Always Honeymoon

P.S.

Fri, 28 May 2004 21:12:55 GMT

Inside Japan Tours are the people who put our in-Japan arrangements together. They did an excellent job consulting with us to set up a plan we liked. They're based in the UK, but that didn't actually affect the planning at all. ( picked them because they actually do specialize in Japan, their website is good, and they're really flexible. And it was a good choice, so I recommend them if you want to travel to Japan anytime soon.

postscript

Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:24:34 GMT

We took several food photos while we were in Japan, but because they're very large, I'm just going to link to them from here.

1) The Denny's menu in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Note the English at the bottom. I tried to sharpen it, but here's...
2) a close-up. That's right: Foie gras with truffles and caviar. At Denny's. For about $16 US.
3) A Denny's dessert, described previously in this journal.
4) Another Denny's dessert. This one includes malt balls, brownies, puff pastry, and bananas, among other things.
5) This is a cream-cheese-and-jam sandwich from the convenience store.
6) Sashimi at the ryokan in Kurashiki. Notice the flower branch! Even plum blossoms weren't blooming in January, so I suppose they forced it indoors. I think it's considered seasonal anyway because of the New Year's holiday.
7) You can't see the food, but this is a semi-outdoor noodle house at Kiyomizu-dera. Clint got lots of attention whenever he ate because he was able to sit Japanese-style.
8) Hot drinks at a train-platform vending machine. The ones with red labels are hot; blue are cold. The Royal Milk Tea was our favorite.
9) Kaiseki cuisine at the ryokan in Hiroshima. Yes, those are real pine needles.
10) More from Hiroshima. You can probably guess I didn't eat a lot of this meal...but Clint did! The candied tangerine was good though.
11) Hiroshima really had elaborate kaiseki. The little "teepee" structure imitates the coverings put over trees and bushes to protect them from snow. (It looks like I missed a photo of the meal with gold foil on it.)
12) Another elegant Hiroshima plate with New Year's touches. (These were individual courses, not the whole meal.) The realistic-looking persimmon was actually mochi candy.
13) Mos Burger, Japan's home-grown fast food.
14) A riceburger at Mos Burger wasn't what we expected. The "buns" were made of rice and the filling was Japanese vegetables and nori and stuff.
15) One of my favorite ryokan courses was this tofu stew in Kyoto. It was delicious.
16) A sheaf-of-wheat sweet. It tasted good and the two parts were made differently. At ryokan, someone usually greets your initial arrival and each return-for-the-night with a sweet and hot tea. Especially nice in the winter!
17) One of our first kaiseki meals at the ryokan in Gion, Kyoto. And this wasn't all of it! Since it was winter, most of the kaiskei meals included a hot soup/stew course, which cooked on the table as you can see here. At this ryokan, the room maids (I don't know the right term) pulled a long lighter out of their obi (kimono sashes) and lit the heat source every night. They didn't *stick* the lighter in their obi; instead, it rested horizontally in a loop of the sash. Pretty elegant!
18) Mister Donut! Only historically related to the American chain, this place features great American and Japanese (rice flour-based) doughnuts. We loved 'em. They had churros, pizza-flavored doughnut holes, and all sorts of things.
19) Oh, I forgot one! Another plate in Hiroshima. I think it's fugu. It was really good, whatever it was.

If the linked images are too large, you can see the thumbnails here:
http://img47.photobucket.com/albums/v145/wintryplum/japan-food/

Oishiikatta desu! (Delicious!)

In summary...

Sat, 28 Feb 2004 04:51:04 GMT

It's been over a month since we got back. We both really enjoyed it and wish we could go back. Now, we both know part of that is just missing being on vacation/honeymoon, but honestly, we do want to go back. We barely scratched the surface of most of the cities we were in (particularly Kyoto and Tokyo), not to mention Honshu (the main island of Japan, where all of these cities are), not to mention Japan's other islands, from snowy Hokkaido to sub-tropical Okinawa. So, one of these days we'll return. (Hopefully, with a better grasp of Japanese!)

On to more adventures!

Tokyo

Thu, 29 Jan 2004 23:44:01 GMT

Actually, only one of these pictures is from Tokyo proper. Tokyo is a big city and most of the interesting things we saw there were in museums and such, where no photos were allowed.

