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It
was sort of late again as we uploaded the
report last night.
Here you see Marco at 1.15 h a.m. at 43%
of the upload in the dark hotel reception
area.
At
56% the internet connection was interupted
once again - but we didn't give
up.
It
took another 12 minutes and the uploading
was complete.
Just
a few seconds later the phone spitted out
our last empty phone card - lucky
us!
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The
other major attraction next to many
impressive temples and shrines in Nikko is
the Nikko National Park.
We
rode the bus to Kegon-waterfalls and were
impressed by the waterfall that crashes
violently down to the rocks 100 meters
below.
Unfortunately
the observation of this spectacular
display of nature was often interrupted by
bus loads of senior citizens. They were
determined to look at the fall whatever
the method they had to use to get to the
best place at the observation deck. This
was rather inpolite.
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Main
objects of these silver-headed tourists`
craving were the sweets, almost all of
them filled with sweet bean
paste.
Regardless
of how they look like (some look like
waffles, some like cookies or even eggs)
they always contain the sweet
filling.
We
have probably seen close to 50 variations,
some in luxurious confectionaries, some
sold at supermarkets by the
pound.
No
matter what shape they come in, they won`t
make it on to our favorite
list.
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In
the afternoon we arrived in Sendai after a
two hour ride on the
Shinkansen.
We
chose this metropolitan city of Northern
Japan as the step stone before we go on to
Matsushima tomorrow.
Besides
we wanted to prepare ourselves for the
Mega-Metropolitan Tokyo after travelling
through lightly populated mountain
cities.
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Here
you don`t see the start line-up of the
Sendai taxi-race but actually the normal
crowdedness of the taxi-stand in front of
the main station.
Riding
taxis does not come cheap in Japan. The
meter starts at 650 Yen (~ 7 US-$) but
they offer quite some service: driver in
chauffeur uniform with white gloves,
friendly bowing, white hand-knitted seat
covers and a left passenger door that
opens and closes automatically.
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We
came across this writing on the asphalt on
the way to our hotel.
What
kind of message is that ???
It
turned out to be an information from the
Sendai police station for a car owner
whose car was towed for a parking
violation.
They
informed the owner on the time of towing
and the phone no. under which the car
owner gets the information how much he /
she has to pay and where to get the car
back.
How
kind !
In
Germany we always have to assume the car
had been stolen.
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As
we stay overnight in a big city we wanted
to mingle with the young folks. What is IN
for young people here?
We
observed and researched and made ourselves
familiar with a new kind of
restaurant.
Sushi
is OK but if you go out with friends then
go out to an `Izakaya`.
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It`s
a mixture of bar and
restaurant.
You
order lots of drinks and throughout the
course of the evening small portions of
different kinds of food. (Sort of like
Japanese Tapas).
An
informal way of going out at night - and
not too expensive.
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We
really enjoyed this restaurant and ordered
deep fried fish (top right side on the
photo - you can even eat the bones), salad
with glass noodles, beef tongue with green
onions, Sashimi, sweet potatoes, Yakitori
(grilled chicken on a skewer), Tofu and a
lot more.
All
just in small quantities and perfect for
tasting many kinds of food with many
friends.
In
general it is very common here to order
lots of different dishes and
share.
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The
neighbour to our left had enjoyed enough
(or even more) Sake.
The
conversation grew louder and louder and
some topics were discuss over and over
again.
Many
employees go out with their colleagues
after work to these restaurants. Therefore
it is not uncommon to find many white
collar workers with ties.
It
usually doesn`t take long though until the
tie is loosened - this makes it a lot
easier to discuss the latest gossip from
work.
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Our
daily special:
`The
Puzzler` (Are you a Japan
expert?)
New
impressions and curiosities as a daily Q
& A.
6)
What is the object on the photo
?
(Answer:
just click on the photo)
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