Xian

October 27

I checked out of the hotel early in the morning to catch the fast train to Xi'an. The ride is about 5 hours and went by alright. I was quite tired since I barely slept the night before. I made friends with these four girls from England who are also backpacking across Asia. Always good to find other travelers when you are abroad. Safety in numbers! We made plans to go check out the Terra-cotta warriors tomorrow.  I had dinner and called it an early night.

October 28

Since I slept so early, I woke up early as well. I decided to explore Xi'an by foot. I checked out the historic Bell and Drum Towers. Both seemed pretty neat but I didn't feel like paying admission to go inside. 

The air quality in Xi'an looked and felt worse than Beijing. I had to put on my mask most days. The center of Xi'an is walled off on four sides with openings at the south, east, north and west gates. The bell tower is right in the center.

I also found the Muslim Quarter, which is an area filled with street vendors and merchants. The food that they sell differ from Beijing and you can find Goat meat everywhere.

After some walking, I caught the 603 bus to meet the girls at the railway station. Only I didn't know that there was a 603 bus that went oh inside the city walls and one outside. As you can predict, I went in the wrong one. It took me a while to realize that. I got off and luckily saw a subway station so I quickly figured out the transfer to the railway station. By this time I was late and I was thinking oh no this is a repeat of Japan when I couldn't find Eka in Janine. So I hauled ass and sprinted to our meeting spot Deco's only they weren't there. I decided to walk and find a place with Wi-Fi and as luck would have it, there was another Demo's and yep they were there!

it took a few tries before we found the right bus to Terra-cotta, which is about 40km from Xi'an. Honestly I did not know too much of the history behind the Terra-cotta warriors. After seeing the site with all the different warriors, chariots and horses, I went back home later to Wikipedia more about the history. Apparently there are really more buried statues that have not been unearthed.

October 29

the girls and I met up to go atop the city walls where you can hire bicycles. Within 90 minutes one can easily ride along the city walls. The view from above w as pretty cool and the ride was quite pleasant. With the exception of some meetup confusion at the end, the day went pretty smoothly.

After a quick nap in the afternoon, I went back to the Muslim quarter in the evening with this guy who I am sharing a dorm room with. I tried some steamed rice cake coated in rose jelly that was pretty delicious. We also split a bowl of some rich soup with tofu, mushrooms and some green leafy vegetable too.

Went to sleep early since I had to check out in the morning to leave Xi'an.

October 30

im still having trouble adapting to the squat toilets in China. Just feels awkward and a bit uncomfortable. I've been making the 15 minute walk to Starbucks every morning because they have a western toilet.

I checked out of the Shuyuan Hostel, advertised as the only warrior themed hostel in Xi'an, early to catch an 8:50 am train to XiangYang. The 12 hour train ride felt quite long! I tried to entertain myself and pass the time by napping, writing in this journal, listening to my iPod, and reading Super Fudge on my tablet. I must have read that book 30 times since childhood. 3 more hours to go. I'm going to XiangYang to see Fred and return his phone and key. 

Beijing

October 20

my old MBA classmate Joe was at the platform to pick me up in the morning. I was pleasantly suppose to be dropped off at my hotel by his personal driver. Good to see Joe doing well in Beijing and he looks much younger than he did at school.

The Kingwing hotel was a def treat after staying at hostels. Having my own personal bathroom was such a luxury.

I decided to check out the nightlife in Beijing by subway. The trouble with my station was that they had no personal maps to give nor did they speak English. Somehow I stumbled into an area that seemed touristy so I felt a little safer to explore...Hey it was my first day in Beijing and I had done zero research. Luckily I ran into a nice guy named Michael who pointed me in the right direction to various places. I found it funny that it was an American helping a lost Chinese in China.

There's an area called Houhai that's pretty neat where their are bars and clubs lined along this river, well more a stream if you ask me. The live music scene there reminded me a bit of Austin. Be careful in that area for pickpockets and guys trying to take you to the ladies of the night.

October 21

I have to admit that the Nexus tour that I'm on is pretty sweet. For about 200 bucks before tips and miscellaneous charges, you get 7 nights stay at the hotel, all meals, and a guided van that shuttle's you from 730 in the morning till 8 at night.

