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Yesterday afternoon, Dan and I headed down to Cincinnati for his “surprise” 30th birthday party. I say “surprise” because he knew something was going on, just not what exactly. Joyce and I had been planning a secret party at an arcade full of classic arcade games like Streetfighter and Ms. Pacman! We rented a room in the back that had two TVs that you could also hook console games up to. Ben and Matt snuck down to help us set up games. Joyce made all the food and I bargained with the owners to stay open 30 minutes later so that we could get the UFC fight on one of the TVs in the back room. Oh, and my friend Molly even made this awesome cake shaped like an arcade stick!

Streetfighter cake!

Everyone showed up around 8 and Pete brought Dan at 8:30. Dan was surprised (or so he says) and we all had a good time running around playing games, eating pizza and cake, and watching the UFC fight.  Here’s a not unfamiliar scene from the evening.

Dan and Ben on Streetfighter II and Jeff on Ms. Pacman

There are lots more pictures of our friends and family having fun if you click on the “piictures” tab.  Happy 30th birthday to my distinguished husband who just so happens to still love video games!  I love you honey!

We had some complications getting to the airport in Tokyo and somehow ended up in a first class car (that we had to pay for!) on a train to Narita airport.  Regardless, we made it there and we made it home.  Dan was even able to finagle us an earlier flight from Chicago to Columbus.  Now, I love traveling, but it felt really good to get off of the plane where I am once again a literate citizen that can fully navigate roads and menus with the ease of a, well, literate citizen.  You know what also felt good?  Eating oatmeal, sleeping in my double-padded queen-sized bed, and catching up on so much English-language television (our DVR was busting!) that I thought I might die of happiness (ah, Biggest Loser).  Now, off to do other sweet things… like shower in my own bathroom, buy identifiable items at the grocery store and say something other than arrigato (thank you) and sumimasen (sorry/excuse me) to strangers.  Nothing feels better than expanding your vocabulary from three words (I know konichiwa too!) to thousands, all in a single flight over the Pacific.

Oh, and dear Ohio, this weather is lovely.  Thanks for the nice welcome home.

For our last day in Kyoto, our first stop was to the very famous Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji.  It was worth the long walk from the subway and the crowds.  Dan took a lot of great pictures.  Then, we decided to go back to where we left off yesterday.  We found the philosopher’s path, so named for a philosophy professor at Kyoto University who took his daily meditative walk along the canal in the early 1900s.  It was tree-lined and very pretty.  There were also shops and cafes along the way every so often.  At the end of the philosopher’s path was the Silver Pavilion or Ginkaku-ji.  Though under renovation, it was still particularly nice, and the gardens were even nicer.  There was a neat garden of silver sand that Dan got pictures of.  As we headed back toward the philosopher’s path (to go back home) we stopped to slurp up some udon noodles.  Then we found this place where this old couple was making these cookie/wafer things that smelled really good, so we bought a bag for 300 yen (about $3).  And they were really good!  They tasted like crispy, sugary gingerbread and we ate half the bag in no time.  The other half might not make it back home.

We came back to rest at the hotel for a few hours and then went to find a bite to eat.  We found an Indian restaurant and the naan there was twice the size of Dan’s head!  We were both stuffed.  The arcade just so happened to be across the way from the restaurant, so Dan went to play his last few games of Streetfighter in Japan.  And, guess what?  He finally won one!  “Now we can leave Japan,”  he says.

This morning, I had a big day planned.  We started at Kyoto Station, which is just the train station, but also has a few malls and a “sky garden” to view the city.  We shopped a bit and viewed the sky garden, but it was sort of a rainy day and the pictures aren’t that great.  After the station, we went east a bit to a shrine called Fushimi Inari.  I was excited about this because it was a 4km path through 10,000 orange torii gates and because this is the shrine to the god Inari (a fox-looking character), the namesake of my favorite new sushi.  And along that 4km path there are little shops that sell green tea and inari sushi.  Yum!  So, we walked and walked and walked.  You wouldn’t believe how many 10,000 is.  It’s a lot.  And most of the walk was uphill.  We cut it a little short because we were pretty tired and the inari was calling our name.  Dan got some really great pictures here (so check the Piictures tab).  Oh, and I almost forgot that there was this one part along the trail where suddenly there were like 30 cats jumping out from everywhere and meowing like crazy.  I kinda felt like I was in a horror movie.  We got a little video of us walking the path and of the cats.  So, check that out too:

