Day 6 - Friday - Kyoto

We began the day Friday by going to Nijō Castle. It was constructed in 1626 and served as the home for the Shoguns of Japan until 1867 when power was given back to the Emperor of Japan. On the grounds there are two major buildings, the Ninomoru Palace, and the Honmaru Palace. The Ninomoru Palace is where the Shogun conducted business and resided. We later found out through research that this was used in the movie "The Last Samurai". On our flight home we rented the movie on iTunes to see, and if you are interested, the scenes where Tom Cruise meets with the Emperor were shot in the main meeting room at Ninomoru Palace. Unfortunately pictures and video were not allowed indoors so there are no shots to show of the inside.

Ninomoru Palace

Inside the palace there was a restoration project in progress to save all the art inside the palace. Each sliding door, ceiling panel, etc..., had been painted. The restoration involved removing the paintings, restoring them, and I believe most pieces are being replaced with replicas within the palace. However at this time, there are many original pieces still in place.

The coolest thing about this palace were the "Nightingale Floors". These floors are built in such a way so that when someone steps on the wood plank, it will chirp/whistle slightly. This was done for all planks, so there was no way to walk on the floor without creating this sound. Fortunately it is a pleasant sound as people would have had to listen to it all the time, but it was done for security purposes so no one could sneak in and attack without being heard.

After walking through Nijō Castle we decided to go back to the Kyoto train station where we came into Kyoto at as it is a big impressive property. We ended up having lunch at the station as well as taking some pictures.

Kyoto Train Station

After lunch we went onto Fushimi Inari-taisha. Around the grounds of the shrine are thousands of torii gates. There are lots of picture opportunities here. It was crazy hot and humid walking around that day.

Lots of Torii gates

As it was so hot and humid, we decided to go back to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading out for the evening. That night we started out around 6pm by going to the Gion district. We were hoping we would get to see some Geisha, and we weren't disappointed! The Gion district has lots of tea houses that Geisha entertain in. Ana and Damien said they have only seen one or two Geisha before in Kyoto, generally jumping quickly into a cab, and not getting a good view. However that night either our timing was right as the festivals were still going on, or it was the right time of day, or who knows what, but when all said and done we saw probably 15 or so.

Getting a picture of Geisha is a lot like taking pictures of fish. When you notice them, it was generally too late, so you can only get pictures of them going away from you! They are very quiet and quick. However after seeing their patterns, we were able to catch a few from the front as well. Here are a couple of the better shots.

Maiko in Gion

Maiko leaving tea house in Gion

Geiko (Geisha) in Gion

Here is an interesting thing. After I posted these pictures on Flickr, people actually posted notes identifying who each of these women are! I guess they are celebrities.

After some Geisha watching we headed onto dinner for the evening. We found this little place that had food friendly for everyone in our party. The place was decorated with a bunch of Sumo pictures, and autographs. The host of the restaurant gave us pretty cool official Sumo standing sheets.

We then decided to go back to the Gion district for one last attempt at Geisha viewing. Turns out we timed that well too as many were leaving the tea houses. However it was harder to take pictures as it was night time. I didn't want to be rude and snap flash pictures in their face, so I set the film speed to 1600, and used my 50mm 1.8 lense which would allow for the lowest light. I was able to get a couple of cool shots.

A Geiko and Maiko coming out of a tea house

This is my favorite picture of the bunch. Something interesting about her looking off, while the cars behind her are blurred.

From here we decided to walk back to the hotel so we could walk past another shrine or two. The hotel was probably only 1/2 a mile away, so it wasn't a long walk.

Picture of the day - A mother cat cleaning her kitten at Fushimi Inari-taisha.

Day 5 - Thursday - Kyoto

On this day we all woke up early to try and beat the rush hour, and the possible rush to Kyoto. The reason for the possible rush to Kyoto was that on that day was the big Yoiyama parade which falls on the 17th of the month of the Gion Festival. From Osaka at our hotel, to the hotel in Kyoto, it was going to be like 2-3 trains and a shuttle. Since we had all of our luggage with us, we were going to be a bit clumsy, so we had our fingers crossed for a smooth commute, and not jammed packed trains. Fortunately luck was on our side and we were able to get around very easily, and the commuting crowds weren't bad at all.