We did a two-day trip to Echigo-Yuzawa, home of the Nobel-winning Snow Country novel, and one of Clint's favorite non-fiction books, Snow Country Tales. Even though it's only 70 minutes by train from bone-dry Tokyo, it's famous for its massive amounts of snow, due to a variety of geographical and meteorological features. For obvious reasons, daily life here was very different from the rest of Japan until relatively recently, when technology and lessening snow each year have made things more normal. However, keep in mind that these photos are from the beginning of the snow season (which used to run from October to April, or something). Even now, things won't reach serious levels until late February to March! So this is just a little snow, for Snow Country.

On the walk from our ryokan to the Snow Country museum. There's water running through here as almost everywhere in Echigo-Yuzawa. The roads have tiny waterjets built into the divider stripes, as do parking lots and such. Water constantly flowed out of the jets, keeping the roads and parking lots essentially clear, even when three feet of snow seemed to accumulate on the bus parked beneath our window overnight.

We walked to the ropeway and took a steep ride up a mountain. (Naturally, Echigo is mostly ski-resort now.) Here we are going down. I would have loved to take photos on the mountainside, but all you would have seen was a big white rectangle. The wind was blowing really hard, it was incredibly cold, and we were standing on top of several feet of packed snow. We didn't really have any plan in going up there; we just wanted to see what we could see. It was too cold and windy to run around or throw snowballs, but there was a sturdy building serving hot food, so we climbed up there and had some very delicious tonkatsu (pork cutlet). The owner was very friendly, and we watched the snow switch between "snowy" and "whiteout" out of the rattling plate-glass windows.

Halfway through our meal, the emergency ski patrol came in and told everyone that the mountain was being evacuated, because the winds were getting too high for the ropeway to run. It took a little effort on their part and mine for us to comprehend this and that it was okay to finish our meal. So we did, and went back to the ropeway station, where we waited for other people arrive. Eventually, the restaurant owner and all of his staff joined us too. Good timing on our part! Everything was under control and we weren't in any danger, so it was an exciting little adventure.

View into the garden of another nice-looking inn in town.

This is how trees are traditionally protected from breaking under the weight of so much snow.

Me posing by the giant robot replica at the Studio Ghibli Museum. (More photos of that will be in a separate gallery on the eventual web page.)

Clint attempting to outwit an elaborate drinking fountain at the Museum.

Okay. This is a dessert of a type we saw advertised several places, but this one is at Denny's in Ikebukuro, which is so much better than ones in the US. This insane dessert, probably 10 inches or so tall, is essentially topped with other desserts, and features: a cream puff filled with vanilla ice cream, a miniature flan/caramel custard, strawberries, real whipped cream, more vanilla ice cream, pie crust, scoops of strawberry sherbet, sliced bananas, and strawberry pie filling. Good grief! Now that's what I call dessert.

That's pretty much it. When I put the rest of the photos into a website I'll let you know.

Nara

Tue, 27 Jan 2004 05:59:24 GMT

Okay, here are the real Nara photos.

Three Things for which Nara is Famous: Tourists, tame deer, and the world's oldest wooden building, only part of which you can see here.

The deer, by the way, are kind of mangy, and they make a noise I hadn't expected deer to make--a high squealing noise overlaid with buzzing, or vice versa. For a while we were concerned that they were going to explode, but fortunately not.

Deer were traditionally considered messengers to the gods, and they roam freely here, at Miyajima, and other sacred sites.

The main part of the building. It looks even larger than I remember. Can you spot the people in this photo?

A priest speaking with someone, and a small part of the massive doors.

Don't squint--it really is blurry. For some reason, this day my hands shook a lot, and thus I'm not posting any pictures of the huge Buddha statue inside. But I like the design of this lantern too much to not post it.

This picture's also a little blurry, but I figured some of you might like it. In a back corner of the inside of the main building, there was this ... pile of Buddha Bits. Actually, the heads in the back are from guardian deities, not Buddha.

The Riceburger we ordered at Mos Burger, Japan's homegrown McDonald's. To our surprise, the "bread" portion was actually two pressed rice patties, with bamboo shoots and stuff inside. Fascinating. I really enjoyed my Okinawan-style "burger," with a patty of fried mashed potato, a lot like something my mom used to make. Unfortunately, on the bun it just looked like an innocent chicken patty or something, so no photo for you.

This is actually in Sakai City, by the way, where we went on our last day in Nara. Why? Well, Sakai City has what Paul promptly dubbed "the Clarissa museum," which has one floor of Alphonse Mucha, and one floor of Yosano Akiko, a romantic female poet from the turn of the (20th) century. Art Nouveau was influencing Japan when Yosano was being published, and some of his artwork was ... errr ... borrowed to illustrate covers of her magazines. Naturally, no photos allowed there, but I bought an Alphonse Mucha book, and a beautiful enamel pin based on one of her poetry books' covers.

