japan: part two, kyoto - sprinting up a hill

My first full day in Japan (after riding on a night bus, that I pretended was just like the night bus in Harry Potter), was spent in Kyoto. We stashed our stuff in lockers at the train station because we couldn't check into our hotel until the afternoon, and set out to explore the city.

Fresh off the night bus, swollen feet, and still wearing the clothes I left LA in.

We were ready to take on the city of Kyoto.

Yes. This is a Japanese style toilet. Lucky for me they also have Western style toilets.

We watched this being made! It was warm and delicious when we ate it.

This was a market held in a shrine. Oh the market. It was so very hot. And we ate sweet potatoes on a stick with sugar sprinkled on top.

Our first time riding bus #5 that this awesome volunteer at the train station told us about

Japanese curry. Yum.

After waiting all day to check in to our hotel room and wash up, we finally got there...only to find out there was no shower in the room and the public baths were closed. (Yes, I said public baths...I'll be speaking more on that later.) We slept on futons.

After we checked in to our room and chilled out for a bit, we realized that we needed to leave to get to some former emperor's retirement home before it stopped letting people in at 4:30. After taking a few wrong buses and wrong turns, we finally got to the bus stop that would lead to our destination. The only problem was that we were cutting it extremely close to 4:30. Ryan looked at the sign that said '4 minute walk from this point', then looked at his watch and anxiously told us "it's a 4 minute walk, but we only have 3 MINTUES!" That's when we took off sprinting up the hill.

We made it, and this was the reward :) (along with a sore throat and burning muscles!)
I should also add, on the way out we saw people still being let in and it was almost 5:00...

"Hey guys? Can we have ice cream every day I'm here?"

The Philospher's path. This philospher used to walk to and from the university every day pondering life's greatest and most profound questions.

Drinking green tea before heading out to find some dinner.

Trying to find food in Kyoto...

But we settled for a convenient store dinner. Which is actually pretty common in Japan. And tasty.

japan: part one, tokyo (1)

For those of you who don't know, I had the amazing opportunity to go and visit two of my very favorite people in the world. And they just happen to be living in Japan for a year teaching english. 

After getting off an 11 hour flight, I got to see this beautiful face waiting for me at the Narita airport near Tokyo. Yay, Kathryn!

My first view of Tokyo.

Seeing my first Shrine.

 

So many people drive Mopeds or ride bicycles.

Shibuya crossing!!

My first meal in Japan. It's a traditional Japanese meal, and I used chopsticks for everything!

Ryan eating some dessert type thing at Mos Burger.

This first day, well I guess half day, is still kind of a blur. By the end of the day I had been awake for about 27 hours! I was fading and getting loopy at Mos Burger, which was quite entertaining for Kathryn and Ryan I'm sure. 

JAPAN!

It's less than a week until I leave for Japan. I cannot wait! In preparation for my trip, my friend Katie and I went to get Japanese food on Saturday night. We went to this little hole in the wall place in down town LA and got Ramen. It was very tasty and I am so excited to try more stuff when I get there!!!

This is pretty much what my bowl looked like, just replace the piece of an egg with a whole one. And I'm pretty sure my bowl was way bigger! Yum, so good! Thank you Katie Bray :)

the mourning process

I have come to the realization that to truly be able to mourn, is something I have no idea how to do. At least, not very well. I started to become aware of this when my friend Peder died this past spring. (But I mean, how do you ever learn to come to terms with death like that, when it's just so unfair?) But I still find it difficult in the things that seem a lot smaller and less final than death. I know those things are just as significant and just as necessary for me to mourn. Otherwise, I'll never let go of anything. I just don't know how to allow myself to feel the pain of losing something. I know feeling things that hurt, will allow me to truly move on and grow from what I have experienced. I will move forward and become a more whole human being.

i'm really into classical music

I recently went through a phase when I didn't want to listen to music in the car. Driving became my time to process everything I was thinking about and I needed the silence. Since then, the radio almost always seems loud to me, too much for my ears and brain to take in. So I started listening to classical music (91.5 in the LA area, check it out). I love it! Very relaxing and interesting to listen to. I highly recommend it!

hazelnut creamer.

For the past week or so, I have been drinking coffee in the morning. I decided I like the ritual of having my morning coffee. Also, I've been drinking decaf because as much as I love hazelnut creamer (and believe me, I do love it), I do not want a caffeine addiction. So now I feel a little more like a grown up when I leave for work with my travel mug filled with coffee.

i wanna get lost in new york city...

also, john williams is a musical genius... of course. and i love harry potter.