So busy!

I've been running around the last few days because I'm about to finally go back to the US and I've got a lot of stuff to finish up before I leave (lots of stuff i was preparing for and a lot of random stuff that was off my radar... like filing my HK taxes yesterday when I suddenly discovered they were (over) due!) :-D

I'm flying to Seoul tonight after midnight.  have a 12 hour (4am to 4pm) layover there.  I'd like to do more than just sit at the airport, so I printed out a few pages from wikitravel for Read more

More Hiroshima...

OK, i'm a little disappointed most of you guys talk more about the 1 picture of food i have in my last few blog entries than you do about the castle or parks or statues! :-P

but you gotta go with what sells, so here's one that should give you guys more of what you're interested in....

On Monday night after Iwakuni I managed to go to 'Book OFF',  which is a chain of used book stores in Japan.  They also sell used CDs, games, DVDs, some do computer hardware, this one even had used clothes i think...

Its easier when its not aimed at you...

Video: Catching an Arrow in Mid-air

Mr. Cinema - 老港正傳

I just got back from the MOS theater.  I caught the one and only showing per day of 'Mr. Cinema' ( 老港正傳 ), starring Anthony Wong, Teresa Mo, Ronald Cheng, Karen Mok and.... special appearance by Mr. Andrew Lin! (an unexpected surprise. this is the second movie I've seen that he's made a surprise appearence in the last three weeks!)

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Dances with Dragons - 與龍共舞

Last night around 2:30 am I was flipping through the channels and came across this classic 1991 HK movie showing on Mei Ah's movie channel:

Its ' Dance with the Dragon' ( 與龍共舞 ),  a Wong Jing produced early 90s comedy w/ Andy Lau (  劉德華 ), Cheung Man ( 張敏 ) and ...Read more

Iwakuni Castle and the Kintai Bridge - 岩国城と錦帯橋

ok, the third and final castle from my trip!  On Sunday I went down to the nearby town of Iwakuni ( 岩国 ), about 40 mintues away from Hiroshima ( google map).  Iwakuni is actually in Yamaguchi Prefecture,  and its most known for the fact that there is a US Marine base there... when I was living in Fukuoka we would get a lot of these guys coming down on the...Read more

Holy Carp!

dude, take a look at this video:

Flying Fish

damn,  thats insane.  remind me not to go boating in Illinois.

Marugame Castle - 丸亀城

note:click on the photo to enlarge

Next up on Etchy's Castle Tour - the small city of Marugame, Kagawa ( 丸亀市 -google map). 

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Fukuyama Castle - 福山城

As you may be able to tell from my photo albums, amongst other things, I am a fan of visiting Japanese Castles.  I've visited almost 20 of them so far, mostly while I was living in Japan.  Since I've moved to HK, I make sure to plan a visit or two during every trip back to Japan I take (every few months or so).

And coincidently, I happened to have gone back to Japan last weekend (and fallen behind on my blogging!)

Here's the first castle I visited during...Read more

Yamato Addendum

As a follow-up to my entry from yesterday,  I have a few more photos to share about my trip to Kure's Yamato Museum.

Souvenirs are a big business in Japan.  Bringing omiyage (souvenir snacks) to friends and when you return from a trip or to a host when you are visiting is a big part of Japanese culture.  Its not just snacks of course,  there's toys, refrigerator magnets, t-shirts, etc. Therefore any tourist destination or travel related location (airport, train station, etc) usually has a section set up for selling these local...Read more