a week.

About time...

Hi all,
Finally found a PC that I can post to here from so here goes...

From the email I sent around you probably figured I got to Osaka with no problems (besides getting lost finding the hotel). I spent a couple of nights there, saw Osaka-jo castle (which I really, really wish I could upload some photos of) and got a great view from about 200m up the Umeda Sky Building. Then it started to rain.

Due to a combination of poor planning on my part, and just plain getting lost (the Japanese seem to have an aversion to labelling streets with names) I managed to blister my feet pretty nicely so I'm buying packs of blister pads like there's no tomorrow. Anyway, I moved on to see the Osaka Aquarium (containing the world's largest aquarium tank) and ended up walking around it at the same time as a party of what must have been several hundred young school kids. Seeing a foreigner in their midst caused much excitement.

Moving on from the aquarium and the surrounding port area, I went to find my new hotel...

...which turned out to be a total dive, located in what must be the ass-end of Osaka.

Next day I jumped on the first train to Kobe looking for a break from the somewhat unrelenting concrete mass of Osaka, and I found it.

There was a flurry of snow as soon as I arrived in Kobe (which seemed pretty unexpected since the temperatures are reasonable right now) and I finally hunted down a fine Okonomiyaki place, which I'd been after since I arrived. True to form, the best places are usually located off the beaten path, and this place (called Tada, in case you ever come to Kobe) did a fine Okonomiyaki. Fine except for the octopus in my mixed one, but you have to try everything once, right?

Further exploration yielded a decent business hotel a mile above the dump in Osaka, and a number of hidden shrines and the like. Some of these are beautiful and if I can find a way to upload the photos I will do.

Another suprise in Kobe was another fine restaurant, about a block away from my hotel down another little street. Called Nailey's Cafe, this place served the best pizza I have eaten outside of Italy, the best salad I have ever eaten, and had the most bizarre feel inside (National Geographic covers on the wall, Discovery Channel HD on a projector on the wall, and a life-size wicker reindeer standing inside by the door - I didn't get it either). The owners were unbelievably hospitable and spoke decent English to boot. Oh, and the Suntory Premium Malts beer was tasty too. If I go back to Kobe (likely, since beyond the rather striking Earthquake Memorial Park and the aforementioned shrines, I have some stuff I'd still like to see) I'll be back there.

The Earthquake Memorial Park can't really be explained without photos but they've preserved a section of one of the piers exactly as it was after the quake, and it really shows the raw power of what happened to Kobe back in 1996.

I'm running out of internet time here, but I've just arrived in Kyoto using the ever-efficient train system and thought I'd finally drop a post in here while I have the chance. More to come soon.

Take care all,
James