We're gonna win Twins
we're gonna score
we're gonna win Twins
watch that baseball soaaaaaaaar.
Crack out a homerun
Shout a Hip Hooray!
Cheer for the Minnesota Twins Tooooooooooodayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
Go TWINS!!!
(Molly I want a 2006 homer hanky if they come out with one!!!)
Monday, September 25, 2006
Around the ship pics UP...
While you all are waiting for our Hong Kong pics, which I hope to have up sometime today... you can go and look at the Around the Ship Pics. You may have tried to do so from the Photo page before today and been rejected but now you may view them. Those of you who know Tim Trevin will enjoy some pics of him, I get a cut of any blackmailing that is to be done.
Also some good shots of how HUGE my head is.
PHOTO PAGE
joe
Also some good shots of how HUGE my head is.
PHOTO PAGE
joe
Goodbye Hong Kong, Hello Viet Nam!
There is so much to say!…
We had a blast in Hong Kong. On the one hand, I’m VERY glad we were able to stay in H.K. for four days because it feels like we barely scratched the surface of this amazing international, multicultural city. On the other hand, I feel like we missed out on a truer experience of China since Hong Kong is a former British colony and English is spoken practically everywhere. Well… since we already need to come back to Japan, we’ll just have to come back to China, too!
It was amazing to come into Hong Kong by ship. You get a real perspective on the immensity of the city and the endless rows of skyscrapers. It almost made NYC seem smaller than I remember.
We spent the first day exploring the city –walking EVERYWHERE. It’s a mesmerizing place to walk around in. I LOVED the hustle-bustle everywhere. It reminded me of NYC at rush-hour. Love it. Our ship was docked in Kowloon harbor, so we had to either take the “Star Ferry” over to Hong Kong island, or take the subway. Let me just tell you that during the 4 days we were docked in Hong Kong… not one, not two, not three, but likely 8 to 10 different cruise ships docked and left while we stayed. Almost all of the cruise ships were docked for about 12 hours… I only saw one that stayed overnight. Made me wonder what it is like to only have 12 hours in all of Hong Kong. We are lucky.
The first day, we explored Kowloon and ended up at the Hong Kong Museum of History. I love museums, but you never really know what you’re going to get. This museum? Totally amazing. It was a very interactive museum, where each room you walk into deluges your senses with sounds, visions, text, and interactive videos. We could have taken 4 hours – easy – to get through the museum, but it was almost too much to take in. It walked us through Hong Kong’s history from pre-historic days to the present. I would highly recommend going to this museum FIRST if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong. It set the stage for the remainder of our time in Hong Kong and provided rich context to all that we saw.
That evening, a big group of us rode the Peak Tram up to the top of Victoria Peak for a breathtaking view of Hong Kong.
p.s. Traveling with more than 5 people is too difficult. SOMEHOW we managed to travel with 12 people up the top of the peak, have dinner and drinks, and make it back to the ship with one extra person! But – in general – I’m the type of person who is too concerned about everyone having a good time that I can’t just enjoy myself if there are too many people around.
So – next day – Joe and I traveled as a duo, and we rocked the city! We decided to explore Hong Kong island and saw a ton. We took the world’s longest escalator (about 20 minutes!) up to the Botanical & Zoological Gardens and then headed over to Stanley Market via the double-decker bus!! Woo-hoo! It was an exhilarating ride to sit front row, Deck 2 of a double-decker on some pretty freakin’ narrow lane roads!! It was scaaaaawwwwwy. (you know the voice).
So… My friend J.B. just gave me shit for writing too much on our freakin’ blog. I already have a full single-spaced page of text and I haven’t even gotten to day 2. Maybe he’s right?!? You’ll know who to blame now when my blogs become bullet points. Shiggity-jiggity (a J.B. saying).
Okay – so, Day 2, continued.
Double-decker bus? Scary.
Stanley Market? Fun shopping, but Joy sucks at bargaining.
Times Square of Hong Kong? Super busy, hustle-bustle. FUN!!
