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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 5: Tokyo aka THE END! :-(

After Korea, we hopped on a plane to Osaka, where we then hopped on a Shinkansen to Tokyo for the last part of our trip together (SOB!! They should just move here, I think, and I should never leave).

When we got to Tokyo, we immediately brought Kristen and Shawn to the capsule hotel in which they would be staying. I was staying with Martin in Shinagawa, so I had booked them a place close to there, and it turned out to be a host district
(if you don't know what a host is, use the picture for reference. It's like the Japanese dude version of a hostess, and they have awesome host hair and are super suave) - the place was literally crawling with hosts. I thought it was a great introduction to Tokyo for Kristen and Shawn! :-)

The next day, while Kristen and I slept, Shawn woke up super early and went to the fish market (apparently, he got kicked out about 5 times for being a foreigner there so early). When we finally all met up, we headed over to Akihabara for some doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant (and, of course, for them to check out the electronics distric).


I of course had to bring them to Super Potato to see all the old school games and to sit in the chair made of famcom games (which, unfortunately, was way smaller than it used to be - I guess it went through some trouble).

So, then we headed over to the Meiji shrine by Yoyogi Koen, and there just so happened to be two weddings going on. Guess we were lucky!



Martin and I of course had to make goofy poses outtside of the shrine. I feel certain that Kristen and Shawn also made goofy poses, but I don't seem to have those pictures.

After the shrine, we headed into Harajuku, where there were unfortunately no cosplayers. We really didn't get lucky on the cosplay/lolita front.
We did, however, get very lucky on the Takeshita street front. Sure, there were tons of people there, but SO MANY LESS than there ever have been before.
We were actually able to walk down the street and breathe at the same time. I even felt comfortable enough spending the time necessary to pop into a couple idol shops to look for hot visual kei boys (I found none. Sadness).

We then headed over to the Shinjuku/Shibuya area for a delicious (at least to me, maybe not so much to Krist and Shawn) vegan lunch at Pure Cafe, the Aveda cafe.
And then delicious chocolate soy shakes from Mr. Bean.

Since we were in the area, we of course had to go check out 109 - I feel like it's a total waste to go to Tokyo and not at least check out the insane awesomeness of it.


We made some new friends in front of the store who posed in our picture with us!



Kristen and I had been wanting to buy matching somethings, and we found some adorable t-shirts, so I officially made my very first 109 purchase (and not even from JSG, my favorite store there).

Us having fun in 109. Please note that I almost killed myself on the escalator trying to get this picture.

Making Mary-Kate and Ashley lips in the train.


That night, Martin and Shawn went to kaiten sushi for dinner while Kristen and I ate spaghetti chez Martin. It was so nice to eat in a house again, oddly enough, instead of hopping around from restaurant to restaurant.

Kristen and Shawn wanted to see the sky tree, so the next morning we woke up and headed over to Asakusa. We walked around a bit looking at the shrine and the fun other Japanesey stuff, and then we headed over to the bridge to check out the sky tree.

Kristen and Shawn think it's going to be a tourist success, but I'm just not so sure. I mean, it's ugly. And it's whole purpose is to be a tourist attraction. I don't get it. Maybe I'll have to walk up to the top and see the view if I ever want to eventually get it.


And there it is, right to the left of the really cool building that's supposed to look like beer.

Then Krist and I headed over to Loving Hut for (what I thought was) a DELICIOUS lunch! Shawn and Martin walked around Shinjuku and ate something else. Then we met up and got doughnuts (!!!! I'm seriously doughnut obsessed) and headed back to Martin's for a few minutes of down-time before getting back on the shinkansen to head back to Nagoya.
We ate delicious (once again, to me) Indian food, then Kristen and Shawn headed to their hotel by the airport, and I headed back to Okazaki for my first night sleeping with my home stay family.

Our stay in Tokyo was super short but super fun. Their stay in Japan was super short but super fun. I'm so sad they are gone!

I'm actually headed back to Tokyo this weekend again, though, to hang out with another friend coming into town. And then, Guillaume comes, and we're headed to Kyushu then Okinawa. So much traveling, so little money!

And thus, THE END of my adventures with Kristen and Shawn!

以上です。

Saturday, July 21, 2012

雨でFREEDOM NAGOYA 2012: 泥だらけ

Today, it finally arrived, the festival for which I have been waiting ALL summer: FREEDOM NAGOYA!!