As soon as we got to Kyoto we caught the hotel shuttle to the hotel, dropped off our luggage, and then headed to the big parade. We came up from the train station right at a key turning point for the floats which was lucky. There was a bit of a crowd, but we were able to get some good pictures and video of the parade.

First some brief background on the festival. They have been doing this since 869, and as an annual tradition since 970. On the 17th, they have the big Yoiyama parade which consists of two types of Yamaboko (floats). The first bigger one is the Hoko, and the smaller one is the Yama. In all there are 32 combined Yamaboko (floats) in the parade.

Yama float. The smaller of the two Yamaboko. It rides on wheels, but is picked up and turned during the parade.

Hoko float

Noe the Hoko float is really big. With the pine on the top I would estimate it to be around 5 stories high. In addition there are lots of musicians on the top level playing flutes, bells, and drums. Below on street level is an army of men who pull the float along, and also turn the float. The wheels of the float are fixed and cannot be steered, so when they have to make a 90 degree turn, they push/pull it! Below is a picture of the men laying down bamboo shoots to create a temporary floor on top of the pavement.

Men preparing bamboo for Hoko

Each team of men have different uniforms based on their tasks. The bamboo guys wore black. The team pulling the Hoko wore white. The musicians wore a blue and white outfit. In addition there are a few other people including I think predominant people from the neighborhood the float is from, as well as a general float manager.

After the team laid down the bamboo, they would then roll the Hoko's front wheels onto it. They then fuss about for a bit making sure it is in the right place, the ropes are ready, and the bamboo is laid properly. After everyone is happy they throw water onto the bamboo to make it slick, then give it a great big push/pull. Here is video of them turning the Hoko. They would have to do this about 3 times to get the Hoko turned completely 90 degrees.

As it was pretty hot this day, we watched this for a while, then went on to eat some lunch. We took a break from Japanese food for lunch and had a Spanish lunch. After lunch we decided to go to Kyoto's antique shops to see if we could find something neat. Heather and I were close to buying an old scroll painting, but we decided to think about it, then didn't go back. They weren't priced to bad, they had some that were 100-200 years old for between $100-$400. I'm sure there are some more expensive than that, depending on the popularity of the artist.

After shopping we went onto the Yasaka Shrine which is located at the end of the Gion district. We didn't spend too much time here, but there was a neat carnival feel to the area as there were many small vendors with interesting food and games to play. Later that night there was going to be festivities here after the parade.

Entrance to Yasaka Shrine

With all the walking around, and waking up early, we then decided to head to the hotel to get checked in and to rest a little. This ended up being disappointing as we had booked non-smoking, King Size bed, Deluxe rooms. When checking in, they indicated they were out! This was odd as we tried checking in early and they said our rooms were being cleaned. Very curious. Our options were now a smoking King size Deluxe room, or a non-smoking two Twin bed Deluxe room. We checked out the smoking room and it smelled like an ash tray, so we went for the twin beds. I guess this is like how airlines oversell their flights, they assume everyone isn't going to show, but it certainly is B.S. when they cannot honor the reservation because most everyone shows. Bad Westin Kyoto! They offered little sympathy to this situation as well. It wasn't the end of the world, but you'd at least like to see some small effort to make up for the mess up. For the record I would like to say that for a higher end hotel such as the Westin Kyoto, I expected a lot more from them. Their service was weak and pitiful in reaction to their mistake.

After relaxing in the room for a bit we then headed back out to dinner in the Pontochō area. This is a famous restaurant area that runs along the main river in Kyoto. Most restaurants have back decks that are outside that overlook the river and are adorned in lanterns. We had a traditional Kyoto dinner that night, however we ate indoors as rain was looming. It turns out it did shower a little during dinner, so staying inside was a good idea. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for the night. It was a long day as we got up early that morning to get to Kyoto.

Picture of the day. Ana, Damien, and Jeremy eating frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.

Day 4 - Wednesday - Nara

We started this morning off a little slow. Most people (I won't mention names), were still feeling the effects of the previous night's "All you can drink" fun :)

First thing that morning we sent our clothes off to be cleaned at the hotel. Heather actually had cleaned several of her tops already in the sink at the hotel, but most of my clothes were dirty. This was intentionally planned to save on space and weight in the luggage.

