From Mt. Fuji, I spent two days in Tokyo. I stayed in a capsule hotel, which was neat. It had a 24 spa attached to it, nothing to get too excited over, but something to look forward to. When I arrived, I was told I couldn't check in until 4, I couldn't even use the bathroom let alone wait in the lobby until 4pm. I went off, and walked around for a bit, coming back at 4, and did some laundry. I decided to take a quick nap, and ended up sleeping for 8 hours.
The following day, I went for lunch at Sushiko, an awesome little restaurant with only eleven seats. Pricey, but you get the attention of a sushi chef. It was my one treat to myself, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, I walked around and explored Tokyo. I ended the night at Shibuya Crossing, a famous intersection where all the lights go read, and people surge onto the street every minute or so from all directions.
Woke up early, and caught a train to Osaka where I discovered the flight is overbooked. I took the bump, argued until they bought me dinner, and upgraded my ticket to a business class ticket, and am now rerouted. No visit to Seattle.
At the airport lounge now waiting for the flight to depart. Unfortunately, my travel time is extended quite a bit. I am supposed to arrive around 9:45PM the night of the 11th of August, instead I am coming in around 4PM the afternoon of the 12th. Very unfortunate.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Japan thus far... continued part 3
The following images are from my walking of Kyoto.
On nearly every street corner is a vending machine. My favorite remains the milk tea, cold. You can get a wide variety of beverages, although not Coca Cola. This is a nice change.
On nearly every street corner is a vending machine. My favorite remains the milk tea, cold. You can get a wide variety of beverages, although not Coca Cola. This is a nice change.
I guess someone made a thousand small cranes, at least that would be my guess. This was left as a gift at a shrine.
Near every shrine is one of these. I overheard a guide explain that you fill the little cups, wash left hand, right hand, rinse mouth, and then use the rest to pour down the spoon for the next person.
I just like how this photo gives the illusion of the fish swimming in mid air past the clouds. I wish I had taken a few additional shots, I would have if I knew it would come out this way.
Japan thus far... continued part 2
A beautiful sky line from one of the temples. The clouds here are surreal.
In one of the parks, there are deer which roam freely. They are protected. We, are not protected and are at their mercy. There are signs all over the place reminding visitors that they are animals, and not to be ignorant around them.
The Japanese do love lanterns.
Japan thus Far
I arrived in Japan in the early evening, stowed my suitcase, at the airport and headed to a nearby city. Nara seemed like a good choice, it didn't sound touristy (as in, I had never heard of it - though I should have as it was the original capital of Japan). I arrived to find a suburban type city, with a few large and beautiful temples. However, my favorite thing was my introduction to the Japanese toilet. These amazing machines, pictured above, have an entire control console. It's especially fun because it's all in Japanese, I have no idea what is going to happen when I push a button. After a day of exploration, I catch a train direct to Kyoto where I have arranged to stay in a unique hotel, modeled after my personal favorite place to be: an airplane. First Cabin means that each room has a curtain, and a TV. I think it's more like a hospital than an airplane. Upon arriving, I decided to shorten my stay by a day. After a night of no sleep (I think the guy in the next berth has pneumonia - either way, he snores like a rhinocerous - and stayed up all night snoring and hacking away) I decided to shorten it by an additional day.
The five level pagoda in Nara.
Me, in front of a temple, the name of which, currently escapes me.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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