Days 2 and 3 in San Francisco

This will be the "final chapter" of my trip to Japan and San Francisco. Sunday, Ryan, Holly and Pax and I traveled to the wine country in Napa Valley. We picked up sandwiches to have as we traveled from winery to winery. We did wine tastings at three wineries and had a very enjoyable time and the drive was nice - a few sprinkles but nothing to deter our trip. We got back to San Fran in the afternoon after stopping for Peet's coffee and scones and in the evening went to a get together of Ryan and Holly's "like minded" friends. There were three visitors at this get together of my age which is unusual - usually they are all Ryan's age, etc. Enjoyed some fellowship and a good meal of potato soup and bread. After dinner, i visited a while at Ryan's and then back to the B&B for another good night's sleep.

Monday, i got up and packed everything and Ryan picked me up and after Holly's parents arrived, we all headed to Tartine for a decadent breakfast. It was standing room only there (a very small place) and we intended to eat outside at the tables although it was a bit chilly. The rain ultimately drove us inside to eat standing up at the counter. Most of us had their signature dish - bread pudding - which was wonderful. After the over indulgent breakfast, we all went for a hike up Bernal Hill (the area where Ryan and Holly and Pax live)to work off our breakfast. It was very windy up there so we just did a 360 view of the aerial view of that part of San Fran and then went down the hill to walk on a bit more through the neighborhoods.

The kids took me to the airport around 1:30 and due to weather, i had a 1.5 hour delay out of San Fran putting me into DFW around 9:30 PM. Considering all the travels i have done, i was OK that i had not been delayed at any other time.

This whole trip was a huge success and very enjoyable for me.

This will be my last posting until i embark on another trip.

Days in San Francisco

Well just to update everyone. I made it from Narita to San Francisco just fine, albeit a long day.

The Shinkansen train ride was spectacular.




I never really thought it was going as fast as it supposedly does travel. The only time you might get the least bit dizzy is if you watch out the windows when there is not wide open spaces to view. Sometimes when it goes through the many tunnels you just have to focus on the interior of the train and also when the sound barriers are up on the sides of the train, once again you have to divert your eyes. Otherwise, the view is spectacular of the mountains, etc.

The Tokyo Train Station is an absolute zoo. Had i not read up and had different postings online to relate to i might have been very intimidated. Signs everywhere, people everywhere, gates everywhere going into and out of the Shinkansen train gates, etc.

I had previously read that the train to the airport (Narita Express) was in the basement of the train building so at least that gave me somewhere to focus.

Narita Airport was easy to navigate so no problems there.

Our flight was very full but i still managed 4 hours of sleep on the plane.

Arrived into Lax and transferred to a flight to Oakland and Ryan and Holly and Pax picked me up. We had a nice evening and i ended up at the Bed and Breakfast i am staying at in Bernal Heights.

I got a very good night's sleep with my hostess who is a throw back to the hippie era. I'll post more tomorrow about our other activities in San Francisco.

Sorry no pics. i have a few more to post when i get home.

Day 5 in Kyoto

I had no idea that Lisa had saved the most spectacular sightseeing for the final day. We woke up and it was raining and cold and foggy. No big deal. we knew it was supposed to rain on Friday. By the time we left the apartment it was just barely raining and no wind. Got on the train and it was a 1.5 hour ride from Yamashina to Himeji. Himeji is the home of a magnificent castle in Japan - i believe the largest. Himeji was a more normal town the part we walked through from the train station to the castle grounds. Wide streets, not as many people on bikes, people more normally dressed. By this time, the rain was gone and the sun was in and out so we were really leading a charmed life because of the change in the weather in our favor.

Bought our tickets to tour the castle grounds and the adventure began. In my wildest imagination, i cannot see how a structure of this kind could have been built. I have seen other buildings (very old) in Europe that i have thought the same thing. I cannot even begin to describe the size of this castle and all its out buildings. And the fortification was unbelievable. Hopefully some of the pictures that Lisa took will give you a general idea of its size. We were allowed inside after we took our shoes off (and they provided us slippers to wear). We climbed 6 stories (very steep) of stairs to get to the top of the castle but the views of the city from there were amazing on our beautiful day. Everything that we could see inside the castle was made of wood sitting on what appeared to be a limestone or rock base. Quite a few artifacts were inside the castle for us to see of old tools, etc. found around the castle. An absolutely amazing structure.

