On to Christmas!

Yesterday was the day they call "Black Friday".  It is called that because they feel so many people will be out shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving that it will insure that business's financial situation will turn profitable or be "back in the black".  It's usually not a good day to get out there in the traffic and crowds but it definitely is a good day to get some really good deals.

While Guillermo went to John Fardal's house to continue helping him with the addition to his house, I went to a few stores.  It was a definite pleasant surprise to not run into any bad traffic and none of the stores I went to had crazy throngs of people.  So it was all good.  A sweater from Penneys for $1 was the bonus of the day!

In the evening, I put Christmas lights on the house.

Today I hung out with my friend Mary who is going through a tough time personally.  We talked over pizza at Costco, shopped a little afterwards and then she came over to the house and we talked some more.  Guillermo was at John's house again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything!
What's been going on.  Well, not all that much.
On Monday, November 25th, we had our Thanksgiving here at our house with good friends John/Angie and Bill/Connie.  We all had a great time.  EXCEPT, the turkey we made ranks up there as one of the worst ones we have ever had.  It was dry and tough.  Good thing we made plenty of gravy to help make that turkey taste better.  And with wine, beer and "good" eggnog flowing, well, it was still a great meal!

The next day, we met John and Elaine at Mom's house.  Guillermo helped John outside with scraping off old flaking paint and Elaine and I mostly stayed inside with Mom.  We got wireless internet set up at her house and enjoyed a good lunch of gumbo that Elaine made.  On Wednesday, we again met at Mom's house to continue work on the outside of the house and we also set up an HD cable box so that Mom can get HD TV.  It will take her a little while to get used to the new remote but I think she'll like it eventually.  We had gumbo again for lunch and it was just as good!  After lunch, Guillermo and I left for John Fardal's house.  I dropped Guillermo off there so that Guillermo could help John with an addition he's putting on their house.  I left and drove up Hwy 281, which was a mistake - that has got to be the worst area to drive in San Antonio, especially the day before Thanksgiving.  Finally I got out of that mess and went back to North Star Mall, and whiled away the time (happily) until 5pm when I was supposed to go back and pick up Guillermo.

Today, we were going to go to Cibolo Nature Park out in Boerne to do a little hiking but ended up staying at home.  We just couldn't bring ourselves to go out.  It's too cold and Guillermo is working on the plans to his shed/greenhouse and I've got Christmas music going and am putting up Christmas decorations around the house.  Which always makes me miss Rebeca and Fernando......

Still haven't adjusted to being back home

We slept ok last night, but that's probably because we went to bed very early.  The night before last night, we hardly slept at all.  We tossed and turned till about 5:30am!!, which is when we finally got a little sleep.  And the nights before that night weren't all that great either.  The only good thing is that we aren't anywhere near as tired as we were when we first got back home.  It's just that we can't sleep!!!

Pretty strong cold front came in today.  Low tonight is expected to be around 35 degrees.  Brrr, that's too cold.

Back home

We had breakfast with Melanie at the Humble Cafe which was VERY good.  We enjoyed relaxing with her in that nice warm cafe and soon enough, it was time for us to take off for our drive back to San Antonio.

Two nights in one day

So, today we leave Japan.  We will leave on Wednesday November 6th in the evening, and arrive back in Texas on Wednesday November 6th in the evening.  That is going to be weird to go through two nights in one day.

We didn't need to start heading to the airport until a little after 2 so we still had a good part of the day at the apartment.  We had one last nice breakfast with Fernando and Eva and then a little later Guillermo and I went to the mall (I rode a bike while Guillermo walked) to buy a few things for lunch and pick up a few last minute things.  And also just to see the mall called Lalaport one last time.  I'll miss hearing the ladies across from the Tokyu Store call with their unique sound as they try to get people to try their samples.  We enjoyed going to this mall a lot - parking the bike in the bike parking lot, shopping at the Tokyu Store or at the gourmet store.  Picking out yummy desserts at the sweets shop or delicious bread from the bakery.  And the traditional "buying of a plant for the apartment" from a plant store on the first day we were with Eva and Fernando. How fun it was to try the "octopus balls" from one little store that makes them right in front of you which is in itself a delight to watch.   Yep, Fernando and Eva have a very nice place so close to them!

