hi gals,
I am back.
the weather there is HOT. I am sun burned, with my skin itching and peeling now. It is the rainy season now.. so one minute I get burned, few hours later get drenched.
The Japanese are really polite and nice people. So even though we do not speak Jap and they dun speak english, I did not really have a problem aksing help. The TICs provide excellent maps, and i found them easy to navigate.
When lost, just point and ask! There was one incident that we thought we had irritated an "uncle". he looked like he was swearing! But he was so kind, that he got down the train with us, brought us to the correct platform, waited for the train with us, (we thought at first that he was going the same way)shooed us onto the train and showed us how many more statiions to go with his fingers. Then he waved us good bye and left AFTER the train started moving. (still showing the number of stations to go with his fingers) We were really stunned.
If you gals ask me what struck me about the trip, i would say it is the kindness that people had shown us. I can go on and on with the examples.
Ok here is a sunmmary of places that i went and loved!
KOBE!!
Beautiful city, beautiful people. Too bad we did not have the time to got to the Rokko mountains. When Japanese think of hot springs, Arima Onsen at Rokko mountains come up tops. I will definitely go to Kobe again with my hubby.
The guys and gals fr Kbe are the best looking! Street performances outside train stations were really good! Pastry was
yummy
OSAKA
must try okonomiyaki... yummy yummy.
I found Namba area and america mura interesting-- lots of "in" youngsters trying to behave and look american(?)
Try to walk in the back streets on your way fr Namba station to Dotombori.... you will see "lovey dovey" uncle aunties and young couples hunting for love hotels. How to spot a love hotel? The car plates in their carparks are covered. After 10, this area has many good looking guys talking to men.. (we wondered what they were doing at first.. till we realised that they are usually located outside "Night Magazines" outlets)
Oh ya.. saw the best looking male that i have seen so far in Dotombori. God.. he was really really good looking. My friend and I were tempted to take his photo.
Yupp ladies, you can shop till you drop at shisaibashi and namba walk. If you really intend to shop, it might take you at least two days to cover this area.
Kyoto
traditional city. Beautiful temples.Really interesting place. So many things to see.
GO to Ohara as Monica suggested. Charming village just 10 km north of kyoto.
Another place i loved was Otsu, just 10 minutes by train fr JR kyoto. Beautiful view at sunset/night. Must go with your darling.
For passes, there are many to chose fr. JR Railpass is only worth it is you need to travel between regions, for example between Kyoto and Tokyo. If not, I suggest to get the area pass. For example, JR west pass which covers Kyoto Osaka Kobe cost is only 2000 per day and covers the trip to and from airport as well. So much cheaper. There are some passes which cover bus, train and subways too. Do your research first.
