Last Days and Vacation The last couple weeks of class really flew by. I did some relaxing (gearing up for my return to the frantic pace of full time MBA/ part time consultant/ teaching assistant). Shoichi and Midori were out of town the last couple of weeks, so Sunday night dinner has been sort of put on suspension while Shoichi helps out with Midori's family business. However one night I did meet just Iida-san and we had dinner together. I also went to karaoke several times. (Twice in one evening even!) The last day of classes, Friday, my classmates and I went out in a group after class for karaoke, and then later I met up with Katou-san and Yamamoto-san again, and we had unagi for dinner, and then went to karaoke more. I had a great time, but what was also amusing was while we were in the elevator going up to the karaoke store, I was talking (in English) about my Spring break trip to New York City. There was a group of Japanese high school or college age boys in the elevator with us, and one of them suddenly yelled out "New York City!" and then (obviously somewhat drunk) continued to call out random English phrases such as :oh my god!" and "god bless you!" ..While his friends hit him over the head with papers repeatedly, apologizing and telling him to be quiet. ^_^ I met with Yasuda-san at her house a few more times, where dinner was very enjoyable. It is actually a little sad to me that just as I finally made all these wonderful friends, I have to go! (But I do miss my US friends as well.) The day before I left for vacation, I hopped into Tokyo for the Kakinouchi manga signing, and then met with the usual Sunday night dinner crowd, as Shoichi and Midori had come back into town for the weekend. (But would be leaving back for Nagoya the next day). I also picked up some of the tickets (which I had reserved online) for my vacation train rides and the train to the airport, visited a couple used bookstores where I found the last video game I had been looking for, and visited the Sony building. (I am a huge fan of Sony, I just think they are a cool company. I went to their New York building when I was there too.) So.. onto the vacation! Looking back over my "vacation," two things become apparent to me. One, is why I want to be a consultant, and think I can handle the high pressure. The second, is that I am one of "those" people. By those people, I mean the type who make jam-packed vacation itineraries. I just prefer to be DOing something, and want to feel like I got as much out of my limited time as possible. The shinkansen (bullet train) and bus schedule maps were referred to every few hours, and I had a big detailed list of what sights were near what. In short, I had a terrific time, but am probably better vacationing on my own, as other people might not find it quite so "fun" to try and keep up with me. Here is a skeleton of my trip, but many details I will leave to the pictures section. Monday: took one of the early morning trains into Kyoto, and then took a really long time to find the temple where I would be staying! When I talk about staying in a temple, usually even some of my Japanese friends are surprised. This is called Shukubo. It comes in different varieties. From places that just rent out rooms and often serve breakfast in the morning (the type I stayed at) to places that actually put you through Buddhist training. Since it was way back in a mountain area, and in fact turned out to be a sub-temple of a larger temple area, it wasn't on local maps, and had few signs towards it. Eventually however, with the help of a very friendly local lady, I found it. It was too early to check in, but they let me leave my bags. I will go ahead and comment on the accommodations here: Shukubo rocks. I have done it before, in another Kyoto temple. This one was further from the bus stop, but had more buses that went by it. In addition to being a great experience and coming with breakfast, the rooms are almost always cheaper than a hotel, and very big and nice. (This one was bigger than my Yokohama apartment!) Anyway, after dropping my bags, I went to Niji-jo (a castle used in the Edo period to receive visitors.) I made reservations (necessary) to visit an imperial chalet for the next day, and went to my favorite Kyoto shrine: Heian Jingu. (Yes Mom and Dad, this should sound familiar, we went there.) I then went back to the Hiden-in (the temple where I was staying), and checked in. I had been planning to go out for dinner after that, but ended up sleeping straight through to the next morning! Tuesday: I woke up bright and early, missing breakfast to catch an early bus out to the mountains so I could make my reservation to see Katsura-Rikyuu, an old imperial residence. Then I went back to Kyoto station, and took the Shinkansen out to Himeji-jo. (Himeji castle), which is the largest standing original (not reconstructed) castle in Japan. On a whim I saw a sign saying tours were available in English, and asked about it. It turns out there is a volunteer who hangs around, and I spent the next couple hours being guided through the castle by an older Japanese man who knew quite a bit about the castle's history. It was an interesting cultural experience as much as anything, since I quickly discovered the idea was for me to be quiet and let him lecture. I'm glad I opted for the tour, even if it did extend my time there a bit. When I got back to Kyoto I hopped a train to Fushimi Inari Taisha, a shrine just south of Kyoto, that is interesting in several respects, not the least of which being the thousands of toorii (Japanese shrine gates) in it. I had been there twice before. After this I went to Kyoto's shopping disctrict, but my favorite unagi store in all of Japan was closed for the day. So, I set out to find one of the few Japanese cuisines I had yet to try: shabu-shabu. This is beef which you cook yourself by swirling it around in boiling water, and