After lunch, it was time to start getting serious about packing.  Then before we knew it, it was time to head for the train station.  I must make a point right here to notice how we have in fact already had breakfast and lunch on this day, Wednesday, November 6th.  Eva and Fernando rode their bikes with our suitcases on their baskets and Guillermo and I walked to Lalaport.  Once we finally met them there (seemed like it took us a LONG time to walk there), we walked on to the train station.  After catching that first train we transferred to another train and that's when we realized that things were going to be REALLY close in trying to catch the third train which would take us to the airport.  Turns out we missed that third train and had to wait over 40 minutes for the next airport train.  But that was ok, because it gave us an extra 40 minutes to spend with Fernando and Eva which was like a bonus.
Here's a video of our train pulling into the station.  Not that great and you have to wait for it, wait for it and then all of a sudden the train appears.

Our flight back to San Antonio was great.  We held our breath after we got our seats, hoping no one would take the third seat in our set of three seats.  When they announced they were closing the cabin doors, and no one had taken that third seat, we just couldn't believe our good luck.  We immediately spread out and made ourselves comfortable, knowing we would be relatively comfy on the long flight back to Seattle.  They brought us dinner which was just awful.  Barely edible.  It's so embarrassing to know that the Japanese have that kind of meal as an introduction to America when they fly to the states.  After dinner, we settled down to watch a movie or just relax.  Then we crossed the International Date Line.   It was November 6 all over again.  They served us breakfast.  It was just the strangest thing to know that without even sleeping or anything, we were having breakfast again in what to us was the very same day.  Doing the day all over again! We had a very tight layover in Seattle.   Of course, once in Seattle we knew it wouldn't be easy with the long walk to customs, going THROUGH customs, getting our luggage again to recheck them and trying to find a place to get some lunch.  Which there was no place so we just ended up getting some croissants and a citrus cake and ate that.

The flight from Seattle to Houston was for me the worst leg of the trip for me - I was just so unbelievably tired.  In Houston, we hoped we'd be able to meet our friend Melanie's husband easy enough after getting our luggage and it did go easy.  He drove us to their house where Melanie had fixed a delicious taco soup.  We enjoyed dinner with them and shortly after that took our showers and went to bed.  Two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners in the same day.  Sure was weird.

Last full day with Fernando and Eva

So, today we took it easy.  Got up and had a leisurely breakfast.  Hung around the apartment doing stuff on the computer before we walked over to the mall and did a little Christmas shopping.  That was fun!  Fernando got a coffee grinder and Eva picked out a pair of slippers and two Christmas ornaments.  Then we came back home and had lunch.
In the afternoon we just hung around, Eva went in to the lab for a meeting, and I rode a bike around the nearby park and streets.  Later that evening we met Eva and walked to a sushi place where we had dinner.

November 3 and November 4

November 3
We caught a bus to the temple we were going to visit today.  As we walked through the streets, we looked for a place to have breakfast and found a very nice cafe that had big windows that faced beautiful gardens.  It was a great place to have breakfast.  We sat at a round table that we shared with a young couple.  I had French Toast, which may have been the very best French Toast I have ever eaten.

That figure in front of the house is a quite popular figure in Japan.  It is a racoon-dog statue.

Lots of kimonos everywhere

There were lots of activities at this temple area and several tents with people helping visitors make crafts.  Eva and I participated also, making wooden snowflakes.  The snowflake started as little pieces of wood in a bag and it was up to us to position those pieces of wood into a snowflake - with their help, of course.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant that would have been a nice place at which to eat outside on the patio but since it was raining, it was more comfortable to eat inside and stay dry.

Dogs are definitely loved here.

We went back to the big temple today that was closed yesterday.  I loved the zen gardens.

It started raining while we were in this part.

This evening, we went back to the area we had been earlier in the day since the plan was to have dinner at a restaurant that Fernando and Eva had eaten at before and really liked.  Since it was still a little early, we decided to walk along a tree-lined canal called the Philosopher's Walk.  It was a very beautiful and relaxing walk in the cool weather and the mist falling.  We saw some open shops along the way and went as far as heading in the general direction of another temple but we just didn't have enough time to visit it.  So we headed back and walked by the restaurant we were going to go to.  It still seemed quite early, so we decided to go back to the shops we had passed and check them out.  After doing that, it was more a decent hour to have dinner so we then went into the restaurant.  It really was a good restaurant so it was a perfect place to have one last Japanese style meal.  Then we caught a bus back to the apartment.

November 4
  Took a bus to the train station, had lunch there, then Guillermo and Fernando took the bus back to the apartment because I forgot my retainer there.
When they got back we caught a train back to Tokyo and then back to Eva and Fernando's apartment.

We visited one last temple this morning

Ok, trip is basically over.  Time to walk to the bus stop and catch a bus back to the apartment and check out.