After that we headed toward the museum district and visited the museum of traditional crafts (well, okay, just the gift shop) and then went to a Zen Buddhist temple (a working one).  It was pretty cool, but by this time, I was about to die I was so tired.  We had plans of then hiking the “philosopher’s path” to the Silver Pavilion, but it just wasn’t happening.  We think we’ll try again tomorrow.  Instead we went home, napped, and then went back to “the madness” and found a Japanese Cici’s!  I’m not kidding, a pizza buffet!  I had a pizza with corn and green pepper on it.  The salad bar only had shredded cabbage, potato salad, macaroni salad, and canned fruit.  They also had a couple types of pasta and curry and rice.  It wasn’t terrible, but not great either, sort of like the American Cici’s.  Then, Dan played a few more Streetfighter games at the arcade, and we’re back to our hotel to sleep.

Dear Japan,

There are several things I would like to submit for your consideration.  All suggested changes are encouraged to be completed prior to my next visit (which could very well be never, not because I don’t like it, but because it’s expensive here, which now that I think about it should be my first suggestion).

1) Please install more benches everywhere, but especially in the subway.  I speak for all fat, lazy Americans when I say that I like to rest my fluffy butt as often as possible.  I know you all aspire to be hard workers, but we all aspire for as much leisure time as possible and one way we get it is by sitting as much as we can.

2) Please supply (real) napkins and/or paper towels at restaurants, convenience stores and restrooms everywhere.  Again, as a fat American, I can get a little aggressive when I eat and I am required to be surrounded by bits of paper (paper that probably won’t be recycled) to wipe my slop on.  Also, after I wash my hands in the restroom, I would like to dry them off on something other than my pants.  I think I’ve spied a few of your citizens with their own personal hand towels in their purses, and I just don’t think I can be responsible for this.  You see, my purse is very full already.

3) Please supply trashcans/recycle bins every fifty feet or so.  It appears as though not many people like to eat on the go here, but this is required as I am an efficient machine, an efficient lazy machine (I know that can be confusing, but we are efficient so that we can be lazy later).  So, speaking as a lazy American, there’s nothing I hate more than carrying around my empty can/bottle of pop for more than ten minutes.  If your country wasn’t so clean, I probably would have sat it in the middle of the sidewalk and called it a day.

4) Please do not put anything in doughnuts that would not give you a cavity.  Hot dogs?  No.  Egg salad?  No.  Curry?  No.  Bean paste (even if it is mixed with sugar)?  No.  If you start messing with ice cream, we are going to have to have a serious conversation.

5) Please do not bring back the scrunchie.  Its day has passed.

Other than these minor problems, I am having a wonderful time in your country.

Sincerely,

Laurie

Yesterday morning, we stopped at a pastry shop and then headed to our Imperial Palace tour.  This Imperial Palace was more of what I expected compared to the one in Tokyo.  This one had buildings from the 16th century with rooves made of bark and delicate paintings on the screen doors.  The one in Tokyo was mostly built in the 19th century and was much more modern.  I guess this shows my bias toward an idealized traditional Japan, but what can I say?  That’s what I like.

After the Imperial Palace, we headed to Nijo-jo or Nijo castle, which was build for the shogun during feudal (middle ages-ish).  This place is a World Heritage site, so it is nicely maintained and we got some great pictures of the buildings and the moat around it.  There were a lot of school kids at this one.  It seems like at every touristy place we go, if there are school kids there, one class clown likes to point us out and say “Hello!” in exaggerated English while all his friends giggle at us.  Look! Whiteys!  Let’s laugh at how they say “Hello!” Oy, we stick out like sore thumbs.

After these two excursions, we went back to our hotel to eat lunch at the Italian restaurant there and take naps.  I ordered pasta pomodoro and (surprise!) it was a cold dish.  Oh, the joys of eating the Japanese version of an Italian dish.  I should’ve known better.  We were going to go to the manga museum, but it turned out to be closed on Mondays, so were were happy with naps instead.

