Very heavy raining is chasing us out of the mountains to the coast to Kanazawa. Will hopefully be better there.

Konichiwa! So we never made it to Australia because the Vancouver flights were so full that we would never have a chance to get there. Unfortunate because the flights to Oz out of Vancouver were wide open. We looked at the board to see if we could hop a plane somewhere interesting but most required visas. We returned on the 20th to get on a plane at 1pm to fly to Tokyo. We arrived on 21st at 3:30pm 15 hours later (Japan is ahead 13 hours, so basically flip the day to night. We spent until the 24th in Tokyo and then took a bus to Takayama in the mountains.
Impressions and thoughts of Japan - amazing culture. No litter or grafitti anywhere. Spotless streets. They make everything look pretty, even overpasses, garbages, etc. Dont allow smoking while walking, but can smoke in restaurants and bars - so less about health and more about cleanliness. People all wear masks to keep away from germs. Super friendly, very helpful, willing to work at miming and picture drawing if that is what it takes to understand each other. Run everywhere to serve you faster. Despite waves of people on the street and in subways, nobody ever gets upset, no horns honking, drivers let people in, nobody jostles you. It is so orderly. Obsessed with anime, cartoons, gaming and technology - picture 5 and 7 storey buildings filled with stores selling these items. Despite the technology - almost impossible to find an internet cafe, all must have at home. Everybody has a cell phone, but you never hear them ring, almost everybody is texting and never talk on the phone. Not allowed to read newspapers on the subway because it takes up too much space. Rude to blow your nose, but OK to sniff continuously. Lots of thanks yous and bowing, rituals and politeness - money is never handed to people, it is put in a tray to carry out a transaction. Beautiful buildings and architecture. Bright lights everywhere. Huge relaxing parks filled with cherry blossoms (we are here right in season). Museums, galleries, temples, shrines, theatres - filled with culture and history. Trains and subways are exactly on schedule. Everybody takes their jobs very seriously and shows a lot pride regardless of what they do. The quietest place filled with millions of people! The one place with noise is the gaming and slot machine centres - which operate at an ear-splitting level - so contradictory to the rest of life here. Fascinating! If it wasnt so expensive I would tell everybody to jump on a plane and travel here.
We picked up 2-day passes for the metro, it was a great system for getting around - plenty of English signs to get around. We covered so many different neighbourhoods - will share them through photos when I return.
Was challenging to arrange a bus to Takayama - the train is definately the method of travel preferred here, unlike in Argentina where the bus ruled. But we caught a bus this morning at 9AM (we are still getting up at 3AM) and took a 5.5hour trip into the mountains to a village filled with ancient Edo buildings - a completely different pace here, it is like the world has slowed and alomost stopped. We will be here for another day and then plan to take a bus to the coast and then perhaps on to Kyoto before retruning to Tokyo. More when I get the chance...

Failed attempt #1... the flight to Vancouver was overbooked and there were about 60 people waiting on standby - some had been waiting through 4 flights! Home to figure out Plan B.
People have been asking - the best pina colada? The Barranchia bar in old San Juan was better then the Hilton (but I think a little restaurant Casa Dante was the best). The hotel was busy with many areas closed down for a film shoot with Johnny Depp, but no sightings.

Great holiday with Tamara, I'm really glad we had the chance to have a week to hang out and talk -
she's such a great lady!

Scott and I are working on our plans for our first trip - and we are off to Sydney Australia later on tonight!

Just enough time to do laundry and repack.

Link below is for a few pictures from Puerto Rico.
You can click on details if you want to read some of my ramblings, or use the slideshow function. Enjoy!

Puerto Rico photos

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores - William Shakespeare

Yesterday was a great day of adventures. We drove up to El Yunque (say it with me, in a great latin american deep voice "El j-yunque") and spent time on some trails and enjoying the peace and quiet. The only rain forest in the US. It is home of the "coqui" the small PR frog that has a lovely 2-note chirp; and the Puerto Rican green parrot - very rare only about 45 left in the wild. We then drove into Farjida to join a kayak tour into Laguna Grande to experience the bioluminescent microorganisms in the bay - when you distrub the water in any way it glows like a green fire, or comet tail, or glow sticks in the dark (we were kayaking in the dark). It was amazing! When you dip your hand in the water it sparkles, thanks to clusters of hundreds of the organisms. It is so difficult to describe, has to be experienced. Even more amazing when fish swim by under water, as they create patterns. Supposedly its incredible in a rainstorm. We were like kids playing in the water. The stars overhead were also amazing, as it was pitch black. Kayaking back in the pitch black through a mangrove was quite an experience as well, when you can barely see the boat in front of you. Highlight of the trip!
Today we took a ferry over to the other side of the bay in San Juan to visit the Bacardi factory - an interesting information centre with lots of information, and free samples - Tam enjoyed my extras! (Graeme, sorry can't carry any on board - we wanted to get you the Special Reserve, aged 12 years and only available in PR...too bad). Then we had lunch at a great little find of a restaurant in Old San Juan - finally an affordable and tasty place - St Germain Bistro & Cafe (Sol and Cruz). Got caught in a major rainstorm and were soaked. Back out now to go to the Hilton and try the pina colada so we can compare in the "war".

Going to have to figure out how to get some pictures on here during my travels vs always having to wait until home to load up.
Today was a great day - we rented a car from a local agency "Afro Car rental" across the street from our hotel. We drove off to Ponce in the south. Amazing change in geography, topography and weather as we travelled the 90 minutes - went through rain forest, mountains and arid hills, then back into an area that looked like a never-ending garden. The town is a great little town of very old colonial buildings - some falling down and some being built back up. I love the old and decrepit beauty of a place like this (this you will have to wait and see in pictures). Then we headed off to an old coffee plantation - we arrived in time for the last tour of the day which should have been in Spanish, but the guide did an amazing job of juggling both languages.
Had dinner at a popular local place and tried Mofongo - smashed plantain mixed with veggies, etc. Could have used some hot sauce or something to make it a bit more punchy.
So remind me to tell you about the guy watching "adult entertainment" in the internet cafe - full blast, no cares in the world...and it wasn't until 2 guys complained that the employees gave him a headset - have to love the hot-blooded latin americans :)
Teresa - wish I could be around but we are likely flying out on the plane you come in on - what a shame, would have been fun to hang on the beach. Try the pina colada at the Hilton and then compare to the Barranchia bar downtown - there is a famous "war" going on as to where it was invented and which one is best (we still have to try the Hilton's).