Joe and I ended up at this British-style sports bar where they only served beers the size of my head!! Yahoo.
Day 3.
Joe and I went on our first Semester at Sea trip to explore “Historic Hong Kong.” We thought we had seen everything in Hong Kong, but it turns out – we hadn’t!
Our first stop was to the fishing village, which really provided a contrast to the city life of Hong Kong. Our tour guide said that the family fishing industry is dying out because the young kids of fishing families are being lured into city life to join the corporate world. It was amazing to see!
We rode the Peak Tram again to the top of Victoria Peak in the day time. We had a great view because it was very windy which helped to blow away some of the smoggy-froggy cloud layer.
We ended up leaving the trip a little early so we could change and get ready to see a performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company. Date night for Joy & Joe! We got a ‘lil dressed up and adventured to the New Territories via the uber high-tech subway system in H.K. When we arrived at the box office and I asked if we could purchase tickets for this evening’s show, the guy shook his head as if to say, “You’ve got to be kidding me, this show has been sold out for months.” I almost started to tear up when he said, “Wait – just for tonight, I’ll sell you these two tickets” (as he points to two seats on the seating chart with big X’s through them). He says they are obstructed-view seats, but we don’t care!! And… turns out? The only possible obstruction is if there is a small butterfly flying in the upper right hand corner of the stage. SUPER GOOD SEATS. The performance was aesthetically absolutely amazing. It was called “Dream Dances” and was intended to lure the audience into a dream-like state. It was so beautiful… they utilized all sorts of beautiful costumes, Chinese fans, draperies, petals floating from the ceiling… it was amazing. I didn’t want it to end! It was a real highlight of our trip!
Day 4.
Joe and I went on another SAS trip to Lantau Island, which is a beautiful, largely undeveloped island (minus Hong Kong Disneyland – don’t ask.) We ventured to the largest (seated) Buddha in the world, had an amazing vegetarian meal at the Po Lin monestary, and rode the newest gondola over the island (only open for one week!) It was absolutely gorgeous – I need at least a week to explore all the hiking trails on the island. It was fun traveling with the SAS students, too. There’s been some drama on the overnight trips, but the day trips are pretty tame.
Okay, I’m going to wrap this up now so I can have a Corona and try to talk J.B. into playing a game of Golf with me and some other peeps.
Hope all is well out there! We miss you!!!
We’ll be in Vietnam in 36 hours!!!
We had a blast in Hong Kong. On the one hand, I’m VERY glad we were able to stay in H.K. for four days because it feels like we barely scratched the surface of this amazing international, multicultural city. On the other hand, I feel like we missed out on a truer experience of China since Hong Kong is a former British colony and English is spoken practically everywhere. Well… since we already need to come back to Japan, we’ll just have to come back to China, too!
It was amazing to come into Hong Kong by ship. You get a real perspective on the immensity of the city and the endless rows of skyscrapers. It almost made NYC seem smaller than I remember.
We spent the first day exploring the city –walking EVERYWHERE. It’s a mesmerizing place to walk around in. I LOVED the hustle-bustle everywhere. It reminded me of NYC at rush-hour. Love it. Our ship was docked in Kowloon harbor, so we had to either take the “Star Ferry” over to Hong Kong island, or take the subway. Let me just tell you that during the 4 days we were docked in Hong Kong… not one, not two, not three, but likely 8 to 10 different cruise ships docked and left while we stayed. Almost all of the cruise ships were docked for about 12 hours… I only saw one that stayed overnight. Made me wonder what it is like to only have 12 hours in all of Hong Kong. We are lucky.
The first day, we explored Kowloon and ended up at the Hong Kong Museum of History. I love museums, but you never really know what you’re going to get. This museum? Totally amazing. It was a very interactive museum, where each room you walk into deluges your senses with sounds, visions, text, and interactive videos. We could have taken 4 hours – easy – to get through the museum, but it was almost too much to take in. It walked us through Hong Kong’s history from pre-historic days to the present. I would highly recommend going to this museum FIRST if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong. It set the stage for the remainder of our time in Hong Kong and provided rich context to all that we saw.
