I Stopped At...

24/07/2011 The main entrance to the Kochi Castle The Kochi castle built by a family called Yamauchi after the victory of Tokugawa. This castle boasts of its original buildings still standing majestically. According to the Wikipedia   "Though no battles were fought at the castle, it is noteworthy because the castle is the original structure, and not a post was replica. It is also the only castle in Japan to retain both its original tenshu, or keep and its palace.In fact, it is the only castle to have all the original buildings in the  honmaru, or innermost ring of the defense  still standing." From the photos below  you can see the castle entrance and the open area where the old palace buildings used to stand some several hundred years ago. From here onward you shall be introduced to the ancient technology used in the castle and still can be witnessed. These were used to remove water from the top castle grounds. As Kochi is an area

2010/12/17 Just had the most wonderful birthday gift witch was not in the least meant to be a birthday gift. I had the chance to witness some beautiful flamenco performance with a brilliant guitar backing on a Friday night. This was at a Spanish restaurant at Nishinippori . The flamenco dance show is performed every night with different dancing troupes. There are two shows one at 7 o`clock and the next at 9`o clock which each lasts for about 30minutes. On this day, it was a troupe with the leading performer named "Wada Hiroko". First show Second show Their performance was lively with Spanish words of encouragement flowing from the audience. A grand set of Spanish dishes were served through out the show.  Beautiful strong vocals and very talented guitarist help the audience to catch up with the rhythm. If anybody wants details please leave a comment. Special thanks to Mr. Yoneyama and special thanks to Sumanaphan Sirimas for th