Today we went to Kyoto. We’d been warned that it was one of the hottest places in Japan, but I hadn’t paid too much attention to the warnings thinking that I wouldn’t really notice the difference after the heat I’d already been dealing with. Boy was I ever wrong! It was the single most brutal day of heat and misery that I’ve ever experienced. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I’d been wearing shorts, but AWelkin had mentioned prior to the trip that it was one of the more conservative areas of Japan and we shouldn’t wear shorts there because it’s just not done1. I have to say that if I’d known in advance how brutal the heat would be there; I would have ignored that cultural advice and worn shorts. It was horrific and it make matters worse, the main temple we’d come to see was more than just a little ways from the train station and all the walking was uphill. Before we got there though, we rode the local bus system which wasn’t too bad, except when it got crowded2. Once the bus desposited us at the base of the hill to the temple; we started the climb, ignoring all the shops on the way up. When we finally made it to the top of the hill; we found we had to go up a set of steep stairs to get to the actual temple area. I think we’d already visited another temple that day (I’ll have to go through all the tickets and scraps I saved from the trip to double-check) and so AWelkin allowed those students who wanted to; to rest at the base of the temples. Only about 5 of us (3, if you didn’t count AWelkin & Bryon) actually went in. It was the most beautiful temple we’d seen yet and had a view of the valley area below which rivalled (but didn’t quite beat) the view of the ocean at the one previous temple. Again, words fail me here so I’ll have to hurry up and see about posting some pictures.
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Tag: Travel
It was obvious that I hadn’t adjusted to Tokyo time yet, because while I didn’t have to be up and ready to go to class until 9:45am; I was awake by 5:30. My room-mate (L) and I got up and went out for a look around. Being really early, there weren’t many people around yet, but a few business-men and office-ladies were hurrying off to work. I think it was when we were about a block away from the hotel when it really hit me that I was in a foreign country. Something about there only being one another white guy around and no English to be heard or seen anywhere around. It was just a small but impressive moment for me.
Anyway, L wanted to find the McDonald’s; so we wandered around for a while and found the train station & a KFC but not the McDonald’s. We headed back to the hotel because the heat was starting to get to us and now the hotel’s cafe was serving the free breakfast. We ate and then AWelkin-sensai, A & Bryon came in for breakfast. After we all finished eating AWelkin-sensai took us out to show us around the area a bit and help L find the McDonald’s. She also pointed out some banks for us (useful for exchanging traveler’s checks) and showed us the interior of the train station.
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As briefly mentioned in various posts on this blog, I’ll be heading to Japan for a vacation/class. The current count is 9 days until takeoff. I’ve got all the omiyage that I’m going to take with me. I’ve got plenty of clothes1. I’ve got my luggage. I’ve started planning how I’ll be packing for the trip and what all I want to take with me besides clothes (e.g. camera, sketchpad, sanity). I am getting very excited about this trip, but it still feels somewhat unreal to me.
In part because I still don’t believe I’ve got enough money to do this2 and in part because I’ve not been on an airplane since I was two. I don’t remember that flight but my Mom tells me that I handled it fairly well. The flight is one part of the trip that I’m not all that happy about as it’s fourteen hours in coach and while my legs do fold up; I’m pretty sure it’s going to be miserable for me. Of course, the worse part of the flight for me is that I’ve enjoyed watching too many disaster movies where planes have exploded, crashed, been ripped to shreds or something equally nasty happened to the passengers. It didn’t really help that I caught the episode of Mythbusters3 where they “fire a bullet into the shell of an aircraft to find out if a single shot can cause explosive decompression — and total aircraft destruction.”4 Eep!
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This evening I went out to help Pukka celebrate his last night as a single man. We went over to the Cantebury Inn’s restuarant/bar and had big, big goblets of alcoholic beverages. It was no wild party with strippers and hookers. But we had fun anyway; at least, I think we had fun. The night is kind of blurry in my memory. 🙂
I also finished reading Joe Haldeman’s Forever War, which I’m happy to say that I enjoyed very much. Basically the story deals with a war with an alien race viewed from the perspective of one of our soldiers and how space travel (with the accompanying relativistic effects) affected his life. The story is a bit dated now (some of the events take place starting in the 1990s) but it’s still a good read and overall, I give it 4.5 out of 5 points.
Next up, I’ll be reading Robert A. Heinlein’s Number of the Beast. This book is about double the previous 2 I’ve read combined so it might be a bit longer before I make any further comments on it. On the other hand, when I read Heinlein’s work; I usually get so absorbed into it that I forget about time/sleep/food, so it might take less time than I think.
On a different note, I updated my copy of the Amazon Media Manager hack for WordPress. As such, you can now see what video games; I’m currently playing (UT2004 – rockin’!, Wild Arms 2 – ‘sokay). I’ve also added another DVD set to the movies I’m watching.
Ultraviolet is the modern, vampire thriller mini-series that was made over in Britian. I’ve had it for a while but just restarted watching it the other night and it’s fantastic, though that bit in the 2nd episode where the biker girl is walking around gives me the willies! If you like British movies/tv or are just a fan of well made vampire stories; I highly recommend you check this out!