So its my birthday! We should see Mt.Fuji from a cable car today and then head off to Kyoto on a Shinkansen. I am really glad we got the JR pass. It ends today and from tomorrrow on we will have to pay for our JR trains. Since its the last day we are going to use it to get to a mountain in the western side of Kyoto and feed the monkeys. That is, if we get there in day light. Its a 3 or 4 hour train ride from here and we might be on a slower train because we are at a small train station now (Hakone). Maybe we will do it tomorrow. We might eat breakfast and go back to bed. Lisa feels worse. As long we we check out at 11. This is a nice hotel-- the only night in one on this trip. We may as well stay in it longer, right?
Yesterday we went to a big fancy onsen. Yunnesan, I think was the name. Along with the regular onsen they had baths with green tea, coffee, wine, charcol, and sake. It was pretty neat and we could wear swim suits in the fun pools. We swam in the normal pool some too. I hadn't done laps in the longest time.
Sorry for the lack of posts. We messed up our travel plan and paired with lack of sleep, we both got sick. It doesn't look like Lisa will get to go to Karaoke again because she won't have a voice. I have a voice this morning at least.
The " ' " is shift+7.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Cairns
We made it to Cairns without any trouble. The airport security is much more lax than the US- at least for a domestic flight. We left our shoes on, and since I checked in at one of their computer things and only checked my bag, Lisa's ID was never checked! Isn't that different. You just walk through with your ticket and the TSA equivalent looked very bored :).
We went on a jungle tour today and tomorrow we are going scuba diving! I am excited about scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!! The weather here is warmer than the weather in Sydney.
The jungle tour included: Mossman George (the water was clear and cold), Port Dougles, a Daintree River Cruise where we saw 5 alligators, and Cape Tribulation.
I am hungry. We should go eat :)
We went on a jungle tour today and tomorrow we are going scuba diving! I am excited about scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!! The weather here is warmer than the weather in Sydney.
The jungle tour included: Mossman George (the water was clear and cold), Port Dougles, a Daintree River Cruise where we saw 5 alligators, and Cape Tribulation.
I am hungry. We should go eat :)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sydney
Lisa and I are getting toward the end of our “week” in Sydney. We have been to the Sydney Opera House and bought tickets for Edward Scissor Hands for tomorrow. It is a ballet.
Taronga Zoo is across the harbor, and we took a ferry to get to us. The ferry was from Circular Quay (pronounced “key”). We saw a bird show in the zoo and a seal training. I was really impressed with the seals. Peacocks were walking freely around the zoo. We must have seen about 8 of them, and a few were in the café where we snacked! I guess they like the crumbs :p The giraffe enclosure overlooks the harbor and the Sydney bridge. They were in the same enclosure as a “cute fat zebra,” as Lisa called it. The giraffe had food (branches) hoisted up on a chain so they were the correct height. They looked really funny when eating off the ground because their front legs were spread way apart. Of course, the zoo experience had koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas… but the platypus was MIA.
Hyde Park and the Botanical Gardens are really pretty. There is a hole garden of herbs that Lisa and I went around smelling. We never found any mint. Maybe it is the wrong season. Leaves for curry smell good, so did a bush, and some random unnamed plant. Mom, we found Stevia- plant form. I took a picture.
As I was told the food here is more expensive. In the grocery store apples are about $2.5/kg, milk is $2.7/L, eggs are stored in an open (not cooled) spot, a loaf of plain white bread is $2.7, orange juice was $6, and bananas were $1.5/kg. I can’t think of anything else more specific now. Lisa bought Vegemite.
The city appears to be about 30% Asian. Our hostel is in Chinatown, and Chinese is the second most spoken language in Sydney. There are almost no blacks or Hispanics- just Asian and Indian. Lisa keeps eavesdropping on the Asian languages.
Tomorrow we will hopefully go on a Blue Mountains tour and Saturday we are meeting up with my friend from Sydney (we met in Prague) and going to The Rocks market and then our ballet. I have lots of questions for her- schools, uniforms, gas (haven’t seen a station – we walk everywhere), manual cars, busses, snow…
BTW: I have seen 5 Miatas :p
Taronga Zoo is across the harbor, and we took a ferry to get to us. The ferry was from Circular Quay (pronounced “key”). We saw a bird show in the zoo and a seal training. I was really impressed with the seals. Peacocks were walking freely around the zoo. We must have seen about 8 of them, and a few were in the café where we snacked! I guess they like the crumbs :p The giraffe enclosure overlooks the harbor and the Sydney bridge. They were in the same enclosure as a “cute fat zebra,” as Lisa called it. The giraffe had food (branches) hoisted up on a chain so they were the correct height. They looked really funny when eating off the ground because their front legs were spread way apart. Of course, the zoo experience had koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas… but the platypus was MIA.
Hyde Park and the Botanical Gardens are really pretty. There is a hole garden of herbs that Lisa and I went around smelling. We never found any mint. Maybe it is the wrong season. Leaves for curry smell good, so did a bush, and some random unnamed plant. Mom, we found Stevia- plant form. I took a picture.
As I was told the food here is more expensive. In the grocery store apples are about $2.5/kg, milk is $2.7/L, eggs are stored in an open (not cooled) spot, a loaf of plain white bread is $2.7, orange juice was $6, and bananas were $1.5/kg. I can’t think of anything else more specific now. Lisa bought Vegemite.
The city appears to be about 30% Asian. Our hostel is in Chinatown, and Chinese is the second most spoken language in Sydney. There are almost no blacks or Hispanics- just Asian and Indian. Lisa keeps eavesdropping on the Asian languages.
Tomorrow we will hopefully go on a Blue Mountains tour and Saturday we are meeting up with my friend from Sydney (we met in Prague) and going to The Rocks market and then our ballet. I have lots of questions for her- schools, uniforms, gas (haven’t seen a station – we walk everywhere), manual cars, busses, snow…
BTW: I have seen 5 Miatas :p
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Australia and Japan 2008
My sister Lisa and I are about to leave for our big trip. The Australia part of the trip is more open because there wasn't anything to work around like the 7 day Japan Rail Train pass. Here is the plan:
26 May- arrive in Sydney - day trip to Blue Mountains too
1 June- fly to Cairns - Jungle tour, scuba/snorkeling, parasailing?
5 June - fly to Osaka - stay with Lisa's host family
6 June - Mt Koya
7 June - Himeji Castle, Hiroshima, and Miyajima Island
8 June - Tokyo
11 June - see Mt Fuji
12 June - Kyoto
15 June - Nara, return to Osaka and host family
16 June - visit Lisa's old family etc
17 June - head back to the US
26 May- arrive in Sydney - day trip to Blue Mountains too
1 June- fly to Cairns - Jungle tour, scuba/snorkeling, parasailing?
5 June - fly to Osaka - stay with Lisa's host family
6 June - Mt Koya
7 June - Himeji Castle, Hiroshima, and Miyajima Island
8 June - Tokyo
11 June - see Mt Fuji
12 June - Kyoto
15 June - Nara, return to Osaka and host family
16 June - visit Lisa's old family etc
17 June - head back to the US
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