Then we went next door to a series of beautiful gardens. I am sure these are spectacular in the spring when all the cherry blossom trees are blooming. Some were just starting to bloom and some were in full bloom at this garden as well as all sorts of small trees in pots on display of various kinds of cherry blossom trees. This garden area also contained a bamboo forest and various other types of trees, vegetation and lots of koi ponds and waterfalls. Just a very scenic area.

After these tours, we crossed the street and ate at a corny dog stand that lisa had previously tried and i have to admit it was probably the best corny dog i have ever eaten. I know, you come half way around the world to eat at a corny dog stand???

Back to the train and we rode into Kobe. The Chinese festival was going on so we made our way to that part of town (a short walk from the train station) and watched some of the live entertainment and walked up and down the area of China Town and bought some food from the vendors as well as fruit.

We also passed by the world's longest suspension bridge (photo shown in this blog but not very good - pretty foggy) that connects an island to this part of the mainland. Another unbelievable structure.

Made our way back to the train station and after riding a couple more trains and subways were home by about 7-7:30 PM but not before passing through an area of Kyoto on a Friday night where all the "weirdly dressed" folk were hanging out. In a society that you think is ultra conservative, you wonder why these young people are going in such a totally different direction with their hair, clothing, shoes, etc.

The end of the sightseeing has come and boy my feet and knees are "SO VERY THANKFUL"...

Tomorrow begins my long journey from Kyoto to Tokyo Narita Airport via the Nozomi Shinkansen (bullet train) connecting to the Narita Express. Flight to Los Angeles departs around 5:30 PM.

I will try and post in the Tokyo Airport to tell of my train trips.

here are a few photos to leave you with for today.

Day 4 in Kyoto

I won't have any pics yet of today's travels. As soon as Lisa gets up and we download the pictures from the camera she took yesterday, i'll insert some pictures.

Yesterday was supposed to be a low key day and by comparison of the two previous days, it was. We lolly gagged around the apartment in the morning drinking coffee, working on Lisa's income taxes and doing laundry. It was a beautiful sunny warm morning. Audrey played tennis with one of their other friends just across the street at the rec center. Lisa's apartment is very Western style except for the bedroom which is traditional tatami matting on the floor and we sleep on the floor on futons. It has been very comfortable. Every day we roll up our futons and store them until we need them for sleeping as the bedrooms are tiny and that gives us room to walk around.

We left the apartment around noon and took the train up to Lake Biwa up north. The largest man made lake in Japan. We strolled down the narrow streets and bought some pastries and took them over to the water's edge and ate. By now it was very foggy up in the mountains and you could hardly see the buildings on the other side of the lake. So it was a little chilly and the sun was struggling to come out. We walked around the water front and down to see a paddle wheel boat that takes people on lake excursions. I'm sure in the nice weather months, this place is packed with people. They were playing 90s type american music where the paddle wheel boat docked.

We went back to the train station and caught the train back to an area close to where Lisa lives that is well known for shopping. We grabbed a Starbucks coffee and sat by the river (inside Starbucks) while we rested a little bit.

Another observation about Japan here. Everything is immaculately clean - on the trains, on the buses, on the grounds of all the temples and shrines, etc. They also have heated toilet seats in some of the western style bathrooms. But there is not a lick of soap to be found to wash your hands and some of the bathrooms don't have toilet paper. Enough about that.

We walked through the shopping district and the people are wall to wall on the side walks. I believe (and I think Lisa will 2nd this) that their favorite hobby is SHOPPING. There are bicycle riders everywhere on the sidewalks and most of the time you do not hear them coming up from behind you. amazingly enough considering how many there are, they don't seem to run over the pedestrians.

We shopped for a little while. I was looking for scarves and found them and Lisa was looking for a new pair of work pants. We also visited a market - Nishiki Koji - which went on for blocks that sold primarily seafood (some unknown things to me) and some flowers, vegetables, fruits and sweets. In this market was a knife shop that is world renowned that we visited. I know Ned would have enjoyed the market and the knife shop. Had i not been carrying on my luggage, i probably would have bought a kitchen knife.

Took the train back home and rested for a while and then Lisa and Audrey and i went out to dinner at an Indian Place a short walk away. Small place but the food and service and ambiance was spectacular.

My knees and feet were reminding me that this was "supposed" to be a low key day. Relatively early to bed to resume more sightseeing on my final day of sightseeing tomorrow.

Day 3 in Kyoto

Day 3 started out in a relaxed way. Didn't have to be anywhere until about 10 AM. Lisa, her roommate Audrey and I went to the Toji flea market that is held once a month (see photo above of the entrance). It is held on the grounds of the Toji Temple. It was great. It was a major pushing and shoving match just to get down the aisles most times but what a wonderful people watching place.


