I Think I'm Turning Japanese

Here is what Tiffany and I discovered about Japan during our Golden Week Holiday to Osaka and Kyoto:

- Japanese like wooden houses for their temples (like this Buddhist temple from the town of Nara) and homes, even when they keep burning down. The Imperial Palace in Kyoto is actually not the original palace. It is, in fact, the place where the royal family used to go when the real palace had burned down and they were waiting for it to be rebuilt. That's right, the palace burned down so many times that they had to designate a special place to stay in the interim. Our tour guide attributed this to not only the wooden construction, but the fact that all the buildings were connected, so when one went up in flames, they all went up.

- There are a lot of deer in Nara, that are not afraid of humans. It was even safe for Tiffany to be around them. She did not get hurt for once!





- We stopped in Kobe for the famous Kobe beef. It was delicious, if a bit artery-clogging. Also, a lot of fire was used in the cooking, as you can see here, where it looks like one of the chef's heads is on fire. Don't worry, no Japanese chefs were harmed in the preparing of our meals.




- In Himeji there was this huge white castle that was built a very long time ago and managed not to burn down. Tiff and I climbed to the very top and there were lots of trap doors and hiding places for samurai in case the castle came under attack. It reminded me of that arcade game Kung Fu, where you had to keep advancing up levels. Or Game of Death, the Bruce Lee movie, where at the very top was the toughest opponent of all, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Tiffany thought the hiding places were excellent napping spots...


- Japanese have a very unique appetite, for items like these, melon Fanta soda and Roots, a cold coffee drink. Basically their appetite was about 180 degrees from Tiffany's. But she was a trooper and only ate at McDonald's twice and KFC once. I had sushi as much as possible and I can tell you for certain that sushi in Japan is AWESOME! Waaaay better than anything in the US. I really couldn't believe it and I have no idea why, but it is truly fantastic.


- There are cheap tourist attractions in any country. In Japan you could hire these runners to pull you around town. But it's so hilly that most of the time you'd be better off walking.






- It is true that Japanese people are VERY quirky dressers. All the weird Hello Kitty stereotypes about Japanese? True!









- There are all the bright, neon lit streets that you could want, packed with people at night.

- These two were perfectly dressed for a day of temple touring in last night's club wear.


- There are plenty of Mr. Miyagi-type old people who look very peaceful and happy, and spend their days painting, fishing and generally living relaxing lives. But if Cobra-kan ever comes looking for trouble... watch out!






- Tiffany peeking out at the Golden Pavilion temple in Kyoto.




- Cute traditional Gion neighborhood in Kyoto. We saw a few geisha shuffling through the streets.











- View from temple overlooking Kyoto.






- Homey little Japanese diner we found in Osaka's Minami district. A great combination of kitsch and noodles!














- A family of statues in a small shrine in Kyoto.










- Kyoto Station, a modern steel construction, 11 stories high, with train station, hotel, department store and tons of restaurants. Tiffany frequented the Mr. Donut daily to supplement her rice-only Japanese meals :o












- The Japanese LOVE gardens. And they are very skilled at creating them. We saw some of the most beautiful, lush gardens of incredibly intricate design. Can you find Tiffany in this picture?














- The gardens always featured carp, however, which eagerly gaped at our hands in hopes of some fish food, and scared the bejeezus out of Tiffany. I was hoping there might be mutant fish mounted with lasers, but there were not. They did seem ill-tempered, at least.








- The sky is beautiful in Japan. We had some rain the first few days and then it cleared up into the most amazing, non-China polluted skies we had seen in a very long time.









- Here is a very interesting modern building in Osaka. There are two long escalators that go to what they called the Hanging Garden, because it feels like at the top you are suspended in air.









- And at the top we found this interesting model that didn't have anything whatsoever to do with the modern building and its hanging garden. But it sure looked neat.













- "Okonomoyaki" a classic Japanese dish which I tried for the first time. Fair tasting, but not worth its stomach space in sushi, in my book.



















- We HEART Japan!