It has been a long time since I posted a blog. The last month of 2008 had been crazy; as a result of our japan trip, I had to clear some work prior to the trip. However, as it turns out, the data did not roll in while I was on vacation as promised, and therefore all the rush for the analysis preparation could have been done after the holidays. I had similar experience last year, when I burnt our entire christmas holiday at work, only to realize later that the data had not been finalized. So this year, I am less disappointed and frustrated :P

The 2-weeks vacation to japan was pretty awesome, although I would have hoped that we go on a slower pace rather than rushing from one point of attraction to another, spending more time understanding the historical and cultural background of the country, rather than sight-seeing. It could be that I have been to Japan twice, this is my 3rd trip, so I am not at all fascinated by the sceneries, except Mount Fuji which is always so magnificent. We travelled from Yokohama (3 days) -> Mount Fuji (1 day) -> Kyoto (3 days) -> Osaka (2 days) -> Tokyo (4 days) by bullet train (shinkansen) also covering Nara and Takayama on the way.

The best part of the trip is Mount Fuji where we spent a night at a ryokan-like resort, and dipped into their hot spring bath while enjoying an open view of Mt. Fuji. My mum and I love it so much that we went twice, once in the evening, and the next morning, just before traveling towards kyoto.




The other part of the trip that I have enjoyed in Kyoto, where I have never spent much time in my last visits. It is a city with enormous heritage richness, 17 properties of the World Heritage Sites are located in Kyoto Prefecture; we visited 3 of them - the kinkaku-ji temple, Nijo-jo castle and Kiyomizu-dera temple. We will definitely like to spend more time in Kyoto.



Chris and me went for an ultimate fresh fish trip to Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, to have a feel and a taste of fresh sushi/sashimi in Japan. The sashimi don with uni (sea urchin), salmon roe, salmon, tuna chunks is simply delicious, ultimate freshness, quite worth the long queue. We were not allowed to take a photo in the shop, but the following is a very close resemblance of our sashimi don ... yummy :P



Over all, its a great trip, and we even get some rest after the trip due to the Xmas holidays, just enough for us to recover from jetlag.

p.s. More photos on my facebook albums.