The tour group that I'm in only has 18 which is small and more intimate. You really do get to know everyone if you want. Our tour guide is a local Beijing who married a cantonese girl so he was able to lead our cantonese group. My group is probably 80% cantonese aussies. Thus far i have found aussies to be the friendliest on my travels. Theres a couple from sydney named lucinda and ricky. Lucinda "ah-yee" has been very helpful translating some cantonese to english for me. Theres also another sydney couple who are from vietnam just like me. We discovered that our families left vietnam around the same time in the late 70s. The guy is Sang "sook" and im not sure his wife's name but she told me to search quang on skype for her. They have 3 daughters younger than me who helped them setup skype and facebook accounts. Theres also a group of 4 from Perth who have been friendly. The guy retired from the singaporean air force and i shared with him how i used to deal military parts to the singaporean defense logistics in a past life. Theres also a family of 4 from indonesia in our group. The dad is in his 70s and suffered a stroke a few years back but its been his lifelong dream to visit china because his father was originally from china but left for indonesia at 15. This tour is quite difficult for him because theres a good amount of walking. His wife also requires assistance so luckily there two daughters are with them on the tour. Every tour group needs the wiseguy comedian. In our group we have the chinese version of  grumpy old men. Those two are always making wisecracks..which keeps things lively. Theres also a guy who sits behind me that everyone teases because our guide asked if anyone had a spare room key for him so he could park at the hotel for free and this guy offered him his key. So everyone jokes that the guide will pay him a special visit at night now haha. 

We visited tiananmen square and the forbidden city today. Ive seen pictures before but seeing it in person was quite a treat. The place is big - enough said! Lunch was nice with many delicious dishes and even the infamous peking duck was served. I like the family style concept when it comes to eating...reminds me of home growing up.  After lunch we were dropped off at this mall to shop...apparently tours get kickbacks. Its a knockoff heaven that also challenges your negotiation skills. Just for fun, i engaged in a bargaining session with this girl. She kept on slapping my shoulder everytime she felt i was low balling her so i started to playfully slap her back...which then turned into a slap fest...to outsiders it must have looked like a pattycake session.

We ended the tour by going to see  chinese acrobats. Man they are super talented! I saw people being tossed up and down, a girl who appeared to have no bones by the way she twisted her body in ways that even contortionist couldnt imagine, girls doing acrobatic tricks on bicycles, ball jugglers, umbrella spinning and much more.

It was quite a long but fun day. I feel like ive made so many new aunties in the group. I think they feel sorry for me being the only single on the tour and the youngest by far. They are always looking out for me to make sure i understood the guide and they keep sharing food with me. Time to rest up...another early morning tomorrow.

October 22

Slow day on the tour today. We drove over 2 hours to get to Tienjin and most of the day was consumed with shopping. At the silk road store we were pressured by this slick saleslady to buy silk bedding sets. Shes probably good enough to sell ice to eskimos.

In the evening, Merry and i went to explore houhai. We went into a bar where a live band played. Overall a good atmosphere in the bar.

October 23

We started the morning by visiting the tea shop where we sampled various teas. My favorite was this one that tasted like ginseng. We all ended up buying after multiple rounds of negotiations. Heres a tip for shopping tours, since there's a set time that you're at the shop, the best deals happen at the end because the sales people have quotas that they have to meet. Also consider grouping with others to get volume discounts.

The afternoon event was a treat as we got to see the Great Wall.  Seeing it in person is so different than in pictures. It's amazing to imagine the amount of time and laborers it took to construct the wall. I tried to climb to the top but we ran out of time. It can be very tiring and I can see how it can turn away invaders.  The tour group certainly had a fun and enjoyable time walking and taking photos.

I ended the evening with a relaxing legit massage after all the walking I had done in Japan and China. I slept like a baby!

I forget to mention that the strap on my backpack broke in Japan and one of the aunties was nice enough to help me sew it back on. I told her that I needed to learn to do it myself so she taught me. I spent the morning sitting in the back of the van ride sewing!

October 24

The highlight of the day was certainly the performance we saw at Oct Theater in Happy Valley. It was a first class performance with a very large production team and budget. One scene even had gushing water to simulate a flooding scene. Everyone was so impressed.

