Hello from Japan. We're alive, well, and able to drink the tap water, which is a very fantastic combination, if you ask me.
We arrived later on Sunday evening. I have decided that we successfully maneuvered Narita Int'l airport (the International airport for the largest city in the world,kids) because we were able to find Rebekah in a different terminal, from a different airline, through a different customs line. Needle in a haystack. From there, we also found our way through the subway to our "ryokan" (read: Japanese-style hostel), and cried because of our jetlag until we were able to go to sleep.
Day one was pretty slow at first. We were getting our bearings, getting money, train tickets, food, and sleep. It was not until noonish that we headed to the Studio Ghibli museum, which was absolutely delightful. My favorite room was the first that one comes across - it is filled with film and animation tricks that were magical. Next best was the robot from Castle in the Sky, who sits atop the roof. No comment on the food there, because we didn't sit down to enjoy it. But, I will point out that Mendon, Rebekah and I are all coming home with 3 sections of film from Miyazaki movies (Mendon has Castle in the Sky - the chase scene when Dola and Pazu are making a made dash for Sheeta in the military base, Rebekah has Calicfer's reclamation of his demon status, and I have one that no one could ID and for which the language barrier could not be overcome).
That evening, Mendon passed out, and Rebekah and I ran off to the temple complex and the shopping district. It was great. Pictures to follow. Then we headed out to the TMG observation tower. This part of our evening was laughable. We circled the building several times, following signs in Japanese (haha), until we were able to find an entrance that was open. This, under regular circumstances would be uneventful, but seeing as Mendon and I were (are) both jetlagged, and had been on our feet, all day, in the sun, we were barely scraping our feet one in front of the other. By the time we made it to the top, we were barely able to stand, so I hope the pictures are fantastic. Went to hostel, passed out.
Day 2, which is today, has also been good. We spent this morning returning to the Tokyo temple complex, finding food (absolutely great!), and trying to make a reservation for another hostel for later in our trip (we figured we should wait to see what $30/person/night would get us). Adventure: I decided that I should make this call. I've been doing all of this kind of work thus far, and I unfortunately thought that I should continue it. So, I get directions to, and mosey down to the nearest greenhouse of a payphone. I put in my money, dial the number, and pull my money from the coin return. Great. Several more tries, several more variations later, I start to think that this is not a case of user error, and probably phone malfunction. So I started wandering, asked for directions, got a bunch of Japanese back, and continued to wander towards where the shopkeeper had sent a few glances, which luckily yielded a pay phone. So, I call, actually got an English speaker on the other end (yay! absolutely gracious of them!), managed unawares to have a credit card on my person, and have sufficient coinage to keep up the phone connection. Feeling like some pretty hot and savvy stuff at this point, I started my trek back. Not a block from the hostel, I heard a dainty ping, and instantly knew that I had lost an earring (haha go figure), but could not see the damn thing. So, down I go, onto my hands and knees, hoping to find an elevated, purple pearly bauble in the midst of Tokyo. No go on the earring. Fortunately, I couldn't see it elevated because it was safely tucked into a crevice of a water main cover, which, fortunately was on the side walk, which fortunately, I managed to find. Humbled, thank you.
From that point we headed out on a bullet train to Kyoto, and arrived here in the afternoon. Again, we successfully navigated a transportation system that is largely offering instructions in Japanese. I would like to take a moment to suggest to anyone going to Japan that you NEED to have subway maps before you arrive there, in your native language, with any other relevant directions (to your hostel/hotel/ryokan of choice, for instance). This afternoon, we went to the Kyoto handicraft center, which was quite the expensive market that inexplicably has a reputation for being cheap.
On our walk back, we took a detour through the Geisha district (ie. tourist central. Sooo many white people). We saw one geisha on our walk, and poor woman. As soon as she appeared, a mob of camera-wielding tourists pounced on her. No pictures were had on our part, and no other geisha were seen. For now, we are resting in our new Kyoto hostel (which is amazing... absolutely awesome), having some cheap rehydrated miso soup, and playing board games.
Seeing as little mention has been made of it thus far: we have yet to sit down and have a truly Japanese meal. Mostly, our food has been gotten on the run, and has been a supplement, rather than a focus of our trip. I imagine that this will change soon enough, at which point you'll hear me rave about the whole thing, I'm sure.
Pictures and more updates to come.
