See a Picture of a REAL Monkey!

Let's see now, where did I leave off?  Oh yes, blowfish.

The sightseeing trip with my old college buddy around Fukuoka (pronounced "San Diego") was really a blast.  And we spent one evening up by Shimonoseki/Mojiko in a swanky jazz club (not live music) reminiscing and catching up and talking about how weird it was that 12 years after the last time we saw each other I was working in a small town a mere train ride from her home.

Speaking of train rides, I am always terrified to ride the trains by myself in Japan.  I always think I'm going to get on the wrong one.  I have yet to make a single mistake, but I'm still always afraid.  Come to think of it, I'm always scared to ride the city buses in Indiana too for the same reason.  

Now since I said the word train, here's a picture of trains!  That one that looks like it could go really fast goes really fast.  If I got on that one by accident, in minutes I would be in Canada.  So I always arrive at the train station 28 hours early so I have plenty of time to make sure I paid for the right ticket and I'm standing on the right platform.  

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Mijoko is famous for bananas.  It's where the bananas first landed when they discovered Japan, like the Japanese version of "Plymouth Rock" or the East Indies version of "America."  So below, I have included a picture of bananas. And since the first thing you think of when you think of bananas is little street performer monkeys, I have also graciously included a picture of one such monkey.  I didn't catch his name, unfortunately.  But we did exchange glances.

Absolutely bananas

Actually, that monkey's wearing a dress.  I think he might be a she.

Then there's this guy.  He was in a museum full of things I wasn't allowed to photograph, but there was a sign on his chamber that said "You may photograph only this statue."

I also saw the birthplace of Einstein.  Actually, I can't be sure he was born there, because he seems to be German.  

And also, this building had nothing to do with Einstein, it was a different building that had anything to with Einstein at all.  But I can't seem to find my picture(s) of that building.  However, just so you believe me, here's a picture of a picture of Einstein in said building.  He's at the head of the far table.

I'm going to end this post here because I have company and he's probably thinking "get off the dang computer so you can get back to watching TV with me!"  And I know anyone who reads this is anxiously anticipating the bath photo, but I haven't gotten to that trip yet.  This post, however, concludes the review of my first Golden Week trip.  Stay tuned for reviews of trips 2 and 3, which include bathing, the sea, a remote desert ice cream stand, and more.

Oh, here's another picture of blowfish: