Updated on 12/23/2008 at 1:53 AM. I've also posted some other new pics in my gallery, these are the main highlights! Lots of new pics from Hiroshima have now been posted!

New NGE chapter 43A has been posted! [link]

New fanart by for my NGE story!

New Ranma 1/2 chapter 17B is now posted! [link]

All Miyajima Island, Ginkakuji Temple, and Toji Temple pics are now posted! I also posted all my pictures from the Santa Monica Pier and from the Shibuya District of Tokyo and Meiji-jingu/Meiji Temple in the Yoyogi District of Tokyo- [link]

Check out this new pic of me and my gf, drawn by



New Ranma 1/2 chapter 17A: [link]
New NGE chapter 42C: [link]
New Sailor Moon chapter 5C: [link]
New pics from the smoking hills of Centralia, PA. [link]
New pics from Santa Monica Pier: [link]

Other new pics:



Trip report!

9/21- Had a couple hours in London-Heathrow Airport on a layover... had to leave out of the brand new Terminal 5- very nice looking, I could see why it cost so many pounds to make.

9/22- After landing and heading over to my hostel, I headed east to get a pic of this building with a weird flame on top of it, then went over to "Nerima"- didn't see any violent tomboys or sex changing martial artists around but got a few pics of the area. No Uc-chan's or Cat Cafe, either, sadly.

Visited the Roppongi Hills area next, and checked out it's shopping center. Weird spider sculpture in front of that. I wandered down to Azabu-Juban next, looking for Sailor Moon, but didn't find her or any of the other Sailor Senshi. Sun was going down by this point, went over to Tokyo Tower next and got pics of it, went to both observatories and took some interesting nighttime shots. It looks a lot different inside then how it's portrayed in Magic Knights Rayearth, maybe they've modernized it in the last 10 years or so.

Got some pics of the vending machines, including one that dispenses alcohol! I like that a lot!

9/23- Started at 5 AM with some local temples, walked over to Tokyo University/Todai, then over to Ueno Park and came back to my hostel. Went out again after a rest- went to the Pokemon Center, Yebisu Brewery, and the Meiji Temple in Yoyogi Park. Hopped up to the city of "Misato" and had dinner while looking for the Major. Finally, I visited the famous "Akihabara" electronics area and got some Ikki Tousen stuff and found something really, really kick ass.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Pachinko machines with screens on them showing the series as you play. I haven't seen this much NGE stuff since seeing Tiffany Grant's Asuka collection on NGE platinum DVD 4. Pics of everything but the machine will be up later... they had LIFESIZE Asuka and Rei's at the door!

9/24- Good day except for one thing at the end. Got up early and took a "Hikari" train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Went to the "Toji" temple- (LOL, if the NGE Toji did have a temple, he'd be worshipping Hikari) I also went to another temple in the NE part of the city before returning and heading over to Osaka, where I took another train to Koshien, the stadium in Princess Nine. I got lots of pics of the outside but the tickets were sold out!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I got some nifty souvenirs and ate at KFC before returning.

9/25- Hiroshima was pretty interesting, I took the street car down to the A-Bomb Dome, Memorial and Museum. That was quite a sobering experience- it was one of the most moving places that I have ever been.

I also had many school kids ask me where I was from and what sports I liked... they loved seeing my Chicago Cubs baseball cap! I talked to three people in various parts of Hiroshima and all were familiar with the Cubs... forget about those Yankees or Red Sox... two knew about both Chicago teams. I wish I could've responded better in Japanese to the kids questions to me in English.

The 2nd half of the day was spent on Miyajima Island, where there's a very famous "Torii" or gate, along with many temples and wild deer, everywhere! I think one might have eaten my postage stamps, they were the only thing missing when I got back to my hostel.

9/26- Got up early, filled out my postcards, and heading out to take the "HIKARI" train to Hakata/Fukoaka. Easy 5 minute connection via subway to the airport. Took my EVA Airlines Hello Kitty flight over to Taipei, and then to Hong Kong.

TWO Hello Kitty flights on EVA airlines... one down, boarding in a few hours number two. (See the irony in the airline name?) Saw the Hello Kitty airline terminal and gift shop in Taipei, Taiwan. Took pics of that...