That evening, a big group of us rode the Peak Tram up to the top of Victoria Peak for a breathtaking view of Hong Kong.
p.s. Traveling with more than 5 people is too difficult. SOMEHOW we managed to travel with 12 people up the top of the peak, have dinner and drinks, and make it back to the ship with one extra person! But – in general – I’m the type of person who is too concerned about everyone having a good time that I can’t just enjoy myself if there are too many people around.
So – next day – Joe and I traveled as a duo, and we rocked the city! We decided to explore Hong Kong island and saw a ton. We took the world’s longest escalator (about 20 minutes!) up to the Botanical & Zoological Gardens and then headed over to Stanley Market via the double-decker bus!! Woo-hoo! It was an exhilarating ride to sit front row, Deck 2 of a double-decker on some pretty freakin’ narrow lane roads!! It was scaaaaawwwwwy. (you know the voice).
So… My friend J.B. just gave me shit for writing too much on our freakin’ blog. I already have a full single-spaced page of text and I haven’t even gotten to day 2. Maybe he’s right?!? You’ll know who to blame now when my blogs become bullet points. Shiggity-jiggity (a J.B. saying).
Okay – so, Day 2, continued.
Double-decker bus? Scary.
Stanley Market? Fun shopping, but Joy sucks at bargaining.
Times Square of Hong Kong? Super busy, hustle-bustle. FUN!!
Joe and I ended up at this British-style sports bar where they only served beers the size of my head!! Yahoo.
Day 3.
Joe and I went on our first Semester at Sea trip to explore “Historic Hong Kong.” We thought we had seen everything in Hong Kong, but it turns out – we hadn’t!
Our first stop was to the fishing village, which really provided a contrast to the city life of Hong Kong. Our tour guide said that the family fishing industry is dying out because the young kids of fishing families are being lured into city life to join the corporate world. It was amazing to see!
We rode the Peak Tram again to the top of Victoria Peak in the day time. We had a great view because it was very windy which helped to blow away some of the smoggy-froggy cloud layer.
We ended up leaving the trip a little early so we could change and get ready to see a performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company. Date night for Joy & Joe! We got a ‘lil dressed up and adventured to the New Territories via the uber high-tech subway system in H.K. When we arrived at the box office and I asked if we could purchase tickets for this evening’s show, the guy shook his head as if to say, “You’ve got to be kidding me, this show has been sold out for months.” I almost started to tear up when he said, “Wait – just for tonight, I’ll sell you these two tickets” (as he points to two seats on the seating chart with big X’s through them). He says they are obstructed-view seats, but we don’t care!! And… turns out? The only possible obstruction is if there is a small butterfly flying in the upper right hand corner of the stage. SUPER GOOD SEATS. The performance was aesthetically absolutely amazing. It was called “Dream Dances” and was intended to lure the audience into a dream-like state. It was so beautiful… they utilized all sorts of beautiful costumes, Chinese fans, draperies, petals floating from the ceiling… it was amazing. I didn’t want it to end! It was a real highlight of our trip!
Day 4.
Joe and I went on another SAS trip to Lantau Island, which is a beautiful, largely undeveloped island (minus Hong Kong Disneyland – don’t ask.) We ventured to the largest (seated) Buddha in the world, had an amazing vegetarian meal at the Po Lin monestary, and rode the newest gondola over the island (only open for one week!) It was absolutely gorgeous – I need at least a week to explore all the hiking trails on the island. It was fun traveling with the SAS students, too. There’s been some drama on the overnight trips, but the day trips are pretty tame.
Okay, I’m going to wrap this up now so I can have a Corona and try to talk J.B. into playing a game of Golf with me and some other peeps.
Hope all is well out there! We miss you!!!
We’ll be in Vietnam in 36 hours!!!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
phew...
so it is like crazy late and we pull into Hong Kong in less then 5 hrs... very exciting.
