Week 2 - Japan

Kanichiwa people!

So we have finished week two and it was action packed!!! But first just a few of our thought about Japan and the Japanese;

crime - Most of you reading this will have grown up in western society and know the feeling when you realise you have walked away from a table where your cell/mobile phone is sitting or bag was at.... Ok, you may not believe this, but the Japanese (at least the ones in Japan) do not have this problem. Japan is probably the safest major country in the world! People on a regular basis leave their belongings without worry - I think this is a perfect example of a very honest society and culture of people.

Weather - We have been very lucky and unlucky; I mean we have escaped the rainy season by a few days when we first arrived and have only had one hour of rain the entire trip. However, the weather has been a constant 35 - 40 degrees Celsius (approx 95-102F) every day. And those who are reading from St Louis, you know humidity - this is like bad St. Louis humidity on the hottest day of the summer - every day!!

Natural Disasters - thankfully this topic is not a summary of any issues we have had, but about 4 days ago when we were in Osaka there was a 5.4 earthquake. Japan is sit right on the ring of fire and the earthquake belt - just a little of a shake and they do want these because if they do not have this for some months or a year they are concerned about a big one building up. Just 15 years ago about 7,000 people died in the earthquake in Kobe.

So a bit about our adventures so far... and there have been a lot of cool things happening!!

Tuesday - Fugo (puffer fish) - You are reading this so you will know we survived our fight or dinner with this famed fish of death. We were in Osaka the Fugo capital and had a few types. The sushimi (raw) type of Fugo was the best. And you who have seen pictures or in the fish in real life, it is not big like tuna. Its about the size of an American football. So the sushimi was quite small. It was a bit rubbery, but good and unlike any fish we had eaten. We also had fugo cooked on the table in front of us. Very nice again; however there was not a lot of meet as we are used to with salmon. AND most importantly, we survived!!!

Wednesday - KOBE Beef! We arrived in Kobe at about 0830 and made our way to Himeji castle very amazing indeed, but not quite as nice as our meal that night. We had a nice bottle of an Australian Red and had our Kobe beef cooked in front of us (tapenyaki style) along with some good veggies and starters. Marina had not tried Kobe beef so this was a real treat for her. And especially for some soon to be hardened backpackers who are just not quite used to being away from the good life.

Thursday - NARA. This place is essentially a small town renowned for their busshist The temples were all very nice and I could tell you all about these, or at least something I`ve retained, but the most interesting thing I think you will want to hear about is the dear. So Nara`s main park area has probably 1000 wild deer which are all very comfortable with people and will come up and eat out of your hand. They are similar to dogs in the fact that you can pet them, feed them, and possibly pick up the small ones, however I wouldn`t recommend that!

Friday - Geisha..... so, you need to research this a bit.. geisha`s are like seeing a A list celeb meaning seeing brat pitt or cameron diez.... these are like the elite and very cautious girls who are for entertainment but not sex. they pretty much spend their time entertaining oligarchs - so its like a one a once in a life time situation to see one as they are very secretive. I can`t still believe it but Marina found one - she ran like a tiger when she saw us take out the camera and being 1900 in Gion area while being protected by uber business men`s bodyguards, she was probably the real thing.

Saturday - Being a geisha, so this is funny, but not crazy. Marina and I went to a shop and she dressed as a geisha; she looked very hot!

Sunday - The was a fun day - we started with and Onsen in Kinosaki - which is in Western Honsho. This is a posh spa town and the onsen (spa) and the main highlight was a room which was called the m1 eat locker and was -1 degrees C (30 degrees F). such a nice relief after the oppressive heat! That night we went to a place called Moroyose - big mistake, it had a great beach, but it was such small town we could not even get dinner being that everything was closed. So dinner was a few cans of Asahi, not so bad ;D

Monday - Sand dunes........probably not believable, but its like the desert, very strange for Japan, and the heat was blistering.. check out the pic.

So we are now in Hiroshima and will have some cool stories coming soon... wait to hear of tbeer gardens!!!!!!!!