October 25

early morning drive to Chende to see the resort palace area for the emperor. It took 3 generations of emperors to build this resort that represented mini China with trees and mountains to the Northwest and water in the southeast. We also saw a temple area devoted to Gwan Gong who was a God of law and righteousness. According to Auntie Lucinda all the police stations in HK have pictures of Gwan Gong.

Some of us ended the evening by getting massages from the blind. It's quite popular in China and I must say they are really good at what they do and it only coated 40 rmb... about 7 dollars.

October 26

today we went to the Olympic Village area and saw the bird's nest and the swimming pool area. Afterwards we went to the jewelry shop and I saw the master at work. He used every scam in the world.

The evening found us back at the first massage place. I had the same girl and finally made the connection that say chuen in Cantonese is sichuan in English. It's widely known throughout China that Sichuan province is known for their beautiful landscapes and most beautiful women in china.

She has lived a very interesting life for only being 22. She left her husband in another province and relocated to Beijing just half a year ago by herself.        
I'm not sure what prompted me to exchange info with her but she's def someone I want to stay in touch with.

This pretty much concludes my Beijing tour and I do admit that's it been much better than I expected. The history and sites no doubt were interesting, but I think it was the people who made the trip memorable. The uncles gave me some relationship advice that actually translates well into English. In Cantonese it's daum dye sum sye pay fu how and it pretty much means the man should be brave, have a gentle heart, and thick skin. Along with that I will take with me something I learned from every member of the tour group. Theres a running joke that there will be a reunion at my wedding. It's funny that I have an adopted mom now from Sydney who has a daughter in Japan that she's brought up a couple of times! So long Beijing and onwards to Xi'an.

October 27

I checked out of the hotel early in the morning to catch the fast train to Xi'an. The ride is about 5 hours and went by alright. I was quite tired since I barely slept the night before. I made friends with these four girls from England who are also backpacking across Asia. Always good to find other travelers when you are abroad. Safety in numbers! We made plans to go check out the Terra-cotta warriors tomorrow.  I had dinner and called it an early night.

Shanghai II

October 16

another quiet day in Shanghai so I decided to check out their one mountain. The locals say it's more of a hill than a mountain though. I took the train but cant recall the stop nor the mountain. When I got off the train I couldn't locate any signs for the mountain so I just decided to head in one direction. Mind you this was a pretty rural area and I felt like a hitchhiker walking the streets. After walking what felt like forever, I still saw no signs of the mountain. I decided to end my search when I discovered a hotel. One of the best things to do in any foreign country if you're a backpacker is to find a fancy hotel. The facilities are always clean and theres always free wifi in the lobby. My thing is to always walk in with earplugs visible and to just start speaking english to myself so the staff thinks im having a business call and i can not be disturbed with questions such as whether im a guest there or not. In fact i went to the intercontinental hotel so often that they thought i was a guest. I even got plenty of concierge services too. Thank you Intercontinental Hotel for helping me out in Shanghai!

The rest of the day found me back at Yu Garden and back to the girl who spoke english. It just so happened that her shift was ending so she said she would show me around. Maybe i do have a lost puppy look...

Turns out her english name is Dream cuz apparently some guy once told her she was like a dream come true so she chose that as her name. Haha chinese cyrano. Anyways Dream was super friendly and asked me to follow her to her house so she  can change out of her work  clothes. I waited outside for her and she showed up with a banana and a chocolate bar for me. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me.

October 17

I decided to check out Shanghai Library today but was disappointed that I was not able to enter any of the good sections because I didn't have proper library I'd. So I decided to go to a university nearby instead. I walked the campus for a bit and checked out some of the buildings. I might have disturbed a class in session with my squeaky shoes...all the students turned and look.

In the evening I met up with my high school friend Catherine for dinner. She had been living in Shanghai for the past 5 years. It was so good to see a familiar face from home and she still looked the same after 20 years! 

October 18

Didn't do too much during the day. Usual routine of going to the dumpling place and the Intercontinental Hotel. In the evening I met up with Stephanie again for dinner and we walked around town. She told me about this corner at People's Park where parents go with their kids and their CVs in an effort to do some modern day matchmaking. I asked her to take me but sadly we didn't see any exchanges take place.