Our internet has been crappy since we left Japan but I finally have the Japan photos up and a new Photo page http://joeandjoy.com/Photo.html
There isn't a link yet from the main page but I hope to do that soon.
we had very little weather except for the first night out of Japan... we did a great job of avoiding the Typhoon
enjoy the photos ... and no one has won the trivia contest yet... check out the Hawaii photos for the question...
joe
Our internet has been crappy since we left Japan but I finally have the Japan photos up and a new Photo page http://joeandjoy.com/Photo.html
There isn't a link yet from the main page but I hope to do that soon.
we had very little weather except for the first night out of Japan... we did a great job of avoiding the Typhoon
enjoy the photos ... and no one has won the trivia contest yet... check out the Hawaii photos for the question...
joe
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Hello from south of Japan!
Hello from the outskirts of Typhoon Shan-Shan!
Well… as many of you are probably aware, we are (were) in the vicinity of a pretty powerful typhoon named Shan-Shan. Its projected course overlaps directly with our original itinerary to Qingdao, China so we are experiencing our first redirected path! We are skipping Qingdao, China altogether, and are – instead – heading directly to Hong Kong. For the most part, everyone is okay with this decision because:
a) It is good to avoid typhoons!
b) Many folks’ trips to the Great Wall of China will still happen – they’re just going to be departing from H.K. instead of Qingdao.
c) Hong Kong is such an amazing city that many people are happy we will be there for 4 days instead of only 2.
A few reasons why students are NOT happy with this plan:
a) Some people really want to see what this ship can do in a storm. (I am not one of these people.)
b) Now we will have 4 straight days at sea instead of a quick 2 days, so nobody is too psyched about that.
c) Japan was SO MUCH FUN, I think everyone is super anxious for our next port.
We were rockin’ & rollin’ last night out on the open seas. We were told to secure our belongings from shelves and desks if we don’t want anything broken or falling down. They’ve also closed off some of the decks because of high winds. YIKES! :} I think it’s pretty scary when the ship rocks dramatically, but other people just think it’s fun. Maybe I just need to get used to it. It makes my head feel all swimmy, but at least I’m not getting seasick. Many people had a rough night last night.
Anyway – JAPAN!!!
Joe and I had an amazing experience in Japan. Definitely a place we plan to return! Our first day was spent wandering around the port city of Kobe with mesmerized looks on our faces with the expression somewhat like, “I cannot believe we are actually in JAPAN!” As I said earlier, I really enjoy the difficulty of communicating in Japan because it makes for some interesting surprises with getting around and, especially, eating!! Many times we just pointed to pictures on the menu, or pointed to the widespread use of plastic food replicas! It is funny to see plastic food displayed in the windows of many restaurants, but it is very helpful. Some of my favorite foods in Japan are udon noodles, green tea soba noodles, and all of the super yummy bakeries that seem to be on every corner!!
We already told you about the baseball game… after that we headed to the city of Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train), which is the home of many, many historical Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, all of which are absolutely majestic and beautiful. We enjoyed trying to decipher the bus maps, jumping on the buses, and trying to find our way to the different sites. Sometimes it was very easy, and sometimes we found ourselves having to backtrack a bit. Once Joe posts our pictures from Japan, you will be able to see each of the shrines & temples we visited. I think Joe wrote a brief description with each picture…
Anyway, while we were in Kyoto… Joe, Gail, and I spent some major brainpower trying to decide whether to climb Mt. Fuji or not. The weather was not cooperating, and since it is the off-season, the trek to arrive at the mountain involves a six-hour train, bus and taxi excursion from Kyoto. After much deliberation, we decided against the Mt. Fuji adventure. And… I’m happy to say – it was very positive decision for us. It allowed us to go on many more culturally-centered adventures, and we heard from many students that their excursions to Mt. Fuji were – while amazing – very rain soaked and VERY COLD. Some folks spent a lot of time getting to the base of the mountain, only to turn around halfway up because of the weather.
