G'day.

We've moved on from Japan now and are currently in Brisbane, Australia, but will start where we left off..........

After a six hour bus journey to Sendai, we were met by Beth at the station. Whilst waiting for a train to get to Beth's house, we were approached by a very odd man with no teeth attempting to speaking a mix of Japanese and what we think was English, although the only word we could distinguish was "OK" so he could well have been speaking French! After a fit of laughter by all three of us, at the man trying to communicate with us we boarded the train and left the man on the station platform - or so we thought. About 10 minutes into the journey the man came and sat next to John and tried talking again! After our funny train journey and a short car ride in beths car we arrived at her apartment and after talking for a while soon fell asleep.

The next day we went up to Mount Zao - a three and a half hour journey by bus and train it was definately worth it, the views were spectacular as we climbed higher and higher into the snow covered mountains. We took two cable car rides up to the highest point of around 2000 metres where it was -10 degrees! We were frozen, quite literally, mine and Johns hair turned white! (Beths didnt for some reason!) Mount Zao is a haven for skiiers but also allows people to visit the snow monsters which are naturally formed snowy figures which look like monsters. After a nice noodle lunch and a walk around for as much of the cold weather as we could handle, we headed back down the mountains after a brief snowball fight we caught the train back. A Japanese man approached us on the train and asked if he could pracitice his English so we spoke to him the whole journey back. He was a preschool headteacher and works 7 days a week 9- 8! The Japanese have a crazy work ethic. For dinner Beth took us to a sushi restaurant, oh i forgot to mention- John and i tried to go to a sushi bar in Tokyo but had 3 plates and left! It was disgusting! But we think we may have had some sort of eyeball and later found out we ate natto- which is a japanese delicacy of fermented soya beans which had a stringy consistancy and sticks to your lips! yuck! Anyway, Beth took us to the best sushi bar we have ever been too, its conveyor belt sushi so you sit in a booth while the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt, if you want something thats not going around you can order it on an electronic screen in your booth and its then delivered to you on a small bullet train- very cool! They even did burger sushi which is rice with tiny burgers on top. A much better experience than the sushi bar in Tokyo!

The next day we went into the city of Sendai, on the train on the way there practically everyone was asleep, the japanese work such long hours that they generally make up there sleep time on the train! Beth took us to a small underground market where they have lots of tasters of food- we tried cows tongue which we all agreed was surprisingly nice! and we tried one of Beth's favourite Japanese sweets Mochi creams- which i think are rice paste ball things filled with a mix of cream and ice cream in a variety of flavours. We then went to have a cheese fondue for lunch, not very japanese I agree but it was sooooooooo delicious! It was a large bowl of hollowed out bread filled with melted cheese and then bread soaked in the cheese inside... yum! Whilst in there we were trying to communicate with the owners to tell them how good it was! they obviously liked us as then gave us all a cup of coffee and a small cake dessert for free. We then browsed the shops in Sendai before heading up a building called the 'AER building' which looks out across all of Sendai. Our lovely day was then finished off with Beths home made japanese curry and a dvd!

Our final day was spent going to what is rated as the third most beautiful place to visit when in japan, Matsushima. (dont ask us what the first and second are!) Matsushima is a collection of small Islands, and we were lucky enough to go on a day when although it was very cold, the sun was shining. We took a boat trip around all the Islands which was nice, seaguls followed the boat and John and Beth took some great pictures. We then took a walk over a bridge to one of the islands and walked around it, i tried my first green tea ice cream which was actually quite nice. Whilst John had a curry man- a steamed dough ball with meat inside but it was shaped and coloured like a pig, very odd!

We had stored our rucksacks in lockers for the day, since the japanese are said to live their lives on the train lockers are in every station and most have big enough compartments to store both bags in one locker. After picking those up we headed back to Sendai for our final meal with Beth. We ate at a ryokan where you sit on the floor and chose a selection of foods to share off the menu. We then had a few japanese drinks which were some of the nicest alcoholic drinks i have ever tasted. We then had to bid a sad farewell to Beth and get our night bus back to tokyo on the saturday night. We had fantastic time in Sendai, thank you so much Beth! Our night bus got in to Tokyo at 5.10am so we found a mcdonalds to sit in and have breakfast as most are open 24hrs. We stayed there until around 9am when we went to our next hostel to leave our bags. We spent the day around Ikebukuro which was the neighbourhood our hostel was in (but both agreed it wasnt as nice as Asakusa)

Our last full day in Japan and we woke up at 5.30am to go to Tsjuki fish market, the worlds largest fish market. It was chucking it down, our first day of rain but it only added to the chaod of the fish market. There was fish everywhere, crabs still alive and wriggling, small fish, large gold fish, gigantic fish that was practically falling off the back of a mans trailor! We then went and had sushi for breakfast which was delicious as obviously so fresh. Next we headed on a monorail to Odaiba, an artificial island next to Tokyo linked by a bridge called the rainbow bridge which curls around. Since it was raining it was very cloudy so we couldn't see the bridge very well which was a shame. We went to the Toyota show room which has loads of hands on things to do. John and I took a ride in an electric car, you just sit in it and it steers for you. And saw all the latest car technology including the i leggs where you can sit in it and it walks like human legs to carry you around, also the car that Richard Hammond test rode in TopGear, well not really a car a weird thing you sit in and move around in!

Our final day we popped back to Asakusa before heading to Narita airport, sad our time in Japan was over, but pleased to be getting out of the cold! We are now currently sat in my aunts study in very hot Brisbane, Australia. Last night we went into the city for a very nice Italian meal. Tomorrow we are going to Stradbroke Island for a few days which should be good.

Love Alex and John xxxx