I slept well in my suite at the Flaming Dragons Hotel. It was still dark when I awoke. I ordered an omelette through room service. I then took the opportunity to try some meditating by the Zen Garden that I had raked the day before. It was quite an uplifting experience and at times, I even felt that my whole body was in a different place. I finished the meditation feeling very refrehsed and ready to face the challenges of the day ahead.
I did decide to go on a tour after all. I spoke to the guide, paid the fee and the shuttle came and took me off to the river boat tour. However, this did not turn out to be the event I thought it would be. Using a net to try and recover someone's watch was a bad idea as a snapping turtle came onboard the boat and injured a few of the other tourists.
Feeling somewhat dejected, I chose to learn to play Mahjongg. It seemed a bit more complicated than the solitaire version I was used to, but I was familiar with the tiles. In one of the huts, three people needed a fourth to play Mahjongg. "Just a bit of fun", they said. I believe I was dealt a winning hand comprising of two pongs, two chows and a pair, but then I got the impression that everyone had the same hand. However, as it was just for fun, that was no big deal.
The day was becoming quite fulfilling but I believed that there was a lot more that I could learn from this vacation. I intended to make the most of it.
The principle of Tours is the same in Takemizu as it is in Three Lakes. The only difference is the colour of the tour guide's shirt. I am assuming that I will find a different coloured shirt on the tourguide in Twikkii Island when I get to visit there. You book a tour with the guide, pay your fee, the shuttle comes to take you away and there might be a chance card while you are on the tour. In the same style as careers, different choices have different outcomes. You can choose to ignore, but where's the fun in that?
Being an avid player of Mahjongg solitaire and sometimes-player of "Hong Kong Mahjong", I was interested to see how this would be implemented for TS2. The tiles looked detailed, the hands were accurate but it was disappointing that everyone had got the same hand. If there is the opportunity, I'll get Toshiro to play for money and I'll report back if the hands change.
In the next part, Toshiro goes on various quests to find a Hidden Pagoda, an elusive ninja and the relaxing dancing style of Tai Chi.
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