In the Summertime

Well its been a while since I have updated this blog. A fair bit has happened. I have been to all sorts of places in Japan, including Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Nagoya. As you can tell from the pictures my little sister turned up in Japan intent on absorbing as much of the sights, sounds, smells and Sake as is possible in three weeks. Ultimately I think that she succeeded in this and left me a shell of my former self.

Unfortunately I was only able to get some of the time off from work, so when Alex was recovering from 11 late nights in a row I was off to work. I think I have just about recovered from this regime now, and ironically it is only now that I have caught a cold.

You can see from the pictures that we took in some cultural sights and sounds and also the night life in Tokyo and Osaka. The only respite from the hustle and bustle was a short trip to Shimoda which is a small seaside community which swells in number in the summer time. It was relatively quiet there when we arrived. It also has a fair bit of historical importance as it was there that the American fleet landed and forced Japan to open itself up to trade.

Tokyo Disneysea was also an interesting place to visit but I would have to say that I prefer Disneyland.

One of the more novel features of our holidaying was the Hotel we stayed in in Osaka. A very cheap place to stay but it came with a rather strange odour and …umm unique bathing facilities. The next-door neighbours were also rather interesting!

Well it is now summer time and I am no longer working two jobs (for the next three weeks anyway) I intend to head over to Nagano at the end of August for a few days R&R but otherwise it will be a matter of trying to avoid the heat. Today the TV informs me it is 37 degrees in Tokyo. Nice.