Spoons, Bombs and Dom Perignon

Hi there!

I have just returned from my Golden Week travels around Japan, and although it was rather expensive, it was really nice to get out and about and see some new parts of Japan. I went to three cities with similar population sizes to Toyama Ken (where I live) but completely different vibes. I hate to say 'better' vibes, but if you like a lively feel, lots of young people, international shops, and things to do, then yes, they were about a thousand times better than Toyama City. Luckily I also value things like Toyama's great weather, delicious water, and my fantastic school where I occasionally get free time to study Japanese and write blog entries.

The first trip was to a nearby cool city called Kanazawa. My girlfriend and I heard they had a new shopping centre and a new Zara and we couldn't resist! I don't think we bought anything but we had a nice time soaking in the sun and shops.

You might have heard of the second city I visited - Hiroshima.

I'm not going to dwell on the horrors of atomic war but the peace museum and memorial were worth visiting, as was Miyajima, the 'floating' shrine.

Not so 'floating' now is it. Look at all these people digging for clams, ignoring the beauty of the shrine! Ah Japan, you do so love your molluscs.

The final place was Fukuoka City down in Kyushu - the most southern of the four main islands of Japan. The city's normal population is about 1.3million, but the night we went, there were 2.1million people there for a crazy spoon festival, so it was pretty lively. Check out these old chicks being lively with spoons. Crazy.

Also, it was good to see the old business brain is still buzzing, and couldn't help but bore Shino with what I thought were market trends, export opportunities and great new products as we wondered round some of the many shopping malls of southern Japan. I really did pick up some new ideas and I'll be looking into them this week. As Shino pointed out, my brain was 70% business, 20% health, 9% robots and 1% Shino. I pointed out that if she was a robot that would bring her total up to 10%. She was not as impressed with my maths as I thought she would be.

Note worthy things -

Meeting Joy and her friend in Fukuoka and introducing them to a rich business man who bought us all Dom Perignon (at about 100 quid a bottle), and then tried to kiss my girlfriend.

Enjoying the clothes brand Zara so much that Shino and I visited 3 different Zara outlets in 3 different cities in one week.

Finding out that I'm now an extra-large in Japanese clothes shops. Thank you creatine.

Enjoying Spiderman 3 at Japan's biggest cinema complex.

Not getting drunk and still having a really great time.

And the amount of bad Japanese English at world heritage site Miyajima.