BEHOLD

Oh dear. You see what happens when you allow too much time to lapse between blog posts is.. all these stories and photos and experiences and days start to pile up to amass one giant ominous heap of information. And then when you finally do have a moment to sit down and post something it's a bit like dumping 3 or 4 giant jig-saw puzzles into one pile and then having to sort them all out and arrange them to make sense. So for simplicity sake, I will post one blog for each location.. picking up where I left off... Kyoto.

After our very long, wet, and exhausting journey to Kyoto, we got a good nights rest in our new hostel and awoke the next day to explore. The weather turned out to be much better than we had anticipated (meaning it wasn't pouring and thundering). So we wandered. We walked through some very old parts of the city, some buildings have been there for a hundred or more years, some for a few hundred. It was very much like going back in time at points. Kyoto was much more quiet and peaceful than Tokyo which was a welcomed change for a few days. We saw ancient temples, Maiko in full costume, rickshaw drivers, cobblestone paths leading through old neighborhoods, forests, gardens, and more. The great thing about Kyoto is that there is history and beauty around every turn. And if you don't stop to look up a small side road once in a while you might miss something hidden and spectacular. We even got to see the area that inspired the town in Spirited away. It was to say the least a fascinating and beautiful diversion. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

The other chicken has cooped here with me in Japan. Krista came in safely and we have been having all kinds of misadventures.

Wednesday I accompanied Rina and Masami very early in the morning to the famous Tsukiji fish market. I got to see how the whole operation works, and observed Masami buying fish to take back to Maui. This market is crazy! Giant slabs of fish that you'd swear came from the side of a cow, eels writhing around by the dozens, lobsters trying to escape the tables, giant muscles and oysters, fish parts everywhere, fisherman sawing giant tuna up on bandsaws, every sort of seafood you could imagine. It was awesome. Then we went to sushi for breakfast nearby the market, and I can honestly say that was THE most amazing sushi I have EVER eaten. Every kind of fish literally melted in my mouth. They get their fish fresh from the docks (which are about 200 ft. away) so it is literally as fresh as you can get. I bid the girls farewell, and headed for the airport to gather Krista.

Yesterday Krista and I went to the Ghibli museum in Mitaka. It was SOOOO amazing. It was like a little dream world. We got to see a short film that can only be seen at the museum, and wandered around in this giant cottage full of brilliant gadgets, original story board art, giant cat-buses that you can climb around in, beautiful paintings, and all sorts of little made up worlds to get lost in. We were even greeted by a giant Totoro at the entrance. It is really a place you have to see to believe. And I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who comes to Tokyo to go see it. (Especially Ghibli fans) Unfortunately there's no picture taking aloud inside the facilities, we really wish we could show you even a few of the amazing things inside. It gave us goose-bumps around every turn.

Today, we headed to Kyoto on the 'super express' train. When we arrived it was pouring down rain. And of course, packing all of our luggage, we had no idea where our hostel was. The directions given to us were not exactly.. helpful. So as we wandered in the pouring rain, we stopped to ask people if they knew where the Khoasan Hostel was, and of course no one had ever heard of it. So, at first sight of white man.. we decided we should try our luck with people who might speak Enlgish, and who knows... might even be staying at the same hostel. Turns out these two nice young men were French, but they did speak pretty good English. They had no idea either, but were on their way to a train station that has an English speaking information desk. So they said we could follow them to the station. Which we did.... for about 45 min. Turns out this station was a long LONG way away. So after a while we decided we'd better just pop into a different hostel to use the internet and find better directions. After a confusing cab ride, we did find it and arrives absolutely drenched. But, the trek was worth it... this place is SWANKY. It's the nicest hostel I've ever been in. So here Krista and I sit at our new digs, letting our suitcases dry, and writing about our adventures.

Tomorrow is supposed to bring thunderstorms and more rain, so should make sightseeing very interesting. More to come later...

Nakano (where we stayed)