then dipping it in a citrus broth. I had the addresses for a couple different stores, but couldn't find the first one in the back streets of Gion (a very pretty traditional looking row of shops, many of which of tea houses where geisha perform and are therefore closed to the public). But I found the second one in a slightly more traveled area, and quite enjoyed the meal, where it should be noted the English of my waitress was astounding. Wednesday was probably my best day of vacation. Once again it began early. This time with a train ride through the mountains, to a small town a few stops away from the city of Arashiyama. From there I took a two hour boat ride through the mountains, which was a terrific experience. The boat stopped in Arashiyama, where I rented a bike and visited a park where the monkeys run free, and then biked out to a somewhat remote shrine (of course arguably everything in the small but tourist friendly town was a little remote) called Nenbutsu-ji. It wasn't on any maps so I had a little trouble finding it, but finally some Japanese signs got me pointed in the right direction. It was worth the trouble. The shrine is full of hundreds of Buddha statues, some of which are very interesting (boxing Buddha, two-headed Buddha..). There were lots of pretty, traditional shops and restaurants in that mountainous north-west part of the city, and I stopped in one for a light lunch before heading back to Kyoto. Almost immediately I was off again, this time taking a train to Kurama, where there is an outdoor onsen (mineral spring). This was my first time at one, but I was well prepared, having read up on the etiquette beforehand and mentally ready for bathing with a bunch of strangers (the male and female baths were separate). It was raining lightly, which made the experience even better in my opinion. I soaked for a while and watched the mountains, and then headed back for the station. The one downside of the day was my constantly foiled dinner plans. Originally I had been planning to have a formal, traditional meal in Kibune, a nearby town where you can dine on platforms over the river. But they close when it rains, so I had to return to Kyoto. So I went to the unagi shop which had been closed yesterday, only to find they were serving a private party tonight. Eventually I did find somewhere serving unagi, but alas I never did get a chance to eat at my favorite restaurant. Thursday was probably my most easy-going day schedule was, and the only day I actually had breakfast at the temple. It was Buddhist vegetarian fare, which was quite good. Before breakfast I also sat through a bit of the morning service/education on Buddhism, of which I understood more than I thought I would. There was one other guest in attendance that morning, and afterwards at breakfast I enjoyed getting to talk with him more. It turned out he was there showing around an American friend. I got to know them both for a bit, and then headed off for the morning tour I'd reserved at Nijo-jinya, an old noble's house with all sorts of hidden doors and such. After this, I was on the Shinkansen again, heading for my former home in Japan, Nagoya. Since the castle had been one of my favorite places there, raining or not I made a visit, and (unlike when I lived there) was able to have a cup of tea in one of the tea houses which was open for summer. Since Shoichi and Midori were in the area, they came and picked me up at the castle, and I spent the rest of the day with them. It was pretty interesting. Midori's family owns a lower-tier manufacturing plant in Honda's supply chain, and I got to run around with them making some urgent deliveries. Then we went to Midori's house for a while, before they saw me off back to Kyoto. Friday was my last (full) action-packed day in Japan. I left early in the morning, and dropped by luggage off at Kyoto station, taking a bus out to a very pretty wooded temple which was near the botanical gardens. I didn't actually go to the botanical gardens, because in my opinion the best view was from the bridge near them. Then after I grabbed my stuff and caught the Shinkansen, I swung through Nagoya to stop by the shops I'd missed before. Then I caught the Shinkansen and took it back to Yokohama. Back to my apartment by about two, I spent a while packing, and then headed into Tokyo to make one last trip to my favorite parfait shop in Ikebukuro. Later that day I met the half of my Sunday night crowd who were not in Nagoya, and we had dinner, and then went to karaoke. I was informed since it was my last night, we must do "asa made" or "until morning" karaoke. I was ready! However the number of times people came in and out of that room and made phone calls was almost comical. First, Konou-san couldn't make it until late, so we finally managed to coordinate with him and get him instructions to where we were. Then, my friend Heather who I had been trying to catch up with all summer finally got a hold of me, and I ran to the train station to say hello to her, and pick up an animation cel she was selling me. Then, shortly after I made it back, Katou-san got in touch with me, and wanted to meet me, so he came, stole me from the group, and we went and had drinks for a couple hours before he returned me to the others. The karaoke staff were probably wondering what the heck was going on! So we caught the first train out Saturday morning, and I did the obligatory boring stuff like closing out at the apartment and getting to the airport. And.. I believe I shall end my narrative here.. before you have to hear about the next day, and the 1000 person line for rebooking at Newark airport! Suffice to say I made it home, I had a great time, I learned a lot, and I hope to make it back again. Related Pictures (Several Galleries) Last Days in Yokohama Kyoto Day 1 Kyoto Day 2 Kyoto Day 3 Last Days in Kyoto

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