Last Japan Post: Osaka

We had a day and a night in Osaka before we flew back to Manila so we decided to stay in an airport hotel. It was fine, but it was a 30 minute train ride from Osaka. Our flight wasn't until the evening so we got up bright and early to head into the city. I beelined for an adorable "slow food" cafe for breakfast, but realized it didn't open for another hour. The rest of our traveling party was not thrilled. We managed to entertain Toto for an hour then stood pathetically near the doorway until the let us in. Toto promptly whacked her head on a table and screamed for a while. The donuts were worth the wait.

One of the main goals was to see the moss buddha. After walking for about 20 minutes, there it was in all its mossy glory. We poured some water on it.

Then we stopped by the must-see Dotonbori street, full of huge mechanized and brightly-lit signs.

 And then sampled the local fare - Okonomiyaki - a pancake. Maybe shouldn't have gotten the cheese.

Japan was an adventure. A clean, organized, rule-oriented adventure. Hopefully we make it back before we leave Manila in 2015.

Japan: Yudanaka

And back to Japan, folks. Yes, this trip occurred in March and it is now May. Carry on.

The original plan was for The Shark to do some skiing in Nagano (shocker: there is no skiing in the Philippines), but since we had limited time with Sister and her Hubby, we decided to nix the snow and stay in a traditional ryokan in Yudanaka, a small town outside of Nagano.

From Nagano it was another 30 minute train ride out to Yudanaka. Our tiny van pulled up and all 6 of us crammed in. Our driver spoke mostly no English and it was hysterical when we tried to ask him how far the hotel was from the station. He held up 5 fingers, then 4, then 10, while we shouted out guesses, Kilometers? Miles? Minutes? Hours? It turned out to be pretty close. Then we saw this cat. Maybe it was better he couldn't understand us.

Just, why?

The hotel was amazing. The whole room was covered in tatami mats and we slept on thin futons. The best part of the hotel was the many hot spring baths you could relax in, including the one attached to our room.

Every night we had an elaborate multi-course dinner.

That's Toto's seat in the middle with the Hello Kitty silverware. She mostly ate the rice.

It always looked pretty and tasted fresh.

The highlight of the trip, besides seeing Sister and her Hubby, was the snow monkeys. We decided to forego the bus and head up there on foot. There were lots of signs.

The monkeys were adorable soaking in their hot tub. And so docile. I am generally very wary of monkeys, especially after I saw one grab a woman's glasses off her face in Bali. But these guys were way used to humans and weren't looking to snatch any of our stuff.

And luckily there was a sign warning of us, you know, this:

We sampled some local soba and it was delicious. Funny story about this place. We had to wait outside for a table, so obviously we bought some beers while we waited. There are no trash cans in Japan, so we put all the bottles in a bag and stashed them under our table while we ate. And of course mine wasn't empty and may have spilled a little. I didn't even want to have that non-versation with the restaurant lady so we left a good tip, and got out of there.

Because more drinking was in order, we went to a sake brewery. This man was very nice. It was self-serve, which seemed like a bad idea. But was awesome.

Yudanaka was a nice break from city life, even if it did snow our last day. I, being from Manila, immediately assumed someone was burning something and that was ash in the air. It was Toto's first snow by the way. At least now she can recognize it in books.

Japan: Kyoto

We spent 10 days in Japan. Lovely, crazy, cold, and oh so foreign Japan. It was tough to decide where to go, but we narrowed it down to Kyoto, Yudanaka, and Osaka. First stop, Kyoto.

After a quick 3 hour flight from Manila, we landed in Osaka. Getting our JR (train) passes was a major pain. It took over an hour. And this was after we pre-paid for them online. We missed our train, so grabbed some soba and beer. Which Toto loved--the soba, not the beer. And Yaya got to try chop sticks for the first time. I have to say that surprised me as she lives in the ASIA. And has travelled all over the world. But she got the hang of it pretty quick. Once we started riding trains, we fell in love. They were clean, on time, and spacious. And had vending machines. The best part was that Toto didn't have to sit if she didn't want to, which she never does.