Cats of Nara

Sun, 25 Jan 2004 00:53:15 GMT

No, really. The next place we went was Nara, an ancient city that predates Kyoto, etc. Naturally, it has lots of temples, Buddhist art, and so on. So before I load up all that, I'm giving you and me a break by featuring some of the rather well-fed street cats of Nara. (I'm guessing that unlike in Nepal, the temples take care of the cats.)

I first spotted the cats near one of the major temple/historical complexes.

This looks like an old, old kitty.

Mistress of all she surveys.

Taking a bath in the winter afternoon sun.

Approaching quasi-wild kitties for photography is not that easy. The first cat in the photo was also being targeted by a guy with a telephoto lens and professional camera.

All I know about the history of cats in Japan is that Kij Johnson says, in her novel Fudoki, they were imported, relatively late (compared to Nara) from Korea. Cats who are colored red, black, and white (i.e., calico) are considered the most lucky.

Speaking of cats, we went into a pet-themed store in Tokyo. It appeared to have a side wing where, for 600 yen, you could play with kitties for an hour. Aw.

Koyasan

Sun, 25 Jan 2004 00:06:37 GMT

Next we went to Koyasan, a famous mountain. Getting there was an experience--we took a fairly slow train out from the city and the train stations got smaller and smaller, till they were just covered platforms as we got into the mountains. It was a really beautiful ride.

Then we took a "funicular railway" up to the top of Koyasan. I don't have photos of that, but imagine a rail car that is built at a 45-degree angle, with a stair-stepped interior.

This is the rock (and snow) garden and the temple of the monastery where we stayed. The only lodgings on Koyasan are in temples; there are hundreds and hundreds of Buddhist and Shinto sites on the mountain. Many are devoted to the Shingon sect of Buddhism, whose founder is believed to be resting in his tomb nearby. Shingon is an esoteric sect with connections to Tibetan Buddhism.

Shingon student-monks did the ryokan-style work of getting out our futon, serving food, etc. We went to the morning services, which were very interesting. The head monk's mother came and talked to us while we had dinner. Her English is terrific and she didn't look anywhere near 82. As promised, this was a highlight of visiting Koyasan. We also talked to her son after the services, but he had to go because he's also the principal of the junior high.

Because of his presence, followers (from the rich and famous on down) have had their ashes or personal relics sent here for burial for centuries. There are 1/4 to 1/2 million of these here in the world's largest cemetery. In the cold and light snow, it was really beautiful and peaceful. The trees are ancient ... It's supposed be gorgeous and mysterious at night when the lanterns are lit, but it was too cold for us to go back.

The actual temple and tomb site are no-photos-allowed. This is nearby--a mountain of Jizo buddhas, which aid those in danger. Specifically, though, these little figures are dedicated to children who have died, including miscarriages and abortions. Devotees/relatives/mothers, etc., often dress them in children's aprons and such in the winter. (NB: I'm not that familiar with Japanese Buddhism, so please forgive/correct any mistakes.)

Okay, this is in the shiny new section of the cemetery. It appears to be sponsored by UCC, the giant Japanese coffee company. There's a Kannon in the inner portion. Is this the grave of the founder, or just a devotional act by the company, or something else? I have no idea. There were other corporate sites nearby, and one I think was for the Japanese space program. Hmm.

A persimmon tree outside of the temple where we stayed. The area leading up to Koyasan seems to be famous for its persimmons, although I suspect that by January they're mostly birdfeed. Japanese persimmons are firm, crisp, and sweet. The most common brand in US supermarkets is Fuyu. Yum.

Osaka

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 04:03:18 GMT

Osaka's a big city full of harried men in three-piece business suits. It's supposed to be a gastronomic paradise, but I think that may require more cash than we had with us. Oh, well.

An expensive, hand-made doll in a department store's Girls' Day/ Doll Festival display. I really liked looking at all the dolls in their Heian-style imperial clothing.

Osaka castle. It's a reconstruction, but a very fine one. Nice dramatic clouds that day. The inside is a shiny modern museum with cool stuff like holograms. However, Clint was disappointed that it wasn't more "castley" inside.

Luckily Paul saved the day by escorting us to Himeji Castle, a real castle with a largely original interior. Extra-cool since it figures in the story of the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Sorry about the branch in the corner ... it's mundaning up my shot.

