Last hello from Samoa, Junior! After a long day in Apia, the slightly Americanized main town on Upolu, I took off on my Green Turtle adventure around both islands. Went past stunning damage areas by cyclone Heta three weeks ago; entire forests shredded to green mulch with only the palm trees rising again after the storm is over (did you know they actually bend all the way to the floor, if necessary?). A few waterfalls, some freshwater pools in the rain forest, more and more awesome white beaches - never can seem to get enough of those it seems. Spent a night in a wonderful beach fale, one of these traditional open houses here on Samoa, and went on two dives the next day out of Senalei Reef Resort, the ritziest place around. Over to Savaii island by scary huge and old ferry to spend the next night in one of Lusia's Lagoon Chalets - awesome over-the-water high fale. Interestingly, I had a great all-evening discussion with the husband of the owner, who kept on selling me his biggest pride - Miss Samoa 2003, currently on duty in Auckland. Very funny! Did the famous rainforest canopy walkway, a fairly safe suspension bridge high up into a banyan tree, and went to shoot coconuts out of the greatest blowholes in the South Pacific, where huge waves crash unrestrained by a barrier reef into hardened lava. Big scare... no more ferries today ("mechanical trouble"), I would have to miss my flights!!! Fortunately, I remembered a few greenbacks in my wallet for just these emergencies (there *is* something good about the U.S.!), and after a little greasing I mysteriously received boarding pass 1-A for the last Polynesian island hopper back to Apia. Here I am, enjoying the service at Aggie Grey's one more evening, before flying back to Fiji and on to Taveuni this night at 3:50am... and another date switch!

Malo e Leilei from the Kingdom of Tonga, Junior! I just arrived on Samoa last night, after quite the turbulent flight from Tongatapu to Apia, but I did want to drop a few notes on my stay on the Ha'apai islands. Visisted the royal palace gardens in Nuku'alofa before taking a Royal Tongan Airlines DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter plane for the hop over to Pangai on Lifuka island. More and more blue hues than one can possibly imagine, isolated archipelagos with snow-white beaches, coconut palm-tree forests, and the most amazing coral reefs shining through the water surface. Spent an afternoon on the rugged eastern coast to watch hermit crabs and jelly fish, took a bike up north to cross via the causeway to Foa, an even more secluded gem of an island with the smallest (12 fale) of all luxury resorts in the entire kingdom, to visit Herbert and his Happy Ha'apai Divers shop. Got stuck in Pangai because Royal Tongan had cancelled all flights to the islands for a while due to mechanical problems on one of their two aircraft - even more time to relax and to watch sunsets. Visited the famous Aggie Grey's hotel in Apia this morning, paradise home for wounded American soldiers of the Pacific Circus during WW-II, and booked all my stuff through Green Turtle eco tours for the next few days here on Upolu and Savaii.

Bula! Yowza KJ... Resurfacing today for half a day on Fiji's mainland, Viti Levu. Fiji time rocks! Went to Tai Island (aka Beachcomber) for a few days to live it up and go diving - awesome! Checked out Gotham City and its amazing bat fish, circled Charlie's Reef, explored Sherwood Forest and Yadua, where we also went ashore to analyze seasnake trails and learn how to pick and crack coconuts, with a final highlight at The Supermarket with all its sharks (white and black-tip reef sharks, gray sharks, bronze whalers, etc.) and Pleasure Point, a stunner of a group of smaller reefs. On by Yasawa Flyer to Tavewa Island for the postcard shots of white beaches with dangling palm trees and over to Nanuya Lailai for a few days in Brooke Shields' Blue Lagoon. Life has been rough! Today I treated myself to something special - a floatplane ride back over all these islands and reefs aboard a Turtle Airways De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. Your jaws will drop once you can see the pictures with the views from the plane! Jetting to Tonga tomorrow, with another fun plane ride to a remote island group coming up there.

