A really quick update today as my time at the internet cafe is running out after frittering it away with my rediscovery of facebook! I arrived in Osaka today after a two day ferry journey from Shanghai, which was pretty comfortable but a bit boring. Since I last wrote I visited an incredible, but also incredibly touristy, canal town before heading to Shanghai. Shanghai was my favourite city that I visited in China, it was a great mixture of Western and Chinese. We got a great view of the city from the top of the Jin Mao tower, the second tallest in Shanghai.

In Shanghai, I got to see my Dad's colleague Brinton and his wife Daryl, who had welcomed me to the city when I first arrived six weeks ago and we had a lovely lunch together. My visit to China culminated with an incredible acrobat show featuring some really scary acts of contortion! We had drinks to celebrate our departure from the members of our group who weren't going on to Japan, then six of us got the ferry here. We will meet our new group this evening. Our new tour leader is Hungarian and doesn't speak Japanese which is a bit bizarre but I guess I'll have to wait and see how that goes!

So, another country's stamp to add to my passport, and this marks a quarter of the way through my trip. It's been great so far and I hope it continues to be excellent! Please do keep emailing me or facebooking now it's no longer illegal! My phones don't work in Japan but I will be in New Zealand in just over week where both phones should function.