So… since we skipped Mt. Fuji, we had to take advantage of our Japan rail pass which basically gives us the ability to ride the Shinkansen and many other modes of transportation without having to purchase individual tickets. The first place we went was to Osaka to ride the Giant Wheel (aka, Ferris Wheel), which is the 3rd largest in the world. WOO-HOO! It was fun, and also a little scary to be up that high on a ferris wheel! It gave us great views of Osaka at night, and – for me – it made up for not going to Fuji. Don’t ask why. The next morning we were off to Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. I knew that it would be a powerful place, but I was totally overwhelmed by the energy of Hiroshima and the museum. First of all, I feel like I never truly learned about the dropping of the A-bomb beyond a quick paragraph or two in my history courses in high school. It was very interesting to learn about the events leading up to the end of WWII from the perspective of the people in Hiroshima. While the museum explains the history and chemistry/physics of the A-bomb, the real beauty of the peace memorial museum is that it is largely focused on creating peace throughout the world and avoiding nuclear war in the future. I found it to be an amazing example of humanity reaching out from the depths of an immense tragedy to bring positive messages and strength to the rest of the world.
After Hiroshima, we ventured to the small island of Miyajima, south of Hiroshima, which is a sacred island. It was an amazing contrast in the sense that it was super serene and quiet, whereas the other areas we visited in Japan were densely populated, hustle and bustle cities. Miyajima has a very tranquil quality to it, and after arriving on the short ferry ride from Hiroshima, we were greeted by a bunch of little deer, who Joe will have to describe for you to get the full effect.
We stayed at another ryokan, which had the added pleasure of a Japanese bath. If you have never experienced a Japanese bath, you need to do it. It is luxurious!! First you shower, shampoo, and soap up outside of the rock and wood surrounded bath, and then you soak in a super hot tub with water flowing all around you. It was wonderful!!
It rained a lot while we were on Miyajima, but the rain gave the island a somewhat tropical quality. Joe and I woke up early the next morning to hike 2/3 of the way up to Mt. Misen – the tallest mountain on the island. The path was largely stone and cement steps leading all the way to the summit. Very beautiful!
On our way back to Kobe from Miyajima, we stopped in Okayama to see one of my students, Yulin, from UC Santa Cruz who is teaching English to Japanese students through the JET program. It was so great to see Yulin! We had lunch with her and chatted for 2 hours before we had to head back to Kobe. TIME FLEW SO FAST! We were not ready to go back to the ship! Once we got back to the ship, we were informed that the captain wanted to haul butt out of Kobe because of the impending storm. So, we helped to hustle everyone onboard and we set said immediately away from the storm.
As I write this, we are still rocking pretty significantly. It is impossible for anyone to walk straight. It’s kinda funny actually.
Well… I’m off to get some work done. Thanks for writing comments!!
We miss all of you and love to hear from you, even if it’s a quick sentence or two!
A big shout-out to our UCSC friends: Hope move-in weekend goes swimmingly!! We’re thinking about you!!!
Well… as many of you are probably aware, we are (were) in the vicinity of a pretty powerful typhoon named Shan-Shan. Its projected course overlaps directly with our original itinerary to Qingdao, China so we are experiencing our first redirected path! We are skipping Qingdao, China altogether, and are – instead – heading directly to Hong Kong. For the most part, everyone is okay with this decision because:
a) It is good to avoid typhoons!
b) Many folks’ trips to the Great Wall of China will still happen – they’re just going to be departing from H.K. instead of Qingdao.
c) Hong Kong is such an amazing city that many people are happy we will be there for 4 days instead of only 2.
A few reasons why students are NOT happy with this plan:
a) Some people really want to see what this ship can do in a storm. (I am not one of these people.)
b) Now we will have 4 straight days at sea instead of a quick 2 days, so nobody is too psyched about that.
c) Japan was SO MUCH FUN, I think everyone is super anxious for our next port.
We were rockin’ & rollin’ last night out on the open seas. We were told to secure our belongings from shelves and desks if we don’t want anything broken or falling down. They’ve also closed off some of the decks because of high winds. YIKES! :} I think it’s pretty scary when the ship rocks dramatically, but other people just think it’s fun. Maybe I just need to get used to it. It makes my head feel all swimmy, but at least I’m not getting seasick. Many people had a rough night last night.
