domo arigato

and so we are back from our journey to the east. Japan was fantastic, 13 hours in an airplane are not. Here are the pros and cons of the trip:

pro: our view from the swissotel nankai, we were on the 30th floor and were not disappointed. in fact, we were not disappointed with the swissotel at all. it had fine amenities, which i decided to collect daily, if you'd like a shower cap, you know where to find me. additionally, the hotel was located on top of a train station, which allowed for easy travel. which leads me to my next pro...

pro: successfully navigating the train system. we had help from some friendly Japanese folk, thankfully.

con: jet lag. boo for being tired at 6 Osaka time (round 4 a.m. chicago time)

pro: the system overload of information coming at you from every angle when walking around the city. There are more signs and lights and indiscernible Japanese characters than you can shake a stick at. The novelty did not wear off quickly...

con: however, on the last day of the trip i was wishing i could at least START to remember some of the characters. It's not like being in Mexico when you can at least recognize the words...but anyway.

Pro: Takashi and Aya's wedding! The ceremony was held in a lovely church in the middle of a forest with windows galore, there was also some nice hiking around the grounds. it was swanky. In fact, I had never eaten most of the food, but was as brave as I could be. Jim, you would have had a hard time in Japan.

Pro: The Japanese tradition of "second party" and "third party" following the wedding. I never quite knew where we were, but was always enjoying myself. Mike quite enjoyed the "mini kegs" that were put on each table at "third party," so much so in fact, he did not feel so great for our first leg of the Kyoto trip.

Pro: Kyoto. Shrines and Temples and Castles, Oh My! We ate at a 300 year old restaurant that served up glorified chicken noodle soup, but it was fantastic. We saw the most intricate gardens and temples and shrines and castles and i took more pictures than you would ever want to see. Here's a photo of the Nijojo Castle. This castle had wooden floors that would squeak because the emperor was a bit paranoid about assassination attempts. apparently he ruled with an iron fist...

The second trip we took to Kyoto we saw a bit more, mostly because we had Takash's friends Ken and Veronica with us. Ken was on a mission, we hiked through the city like we'd never hiked before. It ended up being fantastic because we hit all of his destinations and still had time to sneak in some shopping.

Pro: we caught the end of cherry blossom season. Takash said we missed the most impressive time, but I still thought it was fantastic and photographed it accordingly. I would show you a photo, but google blogger does not want me to upload anything further...

Pro: the demeanor of the Japanese folk as a whole. there society is so much more "we" centered rather than "me" centered as it is here. Though there are people everywhere, it seems that people are much more harmonious than Chicago folk. I miss that a lot about Japan. They don't just tell you where to go, they take you where you need to go.

Con: the plane ride home. We had a couple who were not sitting together who liked to stand up in the aisle and talk during the films. Com'on kids, the short people are trying to watch Bee Movie!

There is more to say about this trip, but my thumb is sore from cutting it earlier, so I will switch to questions answered upon request.

We're off to Morris to compete in our triathlon this weekend. It's supposed to snow. rock on.