I went last year, and it was DEFINITELY the most amazing outdoor music festival to which I had ever been. I've literally been super psyched about this year's version for several months now.

This morning I met Cesar on the train at around 9 - I wanted to get there before 10 so that I would have time to buy a t-shirt (last year, they were sold out when I got there - sadness) and STILL see Pit's, the band that won the Nagoya audition. I wanted to see what they were all about. Then, I was going to head over to see The 3 Lights Down Kings, the band I saw the end of at the Real Reach/Rookiez is Punk'd show I went to last Friday.

Unfortunately, upon arrival, the line to buy t-shirts was SUPER long, so I had to choose between buying a t-shirt and seeing Pit's.

I chose t-shirt. And ended up missing Pit's and the Three Lights Down Kings as well.

So the first band I saw was 04 limited sazabys.


These guys were seriously amazing and definitely up there in my top two or three of the day (so hard to choose, though, maybe my top 4). My notes about them: TOTALLY AWESOME!

The next band at the big stages was Hawthorne Heights, who were from America. I watched one song and was bored (lots of people seemed really into them, though), so we headed over to the smaller stages, where I got to see Sequim, who were pretty great.
They seem to be fairly new, though, and from Nagoya, so I hope I'll see them around some more.

Then was Enth, who was good but not great and had a sound that was a little bit too whiny for me.

After Enth, we met up with Rachael - 3人お揃い


Then we headed back over to the big stages for My First Story, who was also pretty good, but also a little bit too whiny for me (I really don't mind whiny music and sometimes even love it, but if the guitar sounds whiny to me, that's sometimes too much).

Then the amazingness of the day started!!!! With a band I also saw last week, The Cherry Cokes. They somehow managed to rock more this week than they did last week (because it was rainy? because it was free?).


Please excuse the awfulness of this picture. I decided to post it anyway because I think the guys leg flying perfectly up in the air is hilarious.

They actually seemed to play some different songs than they did last week, which was super cool. And dancing around crazy like in the mud to their Japanese version of Celctic punk just somehow seemed perfect.

Then, Dirty Old Men, who are somewhat whiny, but the kind of whiny I love.

(Another awful picture that I am posting anyway~!)

Despite having been, in the past, at several festivals at which they appeared, this was my first time not only seeing them, but also hearing them. My reaction: TOTALLY AMAZING! A little slow, but I totally loved it!
Rachael and Cesar totally LOVED them!

Then for the band that ended up being MY FAVORITE BAND OF THE DAY: Secret 7 Line!!

(yay for the awful pictures I took - I want that pink and black Secret 7 Line t-shirt)

Apparently, I am a HUGE Secret 7 Line fan - if you'll recall, they were also my favorite previously known band of Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash last week. If possible, they rocked even harder this week.
They unfortunately didn't really seem to leave much of an impression on Cesar or Rachael. :-( I'll defo be buying some of their stuff soon!

After Secret 7 Line was Shank, and while in my head I love them, this is now the second time I've seen them live, and I was somewhat underwhelmed.

I mean, I definitely liked them both times, but that's it. I only liked them. I guess I need to see them do a one man live to truly be able to judge.

After Shank, we had decided to take a lunch break - luckily, the food stalls just so happened to be right next to the stage of
MY FAVORITE PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY:
ガガガSP



These guys were SERIOUSLY AWESOME~!! And to think - I would have missed them if they hadn't been right next to the food.
I don't really know how to describe why they were so perfectly awesome - they just were. Like this wonderful mixture of old school punk with a lot of power and a little bit of bubblegum (that's only there if you really listen for it). Just, watch the video, and love!

Next, ニューロティカ (Nyuurotika). First, the singer came out dressed as a watermelon, then he changed into a clown on some mega high stilts, then he got rid of the stilts and was just a clown. They were super fun, and the music was pretty good. Though the lasting impression was definitely more the outfits than the music.

After than, Rotten Graffty, who were absolutely AMAZING!!


They had a little bit of a punk sound to them, but they were also SUPER hard at some points, with even a little bit of the occasional hip-hoppy feel (which, to be honest, I could have done without).
They were really super fun live, and I TOTALLY got into the music (though I can't help but wonder if I'll like them less on CD).
(Also, afterwards, we talked to the singer a bit because Rachael wanted to buy a CD, and he wasn't very nice)

Then we ran over quickly to the small stages for Buzz the Bears.