Anyway – JAPAN!!!
Joe and I had an amazing experience in Japan. Definitely a place we plan to return! Our first day was spent wandering around the port city of Kobe with mesmerized looks on our faces with the expression somewhat like, “I cannot believe we are actually in JAPAN!” As I said earlier, I really enjoy the difficulty of communicating in Japan because it makes for some interesting surprises with getting around and, especially, eating!! Many times we just pointed to pictures on the menu, or pointed to the widespread use of plastic food replicas! It is funny to see plastic food displayed in the windows of many restaurants, but it is very helpful. Some of my favorite foods in Japan are udon noodles, green tea soba noodles, and all of the super yummy bakeries that seem to be on every corner!!
We already told you about the baseball game… after that we headed to the city of Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train), which is the home of many, many historical Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, all of which are absolutely majestic and beautiful. We enjoyed trying to decipher the bus maps, jumping on the buses, and trying to find our way to the different sites. Sometimes it was very easy, and sometimes we found ourselves having to backtrack a bit. Once Joe posts our pictures from Japan, you will be able to see each of the shrines & temples we visited. I think Joe wrote a brief description with each picture…
Anyway, while we were in Kyoto… Joe, Gail, and I spent some major brainpower trying to decide whether to climb Mt. Fuji or not. The weather was not cooperating, and since it is the off-season, the trek to arrive at the mountain involves a six-hour train, bus and taxi excursion from Kyoto. After much deliberation, we decided against the Mt. Fuji adventure. And… I’m happy to say – it was very positive decision for us. It allowed us to go on many more culturally-centered adventures, and we heard from many students that their excursions to Mt. Fuji were – while amazing – very rain soaked and VERY COLD. Some folks spent a lot of time getting to the base of the mountain, only to turn around halfway up because of the weather.
So… since we skipped Mt. Fuji, we had to take advantage of our Japan rail pass which basically gives us the ability to ride the Shinkansen and many other modes of transportation without having to purchase individual tickets. The first place we went was to Osaka to ride the Giant Wheel (aka, Ferris Wheel), which is the 3rd largest in the world. WOO-HOO! It was fun, and also a little scary to be up that high on a ferris wheel! It gave us great views of Osaka at night, and – for me – it made up for not going to Fuji. Don’t ask why. The next morning we were off to Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. I knew that it would be a powerful place, but I was totally overwhelmed by the energy of Hiroshima and the museum. First of all, I feel like I never truly learned about the dropping of the A-bomb beyond a quick paragraph or two in my history courses in high school. It was very interesting to learn about the events leading up to the end of WWII from the perspective of the people in Hiroshima. While the museum explains the history and chemistry/physics of the A-bomb, the real beauty of the peace memorial museum is that it is largely focused on creating peace throughout the world and avoiding nuclear war in the future. I found it to be an amazing example of humanity reaching out from the depths of an immense tragedy to bring positive messages and strength to the rest of the world.
After Hiroshima, we ventured to the small island of Miyajima, south of Hiroshima, which is a sacred island. It was an amazing contrast in the sense that it was super serene and quiet, whereas the other areas we visited in Japan were densely populated, hustle and bustle cities. Miyajima has a very tranquil quality to it, and after arriving on the short ferry ride from Hiroshima, we were greeted by a bunch of little deer, who Joe will have to describe for you to get the full effect.
We stayed at another ryokan, which had the added pleasure of a Japanese bath. If you have never experienced a Japanese bath, you need to do it. It is luxurious!! First you shower, shampoo, and soap up outside of the rock and wood surrounded bath, and then you soak in a super hot tub with water flowing all around you. It was wonderful!!
It rained a lot while we were on Miyajima, but the rain gave the island a somewhat tropical quality. Joe and I woke up early the next morning to hike 2/3 of the way up to Mt. Misen – the tallest mountain on the island. The path was largely stone and cement steps leading all the way to the summit. Very beautiful!