After our naps we went back to Teramachi (a place we’ve started to refer to simply as “the madness”) to shop some more and I actually bought a few cool shirts and a scarf (and got another shot of me with a rack of scrunchies)!  I was excited, but when we started to try to find a restaurant we saw yesterday, we were totally lost and turned around.  It’s a maze in there!  We finally did find the place and then wanted crepes afterward, which we swore were just around the corner…  Anyway, eventually, we had crepes and Dan even found an arcade with Streetfighter.  So, I sat outside and read our Japan book (it’s too smoky in arcades), while he got whooped some more.  Full and happy, we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep.

This morning we woke up early at our hostel and walked Ben down to the train station so that he could head back to Tokyo to catch his flight.  He left without any problems and should be on the plane now about 3 hours in to a long flight home.  It was a much nicer morning weather-wise and we were able to see Mt. Fuji clearly and Dan got some nice pictures before we left.  At around 10am, we headed down to the train station again and took a bus to Mishima station where we could then board our bullet train (shinkansen) to Kyoto.  While we were waiting on the track, some other trains went whooshing by and, man, they really are fast.  Once we boarded ours and took off, it was surprisingly smooth, and the seats were nice and big and roomy, much bigger than an airplane.  The trip took about two hours and we stopped in about five different cities along the way.  It was cool to see the Japanese suburbs and country side from my window.  I saw a kids’ soccer game and even some rice paddies along the way.

When we got to Kyoto, we got on the (much smaller) subway two stops to our hotel.  We had a little trouble finding it, but once we did, we were impressed with how nice it is and how good the location is.  After settling in, we went out to find a place to eat.  But right when we stepped out of our hotel, we saw some sort of celebratory ceremony going on in front of what looked like a small Shinto shrine.  I caught part of the drummers on video (click the link below).

Drummers

After watching for awhile, we remembered that we needed to eat.  In my travel book, I found a vegetarian restaurant that I wanted to try and we had a little trouble finding this too, but once we did, it was so worth it.  I got a set meal with two courses of vegetables, fried tofu, fried wheat gluten, and mushroom rice soup with yuba noodles.  Each item was oishii (delicious)!  Dan shared most of these with me and also got a side of brown rice cakes, which he said were also very good.  The restaurant turned out to be in this area called Teramachi and Shinkyogoku, which has all sorts of trendy shops and boutiques including a bunch of Japanese hip hop stores (weird), thrift shops with tons of old American t-shirts (and check out the shot Dan got of a whole rack of scrunchies!), and a few arcades thrown in for good measure.  It sort of turned out to be a maze of shops and Dan and I almost thought we were lost before we found the main road again (and a Baskin Robbins!).  Now, we are back at our hotel for the night gearing up for day 1 of sightseeing in Kyoto.  Dan should be posting pictures from today very soon, so check out the Piictures tab!

There have been a lot of funny English translations here.  This is one of my favorites from an Italian restaurant we ate at in Akihabara.

I'll take puffily.

After my run this morning, Dan, Ben and I made some breakfast in the kitchen.  We made a fruit salad and mixed it with plum yogurt (which tasted like prunes) and granola.  Then, we went to hike up Mt. Kachi Kachi to get a good view of Mt. Fuji.  Mt. Kachi Kachi has a cable car to take you up, but it is only a 45 minute hike, so we decided to do that.  The climb was kind of steep, but refreshing and along the way were wild hydrangeas!  They were so pretty and they were everywhere!  It was a bride’s paradise.  Dan got some great pictures of them and he will post them soon.  The view from the top was beautiful.  I couldn’t believe that we had walked that far up a mountain.  The weather was great for hiking, overcast and cool, but unfortunately, this also meant that Mt. Fuji was covered in clouds. 

When we finally got back to the base of the mountain, we found that cheesecake shop again and bought the most delicious chocolate creme cheesecake.  Then, we went to the grocery store and bought more items for lunch.  One of the things they have at the grocery store is inari.  It’s a pocket of fried tofu stuffed with rice and it is sweet and delicious.  I’ve eaten them for the last three meals!  Even Ben and Dan love them!  I will be scouring sushi places at home to find these things again.  We also found some tempura and one of the fried items was a japanese sweet potato, which is a little less sweet than ours, but super delicious (isn’t everything when it’s fried?).  We’ll be going back to the grocery store tonight to get some dinner.  Since we’ve been here in Mt. Fuji, we haven’t eaten out once!  The grocery store is too amazing (and cheap!).

