Well I was hoping that Amy would be writing her thoughts but unfortunately she is still not 100% with everything in her body so I am letting her sleep while I do this.

Japan was a lot of fun. Our first normal place (for us anyway) as I had lived there 3 years and Amy had lived there for 2 years. So everything was very farmiliar and we had a long list of things that we wanted to eat and not a long list ofplaces we wanted to go see. We were so excited firstly as we could do lundry!!! 25 days of hand washing everything most every night really was getting to us and of course everything was getting way to big as it hadnt been dried. So strangely the first thing we did in Japan was the washing.

Then we headed out to the local Ramen shop and indulged in what we had been craving for 2 years!! Some Kotori Ramen, basically 2 minute noodles in a pork bone soup with bamboo, ginger, and green onion pieces. Maybe you think it doesnt sound good but let me tell you I so want to open up a Ramen shop in the US, I could definitely eat it every day. Then that evening we went out with Woody and Tomo to eat Okonomiyaki, Japanese fried pizza but not. We ate at a restauraunt on the 32nd floor of a downtown building with excelent views of the city. If you are not sure about Osaka, it is about the 10th biggest city in the world with a population of around 17 million people, they sort of combine Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe as one giant city as they run into each other.

While we were in Japan we ate Sushi 3 times, Ramen only twice (now I want more), Onageri a lot, and of course a typical Japanese outdoor BBQ. Oh the food is the best there!!! Of course we miss the lifestyle of Japan a whole bunch, the ordered living and queing, the cleanliness, the politeness, the convienence, etc..

We headed up to Kyoto for one of our days there, Kyoto was the Japanese capital for 1500 years or something like that. It has so much history and is considered the oldest and richest city in Japan for culture/history. There are temples at every corner and it has a lovely river that runs through the middle of the city where you just go relax and have a drink on the banks and people watch. There is of course plenty of that to do as Japanese people constantly struggle to be an individual as it is really a group culture in work, school, friends.

We would like to thank Woody and Tomo for letting us stay at a busy time for them. Woody was setting up a huge beach party trip for 3 bus loads of people that left on Friday night. We also left on Friday for an overnight bus ride to Tokyo as we flew out of Tokyo, and unfortunately not Osaka. We said our sad goodbyes with the hope that I had convinced them to come to Sarasota over Christmas!!

We arrived in Tokyo around 7am after not much sleep in a cramped bus that stopped every hour. We caught a few subway trains around the biggest city in the world. Then went to a park and relaxed and watched people. After that we decided to head to the airport as we were both tired and Amy was just not up to a day of walking around with our backpacks on. It took a good 2 hours to get there anyway. At the airport we took much needed showers and cleaned up a little. Then waited for our flight.

Unfortunately it was delayed a few hours and we found out we went via Cairns. So around 6am they made us get out and walk around the terminal there for an hour or so. But we didnt arrive too late into Brisbane where my sister and nieces meet us at the airport!!! YAY!!!! Now is the family part of the trip!!

On a side thought I do just wonder how the girls are doing at work......this trip may not of happenend without them volunteering to take on the majority of my workload while I am away. I just hope that they are not cursing me right now as it is month end and quarter end close, fingers crossed that they will welcome me back in a months time. I truly appreciate all the work they are doing for me. Thank you!!!