Monday, April 7

Holiday in Japan



I went to Japan last week. Within two hours of arrival I had spent a fortune on a very posh taxi ride and discovered that my entire reason for being there was null and void without a specific paper which I was remiss to have forgotten.

Not to worry I was fully prepared to enjoy a two-day, mid-week vacation in beautiful Fukuoka. It is cherry blossom season and the city is beautiful. Everybody says Japan is like Europe and Korea is more like... Mexico. It was fun to visit Japan for a few days but given the 30-40% price hike between Korea and Japan living in Pusan is definitely more in step with my current financial reality. Also Korea has character coming out the wazoo!

Wandering the streets in Fukuoka I frequently found myself staring down a band of oncoming bicyclists. In Japan the cars drive on the left. The same cannot be said of bikes. They drive three across all in the same direction and always on the (extra wide) sidewalk. I love that every bike has a basket. In Ottawa my bike (complete with basket) is considered hideously un-chic I feel somehow vindicated now that I know the always fashionable Japanese believe in baskets too!

 Click here for more photos of Japan.

2 comments:

Travelling Thor said...

ha ha Julia. sounds like your trip was kind of like mine, except less successful. But at least you can go back! it reminded me of my blog entry from Fukuoka....

http://thorstripping.blogspot.com/2004_11_01_archive.html

Corie said...

Japan at cherry blossom time? I'm not at all envious, really! Nice pics on the book of face too.