Did anyone spot our April's fools?! Our meeting with Jackie Chan wasn't quite as we made out - although we did see many people taking photos of him, it was of his Madame Tausauds' waxwork rather than him in the flesh (sorry to anyone disappointed by this revelation!)

After flying into Kansei (Osaka) airport, we stayed 5 days in a self contained flat near the temples in Kyoto (owned by an American so we got some good tips on the best bakery for bagels!)

Although the weather was mixed (We soon got used to alternating days of sunshine and heavy rain!), we had some amazing memories from our time around Kyoto including:

- seeing the cherry blossom in full bloom around the beautiful temple gardens and castles (the view of Himeji castle was especially memorable)

- an afternoon trip to Nara where we got to feed the deer around the temple

- visiting the bamboo grove of Arashiyama and riding on a romantic train along the river

- doing a day trip to Hiroshima, seeing the famous tori gates of Miyajima island and visiting the Hiroshima peace park/museum (marking where the atomic bomb was tragically dropped). We also sampled the local delicacy of omonomiyaki - noodles and eggs covered by BBQ sauce and mayo and cooked on a hotplate on your table

- seeing the Japanese miniatures at the Netsuke museum

- sampling our first taste of Japanese karaoke

Next stop the snow monkeys - glad we bought our winter coats!