Shimoda

In Izu Peninsula, the most beautiful beaches in Japan. Shimoda is the south part of the peninsula and is famous for diving and sea activities.
The hotel has a private onsen in the room and the view from the room is the clean sea and huge ships.
Seafood dishes served by the hotel was big enough to make me gain weight :O
The weather was nice... the companion's on a journey was great... the food was wonderful... the onsen unforgetable... the sea was a heaven...

Hiking for the 8th time

It's true I like hiking... the nicer mountain
to hike is Takaozan! Very convenient as you
just start hiking from the train station.
And there is always a special event on the top :O
Yes, at this time, a Japanese ceremony of tea was
the special event; the green tea and the sweet
"okashi" were wonderful... everything for free ;-)

Phuket and Phi Phi Island

All day in Phuket... in the beach!! wonderful coconut water... relax, sun.. got really burnt!!

I didn't like the city... noisy all night... many pubs and drunk people trying to disturb you... but the beaches are pretty good! the food is great!!

The water is clean and very easy to "try" to swim... I cannot swim much but I'm still having fun !!




One of the best massages are in Thai... very cheap comparing to Japan... and stronger... and painful... very painful... but relaxing after a while. Even my digest works better after a massage; true!!

We went to many islands after snorkeling and stopped in the island to see the wild monkeys... very wild... stealing food !





Even having a cold I couldn't resist... I went to Phi Phi Island ... but Leo was not there... only the really beautiful beach hahah








I did snorkeling when I was kid but nothing comparing with snorkeling in Phi Phi... big colorful fishes, so many, in a wonderful clean sea... with amazing people (nice people I met in the boat!).





A small island in the middle of the sea is a must ... more snorkeling and relaxing in heaven... I saw dolphins there!

Next time I would stay in Phi Phi, instead of Phuket! to do snorkeling every day and eat more fish (^O^)

Bangkok

Bangkok is a amazing city with great temples and budas. You can see a huge buda, a small buda, buda sitting, buda standing, buda sleeping...

Bangkok was special.. I went to all the historical temples and met some locals and Japanese friends who moved there.

I loved the food, coriander is great and also the curries.

Most beautiful lake

Hakone is only 1h from Tokyo, maybe a bit more, but you can enjoy the romance car (special train) and you won't feel it' s far at all...
Ashino is one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen. You can see the Mount Fuji, eat onsen egg, have a wonderful view from the hotels, those are on the bottom of the mountains... many many onsens... real onsen!
They also have the Picasso museum in Hakone. It is very interesting, with sculptures and different painting you never see in the museums.

The transportation is good, with ships, roapways, trains, cable cars and buses those can take you everywhere in Hakone!

Ginza

The most beautiful city in Tokyo, in terms of elegance, brands, rich area.
Every Sunday, they close the main street for cars and we can just seat there in the middle of the big street.

It's place you can see how much money Japanese people spend in brand goods. One bag can cost 5,000 USD, a pair of shoes 900 USD very easily.

Is the Japanese the most materialist people in the world?