We are back

We are back from Japan. A short report will follow this weekend - longer reports to trickle out over the following weeks and month - but for now one photo taken at the Nagasaki Kunchi Festival.

The adults patiently await the Dragon Dancers but the children are just plain frightened.

Checking in from Japan

A short hello from Kanazawa, Japan using our new gear - the Nokia n800 and Asus access point - in our hotel room.

Just got back from the rooftop traditional Japanese bath. Great!

Going to Japan again

We decided to go to Japan for the Chinese National Day (10/1) holiday week, 9/22 to 10/7

Japan makes an interesting destination from China. There are sharp differences.
* cost of living
* level of civility
* big empire (China) conquered by small-island country (Japan) in WWII

At the same of time, there are so many connections.
* ancient Chinese culture in Japan
* modern Japan culture in China
* dense population centers

I am busy trip planning. This time I decided to give Triptie a try. Click here to see our itinerary in progress.

japan videos

Here are all the Japan videos.

Boarding a Bullet Train

Riding the Bullet Train

Okuno-in Monks

Meiji Shrine 360

Kiyomizu Temple - Kyoto

Japan 2006 - Kyoto and Nara

Parts 4, 5, and 6 of the trip reports of Japan are over at http://meckleyearth.blogspot.com/.

All of the photos from Japan are on Flickr. Click here.

Preview of Kyoto and Nara:

Kyoto Imperial Palace Garden:


Himeji Castle


Nara: Temple Guardian:


Nara: Moon Viewing Fair procession

Japan 2006 - Part 3 - Tokyo - Asakusa to Shinjuku

Part 3 of the Japan trip is now up on meckleychina.

Here's a preview.

Tourists taking a modern rickshaw to see the sites in Asakusa district

Shinjuku at night.


The famous Japanese vending machines.

Japan 2006 - Part 2 - Mt. Koya to Tokyo

I have posted Part 2 of our Japan trip report over on meckleyearth. To only see the photos, click here.

A preview:

Rock garden at the Fukuchi-in, the temple/hotel where we stayed on Mt. Koya.


The food was tasty, the owner gracious, and the beer cold at this DIY teppanyaki restaurant in Tokyo.

Japan 2006 - Part 1 - Fukuoka and Mt. Koya

I've posted Part 1 of our Oct trip to Japan over at meckleychina. To go right to the photos, click here.

Two fellow Mt. Koya pilgrims with nifty rain gear.

A Busy October

It's been a busy October.

We spent the first week of the month in Japan. I hope to get the trip report posted sometime in 2006 but I'm way behind as Bali and Nanjing remain unreported as well. The short report: Japan was awesome! See the photo below.

The second week of the month was spent looking at apartments in the XuJiaHui area of Shanghai. We found a nice 3-BR apartment on the 11th floor of the "Ya Du" complex which is close to Sun-Ling's office, Metro Line 1, and the Intel shuttle bus stop.

Thus, the 3rd and 4th weeks of the month will be spent packing, moving, and settling in to our new home. Updates to this blog will be sparse.

Our new address is:
300 Nandan Rd
Bldg 8, #1101
Shanghai 200030
China


John enjoys a cold beer with the vegetarian dinner served to us in our room at a Buddhist temple/inn on Mt Koyasan.