Kyoto (26.05.09)

I spent a little bit more time in Kyoto that I wished. There are tens of temples around the city, I went and visited some of them, but after a while they all seemed the same. The most notable were Golden Temple and Chion-In Temple. An area that I like a lot and is unique is the Bamboo Forest, in the west part of the city. In the east part there is Fushimi Inari, a good hike under thousand of red tori and a good viewpoint. In the city, I guess the attraction is the Gion area; I didn't see any geisha there, just one Maiko (apprentice geisha). In the last day I visited the Imperial palace and learned more about the history. One thing that I did every single day is strolling down the streets for hours and smelling the trees.
I am very glad I got to see Japan. On the other hand, the high cost of living made me feel less free than I wished - I traveled a bit less than I initially planned. Also, I didn't feel so much alive here - I guess that's the problem with "civilized" countries.

Tokyo (17.05.09)

Forget Singapore. Forget Hong Kong. Forget Shanghai. If I have to chose only one big city that it's worth visiting, that's Tokyo. I don't know how do they do it. the city is very big, it is the most dense populated. I think if you count the suburbs, there are 35 million people living in the Great Tokyo. Yet, the city is very clean. the traffic is not that bad. The transportation system is probably the best. There are so many trains and tracks. There are quite a few subway lines. I went by skytrain and I think I was about 30 meters above ground. The architecture is very simple but yet stylish. This city seems to me a city from the future. I think what is so different from other cities is the respect the people have for each other. Every day I went to an area and walk for hours. Shinjuku is the tall building area; Shibuya, teenagers and clothes; Ginza, the most expensive commercial area; Asakusa, the biggest temple attraction - I saw a festival here; Tsujiki, the famous fish market; Roppongi, night clubs; Ueno, park an and museums; Akihabara, electronics stores. Chiyoda, Imperial Palace garden.
The only one think I don't like about Tokyo is that it is way too expensive.

Osaka (11.05.09)

I wanted to see Japan but because is very expensive I gave up; however, being so close to it and not see it made me re-think and re-evaluate. I the end, I took a cruse ship from Shanghai to Osaka, where I arrived after 2 days. The ship was the biggest I ever been, and I was lucky to have one night clear sky, full moon and the view from my bed of the moonligth shining on the water. I spent a day in Osaka, and I liked it so much. There were some places were I felt like I was from another planet. Oh, on the subway train the seats covered are like sofas. People are very polite and respectful. I have learn few words; sometimes they thinks I speak Japanese, and they talk to me 5 minutes and I have no idea what they are saying, not even an word. I went and saw a castle in a park, a temple, and walked around the streets for hours. Japan is like no other country, everthing seems so neat and in order. I notice they play so much a game called panchiko, there are so many places for this and so many people inside; also very loud noise and so much smoke. At night the commercial streets are full of neon lights.