They had everything from fresh flowers and plants (alot of which were familiar to me), clothing, fabric, tools, weapons, antiques and a lot of food. Some of the food was recognizable and some was not. During the course of our time there, we ate a yummy pastry that had chocolate pudding in the middle and for lunch we had a steamed potato and an omelet like thing with lots of cabbage and egg and bacon topped with a sauce like BBQ sauce.


We were definitely enjoying the bright sunny day while sitting on the dead grass by a stagnate pool eating our lunch. We stayed at the flea market for about 3 hours. i was in search of silk scarves that were cheap and lisa was looking for a short kimono.

I have really been blessed by the wonderful weather during my visit. After all, this is probably the worst month to visit and so far only a little bit chilly at times but beautiful sunshine and no rain. I have to comment today on two interesting Japan observations. We have ridden on several trains by now - both local and rapid trains. On every given train, i would say 50-60% of the people sitting on the trains are sleeping, some so soundly they are snoring. These people look so overworked that they are just desperate to catch a few winks. The other observation has to do with the women's feet and the footwear they have chosen. Mind you, over the last two days, we have walked more than i have walked since going to Australia in 2005. Needless to say, my knees are definitely "nagging" me. The younger women here have on these pointy toe high heel shoes/boots and are racing through the train stations, climbing the steps at the temples, etc. It makes my feet hurt to just see them and some of them are so pidgeon toed you wonder how they take steps without falling over their feet. Enough about that.

After leaving the Toji flea market we took the train to Uji which is a little town north of Kyoto just a short train ride. It is on a beautiful river and has lots of cute shops down narrow streets.


We strolled through the streets and lisa and i dropped into a tea house and had green tea. Hers was rather earthy - don't think she particularly liked it but mine was more sweetened so was very good. It smelled like marijuana in the tea house which must have to do with the way they process the tea leaves into dried powder.


But the main draw for Uji is the temple there - Byodoin - and the museum built adjacent to it. See above for a picture of the temple. It was very big and very old and the grounds around this area were very nice.


The museum was very modern and contained alot of artiifacts that came out of the temple as they restored it and the artifacts. Another World Heritage Site. I'm sure there must be many in Kyoto because of all the temples left standing here because it was not bombed during World War II. A very enjoyable day.



Here is a wisteria arbor at the temple that must be gorgeous when it is in full bloom. all of these temples we have visited have lots of cherry blossom trees planted; however they don't bloom until April so i missed that beautiful site.

Another photo of Lisa and I having our tea.

More to follow tomorrow.

some more photos from Day 2 in Kyoto.

here are some photos from Day 2 in Kyoto.

Day 2 in Kyoto

Got up yesterday morning. Lisa and I sat around the apartment until about 10 Am and then left for our "temple hopping" day. It was a beautiful day, chilly but bright sunshine. No wind at all so that was great. I can now understand why people come here. There are very, very old temples everywhere. I was beginning to wonder yesterday if everybody lived in a temple many hundreds of years ago when these were built. The construction of the temples is just amazing. We did ALOT of walking yesterday. First temple we went to was also seen most recently in Lost in Translation (the Bill Murray movie). Lisa took lots of pics so she can help me post several later. A few observations at this first temple: no grass on the ground anywhere to be found, only moss. I have yet to see any grass anywhere. we went on a long walk through town yesterday beside a water aquaduct called the Philosopher's Walk and not a blade of grass anywhere. Don't know why. We saw a group of older Japanese ladies dressed in traditional clothing at the first temple. a picture of them will follow. We took several buses yesterday and several subways to get around. The public transportation system is fantastic. Lisa's Lonely Planet book always gave us information which bus to take, etc. The second temple was called the Golden Pavilion. This is a World Heritage Organization site. The only other WHO sites i have seen were in Australia. The grounds here were beautiful with lots of ponds and walking trails. We left here and went to a little diner for a very late lunch and then went on to our final Shinto shrine where you get a view of Kyoto (it is very elevated up on a hill) at dusk. Also lots of shopping on the streets leading up the hill to the Shrine. Once again, more pictures to follow courtesy of Lisa. After the shrine closed, we went back down the hill to catch the bus back to Kyoto. Not realizing that at 6:30 PM the buses were overloaded, we waiting through 3 buses and finally walked back to the subway station to get back to Lisa's neighborhood. We grabbed a coffee and a dessert for our dinner and were home by 7 PM. I was in bed by 9 PM and lisa stayed up and watched a movie with her roomie, Audrey and a neighbor from down the hall who is also a NOVA teacher, the "other" Lisa. a great but very tiring day from all the walking.