After we gathered, we headed that day to Nara. One of the first things you see when heading towards the temples are the deer roaming around. There have to be hundreds around that area. They are all also used to humans, probably helped somewhat by the several stands that sold crackers you could feed the deer. You can walk right up to them, and even pet them (if you wanted to). With that, it is easy to get some great up close pictures.

Deer in Nara

Ana and Damien have been to Nara in the winter and see these deer, and they say they have a very different look in winter. Their coats grow out giving them a shaggy look, and they also lose their antlers.

After wading through the deer, we proceeded onto the Todai-ji Temple in Nara which holds the Birushana Buddha. This is a very, very large Buddha, and is all in this huge wooden temple. The original temple burned down, and the current building was later constructed again in 1709 and was built to 2/3 the size. Even still, it is the largest wooden structure in Japan, and some say the world.

Todai-ji Temple

Inside the temple is the Buddha. The bronze Buddha was completed in 751, and nearly bankrupted Japan when completed. At the time Nara was the capital of Japan, however as the temple grew in popularity and power, they moved the capital to Nagaoka in 784 to lower its influence on government affairs. To give you an idea of its size, each finger is the size of a man.

Birushana Buddha

On the back side of the temple there was a wooden support pillar (the "healing pillar) that has a hole bore out in the center. It is said to be the same size as the nostril on the Buddha, and if you squeeze through it you will achieve nirvana. Heather made it through no problem, I didn't try though. I figured I'd look like this guy if I did...

Man trying to squeeze through the "healing pillar"

After the temple, we walked onto the Kasuga Shrine in Nara. Along the way to the shrine, the walkways are lined with (probably) thousands of stone lanterns. Heather loves stone lanterns like this, so she was in heaven. They were really as far as you could see.

Stone lanterns lining path to Kasuga Shrine

After getting to the shrine, we didn't spend much time there as there were people praying and they wanted a fee to enter. Instead we took some cool pictures around the public area. Also included was a tree that was over 800 years old! After the temple we then walked around the grounds for a while on some of the many paths. We finally ended up at Kōfuku-ji.

Kōfuku-ji

It was here that we ran into a Maiko. This is a Geiko (Geisha) in training. It is very rare to see one in Nara as they are generally not in this town. We considered ourselves very lucky. Fortunately for us she was posing for pictures, it looked like she had a professional photographer with her to get pictures of her in front of the pagoda. It's almost like seeing a celebrity, everyone comes around and starts snapping pictures with whatever camera they have.

Maiko in Nara

There was an older Japanese woman who was walking by who asked her where she was from, and she indicated Nara. To which the old woman apparently scoffed and said that only true Geisha are from Kyoto. In later reading on this though, there are Geisha throughout Japan in the major cities. However in general it is believed that there are between 1000- 2000 in the whole country. If you read the wiki link I provided above, you will see it was estimated that there were approx 80,000 in Japan in the 1920's.

After the walking around for the day we went back to the hotel to freshen up, and to do a nice dinner for our last night in Osaka. That night we did a shabu-shabu dinner.

Picture of the day - Lanterns at Kasuga Shrine. Nothing funny on this one, I just really liked the picture.

Day 3 - Tuesday - Himeji

On Tuesday we headed off in the morning to the town of Hemeji. On the way there on the train ride we passed through Kobe and caught a view of the Kobe Tower, along with the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge (world's longest suspension bridge).

Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge

The biggest attraction in the town of Himeji is the castle. It is a really big castle on large grounds as well. Getting up into the castle was also interesting with lots of winding passage ways, probably meant to make it hard for an enemy to actually get to the castle. Himeji Castle is another Japanese National Cultural Treasure, and took its present form in 1601. It is a very impressive castle to view and walk within as it is very large with several levels.

Himeji Castle

It was really pretty hot that day, and fairly humid, so we were all working up a good sweat walking around the grounds. There was a neat tunneling effect that would happen in certain parts of the castle where a constant breeze would whip through. We savored those locations that day.

After touring the castle we went back to the hotel to freshen up, and to go back to Dohntonbori for dinner and karaoke. That night we ate yakiniku which is a grilled dinner. They have a stove at your table and bring you strips of meat to cook (beef, pork, etc...). You could pay a price for all you could eat and drink, which ended up being around $40 per person. In Japan as Japanese have a lower tolerance for alcohol, there are many places that will offer all you can drink for a set price, as most people don't drink that much. Between the all you can eat food and drink, we definately got our moneys worth that night.

