#143 - And they attacked the gas station...

Actually no one attacked anything... but only the my guy friends would really get that reference. What really happened could be considered exciting depending on how you look at it. The lot of us from the IchiEnSou went out with Yashi, the owner, for a brief stroll and to picnic by the river. We also went to an arcade where I found that I still have skills at Time Crisis and the basketball shooting game. I also had the pleasure of playing DDR with a rather tall British bloke named Ben. We were both terrible on the *difficult* setting. Anyway when we got back to the guest house and lounged about the electricity went out. It was out for a bit but remarkably only for our block. The electricity went off and on for a couple hours, we were in bed by 11 so if there were continued difficulties we didn`t notice. But I think that the reason for the rolling blackouts could have been due to the heat which if it weren`t for the A\C would be slightly unbearable.

#142 - Cafe Independance...

Kyoto so far has been an interesting mix of old and new. The heartland of majority of Japan`s temples and Geisha. I find it rather refreshing when I see women and men walking around in traditional kimonos but...

I think Ive over dosed on temples and shrines. They are literally quite everywhere and while beautiful, Im having a case of "too much of a good thing". So Ive taken to doing things that are around the temples but are slightly less known. Like finding a small waterfall grotto behind the Nizenji Temple... which was rather creepy since I was the only one walking the trail and there were tiny shrines and a cemetery along the way. It honestly felt like I was being watched by the surrounding forest.

The food had been really good to me, especially the dairy which surprisingly I can ingest with no lactose problems. Oh and I ate chicken hearts (hows that uncle willie!) yakitori style.

As for Cafe Independance...
In the movie with Bill Murry, Lost in Translation, I honestly don't think he would have that much of a problem with Japan if he stayed in a guesthouse or a hostel. Practically all the girls in the all-girl dorm/room (all 4 of us) went out to scope the club scene. Being the "worldly" lot we stayed away from the up scaled establishments and anything that charged outrageous cover and drink prices. Which lead us to Cafe Independence which worked as a artsy cafe in the day and a rather pseudo-bohemian club at night. I only say that because of the people there while trendy and rather down to earth looking, most of their clothes probably cost the amount of my 7 night stay here in Kyoto. But the atmosphere was great, we got in for about 1000 yen which also included a drink. The DJ music on the other hand sounded like... well crap. Sorry to say there was not continuity in beat or style. The irony was that they were mostly English songs of which i know from speaking with one of the managers in my last hostel that most Japanese don't understand the lyrics too.

Today Im going to walk the rest of Eastern Kyoto which hopefully will take up most of my day.

#141 - Japanese Sanitary Pads 101

Right... so you have to know what length you want them; where as in the US you base the type of pads on the amount of flow. But if you can imagine my confusion where I had to think about length and its in centimeters. I`ll admit I don`t know my size in centimeters. I felt like a right idiot in the 7~11 trying to figure all of this out. So all in all I hope I got the right one, I`m hoping I`m playing it safe by going long.

But I made it to Kyoto, and the guest house IchiEnSou is just beyond words. Its got that old small home feel, with jazz music playing in the lounge. Got lost walking around while i waited for check in time. Kyoto feels more like a small town rather than a city. This is due to the fact that most of the buildings are built to a certain height. Again very few crowds, or at least it seems so. Yasu, the owner of IchiEnSou, explained to me that it`ll probably get crowded on the weekend.

I`m going to head to the tourist info office tomorrow and plan out this weeks set of activities. I already have a couple WH site walks to go on, but I don't want to OD on temples.

#140 - Rain... and clothes

Apparently I was not fully prepared for rain, humidity, and constantly sweating most of the day. So I`m going out today to grab a couple more shirts, another pair of shorts, and an umbrella. Bitting into my budget a bit but I have to adapt to this hyper summer weather.

Another thing, I actually miss my students. School here appears to be on a longer year round schedule with several breaks instead of the long breaks in America. The hostel is right next to a primary school, so its pretty neat to watch the kids head to class in their smart looking uniforms.

I really need to remind myself that I am on vacation, but its difficult when I read great articles on how the Japanese are re-incorporating the abacus into their curriculum. It makes me really miss teaching. Gah! Stop it Mel and just go shopping already!

Also it seems that everyone has check out on my floor and I`m the only one in my room for the time being. Check in is at 3 so maybe I`ll get some new roommates.

#139-"I think I`m turning Japanese..."

I`m still getting mistaken for a Japanese person. Which is why I get a mixed reaction of amusement and surprise. But man, all this pressure. I feel bad because most times I think they expect me to know things, and honestly I would like too. The people here are so nice and I feel like I had let them down.(The only exception is when you have to board public transportation.)

Oh well. I:m still having lots of fun anyway.

