A miscellany of know-it-all-isms by Geoff Sowrey

Posts tagged japan

Turning Japanese Again, Kamakura

Apr07
2004 Written by Geoff

We were up a little earlier than the previous few days, so we could catch a good train out to Kamakura, our excursion for the day.

Kamakura is a small town south of Tokyo, about an hour and three-quarters away from Yotsukaido. From 1192 to 1333, Kamakura was the feudal capital of Japan. There are no signs of its previous governmental past today, but the marks of its present status as a religious centre are very clear. The area is peppered with no less than 84 shrines and temples. Less than Kyoto, but Kamakura is a much smaller area.

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Turning Japanese Again, Touring Tokyo (still)

Apr06
2004 Written by Geoff

The alarm went off early. Earlier than usual, anyway. Jen was still sleeping, so I thought I’d let her sleep a bit longer. But at 9:00, I got her going.

Unforunately, Jen started off with a killer headache, so she didn’t move very quickly. Compound to that a very irregular bus schedule and not being able to catch a limited express to Tokyo wound up pretty much killing the point of today’s journey — going to Nikko.

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Turning Japanese Again, Touring Tokyo

Apr05
2004 Written by Geoff

The household woke up slowly. The events of last night (see [[Turning Japanese Again, Reception Party in Chiba]]) had done us all in. Kaz and Chris were tired from all the attention they’d been getting. Jen and I were tired from all the things we’d done and drinks we’d had.

As such, we were in no hurry to do anything. I was the first up, my bladder calling attention to itself, and sat down to catch up on my journals. Chris and Kaz were up shortly afterwards. Chris needed to go back to his apartment before going to work, and suggested that I come along to collect last night’s laundry.

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Turning Japanese Again, Reception Party in Chiba

Apr04
2004 Written by Geoff

We woke up several times this morning. Once when the phone rang (Mike and Brenda checking in on us), when Kaz and Chris’ new refrigerator showed up, when the phone rang a second time, and when the earthquake hit.

And this time, I’m not joking.

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Turning Japanese Again, Shinkansen to Tokyo

Apr03
2004 Written by Geoff

More tofu for breakfast. Blech. Well, not so much blech as bland and really not what I’d like to eat first thing in the morning. Jen didn’t eat much.

Today we’re back to Tokyo (and Yotsukaido). But first, we wanted to do a little touring around. And I do mean “little”. Specifically, two stops up the Karasuma line to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. I really wanted to see what it’s like in there.

But first, we had to pack up and check out. Which wasn’t easy — we’d spread ourselves all over the room. Although it didn’t take me long to pack, Jen had to take a bit longer out of necessity. It’s safe to say that, either way, both of us officially have too much stuff.

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Turning Japanese Again, Touring Osaka

Apr02
2004 Written by Geoff

We attempted to move a bit quicker this morning. The key word being “attempted”.

The idea was to go to Osaka and do the touring thing. That meant we had to leave at a reasonable time so we could catch the various trains (subway, shinkansen, local, loop, and subway, in that order) to get from our hotel to the Osaka Aquarium, our first destination of the day.

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Turning Japanese Again, Kyoto Nishi Honganji Temple

Apr01
2004 Written by Geoff

Today, we experienced what can only be the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. The earthquake hit around 7:30, and shook the entire room. Jen and I leapt from bed, and I dragged her into one of the doorways — supposedly the safest place to be during an earthquake. The rumbling continued for a good 30 seconds (not that I was timing, but it was certainly a long shake) before things settled down a bit. I don’t know how often Kyoto gets an earthquake, but apparently even our modest little ryokan can handle the stress.

April fool! Had you going, didn’t I? No, there wasn’t an earthquake. Quite the opposite, actually. It would have taken an earthquake to get Jen out of bed.

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Turning Japanese Again, Kyoto Kiyomizu Temple

Mar31
2004 Written by Geoff

I was up long before I’d planned to be up. I’d wanted to try and sleep a bit more to get rest for the long day of walking ahead, but my body said it was time to rise, and so it did.

Besides, the racket of Kyoto on the move outside the window pretty much precluded any additional sleep.

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Turning Japanese Again, Shinkansen to Kyoto

Mar30
2004 Written by Geoff

We woke before 8:00 this morning, expecting breakfast. At least, that was the time they put on the reservation notice I got from the guest house reservation service. We didn’t eat until about 8:30, though, which was fine.

Breakfast was mostly western: scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice, and the like. Nothing particularly fancy.

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Turning Japanese Again, Shinkansen to Hiroshima

Mar29
2004 Written by Geoff

No hangovers. This was a good way to start the day, even if it was a lot earlier than Jen really would have liked. (Mind you, Jen likes noon as a wake-up time.)

It was warm in the room. The Japanese seem to like it warm. Even trying to turn the heat down didn’t help. Twenty-four degrees is just uncomfortable. We rose, repacked our bags, and prepared for the trip to Hiroshima. Neither of us were particularly hungry, so would skip breakfast. Chris called to inform us of the paper shinkansen schedule, which we’d found out about the night before.

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