david and the month of may continued

the big wooden temple miniaturized

inside some part of the big wooden temple

the big wooden temple

the big rope made of hair

the outside of Kyoto station

inside the station

kyoto from the top of the station

pictures of Kyoto station

oops happy terrace not happiness garden

opposite the station

back to kyoto (april 29th)

i think this was one of the best days. i think dave really liked kyoto. i know he really liked kyoto station. it is an amazing and beautiful station... the nicest in japan i think and since dave wants to be architect im sure it was splendiferous. we walked around and examined. we decided to stay the night in kyoto so we made reservations at a hotel with the very helpful english speaking people at the tourist information place. it was soooo easy. perfect. on our way to the drop our things off at the hotel we stopped at that big wooden temple that i went to see with steph and i think dave thoroughly enjoyed it. but this time we couldnt go in some parts maybe because they were holding actual services or something. after a bunch of walking we found our hotel (and i navigated some and we didnt even get lost!). on the way we stopped at a little restaurant down a little street and had lunch... it was pretty good. after we dropped our stuff off at the hotel we went back out to walk some more. eventually we made our way back to that little street where me and steph saw the cherry blossoms that was so beautiful (it was still a beautiful street but there were no more cherry blossoms). and we stopped at a little restaurant under a bridge where we could watch the stream and had a beer and did some talking. it was really good. i love dave so much and i am happy he is my brother and it took me a while not to be to sad that he was gone and not too miss him too much. after that we walked up to the imperial palace where we saw the gardens but the palace was closed. and as we were walking along dave stepped on the palace wall and set off the alarms and the people behind us laughed but it was ok because no one come chasing after us or anything. the sun was starting to set by then so we walked back towards gion because i wanted to go and see the giesha and maiko. on our way we bought a bottle of sake at this little old liquor store from this little old woman and some plastic cups from the convenience store. in gion we walked around for a little bit and then we settled in down a little alley and perched ourselves on a concrete ledge to sit and drink sake and watch for maiko and giesha. we saw quite a few maiko but no giesha who seem to be quite elusive. sometimes i wish i was an old japanese business man so that i could go into the teahouses and see what happens or have one of the geishas take me under their wing and show me everything that happens. when the sake was done we headed back to that little street and had a beer and some tortilla chips that were quite spicy in a little second floor mexican restaurant run by a nice old japanese lady who talked to us about our travels. after a beer we headed back to the hotel for a the night. it was good to walk and talk. in the morning we checked out and took a new way back to the station. on the way back we stopped in this really little old coffee shop owned by a little old man and a little old woman. they were so nice. they didnt speak english and my japanese is sparse but they asked about our travels and i told them that i was an english teacher. their friend came and he spoke a little more english and he told us that he had a store that made kimonos. the store was covered in dolls. little statue figurines and toys of every kind and variety in each and every nook and cranny, covering all the walls and hanging from the ceiling, and they were all different kinds of japanese dolls made by local artists. it was crazy. they looked at our map of kyoto with us and showed us where to go. david is so funny when he tries to talk to japanese people. its cute. we had our coffee (i didnt actually want any but they gave me some anyway so i just put lots of sugar in it) and they bid us a fod farewell and we were on our way. oh and as a gift the old man went into the back and he found some photographs of maiko for us. he said that the girls in them were 18 like david. i'm not really sure what their significance is but maybe its just that maiko are special and he saw them and seemed proud of them and wanted to give them to us because they are japanese and something to be proud of about japan.it was really nice. they were a highlight of my day. after that there was more walking on this very hot day. we saw some more temples and stopped at a coffee shop and got pieces of cake for breakfast which we carried to the station where we took the escalator to the top and sat in the Happiness Garden and ate them with great pleasure. then it was time to go home.

april 30th

on wednesday we met ayako in the morning and went to have a BBQ with her family and friends in her home town. ayako lives up in the mountain in kobe and we went to a little area by a river to have the BBQ. i've told you that sometimes i go to see her boyfriend and friends play soccer on saturday nights, the BBQ was all of them. it was the soccer team (their team name is Please... isnt that cute it was like the first word one of the guys learnt in english or something like that) and their wives and kids. it was a lot of fun. it was a really good day. im so happy we went. dave had lots of fun too. everyone was soo nice and joked around and talked with dave in their way and wanted to know everything about him and were so interested in him. and the kids were so cute (ayako's nieces and nephew were there) and we played with them and it was lots of fun. we threw rocks in the water for hours and found a bat on the wall and touched it and played jump rope and gave the kids piggy back rides and chased them around. it was quite wonderful. everyone loved dave. the guys wanted him to come play soccer with them on saturday and kept asking him when he was going to come back to japan again and the kids wouldnt leave him alone. but of course they would love dave, whats not to love. i love ayako and her friends and her family, they are the nicest people in the world. we stayed until the sun began to set and then took the bus back to the station and took the train home.

may 1st

the next day we went to meet chika and one of her foreign friends in osaka. we went to this big shopping mall and the top floor was a huge used clothing store. it was great. i got a pair of shoes and david got a bunch of t-shirts with random places on them. we had lunch at a yummy chinese place that was really good. then we got lost looking for another shopping mall that used to be a baseball stadium before they built a new one. eventually we found it and it was actually pretty cool and we had yummy ice cream parfaits with brownies and everything. on the way we stopped in yotsubashi for a while and stopped in at this cool mod store that dave found when he was with steph and walked around namba. dave was beat so we headed home.