October 19

I met up with Fred's friend Ann for brunch and she brought along her friend Lyric. Ann did a fantastic job of ordering various Shanghainese dishes. I think we had shuttle mushrooms, wonton noodle soup, meat medley platter, pan fried noodles, pig arms and I'm sure there was something else I forgot. Ann is pretty well traveled and had just returned from the states. I told her to visit again so I could return the hospitality. 

After lunch I went back to collect my things and headed to the train station for Beijing. I barely made it on time and there was a madhouse full of passengers. I h as d decided to book the 15 hour overnight train bc it was only 30 dollars. The other drawback is that you can't lie down and you're stuck on this hard seat that makes it very hard to sleep.  One thing that I did observe is that there are more tickets sold than their seats. It's not uncommon to see folks without a seat just squatting by the bathroom or along the aisles.

The people I sat with were pretty cool. There was this older Chinese couple who kept asking why I didn't speak mandarin...unfortunately since I couldn't speak mandarin, I couldn't respond. There was also a fellow near my age who spoke a little English. He shared with me his recent travels to shangrila and going to Lhasa. The pictures he showed me were breathtaking...shangrila is truly a parades. Next to him was a guy who had two boxes of live hairy crabs and he had to keep sprinkling water on them every few hours to keep them alive. I'll try to post a pic later.

I don't think I slept for more than 10 minutes a clip throughout the night. I couldn't find the ideal sleeping position on that hard seat without getting a neck cramp.

The hole in the floor toilets that everyone used was also an experience. While the hole was fairly large, people's aim appeared to be visibly poor. Enough about the train ride.

Shanghai I

October 12

I checked out of my capsule hotel bright and early to catch a train and bus to ibaraki airport. Oh i had my first anti-tattoo experience too in a bathhouse. I had heard from many that Japan's onsens were not tattoo friendly because of the cultural associations with the yakuza. I was in the middle of bathing when i saw many men staring at me...no it was not because they were impressed by my manhood! Soon after, a staff member approached me and said please leave...i said why and he said no tattoos allowed. Hrmmm....i even said no yakuza to deaf ears.

The trip to ibaraki was uneventful and i got there with time to spare. As i checked into Spring Airlines, I was told of the 15 kg weight limit and i was at 16. I then proceeded to stuff over 1 kg in my pockets...no im not just happy to see you, those are heavy locks in my pockets! I counted up my zen and managed to spend it all while leaving me 5 yens as souvenirs.

Onto China...about a 3 hour flight from Tokyo to Shanghai. The highlight of the flight was the group exercise led by the Spring Airline flight attendants. We did basic neck rolls and stretches to get our circulation going.

My old MBA friend, Fred, was due to pick me up. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't be able to find each other since it's a big airport and I didn't have a phone. After a few hiccups we found each other.  I can't believe that it's been 10 years since we started the MBA program and Chairman Fu still looks the same. The man does not look 40!

From there we entered Shanghai traffic. It must have taken us near 2 hours to get to Shanghai from the airport.  I am amazed at the number of people and cars in Shanghai. Additionally, honking and aggressive driving are the norm. Motor bikes have ultimate power in Shanghai to drive on the street and sidewalk and run reds. The way cars weave in between pedestrians is def a skill! We found our way to this restaurant that serves northeast Chinese style cuisine. The food was familiar, yet foreign and delicious at the same time. The best part was how cheap the food was. It's about 6 rmb to 1 dollar and we might have spent 20 bucks for 5 dishes! BTW in Japan it's 100 yen to the dollar.

Fred capped off the evening by showing me the Bund at night. The Bund is an area right by the river and surrounded by financial and historical buildings. There were so many tourists in that area at night time.

We then drove to Fred's flat in yangshupu district. It's a district that is in transition with many new upscale high-risk flats in development. What's interesting is that many of the locals still live in underdeveloped areas and sell food on the streets, while the rich factory owners from OK provinces outside Shanghai are moving into the luxury flats. It really is fascinating to see two worlds collide. 

We ended the evening by going to a local internet cafe at midnight so I can catch the Texas / OU game which was 11 am Texas time. What's unique about the cafe was not the numerous gamers dubbed homeboys there, but rather the scene itself. Everyone smokes and ashtrays do not exist. The floors and keyboards were sticky and filled with ash and it's not uncommon for people to spit on the floor either. I wasn't going to complain since I was able to watch the game...thank you first row sports! Texas beat OU BTW...hook'em! BTW I might have smoked and spat a few times that night too...when in Rome.

