Our short stopover in Hong Kong (during Chinese New Year) was action-packed. We were spoiled rotten and taken out for absolutely fabulous Dim Sum on two occasions and shown around town. What better way to experience a city! Our hotel room was tiny and we now know how battery chickens must feel - but spotless and central. We joined the crowds at the annual New Year fair checking out all the latest "year of the ox" accessories and sampling from street vendors. We joined the shopping madness and decked ourselves out with mittens, toques, thermal shirts etc. for Japan... We had planned to check out the New Year Parade but after spending close to an hour trying to get closer to the action we had to give up - the crowds wore us down - especially the little old ladies that would just ram an elbow into your ribs, give you a good push, take your spot and move along as if nothing had happened .

Now it is "Konnichiwa" and that would be language #6 (excluding Australian) - and Japan is the first country, were it would be extremely helpful to speak the local lingo. I do now master "I am sorry, I don't understand. I don't speak Japanese. Do you speak English?". But I usually get an "iie" in return, "no". And that's when things get tricky. There is virtually no signage in English, taking public transport is like the Amazing Race on steroids. Japanese people are very reserved and self-conscious and charades is NOT popular. Most of the time they just keep talking Japanese but without giving us the slightest clue as to what they are saying - no showing with the hands, no facial expression, zero. This does not stop us though- we are basically introducing a new sign language. It's challenging but also fun - we never quite know what is going to happen next. Did we get on the right train? I wonder what food we are going to get?

Being in Japan is almost a bit like re-entering civilization - the first time I had hot tap water I almost squealed with delight. Everything is neat and structured but at the same time we all of a sudden have to plan our moves way ahead of time. There is no more showing up at the door of a hotel as most places are fully booked a week ahead of our arrival - and this in low season! We spent a few hours dividing and conquering: Jason checked out Sega Joypolis and I headed to the Musclepark - interesting, the Japanese letting loose .

We figure that about 5% of the population wear face masks to avoid spreading/catching a disease. They look at us like we are the plague... Jason has a bit of a cough going at the moment... As you imagine, this is not putting the best light on Canadians. To add to this, Jason added the following two Faux Pas:

• He tried to use his train ticket to get into a design exhibit . The two poor guys at the entry did not know what was happening to them - they spoke NO English and a gaijin (foreigner) pushed a train ticket into their faces... quite entertaining - at least for me
• Our first Japanese pub experience will be most memorable. After food and drinks were ordered the waitress was already a bit flustered - the Japanese/English problem. While waiting my hubbie finds this "Push" button on the table... Ding Dong it rings through the whole place - and our waitress comes scurrying...no, no - no additional order, just checking the button, I guess .

We decided to take advantage of our 2-week unlimited train travel pass with a longer day trip. The scenery was absolutely spectacular but we grew nervous as the snow line on the mountains started moving lower and lower. By the time we arrived at Takayama the town was covered with a blanket of snow - I guess we could have figured that out - after all it is the Japanese alps. We decided to live up to our passports, bundled up and spent a good two hours strolling around the open-air museum show-casing traditional Japanese houses from the region but: it was cold. Admittedly - once we had discovered the wood-fire heated room and the hot chocolate vending machine - it was hard to get back outside.

Our last excursion was to the Toyota factory for a guided plant tour. A lot of the work is now performed by robots and it was fascinating to watch the unmanned carts move all over the place distributing parts. The assembly line work looked HARD, for two hours these people just go go go, no breaks, no sip of water. I guess the robots have the better union. Most people not only work but also live in Toyota City (pop. >400000) - they live and breath Toyota - a dedication hard to find in North America or Europe - and for a good reason we think.

Our next stops will be Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji, Kagoshima and Nagasaki for bonfires, castles, museums and hot volcanic sand baths - stay tuned.