holtwick
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Australia Introduction
Since I was a teenager, I was always fascinated by the continent of Australia. From the comical references of Paul Hogan to my keen interest in kangaroos, traveling down under was like a pilgrimage to an adopted Motherland. Once Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, or the Travel Channel began airing the Crocodile Hunter with Steve Irwin,…
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Chapter 21 : Last Day In Tokyo
We woke up slowly, then filled the large black duffle bag with anything that we couldn’t fit into the roller bag. We still had hopes of going to the Imperial Palace before we took our flight back to Los Angeles. We didn’t have to check out of the AirBnb until 10. It was close to…
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Chapter 20 : Shibuya –
The voyage was going smoothly, between the alcohol and the desserts, we started to lose track of time. We were arriving in Tokyo at the Shinagawa Station. First hearing the name of the stop and then seeing it on the display, we found out that we had all of our devices and loose items out…
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Chapter 19 : Osaka’s Local Heroes
We had managed to have a few snacks at our disposal, which were stashed away in our bags. There were some munchies and some apples from the Yudanaka farmer’s market. While we ate our snack, we began planning our day. We were going back to Tokyo in the afternoon, but we still had some time…
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Chapter 18 : Namba / Dotonbori –
After Elizabeth nursed Escher, we headed towards Dotonbori, which is sort of the Times Square of Osaka. We wanted to get a hot dinner, and because it was a tourist attraction, we felt like we wouldn’t be let down. The main strip was located only a few streets away from our apartment. We exited the…
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Chapter 17: Osaka
While Kyoto seemed like a small laid back city with 1.4 million people, Osaka was on the same level as Tokyo in terms of speed and energy. When we exited the Namba station and walked out into the streets, we were back in the thick of it. Cars and people were everywhere. Lights and billboards…
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Chapter 16 : Another Day In Kyoto –
The next morning, Motoko was supposed to meet us at the train station around 10am. We told her that we would probably be going to Nijō Castle, which opened around 7am. If we woke up early and made the effort, we would have three hours to get to the castle, explore, and be back at…
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Chapter 15 : Shinjuku Station to Kyoto –
We headed out of the apartment earlier than usual. After dropping off the key, we headed to the Shinjuku station, where we took the JR line to the Tokyo Station. From there, we would take the shinkansen to Kyoto. We arrived at the ticket booth to reserve our seats, only to find out that the…
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Chapter 14 : Harajuku and The Tokyo Dome –
I had a big day planned, but I wanted to get out early while Elizabeth slept in. I told her that I was going to go out for a little while and take some pictures. It was around 7:30 AM and I knew that she was going to want to stay in until around 9:30…