Yakiniku Dinner

After dinner we went on to sing some karaoke. It wouldn't be a trip to Japan without some karaoke! We all had a lot of fun singing, and it's amazing how time flies when singing. Singing karaoke in Japan is not like it is in the US. In Japan you get your own room based on the size of your party, so you aren't up in front of a whole bar singing. The systems they have are also really cool as they have huge song selections which is all computerized. This karaoke place was a little challanging because the touch screen remote was in complete Japanese, but after we were shown by the server how to use, we were good to go. Here is some great footage of Damien singing, he was definately on fire that night!

The pic of the day is simply a sign that was placed all over Himeji Castle. This was made out of engraved metal, so no chance of correcting these.

Picture of the Day

Day 2 - Monday - Osaka

On Monday we left Ana and Damien's home and headed for Osaka. To get there we took a train from Kani to Nagoya, then in Nagoya we took the Shinkansin (Bullet Train) to Osaka, then once in town another local train to the hotel. The ride on the Shinkansin was really smooth and quiet, it was very impressive. We took some video of the ride to give you an idea. It's hard to say how fast we were going as it wasn't diplayed anywhere, but it seems pretty fast.

We got to the hotel before check-in was allowed, so we dropped our bags off and went out around town. From the hotel we walked ultimately to Den-Den Town, but along the way we went through a food market, a restaurant supply market, and then to Den-Den Town.

In the food market we didn't do much other than walk through and look at the sites. There was lots of interesting food on display, we even saw real wasabi root. Most wasabi that is had in the US is based on horse radish with food coloring. The actual real wasabi is pretty expensive, so horseradish is a close inexpensive substitute.

Wasabi Root

After the food market we hit the restaurant supply market. This area had everything from knives, to plates, cups, sake containers, stoves, rice makers, etc... We took a moment to shop for bowls and plates for the house.

Ana, Heather, and Damien shopping for bowls

We ended this shopping tour by going through Den-Den town which is like Akihabara in Toyko with a lot of electronic stores. Truthfully though, after you've been through one, you've been through most. They do have a cool supply of electronics, but with the internet today and global shopping being more available, their really aren't amazing deals to be had. In fact many prices are a little higher than what you can find in the US. I typically look for something unique that can't be purchased in the US, but that is pretty hard to do now as well as major manufacturers will sell a good product everywhere.

After Den-Den town we went back to the hotel to check-in and freshen up for dinner. That night we ventured to Dohntonbori for the sites and for dinner. It is a pretty hot spot in Osaka which has a ton of restaurants and really gears up at night with a lots of people and lights. Outside of many places were people trying to attract people into their establishment. The video below is a clip Heather shot of a robot acting woman. I'm not sure what place she was trying to attract people into though.

For dinner that night we had okonomiyaki. This is one of Heather's favorite dishes. We have tried to make this from memory at home before, but with only mild success. This was a good chance to study closely how it was made. Our first mistake we realized is that we do not shred our Napa cabbage up nearly enough, it was really fine in the mixture at the restaurant. Also, we have been using probably too much. Outside of the cabbage, flour mixture, and egg, the rest of the ingredients are really up to the person. I got some chicken, green onions, and some other ingredients I forget now. They cook it on a griddle like a pancake. Cooking one side first, then they flip it, then finally they top it with okonomiyaki sauce and sometimes mayo.

My Okonomiyaki Dinner

After dinner we went back to the hotel to rest for the evening. The picture of the day that day was one Heather caught of a dog place of sorts. Read the details in the upper right corner for a chuckle.

Picture of the Day

Heading Home, But More Postings To Come

I am writing this from the Star Alliance Lounge at Nagoya airport. I have lots of stuff to write regarding our trip! But I can't get it all in now as we will be boarding shortly. Each day ended up being pretty packed with activities. So much so that at night when I'd sit down to write, I'd practically fall asleep at the keyboard. I opted instead to purchase a small writing pad to keep track of activities as the free time we generally had was when sitting on a train going to or from a site, and the laptop would have been too cumbersome. Since we have about 14 hours of flying ahead of us, I figured I'd use that time to finish all the photos and write the travel notes for each day.