October 13

Woke up in the morning and made a run to the convenience store to get some detergent. After two weeks of travel I can tell you the two things I really appreciate and took for granted in the States are showers and washing machines. It's hard to describe the feeling of stepping into a nice hot shower or slipping into clean clothes...it's just a beautiful thing.

For lunch Fred took me to his in-law for lunch. We were fed a great meal of noodles, cauliflower, and pork. I would take home cooked meals over restaurants any day. Afterwards we went to this electronic store off century Ave to get my tablet fixed. The place was like a geek factory with four floors filled with vendors hawking apple products, various mobile phones and any electronics you can imagine. We managed to find a guy who would fix my tablet for 500 rmb or about 80 dollars. I wisely purchased a cover too. I'm still kicking myself for removing my other cover prior to the trip in an effort to save space. Damn!

For the rest of the day we did some sightseeing and had dinner at a cantonese restaurant. The food was pretty good. We had pigeon, beef and something else I forgot. The rest of the night was quiet since Fred went to sleep early since he was leaving the next day to go back to his hometown for work. I would essentially be housesitting. New country, new city, new residence, no prob....

October 14

Before Fred left he made a rough sketch of how to get to the subway station for me. Easy he said....easy for him to say since it's his town and the fact that he can read Chinese. Luckily after navigating through the tokyo subway system, Shanghai wasn't too bad. It's about a 15 minute walk from Fred's flat to yangshupu station. Near the station is a row of street vendors selling various food from xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) to baked scallion pancake.  I stopped at the xiaolongbao place and i couldnt believe how good it was and it was less than a dollar for 8...ftw! Every morning I would swing by that place for either xiaolongbao or huntun (small dumpling soup).

I later found my way to the Shanghai rail station to inquire about tickets to Beijing. Along the way I found a tourist center and decided to book a day tour for about 280 rmb.  The tour was OK and the only drawback was that it was in mandarin so I had no clue what the guide was saying. She decided to stick me with a family of 6 and told me to just follow them. Although that family didn't speak English, I'm very grateful of their attempts to help me out.

We started the tour at the Shanghai Museum and it was super rushed. Towards the end I was just doing driveby photos...oh well. After that we went up to the TVs Pearl which is a purple genie bottle looking building that has a spectacular view of Shanghai from the observation deck, which was transparent glass and a nightmare for those with a fear of heights. From there we took a boat down the huangpu river. They ended the tour by dropping us off in the bustling Chinatown area...I suppose that in China they just call it town. My new host family was always keeping a watchful eye on me to make sure I wasn't lost or left behind. Oh and they had smoke breaks every hour and kept offering to me. Damn peer pressure I thought I was done with that after middle school. Oh well..when in Rome...

October 15

I decided to go back to the Shanghai Museum and take my time with the art without being rushed. Of highlight are the Clark collection of French Impressionist art, the history of chinese currency, imperial stamps, calligraphy, jade collection, pottery and traditional clothing.

The gloomy dark weather outside was certainly affecting my mood. Along with the fact that my tablet was in the shop and I had no access to internet cafes really cut me off from the life that I left. For the first time on my trip, that lonely homesick feeling crept in and I questioned whether all this was a miscalculated mistake. The previous weeks had been manageable with almost daily calls and skype sessions with Riley but now i was truly alone. Shanghai, imo, can be a very unfriendly city and in contrast with the excessive politeness of Japan, the yelling, shoving and glares certainly felt magnified.

I ventured over to Yu Garden to try out some street food and check out the many shops targeting, or catering, to foreigners. I sampled a few things but nothing too memorable. Of highlight from the Garden was the hustle this orange seller tried to pull on me and this girl who sold grilled octopus because she was friendly and spoke English, which thus far was a rarity.

I capped off the evening by going back to the electronics guy to check on my tablet and luckily the parts had arrived and he was able to fix everything. After that i met this girl Stephanie from couchsurfing for dessert. It was a pleasant meeting with exchanges of American and Chinese cultures. Thus far I have been reluctant to surf a couch but really enjoy meeting new people.