Roof tile detail.

Paul and the kind of pay binoculars I used to bug my parents to let me use. Thanks for playing tour guide, Paul! He also took us to a great geeky toy store, though I didn't get photos of that.

Kurashiki

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:53:47 GMT

From Hiroshima we went to Kurashiki, a town built around a willow-lined canal, featuring centuries-old storehouses with white walls and black tile roofs. These have been converted into ryokan, museums, art studios, etc. We really wish we could have spent more time here.

The canal, swans. I'm sure it's even prettier in the spring and summer.

A little statue in the garden of the teahouse at the famous old ryokan where we stayed. Frommer's recommends visiting the garden even if you aren't staying at the ryokan. It was really a gorgeous place.

Another end of the canal toward dusk. It's a really peaceful place.

Requisite lousy photo of the happy couple. Outside of the ryokan.

As long as we're tallying things, we went to a total of 11 cities in Japan: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima (day trip), Kurashiki, Osaka, Himeji (day trip), Koya-san, Nara, Sakai (day trip), Tokyo, and Echigo-Yuzawa.

Hiroshima

Mon, 12 Jan 2004 13:45:33 GMT

From Kyoto, we went to Hiroshima on January 2nd. We stayed in a beautiful ryokan directly across from the Genbaku Dome, a building whose shell survived the atomic bomb blast. We were staying remarkably close to ground zero. Strange thought. Although the ryokan was traditional in style, like virtually everything else in Hiroshima, it was built after 1945, when everything else was destroyed.

Genbaku Dome.

Turtledoves on the tree in front of the dome.

Origami cranes sent by kids from around the world. We saw photos and tiny, tiny cranes folded by Sadako, the real girl on whom the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is based. Like most American kids of recent generations, I read it in school.

The Children's Peace Statue, in honor of Sadako and other children who have died in war, and expressing hope for peace.

A cute sign on a tree in a grove along a Hiroshima street. It says that it's a camphor tree with a distinct odor when a twig is broken, and that Totoros are supposed to live in camphor trees. Signed by a local elemeentary school.

We made a day trip to Miyajima. Here is a monk in the park where deer roam, begging. (Both the deer, and the monk.)

The famous tori at Miyajima, seen on many tourist posters. We took a ferry to get to the island; at high tide the main inner shrine complex also appears to float on the water.

Here we are, for family members.

There are lots of temples on the sacred island. Here's a gold koi swimming in one temple's pond, where people have tossed their yen for good luck.

We climbed most of the way up Miyajima's famous mountain but didn't see any of its resident monkeys. It was wet and slippery, but we managed not to fall. The mountain is really lush and green, even in the winter. Miyajima was very impressive, despite all the other (mostly domestic) tourists.

Mon, 12 Jan 2004 13:19:56 GMT

Today is Coming of Age day for 20-year-olds in Japan. Girls dress up in kimono and boys wear either Japanese or Western-style formal clothing. We met Julia for the first time, which was great, and before that we went to the Studio Ghibli museum. (The museum was incredible and I'm sure I'll write more about it later.) Julia took us to a fascinating "goth department store." After she headed back home, we did a little shopping in department stores, once we found one that wasn't all Gucci and Givenchy. (Bleah.) I went to Tokyu Hands, a HUGE arts and crafts/"lifestyle" store, figuring that they would be sure to have a thimble for my mom, BUT NO. They don't carry needles, thread, or thimbles, or even much fabric.

So far our travel by train has gone very well. There's been a lot of confused wandering through huge train stations, but we haven't gotten on a seriously wrong train yet. People are very helpful, both Japan Rail employees and random other passengers.

Tomorrow morning we travel to Echigo-Yuzawa, a. k. a. "snow country" in Niigata. Should be snowy!

We have several places we want to see in Tokyo when we get back--the National Museum, the mechanical music museum, Anime Expo, and a particular store. But with only a day and a half, we'll be lucky to do two of those.

Kyoto, pt. 2

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 13:10:30 GMT

By the way, I haven't color-corrected these or anything yet. The final gallery will have that.

On the walk to the famed-in-poetry Kiyomizu temple, we went through narrow streets full of all kinds of shops. One was devoted entirely to cute cat stuff, complete with photos of customers' cats. (I should send Bianca one of Miss Kitty to give the owner.) He showed us photos of his own cute Persians. Aw.

