May Jap Trip Part 2 - Daytrip to Kyoto

We did a day trip to Kyoto. It was an interesting way to travel. We went there via midnight (1130pm) bus (kinda like a greyhound) to save some cash. It was about 90 USD to go by bus and 145 USD to go by Shinkanse. It was interesting as it was a 6+ hour bus ride and I got to see the highway oases of Japan.

It looks like they have a supermart inside this particular one. We stopped twice. Once at around midnight and then again at 5+ am. This was the stop close to Kyoto.

Our ticket home. Cos I wasn't going to take TWO 6+ hour bus rides in the same day...

The first order of business was to find something to eat. Luckily there was this 24/7 store opposite the station. Gyudon, somen and tonjiru. Breakfast of champions.

Our first stop was Kiyomizudera (清水寺). It's a long hike up the hill from the bus stop. The temple is up in the hills.

It's in the middle of the forest. Very scenic.

That's the main 'wishing stream' of the temple. Allegedly (I say allegedly because we got this info from grade school kids), the streams are (from left to right) - health, romance and smarts. The metal cups used to get the water are sterilized with a UV machine. Modern technology in a temple, who woulda thunk.

えんむすぶ means to connect a relationship. It's for match making. It was interesting to read all the wishes that people left at the shrine. Some were even in English.

This is from a shrine in the central part of town. I can't remember the name but It's called Yasaka Jinja (八坂神社) and was within walking distance of Kiyomizudera. Which was why we stopped by as it wasn't really on a list of 'to-see' places.

We then went to Nijo Jo (二条城). This is probably the most famous tourist spot in Kyoto. It used to be the Shogun's （将軍) castle. There used to be an outer building and an inner building but through the years, only the actual Shogun's residence has remained. They said that the floors created to prevent ninja assassinations and that the Shogun would have his guards hide in hidden wall panels during meetings with his subordinates. Very cloak and dagger stuff.

The garden was very pretty. And it had a moat. 2 moats actually. One for the outer walls and another one for the inner walls.

This is Shijo Dori (四条通). It's the 'downtown' of Kyoto. It's not too big. But they had a Takashimaya.

I had mini kaiseki (会席/懐石) meal. It was pretty reasonable. Like 30 USD for lunch. I liked the dessert.

After lunch, we went to the World Heritage Site of Kinkaku Ji (金閣寺). The temple has a gold exterior. Whether it's gold foil or something else, I couldn't tell and my japanese isn't good enough to ask.

I found it interesting that the entrance ticket was kinda like a seal. Like those old qiang shi movies. Haha.

For dinner, we went back to the river and Shijo Dori. Apparently, this is the 'Lover's Lane' of Kyoto. And if you see single ladies, you can try your luck. Too bad I didn't get that info till I got back to Tokyo.

Ducks in the canal(?)/drain.

We walked along this street to find a place to eat. It's just by the river (to the right) and quite 'old town' style. The ambiance was nice but the food was expensive. We were considering eating ramen after dinner but had to rush for the train.

Kyoto Tower (Tokyo Tower's lesser known cousin) at night.

Shinkansen! I really can't tell you much more than that other than the leg space was not designed for sleeping. I slept most of the 2+ hour return trip.

Next part will be the Return to Tokyo!

May Jap Trip Part 1 - Adventures in Toyko

So finally, I have had some time to clean up and organize my photos. So here we go. Photo trip recollections starto!

My gracious host, my cuz Shaun, came to pick me up from the airport. He's gonna be rich and famous cos he's a lawyer in training.

My room. An actual tatami room. Woah. Note the lack of pillows. :(

A funky washer/dryer setup. The dryer wasn't very powerful nor efficient, but when it's squeezed above the kitchen sink, what can you expect.

How the rich-to-be roll and eat. Fine dining = fries in Tokyo.

I prefer the takoyakis. Takoyakis, how can you not like them?!

This is the before Takoyaki shot.

So this was the first time I've spent some time in Toyko and I was introduced to the nighttime food of champions, the Izakaya (居酒屋). It's kinda like a bar, but with better food. I find japanese draft beer (生ビール) to be weaker than bottled/can beer and weaker than american draft beers. You have a huge selection of stuff to eat but we mostly concentrated on yakitori, kawa and some softbone meatball whose name I forgot. Good eats.

Next part will be my 1 day trip to Kyoto!

Joys of Business Class Travel

So on my recent trip back home, I was bumped up to business class. There's a huge jump in service and food between business class and economy. It's no wonder that there is a 2:1 price premium on business class, but after getting the kind of service I did, I'm definitely gonna try to upgrade myself every time I get enough points.

It's nice!

As you can see, they provide you with a power connection. I think mine was busted or couldn't provide the 230VAC required to power local electronics as I couldn't get it to charge my DS... The 2nd pin hole for the headphones is because it is noise canceling.

The array of seat arrangement options was numerous. I could make the seat slouch or fully recline. And they have a lumbar massage option which I found quite amusing if un-effective. The leg extension was also far too short but I guess they would have ran out of leg room.

They also gave me slippers and a fancy place to put my evian mineral water.

Spacious.

There was also a counter where you could place your drinks or other stuff. Even though I don't normally drink champagne, it was being offered for free, so why the hell not eh.

And now on to another important aspect of the business class experience: the food."

A classy menu.