After we checked out, we caught a bus to the Kyoto train station.  While on the bus, I realized I had left my retainer on the pillow back at the apartment but it was too late to go back and get it.  Once at the train station, we had lunch and then the decision was made not to go visit another temple in the south of Tokyo.  Instead, Guillermo and Fernando were going to go BACK on the bus to the apartment to get the retainer while Eva and I waited at the train station with our luggage.  It took about an hour and a half until they got back.  Then we went to buy our tickets for the trip back to Tokyo and for a few minutes there it looked like all seats were sold out on the trains until Fernando asked about getting an unreserved seat and so they sold us unreserved seats.  We worried that we wouldn't get a seat on the train and would have to stand for 3 hours but everything worked out.  We got good seats and were comfortable the whole way back to Tokyo.  As we approached Tokyo, the skies were dark and stormy.  Then it was 3 different trains from Tokyo to Kashiwa and then we were back in the shopping mall that is by the Kashiwa Train Station.  We ate dinner at the food court there and then walked in the dark to the apartment!  

What a wonderful trip we took with Eva and Fernando - we just loved it all.  Now we have one more full day with them.  That's it. 

Buses, trains and walking

Today we took a bus and then a train to an area of Kyoto called Arashiyama.  We walked through the bamboo grove, visited a temple and then climbed up to a Macaque Monkey Park.

The bamboo groves  in Arashiyama are really interesting.  And if you want to pay the price, these guys will run you up the various paths.

This is a walking path near one of the temples.

The gardens surrounding the temple

After visiting the bamboo grove and the main temple, we were ready for lunch!  We found this nice little restaurant along the river.

Boats ferrying passengers to some places along the river.

After lunch, and after debating back and forth about whether we should do the steep hike up to the nearby Macaque Monkey Park, we  decided to cross the river on the Togetsukyo Bridge and curiosity won out.  So, we climbed a quite steep trail to the Macaque Monkey Park.  This is a view of Kyoto from the top where the monkey park is.

There were lots of Macaques!  The fun ones to watch were the babies but also interesting was a little section of the park where the monkeys seemed to consider it their grooming area.  There were plenty of monkeys in that section grooming one another.

Then we walked back down and across the bridge again.  We got some ice cream cones and then just casually strolled along the river before moving on to the next place we wanted to visit.

We had to go back to the train station so we walked along some very touristy street on our way.  We enjoyed the shops - one shop had little figurines made out of silk worm cocoons.  They were nice but probably would not have survived a trip back home.  Then we found a place to have a little dessert which we devoured as we stood outside.  I don't remember the name of the dessert, but it was delicious!

The train we caught to get us back to Kyoto was really full so we had to stand.  Then we caught a bus to take us out to the section of Kyoto called Guion.  We got off the bus at this temple.

Picking a fortune telling paper slip

The fortune paper slips tied on to accessible parts of trees.

We walked to the entrance gate to the main temple in this area but the gate was already closed.   We then decided to walk down the street to another temple nearby that had huge 800 year old Camphor Trees.  

The gate was already closed at this place, too, so we decided to walk back to the area where we got off the bus and start looking for a place to have dinner.  After walking around quite a bit, we finally found a nice little place that wasn't TOO expensive.  So this is where we had dinner that night.  We really enjoyed our meal here.  

After dinner, we caught a bus back to our apartment and it sure felt good to relax after such a nice day.

Kyoto

We did our last little walking around in Takayama in the morning.

Crossing the bridge to the river, we met a man who lives in Takayama.  He was very nice and gave Eva a present of a packet of little papers with which to do origami.

This is the man we met on the bridge - he spoke English quite well.

Last stroll through the market.

A different view of the river

This was the hallway outside of our guest room.  

Guillermo peeking out our doors.

Most bathrooms where people live have this outside the room where the toilet is.  You take off your house slippers on the brown floor and put on these toilet slippers to go into the toilet stall.

 I can NOT get this next picture to upload in landscape position (which would make the words on the slippers easier to read), no matter what I try.  ANYway, these are the special slippers the guest house had for guests to put on when using when using the toilet room.

After checking out of the guest house, we caught a taxi to the train station and then took a train to Kyoto.  That was such a nice train ride, as actually they all were.   While on the train, it was so tempting to constantly get my camera out because the scenery was always so interesting and beautiful.   I also spent plenty of time on all the train rides we took listening to music on my ipod.  "Keep the Streets Empty" by Fever Ray became my new favorite song while we were traveling by train.  I liked that song so much I would listen to it over and over again and eventually that song later came to be a very powerful and excellent  reminder of our time in Japan.
We are staying in a small apartment here in Kyoto.