Sayonara Japan

        Japan was amazing.  The people are so incredibly nice.  Just walking around is an experience, even if you’re lost.  Whenever people travelling in my group got frustrated about not knowing the directions I would just shout heyyy!...uhh we’re in Tokyo!! Be happy, relax.  We’re all living on this ship together and get to casually ask each other, hey what time are we getting to China, when does immigration start…?  How amazing is this? We haven’t gotten over all the happenings in Japan and we’re going to be in china tomorrow morning.  I will be stepping off the ship in Shanghai, floating around China and their crazy New Year celebrations, then eight days later meeting the ship in Hong Kong.  No I don’t know exactly how I’m going to get to Hong Kong yet, but I’ll figure it out.  Overnight busses or trains are the cheapest option. 
        So, lets talk about Japan!  The subway map resembles a bowl of noodles.  After few days of traveling by train I realized how nice and efficient they are, mainly if you understand Japanese.  The trains are always on time, and there is a clock telling you exactly when to expect the next train.  People wait in lines behind arrows that line up exactly with the doors of the train when it gets there.  When on an escalator you stand to the left in a line to let people who wish to walk by get through.  Don’t eat and walk, this was a new concept for me.  The very first train we got on broke down for about five minutes.  It was very nerve racking because it reeked of burning rubber and all the announcements were in Japanese.  After we got to Tokyo from Yokohama we got some delicious Japanese food.  I ate a bowl of noodles with I think pork, or some type of meat in it.  All of the food I ordered was amazingly good, and not too expensive either.  It took a long time to find our hostel.  People would frequently stop and offer directions.  I didn’t think we looked that lost, but apparently we did. 
        Our hostel was amazing! The people there were so nice and interesting.  We met a lot of travelers staying there from all over.  Our room had about twenty people staying in it.  About half of them were in our group.  It was a long skinny room lined with plywood crates that were stacked two high.  Everyone had their own crate to sleep in.  It was very roomy and clean, and during the day you could lock your luggage in it.  We went to a karaoke bar, where you rent your own room to sing in.   Going to all the different restaurants was probably my favorite part.  Other than the people we met.  The neon lights and amounts of people at night were amazing.  I wish I could put pictures up.  I might be able to upload some pictures before the ship leaves Hong Kong.  We got back to the hostel really late one night and I ended up playing poker and Egyptian Rat Screw with some guys I met at the hostel.  They were from Colorado and just clean the bathrooms and live there.  We played till around three in the morning.  I won…hehe, too bad it wasn’t for real money. 
        After two nights in Tokyo we hopped on a bullet train to Kyoto.  We stayed in a nasty little hostel there for one night.  It wasn’t that bad, but compared to the first one, it was disappointing.  We saw a few temples in Kyoto then headed to Kobe.  There was a lot to do in Kobe.  It’s a huge city.  We walked around some shops and met two older Japanese men that could speak a little English.  They showed us around for a while and chose a sushi restaurant for us.  They helped us order and sat down to eat with us too.  The waitress was so cute.  She saw my friend struggling with the chopsticks, so she took the chopsticks and fed her this huge slimy piece of raw tuna, and stood there watching and smiling as she chocked it down.   Everyone in Japan throws up the piece sign for pictures.  We got a lot of pictures with random people we met. 
        I experienced being squeezed into a subway like a sardine.  I ate a lot of strange things.  The eggs there are different.  The yolks are really dark orange.  An order of bacon is half a slice.  When we went out to breakfast everyone ordered at least two meals.  I ate sushi and sipped on sake.  We became best buddies with two bartenders.  They put on the clash for me.  It was a good time.  So much happened.  I know I’m forgetting so many things to tell you all.  I would love to go back to Japan some day.  The only souvenir I bought was a really cool bright yellow and turquoise watch for 2339 yen.  I think I did really well with saving money.  That was definitely the most expensive country we will be going to.  I know I’m forgetting things.  It’s just impossible to write everything down.  I have to go continue preparing myself for China rite now.  I’ll be living out of my backpack once again, but this time for about a week.  I am so excited to see the Chinese New Year Celebrations!  I will update you when I reach Hong Kong.  Zaijian….