The snacks given are "higher class" than economy but I think in the end, I prefer the cheaper Japanese snacks compared to the more esoteric things they provided. The free sake is a HUGE plus though...

The main course consists of an appetizer, a main meal and then desert. This was one of the most exotic airline meals I've ever eaten. Considering that I've always traveled economy, it's not a very surprising statement. But it was good. They gave me scallop, abalone, beef tongue, shrimp and a whole bunch of other stuff. And in case anyone was wondering, the blue ribbon is your chopstick holder.

The main meal had fish. But not some lousy fish from a microwave dinner box, this one had a ginger sauce. And they served it with miso soup and rice. They also give you a blue table cloth. Like woah.

Finally, desert. Melon sherbet and ice cream. This is wayy to awesome to describe. My favourite part of the whole course.

In conclusion, life in business class is good. One should try to always upgrade their seats to business class. I know I will keep trying!

Invisible Car

How cool is that?! And no, it's not invisible because everyone is staring at the blonde...

A true Hand of God

Taken from NASA's X-ray Observatory, this is actually the death of a star. The blue rays are X-rays emitted as a star loses energy and collapses onto itself. It takes 150 years to traverse from the base of the palm to the tip of the longest finger. And it happened 17,000 years ago. That's the awesome thing about astronomy, it's a study of stars and our past. Due to the limit of the speed of light, it's the one form time travel that is possible - we see what happened hundreds and thousands of years ago as it reaches us from light years away. Amazing.

Here's to hoping that in the next decade, we see a "finger of God".

Yao Ming Sucked...

At least in the game I attended like Saturday. The one and only time his Houston Rockets played in Chicago, and he had a bad game... Figures. And I had paid good money for the tickets too. At least the Bulls' inflatable mascots kept cracking me up.

Like this dude for example. I have no idea who/what he is but a 10' tall red plastic bull bouncing around is hilarious. Even when you're not drunk.

There was an floating bull balloon riding around the stadium at half time. If it had resembled a flying penis, I would have thought that I was back in college.

This is Benny the Bull. Apparently, he likes to take fanshots with his finger in his nose. I credit his originality but find his sense of hygiene very lacking.

Derrick Rose. The 2008-2009 NBA Rookie of the Year. Watch out for it. The kid is good.

Yao Ming as seen through a sea of balloons. I realised that both the Bulls and the Rockets have red and white as their colours. So for all the Bulls fans in the stadium knew, Yao Ming could have felt quite at home.

Awesome tickets, good game and great company. Although I wouldn't pay this price to see the Asian Sensation again, I had a fun time. It's great when you don't have any pre-domininat rooting interest in a close match.

License Plate Lawls

So I was surfing around and came across this website that showed license plates that got pass the US Department of Motor Vehicle censors. I think this shows that there is NO-ONE in the DMV that understands modern culture or can visualize what a license plate will look like. Either that, or someone there has a weird sense of humour. Most of these pics are NSFW.

She's 40?!?

ZOMG!!

South Park Yourself

What do you guys think? Looks similar? Go and try it yourself here.

A Story in Pictures

So I was down in Utah for my friend's wedding this weekend. It's a very nice place, Utah, but it's kinda slow on Sundays. But still, I flew in on Saturday for the wedding, and managed to spend Sunday morning before my flight exploring Salt Lake City. So it was an eventful weekend.

I didn't manage to attend the wedding proper as it was held the day before I reached Utah, but I was there for the ring ceremony and the reception. So my pictures only tell the story of the ring ceremony.


So the setting is fixed, a backyard at someone's nice. A gazebo. Cool. Now we just need a bride and a groom.
The groom appears first. I wonder how sweaty are his palms now?
The ring bearer shows up and, for a moment, steals the show. Isn't she adorable?
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white! With her dad in tow, she was the most beautiful lady that day.
"Thank you for this wonderful lady sir! I promise I will do my very best to take care of her!"

So now the I/C says a few words about the bride and groom and tries not to reveal all the embaressing moments at one shot. He's saving it for the reception later...



The exchanging of "rings". I don't know why it's called a ring ceremony if the couple is exchanging wedding bands. The groom goes first.
Very nice.


Now it's the bride's turn.
Hmm, seems like there's a NG moment here. The groom must have fat fingers. It seriously took about 2 minutes to get the wedding band on. Oh well, if that's the only hiccup they have, they're lucky.

Awwww.

So with the wedding bands exchanged, the couple gets a round of applause from the attendees. They look really good together don't they?
And then they leave. I forsee a bright and happy future for these lucky people. May they always find peace, joy and love with each other.

I have other pics of the event, but they're uploaded in the my picture album. Go check them out. There are 2 sets, "Nat's Wedding" and "Life in Pics".

Pics

As requested by Ken, and long promised, here are the pics of the night before the storm. If you ever see clouds that circle like that, be prepared for an 8 hour thunderstorm...

Also, this is a water tower I saw on the way home. I thought it was kinda cute, how many water towers have a smiley face? Adair seems like a friendly town.

Lastly, new pics are up.

It's Been...

Wow. A month since my last post. Well since I have to go to bed soon, I'll just say vacation was great. And I went to Atlanta, Georgia after I came back, so I really missed the brunt of the late Midwest winters. But enough talk. Pics are up. So enjoy. More commentary later.