After cleaning up from lunch, we rented some bikes and ran some errands.  We went to the post office to get more cash, to the train station to buy our ticket (but they turned us away, you have to buy it the day of) and then souvenir shopping on the lake.  Riding bikes wasn’t as relaxing and fun as I thought it would be.  If we rode on the street, we had to ride on the left, which was confusing, and if we rode on the sidewalk, the sidewalks were super tiny and difficult to maneuver.  It was an experience anyway, and our hotel had bikes to rent for only 150 yen an hour, so no harm done.  We also got some cool souvenir tea mugs with Mt. Fuji on them.

When, we got back with our bikes, I had worked up the courage to go to the onsen (hot springs).  I know it’s sort of strange to be naked in front of strangers, but darn it, we have been walking for four days straight and I could use a soak in a mineral bath!  Plus, I’m a science teacher and these hot springs are the result of plate tectonics and I think that’s cool!  So, I just got over it and partook in Japanese tradition (thanks for the push, Marcy!).  Ben and Dan stayed back to play games.  I took my towel and a deep breath and made the two minute walk over to the entrance of Onsenji (if you click on the name you will go to the website, which is in Japanese, but has neat pictures).  When I got in, it was nicer than I anticipated.  It was sort of like a fancy spa.  I took my shoes off at the door and put them on a rack.  Then, I paid my entry fee (about $8) and the lady at the counter directed me down some stairs and to the right (the women’s lockers).  Once, in the locker room, you undress and put your clothes in a basket.  Then, you sort of cover yourself with your towel and walk over to a shower area.  The shower area was nice and they had shampoo, conditioner and body wash available.  It was different though because you sat on a stool.  In onsens, you are required to shower before getting in the baths because they want to keep them clean (obviously).  Once, I was all clean, I checked out the baths.  There was an outside area with one larger bath and then these three funny pots large enough for one person.  Inside, there were two large baths and then upstairs was a sauna.  I sort of sat in each one until I couldn’t stand it anymore, then I would move on to the next.  I liked the pots the best for obvious reasons.  As I was sitting there, head back, watching the clouds and trying to relax, I suddenly remembered my bad toenail damaged from running two years ago and start swishing it around, hoping the mineral water would heal it.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.  Once I was done in the springs, I dried off, got dressed and then, they had a little area with several vanities.  Each vanity had brushes to use (you just use it once and then put it in the dirty brush bin to be cleaned) and hair dryers.  That was nice.  I was feeling all warm and slow, so I putzed around their gift shop for awhile before I went home.  So, in conclusion…  An onsen is really just like a spa with a bunch of hot tubs.  It was nice and relaxing and the naked part wasn’t so bad because everyone was naked and everyone just sort of ignored each other.  It would have been nice to have some company.  Lots of women were there with friends and chatted as they soaked.  All in all, I’m really glad I did it.

Tonight, we’re headed back to the grocery store to get food and have out last meal with Ben.  He leaves for home tomorrow and Dan and I head to Kyoto.

This morning, I woke up early.  It was one of those morning where you wake up and you can feel the cool air streaming in from outside and you are perfectly cocooned in your bed, the exact perfect temperature.  I quietly snuck out to brush my teeth and get ready for a nice run.  It was cloudy and cool, perfect running weather.  I decided to head for the lake, which we hadn’t seen yet (the grocery is in the opposite direction).  When I got there, I was surprised by how close it is to our hostel and how pretty the scenery is.  A small lake, nestled in tree-covered mountains, dotted with fisherman out in the dawn.  I started my run and along the way, I saw a rose garden, a high school crew team preparing to practice, a family of three riding their bikes, and a cheesecake shop (I’ll be going back there).  When I got to the opposite side of the lake, I had the most stunning view of Mt. Fuji.  The top was in the clouds at the moment, but I still wish I would have brought my camera.  The weather was so perfect and the air was so fresh compared to Tokyo that I was in heaven.  I wish I could do this same 5 mile loop every morning.

When I got back to the hostel, I went to the kitchen, made some tea and a bowl of cereal and sat out on the patio for a bit.  When I returned to the room, Ben and Dan were awake, taking advantage of the free wireless and waiting for the front desk to open so we could rent some towels (we forgot to get them last night).  It opens in four minutes, so I am going to go grab them and clean up so we can go hiking and for a bike ride today.