Day 1 - trip to Japan
The trip definitely started out on the right foot. i got a seat on the two seat side of the aircraft and no one sitting next to me. Thank you American Airlines. I had changed my seat three times prior to coming to the flight so that was a good thing that my final seat choice was a good one. Flight from DFW to Tokyo Narita was uneventful. Good food on the plane, a reasonably good movie - Russell Crowe in A Good Life but no sleep for me on the plane. i rested alot but never could go to sleep. Landed in Tokyo a few minutes early, cleared immigration and customs without a hitch and without much waiting. Went to check in for my connecting flight to Osaka and then went to the departure lounge for that flight. i had about a 3 hour time period to kill. I could have gotten on the earlier flight to Osaka but lisa was at work so it would not have done me any good. Flight departed about 45 minutes late but was only 20 minutes late in landing so made up time in the air. The Tokyo Airport was not nearly as crowded as i expected and the part of the terminal my flight departed from was a ghost town until about 30 minutes prior to boarding. When the announcement was made to board, everyone rushed the gate to scan their boarding pass so guess they don't board by groups. The JAL flight was also uneventful from Tokyo to Osaka. The funniest things on this flight were that the stewardesses kept checking the overhead bins - bin by bin- to be sure they were locked in place. they did this 3 times during a one hour flight - a possible lawsuit from a falling bag prompt this attention to detail???then the video they showed about airplane safety did not have real people in the video - but what looked like wooden people. I guess they worked cheaper than the real people...ha ha ha...

Arrived Osaka just fine and made my way outside to catch the bus. A young lady saw that i was standing in line and she pulled me out of line and took me to the vending machine and helped me buy my ticket. So i waited about 5 minutes for the bus and then was off from Osaka to Kyoto. The bus was full of people - very few seats and the traffic was horrendous going both directions on the freeway - and this was at 8:30 PM at night. An hour later we were in downtown Kyoto near the Kyoto Train Station. Lisa did not know for sure where the bus let out. So i got off the bus and walked for a while looking for the Starbucks we were to meet at and did not see it. Went into a small coffee shop type restaurant and asked a couple of young men if they spoke english - NO - but i gestured enough and said starbucks they indicated it was on the other side of the train station. So I went into Kyoto Station and all the way through it and out the other side and saw Starbucks. Lisa was waiting for me inside. A big bearhug reunion!!!

We took the train from Kyoto station to Yamashina about - 4 minutes and it was definitely standing room only and got off and walked about 10 minutes to her apartment.

Met Audrey - Lisa's roommate and one of their other friends who live in the apartment complex - Lisa from the UK. Had some hot tea and sacked out. Slept about 6-7 hours so i'll be tired today but we have lots of sightseeing to do and i'll update more tomorrow morning.

i am less than 24 hours from departure to Japan now. today has been a day of packing, going to get snacks for the plane and getting my hair cut so i won't have to fool with hair for a few days. and giving myself a "pep talk" for all the travel starting tomorrow morning.

if i have access to the internet tomorrow at the airport(s), i'll post again along the way; otherwise, i'll post when i arrive to Lisa's apartment in Kyoto.

bye for now.

More details coming together for my Japan trip. Lisa sent me basic information today on how to know when to get off the bus traveling from Osaka to Kyoto (assuming the announcements are not in English), how to order something at Starbucks while i wait for her - either a hot or cold beverage - and a few key phrases like "good evening", "thanks a lot" and "where is the toilet". i need to have a "voice" lesson with her to get the exact pronounciations of these phrases. I already have some Yen to spend so won't have to run for a money changing place immediately. i should have sufficient time in the Tokyo Airport to browse around and people watch and get something to eat if i find anything identifiable and maybe even check the internet before i have to check in for my flight to Osaka.

More to follow.

i am in count down mode for my departure to Kyoto - 5 more wake ups and i will be on a plane first to Tokyo Narita airport and then another flight on to Osaka.

Then i board an airport bus for the 1 hour ride to Kyoto.

Lisa works on the night i arrive until 9 PM so we will meet up at Starbucks around 9:15 PM and then be off to her apartment in Yamashina.

More to follow.

I have been off blogging since late 2005 but am now starting another international trip so will keep everyone updated through this blog during my trip to Japan and San Francisco.