My life is so exciting!!

But swiftly moving on - I treated myself to a nice t-shirt only to find out later that the top kanji symbols meant kamikaze, now the ironic thing was that I was in Hiroshima at the time...not the best place to wear a t-shirt like that but oh well - I got a laugh from everyone!

I`m now back in Tokyo after getting lost...again....at Ueno train station....I seem to be making a habit of losing myself!  So yeah, I`m back here for another half a day - I`ve been to Shibuya to see the massive intersection and tomorrow before I leave for the airport I`m going to the Science Museum which is just down the road from me. 

Why is it that when in Tokyo it rains - for me anyway....I had a lazy day yesterday as I came down with a cold and we had a massive thunder storm and it poured down so needless to say I didn`t venture out but later on I did and went into the back streets of Ueno and found a little fruit stall which sold massive great chunks of pineapple so I munched on some of that...only to later go find a KFC and munch on some of that too!  I needed a break from noodles and rice and the next best thing is McD`s or KFC! lol  Oh and by the way it`s really difficult not to want to blow your nose in public - it`s not the done thing here!  So I`ve had to keep sniffing and cuffing it....hmmmm lovely thoughts!

Oh yeah....did I tell you about the Earthquake that happened last week? (6.8 on the richter scale)  Well apparently we were like 120 miles away from the epicentre and did I feel a thing...of course not..not even the aftershocks...man I`m useless!!

As I have a cold at the moment and I`m all alone in Tokyo (even though there are like a million other people in the city) I`m feeling a little down now - I`ve got to wait till Friday for Cathy and Pete to join me in Hong Kong and so I`ve got my own company to contend with - oh what fun!

I went to Hiroshima Peace Museum Sunday and found that to be really emotional - but very worthwhile.  It was not bias in any way.  The next day we went back to the museum and was given a talk by a survivor of the A-Bomb attack which to me was really interesting - to actually meet someone who was there - his story though was quite sad, I mean he was like 12 or 13 at the time and to be a young boy and experience that .... well you just can`t even imagine it.

We left Hiroshima on Monday morning after the talk and headed onto Kyoto via Himeji and saw the famous castle (well it`s famous in japan anyway!) and again we walked and we walked and .... well you get the picture! lol  Then we got on another bullet train and got into Kyoto.  We then went out for yet another walk....more steps again and we were hoping to catch sight of some Geisha and Maiko (apprentice Geisha) but unfortunately everything was shut for the evening but then we came across a festival for something (we still don`t know for what but anyway) and I caught a glimpse or two of a Yakuza man - he seemed to like showing off his body art but to take pictures is a no, no but I pretended I was taking photos of the festival but sneekily I took some snaps of him! ha ha ha

Then yesterday we saw a couple more shrines and another castle but I felt really unwell - I think it was due to lack of sleep and just sheer exhaustion so I went back to the hotel and had an afternoon nap - after that I was fine.

Today....well today I`ve shopped and now my bank balance has dropped but got some nice prezzies anyway....for me of course! lol  We all meet up at 7pm tonight to have our last meal together which will be quite sad coz I`ve got to know a few of them really well.  We are then planning to have another session of karaoke so I shall scream my lungs out again I`m sure!

Thanks for your comments - Cathy I`m counting down the days till I see you...hope you don`t get too upset about leaving work - I mean now that I`ve gone there`s not much to get upset about! lol  Emma....fantastic news about you going travelling with Bob - we may pass like ships in the night!  And Laura...erm I`m sorry to tell you this but I lost the crystal you lent me and I still feel really bad about it...but I`ve bought you something so hopefully you`ll forgive me!

Im feeling a lot better....still lonely but nowhere near as bad.... I'm now in Nikko which is very nice (went on a bullet train) - quite a scenic place with a fast river flowing behind our rooms so it makes you want to pee all the time!

We move on to Hakone tomorrow afternoon but I`m not sure what that is famous for.  Oh yeah they have `onsens` here which are outdoor spa`s but you have to be completely naked...luckily for me and everyone else (lol) I`m not allowed to use public ones as I have tattoos...oh what a shame...NOT!  I can have a private one and when I mean private - just me!  The tour guide makes us `single` girls take turns in sleeping with each other (not like that!) so we change at each new hotel/inn - we get to know each other that way I spose.

Everyone seems fine....they all seem quite active whereas me...well I like to take the car everywhere as you know so I`m knackered ...oops sorry mum I mean pooped - we went to a few shrines and temples today and all I seemed to do was walk up steps....these aren`t any old steps but really quite high ones :-(