They definitely rocked WAY more this week than they did last week at Bayside Crash. Unfortunately, we had to miss the beginning of them because RottenGraffty was still playing.
I also spent a good portion of their set trying to explain what punk is to Rachael (how do you explain punk - it's very difficult!). So I didn't get quite as into them as I would have liked.
Still, super super fun! Yay!

Next, HEY SMITH!!!!


I had been doing a mostly okay job of jumping around and dancing yet still avoiding the mud, but for Hey Smith, I decided to give that up and plunged skanking into the mud with all of the rest of the crowd.
I of course came out completely covered in mud, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!
Fingers crossed that all the mud will come out of my clothes like it came out of my skin.

Hey Smith started late and thus ended late, which meant that we missed the first bit of Pan.


They were playing the song from the above video when we arrived, though, and as that is my favorite song by them, all was good. :-) Of course, they ROCKED! I hope I get to see them again before I have to leave Japan.

Then, my favorite Japanese band of all time, Special Thanks.










Misaki, the singer, is so shy - I wish she were just a little less shy and had just a little more stage presence. But really, she's so adorable, and the music is so amazing - so I forgive her.










 
 
 
 
 
I stood right up front, and it felt like I was practically on the stage with them. It was super amazing. I'm going to miss getting to see them live when I leave Japan.









On our way out, after a wonderful day of wonderful music and moshing and mud (last year, it was SO sunny and SO hot, but this year, even if I was wet and muddy, it was nice and cool), we ran across some adorable dinosaur slides.


All in all, a totally amazing day.
I'm already thinking about how I can find a way to go back next year. :-)

以上です。

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash 2012

So on Saturday I worked in Miyoshi in the morning and then headed back to Okazaki for lunch and my second job of the day up by Higashi Koen. That job over, I ran home to get my stuff and hopped on a train back to Nagoya for

Three Lights Down Kings, Rookiez is Punk'D, and Real Reach!!


I'd never heard the Three Lights Down Kings before, and, unfortunately, my job ran late, so I had to miss at least half of them. Still, what I saw was awesome, and I'm totally psyched to check them out again at Freedom Nagoya 2012 this weekend.

Up next was Rookiez is Punk'D - it was my third time seeing them, and, as usual, they were amazing! Possibly even more amazing than usual, because they actually played "Eggmate of the Year," which is my favorite song by them.
They also played stuff from their new album coming out July 25 - I'll definitely be getting my hands on that.

Last up, REAL REACH! If you read about me seeing them at Sakae Spring 2012, you know how much I love them. They were, of course, amazing! And the guitarist is such a fast talker that it also managed, I think, to be good listening practice. Though there were still some things I didn't understand. :-(
They also had a new album out mid-June, and as soon as I have money again - yeah, it's totally mine.

So when the AMAZING concert ended, I met up with Steven and hopped on a night bus to Tokyo to spend the next day at

Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash 2012

This was an all day outdoor music festival - it started at 10, and I didn't get home until about 9 PM. With a sunburn, despite the enormous amounts of sunblock I applied, and happiness from a full day of awesome music! In total, *23* bands! (would be 24, but I missed For A Reason while searching for water)

Let's do this by ratings:
BEST BAND OF THE DAY: Electric Summer

They were also the last band of the day.
It was super late, and I was super exhausted, so I was kind of hoping they would be bad, but when they came out with the singer dressed as a dragon and one of the dudes in a Devo hat, suddenly all of my energy came right back!


Sorry, my picture taking skills aren't the best.
Steven didn't like him because he said he didn't like the singer's voice. I totally loved the singer's voice. And everything else about them!

Now, let's do all the rest of the rankings as if Electric Summer weren't there.

BEST PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY: Tie between Mr. Jingles and S.M.N.

Both were totally punk rock and totally awesome, and I totally couldn't stop myself from dancing around like a crazy person the whole time!
S.M.N also has a bit of a ska sound - I love how ska punk is still in in Japan!

I can't find a Mr. Jingles video. :-(

BEST PREVIOUSLY KNOWN BAND OF THE DAY: Secret 7 Line

Sure, I'd heard these guys before, but nothing could have prepared me for how awesome they were going to be live! They rocked some kind of hardcore!!


