I went to Japan and all I got was this cup...

... and a suitcase of memories :-) But I do love this cup. Need to find a drink for it!

We are slowly catching up being back, I probably coped better today better than Mrs C and Ms H who slept a lot of the day, although I expect it will take me a day or so.

When we took off from Japan on Saturday, there was a bit of a rush to get planes up and away due to a typhoon somewhere, possibly closer to China, and a number of flights cancelled. For 3 weeks while we were in Japan and Hawaii, the weather was hot, often over 35C, although the winds of Hawaii made it much more comfortable. As we were leaving the hotel in Tokyo, it was raining, and kept raining, so that was good timing.

Good timing seems to have been the motto of our holiday... when we booked the initial flights to Tokyo last year, North Korea began firing missiles over Japan. As we were arranging our hotels etc a few months ago, Hawaii's Big Island volcano began erupting. As we were heading down to Kyoto and Hiroshima in the first week, terrible stories of flooding and deaths were on the news (although that happened in rural areas). As we flew back from Hawaii, the news again reported on a heatwave around Tokyo and further deaths. And the weekend we left, high winds and rain were on their way. At no point where we ever in danger (although temps did hit 41C), it was something we had to be mindful of, although we only ever saw the headlines.

We've not had a holiday quite like this before, covering and travelling so much, and we probably won't again. But it had kind of been a dream promise we made to Ms H to take her to these places and having just turned 18 we thought it was now or never!

It was a bit daunting when planning it, our main concern being food - none of us eating shellfish or raw fish etc, then there was the language barrier... but these "problems" were always overcome and we always found something to eat and were able to communicate even when not talking the same language :-) I was quite proud of myself making it through 2 dinners, sitting in our kimonos, on the floor/mats, eating prawn and various dishes of raw fish, something I vowed never to do, but it wasn't as bad as I thought and I might be more adventurous with sushi now I am back home. A few of the steaks however were probably the best I have ever had... like ever!

I had been looking forward to the train journeys, which were as expected, faultless... almost... no wifi. There was loads of technology where you just think, why do we not have that, we do we not invest in that? Subways in all of the cities with trains every few minutes. But I think 2 of the main things that surprised us were the service (and we were already expecting good service) industry and the amount of people doing jobs that we have done away with, particularly around safety. Road maintenance people and as well as road signs and traffic lights, people with flags, that would bow to you once you've stopped, train station workers there to make sure people are away from the tracks, hotels with several people coming up to you are once and apologising for a 5 second wait. A shop worker bowing to someone who had already turned their back while walking away. If a job needs doing, then do it right! Obviously I may not have seen the working hours and conditions etc, there always seemed to be people commuting into the evenings and dozing on the subway, but having gone from Japan to Hawaii and the laid back service we got initially, it was opposite ends of the spectrum! Walking around Japan, even as late as 1am, we pretty much felt safe. Arriving in Kobe and Osaka late at night was a bit of a wake-up call... they were noisy, bustling, and full of flashing lights so I was always on the lookout, but proved to be fine.

But Hawaii made up from in other ways... I began swimming in the sea! We had so much fun doing that... Ms H may be 18, but horse-foolery in the sea may be her favourite thing! I hope more horse-foolery opportunities come our way :-) Hawaii, or more specifically Maui, was full of classic Hawaiian scenery, which we usually see in "Lost" or "Jurassic Park". Being volcanic regions, both Hawaii and Japan shared similar types of hills and mountains, and trees.

The relationship between Japan and USA had never been a consideration for us when planning this, but as we walked around Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor, with tourists from both countries at each, it provoked much thought about the past and future and we learned much we had not known before.

We would like to go back to most of the places we've been, but longer in each and less travelling.. most of time we always felt we were just seeing the tip of the iceberg... but that was the purpose of the trip, to get a taster.

So my blip journal has squeezed lots of photos into it and much waffling, but I much prefer to do that than in my travel log that I used to do... and forget about. But now it is returning to normal and I am sure I will return to the "what to blip" days very soon. As I have been walking around the house, I've been remembering all the jobs I still have to do (I really had forgotten about them), so maybe that will keep me going.

My favourite Japan moment... the surprise evening in a Tokyo street festival. Hawaiian... the fun on the beach with my wee lassie :-)