I will say that it was a great trip. We got to see a lot of things, and eat a lot of interesting food. The weather, though pretty hot and humid, was clear basically everyday and we didn't get rained on. On this trip we have seen actual Geisha, stayed in a 300 year old building where Lords entertained their guests at the foot of Hikone Castle, saw the Gion Festival in Kyoto, the list goes on. Needless to say I took a million photos (actually I did average almost 500 photos a day), and have quite the task ahead of me in editing, tagging, writing descriptions, and condensing everything down to a realistic level. But it will be done by the time we land!

Hopefully we have clear skies, and smooth flights the whole way home. We first fly into SFO, then onto O'Hare. This means we will need to go through customs at SFO as the ORD flight will be domestic. We are missing our cat, and wonder if he will remember who we are. We suspect upon initial arrival we will get the cold shoulder for being gone so long, but then he will warm back up.

OK, enough for now. Will post again after we land...

First Full Day in Japan

Hello from Japan! So far it has been a really great trip. We started out in Chicago at the pre-dawn hours to catch our 7am flight. It was hard getting out of bed that early as we were both up until after 1am trying to get everything done (wrap up work loose ends, pack, clean, etc...). Fortunately everything about our flight that morning was very nice and smooth. Our first leg took us to San Francisco, and then to Nagoya. The long flight was very smooth as well. As we were nearing landing, the flight attendant came up to Heather and I and said "I opened this wine that no one drank any of, do you want the bottle?". To which we said definitely. Then she said "Oh, actually I have another as well. Do you want that too?". Of course we do. This trip was off to a good start.

Heather relaxing on the plane

After landing we grabbed our bags, got tickets on the express train to Shin-Kani, and were on our way. Now it was around here that I ran into a glitch in our plan. We were going to call our friends when we got on the train to let them know we were on our way so they could meet us at the station. I turn my cell phone on, and no signal. I put it in my pocket for a little, pull it out further down the tracks, still no signal. Around now I realize I'm not going to get connected. Not a huge deal, as we just called from a pay phone once we got to the station. However upon further investigation, it turns out my Motorola Q "Global" phone is not so "Global". In researching on AT&T Wireless site about my phone, apparently it is missing a key 2100hz frequency used in Japan. It also turns out my last phone had that frequency, and I traded it for this one. Pretty lame Motorola and AT&T, pretty lame.

After we got to Kani, we met up with Damien and he took us back to their apartment. Shortly after Ana came home from work and the team was together. That night we went to dinner in a nice restaurant in the building where Ana and Damien live. They served like 7-8 courses of very interesting food. Most of it small portions, and often seafood was involved. By around course 5 I hit a wall and was so tired. My head felt like I was in fog, and I was swimming through conversations. That night we crashed hard.

Today we got up, and headed out to Inuyama. It was a quick train ride, and a neat town to see. The big attraction is Inuyama Castle. There is also a big festival there each year where they have these huge floats they call "dashi". There were some dashis in a museum we got to see, as well as another museum that shows the puppets they use on the dashis during the festival. They are huge, three level, structures on big wooden wheels. The first level is where kids in costumes ride. The second level is covered by cloth as the puppeteers hide there working the puppets on the third level. They also have lots of candle lanterns on the floats as well.

Dashis on display

After checking the area out, we then went onto Inuyama Castle. This was a nice, big castle high on the hill with a great view of the surrounding area and river. It is made up mostly of wood, and the timber is old and smooth from years of use. I read the castle is simple in design, but was effective as a defense structure due to its placement.

Inuyama Castle

After the castle today we headed back to Ana and Damien's. We rested a bit as it is pretty hot out today, then we headed to the store to get some items and dinner. Heather really enjoys the 100 yen stores, as there are lots of little neat items that don't cost much. They also have several items that demonstrate horrible english, but it is funny to read. Things like "This paper is great for writing, and feelings of the pen". Heather loves to try and find nutty ones to bring back.

After shopping we picked up food and headed back for the evening. It's been a quiet night as we start out for Osaka tomorrow, and will ride the bullet train to get there. Well, time for bed as we have to get up early to catch our train. For pictures so far, I have them here. There is also a link on the right pane of the blog here called "Japan 2008". Until tomorrow.