After we were done with the amazing Kiyomizu complex, we stopped for inexpensive udon noodles. Later we noticed that the platform we'd been sitting on was built on stilts over a cliff.

Obligatory Kyoto-Gion geisha photo. But there's a really good chance that these are just tourists dressed up.

The approach to Fushimi Inari shrine, marked by its statues of fox-spirits. It's really crowded because of New Year, but it turned out to be worth it.

One of the small shrines inside the complex.

Votives. Fushimi Inari doesn't photograph very well at night with my equipment, but it was really an amazing sight.

Little girl dressed up in her New Year's outfit. (Yes, we asked permission.)

Young women in kimono. They were very pleased to have their photos taken. The fur/feather stoles seem to date to the 1920s and are a now-traditional part of the New Year's ensemble.

Kyoto 1

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 12:53:12 GMT

These photos were taken during our first few days in Japan, when we were in Kyoto. We have tons more, and I'll upload them all eventually using a thumbnail layout.

Our first sight of Mt. Fuji from the plane on our way to Osaka. We got an even better look at it on the train to Tokyo.

In Gion, most mornings we could hear crows when we woke up. We see big crows everywhere in Japan.

This is one of the sweets we were provided with tea at our ryokan in the Gion district. The little wheat sheaf is removable and made out of something different than the little boat. (A ryokan is a traditional Japanese-style inn.)

Moss and leaf at the old temple virtually across the street from our ryokan.

Heian Shrine, one of the places we walked to on our first day out and about.

The famous castle Nijo was closed, disappointing both foreign and domestic tourists, but I got this shot there.

Sat, 10 Jan 2004 22:54:40 GMT

Sorry! It has been really hard to find internet access here, and it is expensive. We stumbled onto a coffeeshop with free internet access on an old laptop this morning, so I wanted to let you all know we are doing fine. We are in Nara at the moment, but we are leaving for Tokyo after breakfast.

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:56:53 GMT

Wouldn't you know it? We finally find an internet cafe, and it's USB-ready, but it's the one time we don't have any of the connection cables or readers with us. Oops. Well, you'll have to wait a little longer for photos. (By the way, thanks for the camera, Mom--it's apparently so high-tech that lots of Japanese people have the same model!)

Today we went from the ryokan to a more standard Western-style hotel. We are taking the day easy as many things are closed for the New Year, which is the equivalent of Christmas in terms of everyone trying to be with family, etc. We walked to a beautiful old Buddhist temple not too far from the hotel, although it was drizzling. For lunch, we had tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet). For dinner, we went out with Bianca, who took us to a garlic restaurant. Whee! That was some good food! Very rich, though. Dessert was insane and I wish I'd taken a picture. Actually, tonight I will write some about the food to save for later (when we're not paying for computer time).

Then we happened to pass by a very small, 800-year-old Buddhist temple just off a main street. It was not crowded like the popular places, so we went in, made a donation, rang the bell, and lit a candle.

For New Year's Eve, people go to Buddhist temples to pray for the dead of the last year, get rid of the year's sins, etc. On New Year's Day, they go to Shinto shrines to pray for good fortune in the coming year. We'll try to go to a shrine tomorrow, when many women will be wearing fine kimono. Must practice saying `Sumimasen, shashin o totte mo ii desu ka?` meaning, excuse me, is it all right if I take a picture?

From our hotel window, we can see the famous Shinkansen bullet trains arrive and depart. They are amazingly quiet.

-- Clarissa

PS Parents--it's fine if you comment anonymously! Just sign it and we:ll know it:s you.

Sorry for weird typoes. Japanese keyboards are very different.

whew!

Tue, 30 Dec 2003 08:26:47 GMT

Well, we didn`t walk nearly as far today, but we saw a lot of beautiful temples. The scenery was nice even though it is winter. (The weather is cool but not especially cold, so far.) I called Bianca on the phone and she suggested taking the route to Kiyomizu temple, and we also saw Jinzu shrine and several other places. It is pretty touristy up there, although about 90% of the tourists are Japanese. There are lots of stores selling handicrafts and tourist junk, some nice and some blah. There was a tiny store selling mostly cat stuff, and we got a cute cat shaped coin purse, which will be useful because coins here go up to a value of 500 yen, which is a little less than 5 US dollars. The owner spoke reallly good English and told us about his three silver-shaded Persian cats. Aww! There were photos of customers' cats all over, even though the place was the size of a small closet. I was so excited I forgot how to say "Kawaii!!!" (cute)

We saw two might-have-been geisha on the way back. For all I know, of course, they were Hong Kong tourists in costume. I took a picture anyway.

