I have not written for a long time, not that I did not have anything to say but I was too busy at work (and it’s getting worse) but also not in the right mood to write. Well, did you ever had that feeling that when something goes wrong, everything else will follow the same way till you are broken down? Or maybe it is just that something is wrong and you cannot appreciate anything for a while…

So yeah, the couple of past weeks in Japan have been quite disappointing. The end of my stay in Japan is nearing fast and I still wanted to do and visit so many places and there is no time to spend thinking of what is the next destination. So as I woke up on a Sunday morning, I decided to go to Ise; Ise is not far from where I live, I mean speaking in Japanese distances… it is still a 3 hours ride by train. By the way, why did I choose Ise? Because I had that picture of two bounded rocks, with sacred rope in the water, in my mind. But in fact, Ise is known for two famous shrines, or should I say 1 shrine, Ise Jingu, divided into 2, the inner (Naiku) and the outer (Geku) shrines keeping 2 of the 3 symbols of Japan’ emperor family. As a matter of fact, everything that is sacred has to be protected right? so are the shrines, hidden by wooden walls; you can barely see the roofs… and the artifacts? do not even think about it. Eventhough those shrines are among the most venerated in Japan, I felt I was wandering in the countryside (yeah Ise is pretty drab) with a walk in the forest to see trees and shrines’ roof.

Funny story, I met one NEC researcher a few weeks ago and he said he was from Ise, which at the moment I thought it was nice. Now I understans why he said it was not really a good place! Even Ishikiri, the place I am living in, is more exciting than Ise.

Alright, it was rainy, the sightseeing was not extraordinary but I did not see the 2 rocks yet! There are just a train station away so let’s head for Futami and the Meoto-iwa! It was not raining that hard but being on the coastline, wind was pretty strong so you get soaked anyway. And there they are… (Ise is lost in the middle of nowhere but Futami is even more lost than that) the 2 wedded rocks… wait… aren’t they supposed to be bigger? I was cheated again, the illusion of 2 big rocks comes from the size of the tori on one of them, a dawrf would not be able to go through it! Well you got the idea, an optical illusion, really dissapointing.

So this was my last sightseeing in Japan, I wish I could go to Hokkaido but money is getting short and I have met new friends so I am gonna spend some time with them before i leave.

Oh I almost forgot, I went back to Hakone to see Mount Fuji but guess what… yeah clouds were in the party again! But being in Tokyo for a week-end and meet friends there was fun though.

Pictures will come shortly…