Category: Travel
I’m in Japan, Days 9 & 10: Shūkyoku
It rained sheets Friday (yesterday) from early morning to midnight, with zero reprieve. An incredibly consistent downpour for hours straight. Like God left the hose on. But that turned out to be lucky for me. I woke up feeling just a little bit… off. There was that little itch on my inside telling me something […]
I’m in Japan, Day 8: Mario Will Bankrupt Me
Today I visited the Imperial Palace but you don’t care about that. You want to hear about the Nintendo Museum. As you might expect photos are forbidden in most of the museum, so I’ll describe the layout. The top floor houses the look-at exhibitions. There is a section dedicated to each console (yes, including Virtual […]
I’m in Japan, Days 6 & 7: Here Today, Gion Tomorrow
It’s late and I’ve got two days to cover here so let’s bullet point this. There’s a lot of housekeeping in this chunk so this will go quick. Tuesday Morning – Still Nagano Well, Obuse to be exact. Obuse is a charming little town about 30 minutes from Nagano by bus, known for being home […]
I’m in Japan, Day 5: Mountain of Faith
Some personal news: I finally got my first nihongo jouzu. My advice to others planning to visit Japan is to learn just enough of the language that people in bars will think you’re an amusing novelty and buy you drinks. Fed up with the lousy weather, I decided it was time to ask for some […]
I’m in Japan, Day 4: Stray Cat Rock
Today I rode the Shinkansen, and this is as good a time as any to address my convoluted itinerary. Two weeks sounds like a good length of time aborad, but after travel it’s effectively only 10 or 11 full days. The original plan was to spend a little over half those days in Tokyo, move […]
I’m in Japan, Day 3: Shy Mrs. Fuji
When the tour guide begins the trip by asking “Why did you choose to do this today?” that probably means you aren’t going to get to see what you want to see. The answer of course is “I booked this two weeks ago, how was I supposed to know?” But we live with the consequences […]
I’m in Japan, Day 2: Everything Sings in Tokyo
I’m becoming much more aware of how many chimes and jingles there are for… everything. The elevator sings a song when it arrives. The train sings a song when it leaves. Microwaves sing to celebrate a job well done. I wonder if it will start to grate on me after a while. Something that will […]
I’m in Japan, Day 1: Sleepwalking Through Shibuya
The problem with promising daily updates on an international trip is that the first entry will always be about jet lag. I knew that and I ignored it, because I foolishly chose optimism. Luckily I had learned this lesson last year, where a series of plane delays meant I arrived in Bergen at midnight instead […]
I’m in Japan, Day 0: I’m in Chicago
I’m posting this while waiting to board a 13 hour flight to the other side of the world, again. When I went to Norway last year, I had every intent to create a travelogue of sorts out of my experience. I kept a diary and took extensive notes and photos with that in mind. On […]