Bula Kermit! Just a few *minor* (hahaha!!!) additions to my short-term schedule with some serious dateline hopping (check out the date overlaps or gaps):

01/14-01/21 Mamanuca and Yasawa island groups, Fiji White beaches, palm trees and diving.
01/22-01/27 Tonga White beaches, palm trees, diving. You get the idea.
01/26-01/30 Samoa Let me think... Aah, yes - white beaches, palm trees, even more diving.
02/01-02/02 Coral Coast, Fiji Hmmm... oh yeah, white beaches, palm trees, maybe no diving.
02/03-02/07 Taveuni, Fiji Yeah, let's round this thing off with a little more white beaches, palm trees and even more diving!
02/08-02/11 Sydney, Australia Gotta love this.
02/12-02/19 New Zealand Well, the planning, as they say.
02/20-02/26 Melbourne-Tasmania-Adelaide, Australia Or so goes the route.
02/27-[open] Perth, Australia Details later. I've heard those rumors about inserting a second, counter-rotating RTW ticket via Caribbean, Europe, and the Emirates...

Konnichiwa, Junior! One more time from Tokyo. So many places to see, so many things to do! Went for the all-day Hakone circuit to see imposing volcano Mt. Fuji one more time (and took about every ride known to man along the way - ropeway, cablecar, funicular, toy train, etc.), cruising across Lake Ashi aboard a funny pirate ship replica and visiting Hell's Canyon with its volcanic sulphor springs. Then, I had my kid-in-a-candy-store day: In the western Tokyo area of Shinjuku are countless skyscrapers and 6 of them have free observation decks; you guessed it, I had to do them all!!! Hiked along ritzy Omotesando Avenue, checked out the Goth chicks at Harajuku station, visited the famous Meji Shrine, and enjoyed some more nightlife on the east side of Shinjuku. Mega highlight yesterday: I got super-lucky as I was in town for the opening day of the first and greatest of only three annual Grand Sumo tournaments. It felt like stripping naked ($50 for a nosebleed section seat, about $8,000 for spots next to the doyho on all 15 days) but it was a spectacle not to be missed. I entered the amazing Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena with about three hours of the day's events to go; there were thousands and thousands of people screaming and shouting the names of their superstars. Things really heated up with the introduction of the yokozuna, the highest-ranked and most successful sumo wrestlers of their time (only about 70 total existed in present-day Sumo so far) - a colorful spectacle of ceremonies and flying one's colors. During the last several fights of the night, when the ozeki and yokozuna duke it out, it's absolutely feverish mayhem - everybody jumps up, flashbulbs like thunderstorms everywhere, screaming and ooohhs and aaahhs, and within 5 to 30 seconds the fights are over. Oh yeah, some folks asked about the original sushi... well, I resisted the urge for 10 days, as the prices in restaurants will knock you unconscious upon entering. I did use the common tourist's argument eventually ("well, while I am here and on vacation - who cares, gotta do it once") and took the plunge in a decent mid-level Sushi restaurant in the Shibuya district - what an overwhelming attack on the taste buds and the wallet! Don't you think you've done Sushi with a bite of tuna or salmon... I left about US$80 in that plce and, of the things that I can actually name, I've had mooray's eyes, squid head, electric eel, shark fin tips (those were US$30 alone), and ray tail. Plus a few things, most of them yummy, that I couldn't even describe, much less name. Of course, after this experience, I begun seeing cheap Sushi shops left and right at every street corner. So, last night after the Sumo fest, I went into this dive right next to the stadium and for less than US$18 I have had more regular Sushi fare (sea urchin, yellow tail, salmon, tuna, mackarel, etc.) but it was very tasty, many many plates, and came with some Godo Hi-Boy, kind of a Red Bull on steroids based on sochu booze. I also checked out the Tsukiji fish market, the largest of its kind in the world, which was quite another experience in itself. In front of one of the neighboring Sushi joints, to the cheers of a knowledgeable Japanese audience, I witnessed a chef (assisted by about 4 other dudes) artfully cutting up a 400-pound (!!!) tuna using knives that looked more like 5-foot samurai swords. All the while, the restaurant owner was inviting folks on the street to get into his shop - with success, as it worked with me. Can't complain - haven't had any better (or cheaper) fatty tuna in my life!

