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More Sightseeing in Kyoto
Over the last few days, I’ve been staying at a hostel in Kyoto called K’s House. It might be the best one that I’ve ever stayed at. It’s nearly brand new, has clean, comfortable rooms, great facilities, a good kitchen, and really terrific common areas. It’s big enough that there are always people to hang […]
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Kyoto: Part VII
I’ve been in Kyoto for a couple of days again. I feel like this is a great place to be. Part of it is that I’ve been staying at a good place. I haven’t been a very good tourist over the past few days. Saturday afternoon I met with Steffen from Germany who is studying […]
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Matsuyama
The ferry ride to Shikoku Island from Hiroshima was uneventful. There was almost nobody else on the ferry. I arrived in the late afternoon and got a couple photos as the sun was getting lower in the sky. It gets dark here very early, a little after 5pm. I arrived in Matsuyama port with no […]
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Back in Kyoto
I just wanted to put up a quick note that I’ve made it back to Kyoto. I’ve got some more photos to put up soon.
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Cabbage Pancakes
As I got off the train the day before in Hiroshima and headed towards the “You Are Here.” map on a wall in the station, I met Ceci from San Francisco. We caught up yesterday after some considerable confusion with the tram and train systems, and with the port of departure for the ferry. We […]
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Himeiji Castle and X-mas? Lights
On December 2nd, after a couple of days in Kyoto, I headed out on a train to Himeiji Castle on the way to Hiroshima. I only had two hours at Himeiji, but I was able to walk through the castle and had enough time to get my fill. The interior of the tower was genereally […]
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The Philosopher’s Walk
November 30th was my first full day in Kyoto. I went to three temples on what is called the Philospher’s Walk, after Nishida Kitaro of Kyoto University who used to walk this route regularly. Luckily for me, it was a perfect time of year to be in Kyoto for the changing leaves. Like the cherry […]
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In Matsuyama
I’ve made it to the city of Matsuyama on the northwest coast of Shikoku Island. I have a few photos ready to go up, but have a lousy Internet connection. Half the city is probably using it. I spent the last couple of days in and around Hiroshima. I’ll be on Shikoku for the next […]
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Chinese Medicine and Mister Donut
I think I’m allergic to Japan. I’ve been getting worse since I got here. This morning I went to a pharmacy and between charades and a phrasebook was able to convey my symptoms. The pharmacist (well, at least he looked like a pharmacist) pulled six different medicines off the shelf and showed them all to […]
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To Kyoto on a Bullet Train
Today I hopped on the Nozomi Shinkansen, affectionately called a “bullet train,” and headed to Kyoto. Traveling by train beats the heck out of flying, especially with lots of leg-room, no body-cavity searches at the airport, and really smooth welded rail. It does make me a bit nostalgic for the old days—the clickety clack of […]
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Kyoto Day 1 and a half
I got to Kyoto yesterday. I’ll write more tomorrow. It’s been tough to find Internet access. I had a good day walking the Philosopher’s walk, but I’m totally beat. I’ve uploaded some photos, I’ll link to them tomorrow.
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Tokyo: Day Two
I spent today with another Australian, Naomi. She just finished Uni, studying GIS, and she’s spending five weeks in Japan and then going to Europe for two months. She’s been studying Japanese on and off since Grade 7, which made today easy. We went to Akihabara, which the tech-gadget capital of Tokyo, and maybe the […]