Hello Hawaii ...

Tokyo - Honolulu ... What a trip! 

I crossed the international date line, from West to East, so I travelled back in time! 
I left Tokyo on Saturday evening at 7:25 p.m. and arrived - after a 7-hours direct flight - on Saturday morning at 7:22 a.m. in Honolulu (Hawaii).

I also crossed the equator, from South to North, so I travelled from summer back to winter. Winter ??? ... it was 26° Celsius yesterday! I must admit, it was quite confusing.

Honolulu - Barak Obama was born here! - is on Oahu, the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands. On this picture you see me on Hanauma beach, a popular snorkling sight on the island here.

It's a dream come true ... relaxin' on a beautiful beach on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Life is great!

Goodbye Japan ...

Today, I went back to Ginza shopping district in Tokyo. I spent hours in the Wako Department store (left on the picture), famous for its jewellery, handbags, watches and other luxury goods. All too expensive for a po'boy like me ... and to be honest, I don't care much about luxury. 

My whole life is luxury ... travellin' and meeting nice people all around the world. 

But travellin' is movin' ... so, I have to move on. This is my very last day in Tokyo. 

Tomorrow, I am leavin' the town, the country and the continent.

Goodbye Japan ... I liked it here!

So long Ted, Michiko, Nobuki, Hikari, Yoshiya, Michael and all the other nice people I met here ... it has been good to know you. Thanks for everything!

Enjoying Chocolate Beer (on top of the world)

From the topfloor panoramic observation deck of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building I had a nice view on Yoyogi Park, one of the biggest parks in Tokyo and site of the 1964 Olympic Games. 

While enjoying the nice panorama, I relished a delicious Chocolate Beer (Thx for the tip, Pst.).

45th floor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Hey ... I am high in the sky here on the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Behind (or below) me ... a nice view on Shinjuku.

Another view from the 45th floor ... if you look back towards right, there is the Tokyo Tower, a very famous landmark in Tokyo ...  looks like a small red Eifel tower.

Tokyo Metropolitan Governement Building

From 1991 until 2006, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku (behind me) held the title of the tallest building in Tokyo. The building is 243 meters high. It surrendered its title upon the completion of the Midtown Tower.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (東京都庁舎), also referred to as Tokyo City Hall, houses the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government which comprises not only the 23 wards, but also the cities, towns and villages that make up Tokyo as a whole.

The two top-floor panoramic observation decks of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building are free of charge to the public … could be a nice idea for tomorrow.

Shinjuku, Tokyo

This is Shinjuku, one of the 23 wards in Tokyo and it has the busiest train station the world! Shinjuku Station, serving as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between central Tokyo and it's Western suburbs, is used by an average of  3,64 million passengers per day !!! What a crowd! 

東京

Since Saturday, Michael and I are wanderin’ about in Tokyo … What a thrilling city!

Tokyo (東京) is Japan's capital and the country's largest city. In fact, it is more than a city …Tokyo is also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, but is called a metropolis (to) rather than a prefecture (ken). The metropolis of Tokyo consists of 23 city wards (ku), 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages.
The 23 city wards (ku) are the center of Tokyo and make up about one third of the metropolis' area, while housing roughly eight of Tokyo's approximately twelve million residents.
The prefecture is the centre of the Greater Tokyo Area, the world’s most populous metropolitan area with 35 million people (more than three times the Belgian population!).

Behind me, a nice view on this tremendous city with in the back Mount Fuji (富士山), one of Japans three 'holy mountains'. If you look closely you can see Mt. Fuji is all white and covered in snow.

Back in ... Tokyo

Since a few days I am the guest of Michael Snider who lives in Tokorozawa, just outside of Tokyo. Michael promised to introduce me to Tokyo!
So … yesterday, on Saturday we went to the Ginza (銀座) district of Tokyo, literally "Silver Mint", which is considered the high fashion centre of the city and contains many upscale shops and restaurants.
Can you imagine how exited I was among all this luxury? 
But (un)fortunately … most of this is beyond my purse.

I’m just a po’ boy a long way from home (and that’s the way I like it!)

Happy New Year from Kobe, Japan

Hey folks ... sorry for having disappeared for a while, but that's how it goes when you're travellin'. It's not always easy to keep contact while you're busy. And busy I was for the last few days. As I said before, I meet a lot of interesting young people here. One of them is Yoshiya Santo who took me to Kobe last week.

Kobe is a prominent port city in Japan with a population of about 1,5 miljoen people. The city is also known of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, or Kobe earthquake of 1995 which killed almost 5.000 people in Kobe and caused a lot of damage.

On this picture you see me in Shin-Kobe Station.

But ... I almost forgot to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

May your wishes all come true in 2009 ... and may you stay for ever young.