Nara, Nikko and Hakone

October 8 will insert photos later when i find an sd card reader

i woke up around 5 to get ready for the day. Checked out of khoasan and headed to kyoto station to go to Nara for the morning. Deer is everywhere and they are tame and will walk right up to you. The highlight of trip was talking to this older japanese lady. Despite our language differences, we still managed to carry on a conversation for almost 45 minutes in Japanese. She said my Japanese was good but I think she was just being nice. I am sure to everyone around us, we were playing a great game of charade!

on the trip to Nara I met a French couple. Francois had a lifetime of wisdom in him and told me about his life now in retirement. He said he admired what I was doing and will follow my blog. I hope to one day visit him in the Alps!

Nara is a nice forest area filled with temples and deer. The deer all have their horns removed and are very people friendly. Next I took the train to Kobe in search of the legendary Kobe beef, also known as shigen. Unfortunately, I discovered that it was hard to find Kobe beef in Kobe. I was sent to another station and had black luck as well. Then I was told to go to Sannomiya. I walked up and down looking for shigen and I even had a piece of paper with shigen on it but no luck...I did find one place but it was closed. I walked in and talked to the guys working there. They told me that they open at 5. I pleaded with them and told them my train to kyoto was at 4 and how i searched everywhere for shigen. My persistence and desperation must have worked because they told me to wait while they discussed what to do. I saw them huddle up and then make a phone call. Then one guy came back and showed me the menu. Yes!!! The shigen that came out was nothing short of magnificent. The sweet and buttery meat created an orgasm in my mouth that left a lasting impression. I was so grateful that i bowed numerous times and took photos with the guys! 

Extra note on Kinkaku ...the golden pavilion contains relics of Buddah and is considered a world cultural heritage site.

Extra note on Nara...kasuga taishi shrine is lined with 2000 stone lanterns and thousands of bronze lanterns. There are thousands of deer because in the 8th century a God from kashima shrine rode in on a white deer. Since then the deer is respected as a messenger. They love shika senbei or deer crackers. They are friendly and even bow.

I just boarded a sleep train to aomori and this is a great experience! You are in a compartment of 2 bunk beds...I'm on top tonight. The trip is about twelve hours. There is a young Japanese couple below me exchanging small gifts. I think they are consummating a marriage on this train because I just saw them close the curtains and theRes lots of movement. Good for him!

October 9

Lately i have been losing track of the days of the week ever since my tablet got smashed and it doesnt help that i dont have a watch too. This journal has helped me keep my days straight. A couple of mornings ago i woke up in a confused stupor not knowing where i was. Train? Kyoto? Tokyo? Plane? It took me a moment to get my bearings. I imagine it only gets worse as i go further into my journey.

I spent the day in Aomori and thus far it has been my favorite city. The long train ride was a great experience and something i will never forget. I had a good night's rest and woke up before sunrise. I then spent the morning sitting by the window watching the gentle Japanese countryside calmly glide by. It was a nice reminder to me that Japan is more than just the bright lights of Tokyo.

What i like best of Aomori is that it is a hidden gem from foreigners. I believe i may have been the only tourist that day. Aomori and the neighboring towns are known for their apples and proudly boasts the reputation of being the apple capitol of japan. Everywhere you go, you will find stores that not only honor but revere the delicious fruit. There are all sorts of apple products and little trinkets. Aomori is also known for their abundance of delicious seafood since they are surrounded by a couple of seas. Adventurously i went straight to the seafood market to try whatever i can find. The market is fascinating and you will find tons of vendors selling various catch of the day. Im not sure what the english words are but i ate soyu suziko, hotate, hoya and ebi. All amazing with curious flavors from the sea. After stuffing myself i went and got me a fuji apple! I finished my day with some sightseeing by the harbor. The rain did put a damper on my walking since i was without an umbrella so i ducked into a nearby mall. Inside a man was doing a performance on an instrument that appeared to be a guitar but not. Nevertheless the sounds he made were beautiful! I ended Aomori by visiting the post office to send Riley a card about my travels thus far in Japan. Afterwards i found what the locals said was the best sapporo ramen shop in town and i was to try the miso curry milk ramen...which was getting to be very popular. It did not disappoint as i cleaned the bowl dry! Back to the train for an overnighter to tokyo where i will transfer to Nikko.