On our way back to Kobe from Miyajima, we stopped in Okayama to see one of my students, Yulin, from UC Santa Cruz who is teaching English to Japanese students through the JET program. It was so great to see Yulin! We had lunch with her and chatted for 2 hours before we had to head back to Kobe. TIME FLEW SO FAST! We were not ready to go back to the ship! Once we got back to the ship, we were informed that the captain wanted to haul butt out of Kobe because of the impending storm. So, we helped to hustle everyone onboard and we set said immediately away from the storm.
As I write this, we are still rocking pretty significantly. It is impossible for anyone to walk straight. It’s kinda funny actually.
Well… I’m off to get some work done. Thanks for writing comments!!
We miss all of you and love to hear from you, even if it’s a quick sentence or two!
A big shout-out to our UCSC friends: Hope move-in weekend goes swimmingly!! We’re thinking about you!!!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
wholly rain batman
so we`ve got a little rain here in Japan but Kyoto is really nice, though we did not make it to any temples in time today. We have a very cool place to stay for the night though and we have mastered the Kyoto bus system.
I just wanted to let everyone know that you no longer have to be a registered user to comment. I clicked the wrong button sometime back and since I know that you all want to comment.... go right ahead!!!
good night
I just wanted to let everyone know that you no longer have to be a registered user to comment. I clicked the wrong button sometime back and since I know that you all want to comment.... go right ahead!!!
good night
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Konichiwa from Japan
Hello folks... sitting in a tourist office in Kyoto Japan...
we just took our first bullet train to get here and it was super smooth and yes very fast.
Not much time but wanted to just give a brief update. Japan is very nice so far, though we have a little rain. We went to a baseball game last night which was very neat (minus the drunk students) Now we are in Kyoto which is highly recommended for its shrines and temples and we hope to go to Fuji San from here.
now a word from Joy...
It is amazing being in Japan. I am actually enjoying the challenge of attempting to communicate and get around... it makes for an interesting day! Everything in Japan is so colorful and beautifully displayed. My friend Gail and I are enjoying purchasing random items out of the ample vending machines and discovering new tastes and treats! We are going to stay in a traditional Japanese Inn (ryokan) this evening and explore the temples and shrines around Kyoto.
Gotta go explore!
p.s. If anyone wants (please?) to send us real mail, the list of ports is on our joeandjoy.com page. You just have to make sure you send your letters at least 2 weeks in advance.
BYE!
Joe again... a couple of side notes... if you sent me an email, I probably didn`t respond but most of the work questions that were asked I say GREAT to (laundry, reccomendation)
Maybe if there is time later on this week I will be able to respond better.
Have a great move in everyone and I hear the Crown RAs are just rocking it... so keep up the good work!
we just took our first bullet train to get here and it was super smooth and yes very fast.
Not much time but wanted to just give a brief update. Japan is very nice so far, though we have a little rain. We went to a baseball game last night which was very neat (minus the drunk students) Now we are in Kyoto which is highly recommended for its shrines and temples and we hope to go to Fuji San from here.
now a word from Joy...
It is amazing being in Japan. I am actually enjoying the challenge of attempting to communicate and get around... it makes for an interesting day! Everything in Japan is so colorful and beautifully displayed. My friend Gail and I are enjoying purchasing random items out of the ample vending machines and discovering new tastes and treats! We are going to stay in a traditional Japanese Inn (ryokan) this evening and explore the temples and shrines around Kyoto.
Gotta go explore!
p.s. If anyone wants (please?) to send us real mail, the list of ports is on our joeandjoy.com page. You just have to make sure you send your letters at least 2 weeks in advance.
BYE!
Joe again... a couple of side notes... if you sent me an email, I probably didn`t respond but most of the work questions that were asked I say GREAT to (laundry, reccomendation)
Maybe if there is time later on this week I will be able to respond better.
Have a great move in everyone and I hear the Crown RAs are just rocking it... so keep up the good work!
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