The only bad luck on my trip happened in Hong Kong, where my main choice to get to Manilla on Cathay Pacific went from 150 open seats to being overbooked... the Philippines Airlines flight was also overbooked and I had to spend 12 hours in the airport. I was totally shocked to see a "Popeye's" fast food chain there in the airport!

9/27- Unfortunately, my bad luck continued. I got on the standby list and onto the first flight of the day, no problem. The plane was running late, however, and made me miss BOTH daily flights to Butuan... so I spent the better part of the day in Manilla's new Terminal 3- I read, watched some movies, and napped occasionally. The security there was good and several guards were quite attentive to me and the other sleeping passengers- I didn't feel like anything was going to get stolen at all.

9/28- I take the first flight out in the morning on Cebu Pacific Airlines to Butuan. I get there and my girlfriend Janeth is waiting for me, along with her sister and cousin. We decide to go back to her place instead of just staying in Butuan, so we go to the bus area and spend 3 1/2 hours on the bus down her town, then another 20 minutes on a motorcycle to get there, 15 km off of the main road. It was an adventure and definitely a unique experience for me- but since the western parts of this island were having problems between the Muslim and Christians, and I was obviously out of place anyway, I didn't take any pics on the way to/from her place.

Read more about Mindanao Island here- there's also mention of the conflict as well. [link] The US Department of State also had a warning on this island, giving me even more reason to use caution. However, I saw no military activity and was completely safe on my visit.

I saw a kid go by in a motorcycle with a Pikachu hat on, and I saw Hello Kitty as well... just goes to show that even in the rural Philippines/Mindanao- you can find these things. HK and Pokemon are everywhere!!!!

I got to her place and met her parents and family- I've never seen such hospitality before. They made me dinner, had some beef, chicken, rice, plenty of Coca-Cola, and some ox as well. Mangos, too. I got a tour of the coffee plantation and farm that they have and saw many different plants and flowers that I hadn't seen before. I met some of the neighbors and they had me over for "Karaoke" or "Videoke" as it's known there, along with a lot of "Gold Star" beer from the Philippines. Everyone was very friendly and we all had a good time, despite the shortness of my visit. I got to spend a little quality time with my girlfriend, Janeth.

9/29- Left about 630 AM from Janeth's place and took a jeepney over to the main road, bus up to Butuan, and a tricycle to the airport. We had a Coke and talked before I left to Manilla, then I got on the Hawaiian Airlines flight, which had good Hawaiian food btw, and got into Honolulu. My cousin picked me up there and we went out for lunch before going to the USS Arizona. Great park and a very moving movie- the memorial itself was quite profound. I had no problems making my other 3 flights and got back in around 6 PM local time in Harrisburg.

Old records/LP's: [link]

Japan/Asia trip-

Japanese, Hong Kong, Philippines Money Pics: [link]

Tokyo, Japan: [link]

Kyoto, Japan: [link]

Osaka, Japan: [link]

Hiroshima, Japan: [link]

Miyajima Island, Japan: [link]

Hello Kitty Jet/EVA Air: [link]

Hello Kitty Airline Terminal in Taipei, Taiwan: [link]

Honolulu, Hawaii: [link]

9/20:

Harrisburg to Philadelphia on US Airways - $0.00
Philadelphia to London on US Airways- $5.50

9/21:

London to Tokyo on British Airways- $191.01

Japanese cities I visited:

Tokyo
Osaka
Kyoto
Hiroshima
Fukuoka

9/26:

Fukuoka to Taipei on EVA Airlines (Hello Kitty Flight)- $44.74
Taipei to Hong Kong on EVA Airlines (Hello Kitty Flight)- $38.43

9/27:

Hong Kong to Manilla on Cathay Pacific- $44.38

9/28:

Manilla to Butuan on Cebu Pacific Airline- $35.26

9/29:

Butuan to Manilla on Philippines Airlines- $40.00
Manilla to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines- $89.90
Honolulu to San Francisco on United Airlines- $45.78

9/30:

San Francisco to Philadelphia on US Airways- $0.00
Philadelphia to Harrisburg on US Airways- $0.00


Total distance covered- 32,861 miles/ 52,906 kilometers
Total time in air- 49 hours, 48 minutes
Total cost for tickets: $535.00