Where we slept

Kyoto Royal Park Hotel, nice ambience in the lobby, expensive breakfast, friendly staff, cramped quarters, convenient location. But the best discovery? Heated toilet seat. 

What we did

The Shark booked us two private tours and a group tour through Tours by Locals, and we were impressed. My favorite activity was the private cooking class. We started out by shopping in the Nishiki Market, which was about a ten minute walk from our hotel. Thank god for our guide, or we seriously wouldn't have known what 90% of the food was. Most stalls had samples and I was in heaven when we hit a huge shop of dried fruit. We ended up with some cranberries, strawberries and kiwi. And an awkward encounter when I tried to buy the display items. 

Persimmons 

Then we walked over to our guide's apartment. We tried to act like we weren't staring at everything, but we were. And the toilet seat was heated there too! We had a blast learning how to make sushi rolls, spinach salad, and miso soup. And by the time we finished cooking, we were STARVING and wolfed it down.

Pretty and delicious.

Just like all the Asian tour groups we saw in Washington, DC, we had to reciprocate and joined a huge bus tour to see some palaces and temples.

Stay with your buddy and be back to your bus in 1 hour!

We spent a whole day on a private guided tour of Fushimo-Inari, a Shinto Shrine built up a mountain to honor a huge rock at the top. We walked several flights of stairs and saw smaller shrines along the way. When we came a map, our guide showed us that it is possible to go all the way to the top, and laughed as though we would even consider doing that. Then her eyes bugged out of her head when I said of course I wanted to go to the top and see that rock. So we did. And it was beautiful.

Just a few more steps...

Top o' the mountain

What we ate

As soon as we arrived we found the closest organic store and headed out to stock up on milk for Toto. It was called "Help" for reasons unknown to me and I couldn't read anything, but just felt better knowing it was a natural grocer. We got some fruit, milk, and tons of snacks. Toto ended up loving these rice crackers with seaweed. If I would have known, I would have bought 20 bags.

We had dinner twice on Pontocho, a narrow road near our hotel. Once for the best sushi ever (Kappa Zushi), and the other for an awesome Italian meal to celebrate The Shark's birthday. Yes, Italian. You can only eat so much soba and fish. On the other hand you can never get enough sake.

You'll love the food here. If you can find your restaurant.

What we saw

Kyoto did not disappoint in the blossom department. We were fortunate enough to be there for the end of the plum blossoms and the beginning of the cherry blossoms. 

The we hopped on a train to head for the mountains and meet up with Sister and her Hubby.

Running March

It's officially summer folks. And it is HOT. Fortunately, we spent 10 days in chilly Japan eating soba and drinking sake. Unfortunately, it led to lots of not running. There were a few difficult hikes, and lots of walking. But more eating than working out. We still managed to squeak out a decent month. And I have my mom's running group to look forward to - every weekend we are out there running and talking about our kids.

Week 1 (March 1-3)
The Shark: SCUBA, Basketball
Moi: 9.6 miles, Yoga

Week 2 (March 4-10)
The Shark: 16.2 miles, Basketball
Moi: 24.2 miles, Yoga

Week 3 (March 11-17)
The Shark: 16.4 miles, Basketball
Moi: 26.3 miles

Week 4 (March 18-24)
The Shark: 12.42 miles
Moi: 19.2 miles

Week 5 (March 25-31...JAPAN!)
The Shark: 0
Moi: 0

Want to go for a run? Sure, let me just finish this soba and beer.

 And then a little more soba. And beer.

 Can we just grab some quick sake with this guy?

 And a little sashimi?

 Oh, hell. We're not going running. Might as well have some curry, sweet bread and ice cream...

March Totals
The Shark: 45.02 miles
Moi: 79.3 miles

2013 Totals
The Shark: 204.92 miles
Moi: 260.5 miles

Our only run in Japan was the first morning we arrived in Kyoto, on March 23. It was cold. But the views along the river were beautiful. Funny how fast you get acclimatized, and 55 degrees feels like the Arctic. But we are back in the saddle, squeezing in runs at lunch.