Getting Ready for Vacation

So the time is nearing, our international trip of the year. This year we will be going to Japan! Now Heather and I have been to Japan before, and the lesson I learned last time was - plan on moving around a lot. Despite my best efforts to encourage everyone to setup maybe 1 or 2 home bases over our 10 days there, we will be staying in 5 places. My reasons are simple, I think a lot of time is wasted packing, unpacking, checking out, and checking into places you are staying at. Let's face it, hotels also have their own schedules where they won't let you check in most times before 1-3pm anyway because they have to clean the rooms. This means you have to leave your bags with the desk, and come back later to check in. This always then leads to everyone opening their suitcases in the lobby to get what they need for the afternoon or day. This logic seems simple enough to me to avoid so many moves, but apparently the wives scheduling this trip have other ideas.

I guess being a project manager, I feel these to be a lot of wasted efforts. But I want to have fun on vacation, and I'm sure everyone we will be with isn't interested in me being sour every hotel move we make, so the challenge is now how to make myself as mobile and effective as possible.

Keys to being mobile:

Keeping things light weight by taking fewer and lighter things
Pretty straight forward. I will have to carry a lot. Even with wheels on suitcases, there are lots of steps in Japan that will need to be climbed. Taking fewer things also means less to have to keep track of, and will probably keep your focus more on where you are then where your things are. So I have tried to identify only my essentials needed, which are basically the following:

-Clothes. Am going to take only 6 days of clothes, will have 5 days of clothes cleaned half way through trip at hotel. It will cost more at a hotel, but it will save a lot of space and weight.

-Shoes. Am taking a comfy pair of multi-function shoes as I will be on my feet a lot, and a small pair of sandals. Lots of taking off shoes in Japan so it needs to be easy to do so, which is why the sandals are handy.

-Toiletries. I have travel sizes of everything already as I travel for work. Some tricks I've learned here...all hotels have soap and shampoo, I don't need mine on vacation. Saves on space and weight.

-Camera - I will take my SLR with probably only 2 lenses. A 18-55mm, and a fixed 50mm. I am debating taking a fisheye as well. To me, taking pictures of my vacations is important as you always have those to look back on. I'm willing to carry a bit more here to get good shots, however I have decided to leave many filters, and my telephoto lens at home as I rarely use them and they take up a lot of space and weight. I will take a small compact tripod for night shots, and some simple cleaning items in case lenses get dirty, and lastly the battery charger.

-Laptop - is needed for offloading pictures, and posting to Internet. I like to edit photos each night on trips and document things while it's all still fresh. It also means I won't have 500 pictures to go through and edit after returning, I will do a little each day so when we get home the slideshows are ready to go and show.

-iPod and earphones.

-Phone. I will only need this a time or two. Fortunately it is small, and charges off the laptop so no more gear is needed. Give it a few weeks and I would have had the iPhone which would have combined these two items.

Things I have dropped from taking are:
-DVD's to watch on long flight
-PSP & games, for long flight
-Archos player, for long flight (iPod is smaller, and has more space)
-GPS, important when renting cars, no cars on this trip
-Point and click camera, Heather will take hers, I will leave mine at home.
-Video, I don't always take but have been known to. With video on point and clicks now, that's all I need.
-Less Clothes
-Fewer chargers and adaptors are needed with fewer electronics
-Travel Books, Heather may be taking one, but I'm only taking a dictionary.
-Travel neck blow-up pillow for plane, not needed
-Bose noise canceling headphones, I love these guys but they are big with their own case, and for this trip it's too much. This trip I will be taking earbuds that basically block out the outside noise which works good enough for me and can wrap around my ipod quickly.

In reality I would love to bring only one bag, but with the camera gear and laptop that I need to take on the plane, I will need two bags. I have started pre-packing to test weights. After I get through all of the testing, I will post what the final weight is.

One last thing I have heard which makes a lot of sense is to wear your heavier clothes when actually traveling and pack the lighter clothes. That will mean wearing my shoes and not sandals whenever carrying the suitcase around. Fortunately we are traveling in summer so no pants or jeans are needed, which means all my clothes are smaller.

That's all for now...let's see this week how far down I can make the total travel weight!