I really hope I get to see them again, to do a full live!

RUNNER UP FOR BEST PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY: Tie between TNX and St. Elmo's Fire


TNX is just plain ole punk rock, and they are awesome! They even did a cover of the Offspring's "What Happened to You?" While I've never been a huge Offspring fan, their version was awesome!


St. Elmo's Fire is a little harder, but still - just plain ole punk rock that makes pogo and head bang like it's nobody's business.

BAND I LOVED BUT WAS EXPECTING TO LOVE MORE: The Cherry Coke$
I saw them last year at Haziketemazare (which I apparently never wrote about - weird), and they were beyond awesome then! Celtic punk, in the vein of Flogging Molly. They were totally awesome this time as well, but for some reason, maybe because I was tired and sunburned and needing water, I had trouble getting into them as much as I thought I would.

Still, I highly recommend you check them out!

MOST SURPRISING THING: There were SO MANY PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS! When I first got to Japan, I knew that Japanese people don't get tattoos as much as westerners. Still, I though that might be different in the punk community. In Nagoya, though, you really just don't see them that often. So I was surprised.
I've been to punk fests now in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo, and I DEFINITELY like the Nagoya atmosphere best. There's something almost innocent about it. It just feels like it fits me.

MOST HILARIOUS MOMENT: At one point, this guy climbed up to the top of one of the tall lamps and was hanging around and flying around like a monkey. Then he pulled his pants down and mooned the whole crowd. I tried to get out my camera to get a picture, but was unfortunately too late. :-(

OTHER PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BANDS THAT WERE AWESOME: (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
Bassui - OKAY!
The Sensations - ska, good fun!
Skallheadz - great, fun!
Matter - Operation Ivy cover was totally awesome!
Buzz the Bears - quite good, but their sound seemed off. Think they could have been better.
Hakaihayabusa - alright
F.I.B. - water run during them, but what I heard was great!

OTHER PREVIOUSLY KNOWN BANDS THAT WERE AWESOME: (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
Dradnats - great!
Shank - yay!
Four Get Me A Nots - good, but not as good as I remembered
Country Yard - AWESOME!

BANDS THAT DIDN'T DO IT FOR ME: (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
Hardcore Fanclub - not my style
Velocity - voice a little too emo for me
Meaning - okay sometimes, but in general not really my style
Fight It Out - alright, but really too hard for me
A.O.W. - totally not my style

The next day I took the bus back to Nagoya in time for work. Crazy busy weekend of non-stop PUNK ROCK! I really just don't know if I could ask for anything more.



以上です

Monday, July 16, 2012

Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 4: 韓国スタイル Seoul, South Korea

After Kyoto, we hopped on a plane and flew over to South Korea. I had to leave country to change my visa status to a tourist visa, since my student visa was about to expire, and Kristen and Shawn were all "We want to go, too!"

I don't know why, but even when I'm thinking in English now, I've started thinking of South Korea as Kankoku. Maybe it's because I never really thought about Kankoku before coming to Japan.
Conversations often go like:

American Friend: Ah, you went to South Korea! How was it?

Me: Huh?!? Oh, you mean Kankoku?


That said, it was fabulous!
When we first arrived, we went directly to Loving Hut to eat. There are actually about 5 in Seoul (yay for vegans), and the one we picked was very good, if a little expensive. We met my friend Uri and her boyfriend Patric there.


Uri making me look somewhat like a giant

I hadn't seen Uri in over a year, so it was super awesome to get to hang out! And plus, we have both gotten MUCH better at Japanese since when we met, so we were actually able to talk a bit.
Luckily, though, her boyfriend, Patric, lives in America, so he was able to talk lots to Kristen and Shawn.

After eating and a brief rest, they showed us around a bit.



That thing was really cool, though I don't remember at all what it was. Maybe the dude that founded South Korea.
Apparently we were there at, like, the South Korean independence day or something, so we were happy to stumble upon a little concert (and you KNOW how much I love concerts).

They were all playing these light up drums and dancing around. It was really cool. Afterwards, they invited us on stage to take a picture with them, but I don't have it anywhere.
Of course, it would have been better if we had stumbled upon a punk show, but this was still cool.

Then this big thing was also really cool, so we of course had to take a picture with it. I wanted to get in the water, but I suppose that would have been a bad idea.


