These first series of pictures were taken in the town of Kamioka. This castle is actually a rebuilt version of the original from the late 16th century. This town is quite large in terms of population as the town is literally in the middle of the mountains of Gifu prefecture.
The view from castle shows a massive "grave yard" (墓, 'haka') on the other side of town. Generally grave sites are used in a patralineal fashion. This one seems quite large for a town so small, but probably is several hundreds of years old.
How could I forget to write about my new cell! Having lived in America for most of my life I have adjusted to the "crap" of American cell phones. Well, I am no longer in California, so I was so blown away when my wife and I signed a contract with DoCoMo. This phone is known as the F904i. It has (deep breath) TV as clear as cable, a 3.2 Mega Pix digital camera, full internet browser capability with what seems to be High Speed, two telephone number, two email addresses, a 3.1" view able screen which rotates either 90 degress either left or right to watch TV or take pictures, and lastly a special I~mode service which generally is about $1.50 a month for service equal to an internet browser, but no capability of viewing your favorite websites. Oh yeah, GPS is also standard, but not yet free and a MPS player which about 12 hours of music, and if that is not enough you can purchase a MICRO SD chip up to 1GB to store more music and such. DAMN IMPRESSIVE.
And finally, our most recent outting, Nigata Prefecture. On the west side of Japan, facing towards China, has some of the best seafood I have ever had. The picture below shows my niece with her very fresh catch. We purchased 6 crabs in total for 3 adults and 2 children as a snack, and it came to less than $35. I can guarentee you that it was good, and the price was very fair. The vendor orignally was asking near $60, so all in all I felt we made a good bargin.
This is a picture of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture on the way to Nigata. This area is know for its extreme beauty and was a major area for the '98' Olympics in the area. When winter hits the 2500+ meter moutains attract Japanese and foreigners alike for some of the best sking in the world!
Who is this sexy beast?
1 comment:
What a nice surprise for Gwen and me to pick your blog up on A & K's site;
we have tried to follow you and Meg's movements thru Andrew/Katherine and your Dad, periodically. We are very proud of your achievements over the past few years and know that you and Meg's "new life" will be full of adventure and happiness. I hope to visit with you one day; maybe your Dad and I could go together. :) Regards, Pablo(Paul) and Gwen
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