Heya Mr. KJ - Back in Tokyo today. I absolutely can't stand to see one more temple for now but Kyoto was an inspiring must-see. Can't even remember all the places but the two highlights were the visit to the Imperial Palace (I had to get a special permission the day before but after that it was actually free) and a day in Arashiyama, a suburb of Kyoto, and its lovely Iwatayama Monkey Park - yes, another boink, boink, boink moment in my life. Amazingly funny to watch the human-like social interaction of these animals without a fence between you and them. Never a dull day in their family lives, that's for sure! The view from the park is awesome - all of Kyoto on a clear day. Speaking of clear days, I have been lucky: It was supposed to be wet and gray here in January but, while it is chillingly cold, I have had nothing but blue skies and sunshine! That made the picture of Mt. Fuji turn out great today - the Shinkansen went for an awesome sightseeing turn around it and I had the good fortune to sit at a window on the correct side of the train. Four more days in glitz and neon lights, then back into the summer and to the South Pacific.

Yowza Junior... more on life in the Big Red Dot. My wallet bled to death but I did take the plunge to ride on the top version of the three Shinkansen bullet trains: I took the Nozomi Tokaido Shinkansen super express from Tokyo to Kyoto - what a rush! Not quite as comfortable as a third-generation ICE back in Germany but, since the Japanese don't care too much for environment and neighbors when it comes to implementing technology, they ride exclusively on purpose-built tracks and, thus, fly from A to Z and not just sporadically like the ICEs. Kyoto is one amazing place... I am getting close to TOS (temple overkill syndrome) but you just have to enjoy all the beauty there is. Highlights today were the visits to the Golden Pavilion with its Mirror Lake (Wait 'till you see my picture - you can flip it upside-down and won't notice the difference!) and to Nijo Castle (Remember my birthday dinner 2 years ago? That's the place!). Topping it all off was a stroll through a shopping palace of superlatives: JR Isetan at Kyoto Station. A futuristic glass and glitz oasis of immense proportions (about two football fields in size, each of the 11-above and 3-below earth levels), nothing but ritzy brand-name apparel for men and women (no fluff stuff like electronics, household items, etc.) - and, most amazingly, that place was packed with people actually buying all that expensive crap! I went for the architectural eye-candy... a grand staircase over 7 levels, an atrium that would make NYC skyscrapers blush with waterfall-like escalators over 9 levels (no zig-zag stuff here), and for good measure you can watch the Shinkansen zip by, right from the glass escalators between levels 2 and 3. Two more days here, then back to Tokyo.

Short-term schedule:

01/04-01/08 Kyoto, Japan The historic side of the Rising Sun.
01/08-01/12 Tokyo, Japan Back for more glitz and a trip to Hakone and Mt. Fuji.
01/12-02/03 Fiji Back to the South Pacific. Details on island-hopping to follow.
02/03-05/01 Australia Including New Zealand, trips to Tazzie, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and a longer stay in Perth.

Happy New Year, little frog!!! - Just a quick hello from this jet-lagged soul, now in Tokyo. Meeting the crew in Madrid on x-mas eve was as fun as always; the flight via Miami to Cancun was another reminder why it is nice not to be in the US these days - ridiculously excessive immigration, customs and security processing, all of this not even the tiniest bit perceivable to be helping the situation at all. Whatever! At least Cancun was a jolly good Washbear time - mostly hotels hotels hotels but a nice day trip to Playa del Carmen and even some diving, even though the waves were high and the visibility comparably poor. Processing at DFW was as annoying as at MIA, so I enjoyed my luck even more having been upgraded from business to first class - woohoo!!! Two bottles of Heidsieck Monopole Brut champagne (that is a lofty 87-point Wine Spectator bubbly, for those of you who care), sushi a-la-carte, a mountain of snow-crab legs, and a good 10 hours of 180-degree sleep during the 14 hours total flight time. Narita is way outside Tokyo; took about two hours to get to my hotel. SSS, then I hooked up with a Canadian travel buddy -whom I had met in Rio de Janeiro 6 weeks ago- and his friends for the New Years night out in Roppongi, the expat party zone. Today I followed Japanese tradition and visited the Asakusa Shrine, the Five-story Pagoda, and the Senso-Ji Temple, alongside about a million or so Japanese folks. Gotta see those awesome ladies in their prime-time kimonos!!! Quiet night tonight, for a change - sleep...