Ive been a busy girl recently.  I went home for a sunny NZ xmas, and visited Hong Kong for a few days on my way back to Japan.  All in all a great trip (except for getting rather ill in Hong Kong to the point of having to be pushed through the airport in a wheelchair).  But I didnt have long to re-coup after getting back as I had a week-long seminar near Kyoto at the end of January.  I managed to get in a few sightseeing days and it even snowed!  I had a day-trip to an onsen town called Kurokawa in Feb, before heading up to Yokohama for about 4 nights.  Did some sightseeing out to the big buddha at Kamakura and then a few days at the confrence too.  All of this while apparently still doing my actual job.. geez cant complain!! 

But just to take advantage of my situation a little more, i went to Vietnam for 2 weeks at the end of March. Meet Mum and Dad over there are travelled from Hanoi, up to the majestic Halong Bay, then down to the old coastal towns of Hue and quaint Hoi An.  They kept going south while i made my way back north.. and what a way to travel.  I had an overnight bus from Hoi An to Hanoi on the Monday, overnight train out to Sapa on Tuesday, spent a rainy Tuesday looking around the villages of the hilltribes before hoping back on a train on Wednesday night and then flew back to Japan Thursday night.. (and spent the next 3 days sleeping to recoever!!).  I saw some beautiful sights and heard some rather annoying sounds and at times encountered some putrude smells.  Hanoi is a very busy city, with more motorbikes than ive ever seen, and all of these are tooting their horns constantly.  Crossing the road, apart from taking your life in your hand to do so, was enough to give you a headache from the noise!  And I quickly got sick of being 'asked' - "madame, taxi? madame, motorbike? madame, you buy from me?"  It was great to get back to Japan just to walk down the street in peace!  Despite the long hours to get there for a meager 8 hours of sight-seeing, i really enjoyed heading out to Sapa, hiring a motorbike driver to take me round (even though it was raining and cold) as the scenary up there was breath-taking.  I have to admire the working spirit of the village people who have changed the landscape into cascading terraces of rice fields. 

Well, only 4 months to go until the end of my job here in Japan.. but no travel plans in the meantime.. hmm, better start working on my next trip!!