We actually got to see the presidential procession pass in front of this building, which was super cool.

And then this little dude is called Haechi, or something like that (do not take my word on that spelling), and apparently he's in front of all the temples in South Korea. He was a mega cutey face.


After exploring, we spent some time in the night market and woke up super early the next morning to go on a tour of Panmunjon and the DMV.

We got really lucky because, even though we weren't on the defactor tour, there was a North Korean defector on the bus with us. We got to ask her lots of questions, and it was really super eye-opening and enlightening.

We learned all about how life was for her in North Korea, why she decided to run away, how she ran away, what she misses. . . it was pretty amazing!

We also got to look through binoculars at a fake North Korean city. It was SO weird because there were all these buildings and absolutely NO ONE there.
Apparently, there used to be fake people made to be looking like they were having fun. But now, I guess, North Korea no longer cares what we think about them.



This train is apparently an old remnant of the war. I don't know more about it than that.



Me and our new friend, Geil, with a guard in front of the train that goes from South Korea to North Korea.


I really thought that North Korea and South Korea had very minimal relations, but apparently there's actually a South Korean factory in North Korea, and every day South Koreans get on a train to go to work (and be paid in American dollars). I was actually really surprised!


Me and Geil trying to reach North Korea


We also went to the DMZ, but no pictures allowed there.
We went to the night market again that night and then, the next morning, after taking a somewhat leisurely morning break (during which Shawn, who does not sleep, walked around), we hopped back on an airplane to head towards Tokyo.
In other news, we were actually WEIGHED to get on the airplane and then given a pen for our troubles. That was a first to me.

Check back soon for the last installment of my travels with Kristen and Shawn!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 3: Temple Stay and Nara aka a deer bit my butt

So our last morning in Kyoto, we woke up super early for a meditation class at the temple where we would be spending our last night.


The room in which we meditated


It was a really good class, and I felt like I might have actually properly meditated for the first time in my life. He talked about how forcing yourself to clear your head is actually associated with ego, because it's forcing. Thoughts just come normally, and you just have to let them come and go naturally - it's normal, he said, to have thoughts pass through your head while meditating - that's just how the brain is.

After, we got a little tour of the temple, and it was super beautiful (though I had totally been before with Rachel and Josh and just forgotten all about it).





The top picture is the view from the meditation room and the bottom picture is the temple rock garden.

When we were done meditating and temple touring, we had green tea with Manju which, because we were at a Buddhist temple, was vegan, so I could eat it. So I forced myself to drink the tea with it, and it actually wasn't that bad.

And then we hopped on a train for what was probably my 8th time in Nara (I've really stopped keeping count.
We wanted to eat at the delicious falafel restaurant I ate at last time I was there, but unfortunately - it closed down in the interim. :-( Sadness! In the end, we got Indian food.
Kristen and Shawn had some naan left over in a bag, so when we first walked into a section with deers, they were seriously all over us. They kept chasing Kristen around to try to get her naan while she was trying to feed them deer biscuits.
So then I took the bag, and they were chasing me around, and one definitely bit my butt. Apparently, Kristen's butt also got bitten.


Welcome to Nara!

Later, I decided to get deliciously yummy mitarashi dango, and the deer were super into that, too. I don't understand how some of the other people seemed to be eating in peace. One of the deer literally bowed at me trying to get some. In the end, I had to hold it in the air to eat it.


After numerous attacks by deer, we managed to make it to the 大仏間 (daibutsukan), with the HUGE Buddha in it. Kristen and Shawn were duly impressed.
Shawn was wearing his samurai shirt, and people kept commenting on it all day. Finally, a Japanese high school boy asked if they could take a picture together. It was so cute - they pretended to be samurai.


This is apparently the biggest wooden building in the world.


On the train ride on the way back, there were some junior high school boys sitting by us all trying to show off with their English. Shawn was thinking about the Kyari Pamyu Pamyu video that I had showed him for Ponponpon.



At 1:29, a rainbow comes out of her but, so Shawn wanted me to teach him how to say "I made a rainbow fart." What was amazing was that the junior high school boys actually got it and spent the rest of the train right singing Kyari Pamyu Pamyu and dancing. SO CUTE!