I made another travel change. I decided to nix my trip to Mt. Fuji, due to weather. Its been over cast here in Osaka and its been rainy around parts of the Kansai area. All this rain has been moving toward the Tokyo area and in wet weather I rather be safe then caught in a situation that could be dangerous. Not to mention a 14 year old girl died recently due to hiking another volcano here in Japan, but mainly due to inhaling the toxic air.

I also rolled my right ankle today and I have a blister on my left foot. My ankle hasn`t swelled yet so I don`t think I sprained it. But both my ankles have been bothering me, which I think is due to all the walking.

So instead of heading to Mt. Fuji I`ll be on my way to Hiroshima. In actuality, I feel like I `have` to go to Hiroshima.

#138 -This is where Mel gets hit by a train...

No just joking... idiot me realized why there was a beeping noise in time. I`d been traveling the whole day and I was so hell bent on getting to my hostel. But I managed to get back behind the bar in time... it was a Shinkansen too! And man was that ever a long way to go. I have to say that the Shinkansen beats Amtrak hands down. Its so damn fast and comfy; unlike the local trains. Standing in those with a large backpack was no fun. But its also safe to say that I got lost several times at a few different stations. Tired of guessing where the heck to buy a ticket and to where I bought an Icoco card to get around the local systems, especially since I`ll be going to Kyoto tomorrow to meet up with my old boss and his wife.

I took the Nazomi from Tokyo to get to Osaka-Shin; which to my delight was a coastal route. Its also raining and the mist and moisture is clinging to the mountain sides. Just watching that type of scenery reminds　me of a Miyazaki movie.

I`m hoping to sleep better tonight, because right now I am bone tired to traveling. I pretty stoked to get a map and walk around, regardless of the rain.

I just opened up a can of liquid jello... odd bout tasty. And thats the best description you get...

Which brings me to another point; softphone doesn`t like it when I use their data. So I`m having a hard time sending pictures to my drop box. But still I can call out and if you`re calling me and I fail to pick up; that Japanese lady is a GOOD thing. Just press 1 and you`ll get my voicemail.

#137 - Out of the comfort zone...

I can definately say that I am a lot more nervous about this trip to Japan than I was for Ireland.

But what can I do, bailing out is not an option.

So I'm off to the airport. Hopefully I'll be blogging once a week. My drop box album will be updated as fast as I can take pictures with my camera.

Safe traveling!

#136 - "... I trust you, but you might bring home Japanese..."

Oh grandma, I'm so glad you are concerned about me.

Well I'm back in Hawaii for a pseudo-lay over, its for two nights. Pretty much to get rested and re-pack for Japan.

But man, California was awesome!

Okay the long ass drive to the Sequoia National Park was frustrating. Why frustrating? Let me put it this way, if you are going to ask me for directions, whats the point in asking me if you are not going to follow them! But the park was way cool! AND there was snow! We were pressed for time and we were still irritated with each other (specifically me and my mom) so we didn't stay long. The whole trip was 9 hours (8 on the road and 1 at the park).

But it was still fun. I was also addicted to Pokemon Emerald on my cousin's DS. Ridiculous! I still can't figure out how I got addicted to playing that game. (I ended up playing it for the majority of the time I was there.)

Super proud of my cousin Jamie who is now a high school grad. Man her grad party was a trip. I was totally stoked to see and hang out with my cousins Krystal, Andre(and his wife Tracy!), and Eric. It was pretty sweet to see my other aunts and uncles too!

Came back with lots of second hand electronics to tinker with. (My mom scored 5 first generation Ipods) Totally went dumpster diving in my Uncle James' garage.

Ate catfish for the first time, thanks Uncle Willie! Oh! And I got to follow my uncle to work, he works in the sheriff coroner's office. The first thing I saw was a body in a bag as I entered through the door, it was rather surreal.

But yeah back to the catfish, because all the food I ate while visiting was so good.

I've also found most of the ins and outs of my new bag... which reminds me; I'm gonna take another nap, then start unpacking from my Cali trip to pack for my Japan trip (less than 42 more hours to go)

Oh and if you are reading this from the Blogger website and not Facebook, you'll notice the Drop Box Album below my posts. I've set up my phone to be able to email the pictures I take on it to a Picasa album. So you'll at least get visual updates if not wordy ones. :)

#135 - Unlimited Exploration... Limited Internet

Well I am gone on the first leg of my trip for the summer. Computer is going to be shut off and laptop is going to be left at home.

I'll be in California for the next 7 days so accessing the internet won't be too much of a problem. But after that in Japan its going to be very limited.

My cell is following me as always and I'll be "roaming". Shoot me a text if you like or give me a call. A familiar voice would be nice to hear while I travel Japan alone.

I'm going to try and update my blog once a week while traveling, but I don't know how that will play out.

Have a fun and safe summer!