It is really hard to put into words all the interesting things we are seeing. We have photos, but this computer is a little old and it would not recognize the USB flash drive. So we will try again if the next hotel has a computer, or if we find an internet cafe. Have not seen any so far.

--Clarissa

Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:52:31 GMT

We are really tired. (I am not sure where the apostrophe is on this keyboard, so no contractions for me. Also, I cannot find the underscore, so I cannot log into Yahoo! to read comments. Eep.)

Today we went to Yasaka Temple (just across the street), Heian Shrine, Nijo Castle (but it was closed), several department stores looking for the food-court basements they supposedly have here like they do in Taiwan, etc. No museums today because they are mostly closed on Monday. We will try that tomorrow.

Japanese style breakfast was pretty good. Clint liked it more than I did but that was to be expected. I am allergic to shrimp, and it (so far) has been in almost everything. There was also some "salt tea" and a red-bean treat. The salt tea was strong but I figured it might be good for my sore throat, which is better now.

We have some photos and maybe I will attempt to upload them later, but there is probably not any image editing software on this computer. We will see.

On the way back to the Gion district, where the ryokan is, we visited Yasaka Temple again because they had lit up the lanterns. They are preparing for the big New Year festivities.

One department store we went in is the biggest in Kyoto. The foodstuffs floor was amazing. Every possible kind of Japanese food imaginable, and lots of other things too. It seemed to stretch for miles. The traditional Japanese and European style sweets were really pretty and elaborate.

Kyoto does not seem very crowded compared to New York or Taipei. Some of the sidewalks are very broad and there are canals everywhere (mostly very pretty ones with ducks and egrets).

My feet hurt.
-- Clarissa

We are here.

Sun, 28 Dec 2003 23:58:50 GMT

Iam using a Japanese keyboard and it takes some getting used to. The Ryokan is beautiful and they waited dinner about 3 hours on us last night. No problems navigating from the airport to here. Now we are off to find Heian Shrine, I hope.

One more thing.

Fri, 26 Dec 2003 09:27:10 GMT

I want to say THANK YOU to our families for being so kind as to let us stay here for Christmas, to avoid taking a transcontinental flight right before a transpacific flight. You're all very understanding, and we'll be looking forward to seeing you and boring you with pictures as soon as it can be arranged.

-- Clarissa

P. S. We're all packed, and I don't *think* things are too heavy.
P. P. S. I revised the itinerary so that it matches our documents.

yay!

Fri, 26 Dec 2003 05:55:47 GMT

We'll be heading for the airport in about 24 hours. I'm getting butterflies in my stomach.

Here's our flight info:

AMERICAN AIRLINES 1905 SFO 12/27/2003 AM to LAX 12/27/2003

AMERICAN AIRLINES (OPERATED BY JAPAN AIRLINES) 7231 LAX 12/27/2003 to KIX (Osaka) 12/28/2003

AMERICAN AIRLINES (OPERATED BY JAPAN AIRLINES) 7220 NRT (Tokyo) 01/17/2004 to SFO 01/17/2004

Progress

Mon, 13 Oct 2003 22:02:44 GMT

Today we okayed the Otowaya Ryokan in Echigo-Yuzawa (Snow Country). I added that to the userinfo. I hope the links there are interesting.

Current to-do list:
- Get passport photos and passport for Clint (Wednesday)
- Get Studio Ghibli Museum tickets through JTB
- Write FAQ (seriously--there are some questions I've heard several times already, like "Isn't Japan insanely expensive?" that I'm going to write up answers to. Have a question? Leave it in comments!)
- Continue working on links

Longer-term to-do list:
- Check on prescriptions
- Buy boots
- Go by Travelsmith outlet for cheap, light-packing, warm clothes
... (and sort out my clothes so I can figure out what to bring of mine)
- Buy some small things to bring for interesting people we meet--I've heard chocolate or Jelly Bellies are good. I figure edible gifts (instead of Stanford pens or whatever) are better because we can eat them if we have too many/get tired of lugging them around
- Decide whether I'm bringing the laptop, and if so, get a new sleeve for it & save useful webpages to the hard drive
- Practice packing, as I'm a natural overpacker even for warm weather, never mind winter.

Subject to editing as I remember 80 billion other things.

-- Clarissa

We have airplane tickets!

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 18:23:02 GMT

And I'm testing this journal out.