That night we spent in the temple, and it was lovely. 以上です。 (For a less wordy version of our time in Japan, check out Kristen's blog that she makes for her kindergartners! She wrote all about it!)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

日本語を話すのに少し臆病すぎてしまう

I've really got to get over my fear of speaking Japanese with Japanese people. For serious.

I'm almost way too afraid to ever actually speak to a Japanese person in Japanese, and when I finally do, I get all nervous and flustered and flaily, and my arms just sort of go hugely all over the place.

Which of course makes me even more embarrassed and makes me less inclined to try to speak in the future.

But if I continue to go forth with such timidity, I'm really just never going to get better. And as it is, I'm feeling totally stuck - 日本語の行き詰まり。

Anyhow, I received it from Rachael:



Me, Rachael, and the Reviews Scorer dudes. I've been listening to their albums ever since we received them, and they are SO GOOD! For serious. I really wish they were going to be playing at Nagoya Freedom.

They were so super super nice!!

In other news, I met up with Yumiko today for the first time in ages, and she brought her French teacher with her, so instead of speaking Japanese, we spoke French the whole time. I'd love to be able to get my Japanese to the same level as my French. For serious.

More on the Saga of Kristen and Shawn Visit Japan to come soon!!

Monday, July 09, 2012

Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 2: Kyoto and Arashiyama, aka a monkey peed on my head

To continue the hanging out with Krist and Shawn story, after Okazaki, we headed to Kyoto!!

After getting settled in the place where we would stay (which was a SUPER nice Japanese style ryokan with an AMAZING garden view), we headed over to eat at Cafe Proverbs, which is possibly the most delicious vegan (well, almost entirely vegan) restaurant in all of Japan. I got soy milk ramen and a chocolate sundae, and my happiness was extreme. Even Kristen loved her curry rice!

Then we headed over to (銀閣寺) Ginkakuji, the silver temple.



As usual, the grounds were gorgeous. And somehow, perhaps because I hadn't been in a real Japanese style garden (or really a real any garden) in an extremely long time, I felt like the grounds were even more gorgeous than normal.



When finished, we took a little walk down the "Philosopher's Road." It wasn't really the season for it, but it was still quite pretty.



Then, we headed over to 金閣寺 (kinkakuji), the golden temple.



I'm sure I'll eventually get tired of seeing it, but at this point, I'm still amazed by its' beauty every time I see it.

After that, Gion for a little bit of shopping and geisha searching. And we actually saw a geisha! I was shocked! Even though I've now been in Japan for two years, it was my first real geisha. And I got to see her with Krist and Shawn. Super psyched-ness.

The next day, we woke up fairly early, and after a morning at the bank (it took WAY LONGER than it should have), we met up with Alexis for lunch (at Cafe Matsuontoko - decent food, awesomely placed, somewhat expensive, entirely vegan, good times!) and then headed to Arashiyama to see some monkeys and some bamboo.

(I just realized I got distracted blogging and listened to the same song, a song I don't really even like, a good 10 times in a row)



Us pretending to be monkeys on a bench on the way up. Unfortunately, all of the fun monkey pictures are Kristen and Shawn's cameras.
The highlight of this event was, of course, that as we were walking down about to leave, something wet fell out of the air onto my head and shoulders. Everyone else was dry and fine. I looked up, and it turned out a monkey had just peed on my head. I somehow feel like something like this could ONLY happen to me. Everyone there was in agreement. Only me.



Then we walked through Arashiyama looking at pretty old buildings, heading towards bamboo.
Once again, Kristen and Shawn have all of the fun pictures. This is literally the only picture I took of bamboo (note: that is the correct usage of literally, but I am a huge fan of misusing literally).
It was beautiful. There's something really mysterious and wonderful about walking through bamboo forests. I don't really know how to explain it, but it's sort-of the perfect feeling.

For dinner, we went to a place called Mikouan. I'd been there before, and the food was good. And it's true that the food was good this time as well, but I really don't think I'll go again. When we got there, the owner was super moody and rude to us and probably wouldn't have let us in (because we were 4) if there hadn't been a nice man sitting there that practically made her let us in.
Combine that with the fact that there were roaches crawling on the walls (I'm convinced there was a dead one in the curry) and ants crawling all over the dry ingredients, and all in all, it was just a bad experience.
So, even though the food is yum, I can't recommend it.

Just a lovely day in Kyoto!!

More Kristen and Shawn Visit to come soon!