October 10

On the trip to Nikko I was fortunate to meet a lovely French girl named Angelique...or Angie for short. She spotted me out as a lost traveler right off the bat and let me follow her to Nikko. I must say it is so much more fun to explore a new place with someone...it allows you to share the experience and create new memories. We talked about France, America, Culinary Arts, and Korean Drama along the way. The only knock on Angie is that she does not like Lee Min Ho :) 

We explored the temples of Nikko and walked around the lake but unfortunately the weather was nasty and started raining hard. Nikko is a fairly picturesque place when the weather condition cooperates. We decided to head back to Tokyo early due to the weather. Angie took me to the Tokyo Metropolitian Govt building where you can go to the top floor and see all of Tokyo. It was a lovely view at night and I even found a shinkansen toy for Riley...win/win! We capped off the night by eating at this great sushi conveyor belt place and shared many great plates. Thank you Angie for a lovely day! She hopes to move to either Japan or Korea and I told her if she can be in Japan for the 2020 Olympics, I would def go back to Japan!

October 11

I checked into a capsule hotel for the evening and it's not really that bad, even if you are claustrophobic. Def worth the experience if you had never done it before. I will post pictures later. I ended up going to Hakone for the day to meet a couchsurfing friend named Eka from Indonesia. It is def hard to meet/coordinate with someone without a phone. We had made plans to meet in Odawara but could not find each other. The staff there later told us separately about how we tried to search for one another but always missed each other by an hour...very unfortunate. I made the best of the situation and took in the sights of Hakone. I boarded a cruise ship that went across Lake Ashi and then took the Roapway to Owakudani, which is known for their spectacular mountain view and the black eggs...which legend says adds 7 years to your life if you eat it...so i bought 5...they only come in sets of 5. Later, I took the Hakone Tozan Cablecar...not like SF at all, and then ended up doing the Tozan train back to Odawara and then to Tokyo. I ended the evening by meeting Trevor, another person I met from Couchsurfing. He's the host ambassador for Tokyo CS and was a perfect British Gentleman. We talked about a variety of things over beer and some snacks. Thank you Trevor for entertaining me that evening. I'm off to Shanghai tomorrow and will post more. さようなら Japan!!!!

Hiroshima, Miyayima and Kyoto

October 6

I decided to not sleep the night before in fear that I would miss my train to Hiroshima. Staying in a dorm with 8 other people can be a challenge if you plan to leave early and it’s pretty dark! So I ended up checking out early and just resting in the lounge downstairs. I might hae cat-napped a little but still barely any sleep. I left around 4:30 am and ventured to my favorite place - 7/11 to get some breakfast. Thank heaven for 7/11 being everywhere and open 24/7. After breakfast, I ventured to the train station and found the shinkansen for Hiroshima fairly easy. While looking for my seat, a Japanese lady came over and asked me where I was headed. I told her I was connecting through Osaka to get to Hiroshima and from there she proceeded to introduce me to her Polish friend who had the same route. I got the sense that the Japanese lady was worried for her friend traveling alone so was a bit relieved that I could travel with her. Magda, the Polish girl, turned out to be a great traveling partner. She was pretty well-organized thanks to all the tips that her friend gave her. We had a great time exploring Miyayima through the ferry and then by foot. Lots of deer everywhere and the food vendors were great! Def try the oysters there. The view of the Gate is amazing and the whole island is just gorgeous. From there we caught the JR line back to Hiroshima and walked all around Peace Park. It’s saddening to read about the devastation that Hiroshima experienced from the Atomic Bomb. There were many visitors...Japanese mainly. From Hiroshima, Magda and I parted ways but made plans to explore Kyoto together the next day. I literally passed out on the train ride to Osaka/Kyoto and luckily woke up just in time. A group of Japanese men in suits were very helpful in guiding me to the right exit! I found the Khaosan Kyoto Guesthouse fairly easily...maybe a 10 min walk. Right after check-in, I met a group of folks in the lounge area who were headed to a Karaoke bar. Despite sleeping a total of 5 hours combined the past 3 days and my better judgement, I said sure I’ll go. Took a quick shower and then walked to the Rainbow Karaoke club. Sang and partied with people from Australia, Switzerland, Taiwan and Indonesia. We all had a great time singing and drinking till 2am!

October 7

Hmm in hindsight, sleeping in might have been a better idea instead of karaoke. I woke up tired and worn out and barely remembered that I was supposed to meet Magda around 9am at Kyoto Station. Took a quick shower and headed out only to be stopped by the front desk about payment. I ended up giving all the rest of my yen and leaving me nothing for subway or bus. So I had to go find an ATM...no luck of course...finally found a bank to do money exchange just so I can have 220 yen for bus fare...sheesh. Wasted quite a bit of time and was 45 minutes late. With no phone nor internet, it was hard to communicate with Magda and I assumed she would have gone her own way by then. So I ended up buying a 2 day bus pass to explore the temples on my own. My first temple was Sanjusangendo ...national treasure.. temple, which was memorable for me because that was the place where I discovered that I had cracked my tablet in my backpack. Now half the screen’s touch feature wont work. Luckily I still have rotation but it’s pretty annoying. On top of that, I got my fortune and it was the 2nd lowest possible fortune...something along the lines of my fortune being not good but not bad...hmm whatever that means.

Miraculously, I bumped in Magda at that temple too. Of all the temples and times around Kyoto, we found each other coincidentally. Relieved that I found my travel buddy again, I let out a long sigh of relief. We hugged each other like long lost buddies. From there, Magda told me that we were going to walk because apparently everyone in Poland walks, ok not really...just this crazy girl. I was not sure what she meant by walk, but it ended up being about 10kms in total of walking. We hit every possible shrine and hole in the wall during our walk of death. I complained, I cried, I whined...I fell...but nevertheless, Magda kept on marching. The woman is a walking machine! I will never forget Kyoto because my feet will never forgive me. Along the way, I asked Magda to teach me some Polish curse words. She did and I proceeded to use them on her! On a separate note, The Kinkakuji Temple or Gold Temple is pretty impressive...a bit tourisy but def a sight! One of the highlights from the day was running into an elderly Japanese woman and asking her for directions to a temple. She was this short and petite lady who could not understand English but was extremely nice. She motioned for us to follow her...like sheeps we did. The shepherd then led us to her house..again we didnt question. She then brought out her son who gave us really good directions. The lady also went and got us cold beverages. What a sweet lady! We took a picture with her to remember her by. One thing I will say about Japan is that the people have been friendly and helpful!

I later parted ways with Magda and wished her a safe trip back to Tokyo and then Poland. After getting back to my guesthouse, I went to Sushi Musashi...conveyor belt sushi...2 pieces for 137 yen, what a great deal! I ate a few variety of sushi and they were all so yummy. What I also like about the conveyor belt setup is that they give you complimentary green tea that you do yourself and push against a nob for hot water. You pick the dish you want from the conveyor belt and they charge you by the color/design of your plate at the end. After getting back to the guesthouse, I crashed pretty early...exhausted from all the walking!

Konnichiwa~

Made it to Tokyo Haneda Airport around 11pm after an almost 15 hour flight from NYC. Not quite sure why I was routed throught JFK instead of the west coast, but I guess when you're using your free AA miles, the options can be limited. After going through immigration and customs, I discovered that the trains had stopped running for the night. Oh well, I had intended to sleep in the airport anyway. Luckily I spotted shower service at the airport! For 1000 yen (10 bucks), you get 30 minutes in a hot shower and they give you a drink coupon to use at a restaurant! The shower was amazing after being on the plane for so long! Here's a selfie I took because my Nexus only has a front-facing camera.

I managed to explore quite a bit of Tokyo in the past two days. My observations thus far include the following: 1) The Japanese are extremely polite people...my lower back hurts from all the bowing I have that done and I feel that every other word out of my box is either Sumimasen or Arigato Gozaimasu, 2) the train/subways are busy no matter what hour of the day, 3) seems like every man is dressed in a black suit and pants with a white button shirt, and  4) Japan is an extremely organized and clean country. The most unusual thing that I've eaten thus far has been sashimi horse loin with a raw egg on top! Oishi! desu yo!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I think it's natural for all of us to sometimes feel that we're all alone in this world. This past weekend helped remind me that there are good people out there and that they really do care about you. A special thank you to my friends for the going away party and the warm wishes. Here's a great video that Elizabeth put together with messages from friends in DFW, DC and Puerto Rico! Def going to be watching this when I'm feeling homesick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIrgLHLymjU